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

FAITH FRIDAY :: Waiting for GOD

 Every week seems to be longer and longer for me... so many things to do, and I wonder when GOD will provide for the things I need.  

It seems like Satan is winning the battles, even though I know he isn't... 

I guess Satan is accomplishing prophecy, like he did when he moved the Jews to kill Jesus.  Even Satan thought the Christ would rise in power, which is why he worked so hard to kill Him. Satan didn't understand that by Christ's death we would be able to be saved... without the need to make blood sacrifices of animals to atone for our sins. 

When I was studying all this, and trying to find answers for myself, I discovered some perspectives I had never seen before - about GOD, Jesus, Man, Sin, Salvation, Judgment, and more.  The apostles were "waiting" for Jesus to rise up and take back their power in the world...all the way until Jesus was taken and crucified.

It is very hard to have a faith you were taught, then a faith you discovered for yourself, then a faith that doesn't seem to work the way you expect it to.  :-)  

We don't always wait for the right things.

We want GOD to avenge us right away, to provide immediately, to be our servant instead of our God.  

I am still searching for answers about how GOD works in our lives every day, and what the Bible tells us about the things that happen.  It isn't an easy search.  GOD doesn't do things the way we do.

Pray with me about the needs of our people, pray for me that GOD will provide for His work soon.  Thanks.

In Christ,

Deborah Martin, Working Together Inc

FAITH FRIDAY :: Preparing for Christian survival.

 I was just sending a reply to AFA about government legislation & LGBT issues...asking what the Christian Community really needs to focus on as Prophecy becomes reality.  It is always on my mind.  

How hard do we fight?  

Where do we put our tithing dollars?  

We have many ministries, including churches and global organizations, and the income we use to donate is getting harder to find.  People all over the world depend on US charity to exist.  Persecution will bring more need and less resources.  How do we prepare for that reality?

I have my thoughts.

This problem is why I started Working Together (WT) many many years ago.  The poverty GOD put into my life showed me the problems that were going to become important in the future.

• One big issue is the fact that non-profit status has become a tool of Satan to silence the church.  -  I like to point out that GOD took care of His church before non-profit status.
• Another big issue is that the government is struggling.  It wants more tax income.  One of the main tax-free groups are non-profits.  I suppose that government rule will reach the day when only church-related groups will be forced into tax-paying status, but until then they will have to eliminate all tax-free options just to include the church.

Many understand that the tithe is the first thing to go away in a financial crisis.  We just don't seem to do what GOD requires of us unless forced somehow.  The tithe is one act of faith that shows us what GOD is capable of doing and shows Him we trust Him to keep His Word.  This action is what provides for the church, for its ministers, for its congregations, for its poor.  I vaguely recall hearing sermons that said the church already doesn't tithe.  What will happen when global crises start happening?

As jobs go away just because we are Christians, what will the church of these unemployed people do to help them?  This won't be a small benevolence check, provided once.  I see the need for permanent systems to be created to meet the growing needs of persecuted people, people who never ask until they are desperate, people who look for GOD's provision in other places, people who struggle with their faith when there isn't anyone to be found who will help them.

We all think the "Body of Christ" is our back-up plan.  We believe GOD will use them to help us.  We look to our church as a final resource.  Unfortunately, none of these prove true when the hard time comes.  

I call it a "bottleneck" problem... and the church office is the bottleneck.  The people in the pews can't access the entire church with their needs because (I think) the staff desire all the resource access for their own programs and plans.  There is no established way for the people in the pews to reach the whole church, they have to go through the staff, and there is generally no mention of those things at regular services.

I have to admit I haven't been able to go to regular services for a number of years... things may have changed, but I doubt it, especially with the lockdowns.

I also know that some Christian crowdfunding platforms have tried to meet the needs of the people of faith.  Faith Launcher, which I tried, died and was sold to another platform, which is trying to act as a church fundraiser.  I don't have any information on how successful they have been.

I know that, in my poverty, benevolence funds had limits from $5 to $25, and programs like the Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul had limits for different needs.  In times where persecution involves everyone in the church, the needs will be ongoing.  We are not ready to help each other in those kinds of times.

If everyone is poor, will we be ready to share?

My solutions were multiple but (alas!) I couldn't find the funds to get started.  Over so many years and hard times, different efforts, being too weak to ask or do at different times, being homeless and without the necessary resources to operate, looking for GOD's source, trying to find His Plan for WT.  It's a much bigger problem than anyone realizes.

I think the problem is we think GOD's approval is attached to our abundance.  I suppose that is a natural attitude.  We see the abundance of JOB, but not the faith and provision of the poor and ordinary faithful.  When someone like me asks, especially if I am a stranger, my poverty says to the church that GOD is not blessing me... I must be living in sin.  :-)

My point is that the people who have supported a church for entire lifetimes are expecting that church to help them when they have a need, someday.  I don't think the church will be able to meet those needs.

And that is why we have to change.

We have to prepare... somehow.

In creating a farm for food, we are expecting GOD to do miracles when the time comes and we depend on Him for our survival.

In creating businesses we are preparing jobs for our people.

In building up our Missions, we are creating an emergency process.

In organizing our properties for group needs, we are making places for others to live and work and remain a part of our community.  

No one knows what the future holds, but prophecy tells us the path to the Antichrist will not be good.  We can see our own nation becoming something we don't recognize as good, free, brave, or Christian anymore.

One of the things I use to compare the time it takes to prepare is the growth of a fruit tree ::  It can take ten years before it has the fruit you want to harvest to eat.

How long do we have to prepare?