THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

THE WORD OF GOD STANDS ON ITS OWN

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Joy Butler Kimbrell

THE LIFE STORY OF GENE KIMBRELL OUR BROTHER OUR PASTOR OUR FRIEND

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INTRODUCTION

Gene Kimbrell was a man filled with incredible love and peace.

He loved truth and sought out the truth in every situation.

He loved the Word of God because it is all truth.

He never waivered from the truth.

He lived his life in this truth, even if he didn’t always understand it.

If he didn't understand something he read, he went to the Lord and asked

Him to give him wisdom and insight.

He would seek the true meaning of the Scriptures until he found it. When it

became a part of him, he shared it with everyone who would listen.

The Word of God spoke to Gene Kimbrell in profound ways.

He was a pastor and teacher who spoke only God’s Word whenever he

preached.

He often said that God had told him to “preach my Word only. It will stand

on its own.”

He was a man of stature who stood tall and stood strong for the Word of

God and for his fellow man.

Gene Kimbrell was a mighty man of God and today is still commanding the

angels in our behalf.

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CHAPTER ONE

“ THE LIST ”

God changed many of us and our paradigms in 1997. It was a time

of rebirth for a lot of Christians, even though we thought we had

known all about God and His ways since our early years of Sunday

School lessons.

My best girlfriend, Zella and I were among those in 1997 who experienced the love of

God first hand. He came into our lives with such magnitude and shattered most of our

life-long beliefs in what we had been taught as children in church. Relying on the Holy

Spirit to lead, guide, and direct us totally, we came into a Spiritual knowing of the truths

of God in such a way that it could only have been the Holy Spirit teaching it to us.

It was New Year’s Eve 1997. Zella and I would spend it together in her little tin can of a

trailer house. Christmas had come and gone. Our sons were away for the holidays leav-

ing us with a free night and a day of no work tomorrow.

Zella and I had only known each other for about a year, but it hadn't taken us long to dis-

cover our spirits were one and the same. Zella was my Sissy and I was hers. We were

true sisters in every sense of the word. In fact, we soon came to the realization that we

had led parallel lives. She was 4 years older than I and had walked the same paths as I

had walked, but always just a few years ahead of me.

We both had been victims in tumultuous marriages. She had two sons by one marriage

and I had three sons by one marriage. Our sons were almost the same ages and two of

them looked and acted so much alike they could be twins. We learned that we had lived

and worked in the same cities as each other since in our mid-twenties, but had never

crossed paths. Zella had always been two or three years ahead of me in being at any giv-

en place in time.

Before we met, life and time went along and our children were growing older. I was di-

vorced and on my own, raising my boys and going to school, and working outside the

home. I had found work in the big city and drove there to work every day from the coun-

try. Zella had remarried and quit work moving her boys from the big city to the country

close to where I lived. She and I at that point in time lived within a few miles of each

other, but didn't know it until years later.

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She had married one of my family’s childhood neighbors, who was a good friend to my

brother. Most of us in rural Oklahoma who had graduated high school there still lived

close to our parents and were raising our children much like we were raised. We worked

hard, went to church with the family on Sundays, and gathered at our Mama’s house for

Sunday dinner and football after church.

The most astounding facts are that Zella’s and my children knew each other and had even

played together at my house. I had no idea who their mother was and she had a vague

idea of who I was, but their step grandparents were my good neighbors. I had not yet

met their mother, who later was to become my “Sissy.” Even more astounding was the

fact that my mother, who was a nurse, knew and treated Zella and they were friends long

before I met her.

We also came to realize God had ordered my and Zella’s steps and had predestined us to

meet before we were even born. God in His infinite wisdom and purpose designed Zella

and me to be perfectly and wonderfully alike but different. She had beautiful long blonde

hair and blue eyes. She loved nature and running barefoot and free. I am red headed

with green eyes and all about business. Being raised in the country I too love nature and

life and enjoy God’s blessings to the fullest. During our lives, both our hearts were being

purified by fire and refined into gold by God. We were the same.

After a few years, Zella left country living with her sons and husband and moved back to

the big city. She was gifted with the kindest heart and a healing touch and soon became a

massage and nutrition therapist. She had an exclusive office at a prominent spa in the

big city. I worked in the big city too as an executive coordinator for a worldwide energy

corporation.

When we finally did meet after all those years of living parallel lives, God did a miracu-

lous thing. It was as if we had come from the same Father, and we had. It was as if we

had the same spirit dwelling inside us, and we did. Our spirits had been tried in the fires

of life by the same Holy Spirit, and had been found true to our God. It was a time of reve-

lation after revelation after revelation for us in God’s Word.

Truly purified in the fires of life means to become hand-made treasures of gold in God’s

Kingdom. We had confirmation after confirmation that we were treasured by our Lord

Jesus Christ. We were coming into the realization that He really did mean what He said

when He told us that we could ask for anything and we would receive it.

We knew without a doubt that we had been transformed and were fearfully and wonder-

fully made for the purpose to love, to worship, and to serve God. In fact, King David’s

Psalm 139 became one of our favorite scriptures.

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PSALM 139

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD.

You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go to escape Your Spirit?

Where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea, even there Your hand will guide me;

Your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me”— even the darkness is not

dark to You, but the night shines like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well.

My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the

earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of

them came to be.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God, how vast is their sum!

If I were to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; and when I awake, I am still with You.

O God, that You would slay the wicked — away from me, you bloodthirsty men— who speak of You deceitfully;

Your enemies take Your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?

I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them as my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.

BEREAN BIBLE TRANSLATION

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Zella and I loved each other as much as any true sisters could. But with us, it was

more than love. We were molded and shaped by the hand of Almighty God to

have the same spirit from before time began. Even more magnificent than this, we

both loved and trusted our Jesus because we knew Him. We loved Him as favored

daughters of the Most High God, daughters of His choosing, and sisters together

in Christ. We both knew Him in separate and individually perfect ways. We

called Him Lord for a reason. We were totally committed in belonging to Him.

He alone had saved us from total darkness and destruction and even from death

many times. He had a purpose in mind for us before He made us. We realized

much later that Jesus Himself was walking with us down the paths He had de-

signed expressly for us. He protected us and allowed us to have anything we asked

for, even if it wasn’t always good for us. But in His infinite wisdom, those things

good and bad, were all used for our good and brought us even closer to Him.

Jesus loved us this we knew, and He provided all our needs and wants so that we

would fully come to know and lean on Him. God is an All-knowing Father. He al-

lows us to run our own race and make our own choices, all the while guiding us

down the righteous paths He has prepared for us. We are always amazed at His

goodness and mercy. We now understand it as His Grace. Without it we would be

helplessly lost.

My Sissy and I tried to have at least a Saturday or most of a day together every

other week. This particular holiday came on a Wednesday and we had our day to

just be. These times together we spent in sharing revelations of what the Holy

Spirit was teaching us. It was also our time together to be with the Lord in prayer

and worship. Often the Holy Spirit had created dreams and visions within us to

share and confirm truths to ourselves and for each other.

We marveled at how we would both have the same dreams, visions and under-

standings of the Scriptures. Neither one of us had been even remotely taught such

things by anyone else, but it was like we were merely being reminded of what we

already knew. Having these shared teachings of wisdom confirmed by such pow-

erful examples of supernatural encounters proved to us it had to be God.

Today, I realize God was teaching us His perfect love in His way, by allowing us to

be together with Him in His moment. In those times for us, time was nothing and

time stood still.

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These times with my Sissy were golden nuggets of pureness in a world filled with

cruelty, of which neither one of us had been created for.

She talked and I listened. She gave advice and I took it to heart. After all, I had nev-

er had a big sister and she was my “Sissy.” I adored my Zella. It was such a surreal

change for me to be the pampered one. I relished in the realization that I would al-

ways be Zella’s little Sissy. I believed our perfect-sister relationship would last forev-

er. She adored me too and loved me so much. Never ever did she let me forget it.

She also cooked and I ate!! Zella constantly studied good nutrition and the im-

portance of feeding your body, mind, and soul as one unit. She had declared a com-

mandment of her own over me. I was to decompress and rest as much as possible,

at least when we were together. I was juggling three jobs, three kids, and law school,

therefore, I gladly obeyed.

She now found herself divorced once again and had lived through a horrific car acci-

dent that should have killed her. She was taking her time getting it all put back to-

gether and was doing a great job with the help of our Lord. She had been through so

much physically and mentally these past few years, and Zella knew that our Jesus

would give us wisdom to conquer our past. He is the only Way she would ever be

healthy and strong again. She was determined to do her part, and was just as much

determined to take me along with her. I will be forever grateful.

God makes us in His image and purposes us to choose for ourselves what is right or

wrong. To love Him with all our bodies, minds, and souls is a choice. Zella and I

chose to love Jesus and each other truly and to truly love others. He gave us His

eyes to see each other as He sees us, and to see the world and everything in it with

divine discernment.

Zella and I knew we were favored daughters of God Almighty, the Most High God.

In this the Kingdom of Life, we were blessed and happy. Still, something was miss-

ing...

My Sissy and I were ready for the New Year. We desperately wanted a new year and

to say ‘Good-Bye’ totally to the old one. A fresh new start and living the abundant

life God had prepared for us was heavily in our prayers. We were in discussion and

in prayer that evening, when Zella suddenly spoke up and said, “I really want God to

send someone for me to share my life with. I’m tired of always ending up with the

wrong guy. I want a Godly man, who loves Jesus as much as I do.”

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I looked at her sternly and said, “Well, let’s make a list! You know, before you can ask

God for something, you must know exactly what you want. So, let’s be sure this time

we get it right.” We got excited! We were even giddy when I found a piece of paper

and a pen. “O.K. I’m ready,” I started writing.

“First, he must be a mighty man of God. I won’t settle for anything less anymore,”

Zella was emphatic and said it with a determined and furrowed brow. Her blue eyes

flashed when she continued, “Blonde hair, semi-blond, a little brownish will be O.K.”

“And tall, we want tall, and slender build with muscles…very handsome” I said.

“Yes!” said Sissy. “Handsome, as long as we’re asking God. This man can be perfect.

And blue eyes, crystal blue like the sea. Blue eyes are pure and reflect the soul.”

“Definitely,” I chimed in still writing furiously. “But, you know a little green-blue is re-

ally more like the ocean. We want a little fire in there. Right?”

“Oh, yes. A little green but more blue. That will be good. And, healthy...we want sexy

…and lots of vitality!”

“Most definitely!” I gave her ‘the nod and the look’ and kept on writing.

“He must be a hard worker, skilled and handy! What do you think? Aren’t we tired of

doing everything ourselves?” I said, asking with sincerity.

“Well, I guess so,” my Sissy said contemplating this carefully. With a sly but coyishly

defiant smile she said, “I don’t mind handy work. I’ve found I can usually do it better

than any man and have more skills than most of them... But, yes, we’ll have it!”

I quickly wrote it down.

“And, not stingy with his money!” She and I both had to pipe up. “We want him to be

generous, to a fault!”

“Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to ask for anything. Just think it and it would be

there. Like Jesus provides for us.”

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Zella gave me a side-ways glance like, ‘dream on, Sister’. We both laughed at each

other hysterically, even more so at the thought of any man actually thinking he could

take care of us. Humph! We were both so independent. We had to be.

Through bad choices in the men we married, we had been forced into making our own

money, taking care of our own kids, our own cars, repairing our own plumbing and

lawn mowers, and usually ended up taking care of the men. But, we were making

“THE LIST” for our perfect man.

We then laid all four of our hands on the list and each said a prayer over it. I don’t re-

member the prayers, but I do remember we prayed for a while out loud and silently.

We thanked God for His mercy and His grace and for loving us. That New Year’s Eve

night, we presented before God in the Throne Room of Heaven “THE LIST.”

Something super natural happened to us that night. We felt it in our core being. Our

eyes and our skin shone brighter. Our bones came alive. Our hearts felt pure for the

first time. We would never be the same.

I must dare to believe that most people rarely ever find what Zella and I experienced

together. Not just in the New Year’s Eve night when we made our list, but it was in

the deep and treasured oneness of the Spirit of God that melded us together in the

days to come. It was His Spirit of unconditional love that gave us the grace to over-

look any fault the other one might have and replace it with complete love and under-

standing.

We could be miles apart or in the same room and we knew what was in each other’s

heart. We would sometimes put our foreheads together and not say a word, but the

knowing was there.

At night when I would be crying out to God to help me find answers, in my loneliness

and solitude I would call out her name. She always heard me and prayed for me. She

would call me the next day. All would be well.

I would pick out a gift for her not knowing she had already picked out the same thing

for me. Time and time again, we prayed together and proved God’s power in our re-

lationship. We proved the Matthew 18 scripture that says, “Again, I tell you truly that

if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by

my Father in heaven.”

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I have looked back many times at our profound innocence in the making of “The

List.” This I know, the Holy Spirit was once again teaching us in His own way. It

was in the making of this list where we learned the extent of the power in our asking,

in our believing, and in our receiving.

In our simplicity of writing down the things we wanted, we brought our faith into re-

ality. We brought our thoughts of the Heavenly realm and placed them onto the pa-

per of the Earthly realm. Our realm of understanding became one with the realm of

creating. The Holy Spirit showed us a way to prove God and His Word to us.

God’s Word says to “ask, and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find it, knock

and the door shall be opened for you.” He said it. We believed it. It is that simple.

The making of this list also taught me that I must know exactly what it is I want be-

fore I go to my Father and require of Him. For Him to give of His value to me, I

must know for what it is I am asking. It must be of some value to me first in order

for me to appreciate it fully and use it wisely. I will always get what I ask for.

In His infinite wisdom, God knows all the choices I will be making. Sometimes what

I want and ask my Heavenly Father for is not always good for me. He has already

compensated His timeline for me and has pre-adjusted my steps even when get off

course.

It is written in His Word that “if I ask believing that I will receive.” And, He must

honor His Word. His Word also says that “His Word will not return to Him void.”

When we repeat what He has said back to Him, we are reminding Him of what He

has said, not for His benefit but for ours. He will not void His Word. He cannot. He

is a God of honor and truth, and He is a good, good Father.

That New Year’s Eve night in 1997 my Sissy and I ushered in the new year with a

more profound revelation from God than either of us could ever imagine. We were

to learn of a much more completeness in walking in His ways by what happened

next.