How to know if someone's genuine or faking?

[Coliseum]

17 hours ago, Figure of eighty said:

So i went to the store today and a lady was begging bc she needed money for a hotel. 

I told her i only had 5 bucks and she said anything would help and im thinking of you need to get into a hotel youd need more than 5 bucks. 

 

Idk. I mean i dont mind doing it bc Im going to get paid again but i just wonder if how tell when people are in need or trying to dupe you.

God saw the intentions of your heart, even if you were taken advantage of. I recall once giving a man a couple of bucks because he needed the rest of his bus fare. When i gave it to him, he disappeared behind the Post Office. A woman burst onto the scenes: "Did you just give that man money"? "Yes," was my reply. She shouted, "That man has been doing that all day. He makes his living that way." When I told her God would sort it out in the end, she calmed down. Sometimes though, it is legitimate. A woman at a super market needed money. It was about 9:30 PM. She was dressed poorly, and missing her front teeth. Then she asked, "Could I just get a hug"? I thought for a second---"Hmm, strange." But the Spirit said yes, so I did. I could feel every drop of loneliness and despair in her grip. She wouldn't let go of me for a good thirty seconds. I offered to pray for her. When I touched her shoulder to pray, she was unsure how to respond, so she put both of her hands on my shoulders, and I prayed. When I finished, she told me that her son had just killed himself and she was out of jail only a month ago. Her world had collapsed. May God be kind to her as i wished her well. We just don't know what is in a man's heart. Be kind as God is kind to us.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Coliseum

[Marathoner]

5 hours ago, Aimes said:

God bless you, brother. He is faithful to us all.

I truly believe we're to be His body and minister to the NEEDS of others. As we're ministering to their needs I believe the seeds will naturally be sown. I once heard a minister say "how are they able to hear the things of Christ if their stomachs are growling loudly from hunger...". We so often focus on sharing His good news with them (which is so very important, don't get me wrong) without realizing we should also be meeting their physical needs as well. 

Amen, Aimes. What better way to share this life which Christ has given us (the good news) than through meeting the needs of our neighbor? I've noticed how food brings many people together in particular. Our actions lend weight and meaning to the words which we speak... it was in this way that God used me to witness to an atheist. Their heart was moved by my conduct and love toward them, devoid of judgment or condemnation. I can say this with all sincerity: it wasn't me but God's Spirit which ministered to them. If it were left up to me I would've blown it!  

[Aimes]

1 hour ago, Figure of eighty said:

Wow that is so clever! 

I need to have that handy too. Gift cards are neat.

I heard somewhere that clean socks are one of the most needed items among the homeless, that's where I got the idea. I used to go to Dollar Tree and buy them and the snacks, it made it pretty affordable and I liked being able to bless them with the little bag of goodies. 

I really need to start doing it again. 

[Aimes]

19 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

If it were left up to me I would've blown it!  

I know this is true about myself for many many things. I'm glad HE can use us imperfect people to bring about HIS perfect plan. 

 

[Marathoner]

5 minutes ago, Aimes said:

I heard somewhere that clean socks are one of the most needed items among the homeless, that's where I got the idea. I used to go to Dollar Tree and buy them and the snacks, it made it pretty affordable and I liked being able to bless them with the little bag of goodies. 

I really need to start doing it again. 

I can verify this based upon my experience. Socks... undergarments... blankets and warm clothing. 

[LonerAndy]

1 hour ago, Figure of eighty said:

Yeah thats what i thought. I shouldve asked her how much th3 motel room was but then.. I dont know peoples situation and dont want to be rude.

The real solution, although it will take more effort on your part, is to simply directly buy, what they claim to need.

For example, after those experiences, I had a guy say he needed money for gas.   I said "Ok, let's go over to the station, and I'll put my card in the pump".  Well of course he can't buy drugs with a credit card in a gas pump, so he backed off, and left.

So if you really really want to help people... say sure, let's go to the motel, and I'll put the room on my credit card.

And I would wager to you, that absolutely none of them will take you up on it.   And if by chance, one does, then perhaps they honestly needed the help.  But I would wager, that zero of them will.   People on the streets are just swindlers, and lazy people.  They are not people who really want help, because we live in a society that provides endless amounts of help to people.  If they really want/need help, they can get it.

[Marathoner]

28 minutes ago, LonerAndy said:

People on the streets are just swindlers, and lazy people. 

This is most unfortunate, that you harbor such a view of your neighbor. Nothing could be further from the truth, LonerAndy. Not only have I been one of "those people" on the streets but I work for these same people, living and walking where they live and walk. Never forget the words of Jesus Christ and whom He came for: those whom men spat upon. 

[Figure of eighty]

2 hours ago, Coliseum said:

God saw the intentions of your heart, even if you were taken advantage of. I recall once giving a man a couple of bucks because he needed the rest of his bus fare. When i gave it to him, he disappeared behind the Post Office. A woman burst onto the scenes: "Did you just give that man money"? "Yes," was my reply. She shouted, "That man has been doing that all day. He makes his living that way." When I told her God would sort it out in the end, she calmed down. Sometimes though, it is legitimate. A woman at a super market needed money. It was about 9:30 PM. She was dressed poorly, and missing her front teeth. Then she asked, "Could I just get a hug"? I thought for a second---"Hmm, strange." But the Spirit said yes, so I did. I could feel every drop of loneliness and despair in her grip. She wouldn't let go of me for a good thirty seconds. I offered to pray for her. When I touched her shoulder to pray, she was unsure how to respond, so she put both of her hands on my shoulders, and I prayed. When I finished, she told me that her son had just killed himself and she was out of jail only a month ago. Her world had collapsed. May God be kind to her as i wished her well. We just don't know what is in a man's heart. Be kind as God is kind to us.

Wow. Bless your kind heart. Loneliness is the absolute worst feeling.

[LonerAndy]

57 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

This is most unfortunate, that you harbor such a view of your neighbor. Nothing could be further from the truth, LonerAndy. Not only have I been one of "those people" on the streets but I work for these same people, living and walking where they live and walk. Never forget the words of Jesus Christ and whom He came for: those whom men spat upon. 

Now I don't know about you, or anything about you.  Don't make this personal.  I'm just telling you what I've personally seen, and the reports that I've read.

It's not just a view.   I've followed them to the clubs, and watched them go in, with the money that I gave them.  That is not "my view" I watched them do it.  They lied.  They took my money, under false claims they needed help, and used it at a club known for drugs and alcohol.

I'm not looking down on them.  I am stating a pure fact.

I have had people say they needed money for gasoline, and I offered to go to the gas station, put my card in the pump, and fill their car up with gasoline.

They refused.  Then, because i knew they were lying, I sat there and waiting for them to do something.  They got in their car that they claimed they didn't have any gas for, got on the highway, and drove away in their car with no gasoline.  In other words, they lied.  They had plenty of gas, and just wanted my money.

They lied.   They have all lied.  I haven't had a single example in the past 23 years of my life, where someone on the street asking for money, told me the truth.  Not even ONE time.

Again, we had a reporter tail these people, and they walked blocks away from where they were swindling people, and got into a car, and then drove to a house, and went in the house.

They were not homeless.  It was a lie.

And that's not "my view", that is a fact.  It is proven documented fact.

I can't speak to your experience, I can only speak to my experience.   When people tell you they need money for food, and then when you offer to buy them food... they leave and find someone else who will give them cash, and go to a bar with it......  those are liars and swindlers.

And don't play the Jesus card, because I can play that too.

Revelation 21:8

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

If you tell people that you need money to feed your toddler, and you take the money I give you and go into a club.....   Yeah, that makes you a liar, and swindler.

1 Corinthians 6:9–10

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

So you want to talk about what the Bible says, that's what it says.

Now, for the record, I have donated to charity my entire life, and will continue to do so.  I have volunteered at charitable organizations.

The problem is not that I look down on people that need help.  Of course not.  That is ridiculous.  Christianity fundamentally is about helping each other, as Christ helps all of us with salvation and forgiveness.

You know what else Christianity is about?  Right and wrong, and opposing evil.    Thievery.... swindling.... taking money under false pretense... is evil.   I oppose it.  And I am right to oppose it.

 

[Gabriel321123]

From my experience you always have this weird feeling of something not being right. Its never really a word they say or a move they make with their body, just a feeling. One golden tip I have learned on my travels, especially in the Balkan regions for example, children or women with children are 70% likely to be fake. They build a whole system off of guilt where you feel compelled to give money. Now not all of them are like that, and you would be a monster not to help out a child or mother in need, hence why I said up there that its always the feeling you get. The saddest thing is really that, often times, these people don't keep the money for themselves. Its a large insidious cabal/network where these people are often working for a fraction of what they get on a daily basis, its a sad life to live. But my general practice is to often get them what they ask for rather than money. If someone tells me they need money for food, I go with them to the nearest bakery,store, cake shop, whatever really and buy them what they want. But there are instances where the darkness comes out. I have had one man ask me for money for food, and when I told him to just tell me what he would like to eat he started yelling profanities and asking why I don't trust him and what do I care what he does with the money he gets. Its a strange world out there. 

Have a wonderful day friends.

Arthur.