Waking up to a new day with joy, fully knowing God hears and answers your prayers, and praying in childlike faith will put a new step in your life. It’s like the excitement of a parent hearing their unborn child’s heartbeat for the first time. It is life changing and will create a flame in your heart to win souls. 

You will find yourself getting in step with God and living with eternity in mind. It will be a new way of thinking for your mind and heart. You will begin to notice that natural things have spiritual meanings and your eyes will be opened to new levels of understanding.

Since the ultimate purpose for all believers is to rescue those held under sin’s bondage of death, what are you waiting for? You will meet people in need today in your daily routine of going to work, filling the gas tank in your car, standing in line at the pharmacy, running your usual route for daily exercise, sitting in a business meeting, or going to the grocery store near your home. What is your job description while going about your day? You are an ambassador for Christ and you are much like a fireman—you rescue people by giving them hope through sharing your faith in Jesus Christ.

If you want a fresh revelation of how important your job is…take the time to watch the movie, Schindler’s List. As you watch the movie, notice the details and observe how Oskar Schindler spent the fortune he had made to buy lives from Hitler’s death lists. 

One more soul matters. Every life matters. Without Christ, every soul will perish. 

You are called and anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to preach the gospel of hope to the poor. You have been sent and empowered to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives. You have been given divine authority in Jesus’ name to open the eyes of the blind and to set at liberty those who are oppressed of the devil. (See Luke 4:18-19)

Look for opportunities to point people to Jesus through sharing what God has done in your life. Be a problem solver—don’t attack people. Love God, love people, and share the Good News!

You are anointed today, cleverly disguised in whatever sphere of influence you find yourself, to proclaim the “acceptable year of the Lord”!  I don’t know about you, but I am expecting the media and news to be filled with amazing reports of what God is doing and miracles that will give others hope.

Are you prepared to do what Jesus has commanded you to do?  We must be prepared to pay the price and say with Jesus, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). 

We all need God’s grace. Proverbs 3:34 says that God “…gives grace to the humble.” We must choose to humble ourselves through prayer and fasting so that our hearts are pure and there is no mixture in our motives and lives. The biblical path to humility is through prayer and fasting. 

Genuine humility is not what you are wearing or not wearing. It is an attitude of the heart to please God at all costs. It is thinking the best and being patient in His presence—knowing if it had not been for the grace of God…need I say more. Humility is the position for triumph. 

Take time to read Philippians 2:5-9 today and learn from Jesus, our ultimate model of ministry, discipleship, and leadership. Ask God to give you a pure heart as you spend time in His presence. 

When Jesus speaks of purity, He is speaking of someone whose sins have been forgiven and whose heart has been made new, whose purity comes, not from themselves, but from the presence of Jesus in their lives. It’s all about Jesus and being so in love with Him that you are hidden in Christ —totally abandoned to Him—with your heart on fire for God. You begin to see what He sees and have understanding, perception, and discernment that you wouldn’t have otherwise into the heart of people and situations to be a light to the world, pointing others to Jesus because He holds first place in your own life. 

The tugging in your heart is the Holy Spirit fanning the flame for you to cooperate with Him in the most wonderful adventure of sharing His great love and amazing grace with all you encounter.

HIS LOVE and mine,

Deborah Starczewski

A dear friend called me with a prayer request for her mom a few weeks ago. She was unresponsive and later was decided she needed to be in a nursing home for total health care because of what appeared to be dementia.

Her daughter asked the physicians to take another look at tests that were done due to a little change in her mom after they removed a very small amount of fluid from her brain. She had an aneurysm 19 years ago and had a shunt put in that was obviously causing another problem currently.

The physician told my friend there was absolutely no way possible that removing such a small amount of fluid from her mom’s brain that there could be change in her mental state and even be noticeable. However, that is exactly what happened.

The physician removed more fluid from her mom’s brain and she became responsive and started to improve. As I began to think about her mom improving and starting to walk and live again, I knew that is exactly what the enemy of our souls tries to do to us in life.

Satan tries to use circumstances to apply pressure to cause people to give up, become discouraged, depressed, and to drive people to suicide in some cases through the feeling of hopelessness. You can rest assured that when pressure is coming from all sides, there is something new coming on the horizon.

I have good news. There is hope in Jesus Christ.

I was watching a movie the other night and realized that the evil people that had taken hostages in the White House (movie: WHITE HOUSE DOWN) were aggravated and ran out of a room when the good guys in the movie activated the sprinkler system that started spraying water everywhere.

We must learn as believers in Jesus Christ that the enemy tries to get us discouraged or distracted to keep us from saying what God says about us. Satan tries to wear people out and wear them down—emotionally, physically, and financially. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

When we pray the Word of God with our voices, we have the power to bring heaven to earth. Our heavenly sprinkler system is activated to bring help and to change the atmosphere and to run the devil out of our lives.

The Bible says that when we pray the Word of God, angels hearken to the voice of the Word of God. Psalm 103:1-22 praises God’s sovereignty over all His creation, yet it also shows His awareness and care of us as individuals.

That is great news my friends.

There is something to be thankful for in life—God knows us by name and He goes to extreme measures to care for His own. Those convinced that God rules have a distinct advantage over those who believe things happen randomly. Nothing escapes God’s all seeing eye. Don’t give up today. Activate heaven’s angels—by praying the Word of God.

We must renew our minds in the Word of God—because that is where the enemy attacks.

With many years of ministry, I have come to learn there are three types of Christians. Many simply receive salvation but don’t realize there is more in Jesus Christ. The second type is the Christian who received salvation and moves to the place of surrender and allows Jesus to be Lord of their life and starts to grow.

The third type of Christian is the one who has been saved, knows Jesus as Lord, and moves to listening to the LORD through the Holy Spirit and obeying His leading and teachings. We are all on a journey of faith.

If you are being attacked in your mind or in any other area, there is more to experience in Jesus Christ. You may be experiencing attack in your marriage, your family or some other relationship, your health, business, or it may be a friend. Choose to activate the Word of God in your life and know that even a small amount of the Water of God’s Word will bring change and give you hope for full recovery of all. It brings new life just like a flower that begins to bloom.

God’s Word says, “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint” (Jeremiah 31:25).

Like my friend’s mom who is learning to live again—choose life today. 

Waiting for someone to apologize is like trying to jump across the ocean in a single leap. No matter how wide the gulf may be between you and that particular person—it may be your mom, your dad, a brother or sister, your own children, your spouse, a longtime friend, or a friend who turned out not to be such a good friend, to a relative or business associate—choose to release it to God and trust His timing.

I can assure you that you will never be capable of making anyone apologize for bad behavior. As a matter of fact, if you can convince someone to apologize through manipulation or any other way, you have achieved nothing but mere words. Words do not indicate a heart change.

Life is way too short to hold a grudge or to waste another moment waiting for someone else to do the right thing. You only have control over your own behavior and choices. When you choose to forgive someone, even if they don’t apologize, the healing can begin.

While the person is alive, you might want to make things right from your end because life is fragile and no one is promised another day. God’s Word says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32 NIV).

There are no perfect people, no perfect relationships, and no perfect families. There is only one God that can bring healing and He alone is perfect. He is God and the only One who can extend perfect love and grace to each of us as we turn to Him.

Choose to make 2016 the best year ever by extending grace where it may not even be deserved—because none of us deserved God’s grace, mercy, and love.

Forgiveness is the key to bringing about your destiny and watching God open new doors for you to walk through. Choose to forgive and live!

Deborah Starczewski