1 John 1:9 - just a small discussion of this verse.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ~ 1 John 1:9

sins--> ἁμαρτία (hamartia):
1) equivalent to 264
a) to be without a share in
b) to miss the mark
c) to err, be mistaken
d) to miss or WANDER from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
e) to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin
2) that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act
3) collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many

Unrighteousness --> ἀδικία (adikia):
1) injustice, of a judge
2) unrighteousness of heart and life
3) a deed violating law and justice, act of unrighteousness

I think there's some interesting things to consider when studying this verse, some say it contradicts other verses and cannot be written to NT believer bc someone who is righteous can't be unrighteous.... Which there's truth to the fact that we can't be righteous one minute and completely unrighteousness the next because we made a small mistake, but I think it is interesting that the word used for "unrighteousness" can also mean "unrighteous acts or deeds violating God's divine law" .... Which, makes that verse make more sense and I can see that it DOES apply to us... While we are righteous, we do possess a body, we are not just Spirit.... We are a spirit, we possess a soul and we live in a body... Paul even said that he buffets his body daily to make it his slave, which makes me think if you don't buffet your body daily it will want to wander away from God's moral standards for our lives.... Which makes me think, you can commit acts of unrighteousness if you don't feed on the Word and bring your body into subjection ... And thus, when you do "miss the mark" or "wander from the path of uprightness and honor" you have a signed, sealed, and delivered guarantee that you can run to your father God and ask his forgiveness. You do this not out of a state of doubting your position or His forgiveness but you do it so your heart doesn't try to make you feel UNrighteous, because you are righteous and you were bought with a price! Praise God we have confidence in the fact that all we have to do is ask and He's already forgiven us!!!!! :)

Til Next Time,
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!

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.

True Love Starts as True Friendship!

“Well, it seems to me that the best relationships - the ones that last - are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with” ~ Gillian Anderson

There is such truth in this quote. I once read that, "True love is a friendship set on fire by God." I was a teenager when I first laid hold of that quote and never truly grasped the depth of it, until recently.

The Fear of Rejection

 A growing plague among young people is the fear of rejection. I speak both from my own personal experience and also from observation. I have seen so many fail to reach their full potential because they were crippled by fear. What causes such fear? I believe it is the result of societal lies and images of what is acceptable and beautiful that gives us a wrong view of ourselves.

Speaking from personal experience, I know the hardships of people rejecting you for who you are and the challenge of trying to fit the “mold” that society presents as normal. As a young person I was often rejected by people because of my strong faith and beliefs. I was even benched on an athletic team because the coach discovered I was one of those “Hagin-ites” and “tongue-talkers,” which, as a young and impressionable person, is very disheartening. I often lost friends because they wanted me to let loose on my standards and compromise a little here and there, and I wouldn’t. Guys didn’t want to date me because I talked too much (I am a big talker as any of you who know me well can attest, but I know my future husband will love that about me.) and my strong faith intimidated them because I was too mature in that area. This lead to some years of feeling slightly isolated, actually very isolated. I began to think something was wrong with me and just could never understand why people didn’t want me in their life, simply because I loved God and was passionate about His love and goodness. As a result I developed insecurity and fear of talking to people, when before nothing could stop me because I knew I was going to travel the world and preach the Gospel. Years passed and I began to tone down my Christianity and faith. Kept quiet about it and sadly, looking back, lost the opportunity to truly be a light to some people who were in dire need of truth. I allowed the fear of rejection to cripple me from being the person I was and the person God called me to be. I wouldn’t talk much, was known for being so sweet and quiet and accepting, and had lots of “friends” but now I couldn’t stand the person I had become. I began crying out to God and He began speaking to me and reminding me of the life I was born for, I remember so vividly hearing His voice one night, “I didn’t call you to be like them, I called you to make them like you…. SPOTLESS in my sight. You were created for more than this, Jessica.” That was a wakeup call to me and I got my fire back and began moving back to the boldness and faith that I had once had, which cost me those “friends” but looking back I see following God was worth the price to be able to reach the people He’s called me to reach. It took a long time, but I was able to trust God, listen to His voice and get back to being myself, the uniquely special person He created me to be.

And no, everything hasn’t been perfect since then, and I’ve had to deal with people coming in and out of my life because they don’t understand me or because I’m a stickler for preaching the UNcompromised Word, but I am becoming more and more confident in the person He created me to be and not allowing the fear of rejection to rule in my life. Even now that fear will try to creep in through circumstances, but that is when I remind myself of who I am in Christ and the call that is on my life and that words have been spoken over my life and I will have to go alone for a while, but in the end it will all be worth it! The path of following God and not compromising is usually one that not many walk on, and there will be times where you feel like you are the only one, but I’d rather walk on the right path alone than to follow the crowd on the path of mediocrity.

Now, why am I sharing all this? Is it to talk about myself? Most certainly not, but I needed to share some experience to build on and what God has been speaking to me about, through my own life on this topic. I have really been seeing this fear prevalent in young people lately, just go to the mall and you will see. At the mall and other public places I see young people who all dress and act alike and sometimes you’ll hear the group mock one girl or guy for expressing an idea that they think is stupid because it isn’t their social norm. It saddens me the pressure of perfection that is placed on young people; we’ve lost the freedom of individuality and uniqueness. And I know this breaks God’s heart, because He put such thought and care into creating each one of us unique and special, He didn’t create us to be clones! It seems, though, that this fear of rejection causes people to not truly be who they were called to be and to simply follow the crowd. I know it is a ploy of the enemy to keep us down and to cripple us from being all that God has destined us for.

I am reminded of the story of Esther. Esther was a Jew living in Persia and hid her true identity to find favor with the king. So, she hid the fact that she was a Jew and even changed her name from Hadassah to a Persian name, Esther, and ended up winning the king’s favor, winning his heart, and was crowned his queen, sort of a fairytale if I may say. But the story tells much more, it is truly a story of destiny, as God didn’t call Esther to simply live the rest of her life enjoying the comforts of the palace while her people were slaughtered. Esther had to face the fear of rejection, but this rejection had a much great price than losing a friendship or acquaintance.  If the king rejected her, she could be executed. Now, that is what I call fear of rejection, but Esther faced that fear and overcame it. She marched right into the throne room uninvited and waited to see if he would reject her or accept her. As many know, he raised his scepter and allowed her to approach, but the story doesn’t end there. She had to reveal her true personality to him, the fact that she was a Jew, not Persian, and again face the fear of rejection wondering if he would banish her or even execute her with her people. She eventually told him the truth and because she overcame the fear of rejection and looked to the fact that God had a destiny and divine purpose and plan for her life she was able to save her people from Haman’s noose.

If Queen Esther could overcome the fear of rejection, that came with the threat of death, and go on to fulfill the destiny God had laid out for her life, I believe we can too. We just have to trust God and know that he made us and our personalities uniquely different for a reason, even though we may not fully see “why” at this stage in our life. I know that He has a great and divine plan for each of us and when we live free from the fear of rejection we are able to walk fully in ALL that God has for us! In this freedom you will be able to go anywhere in life that God has promised you!

Let His voice reign supreme in your life and let the voice and criticism of others just roll off you back, like water off a duck’s back!

You were born for glory!

A Voice of Boldness,

JRT

Are You a Bridge-Builder or Bridge-Burner?

Tonight, while having a conversation with my mother, I began really thinking along the lines of burning bridges. So many in the church world want to burn bridges with other people and develop “spiritualized” reasons for why they burned the bridge to make it sound good – “They weren’t walking in love with ME!”, “I tried to have relationship with them, but they just did me wrong too many times.”, or my favorite, “God told me …blah, blah.” It seems to be a common and acceptable behavior by many, but I tend to think our biblical example is the exact opposite of this behavior.

I'll Give You What I Do Have!

“Peter and John were going to the temple courtyard for the three o'clock prayer. At the same time, a man who had been lame from birth was being carried by some men. Every day these men would put the lame man at a gate in the temple courtyard. The gate was called Beautiful Gate. There he would beg for handouts from people going into the courtyard. When the man saw that Peter and John were about to go into the courtyard, he asked them for a handout. Peter and John stared at him. "Look at us!" Peter said. So the man watched them closely. He expected to receive something from them. However, Peter said to him, "I don't have any money, but I'll give you what I do have. Through the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, walk!" Peter took hold of the man's right hand and began to help him up. Immediately, the man's feet and ankles became strong. Springing to his feet, he stood up and started to walk. He went with Peter and John into the temple courtyard. The man was walking, jumping, and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God. They knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the temple's Beautiful Gate. The people were amazed and stunned to see what had happened to him.” Acts 3:1-10 GWT

This morning while I was getting ready the Lord brought a passage of scripture to remembrance and began speaking to me about it! The above passage was what was brought to mind. As I began thinking about it, I started seeing a different side of this passage. I don’t know about you, but growing up in children’s church, this was a bible story that was told to simply talk about the works God did through the disciples, but today I saw it in a new light as a message to the church of today!

In the world today there is such a push for the visual and monetary things. So much emphasis is put on the label of clothes, rather than the person inside. A large emphasis is put on the outward presentation, whether it is false advertisement or not. And, sadly, this mentality has slipped into the church. Gone, it seems, are the days where people would come into four walls with a dirt floor and prostrate themselves in the presence of God without a second thought, crying out for his holy fire of revival to engulf the world that surrounds. This focus, of God’s presence being the only thing of value, has been replaced with the progressive movement to be just as fancy and cool as the world and its concerts. We’ve replaced the cry of believers for revival, with the high-pitched jamming of electric guitars, the real glory-cloud with an imitation known as a smoke machine, and the light of the world with the coolest light show in town! Don’t get me wrong, I am not against making the inside of the church beautiful and cutting edge, but in pursuing that we have lost the very thing that matters most.