The Passion Of Success
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (April 27, 2017)
"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider" (Isaiah 1:3, King James Version)
Greetings In the Holy Name of Jesus,
My brothers and sisters in Christ, I am here to tell you today, in modern times that man did not get way. Recently I spoke to a woman of her struggles in the ministry, mostly facing man----teaching in Sunday School, forsaken over the comment, of knowing. Are we short-changed when we are told that we do not know? The word of God says we do not know and the gospel readings of Jesus tell us we do not know. Accordingly the Prophet Isaiah (1:3) told us that we do not know to whom we belong, unlike some animals. "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." On a personal level, when we quiry our heart and mind---it is a struggle of faith that bends us to not consider that the fall of Adam confirmed that the fruit of good and evil eaten by Adam and Eve even though Eve gave the fruit of good and evil to Adam and God gave Eve to Adam; still, even nevertheless Adam did not get away---Adam was judged with Eve and the serpent (Satan), cast out of the Garden of Eden with Eve as the serpent (Satan) was cast out of heaven, the story of Christ Jesus repeated itself, for it is his story, the Word, with God, in the beginning (St. John 1:1-5, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. ...And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."
Likewise, the Prophet Jeremiah {8:7) told us that "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD." Jeremiah continued (9:3,6), "And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil and evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. ...Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD." The truth, of not knowing as painful as it bears down on the most learned of holy scriptures from the law, the prophets to the gospel readings, we remain saved in the righteousness of Christ Jesus for we fall short---we could not fulfill the law; Christ Jesus fulfilled the law. Why do we fail to see had it not been for sin, the prevailing law would not condemn us to death, and the grace of Christ Jesus from the Almighty God would not let death the enemy, prevail? Christ checked both the law and death, to save us, to offer us the gift of everlasting eternal life---resurrection power.
Most of us, even I want to feel the power of God---God's winning power that passion of success known to all, witnessed by all that all things are possible through Christ Jesus and it was that power of the passion of success that comes out of Christ Jesus that blinded Judas to want Christ Jesus to be the King of the Jews in that time and space for he witnessed the power of resurrection first with Lazarus (St. John 11:25-26,43), the power of drawing from what you have to increase as the disciples' five loaves and two fishes fed the 5,000 (St. Luke 9:13-17) who came to see and hear the Christ preach and teach and the healing power that made the blind see, the crippled walk, the dumb talk, the maimed and diseased whole. Judas' desperation to escape the darkness---the persecution of the Jews rendered him blinded from the salvation plan, for in his heart he cursed the Christ and God as the friends of Job told Job to do for they could not take watching his sufferings increse in severity each day as he held onto his faith watching his family die and all his belongings leave him. Who can stand the severity of the sufferings of man from th taskmaster even a little suffering weighs down on the heart and mind of man because man will always champion himself inspite of all his lost even without self esteem somewhere man will feel undeserved injustice and hatred and eventually beg in prayer to God to save him for without that faith, man without hope, is death?
The darkness of the soul is a scary place---not of the peace of Christ Jesus. I succumb to Christ Jesus for in the refuge of Christ is saving grace. Many do not realize that without the hedge of protection which is Chirst Jesus, the wings of eagles which is Christ Jesus, even more so the blood of the lamb of Christ Jesus we are left to the serpent Satan and Satan's examination as we saw what he did to Job is severe and harsh as the enslavement of the Jews by Egypt since Joseph's death. However, as severe as the examining judgment of Satan is, the power of God---the wrath of God is a power that Satan could not master but with subtlety, trickey and envy to take it all from man he still complained night and day before the throne of God about the weakness of the flesh of man so we thank Christ Jesus for being our lawyer in the courtroom of God facing Satan to save us, for it is not God's intent to let Satan have his way each and every time he asks to examine us for why else did he give the world his only begotten son from the beginning. Those who have been examined by Satan, who suffered and who did not die feel the passion of success and the weight of the law how it weighs every word and deed, hopefully within the scope of truth not denying because to condemn under lies reveals what Christ said that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but I come to give you life [St, John 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."]
My brothers and sisters, on the second day of the new year in 2017, someone brought a snake to my property and it made it to the height of my firepit. I checked it with an iron rod that is used to lift weights on for I was terrified of what the snake could bring to my life, even death and destruction. In the days that followed I went into visions since the darkness of the snake about the snake---a black rattler snake tried to take me but the light inside of me did not let the snake possess and take. I awoke in spirit to go where the snake was and I looked down upon it---it hid its face but the smell of the snake was in me and I could smell the snake for days.
I called a kin who came because I did not want to stand against the snake alone as Eve did in the Garden of Eden to help me stand against the ancient-looking black rattler snake because I already could feel the hypnotic-effect from the possessive taking power of the snake as I saw the darkness engulf me when I stood to the gate of my family's estate when my kin left to return to his family's estate, it was a physical real snake not a spiritual snake as I recalled how my kin argued why I could not remain on the telephone with him because I told him I needed to see which way the snake departed from the firepit. I called the sheriff a few days later to come get the snake since it hid when my kin came and the sheriff's dispatch said they were in a car chase at that moment and told me to stay way from the snake which gladly I did. My kin stood with me on that day as I doused the firepit with gas because I was out of the lighter fluid he suggested; hopefully, the smell of the gas made the snake leave for the gas loudly smelled for a while as my kin and I stood on another side of the house away from the snake to start the riding mower to cut the lawn in hopes the sound of the mower would force the snake to leave, However, there was a part of me that did not want my kin to see the snake since he spoke of the snake as merely a specimen that he needed to tell me about, "they like places like this...they come out" of which terrified me more because in the four years since I built the brick stony firepit no snakes inhabited it, so why now, I was so convinced the snake was brought to my family's estate that winter day on the second day of January at a time snakes are dormant in their den asleep even more so because the snake appeared dusty black and sleepy---in a half-asleep state as if it was pulled out of a den of dirt or sand and I thank God for not letting the snake aggressively attack.
I saw the black cloak of death with darkness in the area of the face and snakes ascending up from the firepit then I saw the cross stand over the spot where I looked down upon the snake and the smell of the snake overwhelmed me, in visions. I became terrified of the holy spirit leading me for the spirit led me to where the snake was and I looked down upon the snake which once I returned to the flesh was the most terrifying moment of my life to be that close to a venomous dangerous snake that could take life. I became terrified of the visions for in the visions soon thereafter the snake still tried to take---would show me things that were not whole; it circled around the bucket where the hen laid eggs, the water tank and soon the hen ate her eggs and the hot water tank malfunctioned, giving only cold water. Soon in my visions my dogs led the way and sat wherever there was a potential problem or problem, then my spirit holy ghost returned to guide me---thank you Jesus.
I fervently prayed without ceasing asking God not to let the snake take me and I thanked God for Christ Jesus for keeping me in his embrace. God blessed me I am sure as I continued to walk through the darkness of the snake---a Gethsemane, desert and mountain, Jesus with Satan experience. Soon, the spiritual snake that I could not see just feel crawled in the cover on top of me a few times I laid in bed but the heated blanket with wires that my son told me to buy did not let the spiritual snake get next to my body and the spiritual snake left, the smell of the snake left, the sounds of a possilbe snake inside the bed I laid in left. I wondered how much money someone paid a rootman, a seer, a practitioner of witchcraft to cause me to suffer in the darkness of the snake but I kept the faith---did not doubt and God delivered me safely back to Christ Jesus and I thanked him for keeping me in grace, love and faith. I wondered who ordered my examination by the serpent then I thanked God and Christ Jesus even more no matter how much good and evil Satan did, I surrendered to live a good life forsaking evil---only goodness, for me. I thank you Jesus for saving and I did not think that things happen for there is doubt in thinking that and I did not think bad things happen to good people for there is doubt in thinking that---my son said to think or consider evil is to jinx yourself or the people you are thinking of and my son said to dwell only on positive things---do not speak of the evil.
I asked everyone who called me to pray for me and I thanked Christ for letting them pray for me. Some of God's prayer warriors prayed for me right at the time we spoke and sang with me. I thank God for not letting my friends abandon me and lose faith, for sustaining their strength to pray for me, in the Name of Jesus. There were those near me who worship snake that seemed to give support to the snake and wanted to speak of the snake instead of Jesus to me. I rebuked them in the Name of Jesus and kept my eyes on Jesus, my heart and mind on Jesus. I recalled one such lost soul said, "I am not Christ," however, I believed that he was in a struggle of faith and that his departure out of Christ was out of the fear of those terrorists who were capturing believers in Christ and beheading them all over the world.
Many believers were struggling in their faith out of fear of random killings, targeted killings, possessed killers on the streets of America roaring throughout the days and nights stealing, killing and destroying as the holy scripture spoke of and all the natural disasters---God's wrath and mother nature's anger, coming from the heavens above. I wanted peace and yearned for the peace of Christ Jesus. I remember there was a time that I wanted safety---a safe neighborhood, a safe workplace, a safe community, a safe town, a safe country all a relative shadow of what is truth in God's light. I prayed to a kin that I was just a whisper standing against the wind for God spared me in Hurricane Andrew but for those who did stand as no more than a whisper against the great wind---tornadoes; they still shudder at the devastation and the onwatchers, too.
Thank you, Lord for keeping me safely in your embrace. In the Name Of Jesus to walk with Jesus. I thank God for showing me that Christ Jesus' power superseded the examination, lies, thievery. deceit, destruction, wisdom and possession power of Satan. I thank God for showing me Satan could only do what He permitted him to do. Most importantly, I thank God for saving me.
I did not die, resurrect, go down to hell and ascend to sit at the right hand of God, I went into the darkness with snake and snake turned away from me then came out when I commanded snake to but snake did not chase I thank God snake did not come down off the firepit---stand and chase. I thank God for not giving me more than I could take. God is a good God and I am simply amazed at how I came over, how he pulled me out from under and pulled me over, to conquer my flesh. Thank you Jesus.
