There is Always a Way Back -- Part II

In the previous blog entry, we addressed the challenges people face in the middle of difficult times in life. We pointed out that there are times in life when you can find yourself filled with loss, injury, or pain. If you are not vigilant, these feelings can find places to lodge, even in the cells of your body, so that the stress and trauma you experienced has not only psychological consequences but also physiological consequences.

Yet there is good news! God is able to move you past painful experiences, prior failures, injuries, and areas where you just plain missed it. You may have listened to the wrong voice. You may have gone through bankruptcy, divorce, business loss, loss of home, depression, and missed opportunities.

God is able to get you back on track to run effectively the race set before you. You do not have to let any setback keep you back. You certainly do not have to suffer debilitating physical conditions as a result of stress and trauma in your life.

In the prior blog entry we provided the following five helpful suggestions from the Word of God to help you receive the delivering power of God that will heal and deliver your from traumatic and stressful feelings: (1) Acknowledge an issue exists. (2) Consider what is wrong with it. (3) Consciously choose to reject what you now know and acknowledge is negative, debilitating, stifling, and contrary to God’s Word and way. (4) Use your God-given weapons of warfare. (5) Apply the power of the blood of Jesus. You can read the entire prior blog entry to receive the full teaching.

Here we provide the remaining four suggestions.

6. Make a conscious decision to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Ask the Lord to help you think positively. Speak to yourself. Ephesians 5:19 tells us to speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and to make melody in our hearts to the Lord. Don’t let negative thoughts just wander. Don’t say, “I can’t help it!” You CAN help it! Talk to yourself out loud. Confront and control your thoughts.

7. Practice forgiveness. I’m not saying you let people off the hook who harmed you. No, I’m saying you consciously place those people in God’s hands. Choose to forgive those who abused you and hurt you. You don’t have to make excuses for the people. You don’t have to try to justify what they did. You don’t have to pretend they didn’t hurt you. Choose to forgive them and place their fate in God’s hands. They do not have power to control you or your future. Don’t give it to them. Choose to forgive.

8. Consciously think of the blessings in your life. Meditate on and give voice to the blessings in your life. This will enable you to experience even more of God’s love.

9. Earnestly seek the Lord for His direction. As you acknowledge Him in all your ways, He will direct your path (Prov. 3:6). He promised to “speak a word behind your ear saying this is the way walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).

God is able to move you past painful experiences, past failures, injuries, and areas where you missed it. You may have listened to the wrong voice. You may have gone through bankruptcy, divorce, business loss, loss of home, depression, and missed opportunities. God is able to get you back on track to run effectively the race set before you. You do not have to let any setback keep you back. God is able to lift you up, dust you off, and move you forward into a glorious future. You don’t have to die before your time. You don’t have to live with disappointment and regret.

Rev. Janice Davis Steele

http://www.jdsministries.org/

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There is Always a Way Back! Part I

Do you realize hope is present even in the middle of darkness? Sometimes we face daunting challenges in life – events and situations that cause great distress and disruption. We experience an emotional wound or shock that creates substantial damage to our psychological development. In the middle of difficult times in life, you can find yourself filled with loss, injury, or pain. If you are not vigilant, these feelings can find places to lodge, even in the cells of your body, so that the stress and trauma you experienced has not only psychological consequences but also physiological consequences.

Left unchecked, stress and trauma can leave you stuck in the event, even though the incident has long since passed. You can be living with the effects of traumatic events to such an extent that the event colors how you perceive things moving forward. You begin to shape your world from the standpoint of the event, rather than by the Word of God. You will look at the world through eyes of fear, failure, anxiety, grief, etc.

Moreover, stress and trauma can result in very serious physical maladies. In the book Who Switched Off My Brain, the author, Dr. Caroline Leaf details how traumatic, stressful thoughts can lead to diseases in the physical body, such as: hypertension (high blood pressure), angina, coronary artery disease, strokes, aneurysm, immune system disorders, fatigue, depression, allergies, asthma, type 1 diabetes, fibromyalgia, to name a few.

Thank God for Jesus! Jesus came to deliver us spiritually, emotionally, and physically. “He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their distresses.” Psalm 107:20. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to move in such a way that we are sovereignly delivered. God has made available to us an overcoming anointing! Jesus has delivered us from the power of darkness, according to Colossians 1:12-13.

You may be going through a lot, but there is a way to overcome! There is a way to experience divine deliverance! There is a way to actually reverse the power of the dark event and to move forward into the best that lies before you. With Jesus, the best is yet to come!

How do you move past the trauma and stress? It is one thing to read about the delivering power of God, but it is an entirely different matter to decide to embrace it, walk in it, and live it out in your life. Isn’t it time for you to stop harboring traumatic and stressful feelings? Aren’t you tired of being tired? Why not use today to make a conscious decision to appropriate the deliverance Jesus died for you to enjoy? In this blog, I will provide 5 of 10 suggestions. I'll provide the other 5 in the next blog. Stay tuned.

1. Acknowledge an issue exists. Rather than try to pretend the wounds don’t exist, acknowledge them as a first step. The Bible instructs us to cast every care on Jesus. If you do not acknowledge the care exists, how can you give it to Jesus?

2. Consider what is wrong with it. It is important to agree with God. If you are content with harboring unforgiveness, you will not be delivered from the emotional and physical effects of unforgiveness. If you think it is acceptable, or that you deserve to feel sorry for yourself, then you will have erected self-constructed barriers to your own deliverance. Use the Word of God to show you what is wrong with that thought, that emotion, that temptation, that anxiety.

3. Consciously choose to reject what you now know and acknowledge is negative, debilitating, stifling, and contrary to God’s Word and way. For example, you discover that it is not God’s way for you to dwell in a place of constant worry. You discover that staying up at night rehearsing the awful event is not God’s way. God calls it eating the bread of sorrows (Psalm 127:2). Consciously choose to refuse to accept it. Reject it. Speak the Word of God over it. Say, “I am not going to stay up late or get up early eating the bread of sorrows. I reject it, in the name of Jesus.” By doing this, you will break the feedback loop that keeps stroking your emotions and debilitating your body.

4. Use your God-given weapons of warfare. They are mighty! They have “divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4). Say, “In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of His blood, I rebuke and pull down all aspects of (name the issue, e.g., fear, abuse, rage, hatred, anxiety, grief, etc.). I affirm that You have given me weapons -- divine power sufficient to overcome and eradicate every power of darkness.”

5. Apply the power of the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 9:14 tells us that the blood of Jesus is effective to cleanse and purge your mind of dead works so that you can serve the living God. Say, “I cover all levels of my mind – conscious, subconscious, and unconscious – with the blood of Jesus. My mind is purged of negative thoughts and emotions, by the power of the blood of Jesus. Thank you for the blood of Jesus!”

In the next blog, I will list the remaining five suggestions.


God is able to move you past painful experiences, past failures, injuries, and areas where you missed it. You may have listened to the wrong voice. You may have gone through bankruptcy, divorce, business loss, loss of home, depression, and missed opportunities. God is able to get you back on track to run effectively the race set before you. You do not have to die before your time. You do not have to let any setback keep you back. God is able to lift you up, dust you off, and move you forward into a glorious future. It's time to let Him do just that, isn't it?


Janice Davis Steele


http://www.jdsministries.org/

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How to Have an Ear to Hear

Each day you hear so many voices speaking to you – through the media, through people, through things you read, through experiences, through circumstances, etc. It is vital that you learn how to ferret out the noise to hear God speaking to you.

God has promised in Isaiah 30:21, “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.” Even Jesus said, “He that has an ear to hear, let him hear….” Rev. 2:7, 17. Jesus also promised to send the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. John 16:13. So just how can you discern what is really God speaking and what is not?

First and foremost, any true message from the Lord must be biblically based. There must be Bible back-up! You really need two or three corresponding scriptures that agree with what you believe you have received. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” 2 Cor. 13:1; Deut. 17:6; 19:6. You will develop the ability to discern the more you read, study, gain understanding, and more importantly, apply and live by the Word of God. Your level of discernment will become almost automatic.

Second, the message must speak to you where you live. It must be personal to you. Isaiah 30:21 says your ears will hear a word behind you – it must be personal to you. That is especially so if someone comes to you saying they have a message from God for you. That message must have biblical support and it must be relevant to your life in a meaningful way.

Third, it must have the effect of improving a situation. The effect of the message should be that it changes a situation for the better. Somebody’s life should be improved, changed, saved, etc., by implementing or acting upon the message you received. I Corinthians 14:3.

Applying these guidelines should help you better discern God’s voice.

Janice Davis Steele

www.jdsministries.org/

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Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's passing is both woeful and surreal. The self-described king of Pop was unquestionably a gift from heaven. He was so extraordinarily talented. Sadly, he also seemed to suffer from a conflict of the soul. Even though on the one hand he seemed to have it all, on the other hand he seemed to be plagued by a certain emptiness, a void. It seemed as if he tried to fill this void with things reminiscent of good times and laughter: amusement rides, a personal zoo, etc. At the same time, he seemed to search for a greater purpose in his life. Some of his music, like "Man in the Mirror" (listen below), points to this other, searching side of MJ.

The truth is, no one can truly understand purpose unless and until he/she is acquainted with his/her creator. Don't get me wrong; clearly MJ was destined to create music and entertain. In that respect he lived out his purpose and accomplished what no other entertainer has ever accomplished: greatest selling album ever; 13 Grammy awards, etc. Yet, it seems there remained this dissatisfaction, a sense of longing, a void -- he knew there was something else. His songs "Heal the World," "We are the World," "Man in the Mirror," "The Lost Children," etc., hint at a recognition on some level that there was something more he was to do with his gift.

Life is so ephemeral, so fleeting. It is important to seek God, to feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us (Acts 17:27). Jesus alone gives true peace, true satisfaction, and true meaning to life.

Rev. Janice Davis Steele

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NEVERTHELESS!

What do you do when you are facing a challenge you would prefer to walk away from rather than confront? I think we all face these kinds of situations. You know, even Jesus, faced such a situation. As the time neared where Jesus would offer Himself to die on the Cross for our sins, He agonized over the prospect. Jesus said, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me...nevertheless, not as I will but as You will" (Matthew 26:39).These words from Jesus are quite instructive. They let us know Jesus fully and honestly recognizes the extent and depth of human difficulties. At the same time, they show that despite the breadth and depth of difficulty, God's way is always best. His way will always produce blessing and fruitfulness far beyond anything we could have seen or even imagined at the time we faced the difficulty.Decide today to confront challenges by obeying the Word of God. It will yield a life that is fruitful and fulfilling.

Consider Simon Peter in Luke 5:1-9. He and his fishing partners had toiled in their own strength, pulling an "all-nighter," and had caught absolutely nothing. After having been out all night and after having just cleaned all those fishing nets, Jesus instructs Peter to begin the process all over again by throwing the nets BACK into the water. He had already tried and failed. He had nothing. Now he was receiving an instruction from God that seemed like a repeat of what he had just done. Peter confronted that challenge by saying, "Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net" (Luke 5:5). When he obeyed, the boat filled up so much that it began to sink!

When you agree to say, "NEVERTHELESS, I will do your will, Lord," you, too will understand that God's ways reach far beyond our understanding at the moment, but they will allways yield abundance and blessing beyond what you ever could have imagined while you were facing that trial or challenge. Agree with God and get ready to experience amazing abundance in your own life!

Janice Davis Steele


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The Heroes Among Us

On June 10, 2009 we stood transfixed, frozen with disbelief, unable to wrap our minds around the depth of depravity, the viciousness, and the perversion, that apparently so consumed an octogenarian that he engaged in a diabolical mission, bent on destroying lives and shattering families. Why would anyone select the Holocaust Memorial Museum -- a place with such piercingly painful memories of man’s inhumanity toward man -- only to inflict more pain, death, and wickedness? How could anyone openly and brazenly brandish such a large firearm in broad daylight on a busy Washington street without being noticed, much less stopped?


Our attempt to try to process and make sense of it all ends in frustration: the demonic neither yields to nor respects the rational.


We thank God for the heroism of Stephen T. Johns, the security officer who selflessly placed himself in harm’s way. Johns’ heroic act in the line of duty foiled what apparently was the gunman’s deranged plot to kill many innocent individuals visiting the Holocaust Museum that day. In one day, worldwide, Johns’ name became synonymous with heroism. We thank God for Harry Weeks and Jason McCuiston, the two other museum security officers who returned fire and injured the assailant, putting a stop to his demonic rampage.


We also thank God for Jacqueline Carter, Johns’ mother. Her response to it all has been extraordinary -- an exemplar of Christ-likeness. In the midst of such heartrending depredation, and with the eyes of the world upon her, this elegant, beautiful, poised Christian has extended unimaginable grace, love, compassion, and forgiveness. She has told all who will listen that her God and her faith will get her through this. She has openly forgiven her son’s assailant, and has openly prayed that the assailant’s son would find it in his heart to forgive his father for his heinous act. This is not some resigned acceptance of the hands of fate. Neither has her response been some artificial gesture meant for public display. One thing we can all attest to is when pressed hard enough, what’s really in you will come out. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Carter, when pressed beyond measure, has exuded what is in her: the love of God.


You see, Carter has drawn upon the wells of salvation within her (Isaiah 12:3). She has drawn upon a reservoir of the Word of God that has been built up over decades of intimacy with the Lord. She has tapped into and received grace to help in time of need. She radiates with what Zechariah 12:10 calls the spirit of grace. It is a picture of triumph over tragedy. It is wondrous to behold.


I have known Jacqueline Carter for more than fifteen years. I have watched her sing praises to the Lord. I have watched her dance before the Lord. I have watched her delve into the Word of God. Her love of God is genuine. Her worship is authentic.


I tell you, it is one thing to preach Matthew 5:44 (“But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you;”) but it is another thing entirely to live it, especially where the rubber meets the road.


The Bible tells us in Philippians 3:17 “Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.” Carter is a model of courageous faith in action. She, too, is our hero.


I encourage you to show your love toward this family by giving to one of the three funds that have been established:

• The U.S. Holocaust Museum Memorial -- Checks payable to USHMM Officer Johns Family Fund may be mailed to USHMM, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl. SW, Washington D.C. 20024. Contributions can also be made by calling 877-91USHMM (877-918-7466) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. or going to the museum's Web site: http://www.ushmm.org/.
  






• Wackenhut, Stephen T. Johns' employer, asks that contributions be made by check or money order payable to Zakia Christina Johns in care of WSI Wachovia, 4440 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. 33410.
  






• Checks payable to the American Jewish Committee, with "Holocaust Museum Memorial Fund" on the memo line, should be mailed to: American Jewish Committee Washington Chapter in care of Melanie Maron Pell, 1156 15th St. NW, Suite 1201, Washington D.C. 20005. Donations will also be accepted at the AJC Web site: http://www.ajc.org/c.org/.
  

Rev. Janice Davis Steele

http://www.jdsministries.org/

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How to Delight Yourself in the Lord

During the May Triumph! seminar, we learned from the book of Nehemiah how to follow the desires of your heart. God wants you to experience the things you have dreamed of. In fact, it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Phil. 1:12-13. Often, your desires flow from the heart of God to your spirit. He places in you a burning desire, a mission, a task. But what do you do with that? Psalm 37:4 says if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.

How do you delight yourself in the Lord? Here is a helpful exercise:

I. Daily Smile -- Upon arising, put a big smile on your face. Just smile broadly. Keep smiling for at least five minutes! Bless the Lord! Say Good morning, LORD!

Then name 10 things you are thankful for. Identify things you are grateful for. This simple step will help put you in the place where you are delighting in the LORD. [Psalm 100 tells us to enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise].

II. Acknowledge the Godly Desire -- Make certain the desire agrees with God's Word. God will not deviate from His Word. Once you establish from two or more witnesses (scriptures) that the desire truly is from God, talk to the Lord and let Him know, through prayer, that you acknowledge that it is God who has placed the desire in you. Why do this? Because Proverbs 3:6 tells us that when we acknowledge God in all our ways, He will direct our paths! Direction is what you are seeking, isn't it? Then acknowledge God!

III. Imagine/Visualize Victory -- Imagine having received the desires. What would it look like, smell like, taste like, sound like, feel like? Put yourself in the place. This is not wishful thinking. This is getting a vision of victory. This is a prelude to believing you receive. Seeing is vital. Write it down. Write the vision and make it plain so they that read it can run with it. Hab. 2:4.

IV. Pray -- Mark 11:24 says, "Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe you receive them, and you shall have them." You must pray in faith, believing that you will attain and experience the desire the Lord has placed within you.

Many people who attended the seminar have reported tremendous success in areas of their lives after having implemented these simple instructions. If the Lord is leading you to follow suit, please obey! Then holler back and share with us what the Lord has done! Leave a comment!

Janice Davis Steele
http://www.jdsministries.org/

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