What is significant about the New Year? 2018 in the Hebrew is Ayin Chet, meaning “The Year of the Doorway.” The word doorway is defined as “the entrance or access into a room” and also “a threshold or point of transition.” And God is overthrowing the enemy in your life. He is making the enemy your footstool. He is opening blind eyes, and making Himself known to those who will hear and see. 

CJB Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of ADONAI are everywhere, watching the evil and the good.

CJB 2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the ANONAI move here and there throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of those who are wholehearted toward him. 

The LORD’s eyes are looking over all the nations for perfect and complete judgment for a new beginning. Look at Genesis 19:29: “But when Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and sent Lot out, away from the destruction, when he OVERTHREW the cities in which Lot lived.”  It is not time to play church. It’s time to follow the Lord God wholeheartedly. We must stand for what God stands for…we must stand with Israel if we want to be blessed as a nation. 

If you are half-heartedly following the Lord, choose to wholly follow Him now. Choose to answer Jesus standing at the door of your heart knocking to enter. Choose to fully cross-over and follow Christ—wholeheartedly. 

If you are wholly following the Lord and wonder why you had so much warfare in 2017, it is because you are a believer in Christ and are a threat to the enemy and taking territory away from him. Jesus was hated by the world as well. 

Regardless of mankind’s opinion, whether you are exalted or abased, be determined in your heart and mind to wholly follow the Lord God—carry the Cross of Christ throughout conflict. Be determined to live with a forgiving heart. 

None of us have arrived to perfection, but if we will live to bring pleasure to Jesus Christ, if we each have this attitude, we will put to death our reactions to criticisms. Choose to not be offended. Desperately seek to have Christ’s nature found in you and to be changed into His image. 

Choose to live in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom—and the source of every blessing imaginable. To disobey God is foolishness, expensive and disappointing. 

The fear of the Lord prolongs life. (Proverbs 10:27). Choose to have a spirit like Caleb and Joshua found in God’s Word. Be a God-pleaser, not a man-pleaser. Decide today to trust and surrender your life to God. 

Do you want the best for your children and family? Surrender your life to God and live before your children a godly life. If you don’t, you can’t expect your kids to do so. Choose to yield yourself to a Holy God—surrender to Jesus Christ and His ways.

We all mess up—God forgives us. He knows us perfectly. The wisest decision you will ever make is to fear the Living God and to obey Him at the slightest whisper at the door of your heart. 

God has a new doorway for you to enter—a new threshold for you to walk over with Him. He wants you to put Him first in your life. He wants you to live with passion and purpose. He wants you to talk to Him when you wake up, when you get in your automobile, when you are working among people who don’t know Him, when you go to bed at night. He wants you to tell other people about Him, not only by what you say, but by how you treat them and how they see you either respond or react to life. 

Choose this day to wholly follow the Lord, to fully trust Him when everything around you looks like it is falling apart—it just may be falling into place. God has the most beautiful and amazing ways of redeeming our past and using the conflicts we walk through to prepare us for our purpose in Him. (Remember the story of Joseph). 

It is a beautiful thing to see how the Lord causes all things to work for good. May God cause you to forget all the troubles of the past and to see His great plan and purpose for your life WITH HIM in 2018. He wants you to walk through the new door with your divine connections from Him. He has divinely aligned you with specific people on purpose and for you to fulfill your destiny in HIM. 

Choose to not settle for anything less than absolute victory! Choose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and obey him immediately. Radical obedience opens doors that no man can close. Pray and believe God. Time spent in prayer is never wasted. 

Occupy till Jesus comes. It’s a new year—and one of acceleration when you partner with the HOLY SPIRIT. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! 

Blessings to you in 2018!

Deborah Starczewski 

BOOKS BY DEBORAH STARCZEWSKI

GOD’S PRICELESS TREASURE (How To Overcome Challenges, Be Transformed And Know Your Purpose)….move from drama to destiny, pain to purpose, a mess to a message of hope for others. Choose to turn your trials into triumph through turning to Jesus Christ. 

A LEAP OF FAITH (25 Days At The Mercy Seat)…the ways the Holy Spirit led us will keep you turning the pages. God raised my husband from death, healed him from two strokes, and walked with us through two open heart surgeries. Wait till you read the story of my daddy passing to GLORY and how God healed our son through his first open-heart surgery. You will be amazed at how God goes to extreme details in life. It will give you increased faith to believe God for anything and teach you how to hear God in greater measure for yourself. 

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR (Will America Turn Back To God?)….a must read for all. Makes a great gift for friends, family, and anyone else.

Never doubt God’s love. There is something quite beautiful and amazing about God’s capacity to cause all things to work for good–because of Jesus.

“How blessed is the man whose strength is in THEE: in whose heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring” –Psalm 84:5-6.

Baca means “weeping.”  Most people have had times of weeping when hearts and hopes feel crushed in this life through some crisis, hardship, betrayal, or devastation. 

Do not ever doubt God’s love. Remember, He answers prayer in ways we might not think. He always does it in ways so we know it’s HIM. He goes to extreme measures to make Himself known. 

Because God has placed in our hearts “highways to Zion,” when we pass through valleys; we do not live in them. We pass through with Jesus. Once we are on the other side of weeping (having experienced extreme heartbreak, betrayal, and hurts) our Redeemer makes our valley experience into “a spring.” The very thing that overwhelmed us, no matter if it was for a season or even years, in time, will refresh us because we know that God was with us through it all. We look back and see His Hand behind the scenes of the past, and know He is with us in the present and whatever the future may hold. We are able to share of His goodness because we have a new testimony. 

Has someone hurt your deeply? Has the enemy isolated you and caused you to doubt God’s love? Never forget—even the hairs on your head are numbered. God cares deeply. It is His great love for us that redeems our hardships. He brings good out of what was meant for evil—remember the story of Joseph in God’s Word. He was betrayed by his brothers and they left him to die. He was unjustly accused by Potiphar’s wife, imprisoned and forgotten by all EXCEPT GOD. God watched Joseph’s reaction to difficulty and was with him through it all. Rich or poor, blessed or persecuted, Joseph served God. Joseph was on trial before men—but was found innocent by God. God used everything Joseph went through to shape him for His purpose. 

God uses our redeemed hardships to train us to deliver other people. Jesus was a man of sorrows. He was One who was acquainted with grief. Yet in all of what He walked through on earth, His suffering was the Father’s means of acquainting Him with the feelings of mankind’s pain and need. What have you walked through that someone else needs to hear to make it through? 

Do not forget, while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. If we will choose to submit and surrender to God’s plan to be formed in us, God will take the sorrowful things we have walked through to enlarge our hearts and fill us with overflowing compassion. Only when we have been acquainted with grief, can we be anointed with true compassion from above to deliver others. 

As we were driving to a luncheon this week, we passed by a shopping center and saw what appeared to be some sort of equipment that made me think of Haman’s gallows in the Book of Esther. The Lord spoke to my heart and reminded me that the plots and traps people set for others, they will be caught in them instead. 

The Bible says: “So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified” (Esther 7:10). Like Esther, we can now come before the King of kings and tell him exactly how we feel, what is on our heart, and what is troubling us—the evil plotted against God’s people that the Holy Spirit has revealed. 

After seeing the hanging pole (or gallows), I chose to turn around and take a picture. It took all of two minutes. I circled through the parking lot, stopped and took the picture, and proceeded out again to the light at the intersection. Interestingly enough, the jeep in front of us had a wheel cover with the word problem upside down, and just over it in white were the words NO PROBLEM.  I knew God was making Himself known to us, and letting us know the obvious. Problems are NO PROBLEM for God. Amen. I know that someone is shouting high praises to Heaven now after reading this as well. 

Then the car in front of us at the next light had a sticker in the window with a circle on it. Inside the circle were two hearts and a CROSS. God wants us to be alert to Him to see what He is revealing. We can see manifestations in the natural of what is happening in the spirit realm—if we are alert and in-tune to God. Because God is Love, He is a communicator. In fact, God is always communicating with us. Being sensitive to the Holy Spirit is an important part of successfully navigating life. 

Be assured, God knows the number of hairs on every head, and HE knows exactly what you or someone you love is walking through right now. He will avenge you and make every crooked place straight. He is long-suffering and waits to give people time to repent. But God doesn’t wait forever. Time is short—eternity is forever—heaven and hell are real. We must choose: LIFE or DEATH.

God has not promised to keep us from valleys of pain and sufferings, but He has promised to make us fruitful in them. As we remain faithful to God in the trials of life, the likeness of Jesus Christ shall emerge in our spirits—thus Christ revealed to those around us. Other people will see the light in us as we stand strong and shine with the glory of God. 

God’s love and mine,

Deborah 

BOOKS BY DEBORAH STARCZEWSKI

GOD’S PRICELESS TREASURE (How To Overcome Challenges, Be Transformed and Know Your Purpose)….published 2011 by Charisma/Creation House Press. Learn how to move from drama to destiny, pain to purpose, a mess to a message, a trial to triumph through turning to Jesus Christ.

A LEAP OF FAITH (25 Days At The Mercy Seat)…the full account of God’s miraculous intervention, resurrection power, dreams, visions, and spirit-led living. You won’t be able to put the book down. God raised my husband from death, healed him from two strokes and walked with us through his two-open heart surgeries. Read and see the stories unfold of my daddy’s passing to heaven, our son’s first open-heart surgery, and the continuing miracles. This book will give you hope to believe God again for yourself, your family, and the nations.

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR (Will America Turn Back To God?)…a must read for all.

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, www.starministriesinc.com and other distributors. 

As I listened quietly to the soft rain that was falling outside the bedroom window, I heard the Father speaking softly to me. He said, “One day soon, all the world will see.” I reflected over the past few weeks, the goodness of God, and how the Holy Spirit of God reveals all hidden truth and shows us things to come. I reflected on the course of events over the past six weeks and how the mercy and grace of God are overwhelming, and how God positions people around us to give us comfort, encouragement, and support. 

As I lay there with tears of joy running down my cheeks, I sensed the sweet presence of Jesus. I heard the Father speaking to me about how Mary, the mother of Jesus, wept at the feet of Jesus as he gave his life on the Cross. Then there was Mary, the follower of Jesus, who knelt at the feet of Jesus, holding onto every word He spoke with an intentional and listening heart. It was as if I were watching the crucifixion in my mind and I could see the women weeping and kneeling beneath the feet of Jesus at the Cross. Then I saw the empty tomb. Then I began to think about what it is going to be like when Jesus comes back for us. 

The Bible says, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25). Matthew 27:56 (Mary, the wife of Cleophas, the mother of James and Joseph). They were also the first witnesses of the resurrection. 

There are several women who accompany Jesus to the cross and tomb. These are the ones who didn’t abandon Jesus when trouble arose. The multitudes who were singing praises a week earlier had deserted Him, but not these women. While it may be hard to determine who all was there, because they were all named Mary, one thing is for sure…they were there for Jesus. 

The Bible says, “Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for His needs” (Matthew 27:55).  These women had been with Christ throughout His ministry, and had followed Him to the cross to encourage Him through this hard time. Can you imagine the comfort Jesus must have felt to look down and see all those sweet ministering women, that have been faithful over the years, there lamenting and mourning His death?

Are we that type of encouragement to those hurting around us? Do we walk through the valley and deep waters with someone, or do we bail when the waters start rising and the fires of trouble start burning? God wants us to stand by each other, encourage each other, and pray for one another. You never know what it means to someone who is hurting or walking through a hard time, for you to show up to be a support and encouragement. 

If you have ever sat beside the bed of a loved one, waiting to hear them speak after surgery, you will know and understand what I mean. If you have ever sat in a hospital waiting room for what seems like endless hours…waiting for the surgeon to come out and tell you everything is ok, you will better understand. Whether you are waiting at the feet of a child in a hospital bed, beside your husband or wife, or a friend or family member, you understand the emotions that come with it. Waiting for someone to come out of surgery can seem like eternity. 

While we are waiting for Jesus’ return, He wants us to be present. Any of us can be too busy being an activist….always doing and never present. It would be like having a meal with a person who is always on their phone talking with someone else. While many things are good, the one thing Jesus seeks above all else is time spent listening to Him, “sitting at His feet.” That is where peace is found…the only place of spiritual rest. If we want to experience spiritual rest, we must be willing to shift our priorities to Jesus. Instead of trying to follow the Holy Spirit, we must surrender to Him. 

Let’s look at Mary of Bethany….she is one of the most beautiful characters in all of Scripture. We can learn valuable lessons from studying her life. Mary was the sister of Martha, and her brother was Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. We see Mary three different times in the Bible. The incident that happened in the home of her sister Martha (Luke 10:38-42), where Jesus, and the disciples who traveled with him, were being entertained. Martha was distressed and “distracted with much serving” and frustrated that her sister wasn’t helping that she actually rebuked Jesus, accusing Him of not caring that Mary sat at His feet while she did all the work. 

Pay attention to Jesus’ first response that gives us valuable insight into the life of Mary at Bethany. Jesus commended her “for choosing the better.” This simply meant that Mary’s desire to be near the Lord and hang onto His every word was far more beneficial than running herself into a frenzy preparing and planning for an event….a meal. Jesus also said that choosing the better thing, learning of the Lord, would not be taken from Mary. 

“Choosing the better” also meant that those whose priority in life is Christ, the knowledge of Him, and the nearness of Him have chosen what will last for all eternity…..such as the “gold, silver and costly stones” referred to in 1 Corinthians 3:11-12. We learn that those who are distracted with the cares of life, the mundane preparations and planning and earthly, are building upon the foundation of Christ with “wood, hay, and straw,” materials which will not stand the fires that come to us in times of testing, nor will they be remembered in eternity. The insight we gain into Martha’s heart when she rebukes Jesus is that she was consumed with making everything perfect and was so distracted that she forgot and lost sight of whom she was speaking to…who was in her presence. 

We can also observe from Mary’s silence in another incident, a lack of concern for herself, and from defending herself. She was fully consumed with Jesus. When we focus on Jesus, He becomes our greatest passion, adoration takes over the heart, and our tendency in life to self-absorption fades away. 

Mary listened while Martha labored. Martha was distracted by plans and preparations (Luke 19:40a…..while Mary was focused on the Person of Jesus Christ…only one thing is needed (Luke 10:42a). Jesus puts a person’s allegiance to following Him higher than any other human responsibility. 

We can learn the valuable lesson of taking comfort in Jesus in the second incident where Mary and Martha appear in John 11, with the raising of their brother Lazarus from the dead. When Mary hears that Jesus has come and is calling for her, she immediately leaves the group of people who came to mourn, and rushes to meet Jesus. So great is Mary’s love of Jesus and her desire to please Him, that she leaves her home and all those who had come to comfort her, to place herself in the arms of her Beloved Jesus…the greatest Comforter mankind has ever known. 

Jesus sees her sorrow and weeps alongside her…even though He knows her brother will be restored to her momentarily. When we choose to place our lives in the loving nail-scarred hands of Jesus, we find the greatest comfort, peace, and security. We learn the truth of Psalm 30:5b: “Weeping may endure for a night, buy joy comes in the morning.” 

The third and final time we see Mary of Bethany is days before the crucifixion. (See Matthew 26:1-6, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:1-8). We see Martha busy again…with another meal prepared at the home of Simon the leper, and Martha serving while the resurrected Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus and the disciples. 

This is where Mary broke an alabaster jar, poured the expensive perfume on Jesus’ head and feet, and wiped them with her hair. We learn that in spite of criticism from some of the disciples, Mary said nothing. She allowed Jesus to defend her. Jesus said her beautiful and unselfish act of service with the perfume she had kept for His burial would be remembered forever. 

Mary knew the time of Jesus’ death was near, a fact that the disciples had missed in spite of Jesus’ clear and concise declaration of the truth. While Mary was content with listening to the Lord and meditating on His Words, the disciples were busy bickering about who would be the greatest among themselves in the kingdom. They missed the important truth Jesus was teaching them (Mark 9:30-35) because they were focused on self, rewards, competition, status and their reputation among men. 

God has preferences on the way people respond to Him and worship Him. All forms of worship are NOT equal in God’s eyes. In the case of Jesus, putting on a great dinner for the Master doesn’t compare to listening to Him and obeying Him. 

Mary’s priority was Jesus…sitting at His feet, learning from Him and holding onto His every Word. She had a passion for Christ, a settled confidence and conviction in her Lord….in such great measure that she was not compelled to defend herself in the face of criticism. 

Mary did not give what was of little to no sacrifice. Her worship was personal and costly. Instead of waiting till He was gone to show her devotion, she poured out a year’s worth of work on her Savior’s head and feet. This was an act of pure love. You see, she had been listening. All that time at Christ’s feet, holding onto every word, did not go to waste.  She knew what Jesus was about to face…that He must die. She knew the turmoil that He had predicted. Oh, what passion and great love she had for Jesus. She wasn’t thinking of the cost; she didn’t care what people might say. She didn’t care about how it looked. She was concerned with one thing, and one thing alone—Jesus Christ. 

Like Mary, who knew what Jesus must face, how He went to the Cross for all mankind; we must know that one day soon, all the world will see…Jesus coming back again. 

If we make sitting at the feet of Jesus our priority, we can experience, like Mary, the passion for Christ, the depth of understanding, and have complete faith in His plan for our lives. May we be passionate people of God with contagious faith, whole-hearted devotion, and a zealous fervor to show God our love…and to shine the light of God to the world. 

Deborah Starczewski 

BOOKS BY DEBORAH STARCZEWSKI

GOD’S PRICELESS TREASURE (How To Overcome Challenges, Be Transformed and Know Your Purpose)….move from drama to destiny, pain to purpose, a mess to a message…trials to triumph through turning to Jesus Christ.

A LEAP OF FAITH (25 Days At The Mercy Seat)….the miraculous stories will keep you turning the pages…and give you faith to believe God for anything.

THE MIDNIGHT HOUR (Will America Turn Back To God?)…a must read for all.

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, www.starministriesinc.com and other distributors.