Before There's an After There Has to Be a Before

By Clarence J Dale

When we look at “before,” it is a word that we will experience at some point in our life. Why? I’m glad you asked. We all have had a before: “before I was this” or “before I was that.” Most importantly, you must or will have a period of time preceding. It may a date, event, or time in your before that prepares you for your after. In your before, it’s the preparation for but the anticipation of after that is birthed out of your before.

When a woman is pregnant, she experiences the trimesters. The first trimester is the first twelve weeks, where you may not look pregnant but the body is going through enormous changes. The second trimester is thirteen to twenty-seven weeks and is normally the most comfortable period of the pregnancy because most of the early symptoms will be over, though a few new symptoms will start, like heartburn and leg cramps. The third trimester is the twenty-eighth week through to the birthing of the baby, then the body goes back but to another level of change. She starts to really feel the weight of the baby she’s carrying. There will be more visits to the doctor to check blood pressure, test urine, listen to the fetal heart rate, and measure the fundal height and the length of the uterus. Finally, she reaches the full term, the water breaks, and the child comes forth.

Medical science says that when a woman is having a baby, she will have the most stress, tension, and pressure on her heart and body that a woman ever experiences through all the trimesters in the before leading up to the baby being born. After the baby is delivered, she is in the mother’s arms and care. The mother remembers the before, but the after makes it so joyful and happy to the point that she remembers the stage of trimesters and pain but only from a place of grace and gratitude because she went from the three trimesters to a new semester, a life of joy with her baby.

Remember again that your before is the very catalyst to your after.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781524534134

Clarence J Dale

Greetings in the matchless name of Jesus Christ! Clarence J. Dale is the senior pastor of Burning Bush Christian Church and is the CEO of C. J. Dale Ministries Inc. He has a passion for all people no matter what color, status, or title. He believes if they have a soul, we must witness to them about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, so that no one would perish. He is a loving father to his beautiful children, whom he loves dearly. He is a former athlete of many years of playing football on a scholarship at Fayetteville State University (Broncos) because of God’s blessing with the ability to play football. God has blessed him to be a mentor and to minister to many athletes from middle school, high school, collegiate, and professional. Pastor Dale is the author of “Deep Rooted, and Can’t Be Moved” and other books. He is also part of the TBN family with Paul and Jane Crouch. He is a well-educated man, but that does not make him. His goal is to continue to remain humble and that God be exalted. Last but not least, his Motto is “Saving the world one person at a time” (Romans 10:9–10)! King Jesus will reign forever.

Book preview

BEFORE THERE’S AN

After

THERE HAS TO BE A

Before

CLARENCE J DALE

Copyright © 2019 by Clarence J Dale.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/12/2019

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Midnight

2 Stand

3 Fourth Man

4 Praise Will Stop The Plague

5 The Chief Meteorologist

6 Former Versus Latter

7 It’s Been a Long Night

8 God Trusted You With Trouble

9 It was Formed, But It Didn’t Prosper

10 Your Season

I first

dedicate this book to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is my everything. Through all of my ups and downs, my trials and the test of my faith. God, you have always been there for me. Before I was formed in my mother womb, You knew me before I was conceived, (Jer. 1:5, KJV). To the late Dr. Lynet A. Dale, I honor and dedicate this book to you baby, my beautiful black Kenya princess, my perfect rib for God and me. You truly helped to redefine me in every essence of being a father, man, friend, author, and a Christian man. I miss and love you very much, but some day we will see each other again, this time it will be eternally. To my precious mother, who is almost ninety years old, thanks for all the love and the positive up bringing you gave us, and for not sparing the rod when we needed it. Mom, last but not least, thanks for making us attend church on a regular basis, God answered prayers, in Jesus Christ. To my Children, and my siblings. Love and God bless in Jesus Christ!!!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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First giving all the glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!!

I would like to give honor to my beautiful rib, the late Dr. Lynet Akajo Dale. My life and our lives have literally been changed by your passing. I miss your beautiful smile, your beautiful skin, your beautiful anointing of God. You defined what a wife is and was, you showed me what it was like to love, trust, and be obedient and devoted again. I sill cry some time when I look around, and turn over at night and your physical presence is not here. I understand as a Christian all my hope and trust is in my Lord and Savior Jesus, and I know one day we will be back together forever. I would like to acknowledge my beautiful children, you have been awesome children, and most importantly great Christians. You all have not forgotten your first love Jesus Christ. Just continue to stay with God Almighty. To the honorable Dr. Brenda Timberlake, my spiritual Mom, you have been there for me through the many phases of my life. You wisdom and Godly love for my family has been unconditional and genuine. Dr. Wanda Davis, over the years you have been an amazing Godly woman that has helped define my walk in Jesus Christ, and has always spoken purpose in my life. To the late Actor Tommy Ford (Martin Lawrence Show). Love and miss you big bro. you did so much for the youth of this 21st. century. You were such a great guy, role model, father, and actor... To the late Bishop Eddie Long, Dr. Ronald Morrison, Pastor Eddie Wright, Duane Townes, Bishop Mack Timberlake, and Pastor Ronald Davis rest well.

INTRODUCTION

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Before There’s an After There has to be a Before

To get a clear understanding of before and after, we nust first define these words.

The word before is defined as earlier, beforehand, once, formerly, and heretofore; while after is defined as back, rear, posterior, later, and afterward.

Often when I look over my life, it is sometime mind boggling, because people and even some Christians some time tend to see great Spiritual Leaders, CEO’s, and People of many different occupations. When they see us or other great people of influence walking heavy in their season. Some people have the nerve to become jealous of the fact, that, the person, or ministry, or business is being really blessed. Let me help you out. Before you judge a book by the cover, you might want to read at least one chapter or the whole book first because you might miss out on the most powerful blessing you have ever received. In other words, if some knew what I and others have been through, it would shake their perfect foundation. I realize now more than ever that it is and has been my before that has landed me in my after. It was my before that has helped me trust God. It has been when all the odds were against me when I realized how much he loves me. In my Before, when I could smell the aroma of hell from the hell hounds that was trying to encompass me and my family. I was still in my Before, but not in my Before. I was able to look back into my before to draw strength to energize me to get to my after. Last but certainly not least, you may be in your before and the flood gates of hell has broken completely. You may be saying, Lord, why me? But say, Lord, why not me? In other words, get excited about pain, trials, storms, or whatever it is, and know that no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper. Your greatest after is yet before you. Without a before, there’s no after. Now sit back and buckle up in Jesus Christ and prepare yourself for a life-changing experience. After reading this book, you will not settle for anything less. You will know that your before was and is just a setup to your after. Buckle up and let’s take the ride of your life!

—Clarence J. Dale

ONE

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Midnight

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s hands were loosed.

And the keeper of the prison awaking out of sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

And brought them out, and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thou house.

And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

—Acts 16:25–32 (KJV)

Let’s look at the word midnight. When we think of the word midnight, it is sometimes, if not most of the time, affiliated with something negative, bad, or scary. As a child, we were always afraid of the dark or nighttime. The word mid is defined as central, center, medial, or median. The word night is defined as nocturnal, nightly, nighttime. Please understand that midnight is the end of one thing and the beginning of something else. In other words, whatever happened before midnight is over, done with, history, the past. After midnight, it’s the start of something new—a new blessing, a new beginning, a new way of living, a new way of thinking, a new way of praising. Then it’s twelve o’one. Let’s look at some midnight experiences from a before and after angle.

Here, we find two of God’s mighty men, Paul and Silas, imprisoned in a Philippian jail. They find themselves in a midnight crisis. What caused Paul and Silas to get into this type of predicament? Believe it or not, the answer is very simple. Paul and Silas were in the midst of a midnight experience. The midnight experiences started because of their faith and boldness in