Keep Going. Trusting GOD. Looking for Miracles.

 

I woke up this morning and realized I didn't write my Friday post, so here it is.

I guess everything is the same.  

Sorting and shredding papers.  

My food quest to use up the supplies I have so I can replace them with new items.  

Working on my budgets. 

Dreaming.

Listening to sermons and music on YouTube. 

Downsizing even more.  

Looking for answers to my lifelong prayers before it's my time to leave this earth.

I always have more than I can do, and not enough money to do most of the items on my list.

Trusting GOD for the end of the story, for the details, for the path.

Tired.

Not hungry, thankful for that.

Looking toward this Christmas.  Hope to make it a good one.

Going through the records of my past brings up a lot of memories.  We all wish we could change some of the parts of our lives.  I am glad the ones GOD has forgiven will not be held against me when I get to judgment.  Those will be covered by the blood of Christ.  GOD will not see them anymore.

I will just say that trying to use up the food supplies I already have is a huge challenge.  I am wondering how long things last, what I can make out of what I have, and if I should go to the store JUST for the missing items I need to make more foods out of what I have... like ketchup for my homemade dressing, baking powder for pancakes, and things like that.  

The problem is, if I go to the store I will break down and get a lot of things and that will change the challenge.   :-)   This is what I do.  Debate things like this with myself.  Not going to the store forces me to find other answers, uses up my old foods, and helps me to see what emergency foods can do in real life.  

I have more pasta than I want to eat.

Lots of dry foods like oatmeal, rice, quinoa, beans, lentils, peas, barley, and more.  I barely eat these foods when I have other things instead.  I can make my own bread, even tortillas if I have to, and have bouillon to substitute as part of my proteins.  

I am slowly eating less and hope to lose just a bit more weight through this.  I would like to get down to two meals and a snack -- maybe -- and need to eat more soft foods for my aging body.

These are a lot of issues wrapped up in this small challenge.

I hope nothing catastrophic happens while I am doing this.  That would really be a huge problem.  Not a good thing.  I would never recover.  

I guess I will work on my solution/s and let you know where I am in the process next week.

PRAY FOR ME !!!   :-)  

My place in God's Kingdom

My theme song.

Today I found a list I started years ago.  It doesn't have a date on it, so I don't know exactly how long ago.  It is a list of what we won't have when the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast get here.

I don't think it will happen in one moment. I think there will be a slow oppression on the way to that point.  We will suffer more and more on the way.  It's like the frog in the kettle story -- the frog is oblivious to fact it is getting cooked alive because the water gets hot slowly.

I don't know all the history of Hitler, but it seems he took power slowly... until the violence became his biggest tool.  We can see the changes happening in our own world.  More and more government controls, mandates, hidden actions, aggression against the church (all kinds of churches and denominations), and the falling away of those who cannot suffer the abuse of those who fight against us.  I remember there was alarm after the United Nations was formed because it was a sign of a one-world government. 

Here are some of the things on the list I found... 

No internet

No phones

No money

No electricity

No fuel for cars, heating, cooking

No water for showers/baths, clean clothes, clean dishes

No water for drinking and cooking

No food

No jobs

No income

No savings

No retirement

No stocks

No bonds 

No houses

No cars

No stores

No clothes

No laundry machines

No beds

No blankets

No sheets

No sleep

No medical options

No medicines

No dental

No travel

I could add a lot to this list.  I just wanted to share what I found with you.  

Life without money, without the ability to buy and sell, is something we cannot conceive of in the US.  I used to go to churches and wonder how the people there would survive.  We tend to believe we are blessed to be Christians and cannot think of suffering. 

I know we do suffer, but it is not something we talk about. 

I have been homeless and without money.  Sometimes with only mission meals.  Sometimes with only food benefits from the government.  Without preparations of some kind, the people of GOD will suffer needlessly.  Many will be alone.  I understand bartering is considered income for tax purposes.  We become criminals if we trade anything.  In the future we will be the enemy of the government and that will be a tool used against us. 

I don't know how we will survive in our communities without becoming ONE BODY in CHRIST.  We need each other.  I hope we can create something for as many as possible, starting with gathering our families together.  There won't be a lot of transportation options when those days get here.  Or communications to find out how our loved ones are.

Think about what happens when there is no money or food.  God has warned there will be droughts and famines (caused by water issues) and pestilences (caused by droughts and famines).  I think He also warns of earthquakes and wars.  

I realize I need to study this all over again.  I am trying to get that done so I can quote some verses that relate to the statements I bring up.  You are welcome to comment on these things and I will try to reply to them.  I studied for years before I even thought about Working Together.  Some things I remember easily, others are more general in my mind.

Technology has changed more than we know.

What do we need?  Everything.  And some way to deal with government forces when we must survive without any money.

Think about what you will need, what you might have, what you will definitely lose.  Make your own list.  Think about where you might be when the crisis happens, and if you are not with the people you love.  

GOD will help us, as individuals and churches and communities, but I don't think He will create manna for us every day, or increase our food like He did with the fish and bread.  We will be all over the world.  He could, but I don't know many Christians with that kind of faith.

I am sure Working Together has a purpose in our lives still.  I just don't know what it is, what GOD wants to happen right now.  I assume He will let me know when it is time.  Until then, I will keep trying to reach the people who love GOD and are saved by Christ.

Waiting for GOD to be GOD.

This is the best quote.  I really like it.

Trusting God is the thing.  It is not easy.  I have done battle with all my fears many days.  We can say we trust God, but when it gets to the hard parts of our lives, we expect God to make our lives easy... to protect us from every possible harm.  If He doesn't, we lose our faith in Him and wonder if He even exists.  

I have gone through this battle pretty much all my life.  I have changed over the years, but it took a long time.  Being homeless was not a good time.  I wondered where God was many times in those days.

I have a love for the "One day at a time" mantra as well.  It's all we can do.

I watched several videos tonight about the landslide in Palos Verde (California) and felt so sad for the people who are losing their homes.  There is nothing we can do when the Earth devastates our lives.  

It made me want to go through all my things even faster. 

Another winter is near.  What would I take if I only had a small amount of time to grab things?  I don't know.  I think I will sort out what matters most.  

We are having extreme heat days this week.  I will be inside.  I hope to get a lot more done.  

I have had Joel Osteen videos in the background for a while... overnight, then today.  His sermons make me think of Working Together.  I think about my personality, not being quite so forceful as preachers (or people in business) that make it big.  I wonder about a lot of things, again.  

Do you have a calling?  I agree with Osteen that nothing can keep us from God's Plan for our lives.  Not even Satan.  GOD overrides everything and everyone.  Because God did not do what I thought He would, I wonder if God has used my life for something I didn't realize.  

There's no way to know.  So, we have to thrust God for all those details.  

The other thing I know about God is that He doesn't start things He isn't going to finish.  There is always a purpose in what God does.

Joel Osteen makes me think that God is not done with Working Together.  

Writing every day is different.  I am beginning to think about topics to write about every day.  I am trying to write out notes... and references.  I am heading into Bible topics and what they mean to me.

This should get to be a very interesting project for me.  I wonder if anyone will actually listen.  I need to get better with my writing -- maybe then there will be something worth listening to.  I'm not sure that is the only problem.  We have to see what God does about things I can't control.