LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS: He's not doing his job.

LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS: He's not doing his job.

Even the best of leaders can't do it all on their own. Yes, many of us expect them to, and why not? That's all they have to do anyway, right? Its often easy to put the blame up the chain of command. In thinking on this common "leadership problem" that I've seen in churches I've traveled to and served in, i am reminded of Exodus 17:12. Moses, the leader of Israel who had been used by God to perform the most amazing miracles in Egypt, used to split the Sea, and countless other events, reached a point where he was unable to carry the weight of his duties. What happened? Rather than seeing it as a Leadership Problem, Aaron and Hur saw it as their problem. They found a stone to sit Moses on and held his hands up till victory was in hand. The lesson of this story? We have no idea the weight or burden our leaders face to help us live in victory when the battle comes. So, rather than blaming them for things not happening in the time frame we see fit or happening how we think it should happen, lets take the initiative and support them when their strength is waning and take hold of the victory together! How much more rewarding it is to have had a part to play in acquiring the victory along side your leader, than the condemnation in your heart of wishing you had done more to prevent failure!

"Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle." - Exodus 17:10-13 MSG

Do you see only leadership problems OR do you see leadership support opportunities?

Choose to be an Aaron or Hur and not a grumbler! :)

Supporting my leaders.
JRT

Psuedo Faith vs. Real Faith

Pseudo-Faith = telling everyone you're believing God while you tell them specifics of all the things you need and all your circumstances.
Real Faith = telling God about your needs and circumstances. And going from that point with thanksgiving that the need is already met.

The first puts trust in others being moved with compassion, the later puts trust in God moving with His power to prove Himself faithful to His Word! Are you a manipulator of Psuedo-Faith or a Activator of REAL Faith?

I often notice in social media and in person, some people will tell you every single burden in their life and every single thing they are believing for, usually material and/or financial. I believe some of these people have a misconception of what real faith is. It's almost as if "faith" and "believing God" and "making good confessions" are used to manipulate others into being your provider. I've never felt comfortable with such behavior. Perhaps it's the way I was brought up and the ministers I was brought up under. Raised on Kenneth E. Hagin, Kenneth W. Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Scott Webb, Jesse Duplantis, and many other leaders in the faith movement some of who have gone on to be with The Lord, I had many years of the Word of Faith being planted deeply in my heart. I never heard these ministers instruct people to speak their problems to others, in fact I heard them talk against such behavior. And most importantly, in the Word I have never seen examples of such behavior. What I have seen is encouragement to speak, with your mouth, to the circumstances and to thank God for His Word and Promises and faithfulness to perform His Word! To tell people all your circumstances and problems, will cause well meaning people to "feel led" to give to you, because compassion rises at hearing your need. And then, if you have a conscious, you have the guilt of feeling like you manipulated a "blessing" out of them. I speak from personal experience, I have been in a place where I was pressured and pressured because someone wanted me to do something with them that I didn't have the finances for. However, I knew this person's heart and giving personality and didn't want to take advantage of it. I kept making excuses and finally got pressured into telling them I didn't have the finances to do it, and of course they said they were providing and wouldn't take no for an answer. Even in that instance I felt so guilty. Felt like a manipulator. We never want to live life like that, and we never want to go through life questioning whether we manipulated the "blessing" into working for us, and begin to question faith. That's when we enter into works and get to a place where it's me making faith work and it's my power, and forget why faith works.

When we get unbalanced in reference to the gospel, we find our selves doing things in our own strength, using cute "Christianese" and "faith-lingo" to sound like faith warriors when really we are carpetbaggers riding on the coattails of victory, using and manipulating it for our own personal advancement and material gain. True faith works in an entirely different manner. The believer that truly understand faith and how it works appears to be facing no serious battles. Often a true warrior of faith is understated by those around them. They appear to have a carefree life never facing serious issues like WE face, by the casual onlooker. But the truth of the matter is, they wage spiritual warfare on the true battlefield. They know who their source is, and it is not people. They understand people may be a vessel, but the vessel only transfers what is needed from the source to the receiver. They understand God is their source and that He is the one who takes care of them. They may be facing battles you can't even fathom, but you'd never know it. Because they know the victory has already been won, they've taken hold of it and seized it by faith in the midnight hours and they have joy and peace because they know God will bring it to pass!

It is truly wonderful to see God bring about answers to the deepest desires of your heart, to prayers and needs you've told no one but Him about. When these things happen, faith explodes and grows. Your vision and capacity to believe increases enormously. I've experienced such events in my life as well. Once small example, my sister and I were struggling financially during our time at bible school. I had no money and was waiting on a paycheck that got delayed. We had boxed Mac and cheese, some butter, and soured milk that was gross to smell. We made Mac and cheese and ate it, feeling reminiscent of the widow woman who said to the prophet, "I have enough to make a meal for my son and I, and then we will die." perhaps our situation wasn't that drastic, but at the time it felt like it as we had no idea where our next meal was coming from, BUT GOD. We told no one, not even our parents. As we ate, we prayed over our food and prayed that our storehouses were full, even though in the natural our cupboards and fridge were empty, we chose to believe God's Word works. The next day, bags of fresh groceries were on our door. And it was all really nice, organic and top of the line! We ate like queens! We cried and knew it was ALL God! Our faith in Him and Him alone had activated the blessing in our life. Like manna from heaven, groceries we needed to survive until the finances turned around were provided, and we ate even better than we had been eating off of our own finances. When you put your trust in God and His word, it is an unexplainable feeling of joy that HE,not another person, BUT HE heard the cries of your heart and your greatest needs and HE was faithful to perform His Word in your life!

When God meets your needs, it's always bigger and better!

That is truly living by faith and in God's prosperity!

Who is your source?

JRT

LOVE: Our Initial Response!

"Love bears up under anything and
everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]." (1 Corinthians 13:7 AMP)

Recent occurrences in my life over the past several months have caused me to really think along the lines of what real, pure love is. I'm not referring to fairytales or romance, I'm referring to the type of love that is far more important than that and that is our daily conduct as believers.

I'm by no means perfect in this area, as none of us are, but God has really been speaking to my heart by personal experiences through His Word. I've grown up in church all of my twenty-five (and a half) years on this earth and still am shocked and astonished at our lack of maturity in the area of love.

Oh, and I know we LOVE to excel on the topics of grace, faith, God's gonna give you the desires of your heart... And so forth. But, have any of us ever taken the time to realize that our success as Christians is not in how faith-filled we sound, not in how much we are sinking in the ocean of grace, and not in our BMW coming our way? Our success as Christians is measured by our capacity to love.

If it were the other things, wouldn't Jesus have told us, for example, that the greatest commandment of all is to have mountain-moving faith? But that's not what He told us is it? Nope, He told us in Matthew 22:37-39(AMP), "...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself."

The top two commandments that Jesus gave us were love centered. This shows me that God values love more than all the other aspects of Christian living. You say, "But you just don't understand! Maybe it is easy for you to love, you've been in this longer, you just don't have the same issues I have, you just don't know anything about the junk I've had to face!" Well, perhaps you have a point, maybe I don't know the things that you have had to face, but I do know the hardships, the hurt, the bitterness, cruelty, and so forth that I have faced in my life... Growing up a PK isn't exactly floating through life on flowery beds of ease, it is just as challenging as any other life. We all face hardships and hurts in life, perhaps ours seem bigger and more tragic than another person's, but they are all challenges and they all stretch us.

I was just thinking recently that if walking in love is just impossible for us to do, why would God make it the top two commandments that Jesus gave us? If it is as hard as we make it, don't you think God wouldn't give it such importance? As I think on these lines I see that it really isn't all that difficult, God wouldn't ask us to do something that was absolutely impossible to do, without equipping us. He told us in His Word that we will not be tested beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), which tells me that no matter how impossible it may seem to walk in love in a situation, it IS possible to love extravagantly!

In life situations, people's false witness and slanderous speech can stir you up and your flesh wants to defend yourself, You want so badly to give them a piece of your mind, so strong is the urge to put all their dirty laundry out to hang.... But we have to ask ourselves, is that love? What would love do? Is love easily offended? Is love ready to fight and defend itself against injustice? Is love ready to shove ill-spoken words back down the speaker's throat? hmmm.... Sounds much like our initial responses doesn't it? But, none of these are love's initial response. Love is ready to stand there and let the offensive words hit and let them roll off. Love is ready to stand strong in the midst of injustice. Love is ready to take the punches and cuts from someone's hurtful words, look into their eyes, open arms and speak words full of love.

People, even Christians, will say things that hurt us. They will believe lies and stories that aren't true. But it is our response to such occurrences that will determine whether we soar or crash. If we respond out of the flesh, in an effort to clear "our good name" of the smearing and injustice done, you will merely place yourself in the middle of strife and open the door to anger and you will get out of love and out of God's best! BUT, if you respond with love, rest and stay at peace knowing that God knows the truth, your name or reputation hasn't been smeared as far as He is concerned, and no words of men can change His opinion of you, you'll pass the test!

Love is such a vital part of our Christian walk, however so few of us engage in true heavenly love. Oh, we demand it from everyone else, because if everyone else would walk in love I wouldn't have to struggle with my love walk! But, what a shallow view of love that is.... Love should be our initial, middle, and final response in EVERY situation in life! Yes, even the hard, difficult ones! It is easy to love people who love us, but those who despitefully use us, who speak words or conduct themselves in actions that cause us pain and hurt.... THOSE are the ones who deserve our love even more. Love is the only thing that will break the hardness of their heart! Love is the only thing that can change that situation with the person. The Word tells us that walking in love and kindness with our enemy is the same as "heaping coals of fire" on their head (Prov. 25:21-22). So, if we want to see that person change, it is time for some "Sloppy Agape" or extravagant love! You are only limited by your capacity to love. If you can face persecution and injustice with a smile on your face and a heart and eyes full of love, then there is no limit to the places God can take you! Bitterness and unforgiveness will keep you on the ground full of potential, but never fulfilling it. Love will propel you to soar in all that God has for you fulfilling your potential!

You can't change your past responses and actions in times of hardship, but you CAN change how you respond to future hardships! Make the choice today to respond out of love!

Here's some scriptures to meditate on:

"You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]. For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that? You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect."(Matthew 5:43-48 AMP)

"Because at [your] standing of the test of this ministry, they will glorify God for your loyalty and obedience to the Gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous-hearted liberality to them and to all [the other needy ones]." (2 Corinthians 9:13 AMP)

"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For in doing so, you will heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord will reward you. The north wind brings forth rain; so does a backbiting tongue bring forth an angry countenance." (Proverbs 25:21-23 AMP)

"Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God’s love for us)." (1 Corinthians 16:14 AMP)

"Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions." (Proverbs 10:12 AMP)

"This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you." (John 15:12 AMP)

"If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen." (1 John 4:20 AMP)

"Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:11 AMP)

"Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]." (1 Peter 4:8 AMP)

"Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. ...... And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 AMP)

Endeavoring to Walk MORE in Love,
JRT

The Qualities of a True Prince Charming!

I’ve really been inspired on the topic of “Waiting for Prince Charming” and the qualities of a virtuous, godly woman in today’s society, so I may write a series on these topics, but we’ll see…

So many times we girls grow up on fairytales and only focus on the main points, girl meets an attractive guy who turns out to be Prince Charming and they live happily ever after. What so many seem to miss are the important hidden lessons in these stories. It seems as girls we get in our head that all to it is just finding someone that we are in love with because of his dreamy eyes, adorable nose, heartthrob smile, etc. and nothing else matters. While that seems to be the pervasive theme of most fairytales, I feel the classic fairytales and the final authority, the Bible, yield the perfect example of what a True Prince Charming looks like.

Some important things to consider when looking for Prince Charming ... While he may be cute to look at, does he exhibit the qualities of a good husband?

1. Does he have a strong relationship with God? Not simply does he go to church and sound spiritual, but does he have a true, established passion for God and His Word even behind closed doors when the spotlight is off?

 2. Does he have a home? While it doesn't have to be Buckingham Palace, Prince Charming always has a Castle to bring his Princess home to! A godly, upright man preparing to be a good husband shows an admirable quality in making sure he has his own place to bring a wife home to. Love may make you feel good, but that feeling can turn to sadness if your castle turns out to be a cardboard box!

Itching Ears

 ‎"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths."  

~ 2 Timothy 4:3-4 NLT

We live in a world today that is driven by "hype" and "glam" rather what is real. Just look at popular culture. We can't present the truth of what a person looks like, we have to photo"chop" them and create a false illusion to the public, in order to keep the public interested and hooked, and we have to keep pushing the limits to be on the "cutting edge" of what is expected. Hype rules the world we live in, it drives it and that same mentality has, sadly, entered into the church world. The church can no longer preach the truth because it is the "same old, same old" and there is nothing exciting about it. Church people want something new and exciting that "no one else has" and this most often leads to error and, in some cases, destruction. 

I know we christians don't like to talk about our flesh or even admit that it does dictate our perceptions of the Word, if we allow it to. But the truth is that if you open the door, your flesh can cause you to chase after teaching and doctrine that satisfies your flesh or itching ears, rather than strengthening your Spirit. Paul himself said, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." (1 Cor. 9:27). Even Paul felt pressure from his flesh, but he made a decision NOT to let his flesh rule or have the loudest voice in his life. I feel that too many christians are not following Paul's example, rather than renewing their mind to the Word and allowing the Spirit to be the loudest voice in them, they are allowing their flesh to dictate their beliefs, doctrine, and perception of the scripture. 

Every Changing Wind of Doctrine

"So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of [a]unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead." - Ephesians 4:14

There is a very common trend that can be seen in the church today. More and more people are moving away from the truth and developing their own doctrine. We see the church becoming driven by emotions rather than faith – an environment of "feel-good" gospel, rather than life-changing gospel. The most recent and prevalent of these doctrines is that of grace. There are people who have now put the entire focus of Christian living on the grace of God.