Keita

[keita]

Grace and Peace, Saints!

beulah5 said:

She is on the threshing floor!!!

When I read that, I couldn't decide whether to laugh at your inimitable humor, admire your "sharpshooting", cry at the pain of the reality, or shout for the joy of the Truth...

So I b'leive I'll just go on and be blessed by it all! ;D

And I love that you said "on", not "at" the threshing floor because despite my receivng and bearing witness to the Truth of that Word and call, God didn't let me include Atlanta on my itinerary this month.

Ah, the threshing floor......what a place that is.......



I just wanted to thank you all for this thread. It was and is such a blessing to me, just as every one of you are.

Almost daily, God uses the House of Refuge to remind and encourage me that internet fellowship and ministry is possible, powerful and REAL. I truly believe God has assembled a cyber community of His Spirit here and I am so glad and grateful to be a member of it.

God Bless You All!
Loving You Much and Always!

[And Such Were Some Of You]

BUMP!

okay are you still threshing?

[auneeqsol]

Yeah Keita ,

I mean come on now, Im missin ya too, your wisdom, your wisecracks, hey its time to be among the ppl...LOL... ;D

Wherever you are, know that we love ya and miss ya. You can't forsake your post on here now, somebody gotta be a watchman on the wall checkin things out...

Okay but serious tho.....time to come back and check on ya peeps. I hope that all is well with you, and be encouraged always.

[nina]

Keita, I don't know much, but I just know you're safe...
This made me think of you....

"In the Cleft of the Rock

Why, God, why?

There is an axiom quoted "If I knew Him, I would be Him." If God's ways were so easily understood that I could reconcile them in my mind, I would be Him.
Simply said, we cannot understand the ways of God. Our finite minds cannot encompass the totality of life's intricacies and complications as God sees them.
It is simply beyond our capacity to fathom how each event in our lives is a step toward the fulfillment of the Divine plan.

In the book of Exodus there is a fascinating exchange between God and Moses:

And [Moses] said: "Show me, now, Your glory!"

[God] said: "I will let all My goodness pass before you; I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you, and I will favor when I wish to favor, and I will have compassion when I wish to have compassion."

And He said, "You will not be able to see My face, for man shall not see Me and live."

And God said: "Behold, there is a place with Me; you shall stand on the rock.

"And it shall be that when My glory passes by, I will place you into the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

"Then I will remove My hand, and you will see My back; but My face shall not be seen." (Exodus 32:18-23)

This is a strange conversation, both on the surface and when delving into the commentary. What is this need that Moses had to see God's "glory"? What is this "rock" (tzur in the Hebrew) that God placed Moses into as He passed by him, showing him merely His back, apparently appeasing Moses's desire to see God?

My father explained it to me this way. The term "rock" in Hebrew, tzur, can also be translated as "narrows" or "constraints," as in the root of the Hebrew tzarah, "trouble" (from which the Yiddish term tzoros derives).

When Moses requested a "visual" on God, he was asking a far deeper question. Show me Your "glory," he asked of God; show me how a good God does unexplainable things.

How can it be that You, the Master of the universe, King of all Kings, can cause pain and difficulty in the lives of Your creations? I am the leader of these people of Yours, Moses was saying, and I need to explain to them in their time of distress, how God can do such things.

To which God replies, "You cannot see Me, for no man can see Me and live." I cannot explain it to you, for you are human. You need to be God to understand My ways.
However, God says, I will give you something to hold on to. I will put you into "the rock" and I will pass by you and you will see My back.

In other words, God told Moses: No, I cannot explain to you why people suffer, you are too human to understand. However, everyone has the ability to experience My "back," the retrospective appreciation for what has transpired.

Ask those who have risen to the occasion and survived tragedy and despair and they will tell you that while it was very difficult it was also a growing experience.
They are better people for it. They have become stronger as a result of it, other problems in their lives are now put into perspective of the greater picture and they now can handle so much more.

In retrospect they can accept what happened.

You will see Me in retrospect, God said to Moses. You will see Me from the back. After I have passed by you, you will appreciate the glimmer of goodness in what I did.

You may still question my ways; since you are not Me, you cannot fully understand.

However, you find comfort yourself in the knowledge that I, God, the loving Master and Parent, know what I am doing.

Retrospectively, you will appreciate what transpired, enough to feel that there was some gain, growth and value in the devastation.

May we know only revealed good, and not have the need for philosophical clarifications."

May His peace, which passes all understanding, be with you.

[keita]

Oh, HALLELUJAH, Y'all!!!

GOD IS STILL GOOD

and

I'm STILL HERE!

BLESS HIS NAME...

and

Everyone of You!

[krazeeboi]

Oh my God Nina, that PREACHED!!!

[Jasmine]

Amen Nina..that was absolutely putting some things in Divine perspective for me. Its unbelievable what I am/have been experiencing.

[keita]

Sis Nina,

I've been singing

"It Is Well With My Soul!"

since I finished reading this post... and got up off the floor.

In dealing with all the issues of life and ministry, I'm sometimes guilty of not thanking God for, and even more often, not letting folks know just how very much I appreciate, what He has placed in them. I won't let this be one of those times.

Since you became a member of this board, virtually everything you have posted here, no matter the topic, has blessed and edified me. That is certainly no small thing nor is it any exaggeration or flesh-kissing flattery when I say that much of it has very literally changed my heart, my mind and my life. I am deeply grateful for and could give you many examples of that.

But nothing you have written (thus far ( )) has ever moved me like this post did.

As soon as I began to read it, my head became a fountain of tears. It took me a while to get through it because it was impossible for me to read through the blinding tears with God's arms of Love wrapped so tightly around me. But when I got through it, I found I had received not just enough of, but EXACTLY what I needed to press on in this trying time. There was clarity, confirmation, comfort, conviction, courage, ...

Oh HALLELUJAH!!!

And then, for good measure, on the Sunday following that post, I preached a message with the title that I had been assigned some months ago. Do you know what that title was?

SANKOFA!!!
(For anyone who doesn't know that is an Akan word that means, "We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today.")


Oh Bless His Name!

"I wouldn't trade nothing for my journey now!"

I know that words cannot ever fully express my gratitude for and to you, they're just all I have to work with. But since I know that The Word is not bound nor is His Love, I am praying, with all my heart, that you will receive all the love, joy, peace and blessing, that you so freely, obediently and humbly give to others... pressed down, shaken together and running over.

God Bless You, My Sista!
And I mean that FOR REAL!

[keita]

I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one who was fed by this manna! I never did like eating alone, especially when the food is this good, LOL!

Sista Jas?

I was hoping that a praiser would show up here! Are you old enough to remember when the saints used to sing:

"Soul looks back and wonders..."

HIYA!

That's another song that has been in my spirit and so is this one, which may never leave my cd player:

(Verse 1):[/b]

All things work for our good
Though sometimes we don't see how they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth
Our Father knows what's best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim and you just can't see Him
Remember you're never alone

(Chorus):

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart


(Verse 2)[/b]

He sees the Master plan
He holds our future in His hand
So don't live as those who have no hope
All our hope is found in Him
We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and the last
And like a tapestry He's weaving you and me
To someday be just like Him

(Chorus):

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

(Bridge):[/i]

He alone is faithful and true
He alone knows what is best for you

(Chorus):

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

(Performed by Babbie Mason
Words and Music by Eddie Carswell & Babbie Mason)

[Jasmine]

keita said:

I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one who was fed by this manna! I never did like eating alone, especially when the food is this good, LOL!

Sista Jas?

I was hoping that a praiser would show up here! Are you old enough to remember when the saints used to sing:

"Soul looks back and wonders..."

HIYA!

That's another song that has been in my spirit and so is this one, which may never leave my cd player:

(Verse 1):

[/b]

All things work for our good
Though sometimes we don't see how they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth
Our Father knows what's best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim and you just can't see Him
Remember you're never alone

(Chorus):

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart


(Verse 2)[/b]

He sees the Master plan
He holds our future in His hand
So don't live as those who have no hope
All our hope is found in Him
We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and the last
And like a tapestry He's weaving you and me
To someday be just like Him

(Chorus):

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

(Bridge):[/i]

He alone is faithful and true
He alone knows what is best for you

(Chorus):

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

(Performed by Babbie Mason
Words and Music by Eddie Carswell & Babbie Mason)[/quote]

Im sad now , cause I dont know that one..lol

[keita]

If this link works, you can hear it sung:

events.tjc.org/music/TrustHisHeart.wma

[nina]

Dear, Dear, Beloved Sisters,

My turn....

This is very humbling to me, words cannot express it.

"SANKOFA!!!
(For anyone who doesn't know that is an Akan word that means, "We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today.") "
I wish I could have been there... It seems that it has been my path for a while now too.
Do you remember, Keita, a while ago, when you started a thread on "wailing women"? And women being deep wells?

It is morning here: Praise the Lord for ALL He has done!

[keita]

nina said:

Dear, Dear, Beloved Sisters,

"SANKOFA!!!
(For anyone who doesn't know that is an Akan word that means, "We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today.") "

I wish I could have been there...

Oh, you were, my sister. Believe me, you were.

It seems that it has been my path for a while now too.

LOL! No "coincidence" there! Our Father just fits His people together like that... even on the internet.

Do you remember, Keita, a while ago, when you started a thread on "wailing women"? And women being deep wells?

You know I do.
And I'm "going back there" right now.
(Isn't it wonderful that we can do that?)

It is morning here: Praise the Lord for ALL He has done!

HALLELUJAH!!
Good morning, my sista! Good "joy cometh in the" morning to you!

[auneeqsol]

Oh my ....this was a touching moment......