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| ISBN-13: | 9781491840450 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 12/09/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 120 |
| File size: | 803 KB |
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~WHO I WAS~WHO I AM~ ~WHO I HAVE BECOME~
By LORENZO KEITH
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2013 Lorenzo KeithAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4918-4047-4
CHAPTER 1
Who I was: 0-12 years old
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." ~Genesis 1:11~
My life story began on August 9, 1951, in Eudora, a little town by in the southeastern corner of the state of Arkansas. The town population is posted at 2,327 to date. I am the proud son of Fert and Rachael Morrison Keith. From what I can remember Mom always made a point to inform me that I was their seventh child. My life during this time was full of poverty, lack of food, clothes; toys, money and plumbing. It was a life of hard work, early rising, and family values that caused my faith to cry out; that God would one day bring an end to hard times.
This faith and hope was taught by my mother without fail to each of her children. She prepared us to survive in a household full of boys by ensuring we all knew how to cook, clean the house, wash clothes and sew. Her teachings, songs and prayers helped to shape the value system of my world then and now, through the good times and bad. Later, I eventually became my mother's trained baker and chief cook in our household in Arkansas.
Being around her ninety percent of the time, I adopted her faith in the awesome power of God. Mom's faith helped shape my spiritual beliefs and it also acted as a foundation for my belief system. I believe every person has a moral right to worship God in spirit and in truth holding on to being free one day. Free from racial division and hateful conservation. Destructed language never accomplishes anything useful in any home setting in America. I held onto the "seventh child" hope that mother passed onto me; God will change things. He always has a timeline to bring about life change that works out for the good of all God's people. Jesus has never failed to answer prayers, calling for relief of pain and suffering of his people. My journey of praising the Almighty God begins with this word; I was inspired by the following Bible's verse:
"Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty Heaven. Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness." ~Psalm 150: 1-2~
NOTES
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CHAPTER 2Praising Almighty God ...
"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." ~Job 5:17
PROLOGUE
I praise Him in the morning, the evening and at midnight when I wake up to his voice. I learned He is worthy of all our praise whether we give it or not. He is the God of love and the God of our Father's Isaac, Abraham and Jacob. He is the one God who came out of nowhere and said I am going to make me a world. He spoke the word and every living thing was formed and he gave man dominion over every living thing on the face of the Earth. What an awesome God we serve. He's worthy of our praise. He made man in his own image and gave man a soul when he blew into his nostrils the breath of life. What an awesome God he is. His works is done and on the seventh day God rested from labor.
The number seven stays with me in the back of my mind; as I accomplish tasks succeeding at my career goals. It reminds me that God may have a divine path I must take to help others, reminding them of his abiding love for his people. It was clear to me that God will be first in my life decision making process. He would be the one to end the hard times that brought me to my knees many times and made me humble symbolic before God's Throne. As I grew stronger in my core ethic beliefs, the traveled road ahead in life became clearer. The people begin to separate themselves into two groups, the positive and negative. Good and bad was their underlining theme which allowed me to choose my associates. I would choose those who had great work ethic arriving at a positive outcome. I learned that those who embraced poor work ethic always worked overtime achieving nothing. Each would spend huge energy blaming others for their failures. That is why you should always adopt hard work with positive effort.
During the first 12 years of my life, I learned to work hard for three dollars a day from sun up to sun down doing farm work. My father was the only role model I learned from and became my hero and guide on how to survive hard times. My mother taught me how to sustain a spiritual belief that God will always watch over me whether I was rich or poor. Mother knew God like no other person. She was solid as a rock, always telling her children we will make it somehow, achieving a better life. She would always say, "prayer changes things." Mother was right about the power of God as he manifested himself in our family life. Only he could cause food to be on our table when we didn't have a clue where breakfast, lunch and dinner were. Rachael M. Keith, knew the Lord heard and would answer her prayer to feed her family. I adopted that faith because I witnessed the results of an awesome God in action.
Food was provided by a flock of large birds flying over our property landing in the field. I believe that God did that. Food was delivered by heavy rain in the ditch in front of our house filing it with yellow catfish. We were able to fill three number 2 tubs. Lastly, God provided a field that became a breeding ground for rabbits that never ran dry providing meat for our table because of mother Rachael's faith in prayer to a loving God. She made sure the love of God would be instilled in our hearts for all people even those who meant us harm. She called for prayer because she believed they were lost and someone must pray for the haters. She knew once prayer is evoked, God will do the rest to fix what was wrong every time. I became a true prayer warrior in every organization that employed me.
"I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." ~Jeremiah 29:11~
NOTES
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CHAPTER 3God Gave Me Peace in My Heart ...
"The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." ~Exodus 14:14~
God has never wished man any harm. He has given man the best of his love. He knew when he made man he would need a savior. Man has realized he can do nothing without the will of God. God allows things to happen through his permissive will and invokes his divine will when man continues his defiant ways. God would rather man obey him by choice by worshipping him because it is the right thing to do, showing God that man loves him. It will also show God that man is willing to do as God commands him to do which is love one another. It is hopeful that one day mankind will reach his full potential of love for the Lord Jesus Christ. It's clear that God loves us based on all that he does because He allows our lives to continue despite our rebellious ways. God has extended an olive branch to mankind from Genesis to Revelation hoping one day we will worship him in spirit and in truth. Each year we as a people renew our faith in God; lend a helping hand to others when natural disaster strikes our shores, cities and communities. Psalm of David states:
"I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands." ~Psalm 63:4~
NOTES
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CHAPTER 4God is in The Blessing Business ...
"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing."
~Genesis 12:2~
When we are able to get up in the morning and lift up holy hands to the Heaven above, it is because of God's love for us. When we breathe in fresh air it's because of God. When we feel a need to pray each and every day it is all about God on the inside of us. His love is greater than the followers of Moses; greater than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's love for their people. One writer said his love is sufficient for me. His love heals all, his love cures all pain and his love is the greatest love of all. His love will make you lift us his name just as Jesus was lifted on the cross of Calvary to bare the sins of the world on his shoulders. He shed his blood washing our sin away. Jesus has blessed me with great teachers that embrace His everlasting love.
From age 6 to 12, my teachers became educational role models in my life as my world began to broaden outside the walls of our three room home. I have had too many teachers to name, but they taught me how to become a team player, team leader and a team follower. My teachers introduced me to the world of continuing education. In the teacher's arena, I began to exercise my brain by exploring the subject Math, learning about other countries, and different cultures. It developed a hunger inside of me to visit other parts of the world. My teachers caused me to dream of a world that was seen in my vision; free from racial insults, hatred, and confinement inside the walls of our home in Eudora, Arkansas.
One cannot imagine that my world was full of hatred by a group of individuals who placed no limits on themselves. I woke up every day to insulting words directed at me because I was a different skin color. If you weren't saved by God spiritually you could have ended up hating those who call you awful names. I needed help to overcome that culture in Eudora, Arkansas. My teachers opened my mind to learn about a world where all people could be free from insults. There were those who taught me to use hateful insults which in turn became a motivation to work overtime to be successful. Later in life, it was so clear this was the Lord molding and shaping me. I had to adapt to around non—loving people. It was a challenge in the beginning and throughout the years made me less tolerant of hateful language. Many times I made a decision to put an end to it very quickly without regards of consequences.
Whether these things are Right or wrong, your mindset concludes there is no room for hateful people in this twenty first century. That is why I thank God for those teachers introducing me to a world full of hope. Dreams do make a difference in a world where hope is alive and shared by so many positive people of God. Dreams brought me closer to understand God presence in my life; it enlightens me to His works to change man's ability to display love. His spiritual presence kept me from giving up on my lost brothers and sister ability to do God's will which is to love one another. I prayed many mornings and nights to remain focused in carrying out the will of God. What I was experiencing in my life made me depend on God's word from the book of Matthew:
"Come to Me, All of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." ~Matthew 11:28~
NOTES
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CHAPTER 5God is a Burden Bearer ...
"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched arm, and with great judgments." ~Exodus 6:6~
God, through his love for us will give us rest if we come to accept him. He is a burden bearer and a way maker. God wants us to depend on him to lead us to glory: up in his Kingdom where there will be no more pain, no more worry and no more hunger. Jesus died and rose again so that we have a right to the tree of life. He paid the price for all who accept him as their personal savior. He will come into our heart and sup with us (give us rest). When God gives you rest, it involves great joy. When God gives you rest his love swells your heart, leaving no room for hatred. When hatred is gone from your heart you begin thanking God for His unconditional love that makes dreams possible.
My dreams were constant. They were real and full of hope that the God of Heaven would free all people from the evil spirit of hatred flowing over the land. The air in America was not flowing with opportunities for all Americans. My mother's voice was a driving force in my heart and mind reminding me of God's unconditional love for his people. It encourages me to never lose faith knowing that a brighter day is coming because of his grace. My mother's voice never let me pick up the evil tool of hate for another. Mother had a forgiving heart and gave part of it to me. She knew Jesus sits on the right hand side of God's throne and he command us to love one another. He asks the Father to forgive us for we know not what we do. Between my mother and teachers, I was able to emerge with the love of God in my heart instead of hate and deceitfulness. This bible verse tells me to cry out for God peace:
~May the lord of Peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. ~ 2 Thessalonians 3:16. ~
NOTES
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CHAPTER 6How Powerful is God's Peace ...
"Now the God of hope fill you with all the joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." ~Romans 15:13~
As I cried out to the Lord for His peace, I found it's great for my soul salvation. I will always need the Lord to continue to fill me with his peace. Now I can see things clearly from the umbrella of God's love hovering over me. My soul cried out for His love and glory to be with me every day. I know I love the lord, for He alone provides me comfort in the mist of confusion. It was God who helped me survive the hateful times of my life. He loves me for who I am and He's not through with me yet. I pray that the Lord's peace stay with me as I travel life's highway doing His will.
God's peace will always comfort me. It has and always will give me strength to walk by faith and praise my Lord. It's clear God's love and peace is sufficient for me. Lord I thank you for your love and mercy in my life plus my teacher's mindset to explain your love to their students.
NOTES
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CHAPTER 7Who I am: 13 to 19 years old ...
"And God said unto Moses, I AM That I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." ~Exodus 3:14~
My teachers introduced me to the preaching, and teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King, a value system that would shape my life today. It was during this time period that I learned more about the history of mankind and who I am than any period of my life. It was my teachers whose tears and emotions at the death of Dr. King, made me understand why love for one another must become the overriding factor to achieve racial harmony among the people of the world. The worlds view from my eyes was full of racial hatred and limited opportunities for a young black man growing up in rural Arkansas. Our white brothers and sisters assaulted us with many racial insults reflecting the cruelty of their hearts. I used to think there was no love of God in their hearts for anyone but themselves.
However, my mother and teachers cleared that up right away. I was informed that love and hatred cannot coexist in the same heart. As a human being you will either love one another or you will choose to hate. It is because the Almighty God made our heart to be a united form of humanity so we cannot serve two masters at the same time. Reality says you can't love your family and hate your neighbors. One must fill their heart with the emotion of hate or love.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from ~WHO I WAS~WHO I AM~ ~WHO I HAVE BECOME~ by LORENZO KEITH. Copyright © 2013 Lorenzo Keith. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Dedication, vii,Introduction, ix,
Chapter 1 Who I was: 0-12 years old, 1,
Chapter 2 Praising Almighty God ..., 6,
Chapter 3 God Gave Me Peace in My Heart ..., 12,
Chapter 4 God is in The Blessing Business ..., 16,
Chapter 5 God is a Burden Bearer ..., 22,
Chapter 6 How Powerful is God's Peace ..., 26,
Chapter 7 Who I am: 13 to 19 years old ..., 29,
Chapter 8 A Clean Heart Works Better ..., 34,
Chapter 9 Who I will Become: 20 to 29 and Beyond ..., 39,
Chapter 10 First Five Year Plan ..., 46,
Chapter 11 Second Five Year Plan ..., 51,
Chapter 12 Why Sing to the Lord ..., 57,
Chapter 13 My Inspired Thoughts ..., 60,
Chapter 14 Which Way Are You Going ..., 64,
Chapter 15 What is Man ..., 68,
Chapter 16 Our Words Are a Bond ..., 72,
Chapter 17 What to Be in Life ..., 76,
Chapter 18 Enforce The Law ..., 79,
Chapter 19 The Need of God's Leaders ..., 83,
Chapter 20 A Season for Jesus ..., 88,
Chapter 21 Real Truth about Jesus ..., 92,
Chapter 22 Jesus is the Way ..., 98,
Chapter 23 Making a Difference ..., 101,