I also know that many people of the Melancholy Temperament are not natural "Faithers".
mel·an·chol·y (mln-kl) n.
Sadness or depression of the spirits; gloom
Affected with or marked by depression of the spirits; sad.
I don't think that christians are supposed to be 'melancholy'. We are supposed to have the corner market in joy and peace. In fact, it is only the Blessing of God that gives us Joy without sorrow - we can't say this of any worldly items.
Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.
Neh 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for [this] day [is] holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry;
for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Jhn 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full.
Jhn 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Jhn 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Act 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Rom 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Keep in mind that Jesus says that if we have the faith of a Mustard Seed, we can move mountains.
Mat 17:20 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.
To understand this text is critical to faith. You are taking the approach that Word of Faith teachers proclaim you have either 0 faith or 100% faith. That isn't what Jesus teaches. You see the mustard seed is the tiniest of seeds. It is extrememly small. Jesus is saying that if you have even the smallest ammount of faith you can do great things in the kingdom of God. So it's not that one must have 100% faith as you suggest... but rather 'do you have zero faith'. If you have greater than zero, than you have 'great faith' in the kingdom of God. Moreover, faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by speaking. Often, we can let the devil rob us of our faith by the convincing ourselves otherwise. For example, if God wants you to recieve healing, and you convince yourself that you are in your sickly state because God put you there... or becuase he is trying to teach you some lesson... and you say "God has done this to me" or 'I am just doomed to be sick all my life' then you are basically expressing your faith by your actions.
Look at James -
Jam 1:13 Let no man
say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
I have never heard WoF teachers say you have to have 100% faith. Every one I know says you have to have greater than zero faith - that even the smallest ammount of faith is powerful in the kingdom of God. However, we can be robbed of our crumbs of faith by talking ourselves out of it... or by demonstrating what we believe (contrary to our faith) by our actions or words.
Keep in mind that Faith and fear are very similar principles. Fear is the enemy's counterfit to faith. What is fear except for overwhelming beleif in impending doom. Fear is faith being demonstrated by a physical response. If you are afraid of something, you have great faith in that something's ability to effect you.
2Cr 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Cr 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds
We do not walk by the flesh... how do we walk?
2Cr 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight
Keep in mind that you do not have to be continuously positive about your speeach, but rather optimistic, and you can't blame God. Look at Job. He spoke of his affliction, but never cursed God for his affliction. We know ... by fatih... that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. We see consistent examples of God trying to get blessing to his people. James tells us directly that affliction is not caused by God. I think one of the primary ways the devil robs us of our faith is by convincing us that it is God's will for us to suffer - thereby removing incentive for faith to work or operate. Part of that is because they don't believe it is God's will that they be healed because they have been lied to into believing that it was God's will for them to suffer. Therefore, they are at a zero faith level for healing. We see this same concept demonstrated in the healing of a man who was born blind -
Jhn 9:1 And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth.
Jhn 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
We might as well say 'is he still suffering because he has no faith, or because his parents had no faith'.
Jesus answers:
Jhn 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
It may be a revelation to some... but the 'works of God' that are being manifested are not that he remains blind... but that he recieves healing!! Notice how Jesus makes mud and then tells him to go wash in a specific pool. Why? Because the man had not demonstrated his faith in any way. Jesus needed to have him preform an action to demontrate his faith! Faith without corresponding action is dead - James 2. Just as dead is faith combined with contradictory action. Some 'name it claim it' people take this too far and say that - for example if you are sick and you pray for healing and then say you are still sick you won't get your healing. I say that's a little overboard. I would say "by the stripes of Jesus I have been (notice that's past tense) healed and soon I will be rid of these symptoms". I know it's God's will to heal me... I know it's coming my way... I just have to be ready for it when it comes - and I need to avoid blaming God for afflicting me, as well as believing that it is God's intention to keep me continuously in that state.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now
for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
Affliction is always temporary and your deliverance will come if you accept it by faith.
I am reminded of a joke -
A man falls overboard in the ocean. He prays that he will be rescued by a cruise ship where his trip back to land will be a luxourious ride. Three small fishing boats come by and offer to rescue him... but he tells each of them them "By Faith I am waiting for God to bring me a cruise ship". Eventually the man drowns. He goes to heaven and asks God - "God why didn't you answer my prayer - my faith was unwaivering?" God says 'did you see the 3 ships I sent you?' The man was so locked into the way that he wanted things to happen (to glorify himself and his flesh) that he let the real work of God pass him by.
But, they've effectively been taught they don't because they don't have a new home, a new car, and tons of money in the bank...
That is one of the biggest misconceptions about the WoF/prosperity doctrine that is out there. One of the main reasons you have that misconception is because of several passionate preachers in the WoF realm that go overboard on the message... but part of it has to deal with the personal greed and lust of the listeners.
You see, many in the church take the stance that in order to avoid a particular sin, they must completely do away with an entire doctrine or section of the Word. For example, those with problems with sexual sin - those who have expeience that may take such a stance against it that the whole topic of sex is avoided and shunned. That is a completely wrong approach as sex is part of life, and is meant to be enjoyed within the right context (the marriage relationship). I have seen many churches that completely ignore that topic... other than to say it's all bad don't talk about it... don't think about it etc. What do people do? They find themselves married to a person who thinks sex is bad and have an unfulfilling marriage... or they then go to the world or MTV for example to learn about sex. The church should be the place where we learn about these things.
In the same way, prosperity has been shunned or ignored by the church. It's not the the Bible doesn't teach on it... or that there isn't a godly attitude towards it... but the potential for abuse is so high that so many churches avoid it or preach against it. That is neither a balanced or biblical approach. It' part of life, and the word has a lot of good things as well as warnings to say about it... they should all be taught and it should not be dismissed or shyed away from.
If you don't have cars, money, houses, etc that is not a result of not having enough faith. It's a result of your focus. If you seek to exhalt self, and your motive for increase is to consume it upon your own lusts then you are not a steward to whom God can intrust increase. However, once you get that focus on God and his kingdom and what you can do for God as his steward, God says he will open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing there is not room enough to contain - remember what God said about blessing? That His blessing makes you rich and adds no sorrow to it. Why? Because you are an instrament God can use to advance his kingdom on the earth... not an empty black hole for kingdom resources.
The same is true where our faith is concerned as it pertains to earthly things such as healing (healing is part of the prosperity doctrine - prosperity is simply freedom from lack in all areas). If you are looking for healing... one of the best things you can go is go pray for someone else who is experiencing the same thing to get healed. If you are looking for emotional support, go be there for someone else. As we take our focus off ourselves and put it on God - the author and finisher of our faith - we become distribution centers for his blessing to flow through us. As we take our focus off self and onto others we remove the blockage of 'consume it upon our own lusts' as it says in James 4:3 -
Jam 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war,
yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jam 4:3
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts.
Whether it's intentional or not... Doesn't matter...
The end result is Spiritual-One-Up-Man-Ship and an ostracization of the meek and lowly.
I think part of that is because you have the wrong definition of what it means to be 'meek'. Jesus demonstrated meekness, but can you think of any time when he cowered in fear and self loathing? Can you think of any 'melancholy' moments of self interested depression in His life or ministry? To be meek does not mean to be isolated, introverted, shy, timid, or quiet (aka a wimp, coward, pushover). It means to orient the importantance of God above importance for self. It means to esteem the kingdom of God above your own interests. It means to be a servent of God rather than a servent of self. To realize that you are nothing outside of Christ, and yet greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. While you can do nothing on your own you can do ALL THINGS though CHRIST!
Any time you are "in it for self" you have the potential to run into 'spiritual one-up-man-ship' as the Pharasees did... remember Jesus called them a brood of vipers! He didn't act mild or pious toward them... he called them out and struck down their empty religous doctrines. In contrast, when you are working for someone else for someone else's interests you obey. For example - take a mild mannered person.. throw them in the army and then tell them to shoot an enemy. They remain meek and humble as they obey the order. They do what their superior tells them in complience and the interest of the country is served. In the same way, we are to humbly and meekly advance the kingdom of God. Our weapons are not carnal but spiritual. We don't accomplish our task by being 'melancholy' ... what would a general do if he told his soldier to go cover the flank and the the soldier huffed and puffed and whined about the assignment? How about if the solider - when faced with the enemy - put down his weapon and let the enemy waltz all over him and penetrate into the camp? Contrast that now with the soldier who stays and fights against insurmountable odds so that his troops can make it out safely. There is a huge difference between debasing self for one's own sake... or for the sake of the Gospel. Jesus doesn't tell us to roll over and play dead for the sake of being a good christian! For example, when we are told to 'turn the other cheek' we are told to do so for His Name's sake. "If they persecute you for my name's sake, turn the other cheek". It doen't say "whenever you get the chance, act lowly and debase yourself". It says if we are persecuted for preaching the gospel.
I used to subscribe to this theory of being lowly and poverished to be godly... but that's not who we are in christ. That is what we are in and of ourselves. We have been given power and authority because we are now heirs. It is not that we in any way deserve it - but we have been given as joint heirs together with and in Christ.
Think about the difference between the highest servent in a household and how that servent... even the governor of the house... compares to the heir. The highest servent in the house earns their position through hard work... dedication... etc. The heir has to do NOTHING to inherit the household, but gets it because of WHO they are...not what they have done. You cannot act humble enough... debase yourself enough... or endure enough pain and hardship in order to earn that gift.
And, having been on the recieving end... That makes me mad...
I am not really sure I understand what you mean here -- you were on the recieving end of spiritual one-up-manship? Can you explain your situation?
