LEANING ON A ROCK
By
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (August 26, 2018)
“And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” (Matthew 7:25,
King James Version [The sermon on the mount])
Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus,
My sisters and brothers, who do you, think of when someone says, “She is my
rock” or “He is my rock.”? I know you must think of Jesus. The Rock, for it was
Jesus, who quenched the thirst of man unto everlasting life. “And did all drink
the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:
and that Rock was Christ.” (I Corinthians 10: 4-5, KJV [Paul’s self-denial]).
Don’t you pray about being in that number---those who followed Jesus?
Let us ponder in our thoughts about those women that followed because they
knew Jesus loved them. Many women, still to this day in time, search for just that
kind of love, ---that kind of lover, for the woman of Samaria said, “Sir, give me
this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.” [John 4:15, KJV]. The
search for a righteous man was that way with the woman of Samaria who had five
husbands and now the one she was with was not her husband, “Jesus answered
and said unto her, If thou knowest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee.
Give me to drink: thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee
living water.”[John 4:10, KJV] Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever
drinketh of this water shalt thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him
a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4: 13-14, KJV].
Now, we know as we live and pray who Jesus, the Rock is, the church of the
Almighty God. “And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. “ (Matthew 16:
18, KJV). Friends, I tell you, it is good leaning on a rock, especially when you
know in your heart that the Rock that you lean on is Jesus, the church of the
Almighty God, the living God who sent His only begotten son so that man would
not perish but have everlasting life. [John 3:16, KJV] Is this why we say, We are
between a Rock and a hard place.” The Rock is Christ Jesus, the church and the
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world is hard. Let me tell you, do not try to manipulate the word of God because
Christ Jesus stood in that very gap, for the saving of souls. Do not let the snake
lay in the gap.
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father,
My mind is constantly thinking of you, for you, my Father God in heaven is my Creator----the
Creator of the universe. I bless your Holy Name and I bless the universe, the earth plane, of
which I reside, in as much joy as possible, bearing all sorrows of all the circumstances of the
day. In the fullness of the moon, tonight, I looked upon the heavens, so closely here I see the
heavenly stars that look right back at me, in the glory of God, your glory, Lord God. There are
problems, of course, dear Father, here on earth. Some problems so big the heart could burst---
break into so many pieces, shatter under the weight of each burden, and many women feel so
burdened down. But it is your love, in scripture that tells me that joy comes in the morning, so I
expect joy is here, on the horizon and with a positive mind---a positive mental outlook, joy is in
my life, not only in the lives of everyone else---all the folks around me but in my life, too.
Therefore, to love your friends is a noble quality of sincerity in a man or woman's heart,
however, to love the creation that God made in me, tells me that I truly am in a realationship
with God, for righteousness sake.
I find on this earth---my chosen place to live as God wants me to, is such a competitive place.
Many times, I think there is nothing that man or woman will not do, to outpace another. Is that
what we mean by running your course and fighting the good fight? However, the virtue of a
woman---the glow of a woman, is not only there, put by a man but such a glow in countenance is
the love of God. Father, a woman is the bride of Christ Jesus or the bride of a man, and some just
lost in the world, not wanting to have a relationship with any one, not even the Holy of Holy, our
Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, and not even man for the pressure to measure up to his beck and
call, to satisfy your man, is often times a heavy load to carry.
I think I will run on and see what the end is going to be, is what many women in such
contrariness feel---those with their minds made up to serve the Lord God, in mind, heart, and
soul. I do not ever think of comparing the two: satisfying your God or satisfying your man
because I know many women do see their man as their god and look only to his leadership, so for
those women God only exists in their lives, if and only if, their man then, loves you, Lord God,
Father God in heaven and only if their man then, loves our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. This
challenge of surrendering your faith instead of surrendering your all to God, is quite a disturbing
mention, for our Lord God in heaven is a jealous God, so, too, we find an unstable, tumultuous
jealousy in the heart of man that will bind woman and chain woman, without ever caring whether
in her heart is love for her God or not. We find many women secretly worshipping God, some
attending service, without fail, every Saturday or Sunday, some attending every service the
church schedules for worship and fellowship, but without their husbands because somewhere
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during the course of running the race of faith, their husbands lost their way.
Somehow, someone offended a husband or two, perhaps three or four and those husbands or men
unattached by woman, who do attend service, do so in the joy of delighting in the fact that many
men are not there, so like most men who enjoy attending events with a lot of women without
husbands or in the protection of the men in their family, feel like their attendance in church gives
them a season of open game, wherein the man is apt to prey upon the women without husbands
or a male protector. It is the predator nature of a man to dominate woman wanting every woman
to submit to him, for he is man, not caring much at all about the husband at home or the man at
home. Obviously, the men who do attend feel the man will come along when he pleases, so in
the meantime, the man at church might as well enjoy the company of all the wives, who attend
without the husbands. Of course this could become a problem because a woman is a woman and
out of the mouth is life and death. We know that you, dear Lord do search out the hearts and
know the truth but what of those who are not divinely discerning and who want to meet every
challenge, even woman against woman as much as man against woman, to say, "Well, that
woman over there has a lot of men."
Does she, pray tell, how come? Is it because she speaks--greets the men as a Christian woman
but maybe it is how she walks, talks, the perfume she wears that draws men to her and makes
them feel so warm and comfortable but when she does not greet them, talk to them or wear
expensive perfume, maybe the men now think of her as standoffish, so they do not need her
because she might put the wrong kind of thoughts in the minds of the other women and make the
other women feel like they do not need a man, so they do not need to try to satisfy the men in the
congregation----all of them because no matter what golden rule she follows, a woman is harshly
judged to stay in line with the good fellowship which means a whole lot of things in a whole lot
of congregations. We find that woman must love her God surrendering all but what must a
woman do when man tells her he is her god and she must surrender her all to him. I tell you no
one wants to be called a loose woman and I am not talking about freedom from bondage,
"Woman, thou art loose." I am talking about a woman with loose morals and behavior not
befitting a woman of God---a fine Christian woman.
Jesus dealt with this issue yet it is still pervasively thrown around and cast aside in almost every
congregation, yet the words of Christ Jesus remains, "He without sin cast the first stone." [John
8:7, KJV “So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that
is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”] Well now, the folks who say, no one
told that woman, to lie around and have all those children; now she wants the church to take care
of her and all those children. What God-fearing man is going to do that without a relationship?
She should feel obliged to please any man who extends his goodwill to help her.
What about the woman without children? Yet, in still the judgment might say, "She is a whole lot
of woman. I heard she likes to spread it around. I do not have that kind of time to spend with
her."
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We know there is a kind of man who does not know what to do with a woman other than sexual
intimacy and once that is done, the man is gone to do other things. There is the kind of man who
will not talk or listen to what his woman talks about because he only will do what he wants to do
and rejects the influence of his woman---any woman. The man feels the woman should not try to
influence her man, just do what he wants her to do. That kind of a man does not want to talk.
This is the position of woman, between a rock and a hard place. We continue, in prayer, for the
uplifting of woman as she goes about her course, running her faith race, in the fullness of the
love of God, through our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Lord, save me, we pray, in Jesus name.
Amen.
In closing, God is love. Let your light shine in God’s love, no matter how
darkness engulfs you day or night. In the darkness of my soul, I found the light of
Christ Jesus, there with me. Whether you find yourself in the fiery furnaces or
not, of the world, Christ Jesus is there. Whether you find yourself in the world pits
of despair, or not, God is there. He is there in the depravity of your mind, right in
the darkness with the madness---the light of Christ Jesus is there leading you
guiding you back to His marvelous light. Do not be afraid. Fear not, for I am with
you. The words of comfort you read, hear, and see are for you, when your darkest
hour comes. You are not alone. God is with you, in Jesus name, for righteousness
sake. Amen.
