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Dealing with Toxic People 

Dealing with Toxic People

By Adam Becker

There  are many good people in the world, actually, more than you may think.  The prophet Elijah in the Old Testament thought he was the only prophet  left but God said there were thousands. It is easy to think that there  are so few good people and that everyone is toxic but that is not the  case. While toxic people do exist not everyone is toxic.  I would hate  for anyone to be so paranoid that they suspect everyone of being toxic,  but some people do. I used to be like that. But through the Lord's  insight, I am able to see the good in people and that is what you need  to do is look for the good in people because if your only looking for  the bad you surely will find it. 

In  one's life, you will come across toxic people and its important to know  how to deal with them.  So, what is a toxic person and what are they to  me? Well, Toxic means something that is hazardous to us. In the shows  when I was growing up there would be a toxic waste spill and it would  mutate things, fish would have three eyes, turtles would become the  teenage mutant ninja turtles and goats would have two heads. Toxic  people are hazardous to our health and like the shows of my youth, if we  have too much exposure to them, they may mutate us to a form that is  not who God created us to be. Because let’s face it, God created us to  be healthy mentally, to believe in ourselves, feel good about ourselves,  be happy and to be free from abuse. Exposure to toxic people often  causes us to have the opposite of those things. In life, we come across  all types of people, but toxic people can do us a lot of harm. 

When  we come to Christ there may be people that we have to cut out of our  lives, not everyone is good for us. Looking back in my life after I was  born again, I had to shed all my old friends. Why because they would be  toxic to my new life.  So, after I was born again, I just stopped  talking to them or contacting them. They heard over time that I became a  born again Christian and they didn’t pursue me. But I would meet more  toxic people in the church and have toxic people in my family and life  that I couldn’t shed so easily. So even though my old toxic friends were  gone I still had to deal with toxic people. Jesus encountered toxic  people all the time. So many people think we are to just tolerate them  and love them into the kingdom, but Christ walked away from so many of  them even rebuked some.

So how  do we know someone is a toxic person? You have to ask yourself about the  people in your life, does this person build me up or tare me down? Does  this person criticize me all the time or do they encourage me? Do they  verbally and emotionally abuse you? Do they take shots at you about your  weaknesses or your past? Do they judge and condemn you? Are they for  your dreams and aspirations or against them? Do they belittle you and  make you feel like you aren’t as good as them? Do they make you feel  better about yourself or worse? Is this person good for my faith or  hazardous to it?  If you ask yourself those questions about the people  in your life and you get a negative answer, then that person or persons  are most likely toxic.

As I said  so many people tolerate toxic people and think we just need to love  them, and we can change them but Christ said if you aren’t welcomed in a  town leave and shake the dust off of your feet. We are to get out of  those relationships and remove any ties from them just like shaking the  dust off your feet. Some people say Jesus hung out with sinners, drunks,  and prostitutes which is true but those people were not the same after  Jesus left them. Jesus did not repeatedly spend time with them while  they partook in unhealthy lifestyles. Their lives changed right away. If  you have spent a little time with a toxic person and they did not  change move on. Don’t let their toxicity negatively impact you. You  deserve to be around those who add to your life and build you up not who  tare you down. 

With a lot of  toxic people, we can just walk away. Like attracts like and if you are  truly walking with Jesus those toxic people won’t chase after you  because you aren’t like them. They won’t be so attracted to you. Like I  said before I walked away from many toxic people, I used to be friends  with after being born again. Years later I felt like maybe I judged them  unfairly and didn’t give them a fair shot so I tried to befriend them,  but they all rejected me. Their hate for the things of God and a  Christian who has a heart for Jesus made them not be attracted to me. As  did there very different lifestyle, even the ones that did have faith  in Jesus weren’t attracted to me as they still lived a different  lifestyle than me. Many of them were loose in their faith. 

So,  some people you can walk away from but others like close relatives and  maybe people you work with you can’t so easily. In those cases, you walk  in love and limit your dealings with them. If your father is toxic only  call him when you have to. If your boss is toxic do what you can to  stay clear of him or her. Don’t make the mistake of spending a lot of  time around them if you can help it. And when you are around them stand  up for yourself. Let your father or sibling know they are being  critical, and you don’t appreciate it. If you're being bullied stand up  to the bully and let them know you are not going to keep quiet and take  the abuse. Often times standing up to a toxic person can disarm them to  some degree. Of course, I have found that they always come back the next  day with more ammo.  But if you just lie there and take it you will  have regrets later about not standing up for yourself and it will affect  your self-worth. I have those regrets often when I encounter a toxic  person and they tare me down. 

I  will also add to pray for those toxic people in your life that you cant  shed because they are a relative, boss or coworker. Limit your time  with them but pray for them.  If it’s a spouse maybe you shouldn’t be in  that marriage in the first place, you can’t help anyone else or be a  light for Christ if your spouse is abusing you or taring you down all  the time. Constant abuse from a spouse can cause mental health issues  and all kinds of other things. Don’t stay in an abusive relationship  whether it be from adultery or physical and emotional abuse. Think about  getting out. Now I am not saying that if you have a little bit of  problems in your marriage to call it quits. Gods wants us to work it out  in our marriages if we can help it but you don’t have to take habitual  abuse from anyone. 

The simple  fact is if you aren’t influencing them, they will influence you. You  have to be on the offense around toxic people. If you aren’t, they will  get to you and tare you down. So today, take an inventory of the people  in your life and remove those who are toxic or limit them. You owe it to  yourself to have healthy relationships and to be built up not torn  down. And don’t worry so much about losing people. God will bring more  people into your life, better people. And your life will get better, you  will even feel better.

Be blessed. 

Don't Be too Bound to Step Out

By Adam Becker

The other day I saw something from  Jeremy Lopez ( Jeremy is an awesome  and anointed man of God by the way)  on his ministry page “Identity  Network” that prompted me to write this  article.  He said “ some people  have a very real, continuous fear. “Is  this the will of God?” “Is this  the will of God or is this my will?”  He  goes on to say people are  religiously bound up by this.  I can concur  with what he is saying and  know it all too well.  I have even been there  myself.  You want to be  in Gods perfect will and plan, you naturally  don’t want to do anything  that goes against that or is out of that.  God  also desires us to be  obedient and in His perfect plan, but we need to  be careful we aren’t  being too religious and bound up by that.  We do  know that Jesus didn’t  do anything that He didn’t see the Father do or  other words get orders  about from the Father.  But we are not Jesus.  We  don’t always hear  from God as Christ did. I know some people seem to  think they do but in  reality, we don’t.  A lot of people are so bound up  by the “is this  Gods perfect will” that they never step out and do  anything. They live  in religious fear of being out of Gods plan.  I know  people like this  they either never attempt to do nothing at all. Or  they do things that  are extremely thought out and because they are  extremely thought out  and the person has the ingredients to make it  happen it works.  But it  was their own will, not Gods plan.  And because  it worked, they then  declare it was Gods perfect plan but in fact they  made it happen. They  get all puffed up from this and think they are  always in Gods perfect  will and hear from God. They also like to warn  everyone who steps out  not to do it because it probably isn’t Gods  perfect will, so they come  against anything everyone else is doing. I  have met so many people like  that.  Churches are filled with them and  some are pastors.  They seem  to think they are the only one who is ever  in Gods plan and no one else  is.  Many times, this is motivated by pride  and fear.  Pride as they  think that the things they made happen where  Gods plan and they always  hear from God and are in his perfect will.   And fear for the ones who  never step out and do anything.  God does not  want us to get into pride  or fear.  God wants us free.  Religious  mindsets are not only good for  the person bound by them but as I  mentioned they also seek to condemn  others and bound them up as well.   Sometimes they are really seeking to  put people beneath them as the  religious leaders of Christ day did  that were all bound up by religion.   They act as though they are the  only ones who could ever be in Gods  will and everyone else is beneath  them and out of it.

I know a   guy that preaches to do what I myself often do. You just step out and   try everything you can think of. Not talking about sin but go for every   opportunity that comes your way and step out with every new idea you   get. If God doesn’t want you doing it he will shut it down. Like   throwing everything at the wall and see what sticks. There are a lot of   things I really thought was God that God shut down and other things I   really didn’t know whether it was God and I tried anyway only to learn   years later that was God and worked. Even things that didn’t work I   found that was Gods perfect plan as God wanted me to learn something   from the process and failure that could then prepare me for something   else God wanted me to do in the future. The worst that can happen is it   fails but real failure is never trying.  That is faith, stepping out  on  things you cant really see.   You need to be certain about it but as   humans can we really can’t be certain about everything?  Did peter  know  for certain that he would be able to step out of the boat and walk  on  water.  No, he didn’t he even doubted and started to sink when the  waves  rose up.  Of course, he saw that Jesus could do it and was with  Him so  he tried it but he wasn’t certain. Well Jesus is with us and He  can do  it.  Everyone wants to hear from God and be certain but with  hearing  from God can come with error.  My vocation is a prophetic  minister.  I  do personal prophecy and prophetic ministry for people  professionally  and I have found that it is easy to hear from God and  know things for  other people but not so easy to hear God about your own  life.  Some  people like to say that as you mature in Christ you hear  from God for  yourself all the more and clearer, but I say as you mature  you admit all  the more that you don’t hear from God as much as you  think you do.  The  reason why hearing from God for ourselves can be so  difficult is we  have an iron in the fire.  Yes, we have wants, desires  and often our own  thoughts. These wants and desires can come into play  and drown out what  God is saying.  It is the same thing when trying to  hear from God for  people you personally know well.  You have an iron in  the fire and your  own desires, jealousies, thoughts, beliefs about  someone you know can  get in the way of what God is saying.  That’s why I  like doing prophetic  ministry for strangers the best.  I know I am  probably going to hear a  lot of seasoned Christians and prophets  disagree with me on this but its  true.  You are human and as long as  you have your own wants and desires  for your self you are not going to  hear from God that well for things  about you.  I am not saying you  never do but often you won’t.  That’s  why I will go to other prophets  like Jeremy Lopez to get a word from God  for my life.  This is the  truth and reality.  I can’t count how many  times I have seen Christian  leaders say they heard God about their own  life or something they had  an iron in the fire about and they were  wrong.  Some appear to be right  because they made it happen on their own  and was not Gods perfect will  and they did not hear accurately from  God.  My point is don’t worry so  much what is Gods perfect plan. We  really don’t know for sure many  times what Gods perfect plan for us is.  If it doesn’t go against  scripture it may be possible.  God is not  against us having our own  wants and desires and us wanting to accomplish  something that we want  to do either.  I can choose to eat at Mc.  Donald’s or Burger King, God  is probably not planning on me eating at  one and getting upset if I eat  at the other.  He gave us free will and  we can make choices.    Try  some things, if it works great if it doesn’t  learn and move on.  The  Bible says God works all things out for good.   Don’t be in fear, bound  up or attack others who step out.  Free  yourself of a religious  mindset!

Don’t Add to the Prophetic Word

By Adam Becker

I  while back I got a prophecy from a  minister and it seemed dead on  accurate and was just what I was praying  for.  He knew what was going  on in my life and more.  It touched me so  much.  He told me my  situation then said now God is going to change it  all.  He went on  about God making things work from now on and changing  everything for  the better and me being the head and not the tail and so  on.  It was  very encouraging but as time went by my situation didn’t  change.  I  even took a step of faith and did something to change it that  was the  only way it would change and it didn’t work.  It was strange  because a  day after I got that prophecy the president of Streams  Ministries was  doing a live teaching on prophetic words where people  just read you and  the word don’t come to pass and I watched.  The  thought crossed my  mind that he could have been reading me but I wanted  it to be true so  bad so I had faith that it was all from God.  But now I  know that he  got words of knowledge or was just reading my situation  then added the  part of change and encouraging words out of his own  thoughts about God  going to change it all.  I think many prophets are  guilty of it.  One  of my main gifting’s is the ability to have words of  knowledge about  people and see into their lives.  I have in the past  seen things then  said God is going to make it better or do this and that  but God really  didn’t show me he was going to make it better or do this  and that.  I  thought he would because He Is a good God who wants to  make it better  and see us doing well.  As even in the Bible there are  verses about  Gods plans for us and they are good.  So it didn’t seem  wrong for me to  add that to the prophetic word as it seemed like Gods  plan but it  wasn’t.  Sometimes God keeps us in a situation and things  don’t  change.  Sometimes people even die and bad happens or God don’t  heal  people.  Its heart wrenching to think that God wont help but for  His  own higher reasons He sometimes doesn’t.  I have learned that when I   get words of knowledge about a persons life and God isn’t really   showing me deliverance or change I simply pray for them and I say I see   this and that and pray for change or pray it gets better.  That’s the   right way to go about it.  Don’t try and think you know what God is   going to or wants to do and add it in as a prophecy.  If God isn’t   speaking don’t say it even if your heart is in the right place.  So why   would God give people words of knowledge of things He is not going to   change?  Well maybe he wants them to know he knows their situation and   is right there with them and prayer is needed.  The Bible isn’t clear   that everything will be wonderful and perfect when you come to Christ.    The Bible doesn’t say that God makes sense either.  It says his ways  are  higher than our ways and who are we to question Him.  I don’t  always  know why bad things happen to people but they do and then it  doesn’t get  any better.  I had a pastor of a church that I loved that  got ALS and  died a horrible death.  He believed in healing and taught  it.  He even  was used to heal people before he died but he never was  healed and God  was not glorified and he was no more a sinner or lacked  faith then you  or me.  I remember I went to another church and the  pastor there said my  pastor was not getting healed and was dying  because of sin then a few  years later that pastor Got a disease and  died later from it. I wonder  if he still thinks that people aren’t  healed because of sin. We live in a  fallen world and things happen.   Its part of the experience of being  here. But back to the main topic.   We aren’t always going to get words  for people that tell us of God  sweeping in and saving them. God may keep  them in that situation for  many more years or forever but don’t be  tempted to add to the word what  you feel God should do just pray.  And  if you have had people give you  words of knowledge about your situation  and then say God is going to  change everything for the better and it  never happened don’t just  assume that that person was a false prophet or  give up on personal  prophecy all together their heart may have been in  the right place and  trying to help.  

Do Christians Really Need to Attend Church?

By Adam Becker
 

Local churches  have many good  qualities and purpose, some people just love them while  others have  come to see some faults and reject them.  I have met a lot  of  Christians who take great pride in going to church and even being a   member.  Many of them attack other believers for not attending a church   service on a regular basis.  They are very zealous for the church and   discount the many blows some have received from local churches.  I have   also met a lot of lone rangers as church folk like to call them.   These  are people that have been burned by the local assembly of  believers,  brothers and sisters who don’t take much stock in organized  religion  anymore.  I have even been a lone ranger myself at times as  well as a  pastor of denominational church so I can really see where  everyone is  coming from.  One of the things you hear the most is the  Bible says it’s  sin to not go to a church and that you cant grow if you  don’t go to  church.  But is that true?  Is it a sin to not attend a  local church and  do you really stop growing as a Christian once you  stop going? Once  someone becomes a Christian or believer in Christ they  naturally get  pointed to a church.  I can honestly say without the  church I wouldn’t  be the Christian I am today.  I can see how the  church played a role in  my faith and growth.  I have also come to see  times when it actually  almost ruined my faith.  Times when Christians  were meaner than people  in the world had been to me.  I have seen some  really bad leaders, ones  who no one should submit to or follow running a  church.  I can say that I  don’t think it would be a sin for someone to  leave their church if they  had leaders like that.  Some do leave but  can’t seem to find a good  church so they quit going altogether only to  get condemned by church  goers.  Is it legitimate to say you can’t find a  good church within  driving distance?  I would say yes.  In Christ’s  day there were no good  churches but His. So yes, it is possible to not  be able to find a good  church in your area.  But does that mean you  will never find one or to  give up forever?  I think it really depends  on where you’re at in your  walk with God.  God can let things happen in  a church to draw you out  and then when it is the right timing God can  draw you back in again.   The bible does mention in one place not to  forsake the assembling of  yourselves together.  That is the only real  verse people use to say you  have to go to church.  Take into account  that at that time there wasn’t  all the resources we have today to hear  the word, fellowship online or  serve from your home.  Times have  changed.  Am I saying that we don’t  need to go to church.  No, I think  the church has its place and purpose  but there may be times when for  whatever reason it is a season for you  to not be part of the local  assembly.  And that brings up another  thing.  So many church goers say  that a legitimate church is only in a  designated church commercial  building and incorporated as a 501 c3.   They discount that you can fill  the “not forsake the assembling of  yourselves together” by just doing a  simple Bible study in your home or  prayer meeting with a few Christian  friends.  It doesn’t have to be in a  churchy building with a  legitimate seminary graduated pastor.   Fellowship is fellowship whether  a few people in a house or in a church  building. Yes, there are  passages that say you need the body of Christ  which is others but that  can actually look like many things now a days.  So you really can’t say  someone is in sin for not going to church. But  can you really grow  outside the church?
 

The Bible says,
 

1 Cor 3:5-7
 

6  I planted the seed, Apollos  watered it, but God made it grow . 7 So  neither he who plants nor he  who waters is anything, but only God, who  makes things grow
 

NIV
 

It says God made it grow, not the church.
 

In another passage it says this,
 

Mark 4:8
 

8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”
 

NIV
 

Yes,  good soil is needed for  growth.  And we know from scripture that good  soil is a heart issue.   God makes things grow and we can be sure that if  God has begun a work  in your life, He will complete it and cause you to  grow whether in a  church or not.  The Bible says,
 

Phil 1:6
 

6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
 

NIV
 

The Bible also says,
 

Eph 4:11-13
 

11  It was he who gave some to  be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be  evangelists, and some to  be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s  people for works of  service, so that the body of Christ may be built up  13 until we all  reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son  of God and  become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the  fullness of  Christ.
 

NIV
 

According to scripture we  do  need leaders to mature and be built up, but we can gain from these   leaders today from our TVs or internet.  We don’t have to go to a  church  to be built up or hear the word.
 

There were times when I went to   church and was on fire for church then times when I left the church  and  took on some hurts from those in it.  I can tell you I still grew   outside the church.  I grew a lot as a matter of fact.  I never thought  I  would go back to a church or find a good church then years later God   drew me back into one I had visited before but didn’t think was good.    Suddenly it was great and I fell in love with it.  Everything started  to  work out and I made a lot of friends.  You go through times when God   may let you be drawn out of something in one season but in the next  you  will be drawn back to it.  What changed?  My season did.  In the  new  season God was going to use the church again while in the last the   church was not doing me any good.  God will use something, then not use   it, only to use it again later.  You may or may not be in a church  right  now.  Maybe you’re on fire for the church and cant get enough or  maybe  you have been hurt and hate it.  I would not say that either one  of  those things makes you anymore of Christian or any less of one or in   sin.  Like I said before that just may be the season you’re in which  can  change.  God is in charge of you growing not the church.  God will   carry you along to the end, trust in Him and don’t be so quick to judge   others.

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Articles and Prophetic Teachings

Who Told You That You Couldn’t

By Adam Becker

I  once saw someone who I haven’t seen in years and upon seeing them I  asked them how they were doing? They replied that they are living the  dream. Now a days to say living the dream may mean the opposite while to  others it is a reality.  To many people living the dream seems  impossible though. And can you blame them. Their lives didn’t go as  planned and things are not going their way. But the fact remains that  deep down in each of us lies dreams. Dreams to achieve incredible  things. Dreams to be more than what others say we are.  People love to  put limits on others and we even put limits on ourselves so many people  never see the dream come true. 

I  think that a lot of people like to dream in the night because you can  do things that defy the natural laws or defies what seems to be your  life.  It is the same for our dreams within us, we tend to want to dream  things that defy the natural possibilities of our lives. Things that  defy how it looks our life will play out. It is possible to achieve the  impossible, but you have to remove the limits that this world and others  have put on you. You must even remove the limits you put on yourself.  You have to believe there isn’t much difference between the dream world  and the real world. 

In the  Bible God made Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were naked for a long time and  it didn’t affect them or bother them. Then when they ate from the tree  of knowledge and sinned, they were ashamed of their nakedness and tried  to cover themselves. Gods reply was “who told you, you were naked?”  Everything was great till they gained the knowledge that they were  naked. In the same way we could very well accomplish our dreams if we  didn’t have the knowledge or the limits that said it is not possible for  us or that we can’t do that. 

Once  a person believes something or has a belief you can’t tell them any  different and they can’t see anything different no matter how much proof  there is that their belief isn’t true. They only see what they limit  themselves to see. If you only limit yourself to see certain things it  will never manifest in your life. In a dream you can do anything but the  minute you start to wake up the dream is over. Why is it over because  you are entering another reality or what you perceive as reality. That  reality that you leave the dream world and awake to has laws and limits.  Or at least that is what you perceive and have come to believe. So many  people don’t believe in miracles because they think nothing can break  the laws of nature. They perceive it as impossible. Even if a miracle  were to take place, they wouldn’t see it as such.  What we see and the  way we see things becomes our reality. 

Whatever  means you learned that you couldn’t do this or that is not important  what is important is that you have that set limit and you will not  manifest the impossible. You must take a leap and settle it in your  heart that your limit you believe isn’t reality. You have to believe  that the dream world and this world come together to manifest things.  Who are you really? What do you see yourself doing deep down? These  things are more reality than the limits the natural world has you  believing. You can do the impossible, you just need to believe it is  impossible you won’t achieve it. 

The Prophet Letting Ask Questions When Getting a Personal Prophecy or Offering to Answer Questions

By Adam Becker

It is very common now for people offering personal prophecy or prophetic ministry to let people ask questions and for the prophetic person to answer those questions.  So many prophets now offer it on their websites. They offer to answer questions ranging from love to wealth on skype or through email. Even on facebook live and Instagram.  While this is popular it isn’t always good. The problem is when a prophet lets people ask questions or offers a question to be answered the prophet may have opinions about the questions being asked. For instance, if someone asks if they will be the next president of the United States the prophet knows that that is not likely to happen and probably wont happen so they are likely to say no even if it was so. If someone asks if they should quit their church and the prophet is bent on that everyone should attend church and stay with their church, they are more likely to say they should stay at their church even if God is saying they shouldn’t. Or if someone asks if they are going to be rich and the prophet believes in the prosperity gospel they are likely to say yes. Its the same with healing. What if someone asks you if they will be healed and the prophet believes that everyone is supposed to be healed will they not say yes, they will be healed even if they wont be? 

The prophets own ideas and beliefs can get in the way when people ask questions. Its best if people are given a general personal prophecy reading in which the prophet opens themselves up to see anything the Holy Spirit has to say for the person so that way it is less likely to be tainted with their own ideas and beliefs. Of course, if they know the person it also makes giving an accurate personal prophecy hard because the prophet will get in the way. If they know them, they already have ideas and beliefs about them. These things will taint what they hear and see from the Lord. So, my suggestion is use caution when letting people ask questions and use caution doing a prophetic reading for someone you know that well.  Or use caution in getting personal prophecies in which a prophet answers your questions especially if they know you.  Practicing dying to self and selflessness as well as shutting down your own thoughts and emotions during a personal prophecy will help you so that you don’t get in the way if you’re the one giving he prophecy but its best to avoid the question thing all together or people you know well. I hope this helps and God bless.  

Do You Want to Be More Spiritual? 

By Adam Becker

Spirituality is true wealth in this world and the next, the world says money, wealth and success is the goal, but it really isn’t.  So many people want to be more spiritual, but a lot of people never get there.  There was a time when I was a lot more spiritual and selfless than I am now.  I was having many more spiritual experiences and it seemed like nothing in the natural shook me.   

As I look back to that time, I see a theme and something I was doing that I stopped doing so much. What was it that led to such spirituality? I was a giver and did not care about material possessions.  I would literally give everything I had away.  Money, things I loved, my only car.  You name it, I gave it away and did not hoard new material possessions.  I had hardly anything and it didn’t bother me one bit.  The lack of material things and me giving everything away made me feel free.  It freed me from this world and helped me to be more connected to the spiritual world and the kingdom of God.    

You see when you get a material possession it actually anchors you down to this world.  Yes, it pulls you down to the natural world and away from the spiritual world.  The more possessions and wealth you have the more anchored down to the natural world and less spiritual you will be.  It’s just a fact.  The Bible confirms it says; “where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”  If your treasure is on this earth in the natural so will your heart.  Your spirituality will lack, and you will be chained down by stuff.  It’s that simple.  Being spiritual is not that hard, just store your treasures in heaven and in the spiritual realm and not on this earth.  I am not saying to be homeless and live with nothing but don’t let your heart be in the ownership of your home, new car, your prosperous career, or the size of your bank account.  Don’t let the American dream have you.  The Bible speaks many times against material wealth and says to the man who asked what he must do to enter the kingdom of heaven to “sell all you own and give it to the poor.” The disciples and Jesus were very poor.  The money taken as tithes and offerings in the early church was to be distributed to them equally and who has need.  It was taken up so there would be equality among them.  Ministers and people in the church who are living high off the hog while others in the church live like paupers ought to repent and be ashamed of themselves.  Christianity is not about prosperity and wealth.  The true prosperity and wealth is knowing Christ, the truth and the kingdom of heaven being in you.  The abundant life Christ talked about was not about wealth, divine health and the perfect life it was about having an abundance of life as in eternal life.     

If you want to be more spiritual have your heart anchored down with less of the material and more of the things of God.  It works, I guarantee more peace, happiness, and greater spirituality if you let go of your material things and prosperity and store your treasure in heaven.  Be blessed! 

Being Positioned for a Miracle

By Adam Becker

There are so many stories in the Bible of miracles. And not just in the Bible but there are so many people with testimonies of the miraculous. As I look back on my life there was a time when I saw many miracles and many blessings. In recent times those blessings and miracles seemed to slow down or stop. I have often reminisced about the good old days and envied others miraculous testimonies but was saddened that I wasn’t seeing that in my own life as I once was.  

It Got me to praying and the Lord told me that I have seen very few miracles recently because I didn’t need them. God doesn’t always give you what you don’t need. Things have been ok for a long time financially for me and in other parts of my life, so I just didn’t need all the miracles I once needed. Blessings, messages from angels as well as profound spiritual experiences became a thing of the past. But recently I found myself in situations that required more faith and couldn’t rely so much on the security of what I thought I had. God spoke to my heart and said to me; “remember how you missed miracles, now you are in a better position to see them. Now you will see the miraculous again.”  

It is out of need and lack that miraculous blessing comes. God did miracle after miracle to get the Israelites out of Egypt. When they had to take the land and wandered in the desert lacking God also did miracles and moved. But when they possessed the land and had security they saw less of the move of God.  

Take a look at this story in the Bible;  

Kings 4 New International 2 Version (NIV) The Widow’s Olive Oil 4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” 2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” 3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”  

This was a story of the miraculous, but the widow wouldn’t have been blessed unless she lacked and needed it. She lost her husband and her children were about to be taken as slaves. That’s not to say that God doesn’t bless us in the good times which he does but we are in a better position for blessing and for God to do miracles in the dark times. Would Moses have been able to part the Red Sea if he wasn’t being pursued by Pharaoh? Or would Jesus have raised Lazarus from the dead if Lazarus hadn’t died? No, they had to be in position for a miracle.  

Your dire financial situation may have put you in just the right position for a blessing! Your loss may be just what you need for God to give you more. Your despair may position you for a mighty spiritual encounter of the God kind. Whatever lack you find yourself in is exactly ripe for God to move in a miraculous way. Don’t think of it as negative think of it as an opportunity to really see God move in ways you can tell your grandchildren about. This could be your greatest testimony yet! Don’t despise the hard times, rejoice in them for God is going to come through. Be blessed!

Personal Prophecy is Conditional 

By Adam Becker

We often hear that personal prophecy has to always come to pass %100 percent.  People even say a prophet whose prophecy does not come to pass should be put to death according to the Bible.  But the truth is personal prophecy is conditional.  We have free will and we can change our course in life.  The Bible says that God knows all and “works all things for good,” but we can change things.  When we change things as I just said God can work them out for good, but it does change things.  Maybe you have had a personal prophecy and it didn’t come to pass?  It could be that the person giving it was not accurate, but it could also mean your free will changed it.  Don’t be so quick to throw stones at prophets for unfulfilled prophecies or call them out as false prophets.  You may be jumping the gun.   

We can see our free will in this verse from scripture  

Isiah 53  

6We all, like sheep, have gone astray,  

each of us has turned to our own way;  

and the Lord has laid on him  

the iniquity of us all.  

It says;  “each of us has turned to our own way.”  It was God’s plan that we didn’t go our own way and go astray but He gave us free will and it does happen.  If this happens prophecies can be changed.   

In the Bible we have the story of Jonah, everyone knows of Jonah and whale.  The truth is it really doesn’t say it was a whale but that’s not important.  But the story does show how prophecy can change.  As many know Jonah was told that God was going to destroy Nineveh and he was supposed to go there and tell them that.  We can see this in the following verses  

Jonah 3:1–10  

Jonah Goes to Nineveh  

3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to lNineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now lNineveh was an exceedingly great city,1 three days’ journey in breadth.2 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 mAnd the people of Nineveh believed God. nThey called for a fast and oput on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.  

The People of Nineveh Repent  

6 The word reached3 the king of Nineveh, and phe arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, qand sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, r“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor sbeast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and sbeast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. tLet everyone turn from his evil way and from uthe violence that is in his hands. 9 vWho knows? God may turn and relent wand turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”  

10 When God saw what they did, xhow they turned from their evil way, xGod relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.  

But look what happened the prophecy was that God was going to destroy Nineveh but because of their free will and decision to repent the prophecy changed and it didn’t come to pass.   

We can also see this take place in the life of Solomon.  The Bible says in a prophecy about Solomon;  

2 Samuel 7:12 and 13 (12) When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. (13) He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. [2]  

It sure looked as if Solomon was set for life as for his kids.  But the prophecy about Solomon changed because of his free will and his sin.  This is what the Bible now said of Solomon after he used his free will;  

1 Kings 11:11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.  

Yes, folks prophecy as we can see from scripture is conditional even in the New Testament I believe the personal prophecy Paul got about being bound and imprisoned said if you go or something like that this will happen.  Of course, it happened because Paul went but it was conditional.   

If you have a really good personal prophecy that you would like to see come to pass you can help it along buy staying close to God and asking yourself “What would Jesus do.”  Not acting in love or out of the character of Christ will always short circuit a good prophecy.  Also, in every big decision pray about it and get a go ahead from the Holy Spirit.  If you do that you have a better chance of seeing your wonderful personal prophecy happen in your life.  Don’t let your free will mess up a good thing.  Also, know though if you do mess it up God may have something better for you to work for good.  Just because a prophecy did not come to pass your life is not over.  That prophecy was a prophecy about what will happen if you stay on the path your on but you may change for the better and you may be instore for an even greater prophecy.   

Evangelistic Assault

By Adam Becker

I was listening to a radio program the other day while driving in my car and the pastor teaching said two main things. He said salvation and regular church attendance go together and that Christians don’t evangelize enough or share their faith. He claimed the average Christian has never led anyone to Christ. First, I would like to say that you are not saved by attending a church. Yes, if you are saved you should try attending a church but if you don’t attend a church contrary to what the pastor says it does not mean you are not saved. Salvation is dependent on the atonement and the Holy spirit not a building and tithing. But what I really would like to talk briefly about is evangelism. I think he is wrong when he said that the average Christian doesn’t evangelize. 

Years ago, I was hooked on evangelism. I was upfront with people and prayed the prayer of salvation with hundreds of people. I even used to knock on doors and stop cars. I thought for sure you had to speak scripture and confront everyone with the Gospel. I thought I was something special preaching to everyone I met and chased down. But I was not as special as I thought. When I would brag about how I evangelize to everyone and get in their face some Christians would tell me they don’t do it like that. They said they do presence evangelism. I would snicker and think your just afraid and lazy, the right way is to beat people over the head with scripture and confront them. I felt a need to confront everyone and today looking back at it some people just prayed the prayer of salvation to get me to leave them alone. They didn’t mean it. Sure, I planted some seeds but I also turned a lot of people off and left them with a sour taste in their mouth. 

I now know that things like presence evangelism and forming relationships with people in order to evangelize is a good thing. It doesn’t mean you’re a wimp it means you’re not a religious jerk. We can’t assault people with scripture and confront everyone. To most people scripture means nothing. So why always speak it to people? When we look at how Christ evangelized, he only assaulted religious people with scripture. The rest of the time Christ was forming nonjudgmental relationships with people and speaking to them on their level. He didn’t spend His time confronting everyone. Jesus also used prophetic evangelism and helped people by feeding them, doing miracles for them and giving them hope. He helped people in need. While we can’t always go around healing everyone like Christ did and give out prophetic words, we can speak to people in such a way that it touches their heart like a prophetic word does and we can help people in need like a miracle can do. From being a shoulder to cry on, giving and sharing advice and principles in a non-religious way we can evangelize as Christ did.I know that some will say well brother Becker we can and are doing the healings and miracles that Christ is doing and giving out accurate prophetic words. My friend and I just raised two people from the dead, turned cavities into gold teeth and gave a prophetic word that told some guy his birthdate and credit card number. People may not like this, but I don’t believe those kind of stories. While it is possible for someone to do healings, miracles and tell people specific things prophetically it happens a lot less than you think. Yes, many people who claim to be doing that stuff are liars. There I said it, they are not telling the truth and are running a scam. Is it wrong to try and do that stuff? No, but you will find that very rarely will you be able to. Its just not reality. We need to find creative ways in helping people and speaking to their heart that are biased on reality and not assaulting them with scripture and religious stuff. I have met people that you couldn’t have a down to earth conversation with them without them quoting the Bible 200 times. We have to be able to meet people on their level and be down to earth. As I said before most people don’t care at all what the Bible says except believers. Back slidden people don’t care what the Bible says either, using it will only turn them off. So, remember be cautious about beating people up with scripture and you don’t need to confront everyone with the Gospel. There are plenty of non-confrontational ways to evangelize. I know some people brag about being a martyr but sometimes they bring on the persecution themselves when it’s not necessary. Don’t be a martyr be a human being and love people. Usually love won’t get you persecuted. I know that pastor is wrong I think a lot more people evangelize than he thinks they just do it in ways not to his liking. But we can’t please everyone, the only one we need to really please is Christ.