Friday, December 14, 2018

I WILL BE OUT OF THE OFFICE DECEMBER 15-DECEMBER 26 FOR CHRISTMAS




MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and your family,

I look forward to connecting back with you after Christmas for a much needed time of rest. I pray that no matter where you find yourself this Christmas season that you can take some time to reflect and enjoy the true meaning of Christmas.

Many blessings to you.
Stephanie

Counselor's Corner: Practical Ways to Keep Christ in Christmas




So many of us can get lost in the hustle and bustle of buying gifts, attending parties, and preparing our homes for family that we forget to keep Christ at the center. We can easily lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas, and before long end up stressed and overwhelmed from the barrage of things to get done before December 25th. It is important to slow down, balance your schedule, and reflect on why this day even exists.

Through my own experience with trying to manage visiting all my relatives, buying a gift for everyone, and preparing my home for family visits; I simply got lost in the busyness of it all. I will share with you 10 tips on how to manage your time and keep the focus of Christmas.

1.      Set aside a special time to read with your family the Christmas story in Luke 1:5-56 through 2:1-20.
2.      On Christmas Eve, start a tradition of taking family communion together as a way to remember Christ’s death and resurrection.
3.      Set up a nativity scene in your home or front yard as a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. Put up Christ centered decorations and ornaments through your home, and place lights on your Christmas tree to symbolize the “light of the world.”
4.      Play Christ-centered Christmas music as a way to focus on Christ and the miracle of His birth. Secular Christmas music is fun, but too much of it can take the true meaning away from Christmas.
5.      Attend a Christmas service at your church, and worship the Lord for sending His son into the world for us.
6.      Send Christmas cards with a spiritual message. This can be a great way to share the birth of Jesus Christ with others.
7.      Make a birthday cake for Jesus. You can even sing happy birthday to Jesus.
8.      Find ways to give back to others by your time and/or resources. You can even show the love of Christ to your neighbors by baking them homemade treats.
9.      Keep focused on what Christ has done in your life by writing or saying (5) things that you are grateful for daily.
10.  Watch the Nativity Story and choose other Christmas movies that you can watch that incorporates Christian values.

In this season of celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, may you be reminded to include Christ into your family’s festivities. Teach your children and talk to them about why Christmas is celebrated. When I was growing up all I really knew about Christmas was Santa and getting gifts. Santa was the main focus and what I would get for Christmas. I went to Christmas Eve mass with my family, but we never discussed why we did that and the importance of going. It was not until I received Christ as my Savior in my twenties, that I came to realize the meaning of Christmas.

What about you? What Christmas traditions do you have that keep Christ at the center? Share yours our readers.


Thursday, December 13, 2018

Counselor's Corner: Know How to Contend For Your Destiny





You know that God has a plan for your life, but you have not been able to reach your full purpose yet. You must know how to contend for your destiny to fulfill what God has in store for you.



We all have been created with a purpose and to fulfill God’s destiny for us. When we walk in our destiny or our created purposes, the Kingdom of God gets advanced. Walking into our destiny usually comes with a battle from the kingdom of darkness.




How to contend for your destiny:



1.      First and most importantly, know what your created purpose is. Everyone has a purpose, and if you do not know yours take some time and ask the Lord to reveal to you why He created you. Write down your strengths, your weaknesses, prior jobs that you had and enjoyed, and your greatest struggles and triumphs. Listen to what other people say about you consistently such as, “you’re always such an encourager.” What are your spiritual gifts? God will take your talents, gifts, personality, experiences, and He will use your strengths for your created destiny. God will even use your trials, struggles, and heartache for good.

2.      Write down what you believe your destiny is. Speak daily your destiny over yourself. Even if you cannot perceive how and when your destiny will unfold, believe by faith that God has set you on the path to your purpose.

3.      Understand that there are no small opportunities to advancing to your destiny. Small opportunities lead to bigger opportunities. Do not get discouraged if you do not feel you are not fully walking in your destiny, every small step that you take can lead you to your destiny.

4.      Recognize that you will be tested repeatedly as to your faithfulness to your calling and especially to your loyalty and love to Jesus. This testing is extremely beneficial as you fully walk into your destiny. It is better to get tested now and develop spiritual maturity, perseverance, steadfastness, and an overcoming spirit than to abort your destiny because you cannot handle the pressure.

5.      Be aware that you will be refined until there is nothing in your character that could hinder fulfilling your destiny. Anything that needs to be purged out of your mind, soul or emotions that does not reflect the Glory of God-will be purged out! Nothing will be remaining in you that could be corrupt, immoral, or contentious to the things of God. Some people do not allow God to refine them because to be frank, it can be painful. If you do not allow God to take you through the tests and refinement before stepping into your destiny, you will take an enormous chance of hurting others because of your immaturity, backsliding into sin because you could not handle the pressures, or not finishing what you were called to do because you lack perseverance and steadfastness.

6.      You must let God heal and uproot emotional wounds. Invest in spending intimate time with the Lord daily as He ministers and heals your heart. Your broken heart must undergo the “heart surgery” from the great physician before you can fully enter into your destiny. Remember, hurting people hurt people. Don’t run from your pain but let God expose and mend all your broken areas, then you will be much more capable of ministering to others who are in need of repair. If your destiny does not involve directly working with others, still allow God to mend any broken areas so that you can be as productive as possible. You will still be taking small steps towards your destiny as God is mending your heart and emotions.

7.      Spiritual opposition will come to discourage, delay or completely stop you. If one day it feels like you have taken two steps back or what could go wrong does, regroup again and move forward. This is where you learn about persistence and perseverance. Battles are not won all at once but one victory after another.

8.      There are those sent into your life as destiny destroyers. They come into your life to hinder and weaken your calling, usually when you are about to move forward into your destiny. Recognize and be aware of who the enemy uses as destiny destroyers in your life. The greater the destiny, the greater the warfare will be. You must know how to employ the right spiritual warfare. We battle against not flesh and blood but against principalities and rulers of this dark world. You will need to become a spiritual warrior and know how to be victorious over the attacks the enemy sends to you to defeat, discourage and stop you.

9.      Don’t curse your destiny. Speak life and truth about your destiny not words like, “I am such a failure I can’t do that.”

10.  Do something everyday towards your destiny, but remember it is God who opens and closes doors that no man can. Just be determined to do your part and let God do His part.

11.  Face your “giants- “fear, worry, doubt. Overcome and subdue your giants with Christ until they become smaller than the God that is in you. You must not cower in fear to your giants but you need to learn to conqueror each one. You must believe that you are a weapon of war, trained by God to make the enemy a footstool until the return of Christ. You must understand your authority over the kingdom of darkness and take dominion over all that God has given you.

12.  Keep focused as distractions come to derail you from what you should be doing. Distractions can come in many forms, and some are sent from the enemy.



Your destiny unfolds overtime. Knowing God’s timing is crucial. There are times we will be tested, times of learning about spiritual warfare, times of strength training, times we learn about perseverance and persistence, and times we know we are to go forward.



What do you believe your God-given destiny is? Are you ready to contend for your destiny?

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Counselor's Corner: Never Feeling Sastified




When do you feel satisfied the most in your life? After eating a big slice of chocolate cake, buying a new outfit, or when you complete a goal? All of these can be good, but they can never truly satisfy long-term. Do indulgences that you partake in feel good? Yes, of course, but you will need to continually supply yourself with these indulgences to get the feeling of being satisfied. This is why you may know people who go into debt, or develop an addiction to food, alcohol or drugs.



When you run to temporary satisfactions more than you run to Jesus, you will never be able to find the deep satisfaction that can only be found in Him.




Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water that I give them will never thirst again” (John 4:13, NIV).  Jesus is all satisfying. When you give your life fully to Jesus and make Him in charge of your entire life, you will not “thirst” after temporary satisfaction like you once did.



Is it easy to fill your emptiness, heartache, or pain with temporary satisfaction? Absolutely! Most would say they want quick relief from pain. Next time you want to immediately run to a “quick fix” for your boredom, suffering, or distress try giving Jesus a chance first.


Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Counselor's Corner: Choose to Focus on Your Progress Not Your Failures





Are the thoughts about yourself centered on what you are doing right more or on what you are doing wrong more? Do you tend to focus on your failures instead of any progress that you have made?



→Choose to magnify your progress not your failures. Choose to magnify your strengths not your weaknesses.



Focus can be defined as what you concentrate on the most or the center of your attention.




We all have faults, weaknesses, and have made mistakes. The problem is when the enemy places a magnifying glass over each one of your weaknesses, and your focus becomes distorted and all you can see are the negative aspects about yourself.



Focusing on your deficits can cause discouragement, defeat, and depression.



Focusing too long on what is wrong with you can cause you to shrink back and not go forward, and this is exactly where the enemy wants you-stuck in the past and living in defeat of your past mistakes.



If God has forgiven your sins, He does not keep reminding you of your failures!



The enemy will attempt to get you to focus on all that is wrong with yourself. There are some key things to watch for and to recognize when the enemy has your focus distorted on the negative areas in your life.



1.      Your focus will turn to your circumstances more than to Jesus, and your circumstances will appear larger than they really are. When your focus shifts to all the distractions, chaos, and upheaval around you it is easy to feel anxious, uneasy, irritable, worried, and fearful.

2.      Confusion instead of clarity. You can doubt yourself, your strengths and your abilities because the enemy has you focused on what you have done wrong, and he will use people closet to you to remind you of your failures.

3.      Past hurts and insecurities are magnified. What you thought you dealt with in the past gets rehashed. This rehashing is an attempt to weaken you and to cause you to doubt what God is doing in your life. The past is used to hinder you as you attempt to move forward and enter a new season in your life. The enemy will try and derail progress and growth, and he will use anyone or anything to accomplish this.



This week CHOOSE to focus on your strengths, your victories, and your good qualities. Write out what God shows you about yourself and CHOOSE to believe Him. CHOOSE to completely forgive yourself of any past mistakes and CHOOSE to love and nurture yourself. Be good to yourself. Don’t let the enemy erect lies in your mind about yourself, he is the accuser of the brethren.














Monday, December 10, 2018

Counselor's Corner: Wait for God to Vindicate You



As a believer in Christ one of the most hurtful experiences you can have is when you are misjudged, slandered, falsely accused, or rejected. The pain of these experiences is deeper if they happen with a loved one. When you take a stand for truth or start living for God instead of pleasing man, don’t be surprised who attacks you. Your flesh will want to vindicate itself, and prove that you are wrongly being misinterpreted.



Jesus did say to, “Turn the other cheek and forgive 70x7,” but what about when you keep getting mistreated by the same person? Stepping aside and allowing God to vindicate you would be your best outcome for this situation, and operating from a heart of forgiveness towards those that mistreat you.



Jesus in no way wants you continually wounded, inflicted by another’s wrath, manipulated, controlled or abused (verbal or physical).



Reflect and ponder: You could be at a crossroads in your life-you have tried to build bridges of reconciliation and offer open and honest communication with others who have mistreated you, but the person or people who you are dealing with are still behaving spiteful, cruel, malicious, manipulative, or offensive in some way. Should you continue to reach out hoping the next time they will not do something damaging to you? Releasing the people who have injured you and allowing God to vindicate you would be a better choice than continuing in a relationship. Perhaps down the road you can try again to restore your relationship if you know there is repentance and a turning away from previous damaging behaviors towards you.



When you are waiting for God to vindicate you:



1.      Ask God to cleanse you and forgive you of your part (if there is one, usually there is). Repent of any wrong doing that you are aware of.

2.      Forgive your offender. Your heart will need to be cleansed of any bitterness, unforgiveness, and offense before you can proceed to forgiving someone who has repeatedly wounded your heart or who has not offered forgiveness. Talk to the Lord or a trusted, Godly person about your struggles with the individual or group that has inflicted pain to you, not as a way to gossip or to pass judgment but to cleanse what is in your heart. Make sure to pray after releasing your experiences. Bringing what is hidden in the dark into the light brings healing, but it is important that you don’t keep rehashing what happened again and again.

3.      Do not retaliate in anyway against your offenders or take revenge upon them. Turning the other cheek does not mean keep standing there and allowing someone to hurt you, it means walk away and do not take matters into your own hands.

4.      Begin to pray and speak blessings over the ones who have used you, misjudged you, rejected you, and falsely accused you. This is an example of “doing good to your enemies.”

5.      Let go and release the people that have hurt you into God’s hands. Stop focusing on what happened and move on.

6.      God makes all things right in His time. Wait patiently for God to vindicate you. Wait humbly. Wait meekly. Persist in prayer that God will clear your name.



MEDIATE ON THESE SCPITURES:



All those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing and those who strive against you shall perish. You shall seek them-those who contend with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying, “Fear not, I will help you.”

Isaiah 41:9-13



Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Matthew 5:11



Vindicate me, O Lord, For I have walked in integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.

Psalm 26:1-2



Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; and deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!

Psalm 43:1



Vindicate me, O Lord, according to your righteousness; and let not them rejoice over me.

Psalm 35:24


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