As I see things changing all around us, I have a twinge of the flesh, every now and again. The other day as I was standing at the stove canning the umpteenth jar of "something," the thought crept in that there are so many who are talking about the devastation to come, but going on business as usual. Noah wasn't preparing an ark for everyone who would be knocking on the door when the rain began to fall . . . Since I've been praying that I would take every thought captive, these verses came into my awareness, simultaneously. I was going to use the verb "slamming" into my awareness, but I'll qualify it here, in that these Scriptures were just something I didn't want to "see" all together. They did not fit comfortably in my thoughts.
Proverbs 25:21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him
water to drink:
Matthew 5:44, 45 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute
you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust.
Matthew 10:36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;
not knowing that the goodness of G-d leadeth thee to repentance?
The only response I had at that point was to realize, it's truly not in my hands, and my life is not my own. If part of my ministry is going to be sharing what I've prepared to show the goodness of YHWH that may lead someone to repentance, so be it. YHWH is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but
is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. II Peter 3:9
It was quite a sermon I received from Ruach HaKodesh this week in the kitchen. In that personal sermon, I was so overtaken with the goodness of Elohim, and the price that has been paid; And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup
from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. Mark 14:36; it brought me to the place I could simply repeat that one line from the Lord's prayer: "Thy will be done . . ."
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Troubling
It seems every time I see something cross my news feed and I check the validity of the information, I discover even more troubling information in the research. I'm going to offer the direct link to a site I find to have a great deal of very disturbing information. The sheer numbers of manpower, facilities and years of operation is mindboggling.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
The Day is Coming
This week, I spent hours on the phone trying to get something straightened out with my online store. I don't know about most folks, but it seems in dealing with technology glitches, if it goes on too long, I have an almost visceral reaction and simply have to walk away. I'm not talking about figuring out a new blog post or adding photos, even web designing doesn't cause this internal melt-down. It was a situation in which the web host could not resolve the issue because everything was fine on their end. It wasn't something I had entered wrong, and the gateway system was all fine on their end . . . So after a bazillion prompts and eleventy-seven special one time access codes, the problem was determined to be "cookies" and remained insolvable. That's when I could feel my adrenaline glands squeezing into a state of collapse.
As I pondered my next move, which amounts to completely moving my online store, another thought came to mind.
There is a day coming in which there will be no choices, no buying or selling, and no human on the other end of the phone even acting like they are giving me the time of day. I've already noticed, some web hosting sites do not provide phone service unless one has purchased a premium plan, and by premium plan, I mean the top dollar plan they offer. One plan I checked into particularly frustrated me, in that I have to purchase the plan before I can even get any answers to my questions. That reminded me of Nancy Pelosi's statement regarding passing the Health Care Bill so they could read it, and that's just been a great thing!
I don't want to buy something to find out what's in it. I want to be able to ask questions and make a knowledgeable decision. I guess the one consolation is the feeling that probably before it comes down to no choice in purchasing plans, the inability to buy and sell without a mark will have already excluded me from web business. The realization hit me . . . We talk about the tribulation and we acknowledge it will occur, and many of us have already abandoned the notion that a sudden escape of a "rapture" will take place before the tribulation, but the reality is, our freedoms have been greatly reduced and our choices are already disappearing.
We act like the alarm is going to come on one morning announcing the Great Tribulation begins today . . . but that isn't the case. Creation happens in an instant, chaos and anarchy are the result of disorder. The great tribulation is falling into place by the erosion of society. As we talk about the end of days, we are told the tribulation precedes the Second Coming. It's time to realize, the day is coming.
As I pondered my next move, which amounts to completely moving my online store, another thought came to mind.
There is a day coming in which there will be no choices, no buying or selling, and no human on the other end of the phone even acting like they are giving me the time of day. I've already noticed, some web hosting sites do not provide phone service unless one has purchased a premium plan, and by premium plan, I mean the top dollar plan they offer. One plan I checked into particularly frustrated me, in that I have to purchase the plan before I can even get any answers to my questions. That reminded me of Nancy Pelosi's statement regarding passing the Health Care Bill so they could read it, and that's just been a great thing!
I don't want to buy something to find out what's in it. I want to be able to ask questions and make a knowledgeable decision. I guess the one consolation is the feeling that probably before it comes down to no choice in purchasing plans, the inability to buy and sell without a mark will have already excluded me from web business. The realization hit me . . . We talk about the tribulation and we acknowledge it will occur, and many of us have already abandoned the notion that a sudden escape of a "rapture" will take place before the tribulation, but the reality is, our freedoms have been greatly reduced and our choices are already disappearing.
We act like the alarm is going to come on one morning announcing the Great Tribulation begins today . . . but that isn't the case. Creation happens in an instant, chaos and anarchy are the result of disorder. The great tribulation is falling into place by the erosion of society. As we talk about the end of days, we are told the tribulation precedes the Second Coming. It's time to realize, the day is coming.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Sheep Bites?
As a rule sheep do not bite, except when it comes to the two legged variety that claim "the LORD is my shepherd." A man in my home state has had some serious legal accusations thrown at him. This is America, so regardless of how the situation is resolved, he is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. I read over the accusation and I listened to his explanation, and I contacted him privately. To be honest, I now feel I have more questions than answers.
I have a daughter in insurance, one was formerly in banking and a niece in securities. Several years ago, when I was in the funeral industry, I had to be licensed in life insurance to be able to offer pre-need funeral arrangements. In obtaining that, I realized twenty-five years ago, the insurance business is highly questionable and highly regulated, and much continuing knowledge is required. There is absolutely no room for naivete. When I left the funeral industry for ministry, I did not keep my license active, so it's been twenty years. Undoubtedly much has changed regarding the regulation of insurance. I have no formal training in banking or securities, so there is no way, I could offer an opinion, much less render a judgment.
There are a few things of which I'm aware and those I will share. When the story broke, the man said he'd be sharing this information the following Shabbat at the regular gathering. In prayer, I was led to contact him regarding the discussion of business on Shabbat. It was very simple and to the point. Shabbat is not the day to focus on business. It seemed to me, those who were supportive, would wait until after Shabbat for an explanation. He got back to me, thanking me for prayer and he let me know that his prayer team had taken the matter under advisement. When I received a link, it was indeed; the Shabbat topic. Since I don't know a lot about his business dealings, it is safe to say; we clearly differ on Shabbat priorities. I know what I heard, and I obeyed in relaying the message about Shabbat.
Although I'm not directly involved . . .What began as a story of possible persecution, has become a warning on a bigger scale. If this man has been falsely accused, we must face the reality that persecution has been turned up a notch. On the other hand, if laws were broken, then that will be made known. If, in his words, he simply didn't know there was a problem with what he did, then; that may be a big signal that time is truly of the essence for believers to be getting out of the system.
King Solomon, in his wisdom, heard both sides of the story, before rendering his judgement. After reading and hearing both sides of this, I'm very thankful, I'm not the judge.
I have a daughter in insurance, one was formerly in banking and a niece in securities. Several years ago, when I was in the funeral industry, I had to be licensed in life insurance to be able to offer pre-need funeral arrangements. In obtaining that, I realized twenty-five years ago, the insurance business is highly questionable and highly regulated, and much continuing knowledge is required. There is absolutely no room for naivete. When I left the funeral industry for ministry, I did not keep my license active, so it's been twenty years. Undoubtedly much has changed regarding the regulation of insurance. I have no formal training in banking or securities, so there is no way, I could offer an opinion, much less render a judgment.
There are a few things of which I'm aware and those I will share. When the story broke, the man said he'd be sharing this information the following Shabbat at the regular gathering. In prayer, I was led to contact him regarding the discussion of business on Shabbat. It was very simple and to the point. Shabbat is not the day to focus on business. It seemed to me, those who were supportive, would wait until after Shabbat for an explanation. He got back to me, thanking me for prayer and he let me know that his prayer team had taken the matter under advisement. When I received a link, it was indeed; the Shabbat topic. Since I don't know a lot about his business dealings, it is safe to say; we clearly differ on Shabbat priorities. I know what I heard, and I obeyed in relaying the message about Shabbat.
Although I'm not directly involved . . .What began as a story of possible persecution, has become a warning on a bigger scale. If this man has been falsely accused, we must face the reality that persecution has been turned up a notch. On the other hand, if laws were broken, then that will be made known. If, in his words, he simply didn't know there was a problem with what he did, then; that may be a big signal that time is truly of the essence for believers to be getting out of the system.
King Solomon, in his wisdom, heard both sides of the story, before rendering his judgement. After reading and hearing both sides of this, I'm very thankful, I'm not the judge.
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