FAITH FRIDAY :: GOD and us - how does it work?

I am starting this post at 11:50 PM on Friday !!!  How could I forget it was Friday?!   :-)

Well, not looking at my daily to-do list might be one reason.  haha

It's been a long week of thinking about GOD and how He fits into our lives.  I wish it was easy.  We tend to think GOD is responsible for everything that happens to us.  I think there is some kind of separation between cause and effect, but I haven't fully decided what it is.

I've been getting up in the very early morning for a couple days... to care for some chickens where I live.  Summers mean early light and late dark.  Hard to dothese days as a senior.  :-)  I need the weekend to recover!  :-)    I also used the time for some yardwork.  The puppies where I live and the heat.  The chickens in the heat.  Sorting my room, my supplies.  And trying to make plans to reach my goals.

Everything takes time.  I find it hard to spend, so I am looking for ways to get the right things done... the 80:20 Rule I shared about.

One time I decided that tithing time meant using 2.4 hours for my time with GOD and spiritual activities.  Maybe Bible time and prayer.  I tried it, but it was a job just to keep track of what I considered GOD time.  It fell by the wayside... but is still part of my thoughts when I am working on my planning activities. 

One time I worked out the average schedule and needs of a person by the day and by the week.  I ended up with what we call our work week.  I was trying to decide how much time I would have to build my business. We have to eat and sleep and do the dishes and take showers and shop and lots of other daily tasks just to live.  I was actually amazed that the only time left was a traditional work week.  When I saw that, I also saw that goals need time that we don't always have, and how do we change our lives to do the things that need to get done...

I am still looking for that answer.

Today I found another idea for saving money.  I was at YouTube and found a video about using envelopes to save about $5K over a year using just 100 envelopes numbered 1 to 100. It's easy to save the small amounts, but the larger ones are a big issue with my budget.  Still, it makes the process different and more achievable.  I think I will try some version of it.  (There was also the 51-week challenge.)

Money has always been a large hurdle for me.  It will change my ability to reach my crafting and ministry goals.  I will be excited if I can save that much money.  Probably in 2022, but sooner if I can.

You might like to watch this video.  I shared it at my Patreon post.  It is about goals.  It helped me to remember the best ideas for reaching my goals.  It is part of my thoughts today, now, and until I can find the right things to list on my daily sheet, and do.

https://youtu.be/cKTtnhC6f0E

Let me know if you think they are good for doing.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin,  work2gather.us   

FAITH FRIDAY :: Suffering and its causes.

I got lost in a bunch of YouTube videos and nearly forgot it was Friday and I need to post!!!  Who knows what GOD will bring to mind... I think about spiritual issues all the time, but putting them into words is hard.

I just watched a video about a young person who has made his life about living in a van.  I am always looking at housing-related videos and have had to live in a van before, so watching the details he was sharing about how he converted his van for homeless living was something that interested me.

There were only four videos on his channel, dating to six months ago, but the channel was created a little bit before that, maybe six months if I recall right.  I didn't take notes.  So he is still a question mark in truth-sharing.  

His van was very interesting.

I thought about how young he was, and how hard homeless living is... and how dangerous it can be.  I didn't have any choices in the matter... I think he did.  I told him I hope he stays safe.  And I told him he could help others with his life experience.  I hope he does both.

How do we know where our lives will lead us?  We don't.  The Bible say we make our plans but GOD is the true author of where we actually go... He leads us to our future in so many ways.

I also wrote a comment on one of the SEE LIFE 2021 videos Focus on the Family is currently sharing.  It was about unplanned pregnancies.  In my own thinking about how GOD works in our lives I believe there is some kind of connection between our freedom to choose the path of our lives, each day, and GOD's promise that He will make good out of the bad things that happen to us.  In my comment I shared how the Bible tells us GOD can control the womb, that we get pregnant because of His Plans sometimes... that every life has a purpose.  We may sin, but GOD can turn the damage that sin does in our lives into something that is good in our lives or the lives of others.

I have created little proverbs for myself as life took me into places I never planned to be... one of them was about the things we can control vs the things we can't.  Sometimes we have to deal with the results of others' choices.  There isn't anything we can do to change it.  

I often think of the Israelites being imprisoned by their enemies as a judgment for their sins... 400 years I believe it was one time.  I remember they neglected the Sabbath and eventually had to pay for it by a judgment.  It may have been the 400 years, but I can't recall right now.  It's a silly thought, but I also think about how they wouldn't have been honoring the Sabbath as prisoners of their enemies.  :-)

It is my interest in prison reform that brings these issues into my thoughts.

It is my own suffering that also makes me try to understand what comes from GOD and what comes from Man, or myself.

This all leads to the question :: What is my responsibility in the painful parts of my life?

I suppose I have seen a book about suffering by almost every pastor I have followed.  It is one of the hardest questions in Faith.  Everyone wants to blame GOD for every bad thing that exists.  I don't think it is GOD, but I also know that somethings have been beyond my own ability to control.  Somewhere in the middle of all the ideas we have about GOD and Man and sin and suffering is a principle, a Truth, but is it the same answer for each of us?  I don't think so.

We all are different.  We make our choices based on our particular lives.  GOD is involved in our lives in unique ways because our purposes, our reason for living, our place in the Body of Christ is different.  

All poor people may have things in common, but that doesn't mean GOD is orchestrating the pains of poverty the same in each poor person's life.

I think the sermons we hear are often messages that sound good, what we want to believe, but the reality of suffering and other grey areas of theology is that we don't really know what GOD is up to.

I think of Moses a lot... how his parents kept him alive, how they had to trust GOD to save him, how the Pharaoh's daughter was childless, how she found the child, how an older girl just happened to be there, how Moses was sent back to his mother until he was weaned, how Moses' family were able to watch their child grow without being able to be his family -- all to keep him alive.  GOD protected Moses in the only way He could at that time in history, preparing Moses for the plan GOD had for his life.

How GOD works in our lives is that big "mystery" -- we have to keep our eyes on GOD and trust that He will accomplish His Will through it all.

I keep reminding myself that "GOD is able..." and that He isn't my servant, I am his servant.  He is the Boss.  I am the "employee."  When life doesn't work out the way I want it to, I bring GOD into focus as the One in charge.

It helps, but still hurts.

I would hate for anything bad to happen to that young man in the van.  I hope he doesn't have to learn a lesson that hurts, one that can change his life forever, or take it away.  There are bad people on the streets.  Not everyone, but enough to hurt or kill innocent and trusting people.  I wish all the time there was some way to keep everyone from the pains of evil, but I don't have that power.

I have to trust that GOD will help those who truly need His help, who trust in Him, who put their faith in Him, and who cannot survive without Him.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us

FAITH :: Friday Update... that sounds good - Faith Friday. What do you think? :-)

 Change is always a challenge.  I have read it takes at least twelve weeks to create a NEW habit.  I'm working on one month, less than a month actually... JULY for now.

It's my Sabbath Prep day, and my planned schedule has fallen by the wayside.  This whole week has been taken over by summer and budget activities.  

We (I) will carry on and find the right solution for increasing my income.

It looks like PATREON will be my main journal site for now... up to daily, depending on how life goes.... AND mostly craft topics I think... life affects work, including crafting.  Not sure what the final content will be for journaling.  

I will be looking for spiritual topics for this blog posting page.  I could write about a lot of things, but I need to decide what to share with my readers here.  Every day I search GOD about so many things, but don't really share all that here.  I hope to start doing that because Working Together's blog will be moving into new content efforts, too.

I will look forward to hearing your views in the comment section.  I think I have it set up to screen comments so I won't have any really bad ones (in GOD's eyes, not serious discussions) available for public viewing.  I did find a commercial from one of my posting commenters somewhere.  It seems to be a necessary step.

The future is going to be filled with things we never thought possible, and in the Enemy's hands will be very destructive.  I try to understand GOD's place and our place in the middle of violence and persecution.  The Nazis are the main historical reference, but the Bible tells us a lot about how GOD handles the evils of life.  I hope to share my thoughts on some of those things.

Until then,

Deborah Martin

The graphic is an important message for all of us... whatever denomination we claim.  We are the BODY OF CHRIST together... all of us... and we need to unite to care for each other as times get worse.

FAITH :: Just watched some End Time videos and had to comment on one...

Decided to share my comment to a YouTube video I watched...

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

"What If There Is NO Rapture?"  (work2gather.us)  --  Reliance on the THEORY of escaping the Antichrist is going to create a loss of faith in all those who exist at the time of the MARK of the Beast....  The souls below the throne, given white robes, are martyrs, including those who die in the midst of the Tribulation and the Mark.   PLEASE, share all the different versions of what could happen.  Each person must find their own answers because their soul is judged by their choices.  The ONLY RAPTURE in the Bible is at the end of the earth and heaven's existence, when fire destroys everything, which may be the sun exploding because it is already expanding, which may be the cause of our ozone destruction... there are many possibilities for everything...   I once read a part in the Bible which said 5000 people died as one-third of the lives destroyed... which would mean only 15K people were alive at that time.  This would mean global catastrophe/s occurred.  We don't KNOW the details, our positions are all theories of interpretation.   -- I think the Bible says that GOD will hold your soul accountable for the souls you mislead.  PLEASE, share more than what you think is the interpretation of Bible Prophecy! 

MY COMMENT on a youtube video...

Saturday, 10 JULY 2021

apx  5:05 pm

The End Times: Antichrist, Rapture, Final Battle & Christ's Return - Mark Hitchcock

470,393 views Sep 12, 2020

9.3K  hands up 

496    hands down

The channel is :: 

100huntley

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

I am not sure what to do about all these seemingly popular speakers who share the same mistaken view of prophecy.  I hope to find GOD's answer to this problem soon.

The need to stand in FAIIH unto death at the time of the Antichrist is what our challenge will be... not taking the MARK of the Beast... becoming martyrs for our Faith...

We will not escape this requirement.

Tell me what you believe, and why.

Deborah Martin

http://work2gather.us

FAITH :: Going to try Friday posting

 Hello again...

I've been working out the details of my "Christmas season" - which starts in JULY - and so far I will be working on a FRIDAY post here and a PATREON post on Mondays.  That's for now.

This month is all an experiment, but I want to try to find a good flow for all my tasks and efforts. Regular posting is important, so I need to get back to that commitment.

You may remember I am working on a NOTEBOOK plan to keep things organized.  It's been a long week of getting those spaces organized, changed, workable.  I will be improving my posts as I get my topics figured out. 

How to share my faith is what matters most to me... finding the topics that really matter is important to me... and getting my writing better is also important to me.  I hope this will be good path to those goals.

My notebooks will help me collect the things I want to share here.

Until next Friday...  Deb

FAITH :: Checking In and Sharing What's New

Hello, again...  My blogging efforts are really in sad shape.  I'm not sure what will happen with them, but we can find out together.  :-)

I have been working on how to get everything done, what to focus on first, and the path to the future.  It is an ongoing battle in my life.  I decided to try PROJECT  WEEKS and see if that gets my listings up and sales going.

The plan is to focus on one crafting project a week... like one week of art, one week of resins, one week of polymer clays, etc.  Then I can list what looks like it is worth buying!  :-)  

In the listing process, I am still trying to make PATREON my first priority.  My Patrons the special people in my life.  They will have access to Patreon-only options and products.  So I will have to work out how to achieve that.

My ETSY shop will be for other items.

My EBAY shop will be focused on AUCTION items and some BUY IT NOW options... I think finding my ART pricing there will be a starter action.  How does anyone know what their work is worth?!?  I have no idea!  I think it's a hit-or-miss target.

PAYPAL has an option to list things on social media and other spaces, so that will be a new option to try out.  I think that will be great.  I assume the fees will be PayPal only, but who knows...  I will try to remember to let you know.

BLOGGING is finding its place.  This will be my JOURNAL spot, maybe... maybe for spiritual issues, maybe just my walk with GOD and life.  I am debating what to do with the PUBLIC posting option at Patreon until I get my Patron spots filled... it may become my first place journal.

All this matters because my income seems to be having problems getting bigger.  :-)  I have PRAYED about it!  A long time.  A long, long, long, long time.  I don't see any reason it should have these problems for such a long time, so maybe GOD needs to step in.  I hope He does -- and soon!

July starts my Christmas season... prepping and giving.  

Spreading my Christmas giving over six months has made it a lot easier on my budget.  I tend to give to the same groups each year, so some just get their (small) donation from me a bit early.  Their computers don't know I only give once a year, so I get barraged with more requests the rest of the year.  I'm working on that problem, too.  :-)

Filling up my Christmas inventory started the Project Weeks effort.  I keep getting sidetracked with all the day-to-day battles and never get to making the things I want to sell for income.  I hope my Project Weeks will change that issue.

Keep watching my online spaces.  I am working on a LOT of new designs and ideas.  It will be great to share them with you later.

In Christ,  Deborah Martin

https://patreon.com/DebsRetirementPlan

https://etsy.com/shop/work2gather

https://ebay.com/usr/work2gather