You must go back to go forward.

June 19, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi

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

Our past influences us in one way or another: How we were raised, our parents’ weaknesses and strengths, the culture we were raised in, our past memories, the belief systems we were taught, etc. Of course some of those influences were positive. On the other hand, others were destructive. They may have already sabotaged relationships, finances, lifestyles and especially our walk with God!

Understanding this fundamental truth equips us to begin breaking out of the boundaries set by past influences. These hindrances keep us from experiencing the kind of success for which God created us.

Sins of our fathers

The Bible has a lot to say about these things. It teaches us in Exodus 34:7 that the iniquities of our fathers are carried down from generation to generation, even up to the fourth generation. Have you ever said, “I never want to be like my father or mother” because of their destructive habit patterns? But then you wound up doing or saying the same things? Do you realize you probably think, cook, keep house, work, act, believe and relate to others the same way your parents did?

Two things from my childhood stand out to show me the need to go back… in order for me to go forward.

My backstory

Because my father, his father and his 3 brothers operated a 24-hour, 7 days a week family business, our family life was completely enmeshed with our work life. Everything in our lives was intertwined with operating the business. Holidays, birthdays and everyday life incorporated work. There was no separation. I learned early in life that family and work were one and the same.

As a result, I became a workaholic. That didn’t change even after I was born again. I sought to keep every family member involved in the work of the ministry. It just seemed natural to tie together family and work. I embraced this way of life as a child—along with many other faulty beliefs. It pulsated in my DNA, affecting me even after I accepted Jesus as Lord.

My mother was a great woman, but an absolute perfectionist. Therefore, mom unknowingly instilled in me a performance mentality. She showed me great love when I performed in ways that pleased her. But she withheld love when I didn’t live up to her expectations. (My mother thought she was helping me by controlling me in this way.)

Because of this, I became not only a workaholic, but one who worked hard for approval and acceptance. I was one driven, performance-oriented person! You can imagine the trouble that caused in every area of my life—including my family and my marriage.

Stuck in the past

When I gave my life to Jesus, I still lived under the same influences and suffered the same problems as I had before I became a Believer. Unfortunately, I was taught early in my Christian walk that if I wanted to move forward I should never look back. I was stuck!

You probably have a similar story. We need to break that religious tradition by having the courage to look back and honestly examine our family and cultural upbringing. Our emotional healing and future success as children of God depend on it.

Free yourself to go forward

We have to go back before we go forward and here’s how:

Get out of denial and break the religious myth that after we’re saved, we don’t have to deal with our past. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is talking about our spirit, not our soul.
Don’t deny your feelings. Listen to them because they reveal where and who you are on the inside.
Break ties to your family culture. Remember, you’re in God’s family now. So adopt His culture. Jesus said if you don’t love Him more than your mother and father, you aren’t one of His.
As the Holy Spirit reveals past things, crucify them by repenting and denying them access to your life again.
Finally, embrace your new family’s culture and beliefs. YOU CAN’T GO FORWARD UNTIL YOU FIRST GO BACK!

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Faith or fear: you choose

May 29, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi

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Making positive change, Success & victory

Whether or not you realize it, every day you choose Fear or you choose Faith. You either decide to believe that God is in control, (taking care of you, planning good things for you) or you go around worried about every circumstance you face, expecting the worst!

Faith and fear have one important thing in common. They both ask us to believe something we can’t see and that hasn’t happened yet. Knowing this can revolutionize your life!

Fear asks us to believe, for example: I’m not going to make it; I’m going to die; I’ll be alone for the rest of my life; God can’t help me so I’d better do something immediately….

Faith, on the other hand, asks of us: Keep trusting God; my breakthrough is right around the corner; this too will pass; I shall live and not die; the best is yet to come….

Who to believe

Notice that both faith and fear have a voice. Fear speaks negative things and faith speaks positive. You choose which voice you listen to, but remember that faith and fear can’t live in the same house. One will cancel out the other.

Hebrews 10:38 says, “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” When we stop trusting God to care for us and deliver us from our problems, we displease Him. He withdraws from us. Faith attracts God’s presence, but fear repels it and attracts Satan’s demonic presence instead.

In choosing faith or fear, you choose who has greater influence in your life: God or Satan. Keep in mind that, in Luke 12:32, Jesus commands us not to fear.

What to do

• Give faith the last word! When you speak negative words over yourself or others, you prophesy bad results and seal your destiny. Counter what fear predicts with God’s promises and plans. Prophesy your godly, positive future by choosing to believe and speak the voice of faith.

• Meditate daily on what God promised — not on what the devil shows you. Thoughts we dwell on day and night become a reality. Constantly thinking and expressing fear will bring them into existence (Mark 11:22). Fear works like faith, but in reverse!

• Choose your friends wisely. Fear is contagious. People who worry constantly and talk negatively about their marriages, finances, children etc. are very dangerous to your spiritual health. Listening to their rhetoric will infect you with fear and will produce worry and anxiety in those same areas of our life. Be honest and help them by telling them the truth. But avoid close relationships with people like that like the plague!

• Faith your fears to death! What I mean is: Constantly talk to your fears with the promises of God. Learn and consistently talk the language of God, which is faith. Remember, let faith have the last word and eventually let faith be your ONLY word, no matter what fear shows you or says to you!

Faith your fear

Now, take the time to write down the things fear has been saying. Present them to God and ask Him to forgive you for listening to and believing them. Crush the paper in your hand and throw it in the garbage. Then start releasing your faith talk and commit to “faith-ing” your fears to death from now on!

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Become known by God.

May 15, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi

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Finding significance in life, Success & victory

There is only one thing more important in life than knowing God, and that is God knowing you.

Matthew 7:21-23 records Jesus’ response to one of His self-proclaimed servants who said he had healed the sick, prophesied and cast out devils in His name. However, this person obviously never opened himself up to be known by God; because Jesus said, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!“

How scary is that! Yet, how many of us still have walls and barriers up in our lives that keep God from knowing us?

We put on our religious garb and act as though God and us are one, but in reality we never become transparent before Him. We never fully let the Lord into our inner world (our thoughts, feelings, disappointments, our fears, etc.). We have asked Him to be Savior, but we still haven’t given Him the freedom to be Lord in our lives. The problem is that we can’t have one without the other.

Take a moment out of your busy schedule and invite the Lord into your inner world today. Intentionally invite Him to invade your heart and all the secret places of your inner world. Then you will begin to experience true freedom. No longer keep God at arm’s distance. You can trust Him! He will never disappoint you. His love in you will change your whole outlook on life.

Make the choice to let Jesus know you. You will never regret it; but you will regret it if He doesn’t.

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

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The key to our nation’s greatness

April 24, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi

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Making positive change, Success & victory

The key to our nation’s greatness has been and always will be the strength and health of the family! I truly believe that the family is the cornerstone in the foundation of America’s preeminence.

The vision

I envision a time when once again we will see fathers and mothers who are committed to providing a healthy and loving atmosphere for their children—families where children are valued as gifts from God instead of excess baggage! The Lord’s heart aches (and so does mine) when I think about the 57 million babies we have aborted since 1973.

I envision a time when once again the dinner table will be a place where families bond with one another nightly, sharing their hearts; a place where godly values are passed down. The dinner table used to be the place where parents could connect with their kids, look into their eyes and discern how they were doing.

As the family goes…. so goes our nation!

Steps forward

Never before have the families of this nation been more under siege. The proof is seen in the number of broken marriages and fatherless or single-parent homes. There has been a redefining of marriage and many in our society mock and belittle family and marriage values. Children are being raised without the influence of Godly role models in their home or the media.

All of these factors and much more have led to a society overtaken by lawlessness, immorality and violence, especially in our younger generation.

WE MUST once again commit ourselves to action. Let’s put feet to our prayers and our rhetoric. Bring restoration to our families. We need to restore family values in our nation, one family at a time!

How to fight for our families:

Elect officials that stand for Judeo-Christian values.
Put your focus and attention on the needs of the precious gifts God has entrusted to you, your children. As mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, we must stop being selfish, thinking only about our own needs.
Turn to God, the Creator of all things. It’s time. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

As we rebuild the walls of protection and fight for our families, let’s remember Nehemiah. He had to confront a lot of opposition and distractions as he rebuilt the walls of the families of Jerusalem. But, he refused to be taken off his mission. In Nehemiah 6:3b he tells the enemy, “…..I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”

That should be the battle cry in our fight to rebuild our families, restoring this nation back to greatness once again: “We are putting family first. We are doing a great work and we can’t come down!”

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

Time to put your foot on it

April 17, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi

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Getting past the past, Success & victory

If you think about it, you have probably experienced things through the years that actually reveal a pattern. Not only were these events similar, but they have impacted your life on a very deep level. They may have even gained some control over you.

These past events and circumstances create boundaries that limit our ability to serve God the way that He has called us to. We may not be happy about it, but as time goes on, many of us get used to the limitations. Sadly, we have come to just accept mediocrity as a way of life. I call it “living in the land of good enough”.

Good enough just isn’t

God has plans for your life that are beyond imagination (I Cor. 2:9). I’m here to tell you: It’s time to get out of the land of good enough! And the only way to do that is to put your foot on it! Take authority over the areas of your life that have hindered you from going any further in your walk with God.

Ephesians 1:22 & 23 put it this way: “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Before we can take the first step of that journey, however, we need to identify the problem. It takes an awakening and stirring of our spirits to want to come out of the land of good enough. Desire to push past where you are today and make the maximum impact in life.

Trample the enemy

I pray that every one of us would recognize that it’s time to begin to step on the thing that once stepped on us. It’s time to exercise the dominion and authority that God has given to us. After all, He is the head and we are the body. And He has put all things under our feet. I repeat: It’s time to start walking on things that once walked on 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.” (Luke 10:19)

In Joshua chapter 10, we read that Joshua sealed the cave where five enemy kings were hiding. He then brought out the kings and instructed his captains to put their foot on their necks. In other words, take dominion over them. “So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, ‘Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.’ And they drew near and put their feet on their necks.” (Joshua 10:24)

This act is symbolic of God bringing the things that once controlled us to the forefront of our hearts and minds. He is delivering to us the enemy of our soul so that we can take authority over them.

Awaken your spirit

It’s time for us in the body of Christ to put past fears and defeats under our feet and walk in victory! We must go further in our walk with God than we have in the past. But it starts with an awakening of our spirit.

Secondly, we need an understanding of the authority and headship that God has given us.

Lastly, we must remember that Jesus already defeated the enemy. All we are doing is re-presenting Jesus and defeating our enemy in the power of His might. Today, I encourage you to put your foot on it! Don’t back down. Go forward!

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

There’s no victory without a battle.

April 10, 2021 Gaspar Anastasi

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God's love, Relationship with God, Success & victory

Who doesn’t like to be comfortable? Nobody. While most of us believe God will comfort us, the question is “How?” I have noticed that most of us have a misconception about that. We think that God’s comfort means that we can totally avoid uncomfortable issues we face. Or that He will remove us when we find ourselves in trouble.

The God of comfort

Second Corinthians 1:3 & 4 says:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The root of the word for comfort (parakaleo) in this New Testament scripture means “to call to one’s side; to encourage and to strengthen.” It never means to make it easy, take care of things for us or remove us from the struggle.

When we read “God of all comfort”, it means that God wants to see a number of things accomplished in our life. He is committed to walk with us. And He encourages us in and through tests just like He did for Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-Nego. When they went into the fiery furnace, they didn’t get burned. But they did get a greater revelation of who God is!

The goal of trials

1. God wants us to know Him better and trust Him more. He uses the struggles we go through to accomplish that. Can you relate to that? I certainly can.

2. Godly character is developed in our lives to increase our influence in the world we live in….many more people would be drawn to Jesus because of us. John 12:32, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

3. When we go through our fiery furnaces with God, we will be prepared to glorify Him as overcomers and be equipped to face our future struggles and battles…leading to future greater victories.

So we need to settle in our hearts that something great will be accomplished in and through the daily struggles we face. It’s time to stop asking God to comfort us according to our misconceived notion of comfort. Instead of asking Him to take us out of our struggles we will pray that He comfort us by being with us in the struggles.

Oh yes. I almost forgot to mention another thing.

4. One way God promotes us in His kingdom is through the victories we win in battle.

Promotion on the way!

In other words, the struggle you face is proof that God is getting ready to promote you in His kingdom! The greater the struggle, the greater the promotion. Wow! That means some of us are on the verge of great promotions in God’s kingdom!

David proves my point. After he faced and killed his Goliath, he was promoted from shepherd boy to king over God’s people.

In conclusion, the struggle you face today is about the destiny of tomorrow. The bigger the struggle the more that’s at stake. The next time you ask God to comfort you, remember there’s no victory without a battle. Don’t circumvent your destiny by giving in to comfort.…