Trying Times – “IT SHOULD'VE TOOK OUT YOUR WHOLE FAMILY”
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, 7/11/2013, 7/15/2013, 7/21/2013)
“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thy shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth; and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity” (Ecclesiastes 11: 1-10, King James Version, KJV [You sow and reap].
Greetings in the Name of Jesus,
There are two things I do not like; liars and flies. I thought there were just those two but now I know there are three things (let us add one more) that I do not like; liars, flies and gnats!
A liar will take you down the primrose path of fantasy, in imagination, never telling you that you play roles in scenes, in their mind; cast you away into their fantasy land, which was no more than a pack of lies and no less a whimsical fantasy. Just a downright lie! Have you ever had someone to say, “I saw you last night” and you know you were not with them last night?
Was it their dream state, a recollection of images and events they experienced in the totality of their life that emerged to connect to new images and events, neither in sequential order nor in chronological order but just in clusters of images and events and made you feel a sense of familiarity at the same time you felt distanced from the people, places and things; not familiar at all. This array of the images of your life interludes in fantasy, if you permitted yourself to dally in your mind suggesting images, as you would like them to be and suggest events as you would like them to happen, to control your life experiences. Of course, the next thing was for you to act out your thoughts, as you would like them to re-enact from your mind to real life. Just a liar!
Satan was a liar, from his birth! Some lies are meant to take you out. I tell you, when you sit down and think about it, long and hard, in reflection, you say, “It should have taken out my whole family” instead of “It should have killed you”. Nowadays, you can sincerely claim both possibilities because since the liar killed you, the liar went after your whole family, to take them out, make them null and void. That's SATAN!
There was a baptist pastor in the local southwest Georgia community that said, “You need to go to knee-bound valley and pray. And, take your wife with you. Get behind one of those pine trees; you and your wife and pray!” I tell you, “You are knee-deep in sin, in your own mind, in your own heart; knee-deep in sin!”
The lies in your life, especially those you created and controlled to destroy the lives, the gift of life, which God gifted to us all, led you down the primrose path of folly, not those you
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intended to mislead, destroy and kill. Seemingly, outside of your will to destroy is was the blood of the lamb that saved those that you would prey upon, the lost lambs. You thought Christ did not gather up the lost sheep and just left them there for you to have your way with them, whenever it suited you to do so but SATAN is a liar and the lost lambs were saved as much as those who did not stray away. Christ claimed the lost lambs, each and everyone of them, not only in this life but with the gift of eternal life.
Of course, not all were lost lambs. Some people, in the world; the world tried to convince them they were lost but they were not lost, at all. Who said, “You were lost?” 'Who are you?” Those were the words of a first cousin, at a maternal family reunion and I know those questioning words that resonated, from the day they asked Christ and resounded in church when another family member did not recognize or remember another relative (failed to recognize), since childhood; the memories, which faded, were not his thoughts.
My cousin continued, “You are going to tell me.” I told him my name. He said, “You look good.” I looked as he stepped back and turned to leave, his body looked frail as if, life of recent years, then, had not been kind, as of late. Later, my double-cousin told me, “You know, he, was sick, speaking of the cousin, who told me what was said in church, “Who are you?” even though
he was not there, so, I would know gossip, planted since Christ, asked, Who are you? could spread throughout the family to give them laughter.
A funny thing about gossip; it always gets back to the one, it intended to questioningly, destroy. You reap and you sow. The bread you cast out on the water will most definitely find you, hopefully, not at a time of disadvantage, to add to your misery but it will find you. A lost memory does not mean the memory lost represented the lost nature of the person you could not recall from your collection of memories (your mind would not let you retrieve any information about that person). Many times, family members spend hours tracing back memories, down memory lane, trying times when life, in itself: circumstances and situations, all of it, reflected to say, “It should have took your whole family out!”
I tell you, the same way I feel about a liar, was the very same way I felt about flies; they were and still are, a menace, to life's circumstances and situations. They do not sing in your ear but it was just what they were known for; as nasty visitors because of where they would also go to visit and how they were not partial, at all, even though that was a good thing and the intimacy of their visit, to light upon you, was also a good thing, but who wanted to go behind a load of cow manure, human feces and even a dead body, of anything. Who wanted the intimacy of a fly that compellingly lit on your body since it lit on a pile of manure or something dead, regardless of the rank smell, a fly was still quite intimate, indeed? A fly visited you no matter what and lit on you whether you were alive or dead, smelled good or rank; a fly does not consider your condition. You wonder, “Is there anything that repelled a fly?” Well, I heard that the herb, basil repelled all things that fly and kept them at bey, away from you and in your home but was that true to the nature of a fly because most people kept herbs inside their homes yet a fly entered in and stayed awhile.
Now, a gnat, not only visited you; it sang as it boldly, invaded your privacy and your private parts. A gnat would go beyond your outward flesh body and enter inside your ear, in your eyes, up your nostril, inside your mouth, inside your private parts, if exposed, there was no part of your flesh that a gnat comprehended (UNDERSTOOD) the words, “DO NOT TRESPASS!” or “STAY OUT”. A gnat's nature was invasive and the works of a gnat were invasive but it loved to sing to you, if you called the nagging whine of a gnat, a song. I do not want anyone to feel that they could invade the privacy of my body and my life, in that way with a song or a begging whine.
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You know Judas Iscariot gave Christ Jesus, the kiss of betrayal, known as the kiss of death. A kiss that identified him from the other disciples. A kiss that led to his death. Yet, the same kiss led from betrayal, identity, death to resurrection, so, what Satan meant for evil in his possession of Judas Iscariot, God meant it for good and let his Son die for the sins of man. Was the kiss of Judas Iscariot, more true to either, the nature of a liar, a fly or gnat? When a liar, a fly or gnat comes with tidings, you wonder just what sort of tidings they bring, bad tidings or good tidings?
“Judas dipped his hand at the same time with Christ, in the dish, at the last supper. This was intimate, indeed, yet, he betrayed Christ Jesus” (St. Matthew 26:23, KJV [The last supper], “And he answered and said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.”). In the gospel according to the disciple, Luke, the physician, witnessed Christ said, “But behold the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table” (St. Luke 22: 21, KJV [The last supper]). Christ spoke out at the last supper that one of the disciples would betray him and identified, Judas Iscariot, unbeknownst to most of the disciples, as the one. And, “It should have took out the whole family, of God”.
In the gospel according to John; the disciple, witnessed, “Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him” (St. John 13:26-28, KJV [He foretelleth his betrayal]).
The window of opportunity, opened for Judas Iscariot to betray Christ, to sow betrayal when darkness reigned, for Christ sake, so the Son of God could die for the sins of man, the light stayed back and for Christ sake, in the reign of darkness, Judas Iscariot, did as Christ told him and quickly jumped at the opportunity, to betray, before the light returned. Well, the one that was punished to crawl on its belly trumped the fly and the gnat and held true to form to the nature of a liar, which was the serpent, the snake, Satan, himself. Satan possessed Judas Iscariot. Satan made Judas Iscariot betray Christ Jesus. Did Satan possess you to do his works, not the good works or business of God, but the works of darkness? Do you know someone possessed of a demonic spirit or possessed of Satan, himself, to bring forth the death and destruction, of mankind?
In darkness, what was the perception of Judas' reality, did he think he could annihilate, completely destroy the Romans, Greeks and surrounding lands with the power that he witnessed that Christ had, the same power that Christ left them with, so the Jews could reign superior? God only knows all that Satan convinced Judas, he had power to do, in the hour of betrayal, the time of darkness, to the offending brothers, who were Romans and Greeks. Judas wanted the Jews to reign superior, right now, not the gift of eternal life, the new Jerusalem, the new heaven and new creatures, that Christ spoke of to come. Have you ever needed vengeance to manifest in your circumstance, issue, situation, right now, so that you could reign superior over your offending brothers and sisters, in Christ? Do you go to the forces of darkness and seek out witchcraft to win your battle and feel you have no time for the spiritual battlefield, divine intervention, the fasting and fervent prayers; the great intercessor's release of angels and soldiers for Christ, to speak to your problem and speak a manifestation of relief?
Do you frown on waiting on the Lord? How many people quickly manufactured death and destruction, so that they might manifest the perception of their reality, in order to reign superior over others; those of the same sex but stronger, those of a different sex, those with greater wealth, those with sharper skills, those with knowledge, those with a genuine and sincere love for Christ, desperate for relief? A double-cousin, in a possessed state said, “I want power over you.” Or, was
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what I thought a possessed state, the normal thoughts that stemmed from an oppressed culture, in the well-known deep-south diaspora of the United States of America (USA).
Are those the folks that took metal in hand, a gun and randomly shot others down, to gain power over others? Were those the folks who took stick in hand and randomly beat others down, to gain power over others? Are those the folks who lied and placed their actions as the actions of the competing force, to gain power over the others; no one would be the wiser that they switched what they did and said their actions were the actions of another, a semblance of truth just the wrong person or the wrong place? Are those the folks who influenced outcomes of court cases with threatening and haunting words, so the truth, was suppressed, allowing them to win? Are those the folks that started the neighborhood wars all over the world, in general and here, in the USA, in particular?
“What is it to you?”, another saying planted since Christ, when Christ spoke to Peter about John, in answer to, “...what shall this man do?”(St. John 21:21, KJV [Christ's charge to Peter]):
“Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till
I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then
went this saying abroad among the brethren, that
that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto
him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry
till I come, what is that to thee?
This is the disciple which testifieth of these
things: and we know that his testimony is true.
And there are also many other things which Jesus
did, the which, if they should be written every one,
I suppose that even the world itself could not
contain the books that should be written. Amen”
(St. John 21: 22-25, KJV [Christ charge to Peter]).
Is it the liar, fly or gnat, even more the serpent (snake) that calls us into temptation? Or, is it the fire of our thoughts, held in our hearts that deliver us up to be tried in the same fire of our hearts? There was a colloquial saying, true to the Atlanta, Georgia area, that says, “It won't be long. Any day, now,” that lets us know that “Ecclesiastes, the preacher's, chapter 11, was a
warning for each of us to prove, the vanity of everything, through our observations and experiences, as a follower of Christ. And, for us to know the fullness of life is depicted in the things above the sun, beyond the sun; things spiritual and material” (Holy Bible, n.d.). There is a reckoning, effect, here, that binds the cause, vanity, that which drives competition.
How many of you felt you were unjustly preyed upon because someone thought they were cute? How many felt the hammer of oppression because someone thought they were the best dressed? How many felt like an out cast because someone was threatened by your refreshing point of view or someone who thought their jokes and personality was well-anchored in the culture of the group or organization, even church you belonged to? How many of you felt put out because either everyone was a barbie doll, a Marilyn Monroe or big boobed, tiny-waistline, big bottom girl or a muscle man, power broker or well-known in their own neck of the woods? How many of you felt out paced because someone felt you did not have the stamina to run your course in the rat race; giving little to no belief, credence in God or faith in Christ?
What happened when most of them were old with outdated and outmoded methods, strategies and activities with little knowledge? What happened when most of them were too hip-
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hop, young and lacked the observations and experiences of life? What happened when they all lived in their bubble of life and rejected mostly everyone, satisfied to lived with just their clique of believers? What happened when they censured (to blame, find fault, officially reprimand, sternly condemn) everyone and every report; believing only what they said, worse than doubting Thomas? What happened when they practiced hate? What happened to those you left behind with a weak conscious?
How many did God give to you; in your Jerusalem (home), your Judea (neighborhood), your Samaria (job), your uttermost places (any place you find yourself) and in spirit on the battlefield? For Jesus dealt with the inherited land of his house (Jesus came from the House of David, which came out of the House of Judah. Judah inherited Jerusalem. For Jesus dealt with the neighborhood that his house inherited; Judea was the land of Judah. For Jesus' job also was to deal with the land of the other 11 tribes (Israel), which was Samaria. And, Jesus changed Saul to Paul and sent him to deal with the lands abroad, to carry the word of freedom that he set the captives free). Hold on! Hold on to God's unchanging hand.
May God bless you in your quest to seek the peace, you pray for. May Christ be with you and may the Spirit be with you. This is the word of God. This is the holy gospel readings of Christ Jesus. Amen.
