CALL THEM OUT
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (June 23, 2016)
“As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, You shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth ever. If the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil: but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? And the prophets are dead: who makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (St. John 8:30-59, King James Version [Christ justifieth his doctrine; Christ answereth the Jews]).
Greetings In the Name Of Jesus,
My brothers and sisters, I come to you, today, to share the word of God, in fellowship since my brother passed, in attendance at his funeral service and my wanting to attend his burial at the national military cemetery in Lake Worth, Florida to no avail, for respect and love of our fallen soldiers who now lay down in their graves on American soil but so saddened by the lost of my brother and the intense pressure of preparing the family farm for my departure to his service because not only did I uproot the bounteous harvest of wild flowers that abundantly spread across the landscape this spring suffocating the new grass product that showcased the well-manicured garden, I mowed acres of grass, in which therefore I quickly left at the end of the service before the repast with my first cousins in the first carload pulling out going back to Georgia, my family's ancestral land. Seemingly exhausted I
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turned my head to fan myself in 99 degrees of heat perspiring for the first 40 miles and I could hear my brother's voice in times gone by explaining, “It was not that kind of war,” when he explained with passion his feelings about the Vietnam War, the war that inducted him into the fighting men of America good ole' boys club. I also thought about my second cousin saying, “:Let me explain,” whenever she came to a crossroads in speaking--- feeling what she said needed more information. I thought of a first cousin who said, 'Until a person is was bound, many will not come under Christ Jesus.”
As much as I, too, witnessed the hypocrisy of faith, still I strongly feel, “I do not want to ever explain anything, again, to anyone, for anything. I do not know if it was my fatigue or my wisdom kicking in to comfort me that God said, “...not to add or subtract,” from His Word, for all that needed to be said was said not just for the times of the present and reflections on the past or preparedness for what would come to be in the future but for your peace and comfort as you faced the gift of everlasting life for I know that being bound---yoked and chained compels a man or woman to explain away until someone will listen until God hears Christ Jesus---a lawyer in a courtroom, fighting the good fight of faith, for you. This was where my brother who dearly departed from his flesh, was in spirit for my brother, truly a captive of the sins in darkness of the world was now set free from, for he was no longer bound in the weakness of his flesh, he was free to sojourn in Christ Jesus to fight the good fight of faith for everlasting life, to come before God, in prayer and worship---gone to the other side---the spiritual side of the battlefield for my dear brother relinquished the flesh---he was now freed from the weakness of his flesh. I thought about those who were still living that spend a great deal of their waking life in spirit---going in and out of the vessels of those with a weaker conscious, sometimes wreaking havoc speaking through them not as Christ Jesus would do but in sin acting out their sinful nature in another human being's flesh possessing their vessel thinking they can do both good and evil and get away with it---re-entering their flesh pretending to be holy and in the righteousness of Jesus but let the truth be told they are sinners and whether they do their sin in their flesh or possess the flesh of another to act out their sinful nature it is still their sin and they are not counted righteous as Abraham was for good and evil is evil, you must be holy---doing good, for God is a good God and we must dwell in the righteousness of Christ Jesus.
CALL THEM OUT! For the mistakes they made in the flesh, for the sins of the flesh, for the things that happened in the flesh. Oh! How they explained their life away.
Since I arrived back five days ago I have not seen anyone but my pets at home, I reflected on being able to touch my brother's dead body---something I could not do as a child for the idea of death scared me so much, however, with the tender loving care of my mother and the wife of an uncle who passed I grew to know that it was not the dead that hurt you for your commitment to God's business is for the well-being of the living---those were the people and that was your mission that you had to stay alert--- keeping your eyes on Jesus, so I was especially pleased to see the young adults, the children and the babies, at peace with the dead as long as they did not take the body out of the casket---to touch the body and pray for the soul of the dearly departed---to stand as one with the dearly departed for although he was dead you were still living in the will of God and in the faith of Christ Jesus doing the business of God as a laborer---fighting the good faith fight on the earth plane and in the spirit---was far better than the chains of fear---not scared to the point of sickness as I was as a child---progress was evident even if it meant their freedom from being bound in fear by death, released them---loosed them to soar in spirit to worship God, plead their cause by the blood of the lamb before the throne of God at a much earlier age in the knowledge of truth, Jesus Christ, I was okay with that---not upset that the next generation soared to higher heights before I did or dealt with less fear factors than I did because I grew up in a time and I was raised by elderly parents who did not necessarily pass down the fearful stories of oppression that kept you bound but who provided the opportunity for you to hear those stories from their kin when we visited. I thank God for the progressive souls that did not tell the tales of oppression
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or practice the oppression of hate so that I might freely grow up in the love of God and in the faith of Christ Jesus with less chains on my hands and on my feet, on my heart and on my mind, on my soul, keeping me broken and shattered into the nothingness of darkness not able to soar in the light, for Christ said, “ you will do greater things...”. I thank you Lord for sustaining my faith in the light, giving me the hope of faith and the belief of truth. To God be the glory.
Peter explained for he had a violent revengeful-hearted nature---”eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth..”
Accordingly St. John witnessed,
“Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me,
let these go their way: That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake,
Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. Then Simon Peter having
a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right
ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up
the sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall
I not drink it? Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews
took Jesus, and bound him...And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did
another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went
in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door
without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the
high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.
Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one
of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not...” (18:8-12,15-18, KJV
[Judas betrayeth Christ; Christ is brought before Pilate]).
In closing, I thought about Jesus and Peter and the spirit of Satan coming between them, for many felt the spirit of Satan possessed Peter when Jesus tried to speak to Peter, for again Jesus said, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” I know many see, hear and taste but for those who do it is not a stretch of the imagination to know that the spiritual realm is freedom to move in ways that the flesh cannot thereby rendering many who are not able---helpless to fight the good fight of faith when in possession for even the disciples were possessed to deny and betray Jesus (Peter and Judas Iscariot) but the revelation of truth will end the matter when the will of God prevails to conquer evil, for the harvest of God is big and his mercy endureth forever. I no longer see my brother since his service---coming to me in the spirit but I see those who loved him best even those whom he thought loved him least for I know they probably feel like they left their flesh---felt like they died as he did in death yet they remain living---Many people have felt the death of a broken-heart when a love one dies---it is truly the fear of going on without them almost feeling guilty for being given life to live after the one they love life was taken away but many have not lived the number of years that my brother lived so they must remain to live in Christ Jesus for my brother lived beyond many of their years---beyond the years of those who still mourn him. It reminds me of my pets not to lessen human beings but I am speaking of a spiritual transition quickening wherein my pets after death returned to me in spirit to let me see them after death, that's why I know many of those who loved my brother felt like they died, too but God will see you through the time of mourning. God will heal all your sufferings in grief but there is no promise that your sufferings will cease for ever for we in the one body are a suffering lot of people---great sufferings that we must bear come upon us but He promised he would not give you more than you could bear.
In the Name of Jesus, we speak to those in search of the faith of Christ Jesus. God be with you. Christ be with you. God can heal that---your grief, your sorrow, your sadness, your broken-heartedness. Amen.:
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