I Set Before You Life and Death Blessings and Cursings: Stories of God's Mercy Miracles and Blessings for Today

By Ronald Hoodenpyle

I SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS

Within the Holy Scriptures of the Bible, you have no choice but to answer this question. No matter where you are at in your journey of life, this is the most important decision you will ever make. May you choose wisely and carefully.

It matters not if you are rich or poor, educated or not; you are someone that is so special to the God who created the heavens and the earth that he provided you with his precious and only sacrifice that he will accept, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As you journey with me through these pages and follow God's road map, you will see how the hand of God wants to deliver you from the many idols and distractions in life that send us down the wrong paths.

In my pilgrimage, the Lord God has delivered me from a gang-infested neighborhood, a life-threatening disease, like cancer from asbestos, and has allowed me to see many miracles take place in my life. How he protected my family from a major drug ring that put a contract on us when they said, "Let's see if his God can protect him." Or has God given you a vision and assured you by his voice that you will not be tried, tested, or tempted any more than you can withstand, for the Lord your God shall make a way of escape for you"? Have you seen the Lord raise your wife or loved one from a brain aneurysm and was no longer breathing and did not have a heartbeat? He is no respecter of persons. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

As an ordinary man that has not been to college and does not have a degree or training in pastoral education but have been touched by the hand of the living God, "Woe is me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty" (Isaiah 6:5). The Lord is looking for a man or woman that is available to his call. May that be you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781640795365

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I Set Before You Life and Death Blessings and Cursings

Stories of God's Mercy Miracles and Blessings for Today

Ronald Hoodenpyle

ISBN 978-1-64079-535-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64079-536-5 (Digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Ronald Hoodenpyle

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

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

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that i have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.

—Deuteronomy 30:19

Acknowledgments

Writing this book was very humbling as I looked back down the corridor of time and realize that my pilgrimage through life was a fast and fleeting journey that is leading to a pathway to eternal life. This book is dedicated to the glory of the Creator of the Universe, whose name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of my faith.

This book would not have been possible without the backing and faithful support of my wife, Darla, the love of my life, these past sixty years of marriage, and to my wonderful children, Ronald Jr, Brenda, Michelle, and my youngest son, Matthew.

I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to Christian Faith Publishing and their excellent staff for their contributions in making this book a reality.

My prayer is that the Lord God and Creator will bless you and reveal his divine plan that he has especially designed for you, for The Lord’s scriptures are priceless and precious nuggets of truth that will give you strength and a new understanding that will minister to your spiritual and personal walk with the Lord.

May reading this book bring joy and the realization into your life that you are special, and God wants to have a special and unique walk with you.

Introduction

I Set Before You Life and Death

Blessings and Cursings

Dear Reader,

Why would the God of the heavens and the earth even bother to reveal himself to some ten-year-old child growing up in city of Los Angeles, California? One evening, as I was walking home on a busy street corner of Broadway and Lincoln Park Avenue, I became aware that something was taking place that was extremely unusual that particular night. As I stopped and began to glance around, I looked up and focused on the clear dark sky and observed the brilliance of the stars and the firmaments that appeared crystal clear and the beauty that captivated my attention was breathtaking.

Before that evening, I have never seen anything like that before. It was a moment that held me completely spell bound as I was staring at this spectacular view of the heavens. I said out loud, Surely there is a God, and one day, I would like to get to know you. Not realizing at that time that the very God who has created everything had revealed himself to me that night. There was no mention of God in our house or any conversation regarding spirituality.

In our neighborhood, there were many challenges growing up where many gangs were operating and had a strong presence. This book shows how our Lord wants to walks with us through life’s journeys no matter where we live or who we are. He will surely manifest himself to you if we have the desire to draw near to him and have a closer walk with the Lord God All Mighty. Knowing and believing that the Lord will use any of us if we will be available and accept his word and put our trust in him. 

In my journey through life, the Lord has blessed me by allowing an ordinary man to hear his voice as the sound of many waters. During that particular vision, I was going through a very serious problem in my life in the business world. His voice was so powerful, and it seemed to vibrate like in a cave. He said to me, You shall not be tried or tested any more than you can withstand, for the Lord your God shall make away of escape for you. That was an experience that will never leave me questioning his presence in my life. In my life’s journey, I have been blessed to experience divine healings and deliverance from lung cancer from the many years of being exposed to asbestos. My wife and I were invited to a meeting at CBN Ministry in Virginia Beach, Virginia. While were at the meeting one morning, Brother Pat Robertson had a word from the Lord, and I was instantly healed when he said be healed in the name of Jesus. How can you not serve a God who cares about you individually?

The Lord has allowed me to see many miracles, visions, and many answers of prayer. It was a tremendous move of the Lord when he intervened with his mercy upon my wife when she had a severe grand mal seizure from a brain aneurism and was raised back to life after she was without a heartbeat for some time. His mercy endures forever.

Our faith and trust in the Lord is unshakable when you see the Lord intervene in your life when you our facing many challenges that seem to be beyond your ability to handle. We have been blessed by seeing the Lord’s protection over our family when a major drug ring put a contract on our family. We had learned to trust the Lord’s protection by claiming the promises of God’s Word through the many Psalms, and especially Psalms 91. I believe you should invoke this blessing over you and your love ones each and every day in prayer. I knew the battle was the Lord’s when the drug ring had a meeting and stated these words, Let’s see if his God can protect him. Then they began to laugh. How foolish for anyone to say that the Lord cannot protect his children in times of trouble or danger. Does he not say that he is our refuge and fortress, our high tower and no evil will befall you, and he will give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all thy ways? In all my trials and journeys, I can say the Lord has never let me down. He has blessed me by allowing me to see ministering angels and also the demons that lurk behind the vail of darkness. It is such a blessing to know that our lives are in the hands of a compassionate and loving God that holds us in the palm of his hand.

My friend, as you read this book, my prayer and desire for you is to ponder over these many stories and events that took place in my life, so that you may see the hand of God in your life. May the Lord give you an unquenchable thirst for the reading of his word, the Bible. My prayer for you is to surrender to his call by the Holy Spirit and call upon the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. And may you know the joy of being a child of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, whose name is Jesus Christ, the Savior.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: This is a notification that some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. If there is any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. In the order to maintain their anonymity in some instances, I have changed the names of the individuals, places, locations, and the states.

CHAPTER 1

The Heavens Declare His Glory

The evening was coming to an end, from a day down at the Los Angeles Times Boys Club. The walk home was a pleasant evening for even a young boy of ten years old living just a few miles from the busy Civic Center of Los Angeles, California. My memory of what took place as I was approaching the corner of Broadway and Lincoln Park Avenue that night was an unexpected and astonishing chapter in my life. Broadway is one of the main streets that run through the heart of the city of Los Angeles. It was an older neighborhood with buildings and apartments and older homes.

The old Nine Red Trolley Line passed on its daily journey through the area, carrying many passengers from downtown. But that night as I was on my way home, there seemed to be an unexpected silence that stopped me from proceeding home that evening.

As I was standing there on that street corner, my eyes raised and focused on the clear dark sky that night, and the brilliance of the stars was crystal clear, and the beauty of what was before me was breathtaking. It was a moment that held me spellbound and captivated by staring at this panoramic view of the heavens.

This was the first time that I had experienced this incident, and I said out loud, Surely there has to be a God, and one day I would like to get to know you. After making that statement, I proceeded to walk on home without saying anything of what I had experienced that night. Never realizing that this was the first time I recognized the existence of the God, who created the heavens and the earth. This was quite unusual as my family was not involved in any church or religious teaching and God was never mentioned in our house.

My family never went to church or had any discussions of the Bible or the existence of a living God. To be surrounded by a concrete and asphalt jungle with all the distraction that took place in every day’s events was astonishing that this amazing event caught my attention that particular night.

It is recorded in Psalms 33:6, By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth (KJV), not realizing at the time that the Lord God of heaven had revealed himself by his master design of his creation to every nation, tongue and kindred and by doing so, he has left us without excuse when we behold the view of his firmaments he set in the heavenly recorded in Romans 1: 18-20. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine­­ - nature­ has been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so people are without excuse (NIV).

Throughout Gods Word, he reveals his handiworks of his creation to all mankind of his glory, righteousness and his majesty that we would believe. And in Psalms 97:6, The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory (NIV). It is no accident that the Lord has said that it takes the faith of a child to enter into the kingdom of God.

His creation stands as a monument that beckons us each and every day of our journey through this life. If you are not serving the God who has claimed to create all of this, then choose who you will serve this day.

In the book of Nehemiah 9:6, Thou, even thou art LORD alone, thou has made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee (KJV). This precious gift of eternal life is through the Lamb of God, our Savior Jesus Christ, the God who created the heavens and the earth. See John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God from the beginning. 3 through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (NIV). And the scriptures declare in John 1: 14-15 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.(KJV). He is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, our Redeemer, and the Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet it is so easy to miss the most important things in our lives, not only for us but for our own families as well. In over six hundred years before Christ, the Prophet declared in Isaiah 43:10, You are my Witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior (NIV).

The Prophet was inspired to declare the word of the Lord: Isaiah 44:24, This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb; I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself (NIV).

When you look at all the religions in this world and all the cults that say they are the only religion or the only way, if you follow their teachings or their new books that are written in the last two hundred years or less. Be careful, search and make sure; not all roads lead to eternal life. Don’t trust in traditions, family background, or old church affiliations. See I John 4:1–3, Dear friend, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledges Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world (NIV).

One of the strongest warnings to false teachings is found in Revelation 22:18–19, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book (NIV). I would rather you be upset with what you have just read than trust that you are not prepared to meet your Creator.

The Lord has gone to great lengths to warn us of false teachings. See Galatians 1:8, But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (NIV). Even God’s chosen people, the Jews, rebelled against his words in the Old Testament and later in the New Testament. The leaders of the Jews were the Priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees who were more interested in following the traditions of men than to bow their knees down to the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER 2

He Prepares You For Life’s Journey

Why would the God of the universes even bother to reveal himself to some child growing up in Los Angeles, California? Or down through the ages God has called even the most unlikely children and adults to be a part of his divine plan for all generations. It may be for a brief moment or a bigger role in bringing in his kingdom. But the Lord said even unto his disciples in Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (NIV).

The older we get, the more we become set in our ways, and the harder it becomes to surrender to the call of the Holy Spirit, because we have allowed our hearts to become calloused and hardened to the things of God.

One research group called Barna Research has found that 43 percent, or nearly half, of all American who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior do so by the age of thirteen. And 64 percent, that is two out of three, born-again Christians accepted Jesus Christ as their savior before their eighteenth birthday. And 13 percent after that, it becomes harder; one out of eight born-again people made their profession of faith while at the age of eighteen to twenty-one years old. This makes it difficult to bow our knees to the Savior and allowing him to come into our lives and rule and reign, as we want to take control and do it our way and ignoring the gift of seeking the Lord and his mercy.

My mother and father raised me, my two brothers Barnett Junior and Herbert, and my sister, Bernice. My father was