When God Speaks: The Power of Numbers

By Kynaston M. Ramsey

We all use numbers every day to bring precision into our communications, whether it be reminding others of our birthday, negotiating our salary, keeping track of our weight, or determining the price of a product. Even more so in scripture, God, who created numbers, uses them to bring His Word in the human language into sharper focus, and to communicate His will, His Word, and His Way.

God created the numerical mode of communication. It gives us additional understanding of His nature and character. It also provides an avenue of learning which renders a more precise interpretation of the role and responsibility of each person of the Godhead, of course, limited by our frailties.

In addition, it helps us to focus on the issues in the conflict between good and evil, why God created us, and the role we play in the great design. Notwithstanding, it also delivers an important sign as to the end of time.


* * * *

Coming soon is the book WHEN GOD SPEAKS THE APOCALYPTIC INTERLUDE. This book is intended to give insight into some of the numerical dynamics of Scripture and pointing toward the second coming of Jesus. As we recognize the numerical patterns, we will appreciate the added dimension they give to Bible study by highlighting and underlining important teachings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 31, 2008
• ISBN: 9781425957186

Book preview

WHEN GOD

SPEAKS

The Power of Numbers

by

Kynaston M. Ramsey

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AuthorHouse™

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© 2010 Kynaston M. Ramsey. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 10/6/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4259-5718-6 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4259-5716-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4259-5717-9 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006907599

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

AUTHOR’S NOTE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER 1

WHEN GOD SPEAKS

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 23

Dedicated to

my dear and loving wife,

Carolyn,

who stood with me through thick and thin,

and to our two gifts from the Lord,

our daughter, Kyria

and our son, Karlyn.

and

to my parents,

Conrad and Florence,

who helped me obtain a

Christian education.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Seventeen months without a job!

What do you do when there is a famine in the job market for you? Why did this happen? I am not perfect; I have served the Lord all my life. Is the Lord punishing me? Has He forsaken me? Or is He teaching me something?

God enabled me to receive a Christian education from elementary school up, through Caribbean Union College (now University of Southern Caribbean) in Trinidad, West Indies; and through Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts. Then after finishing graduate school at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, I said to myself, This is the end of the road. If I have to obtain a doctoral degree, someone will have to give it to me.

But the Lord had another school for me to attend. It was the School of Humility. This time, Jesus would be the teacher. I would graduate only after taking the final exam, which consisted of only eleven words, the divine directive, spoken by Jesus. No matter what the problem, we must always learn to lean on the Lord.

In this School of Humility, Jesus taught me another avenue of communicating, the alphanumeric mode of communication. I must say, I have learned there is use and abuse of this concept. However, such is the conflict between good and evil. Yet, we must "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… (bold highlights added) 2 Peter 3:18. And learn to wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait

I say, on the Lord." Psalm 27:14

When God Speaks is written in the time dimension, and is intended to share some personal experiences with you. When God spoke to me, He spoke with numbers.

Finally, we can’t see God now as He is, but we can hear Him when He speaks. That’s why there are no pictures in this book. But soon and very soon we will see Him.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am very grateful to Nath Ephraim, Heather Jackson, Willie Jackson, Dr. George and Germyn King, my sister, Joe and Shelly Rivera, Pastor Carlyle Skinner, and Jane Allen Quevedo who all supported me willingly with their interest, and suggestions. Tremendous gratitude to my dear wife, Carolyn. God’s blessings on all, especially those who allowed themselves to be used by the Lord to communicate His will to me. Their names appear throughout the book.

I am especially thankful to Wanda Brace Hopkins who expended her time and effort in doing most of the final editing of this work. Thanks to Dr. Hinsdale Bernard and Pastor Alvin Bernard who led me to the Publisher, AuthorHOUSE.. Special thanks to Patricia Brown, Carol Thomas, and Dr. Carol Ramsey, my sister, who helped me with their proof reading skills.

CHAPTER 1

THE WINDOWS ARE OPENING!

We had bright hopes for the future as my wife, Carolyn, our six-year-old daughter, Kyria, and I left the overcast skies of Berrien Springs, Michigan. On December 17, 1982, I had resigned from my job, which I thought served as a launching pad for my post-graduate-school career. Having received my MBA degree about two years before, I now had nine years of accounting experience.

Carolyn had completed her nursing degree and had an employment contract with Florida Hospital in Orlando, Florida. She had reservations about the move, but was committed to supporting her husband. But Kyria had high hopes for our future. She wanted a baby brother.

Two days after leaving snowy Michigan, we arrived in Florida, with its sunshine and eighty-degree weather. We moved into our apartment at 3216 North Cornell Avenue, which Florida Hospital had reserved for us. It was spacious and clean.

Not wanting to waste any time, I began job hunting within a few days. Finances were tight after having spent four years at the university. There were student loans to pay, credit card payments to make, and Kyria’s expenses for church school. Carolyn and I had determined that our daughter would attend church school, no matter what. Also, there was the matter of the $250 tithe I had borrowed during our final year of school when our finances were extremely short. I have since tithed faithfully, but at that time, I had been unable to scrape up the $250 to repay the borrowed amount.¹

Lord, I promised, as soon as I get a job, I’ll take care of that tithe.

January slipped quickly into February and still no job. Not mentioning a specific amount, I turned to my sister for help in paying our daughter’s tuition and other pressing bills. She assured me she would send some money.

However, before the check came, I dreamed my sister sent me a check for $600. When the envelope arrived from her, I was surprised to see that it contained two checks: one for $20, a birthday gift, and another for $600. The exact amount I had seen in my dream. I believed it was God’s way of showing me that He had a plan for me.

From that time on, when I prayed to the Lord to help me find a job, I would look for an answer in my dreams. I prayed, waited, hoped and dreamed. But still no job. I had been out of work before, but within a month or two I had always found another job. Never had I been through an experience like this. Interviews came and went. Doors that had been opened were slammed shut. February dragged into March. Hope began to turn into despair. Still no job.

If I didn’t get a job by April, we would have to declare bankruptcy. It seemed as if the windows of heaven were closed to us. I promised the Lord again, as I had done so many times before, that I would take care of the tithe as soon as I got a job.

By June, I had figured out a way to stay afloat while paying our bills. I would take cash from the credit cards and pay them back along with a few other bills. I had good credit, and a lot of it. However, with that strategy, it wasn’t long before all my good credit was gone.

Longtime friends Carolyn and Eugene from Kansas visited us in Florida. I knew they were faithful tithe payers, and I felt I could share my problem with them. They seemed to understand my motives and intentions were on the right track, and they were a tremendous encouragement to us. But I was still left with bills and the borrowed tithe. Times got rough, and rough became worse.

I was embarrassed and discouraged to go grocery shopping. It had been months since I’d been able to contribute as much as a dime to our household expenses. For a man or a woman, this can be very depressing, but for an unemployed father with a wife and a daughter, it is very devastating.

The longer I was without a job, the more I was gripped with the gnawing fear that I might never have a permanent job again.

I remembered the weeks before we left Michigan; almost everyone my wife talked to about the move to Florida seemed to ask one question: Does your husband have a job yet?

Carolyn was supportive and understanding, but I knew she couldn’t wait forever. At the time, she was earning a graduate nurse’s wage until she took the Florida nursing board examination.

Our income covered about 52 percent of our expenses. At times, the cupboards were almost bare, our pockets were empty, and our stomachs wondered about the next meal. But the Lord saw us through; we never starved. One time He sent our neighbor and friend, Yvonne, with Rice-a-Roni for a meal.

Why don’t you try to find a temporary job? my wife suggested. How about Manpower or Kelly Services? Her words stung.

Kelly Services! A Kelly Girl? Oh no! What kind of position would that be for a person with my experience and training? As logical as that idea seemed to Carolyn, I felt insulted by the one person I wanted most to be proud of me.

Our daughter was still in church school with a monthly tuition bill. We determined that no matter what, she would stay there. We believed that to be the Lord’s plan. We were determined to do all that the Lord required of us. It seemed I was being pushed into a corner, but Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone.

Sometimes, we may feel as if we are caught between a rock and a hard place, but it is good to know that the Rock is Jesus, and the hard place is the Chief Cornerstone.² He is there not to crush us or crucify us, but to protect us from the evils that are more from within than from without. However, I swallowed my pride and went first to Manpower, and then to, well—Kelly Services.

On the application, I indicated I had a BS degree in accounting, but I didn’t mention having an MBA degree. Full disclosure wasn’t required, and I was glad. I had to take a test, including one to demonstrate my ability to use a calculator. All this was routine for them, but for me…. The sculpting tool of the Master Sculptor was working on me. I had been using a calculator for more than ten years, almost every day, but taking the test, I made an error.

Accountants rarely use the key C on the calculator to cancel. To me, that was amateurish, but I used it taking the test, thinking I was clearing an item. I cleared everything. The total was altered. I didn’t know until the examiner reviewed the test. It was very humbling, to say the least, but I passed. I was now in the temporary job market.

END NOTES

1. Malachi 3:10; Leviticus 27:30, 31.

2. Ephesians 2:20.

CHAPTER 2

WILL THEY EVER OPEN WIDE?

Working for a temporary service brought a variety of jobs. I remember one appointment very clearly at a soda factory. My job all day long was to pack loose frozen juice into the appropriate carton. The obscene language of the workers made the environment even more difficult. I tried to mingle and to be as polite as I could; however, I said to myself, I ain’t going back there tomorrow; I will keep my commitment for today, but that’s it.

August, 1983

I got a temporary office job as an accounting clerk for about six weeks. When my boss first saw me, he said in a very jovial and positive spirit, You are from Kelly Girl. I was expecting a girl! I smiled. No offense was intended. I swallowed it all and worked there for the duration expected.

Nevertheless, I realized this job would give me the opportunity to clear up the borrowed tithe. Initially, I decided that was what I would do. But by now, I had run out of financial strategies and couldn’t meet my obligations, especially the credit cards. They were all used up.

I began getting little reminders from Manufacturers Hanover Trust in New York. I prayed, Lord, as soon as I get a full-time, permanent job, I will take care of the tithe. The accounting clerk job came to an end. The earthly creditors were kept off my back, but I was waiting on the Heavenly Creditor, and He was waiting on me.

Another four-week