The Applause and Appreciation for the Awesome Goodness of God: A Love Story … How He Brought Us Through the Trials and Tribulations of Life

The Applause and Appreciation for the Awesome Goodness of God

A Love Story … How He Brought Us through the Trials and Tribulations of Life

REGINA DAVIS SCOTT

Copyright © 2019 Regina Davis Scott.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

Unless marked otherwise, all Scripture quotations are taken from the KJV.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0974-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0973-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-0975-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019913508

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 10/22/2019

DEDICATION

To GOD

For HIM

To Jay

For loving and supporting me

"If we can see the end from the beginning;

It wouldn’t be a faith walk"

Chapter 1

God…

This book is not written just for the appreciation of adults. It is a description of my life’s experiences and things that I have been exposed to. It is written for the glorification of our God and for how His hand has intervened in my life to change me, to bring me to the point where I am today which is a different place, a better place. Our destiny has only been changed because of our exposure to His word; His grace and His mercy.

This project is something that God gave to me through a vision, I am a vessel that He is using to tell a story. From time to time I bounced things off my husband and asked for his input; however, in doing so, I had to keep in mind that the vision came to me. It did not come to him, therefore he gave feedback and input only.

There are some real-life situations that folks can relate to in this book. Some of my life stories have been included, which is what I know best and how my faith and relationship with God has grown and strengthened over the years. If I knew how this road called life was going to turn out from the beginning, then it would not be a walk in faith if I knew how it was going to end.

Based on the direction that has been given to me by the Father; I am to use this information as I see fit. I am in perspective of some of the things that have happened in my life, not necessarily keeping with the title of the book. The last thing that I want to do is give the implication that it is okay to do something that is contrary to the Word of God. So I pray before and after I write.

When I read a book, I’m looking for something that will pique my interest, something that I can either identify with or learn from. Most books have peaks and valleys. Some of the books that I have read have been outstanding from the beginning to the end. Sometimes there were parts that were so boring, that I was not thrilled, and I eagerly continued reading waiting for that ah-ha moment until I reached the end of the book with great disappointment. Then there were those books that enlightened me, tickled me and make me giggle as well as tapped the emotions. That is what this project will do for you, no matter where you are in your relationship with God.

In keeping with the title of this book, there are thanksgiving and praise to the Father. From a divine intervention standpoint, there will be some folks to whom this book will be applicable to. They will seek God, study His word and have a genuine desire to strengthen their intimate relationship with Him.

Setting aside time with the Father, your prayer closet is just your personal time with the Father. It can be a physical place, or a block of time you set aside to be with God. By taking time to go back to the Father to give thanks, to give reverence, and to give praise. Remember: the scripture says: He inhabits the praises of His People, so we can praise Him. God inhabits in the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3). In other words, God dwells in the atmosphere of His praise. This means that praise is more than a reaction of coming into His presence. Praise to God is a vehicle of faith that takes us into His presence and power! Even for those of us who can’t sing, we make a joyful noise. The point is that we should always take time on a regular basis to go back to the Creator to say, Thank You, God, for all of Your many blessings. It is easy to slip into a mind-set that says, I can do this myself. If I run into a snag, then I’ll call God, but until this or that happens, I’ve got this. And we don’t. It’s an illusion, and we can drift from there into even thinking we don’t need God. The Bible, says that fools will say in their heart there is no God. Which is referenced below:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

(Proverbs 1:7 KJV)

Therefore, for us to be reminded, that we think in terms that we eat on a regular basis. Why? We eat so that we don’t starve to death. We work out, Why? To keep our bodies from atrophying and breaking down faster than they should because of age. So whatever we want to accomplish, we have to make sure that we attend to it.

In our relationships, we spend time together, we talk. We have to do something in order to keep that communication because that is what keeps relationships together. Eating together and talking about things helps keep families together and strong. That’s how you instill and pass on beliefs that are important to the family, such as the values, and morals.

And, of course, that’s why we are not to forsake the gathering together of the brethren. That’s why we need to be attached to a fellowship to attend church. It is that communal thing continually going back to pay attention to. So we don’t forget, even when scripture talks in terms of building that altar or building that monument so that your children will ask, Hey, what’s that for? Then we get a chance to tell them about the goodness and awesomeness of God that has brought us through difficulties, trials and tribulations. And, if you haven’t had an opportunity before, to remind them that this is what has gotten us to this point; not my luck, not my strength, not my ingenuity but the grace of God. It teaches the children that when they, in turn, face obstacles they are to go to the same God in order to have a refuge and to get strength from the trials and tribulations of life. Until they see us doing that, no matter how much we tell them, they don’t comprehend. This is teaching by example, but when their backs are against the wall and they have seen us adults pray when things were difficult, when things were challenging. Some parents want to give the illusion that they have it all together and when they are distressed they go and pray by themselves. They don’t let the children be a part of that, praying together. So the children don’t see where their strength lies. The children think their strength lies within the parents. Therefore, they think that their strength resides in themselves as well, so they don’t see the need to go to God. Prayer has not been demonstrated. There is an old saying I can’t hear what you say because I’m so busy listening to what you do.

Our children do what they see us do as opposed to what we tell them to do. If I haven’t seen my parents doing it, then it really doesn’t register. Again, putting that reserve in there by teaching by example when the child does not know what to do. If Mom and Dad aren’t available, they may have passed on, therefore the children cannot ask them. They can’t pick up the phone and call them but may remember when Dad or Grandad was in a difficult spot, these are the things that they did and they got through it. So maybe if I do those same things, pray to God and have the faith that He will bring me through I can get through it too. That’s why it is so important to communicate, to set the example. We must be strong because our children learn from observing us, not because of what we tell them. Those are definitely the things that stick with them. It’s just like the old saying, Don’t just send your children to church, take them to church, don’t just pray for your children, pray with them.

This is what it all is about, that monument thing that is to remind them and to remind us that we are living in houses that we didn’t build and, enjoying fruits from vines that we didn’t plant. We didn’t get it because we, fought well, or we were smarter than the other guy. We got it because God was good to us. The reminder of that altar or memorial says that at one time I didn’t have it all together, at one time I didn’t have fifteen cents above my breakfast change, and at one time I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from. Now I have so much food in my refrigerator that I can’t eat it all, I have so many clothes in my closet that, I can’t wear them all. God has been good to me. I look at that and remember those days. Oh, God, you have been so good to me! Thank You, God!

I asked the Father, If the title of this book was in-line with what He gave me to impart to His people? I pray this to be true. There were several instances throughout this project when I was proofreading and read a paragraph to discover that the text was not familiar to me. Our Father definitely had His hand on this project.

In one of Jesus’s parables, when shepherds came together, one shepherd has seventy-five sheep in his flock, another one has one hundred fifty in his flock, and another has three hundred in his flock. They come together and all the sheep intermingle together. But when the shepherd with seventy-five is ready to go; he calls his sheep and they go with him; only his sheep. When the shepherd with one hundred fifty sheep calls his sheep; they go with him, only his sheep also. So the remaining sheep stay with their shepherd because they haven’t heard their call. They are able to do that because the sheep know the voice of their shepherd. When you are prayed up, you are in communion with the most high God. According to scripture, when He speaks to you, you will hear His voice and not the voice of the adversary, the spiritual powers that reside in the earth’s realm, principalities and powers, and rulers in high places.

You are only given so much revelation for the walk. The rest, you must have by faith. The walk is such that we know where we would like to end up, but don’t know what we are going to have to go through to get there. Yes, everything happens for a reason and everything is for a season, but even having that knowledge of God’s goodness and mercy, there are times where the world comes at you so hard with such intensity that you question What on earth is going on in my life? Again that too is why our time with God is like putting water into a container that has a slow leak. No matter how much we put in, it will all leak out and run dry. That is why we need to always go on a continual basis and put more in because the world keeps sucking it out. When we think in terms of the physical and we are trying to motivate ourselves, we can say just put a single drop of water in a container at a time. If we keep putting it in with regularity the container will get full and that is comforting. But in other times we realize that it depends on how fast the water is evaporating. We can be prayed up and on top of the mountain and things can be going fantastic, but you have to understand that the pendulum of life comes into play. The cycle of life the stages of life are going swell, but that life consists of peaks and valleys - sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down. As you look at the continuum of life, no matter who an individual is they will reach their peak. They may be the biggest and the baddest; the strongest, the tallest; the meanest, the richest; the most suave and debonair; the most beautiful, the most handsome; the most teeth in their mouth; the most whatever, there will come a time when all of that will change. That is the continuum of life. No matter how rich you are there will come a time that you won’t be as rich or your power won’t be as powerful. In the final analysis when you get the flat line; all of it goes away anyway. So, as we understand that everything that we see is not everything that there is, that life itself is but a fleeting moment, with a beginning and an end, it has already been defined. Our task is to simply get from where we were born to get to where we will die without messing it up too much in between and we can’t do it without the most high God.

A pastor shared a story from his youth one Sunday. The Shepherd spoke of his experience and introduction to the Holy Bible. He knew his grandmother to be a God loving, God fearing person, but he was curious as to why he had not seen his grandmother touch or read this Bible. He stated that his grandmother always kept a Bible in plain view on the bookshelf in the front room of the house. From time to time he would walk over to the bookshelf and stare at the Bible. One day he opened the Bible to find family records of births and deaths. The pages were frail and when he touched the Bible to turn the page, it tore. He was quite disturbed and immediately told his grandmother, for this was the family’s Holy Bible and he had damaged it. When the youth told his grandmother about his actions, he was surprised by her response. Oh Sonny don’t you worry about that Bible, it isn’t the one I read daily. That Bible is to let folks know when they enter this house that they are coming into a God loving, God fearing, Bible reading house.

From that day forward the pastor recalled that things don’t always look as they seem. The Bible was also placed in plain view for Sonny to open and read the word of God. It is a book of amazing diversity. There you will find a mixture of enchanting history, beautiful poetry, remarkable prophecy, great wisdom, and simple proverbs.

The real gift is the gift from God, it is Jesus Christ. The son of man came not to be served, but to serve which is stated in the scripture (Mark 10:35-45) the real gift is to serve.

Jesus gives clarity as to what servant leadership is. When the brothers James and John came to Jesus they wanted him to grant them a request. They requested to sit one at his right hand and one to sit at his left hand in Glory. You don’t know what you ask, was Jesus’ response. We need to be careful of what we ask for. You might just get it and may not know what to do with it when you get it. It could be because you didn’t understand all the qualifiers and you weren’t specific enough. So when James and John asked that question did they really understand what they were asking and what it entailed? It is evident that James and John and the other ten disciples weren’t really sure of what Jesus had been teaching and preaching about servant leadership. It’s not our position or how proud or how high someone considers themself. It is about our service and what we do for others, it’s our humility. Some of us are hung up on status and titles. As scripture tells us, whenever we pray, we should not be like hypocrites standing on street corners to be seen, go to your room, close the door and our Father can see our sincerity and will reward us. God chooses ordinary people to teach and be a role model for Him. God wants us to think about and do for others instead of always thinking about what others can do for us.

I was lead by the Holy Spirit to include the eight Beatitudes that Jesus Christ gave us, in hope that someone’s heart will be touched and bring them closer to God and have a desire to serve mankind.

Jesus Christ gave us the Eight Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded for all posterity in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew’s Gospel was directed to an audience steeped in Hebrew tradition. The Gospel of Matthew stressed that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah foretold in Hebrew Scripture, the Old Testament and that the Kingdom of the Lord is the Kingdom of God in Heaven. Jesus offers us a way of life that promises eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Ten Commandments, given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the Old Testament Book of Exodus, related a series of Thou shalt not phrases, evils one must avoid in daily life on earth. In contrast, the message of Jesus in the Beatitudes is one of humility, charity, and brotherly love. He teaches transformation of the inner person. Jesus presents the Beatitudes in a positive sense, virtues in life which will ultimately lead to reward. Love becomes the motivation for the Christian. All of the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us salvation - not in this world, but in the next. The Beatitudes initiate one of the main themes of Matthew’s Gospel, which is that the Kingdom so long awaited in the Old Testament is not of this world, but of the next, the Kingdom of Heaven.

While the Beatitudes of Jesus provide a way of life that promises salvation, they also bring peace in the midst of our trials