CROOKED TREE
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (May 4, 2015)
“That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered...Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?” (Ecclesiastes Or, The Preacher 1: 15; 7:13, King James Version [crooked cannot be made straight; the strength of wisdom]).
Greetings In The Name Of Jesus,
My sisters and brothers, as I spend years at the family's estate and work the land---the crooked trees and the knowledge of, such a waste in efforts, caused sorrow of wasted tears over wasted years of growth that cannot comfort me and cannot straighten the trees no matter how much I cry over them, so the axe is laid at the trees [And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” (St. Matthew 3:10, St. Luke 3:9, KJV)]. Most importantly, folks want inspiration to do better and to be better than they are or inspiration to change to do better and to be better than they were. Metaphorically speaking, the sorrow of the knowledge that this is not possible---for a crooked tree cannot be made straight. Oftentimes, do you think of yourself as a tree---a part of a family tree?
Are you a crooked tree? You must know by now. Did God make you crooked? Are you a straight tree? Do you know this as truth.
Did God make you straight? The prophet Isaiah (40:4; 42:16, KJV) prophesied glad tidings of the gospel--- The Office Of Christ, our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus: “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: [St. Luke 3:5 “...the rough ways shall be made smooth”] ...And I will bring the the blind by the way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”
More importantly, how many of you know of, and spend time every day with folks that are bad to the bone and you wonder whether or not the Word can cut to the marrow and change them as Christ changed Saul to Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus? Is not that how one of our world songs described folks as “bad to the bone”? Who sang that? Do you suppose that any of those bad to the bone folks are straight, from a straight tree with good fruit?
I know some of you lost hope when dealing with some of those folks and all the mess that came out of your associations with them. I know the love you felt was wasted for them and I know you needed God to go before you to take care of everything before you faced another situation---before you faced what caught them up this time, still weighed down by what caught them up the last time. Did you pray, 'Lord, please go before me and make the crooked straight.?” In the days of the prophet Isaiah (45:1-3, KJV, [Exhortations to praise God]), the LORD God spoke to his anointed Cyrus and assured him, “I will go before thee, and make the crooked straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: ...”
How many of you feel compelled to praise God, right now? I know this is a moment of saying, “Hallelujah.” Do you feel like saying, “Thank you Jesus.” Are the rivers running red where you live at and are you so afraid by day and by night?
Is Babylon chasing you or persecuting you by day and by night? Is Egypt chasing you or persecuting you by day and by night? Are the Roman soldiers at your door? God promised Cyrus [judgments on Babylon (Isaiah chapter 46, KJV)] in the days of the prophet Isaiah (45:3, KJV), “And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that
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I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” John (3:16, KJV) the beloved disciple and apostle witnessed Jesus during the time he walked the earth in Jerusalem, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Do you know this truth? Can you speak that truth?
Are you muddleheaded or all muddled up with the lies that won't go away? Where is your peace? You do know that salvation is only of God, don't you---not anyone else---no one else can deliver you up out of the lies to truth save you but Christ Jesus. The prophet Isaiah (59:8, KJV) said, “The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.”
Even if this is your first time---caught up in darkness, lies, iniquity, deceit facing uncertain death and destruction, is it the first time you have heard of the Name of Jesus---Christ Jesus, your Savior and God Almighty, your Father in heaven. Are you a child of God lost in the world feeling no hope—out of the plan of salvation? Can you call on the Name of Jesus? Can you thank God for giving you another moment of your gift of life to call on His Name---to cry out to the Son of God, to save you---to save your soul---to break the chains that crush you in pieces---to open the bars of iron and the doors of iron that steal you away from the gift of life and grace that God (Christ Jesus) gave you?
Did not the prophet Jeremiah (The Lamentations of Jeremiah 3:1, KJV) lament---cry over the “afflictions by the rod of his wrath”? Did Jeremiah (Lamentations 3: 9, KJV) not bewail, “He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.” In The Epistle Of Paul The Apostle To The Philippians (2:1;15, KJV), did not the Apostle Paul say: If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies...That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom “ye” shine as lights in the world;”.
Do some of you remember the old gospel hymn, “This little light of mine. I am going to let it shine...” It is a great responsibility to shine for humanity from the north to the south to the east to the west. God bless you in the peace of His love. In The Name of Jesus. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Amen.
