THE FIRE
By
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (January 5, 2019)
“And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Hebrews 1:7-9, KJV [Christ preferred above angels]).
Greetings in the Holy Name of Christ Jesus,
My sisters and brother, I speak to you, going in the storms with the fire of Christ Jesus that the fire of Christ Jesus would not let me deny the everlasting love of God, which pervasively prevails in the hearts and minds of those chosen --- the elect, to serve an undeniable God for eternity. The fire would not let me forsake the love of God, “for God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son…” [John 3:16, KJV]. The fire would not let me practice the hate of wickedness in high places, for hate is wrong. The fire would not let me subjugate my sisters and brothers, even more so practice the hate of wickedness in high places. My love for God, His only begotten Son and the Holy Ghost Spirit is undeniably of sound heart and mind in the love so cherished and devoted to the coming of the LORD in Christ Jesus, for we must watch, steadfastly in earnest sincerity, here on earth, for God’s love prevails to surrender us all, in His abiding love, in the refuge of Christ Jesus.
Most importantly, as I, your sister in Christ Jesus reflected on the trajectory of my life course, albeit the struggles at the well with Jesus---at the crossroads that profoundly invades my present thoughts, it was the thoughts of those on the pages of books and notes that expressed thoughts before me that I frequented with my thoughts and it was the experiences of those who walked before me --- the dust that they shook off ---their DNA---that I stepped on when I travelled to witness the goodness of the LORD Jesus. For in the lands near and far evidence showed that Jesus was there, the disciples reached the lands that I visited and statues in the likeness of Jesus and saints where there, hailing the glory of the LORD GOD, in the refuge of Christ Jesus. Jesus was real. The disciples of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus were real. The milestones of my life at ages 22, 31, 43, and 52, when I pondered the knowledge-of-the-ages with the knowledge of my neighborhood “my world” at-the-time I studied at the university, I found myself gladly at the precipice of God’s joy --- the knowledge of everlasting life, for God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son [John 3:16, KJV] and it was at the
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threshold of joy that Christ appeared handsomely endowed as a God man of faith, in my late fifties and sixties.
More importantly, Jesus appeared at the place in my garden where my beloved pets killed by my neighbors were buried, at the corner of the house---anointing the ground as he poured oil out of a small container polar opposite where the black snake at the fire pit was placed by the hate of neighbors, I think they did that to scare me, January 2, two-years-ago. Storms of tornadoes appeared twice---two weeks apart and devastated the local towns 20 miles north, of me. More recently, this year the same month of January beheld storms, initially thought of as a tornado but Christ spared us with just rains---Jesus appeared inside the house standing next to the same window my brother sat in a chair and looked out at the onset of the Hurricane Michael. Yes, Jesus came in the room I sat my brother in to watch Hurricane Michael out of a window that was not boarded up or taped up, safely concealed in the wings of eagles as I prayed for the wings to stand strong as steel during the storm; God granted me that prayer. You know God is good and always right on time when my brother and I rode around town, our immediate road in the neighborhood and 10 miles to the west and 30 miles to the east, witnessing the devastation of at least 20 power lines or more, down, mostly on our road--- that’s when you know God held you up---held the house up with windows intact---unbroken. My brother sat and witnessed the rage of the storm like he was sitting watching a television screen. It was real. To me, Christ said, “I am with you,” for the little keepsake of Mary, the mother of Jesus fell down from the window sill when my pet jumped up to look out the window.
With that said, the fire of Christ Jesus in ministers is an everlasting fire of faith. “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth; that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; as the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place where thou hast founded for them [Psalm 104:4-8, KJV, God’s glory is eternal]. Sisters and brothers, what could you do?, Where would you go?, who could you become?, without your fire of faith---the flaming fire of ministers that keeps us. Is not the flaming fire serendipity, as greatly valued as all gifts that are not sought after just as the Persian fairy tale delighted readers in unsought after fortune,
In closing, 20-20 vision comes upon you in reflection after you fight the good fight when the waters abate and the flood gates close. The Three Princes of Serendipity” celebrated good fortune as heroes. The disciples possibly did not know the value of the fire of the waters until they found themselves deeply planted in the fire of faith. Were you there when the fire of faith came out of your minister for all to see? Were you there when your fire came out, exposing you as a Daughter or Son of God? Christ be with you.
