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Christina Cook Lee

Media Producer - Author - Blogger - Songwriter

Romans 8:28

Why live?

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Topic: Cultivating the will to live

Focus: Why live?

Romans 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

It’s hard to make sense of why some people have a passion for life and others don’t. There are so many things that contribute to a person’s emotional wellbeing and healthy development. I was well into my thirties before I had the slightest desire to live. On any given day before that time, if God had been taking volunteers to leave here—I would have gladly said, “Pick me.”

I still believe that ‘to die is gain’, according to Philippians 1:21, but these days I am able to enjoy life with the knowledge that God has a special plan for me that is continually unfolding—one that includes my ability to understand what it is like not to want to live.

At this point, I am able to talk about the subject I kept buried deep inside me for so many years—my suicidal tendencies and my ‘death wish’. When you are truly suicidal you normally don’t talk about it—you just think about it—a lot. It is a theme that involuntarily repeats itself in your everyday life. You are constantly faced with the subtle suggestion, “what if…”

If you have never had thoughts like these, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to read this or think about it. Everyone should know more about those who suffer with an emotional failure to thrive, because the problem is more widespread than people would probably imagine. As you study about the things that can contribute to this condition—you learn that it can affect people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, races, and cultures. It is not rare.

If you are depressed or have struggled with dependency issues, you have no doubt questioned why you were born, why you are alive, and why you couldn’t just die. You may have attempted suicide, or at least thought about it.

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!

Link to New Strength Audio Version

I’m convinced there aren’t a lot of people out there who talk about it who have actually had a problem with it. Searching for answers can give you the feeling that the people writing about it have never been near the dark places you have been by the way they approach the topic. The pat answers they suggest can seem shallow and cause you to lose interest in trying to follow their advice. A big part of the lie that feeds the monster in your mind is that ‘nobody really understands’. When the enemy throws that line to you at every turn—you start to believe it and you stop thinking there is a way out. You accept the falsehood that ‘this is just the way you are’ and that you ‘aren’t like anyone else’. You learn to live with the gnawing loneliness that never leaves…the feeling that life isn’t worth living.

I’m not a psychologist, but I have experienced some things that have helped me develop a more balanced attitude about life. They are simple things, but they have helped me find hope and encouragement in ways I wasn’t able to for most of my life. I made the decision to turn what the enemy of my soul intended for evil—into something good. I have learned to embrace the things about myself that used to bewilder me. Here are a few examples:

I used to think I was the ‘odd duck’ and had nothing in common with anybody else. Now, I have chosen to believe that God made me as ‘one of a kind’ with a completely unique purpose.

I used to feel that if people knew ‘the real me’, they wouldn’t like me—so I constantly tried to re-invent myself as whoever I thought they wanted me to be. Now, I know that ‘who I am’ is ‘who God created me to be’. God has a very creative mind and He was having a good day when He made me. I wasn’t some random experiment that failed.

I was never able to see any purpose to why I felt like such an alien on this planet. Now, I know that there are millions of people out there who feel like just as much of an alien as I felt most of my life. God allowed me to know how that felt so that I could give those people encouragement and help them have the will to live. In other words, your needs have helped me make sense of my own battle in this area.

Declaration: I will find new strength by embracing the fact that all things work together for good in this life to those who love God. I will live and not die until God intends for that to happen. I will not try to advance that event. I will find peace and thrive—knowing God made me ‘on purpose’. I don’t have all the answers, but it is enough for now to know He loves me, and that someday I will understand everything better.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Noting your progress

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Building your faith

Focus: Noting your progress

Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NKJV) I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Your life has been an interesting collection of circumstances that have all contributed toward making you the unique person you are. The Word of God promises that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

You may feel like what has happened in your past is just ‘stuff’, and it would be better if nobody ever knew what you’ve been through. But there is real value in your experience, if you don’t let it go to waste. Sure, there are things you’d like to forget, and perhaps plenty you have forgotten, but none of it was worthless when you consider what it taught you, that you couldn’t have learned any other way.

Experiencing trials is one of the things that can build your faith, but another powerful exercise in building your faith is recalling what God has done and how far you’ve come from where you once were.

You can sit and sort through things in your mind and get a general picture of how God met you at each point of need, but when you pick up a pen and paper and begin to write…or sit down to the keypad and start tapping out some of the details, you will be amazed at how it might make you feel, to review some of the stories and see the words in print.

From early Bible times, records were kept of genealogies and historical events. The records were passed down from one generation to the next. The Word of God seems to refer to the fact that even God Himself, keeps a book.

The authors of the Bible were people who wrote about the faithfulness of God in good and bad situations. When they were challenged with hard times, they were able to find strength and encouragement from the record of their history as they recalled how God had come to their rescue time and time again.

(Read more below)

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!
Link to New Strength Audio Version
New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

They were honest about what they were going through and what they felt. Sometimes they couldn’t see God’s purpose or plan and they said so. Other times, they were overwhelmed by His presence and power.

When we walk and talk with God, we will experience all of those same things in our own lives. It helps to know that other people who walked and talked with God centuries ago, went through the same kinds of things we do, in reference to our faith.

We may be living in the last days—and then again, we may not be. People who wrote the New Testament thought they were living in the last times, too, and that was a very long time ago. So, it’s hard to say for sure when Jesus will return. We might have a lot of time, and we might not have much.

Being receptive to letting the Lord work in your life day by day, and keeping a record of what He does could help you in your own future, and possibly help other people who come after you—if Jesus doesn’t come back as soon as we think He might.

Whatever happens, any effort you can make to record some of your own history would be worth your time, even if you’re the only one who ever reads it.

You might not think of yourself as a writer at all and you may be daunted at the idea of putting any of your thoughts or reflections on paper. You might also be embarrassed at the thought that someday, someone might find what you’ve written and read it.

Try not to think about yourself or other people as you write. A. W. Tozer said, “While we are looking at God, we don’t see ourselves.” So, don’t think about the quality of your writing or whether someone else might read it—just write it for your own healing and the glory of God, and whatever becomes of it is up to Him.

You can do it just like you live life—one day at a time.

Declaration: I will find new strength by being receptive to the ways God has worked in my life and how He might want to use my experience for His glory. I will find healing and encouragement as I take the time to record my thoughts and reflections in some way.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Why live?

By Leave a Comment

Topic: Cultivating the will to live

Focus: Why live?

Romans 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

It’s hard to make sense of why some people have a passion for life and others don’t. There are so many things that contribute to a person’s emotional wellbeing and healthy development. I was well into my thirties before I had the slightest desire to live. On any given day before that time, if God had been taking volunteers to leave here—I would have gladly said, “Pick me.”

I still believe that ‘to die is gain’, according to Philippians 1:21, but these days I am able to enjoy life with the knowledge that God has a special plan for me that is continually unfolding—one that includes my ability to understand what it is like not to want to live.

At this point, I am able to talk about the subject I kept buried deep inside me for so many years—my suicidal tendencies and my ‘death wish’. When you are truly suicidal you normally don’t talk about it—you just think about it—a lot. It is a theme that involuntarily repeats itself in your everyday life. You are constantly faced with the subtle suggestion, “what if…”

If you have never had thoughts like these, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to read this or think about it. Everyone should know more about those who suffer with an emotional failure to thrive, because the problem is more widespread than people would probably imagine. As you study about the things that can contribute to this condition—you learn that it can affect people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, races, and cultures. It is not rare.

If you are depressed or have struggled with dependency issues, you have no doubt questioned why you were born, why you are alive, and why you couldn’t just die. You may have attempted suicide, or at least thought about it.

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!

Link to New Strength Audio Version

I’m convinced there aren’t a lot of people out there who talk about it who have actually had a problem with it. Searching for answers can give you the feeling that the people writing about it have never been near the dark places you have been by the way they approach the topic. The pat answers they suggest can seem shallow and cause you to lose interest in trying to follow their advice. A big part of the lie that feeds the monster in your mind is that ‘nobody really understands’. When the enemy throws that line to you at every turn—you start to believe it and you stop thinking there is a way out. You accept the falsehood that ‘this is just the way you are’ and that you ‘aren’t like anyone else’. You learn to live with the gnawing loneliness that never leaves…the feeling that life isn’t worth living.

I’m not a psychologist, but I have experienced some things that have helped me develop a more balanced attitude about life. They are simple things, but they have helped me find hope and encouragement in ways I wasn’t able to for most of my life. I made the decision to turn what the enemy of my soul intended for evil—into something good. I have learned to embrace the things about myself that used to bewilder me. Here are a few examples:

I used to think I was the ‘odd duck’ and had nothing in common with anybody else. Now, I have chosen to believe that God made me as ‘one of a kind’ with a completely unique purpose.

I used to feel that if people knew ‘the real me’, they wouldn’t like me—so I constantly tried to re-invent myself as whoever I thought they wanted me to be. Now, I know that ‘who I am’ is ‘who God created me to be’. God has a very creative mind and He was having a good day when He made me. I wasn’t some random experiment that failed.

I was never able to see any purpose to why I felt like such an alien on this planet. Now, I know that there are millions of people out there who feel like just as much of an alien as I felt most of my life. God allowed me to know how that felt so that I could give those people encouragement and help them have the will to live. In other words, your needs have helped me make sense of my own battle in this area.

Declaration: I will find new strength by embracing the fact that all things work together for good in this life to those who love God. I will live and not die until God intends for that to happen. I will not try to advance that event. I will find peace and thrive—knowing God made me ‘on purpose’. I don’t have all the answers, but it is enough for now to know He loves me, and that someday I will understand everything better.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Noting your progress

By Leave a Comment

Building your faith

Focus: Noting your progress

Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NKJV) I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Your life has been an interesting collection of circumstances that have all contributed toward making you the unique person you are. The Word of God promises that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

You may feel like what has happened in your past is just ‘stuff’, and it would be better if nobody ever knew what you’ve been through. But there is real value in your experience, if you don’t let it go to waste. Sure, there are things you’d like to forget, and perhaps plenty you have forgotten, but none of it was worthless when you consider what it taught you, that you couldn’t have learned any other way.

Experiencing trials is one of the things that can build your faith, but another powerful exercise in building your faith is recalling what God has done and how far you’ve come from where you once were.

You can sit and sort through things in your mind and get a general picture of how God met you at each point of need, but when you pick up a pen and paper and begin to write…or sit down to the keypad and start tapping out some of the details, you will be amazed at how it might make you feel, to review some of the stories and see the words in print.

From early Bible times, records were kept of genealogies and historical events. The records were passed down from one generation to the next. The Word of God seems to refer to the fact that even God Himself, keeps a book.

The authors of the Bible were people who wrote about the faithfulness of God in good and bad situations. When they were challenged with hard times, they were able to find strength and encouragement from the record of their history as they recalled how God had come to their rescue time and time again.

(Read more below)

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!
Link to New Strength Audio Version
New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

They were honest about what they were going through and what they felt. Sometimes they couldn’t see God’s purpose or plan and they said so. Other times, they were overwhelmed by His presence and power.

When we walk and talk with God, we will experience all of those same things in our own lives. It helps to know that other people who walked and talked with God centuries ago, went through the same kinds of things we do, in reference to our faith.

We may be living in the last days—and then again, we may not be. People who wrote the New Testament thought they were living in the last times, too, and that was a very long time ago. So, it’s hard to say for sure when Jesus will return. We might have a lot of time, and we might not have much.

Being receptive to letting the Lord work in your life day by day, and keeping a record of what He does could help you in your own future, and possibly help other people who come after you—if Jesus doesn’t come back as soon as we think He might.

Whatever happens, any effort you can make to record some of your own history would be worth your time, even if you’re the only one who ever reads it.

You might not think of yourself as a writer at all and you may be daunted at the idea of putting any of your thoughts or reflections on paper. You might also be embarrassed at the thought that someday, someone might find what you’ve written and read it.

Try not to think about yourself or other people as you write. A. W. Tozer said, “While we are looking at God, we don’t see ourselves.” So, don’t think about the quality of your writing or whether someone else might read it—just write it for your own healing and the glory of God, and whatever becomes of it is up to Him.

You can do it just like you live life—one day at a time.

Declaration: I will find new strength by being receptive to the ways God has worked in my life and how He might want to use my experience for His glory. I will find healing and encouragement as I take the time to record my thoughts and reflections in some way.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Building your faith

By Leave a Comment

Focus: Noting your progress

Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NKJV) I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Your life has been an interesting collection of circumstances that have all contributed toward making you the unique person you are. The Word of God promises that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

You may feel like what has happened in your past is just ‘stuff’, and it would be better if nobody ever knew what you’ve been through. But there is real value in your experience, if you don’t let it go to waste. Sure, there are things you’d like to forget, and perhaps plenty you have forgotten, but none of it was worthless when you consider what it taught you, that you couldn’t have learned any other way.

Experiencing trials is one of the things that can build your faith, but another powerful exercise in building your faith is recalling what God has done and how far you’ve come from where you once were.

You can sit and sort through things in your mind and get a general picture of how God met you at each point of need, but when you pick up a pen and paper and begin to write…or sit down to the keypad and start tapping out some of the details, you will be amazed at how it might make you feel, to review some of the stories and see the words in print.

From early Bible times, records were kept of genealogies and historical events. The records were passed down from one generation to the next. The Word of God seems to refer to the fact that even God Himself, keeps a book.

The authors of the Bible were people who wrote about the faithfulness of God in good and bad situations. When they were challenged with hard times, they were able to find strength and encouragement from the record of their history as they recalled how God had come to their rescue time and time again.

(Read more below)

NOW, YOU CAN LISTEN AND/OR READ!
Link to New Strength Audio Version
New Strength Inspirational Statement of the Day

They were honest about what they were going through and what they felt. Sometimes they couldn’t see God’s purpose or plan and they said so. Other times, they were overwhelmed by His presence and power.

When we walk and talk with God, we will experience all of those same things in our own lives. It helps to know that other people who walked and talked with God centuries ago, went through the same kinds of things we do, in reference to our faith.

We may be living in the last days—and then again, we may not be. People who wrote the New Testament thought they were living in the last times, too, and that was a very long time ago. So, it’s hard to say for sure when Jesus will return. We might have a lot of time, and we might not have much.

Being receptive to letting the Lord work in your life day by day, and keeping a record of what He does could help you in your own future, and possibly help other people who come after you—if Jesus doesn’t come back as soon as we think He might.

Whatever happens, any effort you can make to record some of your own history would be worth your time, even if you’re the only one who ever reads it.

You might not think of yourself as a writer at all and you may be daunted at the idea of putting any of your thoughts or reflections on paper. You might also be embarrassed at the thought that someday, someone might find what you’ve written and read it.

Try not to think about yourself or other people as you write. A. W. Tozer said, “While we are looking at God, we don’t see ourselves.” So, don’t think about the quality of your writing or whether someone else might read it—just write it for your own healing and the glory of God, and whatever becomes of it is up to Him.

You can do it just like you live life—one day at a time.

Declaration: I will find new strength by being receptive to the ways God has worked in my life and how He might want to use my experience for His glory. I will find healing and encouragement as I take the time to record my thoughts and reflections in some way.

IF YOU SUBSCRIBE TO NEW STRENGTH DEVOTIONAL BELOW, A NEW SEGMENT WILL COME TO YOUR EMAIL EACH DAY.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, https://www.youtube.com/user/NewStrengthMusic/playlists?sort=dd&view=1

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.

Cultivating the will to live

By Leave a Comment

Focus: Why live?

Romans 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

It’s hard to make sense of why some people have a passion for life and others don’t. There are so many things that contribute to a person’s emotional wellbeing and healthy development. I was well into my thirties before I had the slightest desire to live. On any given day before that time, if God had been taking volunteers to leave here—I would have gladly said, “Pick me.”

I still believe that ‘to die is gain’, according to Philippians 1:21, but these days I am able to enjoy life with the knowledge that God has a special plan for me that is continually unfolding—one that includes my ability to understand what it is like not to want to live.

At this point, I am able to talk about the subject I kept buried deep inside me for so many years—my suicidal tendencies and my ‘death wish’. When you are truly suicidal you normally don’t talk about it—you just think about it—a lot. It is a theme that involuntarily repeats itself in your everyday life. You are constantly faced with the subtle suggestion, “what if…”

If you have never had thoughts like these, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to read this or think about it. Everyone should know more about those who suffer with an emotional failure to thrive, because the problem is more widespread than people would probably imagine. As you study about the things that can contribute to this condition—you learn that it can affect people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, races, and cultures. It is not rare.

If you are depressed or have struggled with dependency issues, you have no doubt questioned why you were born, why you are alive, and why you couldn’t just die. You may have attempted suicide, or at least thought about it.

Now, you can listen and/or read!

God has a very creative mind and He was having a good day when He made me. I was not some random experiment that failed. --Christina Cook Lee, A Quest For New Strength
Link to New Strength Devotional, Audio Version
God has a very creative mind and He was having a good day when He made me. I was not some random experiment that failed. --Christina Cook Lee, A Quest For New Strength
New Strength Devotional Inspirational Statement of the Day

 

I’m convinced there aren’t a lot of people out there who talk about it who have actually had a problem with it. Searching for answers can give you the feeling that the people writing about it have never been near the dark places you have been by the way they approach the topic. The pat answers they suggest can seem shallow and cause you to lose interest in trying to follow their advice. A big part of the lie that feeds the monster in your mind is that ‘nobody really understands’. When the enemy throws that line to you at every turn—you start to believe it and you stop thinking there is a way out. You accept the falsehood that ‘this is just the way you are’ and that you ‘aren’t like anyone else’. You learn to live with the gnawing loneliness that never leaves…the feeling that life isn’t worth living.

I’m not a psychologist, but I have experienced some things that have helped me develop a more balanced attitude about life. They are simple things, but they have helped me find hope and encouragement in ways I wasn’t able to for most of my life. I made the decision to turn what the enemy of my soul intended for evil—into something good. I have learned to embrace the things about myself that used to bewilder me. Here are a few examples:

I used to think I was the ‘odd duck’ and had nothing in common with anybody else. Now, I have chosen to believe that God made me as ‘one of a kind’ with a completely unique purpose.

I used to feel that if people knew ‘the real me’, they wouldn’t like me—so I constantly tried to re-invent myself as whoever I thought they wanted me to be. Now, I know that ‘who I am’ is ‘who God created me to be’. God has a very creative mind and He was having a good day when He made me. I wasn’t some random experiment that failed.

I was never able to see any purpose to why I felt like such an alien on this planet. Now, I know that there are millions of people out there who feel like just as much of an alien as I felt most of my life. God allowed me to know how that felt so that I could give those people encouragement and help them have the will to live. In other words, your needs have helped me make sense of my own battle in this area.

Declaration: I will find new strength by embracing the fact that all things work together for good in this life to those who love God. I will live and not die until God intends for that to happen. I will not try to advance that event. I will find peace and thrive—knowing God made me ‘on purpose’. I don’t have all the answers, but it is enough for now to know He loves me, and that someday I will understand everything better.

If you subscribe to New Strength, a new segment will come to your email each day.

For music selections that will help bring hope and encouragement during your recovery from depression and addiction, browse:http://www.youtube.com/view_all_playlists

All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.