Part of what I'm struggling with now is - forgive me, I know this is a strong word - hate. As a christian we are not asked, nor is it suggested, its not even up for debate, we are commanded to love. 1John 4:21 "And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."
I know Jesus understands completely what I'm going through. Jesus was betrayed by someone he called brother, Judas was part of his inner circle.
Rick's relationship with David in the beginning was solid - they were connected at the hip, on the same page, on the phone almost every hour. From June until a conversation that took place in December, they were tight. In December Rick informed David we could no longer help him out financially, we had personally given David over that six month period thirty thousand dollars. I am not exaggerating when I say this, from that very point David did a 180. He became a completely different person, and his loyalty disappeared. The bible tells us that Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty coins - for us the betrayal began once we stopped at thirty coins. At this point David was no longer bound to Rick, but to the next two people who could help him out with his personal finances. We believe David began accepting money from two others, and from that point on, just as Judas did, he watched for any opportunity to betray my husband.
Who are these two other people you may ask. Rick and David had two outside independent sales contractors. One was a friend of my husband (lets refer to him as JS), the other was a woman my husband's friend was associated with. From the get go my husband did not trust this woman. From the get go we nicknamed her the Serpent, we knew she was bad news and nothing good was going to come from her. There were two different occasions that confirmed our belief they were providing David with money - the Serpent asked my husband for money because - in her words - she had lent money to David (who was out of town) and needed a check to cover an expense. When my husband questioned a check that David had wrote to JS, which on the memo said it was for commission but was too much money for it to be only for commission, David told my husband he had borrowed money from JS. So how much money did they put in his pocket, we don't know, but be it $50 or $5,000 David had now become indebted and loyal to JS and the Serpent. Loyalty to my husband as his partner had ceased, it was now all about "his team".
There is no doubt that Judas had a love for money. He betrayed for money. He also chastised Mary over an act of love and worship to Jesus because he deemed her gift a waste, stating the money could have been used to help the poor. John 12:6 states "he did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it."
***If you take a gander at the Tiemans webside in the About tab there is the "Our Causes" section. They state, and I quote, "For every cup, can or pack sold, we give a piece back to these organizations" and they say they provide, and I quote, "We give 5% of our profits to these groups". First of all, the second group listed, growthecure.org is not even an organization. This is just an idea of David's, if you click on the website you will see there isn't even a website... As for awaytohelp.org - absolutely valid, an awesome organization, however, the only monies ever given to them was when my husband was still a part of the company. My educated guess is, there is no money being donated to any "causes", but it sure looks good on the About page doesn't it? And if the money is being funneled into growthecure, well, we know who's pocket that funnels to, don't we?
At the end of Judas' story we find out "he was seized with remorse" and tried to give back the 30 coins stating "I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood" Matthew 27:3-4. Somehow I don't think this is how our story will end, unfortunately I fear Proverbs 37:21 "the wicked borrow and never repay..". Judas also hung himself. Now of course I do not wish for any harm, I do not hate him that much, but a verse that God gave to me on July 26, 2009 sticks with me "People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall" Proverbs 10:9.
So, do I really think Jesus hated Judas. Not at all. I believe that Jesus must have grieved considerably knowing that Judas - his brother - allowed his desires to place him in a position where Satan could manipulate him. I believe David allowed the Serpent to manipulate him, I believe David enjoys the praises of man over the praises of God, and I believe that David chooses to stay in the darkness convincing himself he is not the one who sinned. But that is just my belief. "I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward everyone according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve." Jeremiah 17:10
I am praying for God's strength to instill in me a forgiving heart. I am working on getting "rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you" Ephesians 4:31-32.
Through God's strength I believe someday I'll get there.....
** Update: About 9 months after this posting, Tieman's finally removed their "Causes" portion on their website. To date, David Tieman is 15 month delinquent on paying for the purchase of the company.
**Update Update: It has now been 2 years since David Tieman of Tiemans Fusion Coffee was to pay us for our half of the company. We have not received a dime... The only words we have received from him was that he was making enough money from coffee that he had not needed to get a job. How nice....
*** Update Update Update: On September 17th 2011 David made it official that he never intends to pay for our half of the company. He filed for personal bankruptcy. So it appears I was right ~ Proverbs 37:21...
