Fact vs. Truth pt 2…

Today we are going to look at another example of fact vs. truth. Remember a fact is man’s definition of truth, it is what you can see with the natural eyes. True truth is what you see with your spirit, it is God’s Word (Psalm 119:160 & John 17:17).

Fact= You are alone… You’ve been rejected… You’ve been abandoned in the past by a parent, relative, friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, or spouse.

TRUTH=
Deuteronomy 31:8 -“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

2 Corinthians 6:18 – “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Isaiah 54:5- “For your Maker is your Husband–the Lord of hosts is His name–and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.”

If you have been dealing with feelings of loneliness, rejection, or abandonment it might be a “fact” that people have hurt you or left you, but the TRUTH is that God has always been there for you, He will never leave you or forsake you. He will be your father, your husband, your support system, He is your everything! It’s time to let go of the hurt, of the past, and grab a hold of God. I promise He will never let you go. God bless!

Tracy Houston

Fact vs. Truth pt 1…

Today we are going to start to take a look at fact vs. truth. A few weeks ago the Lord had me take a look at the difference between the two. He gave me the definition for each …

A fact is man’s definition of truth, it is what you can see with the natural eyes. True truth is what you see with your spirit, it is God’s Word (Psalm 119:160 & John 17:17).

Day in and day out we are surrounded with “facts” and often times we see those “facts” instead of looking at the truth. For the next few days I’m going to present different facts vs. truths to you all because I really think it’s time for all of us to begin to let go of man’s facts and hold on to the TRUTH. Here is today’s example…

Fact=Someone you know and love might be incarcerated

Truth =Psalm 68:6 (NLT) “…he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy…”

The fact might be that someone you know is incarcerated, but the truth is that God sets them free and gives them joy. This might mean He will literally set them free and release them from prison, or it might mean that they will get free in their spirit and their soul, that even though they might be locked behind the walls they can experience joy in their heart and be free in their mind while they serve their time. I’ve seen examples of both of these happen in my own family a relative was up to be sentenced and instead they let him go free. Also I’ve ministered in the prisons and seen kids one month be so down and depressed, then they receive Jesus, and the next time I see them it’s like they are so alive, they’ve been filled with hope and purpose, and they are not down anymore even though their physical bodies are still locked up. It’s an amazing thing to see God’s Truth at work.

So how do we get this thing to work for us. How do we stop believing the “facts” and start believing the TRUTH? There are three ways…Prayer…Meditation…Confession. Begin with prayer. You want to pray God’s Word back to Him because in Jeremiah 1:12 it says that He works to perform His Word. After you’ve prayed you don’t need to keep praying the same prayer over and over and over again, He heard you the first time (1 John 5:14). And when you pray believe that you receive the answer to the prayer when you pray it (Mark 11:24) and it will be done for you.

The next step is meditation; this is something you want to keep doing over and over again until you see the manifestation. By meditating you begin to paint a picture in your mind and you begin to renew your mind (Romans 12:2) and that TRUTH starts to become bigger then any fact that you might be seeing with your natural eyes.
The next thing you want to do is confess. This is also something that you will continue to do until you see the manifestation of that which you have prayed for. There is so much power in what we say. We know in Genesis 1 God spoke and everything came into being, and in Genesis 1:26 God created us in His image and likeness so we have the same power with our words. In Mark 11:23 it says… “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” It is not only important to confess because there is power in confession and you are making things happen but it’s also important to confess because it builds your faith for the thing you are believing for. Romans 10:17 says “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So by speaking the Word out loud over and over again we are building our faith up and we are able to be fully assured of what we have prayed for, meditated on, and what we have confessed for is coming to pass.

Glory to God isn’t that awesome that we do not have to believe what we hear or see in the natural, but we can find the truth for any situation. I pray this blessed you and we will continue to explore more fact vs. truth. God bless!

Tracy Houston

Get you off of your mind, and get your mind onto God pt 2…

A few days ago we were discussing getting us off of our minds, and get our minds on to God in prayer. Today I would like to look at this aspect from the stand point of decision making.

In our everyday lives we make many decisions… what to wear, where to go, what to do, etc. Many times in life we only include God in the big decisions that come, or in decision concerning ministry or religious affairs, but God desires to be included in every one of our decisions. In Matthew 10:30, it says “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” That shows you right there that God is interested in every detail of who you are, so why aren’t Christians including Him in every detail of their lives? He was concerned about numbering the hairs on your head; doesn’t that mean He’s concerned about where you are going today or what you are doing today? I know some might think it is not important to ask God about everything, but it is of the utmost importance. God loves you that much and He desires you to make the right decisions in everything. He knows all; He knows what’s going to happen before it happens. Wouldn’t you want someone that knows everything to help you make your everyday decisions, that definitely takes a lot of the pressure off of you. In Isaiah 55:8-9 it says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God’s thoughts and ways are not ours, so let’s get off of ourselves and our ways of doing and thinking, and let’s plug into God’s way of doing and thinking. Starting today I encourage each and everyone reading this to start to include God in all of your decisions, not some, all! And if you miss it and forget, don’t be hard on yourself just do it the next time. This will be a process for many people that are not used to doing this, but in time it will become natural, and I’m telling you that when you allow God to make the decisions your life will flow so much smoother and you will get to where you are going much quicker. God bless!

Tracy Houston

Get you off of your mind, and get your mind onto God pt 1…

In this time of development and movement from being carnal Christians (Pertaining to flesh; fleshly-those who make decisions and react from their flesh instead of their spirit) to becoming spiritual Christians (Consisting of spirit; Pertaining to the renewed nature of man- One who lives based on what the Word says and not from their flesh or their emotions) God is calling for us to get us off of our minds, and get our minds on Him. Today I want to look at prayer from this perspective. Last week a sister in class gave an awesome sermon and in part of it she talked about how we are so focused in prayer on ourselves, on our money, our houses, our families, etc, but we are not looking at the big picture, at the global picture, about the people that have no food, or are in the midst of war, etc. and she really stirred something up on the inside of me to stop looking at myself and my situations so much and to focus on what’s on God’s heart. Many times we only see the things that are going on around us, but our Father see’s everything and He is concerned about every single person on this planet. I just want to encourage all of you out there that in your prayer time start seeking God’s heart. Ask Him what He desires you to pray. Ask Him what His concerns are and what He desires to see happening on this earth, and then pray what He shows you. The other night as my husband and I were in prayer I took this approach and decided to let the heart of God totally lead me, He had me praying for little girls in china, and young girls in eastern countries that are kidnapped and sold into prostitution, He had me praying for His little sons in Africa who have been kidnapped and made into soldiers. That was what was on His heart, so I prayed it and it was powerful. I’m telling you when you are about God and His business; He will take care of everything you need…

Matthew 6:25-33 (NIV)
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

God bless!!

Tracy Houston