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

Faith for Your Future Beloved

Faith for Your Future Beloved

Today, as many are receiving balloons, chocolates, flowers, teddy bears, and various romantic gifts from their Valentine's, there are those who may not have someone. For many years, in my trying to be "cute," I referred to today as SAD, Single Awareness Day. I would joke about it and kind of drown my sorrows and loneliness and longing for romance by joking. It was a year ago today, that I changed that "tradition."

A year ago, as I was working at Hallmark and being faced on a daily basis with straightening LOVE cards, hearts, and romance, romance, romance.... I found a bitterness trying to seize my heart and thoughts. I found myself questioning God about His timing, "You promised me I wouldn't be alone in this journey, but when am I not going to be alone? I sure feel alone..... EVERYONE else has someone to share their life with...." I will never forget hearing, "Well, you can have what you say." I remember thinking, "I know that.... But I'm still single..." And then clearly I heard, "What are you saying on Valentine's Day?" Then it hit me.... What a horrible stance I had been taking! Instead of using the season of "love" to stand in faith for a future mate, I was allowing myself to get in a rut of NOT standing in faith and NOT trusting God. So, a year ago today, I changed my stance. I made a change in my heart and declared Valentine's Day no longer Single Awareness Day, but rather Faith for My Future Beloved Day! I took the time to pray for my future mate ... To pray for him to know the direction he needed to go at the right time and for me to be able to love him freely and unconditionally the way God loves me. There are many other things I prayed along these lines and I felt such peace, not bitterness, in the midst of romance being around me.
In just a years time, I've seen the fruit of some of those prayers, and I am hopeful for the full harvest that will come in my future as I remain in faith for the things I prayed out regarding my future beloved.

So, my dear single friends.... When you approach Valentine's Day (or any day, for that matter) and still find yourself in a season of being single, don't get caught in the rut of "Single Awareness Day" as I did, rejoice in the opportunity to stand in faith for your future beloved..... And don't dare compromise your dreams, standards, and desires just for the sake of having someone to fill the loneliness, because it is far better to hold out for the RIGHT one and wait patiently for God's PERFECT timing... Trust God that He has a perfect plan and a mate that fits perfectly into the plan He has designed for your life. When God writes your love story, it is the greatest story of all time... So trust Him and do your part to remain prayerful and in faith for your future mate!

How to pray for your future beloved:

Father God,

I thank You that in this season you are surrounding my husband/wife with peace as they face whatever circumstances may come their way.
Father, I thank You Your provision goes before them, that they are becoming more and more aware of just how generous You are.
I thank You that each day they grow in the experiential knowledge of Your pure, unconditional love for them and that in that experience they are prepared for having a healthy, loving marriage.
I thank You that they never lack wisdom, that when they are faced with decisions to make, they know which way to go and don't veer off the path, but stay fully in tune with the call and when the time is right, our paths will merge the way You ordained.
And Father, help prepare me to be the best spouse possible for my future beloved. Teach me how to love as You love. Grant me wisdom on how to help them be the best they can be by encouragement, support, and love.

I pray all these things in the precious name of Jesus, Amen!


"Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]--" (Ephesians 3:20 AMP)

Happy Valentine's Day!
JRT

In the Midnight Hour

In the Midnight Hour

Written: October 31, 2011

Tonight, I am just so thankful for the Word of God and the knowledge of the Authority of the Believer. I am so thankful for having grown up in a Rhema graduate's home and basically attending Rhema my whole life. So thankful that rather than fun, silly music about the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" my parents raised us on David Ingles, Rhema Singers and Band, Shekinah Glory, SuperKids, and other faith-filled music because we needed it last night!

Last night right around midnight I went into my sister's room to check on her because she hadn't been feeling well. When I went in and saw her, it was obvious something was not right. She was burning up with fever, but she was shivering like someone with hypothermia and saying she was freezing, yet her head and body were on fire. Her hands, feet, and lower legs were white as snow and had no warmth, they literally felt like ice. If I touched her, she said it hurt and she said her stomach felt terrible, her head felt like it was going to explode, and she just hurt and ached all over. I am not going to lie, at that moment fear began to take hold of my mind, but something on the inside stirred and I knew what she needed. I laid my hands on her and spoke the Word over her body. I went into my room still not at peace with the circumstances and knew I needed to call my parents to let them know what was going on.

Great Men of Faith!

I was searching for something and stumbled across the following quotes, what great men of faith these individuals were, but you know what? They weren't any different than you or I! We can walk in the same way these men walked, we can accomplish the same things... IF we allow the WORD to shape our mindset and IF we commit our lives to Him and seek His face. When we make the concious decision to LIVE, ACT, and WALK IN the WORD then, and only then, will we see great and mighty works by the Holy Ghost through us! 

Smith Wigglesworth Laying Hands on a Sick Child

"Oh, I Tried That Faith Stuff and it Didn't Work!"

I have noticed that too many Christians have things wrong about a successful life of faith. I can't tell you how many times I've heard complaints about living by faith being too hard or "i tried it and it didnt' work" ... and the list goes on! They believe that in order for them to succeed at living by FAITH they have to rely on THEIR ability & THEIR faith, and that is why they fail.  A life of faith is not a result of your perfection and abilities. Living by Faith is not living by muttering. People have misconstrewed living by faith to mean constantly muttering their faith confessions and if I cross this T and dot this I, then maybe, just maybe I will get the breakthrough I am believing God for. These people have spent too much time turning faith into a mathematical theorem of confusion rather than an actual answer producing equation. How does this happen? It is because they don't carefully consider what they hear (Mark 4:24).

Exactly as I Have Been Told!

"Take courage; for I believe God, and am convinced that things will happen exactly as I have been told." - Acts 27:25 (Weymouth)
It has taken me a long time to come to this realization -- God's got the PERFECT timing! Many times in our lives there are words that have been spoken over our lives by divine inspiration, or simply dreams that we've held in our hearts that don't happen when we expect them to. When we initially hear or think about such things we have an excitement because of what God said and we expect those things to happen the next week.

Jude ... Written for TODAY!

JUDE 1:3-25


"...Dear friends, I've dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license—which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master.
I'm laying this out as clearly as I can, even though you once knew all this well enough and shouldn't need reminding. Here it is in brief: The Master saved a people out of the land of Egypt. Later he destroyed those who defected. And you know the story of the angels who didn't stick to their post, abandoning it for other, darker missions. But they are now chained and jailed in a black hole until the great Judgment Day. Sodom and Gomorrah, which went to sexual rack and ruin along with the surrounding cities that acted just like them, are another example. Burning and burning and never burning up, they serve still as a stock warning.
This is exactly the same program of these latest infiltrators: dirty sex, rule and rulers thrown out, glory dragged in the mud.

UNFAZED!

Word for today:

"An empty-head thinks mischief is fun, but a mindful person relishes wisdom. The nightmares of the wicked come true; what the good people desire, they get. When the storm is over, there's nothing left of the wicked; good people, firm on their rock foundation, aren't even FAZED." Proverbs 10:23-25

Know the promises of God's word, stand firm in faith and nothing will FAZE you!!!!
Praise God for His Word! His Word is ALWAYS relevant, no matter what new doctrine or method comes along to undo the validity the Word! God's Word remains the same yesterday, today, and forever -- "For ever, O LORD, your word is settled in heaven." (Ps. 119:89) When the storms of life try to move and shake your foundation, just dig in even deeper into the Word and the promises of God and stand firm! Be strong and courageous because God is with you! He will never leave you and He will never forsake you... don't let the devil's smoke screen attack get you off track -- he is just a bunch of puff and fluff!!!!! Stand firm and remain UNFAZED!

God's Richest Blessings on You,
JRT

Compromise

If you compromise the Word, you compromise your soul! The Gospel is either wholly truth or completely farce, if you compromise a single verse you show your lack of faith in God & His Word. You've made it clear that your way is better than God's and that, my friends, is called pride. The spirit you win people with is the spirit you must maintain to keep them. So will you win them with a Spirit of Compromise or a Spirit of Truth & Power?

Grace -- Your Get Out of Hell Free Card.

Many questions are asked today by Christians regarding Grace, that is the unmerited favor of God. One of the most popular is, "Can a Christian backslide?" Well, before we jump to a quick response, we should take a look at the Word of God and see what it has to say about the matter, after all the Bible should be the deciding factor, not a man's opinion.


Now there are many patterns of thought on this subject, but I will list the two most extreme. One line of thought is that you must achieve salvation through your works and you constantly lose you salvation and constantly have to repent and work out, through good deeds, your salvation. The other line of thought is once saved, always saves or that because we are under grace we can do no wrong and can't backslide.

First, let us discuss what grace actually is. Grace typically refers to that act of Jesus on the cross. That is, the Father's unconditional love for mankind and the sacrifice of His son Jesus to redeem us from sin and the curse, being made a curse for us (Gal.3:13).

Are You a Grasshopper or a Giant Killer?

Here is the question for today, are you a grasshopper or a giant killer? There are characteristics that can be found for each of these in the Bible, but before we continue discussing this topic, let’s look at Numbers 13 & 14 to see what I am referring to.


Numbers 13 & 14

"AND THE Lord said to Moses, Send men to explore and scout out [for yourselves] the land of Canaan, which I give to the Israelites. ... And Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua. Moses sent them to scout out the land of Canaan, and said to them, Get up this way by the South (the Negeb) and go up into the hill country, And see what the land is and whether the people who dwell there are strong or weak, few or many, And whether the land they live in is good or bad, and whether the cities they dwell in are camps or strongholds, And what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. And be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.

Be Patient Warriors of Faith

"Therefore, brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable. Firm as a rock, devoted to Christian life, for their faith is not vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:58

Too many Christians become unsettled, weary, and unhappy with were they are in life. These people give up, change churches, blame others (spouses, family, pastors, other Christians), or even blame and turn their back on God. The problem is not all of these external things listed above, it is internal. The real issue is that they do not have patience and do not use their faith -- rather than press on towards their divine destiny, which was right in front of them; they retreat and push their destiny further from them. There is a quote by Gordon Lindsay that fits perfectly with this, he said "Don't dig up in unbelief what you planted in faith."

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.