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CHOOSING THE LIGHT AND THE BODY OF CHRIST

Ephesians 5:8-13 (NIV)

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.

 

“Ma’am you need to slow down.” “Ma’am you need to listen to me.” “Ma’am you need to not tell anyone about this. Okay? You don’t want them to know, right? Okay.” These were some of the statements what Frank Wilson, one of the thieves, kept saying to me as I was riddled with fear that my computer and phone were being hacked. From April 22nd to April 25th, a group of men with thick foreign accents occasionally speaking a dialect that I could not recognize had taken advantage of my anxiety and fears. There was a security alert pop-up on my MacBook Pro that was warning me that my information would be compromised if I did anything else to my computer. The pop-up provided a phone number to call. I was afraid that my computer was being hacked so I did what any average older American, who does not know much about computers and iPhones, would do: I called Apple Support. I figured that I would not call the phone number listed on the pop-up because I rationalized that it might be a scam, so I googled Apple Support’s toll-free phone number. For three days, these guys had me scared out of my wits as they fed on my fear of hackers. I guess sometimes watching movies like “Mission Impossible”, “The Terminator” or watching TV shows like “Chuck”, “NCIS” can really add to one’s imagination creating more fear. What can hackers really do? These crooks were quick to assess that I was ignorant about a lot of things and that I was so afraid of being hacked. I was in a sense “easy bait” because I was just reacting to what I was feeling, and I chose at that time not to listen to the Holy Spirit.

 

I honestly had always thought of myself as a very open woman of God with a deep conviction about the importance of being vulnerable and close to others. After this particular incident though, I wondered how much I truly valued exposing my deeds of darkness into the light. Even with the Holy Spirit stirring up concern in my heart when Frank told me to keep quiet, I still chose for three days not to share with my closest spiritual friends about my fear and what was happening. Instead, I chose to listen to satan’s lies and to the guys, impersonating Apple Support. I decided to try to handle all of this on my own, thinking this is just between me and God, and to keep it all a secret.

 

“I have not shared this with anyone except God since he knows everything and talking to him calms my fears” is what I said to Frank the next day, when he asked if I had talked to anyone about this situation. “Besides, it is all God’s money anyway,” I emphasized. It really tore me up inside since I could not talk with anyone about my fears of being hacked, but I was not about to admit that to him.

 

I hate when I don’t talk with my friends when I feel anxious and afraid. It becomes a very lonely world when I shut down from being vulnerable. I realize now that I always desperately need to be open with my close spiritual sisters so that we can pray about situations together. I get to witness the Holy Spirit guiding me to God’s word as I seek advice both from him and from my friends. Through this challenge, God has demonstrated once again to me one of the biggest benefits of being in the body of Christ: I do not have to face the world alone. Thanks be to God that he has provided me with so many good spiritual advisors who continually show me God’s great love, grace, and comfort.

 

Proverbs 15:22 (NIV)

22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

 

So yes, my plans to try to safeguard God’s money and to prevent my information from being exposed failed substantially. But thanks be to God that he had graciously pulled me out of the stupor caused by my intense fear and helped me to reach out for some help. I began slowly regaining consciousness on Wednesday when LaMont, my ex-husband, had texted me the Amazon access code. I had just gotten finished with expressing my extreme disappointment to Frank and to his supervisor, Justin, when I was told that I had to continue with this process for yet another day. The swindlers had convinced me that the gift cards that I was receiving were “verification cards” to help safeguard my bank accounts, computer, and phone.  With the text, it finally dawned on me that these hoodlums were accessing LaMont’s Amazon account and ordering plain old gifts cards for me to take pictures of to send to them. I texted LaMont to change the password ASAP so that no more gift cards could be ordered.

 

LaMont had taken out the Apple gift cards that were in the cart, but we were just too late to stop the Razer Gold gift cards from being purchased and sent out for delivery.

 

Because of my intense fear of the capability of the scammers, I was very fearful of using my phone, my computer or even the computers and land lines in the house. “What if they can hear me? I must get to a computer and see if they are legit,” I kept telling myself. I remembered that the library down the road had some computers, so I left my phone and computer at home and went to the library. Sure enough, this is a common scam that many people have reported so I decided that I would reach out to my brother to get help with my computer and phone.

 

But alas, without the use of GPS on my iPhone, I did not even know how to get to his house. I knew where my sister lived, but she was not there. So, I begged God for one of my close spiritual friends to be available. I drove to her house and as she came to the door, I broke down and cried. I told her everything, and she and her son helped to calm me down so that I could start the process of picking up the pieces.

 

Interestingly, more than half the individuals, with whom I shared about my plight, had also either been a victim of fraud or their close relative was. I guess there really is “nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). It is just as Jesus said in John 16:33 (NIV)

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

 

So, though I was crushed and very shaken with the whole incident, I asked God, “What do you want me to do Lord? What do you want me to learn from all this?”

 

Matthew 10:28-33 (NIV)

28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

 

32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

 

Matthew 5:44-48 (NIV)

44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

 

Yep, you got it, God says: “Face your fears. You got to talk to these imposters when they call back Thursday, but you got to love them and forgive them as I do. Share Jesus with them. Pray for them.”

 

I came to realize that though they might know that what they are doing is illegal, they did not know what they were doing in relation to the spiritual battle that is going on for our souls. They had no clue, just as I had no clue before I studied the Bible and made Jesus my Lord, that all these horrible wrong doings had put Jesus on the cross. They did not know that Jesus had died on the cross for them as well, taking on their sins so that they too could be forgiven. They had no idea what love is nor how much God longs to have a deep relationship with them, showering them with love, grace, and freedom from the burdens that sin creates in life. I felt the great need to pray for their souls and for God to work in me so that I can do what I could to share Jesus and the love that God has for them. “Lord Father, help me to love them as Jesus loves them. Lord Jesus, help me forgive them for how they treated me and what they have done to me. Please Holy Spirit move in my heart to hurt for their souls and cry out to you because you and I know how lonely life can be without you. And, Lord, you and I know that satan, the father of lies, is currently ruling this world, so if Frank Wilson and Justin do not ever change their hearts, their lives on earth will be so miserably lonely because they will never be able to trust anyone. They will never ever have peace and will face eternal torment. Please Holy Spirit continue moving in their lives, helping them to see who Jesus is and help them to repent.”

 

On Thursday, Frank called, and I did as God instructed me to do: I confronted him about the lies and told him that I forgave him and I loved him as Jesus does, I offered him an opportunity to redeem himself. I told him that since the money was God’s anyway, there was no need to try to get that back, but the only reason why I answered the call was to give him that opportunity to change and return my Apple ID to me. I even prayed to God aloud into the phone for his soul as he was waiting for Justin to take the call. I offered the same to Justin, but the only way that he said that they would give me back my Apple ID is if I provided them with the set of Razer Gold gift cards that they had illegally ordered. Justin continued to lie even as he stated that he was willing to explain the whole situation to the police if I connected them to the conversation. After 35 minutes of being on the line with me, they finally hung up and had the lines disconnected as I was adding the Sheriff’s office to the other line.

 

Psalm 145:15-16 (NIV)

15 The eyes of all look to you,    and you give them their food at the proper time.16 You open your hand    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

 

Romans 12:20-21 (NIV)

20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

 

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

More than likely, I will never meet Frank Wilson or Justin again so I will never know the outcome of what I did. I am just so very grateful that I listened to the Holy Spirit and was given the opportunity to love and to share Jesus with someone who was sinning against me.

 

I am also so grateful for the many lessons that God had taught me through this whole experience. God has demonstrated to me the great importance of really being there for one another and to love others as deeply as Jesus does. He had helped me to understand more of why he tells me to love my enemies and to persevere during whatever trials I go through. I will have all kinds of emotions and they are all okay. I have a responsibility though to talk about them to him and to others so that I can process them and not just react to them. Through this, God has helped me to trust more in him and his work in my life and as I choose each time to surrender it all to him, he continually blesses me with his beautiful peace that passes all understanding (John 14:27 and Philippians 4:7). To God be the glory! Amen.

 

Song called "Goodness of God" performed by Boston Church Worship

 

 

 

COMMENTS WHEN BLOG WAS FIRST POSTED ON CARING BRIDGE SITE:

Cindy Fisher: Thanks for letting others know about this scam, Kim. These crooks know how to prey on people's fears to extract whatever money they can. One should NEVER give out personal information or money to anyone unless one is absolutely sure that the person or entity is legitimate. I hope that your lessons keep others from falling for similar scams.

 

 
 
 

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ABOUT ME

In January 2023, I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, this site is just to share my walk with Jesus as I face life challenges with this diagnosis.

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