Death Step: I Died at 7:42 A.M.

By Professor Felicia Richardson

In Death Step, author Felicia Richardson addresses questions and topics for which many people have sought answers and spent a lifetime seeking explanations. She explores solutions to these ageless questions through chapters titled: Can I trust God?; Where am I?; Is my will really important?; Can we do it our way?; and Will God change his will?

Richardson presents a commentary on scripture and the Bible and offers a common-sense approach to its interpretation, drawing conclusions applicable to everyday life. In this thought-provoking journey, Richardson shares her ideas and experiences to challenge others to move into further study. Geared toward both Christians and non-Christians, she brings to the forefront proven truths and the need for individual and personal relationships with ones creator and respect for his plan and will.

Death Step shares Richardsons personal realization of the significance of yielding the human will to Gods will. She speaks of first seeking Gods will and then following his plan for ones life and taking the death step.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532027772

Professor Felicia Richardson

Felicia Richardson was born at Charity Hospital of New Orleans and suffered from sickle cell anemia as a child. She was baptized at the Mount Everest Baptist Church, after accepting Christ as her personal savior. Richardson teaches Sunday school.

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Copyright © 2017 Professor Felicia Richardson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-2778-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-2777-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910700

iUniverse rev. date: 08/30/2017

CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1    Can I Trust God?

Chapter 2    Where Am I?

Chapter 3    Is My Will Really Important?

Chapter 4    Can We Do It Our Way?

Chapter 5    Will God Change His Will?

Chapter 6    But I Can’t

Chapter 7    Thy Will Be Done

Chapter 8    Gethsemane

Chapter 9    Laconic

About the Author

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FOREWORD

Death Step: You Must Surrender Your Will, by Professor Felicia A. Richardson, addresses questions and topics for which many people have sought answers and spent lifetimes exploring solutions. She explores solutions to ageless questions through chapters titled Can I Trust God? Where Am I? Is My Will Really Important? Can We Do It Our Way? and Will God Change His Will? Through this journey, she leads readers through scripture and draws conclusions that seek to connect reasonable applications to life.

She evokes thoughts about questions like, Is my will really important? Can we live life according to our perspectives, and Will God change his will to accommodate our everyday experiences? In this thought-provoking adventure, Richardson shares her ideas and experiences to challenge others to move into further study of the profound, ageless quest for understanding.

The book is written for Christians and non-Christians to provoke thought that will lead to peace and less struggle in meeting the challenges faced in life. She directs readers to study scriptures and to reflect on firsthand experiences and human development. She brings to the forefront proven truths and the need for an individual, personal relationship with one’s Creator and respect for his plan and will for our lives. She shares her personal realization of the significance of yielding our will to God’s will.

She speaks of first seeking God’s will and then following his plan for life. She shares information and explanations of the scriptures obtained though her experiences of living, observing, and studying the Word while teaching others. Bible readers quickly learn that humankind was given the right to choose, to make decisions that could affect the remainder of their lives. Some decisions affect our lives more profoundly than others. This book encourages readers to avoid reluctance to surrender their wills and take the death step.

Sister Rosalie Simmons

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With special thanks

to my grandmother,

Mrs. Lovie L. Richardson,

for bringing me to church

and making me stay there.

**************

To my pastor,

Dr. Norman N. Francis,

for allowing me to serve you for twenty-three years and see what God can really do.

*********************

To my entire St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church family, especially my Sunday school department, love ya.

*********************

To my daddy Norman, thank you for always being there when I needed you.

**********************

To my special friends

Brother Elmo Muse,

Sister Jocelyn Nevis,

Sister Joyce Brown, and

Brother Jack Bell,

Shiloh B. C., Gretna

Brother Clarence Carter, Shiloh, B. C., Westwego

Brother Anthony McPherson, Little Zion, B. C., Marrero

The Westside Missionary Baptist Association Deaconess Ministry

The West New Orleans Missionary Baptist and Educational Association Choir and Deaconess Auxiliary

Sister Mary Wood of the St. Paul Baptist Church

I SURRENDER ALL

ALL TO JESUS I SURRENDER;

ALL TO HIM I FREELY GIVE.

I WILL EVER LOVE AND TRUST HIM, AND

IN HIS PRESENCE, DAILY LIVE.

ALL TO THEE, MY BLESSED SAVIOR.

I SURRENDER ALL.

FILL ME WITH THY LOVE AND POWER.

TRULY KNOW THAT THOU ART MINE.

Chapter 1

Can I Trust God?

Introduce me to trust. What is it? Well, in this chapter we examine some parts of the life of Job. But for now, I want to continue with trust. For us to completely surrender to God, we must trust that he knows what is best for us. You know, we think we know what is best for us. The Bible even states that there is a way that seems right to people, but the end is death. Well, I don’t want to wait until the end to find out that I was wrong all the time. We need to think, If I am doing it wrong, please tell me, God.

Do you realize some of us do not really trust him because we don’t know how to? Or because we really don’t want to. You know you’ve never been to heaven—not yet, anyway—so how do you know it’s true when Jesus states that he went away to prepare a place for you? When we are subject to total surrender in God, our faith becomes the motivation to trust him, and we put forth total trust in him.

Job had to trust God when he didn’t recognize the trial he was experiencing was part of God’s plan for him. After all, it was God who asked Satan if he considered his servant Job. So I ask, can you be considered by God? We will all face many trials and tests. But the key to it all is knowing we can really trust God. Our lives depend on the fact God is in control of our lives; is that the general idea? No! We think God is