All Through Christ:Christ Through All

ALL THROUGH CHRIST:

CHRIST THROUGH ALL

Dr. Yvette Hickman, MD

Copyright © 2016 Dr. Yvette Hickman, MD.

Author Credits: Author of Fountain in the Valley; Board Certified Family Physician;Most Caring Doctor Award; Most Compassionate Doctor Award; City Doctor of the Year 2015; Student in the School of the Prophets;

You may contact the author at P.O. Box 3624, Bessemer, AL 35023 or www.doctorhickman.com

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.

Some names of persons and specific details mentioned in this book have been changed to protect privacy; any similarity between individuals are purely coincidental.

Scripture taken from the King James Bible unless specified.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New Life Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-5706-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5707-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5705-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016915326

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/20/2016

CONTENTS

Dedication

Poem    No Regrets

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 Unity through Christ

Chapter 2 Testimony through Christ

Chapter 3 Perfect Love through Christ

Chapter 4 A Future through Christ

Chapter 5 Grace through Christ

Chapter 6 Deliverance through Christ

Chapter 7 Completeness through Christ

Summary

Poem   Let Go and Let God

Works Cited

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my family. I thank the Lord for your understanding and patience as I fulfilled this assignment.

He is Alpha

NO REGRETS

Living, Dying

Loving, Crying

Laughing, Wishing

NO REGRETS

No expiration dates stamped

NO MAN KNOWS

No matter what they proclaim

All, educated guesses

Predictions, estimations

All the same

The Truth is

NO MAN KNOWS

The hour or time

Our lives are given by

And, Returned to the

GIVER OF LIFE

YES

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

Proclaims

A child is born

YES

A Savior was given

YES

RISEN

We ALL have a time to be born

AND

A life to live

Each one with so much to give

A lineage to leave

A season to sow

A season to reap

A legacy to keep

Leave all you can

So the next generation

Can STAND

Speak Life

Pursue Peace

And Love ALL

This side of

Heaven’s Walls

FOREWORD

This is Dr. Yvette Hickman’s second book and as the first it is penetrating and insightful. All through Christ: Christ through All is a holy blessing that will empower all Christians and direct those who are searching. This manuscript is not just for the up and up but also for the down and out. It encourages us to return back to the church as God’s initial plan. All through Christ: Christ through All does not emphasize denomination but a live relationship with Jesus Christ.

Dr. Hickman is a great physician and in her medical profession she enables physical healing. She also encourages spiritual healing through a right relationship with God. She utilizes her spiritual gifts of wisdom and knowledge to promote both physical and spiritual healing for the glory of God. She is a prolific communicator who has a Christ centered medical calling. Her foundation as an author is the Bible. Her source of power is her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Through insightful vision and articulation, All through Christ: Christ through All: emphasizes God’s forgiveness when we did not deserve it; shows God’s love as our power to serve; and encourages us in God’s enabling power to do All through Christ that strengthens us. God is using Dr. Hickman to bring together a coalition of all ethnicities because God is concerned about every person. God is empowering us to be His supernatural and divine representatives in a world that has gone strongly astray. We need God’s word to be our moral compass and His love. All through Christ: Christ through All encourages us to return back to God. In it Dr. Hickman also encourages communion with God and communication with each other. This phenomenal combination will take us as individuals as we read far beyond the tragedies of Minnesota, Louisiana and Dallas. You will be blessed as you read All through Christ: Christ through All as I was. Thank you Dr. Hickman for your spiritual words of wisdom and knowledge and helpful application for everyday living. I recommend this book with very high regards.

Dr. Barry Cosper

Bessemer Baptist Association Director of Missions

INTRODUCTION

I have been a Board Certified Family Physician for nearly two decades. During my span of practice, I have been privileged to assist with the transition of life into this world and on to the next. In delivery rooms, I have had the blessing of being the first person to see a family’s beautiful and new addition. I have also been honored to hold my patients’ weakened and feeble hands as they took their final breath.

One truth remains the same through life’s journey. Jesus is the Beginning and the End. He is Alpha and Omega. This is what All Through Christ: Christ through All is about. It is a journey through the good and bad times. It chronicles the last few years as seen through my eyes. Jesus is with us through it all. He was my New Beginning. He was the friend who stuck closer than a brother.

A palindrome is a word or group of words or numbers that reads the same backward or forward. The term is derived from the Greek term palin dromo which means running back again. The title of the book, All through Christ: Christ through All is a palindrome. This is significant because it symbolizes Christ’s faithfulness. Jesus is the Beginning and the End. Christ was here when the world was framed. He still holds the earth together today. He is the same. God never changes.

I as many of you have quoted Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Often we quote this scripture when we are feeling strong and powerful. We proclaim it when things are going our way. But, Jesus is the way, truth and the life. Whether the way you are currently traveling is smooth or rocky, He is still the way. All through Christ in the good times such as during the birth of a child. Christ through all even at the death of a loved one. God is God in the valley low and on the mountain high. The prophet of old Isaiah exclaimed, Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

Oftentimes we only need to look up and stop focusing on the problem. We just need to redirect our gaze to the problem solver. When we look to the hills which cometh our help then our vision and provision are no longer earth bound. Our Heavenly Father promises never to leave us nor forsake us. Jesus is our strength, our hope and our ever present help in our time of trouble. We can do all things through Him and He will be with us through it all. David beautifully recounted that he was once young but now he is old. He never saw the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread. Scripture says that we overcome by the Blood of the Lamb. Jesus is that Lamb. He is the Lamb of God. God in His glorious love gave His only Son to die in our stead. The wages of sin is death but Glory to God, Jesus paid this price with His Blood. God is love and He showed His perfect love through Jesus. All through Christ: Christ through All.

We can do all through Christ. This is a testimony of His goodness and faithfulness. I have experienced His grace and mercy as I attained a medical degree without student loans. I recall praying prior to each test Philippians 4:13 and asking Holy Spirit to give me recollection of the material. I boast only on my God and not on my academic success. My faith was bolstered each time I quoted His Word. I recited that I could do all things through Christ until I believed that I could do all things through Christ that strengthens me.

I found myself as a Christian, black woman, in the predominately white male- dominated field of medicine. The focus was oftentimes placed on science rather than on faith. If you could not see something then it did not exist. I still walked by faith and not by sight. I learned to lean and rely on Christ through all. He did not let me fall. Early in my journey, on my first interview for medical school, the physician attempted to downplay my 3.95 undergraduate GPA. He made disparaging comments about HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). The doctor who would one day be my colleague thumbed through my application and callously said, We all know that black colleges overinflate their GPAs. I would like to encourage the readers that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. What God has for you, it is for you. I repeat that I am now his colleague. I am his peer. There is no fear in Christ.

Interestingly while I was working on this portion of the book, the now deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made equally appalling comments. During his oral argument regarding affirmative action he referred to some colleges as less-advanced. He referred to certain universities as slower track schools. These comments were made decades later by two distinct individuals. In my opinion they shared the same heart. Scripture says that the issues of life flow from the heart.

Within the same week Presidential Candidate Donald Trump added the following initiative to his platform’s discriminatory rhetoric. He suggested banning the entrance of Muslims to the United States. Supreme Court Justice Scalia, Donald Trump and my colleague’s comments contained the same message of bigotry. President Obama cautioned Americans in a speech that commemorated the 150th anniversary of the 13th Amendment. As we recall the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. The first African-American President said, We betray the efforts of the past if we fail to push back against bigotry in all its forms. The emphasis of All through Christ: Christ through All is our victory in Christ. Do not allow yourself to become a victim of another’s perception of you. We can do all through Christ because He lives within us. He reigns so we reign.

The events around the world during the development of this book were tumultuous. I was led to begin an international internet based call in radio show, What up Doc?. Many of the topics for chapters in this book were inspired by feedback from the callers. Glory to God, Christ is still King of kings as we navigate the new world order.

I recall as a young doctor in training examining a belligerent patient, who attempted to kick me and called me a racial slur. I was trying to listen to her heart and breath sounds. Another incident is seared into my consciousness but praise God not engraved in my heart. An elderly woman proclaimed on her death bed that she would rather die than let a Black take care of her. Some things are matters of the heart. Decades may change but hearts may stay the same. Holy Spirit convicts and pricks but it is still our choice whether to change.

I was told that my previous book, Fountain in the Valley was a how-to- manual on GETTING out of the valley of life. I pray that All through Christ: Christ through All will be a how-to-manual on STAYING out of the valley. People graciously allowed me to share their testimonies of God’s healing power and deliverance. I candidly stated in the introduction of Fountain in the Valley that I was in a valley during most of the writing of that book. I did not divulge what or who was attempting to keep me in the valley. All through Christ: Christ through All includes my personal testimony of God’s faithfulness and mercy in my life. Racism, hatred and bigotry are valleys that try to hold the souls of God’s people captive. But, God is our sustainer and our deliverer. Isaiah 41:17-18 reads, When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water.

God is love and scripture describes Him as the Father of Lights. In God there is not even the shadow of turning. His light shines a light on areas of personal and systemic darkness. Light always dispels darkness. Darkness can no longer exist where light is present. Jesus is the light of the world and His light prevails. Through it all, which includes the good and the bad, we can do all through Christ. Christ is Our Light in darkness.

I was sharing a rhema word with a sister in Christ. I heard the words, as easy as 1, 2, 3. I saw in the spirit, a beautiful water fall and a home with red accents in the spirit. A rhema word is colloquially known as a right now word. It is an utterance inspired by Holy Spirit that deals with a specific situation. In contrast, logos is the written, infallible Word of God. We were praying regarding her job situation. After that rhema word was released she was offered an administrative position at an elementary school. She had previously been out of work and essentially homeless. True to the prophetic word her new job had a water fall in the lobby. Within two months she closed on a lovely brick home with red shutters. To God be the glory for the things He has done. When I shared the rhema words that I received with that faith-filled woman of God her response was consistent. She would say I believe God. The word, as easy as 1, 2, 3, indicated her new job educating our youth in their A, B, C’s and 1, 2, 3’s. It also spoke to my spirit as well. I was led to research the prophetic meanings of numbers. Each chapter number has spiritual significance in this book.

We are directed by God to walk by faith and not by sight. I pray that you are blessed by my walk of faith as I share my journey in All Through Christ: Christ through All.

CHAPTER 1

UNITY THROUGH CHRIST

UNITY THROUGH CHRIST

I Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Jesus is the beginning and the end. He is Alpha and Omega. Jesus is the one who was and is to come. He is the only begotten Son of God. In Him all things were created and in Him we move and have our being. Jesus existed before all and He holds all creation together. Our God is Ancient of Days. Jesus is the WAY, the truth and the life. That begs the question. Which WAY are you choosing to go? One of my favorite quotes is by my previous pastor, Bishop Jim Lowe. He often says, Life is choice driven and you live and you die by the choices you make. We are faced, moment by moment, with seemingly insignificant decisions. These choices in actuality can not only impact us but also may affect many others including generations to come.

No man is an island. No matter how independent and self-sufficient we want or claim to be we are interrelated and interdependent on