Monday, 11 December 2017

Here we are again... a new week, and almost the end of 2017!

I re-discovered my PayPal.Me/WorkingTogetherInc account, so I posted it to my Membership Drive page.  I guess it could be uses for donations, so I put that as a suggestion, too.  Until I understand the PayPal.Me process, any submissions for membership ($100/per person/per year) will be considered PUBLIC and ONLINE (email) newsletter delivery.  My understanding of the PayPal.Me process is that you link to it and make your payment to that account (Working Together Inc) so I hope it is one method we will be able to use for many activities.

My desire for PayPal is to have the funds remain in the form of money it is paid in... to always have funds in each type of currency, for future transactions.  I'm not sure that is possible with PayPal, yet... but I am striving in those directions.  As we grow in other regions, the needs of WT will change, so will the way we process funds.

I'm working on what I want, but I don't really know what is possible, now or in the future.

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I had to think of how GOD deals with criminals today... again.

I realized that criminals don't really understand the consequences of their choices, so they don't really think about what GOD does when we sin.  I suppose people who choose to do wrong never plan on getting caught.

I was thinking about what it is going to be like as a Christian in America someday... maybe sooner than we expect.

I often wondered what it was like to be one of the Jews when they were oppressed... or one of the apostles as they increasingly felt the wrath of those in power (even in their church)... or women when men had all of the legal power.  History tells a lot of hard stories to think about.

Today I saw a news item online about a drive-by shooting that was gang-related, and the only one that died was a little girl who was watching TV... probably cartoons that early in the morning.  Nothing can change what has already happened, we can only try to change what might happen in the future.  I wonder if gang violence is beyond stopping now... it has gone on so long, grown, become more powerful, changed the way crime is done, destroyed everything that is connected to it. 

Maybe the persecution of Christians will be the same way...

I guess I am trying to decide how we can forgive those who hurt our lives for no real reason, maybe greed or power, but not because we have done anything to them.  Senseless pain.  Like the little girl who didn't do anything to be shot by a gang member.

I often think of Christ when He was on the cross and said to forgive those who killed him, because they really didn't know what they were doing.  Christ had to die, to fulfill prophecy, to make it so we can be saved, and that meant the people involved in killing an innocent person somehow had to do that.  Judas betrayed Him, the disciples fled, Pilate authorized His death even though he didn't have to...  some things are beyond changing, they have to happen to fulfill GOD's Word.

When bad things happen to us we wonder why GOD didn't stop them.  We think there is a magic shield around us (we sometimes call it a "hedge") and nothing is suppose to get through.  But it does.  People choose to sin and we suffer because of it.  Later on, after time has passed, and GOD has taken us to a new place in our lives, we can see the difference that the bad thing/s have made in our lives.  We can see the "good" that GOD has made out of them.

So, how do we forgive something that is still a fresh pain in our life?  I had overcome this one at a point in my life, but (today) I don't know if that is still true.  It requires a lot of trust in GOD to let the hurt and pain and destruction that someone else's sins can cause in our lives.  That 70 times 7 rule on forgiveness gets old when you are the one doing the forgiving... when you are waiting for GOD to do something about it... when it doesn't seem to go away.

I use to be able to read my Bible and talk to GOD about all these hard questions, but these days my Bible time struggles.  I can feel the damage it does to not be able to read and pray and think on the good things that are GOD.  Focusing on GOD is what keeps our attitudes going in the right directions.  It is what keeps pain in perspective.  It is what allows me to see past the pain I feel.  So, these days, I try to focus on GOD with my thoughts, my memories, my long relationship with Him.  It helps, but it isn't a solution.

When we are persecuted, it will hurt.  We don't know how much, yet, but it will hurt... our hearts, our lives, our humanity, our faith, our families, our jobs, our church, our everything.  People who persecute are not Christian.  Unsaved people do things that we would not. 

I don't know if it is forgiveness, but understanding that they are struggling to survive in their own world might help to get past that moment.  One day they may be saved, and changed, and look back on the sins they have done with deep regret.  They will suffer because of what they have done, just as we suffer for our sins.

I try to pray that they will.  If I think about GOD long enough, I can pray for them with meaning... I can find something to say to GOD about their future... I can begin to see beyond the hurt they have caused me.

I hope you are able to get past your painful times, too.

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May GOD help us all to see people in the spiritual realm... that we are different because we know GOD, and they are different because they don't know Him, or Christ, or the Holy Spirit.

May our world become as good as it can be.
May we love people with a goal of understanding them.
May we find a better future for ourselves.
May life become peaceful, filled with joy and contemplation.
May we always strive to honor GOD by trusting the things He teaches us in the Bible.
May we discover a path to the future that honors GOD.

Amen.