FAITH FRIDAY :: 31dec2021 - Happy New Year!

 It is a little past 6pm where I live, so the change of years has not happened here yet.  I have been busy doing more of my reorganizing, thinking about 2022, trying to find the best way forward for me.

I am always wondering what GOD will be doing as our time passes.  We want the best of everything, but that is not always what life brings us.  

I look for a future where I am safe and have what I need to live and grow and thrive.  I want everything to be good.  I wonder what I will do first.  I see the global problems and hope we can help a lot of people survive, especially Christians.  I look for GOD to protect His people from harm as times change.

I still don't have my ONE goal for 2022.  It is hard to decide what can be achievable in my life situations.  Personal, business, crafting - what kind of goal should I truly commit myself to?  My one resolution is a BIG thing for me.

Still working on my downsizing.  2022 will begin with an effort to sell what I can and use the money for other things I need.  

I guess I have a lot of projects already in process.  Maybe they are my 2022 goal.     :-)      I suppose they could be.  I will think on that tonight.

My GOAL book for 2022 is filling up fast.

I have my journal book for 2022 ready to start.  It's a 2013planner filled with recycling tips and environmental details.  I found it at a SCRAP store many years ago, but missed the next year with the same days.  So, I am just going to go by the dates and enter a review of the day with any special details included for the page.  This is another experiment of mine as I search for the best way for me to keep track of my days. 

Someday I might try a Bullet Journal (Bujo) format.  I like notebooks for most everything, so I make my own dotted pages with a program like Excel.  I haven't gotten to the designs yet, but want to.  I bought some of the little metal stencil awhile back.  When I find them again, I will try a few of the Bujo options to practice.

Have to go...

Hope your 2020 is the best year ever!  Mine too!

In Christ,  Deb  <3

Pray for our nation,

for our world.

We are in deep need

of people who love GOD,

are saved by Christ,

and will be strong 

for the right things.

FAITH FRIDAY on Christmas Eve - 24 DEC 2021

Christmas Eve... Jewish days change at sundown so I think it must be part of the reason we celebrate with two days, or the evening and then the day.  I didn't really think about it until this year.  I have been trying to do GOD Sabbath for some time, but it is hard.  

We are expecting snow this year, maybe tonight or tomorrow, then continuing for over a week.  I see me indoors most of that time and praying the trees don't fall in the cold and ice and any wind ahead of us!!

This year has been a struggle, for me and so many others.  I hope next year will be better.  I was able to do most of my regular Christmas Giving.  That is always a great thing for me.  I am working on a plan to do better for next year's season.  :-)  

No decided resolution for 2022 yet.

I am getting a lot of things sorted and reorganized this month... for my 2022 hopes.  It is making things better for my quests.

No response to my WT Membership Drive.  I trust GOD knows why.

I hope we all remember that Jesus was born to save our souls.  I know I would have died a lot of years back if I didn't know GOD and keep trying to understand His Word.  It has always been the core of my life and search for what matters.  I hope you will find that meaning in your life.

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

and may GOD bless our lives in relation to our need and our love for Him.

In Christ,  Deb <3

Faith Friday on Saturday - again! :: What is happening this December!?! :-)

 I am trying to decide what is happening this month to miss two posts on Fridays....  I had a heavy day of shopping and then just seemed to forget to make my Friday post.  So sorry.  Not much to say, but I am working on continuity.

Today, I watched the whole STAR WARS TRILOGY on VHS tapes.  So fun to see it again.

I have sorted my movies and watched most of them again.  One tape that I thought was OK the last time I viewed it was WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS.  This time it had a lot of static, but I still want to keep it.  The values of way back when are so very different from today... it is also a statement about rural and urban values.  

I also watched my copy of THE YEARLING.  It had Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman as the main adult characters.  It was a reminder of values (rural, survival) in the Appalachian Mountains when it was being settled.  I kind of thought about the role of men in the different views it shared.  This one had a serious connection with surviving over the years, needing to grow your own food to live, and a look at how hard it was through the death of one's children.  The main family lost three from stillbirth to less than 3 years - b the grave marker information.

And more.

Someone started talking to me during my shopping activities, about the difference in our own lives and social values.  About the downward slide in values, safety, crime, etc.  The Bible tells us it will get worse because we are heading into the Antichrist.  Living through these changes is hard for every generation.

Electricity changed life when it came into our lives.  Water resources changed life when they were developed.  Machinery changed farming, then food resources, and distribution.  We change over time.  In some ways these changes are really great, in other ways they bring with them other kinds of problems.  How do we judge what is good "progress" when the effects are mixed?  I am not sure.

I try to think of how things affect Christians and prophecies.  That is a bit different than just how something changes our lives.  It seems we don't notice the rise of evil until it affects our personal lives.  I wonder if our times are like the days when Hitler was gaining power... and what we can do to change that path.

I suppose I would like to go to a safer location... avoid conflict... work on my own survival issues.  That won't help the world, but it does seem like a good solution.  I don't have the power to change things.  On my own.  So, finding a safe place seems like a plan.

I guess, in the end, it is GOD's call.  If He doesn't provide, we can't do anything... it is our place in His Plan.

Trust and Obey... that is what we do.

In Christ,  Deb  <3

FAITH FRIDAY :: 10DEC2021 - Getting Better

 Here I am again.

Sorry about last week.  It was Saturday before I realized I missed last week's post.  My life isn't that exciting, but I am working on my process, schedule, consistency...  I will try to do better.

I am busy with planning for 2022 these days.  Looking for ONE resolution to focus on for the year.

Still reorganizing as I downsize, getting better, but it is a slow process.

The Working Together Membership Drive is on this month.  I decided to go with just the Trial Membership, a quarterly e-newsletter format for $10USD.  There's a link to the membership payment page (PayPal link that processes credit cards as well). I put a separate link to the program information page... to share the ongoing vision for WT, where I see it going -- in part.  Lots of details not there yet.  Trial Membership fees will just start the financial process of growing.

Working on Christmas, personal gifting.  Got my Christmas cards done and ready to mail.  Have to get to the post office to get them into the mail.  Next week, God willing.

Then on to finish the rest of the list for this year.

Listening to Christmas music online this year.  The Presidential Prayer Team (.org) has a link to a 24-hour loop that I am accessing as I can.  It's mellow music so it is very relaxing as you do the things you have to do.  There's a link on the page - they call it IPrayRadio.org but I think there are two music options. Here's the link I listen on ::

I Pray Radio | The Presidential Prayer Team

Hope you like it.  

I've been talking to GOD about a lot of things... but none to share right now.

May we all find His blessings in our lives as we have need, and look for ways to share our extra with others.

In Christ,  Deb  <3

I have not always liked the verse that says all thing are connected to God's Will for us... I would like to have only good things in my life, lots of great blessings.  But, I have found the bad time somehow find a way to the good future.

If you are suffering, keep your trust in God's Plan for your life.  We don't understand all the hidden details.  He does. 

FAITH FRIDAY :: 26nov2021 - Another week

 Been watching old movies, well... an old Gary Cooper movie with some faces that would rise later.  It's hard to remember star names, but I think I saw a young Buddy Ebsen and an early Hawaii Five-O guy.  I recognized some faces, but I don't know all the Hollywood names.

The westerns have some really bad guys.  It makes me think of criminals and how terrible they can be.  This one included Gary Cooper as a reformed outlaw meeting his old gang again... all the problems that brings up.  It is one of the biggest problems in every age... finding a new life, getting out of the old circles, becoming a different person.  

I have been making progress with my workspace challenges.  By emptying boxes I find more space.  I am almost done with emptying two more boxes.  I sorted through tons of seeds I have collected for a long time.  I am trying to keep the organic seeds from store products and the seeds from things I bought at farmer's markets.  I want to grow trees of all kinds so I have a bunch of those seeds to go through still.  I am not sure how many will end up as my final savings, but one box of seeds will be enough to start my efforts if I ever get the larger space I want.

I have always liked the idea of saving little trees that are already growing and want to live.  I want to try growing trees and other things from seeds also.

Arbor Day is the holiday focused on planting trees to help the earth save itself.

I wish my income had been different all my life.  I wanted to do so many things.  I just never made it to a high enough amount to get to those things.

GOD is able, but He chose not to.  I have to trust He had reasons.  

Well............I guess I will go for now.  It's hard to write an update when you are still in the middle of the same project... sorting and reorganizing.  :-)  The process is slow, but it is really helping the long goals.

In Christ, Deborah Martin

Working Together - http://work2gather.us 

FAITH FRIDAY :: 19NOV2021 - Suffering and GOD

Hello, again...  how has your week been?  I hope you are well and happy and keeping your eyes on GOD instead of the world.

Living is a bit precarious for me, always.  I am almost 70 and I still fear having to live on the streets, maybe die there.  I wonder why GOD has not provided the finances I need, so I don't feel secure about my existence.  The valley I am living through is still a valley that filled with battles against the enemies of Faith.

When GOD is not doing what we want Him to, we have to search for the why.  I look for clues in the Bible, and other Christian testimonies, and history, and any place I can find it.  I want my life to be safe and peaceful and busy with good things.  That isn't what history tells me happens to Christians.

In times of persecution, men who only know power and hate and violence seem to thrive on the attacking the innocent, the weak, those who cannot defend themselves, women and children, the elderly, etc.  It allows them to see themselves as powerful, in control, the "boss" of everyone and everything.  Are they just "lost" or are they used by the Enemy of GOD or do they make the conscious choice to do what they do?  It is hard to decide about evil and what causes it to hurt us.

In the 80"s I made a statement for a card design I was working on...  The enemy is not Man, it is Satan living inside Man.  That's the best I can remember of it.  I lost those cards along the way of life.  In those days I was able to separate the actions of people from the damage they did. We fight the same Enemy every day.  I am not sure I can separate the source anymore.  The statement is still true, but the pain caused by those who lift up evil is also more real to me now.

It's hard to see the reality of suffering in Christian films... we don't even want to think about it.  The Hiding Place is one film we think of, how concentration camps were operated.  Maybe Schindler's List and how we become in the midst of a battle for life in wartime.  I can't think of a lot of Christian films right now... mainstream films... things that make it to the larger Christian community.  Maybe Fiddler on the Roof would be in that group - a picture of how the Jews suddenly have to leave everything because of a change in politics.  I watch these films every so often to remind me of how the world gets about Faith... just because it is Faith.

They show us parts of suffering for our faith... but to live through it is another thing, especially in our America.  The Enemy uses hidden tactics in our time.  Lawsuits.  Pies in the face of those who have opposed them - in public spaces to hurt the opposition even more.  There are collusions.  Lies?  Financial ruin so there is less ability to fight back.  Luring our loved ones into places they wouldn't go otherwise.  Attacking people for no real reason, including children.  We call it many things, but behind it all is the Enemy of GOD.

I don't know what else will come up in the future, but technology is already being used to hurt anyone who disagrees with the politically correct views of a lot of topics. Maybe with algorithms or suspensions or thefts or internet access or medical connections or business or education or ???  Technology is growing into that weapon that will destroy us.

In my own life I have endured a lot.  I remembered that the Bible tells us to endure to the end.  It doesn't make it easy.  It just helps me to see that there is pain in Faith, there is suffering in Faith, there is a choice every day about whether we will stand with GOD or fall away to avoid pain and suffering because we believe Christ died to save us.

I can't control what the Enemy does, I have to keep my eyes on GOD and trust that He is still at work in the world, my world, when it seems like the Enemy is winning.  Prayer is my weapon, sometimes my only weapon against the forces of evil in my life.  

I do my best to keep going and stay faithful to GOD.  

I think that is all anyone can do.

In Christ,  Deb  <3

FAITH FRIDAY :: 12NOV2021 - Trusting when we wait

11:35 pm

I moved my VCR yesterday, to a place I can access it better.  So far I have watched 6 of my collected movies.

Pocahontas

White Christmas

It's a Wonderful Life

Land Before Time

Batteries Not Included

Remember the Titans

I'm not sure how many more I will watch over the weekend, but I am going through my boxes of things to decide what to keep and what to sell or pass on somehow.  I want to reduce my possessions as much as possible right now.  

My big goal is to find space to do my art and crafts and writing and selling online.  It seems pointless to keep things that are not useful in my senior years.  So, I decided to only keep the things I still want to have until the day I die... whenever that is.

It is much harder than I thought it would be.  

A lot of memories are attached to things we have.  It is a long process deciding what really fits my life and goals and personal needs at nearly 70 years old.  Unless something has a monetary value, most of the people who inherit our stuff don't really want it.  This is another part of the downsizing effort.

In my thinking about end-of-life issues, I guess heaven is the main thing I still want to have - everything I possess will only be needed for a little while longer, and is only important to me.  I am trying to cover my burial and get my debts paid and take care of what might cost money in the future (like medical bills).

Morbid details that have to be taken care of.

In the middle of all this death stuff, there are still unfinished dreams that only GOD can provide for.  How much I could do is questionable.  Not impossible, but definitely in need of adaptations to accomplish.  I have never been able to find out.  I wonder if I will ever find out if I can do what I wanted to do.

We all pass through these spaces on our way to old age.

Maybe that is the reason some people have a "mid-life crisis" and go crazy trying to be young again.  :-)  

Tomorrow I find a box to start putting the discards into.  

We can't take anything with us to the next life, heaven or hell.  I hope I can decide what really matters to my future and let the rest go.

Pray for me.  Thanks.  Deb <3

FAITH FRIDAY :: 5NOV2021 - on how we are so easily changed.

Just watched a Christian film about teens and a summer camp about learning horse skills.  Strange movie for me now.  I always wonder if other Christians are really like the movies.  :-)  This is a lot of people who were not "always" Christians see the world.

It's the end of a long week.  I don't know why, but the days seemed to take longer to pass this week.  I am hoping the time change this weekend will make next week better!  :-)  

What to say... 

I am more of a thinking type of person... searching for answers.

I watched a lot of YT videos the other day about earthquakes and liquefaction and prepping. I am about to do my major shopping for the month so this is an expensive thought.  It seems there is little to do about the "BIG ONE" on the west coast except pray GOD protects us or that death is not really painful.  I have been trying to prep for my own life for some time, looking for what I can do for myself and thinking about what my options for surviving might be.

With my age, the idea of dying is not that big of a thing.  I expect to go one of these days.  It's what happens when you get old.  I am trying to figure out the process for me, and what I need to do on the way.

I just keep going the best I can.

I guess I look for what I can do.

I wish I was in charge, had the resources to make the world a better place, but that is not what GOD has decided for me right now.  I don't stop believing, but I also don't push against GOD's Will and purposes for me.  It's not an easy stand to take.

Some of the videos I have been watching this week are about Social Security, the government battles for control of our future, and my search for ways to increase my income online. I saw a business video tonight that shared the concept of focus.  The author presented the view that what we focus on is what becomes our value... how advertising leads you to buy their product by showing you only things that will make you want to get their product.  It was a different way of saying the same truth we already know about advertising/marketing... or any presentation (sermon or lecture or article or movie or TV show or game or book or whatever we allow our eyes to see and ears to hear -- remember that verse?)

How to apply GOD's wisdom in our daily lives... THAT is the challenge.  :-)

I'm pretty tired right now so I hope I am not too confusing.  We can read the Bible fast and find it meaningless, or we can think about a serious passage for many years and still not understand what GOD is trying to tell us.  We get a little closer to GOD's Truth after years of hard thinking, but no one ever reaches the final version.  We will see that in the next life.

I hope to see you there.

In Christ,  Deb  <3

FAITH FRIDAY :: 29 OCT 2021 - What matters most?

 I am trying to post a little bit earlier this week.  I think about what to share as i go about my activities all day.  Faith is a BIG topic, and I like to add personal details of my life along the way... like a Journal.  I am working to improve my content (posts) so all things may change over time... 2022 is on my planning list these days... for here, for Patreon, for my selling sites and hopes for more income.

My Patron post has become DEBS JOURNAL.  This is working out great.  You have to be one of my supporters to read this post at my Patreon page, but you can always access the Public posts, now called WHATS HAPPENING.  

It has been a great week with the new posting schedule.  I really had a great week.  I think this might work out great.  When I have topic specific details to share with my Patron tiers, I can post just to them.  After I get this schedule going I want to start adding posts to my other blog sites (WT & Crafts).

I went through all my planned Shoebox gifts today -- to see what I had and what I want to try to add to them.  This year has mostly been a Dollar Tree sourcing project because of their pricing and because I always buy some things for gifting there.  I am going to see what else I can get there first, then I will look for the other items at other stores.  COLLECTION WEEK starts the 15th I think... it's always right before Thanksgiving... Monday to Monday.  (samaritanspurse.org)

Working Together is my Christian Ministry effort.  (1987 to present)  Been praying about it again, for this year's Membership Drive in December.  Because I am just one person with no money, I have to be careful about what I do on the Internet.  Any efforts have to pay for themselves.

I wanted to share a quote I want to make into a post graphic soon... I am not a political fan of the Democrats, or Jimmy Carter, but I received a fundraising mailing from him (don't know shy!!!).  One part of the letter stayed with me so I cut it out and saved it to share.  

By the coding I have on the paper, it may have been from an August 2021 mailing.  I don't really remember.  I just saved the quote. 

• Our dreams are big -- 
• our hopes high -- 
• our goals long-term -- 
• and the path is difficult.  
• But the only failure is not to try.    
• Jimmy Carter

Sorry, had to format it that way... on this site.

I love the whole statement, which is a generic call in many spaces, but I kept it for the failure link.  I do love the statement.  :-)  It is something to share on social media, like I do a lot of my graphics.

So, the only real failure is to stop trying.

I saw a short video clip about Elon Musk this week where he was being interviewed by a news person about one of the failures of his spaceships.  I was impressed with his statement that he never quits.  :-)  Then the video went on to show the succession of his efforts to create a spaceship that would carry people into space.  Very impressive.

I think, in reality, if we quit there will always be someone who comes behind us to take up the task and keep trying... until success is found.  I think Science has this process when the goal is very big, like fighting diseases.

Every year I review my efforts for Working Together and try to find a better way forward.  I have tried a lot of different things along the way.  I would try even more if I had a decent budget to work with.  I finally gave it to GOD to provide for what is needed.  I just keep trying, waiting for GOD to act on my behalf.

This year I am trying to decide how to structure the fees for Membership.  Whatever happens, they have to cover the whole year's expenses.  What benefits to offer for the fee that is charges is the other part of the offer.  I am hoping to re-do my webpage before December first this year.

I wanted to share another statement in this post, one about faith and choosing eternity.  I don't know the official source, and I don't know if my version is the exact statement, but it is about the results of our choices and our experiences in this world and eternity.

• This life is the only sorrow a saved person will ever know.
• This life is the only joy a lost person will every know.

When I first heard this, I thought about all the pain that comes with a life that is struggling through this world without GOD, Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, peace, love, and more.  This is their "joy."  It isn't real joy, but it is all that they know.

My personal experience with what the lost find as fun and meaning is their addictions, money values, crimes and prisons, families that are filled with suffering, friends that betray them, etc.  

A lot of these things exist in saved lives as well.  They are sufferings.  GOD changes the way they exist in a life that is saved.

There is a part of the lost world where people are decent and good and caring and loving, but they are not saved.  I guess this group exists in both the lost and the appear-to-be-saved worlds.  For myself, I was thinking about people who don't want to know about GOD or Jesus, and think they are good enough.

We hear about this in pastors who discover they really don't know the Lord personally.  It's a scary thought.  Good people who do lots of good things, but they aren't truly saved.  This life would be the only joy they know.

I was really impacted by studying Revelations and seeing the people under the altar were martyrs, souls who suffered so much more than I have (and hope not to have to suffer!).  They become the priests of GOD.  They are separated from all the other believers because they became martyrs.  It means something.  I don't think we have given this passage the deeper meaning it has.

This life, what we suffer because we are believers, is painful, sorrowful, hurtful, and more.  We hear about the JOY of the Lord in our spiritual places, we see smiles on the popular leaders and teachers faces and want to have that in our lives, and we wonder why our lives are not what we hear they are suppose to be as Christians.  I don't know what exists in the hearts and lives of others, I only know the struggles I have to work through.  I keep seeking GOD to understand what happens in my life so I can understand how GOD works in our world.

We have reached a place in time where there are people who don't have any idea there is a Bible or Jesus or salvation... we think everyone knows about our spiritual foundations, but they don't.  The world is getting darker and darker and darker, now the battles are getting more open.  What is my place in the evolving world of spiritual choices?  I don't know.  I am trying to figure that out.

I hope to have more answers by the time WT's 2021 Membership Drive gets here.  (http://work2gather.us)

CHRISTMAS is near.  I am still working on how to sell online and make more income for me and my goals.

I discovered the EBAY app and how to research prices on EBAY for your listings.  I hope to sell a lot of my downsizing items there.  (ebay.com/usr/work2gather)

Working on my crafting for ETSY listings.  (etsy.com/shop/work2gather)

Let me know your thoughts about Bible issues I bring up... 

In Christ,  Deborah Martin

FAITH FRIDAY :: 22 OCT 2021 - Time to plan ahead

 Almost didn't make it here!

I was busy with something else and didn't watch the clock.  

I have been working on my posting schedule and made more changes at Patreon (https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan).  I need to make a public post to try to find supporters, so that stayed on MONDAYS.  All my tier posts were pointless because I only have one supporter (in Jewelry), so I decided to make just one post a week (WEDNESDAYS) for all my tiers until I grow my support.  I will also post anything important to individual tiers on the way.  I kind of write to the future patrons I hope to have... keeping my process shared for them.

Been trying to start my WT MEMBERSHIP details.  They have to get posted online soon.  On the way I will be trying to improve my webpage  (http://work2gather.us).  It's been looking bad since last Drive, but I hope to get it better for this year.

I think about FAITH issues every day -- all my waking hours.  It is the main issue of our times.  How GOD opposes what MAN wants to do, or what Satan makes Man think he wants.  It's hard not to see it in the news, in the world, in our families.  I wish I could find a good answer for all the pain Satan causes our world.

I found a church nearby that will be collecting Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes this year.  I made my 2021 Yearly Project about filling 10 of the plastic shoeboxes I already had and sending in $10 fees for each of the 31 brochures I had from other years.  I made it to 9 fees this month.  I hope to add another fee by collection week.  I decided to try to continue the fees effort into 2022.  I want to cover the costs of each unused brochure... however long it takes me.

I wasn't able to fill all the shoeboxes so far.  I'm going to do an inventory of the boxes and then my budget to see what else I can do before I deliver them.

I love doing these shoeboxes for the holidays.  I haven't been able to fill any for some years.  That is why I decided to make it a yearly project.  After this year, the fee effort will be enough for my budget.  :-)

This is the holiday season... Christians like to really stretch their budget to give this time of year.  I wonder if there will be many more to care about because of all the COVID problems.  I hope we find a way to help them.

What is my biggest battle in Faith issues?  I suppose it is always keeping my focus on GOD and trusting Him to take care of all the things I can't.  That is really a BIG topic, and every day that is defined in new ways.

When I really get deep in my troubles I remember that this life is not the place I care about most.  I want to spend my eternity in heaven.  I don't like pain, but I want to stay true to what I know is GOD's Will, His Truth, what I know is right and good and worth dying for.

It's not easy to stay faithful in our world.

We have to find ways to help each other through the hard times, now and what is coming in the future.

I hope we do find those priorities.

In Christ,  Deborah Martin,  Working Together Inc

FAITH FRIDAY :: 15 OCT 2021 - Believing what the Bible says

 Just finished watching a tear jerker called FAITH UNDER FIRE. It makes me think about GOD in our daily lives, in our greatest pain, and as we come out of all that suffering.  

Movies are always about the big things... like cancer, like losing those we love, like not knowing about GOD or blaming Him for everything.  

I guess we all have to face our burdens.  We have to find answers.  I don't know if we ever can, but we try.  The characters in movies don't know what the Bible says, so the movie can tell them (and the audience).  We all have to put our trust in what the Bible says.  That is Faith.

I don't remember when I wrote this, but it wasn't too long ago.  I didn't always have a deep faith in GOD.  I went through some very hard times and watched GOD work in the middle of them.  I learned to trust Him.  I learned what kind of GOD He is.

It is what every single person has to do.  No one else can do this for you.  It's all part of our final judgment... we don't get punished for the sins of others, only our own life choices.

This is really important to understand.

I think it helped me to separate myself from people who wanted me to do things I knew were wrong.  It helped me to say "No!"

It took a long time to reach that place.

We don't stand alone very well.  Friends, family, groups we belong to, our church, any place we are with a lot of other people who may not believe the way we do.

It is so much easier to follow.  Saying no is always a battle.  People we know don't want us to say there is something wrong with what they say, do, believe.  We are the same way about what we believe.

In passages about the End Times and others about Faith and some about standing firm for GOD/Christ, we see the losses we might encounter.  I think about them more as the world becomes so divided.  We may even lose our life.  

I had a different life planned than the one I got.  

If GOD is the One who creates the winding paths we all follow, then I believe there is a reason for them.  I will keep trusting Him for "the end of the story."  

FAITH FRIDAY :: 8OCT2021 - Watching Some Christian Movies

 I seem to find my movies on YouTube now... since I decided to pay for no-ads every month.  It is so great... I hope I can afford it until I die!  haha  I guess it's my entertainment budget, but it is also a research tool and income tool someday.

I am getting to the point where I have watched most of the ones that come up on my feed.  I don't know how that equals what is available.  I tend to go through spurts of movie watching... most of the time on my Sabbath time, or the weekends.

In the search for a decent movie, I end up clicking on some that are very bad in terms of content.  There isn't a real way to decide what a movie will have in it when it's on YouTube.  And I sometimes wonder if it's not a good thing to watch them if I have no idea where they are sourced from.

I find it's an ongoing battle for me.  No answers yet.  

Hallmark movies come up all the time. Tonight I checked on one that was called a Hallmark movie but it wasn't.  It turned out to be an R rated movie.  I found out when I searched for the title on a new page.  This seems to be a tool of the Enemy... trying to deceive with false information.  I don't always find out before I start watching, but this time I did.

It is always a question for me because it directly relates to my faith and the choices I keep trying to make to honor GOD more with my life.  These battles get worse as my desire to honor GOD gets bigger.  I wonder how to deal with hidden "temptations" that become sins if we don't fight them.

What the digital age has brought to us is algorithms that can be manipulated to force on us things we would never choose on our own... including those terrible ads that are pushed on us at every website.  I can't afford to pay every website to remove the ads from my view.  So, how do we deal with the new future of our world?

I don't know.

It is the ongoing topic in my prayers and seeking GOD for answers.  Morality is a big thought in my head and heart these days... and it will get even bigger as the world grows darker.

In terms of wanting to build a Christian Community through Working Together, the need to decide about these problems is important.  There are technical issues to consider... security, content, costs... how do we function as Christians in a global internet world if we are attached to the world by our "internet provider?"  There's no way to build our own system, other than a small community in a defined space... by acres, by houses, by location.

I don't know what would be possible for us as we work to survive a world leading up to the Antichrist.

Plus, what do we do now... this is the time when the internet is growing to cover the world.  When the gospel is shared with every person, it will fulfill prophecy.

I guess I keep doing battle with the idea of how to live without the internet, without YouTube, without all the growing necessities of contact through the internet.  I have movies that are VHS and DVD.  As long as I have a device to watch them on, I can still enjoy movies... the ones without too much dirt in them.  

I have some that are not fully clean, that are violent, that are not about godly topics, etc.  I don't watch them all the time, but I want them as a reference...  Are they choosing to sin?  I suppose they are.  I'm not yet able to decide if I MUST get rid of them.  Will it cause GOD to reject me?  

I can't recall all the titles I have right now, but some in this category might be Hotel Rwand - about the genocide of a people group. Maybe Waterworld - about a man becoming a fish creature as a testament to evolution.  Anything with profanity, violence, crime, sex, lying, nudity, or other sinful things.

In listening to music I face the same problems.

I am going through my belongings again, trying to downsize the the very least amount of possessions I can.  I say downsizing to the things I still want to have when I die, for whatever reasons.  My treasures have changed in that new definition.

How do we make our lives holy in a world like ours?  What does GOD expect of us?  Are we a true example to others when we haven't eliminated all these questionable possessions from our daily lives?  Can we even control what is pushed on us - like the ads we are forced to see in our emails, on search results, etc.?

If you have some answers, please share them with me so I can think about them.  I am still searching for answers I can believe in.

In Christ,  Deb  <3

FAITH FRIDAY :: 1 OCT 2021 - When GOD is 24-hours

I have a hard time separating life from GOD... compartments of life that some think GOD is not involved in.  Every day, 24-hours-a-day, that's the real GOD.

So, where is He when people are hurting?  When I am hurting.  I still think about that, more when I am in the middle of a hard season.  The answers are never clear.  We want Him to do everything for our suffering, but that is not GOD.

As I search for my answers, different parts of the Bible come to mind.

This week I remembered Paul's sufferings.  They didn't go away, they weren't prevented, he didn't see his ministry as separated from his sufferings.  

This week I thought of the martyrs under the throne.  I think of them a lot.  Some are linked to the sufferings of the Tribulation.  All have died for their faith.  As I have often thought about them, and their place in the 1000 years of being with the Lord as priests, I decided that suffering is what leads to our place in heaven.  These martyrs will not experience the second death, those of us who just die in salvation will have to go through that event.

I wonder if I am strong enough to die because I am faithful.

The Bible tells us our family might become our enemies because they choose not to believe.  That has been a hard one for me.  Watching this world take over their faith, lead them astray.  

I understand Brittany Spears was raised Christian.  It must be very hard for her parents.  

I have heard that Marilyn Manson was raised Christian.  

Now I hear that the children and grandchildren of Anita Bryant have fallen away from their godly heritage.  

How hard it is to think of our loved ones in the suffering of hell and the Lake of Fire forever.  The daily hurts we have to endure.

The world wants the eternities of those we care about.  That is when I think of Samson and his parents.

My children know the difference between right and wrong, have been baptized, and battle the problems of surviving and addictions and choosing GOD over the temptations of this world.  It is their choice, and sometimes their pain.

I had to choose.  You have to choose.  Each of us can only save ourselves.

With the internet I suffer with the things I see done to women and children because men are the "leaders" in their cultures.  I thought we need to find a way to share how GOD sees a man's place in a family, in a community.  

How can we live in this world that keeps growing more evil?

I really don't know.

I keep seeking GOD for the answers -- for myself and for all Christians.

I think about these global problems in case GOD allows me to do something about them, through Working Together, as myself, in the final years of my life.  What would you do to solve some of these problems if GOD provided you with the ability to do something?

It all takes money.

What is the priority of our ministries when our own are suffering?

With the pandemic we have seen a huge change in what it means to live, work, spend.  We have lost faith, freedoms, and our future.  What will we become now?  

The Antichrist is near.  Maybe not in our lifetimes (Boomers), but soon.  All these changes with the government in the pandemic seem to be orchestrated to get us to be willing to let the government be our absolute ruler and authority, without GOD.

Prophecy is true.  It will happen.  It is happening.  How can we prepare for it?

How can we become the ONE Body of Christ in this world?

Deb  <3

FAITH FRIDAY :: 24 SEP 2021 - Housing ideas and Faith in GOD's will for our lives

Well, I almost forgot it was Friday again!  :-)  I was browsing videos at You Tube.  Housing is a big topic for me.  I watch a lot of Tiny House videos, and found one by a channel called Invisible People.  I think they are in the Los Angeles area of California, but that was only a guess.  I made a very long comment about the isse, which I kept for my records, but I think I will share it here.  I mentioned several of my own ideas on housing and government... maybe one of my readers will be able to use them to help the homeless in their area.

Let me know if you think any of these quickly shared ideas has any hope of being implemented !!

=====================

Well, just going to add my comments to the conversation... not sure they will be seen at this date.  I hear comments only register right after posting.  :-)

I heard Santa Monica so I am guessing it's a CA location.

I heard safe zone is only for COVID reasons.  Where will she go as restrictions are lifted.

I wonder if there are any worthwhile updates about her situation... housing, job, future?

I read some of your materials but relying on the government to be all answers to all people is  not going to help the nation.  Taxes can only go so far.  The government has promised too much, abused the funds it has already received, and doesn't seem to think it will ever go bankrupt because, after all, the people can pay more, right?!

The options that are available need government approval, not always funding.  That is a long hard and sometimes futile process.  People like you can make changes on your own.  You are a charity.  Raise funds for housing projects.  Buy land and build a community for the people you are advocating for.

Tiny Houses are legal in California... see what you can do with them... will you make decent housing or just something to cover a human from the elements?  Rehab old trailers, RVs, make cheap containers into housing, create something like a KOA for a small homeless community - they would house tents, cars, campers, and even include cabins for some. 

I think a quarter acre is right for a family, but urban housing often exists on a tenth of an acre.  Buy them all over the city, by transit for poverty transportation needs, and create single living spaces.

I think homeless options exist on the top floors of parking garages.  They have water pipes (for fire requirements) so they can be divided by parking spaces and be modified for cooking and showers and laundries.  Parking garages are generally by transit I think.  Security options can be created to protect all.  The idea is to STABILIZE, so no time requirements... duplicate the options to include more homeless people.

Churches have been a resource for centuries.  The problem is zoning... again, the government needs to approve changes that don't cost money.  Porta-potties seem to work for this option.  Electricity can be worked out.  Help can be found in the congregations. Some churches are by transit.  Some church members have skills that might help a homeless person or family... like mechanics to fix cars or trucks.  Once a church finds out if the person is worth helping more, there might be more opportunities for the individual or family.  Time is always a good thing when people are good people.

Find out what exact properties the city (govt) owns that might be available for use.  Make sure you get an agreement in writing that says the project is forever or there will just be another problem in the future.  Make a purchase of any land by transit or some life need.  Create housing there.

I have the idea that housing needs to stop being a subsidy for the developers and become a small income source for the government.  See if you can get them to establish a new home ownership program where the payment is the traditional government charge of 30% of income... it will change the future for everyone in the whole USA once it gets going.  It becomes non-tax income, but there needs to be a fund in place to pay for the property when a new buyer is created, which would be a pre-approved homeless person.  The seller would see an income from their efforts to improve their property over the years of ownership...maybe use that to buy a new home for themselves.

Look for ways to house people that will take them off the streets and provide for their human needs...spread the efforts all over the city so all the homeless are not in one general space like Skid Row... FIND places, look for things you can do, what other non-profits can do, what the homeless can do for themselves.

viewed  24 SEPT 2021  [probably about 10pm]

COMMENT on this video  ::  https://youtu.be/nT3VGI0V5Rs

Homeless Woman Has a Masters in Mathematics and Engineering

2,174,807 views Apr 21, 2021  -  50K hands up  -  1.1K hands down

Invisible People  -  986K subscribers

===========================

Other than that, I have been fighting the battle to survive myself.

I finally did some experimenting with my resin supplies yesterday.  I am happy about the experience.  I now have to decide what to do with the pieces I made.  With resin there is a layering process.  I am trying to create things I can sell at my ETSY or EBAY shops, or provide as a benefit to my PATREON supporters.

I haven't been doing good with my ART efforts the past couple of weeks.  Been busy with other things.  I cut about three watercolor paper pads into sections to use.  Now to use them.  

Eventually, I will find the crafting directions I want to focus on.

FAITH... it's been a slow path recently.  I think it seems to follow the amount of struggling I do in my life, the harder it is the more I seek GOD.  That seems to be the way it goes for all of us... we just see the suffering, GOD sees the lesson to be learned... or the part of His plan that needs to be accomplished... or the consequences of our sins or someone else's sins.  

I have always figured GOD is up to something if I can't find a way out of what is happening.

Maybe it is my life He's working in, or maybe it is someone else's.  I have to trust Him either way... look for the answers, and wait if I can't find them.

I shared an old photo I found recently on one of my Patreon posts.  I think I will end with it here.  I pray GOD is close to us and helping us to find our answers.  GOD is the only person I have ever had to trust in.  I think I will keep my focus on Him.

FAITH FRIDAY :: 17 sept 2021 - Finding GOD in the struggle.

Hello to all -  Friday is here.  

I often wonder what to share here.  My weeks are full of thoughts about GOD and us and where prophecy is leading us.  I tend to be serious about these topics, and they are the meaning of my life. 

Life is filled with so much good and so much bad... the bad seems to scream louder because it is painful to deal with.  It is why we call out to GOD for help.  When GOD doesn't take away the hurt, we think He doesn't care.  It's been a search of mine to figure out what GOD does in our lives... how he acts, moves, deals with sin, and accomplishes prophecy without compromising His Words.

We trust GOD because He doesn't lie.

What does that mean in real life... throughout history... in our times and the days that lie ahead.  I spent many many years searching for answers.  I haven't been able to do that in recent history, but I still remember the things I discovered.  

I fairly recently purchased this little journal at a Dollar Tree... so I could put it in a place where I would be reminded that nothing can change the past... to try to find a better future.  It does help.  I have it next to my computer space.

Those of us with less than acceptable pasts have a hard time getting over the shadow they cast on every future step we take.

Faith is the only thing that helps me keep going.

This is a mug I designed a long while ago.  I like this half of the design, but decided to make a new mug without the other side on this one... I'm working on what to replace the statement with... the statement on the other side... or maybe just duplicate this design on both sides so it can be seen by people with both left- and right-handed grasps.

The mug that really matters is my mug about the Body of Christ... with two designs and both of them essential to the message... and bot part of my effort called  Working Together  (work2gather.us) - which is all about getting us together and protected for the hard days of prophecy before the Antichrist comes to kill us.

You can see this at my ETSY shop or my EBAY shop.  The other side has my 5-line expression of what salvation is all about, and how it makes us ONE Body of Christ...

One God

One Bible

One Christ

One Salvation

One Body

This mug is what I want every Christian to have in their lives... and share with others.  It is brief and it shares the main elements of our place in this life.  I hope you will consider purchasing some for everyone you know that claims the salvation of Christ.

Since creating it, I am the only one who has purchased it.

I hope that changes soon.

Selling products is the way I hoped to support myself and build Working Together, because my life, my past, doesn't allow traditional methods.  That is still my goal.

I keep this news page with me because of the title and the space it shows... it is suppose to be a photo of a property that was 40 acres large.  I need more than that for WT, but as a local option, it was inspiring.  I had wanted another property in Oregon that was also 40 acres of farmland.  It would allow a lot of growth, either as farmland or as development in an urban location.  Forty acres seems large until you start building.

As time passed and I couldn't find a way to raise funds, I had to search for GOD's meaning in the lack of provision.  I find the Enemy has violated my life and efforts in ways I never thought possible.  We have entered a new world.  Technology has changed a lot.  We can't avoid the actions of non-believers, so I keep looking for GOD's path forward.

Whatever happens, we need to remain faithful to what GOD has taught us and our salvation.  I heard a sermon sometime recently, maybe this week, and it talked about the ten days we will be thrown in prison and only those who remain faithful will keep the crown of righteousness and heaven.  It makes me think of the Jews in the prison camps... and great suffering that I cannot even imagine.

Our times may get hard, but if we gather together to help each other, it will be a strength for everyone.

My focus is food, shelter, and protection... with everything else becoming part of the work as GOD provides for it.  So... I keep looking for land that will provide what we need when the time comes.

Join me in my efforts.

Deborah Martin,

Founder and Owner

Working Together Inc

1987 to present

http://work2gather.us

FAITH FRIDAY :: 10 SEPT 2021 - Thinking about America and 9/11

 It is always a hard time for me when 9/11 gets here.  This year it is 20 years since it happened.  I feel it was a turning point for our nation because we have strayed from our spiritual foundations.  To me, it was a sign that GOD's Hand of Protection has left us.

In the flow of prophecies about the End Times, morality and spiritual commitments are going to go away.  Living in these times is hard.  I don't want my country to lose the blessings that are part of being dedicated to GOD, saved by Jesus, trusting ourselves to the Will of GOD.  There is nothing in the Bible that says GOD has to keep protecting us when we fail to keep Him first in our lives.  Even Israel fell away and was forced to endure judgments for their sins and faithlessness.

Last year I discovered a YouTube video about how people with boats rushed to help after the Twin Towers were hit and later collapsed. It was a short video, but was very inspiring.  I hoped it would become a good memory for this major Anniversary of the event.  I wanted a hard copy to keep forever.

I just searched for it... here is the link ::  https://youtu.be/18lsxFcDrjo

BOATLIFT - An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience (HD Version)

That's the best I can do with the copy and paste option for info from the video page.  :-)  Tom Hanks is the narrator.  It was the ten year anniversary production.

We are not a godly nation anymore.

It is good to see something like this.

So, I am still praying for a lot of the same things in my life.  Thinking about how GOD provides, and what causes the things you pray for to not get to you.  

We can find different views of prayer and provision in the Bible.  I think I must not have the faith that makes it possible -- you know, the faith that will move a mountain, the faith where Jesus says that whatever we ask will be done -- and then there's the part that says we don't get because we ask amiss, to fulfill our lusts for things.  Then there's the knocking on the door passage... knock, seek, find.  :-)   

Which one applies?  (to my prayers.)

Faith is not a simple thing, unless you are that child the Bible talks about.  haha

I am still kind of stuck on the concept of "Free Will" and how it affects us as a person, a nation, a world... even the fulfillment of prophecy.  I don't know if you read about what happened (this year, I think) when I was writing a statement about Herod killing all the innocent babies because he wanted to kill the baby Jesus.  Herod was fulfilling a prophecy.  Could anything change that?  I don't know... I don't think so.  What GOD did was to warn Joseph and send him to a safer place until Herod was dead... and that became the fulfillment of another prophecy.

It's a huge example of how GOD works in our world.

We want GOD to end our suffering, to bring us the things we need (or want) so we don't have to deal with the pain of not having them.  He can't do that.  What would it look like if every single prayer by every single person was answered?  It's an impossible event.

So what does that mean to our lives?

I have shared these things before, somewhere in my writings, but I finally came up with a statement to clarify the whole matter of sin and suffering and free will, at least in my mind. I want to make it into something that can be shared, something that will be read more than once, maybe something that will fit into a Bible.

We suffer because others choose to sin, 

others suffer because we choose to sin.

Think about it. We are responsible for the condition of our world because of our choices... all of us... everyone.  It isn't GOD that has made all the suffering in our lives... but it is easy to blame Him, to expect Him to fix the consequences of every sin.

9/11 is an example of this ripple effect I talk about.  Innocent people died because someone hated America.  That's what we think caused it.  Why did they hate us?  What did they hope to accomplish by doing these actions?

I want to see GOD's people protected... somehow... as the End Times get worse and become what prophecy tells us they will become.

How can we do that? 

Well, let me know your ideas.  

I say to become One Body of Christ, in each community... so we can make sure everyone that is Christian or Jew or in need of care/protection is safe.  We can be the answer to each other's prayers.

FAITH FRIDAY :: Food and other things. ARTWORKS!

It has been another long week... I have been doing a lot of serious thinking, making some serious comments at social media and other places, and working on my PATREON posting efforts. I thought I had a new schedule that would work for the rest of the year, but I am trying to find a way to post all the same info one time and then the separate info to each tier.  I see two posts or an attachment for the solution so far.  :-)

We just have to keep looking until we find the way we need to go.

Today I harvested my two containers of potatoes.  :-)  That was a fun experience.  haha  I have finished cleaning up after the fun, and may be ready for winter weather already!

If you don't remember, I started a container of organic white potatoes first.  The green tops on that container died first, but it still had a little green growing so I wasn't sure if I should dump the thing and look for potatoes.  My son says they rot if you leave them in the soil after the tops have browned.  He had already harvested his, I waited a week more I think.  This was the first container I harvested this morning.

I don't have the photos on my computer yet, so I can't share them here.  I may try to do that later.  There were more very small potatoes in the white harvest.  I washed off about five or six of the largest in that bunch and lots of little black holes were all over them.  One had the black part going all the way into the potato.  (There was only one - largest - potato casualty when I dumped the container  :-)  I haven't checked the rest of the potatoes yet.

I have nothing to compare a harvest with, so I am just telling you what I found.

Later I went back and dumped the store-bought red potato container.  Lots more of the larger ones, less of the smaller ones.  I haven't cleaned these yet so I have no idea if they are edible - without lots of disease.

That's my first "successful" growing of potatoes.  I figure I will learn more and try another way to grow them next year.  :-)

I made my first fermented cabbage into a meal today.  It was pretty good!  I love kielbasa and sauerkraut with potatoes... so, you can guess, I used my new potato harvest to make some.  I recently fermented the cabbage (for about a week) with a brine recipe that uses 1 teaspoon kosher salt to each cup of water.  --  The brine formula seems to be important, so that is why I am sharing the one I finally used.  It is the easiest one I found.  --  With new potatoes and new fermented cabbage, I was ready to find out what it would taste like!  :-)

I was surprised at how good it tasted. Fermented cabbage doesn't have as much sour to it.  It cooked up great, didn't take long.  I will be trying more fermented foods over time.

Now I am trying to ferment some of the tomatoes I got at the Farmer's Market... they are like large cherry tomatoes.  I don't know what variety they are, but they are little round things about the size of a golf ball.  I watched a video by Pro Home Cook and he made them.  I didn't have enough to fill the jar I had, but I added some onions, too.  I am wondering how this will end up as tomatoes usually split with water.

How to use fermented foods is a challenge for me.  My son suggested the sauerkraut option.  I hadn't thought about it.  I was thinking sandwiches.  I don't know what the tomatoes will end up like so I am not sure what to do with them yet.  I have to find some other veggies to ferment.

Food.  We don't think about it until we don't have any.

I bought some lottery tickets because when I was at the store the reader said they were over 300 million dollars.  I haven't checked them yet, but if someone won from this area, I am sure I would have heard about it.  It's a divisive issue in the church.  Is it gambling if you just buy one ticket?  Is BINGO gambling?  For me, it's a search for funding for Working Together.  A big maybe, but still a possibility.  I haven't been able to raise even enough money for my own life with online efforts, and I would never qualify for a loan.  It seems like my only option.  So, I buy a ticket when the prize gets huge.  I figure it would have to be a miracle of GOD for me to win!  As far as I know, I'm still looking for funds.  :-)

I won't share the serious things I have been thinking about this week... maybe in the future.

I did spend HOURS trying to get my photo all downloaded to my computer so I can sort through them and see what I have, what I want to keep, what matters.  Here are a few before I go.

Have a great weekend.  May GOD be near the suffering, where ever they are, and may he bring the Body of Christ together to help and protect each other as our struggles increase.

These are some art I made a long time ago... maybe 2002, I'm not sure right now as I write this.     The photos are bad, but they have to do for now.

FAITH FRIDAY :: 27 AUG 2021 - Thinking about how GOD fits into our lives.

 It has been a long week!

I am working on making a better schedule for my posting activities, and I finally found something I think I can live with...  weekly posts instead of several days a week posting for some tiers.

I may have shared that I am trying to increase my income and create a better retirement for myself by making PATREON the main focus for my online life.  It has been a long struggle, with little results, but I trust that GOD will do what He says He will do... provide for us and to protect us, not arriving too soon or too late... always right on time.  I hope the blessings are shared with me soon!  Christmas is coming!   :-)

I got pretty serious about spiritual issues a few times (or more) this week.  I post replies to videos and social media posts, to emails, to anything that raises up a flag for me.  We are fighting so many battles these days... at every turn.  I sense that our lives are violated in ways we cannot comprehend, or control, or change.  This is the power of technology, and what will allow the ANTICHRIST to rule.

I answered a survey for Melissa Norris and that led to some thoughts about food and land and shelter.  I shared that we can stretch to help people with shelter needs if we have land, but how do we find food in a serious crisis...  (not a direst quote, just the idea of what I said.)  food is a finite resource and we all must have it to live.  It is a scary thought.  If we have food and others do not, they will take it from us.

Then there was the adoption issue... about kids who get tossed around the system all their lives and then thrown out into the world with little or nothing.  How can anyone help them?

I guess my laments are about money... not having the funds to make change happen.

That all goes back to GOD -- His provision.

Faith is such a hard thing to do when GOD is not doing what we want Him to. 

How does FAITH work in your life?

I have been seeking GOD about these issues for my lifetime.  I hear our own versions of rhetoric and then I wonder about real people and real life.  I see how GOD works in my life, in your life I only see the tragedies or the testimonies, neither of which are fully known or verified to me.

I read the Bible and I see the same words as others, but my experience tells me there may be more than one "truth" about them... especially those parts where denominations disagree or cults claim as the basis of their faith.  It's a very hard thing to make a final decision on.  I just try to find my own answers and trust that GOD will see my honest searching when judgment time comes.

One of my hopes for Working Together was to bring all the leaders of all the denominations and groups that claim to have the truth about everything in the Bible together every summer from the 4th of July to the end of forty days... mid-August some time.  I called it FORTY DAYS IN THE WILDERNESS because the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years.  I know the differences between us won't go away easily, but if we return to the table to discuss the reasons why we feel our version is the right one, maybe we will all find GOD's viewpoint and change into the ONE Body of Christ we are meant to be.

It was a good idea, I think, because other ministries started doing Forty Days of Prayer, and some other forms of the concept.  I always wonder why GOD didn't provide for WT to start that.  With technology, the event, the discussions, everything could be online, with options for public comments and involvement.

I had some great ideas, but no money to get them going.

It can still be done.  We just need to make the space and find the leaders who can seriously represent their denominations.

How can we become ONE BODY in Christ?  It is really important that we do.  All these divisions make us weak, like the divisions in our families, our communities, our countries.  We need to protect each other.

I guess FAITH means we think GOD is going to do it for us...which He will, to a point.  That saying we hear all the time :: "God helps those who help themselves."  ::  is it really true?  Do we make it happen, or does GOD?  This has been an ongoing discussion in my mind and life.  Some "blessings" come from Satan.  How do we know when they are from GOD?

It isn't easy to be a believer.  :-)

I better stop here or I will go on forever with all kinds of conflicting thoughts about Faith.  I hope we find these answers together... as a single group of people who believe in what the Bible says, what GOD is all about, and want to do our best to follow Him.

I made a mug out of my own statement about what the BODY OF CHRIST is... I'm going to share a link here.  Maybe you can buy one, or two, or three.... so I can increase my income and find a better old age than my poverty life has been.  :-)

Inspirational CHRISTIAN MUG in 11oz & 15oz sizes two | Etsy

15-ounce White Ceramic Mug - Original CHRISTIAN Message on the Body of Christ | eBay

FAITH FRIDAY :: Living in the End Times. What does that mean?

 

This is my life's meaning... 

I started WT after lots of suffering.

Starting it seems to have caused a lot of suffering.

I am not sure what GOD is trying to accomplish through me, but WT is really important to the larger Body of Christ.

Defining the End Times is hard.

I tend to think of the Antichrist for my focus and our corporate spiritual existence, as Christians.  After he gets here, there won't be a need to help Christians survive.  We will be exterminated.

Still, others will still live past us, and we hope some of them will turn to GOD, be saved by their discovering Christ and trusting in His sacrifice for them.

So what is our place in the larger view of what the End Times mean?  How do we prepare, how do we use our resources for the larger needs, how can we be sure our efforts will last beyond us?

These are the things I think about... whether WT exists or not.

I took a long time creating this design.  Parts became one.  What matters to me is the fact that we need to see ourselves as ONE Body of Christ.  Our divisions make us weak.  We can see the effects of our weakness in the news these days.

I wonder if this weakness is part of our planned decline - to fulfill GOD's Words about the End Times.  Or are we causing the decline because of our choices...  I don't know.

I was 23 when I entered the Welfare system and discovered a lot of things about poverty I never even considered as I was growing up.  In 1987, when I finally registered WT as a corporation, I was about 34.  I am almost 70 now.  It doesn't seem to be my task anymore.  Now I am looking for GOD's Will about the future of WT.  Who will protect GOD's people?

I know our lives have specific meanings in the course of time.  The Bible stories are all I have to refer to and find GOD's way of dealing with Mankind.  What is GOD doing in our time?  The answers seem hidden, so I keep searching for them.

Whatever GOD's reasons for the way my life unfolded, they are His.  I tried the best I could to do what I felt was right... and then there are those times I slowly fell away from GOD, into sins of need and confusion.  Returning to GOD's path was the only choice.  We know that, but we still fall away.  I think that is what they call "the flesh" in sermons.  It never leads to happiness, we just think it will.

I don't know how I get off on these topics.  :-)  I hope they are not doing harm to anyone.  I know this world is not wanting us to stand with GOD for anything.  As it gets worse, it may become even harder to stay faithful.  How to help Christians stay true to GOD and salvation and each other is one of the hopes of Working Together.

What do you think the Body of Christ is?

How would you solve our global problems, our lack of unity, our need to become ONE in Christ?  Is there any hope we can reach that goal?  Will GOD have to cause greater pain and suffering to make us start doing what we should have done long ago?

Tell me how you think we can protect ourselves as persecution increases.  Not just for our families, but for the whole church, for the communities we live in, for the countries that exist, and the social / moral changes we are seeing.

In Christ,  Deb <3