Giving Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Giving Tuesday.

I tried to do my giving early this year... so I'm kind of done already.

I hope all your best charities have all they need.

I checked my emails just a bit ago, when I finally turned my computer on, and there were a LOT of giving pleas.

I have read and heard that this end of the year push is "Black Friday" for everyone... business, ministry, etc.  I wonder about my own efforts to provide resources to people in need, myself included, and see the need for changes in how things happen.  What can I do?  I don't know.  I'm still looking for those answers.

I hear that the tithe is hard to find in most churches.  It says something about the priorities of people who claim to be devoted to, and trusting in, the GOD of the Bible.  I tithe.  But I don't always tithe to the church... one church.

I use to attend more than one church at the same time... trying to be involved in different places and denominations.  Sometimes I was checking them out to find out what they were like.  Other times I just liked the church.  I would share my tithe among them the best I could.

Now, Working Together has taken over my tithe.  I don't have much to share, but I pray through every month and decision.  If the commitment to tithe is real, GOD is going to bring it back to me in other ways.

It is hard to explain how GOD provides... we don't really know what will happen, it just does.

GOD appears in ways we don't expect, in places we never expect them, and changes how we believe.

I am always so glad I have faith in my GOD... I don't know what life would have been if I didn't.  It was hard, is hard, and may be harder before I die... but being alive without GOD is even worse... I don't know how anyone survives without faith in something that is beyond human comprehension.

It isn't easy to trust GOD.  I think a lot of people think it is simple.  I suppose it is easier when things go well.  I guess faith doesn't really happen until we are out of control of the circumstances.  When we can't "make" things happen the way we want them to happen.

I don't know why this trend of thought is happening now, but it might be because I shared some thoughts about need and the church with someone a bit ago.

I guess all those email make me wonder where faith is in the process.

I remember hearing the story of a college that was in dire need of a certain amount of money and the people at the top of the structure were praying about the need.  The statement is shared that they wanted GOD to sell some of the cattle He owned and provide for their financial need.  So, as Christian stories go, a cattleman appeared and brought a check with him.  :-)

Personally, I have to wonder about these stories.  As a writer I can see how they work too conveniently.  As a Christian, I love them.  They bring hope and some level of possibility that GOD will provide for your need.

What I do know is that the Bible says GOD has the power to change things.  I often think of the Bible saying that GOD can increase the yield in one field while another will be barren.  This goes with the stories of feeding thousands of people with a few fish and loaves of bread.  And with miraculous healings.  Somehow, the GOD that created everything has the ability to intervene in the natural order of the things He created.  Like stopping the night while Moses prayed and the Israelites fought a fierce battle for their future.

GOD makes things whole... healing lepers, issues of blood, crippled bodies.  He can stop the womb of whole kingdoms when it matters.  Somehow GOD controls the things we think can't be controlled.  Even the minds of men (kings, leaders, judges...).  And I don't think any of this is done by violating the free will He gave Men.  Well, I may have to think more about the womb issues.

I find myself amazed by what GOD does in the midst of our lives, through our sufferings, as we grow in knowledge and awareness of His involvement in our world at so many different levels... faith, prophecy, judgment....

Money is a pivot point in every life... in our hearts... in what we truly believe in.  We cannot serve GOD and serve the god of money at the same time.  We have to choose.  What we choose leads us to different paths to our destinies... in life and in death and in eternity.


I hope to meet the most important people in my life in heaven one day.

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us
Working Together Inc
Building for the End Times

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I pray that you will find your worth in GOD's plan for your life. Amen.