Here’s a topic foreign to most rational, educated westerners like myself. Years ago, I heard a popular prophet named John Paul Jackson say, at an earlier stage of life as a businessman, he was glad God never called him to live by faith. And then, much to his chagrin, God called him to ministry and to live by faith without a job. Well, funny thing, that’s exactly what happened to me. As you might imagine, that has been both the most unpleasant and yet most valuable experience of my life. Here’s how this experience has changed everything in me (and how it can do the same for you!)

Why Be Troubled About So Many Things?

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Matthew 6:31-32 (KJV)

When you go through God’s ancient process of giving up everything to follow Him, you will probably be instantly confronted with the reality that our modern lifestyles are in contrast to everything Jesus taught. We live our lives upside down. We go get a job to pay our bills rather than to find out what purpose God put us here for in the beginning. We make the priorities and distractions of the world our primary focus.

As a result, the most important things (according to God) are pushed to the bottom of the list. Soon enough, we no longer even believe what we read in the Bible because we rarely ever see it produce any results. And so now this out of order life has become solidified in our minds and hearts to the extent that we change the meaning of God’s word and then spread our unbelief to everyone else around us.

I’m guessing you never thought of it that way. Well, neither did I, until God put me in the situation I least wanted anything to do with. But, when God forced me by circumstances, to live by faith, it was the greatest gift He could have given me! But being transformed according to His mindset was excruciating. Going from this western mindset, with a well-paid professional career, to living on thin air, was basically asking the impossible.

Believing In Means Acting On

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Matthew 6:24 (KJV)

As I said before, I found out I really had no faith. Yes, I believed in God. I believed Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believed there was a Holy Spirit somewhere. But in reality, that was nothing more than what James said about demons that believe but otherwise have no Godly results.

You can believe in a thing without actually putting your life on the line for it. You can believe in a parachute without ever strapping one on and jumping from an airplane. And this is where 99% of Christians are, from my direct experience. That’s how I was and that’s how all my past Christian friends were.

This is why you hear so many church people say they believe in miracles but, as soon as something negative happens (accident, disease, death, etc) how they react reveals what they really believe. Most Christians think miracles happen but not by any direct action of their own. They don’t go after them because in reality, they don’t believe. When someone dies, they don’t try to raise them from the dead. When someone gets a disease, they don’t do what Jesus commanded: “lay hands on the sick…”

Going through God’s ancient wilderness training ground forces you to find out what God said in the Bible and live according to it. Being forced to live on nothing quickly exposes what you really believe in. There is no longer any pretending! Either you have faith or you don’t. In my case, I had ZERO! But, after 10 years of living purely on faith, how many things have changed. I could write a book on how this has changed me.

Can I still get aggravated and concerned about the little money I get going to zero and needing money for a bill or food, etc in the next few days? Yes, of course. But the point is, I don’t live my life freaking out in a panic attack because I have no job and no predictable source of income. If I were to “write that book”, you’d see how many things have changed about my mindset. Truthfully, I no longer still live by a worldly mindset. I do not have a powerless and fearful view of daily life as I once did.

The Priceless Value Of Faith

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Matthew 17:20 (KJV)

I have learned that the Kingdom of God really does override everything in the natural world. I’ve learned that when Jesus died on the cross, He gave us MUCH more than what the church teaches. All things really do work out for our good, even if we have to wait a little to see that happen. Jesus got up from the dead after 3 days and because of that, we have been given the power to overcome everything, including death!

Living on nothing these last 10 years has changed everything. Did it look weird to my past friends and family? Yes. Did I have to give up my reputation and look very stupid in the eyes of everyone around me? Yes. Did I have to learn to be humble because of that? Yes. Did I start to learn patience? Yes. Did I learn to believe in the impossible? Yes.

That is what the immense value of living on nothing has produced in me. It came at an extremely high price. It does not mean I’m perfect (never will be!) But it has changed everything in ways that cannot be measured. Jesus said it Himself, when you develop true faith, nothing will be impossible for you!

Which then is more valuable? $100 million dollars in your bank account? Or the faith which gives you the power to make things happen miraculously. That same faith that can move literal, physical mountains for you can do it for many others as well. It’s not just about you.

This is when your view of life shifts from just yourself as the center of the world to many others. If you want to be a king in God’s kingdom, then you must learn to think bigger than just yourself. And now you’re on the right track.

To be continued…

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