Trying Times - "Don't Think On Anything Else" Series

Trying Times - “DON'T THINK ON ANYTHING ELSE”

by

Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (5/29/2013, 6/1/2013, 6/15/2013, 6/18/2013, 6/22/2013, 6/29/2013, 7/6/2013)

“And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed… But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt”(Genesis 19:17, 26, King James Version(KJV), [Wicked cities destroyed]).

Greetings to us all, one and all, in the tender loving mercy of Christ Jesus,

One day, I found myself standing outside, in our country town with a neighbor/first cousin, talking about times gone by and childhood memories. She invited me to her personal prayer time. She prays, at about the same time the school bus arrived and supper time. As she departed to walk to her prayer location, near her family's old house, now dilapidated and not yet replaced for historical value as is the same condition of my own family's sect's old house. She walked away and she did not look back, not once.

I met my first cousin on many occasions. We talked as we cared for our families' sects estates. We were the ones left to care for the land. My dear cousin, 75 years old, when I noticed her practice “Lot's wife and the angelic instructions”(Genesis 19:17, 26), is now nearly 78 years old.

I noticed every time she left, she never looked back, not once. Finally, it dawned on me as I stood there watching her walk away, waiting for her to turn around and wave a last good-bye that she practiced “Lot's wife and the angelic instructions”(Genesis 19:17, 26). Now, as I leave her, whenever I visit her, I do not look back because I know she does not want me to look back. She wants me to remember what happened to Lot's wife. She wants me to be steadfast, firm, sure of my beliefs, to live my faith and not draw back.

When trouble abounds, keep your eyes on Christ Jesus and the instructions of God, to escape impending destruction; doom and gloom. Think, Christ Jesus. Don't think on anything else! Tell them about Christ Jesus (Jehovah Hoshe'ah, The Lord saves, Psalm 20:9, KJV “Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call” [God's glory]).

Preferably, most citizens and strangers, want prosperity to abound 'til the moon is no more. They want joy to abound “til the sun cease to shine. However, sometimes we find ourselves, in a mess that God, only, will see us through, from the onset of the mess to the end of the mess. Faithfully, Christ placed us in a well-laid plan, to finish.

God placed Israel in a well-laid plan, on a secret path of deliverance, from Egypt, to escape the throes and pursuits of oppression. “Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin”(Psalm 89:40, KJV [God's great mercies]). “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;”(Psalm 103:4, KJV [The mercies of God]). I don't know about you but I'd prefer to put my trust in the Lord, Christ Jesus; not think on anything else but what God told me to do to escape and not draw back like “Lot's wife”(Genesis 19:26).

Think, Christ Jesus. Don't think on anything else! Tell them about Jesus. Supposedly, good citizens rebelled, rejected and resisted the instructions of God, to their untimely deaths. We must say, if, this happened, then, maybe this would not happen, in their lives.

Those wayward citizens did not die because they loved Christ (innocent lambs), they died because their hearts resisted the love of Christ and rejected the secret path of escape that God provided to lead them to the desires of their hearts, joy and ultimate prosperity. How many times, do you think Christ came to them? There are angels among us. It does not matter at all, to the wayward citizens, how many times Christ came via angels or intercessors, they knew better, so much so, 'til their leaning to

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their own understanding, did not provide them the way, rather it trapped them into sudden destruction; doom and gloom.

I need to tell you about Christ Jesus. I don't need to tell you about those people (citizens), even peoples of the world (world citizens), who wish us bad tidings and mockingly laugh at the possibility of our downfall. We are not the first ones to fall into temptation. St. Mark (14:38, KJV) said, “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready but the flesh is weak” [Christ in Gethsemane].

We are not the first ones to be tried in the fire of our hearts. “I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee” (I Chronicles 29:17, KJV [Solomon made king]). “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is” (I Corinthians 3:13, KJV [Manner of Paul's preaching]). We are not the first ones to be put to test, to choose life or death.