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Posts by Gaspar Anastasi

couple holding each other

Unprecedented times, extraordinary opportunities

August 21, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi
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Finding direction, Marriage, Success & victory

We are living in unprecedented times. Things we once took for granted are no longer the same. Covid-19 has changed so many ways in which we live, especially our relationships. Gathering with friends and family used to be such a natural part of life. Now everything we do revolves around our health and concerns about catching or transmitting the virus.

Despite all of the fear generated by the news media and social media, this is actually an opportune time for our marriages to grow stronger and flourish. Romans 8:28 says: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

It’s all good

ALL things work together for GOOD. Can you see that happening in this season—with less time spent apart and more time together? It is a great occasion to strengthen your marriage, especially if you are intentional about it. Couples now have the time to communicate honestly and transparently in areas where they may have neglected each other previously.    

You might discover that you have put other things ahead of your husband or wife. Recognize that God is giving us this chance to rediscover our love for one another and the reason we married in the first place. Of course, you have to want a better marriage. Many of us have grown apart without really knowing it. Outside interests, career pressures and even other relationships have robbed time and interest that once belonged to our mate.

The primary relationship

The most important relationship you have in life is with God. The second is with your mate. By God’s grace, He is giving us pause to put things back in proper alignment with Himself and each other. See the good in this season and not just the bad.

Nothing ever catches God by surprise. Even though God didn’t cause this pandemic, He can and will use it for our benefit, if we look at life through His eyes.

Unprecedented happiness

God’s destiny for couples is a happy and fulfilled marriage. So let’s use this pause to make a plan, before life as usual takes over again. Here are a few things you can do to start the journey to happiness and fulfillment.

1. Talk about it. Discuss ways you could both work to make your marriage better. Be intentional about it, allowing honesty and transparency without judgment or criticism.

2. Act quickly. Put into motion right away the few concepts you agreed to in Number 1.

3. Ask forgiveness. Look at ways you have neglected your partner and take responsibility for your actions (or lack thereof). Don’t blame-shift. Make sure to truly forgive each other from your hearts.

4. Pray for revival. Join your hearts together in prayer to re-ignite the love you once shared.

Restored hope

Over time, couples can become calloused toward each other. The small steps above can start the process of melting your hardened hearts and restoring hope.

Remember you have God on your side, but the devil against you. GOD IS GREATER, so start praying now for His grace over your marriage. Then watch Him do great things through you. In these unprecedented times, expect extraordinary blessings. It’s never too late to make your marriage great!

We would love to hear what steps you agreed on to bring life back to your marriage! Please comment below.…

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couple on railroad tracks

Why your marriage needs a vision

August 7, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi
2 Comments
Finding direction, Making positive change, Marriage

Many married couples never actually grow in oneness. Nor do they experience the true joy in marriage God intended. Why? They have no vision. 

Proverbs 29:18 says where there is no vision my people perish. That literally means “my people accomplish nothing; nor have a real purpose in life.”  

You have a purpose together

A vision acts like railroad tracks that your life runs on. It provides stability, direction, a known destiny and, most importantly, it provides purpose. Without these elements, a marriage will be—at best—stuck in a rut… going around in circles. At its worst—headed for destruction and divorce. 

Make no mistake: Every marriage has a God-given purpose. The vision is simply one of the ways God speaks to us about our purpose. He brought you together for a reason. The vision reveals the direction and steps you are to take to fulfill His reason or purpose. 

Ways to envision

Thoughts, dreams, imaginations and visual downloads of things yet to come… These are all ways that God reveals His vision for you as a couple. Now these visions will often seem impossible. That’s normal. If it were possible without God, it wouldn’t be from God. The Almighty specializes in the impossible, but He needs our cooperation. Our part is to believe and act in faith for what He shows us.

God always speaks the end from the beginning—showing us what our future could look like; giving you a vision for what it could be; and then encouraging you to act on the plan with Him by setting goals to get there. This requires you to spend time together praying and dreaming about what your marriage could be and, most importantly, what God truly wants it to be. 

Create a vision board

A while back, Michele and I made up a vision board which expresses our envisioned destiny through pictures and words. We decided what we believed God wanted to accomplish through our marriage and then found pictures and words that expressed those God-inspired ideas. We then glued them on a large tag board so that we could keep God’s vision for our marriage before our eyes daily. 

Remember, a vision is God’s road map that leads us to a chosen destination (a married life of success and fulfillment). 

Fight, fight, fight

However, know this: Our enemy satan will do everything he can to keep couples at odds with each other and distracted with a cluttered life, so that we don’t reach God’s destiny for us. 

Fight through all those distractions. And set aside time to come together with the purpose of hearing from God. Make it a priority. This act of agreement helps Him to download His vision for your marriage. 

Start where you are

You might not see very far in the beginning, but start anyway.  As you are faithful with what He initially shows you, God will increase your ability to hear and see even more of His destiny for you as a team. Remember, it will take the both of you to hear clearly what God has planned for your marriage. 

As you journey into getting God’s vision for your marriage, let us know how it worked out. What were some of the obstacles you encountered, and how did you overcome them? Michele and I look forward to hearing from you!…

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diver and shark

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

July 17, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi
2 Comments
Making positive change

One day I was given a picture of a living room and asked to identify what was wrong with it. After looking at the picture a few seconds, the answer was obvious. I noticed that next to the couch, coffee table, lamp and television there sat a stove.

As obvious as that is, many of us have things in our lives that are just as out of place! Let me name a few and see if you can identify some of them in your own Christian life. By calling ourselves Christians, you and I identify with Jesus Christ, the Architect of a Christ-like life.

So what doesn’t belong?

  1. Refusing to forgive. We forgive with conditions (if at all), forgetting that God loves us unconditionally. He forgave our sins while we were yet enemies of the cross. We mistakenly believe that we can forgive or not whenever and whomever we want! (Mark 11:25,26 & Matthew 5:44)
  2. Holding back our first fruits to God (tithes and offerings). We give when it is convenient and hold back when it isn’t. We assume that God really doesn’t care when or how much we give. WRONG! (Proverbs 3:9)
  3. Not attending or belonging to a local church. We say things like “I don’t have to be part of a corporate body to serve God.” Is that what God says? Of course not! God requires us to come together! (Hebrews 10:24, 25) We see in the word that the first church God started on the day of Pentecost, met in the homes and the synagogue, daily and weekly.
  4. Keeping silent about Jesus. Every day we pass a multitude of people who are on their way to hell. We take for granted that we are on our way to heaven, so it doesn’t matter. Yet one of our primary purposes as Christ’s ambassador is to be a witness (share Jesus) to every person God puts in our path. That’s how Jesus our architect designed us. (Romans 10:13-15)

Covenant or convenient

There are many other things that don’t belong in the life of a true Christian, but I believe that if you will remove these four, the others will also go. We are not our own anymore. We belong to Jesus because He purchased us with His precious blood.

We can no longer live on the premise that we’ll only do what’s convenient. We’re called to live every day for Him, through Him and by Him (Galatians 2:20).

That is the lifestyle we were created and designed for, the most fulfilling life we could live (Ephesians 2:10).

Remove what’s wrong

Jesus is our Creator and Architect. If you want your “living room” to reflect the Architect who designed it and His plans and purposes for such a creation, remove the things that don’t belong in the picture. Let’s glorify Him and stop taking Him for granted. He really does care how we live our Christian life. Ask yourself today: What’s wrong with this picture? And make a conscious effort to remove the things that don’t belong! It’s a great way to start every day.…

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bible and boots

Don’t just believe…Act!

July 10, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi
1 Comment
Making positive change, Success & victory

Most Christians know that the will of God is His word and that His word is His will. But we’re not supposed to just believe in God’s word. We’re to demonstrate it!

There’s a big difference between knowing the right thing to do and actually doing it. Our job is to genuinely demonstrate to the world who God is and His will for us.

The power of the miraculous

Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Did you catch that? We are to prove the will of God to the world. That proof is exhibited through miracles. Miracles provide irrefutable evidence of God and His will to every human on planet earth.

The Apostle Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 2:4: ”And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” In other words, Paul proved that the God he was preaching about was real by the miracles he performed,  not by his eloquent speech.

Like Paul, you can operate in miracles and present the true Bible Jesus to the world. We serve a powerful omnipotent Savior, not a counterfeit religious character with no power to change our lives or circumstances! Here are some points to help you demonstrate God’s power.

How to demonstrate His power

1. Have a consuming love for God’s word. Smith Wigglesworth, the famous Englishman of faith who lived in the early 1900’s, never went more than 15 minutes without reading God’s word. Today we label people like him religious fanatics. But very few people have walked in the miraculous like Smith Wigglesworth.

2. Have an overwhelming confidence in the word of God and the God of the word. Know that He meant what He said and said what He meant. Believe that God’s word is the final authority in any given situation. His word cancels everybody else’s opinion. God tells the prophet Jeremiah that He put His word in his mouth. And when Jeremiah declares it, God will hasten to perform it.

3. Speak, declare and confess God’s word. Let God’s opinion (the only one that counts) be released concerning your situation. When you say the same thing God says and believe what you say, watch out! A miracle is just about to manifest!

Let your words be few

4. When you’ve walked out the first 3 steps, keep your mouth shut. When you speak God’s word about the circumstance, nothing else is needed. Just “be still and know that He is God”. We try to help God by adding words that are often negative, cancelling out what God started.

The more you speak, the greater the risk of opening the door for Satan. The less said the better. However, if you can’t hold your tongue, use it to praise God! Exalt God with your words, giving Him access to the atmosphere around you. God inhabits the praises of His people. Remember, the world needs to see the Jesus we love, the real Jesus. Prove His will to them by putting His will on display. Demonstrate His word and His will to a lost and dying world!

If this blog has been a blessing to you, please take a moment to comment below.…

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man with fireworks

Declare your independence

July 3, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi
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Getting past the past, Making positive change, Success & victory

The greatest battle ever fought on the face of the earth was waged—not for the freedom of any one nation or people—but for the liberation of all mankind. This battle of all battles took place on a lonely hill in a small corner of the world. Not a single weapon was fired, and just one Man died.

The war that was won

Now 2,000 years later, the events of that afternoon continue to shake the universe. Jesus, hanging on a cross against a darkened sky, cried out one final time and yielded up His spirit. A massive, rock-splitting earthquake shook the planet. The veil that had hung quietly in the temple for hundreds of years, symbolically separating a Holy God from sinful man, suddenly tore in half from top to bottom. Graves were ripped open and the dead rose and walked out alive.

Jesus’ death was so catastrophic that the soldiers who guarded Him —men who moments before mocked Him and gambled for His clothes —“feared greatly saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” (Matt. 27: 45-54)

An eternal triumph

Jesus descended into hell, triumphed over satan in his own domain (Col. 2:15), took the keys of death and the grave (Rev. 1:18), rose from the dead the third day and gave you and me the freedom to inherit eternal life (Rom. 8:17). This was no small fistfight. It was a thorough, humiliating defeat that still sends satan reeling every time a man or woman of God speaks the name of Jesus in faith.

What Jesus won for us was independence from satan’s domination and the freedom to choose heaven or hell, eternal life or eternal death. Up to that point, satan had held all of humanity captive. He had narrowed our choice of eternal destiny down to one: Hell and everlasting damnation.

Have everlasting freedom

The freedoms we Americans celebrate on July 4th are great and they came at the price of much bloodshed. But the freedom to vote, the freedom of speech, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are only temporary, earth-bound privileges with no eternal value. The freedom for which Jesus shed His precious blood is available eternally. But like any other freedom or right, we must exercise it.

So how do we exercise our right to eternal life? You must choose whom you will serve: satan or Jesus Christ. Understand this: If you have never accepted Jesus Christ, you are still in bondage to satan. Confess that Jesus paid the price and defeated satan, that Jesus overcame death and rose from the dead and believe it in your heart.

By confessing Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, you effectively declare your independence from satan and from sin (Rom. 10:9). You have a legal right to heaven and all the blessings of God. Don’t let satan trick you out of it. Let today become your Independence Day from sin, sickness and death!

If this blog post has been a blessing to you, please let us know by commenting below.…

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dense forest

It’s not what it looks like

June 26, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi
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Making positive change

We live in a two dimensional world. The two dimensions I am referring to are the spirit realm and the natural realm. Although the spirit realm is hidden from the natural eye, both realms coexist and are equally real. The forces and influences that affect our everyday life such as our perceptions, thoughts, attitudes and passions flow out of the unseen spirit realm. How we judge and react to the spirit realm will determine our success or failure in the natural realm.

Open your eyes to the unseen

Unseen forces influence our decision-making and consequently our destiny. For example, you may have a conflict with someone, get offended or suffer great rejection. This scenario can even permanently destroy marriages or close friendships. The extreme conclusion of this negative process can be a raging anger taking control of us. Some could even end up committing the unthinkable—taking a life!

Once you grasp the bigger picture and get the revelation that you live in two dimensions, you will no longer be a victim—but an overcomer. Most people are like a puppet on a string, controlled by the spirit realm. You need to get equipped and control these forces before they control you.

Know your real enemy

Ephesians 6:12 says “ For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” In other words, our fight isn’t against people whom we can see, but against spiritual forces that we can’t see.

It’s not always what it looks like! Don’t jump to conclusions. The quicker you realize that the battle is spiritual, the greater success you’ll have in this life. Ignorance of this truth will be your demise.

Choose victoriously

1. To live victoriously in both worlds simultaneously, Jesus must live in you. His Spirit equips you to deal with the spirit realm successfully. It’s not just about going to heaven. It’s about defeating the evil forces in the unseen realm, just like Jesus did. Jesus alone makes that possible.

2. You must develop the habit of waiting for and listening to God’s voice. Psalm 46:10a says “Be still, and know that I am God…..”  Most of us are conditioned to make decisions based on what we see, feel and what makes sense to us. If you can discern the source of an issue before jumping into life-altering decisions, you can avoid future failure.

Ask yourself: Why do I feel this way about this person, my life, my job…? If I make this decision based on how I feel now, will it get me closer to God and His destiny for me? Will it bring long lasting peace and healing in my relationships? What does God’s word say about my circumstances?

Based on your answers to these questions you can determine the source of your decisions—God or satan. As I said, you can know the right choice to make by understanding the two dimensions in which we live.

The key to success in our relationships, businesses, careers… depends on which spiritual force is controlling the decisions we make in the natural world. Remember, it’s not always what it looks like!

If this blog has been a blessing to you, please take a moment to comment below.

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