In The Wilderness

IN THE WILDERNESS

by

Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (July 29, 2015)

"The Lord knowest how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished (2 Peter 2:9 King James Version [Temptation]).

Greetings In The Holy Name of Jesus,

My sisters and brothers, the battles in the wilderness, Satan's playground [Eve expected good out of the tree of good and evil but eating the fruit of good and evil was death for God is good.], one evil act-by-one evil act, whether subtly captivating and oppressive or overtly ensnaring and binding, are staggeringly painful to the hearts of man. Will you die for me are words that fall on deaf ears for many people yet many people do die for the causes and issues of other people, in the name of the one body in Christ Jesus. In rural southwestern Georgia, USA---my wilderness experience, my beloved pet named Faith answered the call and strongly fought with all she had: birthing pups, training, smarts and wit to survive until she died---was killed on Mother's Day 2015---because she was named Faith. That female dog---my sincere affection for her, was not to say I placed her before my love for humankind [advocacy for dogs] for I know my sons and my family love me but in the wilderness without them there God calls us and we do not know who is truly our loyal friend. However, I knew she died for me as the dogs and pups in her tribe of dogs died before her, answered the call---because Faith's loyalty and respect were the envy of the farms along the road---that was how she was trained to be loyal no matter what because Death and Satan were ever present in the wilderness in the midst of Christ dwelling right in the middle of that killing field---that road and that estate-at-large [I saw Faith in a vision---in spirit at the northwest corner of the farmhouse stepping in joy, polar opposite where the ancient snake came].

In the wilderness Christ Jesus teaches us in all those teachable moments best learned since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that casts light on the desert classroom. If it were not so, I would not tell you, in order to make it back to paradise, the suffering that cast Adam and Eve out of paradise to the desert is the same teaching experience in suffering that kept Israel 40 years in the wilderness before crossing over the Jordan River under blessings and curses and it is the same suffering that Jesus had to reverse the curse of when God led him back to the wilderness to spend 40 days and nights tempted by Satan three times: firstly, to turn stone to bread, secondly, to worship Satan to inherit the kingdom of God, and thirdly, to prove himself by jumping down from the mountain the temple in Jerusalem 400 feet to the ground. God does not tempt us. Why are we casting light on the classroom in the wilderness, today to further draw you closer to God than where you find yourselves today because it was that experience, that woman Eve, that man Adam, that God-man Christ Jesus, that Mary, that man Joseph, and those disciples that entered in to the wilderness experience of sufferings and brought us out pulled us over, to save us? The impact of the lost of light greatly effected God's family and the world so much so that God himself fought the battle to cast the serpent out of the casket where man was, in death [the Word of God brought to John the Baptist in the wilderness, Luke 3: 1-2, 4-6, KJV].

Moreover, as the word of God came to John the Baptist in the wilderness with the message of a repentant heart, Jesus endured the battle and fought Satan with the same Word of God in three temptations. Firstly, the devil said, "If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God." (Luke 4: 3-4, KJV). It is not new for Satan to use food to tempt Jesus [Jesus is the bread of life] because he tempted Eve with food [The fruit of the tree of good and evil was death.]---coming out of God's exhortation to Israel ["Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good", Psalms 107:1, KJV.] in Deuteronomy (8:3, KJV) to remember his tender mercy feeding them manna in the wilderness in the valley of Mount Sinai, for 40 years. As often as we can, we feed on the Word, Jesus is the Word of God and the members of Christ fast one hour [Jesus said "anoint thine head, and wash thy face; when you fast so people will not know you are fasting" St. Matthew 6: 17-18, KJV] before communion as Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days---we eat and drink in remembrance of Christ [our Eucharist experience] in communion when we eat the wafer, the body of Christ and when we drink the wine, the blood of Christ (Luke 4:1-2, KJV [Jesus hungered 40 days tempted of the devil in the wilderness]).