CONTENTS 3-4
Get it OFF Your Chest
6-7
Have You Received Your Gift
8-10
You Are Stronger Then You Think
11-13 PTSD: The Shadow Killer
You Never Know
WHO YOUR Child IS 15-17
GOING TO BE!
19-20 You Are Broken To Be Rebuilt 21-22 PTSD Combustion 24-25 Promiscuity Is Treason
Tis the Season to Forgive Dear Readers, I am in the process of writing a book on forgiveness because I think it is an extremely important issue that has been pushed to the side. I don’t hear family members or friends talking about it. It isn’t an issue that is discussed on the national stage or in the national media. It needs to be. Forgiveness needs to be part of our national awareness, and a daily practice for all. I use this issue to launch my campaign of awareness about forgiveness because the Christmas season is just around the corner. Forgiveness is the perfect gift! In fact, I think that it is THE gift of the season. When you are making your holiday lists and thinking about gifts, I want you to consider giving the gift of forgiveness. Forgiveness is something that every human being needs. (Sometimes we just need to forgive ourselves!) The inability to forgive can result in sickness and even job loss for those who hold onto pain and grudges. Their unwillingness to forgive becomes a stumbling block to their personal progress. People lose relationships with family members because they refuse to forgive insults and arguments. It’s time to return to those important relationships. It’s time to remove the heavy burden of hatred and resentment that you may be carrying. And if you don’t have any broken relationships? Remember that you need forgiveness in your heart, always, for the sake of your own health, strength and happiness. So make sure you get the December 2014 issue of Red Wine Magazine. It is a special edition in which I peel back the layers of forgiveness and examine what it means for your life. You will want to keep it and refer to it in the coming year to remember the importance of forgiveness for every soul. Share it with your friends. God bless you beloved. It’s a pleasure to write for you. Here at RED WINE Magazine we love and care about you and want to see you happy. Have a blessed and happy holiday from the staff at Red Wine Magazine.
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
Get ItOff Your
CHEST Have you ever hit your knee or had a bad toothache? If so, then you know what it is like to be in physical pain. Have you ever been heartbroken? Have you ever felt lonely or lost? If so, then you know what it is like to experience pain in your soul and in your spirit.
God purposely made each one of us with three parts; a body, a soul and a spirit. We are a triune being just like God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are supposed to experience life using each of the three parts within us. However, many of us are so caught up in our physicality that we never experience life through our soul or spirit. Those are important dimensions for all of us and we pay a price by ignoring them and living life only through our physical being. Many people today walk through life with a lot of emotional problems that develop from discouragement, fear, and/or anger. If you feel any of those emotions for long enough, it may become a level of emotional trauma. What I want to talk to you about today is anger. A lot of people are in a state of anger day-in and day-out. I am always amazed at how people can live like that. I can’t imagine the awful pain that they are in on a daily basis. I have compassion for them just like God does. He cares and He does not like the fact that His children are in pain. Anger turned inward is depression. Many times anger can cause depression. When people hold anger deep inside for long enough, it turns inward, begins to attack the person from within and causes depression. (I am not talking a chemical imbalance in the brain that causes depression.) I want to ask you, “Why are you so angry?” That’s also the first question you need to ask yourself. HERE ARE MY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO BEST UNEARTH THE CAUSE OF YOUR ANGER.
#1: GET A JOURNAL. (Any notebook or journal will do. It doesn’t have to be expensive.) Write down what is bothering you in detail. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling. This isn’t for anyone but you. This is an exercise to help you pour out of your heart and soul, the anger that is weighing you down.
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
You may say, “I don’t want to write this down because I don’t want to have to deal with it”. Well, guess what? You are carrying the anger with you every day, whether you write about it or not. Even if you are not dealing with it head on, you are carrying it with you every day, just like a big elephant sitting on your chest. Have you seen the commercial about COPD, and they show an elephant sitting on someone’s chest? That is what you are doing when you walk around holding anger inside. It will weigh you down and it will affect your life, happiness, social life, your marriage and all of your relationships. Anger will also impact your physical wellbeing. There is no way in this world that you can be angry without it coloring your point of view about people, places and things.
#2: THE SECOND thing I want you to do is this; after you start writing in your journal, talk to God about it. If someone has made you angry, remember that God said, “Vengeance is mine”. You don’t have to take revenge. Just talk to God about it. Tell Him what happened and how you feel about it. Ask Him to intervene and make the situation right again.
#3: After you hand the problem over to God, you have to forgive the person who has made you so angry. You know I insist that we all learn about forgiveness because it cleans the soul. Do you understand me? Forgiveness cleans the soul. Your soul will be cleansed inside like someone taking a shower is cleansed on the outside. When you release the anger, and maybe even hatred, you carry against a person, you will release the weight off your chest. You will be able to stop carrying that heavy excess baggage of anger that can destroy you. #4: Now I want you to tell the person how they made you feel. If the person is alive and you know how to contact them, I want you to call or visit them to release the pain and hurt you have been carrying for all these years. If for some reason you cannot talk to that person, (perhaps they have passed away), I want you to forgive them, and all the consequences of their actions and move past it. What if you must see daily, the person who caused you so much pain? Then talking to God becomes the most important thing you need to do. Ask Him to help you forgive the person so that you can be washed clean of the anger and alleviated of that weight. Get all of this off your chest before it starts to affect you in ways that cause physical pain. If you are already in pain, you can reverse it by forgiving. God said for us to forgive each other and He had very good reason to say so! Let me give you an example of anger gone awry. My sister is holding a grudge against the state of Texas. She is angry with an entire state because of something my father told her about that occurred there, way back in the 1920s or 30s. (My father was not in Texas by-the-way, he heard this
story and related it to my sister when she was a little girl.) My sister is now in her 60’s and my father passed away years ago. My sister lives in New York City and I live in Texas, yet my sister will not come see me. She is holding a grudge about something she heard in a story, and it wasn’t about any of our family members or friends! Isn’t that just absurd? See what anger does? See how anger can affect the people in your life? Even when it is silly, or doesn’t apply to you, or happened decades ago, anger can make a tiny incident become the centerpiece of your life, ruining it in many ways.
GOD SAID ANGER RESTS IN THE BOSOM OF FOOLS. In other words, if you allow yourself to become angry, and stay angry, you are being foolish and as a result will do foolish things. God also said, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Did you ever hear the saying “Don’t go to bed mad?” Now you know the source of that wisdom. God knows that anger will adversely affect your outlook on life and your regard for yourself. You are much too wonderful to be walking around letting anger rule you.
ANGER DOESN’T PROTECT YOU. It will hurt and destroy you. Don’t get sidetracked by it. Don’t think that anger will dissipate just because you have removed yourself from the situation or time has elapsed. No - if you don’t address the anger, it travels deeper into the recesses of your soul. It lives and breathes and breeds there. Before you know it, the way you see things is upside down and you don’t trust anyone. You start looking sideways at the people you love and trust, mistrusting them and resenting them. Anger has confused you. It makes you question everything. You don’t have to live like that. 3 John says, “Beloved above all I wish that you may be in health.” God has a desire to see you healed and healthy, not ill and in pain from anger. God created you because He loves you. Let Him love you through this. Let Him walk you through this. Let Him wash and cleanse you. Bring it all to Him and spit it out. It doesn’t matter how you bring it out, just bring it out. Go somewhere by yourself and start talking to God. He is waiting for you. Remind Him how much you want to be loved. Tell Him “Lord, I am willing to forgive. Please help me.” When forgiving is the most difficult thing to do, ask God to help you. If it is easy for you – then go ahead and forgive the person you are angry with today. Don’t hesitate. Don’t hold the anger inside. You are a wonderful human being, made by God. He wants you to enjoy the life He has given you. God Bless You. Dr. Diana
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
The Cold Letters CANCER C A N C E R - Those cold letters do not reign supreme. So many people are afraid of hearing the words “You have cancer”, that they won’t even go to the doctor. There are others who go to the doctor and are caught completely off guard when they receive a diagnosis of cancer. I originally wrote my book How I Beat Cancer because my secretary asked me to write a small pamphlet that she could give to people when she visited cancer clinics. And so I agreed. What started out as a small pamphlet containing words of encouragement and some “how-to” tips to survive cancer, turned into a 46 page book about my personal life and experience with cancer. I am sharing How I Beat Cancer with the world because I want mothers, fathers, grandmothers and even doctors to know that there is a cure for cancer. It’s just that science doesn’t hold the answer. The one who has the awesome cure is God. Scientists are not completely sure what causes cancer. They conduct vigorous research and have increased understanding about the behavior of cancer cells, but a cure is not yet here. I am not a physician and I don’t pretend to tell physicians or scientists what to do. What I do know is God. I know that God speaks the ultimate truth. And once you know that, you realize that you don’t have to know exactly how things go wrong in the body, because God will show you how to be healed, how to be cured of cancer. God cured me of cancer. And I am still so humbled by it. I have so much gratitude to God because a cousin of mine, who was my age, was diagnosed with colon cancer at the same time I was diagnosed. She died and I didn’t. It takes me places you could never understand when I think about how God chose me. How I Beat Cancer is my personal life story and testimony about my battle with cancer with God by my side. The book tells you how to fight cancer with God. I am not knocking chemotherapy or any other modern day treatments. It was not my choice because I believe chemotherapy kills the good with the bad. God was my choice and I am all the more better for it. So when you are undergoing the medical interventions you choose, take this book along and use the spiritual medication that you find within its pages. You will receive the kind of life-saving results you deserve.
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
HAVE YOU RECEIVED
YOUR
Ete Pro rnal tec life tio , Pr n, Fa ospe vo r, A rity, H bu nd ealth an , ce .
gift? 6
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
It was Christmas morning and the tree was beautifully decorated. The ornaments perfectly placed. The lights were just blazing away. Even the angel was perfectly straight at the very top of the tree. My eyes shifted down to the bottom of the tree to see all the beautifully wrapped presents reflected by the multicolored lights from the tree. As I walked closer to see all the presents, I saw the to and from stickers and what struck me was there was more than one present for each person. There was a bunch of them for each person. I heard everyone starting to come down the stairs, so I quickly hid behind the curtain waiting for the excitement to begin. And what happened next just broke my heart. Everyone walked right by the tree and their gifts as if they didn’t even see them. They all just pretty much ignored them. Then I heard the father yell, “Come on! We’re going to be late. Let’s go.” Then everybody just left. You know it took me a lot of time to pick that perfect tree for you. Space out all the lights and get them in the perfect angle. And I got that angel right on top just perfectly straight. And then what about all the gifts I wrapped for you? Not just one but every gift you’ll ever need. Gifts like eternal life, prosperity, health, wisdom, abundance, peace, protection, favor. I even gave you my only Son. He provides the greatest desire a human craves. That’s love. Oh, well. I will wait. Rejection. By definition rejection is to discard as useless or unsatisfactory. To refuse to have or to take. Most people at some point in their lives have experienced rejection. Some more than others. I remember in elementary school there was this one young boy that was a little different. When it came time to pick the football team during recess, well, he was always looked over. I saw the same thing in little girls not letting other little girls play with them. And as adults we can experience rejection in the form of not being picked for a job. Or I have seen at the work place some folks don’t get asked to go to lunch with everybody. One of the most painful forms of rejection though, is to be rejected by your own family. I have seen this one too. Your own family rejecting you. After time, rejection will cause somebody to change their outlook on life towards their friends and family. Even their spouse. Even their own children. Human beings living outside of the Kingdom of God are just not equipped to deal with rejection. This could lead to unforgiveness which leads to bitterness which then leads to sickness. Which can eventually lead to thoughts of suicide or even worse suicide. After God created the heavens and the earth and spoke into existence light and darkness, the ocean and vegetation, the sun, the moon, birds, fish. All kinds of animals, each being able to produce offspring of the same kind. Finally God created, now He did speak, but He created us with His own hands. In His own image. The Bible says He formed or He touched us, which is a form of intimacy, and breathed life into our nostrils. God
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saw all the animals that He had made and He gave them the ability to produce offspring. So He wanted a family too. He wanted to be loved. The holiday season can be one that makes us, well, just nicer for some reason. I see it in people when I am out and about in stores. And personally, I kind of feel that way myself. But for some people it is quite the opposite. This Christmas may be their first one without a family member that was here last year. Or may remind you of something that wasn’t so good. I remember last December myself, being let go from a job. Now trust me, I don’t really lose sleep over that one but I think you get my point. As I mentioned earlier, God loves us so much that He gave His only Son. He gave His Son to get His family back from the God of this world. The God of this world is responsible for all the terrible things we experience. Like sickness and disease and poverty and depression. Murder and suicide, bitterness. Loneliness, pain, misery. The list goes on and on and on. Well I am a good person. I do good things for people. I make cookies and help little old ladies. I go to church every now and then. Weddings and funerals don’t count though but as a friend of mine said, “I just don’t feel like God hears me.” Well of course God can hear her but He is under no obligation to answer her prayer. Why? Because she has not invited Him to be her Lord and Savior yet! There is no commitment and relationship with the Father. When you belong to God, He is OBILIGATED to bless you. That is a significant difference. Jesus said the only way to the Father is through me. Cookies don’t count. Don’t be like the family in the beginning of this article that ignored all of the presents or all of the blessings let’s say, that you’ll ever need. God has done everything for us. The price has been paid. Read your Bible. Talk to God, He loves you. Remember, He is waiting for you. Well, OK, how do I receive my gift? Well I am glad you asked. By praying this simple prayer with me. Jesus I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I choose life, not death. I believe you died on the cross for me and was resurrected. I willingly with all my heart make you Lord and Savior over my life. And will make your Word first and foremost for the rest of my life. Say Hallelujah. Michael Vazquez
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
Keep bringing all your “STUFF” to Him in PRAYER and TRUST Him with it until you see it manifest naturally IN YOUR LIFE.
you’re
STRONGER Than You THINK
After talking to people and counseling them for more than 20 years, I am still amazed at how important it is for them to tell me they are strong. This usually happens when a person is relating to me the stressful times in their lives, or an incident that could have gone very badly. At some point in the conversation, in some way, they find a way to tell me that despite this adversity they remain a strong person. That brings me to the topic I want to discuss today; that you are stronger than you think. Even if you suffer from that horrible, silent disease of depression, you are stronger than you think. Did you know that approximately 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression? That includes one in every ten adults in the United States.
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
There are different types of depression. Seasonal depression is caused by the winter’s longer, dark days. Sadness over life’s events, if left untreated, can turn into depression. Organic, or chemical depression is caused by the body’s hormonal or neurotransmitter imbalances. And there are many more causes for depression. However, even people who suffer from depression will at times say that they are strong. I don’t think anybody wants to say they are weak. The Bible says “When I am weak I am strong”. What does that seemingly contradictory sentence mean? It is a window into God’s perspective on strength and weakness. God understands that weakness is important in your relationship with Him. Think about it; if you come to God feeling that you are strong by yourself, then deep inside you don’t really think you need Him and you are not going to get
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the help you seek. However, if you are honest with yourself and God, and you go to Him with a contrite spirit, then He will welcome you into His arms and give you all the strength and help that you need. I am not saying that you shouldn’t have strength. I am saying that something drives you to seek the presence of God and you need to acknowledge that. Do you know a person who is completely full of joy, happy and content with everything they need and desire? Do you think that person is looking for God? No, they are not because all their needs have been met. They are not facing any dilemmas. They haven’t suffered extreme loss, the kind that would drive them into the arms of God. When you truly seek God in an open, honest way, you are seeking Him behind every curtain, pulling it back asking “God where are you, where are you?”
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
Does He know your problems? Yes He does, He knows everything. Does He read your thoughts? Absolutely. He wants a conversation and a real connection with you. God wants to build an intimate relationship with you where He can talk to you about what is inside your heart, your thoughts and your life. God wants you to share your life. He wants you to talk to Him about the disappointment and loss that you have suffered in the past, and He will talk to you about the fears you have right now. It doesn’t matter what it is; fear of loss, family problems, financial struggles, health challenges, relationships or the struggle to love yourself. God can help you with it all and in the process, teach you to love yourself, and recognize your strengths and talents. I want you to consider that there is a lot more to you than you know. There are things about you that you have yet to discover. There are things that only God knows about you. He will help you discover them if you will only admit that you need His help and invite Him into your life. You need a relationship with God so He can show you the strength, talent and possibility in you so you can soar!
God can tell you exactly what is in you. He can tell you who, what and where you are supposed to find help in order to achieve your goals. He can tell you, drop it in your spirit and lead the people to you. He will put them on your path. Don’t let the Satan tell you that God is not going to listen to you. God has a purpose and a plan for you and He is waiting for you to listen so He can reveal it to you. Once you find it, you will attain your goals, whether it is the right career, a new job, or prosperity so you can take care of your family. You are stronger than you think. Jesus Christ said no man can come to the Father but by Him. So you need to go to God through your belief that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Go to Him through your belief that Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected so that we may have eternal life. This is also the only way to heaven. So if you want to spend eternity in heaven, be with the Lord, talk to Him face to face, and be close to Him. Invite Him into your life now. I would use this as a pullout quote: Keep bringing all your “stuff” to Him in prayer and trust Him with it until you see it manifest naturally in your life. That brings me back to where I began; you are stronger than you think. You may feel weak right now. However, whatever you have lost, whatever you have suffered that is
making you feel weak, let it go. God will give you something better. God says, “If you love me then put your faith in me”. Faith is trust. So trust God. After all, you have tried trusting everyone else; the spouse who cheated on you, the friend who stabbed you in the back, doctors who gave you the wrong medicine, even parents who abused or rejected you. You have trusted so many people in the world. Now it’s time to trust the one who gave you His breath. God loves you emphatically. For two decades I have been teaching ministry leaders that introspection is necessary in order to become the person you dream to be. If you want to reach the goals that you have set for yourself, (and I hope you have set some because without goals you won’t accomplish a lot), introspection is a requisite exercise. Here’s why. You have to look to where you have been so you can learn where you should be going. You need to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them. If you find that you can’t move past them, take it to God. He already knows the mistakes you have made. He is waiting for you to go to Him. God’s help is not given lightly and this is where some people have trouble understanding God’s love. Just like a good parent, God wants to know that His children are earnest in what they ask for. So you may have to ask God for help more than once. In the Bible, Jesus used a parable to explain this; a man went to his neighbor’s house and knocked on the door to ask his neighbor for some bread. The neighbor and his family had gone to bed for the night so he didn’t want to answer his door. However, the man persisted and told his neighbor, “I have visitors from out of town and I don't have anything to serve them. I need bread so I can give these people something to eat.” The neighbor opened the door and gave him what he asked for. God also wants to know that you are very serious about the needs you are asking Him to meet. Make sure your needs follow His word. In other words, don’t pray for someone else’s husband. God will not break His commandment against adultery to give you someone else’s husband. God has rules and regulations and laws and He will show you the way.
You are stronger than you think. And when you are weak you are strong.Take your weaknesses to God. Don’t try to be big and strong and invincible. No one can handle everything all the time. Whatever you can’t handle, you take to God. What you can handle, you thank God for being able to do so. God Bless you Dr. Diana
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
My father was one of the nicest men you could ever know. If you met him, you would feel the same way I do. You would experience his friendliness, generosity and warmth. In fact, my father would literally give the shirt off his back to people. I remember times when he helped single mothers on welfare who were barely scraping by. My father owned his own
Then it would be time for my mother to step in and call these ungrateful sorts and get my father’s money. My father didn’t like that. He felt he’d get the money eventually, but that time never came either. It was up to my mother to make sure my father got the money he deserved. After all, he had a family to feed and care for.
PTSD:
The Shadowy
Killer
I believe my father was depressed and had been since before I was born. But I saw things about my father. I saw how he kept to himself in his room when he wasn’t working. I saw that personal hygiene didn’t matter to him and he didn’t want to take a bath or shower. (As a result he didn’t always smell great.)
appliance business, fixing washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and other appliances. When someone’s washing machine would break, they would call my father and he would go to their house and fix it. He worked six days a week helping people who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford to have their appliances repaired. In fact, the very same people he was trying to help would often take advantage of him because they knew he was a generous soul. They would tell my father that they didn’t have the money to pay for the repairs, or that they would pay him next week with their welfare check. Needless to say, many times “next week” never came.
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However, growing up in a household with someone who is stuck in a time and place far in the past is not easy. My father often talked to us about the time he spent in the military in World War II, telling us about General Patton. My father was deployed to Germany and he often talked about the vivid images of the bombs dropping around him, the fox holes, and the terror that a bomb would kill them. I heard these stories from the time that I was a small child. For the most part my father was quiet and kept to himself in his room. (At some point, my parents had moved into separate rooms.) Many times you didn’t even know he was home. However, on the weekends, he would have a couple
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
of beers, drink Old Grand Dad, and listen to his favorite jazz, blues and other music. As he would drink he would talk more (most people become more extroverted the more they drink). He would tell anyone who came in the house, anyone who would listen, stories of the men who died, and the bombs all around, and how sometimes people would, in his words, “crap themselves’ because they never knew if they would die next. It got to the point where I would listen for a little while and then make an excuse to leave the room. I heard these stories repeated during almost every week of my childhood because my father was stuck in a place in the past. Images of the war were stuck in his mind. The
In the 1970’s, when my father was suffering, no one understood PTSD. It wasn’t widely understood, or even recognized as a diagnosis, as it is today. If only we had known then what we know today, my father could have received the help he needed. He never got it. He passed away at 69 years old from cancer.
memories of the pain and the fear he experienced in the war revisited him every week. He talked about his ear drum rupturing, and a multitude of other things that happened to him while serving in the US army.
continue to experience each day. I understand, as many of you do, who live with someone who is suffering from PTSD. It is very real.
I believe my father was depressed and had been since before I was born. But I saw things about my father. I saw how he kept to himself in his room when he wasn’t working. I saw that personal hygiene didn’t matter to him and he didn’t want to take a bath or shower. (As a result he didn’t always smell great.) Why am I telling you all this? I’m telling you because I believe the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) brought on my father’s depression and stopped him from living. In some small way, I want to help the men and women afflicted with PTSD so they don’t end up losing their life to it like my father did.
I can only imagine what our soldiers live with today; their wives and families who relive these horrific experiences with them. There isn’t any amount of money that the government or social security could give these soldiers that would console them after the trauma they have experienced, and
There are support groups and medicine for PTSD, treatments and therapy, but is that enough? I say no. I believe that people who experience PTSD should be healed, and I know that the opportunity exists for that. I know that even though their life is shattered, they can be made whole. I only wish my father was alive today so I could tell him this. I would love to share with him all that I have learned through my ministry over the past 20 years. Yes, PTSD is a mental disorder brought on by traumatic events. Yet, I know that PTSD can be overcome. And I write this article for that purpose. First I want to speak to the people who are living with
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
going to take an enormous amount of prayer to heal them and make them whole again. It is going to take a commitment from you to talk to God every day, asking Him to deliver that person from trauma, to wash and restore their mind. If you talk to God earnestly and sincerely about that person, God will intervene. It takes commitment, and it takes heartfelt prayer. If you care about the person suffering with PTSD, pray for them from your heart because God will recognize prayer that comes from true concern. Prayer is the answer to everything. It is the most powerful weapon we have. Like a nuclear weapon, the most powerful weapon on earth, prayer can destroy every negative thing it is targeted to destroy. Like a bow and arrow, prayer can hit your target.
I call PTSD the “shadowy killer”. Although PTSD may not physically kill the people suffering with it, it certainly has the power to destroy their chances of finding love and happiness. It is extraordinarily difficult for people with PTSD to have healthy relationships. This shadowy killer kills relationships. Initially a prospective mate may think they can help the person suffering with PTSD. However, as time goes on you see how much the disorder robs from the sufferer, how much they cannot do in life, and it becomes a burden too heavy to bear.
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So I want you to pray about this person on a daily basis, talk to God about PTSD. Ask God to restore your loved one’s life and save them from this mental disorder. Ask Him to restore their mind to a time before the trauma occurred. One of the ways I believe that PTSD keeps a strangle-hold on a person is that there is a lack of forgiveness associated with the event that caused the trauma. The inability to forgive is at the root of many illnesses. Somewhere along the line the person suffering with PTSD was upset or angry, lost squad members, suffered a traumatic physical attack, or even went through a divorce. There are increasing numbers of people suffering with PTSD because there are increasing numbers of traumatic situations that occur outside of the military. This is a serious issue that we need to be aware of. If you are living with someone who was exposed to violence and as a result they are suffering with PTSD, don’t think that they will forever be that way. You can help that person become whole and healthy again. Prayer is the way and the answer. You can help the person you love be healed from PTSD and prayer is the way to do it. Dr. Diana
Jehovah Jireh The Lord our Provider Jehovah Rapha the Lord our Healer Jehovah Nissi the Lord our banner Jehovah Shalom the Lord our peace Jehovah Tsidkeneau the Lord our Righteousness El Shaddai The Almighty God El Elyon the Most High God El Gibbor - Mighty God El Roi - The God Who Sees Jehovah M’Kaddesh - The Lord Who Sanctifies I AM
You Never Know
WHO YOUR Child IS
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
GOING TO BE!
I don’t know if you are familiar with my story, but when I was growing up, I wasn’t a child that people were very fond of. It seemed like I was born to the wrong family in the wrong time. I was made painfully aware of this because my mother always told me how thoroughly disgusted she was when she found out she was pregnant with me. The entire pregnancy was miserable for her. She told me that she wanted to throw me in the river - just a couple of blocks from our house. It didn’t matter that my parents were married and my father was there the entire time I was growing up. It didn’t matter that my mother was partying, smoking, drinking and full of anger. I don’t know why any of that happened. I just know that among the four children, I was not treated well. Those are the facts. However, whether it was a good or bad upbringing is inconsequential because I went through that in order to create the life that I have now. It birthed the relationship I have with God. I have been walking steadily with God as my Lord and Savior for more than 20 years.
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Even now I feel a slight pull to build an even deeper relationship with Him. (And I don’t mind sharing deeper with you either, but that’s for another article.) If my mother and father were alive today they would see the great things that God is doing through me; the lives that are being changed and the souls that are being healed because of the work I have done. They would see how God has blessed me with three beautiful children that are my present and my future, solid finances, homes, cars, great friends and love.
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
I have all of these things because of the relationship I established with God when He introduced Himself to me. With God every relationship is a give and take; it’s always a “two-way thing’! Even though He wants give and take, God doesn’t give us a lot of detail about our lives. He gives us promises in His word. He tells us He is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path. He tells us He is never going to leave us or forsake us and He is always around, always there. Have you ever been with somebody who was always there, someone you could rely on and trust 100%? I am pretty sure the answer is no. When it comes to God not giving us a lot of detail about our lives, and asking us to believe His promises to us, nowhere is that more evident than in the story of Jesus’ birth. Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel announced himself to Mary. She was approximately 17 years old and betrothed, which means engaged, to a man named Joseph. (Y’all know the story!) The angel told Mary that she was going to become pregnant with a holy thing. The King James Version says “a holy thing”. The angel said that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and she would be with child.
Mary was like, “What? How is this going to happen to me? I’ve never known a man.” And then the angel Gabriel explained how it was going to happen. God told her a few things about who her child would be. She didn’t understand what He was telling her. I wouldn’t understand either if an angel came to me to tell me about the child I didn’t know I was pregnant with! Mary had a beautiful little baby boy and God told her and Joseph to name Him Emmanuel, which means “God with us”. Still, with the angels and God talking to her about her child, Mary still did not realize who her child was. And if you read the life story of Jesus you will see she didn’t know. For example, when Jesus was 12 years old He was with His extended family as they made their annual visit to the temple to sacrifice and worship God. When they left, the large family group had spent three days traveling before they realized that Jesus was missing. You can imagine how they must have completely freaked out! So, they turned around to journey three days back to the temple. And guess what? They found Jesus in the temple. He was in there teaching and listening to the Pharisees and the religious men of law.
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
He was teaching them about the wonders of God and these learned men were asking questions of 12 year old Jesus. Scholars were asking Him questions, astounded at His wisdom. When Mary arrived at the temple she asked Jesus, “Why would you do this to us?” Jesus replied, “Didn’t you know that I would be about my Father’s business?” In other words, Jesus was saying “Joseph, you may have raised me and been my step daddy but you are not my father.” He made it clear He was there on His Father’s business, that is, the family business - God’s business. Then at 30 years old life changed for Him. His destiny called. It was time for Him to walk in the purpose for which He was born. Soon the world would know He was the Son of God and see all the great miracles and signs and wonders that followed Him and the 12 disciples that He raised up. Back to my point- you never know who your child is. For Mary and her children, who were Jesus’ half-brothers, it was difficult to believe Jesus. After all, He was just one of the kids in the family! Still, it was difficult. In Matthew Chapter 12, we read of Jesus’ mother and brothers going to speak with Him, but Jesus doesn’t stop teaching the crowd. He tells the messenger, “Whoever does the will of God is my mother, brother and sister”. At that time, His family did not believe who He was because after all they had grown up with Him. They did not know He was the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Anointed One. All this time He lived amongst them, laughed and played with them. However, when He was casting out demons and laying hands on the sick and healing them, oh the family believed Him then. All that time, inside of Him was the greatest gift, the gift of life was in Him. HE had a relationship with the FATHER. In fact He was an heir to the throne of heaven and had created all the earth. The Bible says in John, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” So all that time Mary and Joseph and the brothers had God living in their house and they didn’t know it. You never know who your children are. God did not have a conference with you, or a meeting, to tell you every detail about who your child would be when they were born. If you are pregnant right now, you are carrying the gift of heaven in your belly. That child is not only a gift to you but to this world. How you support, love and speak to that child matters. You don’t know who your child is because God is keeping that secret for His own purposes.
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To those who are abusing your child and speaking harshly to your child, please reconsider. Know that that child was created with gifts and talents and abilities. And God loves that child and desires for him or her to be something important in life. In every category you can find great men; inventors like Alexander Graham Bell, men who change society like Martin Luther King, presidents like Abraham Lincoln and great actors like Lionel Barrymore and Tom Hanks. Only one mother can say she had the greatest of all men, and that is Mary. She gave birth to Jesus and didn’t know He was the Son of God. She didn’t know He would be able to heal people and cast out demons. If she knew these things about Him, she would never have worried about Him when He was missing. She did worry about Him because she did not know who He was, and because she was His mother. If God has given you a child, whether the child is biological or adopted or one you will care for as guardian, you don’t know who this little person is going to be. More than likely they are going to outlive you. They are the future, so treat the child with love and respect. Learn the great things there are to know about the child. You can only find that through God. Watch the child’s life and their interests. See what they love and what they are passionate about. Let them experience those things. Support them. They will get involved in some things that only serve as scaffolding. Sometimes when things come into a child’s life and they don’t stick with it, it’s because the child is in a growth period. The interest merely served as scaffolding as they grew. Remember this, you don’t know who your child is. Your child is a special human being. Each child has something that we all need because the Bible says we are “fitly joined together”, like paper cutout dolls. That’s how God sees us and that’s how He made us. We need each other to live a prosperous happy, healthy life. Everything God is going to give you is going to come through another person. God is not going to jump out of the sky and give you money. He will give you money through another human being. God desires to have a closeness with us and to love us. God needs us. Did you know that? More importantly, He wants you. And He wants you to love your children, and pray to Him to know the talents that He put in them at the time of their creation. God bless you my friend. I hope that you have an awesome holiday, be happy and healthy. Email me and let me know, Dr. Diana I got saved- I gave my life to Jesus.” The Bible says when one sinner is converted (saved) all the angels in heaven rejoice. So I want to rejoice with you. I love you. Be blessed. Dr. Diana
“FORGIVENESS” IS THE
SUPER-GENIUS FOOD! new book by Dr. Diana Hardy COMING SOON
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
You Were BROKEN to be
REBUILT
Before I get into this topic, I want you to know that it is a sensitive subject. It may evoke a lot of emotions. It may bring tears to your eyes, but don’t hold them back. Let them flow. In God’s word it says He counts and collects our tears (Psalm 56:8). Yes, God even pays attention to your tears, that’s how careful He is to watch over you and love you.
Do you remember the Six Million Dollar Man? It was a TV show in the 1970s where the astronaut Steve Austin, played by Lee Majors, was severely hurt in a crash. They had to rebuild him with bionic parts that gave him super human strength and allowed him to run extremely fast. He had a lot of strength. After that they developed a Six Million Dollar Woman series which held the same premise but with a female lead. Why am I talking about old television shows? Because these two people were broken. They were in pieces and science found a way to put them back together. I want to talk specifically to every person who has been broken, who feels their life has been destroyed for any given reason. I want to show you what the most important person in all creation – God our Lord and Savior, holds for you. I want you to know what you mean to Him. I know you have been broken and hurt and are in pain. You may feel like no one understands how you feel. Whether it is an addiction to drugs, alcohol or sex, there is real pain inside you, pain that you can’t share with anyone. I want to tell you that being broken, as painful as it may be, can be a step on the ladder to your success. In fact, who we are today is often made in part by the catastrophic events we experience. For example, if you were in bad relationships, and stayed with anyone who was willing to be with you, that
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situation helped to create the lifestyle you have right now. That “root of shame” is the reason you are where you are today. Never fear, there is a way out to a better life. There is a door if you didn’t know that somewhere there was a door to a better, pain-free life, you would have ended your life already. But you didn’t, you stayed. You knew hope was alive. That invisible door was put there by God. You may not feel like you can trust human beings but you can trust in God. He never has and never will leave you. Regardless of your past bad choices and poor decision, God is at the door to protect and serve you. Right now He is offering you freedom from pain and healing. There’s more! God is willing to reveal to you and you alone, who you really are. He will give you a “private showing” of who He created you to be. He will show you what He wanted you to have when He was creating you. That’s pretty fantastic because you cannot find that anywhere else. So I am the messenger, here today to tell you that the door to freedom is right in front of you. “How do I open the door?” Glad you asked. The door was put there by God and He is the only one who can help you open it. That will require that you make a decision right now. The way to open the door is to ask God, from your heart, “Lord I really want to know. Please open this door that Diana is talking about. I know that I cannot come to you unless I come from my heart. I want to know who I am. I want to know why I have been broken and suffering.” This is what you need to say.
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
The next step is that God said you can only come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. You may have some preconceived ideas about who Jesus is. Maybe you think He is just a prophet, a story or a fable. Get all of that out of your head and say “I need to meet Jesus. I want to meet You. I am inviting You to come into my life so that I may see the person You called me to be. The way I am living now is horrible and I know I am better than this and You wanted more for me. So save me Father.” There’s a scripture that says those who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That scripture is proof positive He will save you. All you need to say is “I am broken God. I made mistakes. But I need Your help please. Come save me and my life. “ Here’s the 3rd step. Make a deal with God. Also known as a covenant - God likes covenants. Say “God if You will save my life and help me change and become the person You called me to be…” then tell Him what You need. If you are homeless say God if You give me a home or a warm meal or see your children again. Or you want to get married or want someone to really love you for who you are and not what they can get from you. Whatever it is you feel you need, tell God and speak from your heart. If you just say this to see if it is going to work, it will not. You ought to just close this magazine and give it to someone else whose life can be changed because they are willing to change, admit they have done wrong and pour out their hearts to God. I don’t care if you are a murderer or a child molester. You can be changed. You can be healed and set free. Will you allow yourself the opportunity to become a better person? If you are living in self-condemnation, it is going to be very hard to get a new life. But God said “I desire a broken heart and a contrite spirit”. If your heart is broken then it is the right environment for God to pull out the “real you”. When you find out who you really are you will want to get out from under the bridge of pain. You will decide I am not going to let cancer kill me, I will not let diabetes destroy me. You will no longer settle for less. You will receive a revelation from God in your mind that He said you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). God took the time and made your own set of finger prints and put gifts and talents in you. He put them in you. He kept them hidden even from your parents and kept knowledge of your talents to Himself. Why? So that one day you would knock on His door and He could show you who you really are. Don’t you think you are worth it to Him? He can count the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7). He said, “I collect
your tears, I will contend with those who contend with You”, (Psalm 35:1) and “You are the apple of my eye and that you have been accepted in the beloved”. (Psalm 17:8, Ephesians 1:6). Why wouldn’t you grab the chance to make yourself and God happy by going to Him through conversation? Say, “Here I am, I give myself to you.” You could be in the crack house right now or smoking meth. Doesn’t matter. Give yourself to God. I dare you to go to God and get free. Ask Him for that job you know you deserve. Ask Him for the money you need and the favor you need to get things done. I have said all of this to you today because God has been putting His love in me for over 20 years. Why? Because I have been asking for it for years. I have been praying for you for years too! It took me 20 years to get here so that I could write this magazine. First He had to help me discover that part of His plan was to let me own a magazine. And then He had to help me write these letters to you. I love you. I wish you could hear the love and concern in my voice as I make this recording. But, until we meet one day when I come to your city for a conference or seminar, “You gotta’ live!” And the only one who can help you get back on your feet to do that is God. You will change so much, people will not even know you. One final thing before I go. God HAS to help you. He said “My word will not return void but it will accomplish that for which I sent it and it will prosper in it.” He is not a failure. He created you to live a certain life and if He wants to see that happen, He must help you. All you have to do is come to Him the way He said to come to Him. Please get a Bible. Take a few bucks and buy a Bible you can understand. I like the God’s Word translation. It is translated into easy-to-understand, plain English. Read it, even if you only read two pages a day. And ask God to help you understand. Notice I did not ask you to go to a church. I asked you to go directly to Him, no matter where you are. Just know God is not worried if you have a crack pipe in your hand, or are next to a prostitute. If you feel guilty at all about where you are at this moment, then that’s probably conviction. Just say to God, “I do not know how I got here but I want to stop. Please help me. Diana said that you would and that you helped her.” And He did my friends. God bless you. After you have read this please pass it on to someone else. That’s a way you can give back to God. And another way is becoming what God wants you to be. He is motivated to help you. I love you. God bless you. Dr. Diana
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
PTSD COMBUSTION If you are struggling with PTSD and it has caused you to suffer from depression, lose friends or lose your desire to make new friends, I want you to know that there is help for you. Are you stuck at home? Has your life lost its vibrancy? There is a magnitude of help for you in addition to the support groups and counseling sessions that provide help and guidance. God is waiting to help. God wants to make Himself available to you. If you are suffering from PTSD, I know that you feel very angry. You may feel angry that you suffer from this traumatic disorder, asking why did this happen? You may find that you are angry with God, asking, “Why did He let this happen to me?” As a result, you may have lost faith in God and given up reaching out to Him for help. I understand all that. I want you to know that God gave humans free will. How beautiful and awesome is that? God doesn’t want robots. He wants people who choose to love Him and have the freedom to
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choose the way they want to live. It is a horrific fact that those who choose to go to the military may suffer wounds, trauma, injury or even death. It is also a fact that free will led those men and women to the military, which resulted in the trauma. We need those brave men and women. And I am here to tell you that they need God. We all do. God is available to help soften loss and ease the destruction that the veteran may feel. To all of our veterans who sacrifice so much for the rest of us, I am here to tell you that God is the one who can restore your life and your mind. God alone can deliver you from the shadowy killer that is PTSD. He is waiting to restore your life and mind. I know that PTSD is a haunting disorder, returning at the most inopportune times, sneaking up on you when least expect it from an unexpected trigger.
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
What I want you to do is invite God into your home and your life. Ask Him to enter your mind and remove the PTSD; the fear, the anger and the shadows that can trigger PTSD episodes. While you’re at it, ask Him in prayer to surround you with people who are patient, supportive, loving, kind and compassionate. Ask Him to bring people into your life who have been broken too, and who understand what it is like to be traumatized. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. The reason I wrote this article was to offer you a measure of hope. I have been delivered from traumatic situations that caused post-traumatic stress. I have never served in the military and I don’t pretend to know what war is like. I do know what post-traumatic stress feels like, and from that standpoint, I share your pain. I want to encourage you by saying it’s time for you to take control and turn your life around. Take back your life. You can start right where you are. Even if you are stuck in a bad place, you can begin to turn your life around. You don’t have to tell anyone except God. In your private thoughts talk to God every day. Just make sure you talk to Him from your heart. You can’t be phony with God and receive the success or the results you want. Sitting by yourself quietly, the first thing you need to do is invite God into your life. You have to believe He is God and that His Son Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and was resurrected. Without believing the Son, you cannot have the Father. God is the only one who can truly help you. He can totally wipe away your fear and pain. I know. I gave up my life in New York to move to Pennsylvania with a man who eventually verbally and mentally abused me. It became a very bad, traumatizing relationship. I suffered from post-traumatic stress and ran to the church for help. I started talking to God and He came to me. He heard my cries and my pain. Running to God did in fact help me. It took a few months, but eventually I started to feel better. So I’m urging you - don’t hold back. Let it all loose and give it to God. Cry, even if you have to fall on the floor crying. Don’t worry about keeping your composure or how you look. God says I desire a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
Wear your pain on your heart and show it to God. God can mend your heart. In fact He can give you a new heart. The Bible tells us that God gave Saul a new heart. If He did it for Saul He will do it for you. He doesn’t love you any less than He loves Saul because He is the same God today, yesterday, and forever more. God says I change not. You now have one of the greatest opportunities to repair, and save, your life. I am not asking you to get religion. I am asking you to go to your maker, the One who designed you and gave you the gifts and talents that you have. Talk to Him on a daily basis until you start to feel some relief from your pain and PTSD. Talk to Him until your dreams run clear and you dream without fear. Take God into your confidence and talk to Him until you can do the things you used to do without fear of a PTSD trigger; until you are fully functioning again. Believe me when I tell you, God’s help is very real and it can happen for you. You need to trust God and believe He will heal you simply because you called Him and asked Him to help. The Bible says, “He that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Invite God in, tell Him about your suffering every day and you will crush PTSD, the fear and the anger. God said, “Cast your care upon me for I careth for you”. In other words, put your cares upon God and He will take care of them. Even as you suffer through PTSD episodes, stop and say to God. “I give my mind over to you. Please God I ask you to set me free from this. I want to live and have a relationship with you. I don’t want to be depressed anymore.” Ask God to raise up prayer warriors for you. God has people calling our names all over the world. He has people dedicated and committed to just praying all day long. I believe that God will help you if you want to be healed. I have been healed form cancer and other conditions. I am living proof that God can heal. One of God’s compound names is Jehovah Rapha, which means the Lord our Healer. He said, “I am the Lord that heals you.” He said, “I will not put any of the diseases on you I put on the Egyptians” (Exodus 15:26). If you ever get to know God you will find out how perfect and wonderful He is. You may not be able to trust other people, but God is trustworthy. There may not be any other person on earth you can feel that way about but you can feel that way about God. And because He is so deeply in love with you.
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
PROMIISSCUITY TREASON PROMISCUITY IS TREASON IN GOD’S WORLD. And let’s face it ladies and gentlemen, when you are being promiscuous there’s a sense of loss. You have lost yourself. In fact, you may have lost yourself even before you had the chance to
FIND YOURSELF. By: Dr. Diana
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December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
If I started providing young people with methamphetamine and caused them to start using on a continuous basis, I’m sure you would agree that I would be trying to destroy them. Well, promiscuity is in the same category. Drugs start out by destroying the soul and then if given the opportunity will destroy your life which is all of you. Promiscuity sometimes feels good to people who need to fill a gaping hole inside. If people lead you in that direction and you make a pact with them believing it will be fun, you are actually destroying each other. Are you looking for fun, for approval, or to be accepted? Are you looking for love and sex? If so, those are two completely different things. Sex is two people having a physical act with each other. When you enter into a physical, solely sexual relationship with someone, it really doesn’t matter who you are as a person. After all, your new sexual partner met you only 15 minutes ago and now you are in the club bathroom having sex. You are using sex to feel good about yourself. You want the person you just met to say “I love you”, to fulfill you. Forget that. They can’t love you. Love protects. Love would never expose you in a bathroom in a club with someone you met 15 minutes ago. God says that fornication (sex without marriage) is a sin because He knows that it is destructive. Sex impales you spiritually. When you fornicate it puts a hole in your soul because the act of fornication has none of the elements of true love. But when your understanding is limited and you see the world doing things one way, it’s easy to gravitate in that direction. What is best, however, is to gravitate toward doing things God’s way. Love is much, much different than sex. Love covers, protects, provides for you, keeps you safe, and stands by your side. Our first learnings about love (most usually) begin with our parents. Our parents love us and provide us with shelter, clothing, food, and a warm place to sleep. They spend time with us because that’s what love does. Love sticks by us in tough times when we experience pain and suffering. Parents are present because they love their children. Love is awesome and pleasant. The very nature of love is good. It doesn’t come fast. Don’t wish to meet someone and have them say “I love you” right away. If someone truly
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loves you, that love has to be revealed. You have to discover it as they begin to show it. It doesn’t matter if you are a 50 year-old woman or a 20 year-old girl, you need to make sure someone loves you and you love them before you even think about going into a physical, romantic relationship. God will help to provide you a mate – the right mate for you. God Himself knows, (being Mr. Wisdom), that He has to provide you with a mate. He has to create the opportunity for you to meet the person who He knows has been created to be your mate. Only God can help you find the mate that will love you, inspire you, protect you, and shelter you in all kinds of ways. The person that God leads you to is not going to be perfect. Your mate is not necessarily going to be a knight in shining armor or a damsel in distress. No, he or she will be human, just like you. No one’s perfect, even the mate that God will find for you. However, this mate will have the characteristics and strength to fit exactly what you need. It’s entirely possible that you will look at this person and think “Well he or she is not at all what I want.” That doesn’t matter. You may have been chasing after the wrong characteristics for years. You may have been attracted to the wrong kind of looks, or wealth, or charm. It’s time to remove the earthly rose-colored glasses and ask God to reveal your perfect mate to you.
Ask God to reveal what this person has that you need and why he or she was chosen for you. He is your father in Heaven, which means He will protect, shelter and love you forever because He never dies. God won’t abandon you, He draws near. He will walk down the street holding your hand and cover you up so that people don’t see your past mistakes. No one will see your history of promiscuity. No one will see your history of drug addiction or prostitution. God the Father will always be faithful to you. He will remove you from life’s traps, like promiscuity, and give you love. All you have to do is knock on God’s door. Ball up your fists and knock on that proverbial door and say “God I am here. Where are you?” I guarantee that if you knock from your heart, and you promise that you will keep Him in your life. He will open that door. Knock. It’s not too late. The Bible says seek and you shall find. God said seek Me while I may be found. Now is your time to be found. Dr. Diana
Happy New Year from RED WINE
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