When It Seems Like Life is Against You

October 27, 2018 Gaspar Anastasi

Making positive change, Overcoming depression, Success & victory

If you’re like me, sometimes it seems like everything is going wrong and even life itself is working against you! Stress at work is off the charts; your financial problems are getting worse and your marriage and family life is in turmoil. And to make matters worse, it seems like God has turned a deaf ear to your immediate, desperate needs.

Jacob in the Bible experienced the same thing. It started in his mother’s womb, having to fight with his twin brother Esau, then being forced to leave home as a young man because he took Esau’s birthright. He also had to work 14 years for his wife Rachel because Laban tricked him into first marrying Leah, her older sister.

Jacob’s heart broke when Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. Later on he thinks his favorite son Joseph was killed by wild animals as reported by his eldest son.

During a severe famine his finances are devastated and the Egyptians take his sons Simeon and Benjamin hostage in exchange for food. In Genesis 42:32-36 he makes this summation of the state of his life, “All these things are against me”. In other words Jacob is saying, “life itself is against me; how can I survive?”

These important steps will help you if you find yourself in the same position as Jacob:

#1. Don’t let your problems impress you more than the God you serve. Idolatry is when you have more fear and respect for something (your problems) than you do for your God. 1John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love”.

When you truly comprehend God’s love and protection in the deepest part of your heart, fear of failure and destruction will lose its long-term hold on you.

#2. Create an atmosphere of faith by rehearsing what God has done for you in the past, believing He will do it again. We are our own worst enemy when we create a negative atmosphere by complaining and saying our situation is hopeless.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “It’s impossible to please God without faith”. It pleases God to deliver you from your current struggles. Give Him an atmosphere where he can work on your behalf. You have the ability to invite God into your impossible circumstances.

#3. Stop talking with the snake. Yes you heard me correctly! Many of us talk with satan and his gang more than we do with God. You can tell whom you’ve been talking to by your negativity, complaining and hopelessness.

Come into and agreement with what the Lord says about your circumstances…. not with what satan wants you to say. Matthew 18:19 says “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” What an amazing promise! Let’s start agreeing with God from now on.

#4. Don’t judge a thing too soon. Don’t make a permanent decision on a temporary circumstance because God says that what you face today is temporary.

Maybe you didn’t have a good start but your finish is what counts. With God’s presence in your midst, temporary circumstance you find yourself in can suddenly become a blessing.

#5. Remember, God is working in it so don’t quit no matter how it looks or feels. Don’t grow weary in planting good seeds during trials. Galatians 6:7 says, “God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows that he will reap.”

#6 Know that the trials and tests we go through releases God’s glory. So don’t give up, give in, or back down. God’s deliverance from life’s problems is guaranteed. Jacob had Joseph, Simeon and Benjamin restored to him when it looked like life had defeated him. He also was restored financially.

He had moments of weakness but he finished strong in faith. God even named Himself “the God of Jacob”.

When all looks lost and it seems like life itself is closing in on you, remember it’s not over till it’s over and you are on the winning team. There is nothing you and God together can’t overcome.

Put these simple but profound principles into action and watch life turn around for you today.

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Don’t Wait Until Things Get Better

October 20, 2018 Gaspar Anastasi

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Finding significance in life, Overcoming depression, Success & victory

Many of us live negative and discouraged lives, hoping that things will get better one day. You may not like where you are. You might not like your job, your house, your location or even the people in your life.

You have a choice. You can waste years trying to change your circumstances. Or you can let God change you!

It’s easy to stay focused on the few negative things we face instead of the many positive things with which God has blessed us. When we do, we miss out on enjoying this great gift of life that God has given us.

As long as we continually murmur and complain about what we don’t have and how bad life is, God will allow us to stay right where we are. It’s sad to say it, but some of us spend over 40 hours a week depressed and discouraged over the negative things in our life.

God doesn’t promote negative, complaining people with bad attitudes. So the quickest way out of where we are today is to celebrate the gift of life and choose to be happy. Yes, it’s a choice!

Choose to have a good attitude and become the best that you can be right where you’re planted. Learn to prosper right there, even though you may be uncomfortable. Don’t make the mistake of waiting until everything gets better before you get happy and positive.

Start believing God for the best, right where you are. God’s miracle power is not limited by your circumstance… only by your negative and hopeless attitude. Become the best Christian you can be, right where you are.

Remember, you’re the light of the world and your light shines the best and brightest in the darkness. God wants to mature you and build His character in you, so your lifestyle will draw people to Him.

Are people being drawn to God or chased away from Him because of the way you live and your attitude? Look around. How many have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus in the last year because of you?

It’s in the rough places, the difficult and uncomfortable places that God reveals your heart. When we are in those tight places and feel like our lives are on hold, God reveals our corrupt, selfish heart… our it’s-all-about-me-and-nobody-else attitude.

Like David prayed in Psalm 139:23 and 24, ask God to search your heart. The truth is: It is not about you, but about how God can advance His kingdom through you. And, there are times that God keeps you where you are so you can be a blessing to someone else. That’s why we must be willing to be uncomfortable for a season and learn to encourage ourselves during that time.

Stop trying to fix everything and everyone in your life. Simply be fruitful where you are planted! True contentment isn’t having everything you want. It’s not wanting to have everything (Philippians 4:12 &13).

We love to hear from you! If this post has been a blessing to you, please leave a comment below.…

Break Free. Live Well.

October 13, 2018 Gaspar Anastasi

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Overcoming depression, Success & victory

The two statements above are totally dependent on each other. You can’t live well unless you break free from the bondages that hinder you from a life of success and prosperity. And you’ll never break free from those bondages and live your God-given destiny unless you learn to live well on a consistent basis.

Here are some suggestions that have helped me to accomplish both:

Know your purpose in life. I believe the greatest tragedy is not dying before your time, but living without purpose.

You can’t know your purpose in life apart from knowing God. He created us for a reason and discovering God’s purpose for your life happens when you discover who God really is and how important He is to you (Ephesians 2:10).

When I was about 27 years old, I invited Jesus Christ into my heart, and I discovered why I existed. Thus began my journey toward breaking free and living well!

It took me 27 years to discover who God really is, to have a personal relationship with Him and then begin my journey of living with His purpose in mind. Make sure Jesus is in your heart and not just your head.

Know that you are valuable. What I mean is that you are unique and different from everybody else. You don’t have to try to be like them. You don’t want to be a cheap copy of a great original. You’re not in competition with others. You’re uniquely made with God’s fingerprints all over your life.

Your value isn’t based on what other people think of you. The only opinion that counts is God’s.

Celebrate your differences and God-given uniqueness, instead of hiding or denying them. When I accepted that truth, it liberated me from the boundaries I and other people had placed on me.

You have what it takes to finish the race. God has already placed in you everything you need to succeed and fulfill His purpose in your life. When I discovered that, my success wasn’t something I was waiting for in the future. Instead, I recognized it was already in me and it changed the way I live.

God always starts with the end and then backs up to the beginning. He already placed in you everything you need to fulfill the purpose for which He created you.

I began looking inside myself for success instead of looking on the outside for other people to make me successful (Ephesians 3:20). How liberating it is to know you’ve got what it takes to finish the race, to fulfill your reason for existence!

It’s all up to you. I had to take responsibility for my own choices and decisions instead of blaming God and others for what was going on in my life. I stopped looking to other people to give me what God had already deposited in me. My success was waiting to be released.

Start discovering the treasures God has already placed in you by believing what He says about you. You and I were created for success, not failure. And if you’re going to break free and live well, these 4 steps are essential.

Stop living in bondage; break the cycles of defeat; and start living out God’s potential in your life. The best is yet to come!

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Your Miracle is Already in Your Hand

October 6, 2018 Gaspar Anastasi

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Finding significance in life, Success & victory

The miracle you need to get from where you are to where you want to be is within your reach. God gave us the seed for every miracle we need. So we’re not waiting for Him; He’s waiting for us.

We tend to look at the things we don’t have instead of what we do have. For instance, we say, “I’m too old…I don’t have enough resources… I don’t have the connections that others do… There’s nobody to help me… I don’t have enough talent…” etc.

We focus on the wrong things instead of discovering the seed-form of our miracle. As the saying goes, “Ask God for an oak tree and He gives you an acorn!”

God’s answers to our prayers can go unnoticed because He usually answers with a seed. It’s almost always a small thing easily overlooked and so insignificant that we don’t give it a second thought. But if we use that seed for God’s glory, it can become the tipping point that brings our breakthrough! It can be the difference between victory and defeat!

Even if what we have is small compared to others—if we’re willing to use it—God can cause miracles. God’s “big things” always start out with small things. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus says that with faith as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains (problems, stumbling blocks) out of our life.

We need to ask God to give us eyes to see what we’ve written off as non-essential…things like a winning smile, musical ability, the value of the people around us, the few dollars (resources) we have, etc. Remember, if they go unnoticed, they’re no good to us because we don’t use them.

Once you notice your mustard seed and dedicate it to God, it can do what you can’t do. It will do what God can. When God revealed the significance of what Moses, Shamgar, David and Samson had been given (what they thought was insignificant), that very thing became the tipping point in their lives. It released them to overcome the impossible odds they faced.

When these men let God control what they had in their hand, the impossible became possible. Moses’ dead stick became the rod of God, opening the Red Sea so the children of Israel could cross over and be delivered from the Egyptians.

With God’s anointing on his weapon, David’s little slingshot killed the fearsome Goliath. Samson and Shamgar killed thousands of Philistines with just the jaw bone of an ass and an ox’s goad (short stick).

Stop looking out there for your success! Look at what’s already in your grasp. It may look ordinary, but don’t discount it.

The tipping point for victory is in the insignificant mustard seed God has given you. Discover it! Dedicate it to Him! And use it, starting today! Release God’s hand to bring the miracle He’s been waiting to give you.

Change the odds in your favor by using the little thing and it will become the tipping point for your breakthrough. The miracle in your marriage, your finances, job, family, etc. Ask yourself: What’s in my hand?

If this blog post has been a blessing to you, please let us know by leaving a comment below! We love to hear from you!…