How to Handle the Unexpected

February 15, 2020 Gaspar Anastasi

Regularly, we face unexpected happenings that either make or break our day. But if you think about it, many unexpected things could have been avoided if we had taken God’s spiritual law of sowing and reaping seriously.

Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” What you sow today determines what you reap tomorrow.

Matthew 13:24-30 tells us that, while the farmer slept, an enemy sowed tares in his wheat field. The parable is meant to show that the tares were sown because he didn’t pay attention.

Your life is the sum total of all the words you’ve spoken.

Although this parable is in the context of an agricultural society, it’s also true for us. We’re “sleeping” if we don’t watch the seeds (words) we sow. Proverbs 18:20 says words produce fruit: “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.”

Your life right now is the sum total of all the words you’ve spoken about yourself and your destiny. Words from your heart and out of your mouth release life or death over your destiny, as it says in Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Seemingly unexpected events really aren’t, and can be avoided in the future by disciplining your tongue. Release today what you want to see happening in the future, because what you sow today, you’ll reap tomorrow.

Now what about the truly unexpected events in your life for which you aren’t responsible? Here are a few points to consider:

GOD IS SOVEREIGN Not every problem will be removed, but can be used for your good.

God’s desire isn’t to kill you or even let Satan do it. He’s in the character-building business, building the character of Christ in you. Trust His sovereignty because He loves you and ultimately controls your destiny. “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.” (Rom. 8:28)

KNOW WHEN TO RESIST If what you’re going through is outside of the will (word) of God; if it’s contrary to His purposes for your life and has Satan’s fingerprints all over it, you MUST resist! If you’re not sure and fear you’ll miss God, trust the Holy Spirit to show you for sure in the Word.

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. “ (James 4:7)

TRUST IN GOD In the parable of the wheat and tares, the tares were allowed to grow until harvest season, when they would be separated and burned. Some unexpected things can’t be changed, like the death of a lost loved one or something important being taken away from you. In those cases we can only trust in God and let Him use it for our good. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…” (Proverbs 3:5)

THANK GOD IN ALL THINGS “In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18b). Notice it says to thank God IN everything, not FOR everything. GOD is there with you even in the unexpected, and if God is with you, no weapon formed against you will prosper!

Unexpected events will always occur. They’re part of life itself. But they don’t have to stop God’s destiny from being fulfilled if we handle the unexpected correctly.

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

Discovering Your Destiny

February 1, 2020 Gaspar Anastasi

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Finding significance in life, Success & victory

Every person and every people group has a destiny. God created us with a destiny individually, but as we connect with one another, we become a “people group” such as a family, business, city, nation or church. God brings together like-minded people. He takes the different aspects of our individual calling and, out of it, He forms a group destiny.

As we identify our personal destiny, we help to advance the call of the “people group” known as the local church. This, in turn, affects our local community, city, state, nation and even the world. The sky’s the limit concerning God’s ability to work in and through us. But unity is the key.

In the days of Babel, God was attracted by the unity of men with evil hearts. So He came down to see what they were doing. “And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them,” (Genesis 11:6).

When you identify your passion, you identify your destiny.

We will never truly be part of a group until we discover what our individual destiny is. You and I are one small part of the whole, but it’s an important part. Like our body, each cell structure is individual and distinct, but must connect with other cell structures to form a healthy, functioning body. The cells need to work together with others to frame a bigger picture.

If we don’t understand our individual call, we will slow down the process of unity. When we are united, God can use us to accomplish great and amazing things, even if we are small in number. (One chases a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight!)

It will take quality time to think about our lives and discern what God’s plan is for us. But it’s worth it to discover His plan and connect to the local church to become effective members of the body of Christ.

Look at the things you are very passionate about (and not just emotionally). I mean things you’re willing to lay down your life for! That passion goes deep inside and really makes up who you are. The Holy Spirit will help identify those things, but give Him time.
You might be passionate about several things, so find the one you are the most passionate about. It doesn’t mean you’re not effective in other areas or God doesn’t use you other places, but the other passions will support your one major passion.

When you identify your passion, you identify your destiny. Now you need to connect with a local church that cares for your destiny. The right church will have a purpose and vision that clearly indicates its future. You will know how you fit, where you fit and how to take part in the church destiny.

The local church is only as strong as the individual person but, when we are united, our power and influence increases, affecting everything around us. Through the local church, the body of Christ can fulfill God’s heart here on earth. Remember, He is the Head, we are the body, we have a group destiny, and He has placed all things under our feet! Discover your destiny!

If this blog post has been a blessing to you, please let us know by leaving a comment below. Thanks!…

Hurt People Hurt People.

January 18, 2020 Gaspar Anastasi

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Anger management, Getting past the past, Making positive change, Rejection, Success & victory

The greatest cause of divorce, church splits, family break ups and every kind of broken relationship is “hurt people”. What do I mean by hurt people? People with damaged emotions. They have been affected by family issues passed down by their ancestors; by hurtful things they experienced in childhood; and by their own wrong choices. I know that it’s impossible to go through life without some kind pain and suffering, but some people have had more than their share. These are the ones I classify as “hurt people”.

Hurt people are like time bombs waiting to implode or explode at the first sign of rejection.

Hurt people have certain traits in common such as: deep roots of rejection, low self-esteem, inferiority complexes, perfectionism, self-condemnation and a critical and judgmental spirit, to name a few. These ingredients are a recipe for troubled and broken relationships because the individual has an over-emphasized, magnified, self-centered awareness. An easily offended spirit dominates them.

It’s unintentional.

“Hurt people” hurt people, but not on purpose. The pain they suffer is beyond natural understanding and, because they are often misunderstood, they suffer rejection, adding to the pain they already carry. They look okay on the outside, so you can’t tell how deeply wounded they truly are. It’s like the old saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, but when you start reading a few chapters you can size up the whole book pretty quickly.

Hurt people are like time bombs waiting to implode or explode at the first sign of rejection and, if two hurt people are in a relationship together, it’s truly a formula for disaster! It’s just a matter of time until they’re at odds with each other and they’ll eventually separate. Or even worse, they may actually physically hurt/murder each other.

Both people are victims of their own hurts. So there are no winners… just losers. The wounds increase and the cycle just continues. Are you a hurt person?

Here are some identifying signs:

1. You have many broken relationships.

2. You control/manipulate your friends.

3. You’re critical and judgmental of people you are no longer in relationship with or who disagree with you.

4. The people you hang with think like you, so gossip is the foundation of the friendship.

5. Your friendships dwindle and your isolation grows.

Remember, many people carry deep wounds, so you are not alone. It wasn’t your choice to be hurt, but you can choose to get healed. To fix anything you need to first admit that it’s broken.

Here are some suggestions:

1. For a season, avoid intimate, personal relationships and just work on allowing God to heal you. God is a great physician who can go where no knife can go.

2. Ask God to heal you from the inside out. He’s waiting for you to ask. Without faith you can’t receive everything God has already supplied for you.

3. Make staying in God’s presence a priority. Read His word. Pray in the Spirit. Become a worshipper.

4. Finally, get prayer from the Healing Streams ministry. God wants you to stop being hurt and become healed!…

How to Have More Good Days

January 11, 2020 Gaspar Anastasi

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Finding significance in life, Making positive change, Success & victory

Every one of us could testify that we have both good days and bad days and, unfortunately, most would say they have more bad ones than good ones. What determines whether our days are good or bad is what I call “core habits”.

Core habits can be good or they can be very destructive. Although we have both in our lives, they often go unidentified. We just go through our day without paying too much attention to our core daily habits, because we are too consumed with regretting yesterday and how we can change our tomorrow. We forget that in order to change the big picture (our destiny), we have to first change the small picture (today).

Remember satan, your enemy, wants you to be consumed with the urgent… not the important.

We all have good days and bad days, but ask yourself this question: What makes good days good and what makes bad days bad? Make a list of both on a piece of paper. Remember that the Bible says in Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.” By taking one step at a time, we get closer and closer to the fulfillment of our destiny.

Let me share with you some things that would make a good day for me. Maybe they’ll work for you as well:

Getting seven hours of sleep
Spending one hour in prayer, meditation and reading God’s word
Eating a healthy diet
Drinking one gallon of water
Exercising for one hour

It’s so important to write down the things that help you to have a good day. They become your daily strategy and will radically change your destiny. Now, if you look at your list and see that you are far from accomplishing it on a regular basis, add just one new core habit to your day instead of three or four.

I would say that if you implemented that one core habit 80% of the time for a month, you could consider yourself successful. You can then add another core habit, repeating the process until you have implemented all the core habits that make for a good day!

This strategy will help you to have good days most of the time, rather than just having a hit and miss experience. By reviewing your daily core habits and replacing the bad ones with just three or four good ones—one at a time—you could change your whole life around. Isn’t it worth the effort?

Again, if you just take the time today to review what makes a good day, you will begin the process of increasing the good days in your life and you also will be reaching your destiny. Remember satan, your enemy, wants you to be consumed with the urgent… not the important. Stop having bad days and start having good ones! It’s all in your power.

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

Breaking false boundaries

January 5, 2020 Gaspar Anastasi

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Finding significance in life, Making positive change, Success & victory

Boundaries are limits placed on us either by ourselves or outside forces. Strongholds in our minds cause false perceptions of what we can or can’t accomplish. They dictate to us how we can or can’t live. They are deceptions that distort reality and keep us away from the success in Christ for which we were created.

One of the greatest boundaries is fear. FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real! I’m not talking about the natural fear we are born with that protects us from real danger, but—the spirit of fear that paralyzes and blinds us to God’s truth. Unfortunately, I see many people hindered in their walk with God because of it.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” This verse tells me that the kind of fear that creates worry, anxiety, phobias, torment, etc., comes from a spirit of fear. We don’t have to live that way, yet many accept fear as a way of life. Others deal with it through drugs. Today, prescription pills are the “quick cure” for those who suffer from fear. No wonder so many are addicted!

Here are some principles that will help you break the false boundary of fear.

1. Recognize that fear is a spirit. Luke 10:19 says you have been given dominion over every demon spirit that attacks you: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Aggressively resist that spirit of fear by believing the word of Doctor Jesus. His prescription is the “gospills” (His words) and they aren’t addictive or mood altering!

2. Get to know God’s love firsthand. Fear creates tremendous insecurity. Someone else telling you that God loves you is not good enough. Only Gods’ love can make your heart trust God’s promises and cancel out Satan’s lies!

First John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.” Knowing the depth of God’s love brings security and the strength to resist the False Evidence Appearing Real. Be patient with yourself during this time of learning God’s love for you. Too many of us have fallen into self-hatred and condemnation because we didn’t understand this spiritual war.

3. Be very careful of the kind of books you read, TV shows and movies you watch. The wrong ones will just intensify your fears. This is war, so be disciplined about what you allow to enter your mind and spirit, because your eyes and ears are the gateways to those areas.

4. Understand the transference of spirits. You will become like whomever you hang around! Avoid spending time with fearful people. Why? Like spirits attract each other. It’s likely your friends have the same problems you do, so choose new friends who are walking victoriously with God.

Don’t accept a demon-controlled life, limited by false boundaries. If you do, they will place more and more limits on you. Meanwhile, Jesus already set you free! “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36:).”

Fear can and should be defeated, but if you don’t contest it, it will become a full-blown phobia. Don’t open the door to a demon-controlled life, limited by false boundaries.…

Winning Over Rejection, Part 2

December 21, 2019 Michele Anastasi

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Forgiveness, Rejection, Success & victory

Last week in Part 1, I told my story of rejection. If you would like to read it, go to http://www.gasparandmichele.com/winning-over-rejection-my-story.

God is the only one Who can heal a wounded heart. Scripture tells us that Jesus came to bind up the broken-hearted. So, why was I still so wounded and broken if I had Jesus in my life?

40 years ago, emotional healing was rarely spoken of. Somehow, I came across a book by John and Paula Sandford, pioneers on the subject of inner healing. Being the mess I was, it spoke to my heart, and we started our quest to learn more.

Thus began our Prayer Counseling Ministry–today known as Stop Hurting Start Healing. It’s my number one solution for emotional healing. To have a trained prayer minister guide you through painful issues from the past is invaluable. Often the journey takes you along such a dark and dismal path that, without help, many would give up.

Inner Vows

When people reject you, without realizing it, you feel betrayed by God. Where was He in my pain? you ask. Of course, Satan uses that opportunity to plant seeds of deception in your heart about yourself, about others and especially about God.

Growing up with an abusive mom, I believed I was bad; I couldn’t be any good, for her to treat me the way she did. I thought God must not love me either to let me hurt like this.

Like I mentioned last week, I can remember lying in bed thinking, “When I grow up no one is ever going to hurt me, or tell me what to do again.” I had no idea I was making a vow that would profoundly affect my life.

God is the only one Who can heal a wounded heart. Scripture tells us that Jesus came to bind up the broken-hearted. So, why was I still so wounded and broken if I had Jesus in my life?

You may not even realize that you’ve made vows, but think back to all the times you said, “I’ll never do this…” or “I’ll never do that….”

We make vows because we think we can protect ourselves from future hurt. In actuality, these inner vows harden our hearts to the point that we can never fully give or receive love. Can you relate to this?

Maybe it wasn’t a parent who hurt you. Maybe it was a failed marriage, and you vowed you’d never trust again or marry again or let anyone get close to you. Maybe as a teen you were betrayed by a group of girls and vowed never to trust females.

Lies are always at the root of such inner vows, forming ungodly beliefs. Every one of us holds some beliefs that aren’t true. When these beliefs are contrary to God’s Truth, we call them “ungodly beliefs.” They are lies we believe about ourselves, others and God. They affect our entire lives: Every relationship we have; every decision we make; how we act and react. Our very destiny.

Renounce the Lies

Hurt, rejection, negative experiences and trauma create ungodly beliefs in us. The child whose father walks out on his family can grow up believing: “I’m not important or Dad wouldn’t have left… People will always fail me.”

Being made fun of, called names by siblings or peers, being criticized by a teacher or authority figure—all these can form the ungodly beliefs: “No one will ever want me…I’m fat, I’m stupid…I’ll never amount to anything.” These ungodly beliefs follow us right into adulthood and become assignments against us.

In the healing process, it’s very important to renounce these lies and break agreement with them. By believing lies, you forge an alliance with the enemy, giving him easy access to your life.

Forgive

After renouncing satan’s lies, it’s even more important to come into agreement with what God says about you.

1). Start by forgiving those that contributed to forming the ungodly belief in you.

2). Ask God to forgive you for believing a lie and for judging those who hurt you. Pray and break the power of the lies from your life.

3). Find scripture that speaks Truth to these areas. This is the last and most important step to forgiving. Read those verses daily. Meditate on them. Memorize them until your mind becomes renewed with the Truth. Stick with it. Renewing your mind takes time.

Often, that’s why people don’t maintain their healing. Getting prayer is just one part of it. The most important part is renewing our mind with God’s Word.

Get to Know the Healer

The next strategy I would give is to develop intimacy with the Lord. I can hear some of you saying, “Yeah, I know that already.” But really, spend time in His Word, the Bible, daily. Hear what He has to say to you through His word. Then, pray bringing Him your needs. Jealously guard this devotional time. Otherwise, other things will take its place.

Attend a good Bible-believing church where you can receive strength and support for your journey, a place where the uncompromised Word of God is taught.

Identify with the Cross

Let me explain what I mean by identifying with the cross. Often we have a very limited concept of the Cross. We know that Jesus died on the Cross for our sin. He took our place and, when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, when we die we go to Heaven. Yes, that’s true, but it doesn’t end there. That’s only one aspect of the Cross.

To identify with the Cross is to understand one thing: Everything about the “old me” can and should die there. The Cross wasn’t just for Jesus. The Cross is where we go daily to execute whatever needs to die in our lives.

When Jesus hung on the Cross He said, “It is finished.” It’s at the Cross that all the power Satan had over us is broken. When you take what you’re still struggling with to the Cross, it will be finished in your life, too. Keep in mind that when you bring something to the cross, everything isn’t automatically fixed.

Let’s say you fly into a rage, start throwing things and kick over the trash can. All of a sudden you catch yourself and run to the cross. “Lord, help me. Forgive me for this anger. Cleanse me.” God says, “Of course you’re forgiven.” What a relief! But guess what? There’s still garbage and broken stuff all over the place. Who has to clean it up? You do! But God gives you the grace and the strength to do it. One by one you pick up the pieces. It’s all a part of identifying with the Cross. It’s finished the moment you take it there, the rest is clean-up.

You have to take it there, and let it die. Often that’s where we get discouraged, because we think it isn’t working. Satan is whispering in your ear, “I’m back. You’re not free. This doesn’t work.” He wants to scare you into giving up.

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

Stop looking at the junk and look at Jesus! He set us free, to live free forever. Not just free from sin, but free from rejection, free from a wounded spirit, free from depression, self-hatred, anger, and the list goes on and on.

Galatians 5:1 tells us: “Therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. “

So when Satan comes back with feelings of rejection, pain, bad memories, tell him where to go. Tell him: “Shut up, in Jesus’ name. You’re a liar! I am crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Rejection doesn’t have a hold on me anymore. It’s nailed to the Cross. It died there.

Remember, healing is yours. Christ set you free. Keep standing firm!

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