SELF-LOVE
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Executive office RED WINE Magazine, Incorporated 17503 La Cantera Parkway, Suite 104-193 San Antonio, Texas 78257
Editor-in Chief Dr. Diana Hardy
Editorial Staff Deborah Chiaravolliti
CONTENTS
Writers 2
MONEY THE VOICELESS GOD
7
DRESSED TO KILL
11 HOLY BLOOD 13 WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN HIS NAME IS JEALOUS 15 WHERE IS THE DESIRE LAND?
Dr. Diana Hardy Erica Johnson
Graphic Design Karen Hue Gustavo
Website Design Gagan Masoun
Editors
Note
Still Looking for Answers
If you are like me, you are still looking for answers. That means you obviously have questions about a whole lot of things. I have a question for you! What inspires you? What entertains you? What do you call fun? I know this season people are participating in Halloween because they want to have fun and play dress up.
They want to be someone they are not; to portray
someone so far different than their personality. If that is you, there is no better person than your Father, the Lord, who give what you want; the fun, entertainment and yes, even happiness you are looking for. When you mention God, some people think of an old, religious man who is unyielding, invisible and maybe not even present. No one knows His address. But that is just a very worldly idea of Him. The truth is God is fun; He’s loving and has a great sense of humor. He can even entertain you. He has so many names and parts to His personality that maybe you might want to consider trying to be like Him. Take on His character, love, and super strength. Dress up like Him! His awesome wisdom that is far better than the wisdom or knowledge you can find in our world. When I think about you, I reminded of His unquenchable love for you and all the things you still don’t know about Him. Go looking for His Presence! You’ll be surprised at what you will find. I hope you enjoy this issue! Dr. Diana Hardy Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Diana
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
How I Beat 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.
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MONEY THE VOICELESS GOD
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Could you imagine if your money could talk, what it might say to people about you? You carry money on a daily basis. It is your money but it is around other people. Imagine what it might say like when you go and cash your check in the bank or check cashing place. And money heard the things that you say. Private, personal words that came out of your mouth about your life. How you feel about your boss, your family, even yourself. But thank God money can’t talk. Or at least it doesn’t have any audible expressions.
GOD has something to say that is pretty potent about MONEY.
In Matthew 6:24, God says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Amazingly GOD is referring to money as a possible MASTER.
I am sure you can understand money does master some people. And it is not only celebrities who have loads of money but also drug dealers who stand on the corner in the hood. Or wall street businessmen. No matter what you are or where you are, even Donald Trump for that matter, you have to be careful when it comes to money because God said you can’t serve two masters. Sometimes people say they are serving people but they are actually serving money. I say that because we get so used to all the materialism and the spotlight that money puts us in when we have a lot of it. If you are a CEO or a GM, and you make a lot of money your life will show it on some level. You may not drive a Porsche or a Bentley but you have your own plane or live in a multimillion dollar home. I don’t know anyone who has money and doesn't have something to show for it. If you took all that money from them, can you imagine what they would do or say? When the stock market dropped, people jumped out of the window and killed themselves. Money is a master for many people in this world and not just the rich but the poor as well. But God said you cannot serve two masters. If you feel like you need this money and you won’t be happy without it and you can’t do what you want to do in life without it. Then I suggest you look at who your master really is. If we are not serving God, we are serving something else. Money can be a voiceless god. I have heard my children say they’d rather have money than not. Well most people feel that way. But we don’t want to get to the point where we would do anything for money. There are people who think that if they could get rich life would be so much better. They’d be happier and could buy what they want. That is not always true. There are people in the magazines that we purchase on
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a daily basis who have a lot of money but they are miserable. The divorce rate is high in Tinsel Town. And they have trouble with their children. Just in regular life, it is the same.
WHEN YOU SERVE
GOD, He is the person who
PROVIDES FOR YOU. You are not relying on yourself.
I looked up the word master and it said an owner of a slave or someone who is able to use control and have the ability to dispose of a person. Is that how you think of money? If you were to lose a large portion of your wealth, what would happen to you? What drastic measures would you take? And for those of you who are Christians and say you serve God, what god are you really serving? There is a story in the Bible where a man asks Jesus what he should do to be saved. Jesus told him a number of things and the man stated he’d done all those things since a child. So Jesus said well there is one more thing. Sell all your goods and give your money to the poor. The man dropped his head and walked away, he couldn’t do it because his money was his god (Mark 10:17-23). Now I say the same thing to you. If the Lord was to tell you tonight to take all your wealth out of the bank and give it to the poor, could you do it? Or share the majority of your wealth with the poor, not just giving a donation to charity. By the way, for those of you who think giving to charity is giving to God, that is incorrect. When you give to God, you give to His house, to a ministry. When you give to charity, you are giving to a foundation that is doing good works but it is not the church. There is a distinct difference though both are categorized as nonprofits. We have to be careful what god we are serving. Who you serve will be shown by where your focus is. Is your focus on money so that you are always running and doing whatever it takes to get more money? Have you lowered your standards for money? Or are you a leader for God in ministry? A pastor, teacher, prophet, evangelist or apostle? Now I am not saying there are not leaders in ministry that don’t have a lot of money. But their focus is God. Who is your focus, who do you bow down to? Who do you run to when there is a problem? Do you use money to solve problems and control people? Did you hook up with someone 4 I Red Wine
because they have money? I hope you are one of those people who make God first because the Bible says,
“But seek ye first the KINGDOM OF GOD, AND HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS;
and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33.
God has a lot to say in the Word about paganism and idolatry. If you idolize money, then money is your idol. And you can do that very easily without knowing it. How much of your life does money have? Or does God have your life? Or is everything about how much you make? Are you so desperate for money you sell drugs knowing you may be killing someone’s child? But you would do anything for that voiceless god instead of serving the One True God. Who has a very tender, loving voice. Who will speak to you and carry your through difficult, painful times. Times of loss and joy. He will be right alongside you cheering for you. God is alive. Jesus is alive in heaven standing, waiting for you to realize He wants to be your God. If you would just take all that fear that is consuming you and talk to Him about it and give God 5 solid minutes without looking at your phone. Tell God you are afraid and if He doesn’t come into your life you will (fill in the blank). Why serve a voiceless god when you can serve a God who knows your thoughts before you have them. A God who has numbered the hairs on your head. He can heal you. I know because He healed me from cancer. All you have to do is open your mouth and your heart and all can be well again. Will it be overnight? Not normally but it’s possible. God can do it but He needs you to pursue Him like you chased money. Cut the ties and tell God you don’t want money to be your god. And if you are a drug dealer, please ask God to deliver you from selling drugs because the same spirit of murder that you release when you sell those drugs will come after you one day or your children in some form, even addiction. There’s only one true God and that is the Lord God Jehovah, that is the covenant name. He has many names but the covenant name is Jehovah. Jesus Christ is the Messiah and the Son of the Living God. Please ask Him to talk to you. You start by talking to Him. God bless you! I hope I have given you some food for thought. Dr. Diana
December 2014 - January 2015//Special Issue
the wisdom that
SELF-LOVE
GOD SUPPLIES gives
LIFE
(Ecclesiastes 7:12).
The Bible tells us that if any one lacks wisdom, all they have to do is ask God for it and God will give it generously without taking it back (James 1:5). God is not an Indian-giver. That’s great news! It is nice to know you can trust Him when He says He will give you something. But that fact doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility of using what God gives us. When I was a kid, I would give my dad stuff for various holidays and he wouldn’t use it. I gave him Brut and Old Spice and they’d just sit on the bathroom shelf year after year unopened. I even started giving him food, like cookies and donuts and would you believe he’d sit them on the covered cake stand until they got molded. I would ask him why he didn’t use or eat my gifts and he would tell me it was because I gave it to him
so he wanted to keep it as a momento. That infuriated me especially the donuts and cookies! When someone gives you something, they expect you to use it. God is no different. And because of His grace and mercy, He doesn’t give us wisdom and then take it back the moment we sin. But that wisdom can become corrupt if we don’t use it and if we don’t walk according to God’s plans and purposes. God filled satan with wisdom (Ezekiel 28:12) but because he did not use it and became lifted up in pride, the same wisdom that started out divine, meaning from God, became corrupt. In fact, it was the corruption of the wisdom God had imparted to him that brought about his literal fall from heaven.
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Ezekiel 28:17 says, “Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. So I threw you to the ground and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.” That corrupt wisdom is the wisdom of this world which will profit you nothing (1 Corinthians 2:6-7). But the wisdom that God supplies gives life (Ecclesiastes 7:12).
If we do not use the wisdom
God
provides and walk in accordance with God’s statutes, He doesn’t take His wisdom away but instead, like satan, it becomes corrupt. When God gives you something, He wants you to use it. When He gave manna to the Israelites, He told them to use it and not keep it overnight (Exodus 16). Some did keep it and in the morning they found the manna full of maggots with a stench. It rotted or became corrupt like wisdom can when you don’t use it.
The Bible also tells us that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable and are to be used in service to others (Romans 11:29; 1 Peter 4:10). It is the same as with wisdom. God has given all of us gifts. He doesn’t take them back. So if we never take the time to find and pursue God’s plan for our lives, the gifts and callings don’t just go away. They go unused and can become corrupt. And we have to give an account to God for this waste of His gifts and talents (Romans 14:12). Don’t let corruption touch your life. Ask for and use the wisdom of God. Find out your gifts and talents and use them. Anyone who gets wisdom loves themselves (Proverbs 19:8).
Take the ultimate step
It is a decision you will never regret.
ofand self-love grab hold of the wisdom of God for your life.
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The seasons are changing now.
And just like the seasons, other changes are going on that really affect us. Some are positive and some are negative. I was looking at one of my favorite home shopping networks and the host was talking about the seasons changing. Most of us in the US have been experiencing extreme heat. I live in southwest Texas, so to say it has been hot is an understatement. For us, things start to cool down in October. But while the heat is settling down, there are other things emerging. You go into the stores and you’ll see what retailers are focusing on for October. Halloween has become a major holiday. When I was growing up, it wasn’t but now people literally spend thousands of dollars to buy costumes and throw parties. They want to look like the real thing, a celebrity, historical figure or evil being.
Kill to
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Vampires, witches, devils and all other kinds of evil beings are going to be portrayed on that day. And it is not only children but entire families getting involved. People go out of their way to look like the real thing. There are contest that are held for best costume. Parties where people decorate their homes to look haunted. And people are excited to involve themselves in this holiday. Sadly, even Christians participate in this holiday. And people think nothing of it. People believe it is harmless. But there are days in the year where we focus on the Lord like Good Friday or Easter or Christmas. Jesus is the real reason for the season. Jesus gave His life for us, shed His blood for us. Yet when Halloween comes around we lose all thought of the passion that Jesus showed us and poured out for us by aligning ourselves with another god. One who God hates and has already passed judgment on. Satan. Satan is going to hell in case you didn’t know.
Halloween
is when the beings of his world are magnified and celebrated. I know
some people think it is just one day of fun but it is a serious thing. For the other 364 days, people struggle with all kinds of demonic oppression and interference such as depression, sadness, fear, divorce, marital problems, infidelity, lupus, cancer, sicknesses and diseases that even existsed when I was young.. When you dress up as one of these creatures you are indirectly saying that you like that creature enough to wear its image on your body. You are making a very strong statement to the underworld by purchasing these costumes, because you wear or allow and encourage your children to wear these costumes the real creatures of darkness come into agreement with you and begin to associate, follow and enter into your life. They are now human friendly or loving, but they are evil they will start to manifest their actions in your life and because you cannot see in the spirit world you and your children will be harmed. They are gate keepers for satan. How did these things come into play? Demonic spirits whose sole purpose is to attach themselves to your life, to attack you spiritually and wait until they can introduce these horrible diseases and situations into your life. For example, marriage is an institution created by God. How is it that the divorce rate is so high? Because demonic spirits have assignments to destroy your happiness and you if they can. In Mark 5, Jesus went to the Gaderenes and encountered a man that had an unclean spirit who was living in the tombs. We know that that doesn’t come from God, it comes from satan our enemy. That’s one of his henchmen. I’m sure this man didn’t go purchase this unclean spirit from a store. He didn’t go looking for it, it was looking for him. 8 I Red Wine
Read the story in Mark. The moment Jesus gets out of the ship, this man comes running up to him because he was possessed. He had been living in the tombs and the Bible says no one could bind him because the demons that lived inside of him had taken over his life and were very strong. The demons used his body, this man was suffering in the tomb crying and cutting himself. We have people living like that today alongside of us in the streets. We all see them, people who are homeless talking to themselves. Their lives are in shambles, they may smell and may be dirty all because of demonic spirits that are possessing them. Everything that’s evil doesn’t look or act scary. People portray evil spirits as scary but their purpose is to be subtle and destroy your life. Take away your joy, your life and your happiness. Things that God wants you to have and works to make sure you have. This man ran up to Jesus and cried with a loud voice,” ‘What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.’ For He [Jesus] said unto him, ‘Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.’ And He asked him, ‘What is thy name?’ And he answered, saying, ‘My name is Legion: for we are many.’” A legion is 6000 demons. The demons asked Jesus not to send them out of the country because demons are territorial. So they said send us into the swine and Jesus gave them permission. The herd of swine ran violently into the sea and drowned. The purpose of the demons was to murder the man and they didn’t because of God. So they murdered the pigs violently. These are the same type of demons that people are portraying on Halloween. God is against that kind of portrayal and association with demons. He knows that demons will destroy you. God is against witches, just read the story in the Bible where King Saul went to the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28). God said there should be no witches in the land so Israel had to kick out anybody that practices witchcraft. God sees it as the sin of rebellion. There are demons mentioned throughout the Bible. The spirit of jealousy in Numbers 5:14, lying spirit 1 Kings 22:22, unclean spirit in Zachariah 13:2 and deep sleep Isa 29:10. If you’d like to gain some understanding on these demons, read about them in the Bible. You’ll find you are not supposed to have any type of association with them. If God is against witches and witchcraft, then it follows that we should not portray them in anyway. God is not against the people, but the lifestyle. He loves the people. If God is sending a
devil to hell, why would you dress up like one even for one day. And associating yourself with these kinds of beings means you are opening the door for them to come into and affect your life and your family. These are the same demons that are trying to destroy you and your kids. Every bad thing in your life, demons play a very real part in it. The only one that can set us free from this is God.
Luke 10:19 says,
“Ibehold give unto
you power to tread on
serpents and scorpions,and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
GOD doesn’t want satan
Some of you blame God but God is not doing this, He loves you. He is not a double minded God. He’s not going to hurt you and then mend you and fix you. He is trying to teach you the truth. Through His love letter called the Bible He lets you know He is against witches and warlocks and all these unclean spirits. The demonic man we talked about, God came precisely to him to tell the demons to get out of that man and they did. Do not associate yourself with these unclean beings. Your life is too precious to God. There are so many people dressing up on that day. They don’t know they are setting off things that could kill things in their lives. It gives new meaning to the saying “dressed to kill.” It used to mean you were sharp and people admired your clothing but when it comes to Halloween it means the entrance of those demonic spirits in your life due to a costume that could really leave you dressed to kill. You may throw the costume away but you can’t simply throw away the ungodly beings that now have gained entrance into your home and life. All because you celebrated satan's holiday. All these demonic beings are going to hell. Don’t let them take you there. God wants you to be happy. He paid for you to be healed and know love that is unquenchable. But there is no love in the kingdom of darkness. Be blessed. Dr. Diana
to harm you.
But allowing your children and yourself to dress up in these costumes all in the name of fun opens the door for just that. Is your life that meaningless that you would allow these demonic spirits into your life over a costume for one day? And then for the rest of the year you struggle in areas of life and say you don't know why this is happening.
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l Hy Ask the Lord to wash you in His blood (1 John 1:7). Know that you will be clean. And that it is holy blood on you so nothing will be able to destroy you or your life as long as that holy blood is on you.
Blood
O Is BLOOD important to
YOU ?
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We are in that season again when blood starts becoming a focus due to the upcoming holiday. Plus, if you watch TV at all, you know that vampire shows and other supernatural monsters are prominent now. People are watching those shows. The world has figured out that to make vampires and ghouls and ghosts more palatable and not too scary for those who don’t like that kind of thing, Hollywood has made them user-friendly. For example, vampires can be out in the daylight now.
The Lord said it wasn’t the blood of bulls or goats but the
precious
blood of Jesus
But blood is a constant theme with vampires and with Halloween. People will be buying fake blood and dye to add to their costumes. But what do we really know about blood? Everyone has had their blood taken at some point in life by the doctor. The blood tells us what’s going on in our bodies with our organs and such.
that paid for you to be
Blood is needed by blood banks so it can be used to save people’s lives through transfusions. There are people who give blood often to help others. Blood is important. God said the life of a person and an animal is in the blood. He instructed Israel not to eat the blood of animals because the life of the animal is in the blood (Leviticus 17:10-12).
(Hebrews 9:12).
When you ask people what is so appealing about vampires, many say the fact that they are immortal. When I was a kid, I loved vampire movies, not because they were scary but because they could live forever. But there is a blood that if we apply it to our lives, we will live forever. Just ask God for a transfusion. There is a blood called holy blood. It is not talked about much in the media but it is pretty important. The Blood of Jesus is the reason you are alive to watch any TV show or participate in any holiday. And that is the blood you need to focus on for you and your children. You can’t apply the blood of Jesus to your life or ask Him for a blood transfusion to heal you of sickness if you don’t accept Him first. You have to accept the gift of life He wants to give you by accepting Him. If you tell Him right now as you are reading this that you accept Him right now to be your Lord and Master, the Blood of Jesus, which was already spilled for you at Calvary, pays for you to have eternal life with God in His Kingdom. You will be in the presence of God now and when you die. You will be represented in heaven. All of God’s children are seated with Christ in heavenly places far above principalities, powers, might, dominion, and every name that is named. (Ephesians 1:21; 2:6) 12 I Red Wine
healed and saved from going to hell
You should really start to learn about the holy blood. If you want to be holy, you need a transfusion. If you are sick with cancer in your body or lupus or some kind of disease and you are afraid of dying, there is one person who can give you eternal life and receive you right after you leave this earth. And you will live an improved life here on earth until that time. If you don’t receive Him, just the opposite happens. When you step out of your body, you go straight to hell. That wasn’t made for you; hell was made for satan and his angels. You were made for God’s good pleasure. That’s why He paid for you and gave you His holy blood. I implore you to apply that holy blood to your life. Instead of looking for fake blood to use on that holiday coming up, apply the holy blood of Jesus to you. People may not be able to see it but put it all over your life, your body, your children your home and your career. Ask the Lord to wash you in His blood (1 John 1:7). Know that you will be clean. And that it is holy blood on you so nothing will be able to destroy you or your life as long as that holy blood is on you. God bless you! Dr. Diana
What Do You Do When His Name is
ealous
J
There is nothing bad in God. God made you for His good pleasure, not to harm you (Philippians 2:13). He knows His plans He has for you and they are good (Jeremiah 29:11).
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sn’t
I
it wonderful when someone loves you and you know it? Especially when they go out of their way to let you know it. They spare no expense and it makes you happy. When you open your eyes in the morning just thinking about that love invigorates you.
Some of us are secure and have been successful in life because of the love of our family. They were there to support us. Many don’t have that support and end up being off balance throughout life because their foundation is so shaky. On the other hand, imagine having to deal with jealousy. Have you ever been jealous? I don’t mean a little jealous, I mean deep-seated, hot jealousy. If someone comes and threatens your relationship by seeking the attention of your loved one, it stirs up feelings you’d rather not have. Jealousy can be dangerous to the point of someone getting hurt; which can be fatal. There are so many stories about it on TV.
He makes it rain so the food can grow so we can buy it in the grocery store. He heals our bodies. He makes sure you get the money you need to support your family. That is His love. God is so jealous because He paid with His blood over 2000 years ago for everyone that would ever be born. He spared no expense. He came out of heaven and did what a lot of us couldn’t and wouldn’t do. He has the right to be jealous. Plus He knows what would happen if He walked away from you. If He just gave up on you and walked away, He knows there is an enemy of our soul, satan, who will come after us with everything he’s got. He’s an old, ex-employee of God who’s powerful. But not as powerful as God. Jealousy is a mantle or form of protection when it comes to godly jealousy. You can’t apply that to human jealousy because humanity is flawed. Another person can’t love you the way God can. We don’t know how to love someone more than we love ourselves. We have a carnal, fleshy love as humans. But God’s love is a perfect love.
God’s got some awesome plans for you that may differ from what you have planned. Society’s opinions drive you to think you have to do things the way everyone else is doing them. Even if they don’t benefit you. But God has plans for you. God brought Israel out of slavery and improved their life.
g
He told them
He is jealous with a
odly jealousy.
If you worship another god I will visit your sins upon the third and fourth generation. But if you love me back like I love you, I will bless your children down to 1000 generations (Exodus 20:5). God is faithful and you shouldn’t ever doubt Him.
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ealousy
It may surprise you but God’s name is Jealous. He said that about Himself. No one gave Him that name; He said He is a jealous God 2014 (Exodus 20:5).2015//Special He tells usIssue that He is jealous because He December - January created you and wants you to have the best life you can have. There is nothing bad in God. God made you for His good pleasure, not to harm you (Philippians 2:13). He knows His plans He has for you and they are good (Jeremiah 29:11).
And His
J
What do you do when you have a guy who is jealous? Ladies, I know some of you like to make guys jealous because you think it means he loves you and is a little possessive of you. But jealousy can be dangerous.
is protective.
Read where He is jealous so you can understand how passionate God is about you and why. In Exodus 20:5, God lays it all out for you. Exodus 34:14 tells us about not worshipping other gods. Now you may say I don’t have idols in my house. But just having like a Buddha statue in your house is worship. You are saying it is worth you having. It’s presence in your house means something. And if you think it is bringing you luck, you are very wrong. God is the One opening doors in your life. Having any kind of image or representation like that in your house makes God jealous and angry. Move it from out of your life so it doesn’t distract you or God will visit His anger upon you and your children to the third and fourth generation. You may say your kids didn’t do anything but God has His ways which are past finding out and God always deals in the blood (Romans 11:33). God’s jealousy is there to protect you from the evils of these images that are really satanic. Buddha is not the one who created you so the image shouldn’t be in your house. Pray and ask God to teach you about His jealousy. That is how worthy you are. God is that deeply in love with you. He wants to expose things that might be right there in your house hindering you. Have a blessed day! Dr. Diana
e re
I
Where Is The
S
D
?
LanI We have to start praying about things that are not only important to your health and happiness but to your purpose and to blessing someone else in this world. That’s what it’s really about; helping and blessing one another.
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I was thinking about how many people really focus on what’s going on inside their heart. I am not talking about the fleshly heart; I mean your real heart. The place where everything about you shows up. The Lord said it is not what goes into us that defiles us but what comes out of us because it comes from our hearts (Mark 7:15). Some friends and colleagues were discussing this with me. And it seems most people don’t give a lot of attention to their true desires; they don’t go looking for them because they are so plugged in to the condition of the world. We watch the news so much that we are inundated with fear by what’s going on not just around the world but right in our backyard. Like murder, kidnappings, thievery, hackers hacking into the banking system and stealing people’s money. They are focused on that and they don’t think about finding out about 19 their real heart. We all are more than just flesh and blood. The real us is our spirit. Only God can touch it. He knows exactly where to find it in us. When we transition or die, what happens is our spirit, the real us, leaves and goes to be with the Lord. I’ve just said a mouth full right there but it is in the Bible. Read and mediate on God’s word day and night so your path can be made straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). My point here is that what you really want takes time to be sought after. You have to take time and look for it. We spend too much time on other aspects of life and not enough on our purpose. If we focus on our self then by default we have to focus on God because He is the only one who has the answers we need. It says in Psalms 37 to trust in the Lord and do good and also to delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. These are some really important points. That means God is aware of what is in our hearts even when we are not. And some desires we have are really not our desire, it’s something that we saw on TV or something that someone we know has. Because it looked good or worked for them, we decided we wanted it. Some of us are salacious in our behaviors or jealous of what others have because we think that if they have it then it should be good for us as well. But what works for
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someone else doesn’t always work for us. We have a unique purpose and role ahead of us that we need to find out about. We need to become diligent in seeking that role and getting on our journey. To do that we need to get into a real relationship with God. When you have the wrong desires but are sincere and really want the truth so you can live it, God will reveal it to you if you seek Him diligently. You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). You have to know the truth in order to be free. A lot of us don’t feel free in our minds. Our hearts are entangled with all kinds of thoughts that are deceptive and painful. Memories of bad relationships with friends, family and significant others because we are programed by what people say about us. But what do you really desire and is it something that God said He would allow for you to have?
Before you start praying to God about something and asking over and over and waiting and waiting, you need to make sure it is
in line with the
WILL OF GOD. Is this something He would want you to have? Is it part of His plan for your life?
Now it is true sometimes when you ask God for something you have to wait on it. Sometimes God moves quickly but most often it is not quick because God is past brilliant so He allows you to see things about what you think you want. Are you tenacious to keep praying?
Do you believe God?
Do you trust Him for it? That will be revealed as you wait on God.
How often do we ask God for things and then when it doesn’t happen in a year or two, we forget all about it? We stop praying and move on to something else. Or we just give up on God. That is a famous line. One of my children told me prayer doesn’t work for them but it does. Everything I have I got through prayer and not just my prayers but the prayers of others. God’s strategy is so genius that He not only got me to the place where I pray for myself but I pray for others and others pray for me. And I don’t always know them. There are people who are dedicated to prayer and that prayer is powerful. It is that thing that gets you to that next level in life. And sometimes even saves your life.
Back to your desires. Do you desire things that God wants you to have? If you desire another person’s spouse, you can forget that because God is not going to give you that. It breaks one of the cardinal rules in His Word where He says adultery and fornication are sins. We have to start praying about things that are not only important to your health and happiness but to your purpose and to blessing someone else in this world. That’s what it’s really about; helping and blessing one another. Do you desire to do good? Where is your desire hidden? God knows the answer to that. It is somewhere in a spiritual frame that the enemy can’t touch. You can’t either, but God can reveal your desires to you.
Now God said He reveals His secrets to His servants (Amos 3:7).
SERVE!
That is the answer.
Serve in the place you are supposed to but you won’t know that from anyone but God.
Stay waiting on Him.
He will renew your strength and expose your
TRUE DESIRES.
If you have wrong desires, just give them over to God and ask Him to change them. Get in His Word and look for the truth. You will start to see an
improved you!
Happy and more anchored, loving and caring. You will be able to let go of bitterness. Where is the desire land for you? I guarantee there is one and
it’s your property. God bless. Dr. Diana
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