TRY JESUS
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (April 26, 2016)
“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is with me...Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land””(Psalms 56:8-9, King James Version [David's trust in God]; Psalms 80:5-9, King James Version [The miseries of the church]).
Greetings In The Holy Name Of Jesus,
My sisters and brothers, my heart moved by song pleaded the blood of the lamb for the salvation of us all, those who fail in the obligatory and mandated business of Christ Jesus, day and night unceasingly praying in saving grace, for God to grant us the peace that is not a mistake, of God, of Christ Jesus, for our rest so that we might believe that God prepared a way, Christ Jesus. I know when all else failed in our hours of need the darkness of the evil that captured us tried to take us. I know that many gave in to the temptation to take life, to kill. I know many gave in to the temptation to steal, to take what rightfully belongs to another. I know many gave in to the temptation to destroy, to deny God's perfection in creation. Be not dismayed of the darkness of soul that tormented you throughout the night 'til the rising of the sun, in day.
I awoke this morning to see the video of lemonade by a pop star who I know loves to research works of the past to perfect her own talent, in the world's marketplace. It was wonderful to see her face with teardrops and lemon slices because I wrote a story, “Teardrops and Lemonade copyrighted January 11, 1996” and as much as I would like to say, she and I, both spoke of the same struggle in both our works, I think more so that we used the same key words“tear drops” and “lemonade” to tell our story of which my story told of a girl child, a daydreamer in class, coming-of-age, meeting a guy, falling in love, deeply attached to discover a soul mate and a new world of possibilities, in particular, to become the queen of a man who grew up to become king of a kingdom that controlled the flow of rain. I know it sounds a lot like perhaps this man was supernaturally endowed with God-like powers to fight evil and keep the waters of the world good for all mankind, to see that a personal struggle could be foretold and suffered through on the world stage for each woman harvest her own story to inspire others as she goes through life in her own household to keep her man happily blessed in the power of Jesus in the kingdom of God, hoping for a love everlasting that grows beyond attraction---a force of God that draws one person to another person, thereby hoping for a strong affection---hoping for love, to grow to the height, breadth and depth of love to feel the oneness of heart, mind and body so that we better understand that God's love is the allure that we feel when we climb the mountain of love. To know that God's love---so heavenly delicate---ethereal that the thought of being apart—separated is too much to bear where we exist only on the top of the mountain---not only yearning as our bodies call out in a force and power of love that increased to the highest without fail but where we deny the gravity---the pulling force of earth and enter into the realm where we do not feel the weight of sin where the scales of justice must balance taking from God's love, where we are not bound to anyone or anything other than the one body of God's love that keeps us climbing higher and higher in God's boundless love, leaving the trappings of hate and evil, behind---much like the story I wrote where the little girl left the trappings of school and her aged teacher behind to go over the wall to meet and eventually live with the man of her dreams---her king, her lord and master, her beloved conquering evil together as one. Truly, I
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tell you, in general, my story of a girl coming of age planted the seeds of “teardrops” and “lemonade” in a new generation to remind them that the seeds were already planted thousands of years ago by a God-man named Jesus and a forefather named David and a prophet named Isaiah.
Prophet Isaiah said of Moab, “Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease” (Isaiah 16:9-10, KJV [The lamentable state of Moab]). Of recent, the tears coming out of the cries of man and woman, instead of climbing the heights, breadth and depth of love were spent smiting the ones they loved in domestic violence---more that ended in the deaths of those they thought they loved than not. I say, “Try Jesus. He is alright.” When the evil climbs instead of good within your conscience leaving you tempted to do the bidding of death---to take a life, “Call on the Name Of Jesus, to save you and the one you love, to provide an escape in your time of trouble so that you do not do the unspoken of---the dastardly deed that binds you a captive, for who shall free you, if not, Jesus when you let the forces of darkness steal you away---bind you in a life of sin denying the freedom that Jesus paid the price for to save you. King David to the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath, said, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are thy not in thy book?...(Psalms 56:9, KJV [David's trust in God]). My song, my song that I sing in the early morn, for God's sake do not take my song for the song you take is the song of one love and I sing my song. I know how it feels to lose love or to think that your love is lost [It is a shackling weight around your heart---for some it becomes love sickness, others take their own lives, some take the lives of those who they claim to love and ask, “What of my love?” when the music and the song, stops]:
Early Morning
by Gale Ragan (copyrighted May 8, 1995)
Early Morn
Before Dawn
I lie awake
And in my bosom
is a song
A song of love
A song of joy
A song of peace
A song of songs`
Early morn
before dawn
before I wake
in my bosom
is a song
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I dream a song of love
I dream a song of joy
I dream a song of peace
I dream a song of songs
Early Morn...
Most importantly, Jesus forgave the woman, a known sinner---all her sins, for she loved much. The sinful woman with the alabaster box of ointment---wept and her tears washed Jesus' feet, wiped his feet with her hair, kissed Jesus' feet and anointed Jesus' feet, for she did not cease to do so for her faith did not let her not minister to Jesus even though the Pharisee looked upon her as a sinner who should not touch Jesus, the Prophet, yet she did for that faith that she held in her heart saved her---she loved him with all that she was a sinful woman doing what needed to be done for the Son of God, she climbed the height, breadth and depth of God's one love, in spite of her many sins (St. Luke 7:37-50, KJV [Women minister unto Christ]). Of recent, when the priest---the Franciscan priest was kidnapped and killed, by a dangerous man, he did not refuse to try to help this man and accepted the task to work with him---to minister to him, in spite of his anger that made him a dangerous prisoner---a dangerous man to counsel. The priest of noble intent was found dead in Burke County. Georgia, away from St. Augustine, Florida while his killer was found driving his car in Aikens, South Carolina. “Lord, save me. Lord, save us. Your child, Lord, taken.”
Moreover, when I awoke to the video song of “Lemonade”, I also awoke to an artist with a pop song that was not the usual genre she sang in---an apocalyptic song of lost trying the pop genre that, too warmed my heart, for the feeling of lost is greatly felt by all of mankind, at one time or another in life.
When I cry out---talking to God about the domestic violence stabbings and the family violence execution-style, gunshots to the back of the heads of eight family members, seven adults and one 16-years old, living in four different houses in along the same rural road in Ohio, leaving only the babies: four days old, six months old and three years old, alive, for they could not testify and the family of five killed in Georgia but it was God's mercy that entered into the darkness of the executioners' hearts, to save those that lived, for I believe it was divine, Jesus, our deliverer and savior “Lord, your mercy endureth forever. Thank you, Jesus.” In closing, How, then, do our hearts warm to forgive a man scheduled to die by lethal injection for killing a family with children in a burglary, this week [the fifth death sentence execution in the State of Georgia this year]---since he remained alive captive in a death sentence for many years since the killings?: “Lord, grant us peace, for the faith of Jesus Christ, saved us. Lord, I thank you. LORD, I thank you. Amen.”
