I think it was yesterday that I was writing an email to a cousin I haven't communicated with for many years. When I started my Facebook account, I looked for her, but she wasn't involved with it. Her daughter forward some info for me, I think. In my effort to answer her question about Working Together and GOD's lack of financial provisions, the topic of poverty and its effects became part of my email. I realized that I am near the 40 year anniversary of my first entry into the US Welfare system. That is a really sad event. It also brought to mind some of the hardships I had to face, the efforts I made that didn't work, and what the future might hold.
My cousin asked if I really thought GOD wanted me to do Working Together because He hasn't provided for it the way we normally would expect Him to. It would have taken a very long email to go through all the details of the past, so I let it go. I am hoping to write a larger book about Working Together, my path toward it, and the experiences that drive my goals for it. There are also many issues beyond my control involved. I believe GOD knows these things and they are part of His Plan for me. I know Working Together is badly needed for the survival of the Body of Christ in the days ahead, I just don't know how GOD will achieve its goals.
I like to remember
different parts in the Bible
when things are difficult.
Jeremiah is one of them. I remember his people didn't want to hear the message GOD gave him to share so they put him in awful prisons and eventually killed him. When we don't want to do what GOD asks us to do, we like to avoid it by attacking the one He sends. This is true in evangelism, and is probably something to remember when we consider our votes...the ones who tell us the hardest truths are often rejected with the loudest (media) voice.
The Bible tells us that GOD moves the minds of leaders, the circumstances we face, and the way our goals evolve. We hear that nothing happens by chance. I like to think of Christ when He was standing before Pilate and He told Pilate that Pilate could do nothing to Him that GOD did not allow. What Pilate did to Christ is similar to what Judas did...they were used by GOD to fulfill His Will and Prophecies about the Savior.
It is hard to suffer for the things that are part of GOD's place in our lives. And the End Times will make that suffering more intense. We have to think ahead to what we can do, what we will do. All the things I have suffered in my life have shown me the Church needs to prepare. We don't have an exact prophecy like Joseph in Egypt, but we can see how our world is evolving and what the computer will do to our ability to survive. It is wise to prepare for our protection and fellowship needs.
There is no guarantee that Christians will escape the suffering of the Antichrist and the need to stand firm unto death because of a pre-Tribulation Rapture. It goes against everything else in the Bible. I hope you will join Working Together and help me to set up places we can gather as things get worse and worse.
In Christ,
