PARABLES UNBOUND

II

Copyright 1998 - Humble Heart All rights reserves. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United Stated of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group use is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the Scripture taken from the King James Version of the bible.

Oh since I dont want satan to receive and or get any glory we intentionally tried to never capitalize his name.. parablesunbound@gmail.com Facebook: Parables Unbound

**

III

CONTENTS

Introduction / ii Sail Away With Me / 1 Paradise / 6 The Potters House / 10 Ive Been There / 22 A Doubt / 26 From the Mouth of Babes / 31 Just One More / 36 The Next Two Verses / 40 I Will Supply / 43 Bad Dog / 48 The Box / 50 The Side of the Road / 53 Innocence / 63 The Bully / 66 Piece of Cake / 68 My Christmas from God / 72 Extension Cords / 92 Confounded / 92 Though They Wear Crosses / 96 Youre So Cute / 100 Valley of Dry Bones / 102 A Dusty Old Book / 107 The Master Gardener / 118 Those That Wait / 124 Time To Let Our Hair Down / 126 Harley / 129 His Love / 135 M&Ms / 139 The Other Son / 141 Your Whole Heart / 143 Their Idol / 146 My Armor / 148 The Jail / 152 IV

The Last One / 155 Love / 160 Michael / 163 A Millstone / 167 More Please / 169 No Please No / 172 Peace / 176 They Will Not Prevail / 179 Your Promise / 182 A Road Less Traveled / 184 Newby / 186 My Rib / 192 Will You Ride With Me / 195 A Mountain / 199 The Sandbox / 201 A Shot in The Dark / 203 Smokey / 205 Be Thou Cast / 208 A Still Small Voice / 211 The Surgeon / 213 Taffy / 216 My Talent / 220 Only A Test / 223 The Trap / 225 Beautiful Vases / 231 And The Wall Came Tumbling / 236 An Angel / 240 Kicking the Wind / 244 The Puzzle Master / 247 Tempting / 251 My Will Be Done / 253 Flesh Hooks / 256 A Crusty Heart / 259 What If / 261 In The End / 263

INTRODUCTION Parables Unbound came about as the result of a prayer in my jail cell one day in 1996. The simple prayer to heaven was, God, how did you write the bible and I really wanted to know. An old wise pastor that had been coming to the jail for years to counsel those such as I, soon became a good friend. He prescribed what he called a prescription for wisdom and joy in life. The first thing is to give away ten cents out of every dollar you make, save ten cents and then live on eighty cents. He also gave me a special prescription to use daily, read a chapter of proverbs everyday and write down what comes to you as coming from God.. Thanks I added, that will sure help as I have never been anyone to write anything. But somehow I knew that this may be a part of the answer to my question about the writing of the bible. So I read proverbs daily and wrote what mostly seemed as junk that seemed to stream out of my head such; as I am going home today.. Yeah... But, I was still pondering over and over about, how the bible was transcribed to mere men... of course at the end of the day I was still there.. Darn! I lay there in my bunk expecting an answer, yet none came to me right then. Many theories, possibilities and conjectures abound to those that seek truth in the world. Many explained it away, as just a book. As the days wore on I soon forgot that prayer until it was that the fire alarm went off one morning at about three or four a.m.
ii

Instead of worrying about a fire, I found myself writing... This seemed to go on steadily for a few months and as of this publishing now... 2011, years. It also really seemed that God wanted me to write, a thing I had never considered before in my life. I thought success for me would be through a business venture or just winning the lottery. Not that they cant and didnt happen... but thats another story. During this writing period, I was given the title for this book and a vision of the cover... It was also while I was staying at the local jail I was able to put to pen several other books, complete a complete study of the bible, as well as, write a play and many short poems and stories. The stay at the jail was a direct result of following God unconditionally. As one of the commissions of the followers of Christ, this is to reach out to those in the jails, the hospitals, widows, and the abandoned children of the world the hungry, widowers, thirsty and naked. I gave my heart and life to the Lord not long ago and being the tenacious person I am, I wanted all God had to offer and sought for Him to prove he was real and capable of providing all my needs, according to his riches in glory, as He had written in the bible and basically I sought to find out if He was real or not. After the commitment and study, He led me to sell all I possessed and follow Him without looking back, as the disciples of old had done... I did as instructed and stepped out into waters that were way over my head...

My life previous to this, was one of attempting to conquer the world through the business world and possess all of the toys possible before dying, and I counted on asking for forgiveness with my dying breath.. Well, we plan, and God leads as I found out that He is still in control of everything believe it or not. I had prayed all that summer before going to jail, as God had me staying at a friends house in North Carolina ministering to him after selling everything I owned, leaving my family, home and business. In all of the attempts to find work while I was in North Carolina, the doors of opportunity continuously slammed shut in my face... Yet I knew I was in the right place, and focused on reading, studying and talking to what seemed to be thin air at times... yet, I was to find out later on that there was definitely someone listening... When I was growing up, I used to make fun of all of the Pastors and Evangelists that claimed to pray for people as they seemingly got instantly healed. At least that was until an experience happened with a little boy named Harley in a park in North Carolina that had spinal problems. The Holy Spirit spoke and told me to lay my hands on him and God would heal him. I freaked out and claimed that I didnt do such things... But God reminded me of the scripture I had just heard the day before about how that when God asks us to do something and if we resist and wont do it... its called stubbornness and He being God counts that as witchcraft.. So my friends and I laid hands on the little boy, and God healed him. It was in this way, God broke me from making fun of those that claimed God still healed, as I can still hear
ii

his bones cracking and popping in his back as God instantly healed him right then and there. However the next person I felt lead to pray for, died, just a few days later, and yet I was sure he was healed. God chose to take him to heaven to heal him permanently. You know God sure works in mysterious ways, as I soon found out. To back up even further, all of this was started by a prayer when I was still much younger, asking God to let me meet a real Christian, like the ones in the old days that stood up for God no matter what. One day, God sent him to me, a now very dear friend of mine. God had him come to my office and persuaded him to join our rank and file... I soon found out I couldnt drive him away and soon gave him a task to complete, and much to my dissatisfaction at the time, he completed it... I couldnt help but wonder what he was doing with us, as I just knew he had to be just another hypocrite. He always wore a large Texas sized belt buckle that had a cross on it and the words, Jesus First. He always seemed to say God bless your day, before leaving each day to all present. He was soon the butt of all of our jokes with the God bless your days and the belts buckle until that day... He sat at my desk, and as another of our partners and I were laughing and joking around, and I guess we kinda used the Lords name in vain a few more times than usual. Probably just to see if he was real or just like the rest of the Christians we knew that talked the talk, yet, couldnt walk the walk. It was then, he just stood up, pointed his finger at me, and
iii

told me that I had just taken the Lords name in vain seven times... and all I could think was... so what... who was counting and who cared anyway... that was the last time in my life I ever spoke those words, as the belt buckle he wore, seemed to expand to such a size, that it filled the room.. The words Jesus First were about three feet tall and the cross was about five feet tall. I knew right then and there somebody cared. So it was from that day on that I began to get curious about this, God thing and now here we are... yet I know you have to be shaking your head at some of the things I write of, yet these are but a couple of the things I have personally witnessed and have been a part of in my walk with God over the last few years as of this editing I am doing right now. These stories are from some of the things that I have seen with my own eyes and experienced firsthand since in my walk with God, as I am the kind of person that has to experience things for myself. It still amazes me that God would use a fool like me... There was one major problem that I had with the bible and that was, the translators spoke words it seemed, I just didnt understand, as they were in the Old English. Jesus I soon learned, after God opened my eyes, simply often spoke in parables to the multitudes and the disciples when explaining the mysteries of the universe and the things of God, as they were simple stories that regular folks could relate to, as I also soon learned the simple things of God often confounded those that were wise in their own eyes...
iv

This is the reason I am able to write this book for you in terms I hope you will grab a hold of and hopefully understand. As I am just an ordinary guy, just like any of the millions out there are in the world today. I pray this book is just one of the ways that God uses, as he now seeks to reach out to you, to tell you of things to come and help let you know, you are going to make it. I can also tell you first hand, that if God can use someone like me, then you have to be more valuable to him, than all of the gold, in all of the hills, in all of the mountains of the world. As of the day of the writing of this book, God has pretty much answered most all of my prayers since becoming a follower of his Son Jesus, the light of the world. Not always did the prayers get answered in the way I sought for them to be answered, yet, none the less they were all pretty much answered. As I believed He would answer each and every prayer the way He needed to answer them... So the first thing I would like to do, is encourage you, to keep on praying, even though it seems at times, that theres no one home in heaven and that all of your prayer mail to heaven gets returned, as your letters often do here on earth when they get returned to sender with no forwarding address. So hang on and lets let God drive the boat. This is not another how to book, as you will learn to pray just the way God seeks for you to pray. He will lead people across your path to teach and encourage you, as you need, and when you need them the most.

God taught me the things I needed to know in order to be the piece of the cosmic puzzle that He and only He knows how to put together. Its tough I know to just relax as you are going through hell, but I can tell you there is another side and you will come out of the fire unscathed and a whole lot better for it. God has proven to me he is real and that the power of his Sons name spoken in belief and with authority is highly effective even when we cant seem to see any changes... The cross reminds us of the price paid by One who owed not the price, and the price owed by the ones who could not pay it. This painting is to remind us, that Gods love, that he commands towards us, in now Unbound. So look at the picture carefully... You should see satan in the background and he is a little ticked off as he has just lost the most major battle in history.. NOTE: Not everything in this book is for you as it may be for others so pass it along and ask God what, if anything in here is for you he has hidden something in here just for you.. a golden nugget... Shalom.. H.H.

vi

SAIL AWAY WITH ME It seemed so innocent at first, so exciting, the adventure that lay ahead... the adrenalin was too much and he jumped at the request to go... He ran home and prepared for the journey... He sold all that he had except for the basic necessities needed to sustain his life and ran to the docks for the journey... The captain came and they boarded the vessel and she was beautiful... Her lines so sleek and perfect to carry them to places the youth had never known before, and the youth was thrilled at the thought of the adventure... The sails went up and the lines that held them to the world were cast into the sea to be forgotten for the times to come. And the day was as no other, perfect in all ways to begin the adventure that would yield much fruit and growth... At the time the youth knew not that he would never return to the dock, the same as when he left. The ship of sail slipped from the dock, and the world as he would ever know it, began to fade away with the rising horizon before the two... The ship sailed into the unknown, to maybe never return to this port ever again, yet it mattered not, as all things were behind and together they only faced the future. The helmsman was well seasoned and weathered from the seas and the journeys of the world, as they were upon him... The youth green with envy at those, who had made this journey before, and excited at the things to come, yet he knew not the price paid for this journey, had been in
1

blood... The seas were generous at first and the journey was the adventure every man of youth dreams of... and they sailed on. After many days the seas changed, and the weather worsened and the ship was tossed, yet the helmsman slept through the storm, as fear gripped the heart of the youth, and he began to fear with greatness, the ship was so tiny now in the midst of the great ocean with no signs of the shore in sight... tossed to and fro as the vessel was swept now into certain death... Often the vessel sounded as though it would surely break apart from the great strains placed upon it from the seas turmoil and boiling... The waves seemed to attack at times from all sides and the vessel began to take on water and the youth cried, Lord please help... He woke the helmsman from his sleep, as fear had filled his eyes but the helmsman but stretched and said... All is well, you are safe... it was obvious to the youth this man was mad, as death had climbed over the side of the vessel and gripped his heart so strongly. Please save us my lord, he cried, as I am afraid of this death that has come upon us. The helmsman was seasoned, he stood upon the bow and cried; SILENCE and the storm left... the seas calmed and the waves died... and the youth began to respect his new found faith in his helmsman, one that even the seas should obey this old man of the sea... Yet in his face, there appeared a softness through the veil of the years.
2

As the light broke forth from the clouds, leaving only the sun to shine upon an old face of youth... He began to wonder much of the man of old... The ship soon began to feel as home to the two, as they began to learn of each other Yet it was as if the old man knew all of the youth, yet the youth knew him not, at least not yetnor himself really either. The youth yearned to learn of all his ways, and was willing to pay the price for the disciplines necessary for the responsibility of the ship he would one day command... The days became months and the months slipped into years as they journeyed together, often the storms would still bring the fright that would unsettle him, yet soon the storms began to obey even his authority over them and they subsided... Sea legs replaced the legs of rubber he had begun with, and arms of strength replaced those of a youth... Wisdom from the sailings of the seas of the world, came to him through a school especially designed for him by the creator of the universe, as there none other like him, that came before him and there would be none as him to follow, as he was unique unto God... as he was special, yet knew it not... Often the only way to tell they were even progressing forward, was to look at the trail left in the surf behind the vessel as it silently slipped into the future, carrying the one passenger to a point, in the destinies of many others. The

vessel sailed on. At times, it was if the helmsman would disappear from the ship, to leave the young man alone to control the helm of the vessel... and at first, he would cry out to the heavens. Yet it was often as if they were closed up to him, then fear again would grip him and the seas would swell and the ship was tossed, once again. Death often times boarded and the youth died to self often, as the spirit of the seas washed him overboard into the frigid seas to drown him, and he gulped for air as the seas sucked him to his death and the youth died a thousand deaths before coming to the surface... As he went down for the last time, an arm... it seemed reached from heaven, and lifted him aboard a life raft to safety. He slept from the exhausting ordeal and dreamt of the land he had run from, and now longed for, that which it had offered and he longed to go home. Yet something inside told him, not now as he thought to himself. He was determined to beat the seas of life and sail as a man of God... The journey soon enough ended back at the port from which they had left, and the two parted ways... Not as the same as when they had met, but as respecters and friends of each other... The seas of life had imparted many great wisdoms as only they could offer, as the wisdoms of the storms and tossing of life are often not in any of the books in any of the libraries, of the world... The steps he made now were different, as it was in Jacobs wrestling with God himself, and living.
4

He too, had conquered the seas, and now charters trips through the seas leading youths that seek the seas and the lessons it can provide, as no other way in life can... As now it is he that is often found sleeping through the storms, often to the dismay of many of those he sails with across the seas of life, training them to be sailors, so that they may one day lead others, as no other before them, and none after them. Often, he can be heard from the docks, crying out; Come sail with me, Will You? When the time comes to take the step of faith, it is the toughest at the point of decision, to believe as each and every journey of faith begins with but a simple step... One that must have no ties to the past, and only hopes of the future... When we cast our cares off into the sea and shove off with Christ, we are in essence leaving the entire world behind, to discover the new and wonderful things that are in store for us, and luckily we have a captain with us that has been through all of the things we will face... He will often be found sleeping it seems at the back of the ship we are on, during the roughest of storms we will seem to face, as he is always teaching us something, either patience, faith, dependence upon him alone, or to just believe... There are many lessons we are to learn in order to fulfill the position we are to take in the fulfilling of Gods plan for our lives... and the lives of others. Many are called, yet few are chosen to go on into the fulfillment of Gods plan, as many turn back when the storms of life get the seas to churning and things get a little rocky. Yet he knows that we are human and we are the
5

created and weak... he is the strength we are to lean upon, but as I found out personally, it gets a little tough at times, especially when it seems as though all of hell has just been unleashed at you and theres nowhere to run and your back is to the wall... It is in these times you will find God has to prove to you, He is the great, I AM and you are nothing, as He parts the Red Seas you will face in your life, to bring you across safely, and then closes the way behind you, to keep you safe... So press on and you will succeed... this I say as I have sailed the seas you are contemplating to sail... You will make it! And that is all I have to say, but you will never know unless you get on the boat...

PARADISE As the young man strode onto the large jet liner there seemed to be an air about him that was different... As no other before him and no other that was to follow after him... He appeared not that unusual to the eye of those that seemed to back away as He walked on, staring at something that seemed to attract their souls, not their eyes... He wore simple jeans, long hair, a beard, a blood red tshirt with a small golden fish shaped design right over his heart and old worn sandals... It was as though he had just stepped off the south Florida beaches heading for yet another warm spot in the world... He softly walked to the assigned seat on the plane in the midst of all the people
6

and took his place, for that fateful day... There sat with him two others, one on each side, they were not from where He was from, as they were of the world... Yet they were to be included in the destiny of the one that sat between them... The two at his side began talking about the victories they had, had in the world... They laughed and mocked the people they had stolen from in their quests for victory in the corporate worlds they walked in; yet, they for some strange reason never spoke to the young man sitting between them, and it was as if He were transparent, as they were so engrossed in themselves... They had both for years run around on their wives... Been in other places in the world during the major events in their childrens lives, only to catch them on video and offer half hearted praises for jobs well done, before retiring to the recliner and dying to the day... Alcohol was the often the crutch that got them through the tough times, as they conquered kingdoms and plundered fortunes and families... Yet secretly, tears had been shed many years ago for two such as these, in a situation similar to this one, yet without the trappings of the modern world they walked trough, on their journey to eternity... After quite some time, the young man made his presence known... and began to reveal Himself to the two others, as it was a day of destiny, that the three faced on that day, A day of storms... He began to speak of peace, forgiveness and hope... of a person and a place, so far away to them, yet so close, that if they wanted to they could reach out and touch it and
7

Him... He spoke of fears, ones they had buried deep within their hearts from childhood, and of things only they knew... He spoke of the bitternesss and hatreds they held against others and the need to forgive, that they in turn might be forgiven, yet only one was to respond that fateful day... The one that wouldnt forgive nor repent of the ugliness in his life, thought that maybe he was some sort of hippie psychic... the other thought higher... As the one began to take control of the conversation, he could not see the tears of remorse and repentance, roll off the others cheek, as he turned his face to the jet liners window so none could see... He told the young man that He should save himself, as well as the others in the event the crash He spoke of came to pass, as he began to tear apart the young mans religion as being too simple, as theory and for the lazy and simple minded of the world... Life is not that simple, and easy to enjoy, forgiveness wasnt necessary, as the others in his life were to blame as he had struggled and fought for everything he had in the world. The world he believed that was made to give up its riches and jewels to him, even if it had to be by force... Yet tears of the pains of the world, began to seep from the eyes of the other as he reflected inwardly to the past years, he had been robbed of the joys of the simplicity, of loving and being loved, and wept... To this day, the explosion that happened at the back of the plane would never quite fully be explained, yet, it was about to bond the young man and one of the robbers to each other, for eternity in heaven and separate the young man and the other for eternity in the hell he believed not
8

in... And He wept for him. Then the plane shook violently, as if God himself had grabbed a hold of it and was shaking the jet and everything in it to pieces... The young man cried out, let thy will be done, as He remained calm through the storm... One turned to Him and sought this peace and the place called heaven He spoke of, and asked to be in heaven with Him in the moments to come, the other, hung on in fear hoping for the storm to pass as he reasoned and rationalized that these things dont crash, people survive, nothing is really wrong, they would land safely and he would resume his old life again... Reason spoke to his mind along with logic and assured him everything would be alright... satan laughed at the fool. The plane crashed that day into the everglades not long after takeoff. Two of those seated beside each other went to paradise... While the other soon asked for the one above, to dip his finger in the cool waters and touch his lips with the cool waters, as he was in torment in the fires around him, so he could sooth his burning tongue... Please, he cried, Go back and tell my family, hell is real as he pleaded... and the waves of fire sucked him under. The one that stood above now in the new body of the heavens, watched the shadows of the clouds as they left no indication of their being, as they skipped across the landscape below...

THE POTTERS HOUSE The trail led down the hill, as the mountain twisted and turned down the hillside... The woods dark and eerie created a strange feeling... yet I felt compelled to continue downward as if drawn by a force that seemed to suck me down towards the old potters house... I remember the place from long ago, as the potter had made for me a vessel so fine... I carefully took care of the vessel at first, but time as with all things began to take its toll and the vessel and its beauty had been replaced with a family, a job, cars and the kids who always seemed to be sick. And yet at times I remember the words the potter spoke to me as he prepared the vessel I carried, now all broken into shards in a bag that used to hold potatoes... Yet, toward the house I went, as the words he spoke, seemed to play back to me hauntingly, even though from many years ago. The old potter was much younger then, yet even then he was a master craftsman at his trade... When he held up to me that day as I committed to change my life, a vessel so fine It glistened just the way I thought it should...

10

This was a fine piece of art work I thought to myself, as I paid the potter and scurried home to show it to those I loved... The vase sat on the mantle in the living room for years, unused, as it was precious and just too valuable for everyday use, and it had to be handled with kid gloves, because of the words the potter spoke me Son this vessel you hold in your hands, is your life... Treat it well, and it will treat you well... never loan this vase to anyone, under any circumstances, nor let it go unattended... Should you neglect this vase that is your life, things will turn bad and you will fear and then die... I laughed nervously, at the potter for trying to scare me, yet inside it was working I left the potters house that day a new man, yet there was something that just wasnt quite right... I still had some of the same thoughts, and the same ideas, as I thought they would vanish after this new vase was made for me... The vessel was beautifully adorned and almost transparent, though some places seemed to contain small imperfections... The vessel held a small amount of liquid, clear in color, and it had the aroma of honey... I tried a touch of the liquid against the advice of the potter, but then how was he gonna know...? The liquid was good on the lips, smooth as silk, yet in the stomach it seemed to turn sour and bitter to the soul. I felt guilty for some reason... and I just knew I didnt want any more of this, as it seemed to touch a place deep within my very soul... I pondered at the strange solution for the
11

longest time, but again time and life had a way of diverting my attention. The city soon beckoned me to come visit, the streetlights illuminated the streets and the city called me and cried out to me, Come stay a while... So since I knew more than my folks at the time, I thought, So why not, why stay on this old farm and do nothing with my life... Soon the city and its glitter sucked me up and spit out the bones... My life was a wreck, hooked on drugs, drinking till dawn and the world and its contents didnt matter. Many times I thought, So what, if I live or die, yet I knew not the power of the vessel, and the oil it contained within it back home... I messed up in every area of my life, I married the wrong person, slept around, beat my wife and my life was trashed, I thought suicide was the answer, yet the vase and the potter seemed to speak encouragement to me, even though they were thousands of miles away... The haunting words of the potter reminded me of how I had influenced my life, in order for it to turn out the way that it did. Yet he had offered me a way to change all of that, but for the life of me I couldnt think straight enough to remember the things I had to do, and I know they were simple, as if, just to believe... but in what or whom, I couldnt remember... The message reached me one day that my momma had just passed away... I had loved her the most, as she loved me and wanted the best for me... She had prayed for me all of those years I was at home rebelling against the
12

system, as I was afraid to die in poverty so the first chance I had to leave... I did... and what a mess I had made of my life... I was able to bum enough money from friends and people on the streets to catch the bus back home and attend her funeral... I hated my father to that very day, for the beatings I had suffered at the hands of a drunk... I wanted to kill him so many times, that I lost count, and yet each and every time momma would calm me down and talk some sense into me. Now that she was gone there was to be no referee that day at the funeral home... Dad met me at the door and in a drunken breath told me that momma was dead, and that she loved me, more than him... I wanted so bad to hit him I could hardly stand it... Yet I waited, as there would be other opportunities. The funeral brought all of mommas friends out of the hills to pay their last respects, and I thought to myself, look at the bunch of hicks, as I was now a supposed refined city dweller, as the people of the mountain called me... Yet they were more lost to the realities of life, as many still had outhouses, and these were the times of modernization For me to stand there and take the crap dished out by a hick family was a lot for me, but I loved momma, and hated to see her gone... Yet there was still that rage building up on the inside of me for my father, at letting my family suffer the way he did for all of those years, as he squandered our Christmas money on booze and women...
13

He was the culprit, guilty as charged... The anger flashed in my eyes as the remarks towards my clothes and earrings tore through my ears like barbed-wire, setting fire once again to the thoughts of how to kill him in my heart... Better that the snuff, you hicks dip running from your chin I fired back.. The fight was about to begin... I had years of paying back to make up for, and there was no momma stop the fight. We retraced our steps back into the house in front of the old fireplace that held the now dusty and old vase the potter had made for me... The vessel had lost its luster and the promises made by the potter of a better life seemed to laugh at me from inside the vase.. I picked the vase up and the next thing I can remember was the crashing of the vase against the hearth after missing dads head by a mere centimeter... Dad and I both looked at the mess we had made of the room and had made of our lives and tears began to flow, as the two most likely to kill each other began to hug for some strange reason... Tears flooded my beard as I thought back to the good ole days of momma on the porch watching the chickens in the front yard, as if choosing the next one that was to sacrifice him or herself for our next meal... Life was simple and the years had good days, instead of all the negative ones I seemed to drag out of the closet all of the time... I could for once in a long time remember laughter in a house that I thought was void of love I remembered momma praying with us at night and reading scriptures with us in front of the fireplace... Daddy always sat to the side in his old bent wood rocker puffin a pipe...
14

Life was simpler back then, and the life I truly had now, was a farce. I was married to an ex-hooker, had two brats that hated me, and life there was no different than the life I seemed to remember from my childhood and the life that I was remembering now, as being reality... Life hadnt exactly turned out the way I wanted it to and there was a lot of straightening out to do. The potters house just still had to be there as I prayed, but the potter would be a hundred years old by now and surely dead I thought to myself. Dad and I collected all of the shards that were scattered about and placed them in a bag that I was now carrying to the place I remembered as the potters house. I just knew deep down inside of me, that he could fix this mess that I had made of my life, and renew my hopes and dreams... Dad and I may never see eye to eye, but there was now an understanding that we shared, based on a little bit of love Love that spilled to the floor that day in a fit of rage... I inched my way through the brambles towards the place I remembered as that of the potters. Praying under my breath, something I hadnt done in years, yet for some strange reason now, felt was the only answer to straightening out my life. The shack still stood, older and more run down than before, as the weather had been rough on the old shack... as I was a lot younger back then and the man called the
15

potter was younger than the old man that now stood before me. Ive been expecting you for quite some time now and just knew one day soon youd return. How did you know? I managed to stammer from my lips... I just have a way of knowing, as the good Lord lets me know things most folk cant seem to figure out... Whats your problem? He asked, as he chuckled at already knowing the reason... As he waited for my reply... Tears filled my eyes, as I told the potter of the life that had become a far cry from the one I thought I would be able to show him at this later time in my life... It was a complete and utter mess... and I was to blame, as I had sought the bright lights and glimmers of the world and turned my back on the love that was offered to me thinking it foolish in my youth... A far cry from the one I had imagined as a youth that summers day, a day full of dreams and goals, visions of a bright and glorious future, that day standing before the man that really hadnt aged that much at all. I never imagined in a million years that I would return one day with the mess I now carried in the sack... just a bunch of broken shards, remnants of a wasted life. He sighed at the end of the tale and chuckled to himself lightly, as he took the bag from me... I can fix anything thats broken, especially if its something I made in the first place...
16

The old tin door gave way to what seemed a much larger place on the inside than it did from the outside... larger than the ten by ten shack it appeared to be, as I approached from the hillside... The room seemed to grow with you, as you entered the building, and there was a warmth that spilled out into the cold evening air inviting me to enter... The sun set fast these days, as winter creeps onto the horizon each and every year about this time. The fire was small, yet it warmed the whole shack inside as the potter dumped the shards onto a table to examine them... I half way expected him to break out some sort of glue and repair the vessel, but the process that followed was of a different nature. As he began to question me as to the motives for repairing this vessel, one which he had spent so much time in preparing for me the first time... I really couldnt answer, except as to the fact that my life was wreck, and it had to change... and I didnt have anyone else to help me except him, as even papa directed me this way now. As momma would have been the one to who knew how to repair this vessel of my life, and now she was gone to be with the Father in heaven. The potter smiled a simple smile as he soaked the shards of my life in a tank of the same oil looking stuff that the vase used to hold. My life seemed to flash before my eyes, as I told him how I had found out that the things I was doing in life to get by, werent in fact anything but lies I believed, out of the anger I had hidden in my heart for the ones who loved me.
17

I told the man of wisdom how I missed momma, and was finding out that daddy was in reality a friend after all... Even though he drank... It turned out he was no worse than I was as his life it seemed, didnt quite turn out the way he had imagined it would as a youth on the farm in which he had been raised, and beaten on as a child, growing up during the great depression. Yet he told of the love he had that he hadnt thought about in years, as he had become bitter, and rubbed the good memories from his mind as well... I told of how the two of us had shared tears as we recounted our lives and the mess we had made of them as we collected the shards I had handed him to repair, as I had hopes of him rekindling the joy and hopes Id had as a youth, when the vase was first given to me... I told the potter of the forgiveness I had found deep down in the recesses of my heart, for a father whom I resembled in so many ways, yet rejected. The truth that now stared me in the face after I had broken the vase... Just then, it felt as though momma was in the room with us, as I heard her voice it seemed inside of me, deep in my spirit quoting scriptures, about loving those that despitefully use you, and to pray for all those that know not the Lord... Tears once again fell, as the potter worked on the broken vase of beauty as it lay under the strange liquid. The hardened fired clay the vase once was, again became pliable in the masters hands, as he lovingly molded the
18

clay back into its original shape, a shapeless lump of clay and I know that this is impossible. Yet the potter softly hummed Amazing Grace under his breath, as the shards once again became clay in his hands... the potters wheel turned as the fire of the shack warmed my bones... It seemed like months, yet it was only the second day, as the potter worked now feverishly on the broken vessel of my life... I felt the shakes that came from the withdrawals I had, after being off of drugs and alcohol for the first time in my life. I was beginning to feel normal as though everything was being worked out by the potter that worked on the shattered vase that was my life... After a while I fell into a deep sleep, as the potter covered me with a warm comforter, and the shakes stopped and the world stopped spinning... Days later as I found out, I woke up, and the potter was gone... On the table in the place where there had been a pile of scraps that used to represent my life, was once again a vase. This one was more beautiful than the last, and the colors more brilliant than the last... the potters note under the vase gave me hope as I read it... The last time you were here, I knew you would be back... So I waited here all of these years for your return The vase you smashed was but the resemblance of the life you wanted, and you had to experience the things you did, in order to appreciate the things God freely gives to all if they but seek him, and not the world and the riches satan holds up in their face only to draw them into his trap...
19

Fortunately for you, the things you have experienced can now be used to minister hope and forgiveness to many others, as you encounter them in the next part of your journey. The vase you now hold in your hands, is now complete and whole; treat it with love as it is now full... When you left the first time, I filled the vase you carried with you, with but a small amount of love. Yes, the liquid you held in the vase was love in its physical state, and you wasted it foolishly... Yet you still found the truths that held your life together, and love was the cord that tied all things together... That was the message your momma wanted me to teach you all those years ago, as she sent you to me, as I sought you as well, But you werent ready to be responsible for all the love your heart, or vase, could possibly hold... The love your heart now holds... is full, as there is nothing left of you to pour out... Therefore I was able now to fill you with the love you sought, and the hope you will need to further lead you into the future you face. A future filled with hope and joy, on your new pathway to lead others as they are now in your heart... Your testimony will help others in their walks through this life as we have but one chance to pass through this valley called life in the flesh, and there is much to learn on this journey about your life, as well as the lives you encounter Therefore, I have filled the vase to its fullest capacity so use it well, as you will discover the vase you hold is your heart and your heart is now filled with love for others and

20

will never run dry or empty, no matter how much love you pour out... So go ahead and try, and it will constantly refill like the empty vessels filled with oil by the prophet Elijah for the widow... The vessel you now hold will never run dry... As you pour your love out, it is poured back out to you, in good measure, far above that which you pour out in the first place... All will be well with your life now, as there is truly love in your heart for the first time... Go home, and learn of me, as I am your friend eternally... Remember, you must but only believe, I was sent for you, thousands of years ago, and hung on a cross for you, so you would be saved. Then tell the others you meet of the love you found, at the potters house... I took care in the leaving of the mountain and the potters house as the vision I now carried of the potter, and the craft he plies was for his children, those lost to the world... The feelings I had now were different as though the scales that used to cover my eyes were now gone, and I could now see clearly for the first time in my life, as I pondered at the true identity of the potter. Yet, I dismissed it as impossible... Though I wondered, and strangely felt somehow, as though we would meet again... I walked carefully now, as I was afraid to spill any of the vessels contents, and yet I always managed somehow in doing so... on others, as I went on my lifes new journey. Back in the city, all things went differently than I had imagined they would, as friends now turned me away as I
21

walked near because I had changed, and they sought not the changes in me, though I tried... My wife left me and the kids and took off. We divorced, and that was good, as she rejected the things I prayed for her. Yet, I believed in the potters promises, that she would be helped one day by the same potter that made my life over again, giving me a second chance even after messing up time after time again it seemed... Now I believed that people needed to hear of the potter I visited in the woods back home... One day I once again saw the potter from the woods back home, as he was at a friend of mines funeral, one that had died from drugs. Thankfully, he too believed in the potter that I talked of, and wanted his help, so we prayed together that day before he died... You know, he felt as though he was forgiven as I had been... The potter looked different, as, he looked a lot younger than even the day he repaired my vase... He seemed to be his early thirties... dressed in white... He stood at the grave with me and spoke of the friend whose body now lay in the ground, yet whose spirit now stood in heaven that day As he believed in the potter with his whole heart and the potter thanked me, for sharing the hope that comes through repentance and forgiveness... in the hands of the master potter... Tears flowed down my now cleanly shaven face, as I knew now the potter as I had never known him before... As I now

22

saw his love for the lost, the broken hearted and lonely of the world. After our talk at the grave site, I truly felt the need for me to go on telling the potters story... You know, if you know not this potter, and even if you reject him, he still loves you, and will never stop loving you as he wishes to repair the life you have even if it has been broken into a million pieces as mine was... And I pray you come to know this potter as the friend that I now have ... God bless and may our paths cross one day... H.H.

IVE BEEN THERE The warrior walked from the battle field... His face turned towards heaven, his armor so shiny and so new looking, yet there had been many battles won through the courage of this warrior who totally depended upon the Lord and his strength. The shield of faith was now larger than the one originally issued, as he had grown in faith, and become worthy of the larger amounts of faith entrusted to him... The mighty sword hung at his side, as the sun reflected from its gleaming surface... This sword was as no other, as it seemed to have a life of its own, and was simply entrusted to this warrior... The armor of the warrior seemed as though it was made of
23

the strongest of steels in the universe... Polished to the point of being a mirror... and still in the same shape as the day it was issued, yet we all wondered if it had even been used... He spoke of the wars won after the many battles and the dead left lying upon the fields of the campaigns for our Lords name and kingdom sake... The sandals he wore were unusual at the least... ordinary to behold from the surface yet they held long spikes that seemed to penetrate the soil upon which he stood... As he walked, the soil had been opened to the receiving of the seeds the sower had sown after the warrior went... The fields behind the warrior were green with crops of beautiful wheat... All of the stalks glistening and stretching forth to attempt and grab a hold of the sun, ripe, rich and ready for harvest.. The warrior never seemed to look back... just continuing forward, through the thick and thins of battle... victory after victory, as God worked through the hands of the warrior... Yet now he stood before them just a man... no armor, as he had removed it to pass along this wisdom and knowledge from the battles won, and the many dead left behind... as many are the times you must leave the dead behind... It is sorrowful to leave a friend or loved on a battlefield to die, yet they must be left, as all are in the hands of God... none may live and none may die, unless it be from the Lord... so leave the dead and dying behind as they are all in the hands of the Lord... This is but a piece of wisdom I have to share, as I have acquired much through the battles I have fought in my own
24

life, and I can tell you the spoils of victory are great... Souls won for the kingdom of heaven are the only reason I exist, as there can be no other reason under the sun to live or die for, or that can equal this calling... You see I am a warrior, sent from Gods throne room to you in order to lead you, and tell you of the battles you will encounter through your dealings with the devil and his band of rotten stinking thieves... They seek to steal your joy, rob you of the peace, and kill your love, hope and promises from God... I will not allow it, as I am for God and against satan... The weapons of your warfare are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds and casting down the imaginations placed there by the devil, the old beelzebub... He seeks for you to be to cast you into the lake of fire with him, and the false prophet religion, all to the dismay of God Yet I have prayed for you so that your faith would sustain you, as satan has desired to sift you as wheat, and yet I have raised the standard for your salvation You will not perish, this is but one of the promises of God. You will however be bent, tested and tried, but you will succeed... I can guarantee this, as I have won the battles and wars in my life through keeping my hands in Gods hands at all times and never trusting myself to be right in anything... God is always right and always has the last word, as well as the first, if you will but listen... I will now return to the battlefields with you, to instruct you in the ways of warfare as the Lord has taught me... So lets go togetherwith me at your side and together hand in
25

hand with God, we will have victory, after victory and move from glory to glory... So just take a tiny step of faith and follow me, I will lead as you follow... This is so one day, you as well will lead as others follow you ... Onward... to fight the good fight of faith in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of the Living God... So step out I dare you... take a step, as the fields are white with harvest and you have been called to reap this harvest, one where I have sown, and you are to reap, so follow me, to the jails, the prisons, the hospitals, the widows and orphans who need you, follow me as I follow Him, and you will not fail... There are the thirsty, naked, hungry and poor that need Jesus, and the freeing of their mind and souls through the truth of the price he paid for their freedom, and eternal salvation So come, share with them that which has been implanted in you by God, and placed there in you before the creation of the earth and all we know to be true... As you were created for this purpose and ordained by God for this calling. You are the one to reach those who need the truth, as only You can tell it to them... You will never fail, as God is with us, therefore no one, can stand against us... You just need to strengthen your legs, and learn how to handle the sword youve been entrusted with, which is the word of God, and take up that shield of faith and march with me as Gods army is awesome... so now you must decide... go, or stay... If it is the land of Canaan you seek which flows with milk and honey, then follow me, and I will lead as you follow, as I will follow God
26

and no other...Will you speak and mean, as I mean... that as for me and my house WE, WILL SERVE THE LORD !! Go ahead, take a tiny step... God dares you too. For in the last days we shall overcome by the blood of the lamb and the power of our testimony. The testimony you now have is for them. And the first part of testimony is the TEST... You should pass and not fail in His hands, the hands of the Man from Galilee.

A DOUBT The liner was prepared and ready to sail sailing for a new horizon... All of the major lines had been cast off and the engines massive and powerful began to turn The huge propellers began to churn the oceans bottom as the mud below was kicked up... the vessel began to move All aboard began to celebrate, hope and joy in their hearts at the thought of the journey that lie ahead... They stared over the side of the vessel at the ants that represented their friends and loved ones below, those left behind as God moved people around at His will for and according to His purpose, as they are at times but pawns in Gods master game of chess against satan who knows he is defeated, yet persists in playing out the game to the very bitter end... Streamers fluttered to the dock below as the steam flowed through the whistle releasing a shrill sound, signaling the
27

departure for the end of the rainbow on the horizon... until.. The vessel came to a sudden stop, as though the waters of the sea had turned to glue a few feet from the dock... The passengers stared at each other in awe... The captain ran about shouting orders to get the vessel moving, yet it moved not, but only hung fast as though God himself held the vessel in his very hand as a child holds onto a toy in the bath tub... The passenger and shipmates stared over the side of the behemoth of the sea to see what the problem was. What could possibly be holding us back they wondered? Engines strained as they were pushed to their fullest power settings to relieve the ship from the dock... Yet steadfast it stood... It seemed as though an unseen force or cable held the vessel to the dock that was well known to all aboard... Eyes strained for the cable left attached to the dock yet their eyes failed to find such a thing... It was as though something was not quite settled before the departure of the passengers into their new lives, but what that something was, was uncertain to say the least... The ship strained to move ahead, yet the string unseen remained attached, and neither seemed to want to give up in the pursuit of their duties... One aboard knew there was a problem as he stared over the ships side, as he felt to be the cause of the problem all faced because of the one...
28

There it was small smaller than a human hair it seemed, yet stronger than the strongest of wills, stronger than the bravest of the brave... doubt... Below doubt and fear could be seen in the glimmer of the lights but unseen to many. But the one saw, as he knew in his heart the reason there was to be no moving forward. The two held in their hands the cord that bound the mighty ship to the shore, as they had in the case of many of the millions before who were called, but yet afraid of the future because they doubted. They indeed were called, as they believed, but they chose to believe the lies instead of the promises of brighter and better futures that lay ahead, out on the edge of the horizon. Yet the docks were as far as many would ever get in their lives, let alone actually setting sail with the master captain, of the universe... Yet determination took hold of the heart of this passenger of the vessel and strength filled his bones as he asked for help from the heavens And as the words came from his lips, the sword of the Lord of the heavens and all below, cut through the cord severing the vessel from the bondage, freeing the passengers to sail to the horizon that only this vessel could take them to. Back on the dock the two demons went tumbling as the strain the ship placed on the cord was relieved all so suddenly, and they tumbled up against crates sending them tumbling along with the two... The ship then sailed unhindered into a future that the passengers knew of; yet they were still somewhat
29

uncertain of the vessel that would bring them there, yet in faith they had boarded and set sail... With their faces to heaven, the passengers could but hope and pray the vessel was real, as they were in uncharted waters and way over their heads... yet sail they did. Many are the times we seek to move ahead... the engines are in full motion, the propellers are turning to propel us forward, yet something seems to be holding us back... A doubt can be stronger than all of the power that the largest battleship in the world has available through nuclear power, or whatever power is made available... Yet, a tiny what if, has held many of those that were to accomplish great and mighty things bound to the chair they sat in... Even at times when it seems we are ready, God then reveals things we are hesitant to let go of, or confess... So sit we do... and wonder why we arent moving... Its when we examine all things that all things become plain, as we seek the truths that are hidden in our hearts such as; will He provide will He help in our times of troubles and sorrows and we just fail to believe that He will... This I speak, as many are the times I could have, should have, would have, if I just could have... Excuses tie us up and hold us back, as doubt leaves a tiny thread connecting us to the docks of life... To cast off the doubts we first have to realize, I cant do it, because you would have done it a long time ago... Its when we raise our eyes to heaven and let God know we dont know how it could, or can work, and that we have to totally trust him, does He then it seems cut the cord, and raise up within us

30

the faith we have hidden within us, to release us into that which He has called us to by his mercy and grace... Imagine if it were that you were God, creator of the whole universe, anything you spoke came into existence and the things you disliked ceased to exist... Why you would you need or want someone like you? Think on this a while, how is it that the only thing you have to offer the creator of all the heavens, stars, moons, animals, creatures, great and small, except to just to believe, and trust. He can and will take care of you, thats why He made you the way He did...He gave you the ability and gifts and as they are called in the bible, talents to accomplish that which you, and you alone are to fulfill.. You are special. So how can you fail? If you were meant to fail, you would have never had the desires you have, to do the things you seek to do and accomplish, in your journey across the landscapes of this Earth. I keep praying that He does all in His power to keep me safe and to guide me and always enable me to override the fears and doubts I seem to face daily... It is only through Him that we are able to get through the doubt filled landmines that satan places in our paths to hinder that which we are to do... remember you didnt just jump in a car one day and start driving, you had to overcome a lot of doubts and learn some new things Many times you thought you couldnt do certain things, yet at the right time, with the right encouragement you were able to succeed in the things you sought to do... so cast your doubts into the sea as they are useless, and free your

31

ship from the dock... FROM THE MOUTH OF BABES The words he held on to were the ones he believed God had given to him personally...The authority with which he spoke, allowed the wisdoms he had collected to prove he was a man of God... Yet there was a problem... he was deaf... physically, as well as spiritually He knew all things, he studied, spent his year in Gods boot camp and came out a trooper... ready for the fight for the souls God would press him in front of ... Yet there was this deafness to the things God still sought to teach him... The angel of light had done a good job again, as another one of the great soldiers in the army of God was wounded and out of commission. He didnt need to hear from anyone, as he already knew it all... and could recite complete scriptures, as he even knew the scriptures proper address and delivered it with proper timing, yet there was this deafness that really didnt come from his ears, as it started in his heart... He often taught on humbling yourself to God and it was getting old, as I desperately wanted to tell him to take a dose of his own medicine...Yet he heard not the spirit trying as He might, to get him to listen, as the Holy Spirit could not pass the favorite quote he clung to...I have given you all things, now, you, go. I finally told him, I would have to see this verse, to believe it... As I believed God gives us the knowledge and wisdom for each situation as it arises, if we will but seek him for it, in that situation...
32

The day finally arrived when he revealed the verse to me... I stared at the page to see the highlighted words... I have given you all authority... now... you... go... The words came from several verses, yet I had the same sort of things illuminated to me as I sought the Lord in different situations... But he had a word out of place instead of the words, all things; I saw that God had given him and all of us, authority, not all things... It was the same authority given to every human being as a believer, as they are to take authority over all living created creatures upon the face of the earth... As given originally in the book of Genesis... Adam was given authority over all living creatures and all the earth... My friend had replaced the word authority, with the words all things... God you see gives us all things as we need them and entrusts us with things in order to carry out His plan and purpose... As we walk through the world we encounter things that are different than the experiences we have had in the past and often we apply the past wisdoms learned through those experiences to the situation before us and things seem to just blow up in our face... As we intermingle our wisdom with the wisdoms of God... we find out that this can be very dangerous and God seems to often allow it and allows us build up our wisdoms... Then as the formula explodes it blinds our eyes and deafens our ears. It is only then it seems, that God moves, and often seems to take His sweet time in order to fix the mess we made it seems, in order for us to learn the lesson he started out to teach us in the first place... The biggest pain seems to come though, when the words to teach us come from the mouths of babes... As they havent learned the things we have learned and havent
33

been through the fires we have been victorious in, as they are well. just not where we are with God. Were not there either, and that is why babes make for such good poking sticks for God to use, as they are still innocent So, God sends them to us, those that seem the least likely to give us a word from God, as we already know the words, but have hardened our hearts often to the truths behind those words. So that day, the truth sank into his heart, the scales fell from his eyes, and the hearing aids were no longer needed. As we prayed that God would open his heart to the truth and that day, he learned from the mouth of a babe in Christ, a truth that set him free. You see, he had taught me, and lead me through many things in my walk with Christ and yet he had hardened his heart to Gods ever teaching and leading of our spirits by His.. So the advice I have to pass along to you is this; search your heart for the things you hold dear and close, as they seem to be the truths you hold on to the tightest and will defend with your life, and see if its the truth, as it is only the truth that will set you free... and a wrong truth or lie can keep you bound its time to get set free or unbound. Satan will often take a word or two and mix it in with the truth you hold dear to your heart, and as only a little leaven spoils the whole loaf, the truth you may be leaning on may be tainted. Meaning, a single word of the truths God has placed in your heart for you to learn, can and will often get distorted or twisted by a single word or two out of place, and the tainted truths you hold dear to your heart, can then lead you astray...
34

How many of us know and quote that money is the root of all evil the truth is it is the love of money that is the root of all evil not the money but the love of it not God.. So If you dont believe this, just listen to what comes out of your heart, and through your mouth in a single day, as it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks... This is why we are advised to guard our hearts with all diligence... Many times words come out of our mouth that disagree with what it is we are trying to believe and hold on to So something in our heart is just not quite right You see.the words that your mouth speaks are often from things that are in deep within your heartwrite them down and meditate on them... You may be amazed at what is coming from your heart... is it good, humble, meek, serving, obedient, is it seeking after Gods heart...? Before you speak, ask yourself, What would Jesus say? What would Jesus do if He were in my shoes? Then after asking yourself these questions act accordingly, as God acts in compassion towards the sick, poor, lowly, drunks, prostitutes, as well as at times, the Pharisees and Sadducees... They are those who are wealthy in the knowledge and wisdoms of the world. Who often know of Christ and who often are, fairer than others and often, sad you see, as they havent been able to buy happiness... Theyas well as the lowly need Christ, and His truth, as it is the truth that will set them free as well... The Pharisees are often the religious that know the right words, yet know not the spirit behind the words They are encapsulated and enshrouded in the trappings of the words, as it is only the spirit that makes one free and whom
35

the Son sets free is free indeed So do the truths and words you speak free people or bind them?? Every single problem they have can be handled by God and we are but to speak the words of the God who loves and weeps for His lost children of light in love... It is the word of God spoken through us by His Holy Spirit that cuts trough the fog and the capsule they are in that holds them captive. They often believe that the world they are in controls them and their lives; however it is always God who is in control and has them in the situation they are in for His glory and purpose. So by His grace we are at times allowed to speak words of authority and help release them at just the right time. As it is His unadulterated truth, that will help illuminate them to the truth about the world, and allow the light of the worlds savior to shine through to help deliver them... God loves all the little children, and seeks to use them, as well as the knowledgeable and well learned of the world... Thats why the words that seem to come from the mouths of babes are often overlooked The learned are seen as the ones to look to in the times of troubles, yet as was the case with Balaam, if God needs to He will speak through a donkey to keep you from going astray from that which He has called you to do... So take the words from babes as often coming from God, as you should by now know the voice of God. And if you dont then you need to have a talk with the creator you call God... He is capable of talking to you as well as the babe He is using to tell you what you need to hear.. So, get off your high horse and listen to this babe and you will learn... As I have often enough learned things the hard
36

way, which for my life was often Gods way of teaching a stubborn ass, such as I... Many are the times we look to those in authority for the answers. Yet most of the time, God seeks to speak through the mouth of a babe being those that arent in the know, so as to teach those that should know just what it is He has to say, as was the case with Balaam he was a man in the know of the things of God, yet he sought as most men do to perform his own will He wouldnt listen to reason as God told him not to go and curse His people, yet he thought otherwise, because of money. So God chose to open the mouth of a donkey to speak to a fool. So remember that anyone that crosses your path is more than able to deliver the truth you seek and or need to hear from God... You just have to be open and receptive to the truth, that may come from the mouth of a babe in Christ

JUST ONE MORE He bought and bought and bought, she sought and sought, yet sought some more, and yet they found it not under all of the rocks, behind all of the trees, over mountains, and under the rivers beside the seas... Yet it always eluded them it never seemed to be found. Momentarily it would appear, as to yet disappear... flailing at the wind seems to best describe their efforts as they sought the unobtainable as though it had a price tag...

37

They tried the religion thing and it failed, as they often found that those there also sought the wind they sought and they as well failed to find it... Oh the illusion of peace and happiness must exist, as they found many that sought it as well Always escaping their grasps as well... to run off and hide behind a tree and tease them... So the cars failed, the homes, the furs, diamonds turned to coal upon their fingers, as they clamped down upon them as chains with massive steel balls holding them prisoner to the world leaving them empty inside. The system says we should buy and pay later... The world draws such a pretty picture and tells you that if you work hard enough, long enough, you too can own this picture painted by the master liar himself... satan... Sold American is his cry, as the price goes up and the people stretch to their very tip toes to grasp at the straws of happiness, which is and always was truly free. Yeah sure, its easy for you to say as you have nothing and we have much and need constantly to have a fix of the drug money offers, and temporary happiness it offers, to hide the sorrows we seek for none to see... You gave everything you have to follow a voice that seems to lead you and youve gone through hell and you expect us to follow?? I dont think so is their cry... Yet the parable of the rich man speaks of the ability of a camel to go through the eye of the needle being easier than for a rich man to enter heaven. As heaven doesnt have a price tag you can afford to pay, because you can have all of the peace you could ever want for free, as it has already been paid for in blood..
38

What Jesus was trying to get to the Rich young ruler, was the peace his heart was lacking and yet longing for... But he could not let go of what he had in the world, as he had as he thought and believed, all so much. Oh, and you should know that the eye of the needle was large enough for a camel to pass through; it just had to leave everything behind and kneel down in passing though the gate or eye of the needle... You cannot pay your way to heaven as many think and pray... Because it is the humble in spirit and lowly in soul that God seeks to bless... God will lift you up and prosper you for the calling He has on your life... So I dare you to try this... with all of your heart... just ask Him to do it... So if you think you can just do things on your own and you can take the next breath without God ordaining it, go ahead and ask Him to prove it to you as well... satan tried, and look at him, he was kicked out of heaven for the pride filled words he spoke, I Will... as God has the ability to allow satan to now take everything you have if He chooses to, even your next breath, and He can and will, if you get too haughty and too high minded for your own good... Remember Job and Saul who became Paul when God knocked him off of his high horse and blinded him for three days so beware.. as pride often leads to foolishness. I say this, from experience... and should you think you can get your life together before you go to heaven or hell, think on this thing. The second coming of Christ, whom you might still doubt is coming back, will literally happen in an atomic second... Because, that this the closest modern translation of Greek
39

words translated from the twinkling of an eye, that Paul wrote of... So I tell you of these things to come, as they have not as of yet... The happiness you seek, is simple and free and I will pray this with you as I now believe, and together we will pray for you to have the strength to go on into that which you were called to do from the beginning, as the price was paid for in full, for you, upon a wooden cross, by one that made himself poor that you may be rich... Bore upon his back the stripes that you may by healed and died that you may live... So Pray, and Ill agree as touching anything, the anything, being this book you hold. Pray this simple prayer out loud as follows; Lord, please grant me the grace and peace I seek. Humble me as I pray, as all I have is yours now... I have messed things up and need your help to straighten my life out... I have wronged you and the Father, and I seek your help to straighten things out in any way you need to do it. Do it, as I believe now in you... Please forgive me of my sins and please help me forgive all of the others I have wronged, as I release and forgive all of those who wronged me, in Jesus Name. So I thank you in advance that this is done according to your word. Amen This prayer of peace will start to come to pass, as God leads you into the things He has for you and your life As you now get out of His way of doing things... as His way is the only way... and your way... is probably the way, to hell...and you may already feel as though you already live there So go ahead and ask God to straighten out your life. I did, and man it was tough, but now I have that which you seek;
40

peace, joy and mainly love, as I sought Gods will for my life... He cares and loves you, with all that is within Him, yet He needs for you to let Him into your life, in order to bring the peace you seek, and the joy and the love that brings the happiness, that seems to take hold of you, and never lets you go... But the trek there is tough, as satan, your family, friends and every demon in hell will try to take you back to their ways and keep you in the same ruts that they are in. But I bet that youve already experienced enough hell in your life already, to last the rest of your life. So why not trust that voice now thats inside of you, calling you to do the impossible? First you must believe, then you will receive... How long? it takes depends on your stubbornness and your ability to yield, to the hand of the man, from Galilee. Unless you pray and believe the prayer of faith, you will always need just one more of something, to get you through...

THE NEXT TWO VERSES He had been good all of his life and even at a young age, recited the Lords Prayer by heart... Yet he was cold inside and could not feel the touches that humanity or love and compassion offered, as he was pious, high minded and scaly on the inside. The deacon of all deacons, a real man to all men, as all seemed to look upon him as a real man of God. He prayed and prayed it seemed at church always making sure
41

others around him heard him and his voice was to be reckoned with. He took up the offerings, sang hymns and special songs. He was nice to children, grandchildren and little ole ladies... So he thought to himself that a special place was ordained for him in heaven once he died. He had been water baptized, ordained into ministry and yet she still hung onto the hope that one day he would be saved. The day came unexpectedly... a simple bump on the head and shortly there after, he was gone... and many prayers were said over this once great man of God so they thought. But another place was in store for him, one who held onto a grudge from all so many many years ago. A minor offense he couldnt, wouldnt and just shouldnt let go of... So tiny a thing he never ever thought God would care because of all of the good he had done in his life. Just then the flames of hell roared up engulfing their bodies... Their souls tormented over and over by the searing heat... Skin seared from their bodies like a burnt steak at an eternally bad cook out Skin seared from the bones, tormented souls, wailings and gnashing of teeth...The endless torments, over and over with no relief in sight... As one torment seemed to end Another began... seemingly worse than the last... Over and over they raged...and over and over they repeated the Lords prayer... crying out the verses through the pain and agonies... Over and over he repeated the Lords Prayer as the searing heat stripped the skin from the bone revealing the soul once denied by the man...

42

Why Lord? Why am I here? Why I believed in you?? I confessed with my mouth, and did good works... I knew of your son... Why am I still here... A voice boomed from heaven above, through all of hell, through wailings to be heard by the man... penetrating his tormented soul... BECAUSE OF THE NEXT TWO VERSES!! You would not heed my instructions. Over and over you turned your back on me and my attempts to persuade you to forgive. You denied the next two verses to forgive men their trespasses... I told you to forgive men their trespasses against you, and then I would also forgive your trespasses... I told you over and over that if you did not forgive them, then I would not forgive you Again he recited the Lords Prayer over and over again... as searing heat burned the flesh from their bodies in hell with him... As his spirit wailed for relief... But Lord, I could not forgive her I caught her in the very act of adultery. She forgave you for cheating on her... yet your hatred, jealousy, and rage grew within you because of your unforgiveness... All a trap of satan's and you fell for it. Then you killed them with your hatred... even though she forgave you and tried to move on... Im sorry Lord, I forgive them now... So please forgive me
43

and let me out of this eternal hell I didnt know So please send her from heaven to give me a drink of water to cool my tongue Ahhh!! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!! flesh stripped from bones Our Father who art...

I WILL SUPPLY The year started out as any other year did... except God had another plan that He was kicking off and I was unaware of it. Many years of B.S.T (blood, sweat, and tears) were beginning to pay off... The company we started three years ago was in the launch position to go the places we had built it to go... I was at the helm of the corporation as CEO... and ready to play the cards that would get us positioned to take the company public... all was well, except for one thing... Prayers made many years ago were about to manifest... I had prayed that if God was real, He would have to prove it to me and bring me a real Christian, and if He ever did, then I would believe and follow Him wherever He lead me or wanted me to go... I wasnt raised in a Christian family in fact it was the furthest thing there ever was from one... I knew about God
44

being out there somewhere in space and knew the Jesus deal. But all of that was history and nobody I knew personally, was what I would tag as a Christian. As far as the gang of us that ran the company knew, we were all pretty self righteous and had a right to be that way... each in their own ways... Till the call came... For some reasons of which I wont get into in this story, I can now say that I was led by God. You know the one that I thought was out there in space somewhere and only showed up to always pull my tail out of a crack kind of God... Because I figured He was too busy to worry about me and besides that, I had myself and the world as I knew it under control... until... The world I knew began to come unglued and as best I tried, I could never seem to get it all glued back together... Every time I tried to make the ends meet, someone or something would move the ends... I finally short of blowing my brains out cried out to God If youre real then help me!! Yet no great events happened...In fact it got worse... and worse... It felt as though I was sliding fast into hell and there were no brakes or anything to grab a hold of... On a business trip to Houston, I met the cousin of the man that led me to the Lord... We became as brothers during the trip to find investors... Knowing the places we went and things we did only made the events to come more confounding when they happened... Before the end of that trip my buddy gave his life over to the Lord and became a true believer... He took off like a
45

rocket as God used him, and the gifts of the Spirit flowed from him like water over Niagara Falls... I wanted what he had... but I was still hanging onto the world I created, and wasnt about to let go of it ,for a God I was just learning about and still quite uncertain about... But I didnt see what lay ahead in the road for me, left there by God for me to eventually trip over. I was beginning to soak up the bible for some reason like a dry sponge... things came alive to me... It seemed as though the bible was written for me... I actually could relate to most of the people in the bible and the stuff they went through and it was neat to see how God worked it out for them each and every time... Yet that was then and this was today in the modern world... We get around in vehicles not camels... We need gas, oil, tires, and such... and they cost money... I bring this point up because one day a scripture just seemed to keep coming back to my memory over and over... the same verse again and again; For My God shall supply all of your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. It was like God was saying to me, I am your supplier not this world we live and work in. But my bible legs werent quite strong enough to truly believe, because I never saw any miracles or healings... or saw for myself, how God worked until that weekend... I felt like God wanted me to go down to North Carolina and spend time with my friend and His mom who was anointed and she was coming in from Washington State and I was told I needed to meet her... Well here goes God, if you say that you will meet all of my need according to your riches in glory, then I need for
46

you to give me money to go on the trip... and I need one hundred dollars to give to my sister, two hundred bucks to give to my ex-wife and I want fifty bucks to blow when I get back... If you supply that need, then I will take up my cross and follow you wherever you lead... deal... It was as if God approved of the challenge... I also wasnt going to tell anyone about the deal so they wouldnt help out in any way satan tried to get in the way lots of times and caused a lot of doubt to come my way... but I held on to the deal I made with God... I was not going to take a cent out of the company, nor any of my personal expenses... Im sorry if this seems too long and drawn out, but hey its my story and Gods got yours waiting for you so hold on a little while, ok. I told no one about the need I lifted up to God in our private deal... I tried to cancel the deal on several occasions, but my friend kept saying that I would have to deal with God about it if I didnt come down that weekend... The day before I was supposed to go, the finances to go hadnt arrived as of yet, so I figured God didnt really want me to go... Then the day I was to leave, a friend of mine came up to me and gave me enough money for gas to go down there and to get back on, and I accepted the money as from God... He said he just felt like giving it to me... Well off I went to find out if God truly would and could supply all of my need or if I would have to keep on doing things the way that I knew how to do them...

47

The second night I was at my friends, a couple he knew came over and gave a teaching from the bible... It was on the scripture that says in a sense; That if you dont do what God tells you to do , youre practicing witchcraft against God. In the bible God calls stubbornness the same as witchcraft. After the teaching I noticed the guys wife writing a check on the couch after we had finished, and she came up to me and told me the Lord wanted her to give this to me... It was a check for fifty dollars... I racked my brain to see if I told anyone about the deal I had with God, and after a thorough search of the unfolding events, I was sure I had told no one... That only made it worse because I was beginning to think maybe God was real and had actually heard my deal... That might mean I would have to be preacher or something worse, some kind of evangelist or something. I spent time with my friend after everyone had left and we talked... He convinced me to stay and meet a friend of his and to take the day off, and hang out together with the two of them, and talk about God... I agreed, as I was curious to learn what had been going on with, him since the trip to Houston, and how God was training him up for something big it seemed... The next day I met a friend of his that he was counseling and teaching the word of God to... We spent the day together fellowshipping together and having fun... When the time came for me to leave, and I got all of my things together to leave, I reached over on his counter for my bible so that I could leave. His friend insisted that he carry my bible, and after a good ten to fifteen minute debate as
48

to the carrier of my bible, I conceded and I let him carry my bible, as I had a six hour drive home... I threw my luggage in the back seat and the bible in the front floor board of the car on the passenger side... and off I went... The bible seemed to have a bulge in it, but I was in too much of a hurry to really notice. So while I was on the road I was listening to a tape given to me by my friend, from a church with some awesome praise and worship music on it as I rolled on homeward... The trip seemed to only take a few hours and yet the tape was played over and over again most of the way home Nearing home I turned off the tape, as there was a good Christian station I wanted to listen to in the area... I was listening to the program when a teaching from the book of Isaiah was being taught on the radio... The explanation from the teacher sounded a little off key, so I reached down into the floorboard for my bible and plopped it in my lap while still driving... Please dont try this at home!!... I flipped the bible open to that bulge in the bible that I didnt really notice before, and soon tears streamed down my face, as there in my bible was three hundred dollars cash... God had heard my need and met it... for three hundred and fifty dollars God convinced me to leave my company, home, and all to follow Him and I still am... I pray God will show you what you need to see in order for you to believe that He is real, and forgives you of everything youve ever done wrong because He loves you... God bless, and one day if not here maybe in heaven I hope we can meet, see ya.

49

BAD DOG The first time I walked by his cage, he snarled, snapped at me, bit the bars and tried his best to attack me... If he had gotten out of that cage, I tell you what, I was lunch, as well as the main course... Everyone told me he was a bad dog and to leave him alone... Yet deep within me I knew behind those big teeth, mean snarl, and attitude was a heart that had been hurt... I just knew, that I knew, that I knew, in my spirit, this was a dog that had been mistreated, misunderstood, possibly even beaten and abused most of his life... Leave him alone the others would say, because thats satans dog, and he is destined for hell along with the fallen angels and the rest of his gang... I watched, waited patiently, occasionally tossing him a treat through the bars... An occasional kind word or even an attempted reach to touch him with love, resulted in a charge on the bars... to the end of the leash he was on, in addition to the restraint of the bars... The barrage of snarls, snaps and those sharp teeth at times often made me think twice about what I was entering into, committing to help a lost soul... Yet perseverance was beginning to wear on him more than me... One day I passed his cage and it took a while for it to dawn on me that it was quiet as I passed... Later I
50

passed by again and he never barked, snarled, nor bared his teeth... he just watched me... That was a little unsettling at first as I was trying to figure out what he was planning for me... Devour me when I got too close and comfortable? Maybe, just maybe, I was breaking through the hardness of his heart... but then again at times, there would be relapses... As often the demons and their strongholds tried to hinder the progress God was making in the heart of a bad dog... as he would at times still snap at me for reaching through the cage to try and pet him, and bring a little comfort to a tormented soul... After what seemed like an eternity of jeers from people warning me to leave satans dog alone... I was able to pet him after a little more time and trust building. I was able to teach him a few new things, all the while growing closer and closer to him by the love that God was pouring through my heart to the bad dog that was slowly changing. After some time he even began to eat from my hand. That alone was a major milestone in our journey of growing together. Kindness and perseverance had destroyed what beatings, abuse, neglect, and spite had created, from what started out as a loving and generous puppy in a cruel world... a good dog had been transformed into the animal I saw months ago as the hound from hell. Many people still drop their jaws as they hear him preach with fire... such a testimony... I still weep at Gods awesome power to change a heart of stone to flesh. From the day he left prison until today and I believe from now on, God has and will lead him with love. The power of his testimony is awesome for pulling down the strongholds in the lives of all that he was placed in front of. His new wife
51

and children attest to the transforming power of the love of a mighty God... love for even a bad dog... I can say this from the heart because, someone stuck by me as I have stuck by him, transforming me from the same kind of bad dog that he was... thats what made it so easy... I was him.

THE BOX She hid behind the piano in plain sight to many, yet hidden to the world... no one was allowed to see her beauty hidden deep within the deepest recesses of her heart. Many were touched by the talent she allowed the world to see through her gift from God... Many never saw the masters hands upon hers guiding her to the right keys as she poured her emotions into the works given to her... At home her soul was allowed to be released and stretch forth its wings behind the confines of the locked doors to the world, yet her heart cried... God heard and worked diligently day and night for this precious child he loved so... Tears shed to prepare the sleep she needed were collected by God and placed in a special place in his kingdom and watched by Him... The vials began to fill and were placed in a special box given to her of fine alabaster... As time wore on, the shell she became hid a box that no one, especially those close to her would ever see, let alone know she possessed... Those tears of sorrow one by one were being replaced by
52

God with the oil of Love. So precious is this oil that very few know it even exists... Many having heard of it seek it, to only find the counterpart twisted by satan disguised as love, hiding only the truth of lust... The oil in this box of alabaster was special, and the box was rapidly filling to a point of total fulfillment... She waited and watched all the while protecting this gift, as she wanted to waste it not The oil refined and purified by God was to be poured out upon the head of only one... and no other, so she saved and waited as she paid dearly for this oil... God, please dont forget me, she cried on those lonely nights... Isnt there someone just for me, someone that will only have eyes for me and no other? When oh Lord, when?... as sleep enveloped and kept her for yet another night alone... The oil that came from the tears grew in power and became as a beacon not to the eyes, but to the spirit... the spirit of one called and appointed to receive this gift so precious... The only one who would receive this love, as no other in the world would do... as it was to be His gift to him from God, made from the tears he had sown through the years... The day was as no other created by God... it was for them and no others... He stood before her and asked, Why are you so sad? Her smile and eyes hid this fact to the world, as too many, were too busy to ever see past the truth in her heart... yet that day, he stood at the door to her

53

heart and peeked in to see... the loneliness and it looked like his heart beating within her chest... The melting of the years was swift as the wings of eagles, as they leave their nest in search of God after the rest he gave them... The light of love began to search deep within her heart, for the box... it lay hidden in the deepest recesses of her heart, covered by cobwebs and dust... He blew life into her world bringing out the life, that lay hidden to the world... and she brought forth the box... Yet doubt and logic and reasoning began to work their ways for the stopping of that which had been ordained by God and blessed and settled in heaven before the creation of the earths surface they stood upon. Yet in moments it seemed she and he were sure of the love they had both hidden from the world since the beginning of times... As they grew closer, she waited to hear from God that it was safe to reveal this love, sown in tears... She stood next to him and faith took over. She lifted the box that was worth millions of dollars as it was almost priceless, many said he wasnt worthy, wait to be sure she often heard... Why him, as he has nothing to give... yet she broke the box and the oil flowed down his face and down his chest to cover him entirely, and he soaked up the love he longed for all his life and she loved him, as no other in the world... Many looked upon this love as gooey and fake... it had to be lust as they knew not love. Their tears of joy were stored in heaven in buckets, as the mere vials that held the
54

tears they had sown in loneliness, could not sustain all of the tears of joy and love that came from the seeds of tears.

THE SIDE OF THE ROAD I was young and anxious to sow my wheat... To run my race and to win at any and all costs They were all just losers sitting along the side of the road wringing their hands, wishing, wondering, hoping, praying, counting and recounting the loses they had had in their lives Fools, just get off your tail and shuffle on down the road, anyway just get out of my way stand to the side. Stop your sighing, hoping, and praying and just do something even if its wrong! And they wished and hoped away. I can't stop for them I thought... Women, children, and men of all ages, sizes, and ethnic groups wealthy and poor alike... What the heck is wrong with them I thought? Get a grip people and just start moving and then something happened I stopped and helped just one stand up and she told me of her troubles and woes and soon I was depressed. She was hoping I could maybe finish the race she was trying to run, but I began to think, if she couldnt, then how could I ever finish and or complete the race?? She had had it allmoney, fame, fortune; health, husbands (all so many) and she drank from the finest of wells in life... I was too unfortunate to have ever graced her path, had she not come along in my life at a curve and juncture I had not counted on...
55

You know, I thought I should just press on and leave her here in her misery, as she really doesnt want out of it, she just wants to mill around in it, over and over and over, hoping and praying and fasting and thinking somehow its all just gonna change So why should I care? But, it was a small spark and glimmer, no maybe just a mere spec in her eyes that caught my attention Help me she asked But I have so little, so such a small amount to even offer you, how can I even begin to help you I thought, and then she asked... I have no hope; can you give me some, as you seem to have so much in your pouch? Please, just let me have a glimmer of hope and a chance again? She asked with such sorrowful eyes But what shall you have to do with me, I asked. I am from a different class and culture and you are oh so refined and pretty, and I am such an ugly duck you are so much a princess. You have had it all in life and I have had nothing. Why should I even share what little I even have, with you? I asked. Well I have no hope left she answered, and she proceeded to tell me why she had so little to none left in her life... It seems that money isnt everything... And in fact in some cases it can cause more harm than good, especially just when you horde it all... So she had it all and it was all for herself... So I listened and she spoke... and told me more of her woes... So I asked; Why sit you here and waste your life away... why are you not continuing on down your road in life? Our paths just happened to cross at this time, as through some self inflicted incident and accident in life... A wreck that
56

was always in the making and waiting for this perfect storm in life to just happen as it did... I can't she answered, the weight of all this is just too heavy to carry anymore... I just can't!! Then she asked me again for help, as she struggled to regain her motion and momentum and stand, however she couldnt any longer as her strength was gone. So I pondered... wondered and almost fell into her lifes ditch on the side of the road, when she came to and I responded again to her cries and pleas... Just give it all away!! What?? Are you insane?? This is all I have and I got this with much misery, trials and tribulations and I worked my tail off to just get what I got from the corporate world and I worked and I struggled and I prayed and I gave my life to this dream that now shackles me to this side of the road.. Why in the hell should I just give it all away? You cannot see me for just what I am, a princess in this lifetime, who works and struggles against everything that is, and was, and shall be. Shut up with your stupidity and just get out of my way and leave me here in my misery, you are such a fool, shut up and just get out of my sunlight.. So I washed my hands of her and went on foolish girl I thought, why You should just remain here and die in your shame and misery. I went on in life and soon I watched as I rounded a corner and soon there was another who had been stopped on the side of the road who needed help and she cried out, Can you share some of your hope with me? I wished her well in life and walked on.

57

As I turned my attention back to the path, he was just right there in my face. Almost tripping over a rock and stumbling right into him I asked for his apology and he recited the most eloquent of phrases I had ever heard... Why should I forgive you he asked? You almost tripped over and into me... Why arent you watching where you are going...? You fool of fools... Why should I apologize, I asked, You are right here in the middle of the road. And then the argument started and was soon quite heated and I lost my cool and soon shouting turned to shoving, turned to hitting, to wrestling on the ground, as shouts from others of; fight, fight, fight, was reaching my ear drums and the foolishness of this prim and proper man seemed to shout, SHUT UP. Sit down and just listen to the man, so I shut up and sat down... And he shared after he combed back his sparse hairs... You know a comb over... Soon, he, me and they were sitting on the side of the road... They were disappointed and strung out on the high that a good fight, coulda, woulda, and shoulda, brought... Why are you standing here in the middle of the road when all so many others are sitting on the side of the road...? More chances, he thought and then said.. What? I asked. Well you see, I have seen all so many others on my way to even here on the side of the road, sitting, mulling, waiting, mumbling, praying, and then waiting some more... all the while holding on to what small dreams they have held onto all these years. All miserable and wishing for some sort of open heaven to change their life, as though cash, healing,
58

wishing, hoping and making things happen could sort their miseries out of their life. So I chose to just stand here pretending to be just like a lamp post, and watch and see who, if any noticed.. In all these years no one! Not even a single soul who has passed me by even wished me well, so I thought I would just grab the chance by throwing a rock out on the path hoping and praying someone would just trip on this rock which you did, so I could tackle them into listening to my story and woes so I could worship once again.. And no one rich enough and foolish enough ever did, so I chose you and you were a fight, to get right into my life. Well sheepishly I asked, Why should I help as I am on my way to somewhere...? I was too he added, and then it just happened, a thought struck me and it was this same rock I threw into your path... Well gees thanks I added... So I pondered and asked almost stupidly. What question? And he answered What if? What if I asked? What if what? Well you see, I was working my way through life in pretty much the same fashion as you are. I was young one day, then a teen one day, then a young aged fit and trim man the next, and soon I was this middle aged man with a mortgage, a boat, cars, trips to exotic vacation spots every so often and not enough time to sit down and rest my mind and then it just happened.. I was old and I wondered one day, just what if I hadnt taken the path of least resistance when I was younger and rode out my life on the waves of chance with faith in my wings...
59

Legs all so strong back then could have carried me on to younger women, happier times that could have lain ahead and I shoulda taken those chances and changes that came along in my life, when I could and should have grabbed that brass ring. But I can't change and or chance that any more, its too late and all too late for me to change, as now everyone depends on me. and my life is miserable. You see I am well educated now, an actual professor with lots of responsibilities to my wife and my children and my staff and to my dog and to my cars and to my life Why I can't change any more and then it just struck me one day. What if I just changed it all and left my life would they, could they, follow I asked? Well I dont know, I can't answer that, you see as I can't see into the future any more than you can, and I can't offer you any more advice than what I can share from my life, but my life is still young and I cannot see nor afford to wait here any longer with you. I wish you well and by the way, that hurts like hell!! Keep that rock of, what if to yourself And I strode off along my path a lot more watchful.. She stepped into my path, and the ball and chain she had on her ankle creaked, crackled, and groaned from even being moved. Help, she asked? And her children beside her asked, Who is she? About the mother they were shackled to as well How should I know? I answered, shes your mother!
60

No shes not, she died all so many years ago in the insane asylum... But... I answered her in all so many words, I can still see her. Shes not dead and she seems pretty much alive to me. She must be ok... No shes not! Shes not here! Shes dead to us, she abandoned us when she was young and she never came back to share her love with us, she kept it all to herself and shes now alone in hell... She shall burn forever, and she is, and shall not, cannot ever be here with us! But, I see you all three chained together in some shameful way, shackled to a strange ball, and chains that hold you to this ball. Why should I care? Why should I cry for you? Can you not see my will being done here? I have so much to do, so much to say, so much to share, I cannot see nor sit here with you any longer, I must push on forward into my own life, and then she touched me, and imparted a misery into me and my soul, and I shoved it way down and shoved a lot of life yet to live over on top of it, to smother it out. Wretch I thought... Why should I care, if you are so blind and stupid as to shut your life down for her? You foolish, foolish, girls, release her let her go and just get on with your lives... Shut up and just leave me alone. And a bitterness began to grow and it grew silently in the darkness and richness of the wretchedness of my soul and I never knew it. I walked on the road, which continued to twist and turn again to the right and then the left, almost in hair pinned turns, over and over, and I grew lonely, cold and bitter at
61

this road which seemed to take so long to end, that eventually I just stopped and sat down... Soon. I too laid a trap for the next one to come along and hit my snare. It was a thin, thin, line across the road, tied to a boulder called failures... It was rock solid, and could not, and would not, be budged. So I waited, and watched, for the next fool that was to come along and get snared, as I now was because no one deserves to be rich like me... I pondered on who it just might be, as failure was bound to the ground, and I was tied to it. I could see a faint light one night, coming along the path I had traveled as I sat on the side of the road... and I watched, and waited, and brewed, and stewed, about all the bad dealings life had dealt me.. You foolish wretch, to have ever come my way... I thought in my sad head. The light grew brighter and soon became as the sun, as it shone all around me, except over me, as misery had become my canopy in life. He watched me as though from afar, and He was different, I could sense it... He stood before me, and before I even got a chance to catch a breath... What do you wish from me? He asked. I cannot see my way anymore, and there are none to help me on my journey, so I am too, now bound here on the side of this road called misery. Can you not see my snare that I set for you? I so foolishly asked Him.
62

Why yes I can, as I knew you would be here before the foundations of the earth, and I paid a ransom price for you and these others you have passed along the way. Can you come with me and worship my father who is in heaven? No! I answered I know not how, it has been, too, too, long... I pray now, I am an intercessor; I just pray and pray... I can see your ways to trick me up and leave me here wishing I was free, but you are not rich, you are poor, so how can you help me??.. I made myself poor for you, in order that you should be rich. You cannot deserve it, as it was already done for you, and I wish you could, and should, and would, just believe me... I... HAVE... TRIED... I YELLED!! , as all so many times I wished you were here just so I could see you, and you would set me free... Please I pleaded, I cannot worship you, as you are too far away, there is too much in Your and my past, please research this and give me your answer, as I have too many sins for you to judge me as secure enough to use your wealth correctly... Worship with Me for just ten minutes and you shall see I have set you free from your bondage, as it was just in your mind and seemed all so real, but it was just in your imagination. Shalom, you are now whole so wash your mind with my words and they shall set you free from these cords and bondages that you were in... Just let it all go, its in the past and your past as is your future, forgiven, and wide open to receive all of my blessings. You shall see that you are no longer hindered.
63

Shalom, I shall set you free and you shall see just how I can use you. Shalom, I shall surely shut up your accusers and you shall see. Shalom, I shall shut the lions mouth and you shall run joyously free... Shalom, just trust me with your whole heart not just a piece of it... I thought I had all these years... No, you have trusted in your own strength, trying to get Me to perform for you, as I willed and I have willed that you should live and not die. So, come worship me your creator... I tried as I might and as I could, but I could not release the cords of regret... But I could and did say just one thing so simple and all so small Just help me as I am... I need your help and I've got no other way to make it... Please!! Dont leave me here the way I am... So He touched me and gave me rest deep within my soul and the cord just slipped from my hands, and I was rushed to the hospital with a stopped heart... Sometimes God has to stop your heart in order to reboot it, so that you see Him for what and who He is and what He has planned for you and your life... Grace abounds around the foolish and Jesus is your jailer, as He, and He alone holds the keys and determines when and if you get out of this pressure cooker you are in, so that your flesh is well done and crispy... as only He can set you free. I can say that I can now enjoy my life, and you can enjoy your life without a reboot, its just acknowledging
64

that you are a sinner and that you are trapped in your past holding on to the things that you think are all so important and significant. And yet they are all around you, waiting and watching for your time, and your help... So when you are on your journeys in life, I encourage you that when you see someone who is like me on the side of the road derailed by lifes circumstances, problems situations, and heartaches.. Please reach down to me and just lift me up, so I can go on and finish my race... I will and want to run with you God Speed and God Bless.

INNOCENCE God sure has a funny way of making a point some times. I was asked to head to NC this one weekend to pray for someone that as it turned out had already died. So perplexed I asked, Did I miss it?? No, He answered you are still on track for I have something I wish to show you... So onward I marched through the days of this weekend ordained by almighty God. He worshiped the Father in ways we cannot imagine, with purity of heart, simplicity of life, expectant, abundant, never losing heart, as he was autistic. As it turned out, he was the one I was to share my prayers with in the end, but then
65

wishing he could and would pray for me, as his innocence was just so awesome and powerful... Life to him help no boundaries, no time clocks, no wars to win, or life to begrudge friends were everywhere, no matter where they were in life, for innocence accepts all just as they are.. Evil to him was just a bad man or woman not critical or judgmental, just accepting that they were just loveless he could feel the hatred that filled their hearts and minds, often clouding his judgment of purity and innocence And yet none saw him as he was... Innocent. We all want to change him, perfect him and yet somehow simply shaking his hands imparted into me something I had lost in my journey in this world... Innocence... I wish I had more, as I am always struggling, striving, fighting, warring, finishing, starting, completing, arguing to see my point, just all too often more than Gods point of just trust Me, and regain your innocence. This morning as I was out walking seeking God for answers, prayers flying out to seek answers, rewards still unanswered and unrealized, even though many battles had already been won, and yet the riches I had fought and struggled so hard for were no where to be found. I had lost my innocence of just trusting Him to take care of everything and I do mean everything, relying solely on Him and Him alone, and not my own strength and or wisdom, as I called it I saw myself in heaven making a token offering to God of a vessel now full to almost overflowing, thinking somehow he was going to be proud of me, as I had held on to the faith and fought the good fight.
66

And yet this new friend as I shall say, was so enamored by just a simple butterfly, that God was pushing me aside to spend time with the innocent one. One who worshiped him in innocence, and just loved his creation, as God so loved the world, as He thought it was good... I can say I was a little miffed and thought he should be changed and yet by simply shaking this young mans hand I can say I had to repent and pray, God please never change him into someone like me, as I need you to make me so much more like him. He may never hold a doctorate in and of theology, yet I bet he believes and trusts more in God than I ever will... So in my sick mindset of having to change everyone, God shook my hand in the form of an innocent man that you and I, might call autistic, as we have them labeled. Yet the power of innocent love that this young man has I bet kings would kill for if they simply knew its power. So God taught me a very important lesson and that is to remain innocent to Him. If you have lost your innocent trust in Him, regain it... If you have lost your innocent love for Him, fight for it... Get it back, return to that place where you simply put your hands in His, and walked with Him in innocence. Shalom.

67

THE BULLY he was mean... nasty and hated everybody that stood in his way... Often seen shaking his fists at the heavens as though mad at God for all of his problems... He hung around with a bad crowd and they as well often shook their fists to heaven as though cursing God for their misery and torments in hell... His pride swelled him up bigger than he really was, and the beauty he was before, was replaced by darkness and the lack of all that was good... he was the father of all lies the master of deceit and deception, the author and finisher of all evil... he paraded through the school yard in total control, bringing fear to all that dared to stand up to him as they crossed his path... Oh man, I wish someone would do something about that bully, as they ran and hid from his torments and tauntings... Yet only one child stood out from the crowd one day... and He was different. The tormentor threw the greatest of fits in attempts to dissuade the child of innocence... so pure and full of love... Others drew close to the child as they felt safe in His presence and would stand up to the bully when He was present, yet fled in terror as he roared as a lion to devour them.. Ice ran through his veins, as he tortured all those that sought to oppose him and stand between him and the false victory of the killing of the child... The bully raged and
68

rambled, sending waves of those he loved and protected, against Him to torture and eventually kill Him... the child died that day in the world, and it was finished... The bully laughed and reigned and the world trembled that day and then... the earth split and released the child from the grips of death... and He reigned, the child who took the keys of death and authority in and of the world, and placed them in the hands of those that sought to kill and destroy the bully and his followers from the face of the earth... Yet the battle was finished and all that was left was the sweeping up of the remnants of the childs friends and family... He rose that day to be with his father in the heavens, while the bully shook his fists along with the hoards of followers that knew, that they knew, that they knew, they were finished and yet they fought and raged against the friends and relatives of the child, preparing for the final battle for the school yard. Yet the bully was so blind to the truth that he had already lost, as the child of innocence had defeated the grave, and all of those who sought to destroy Him through the yielding of His life for those left behind to face the lion that raged and sought to control the school yard... But only for a short season and then to finally face the final battle and then to lose eternally along with all those that resisted the child of love.

69

PIECE OF CAKE!! I stared across the desk blankly... The man on the other side so large, strong, pure, and humble... He held out the scroll that bore the last will and testament that held my future in it... Slowly the scroll was unrolled... It looked ancient, like the ones that someone like Moses, Abraham, or one of the prophets from the bible might have carried around with them... I figured in this day and time it would have at leas t been put on a thumb drive, maybe a cd-rom with some graphics, a power point presentation with a little audio track, and maybe even a good beat to follow... The man across from me hardly looked the thousands of years old he confessed to be... of course I hardly looked my age either. I thought I would be as old as this old dude before he finished reading me the things that I could look forward to... I was just a baby then... I was told one day that I would be able to visit earth and hang out for years as a bum... defy parents, smoke something called dope... lounge around at the mall and pierce parts of the body I would have, in unimaginable places... Then one day Jesus would reveal himself to me again Call me to battle and have me put the whole armor of God on and send me forth with a message for some people He was showing me now...
70

I was to be covered by the shed blood of Jesus, and have the anointing of the Holy Spirit available to me, as I relearned the things I was being taught now... It was through the covenant I was told, that I had the right through the stripes Jesus bore, to walk in divine health... That I also had the right to be healed by the same stripes that Jesus took on his back for me, before I was even sent to fulfill my part of Gods plan for the world... Could you believe it? Me... Little ole me, a nobody at the time, being sent just like you were to fulfill the plan and His will... Too bad I wont remember any of this while I walk through the world. As I would just do my part, and then buzz back here to heaven its so cool here... Sorry, I was daydreaming...something we get to do lots of down there on earth... so it cant be all that bad... Ok so youll send my friend here to guard me all the while Im walking the planet, to make sure I dont miss any of the important things on the trek... And youll send my best friend here to minister the truth to me at the right time, so Ill be prepared for the mission Im on... This aught to be a blast... Demons? What demons? Those things? Why would I ever be afraid of those little things? They are powerless against us, cause Gods kids have all of the rights Jesus had while walking on the earth... right? What do you mean I wont know about them while I walk the path you set me on, until I see the light?
71

Oh I get it... by traveling through the earth without the knowledge I have here, I will grow spiritually as well to fulfill my part of the plan for this eternity, as well as those to come... Im learning... continue, Mr. Old man. What else? Lets move along... I got the healing part... yeah yeah, what else? Working of miracles... whats that? We dont need miracles here because everything we need is provided by God... You mean I wont have any of the knowledge at all of this part of my existence either until I get back here?? Man that will be an experience wont it?? So Paul how did you cope on your walk on earth? NO WAY!!! No way!!! Your kidding, you were out killing and persecuting Christians. Then Jesus knocked you off your high horse and turned you into the awesome apostle you are now... thats so cool... So what are the other things my covenant covers? Working of miracles I got, and what else... A prayer language so I can communicate back here to God without the demons understanding... Cool, that way they cant get in the way of the mission Im on right... And?? Prophesy, Word of knowledge, Word of wisdom... Got those, what else? Interpretation of the tongues I as well as others will speak, as the Holy Spirit leads... neat... anything else I get to use from Gods arsenal?? What about salvation? Oh, thats the start of it all... I can see now the pictures getting brighter... And the last one again is? Oh yeah, Discerning of spirits... Thats so Ill know if a person I meet, or things I see or hear, are from God or not... This is gonna be so wild...
72

Faith, what do you mean Ill need Faith? I will never ever need that much faith man With that much you could drive every one of satans demon back to hell where they need to be... but if you insist Ill take a small measure... Well on second thought, maybe the whole shield will be fine... Now lets see, the purpose is to eventually one day minister to this one person and tell em how God worked things out for me, this is gonna be a snap... Wait one minute, I understand that I can do all the things Jesus did, I can use His name as I need, and Ill be covered by the blood. This aught to be like taking candy from a baby. So, why dont I just keep the memories of now and do the task and follow Jesus example and itll be a snap, a piece of cake... What do you mean that my will on earth will get in the way?? You know that mere flesh can never overrule the spirit... No way Im ever gonna believe that. With the books you wrote I know its gonna be easy and youre also talking about sending the highest powers God has available with me; Love, Peace, Joy, Goodness, Gentleness, Meekness, Temperance, Patience, and more Faith... Man Im going loaded for bear... Is there some kind of problem I should look out for on earth or something? Well ok l guess I will just have to find out for myself. Best way to learn things I believe. Sometimes I know its the hard way, but usually always the best way. Well Im glad that interview is over, the kids these days have it so easy. Jesus went before them all, died, won the
73

battle eternally, loosed the Holy Spirit for them, had me write down all of the things they needed to know in the book, along with all of the things; Joshua, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Jonah and the rest of the old gang went through, and they think its just gonna be a cake walk I cant wait until God lets us watch them mess things up... I think I forgot to tell her that the bible wont be in order, and only until the Holy Spirit reveals the truth to her again, will she even begin to remember any of it, let alone that shell have to learn everything all over again, the hard way... Im gonna get Moses back for getting over on me the way he did when he had my job... I remember when I thought it would be a piece of cake too...

MY CHRISTMAS FROM GOD I stared starry eyed at the Christmas presents under the Christmas tree... All wrapped in gold, silver, brass and bronze wrapping paper... all wrapped to perfection... with ribbons and bows so ornate... I looked at the first present's gift tag... opening it slowly it seemed to speak To: A Loving Son; from God and my Son. Opening the box I found a heart and a note... This is my love that I give to you because I love you son... Take only the love you need and give the rest away... Give it to your wife always... to your children and grandchildren...
74

without measure... give it to your friends without strings attached... give it to strangers... anonymously... give it to the lost of this world unconditionally... give it abundantly to the widows, orphans, those in hospitals, jails, lost and forgotten, as I give it to you... eternally then give it to yourself... it will never run out, nor will it ever fail or let you down Love, Dad... Tears rolled from my face, down my cheek and to the floor at the sight of this precious gift... I of all people in the world did not deserve this sort of gift... Yet God gave it to me freely... without neither conditions nor strings attached... Yet He loved me it seemed no matter what, I as most people, grew up thinking that God was vengeful, mean and full of anger and fury. Yet this of all Christmases was to drive home the point if I hadnt gotten it by now, that God was a loving and kind Father full of mercies and grace... ready to forgive and love His children... As I began to open the second box... I read the card... To: My little Child, from: A loving Father in heaven. The paper lay on the floor as I lifted the lid from this huge box...Inside was a silver peace sign on leather string along with a note. As the peace sign lay in my hand the Holy Spirit began to whisper to my heart... Son, its hard to give some people the right things at times... So I give unto you, my peace...
75

This peace will come from giving away the love you now have... This peace will pass all understanding... as it is the peace between you and Me...It is the peace that you are shod with, through ministering my gospel... the gospel of peace which you spread for Me... It will lead and guide you... and it has the ability to be given to others without yours running out just like the love I gave you... Give this too freely... to all those who come across your path at times. You will find this peace will lead you to the strangest of places... As when there is peace I am there also, so fear not, as it is My peace leading you to those in need of my love... Therefore seek and follow My peace at all times... Love Abba, Tears wouldnt stop, as I held up this precious gift of my Fathers spirit... Yes Father, I will follow wherever this leads... and freely share it with all you place in my path... Thanks Dad... Sitting on the floor of this beautiful home's living room I couldnt stop crying that Christmas, as several years ago I was dirt poor... I was in jail for owing thousands of dollars in child support after forsaking all to follow Christ... Now here I am in a place given to me by God, I had been praying for this home for so many years. Talking about it planning for it, and now I finally live here and this dream home is the home my wife had also dreamed of, but thought would be her home in heaven, yet God blessed us here to enjoy life before returning to heaven...

76

God blessed me the most with the wife I had dreamed of having before I had made the mistake of marrying the wrong women before. Thank God that He is able to correct our mistakes when we turn them over to Him... But I would do it all over again, as I have two wonderful and beautiful daughters, and as God said He would make all things, work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Now she is my dream come true, as I never thought God could or would do something so wonderful for me. We have wonderful children that seek to work for the kingdom of God throughout the mission fields of the world. The things God provided for us in order to do his work could never have been obtained through the worlds system and ways and still have had a family life, as the cost was enormous. Yet God owns all of the gold in all of the hills, and all of the cattle on ten thousand hills and provides all of the needs of all the plants in the world, as well as all of the animals and all that his children have and need through His riches in glory... I had always dreamed of flying an airplane and a helicopter and all have been provided by God, to do His work, as He leads our lives through the journey He has in store for us. So now I enjoy life with the best gift of all from God, my family... I went on to the next gift as the excitement was compelling me to venture on into these mysterious gifts that must have come from God...
77

As He has chosen to bless this created one who was saved by grace... and I really have no idea why He would bless me other than He must really love me... As I have at times been the chief of all sinners, who often deserved the death I often dished out, instead of the life He continuously gives out... So the only answer must be unconditional love... as He wants us all blessed to our fullest, and then at times even gives us double that which we seek, so that we can bless others. This is so they may see the grace God has for them as well, instead of the beatings and punishments they may have deserved. He has extended grace to me and will for you, because of the greatness of the love He has for us... You see, we are all living together on this small grain of sand... spinning around in the universe that to God, is yet still a small grain of sand among the many grains of sand in His sand box. The third present seemed to almost open itself... it was one of those wind up Jack in the Boxes. The bright colors were all so joyful and uplifting... I turned the handle a few times and out popped the colorful clown holding a card... I pray you enjoyed the other two gifts... with those two always within you, you will then appreciate this gift... share it as the others... Be as the child you were when you first played with one of these... and laugh at problems, dilemmas, trials and tribulations... Show others how to laugh as well... as it is always the best medicine.

78

You will find this joy by giving other people all the love that is in your heart, soul and body... This is because peace will lead you through all things in order that you may reach them with the peace that has been given to you... Then the joy within you will be released for them... Releasing of this joy will cast light on the dark places in their, as well as your life... so the light of laughter can shine through. And please... please.... enjoy this life I created and gave to you... With Love, Your loving Father. I laughed and played with my wife and children for hours, rolling on the floor tickling each other till it hurt... Tears of joy rolled down our faces which were well beyond beet red... Laughing was always a free gift, yet most keep this gift locked deep within their hearts rarely bringing it to the light of day. Yet, God calls for us to be joyous; satans lies, tell us to keep our heads down in the ruts that he tries so hard to keep us in... Yet God, still gives laughter to those that know the truth and get away from the lies and out of the ruts they are in... while they are often yet still in them. So look around you... have you ever seen a little bird frown, or ever heard a fish complain, ever watched an eagle cry? No, not ever, and you never will, as they know that God provides for them and yet He loves them less, than he loves you...
79

They spend their days enjoying their day and not worrying about where their next meal will come from, They do that which they know to do, as God created them for specific purposes, as He did you and I for a special purpose. Follow your heart and the inner man, the Holy Spirit shall lead you, neither fear nor doubt not, as God has you in the palm of his hands and He loves you. Therefore, laugh at the lies of satan, as he tries to tell you to turn back, to be like the rest, dont try it, as it wont work, give up, let go, stop wasting your time as this is foolish... The trees, and the grasses never fail to stretch forth to the sun, as they resist the pull of the gravity that pins us to the earth, and the ground, that attempts to keep them bound to earth, yet they all fail. They turn their faces to the heavens and sing out to God for His mercies and to water and feed them... They fret not at the droughts that come their way, as the rain always...always... follows the droughts of life Yet you have let satan steal the joy which is your strength, rob you of the love given to you, and destroy the peace, you need to survive... So steal it back, take back that which was taken from you, and enjoy laughing in the devils face... Load up the kids, and take a drive, hike, take a bus or train and ride to a large field somewhere and play all day... roll in the grass, watch the clouds float by in the heavens and think of God, as He loves you and wants you happy, not sad. Breaking free from the grip satan has on your life is the battle worth fighting... Pick flowers and just love the day, love each other.... let your love out with a shout, and just roll in the grass... you
80

will find the lost innocent joy of your childhood that was hidden way back in the back of the closet of your life... Im no shrink, yet it seems to make me and my family happy and IT REALLY DOESNT HAVE TO COST ANYTHING!! After what seemed like an hour or more of playing and laughing... We cooled down, still all red faced and I began to open the next present at my feet... The forth gift was large and heavy... as I took the lid off the big box, I stared at its contents... Sand. and a card... so I pulled the card from the box of sand and opened it. Instructions: Place box on floor and place feet in box... wiggle toes and shift feet around slowly feel the grains of sand beneath your feet?? This is goodness... take a few grains of this sand with you to always give away to others... if you fill your heart with my love, peace will guide you, joy will spring up in the strangest of places... which will make room for goodness to spring forth. There... is the place the Spirit of Goodness is to be sown... By sowing the seeds of goodness, others will receive the gifts of their own from me... Therefore be ye a sower of the grains of goodness, everywhere Love Yahweh. Man it sure felt good standing in the box of warm sand...
81

The visions of a quiet beach shore flooded my senses... as I stood in the box of sand. Yes Lord, I will sow your goodness wherever I go in your name... Thanks Dad. The next box was strangely shaped, it lay in my lap with its gold bow, all so shiny as though pure gold... Carefully it was unwrapped... by happy hands... and a wondering mind... Why would God be so good to me? Yet unwrap it, I did... Inside of the box was a soft baby lamb... so soft and cute. Stuffed of course... a simple card hung from his neck... I am your new friend.... please take care of me, as I am frail... my name is Gentleness rub my wool. Enjoy, Dad I slowly stroked the back of the small gentle lamb and a vision came to me... Jesus in a room so bright... surrounded by thousands of children of all nationalities shapes and sizes... I watched as He took the time to hug and care for each and every one of them in the way they needed to be taken care of, with loving kindness... Gently He loved each and every one of His children... slowly He turned to face me and His soft voice filled my senses... My brother, treat all of Gods people as children... Love them as it is the greatest of the commandments... take
82

the time to listen to them, as they all have their stories to tell... Help them, and never... never... never, ever offend one of these little ones of God, as it would have been better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and drowned in the depths of the sea, than for you to offend one of these little ones, as they are precious to God... Therefore practice gentleness, with all that grace your path as you know not the children of God, therefore treat them all as Gods children and you will be safe as they are all your brothers and sisters... As I came out of the vision I was still stroking the Iamb... with the wool so soft and white... realizing that we are all lambs of God. The next present from God was also an interesting one... Written on the bow of the box were the words... Pull Here So I pulled, and pulled, and pulled ... and pulled... seemingly for hours... As what seemed to be ten miles of string piled up on the floor. I couldnt help but wonder at the present this box would contain. The tiny hole in the box lid almost seemed to burn from the string reeling from the box top... the beautiful box and string finally yielded, as the lid popped off... With a sharp tug, the box top and contents were in my hand... nothing... The box was empty as I then turned the lid over and there it was... a plastic rainbow, the kind you hang in the kitchen window to catch the suns rays...
83

Yet there was a difference to this present... no note... how odd, the others had notes yet this one yielded no note, or the hint there of... I thoroughly searched the box over and finally looked close at the bottom of the lid of the box... inside the lid were the words... This present should have tried your patience... as Ive done on many occasions over the past few years... and will continue to do over the years to come... This gift I now give to you will enable my peace, love, joy and gentleness to shine through you... as it is always I who is to receive all of the glory... This present never wears out; it will be tried and tested, over and over again, and time after time again throughout the years... Yet as youve discovered, there is always My rainbow at the end of My tests and trials So walk and follow me always, particularly as I build the road before you... Love, A Father who cares Well, you got me on that one Lord...and as always I thank you for theses precious gifts... I will do my best to use each and every gift wisely, each and every day, as you have done with a wretch like me... Thank you Lord, as I do love you... The next box was long and rectangular... sort of narrow...

84

Lets see maybe its a telescope or golf clubs hmm... lets see as I anxiously opened the present, especially since I was so curious... A long board and a triangle a tag on the end of the simple gift read... Place triangle on solid surface... and find line drawn on board... Place board on triangle at the line and it should balance perfectly... Good Luck... So I did as instructed... I tried and tried over and over again, as each and every time the board would not balance and constantly fell off the steel triangle... First the board fell off one way, then the other, frustration was grabbing a hold of me really quick... finally... success the board perfectly balanced... Then the Holy Spirit softly spoke to my heart... This is how your life should be... balanced... as this gift now is... as you face the struggles and trials that life will throw in your face, balance them with joy... offset hatred with love... anxiety with patience... rage with peace, evil with goodness and gentleness; then as is this gift, your life will be balanced... Follow God with all of your heart, holding nothing back, love unconditionally, and patience will prevail in the hearts of those the Lord wants you to reach for Him, so follow God and keep your life balanced... through temperance...
85

Man what great gifts God was giving me... yet I felt somehow unworthy... of such gifts from such a loving and caring God... Just then the Holy Spirit reminded me of the love I had for my children... The freedom with which I loved them was the type of love God extends to everyone, as it is unconditional and complete, lacking nothing... When a child of mine messes up, I am free to forgive as they ask for forgiveness and I usually have forgiven them long before that... I easily forget the hurts they caused me, as they also got mad at me for things I did wrong, or even when they are being reminded, or asking, as to why they are being punished... Yet as I stare into their eyes and see the innocence of their souls and spirits, and its easy to forgive them, as I love them. As that is the way God sees us, as children, and He loves to forgive and forget the mistakes we make, as we ask for and receive His forgiveness. Tell me friend have you ever run out of love and forgiveness for your child whom you love?? Well neither has God... He just stands in amazement at us humans. Ones He created, who are always trying to figure out why He would ever send His only son to the cross for someone as dirty and filthy as we or they are. I can still see Him scratching His head when He was talking to Noah, as He told him that He grieved in His heart that He had ever made man...

86

Thank God that He didnt change His mind, as He gave mankind another chance, and after that, sent His only begotten Son to die for the world that we might live... So it can only be through His love and it must be more love for us, than we have for others at times, as we seem to hold on to the offenses that hold us captive, and keep our joy hostage... satan sure knows how to play our fiddles well... So the Holy Spirit reminded me that God loves us all equally, as there is no special respect for anyone as we are all loved in Gods eyes its just the sin He hates... As tears fell on the next present I was washed in the warm blanket of love that my loving wifes arms held, as she gave me a warm loving kiss... Together we opened the next gift... I pulled the present from under the tree as it was the only plainly wrapped present... just brown paper, like the brown grocery bag paper. You know the kind you used to cover your school books with. At least we did back in the day The lack of a bow and ornaments was puzzling to say the least... plain twine was used to secure the lid to the box and a card simply read, Wear these welland all will be well... Lifting the pants into the air I could plainly see that there were well worn holes in the knees. Faded and the bottoms of the pants legs were tattered from dragging them in the dirt... The note said to simply try them on and I did. They appeared a little snug, but they did fit...
87

As I fastened the button, they came to life as I was carried away into vision by myself... Old men and women, dirty children, hungry, poor, humble, all in desperate need... then a feeble old man came up to me and spoke... These were my pants, wear them well, and never get too big for these britches... God, will give you all you need, and always more than enough so you can help others...dont hoard it, because its not yours... He turned and waved his hand out over the crowd... Its theirs...You are now their servant... Serve them well, as it is your commission...! I now pass this mantle on to you... God gave you the gifts of prosperity, health, a tender and loving heart, to help you find those that are lost and hopeless, share with them the hope you have beating within your heart... Share with them, the love God has given to you... Share with them, all you have, as it was given and entrusted unto you for them... not just you. They are still proud, yet greatly in need of help, and salvation. Get down on your knees and wash their feet... as the servant is never... ever... better than the master... Remember you are a disciple of Christ... and He washed your feet... always remain meek and humble... as God hates pride and haughtiness...
88

So remaining humble will always enable you to serve, as Jesus is you servant... He served you before you were sent from heaven for this purpose which God called you to... He now serves you in heaven as the intercessor between God and the judgment you so often deserve at the hands of satan... So you shall now serve these little ones, being entrusted to you... God loved you while you were yet still a sinner, so repay this love by serving those with less than you... as they are His children... The look in my wifes eyes and the look on her face told me she didnt share in any of the visions or dealings of the Holy Spirit I was having... Where did these come from she asked softly? I thought you knew... I thought you did this... No they came a yesterday by special courier while you were out... They had no return address and came postage paid and a simple note saying Paid in full. I thought maybe your dad sent them, but then I remembered that he had passed away three years ago... so I thought maybe you knew... Nope, lets open the last one as maybe the sender left a clue inside of this one, yet inside, I already knew the sender of the gifts... The last gift was small, like the kind you get a ring or pin in at the jewelry store... Inside was a shield shaped pin with the inscription on the front, FAITH. ..
89

As I removed the pin from the box it grew in my hand until it seemed to fill the room... On the back I could now clearly see the words inscribed... I give this faith to you, to go forward in My name... It will stop all of the fiery darts that the demons and satan fire at you, in their attempts to hinder your calling as you battle in My name... This faith I give unto you will always be sufficient for all of your needs... Through my faith you can show others my love, as it is this faith that they need, because the love I give brings my peace... it is my peace that will release the joy and as the joy is released, goodness and gentleness will shine forth from you into them... as it is all from me. So you have been now tempered and patience have been mixed into the batter youve been made from to do my will, according to my purpose... So fear not, nor worry, as all things are in my hands, as well as are all of the ones you minister to in love... The Lord thy God. The room suddenly got bright, and a voice came out of the corner of the room... Your strength is meekness and reliance on Me... for all things are created by, and for Me, according to My purpose... Lean not on your own understanding, as it is forbidden and foolish... Faith works in a realm and way you cannot understand yet. Through your journeys in life, your patience and tempering will be tried over and over again in the refiners fires which I will lead you into, yet as in all things, I will be there as well.
90

Each of the fires you pass through will reveal the rainbows the other side of the fire holds... All the while you will be protected by the shield of faith you hold in your hands which I freely give unto you... At times when you think you've missed it or failed, your faith will uphold you, as the faith you have will grow to meet each of the trials and tribulations you face... Yet you must step out in faith and I will do that which I promised, and carry you... So stay in faith, as satan and his band of fools cannot touch you behind this shield... none of their fiery darts can penetrate it, nor go around it... Move forward in all things, as your backside is open to satan if you retreat, as satan only stands between you and I, as he tries as he may to stop you, from that which I have called and ordained you to do... Turning away from Me exposes your flesh, and it is weak and that is where he attacks you in the flesh... So go to where I send you, as I am there waiting for you and my peace will be there guiding you in all that you do... Remember that I am there before you get there, and there I will remain even after you leave, and I will also be at the place where you are going to all at the same time... So fear not!! Doubt not... As you are my servant called by My name and according to my purpose... So enjoy this Merry Christmas, as it was my Son the one who was born, lived and died for you. He then rose again from the dead as no other can or will pay the price He paid for you... just believe upon Him in faith... The room returned to normal... as I snapped back, my wife looked all the more dazed and confused as she again had
91

not been included in the revelations the Lord had just shared with me, and it was now up to me to explain all of this to her later... and share with her the love God had shared with me... Are you ok hun?, she whispered... Yes... Im ok; just let me soak all of this up for just a moment and she just clung to my neck loving on me... Tears flowed down my cheek into her hair, as I thought of the love God has for everyone that will listen. Yet satan has twisted things and people up so much, that the simplicity of the message of love is often lost in the lies satan scatters in the paths of all believers... He attempts to hinder them from reaching out to others, as they have been lied to and believed his lies for so long that they now, often have a hard time themselves in their simple belief of love. Instead, they are led to believe they are unworthy to spread the simple message of Love, Peace, Joy, Goodness, Gentleness and all of the other fruits and attributes of Gods great loving nature... I am in awe of the blessings God has bestowed upon us, as we often ourselves believe that we are not worthy. I turned softly to my wife and asked her to pray with me... Lord, please allow your will to always shine though our lives... Bless our children as they wander through the world in their journeys with you, according to your will and purpose, as we have turned them over to you, for your will to be done in our, as well as, their lives. We, as they believe in our hearts, as we have confessed with our mouths according to Romans 10:9, that Jesus died and was raised from the dead and He is our Lord and Savior.
92

Please Lord, guide us to those we are to minister to and bind satan from stopping any of this from coming to pass... We are your servants and you are our Lord and creator... Thank you for the things youve done in our lives in the preparing of us for the ministry you have in store for us... in Jesus precious name. Shalom Shalom AMEN... We hugged it seemed for an eternity, as I began to share with her the things spoken and shown to me by the Holy Spirit, and by the Lord, as we were now to go in His name, to now do the things He called us to do, as He has anointed us to His purpose, and there can be no other purpose... She agreed, as God had already been dealing with her about her music, as it was now the time to go forward, in faith... The first step is usually the hardest, but the smallest step as small as it seems to you, in the spirit world that God operates in with all of the angels is tremendous, and God moves towards those that move towards him... He comes to us as a Father holding the hand of his baby in their first attempts to walk, God is holding onto your hand waiting for you to take that first step... So I want to encourage you, as I dont know what that first step is to you, but just take it, step out in faith and God will hold you up as you learn and grow... When and if you stumble and fall He will pick you up and dust you off each and every time, as He is just beaming with love and joy, at the child He holds in his loving hand... so step out, because He is waiting.
93

We did and now share the things God has shared with us with millions of people throughout the world, as God blesses them with that which they seek... Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy... Which we freely give out, and God generously gives it back to us in good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. We cannot handle now, all of that, which is being poured back to us, and we have to continue to pour out that which we are full of... Love.

EXTENSION CORDS There he was, one end plugged in to the power of the very universe itself... The God of love, peace, joy and goodness. All the power ready to flow through him, yet so unwilling to touch the lamps that needed this energy so badly, secretly praying someone, anyone would come along and show them the real God... The one they had heard of since childhood, yet never experienced. Millions upon millions of dark lamps; driving around, flying around, walking, working, praying, sleeping, all seeking and often praying for a touch from a God they believed in, yet knew was as far away from them as the Sun was from the moon...

94

But God, if you give it to me its mine, all mine... If I give it away then I wont have any power left... So Ill just keep it all to myself... Just a few days after receiving grace and mercy by allowing love to flow into her heart... She was overwhelmed with the urge to reach out to others and tell them of the love and freedom now flowing into her spirit. The love that flowed through her to anyone that would receive it... She went seeking the lost, dim and burned out lamps like the one she used to be... She sought out the lamps, dark and rusty, appliances, anyone and anything that needed the freeing power of love that was now flowing through her... Lamps lit, some bright, some dimly... some eventually flickered and died out... yet the energy flowed through her stronger and stronger... as she was used... She still looked the same, yet she just knew in her spirit that she was being used, as she could feel this new power and energy flowing through her... Please Lord Never stop... I know I am nothing but a vessel for you to pass through. So use me, for I am now your eyes, ears, arms and legs... Please use me, was the cry that continually flowed in her prayers even in the tough times... Yet through it all, she was to many just an innocent babe. At times she would plug into some of the powerful tools of God and they would become mighty through the pulling down of strongholds... for God and His kingdom... Oh, use me like that Lord... I want to grow, as I am not happy or content as I am... just use me more...
95

He studied, debated, split hairs, digging, discerning and reasoning as to how and why God worked, not this way not that way, a dead extension cord... one end as powerful as hers plugged into the creator of the universe and all things, yet the other end dead and lifeless. Eventually God unplugged him and threw him in the scrap box with the other useless cords... A tear flowed down His cheek as he tossed the cord into the scrap box, as He had so much hope for him, yet he refused to pass along Gods mighty power of love... The same love and power he had received as a baby extension cord, as he now loathed her as she was being used instead of him... who cares anyway as Im going to heaven since I am doing enough... maybe...

CONFOUNDED They didnt know what to think there must be a conspiracy or something... Yes, there definitely must be some kind of revolution brewing or somethingAs there is no way they can do that and get away with it... especially not in public like that. The rumors flew as those in the know debated and pondered the real meaning behind the events that unfolded before their eyes...

96

They must be conservatives and yet the others could prove they were liberals... All of the gossip flew in and out of windows faster than a speeding bullet... Superman would have had a time trying just to keep up with all of the words that often at times flew at the speed of light it seemed... Yet to those involved, it was simple... Something tugged at their hearts to go and see if they could make amends for the years and years of strivings and bitternesss... Cameras tried to record the events, as they wanted them to be seen as the truth, but to them it was still all foolish... So simple, so plain, yet there had to be a plan in the makings and in the works... The reporter on TV... looked so prudent, her lips as if set in concrete from evidently centuries of never smiling... Her hair as if from the thirties... She reported that the women of the world needed to unite against the counter attack that the males of the species were launching, because they were just up to no good and she could just smell a rat... The reporter closest to the truth was cut off, because the truth was so simple no one wanted to hear it... Yet God stood in their presence that day, with all of the men on their faces before God, just trying to make amends for the centuries of hurts and walls they had placed between God and themselves, as well as their sisters and brothers whom this day they came to make amends with...

97

Why does the world have to make a big deal out of the simplicity of God...? He is not complex. Simply just accept the love and forgiveness He offers, and the world will begin to change right before your eyes... Resist and more than likely all of hell will keep hounding and pounding at your door... You may make it by the worlds standards... Yet fail by the eternal yardstick God holds up beside everything we do... This world we all live on still goes on spinning for the moment as God allows it to... Yet to many, this simple fact is too complicated for the wise brains they maintain. They simply cannot accept that He is in control of everything in the universe. You see it states clearly in the bible, that the things God does, usually confounds the wise... as their wisdom has been learned from a world that currently has been leased to satan for a season... The logic and reason we have obtained here comes from the things we pick up on our journey in this natural world, not the eternal world which God at times uses to prove, that there is more to this world than that which we can see, hear, touch and know. Guess what...? This seasons almost over... So let them try and figure that one out... Theyll probably be in hell for years and decades trying to figure out if it really exists or not I suppose... So if you are facing something in your life bigger than you are Simply get on your face before God, repent and ask Him what is wrong, where did you get off track, and could He please put you back on track, as if you are dumb
98

enough to break it, please dont think you are smart enough to fix it..

THOUGH THEY WEAR CROSSES They look so convincingThey just fit right in and rarely ever try to draw any attention to themselves... To the naked eye they seem right... ok... just like everybody else... They sing the songs that lead many to believe and they often even seem to be the right ones to go to in the times of trouble... They wear the proper clothes and even speak most of the proper words at times. It seems as though at times that you may have even made a mistake in judging them for their ways...So you will have to just watch for the fruit that falls from their pockets, as it is the only way to tell the difference at times, as they will often wear crosses and sit in the anointed section of the church... Yet buried deep in their heart are the truths they keep hidden from the world. Its only when they are at home away from prying eyes that the fruits of their truths, the ones that are really in their hearts fall from their pocket as they let their hair down... The facades fall from their faces revealing the maker of their destinies which now shines through...
99

Their pockets are filled with the fruits of their spoils, the ones that rot upon impact with the good soft and ready soil of your heart... Subtle, and as angels they come mainly to lead the very elect astray, as it is near the time for the major battle in the grand scheme of things that the Lord has planned for man.. I say this as advice coming right from the battle field... There was one I encountered in the struggles of the walk I was on and continue in... He appeared to many to be of the saved nature, as he sang hymns almost all of the time it seemed, wore crosses made by the other inmates as he served as the cook in the jail I was in... Yet there was something peculiar about this one, and I just watched and waited as the truths behind the mask that was hiding his allegiance. The one which would be soon be removed in time... One day in the kitchen he spoke to me and let me know that the lord had told him to punch me out... Me being me, I asked if it was the Lord with the capital L, or the lord with the small cased l whom he served. Needless to say he left in a huff... later in the month while in the kitchen again getting a drink; he stood there pounding a knife into the table top glaring at me... He didnt look happy to say the least and I just went abut my business... A few minutes later he ran from the kitchen screaming, Leave me alone Im not saved Just to let you know, I never spoke a word, nor looked in his direction, as it was the Holy Spirit in me, that revealed
100

the truth in him... So it musta been the lord with the small I, he was serving and heard from, I suppose... Pastors who came there to minister to the inmates often commented about how saved he must be, I would nod at them; however he just creeped me out and often made the hair on my neck stand up on end. Soon my time there began to draw to a close, as the Lord had others for me to minister to in other places, so my season came to a swift close. The night before leaving, one of the other inmates asked me to pray and as I began to praise the Lord for the victories in the jail. He just lay in his bunk and slept, but the spirit in him listened. As I began to bind the influencing spirits in the jail, he sat straight up in his bunk with the crosses hanging from his neck and spoke to me and the others in a spooky voice... I just wanted to see how strong you were... Guess he got his answer, as the spirit left him to torment others somewhere else in the world besides the place where I was... The Lord had me anoint the jail in oil and claim it for his kingdom... not long after doing so, the place was closed and the inmates transferred, the place was then torn down and turned into a parking lot. I havent been allowed in the new facility to counsel; as the Lord had other plans for the ministry he is unfolding for me... So I have learned through experience that evil spirits, demons, and the devil are real and often seek to side track and mislead you.
101

So keep your good eye out for the tempters who often appear in sheeps clothing, as they are often just wolves seeking you for their lunch... as many are the times that they wear the same looking crosses you and I might wear throwing suspicion off of them. Watch out... keep your armor on and one eye open at all times for the ones that will try and lead you astray should you let your guard down... Therefore brethren, put on the whole armor of God, so that in the hour of your trials and temptations you will be safe, and above all things... pray... as prayer is the thing they hate the most. So at all times, pray ye in the spirit, as to avoid the pitfalls and traps set for you... God bless and see ya on the other side.

YOURE SO CUTE... The child sat in the Fathers lap and soaked up all that the Father had to say... His big eyes longed to be like his Father. His hand seemed all so tiny in his Fathers hand as they walked together along the paths of life and in the

102

beginning he longed to please his Father with all of his heart... Im gonna please Him!! Im gonna make Him so happy by doing all of the right things in life. I'm gonna do right by Him so often slipped from his tongue, but all too often they just fell to the ground to be trodden down in the dirt... I just know Hes gonna be so happy with what I do for Him was replaced one day with, Why should I try to please Him as He has everything and I am and have nothing? and he grew. Soon he began to stray from the Father, and walked further from Him than he did as a child, to the point he often could not see the Father that still loved him. He began to grow and develop his own legs all so strong in their own right, as they were the way he wanted them and often he thought this was still pleasing to his Father. The Father smiled at him even through the distance even though the distance between them now began to widen into a chasm between the two, and a darkness began to envelop the youth. The now growing young man began to walk on his own and as the weeks, months and soon years wore on, he began to totally fade from the Fathers sight, yet He still smiled towards the young man He loved. The young mans heart never perceived the darkness developing over his heart... and its hardening as a crust. At first it just simply wasnt noticed, as he became numb to the warmth his heart used to contain, as now it began to
103

hold in the cold of darkness that was allowed in through the lack of his Fathers light, and warmth of His love, for His son The Father had sent His only begotten Son to pay the price of freedom for the adopted son, yet he now began to reject the price of this love spent upon a cross many many years ago... Soon an anger began to rise up in the youth, as he had strayed so far from the light and love of his Father. The anger was soon a rage and lashings out, soon became the norm instead of an occasional incident. He was angry at the world and at times even God himself, as the world around him raged because of the darkness that enveloped him. Till the day... He could not take the pressures of life anymore and he lashed out into the heavens as though God were there listening to him rant and rave, about all of the wrongs committed against him, for all of the years that had gone by, and how he could not take it any more, and how he was all so much better off before he ever even knew and trusted God Then A voice from above simply said You look so cute when youre mad. He burst out in tears, as all of the frustrations, from all of the years were washed away with tears, as he really had been so afraid that God just no longer cared... He was instantly washed over with a peace that somehow, someway, it was all gonna be ok. The anger was snuffed
104

out by a caring Father who had never left his side.

VALLEY OF DRY BONES The Sun began to rise over the valley below... Darkness had enveloped and hidden this valley for centuries... From the mountain, the prophet could clearly see the darkness that covered the valley and its contents... He had risen early. Stretching his old bones he stood to now face the rising sun, as this was going to be a day as no other day in the history of mankind... The coolness of the dawn was being forced to retreat to the caves from whence it had crawled from, at the end of the last evening... He wasnt ordinary... rough to the eye... scraggly hair, a coat that was made from the hides of goats and lambs... and through the years it had grown old with his now old body... The hair once new and clean was now matted and full of dirt... His head also now balding and had replaced the full head of curly locks of his youth. Standing before the valley of dry bones, the old prophet could but wonder at the workings of the Lord and what he was up to...
105

Each day it seemed carried him further from the realities of the world he was used to, into realms he and many others had never walked in before... What was this new dawn to contain? He could but only wonder... As the mists of retreating darkness uncovered more of the valley, what lay before him now was an unusual sight... Strewn across the valley as far as the eye could see were bones, thousands and thousands, upon tens of thousands of sun dried and bleached human bones. To us today, we would think in the millions... Skulls, ribs, leg bones, thigh bones, as well as all of the others that make up the human skeletal system, scattered everywhere, as if the very hand of God threw them out of heaven to lie in this valley for the centuries to come... The skulls all stripped of the life and minds they once held, now bleached by the sun, stared back at him, one by one. As the sun shed forth its rays upon the valley of death that lay before him... arm bones, leg bones and all of the rest of the former body parts in places were stacked up as mountains, many with peaks that had pierced the darkness of the nights cover... All bleached... and lifeless... Hunger began to fill his growling stomach, seemingly as if the stomach so empty from the long fast, was now trying to eat away at his spine... His body resisting strongly this dawn, however it all seemed to be the workings of the Lord... For the last forty days he lay in the spot he now stood... God had driven him from the comforts of the world to trek across wildernesses and valleys, crossing mountains,
106

many of which he never would have even dared to climb even as a youth... Yet, now eaten up with the passing of the years, he stood before the Lords mighty hand and he lifted his to the heavens to grab a hold of the hand of the universes creator... Father... I stand before you as a vessel unworthy of the things you have done through me and for me... I humble myself in your presence... I ask you this morn, to now breathe upon the bones before me and bring life back to the death that encompasses me. Silence grabbed the breath from his lungs as the fires of heaven began to course through his veins... He could feel Gods very breath replace the polluted air he breathed - with the pureness of the Father of the heavens and the earth... a new strength arose in his body, as the powers of the universes creator began to replace the death even in his old bones... Life began to now course through the former stiffness of the death. The same life power that brings forth all of the babies born into this world... The life that replaces the eternal death which would never be felt by millions. Yet this was the day that the Lord had chosen to resurrect his best, his army, warriors long dead to the worlds ways, all tucked away in the valley before him... Yet today was the day, that the commander in the great army of God was to breath life into the death that lay at the feet of the prophet...

107

Often his mind raced as he often wondered why he had been chosen of God. Why God would choose someone as unworthy as he? Why couldnt his life have been one of the lives he had touched that were to the world, normal...? Why me Lord? was often his cry, especially it seemed when the going was the toughest... Yet one day after all of the battles, all of the wars, God had to put him through, he would stand before the Creator and all would be made plain to him... But as for now, obedience to the Lord of lords was all he was able to know for the moment... Speak to these bones, the words of life and I will restore them... Speak My words, and they will live... Now this made absolutely no sense to the puny human mind he possessed, yet through all of the ordeals God placed him in, this as they were, was no time to begin the old doubting process again... Again the Lord spoke to him; Speak unto these bones and I will cause breath to enter into them and they will live... And I will again lay the muscles and tendons upon your bones to move again... For I will also bring flesh upon you again, and put My breath in you... and you shall live and know that I am the Lord thy God. So the old prophet prophesied as commanded... and as he prophesied, there came a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together... bone to bone, and the sight before him held him in awe, at the mighty working powers of God.

108

All of the bones rejoined back to their original owners, yet there was no life in the bones that were now covered in flesh... The Lord poured into his mind and directed the air in his own lungs to force out the words to the winds of the earth... Come from the four winds, and breath, upon these slain that they may live... thus says the Lord God., So he spoke as commanded, and the winds came from the four corners of the world to this place in history for the workings of the Lord... and as the breath entered them, they lived... and stood upon their feet, a great and mighty army. The members of the congregation stood and praised God with all of their might as the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them... Just as the fire that fell on the day of Pentecost, when the heavens moved and the dead in Christ lived, the pastor saw the hand of God write on the wall... I AM THE LORD THY GOD... AND THERE SHALL BE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME... and all the people bowed and prayed, at the miracle before them. It was then, that the Lord reigned, even in a church that was given up as dead... The dead rose and came together as if they were all Lazarus...

Risen and now alive, they went forth to preach with the fire that was within them, as they now believed, as they had
109

now received the Holy Spirit and the baptism that changed them, from those who were dead, into those that were now alive.

A DUSTY OLD BOOK Many are the days when we travel through the day without even the slightest hint as to why it seems all hell has broken out against us... As if the whole universe has chosen your address as the place to dump off all of their garbage... and yes, you have maybe even thought of killing yourself. Yet then you begin to think of the pleasure you will get, when you are able to stand before your accusers and laugh in their faces for having succeeded... Yet right now the garbage trucks are still backing up into your place of being, and off loading all that they contain... Man... Where is help when you need it...? Your boss, friends, family and yes even now the cat, hate your guts. You just know that you are the only person it seems in the universe that is going through this at the moment, and you also just know that even God just doesnt seem to give a #@!&*) (hoot). Well, you arent the first, and certainly wont be the last, as I was the dumping grounds yesterday... and all of the poop
110

on your front lawn, surely stank as bad here, as it does there. So... join the club, at least for the moment... Let me tell you about this friend of mine, the only one that helped me through my tough times, sorta like the one you are probably in right now... You see, this friend was as many in the universe are, perfect in the eyes of others... Man he was spiritual, thanked God all of the time. He even sacrificed to God, just in case his kids even thought, or said something bad about God... and blessed, man this dude was blessed, great house, large herds of animals, great kids, financially set, and a neat wife. I mean if there was someone that had it all; it had to be my friend Job, (pronounced Jobe). One day the devil himself was bored as usual, so he went up to see his old hangout in heaven, and as usual God was home. They talked about the usual things, when God brought up my friend Job to satan... Seems God both liked and favored my friend and kept a hand on him, to keep him hedged in on all sides and safe from satan and his attacks... Well satan was a little ticked off, because he couldnt touch Job, because he was protected by Gods very own hand... Satan bargained that if God would remove His hand, and let him pick on Job for a while, he would get mad at God and curse Him... Well I am sure that God didnt want to at first, but He was sure that the Job was confident in, and
111

trusted God in all of the things He did, and would trust Him to work all things out for his good.. . God also knew Job would be the man He said he was in His heart, perfect and upright hating evil. So He let him go ahead and mess with my friend with the one exception; that was he could not kill my friend... Man was Job upset when one of his employees came running up to him and told him all of the employees had been killed or run off in a raid by warring neighbors; and all of the animals he owned were stolen... Before he even finished another employee came running from the house and told him that all of his kids were now dead and that only he survived, while the large house had been blown flat by a great wind... Tears began to well up in his eyes and he cried out as he wished he had never been born As the ones he had loved and prayed for and had so much hope in, were now all gone and he now had nothing left in the world... His wife returned from the mall after maxing out the last of the many credit cards they had, only to find out that they were in big trouble. I didnt know what to do, or say, as I couldnt help them and I just watched as the life of a dear friend unraveled before my very eyes... He dropped to the ground and wept openly at the loss of the children he loved, and he pounded the ground over and over again, as he tore his jacket to shreds... Man, I knew he had lost it when he started throwing dirt all over himself, as I thought this guy really needs some help. His wife walked over and told him that it was all his fault, and why didn't he just curse God and die... She was hot
112

and blamed him for everything. After the funeral a few of us spent a few weeks with him to try and figure things out and see if we could find out why God had allowed everything to be taken away from him, and let all of his kids die... We all reasoned that he must have done something wrong... Yet all it seemed that he wanted to do was sit in the dirt pile and wail... for weeks, until it seemed there was nothing left in him. He never really blamed God out loud, but he must have been thinking it; as my friends were sure he had to have done something really bad enough that God waited all this time just to get him back. Yet, he couldnt think of anything and often got mad with them, as he had repented of everything he could think of, all the way back it seems to his birth; and even to complaining about the way the doctor might have slapped his bottom as he was delivered into this world.. We all continued to rack our brains as to just why all of this happened... After a few weeks it seemed that all of his anguish and bitterness must have started affecting him in some other ways, as he started breaking out in boils all over. I mean from the top of his head to the bottom of the soles of his feet... and all the while he refused to go and see a doctor, as they cost money and he just kept saying, Naked I came into the world, so naked I will go out of this world and The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord...

113

Man I felt sorry for this guy, as all of the things he feared the most in life had actually happened and come to pass in his life. Some of these are the very same things we fear happening to us, in our walks of life. All the while he just scraped the boils on his body as they oozed, with a piece from an old soda bottle... Of course as all of this was going on, his wife just kept picking at him over and over again and accusing him of hidden things that he must have done. Because she believed her husband must have done something wrong, as he was always so self-righteous... He just kept defending himself, as her and their accusations flew at him constantly. Well he kinda was self righteous, but no worse than the rest of us were... so we just kept on trying to help him by talking with him, as the elders took their time with him at first; yet all he would do is defend God and tell us we were wrong and then defend himself. So we all eventually we all just sat quietly and just watched and waited for this guy to die... Back in heaven, satan wasnt feeling quite so good, as everything he had done to get my friend to turn his back on God was failing, even to the covering him from head to toe with boils... God told him he could do what ever he wanted to him, except take his life, which I personally thought would have been better than all of the stuff he was going through. All the while those boils just kept oozing and I mean all of the time and the pain from scraping them must have been

114

terrible... I couldn't help but think thank God its not me as it was bad... He refused pain killers and just kept piling dirt on his head and soon enough infection was setting in and he didnt care... because all he just wanted to do, was die. We were about to call the nut house and have him hauled off, when I just felt as though I just had to say something. I waited for the others that were more experienced than I to say all they had to say, until I felt as though it was the right time for me to speak. You know I began, if God were right here right now, He could blow away a lot of the hot air and theories you guys keep spouting off about as to why all of this has happened, as He is in control of everything... Maybe just maybe, there is a lesson to be learned here in all of this, as maybe He needed and wanted somebody to go though all of this hell, and survive it, so that later on others going though the same kinds of things, could see that they will make it through the hellish things that they will, and or are facing in their life as well... You know the Lord feeds all of the fishes, whales and seals, as well as all of the creatures in all of the oceans and seas, all the way down to the smallest of plankton all over the world every day... He feeds and cares for all of the animals; cows, horses, cats, dogs, chickens, eagles and buzzards alike, as well as us, throughout the entire world all at the same time... and all of it is done, in the way He wants it done... All of the trees, grasses and flowers, receive all of the water they need, at the time that they need it, and He hasnt asked
115

any of us to go into the forests and water trees nor feed any of the animals there has He?... Well no, they answered, as they began to pay attention to what it seemed God was speaking to my heart and through my lips... Well then, why does God even need you? As we always seem to be asking for things, and not walking and fellowshipping with Him the way He originally intended for us to do, because we get so caught up in the things of this world and things we have to do, and often leave Him to Himself until we need something or get into trouble. Even then, the moon still rises, the sun always shines at the right time, and the tides rise and fall without so much as the smallest amount of help from any of us... So whos to say what God is doing with each of us, as He is in control of all things all of the time and He always has been and He always will be. Ever had God to ask you to feed any of the birds in the trees? Ever had a flower ask you for a drink as God was too busy? Were you there when He was planning the planets, trees, man, time, tides, weather, shorelines, precious metals, uranium, silver, gold or the cattle on a thousand hills? Probably not, as He never needed nor asked for our input as He had already worked all of this out before He ever cried out, Light Be!! Well God doesnt make cows, moose, deer, elk, or sheep plant crops, nor work for their food, as He supplies all of
116

that for them as well. The lilies never toil in the fields and never seem to worry about the winds nor the rains nor does it seem anything. The wisdom that was coming out of my mouth had to be from heaven, as I am just a plain ole fool it seems, in a world full of wisdom... You see I just believe in God And I let him work all of my lifes things out, as He was the one that breathed life into this lump of dirt The one that He made man from, instead of the lump of dirt breathing life into God... He created all of us, as well as everything that we can see, and the things we cannot see; such as the angels, atoms and air, all for His purpose; either for good or for evil. And you my friend are just being used it seems to prove God does the giving, and satan does the taking away, and that he has no authority of his own to touch us, unless the Lord first allows it... And that no matter how it seems satan does the taking away, as God is able and willing to repay us many times over once we learn the lesson He is teaching us. Remember satan cannot do anything to us that God doesnt approve of first Because if he could, you would have already died and I know you are not meant to die, as God still seeks to bless you... What these events proved out was; that Job was full of fear and that he was self righteousness as God cannot stand these things in us, His children. They just stood there, with their jaws agape at the wisdom, that flowed from the mouth of a babe, as I was not yet as learned in the ways of theology as they were... Yet, they all

117

seemed to agree and we all just thanked God that we were allowed to live and put our faith and trust in God... Job thanked us and blessed us, for staying and helping him cope with all of the stuff he was going through, and we went on home Time seemed to pass quickly from that day on, as God seemed to just bless Jobs socks off... His wife seemed to come to her senses and asked for his forgiveness... and they wound up having more kids and they were beautiful, as his daughters were the most beautiful in the land... God soon graced him with double the amount of animals he had in the first place, his house was twice as large and in all ways, he was twice as blessed as he was in the first place, in all things... During the whole ordeal, Job never sinned against God with his mouth... he never cursed Him even though all hell was loosed against him... This experience in his life enables me to cope with all of the hell that seems to break loose against me at times, and I now count it all joy, as all things, have an end... And when God turns your captivity around and I can assure you that He will, and blesses you, think back on the things you were taken through, and use those lessons to teach, and lead others through the tough spots in their life... From the time our feet hit the floor in the morning till they are laid to rest at night... The old devil enjoys running back and forth, to and fro, between heaven and earth just to tell on us in his ever trying attempts to get God to let him beat the tar out of us as he is always trying to get us to turn away from God and work things out for ourselves and follow him...
118

Yet those that realize the truths of the life of my friend Job and how things worked out, will realize that they, as well as I will make it, and I can testify that the fires and trials are tough. Because there have been times that Ive been so mad at God I couldnt stand Him. That I jumped up and down and stomped my bible over and over again, only to have God forgive me each and every time I asked Him to. And the devil would back off after I realized God was in control and I asked him to forgive me again, as I then realized that He was teaching me something and I was just too stubborn to listen and learn. As I was growing up in the Lord it was tough at times, I mean... really tough, yet I could always look back to my friend Job and his ordeal and realize, I could be in worse shape than I am, and see that I was gonna make it as well... By the way, you can find out more about my friend Job, as well as a few others I know of, such as three other friends of mine; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and the fiery test they survived... in your lifes owners manual. They hung out with another good friend of mine Daniel. You aught to hear about him and a bunch of lions he ran into in a den one day, and how he as they did nothing wrong except trust God. That He was in control and would work everything out for their good. Then there is also Joseph and you really need to get to know him and his story as well The Bible tells you about how many people were used by God to teach us about His goodness and how He uses us to teach others through what we are going through, and have gone through at times.
119

So... if youre going through hell in your life right now, keep going, even Jesus tells us about a place called the Valley of the Shadow of Death that we may pass through in our journeys with Him. I seem to from time to time, go through them over and over again. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying, If you are going through Hell... keep going!! So, there is hope for you as you keep your faith in and eyes on God as you arent the first... and probably wont be the last to ever go through these type things... even at times it seems repeatedly. You can find more hope in a book that you probably have that is more than likely covered with dust. You know; the one that is lying on your night stand, or have hidden in your attic or closet. It has stories in it that are better than any feel good movie or inspirational pep talk that you can watch or hear. Get it out, and you will find your problems often aren't as tough as those faced by others in the book you might consider a history book. Many of the people in olden days went through some of the very same things you are going through today... The only difference is they just didnt have convenience stores and cars of course. So... whens the last time you were dumped into a den full of hungry lions... and made it out alive?? And I can tell you that you would have made it as well, because I have...Just ask God to show you how to make it, and show you if you are the only one thats ever gone through, what it is your going through... He never fails... so

120

keep on... keeping on... Youre almost there.

THE MASTER GARDNER The gloves were well worn. His straw hat shaded his eyes, as the old gardener moved about the manicured lawn and flower beds... His thin frame hidden by the old worn pants held up with a belt of simple rope... He toiled in the sun all day long as the flowers grew and the weeds that would crop up were deftly removed... The child watched through the window and wondered at the gardener as he went about his chores day after day. In the winters, he moved plants around and replaced them with the plants that were colorful till spring. His thumb, green as the grass he mowed and the strength in his arms was unequaled... The child marveled at the old gardener as he went about the daily routine that never seemed to weary the old man of great wisdom... The inquisitive nature of the child finally got the best of him one day, as the gardener was spraying the plants to control the weeds that robbed the garden of its beauty... The child approached the gardener as unsure and curious, yet none the less he approached, and the gardener perceived the child and his curiosity.
121

Come here child and I will teach you of the weeds that rob My pretty plants of the food and water they need to survive. The child of innocence came out from behind the tree... And the questioning began... Why dont you just pull them up?... Why are you watering them instead of the plants you love? Why dont you just get a bulldozer and scoop them up? Where do plants go when they die? Do you smell funny, or is it the water youre spraying? The barrage lasted but a few minutes and the gardener let him go on and on, until it seemed that all of the questions that could ever be imagined were asked by the child, and then he was drained, and waited to be refilled with new knowledge, from the wise one of the garden... He stopped and removed the sprayer from his arm, wiped the sweat from his brow with the old cloth he kept in the back pocket of the old pants... and sat down in the shade... The child at his side, arms supporting his small chin... listened... soaking up the wisdom the gardener spread into the heart of the little one of God... The words flowed from his lips, as sweet waters from the side of a mountain in the spring, and the child drank them all up... The chemicals I spray are to kill off the weeds that rob the flowers from their beauty by drinking their water and eating their food... Man, I would hate them too, replied the child of innocence... The child through the knowledge of the master gardener learned of the different types of weeds
122

that offended the gardener, as well as the owner of the lovely estate... How that it was not wise to simply pull the weeds up by the roots, because just a little bit of the root left in the ground would allow the plant to come back again, to once again spoil the beauty of the garden. The gardener worked hard to keep the garden clean... He explained that one of the chemicals he used, killed the roots of the plants and then within a few days the plants top died from the lack of nourishment the roots provided. Another was used to kill harder and tougher woody plants and vines and killed the top of the plants off first, and was only to be used in the event the garden had to be ready in a flash... it was good, but a highly toxic chemical, often to plants that were liked by the gardener and had to be used carefully.. The other type of chemical he explained; was used to kill the seeds in the early spring, before the plants even had a chance to grow. The child often wondered, why not just use all three at one time and never have the problem again? Well for one, they dont mix very well, and many of the other good plants could be poisoned by all of the chemicals entering the soil that they all grow from. You see as he began to explain, they were tender as tender as the heart of the child and each application took special measures to control the weeds, as they needed to be controlled and no more than needed was to be used. Well, why do they keep coming back after you kill them? Well its because the seeds from the weeds from other gardens tend to blow into our gardens, and they are
123

looking for a nice place to rest, so they can grow and spread their foul roots in our clean soil... They are often blown in by the wind or dropped there by birds, searching for a place to settle down and grow, and this garden being as beautiful as it is seems to draw the weeds that want to choke out the beauty that is hidden from most of the world, behind the large fence that keeps other people out, and keeps them from stealing its beauty. Yet the weed seeds often pass through the fences barrier at times and settle in these beds that we have prepared to grow the beautiful flowers and other plants in... So I must at all times watch for the weeds that seem to love to sneak in and grow in this garden... The one I love so much... and I wouldnt want any of the weeds to grow up and blow into anyone elses garden either, spoiling their gardens... The child drank up the knowledge the gardener sowed into the tender heart of the child of innocence So young, yet so hungry for the truth that is hidden from the wise, as it often confounds them, yet the eyes of the simple child see clearly, as you now see. The weeds are the offenses you keep in your heart that you think you have dealt with, yet they grow night and day reaching the surface one day, and its usually at a time when you dont need, nor want them to as you don't need them to be piled up on top of the other things you already have to deal with at the same time. As you thought these things that bothered you were over and often settled...

124

Yet God sees the seed in your heart and at the right time to him, but often not to us, He allows this plant to surface, in order to be dealt with once and for all. Often we choose to just pluck the weed of offense out by the root, yet wind up often leaving a tiny bit of the root in the ground to once again be dealt with at a later date... and, it always will be... Youre natural heart is a tender vessel pumping your life supporting blood through the miles of vessels you have in your body which feeds all of the other parts of the body... Offenses and bitterness, stresses, strifes and envies we encounter in life seem to take root in the fertile garden of your spiritual heart, and grow often faster than the plants of love, you want to grow, and they begin to rob the plants of beauty, from their life support. These being the hopes and dreams you had as the weeds of doubt and unbelief have now been sown by the crafty weed sower himself satan. You must be able to recognize the weeds in your heart and kill them before they take hold in your heart and should it be too late, fear not, the master gardener knows the proper solution and the proper timing, as well as the proper application rate, if you tap into his wisdom, through prayer. If the weeds be too many, and the roots too deep, toss a little fasting into the solution and the roots will quickly wither up and die Repentance and Forgiveness often make the best of weed killers... Apply them often as many times daily as you think you need them. Often is the case that we carry weeds from past experiences into the new experiences we encounter in life. Into the future that we had hoped and dreamed of, only to
125

transplant these weeds of old, in the new gardens we now are entrusted with... So guard your garden well, as the offensive seeds will just seem to slip in while you are often not looking, and take hold, and try and grow into their fullness before you even know they are there... So, take these tips from a gardener that works hard to keep his garden clean, from the weeds that spoil the beauty of the garden I tend and to let you know There is never a vacation... One last tip... if you see a garden you love to look at and behold because of its beauty, and it is just the way you truly want your garden to look, then you will have to spend as much time in your garden, as the person does that owns the beautiful garden you are looking at. Do you see that the garden kept clean, is one that requires much work??... Sorry, but you cant place plastic flowers and fake grass in your garden and expect it to look beautiful, as they will fade and rot from the same sunlight and rain that brings life to the gardens of beauty, as well as the weeds, that you have to fight to keep out... So water with love, fertilize with joy and hope and pray with fervency and your garden will remain lovely throughout your life... and remember to forgive often, and repent more often... because at times it may be needed every minute of every day for a season. But also remember, it is work... and no one but you can care for your garden the way it should be cared for, and if you ask the Master Gardener, He is always more than willing to help...
126

He can be reached twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year, through prayer, and knee mail as He is always waiting for your call... so, go ahead...reach out and call.

THOSE THAT WAIT They held hands and smiled at the opposing team sent to dissuade them...They were huge, mean and ugly... Their armor reflected the brightness of the hot mid-days sun... Their swords were larger than the two small ones that stood before the giants and the thought of fear to them was a mere joke... How is it possible for the two little ones to stand before these giants and succeed? The little ones stood hand in hand and in their free hands there were simple slings, no bows or arrows, no mighty weapons of their warfare, just simple slings and smooth stones. The giants laughed at the two and thought to themselves as to how they should split up the bones and body pieces between them...As there was no chance here for survival for the two, except the giants knew not that the two had waited.

127

They had waited it seemed for an eternity, for the right one to come along, as they had settled it in their spirits that they would be content to be alone and work for the Lord for the rest of the days that were left for them on the earth, if that was His will... Then... God moved his hand and walls came tumbling down, rivers that were dammed up released the torrents of strong waters and soon valleys were filled in from the mountains that once stood beside them. As God shoved down the mountains to prepare the road that now lay before them... They stood before the giants refreshed and with the energy needed for the victory that had been stored up in their bones and spirits... Their spirits unfolded before the giants as they were unprepared for the strength, that stood before them now... Fear for once in their lives had begun to fill their eyes...and then the rocks flew and the giants fell. Their heads were soon as was Goliath's by David... Cut off and held up to the enemy that were with the giants and they fled at the deaths of their giant leaders. The two walked over the bodies stripping them of the authority they had sought to use against the two little ones and walked off into the victories that lay before them... You see... The giants never saw the strength of waiting on the Lord as Isaiah 40:31 says. They had tried before this time to figure things out, make them happen, work it out on their own... They had never really waited on the Lord as the two had now done. Before, it always seemed as though it just took too long for God to work things out, so they figured that they could just
128

do it themselves, as we all seem to do at times, as they thought that they knew what was best for their lives. The giants died that day not from the strength or the valor of the two, because they really stood in fear, trembling in their boots as it were. Yet, as they stood before the giants that exalted themselves before the Lords promises hand in hand...It was then that they mounted up with wings of eagles, ran towards the enemy and did not weary and walked the last steps without fainting into the very face of certain death... With the renewed strength of God coursing through their veins, they flung two small, harmless looking pebbles at two armored giants and they fell. Soon, the dust settled after a time, as the opposing side waited to see the victory that they were sure of, Michael and Jesus jumped and high fived each other, as the victory was already in the bag for the two little ones... They patted each other on the back walking from the battle field grinning from ear to ear... Michael joked with the Lord as they walked... and offered the following, Man what a shot right between the eyes. Yeah, I remember when I helped David do the same thing and it seems like it was really not so long ago. The Lord explained when that ugly Philistine exalted himself before me... David was shaking more than these two were before I showed up, and of course the rocks were special too. What do you mean? Oh they were packed with prayers...

129

Oh thats dirty pool Lord, as Michael chuckled at the sight of the army of the dead fleeing in fear with the demise of their once fearless leaders. Remember... when you have done all in life that there is to do... you have to take a stand for whatever it is you believe in.

TIME TO LET OUR HAIR DOWN... The church bell rang and they started heading home... Complimenting the pastor on a sermon well delivered, and how the choir was just perfect this day... He a deacon and she cared for the babies of the body of Christ in the small town church in which they lived... They seemed to be the perfect couple to the world around them, as they worshiped with the best of them. Yet a fruit dropped from his pocket, unnoticed to many... It was shiny, fresh looking and yet soon rotted, smelling religious... oh the stench... Then, more fruit fell from his jacket pocket and rolled into the closet that hid the rest of the fruit hidden from the world, behind the closed doors the world was told to stop at. To those who knew them well, the fruit was shared openly and freely as they, as the two, let their hair down at home as well where the walls would not tell, nor would the world see through...
130

With their hair down, the words changed and daggers came out and their steel gleamed in the sunlight that shined through the kitchen window, as the two began to carve the truth up into pieces... Well, he talks too much about that tithing thing, and needs to get off that subject... Yea, and I wish he would drop the subject of the church debt, we gave almost a whole five percent a few years ago and thats more than enough for God, as we need the rest... and besides, thats more than the rest of that bunch of heathens probably tithe in a lifetime, as they are all just a bunch of hypocrites and shouldnt even be allowed in a church... Yes, I agree that they should go elsewhere and leave us true Christians alone, as we are the real body of Christ and theyre there just trying to look good. Their hair shone in the sunlight of day, when the world was at peace... They of all people appeared to be the ones you could count on to be the Christians you thought you should be... on the outside at least... Yet it was often behind the closed doors that the world stopped at, that the real spirit wasnt so friendly... You see, they are the Christians you often hate, the Christians you never wanted to be, and satan uses them to help keep you from the truth... the truth that you need and in your heart want... You want to be loved, and want to be forgiven, yet those with the hair that shines to the world, yet is also dark to God's world... often seek to keep you from the truth. They want to keep you in the same boat that they are in and they dont want to let you out, as they want you to go to hell with them. As they want all of their friends there with
131

them... and many dont even know they are heading there... Gossip and unforgiveness are sharpened to razor sharpness, to cut down those that stand or accidentally get in their paths... instantly filleting them to the bone it seems, with a flick of the tongue. The believers are often the first to be filleted... as they are nuts for believing in God to provide everything in their lives and to cast out demons as if they even existed... and why should we always be the givers?? Crazy I tell you, and they all need to be locked in a house of horrors to teach them a lesson. The knives they wield are often hidden from view, as they must often appear as the others in the congregation... and the unsuspecting usually never know until its too late to escape their cuts. As the portions they want served, are then dished to the ones they want to hear their truths, as they have heard them served with a twist of lemon, served on a plate of lies. So, hows it around your house when you are able to let your hair down? So are serving fish the way you want it served, or the way it should be served, soul and all?

HARLEY It was beautiful day and there wasnt even a hint in the air

132

of what God was about to do that day... I had traveled to Wilmington, North Carolina at the prompting of a friend. Yet, I was totally unaware of the events that God had maneuvered into place to let me know that He still is, and always will be, God and thats all there was to it. Accept it, as I had to that day and move on into the other blessings that God has in store for you.. We had just been through a teaching that weekend on the importance of obeying God... More like, if God tells you to do something, and believe me youll know when He tells you, as you usually wont want to do it... because all too often the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak... The teaching from the book of Samuel in the bible, states that if God tells you to do something, do it or youre being stubborn and that is like practicing witchcraft against God... and God hates.... stubbornness... and nobody wants to do that intentionally Im sure... Well, for years while growing up, I had made fun of the evangelists that claimed to heal people by the power of God... faith healers as they are called... I thought I was pretty good at it too!! Making fun of them that is Faith in an unseen God is what most believe, as they really have never experienced God working through them, so why believe But you see, I laid all of my conventional wisdom and common sense at the cross, and followed in pure faith in order to find out if God was real, and if He really cared about me. I didnt care about anyone else and what they thought at the time, as I wanted to see if God was real... because I doubted big time...
133

I had forgotten most of the promises and hopes I had picked up during the revival that went on in April of the same year and as it was now June 11th. Those things were mostly forgotten in my mind, but not in Gods. It must have taken some doing to arrange the next few hours because I had to drive six hours just to arrive in a place I wasnt familiar with... meet people I didnt really know and be where I really didnt want to be. Stay a day longer than I really needed to stay... and spend the day goofing off with a friend and his friend to have God arrange for me to meet a kid named Harley... On that sunny day the world seemed at peace for the moment, I could almost forget about the schedules and things I had to do back in my world hours away. We had spent our lunch time at to a nice restaurant in town and now were sitting on a gazebo in a park in Wilmington North Carolina... The three of us were laughing and carrying on about the way God would probably use us and how the last few months were like a blur to us... God was awesome and his flexed arm was mighty... I was sitting on the railing facing my two friends when I saw them walking our way... A mother and her two kids... Nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the little boy with braces. He swayed back and forth from side to side making the best of the limited mobility he had. My heart began to reach out to him... Skin differences meant nothing to me, as I thought of the child I had back home and how I would feel if she were in this condition...
134

My heart cried out to God in compassion... Why Lord is he like this? If my daughter was like this I would be in your face all of the time... Did he sin? Did his mother sin? Why is he like this? Then a still small voice, strong in the words spoken to my heart... simply said... Lay hands on him and pray and I will heal him. Then my flesh raised up its ugly head and said, No way I dont do those things Remember I am the guy who makes fun of those healer people. These people will think Im nuts or something... and I aint no preacher or evangelist... They are the ones that do that sort of stuff... Im just me... nobody... I could have made a million more reasons as to why I couldnt do what God wanted me to do, except, the Holy Spirit interrupted by bringing something back to my memory... When God tells you to do something, do it or your stubbornness is like practicing witchcraft against God... My heart hit the floor... God theres no way I can do this!! They will think Im trying to hurt the kid, crazy, or something else like that... Theyll call the cops or something... I just cant do it All the while my mind tried as it may to make sense of the events I was faced with... but Ive faced tougher.
135

I can do this! Was what my feeble mind attempted to make me believe. So off I went... Harley had laid his crutches down and was hanging over the railing feeding the turtles in the water... I had it all figured out, and I knew just what to say... A little chit chat about the weather, and just ask the mother if I could pray for her son, and then God would do his part and wed all haul tail outta there as fast as our legs would carry us... Sure... it just might work... That was until I got to the railing, and fear took such a strong hold of me, that I felt as though I couldnt breathe... I chickened out... I had failed God and let him down... I felt lower than whale snot, so I went back to my spot on the railing and rejoined my friends that thought I was weird anyway, so I looked normal to them... I sat there with failure and doom hanging onto my shoulders laughing their heads off... when I then remembered another thing I had just recently learned... God would always meet you half way. Then I sorta remember mumbling, God... If youll meet me halfway and bring that kid over here, Ill do my part and pray for him... The last breath of those words had no more escaped off my lips into heaven, when John turned to the family and asked... Maam do you believe in God? ... My heart and mind cried out... Oh my God!!... I dont believe he just said that, shell think were a bunch of crazy white guys out to hurt them or something... I still cant even
136

remember the marathon of thoughts that stormed my senses throwing me into complete overload in less than an atomic second... She looked at us and just replied, Sometimes. John asked her, Can we pray for your son? There was no way they could seen Harley with his crutches, as all of this unfolded behind them... My heart was only a beat away from cardiac arrest when she replied to the question of the century... Ok... Harley swayed over in front of John and in an instant; I was on my knees putting a hand on his shoulder and a hand on his back... John laid hands on him and began to pray in the spirit as well. George looked at us and wondered what in the world we were doing, as his mind had been off in the trees somewhere in la, la land... I just told him to place his hands on the child and pray... and he did... In less than a minute or two, Harley's back began to pop... His back cracked and he let out a groan... God was doing the surgery on his back right then and there... After we finished praying and thanking God for the healing, we just got up and walked off... never looking back. We were all walking with our heads in the clouds because of the event that just had taken place.. It was a new experience for the three of us and we just remained silent all the way back to Georges house. We just rode in back to my friends house in awe at the power and mercy of a God that is real and just wanted to
137

let us know he cares and loves us all... Even the weak of mind that now believes as never before... I am referring to me I have learned from that June 11 day that I am still nothing but a vessel for God to use, as is anyone that will open themselves up to the works of God... I also no longer poke fun at those faith healers on TV, as that would be the same thing as jabbing myself in the eye now. You see... that day my faith was raised another notch... and has been in the strengthening stages ever since... I also believe that God wants to use you, and the only way you will ever see if the words I speak are true or not or just a bunch of bull... is... Ask God for yourself... go ahead and simply pray; God...Will you prove to me that you want to use me, and that Im just as important to you as anyone else is? Ask this in faith, and expect God to answer it... Ask, as if you were a child and you were asking your parents for the toy that you had your whole heart set on and then got on that Christmas morning... Then, just wait on Him and He will present you with an opportunity God wants to see you smile just as much as your parents did. So Remember, He will use anyone thats available at the time, and you should also remember that He once used a donkey to tell one of his prophets that he was messing up, by going against the will of God...
th

138

So... go aheadget out of the boat and walk on the water with us... its neat... Go ahead and just let go of the boat and walk in faith, God will always catch you if you fall... He wants you to succeed more than you even want to succeed... Just step out and trust him and sail upon the wings of angels... All we do is... do... God does the rest you're safe in His hands, therefore... fear not.

HIS LOVE The child lay bleeding from the wounds the world had inflicted on her, now battered... bruised... and bleeding as though from her very soul. The words of rejection... lost love... Tears from all of her hurts flooded her face and soaked her pillow and bed, as though rivers had run through and drenched all in its path. He watched from above in silence, my... how she had grown all so fast, as a plant bursting forth from the ground on a warm spring day after a light warm spring rain and bursting forth from the restraints the ground had placed on it.

139

She was stretching forth to the warmth of the suns warming rays, longing for its strength and glory and the rays pulled at her spirit, stretching her upward... Yet reality often set in, and stumbling blocks cropped up it seemed, right out of the ground as it were, causing her to stumble... Oh, God Ive messed up again, please help me, I cant take anymore of this failure... Please Oh Lord, light the way so I wont stumble again. Please!! And yet her cries often went forth it seemed, as unanswered... He smiled upon her ever so gently, the Father of all generations bent over and placed his blanket of love upon her and wrapped her up all safe and sound, the warmth of the love in the blanket enveloped her, as sleep fell upon her eyes and heart... The worries of the world swiftly departed into the darkness from whence they came... She soon relaxed her grip on the day, and it left the room as the Father filled the room with the fragrance of His peace... Oh so sweet is this Fathers love, as He warms all those who are cold, replacing it with His warm soothing comforter of peace... The river of tears quickly dried up as the blanket of love soaked up the tears of sorrow as would a sponge... along with all of the hurts and pains inflicted by the world and it was as though the whole world faded away. So soothing... so peaceful and warm... It brought back the memories of her childhood... of when as a child her father had watched over her when she was sick and afraid...
140

He would gently cover her with the giant quilt comforter her mother had made for her, long before going home to be with God... She felt safe there in that big ole bed with her daddy watching over her throughout the night... yet, when he passed away, the world pressed in, her world became turmoil and chaos and she often blamed God for taking him away and soon became angry. So she fought hard and succeeded in life. She climbed, fought and clawed her way to the top of the corporate hill and had finally arrived at the top of the mountain... only to feel empty and alone. One day her soul cried out to heaven, and the Father of all came to this child, alone crying in the wilderness with wolves at her door as it seemed, ready to devour her... Oh, God where are you? I need you, and I miss you, please help me! I feel as though I am going to split the gates of hell wide open any minute. Her soul was released instantly from the unseen tormentor... Oh the refreshing feeling of freedom, yet she still lived in the world of the wolves and bears... as well as all of the others that sought to devour her... as they tried to draw her back into the darkness where they lived. Yet this night was different... as she lay down with the worries and troubles of the world weighing heavy upon her shoulders... There was the peace, the same peace she had first felt when the freedom of salvation came to her... A peace it seemed, that passed all understanding, as it came from the sweet presence of God in her room.
141

In the room that night was the omnipotent presence of her Father The one that delivered her all so often in times like this, when she was worried and afraid. Worried, that she had missed the mark and stumbled too far. Often it was as if the gates and windows of heaven had been shut to her, leaving her all alone, time and time again. Yet... this night... she was safe, as she felt again the presence of her Father, the one that loved and protected her from the world and all of the nasty things it housed. All things looked the same the next day, yet there was an unusual new light in her soul and there also seemed to be a new light shining out from her into the darkness around her, chasing away the shadows that she had feared since childhood... She just knew somehow she was going to make it... She was going to be ok... The Father smiled down at the precious child, and rubbed her brow and the fears seemed to just melt away... Her strength to go on returned, and before entering the world she stopped. Softly she whispered, Thank you Father for this day... He grinned from ear to ear at the sight of his child going out to face the world for yet another day. The smile of peace on her face gave him joy... as He returned to the elders and those that sit around Him he softly spoke... aint she beautiful shes my child and I love her so.

142

M&Ms You know them, they attend all of the services, they have seen every episode of every Christian movie, read every book, have all the tapes, DVDs, cassettes and all the materials necessary to have made them a superstar in the world of Christ.. However... They look in the spirit like huge M&Ms with great big heads and itty bitty legs... They have all of the knowledge and yet, little to none of the faith it takes to carry it all out. They can and always do tell you why they know you are failing, however when you look into their lives, all they have are excuses. Well you know, we just can't cast our pearls before swine... you must have sin in your life... and all so many other reasons and excuses as to why you are failing, other than maybe you are doing something right and you are in Gods will and the devil is just ticked off and trying to stop you... Their heads swollen with the knowledge and words of God, but no legs or faith to carry them through the practice of the very words they confess and say unto others. So they go around all pompous and always just seem to know how, when, and where to show up at just the wrong time. Remember the story of the seven sons of Sceva?? They knew how the system operated and that the name that was above every name carried great power, however,
143

the spirits they were trying to cast out knew, that they knew, what they were saying, however, they had no faith to carry it out.. So they spoke back, that they, being the demons knew Paul, they knew Jesus, but who were these guys so they beat the sons up and ran them off naked. So just knowing about God and Christ and such things does not just automatically empower you to go out and do great exploits... You should also have the legs of faith to actually carry it all out. So if you want to know if someone you know is real or not, just ask them for their testimony. Not the ones they have read and or heard about. Ask them to tell you about the ones where they have walked out the words, truths and or works they speak about. So, was their experience personal or just some partial truth they heard about? You should really know this before you ever step out in faith with them, as you will know soon enough, because as soon as the you know what... hits the fan they will be nowhere to be found... Oh by the way the testi-phonies of these M&Ms(R) will melt, often before they ever even reach your ears...
M&Ms is a registered trademark of the Mars Corporation.

THE OTHER SON The lost son came home that day and I watched my father as he was eager that he was back. Not because he was
144

gone or lost or dead as that was a large concern... but now maybe now I hoped he could and would get his butt to work here on the farm. Father first saw him from afar and told everyone including me to get ready for a feast... WHAT!!! I exclaimed!! I have worked here on this hell hole of a farm for years without so much as a thank you and this dead beat son of yours gets a banquet... Why God should you hate me so much, that you seem to bless those that run off, squander everything and lazily do things and my diligence seems to get no reward? Father soon ran out and put a robe on this scrawny stick and bones of a kid. One who used to be firm and fit until he squandered off our fathers inheritance and soon enough ate with the pigs, until he came to his senses and came rushing home to serve here again. So why should I help? All I ever do is help! No one ever notices all that I do around here, as I love my Father and he likes me it seems, as long as I lug this farm around on my back. But never once did he even offer me a fatted calf, or meal for me and my friends out of gratitude... Shut up and just get your job done, there is much to do today was all it seemed that I heard from him most of the time... So I toiled and toiled here on this farm trying to please him that is until today, because I wanted and needed to know... Why not me? God why not me? Why can't or won't you bless me? someone who works here on your farm? Over and over I
145

asked you for a blessing, but shut up and work seems to be all I get as an answer. Life is hard, nothing is or seems easy, you need to stick your neck in the harness and plow... and turn this hard ground over and over... year after year it seems, until you show yourself worthy. Punishment was often swift and eminent it seemed, and it was easy to get struck on the back for failures, which were often sometimes simple and often small... I don't quite understand? Can you show me something God, as maybe I should quit and just do as my lazy brother does? Who asks and you give and then drunkenly spends it on others, foolishly rushing home when he is lonely, broke and in trouble and you want to throw him a banquet. Yet I struggle with all of your hard tasks asking you for a simple break in my life... and you wish for me to just give you more and do more all of the time. I hated you secretly...seething and smoking under the collar, as you seem to foolishly take in this fool who spent all you had given him on women, wine and gambling. All the while I look around and see others who seem to serve you diligently as well, asking for alms just to struggle through their life... Is satan so strong that he controls all who are in this world and what they are supposed to be? Why are you seemingly neglecting us who now serve you? It seemed as though I had an easier life before believing... What shall I do? As I cannot and will not go on. God do you hate me? is all I seemed to ask... The response came swiftly one morning.. No son, I am refining you into pure gold. I want to use you and there are
146

things in you like; spite, hatred, fears and doubts, that just have to come out of you and I am using these hard and tough things in your life to expose all of your hidden faults and angers so I can remove them and then you will come forth refined for much greater things.. So forgive your foolish brother, as I taught him in a way you could not have handled, as I spared you from such greater lack than you could have gone through, as your issue wasnt with gluttony, it was with poverty.. As in your eyes you just never had enough, even though you always had it all... So forgive me and him, and then chose to grow on...

YOUR WHOLE HEART Lord, I give you my whole heart, and I want you to change my life into whatever it is you need, for your kingdom purpose and plan... It was so easy mouthing those words and they even seemed all so true at the time, yet I really never knew the meaning to it all... I just knew things had to change... I was a couple of years down the road on the path to where God wanted me to be, when He began to deal with me about what it was I was still holding on to because of the deal I made with Him back all those years ago...
147

I sold all I had and followed in faith, God provided all I needed it seemed, until now... I wanted to start dating a woman I had met in church and began to make family type plans. Many of the Christians I had made friends with told me I had a part to do in the working out of my salvation.. I agreed, yet God had not told me what it was that I was to do... I gave up a deal that would have easily brought me the finances I needed to get totally out of debt, and provide for the family it seemed God was bringing into my life... By then it was sure easy to believe for God to provide the meager needs I needed just to survive, but what about the added responsibility of children and a wife? I began to prepare myself to go back into the industry from which I had started in the world... I hated construction and all of the hassles associated with trucks, heavy equipment and employees, but I knew I could support a family from this business and the sacrifice for this woman and the boys she had, seemed well worth the efforts... I knew I would have to just grin and bear it... The only difference was that now I was many years older and I had a back that seemed to resist the healing God promised in His word and even though I believed, it still hurt... But she was worth it, and the pain was something I dealt with anyway. The equipment which was almost prepared was proving that I was getting close to the goals I set, in order to get on my feet...
148

I was using the power and strength God had given me to get back on the wrong track... You see, God always has a way of sneaking up on you out of the blue it seems, to check up on you and see if you are really on his track or yours... Well it seemed as though I was back on my track of selfsufficiency, instead of allowing God to be my provider. I had ignored the very gift God gave me to prosper, the gift of gab. The one gift I was comfortable with and knew well... I have never had any formal training to perform the task God gave me as it was just too big for me... as it came naturally. When I was asked to write this book I reasoned that I cant write, and there are more qualified writers than I, and it was evident... The words God seemed to give me were too simple, almost as though down to earth which is often the way God really is... when He wants to make a point. I have no former theological teaching, no degrees, and no church training, as most of what I write was written behind the bars of a local jail and kept me awake for days... Yet those who sampled the writings seemed touched as if by a hand I could not see. You see God reminded me that He was my provider, He was Jehovah Jireh my provider, not I... and I had taken back my right to provide, thereby taking that part of my heart away from God and He is a jealous God and will have none of that non sense... So I write to you as a fellow prisoner in Christ and offer you encouragement, as God can and will provide all of your
149

needs and when He adds them to you they will be added unto you with no sorrow... Ive always found He also always seems to provide exceedingly abundantly more than we ask, when and if we will obey Him... So let go, and give Him back the part of your heart, you snatched out of His hand... and once again trust Him for all things, and lean not onto your own understanding and do the things He placed in your heart to do

THEIR IDOL She sat in her room weeping... sobbing over her bible... Lord we used to be a loving family, caring, sharing and loving each other... but that beast with all of its lies, so subtle, so smooth, so hypnotic... all full of lies and promises has pulled us apart... Buy this and your heart and your joy will be full Go here and youll be happy... How can you live without this? Everybody else has one and you dont, so you must be the odd duck. Tell your mom and dad you have to have this, because without it you are a nobody... Eat this and you will look like this... drinking is ok... Look they're cool, smoke this and be with the in-crowd...

150

Lord help us! We never talk any more... there is no order only chaos... We used to read from your words every day... sharing the love you poured out to us through your pages. We laughed together at the lessons we seemed to repeat like those of old did... I know we had our bad days... but at first it was occasionally, now it just seems to be every day, all of this fussing and fighting just have to stop... As we went on to follow the beast, its power seemed to grow... demanding sacrifices... so talking together became a silent worship at its feet... Then our bible study seemed to completely disappear. Still it demanded more... finally going to church stopped... except for Christmas and Easter... Now the beast is demanding that they go as well. Please Lord; restore the love we had before the beast took the control it has now... Please God, let mommy and daddy start talking to each other again and stop fighting all the time. We never go on picnics, or just spend time together any more... and Im so lonely... All my friends are in the same boat and dont know what to do either... Weve become friends through your words, so I thank you for my new brothers and sisters... But Lord, please in the name of Jesus, destroy those idols in this house, and let us be a family again... Amen. I used to love TV and video games and such, until they stole the love and laughter I used to enjoy with my family...
151

God will restore them satan, as He wrote in the bible that, Anything you ask the Father in My name will be done... So youre through in this house devil, and you might as well pack your bags and leave. I dont want your idol here anymore in Jesus name.

MY ARMOR The first time I put on the whole armor of God, I felt like God must have made a mistake... I felt like a two year old putting on Goliath's armor... The helmet of salvation would have easily made a boat for me and a few of my friends back then, when I stepped out as a mere babe in Christ, ready it seemed to take on satan himself... Drinking freely on the sincere milk of God and growing by leaps and bounds... The breastplate of righteousness and a sail would have floated hundreds of refugees across a great sea in more comfort than the pilgrims that came over on those three small ships... As I then stepped into those large sandals what seemed to have been a size two thousand, so that I might be shod with the gospel of peace... They had spikes on the bottom that stuck into the carpet so that I often couldnt even move... Even if I could have, I couldnt even turn around in
152

the room, as they seemed like they were too large to even move around in the house... I pondered at the spikes and reasoned that they would be great to aerate the lawn... Yet their purpose was much larger than the simple one my mind came up with at the time... Man let me tell you, the shield of faith that God issued to me had to be for someone else, as I knew I didnt have that much faith... It stuck up through the roof into the sky and I couldnt even see the top of it, as it was taller it seemed than the Empire State Building... and it was so wide that it seemed like it took an hour, to walk from side to side... Yet it had my name on the back in huge letters... The belt of truth that was used to protect my lower parts was so big; I thought it would go around the world and me twice. It took forever it seemed, to wrap it all around me until there was none left... Yet, I did it none the less... Then there was this sword... flaming... with the fire of God's word... I just knew all I had to do was drop this sword on anything in my path and the sword would hack anything in its path to pieces... Any demon that was dumb enough to get in the path of this sucker was an idiot... First though, I had to figure out how to even pick this big dude up... The first person I was able to approach was a homeless woman on the street... I must have looked pretty funny dragging all of this huge armor behind me down the street towards her... The look of
153

innocence on my face was my only angle of attack as she simply stepped into my path... It was all so simple, I just had to share the truth with her and I just knew that she would believe and I could go on to the next one and so on and so on I thought... Until that is, I was shot down... Well... God was faithful and the sword of the lord came to life, the women repented and asked for forgiveness and then sought the Lord as her savior inviting Him into her heart... She had never heard of this Jesus I spoke of and was glad that someone cared for her soul... Man...I thought I was somebody after my first victory, as I could not see the garrison of angels around this babe in Christ making sure I was ok and that I would grow up ok, at least for a season... So swing the mighty sword I did ... and demons flew into the dry places so fast it would make your head spin and all during the process my feet grew, my chest grew, and I grew to fit into the armor assigned to me by God... My dependence on me doing things though, began to creep up and stick its ugly head into the air... and I soon began to think I was as the savior that freed the captives... My haughtiness and pride began to show their ugly heads and the Lord watched... I grew none the less, yet there had to be a trimming process, as I began to slip here and there and the branches I was shooting forth werent really quite all God, as they were more and more me, and the armor wasnt really as necessary, as I was now strong in and of myself...
154

Man I wish I had seen it coming... over the horizon satan himself was marching with an army of the bad and ugly and they were after the good, that used to be me... I feared not, as I thought that the angels were still with me, and I could handle anything that came my way... the look on my face must have been funny, as I had to have stupid tattooed on my forehead... The Lord removed His hedge of protection from around me to teach me the importance of the whole armor of God, and the need to depend on Him in all things... The lesson cost me greatly, but the man that emerged from the refiners fire, wore armor that fit snugly and I wasnt about to ever take it off again... The arrogance that God removed from me allowed me to see the pride and haughtiness that I had allowed to come between us... I had grown, and now the armor wasnt huge and cumbersome anymore, as now I could go forth as a warrior in Gods army, fighting the good fight of faith... No longer a little plumber from Akron. I was becoming a full fledged warrior with the battle scars to prove it... So I now march on in the name of the Lord waving His banner high, and those satan chooses to send against me, now find the armor of a former babe, being fully used to resist and stand against the forces of darkness. Yet after the many battles I have been through, my armor is still shiny and new looking. As the battle is the Lords, and the Word of the Lord, never ever fails.. Occasionally though, I still step out a little beyond the faith God has given me into my own faith, and God lets me get a good whipping which then gets me back in line.
155

Ooohhhh the sweet wisdoms that were acquired through the many battles fought and won... I have been known at times in battle to take a direct hit in the breastplate of righteousness, and then God would let me heal for a time... None the less, I encourage you as one that has been there in the heat of battle to step out and grow, as you will never grow unless you enter the battlefield... The armor and angels will protect you as you grow, and grow you will... My armor seemed awkward at first, yet I grew into it readily through the grace and mercy of the creator of all... So step out, God will always be with you in all of the battles, as it is in His name that we fight the good fight of faith, and its because of His Son's shed blood that we win... you can never ever loose, unless you never try... so, what are you waiting for??

THE JAIL The building all so plain held them separated from the world, protecting those who were innocent, from those not so innocent inside. The stories varied as to the rhyme or reason they were there... The best of the best simply said, I didnt do it Im innocent, yet they were there as the result of the stars and

156

moon clashing together at the same time in space, to the likings of the devil... Why do I know you ask? Been there done that got the tshirt, but I was innocent At least I'd like to think so... But something was different about this egg that always seemed to smile... To walk as though the angels surrounded him... The devil even fled from this one in fear, as he walked with the authority of the believer... He spoke with simplicity, as it seemed sweet going down, as sweet as the flowing of honey from the spoon to the bread... Yet at the entering of the soul, a fire swept through often burning the heart to cinders... Many tears fell because of His words of innocence, as this story teller wove the webs exposing and then snaring the stones of offense that they had buried in their hearts... Oh how he loved those who had been offended, as the planter digs deep to remove stones from the fields that will hinder his harvest, the words spoken, often dug deep... to the quick of the heart to remove those stones... Yet to the learned, the words needed punctuation and flare... classes were needed to refine the words, as they lacked knowledge... Yet the tears flowed none the less. They couldnt figure this odd duck out, as the wise were always confounded at the teachings that brought to light the truths that they had hidden from the world... yet, not from God...

157

What do we do with him? As they planned and schemed, because He spoke as though the Father speaks to, and through him. Kill him? Slay him? Put him to death? Yet as they reasoned, thought, planned, and killed him many times over, He was free... in the same jail that they were in, yet they were bound in... You see the jail is the world, and there are often no bars... except the ones you put on your life... as the Father sent his Son to free those in this jail, and yet today there are those in jail, freer than those on the outside, looking in... Whether in or out there is still a jail. The worlds system frees only those that know and find the truth, as it is only the truth that truly makes one free... It is not the glitter of all thats gold... or all of the diamonds in all of the hills and valleys of the world... as Heaven proves this, because the things that blind and are desired here on earth, are just building materials in heaven... Pearls, diamonds, sapphires, gold and silver, just to name a few... The best that this life has to offer is nothing more than the pavement God walks on, and the dust from beneath His feet would cause empires and nations to kill each other, yet they would all die in vain... You see I am free, yet I was in jail, yet the jailer freed me through the truth, and now I can shout to the world of the freedom that is truly free... If you want out of the jail you are in, walk with me... and I will impart this freedom to you in love, as you are my friend and I call you brother and sister... I will stand in the gap with and for you, in order to allow you to walk through on the bridge I have built by my hands. All of which have
158

been given to me by my Father to give to you as my gift is free, as freedom is indeed the gift I give... in Love, from the Father.

THE LAST ONE I walked in the garden, cool, lush, beautiful... I couldn't believe that Heaven was so beautiful... The city with gates of pearl and streets of gold... something men fought and killed for back on earth, was merely used by God to walk on, and to pave the pathways and highways of heaven... This mansion God had already prepared for me was humungous and all so beautiful... I never knew that there was this much gold and silver in the entire universe... Id have settled for all so much less, but then hey... God gave it to me, and Im not gonna be ungrateful to Him for the rest of the eternities... I should think not... Its amazing to see how God answered each and every prayer said for my loved ones and friends on earth... As all of my family, friends and relatives and all those I prayed for while in jail, are now here with me in heaven. Still friends and we get to picnic together and remember the old times back on planet earth. Even the guy I met in jail that had killed his wife... I never thought he would repent... but Wow! God is great...
159

If I could cry, I would shed many tears... and they would all be for joy... and yet, I still think about those that are still have to go through the tribulation All of satans lies had kept them blinded to the real truth... I know God will save quite a few of them but not many... I wish I would have had more time... Now I realize how precious time really was, as I remember how I used to waste it seeking lowly, worldly things... as nothing compares to here. As I walked towards the city of heavenly Jerusalem, I saw an old friend and he came over and I asked, How are you? Great, I see you made it... Yeah, I wish now I would have had more time to reach more of the lost than I did. I wish I could have reached all of the lost somehow... and I cant believe I wasted all of those years... on myself... Well l worked with you all those years... ministering to and guiding you the best I could at that time... I was doing my best at clearing the paths for you to follow, and trying to have you in the places God needed for you to be, when He needed for you to be there, to carry out His plan and purpose for your life... You were always given a free choice to follow, but Gods purpose and plan was always carried out... Yes I know, but I wasted so much of the time I could have ministered to more of the lost and now condemned... I was wondering before we go before God, as to how you will judge my efforts in leading you through the mazes satan created for me to lead you through...
160

I hope you do not judge me harshly for the missed opportunities you had, as there were times even I didnt think you would be able to make it... yet God knew more than even I did... Well I thank you and I thank God. I thank God that He even loved me. Even after all of the failures Id had in my walk on the worlds surface... And Im soooo glad that He loved me, and chose me to serve him... I see now that I needed all of those trials by fire to burn off the flesh that always seemed to get in Gods way of doing things... All those years of refining, just to get me in the position to be used by him for His purpose... To have been able to withstand all of the temptations to resist going to all of the places He needed to send me... God always seemed to give me the strength I needed when I needed it the most, each and every time... Besides, I see that all of the times I failed, it was because I bound you with my very own tongue... You know, it sure is a small thing, yet it seems to have caused more problems than all of the rest of the body combined? So I thank God that you were with me from birth, or I would have drowned when satan made his first attempt on my life as an infant... I also thank God that you pushed my dad in to pull me out of that river... That spirit of jealousy was really doing his job, and hes in for it when I get to judge him and you can be sure of that... So God really blessed me with you, with your might and diligence, as Im sure the Holy Spirit must have been
161

frustrated with me as well. By the way have you seen Him today? No... But its time for you to judge me, again I will lead you... Well now you know why the seat at the right arm of God is left open, as it is the judgment arm of God... Ill see you soon, as God is calling me now. Yes Father, I answered. He has served me well and I cannot judge him, as he is my friend... I also ask you to bless him, as he was faithful... I failed you Lord, the Holy Spirit and him because of my lack of faith, wrong beliefs and my own tongue... Which I see now bound him most of the time, hindering him from completing his assignments, therefore bless him. Wow, now I can now also see how all of those angels protected my daughters. Man I didnt realize that they would be the result of so much praying... All of that fire power is awesome... It never dawned on me as to how big a legion of angels really was... Bless them also, as they did a great job of protecting them. Especially when I wasnt there for all of those years... Bless them... After the Judgment Seat my guardian and I met up and spoke again. Man I never realized the truth of how many angels there are in a legion of angels, if I had known; I wouldnt have hogged so many of them! Father, by the way, what are those ugly looking things over there?

162

You mean to tell me that for all those years of being scared by demons, I was listening to those little ugly baboon, dog looking things? What a fool I was. Ok...Judging them is easy, send them to the hell!!... No!!! Please not there, we are sorry, we wont bother you again, please unbind us and set us free. We will leave you alone and have our friends leave your friends still on earth alone, just let us go, we dont want to spend eternity in hell please loose us!!! Set us free... Man Im sure glad to be done with that!... I just want you to know that I want to thank you for obeying God like you did... I never would have found Jamal like I did... I also never would have thought God would have really let me minister to the last child to ever hear the gospel... By the way, you guys looked really rad coming down with the Lord that day. I bet it felt awesome riding those flaming horses and all... Anyway, Im tired and cruising home to rest a spell... see you around. So Ill see you soon. Did you know that one day, you will sit on the throne next to God himself and judge the angel or angels that assisted you in your journeys here on earth? You will also judge the demons that resisted you... Judge well, as you may be the one to minister to the very last one, that wraps up this thing we call life.

163

LOVE They debated, argued, and split hairs... all from the wisdoms they gained from and through their debates... A law never intended to bind the children of God. Originally set forth as guidelines in an unruly world for a lost group of the Lords children... Given through inspiration by an all knowing, all caring God of love, yet through satan and his trappings in this world... scales of pride often covered their eyes. The wax in their hearts ears caused a deafness to the truth, as the Son of God originally taught of love... All dead... grown cold... as cold as the stones that covered the hearts God wept for... Lost to the world... They boasted, bragged and glorified in their own wisdom... proud of the scriptures bent by satan through his wisdom and their lack of real wisdom They hung tightly to their right to judge and even execute those who could not possibly equal the acquired wisdom of their own. A favorite quote rung in his ears, one they loved to use to defend their self righteousness... Give not that which is holy unto the dogs... neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them beneath their feet and turn and rend you...

164

All he was trying to tell them was love one another as yourself... not just the select group that they decided were worthy... Jesus came to save the sinners of the world and set them free from satan and his minions... The gospel of love that Christ preached, off hand had two major commandments... first and simple enough; it was to Love God with all your heart mind and soul... everything within you... Secondly was that you love your neighbor, as yourself... and that neighbor, being every person in the world other than yourself... as we were not to judge. Sinners never seemed to bother him. Quite to the contrary they were the ones in desperate need of the yoke, cord and shackle breaking truth offered by the gospel of love of God, through his Son Jesus. They loved the humbleness, goodness, and benevolent nature he possessed while sharing the message of love... Yet he often stood there with tears welling up in his eyes, at the rejection of Gods only truth... LOVE... He turned and walked away from the group of ministers that had gathered, and prayed for them... The Lord whispered to him, I sought for you to deliver the message to the lost souls of the world, all of them... Thats why I chose you... You were elected to this position by Me because of your testimony and ability to love... Any time you cast the pearls of love before the stiff necked, high browed, swine such as these, you will be trampled.
165

These that only seek control of My flocks... So they tell their half truths most of the time, thereby keeping my flock from hearing all of the truths of love and freedom that are contained in the bible... They want to keep my children under their control for their tithes. Yet I need and desire to build my kingdom... They fall so easily into the hands of satan, because of their unwillingness to humble themselves to Me... Yet they will all answer to Me in the end... They know of the love I offer freely to all, yet deny the truth of the simplicity with which I offer it to anyone that will believe... They see no profit in freeing my children; therefore they keep them in bondage... Slaves to their beliefs which come from satan appearing to them as an angel of light. You see, there is no profit in peace, joy, love or freedom. They only see the profits in wars, hatred and lusts of the world you inhabit for now... All of it is to no avail, as I will wipe it all out with the swipe of my hand at the appointed time. Your faith however is simple, which gives me the ability to guide you... I will follow you father all over the world if I can, spreading your message of love to the very ends of the world, to the last woman, man and child so that you can fulfill your plan... I know that throughout this trek, some of the seed sown will be wasted and cast to swine... I also believe that a precious few will fall into fertile hearts, those prepared before me by others, and cared for by you, until the time that they can be harvested for your kingdom...
166

So Lord please, use me, lead me, and guide me continually... Ill sow your seeds in love, tell of your love and through love, reach out to those needing love... I thank you for teaching me your truths in your way, instead of my way... I can only put all of my love, faith, hope, joy and trust, in you Lord... as man will always fail me through the manipulations of satan... Ive had a good life, and at times been such a failure at it all at the same time... Thank you Father for adopting me, when the world and all in it abandoned me, you picked me up, dusted me off, loved me back to health, and taught me the truths I now share about you, and the love you have for all that seek it... Please lead on and Ill follow after you, with all of my heart, and all that I am... any and everywhere, as Im finally learning what it means to know peace and contentment... You are almighty God, lead me and Ill follow till my last breath... P.S. I love you Father God, your Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit and your mighty angels...Thank you for having them keep watch over me...

167

MICHAEL He stared in the mirror at what had to be the shortest body in the universe... God why did you make me so small, was the question often on his mind, as his height was a hindrance to him, as he knew that if he were taller, he would be as accepted as the other kids in his class... They always made fun of him and even his seemingly eighteen foot tall brother got on his nerves just because he was tall and Michael wasnt. But as with all things, God had a plan for the life of this little one... All of the trials and tribulations he had to face were the source of the very strengths he would need in the future, as he would be mightily used of God... To the eye, he appeared ten maybe eleven years old and this was the door satan was allowed to use. Through this anger in his heart, he would be used to serve God in many ways as he journeyed through life... as it is written that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. In heaven there is an angel who is mighty, and victorious in all God sent him to do... His muscles ripple from the strength God placed in him for the special purposes of this mighty captain... Michael is captain of the army of heavenly hosts... He was in command of the ten thousand, times ten thousands and thousands of thousands of angels... He was the angel God sent to protect the body of Moses when satan came to take it... He spoke but the words God
168

gave him and satan left without the body he sought to take... The standoff could have been more than it was, but God himself restrained the mighty angel. NOT NOW!!... SOON HE WILL BE YOURS TO DEAL WITH I PROMISE. At that, Michael simply told satan that the Lord rebuked him and in a huff he left. Michael was an angel of valor... he was responsible for the training of all of the warring angels in heaven... He personally led the angels to battle for the saints, against the principalities, thrones and powers of satan and never even lost one of his army, let alone even received more than a good scratch from the enemies sword... On many occasions satan himself personally fought Michael and was found fleeing with wounds that would take time to heal... Michael was the chief archangel in Gods army and was respected by the twenty and four elders, as well as the seraphim and cherubim angels. Oh how Michael loved serving God, because the fire that raced through his veins kept him on edge and prepared for the battle that would end all battles... He was constantly practicing and preparing for the day that God would send him after satan, and finally end the torments of the saints on earth... He was always sneaking up on other angels wrapping them up in the very chains he would use one day on the appointed day, to bind the master liar himself.. Grinning
169

from ear to ear... waiting, watching and asking for the permission that would shortly come. God always got a chuckle out of Michael, as he was the shortest of angels, and thats some of what kept his spirit always at the ready to battle for God, because satan was always taunting him about his size, as he dreamt of the day God had set aside for him to grab satan by his scrawny neck, wrapping him up in chains and sending him straight to hell for the season... Quite often a few of the angels would get a little ticked off at times, as they were getting a little tired of him roping them all of the time with that big heavy chain, and tossing them around... A couple of times God had to put his foot down and ask him to chill out, because the time was soon, and not to wear out his roping arm. There was something a little different about this day, as the earthly Michael stood to face the mirror with the beginnings of a bad hair day... As he stood in front of the mirror to get ready for school, his jaw hit the floor... He could see this man behind him with muscles of iron... A sword of fire that seemed like it could cut the world in half, and... he was short. Who are youuuu?, He stammered with eyes as big as saucers. Michael the archangel... God has assigned me to you as your guardian angel while you are here on earth... Behind Michael, he could see his mighty war horse that carried him across the earth and back and forth to heaven in the twinkling of an eye...
170

You mean... God uses you, to protect me? Yep, and you have an awesome job here on earth, and God wants to make sure you remain ok while you do His work, and He just wanted you to know Im with you at all times. The next day Michael strode into school with a purpose, and an angel beside him to reassure him he was gonna be ok... God is way cool they exclaimed, as they gave each other a high five at the end of a great day together. Way Cool !! So be aware, as you may entertain angels unaware..

A MILLSTONE Tears flowed down his cheek, as God squeezed, squeezed the wretched root of pride, and life itself seemed to ooze out, as God squeezed. Yet every time God relaxed his grip, a little humbleness was allowed to fill the voids left by the evacuating pride. Oh, Gods timing and sovereignty. A letter from a precious seven year old had brought his mighty walls of pride and haughtiness tumbling down to dust.
171

Years of traveling, searching and neglecting, ended with a few misspelled words. Words, that in the same way that a harpoon pierces a whale's side, pierced this prideful heart. Hi DadY, I love you with all my heart I got a hole lot of animals and toys, some Are from New Yorke where Oma and Opa went.. I cant wait till you get back And I cant wait til the next time I talk to you. In skool I am lerning a lot and Im Doing great. I am excit it, and wehn you get Back i hope we get to spend a lot of time together and this morning Oma and Opa took me to Mcdonelds and we we went to see ant Linda... but not ant Judy... becase its too cold... Love Lauren A child that had grown up basically not knowing a father, because he had traveled to see the world and conquer all of its mountains... All the while neglecting a growing child that had a love that this man did not deserve... God was truly finishing the work He began slightly a year and a half ago. Gods aim was perfectly timed and true to the target... His sword sharper than any two edged sword, for the cutting asunder of spirit, soul and body... You see, Im still learning... because that guy is me... and ... You...
172

I had just ministered to others in a cell block at jail here about offending one of these little ones which believe in God... It is written; That it would be better for him that a millstone were tied around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea, than to offend one these little ones... Man I wish I would have that happen right now. More so than to feel the pain that God is letting me feel, that is coming from my little daughters heart... The pain of missing me for all those years, the pain of loneliness, the pain of love for someone you love, but cant be loved by, the pain of rejection... My plea is guilty as charged Lord... Please put me out of this misery... I repent... I will be a different person when I get out... Just please let go of my heart... please!!... Yet He still did the same... squeeze... squeeze... and the rivers of tears... continue to flow.

MORE PLEASE The babe stood there at the ready... cup lifted high... the Master looked down at the babe and grinned a big smile that just seemed to encompass His face... With joy in His heart He refilled the cup of the little one before Him... It wasnt long before he came running back asking for more... and with each return, the Master refilled the cup with just a little bit more of the precious wine of wisdom...
173

Others watched the spectacle before them, and ridiculed the little one, as being greedy and seeking all of the Masters attention... Murmurings began to rise and then changed to anger, then hatred... all towards the young innocent one before them. Yet their cups were still full of the original wine given them... They were all afraid of losing even one precious drop of it, let alone giving it to someone unworthy enough to even grace their shadows none the less... Yet, time after time he joyfully returned seeking more of the wine that tasted so good, as it was poured out... Soon their anger turned towards murder as they sought to do away with the little one... Yet it was soon quieted, as the time between refills began to grow longer and longer. At times it seemed as though he would not return, yet to their dismay he would. But now there seemed to be a change in the little one... He seemed to be growing and maturing with each and every return to the fountain so easily poured out for him... Yet they coveted even the very thought of the contents of the cups they held... Im never giving any of mine away. Nor I as well, its mine and just too precious to give to those unworthy of this wine of the Master's... It wasnt long before they stood before the Master... many with huge spots of flesh upon their gowns so white... Their cup so puny and empty, that they felt embarrassed and ashamed to even present them to the Master at the time of calling... Yet one by one, each presented the cup given to them in hopes and expectations that they would pour out that
174

which they had been given, as to further the spread of the good news to the world... Suddenly, a great procession began to move forward... Soon millions upon millions began making their way to the front of the throne room of heaven... Those with the small cups so empty moved aside, as the angels escorted the once very young one to the foot of the Master... Father I have returned after my journey across the world in your name... and these are all I could find that would listen to, and drink from the love I had to pour out of my cup... I am sorry I could not have done a better job... But these I present to you, as the fruit of that which you gave unto me... Silence filled the throne room as the master stood to His feet... Those that went before him held their breath, as they were sure that he was in for it for hogging all of the good wine... Under their breath they muttered, Hes going to get what has been coming to him for a long time now... HE spoke This son of mine is one in which I am well pleased in... He came to me continually seeking the gifts I had for all to receive... He even asked Me for the wisdom that many of you didnt want and even ignored and neglected to use... Many of you pled ignorance as you stood before Me... and denied ever having known of that which I freely wanted you to have...

175

Tried as I may to have you give away the things I gave you, so that I could refill your cup, in order that you would pour it out to others that desperately sought the precious wine I had to offer... Yet you coveted and hoarded what you thought was the best, for yourselves... Leaving many to perish... Yet you knew that my desire was that none should perish... So in your selfishness, you let them die... Therefore, you shall wear their blood upon your hands for the eternities to come... Get you to my left you goats... Son, come sit beside me in the place I have prepared for you. God has given each of us a measure of faith to approach him for what is needed here on this earth, to establish His kingdom that is to come. Yet fear, greed, covetousness and other earthly reasons often keep us selfishly hoarding that which God gave us freely, to give to others... love... just love. Its all that simple... and there was always more than enough, to pass around throughout the world. So, just love; the unlovely, the unworthy, helpless, homeless, hungry, lost, abandoned, orphaned and alone in and of this world, your cup will never ever run empty... when you pour it all out. Hold nothing back here on this earth... as the rewards for doing so are eternal.

NO PLEASE NO!!
176

Quit trying to cram God down my throat. Ill believe God in my way, leave me alone!! But I was only trying to help, as you dont really know God, and He wants to help you... Leave me alone, I dont need Gods, or your help... Im fine now get out of my face. The hurt could be seen blocks away... Tears were, and had been suppressed for years, and never allowed to do the cleansing job they were designed to do... God, why dont you just leave me alone, Im sorry about what happened years ago... Im only human... I never knew the consequences of that day... Memories wouldn't stop pouring over the wall she had built over the years... Im never going to let anyone touch me that way, or hurt me like that again... never!!!... Abuse sat on her shoulder, whispering into her ear all of the memories of a less than perfect childhood, over and over... As a small child, the trust that should have been developed between a child and a parent went wrong, as molestation reared his ugly head... His talons dug deep into the skull of her father who was looking for selfish love, by abusing his daughter... robbing her of the childhood many cherished... yet she hated... Her mother never came to rescue her from the abuse as she had imagined would happen... yet in time that hope grew dimmer and dimmer...
177

Threats of death replaced its ok, dads are supposed to teach their little girls these things... Tears became the concrete and mortar in the walls she began building, instead of the doll house she really wanted to build... Her heart broken early on in life would set the stage for an event that would take place later in life, yet at this time, pain seared her mind and body, as the attacks of her youth came and went... Later in life... the hatred she held in her heart was replaced by the love she sought in various relationships, all destined to fail, as her hopes and dreams seemed to die, with each and every passing lover... She soon made up her mind to hurt them first as she was hurt, just to release some of the anger. Yet the heart beating in her chest was larger than the blocks of pain her walls were built from. The angel assigned to her often wept for her through the years, as he waited for the command from God to minister to her... and he waited... Her heart grew colder than ever before, after the one love she had true hope for, died on his way back to divorce the wrong woman whom he had married... She knew and had waited for this one for years, and even after the abortion of his child. She still hung in there, even after his marriage to the wrong women, as far as she was concerned. His death took years to get over... and then pain filled the cavity of hope, as it left with all of its luggage.

178

The angel watched and waited as the time neared... his senses still keen, waiting, watching, listening, for the voice and trumpet sound to battle for the victory. He pushed her that day into an alley she knew could be dangerous, yet she was strengthened by the small caliber hand gun that was recently purchased... The darkness of the alley enveloped her as many of his other victims through the years... She was unaware of it, but six other eyes watched as she entered the alley... as they had turned the heart of a believer from the light... to the darkness they so loved. In a shot, her world changed... the last vision she had, was from the life and blood of an unknown person seeping onto the asphalt... She kind of remembers a little ole lady, and then the dead man getting up, then lights out...She awoke in the arms of the little ole lady she remembered, but thought was a dream, as everything seemed as a dream... How had she gotten out of the alley?? What exactly happened?? The dream faded in and out of reality... As she recovered, the little bag lady gave her a huge hug and told her what happened... Doubt lashed out at her mind because... dead people just dont get up and walk away...except on TV. She was loved into the kingdom that day, by a little ole lady that now lives in heaven, looking down occasionally to watch over those she left behind... Its all true... and if you dont believe any of it, just ask God and He will do what ever it takes to prove to you He is real...
179

I know, I helped that dead man up off the ground and Im now married to the best Christian lady there ever was... After the night in the alley, we all gave our hearts to God and He changed our lives.. My wife has the biggest loving heart on the planet and counsels many women across the land, as, that which satan plans for evil, God is always gonna turn around for His glory.. We have the most beautiful kids that youve ever seen, and we minister to children that have been abused so they can be freed from the grips of the demons that haunt their lives, before they have a chance to build their walls too high... I sure miss Annie... I never would have imagined that she even knew God, let alone knew Him as she did... I thank God for her every day and I hope shes in heaven smiling down on us. Now there was great rejoicing in heaven that day, the day we all accepted Christ at the hands of a little ole bag lady in the Bronx... and I am sure am glad she was used to raise the dead.

PEACE The man stood at the base of the mountain. The top was swallowed up by the clouds, leaving before him a massive chunk of stone to climb.
180

It appeared jagged and craggy and impossible to climb.... Man... I cant do this, but he sucked in the air needed and proceeded... The first step was the toughest, but adrenalin took over, and the body given to him by God came alive with a new power and energy surging through his body. At times his arms ached and legs trembled from the strains and efforts being put forth... but he pursued the mountain top with the vengeance of the hunger within him. If I can just reach the top of this mountain, I will be able to see clearly the path and way before me... After years, it seemed as though he had finally reached the pinnacle of this mountain he had conquered, and stared out across the universe to see a still higher mountain in between him and that which he sought... So down this mountain and towards the next he proceeded... After many struggles, and much blood sweat and tears, he achieved the victory offered by the mountain in front of him, only to much dismay to see that out across the horizon a still much higher mountain... So as before, the journey towards a goal that appeared as but a mist in his mind, he struggled forward again. The Mountain View from what he had thought had to be the highest mountain possible, often yielded but another view of another mountain, to be climbed and tamed and often still, yet another mountain and much to the breaking of his heart, there were many mountains, as far as the eye could see. God Ill never make it There are too many mountains to climb too many valleys to cross and the deserts too hot to attempt. Yet inside there was drawing and urging to attempt just one more...
181

Through the many mountain climbing efforts, much wisdom and strength had been gained. Muscles formally soft and flabby were now hardened and steeled by the tempering of the many trials, fires and pain that God put him through in his training process. All of which were specifically designed to prepare him to be able to face in the end, the largest mountain in the history of his life. As Goliath was to David, this giant had gotten in the path to the success God had ordained for him... The worlds way of doing things was to have no place in the way that God wanted to operate through him, in the reaching of the millions of those that just didnt seem to get it, when God worked in their lives... This mountain was so different from the rest he had conquered in his travels in and of the life given to him... It was smaller than the rest, and seemed almost to be too easy for this now seasoned mountain warrior to even attempt... Yet something deep down inside of him urged him on into the ultimate destiny for this warrior. In no time at all the mountain was conquered, but the view was blocked by the low lying clouds that he had climbed through, which were obscuring the view that was about to reveal itself... He took the breath that slowed his beating heart to normal, and the clouds began to roll away... The view wasnt as expected... Instead of the usual and next expected mountain, he could make out the coast line and a peaceful and serene beach. As his eyes followed the removing of the clouds that shaded his eyes from the truth, his eyes laid upon a hut
182

seemingly hewn from the coral of the reef that broke the surface of the waters... The thatched roof glistened as gold from the rays of sunshine that were now allowed to peek through the clouds that shone down on that one particular spot of the universe... His heart was drawn to the hut, as it seemed as though peace dwelt there... Yet through the many battles with the mountains, he was too weary it seemed, to even climb from this small height he now stood on... God please help!!, he cried from within his spirit, and as though God spoke from heaven in that very moment, the clouds rolled away to reveal a pathway to peace, it sloped gently down the mountain, pulling him as a ball rolling down a hill towards his destiny. He made it; he had arrived at the final destination in his journey of journeys... He stood at the door in anticipation of what lay behind the door of the future... With the last of the energy in him, he knocked the door opened and the warrior fell inside As he awoke from the sleep that was needed to restore the strength sapped from him through the adventures of wandering through the wildernesses of life, the face of an angel smiled at him.. Her face glowed as the morning dawn and her sweet smile drove away the pain ... She was quiet and just rubbed his brow softly, as if it were the brush of an angels wing... All he could think is, Ive died and gone to heaven, and I want to remain in the arms of peace forever.

183

THEY WILL NOT PREVAIL The young man walked up to the massive gatesand they were huge. Wrought iron, with a massive chain and padlock holding them closed... He pondered as to why this gate was here of all places... Was it to keep people in or out? It was hot, as hot as well you know He faced the gates and stared beyond... Many millions upon millions had passed through these gates to never see the light of day again. Almost it seemed... for eternity. Yet he didnt care if this was proper, nor if it was even right to do this, because he had a battle to win and he was gonna win it no matter what... The others at the gates stared at the youth, as it seemed this one was a little different, and all so green behind the ears. It seemed as though the milk he was feeding from, was still dripped from his chin. They had set up a massive tent city outside of the gates and were content now in their waiting... Some had large campers and motor homes with all of the creature comforts, down to some with just plain ole pup tents...
184

Grills were set up to seemingly offer sacrifices to the heavens in order for the gates to open, and yet in their waiting they were content. But now this youth walks into their world, and turns the apple cart over... spills the milk as it were and now their lives were all about to change... This youth looked kinda odd, almost laughable yet they wondered about him, as he wore this massive gold chain with the word JESUS in big gold letters... He carried with him two large five gallon buckets of the precious blood... What a waste, as many thought it wont work... under one arm a sword, the word of the Lord... under the other, a cross of rough wood... Well I wonder just what hes gonna do with all of that? As many pondered and just watched in wonder... He strode up to the gates full of the boldness that they remembered they used to have, back when they first believed, yet had lost in their many wars and battles over the years... He mumbled to himself as they watched and wondered... He removed the gold chain of letters from around his neck and wired them to the gates... From the name JESUS seemed to be a fuse of sorts, and the doubts were erased as it was lit... Slowly burning the youth backed up and removed the sword of the Lord and began to hack at the massive chains, weakening their grip on the gates all the more... After a while... the blood was thrown at the gates and they groaned under the burden of the blood...
185

The chains and gates began to tremble and weaken at the attack... The explosion sent him reeling, as the power of the name above all names was released, with the force of the tens of thousands of prayers it contained... The gate was rushed from behind, as the oppressors sought to repel the youth... The final straw was the release, as he held up the cross which served as the reminder of the promises paid for, through the sacrifice of the son of the Living God. The gates exploded on top of the hordes of demons fighting to keep them up... He climbed over the rubble of the gates and strode right into the middle of hell itself, to set his family free, and then returned to the throne room of God and asked for their souls to be freed... They were freed by the word of God, as they were now released from the bondages satan had used to keep them captive... The youth returned often, as the gates swung open wide for him and the demons watched cowering from behind the gates... Prisoner after prisoner was released through the tenacity of a child, satan returned from heaven and began to throw a fit and screamed because of the havoc the child had caused in hell... Thats why I put those gates up in the first place, to keep them out... as he went storming through the place called hell. Well?? You just gonna sit on your pew now or what? Mat 16:18

186

YOUR PROMISE You never saw the hurt that was behind my eyes when you made me quit that baseball junk... You never felt the rage behind my eyes, because you told me to quit that karate stuff. You never heard the disgust, in my voice as I helped carry you home all those times drunk... You never sensed the desire I had to kill you all those times when you beat and hit mom... You never thought I would want to destroy you financially, because you never seemed to care... You never knew I secretly wanted you dead while I was in jail, and heard you were concerned about when you were going to the Bahamas, just to gamble away my possible bail money... You never knew this cesspool of anger, rage, murder; stealing, contempt and disgust, would ever come from just breaking your promise to just love me as a son... Then again, I never knew I had all of this still buried deep down inside of my heart just waiting to explode... I thought I had forgiven you for everything... I even remember mouthing those very words. It was only when I decided to grow closer to God... that he made me see all of the ugliness within the deepest recesses of my heart... Deep within these darkest nooks
187

and crannies, hid these bitter roots still holding on fast to the walls of my heart... Only the light of Gods love could and would ever penetrate that far down... Only the light of the love that God sheds, could ever bring this to the surface... and I never expected all of this to surface, until I asked God to shine his light into my heart and expose anything and everything that he wanted out of my heart, because it wasnt pure love... Only the powerful love he sheds on us could ever make me utter these words from the heart... Please forgive me... I still love you Dad.

A ROAD LESS TRAVELED The trail stood before the two, one the traveler, the other the encourager and often the carrier... Doubt filled the travelers mind, as fear gripped his legs as if to restrain him from the journey... The picture was one of serenity in the beginning, yet the horizon painted another picture, one of certain storms and mountains to be crossed, yet the journey ahead none the less had to be made... Along the path there were marker posts to illuminate the path that was still ahead and that I was still on track... Yet,
188

often the mountains lifted their heads as if to dissuade me from the journey I knew I must make... The storm clouds threatened to drench and soak me if I should make this journey, and yet, I felt as though I would get wet anyway... The path has some light it seemed, peaking through the trees to my left in their attempts to hide the path... Yet also along this path is some life, which helped to encourage and keep me on the path and its reasons for the journey ahead... So with eyes towards heaven and strength upon our shoulders, we throw caution to the wind and step forward... Along the path there is never any more illumination than that which we will need to continue... Its just not fair!! As there are those who are sent to pull us from the path, into the woods to devour us as the bogey man did back when we were children... Yet there is a drawing to this path called faith. You may stare at it in the hope that all of these things in your life will be resolved before the journey even begins, but they, as many other things still wait to be worked out, as you stand at the entrance to the path... Many stand hoping and praying for a miracle, that the mountains and storms will go away and that the road would made plain before them, before they even step out onto the path before them. This would sure make the journey; along with having the path well lit, all so easy to travel... but then it just wouldnt be faith. Well friend, I can tell you from the journey that I have just return from along the path you are seeking to take, the trek
189

you are seeking to undertake can be done, as I have returned to give you a renewed hope and confidence. I will be one of the ones that lead you along this path called faith. Fear neither the mountains nor the storms ahead, as they, as do all things in life tend to do pass away. You cannot, nor will you ever see the entire path ahead, as this is the part where you must take your first step an act of faith. As you walk out that which is right in front of you, the rest will reveal itself as you move along on the course of your travels... The one who leads you, will at times it seems leave you to travel alone and fight the monsters and demons which live in the mountains and along side the path.. Yet fear not, as He is not with you, but in you, and if God be for you, who can stand against you? The road is, and will be tough at times but you will grow. The path will be steep at times, yet you will not stumble and fall, and should you, He will catch you, as you are to learn how to cross mountains that are higher than you have ever had to cross before in your lifes journey thus far. Fear not, He was and is there before you, holding the rope you cling to for life support. Dont look down, or attempt to go back, as the path disappears behind you until you reach the destination that you are supposed to reach... Then, and only then, can you journey back to bring others along the path you have just traveled... So I encourage you as one who returns back down the path to lead... Follow me, as I have followed the master trail blazer himself... Christ... He never failed, nor forsook me... Even
190

though I feared greatly, and often doubted at times, and more than often sought to turn back... So come on, take the first step... I will walk along with you and at times carry you through and over the tough spots, as I am your brother and I love you and want you to know God loves you ... so step out take a step...we dare you.

NEWBY The new recruit was nervous on the first day... Not knowing what to expect...Not knowing what was going to happen with his life from this day forward... Called by the commander, he joined the army of God because his world crashed in around him... There was nowhere to turn except the only place he had never tried... Salvation was new to him, but judging from the others around him he was ok... The line progressed from station to station, as the armor of God was passed out to the new recruits, along with the explanations as to how they worked to protect the new recruits. This army of God thing should be a cinch... well almost. At the first station, the helmet of salvation was given to all recruits... This is to protect your mind, as the devil and his

191

cohorts attack you, and trust me, they will attack you in the battlefield of your mind! It is through this thing called salvation that you are able to stand under the blood covenant of Jesus and you are then protected by the strong arm of God... It was huge... I tried it on and it seemed to cover my head while also engulfing my shoulders in the process... Well this aught to protect me enough. I dont know why we would even need all this other stuff to lug around... The next piece I received was the belt of truth, this protected me from satans low blow attacks, and the other pieces of armor also were supported as well by this thing called truth, which is the heart of salvation... With this belt on, I was protected by His truth... This truth helped keep the easiest door for satan to open, closed... It was gonna be tough alright, cause the truth wasnt always the easiest for me to tell, and often harder for me to even believe... But it was necessary, as the belt of truth supported the Breastplate of Righteousness... So with this next vital piece of armor, I had my heart protected... I found out it was through the heart that satan waged most of his wars against Gods soldiers... Therefore the heart was of the utmost importance to protect. Lord, I dont know what I would have done all those times looking back now, with all of the battles I had gotten myself into, if I hadnt been protected by that mighty breastplate... As I progressed down that line years ago, I almost forgot the importance that each piece of armor played in my protection and how they were also needed for preparing others.
192

Looking back, being shod with the gospel of peace was also of vital importance. Years ago those shoes looked pretty funny, and I really didnt understand their significance... but I can now. Paul really knew what he was talking about when he identified all of the armor and their need. But as a new and green recruit, all full of fire and a gleam in my eye that said; Go ahead devil, make my day. I was really... really... I mean really, green and unprepared for what lay ahead. If it had not been for the grip and foundation those sandals had, I would have slipped and fallen long before even entering the most basic of battles that satan wages against the saints... You see these sandals have large spikes in the bottom... kinda like golfer's shoes, so that they can dig in and ground you well... It is from the grip that they provide that you are able to stand and wage war against satan for yourself, as well as others... Being shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace also has another purpose... The spikes leave holes for seeds of love, peace, joy, goodness and the other fruits of the Holy Spirit which you or they will then plant. In this way you will prepare the hearts of others much like preparing the soil of a garden for seeding, by poking holes in the ground for the seed to fall in... You see, you may come along and with a simple act that you are unaware of at the time, begin breaking up the hard crust around the next recruits heart, just by shedding a little love or joy across their path... This starts the breaking of the stones in many of the hearts you will encounter, and at times, this may be a slow and arduous task... Yet I encourage you to persevere... God will always be with
193

you... The peace God gives you will enable you to stand through the trials and tribulations that shall come your way. That is why the spikes are so important; they help you hold your ground in the midst of the battle. Back to the young recruit I was a few years ago. I never knew that the faith I had given to me was so large and shaped as a shield... It seemed like you could almost hide an army behind it alone... I knew it was going to take a while for me to grow into the kind of faith that this piece of armor was... Yet with the help of the Holy Spirit I knew I was never going to fail. So off I went... As it is with most young recruits, I can tell you that I messed up in every way imaginable... From thinking I was somebody, to, I have the anointings no one else could handle and so on. So God humbled me, and as a bit in a wild horses mouth breaks him by letting him know whos in charge, God broke me, and humbled me... Thankfully He was merciful in the process. Many times I even entered into battles where I forgot to bring my Sword of the Lord, which is the Word of God... and I would just go running off into battle full bore and wide open, just to get slaughtered and humiliated by the demons that knew for centuries the power of the Word of God, and how to twist the words around in my mind and mouth enough to cause doubt and unbelief to set in... Yet battle after battle my knowledge and use of the word became stronger and stronger, until I was able to achieve the battle readiness that is required by those who are mature believers in Christ which we are all called to be...

194

The Words of Truth set me free from all of the bondages satan used against me for many years, to hinder my works for the Lord... as God prevailed, and I slowly learned that satan was eternally defeated and had no authority over me or my life... I can say that I now sit here battlefield trained and ready, no longer green behind the ears... and tell you, that you will be stronger and wiser after passing through all of the battles you will encounter...on your way to maturity in Christ and His finished work. I never imagined that one day I would become the warrior like the one I was mentored by, and be able to lead you or others into the battles you would face... However, through God who strengthens me, I have learned that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and battle after battle, victory after victory. I have grown stronger. I grew stronger and more obedient to the Holy Spirit and his leading... and you will as well... Even though you may not as it will seem at times, get through the day I can tell you... you are going to make it, and be used to lead others through in the same way that the Lord has brought you through your trials and wilderness experiences.. This is where we acquire the power of Gods grace and love for us to share, with others who are coming up behind us. This is why God saved us, cleaned us up, led us, toughened us, fought for us, and won every battle for us, through His spirit, as it is not in our power or strength that we have victory... it is by His Spirit. Today, my armor is still as shiny as the first day I stood in the line you have finished passing through... all because God said, The Victory is mine says the Lord. We really never need to get bloodied up by failing on our own... The
195

dents and dings in my armor often remind me of the times I stepped out into battles I was not prepared for, and how this armor protected me, even though I was in way over my head. So put on the whole armor of God, and prepare for your first lesson in spiritual warfare Praise - begin by thanking God for the victory before we even go off into battle. And dont Like I did, think this is wimpy, and run off on your own as I did, and wind up getting knocked flat on your keister like I did. So Im telling you this, because before this is all over somebody here is going to do just that. Because there is always one of them in every crowd that thinks he knows more than the one leading the group. I was the one in my group as I know first hand what Im talking about. So remember, even if you fail, you will learn, and it can be the easy way, or the hard way, because either way, God is going to teach you the lessons you will need, in order to survive in His Kingdom's Army... As I like to say; you can do Gods will one of two ways... joyfully and obediently or kicking and screaming with your hair on fire... Just Remember Jonah. He broke and trained me, and he will break you as well, so suit up, and lets praise Him before we begin, so that the victory will be for us instead of against us... MY RIB There she lay so peaceful and sleeping, as if the whole world were at peace. The battles she had recently faced were the roughest in all of the years she had ever walked
196

through as a Christian... Yet, she had faced Satan himself, the angel of light and through the Spirit of almighty God won. God blessed me mightily when He put me to sleep and removed one of my ribs just to make her... There could be no other in the world or the universe that could possibly fit me so perfectly, as she does... Her face glows as that of an angel... Her face shines as the morning sun rising upon the horizon, bringing warmth to a new day... Her body was as if it were sculpted by the master craftsman himself, just to fulfill the desires of my heart further making the joys we share as man and wife; all the more special... God graced her mightily with his touch, as her gifts and strengths are often needed, as she has to put up with me... It is through Gods grace that we made it through all of the tests and trials God placed in our paths, throughout all of the years we faced and still face at times in this world... As God moved upon the earth making all things as we now know them, He moved at just the right time to move the mountains out of the way, and filled in all of the oceans so we had a straight path to each other... Oh our God is great... Over the years when I looked down at my hands, there always seemed to be something missing... Between each of my, as well as your fingers there is a gap. So when I met this gift of Gods mercy, there was something different about her... The sweetness of her soul
197

seemed to pour out in front of me when we would cross paths... The day came when we were finally able to talk, God made it so easy and simple and in such a way that only God could have done it... It was pure peaceable and easy to entreat... Oh God you are so great, I want to sing your praises from the top of every mountain in the world. As we talked further, it seemed as though God had made us from the same broken molds... We both often felt as square pegs in round holes most of our lives and never knew why... it was as if we were always just out of place... We touched the first time and it was if the universe exploded in a burst of love, and all of the angels in heaven were dancing at the victory that God had and as always, timed just perfectly... God began to move swiftly, bringing together the rest of His plan for our lives, and in less than a few months we were married, as God removed all of the stumbling blocks satan placed in our paths to trip us up along the way... It is so great to be a man that found his rib, because I know of so many that are still ribless. I also thank God that He never reveals all of his plan in advance, as this helps make the trip so much more interesting and often such an adventure... I could never have imagined or had an inkling as to how this the trip in life that I took with her would end up, and Lord knows it turned out to be a million times better than the one I had planned...
198

We often turn heads wherever we go as people wonder where all the gooey stuff in the room seems to come from. If they could see into the spirit realm, they could see two goo balls full of love oozing all over the place. Its funny how many try their best to not step in the love that was spilling all over the floor... Anyway, I hate to bore you with all of this gooey stuff and I want to let you know, she was made especially for me to be my helpmate. She walks beside me, never to follow, nor to lead, but created for me to walk beside me, as well through thick and thin, riches, and poverty alike, sickness and health until death do part us, only to rejoin us eternally in heaven. So let this goo flow forever, because when I look down in the moonlight at my hands, I can clearly see her fingers were made to fill in the gaps God left between mine just for her. I hope and pray you find yours... the one that just fits, and you'll know just what I mean when you find her or him, and try all so hard not to settle for anything less than this in life, as it is so worth it.

WILL YOU RIDE WITH ME I wanted to see the things he saw... get to meet the
199

prophets he met... as a kid follows hard after his parents I desired to follow in his foot steps... Man was God ever working in his life... Please God let me go there and see this awesome man of God... Please God I wont ask again if you will provide the way for me to go just this once, needless to say the opportunity never came... Then my friend called me and told me to come down to Wilmington, North Carolina, as there was going to be a teaching with some believers on Intercessory Prayer at his church... Intercessory what I asked? Intercessory Prayer... Oh yeah, neat... Ive got a lot of things to do that weekend... and I really cant make it... Well come on down anyway and well spend some time together and go see what its about... Well if he feels lead to go, then there must be something to it... So off I went on a journey to learn something about something I didn't know or even really want to know anything about. In fact I thought prayer was kinda wimpy anyway... I wanted to see some great prophet, apostle or something, not some wimpy prayer meeting... Oh well, at least it will get me out of the area, I needed a break from all of the pressures of business anyway I arrived late in the evening and he drove out to lead me into the subdivision where they lived... I unpacked and settled in quickly, tired from the six hour drive after an already long day... The next morning we drove off after breakfast and headed for the church... We arrived and I thought it was funny that
200

the teachers only lived about forty-five minutes from my house, in my state... Oh well, maybe Ill learn something here, as God made the way for me to be here, so I might as well learn something... The teaching went on for about two days... and I learned that I needed to pray more, but that was about all or at least I thought so... Oh, and praying for other people was ok, but I rarely had enough time before falling asleep to let God know all of my own problems, let alone the problems of others... Man was I about to get it... After the teaching... we went back to his house and talked about the things God was doing in his life, and the changes that seemed to almost happen overnight, as God was moving in our lives... We made a pact to pray for each other and keep in touch as brothers in Christ should. Soon enough, Sunday morning came along as usual all too soon after a long night of relaxing in the presence of God... So after a quick bite, we loaded his wife and kids up and traveled to the final lesson in the teachings of God. When the service started we were asked to bow our heads and pray and as we were praying, the strangest thing began to happen... It was as if my eyes were open, yet they were shut. I could clearly see even though I knew my eyes were shut... Suddenly the wall behind the pastor separated as if it were two large garage doors, parting down the middle. What I saw was a man clad in old, mid-evil type, English looking armor then ride into the church... The armor was
201

bright and shiny and He was riding a great white horse... and carrying a sword in his right hand... He stopped right in front of me and a lady hopped up on the horse with Him, and they rode out of the church right between my friend and I. As I continued to watch it was as though I was detached from myself, and I could see myself up on a craggy rock... I looked old and I had a long white beard and I held a long staff in my left hand... The horseman and the woman rode right beside me off through the church... By then I asked my friend if he was seeing this, but then I began to wonder if I was even seeing this... I quickly dropped it and went on with the service... I had never attended this church before in my life, and soon began to wonder if this was just some kind of supernatural thing that God did here on a regular basis... All the while it seemed as though a million thoughts raced through my mind in the blinking of an eye... Then as they began the praise and worship, I was stunned when the third song played spoke about Jesus riding a white horse all across the land, calling out to you and me; Will You Ride With Me??... Then I began to worry, as I didnt get on the horse and ride with Him, other people did... I knew I was saved and shouldnt worry... but I did. After getting back to my friend's house, I told him about the vision and expected Him to laugh me off the planet, and at least think I was weird because right about then... I did...

202

Instead he explained that the Holy Spirit will reveal things and often it was through visions, just as it was in the Old and New Testament. This was, and still is, often how many of the people of God were and are led... As I studied this later, I found out I wasnt so weird... God was just opening more doors for me as I followed in faith... I have had many dreams and visions since that one. Looking back I can see that God has shown me many things that have come to pass over the years, including some things yet still in my future; such as a house I will live in one day, and that I would be remarried, and have two more children, possibly from my new wifes previous marriage or at least I think so... I will know more once it happens. There are many things I am looking forward to, and yet many I still dont understand yet, and yet, I know they will somehow, someway, come to pass... While I was in jail I wrote this, as well as several other books and some plays. It all started innocently enough as I started asking God if he really wrote the bible or not, and if so how? Well thats a whole another story that Ill tell you later. But it was while locked up for those six months that seven dreams or visions came to pass and I actually lived through the dreams I had years and years before they ever actually happened. I as well as most people like to call them dj vu. The bible simply says that the Holy Spirit will show you all things to come and I chose to believe it. Oh yeah, Intercessory prayer, I have learned it is an awesome responsibility, as Jesus esteems it high enough

203

that he is called our Chief Intercessor, and stands for all of us between God and satan... So I guess then its not so wimpy after all, as Jesus was a man after my heart... How about yours? Note... It says in the Bible in the book of Joel that in the later times, I will pour out my spirit and old men shall dream dreams, and young men and women shall see visions and prophesy... Lastly, one of the first visions I ever had was; I was walking up to a trailer on the property of a friend of mine... I looked up at the moon... It was full... and as I gazed at the moon it looked like someone pierced it with a spear... and it began to bleed blood red. I could then see the huge angel smiling down at me with the spear in his hands, I wonder what that means?? Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, Revelation 6:12 see ya on the other side if not before. Shalom

A MOUNTAIN He lay there on the sidewalk and they walked all around him wondering and pondering as to why he just so foolishly laid down on the sidewalk. They just passed on by him as there were all so many others just like him, carrying all of their lifes weights around. He was groaning as though he had had a major heart attack, and in some ways it was as though this were true.
204

They wondered why this guy would ever just lay there with this small smooth stone on his chest, always talking about the weight of the world that was on his shoulders. How this huge mountain of some sort, was weighing him down and he just couldnt handle the struggles and strivings in life anymore... Billionaires struggled with all so much less than he should ever have to bear. Just show me how I shall survive? How shall I live and be, when life crushes me it seems over and over again... Please someone show me!! Can someone show me the shalom wholeness of Gods love and compassion that everyone talks about? Can someone please add something to my life, without tearing me to pieces, or taking everything away from me? Show me he groaned over and over, all the while struggling with his breaths which became all so shallow Yet they all watched and waited for him to just shove the stone off of himself, as it was nothing to them, however everything to him. As she walked by; she stooped and simply removed the small pebble from his chest and walked off It was easy, because at times others can remove for us things that hinder us, and to them it is simply nothing. Her prayers were powerful, as they were filled with love and compassion.

THE SANDBOX
205

Oh what a day... the sunshine so warm, the breeze softly moving the leaves of the trees... fall had begun to sing in the air and the birds were heading south to warm themselves on the southern beaches. The Father sat on the park bench warming himself,f as the children played in the sandbox... The day was sweet with love... The fragrance of love, peace and joy filled the air... and the children played and giggled in the sandbox and held each others hands as they played... They worked as a team in the building of their sand castle as she played with the small red shovel and he held the bucket of sand, as she filled it with love. It was as if the world stood still for these two love birds... Her eyes sparkled with love, for her friend and lover... He wasnt as tough as he pretended to be, as she had seen him cry during the sad parts of movies, and cry at the birth of their baby girl Oh how their hearts were one... as one flesh, with one heart between the two of them. The Father loved these two as no others...They were no different than any of the rest of his many children, but there was a special love for these two... His heart leapt with joy as they finally found each other, and He swiftly made all things plain to their sight... Things moved fast in heaven, as the angels and hosts prepared for the wedding that was already settled in heaven... The cakes had to be ordered, the flowers delivered, the rushing of angels made such a noise in heaven that it was tough to sleep at night, as the preparations were still being made.
206

This day though, the Father was relaxing, as He watched the two play as the children they had never had the chance to be in their lives. As they had been tossed to and fro by satan himself, as he was allowed to tear them down and apart if he could. All the while though, God was secretly strengthening them to be able to minister to others because of the lives they had led up to this point... but for now, they played... The sand castle was beautiful and colorful, with shells and pine cones for trees, and even came complete with a family of ants as the tenants... They cooed and swooned over each other even after all of these years... Many said they would never make it, because of their secret jealousy for the kind of love this twosome had for each other As they resented the life they were stuck with... Others walked by the couple and were enchanted at the innocence of the love between the couple, and in their hearts longed to find that special one, for their empty life... He held her hand, as the sunlight began to hide from them in the edge of the trees. The coolness of evening brought chills to her skin, as he wrapped her in his sweater and kissed her with the kisses she loved and longed to have, long before God brought these two love birds together... They would one day die in each others arms, as time was soon over for them, yet in their hearts, they had already made their plans for their place in heaven, and the main thing they would need, was a great big sandbox to play in.

207

A SHOT IN THE DARK Lust sat there on the dumpster picking his teeth with the bones of his last victim... The grin on his face as ugly as it was; revealed his satisfaction for the victory over the Christian... It had been a long drawn out battle, and without the help of incest and rape, he never would have been victorious... They laughed together with a sick glee as the Christian lay dying from the gunshot wound to the head. The victim crying buckets of tears at the thought of killing someone... especially, an innocent someone. The ambulance grew nearer as the breaths of the dying grew fainter... Blood pooled at the side of the victims head... yet all the while, around the corner a miracle waited... In this day and time, most of the worlds believers or even those who call themselves Christians, had never really experienced the true miracles of God, or His grace and mercy... The true murderers were about to slap each other on the back as a final celebration a sign of victory, when their attention was drawn to a light... A light that over the centuries had spelled major trouble when it arrived... They in the celebration of their premature victory had not heard the words mouthed by the nearly deceased... Jesus, forgive me for I have sinned against you, and please lay not this sin to her charge... Forgive her and me, for my actions.
208

Help me Jesus were the last words formed by the now stilled lips. The light grew stronger and brighter, as a little old lady rounded the corner of the building praising God in her prayer language... The power of God poured out like a flood into the alley, unseen by the human eye, yet blinding to the eyes of those in the spirit world. As she walked up to the body, she commanded the spirit of death to loose the soul of the young man... and bound him from interfering with the works of almighty God... The human eyes watching, saw only a crazy old woman talking, or more like mumbling in a goofy dialect, towards the heavens.. Yet the demons around the young mans soul saw the angels of God swing their huge swords and cut the young man loose from deaths powerful grip... Painfully, death loosed him and soared off towards the cries for death in another part of the city... The three cohorts shook at the might of the words coming from the bag ladies mouth... Fear rose in them, as the angels fought them, and the retreat of a lifetime began... Im out of here, was all the angels could hear from the departing trio... The paramedics stood back in fear as the bleeding just stopped, and the young man just got up off of the asphalt healed of death, and with no evidence of a wound, they were all the more afraid... The victim almost in hysterics now fainted at the rising of the formally dead man... He walked to the bag lady and hugged her Thanking her tearfully for listening to Gods voice and standing in the gap.
209

The young man now ministers to those that used to victimize women and the words they now hear, seem too hard to believe until he lays hands on them, and prays for them... The power of God rushes through those seeking salvation and forgiveness like the billions of volts of electricity that are released through the smallest of electrical storms you may see in your lifetime... How do I know this? Been there done that and now I wear a t-shirt that shows the highway to heaven is through Christ, and the highway to hell is paved with those bodies that didnt believe... I havent seen the man of God in a while, but I manage to see his friends from the alley from time to time, as I now minister to those in the alleys, the places you probably wouldnt go. I now welcome them as my home territory and mission field Wheres yours?

SMOKEY So thin, comely, always alone, all the while walking up and down the road. Sometimes he would sit outside the convenience store for hours upon hours... Smoking cigarettes at what seemed to be a hundred miles per hour... His cheeks were sunken in because of a severe lack of teeth... At times he would sit and gaze into space for

210

hours... talking the whole time to people that couldnt be seen... except by him. Occasionally bursting out loud BOOM BOOM... as if watching an imaginary war...behind those eyes withdrawn and so distant... Constantly he shuffled up and down the road. Occasionally he was even seen smoking a cigarette that didnt even exist... People often enough would pass by; gawking, staring and laughing at the spectacle before them... Many wondered what happened to him... He would often just stare at people as they would enter the store... or as they came out of the church across the street. Most avoided him as If he had the plague... many whispered, maybe he was in Vietnam... I heard he was electrocuted, no he was in a car wreck and got brain damage, didnt you hear he was released from a mental institution... no I heard that his momma dropped him on his head as a baby. No one understood and none wanted to, because of the problems of living their own lives... yet Jesus wept. Jesus wept at the sight of this tortured and tormented soul lost to Satan. A once God fearing man that got lost because of the adversities in life, then alcohol, and then finally possessed by the demons that flew around him constantly. Tormenting him, taunting him, screaming at him... Where is your God now??... We rule with satan and you are now his child not Gods. All the while screaming at him, kill them, blow up that church, they are evil. Yet somehow, a still small voice would calm him no... wait... he will come soon.
211

I never expected to stop at that little convenience store that day. Yet the spirit that guides each of us did... He knew the exact day, the time and even gave me the words to say... He sat there as usual, smoking away at the millionth cigarette of the day... muttering... Compassion fell that day on my heart, for a man I had never seen before in my life, and I asked... Do you know Jesus? Yes, but he has forgotten me because of my past... but please help me... Save me from them, I cant take it any more Leave him alone hes ours... we have him to torment he was given to us by the master, to do with as we please. Now go away Christian, or we will torment you too... Peace Be still... come out of him now... in the name of Jesus... He twisted, turned, and then collapsed on the sidewalk. Ive heard he now testifies of the grip satan and his demons had on him... and the need to be freed from the devil... Its amazing looking back at how many people at the church across from the store claiming to be Christians are now themselves freed from the grip satan and his cohorts had on them... None of them realized that satan had that strong of a grip on them as well... Now all freed by the powerful spirit filled words poured through Smokey. The old saying goes you should never judge a book by its cover
212

BE THOU CAST Tears drained from the young mans face, as He sat slumped over the steering wheel of the Mercedes, weeping tears that were long over due. Years ago the man was young and full of energy. The Lord brought him close to his chest and loved him. A tent revival had brought the Lord closer to the youth that would one day be the man in tears, but only after a long walk through the world. Many years had passed and the event of years ago somehow seemed as though it were only yesterday. All full of revelation knowledge of the powers and anointing of the Holy Spirit, the youth stood in back of a shack his family called home and boldly stood before the mountain that stood in back of their home... The verse was real to him that day as the words flowed from the lips of a babe in Christ... Mountain... Be thou cast in the sea!!... And he doubted not... Faithfully he strode in the house to proclaim that God was gonna throw that ole mountain into the sea, because God dont lie... Smiles crossed the faces of a supportive family. Yes son God will one day... Eagerly the youth threw open the curtains holding back the sunshine the next morning and
213

gasped at the mountain still in the back yard... At first he was puzzled at the sight, but then tried to figure out if he said the words wrong, or was God on vacation or something. The bible pages flew, as he searched for the passage that the day before held the power of the almighty God in such strength... Yet the words were right... Day after day the faith that strongly believed the mountain would be gone, was a little dimmer and weaker with each new morning... The foul spirits that he could not see laughed, as they played on his mind, trying as they may to cause doubt and unbelief... in this babe in Christ. As the years wore on the vitality of the word of God seemed to be replaced by the desire to get out of this dump... To make something of himself, and to shake the dust off from his shoes, as he finally drove off, while not looking back at the tears of a loving family, as fame and fortune sucked him further into the world... and its ways. Dreams and ambitions soon ruled the heart of the babe in Christ, and the light that drew him, grew dimmer and dimmer, as success after success caused him to unknowingly slide further from the truth... Yet, in the back of his mind the Holy Spirit remained alive, just waiting for the day... His angel stayed ready, driving and leading him to the time and place of submission... Then the day came as the youth, now a man, looked in the mirror and saw hatred, lust and greed, as well as the hosts of demons that had driven him to this lowest point in the universe it seemed... God... If you had just cast that mountain into the sea when I asked, I would have been convinced that there was a God
214

and known that you were real, and followed you anywhere in the world... Why God Why didnt you answer the prayer? Why wasnt your word true? Tears of hopelessness flowed from the mans eyes as their salt stung the cut of a fresh shave... God I really want to believe, but I need proof that you want me, that you are real to me, I dont care about anyone else, or what you did for them, show me, prove to me that you care about me and Ill give up this life and submit to you with all I have within me... Please God show me you are real... His mind was numb for days from the drugs and alcohol... Messed up relationships and failure after failure, all of which drove him deeper and deeper into the arms of God, and he didnt even realize it... The battle for this backslidden soul raged as the man now drove through the night and pouring rain to a place where he remembered love... the old shack... The childhood memories seemed to flood his senses and memory more and more, as he got closer and closer... Prayers old and forgotten seemed to come back to his mind, as the memory of the tent revival came back to him. The warm feeling he had as a young believer in God, seemed to strangely grow again within him like a warm fire... Rounding the mountains near his old homestead, the car slid off into the ditch not far from his old house.. Yet out of the blue there was someone to help push the car from the mud... Cautiously he drove onward and as the mountains gave way to the entrance to the old street he had lived on and ran away from, tears of hopelessness were replaced with tears of Joy...
215

On the sight of his old former home stood a huge sign... Welcome to the site of the new regional mall... Behind the sign in his old back yard were massive earth moving machines, all now idle because of the rains... There where the mountain once stood, began the rising of a mall and the mountain was gone... God you heard my prayer and you cared enough to bring me here to see your caring love... He rose from the car and was soon drenched by the rains cool washing. Each drop of rain seemed to melt away years of hurt and bitterness towards God... Angels in heaven rejoiced at the repentance of the man... As his tears now flowed with joy... The warmth and love of the Holy Spirit enveloped him as a warm comforter, as the words of God flowed into his renewed mind... I loved you enough to send my son to die for you. I would move the entire planet into the sea to prove to you that I loved you... as you are my son also... Ive been waiting for you to come home all of these years with open arms... welcome home my son.

A STILL SMALL VOICE

216

Everyone that passed him he thought, held a word from God for him, channel after channel, this ministry, that minister, this evangelist, those pastors... church to church... every verse.. And with each chapter he cried out Lord what do you want me to do? How do I find it? Did I miss it? Where are you God? Please answer me! From heaven his Father smiled as the test wore on... and on Patience my son, patience Wait for me. The still small voice rustled through his mind like the leaves being blown around by the cool fall winds... PATIENCE... WAIT.... that cant be God... I need this NOW! God waited, watched, as the workings and strivings of the servant grew more and more taxed... Then, and only then, when the servant had exhausted each and every resource available to him in the natural; as he worked all so hard to figure it all out, and finally gave up playing God... He moved... God... I give up... please help me! Ok, I cant do it... Please let me know my kids are ok, let me talk to them... PLEASE GOD!! Im sorry that I hurt them, please forgive me. Then the call went through with no struggles from the exwife... God moved and he was comforted... all alone in a cell... full of other convicts, mostly misdemeanors, and some, not so misdemeanors... Tears fell as he thanked God for answering that prayer and
217

allowing the call to go through... He thanked God for allowing him to hear the still small voice on the other end. Early the next morning he prayed... Father I want you... to straighten out my life... How can I grow to learn and hear only your voice? As he lay in the stillness of the new morning, God spoke softly... My son, I can and will talk to you directly as my spirit lives within you. At times I will use my people, ministers, evangelists, prophets, laymen, TV ministers, the radio or whatever, including if I have to, a donkey, as I did with Balaam. Some may speak my words to you in passing. I will even use sinners at times, as well as the saved... so stay still long enough and dont rush into things without seeking me and then hearing back from me. Its made all so simple and you just never sought me as you have now... with your whole heart. As I am speaking to you most of the time... Its just that you arent listening.

THE SURGEON The patient looked so pale... the monitors beeped and flashed as the life of this precious child hung in the balance... The Surgeon, skilled in the art of heart transplants stood at the ready for the sign... the brain surgeon stood by as
218

well... my oh my ... How did he ever get in this kind of shape, they asked each other? I remember when he could have avoided all of this years ago by simply changing a few things in his life, yet now he lays here at the mercies of God... They watched and waited as eternity seemed to tick by, second by second... the clock ticked as they waited for the verdict from the chief surgeon... They remembered the man as a youth full of life, sparkles of love in his eyes and the pounding of a sure and sound heart... Yet now he lay here in the mercy of their skilled hands... The monitors beeped slower and slower, as the machine which pumped the blood through his lifeless body whirred and blood flowed... The young man was however in the twilight zone... as though he was in another world, walking with God himself... The machines and hoses and body that housed the spirit and soul that walked with God, were as though, a million miles away... They walked in the cool of the garden as the two talked of the things which concerned God, and caused him to grieve... You see, this one would receive another chance. Lord I didnt believe in you because of all the prayers I had prayed that never got answered... It was as though you didnt care about me, maybe you were angry with me all the time as it seemed, or maybe you just never liked me... My world caved in around me and I turned to drinking,
219

drugs, alcohol and wild women to sooth the pain in my heart and the troubles that plagued my mind... I was tormented and just wanted to die... I didnt care if I went to heaven or hell, because I just knew you mustve given up on me because I was so rotten... How could you possibly care about a wretch like me...? The Lord walked through the garden with his hands clasped behind his back and quietly listened to the man as he poured out his sorrows... satan came up behind them and walked along and told and reminded them of the things this man had done wrong and generously offered to relieve him of the misery he suffered, through a quick and painless death. There were more than enough reasons for God to punish this man, as he had taken the Lords name in vain, denounced Christ on many occasions, stolen, lied, written bad checks, killed, maimed, stolen, cheated and every other offense committable by man, even to the kicking of God's dog it seemed, and he never once asked for forgiveness The three walked and talked as the man began to realize that he might just have a chance. If God that is, had any love at all left for himHe drew a breath with the anticipation of the verdict to be handed down... Back in the operating room it didnt look good, the man seemed to be slipping away, as the prayers seemed to be bouncing back off of heaven without even penetrating through the clouds... bouncing back to the senders, as though God was out on vacation, or just not interested.

220

Back in the garden God stopped in his tracks... the other two stopped as well, after almost running into him, standing in the stopped position, He spoke... I have decided... you will live... the word went forth and the surgeons began... in the twinkling of an eye, the man was given a new heart and mind... The heart of stone was replaced by a new heart of flesh and the mind of and for the world was replaced by the mind of Christ... The man was then given instructions as to the care of these new body parts; plenty of prayer, forgiveness and lots of love were the biggest must dos, and to occasionally stop and smell the roses were among the principle things for the care of these new parts... The surgeons smiled at each other with the successful transplants done swiftly, by the quickest and sharpest sword in the universe... The one surgeon removed his mask and the scars of the cross were upon his hands, and there were stripes upon his back... This simple prayer of repentance caused the decision of the universes master surgeon to spare the life of one, maybe not all so worthy of this act of compassion. Yet the hands of God replaced the heart full of stones, and the mind of a fool. Now His light shines through the former dead patient. And satan... well he still stomps his feet and raises... Well you know at the thought of losing another one through repentance, and through the master surgeons of grace; Christ and the Holy Ghost...

221

TAFFY Looking back now, it was funny. Yet the first time l asked God to use me any way that He could; Just pour out your spirit through me, in me and all over me, by pouring my heart and soul out to Him... Pleading and begging, for Him to use this now empty vessel... any and every way He could think of, I must have been out of my mind... I had to have looked like a deer caught in the head lights of a semi barreling down the highway at a million miles an hour... Not knowing what was gonna happen in the next few minute or seconds... God must have thought I was in need of a good lesson Willingly entering into something I thought I knew everything there was to know about, and finding out afterwards that I really didn't know squat... I was dumber that a box of rocks back then... Hey I didnt know how pliable humans were; kinda like clay on the potters wheel... also little did I know how far we can go without breaking... I remember placing my head into Gods reassuring strong hands. Jesus grabbed an arm and the Holy Spirit the other.

222

Their words were so reassuring, soothing, just trust us this isnt gonna hurt... much or for long... Why were they giggling?? Something sounded a little strange in His voice, but hey Hes God... relax I thought... Im safe in His hands Just then satan appeared and grabbed a leg, and a host of demons grabbed the other... Silence Then without warning they all took off in opposite directions... In an instant I felt like one of those kids toys, you know Stretch Armstrong, the one that you stretch as far as you can and then they snap back into shape when you let go. Well my body seemed to go in all different directions Arms one way and legs another... It seemed like satan and the demons had huge 4x4 monster trucks tied to each leg and everybody was just going in different directions... God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit just stood holding strong... Stop! Stop! I cant take it! Stop! Please, in the name of Jesus and for the love of God STOP! I cant take this... It seemed like an eternity to me... but then Gods voice rang out, STOP! Immediately the legs were loosed... and I seemed to return back to somewhat of a normal state after a while, yet a whole lot more flexible now from all of the stretching... I thought I was gonna break for sure... Yet God was always there with me through the ordeal... I never knew thats what you meant when you said you would stretch my faith and it would grow Lord... Somehow I
223

imagined something a little less painful like a Rhema word or something... Oh I see l have a little Rhema now very funny... I thought that growing in the Lord was going to be easier or something... I wasnt expecting all of this pain stuff... But oh no He reassured me that this is the only way to grow... You know the expression No pain No gain? I coined that one you know... as Jesus smiled... Besides, we have to stretch you to increase your capacity to learn and grow... So you have to be stretched... Seemingly for days this went on over and over As I became accustomed to the growing pains, the stretching process didnt seem quite as bad... My arms and legs became like rubber bands, as my spirit was stretched still further and further... My head seemed to freely bob from side to side like a bobble head doll as the process wore on... You know kinda like one of those hula girls or lions you used to see on the back dash of cars, swaying side to side with the motions of the car, as its going across a corn field... Yet today, I can clearly see that I had to grow in order to handle the things that I was in for today. After the usual salutes I said, Ok lets grow!... The test I passed yesterday was a doozy and yet it was simple... I remember saying the words; God I want all you have for me dont hold anything back let me have it all ... Ill not settle for less in my life just please use me... I want to go to Bible College, walk in the anointings of the Holy Spirit...
224

and I believe you are the supplier of all my needs according to your riches in glory So lets grow... What! Twelve months in jail?? What about Bible College and the anointings? I thought you were going to pay the child support? ... What do you mean you will repay me according the cleanness of my hands, thats a new one for me... I know already, All things work together for good for those that love the Lord. But I imagined college, someone paying the support you know just like the other miracles you did before, not jail... quit stretching me... it really hurts this time... for real... I trust you so far! The last time I looked, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, had passed each other going around the planet it seemed, and I lost sight of satan and his band days ago as they headed out towards Pluto or some other God forsaken place... Sorry God I didnt mean that... What do you mean, three more months? Oh, well!! No pain!! No gain!!... At least God will be able to use me now.

MY TALENT He studied; debated, read over and over... each and every word seemed to have a secret message... After five
225

long years he finished the studies of his masters works and he could quote and recite scriptures from memory... Occasionally a word or two got a little out of place, or replaced... However, he knew that he knew that he knew, what each verse meant... All the great men, places and dates... Word for word as if addressing them in person... He prepared himself proudly wearing the right clothes, right shoes; spoke the right words, even the right haircut... All of everything was just so right, then he waited. Kind of lanky, big ears... goofy laugh... learning... stumbling over his own two feet, yet trying... He just knew he had to talk to someone... just anyone, about God, Jesus, Salvation, Heaven and Hell. So Jesus gave him a couple of gifts, which he tried. Ordinary... too eager, over zealous... Sincere milk dipping off his chin...hungry to be used... going forth in faith, always depending on God for everything... money, food, gasoline, words, clothes... always receiving just enough to use, and always enough to give... humbly seeking more souls for God He often stumbled but he always got back up. The Lord blessed each and everyone according to his needs. The oldest and seemingly wisest came forward first. Why do you condemn me? I have studied and proven that I know your words, I am the greatest of all these who are with me... I have true discernment... Why do you seek to punish me...? I know more about the truth than both of these two...put together!!

226

Silence! You wasted the talent I gave you. You loathed people in your heart... You judged them to damnation for lesser sins than those you committed... The knowledge you have, I gave unto you to share. Yet you buried that talent inside of you. Through your greed and covetousness you only spoke to people who you thought would meet your standards. Yet you were never able in your mind to find anyone worthy of listening to your wisdom. Therefore you wasted my talent, selfishly burying it. Therefore you goat, move to my left for further judgment, as you are condemned to the outer darkness with the others such as yourself. The less than perfect one stepped forward for judgmentYou my son, have been wise, your studies and willingness to try, have reaped a reward for you, of lost souls for My kingdom. I will therefore place you in charge of much upon the new earth I have created... You have done well. My my, my the youngest babe of the three. One who was always asking me for everything. Not trusting any man. Making me provide all of your needs, and all you wanted, was to be is used by me. I had to carry you through many fires, trials, tribulations, and even through the valley of the shadow of death a few times. Yet all the while you stuck in there, always walking in faith. Yet each and every time I gave to you, you willingly testified of how your Lord met all of your need. You encouraged those who were backslidden; you lifted up those stuck in the mud and dirt of life. You loved those no one else seemed willing or able to love.
227

Your heart was always in the palm of my hand. You constantly sought the Spirit and the Spirits anointings. Sometimes you failed to use the anointings. Sometimes you just failed or you just simply missed it. Yet, for each of those times you confessed what you did, repented and were able to move on. All the while using the talents I planted within you in faithmoving into realms way beyond any of your natural talents and gifts. I gave and gave to you, yet you remained meek and humble. I gave to you more than many of the others and you were greatly fruitful for my kingdom. Therefore, you sit here in the kingdom with us and help rule the earth with us. By the way wipe the milk off your chin. ONLY A TEST Annnk...Annnk... Annnk... Annnk... Annnk... the klaxon blared over and over again. It had to be about three or four in the morning. Faster than a speeding bullet I shouted, Lord Im ready!!... I repent; please forgive me of my sins!! As I hurried to put the armor on that lay beside my bed. My heart racing at a thousand miles an hour... Dang!! Hang on Im hurrying, Im hurrying, just hang on Lord Im getting ready... Just a second more and Ill be ready to go...

228

My mind raced Did I forget anything? Did I pray for everyone I was supposed to? My heart felt as though it was going to explode inside my chest at any second... The helmet of salvation was on crooked... my feet were shod with the gospel of peace, but they were on the wrong foot... I couldnt find my shield... not perfect yet ready, Oh no Im still here, did I miss it?? Oh God, please dont leave me here then the klaxon stopped. My heart slowed to normal as I laid back down returning to a somewhat state of rest... A voice from heaven chuckled and then I could see it all clear as a bell. Angels were running back and forth, many just rolling on the floor in laughter. . Jesus just walked by and snickered... God just stared over his glasses, Now Michael!! You stop that... As he bellowed in laughter between trumpet breaths... Michael yelled out. This is only a test!!... This has been a test of your Heavenly Ascension System!!! This was only a test!! ... Michaels face was beet red from laughter... Only a test!!... He chuckled... I growled!!... Thats not funny!!... Well one thing for sure Im never taking this armor off again even if I have to sleep in it... No sir I aint taking it off for nothing... and Im sleeping with one eye open all of the time from now on, so Ill be ready when the right time comes...

229

You can bet your sweet biffy, Ill be prepared from now on...!! God shook his head at Michael... Now you stop that...You know its not time for him to die from that heart attack yet... So leave him alone for now or well have to send him back... Michael replied, Yeah but you can bet hell never take that armor off again, and hell be ready from now on. Well I guess you can say that again... but next time though, try not to wake everyone else up ok!!

THE TRAP The trap was set simple enough, nothing complex, yet all so crafty and clever... The trapper well hidden, waited and waited for the right time, the right set of circumstances. The bait so tempting... there is just no way shell ever resist this he thought... and he waited. The trap to the eye was simple; a large box with a stick supporting one end of the box in the air and tied to a string concealed by the leaves of the fall trees...
230

The bait so clever, the trapper chuckled at the mere thought that anyone let alone a strong willed Christian such as this, could fall for something as crude and simple as this old trick. Yet for centuries, satan had taught all of his demons that followed him to build simple traps, as the complicated ones could often be smelled from a mile away... It was the simplest of traps that often caught the best of those that resisted the other wiles of the trappers... So unforgiveness hid and waited... Years and years ago as a child she loved her father, whom she adored and worshiped. Yet he had time after time again, let her down... Yet each and every time she forgave the daddy that always seemed too busy for her. Ill take you to the brownie meeting, I promise honey, was quickly replaced with, Im sorry, Ive got to work... I love you, and you will understand when you grow up and have kids of your own, and see what its like to have to work put food on the table, keep a roof over your head and pay all the other bills that seem to crop up and take away all that we have... Its ok daddy, I really didnt want to go anyway... Ill be ok... All the while the spirits of doubt, unbelief, and rejection picked and picked away at the small heart of hers... Yet, she kept her chin up and took it like the trooper she was. The trapper grinned the devilish grin of a victor counting his spoils before the victory... and he waited as everything was ready and baited...
231

She worked her way through life as any other person would... She became tough, calloused, and bitter on the inside...a recluse of sorts always keeping others at somewhat of a distance. The day she made the Lord her personal friend and savior, all of the apparent hurts and burdens were lifted, and joy entered a once crushed and defeated heart... And she grew... her knowledge and walk with the Lord became closer and closer... Yet deep within her lay dormant the bitter roots of the rejections never dealt with, and God watched... The trapper watched... She walked closer and closer to the trap set and laid just for this day. Baited and set from all the way back to when she was the hurt child. What satan had set and ordained, God was about to use to totally cleanse a willing and loving heart... Daily she grew closer to the trap so cleverly hidden by the master trapper himself, designed to help rid the churches of the anointed and chosen ones of God... The day as any other began with prayer, taking care of the little ones that God had blessed her with, and a husband that understood the many different moods brought on by the lack of dealing with the old wounds that lay dormant... She arrived at the church in anticipation... as she was finally going to be allowed to teach a class, a dream come true to the Christian about to grow another step in the classroom of God. The associate pastor was pleasant as usual... and met her at the door... the anointings of God were apparent as her prayers brought results as God often moved through her...
232

Yet there was an uneasiness in her spirit about the meeting... She had been through the class as a new member requiring the eight weeks of sacrifice... She had bared her soul to the associate and he personally asked her to lead the next group of new members that was about to begin... Anticipation raced through her mind as a stallion being released into the wild after years of captivity... Gods finally going to release me to teach, a dream Ive had since becoming a Christian... The trapper grinned cynically, shes had it now. Well... Ive got to take back the offer I gave you to teach, because of the last conversation we had in the new members class... I want you however, to co facilitate with me... ok...? She replied, Well its not exactly what I thought I would be doing, but I will get to move around and meet new people and get to know them... The trapper grew anxious as she was but a few steps away from his years of preparation and planning... As the day arrived, the associate pastor had another bomb to drop... Well, Ive decided that you can help one of the other teachers; he has more experience that you do, and knows the people here better than you... You can be in his class... Well ok... tears welled up in her eyes and the trap fell and hit home, the hurt surfaced... Long hidden, buried in the recesses of a childs heart, and now the very same bait was used by the trapper to bring another of Gods chosen

233

into submission and cause her to leave a church she was called to by God. Now to send in a little reinforcement and help from a few key Christians. Ones that didnt always check to see who the sender of the messages they received were from all of the time, and she was toast; out the door, and the managing principality would definitely give this patient trapper a pat on the back personally... Woo Hoo!!... He thought, as she bought it all hook line and sinker. Yet the trap had a flaw... There was a stirring in her spirit to stay, and yet there was no reason in this world that she should, as everybody here lies to me just like my father did They are all hypocrites and liars too...!! Theyre all liars and not worthy of my gifts and anointings!! Im leaving..!! The trapper rejoiced and God waited... She poured out her years of deeply hidden anger and resentment at God... God had tried over the years to sooth and help heal her through his anointed, yet she wouldnt listen, so He let her run... As the tears stopped, the Holy Spirit pushed her to go back and submit, as there was still a greater lesson to be learned... No way in hell was I ever going to go back to that place... no way... Yet it was worked out, and she went to a service where she knew that the associate wasnt gong to attend, as she was still deeply offended by an old hurt directed by satan at an innocent pawn in a complex game being unfolded by the master, trapper... The demons danced a victory dance and lit cigars to celebrate... God waited...

234

The service wasnt going to affect her decision in any way shape or form; as she had tried, convicted, and sentenced them all, just because of their association to the associate pastor. Never knowing all the while he too was just a pawn just like her in a master plan that was put into play before she was even hurt the first time as a child, by God himself... The teaching tonight is on the bait and traps of satan and how to avoid being trapped by his tricks and smoke and mirrors... The first arrow of truth sunk deep in her heart, as she soon began to realize she had never really forgiven her father... The demons still rejoiced outside of the building unaware that the Creator and Master of all, was beginning to make a move. All of this was planned by Him before even they were created, as a lesson to be used to teach others of the ways of satan and his minions. The teaching began to unfold. The workings of the trap of offense, how that we often take the bait and how satan used offense as the bait stick, to trap many of the children of God and hold them captive with their own selfrighteousness... Telling them all along, that this is how they should protect themselves from being hurt by others. All of this was planned by satan, as he sought to pull them out of the fold individually, to be slaughtered by the roaring lion that waited for them over the next hill. Unforgiveness began to lose his grip, as she prayed to God to help her forgive her father first, then all of the others in her past that had offended her and then the associate pastor.

235

It was then that the demons saw their carefully planned trap fall apart, as she repented to each of them from the heart and ask them for forgiveness and it was then, that God poured out His spirit on her and the joy of God returned to her heart. It was this forgiveness that truly delivered her from the hurts that had lain dormant and ready for the trappers use... Now when an offense begins... or the smellings of a trap arise, there is now the instinct to first ask God, Where did I go wrong?? Where am I not clean, what am I doing wrong?? The demons were beaten and exiled for wasting years of preparation and planning, as well as blowing it by not keeping up on the workings of her angel... They just assumed he was lazy and slack... The beatings grew worse, as she now taught on how to build a solid foundation through forgiveness and repentance, and how to watch and sniff out the traps and workings of satan... God smiled... Checkmate, as the Master player won another round against an eternally defeated foe...

BEAUTIFUL VASES I looked around the shop... so huge and cavernous...

236

This must be a school of pottery making I thought to myself... as my guide was leading me on... thousands and thousands upon tens of thousands of potters wheels... turning, turning... so peaceful... so bright, so warm as my guide led me on, but I break off and walk into a room filled with a maze of shelves, holding pots, cups... vases... some so beautiful... so stunning, so pleasing to the eye.. all just perfectly shaped... I knew this potter was a master... Anyone that could make works of art like these... well to say the least, Im impressed... Some of them had been embedded with precious jewels, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and gold... Such workmanship Some seemed to have a little fluid in them, some were half full and a few were a quarter full and there were some that were even almost full. Follow me the voice beckoned... Oh, yes... I forgot... we walked on... Soon we walked through into another huge room. Pieces of broken pottery were everywhere; sharp shards lay strewn all around and piled so high I couldnt see the top... What are these sharp shards of pottery all about? I asked. Potters shards... discarded junk... unusable... unworthy and useless... were the answers that dug deep into my ears and down into my soul... But they have diamonds, pearls and gold, as a well as other precious metals and stones... are they here to be recycled or something? NO!!! Those were vessels that were deemed unworthy, unresponsive to the Master... so He threw them away and broke and shattered them, because He rejected them...
237

We walked on over to another chamber... and as I passed by another doorway and glanced around, I saw another strange sight... There were thousands and thousands of cups, vases and urns stacked up like a huge pyramid... and from the ceiling came a flood of beautiful sparkling honey looking substance... it was filling and then overflowing from the uppermost cup and over its sides with the balance cascading down into the next cups and down further into the next and on and on it went, flowing filling and overflowing. The liquid seemed warm and had a smell of sweet honey... I asked him, What are these? They dont look as perfect as the other vessels in the other room... Some were unshapely, old, wrinkled, the jewels that some had were even covered in mud and most looked like they leaked and had been made by some three year old or something, and still some seemed firm, as new clay that was still green... Wait, Ill explain later... As we rounded the corner there He was, staring intently and working so carefully on a lump of clay, as we entered back into the next chamber that was all so massive... cavernous... It seemed to go for miles and miles... there were thousands upon thousands of potters wheels with vases, urns, cups and assorted other vessels in various stages of development. Many imperfect and flawed on the outside, yet strangely enough seemed to be different from the other seemingly perfect vessels, all in various stages of adornment and completion.

238

Many of the potters wheels turned softly and slowly, as others seemed to fly in blurring circles and yet some weren't moving at all... On all so many of them were just lumps of clay, just waiting for the loving hands of a Master potter to be applied, yet in severe need of water, as the clay often seemed lifeless, dry and dead.. Way back in the back He was waiting... I watched as He intently stared at the blob of clay, that would and should be soon a vessel of beauty, or at least I hoped so, and He sure could use some lessons, as he sure seemed to have messed a lot of them up. Then all of a sudden, from the guide, the potter, and from seemingly everywhere, came shouts of joy... as the wheel began to suddenly turn faster, and He applied his hands and the pot began to take form, as only those loving hands knew what to make from the former lump of clay... The pot seemed to emerge from the lump as if it were formed in a mold perfect and flawless or at least at first. He then sorta smushed it back down and reformed it over and over again until He was finished, and guess what it was ugleeee.... It tilted and leaned to one side, definitely leaky at best. The jewels well He just smushed them into it, and they all had mud on them. It was to say the least less than perfect. He looked up and smiled and welcomed me with a warm loving smile and a strong firm hug. Weve been waiting for you, and with a loving kiss, he turned and handed me the rough looking cup... I was kind of disappointed. I had
239

originally been thinking I was going to one of those beautifully adorned cups with the jewels and precious metals... Here I was, with this misshapen odd sized cup that seemed to then just suddenly fill up with the honey smelling wonderful honey of life... that I eventually found out was pure love. I was confused. He spoke softly, The cup you hold is your life... its not perfect... a few spots here and there on the outside... a little bent and battle worn... Yet on the inside, perfect for My use... you were willing to let Me use you... So thank you... Can I please ask you a couple of questions?, as I searched for the words, which I then asked? Sure, was the simple response from this great master craftsman. Yet you are here now, you need not ask... The room full of cups being filled such as yours were all imperfect, yet willing to be used just as they were. All of the cups and such being filled are souls such as yours was. All of the cups in that room are still being filled to overflowing with the love you are still pouring into them even though you are now gone. It never stops flowing, as it was and is My love that you poured out of yourself into them... It will never stop and in fact just keeps growing, as they in turn spread the same love... So the fountain of love you saw flowing from the ceiling is from the cup you so lovingly hold now... The cups, vases and urns in the other room that are beautifully adorned, are those that made it on their own... They wouldn't and wont forgive and forget, they wont
240

repent and allow me to fill them to overflowing, let alone others as you have... They will all be broken as those in the room of shards, which is full of those like them... They are destined to all be placed in the furnace together and destroyed... in an intense never ending fire. So, thank you for praying that day a few years ago... Remember?? Then as if a video was turned on in my head, I remembered... Please Lord, use me... I know Im not perfect and refined as these others are, I just want to be used by you all of my life... I place my life in your hands for eternity. Well, I have to get back to work now. Hes ready for more love now... and the timing has to be just perfect, not too early, not too late, not too little, not too much... just the perfect measure and hell be perfected for now, as I move on to others. By the way, you may be interested to know he is the result of the love you poured out... He is your grandson; it took your death for him to realize that you were right. Now he has accepted, and I will be able to use him as I have you... Tears streamed from my eyes as the answer to many years of prayers were coming true before my very eyes... My heart lept for joy now at the realization that my efforts and prayers had not been in vain. He will be here with you soon as what you knew as time passes swiftly here. He is now one of the cups the others in a room like yours were poured into. Those I send to him are to be filled just as you filled his cup with your love.

241

I hope hes not perfect, just usable as you were... your love is what watered this former lump of clay and began the process you now see before you. We walked on into another room and I was beaming with joy at the revelation I had just received... As we walked into the newer looking huge chamber... there on a large table was a feast laid out just for me... in front of it were many, many, sad faces holding perfect vessels... all adorned with jewels... All of them were enemies to me while I walked the earth, and yet now they sat before me... Thank God Im not perfect, just an odd shaped vessel, but also a full and overflowing one... one that still overflows today. So are you perfect or available to be used?

AND THE WALL CAME TUMBLING A simple tear no different than all those she had shed in her crying closet, yet this one was different in a special way... Chemically it was just water, mixed with a little salt... It however came out of her soul, fought its way to her tear duct, crawled out and in the form of a perfect teardrop shaped sphere, began to roll down her cheek... as gravity sucked it downward, it again took on a tear dropped shape...
242

Upon impact with the carpet, the earth shook... In the natural world, nothing more than a single mother crying because of the long years of struggles and failed hopes... She trusted in God, but right now... it was tough She had programmed herself to never cry in front of her two boys, trying to be as tough as she wanted them to be, in order to face the world that they were growing up in. Yet unknowingly, she had hardened tender hearts that needed to see a mother that was often as venerable as they were. Their skin and hearts thickened by the lack of love from a Father they wanted to know, yet never did... A little light was allowed to shine into their world for a second, to only seemingly be extinguished by God, the one they had a tough time believing in... Why now !!! God? She cried... I was just getting things together, and the very moment I begin to feel as if the one love there was to be in the world for me is here, I see that he is leaving me now, because of your will... God only smiled down at her from heaven. Oh how this Father was proud of His daughter. She had stepped forth and swung the sword given to her from God himself and in child like innocence won a victory many Christians would never face, because they sought the worlds answers to problems, instead of His. The night before the major battle was won... In the spirit world it was as if a mighty pine tree stood in her heart... Yet God was working, as He is always working.

243

It took time for her to get to the place in her life where she would want to even face the battles, as they truly were... spiritual... satan was allowed to grow this mighty tree of offence and fear in her heart over the years, mostly through her ignorance as is the case with many of Gods children, because of their lack of accepting the truth The very truth which would free them from the grip, satan had on them and all of their families... Oh how her heart had such a mighty tree growing in it, that God had to do a mighty work to remove it, even to the allowing of the use of her children against her... satan came in subtly, and was constantly building a wall of defense and protection a little bit at a time over the years. As the walls in her life were now the very strongholds she held on to and hid behind as her defense... Small things at first, as the spirits began to change small things hardly noticeable at first, and they were soon accepted as normal... it was ok; everybody is just like them... Nothing out of the ordinary to the world... Yet Jesus watched as Gods plan for her great victory unfolded in the life of this child of God... Her heart cried out to God for love, the one weapon satan and all of his cohorts were deathly afraid of... The mighty tree in her heart now had all of the dirt removed from around all of its supporting roots... The tap root extending deep within her heart was now drying up, yet the ground around it was still rock hard... almost as baked clay, holding fast to the very tips of the roots that still held the tree erect...

244

Gods power, grace and might had been extended to remove the dirt that once supported the tree of wrong beliefs, and now Gods spirit was about to topple the very tree she had allowed to stop her from achieving all that God had for the life of this precious one... The Holy Spirit knew exactly the right weapon to use in this battle... a tear. The sons she loved came home to more of the Lords house cleaning program, only to explode at her for the throwing away of many dollars of their possessions given to them by satan... Then the tree was ready to be topped by the one she gave her heart to... calling and leaving her to herself it seemed, now for the rest of her life... pressure built and the tree began to sway... All the Holy Spirit did then, was let out a little puff of air... the very thing God breathed into the dirt when He created Adam... The breath of God toppled the tree, leaving a crater it seemed the size of Kansas, to then be filled with buckets of tears, now freely following with the first being poured out on the carpet... You see God knew how to topple that wall of defense she had built in her life and He used everything in her life to make her truly usable by God... Got a tree in your heart that needs removing?? Just call on the master carpenter from Galilee and Hell remove it His way... and He will make our cross from it the one you should take up daily. All that this one took was a single tear of love from God, to soften the hardened soils of her heart which then loosened the roots in her heart to send the tree of self will in her life,
245

tumbling down, as well as the walls of defense which supported it. It is amazing looking back now, because I didnt want to make that call, but God reminded me that we are nothing. And how we are always being used for His ultimate purpose... I prayed hard for her that night... standing in the gap against satan, who was trying to do more to her than she could handle... I was also waiting for God to let her know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I was to her husband... You see, I wanted the right family and life and was willing to wait for God to put everything in place... He also taught me the power and might of His Spirit through this battle for her; all the while further revealing His love for her and me and our kids... You should be willing to fight for what God has given you, because satan has and wants them, and you have to take them back... Remember the gates of hell cannot prevail against the onslaught of love...

AN ANGEL He stared at me with a look of determination...and a deep gaze in his eyes... and so many questions on his mind.

246

He stared at me with the look of a deer that had been caught in the headlights of the truck thats about to run him over... You have to tell me the truth and you cant lie to me, right? Well, that depends on the question, as I have to, and would like to at all times tell the truth, and will always try and tell you the truth... He threw the blanket over the bunk, which acted as shield of sorts to keep out those around us... We were both locked up in the local jail... both of us there for different reasons to the world, yet the divine appointment, was from God... He needed support and the intervention of the hand of God, as this young black man was to learn many of the things God had for him to do in his life and had to be set straight for God to work through him. He loved and wanted to write rap music for God, and yet he was little off track. He had sought God earlier in his life but had strayed off course because of the drugs and a very, very, bad relationship, the one that landed him here in this place that God set aside for him to meet with Him. God sought to use this young man to reach young black youths, and one in particular it seems with the music that would touch his heart causing him to surrender to Christ... This young man who may or may not even have been born at that time, would grow up and meet my new jail friend one day and the two would share the story of the life the youth had and how he had been turned from a living hell through Gods voice in the music of my new friend sitting before me.

247

He looked nervously around and my eyes followed as though someone may be in the bunk with us... Finally he was assured that the two of us were separated from the world and that other ears around us could not hear the whispers, so he asked... Are you an angel? What!! Burst forth from my mouth followed by laughter as he began to pour out the feelings and thoughts, as well as the reasons he had come to this conclusion. I wake up in the middle of the night and you are always reading the bible... You never sleep... You are always helping people with their problems, and thats how I know that you were sent here by God to help me. And I know it, and now you have to tell me the truth, as you were sent here by God and therefore cannot lie. Man was I tempted to run with this one and feed the dream given to him by God... Yet, truth tapped me on the shoulder and came from my mouth... No, I am just a man just like you, sent here by God to minister to you, as well as the others here that God wants me to reach. I am not an angel, as I have many faults and needed to be worked on by God as well. As you and the others here are a part of my training ground for a ministry I may be going to lead someday. You are all a captive audience no pun intended... lol Doubt crossed his mind and the scrunching of his nose and the wrinkles on his forehead spoke volumes to me... No man, I know you are an angel because people cant do the things you do for all of those hours without rest, and
248

I've seen you not eat for fourteen days... So you have to be an angel... and God sent me here to be taught by you... He needed hope desperately, and I believe God allowed him to see the things he thought he saw, in order to help him keep his sanity... as he was having a real problem with being locked up. I counted it all joy as I enjoyed the time I now had to spend with God separate from the world. It felt more like camp than jail and God was moving in a big way God probably answered more of the prayers I had, than the ones my new friend had... You see I wanted to do a complete study of the bible and I was able to do it here... I had someone that had thoroughly studied the bible to answer questions only a scholar of the bible could answer... and I sought to minister the word of God anywhere in the world God chose, but I expected Africa, Malaysia, Japan, or some foreign country, not the local jail. Yet God knew just how to answer all of the prayers I had, even to the giving of hope to those in need of hopethat only comes from God... So I am not an angel, as I hurt just like everyone else does when my head hits the wall from all of the pounding I do in just trying to get Gods attention at times... God probably got a bigger laugh at me, than the young man I was counseling for the future ministry that God had ordained for him... It took time for him to believe I was not an angel and I felt funny for a while, as I wished at times I had a pair of foldaway wings I could put on at times, but then God would

249

show me that the wings would have been just a touch, too much... Relax, I saw my angel in a burger King one day and he encouraged me to give out the tape that I had with angels singing on it, instead of selling it. When he asked me for one I turned around for just a second and he was gone... Right there in the middle of the parking lot, he just simply disappeared. I was at that time thinking maybe I should sell them, but God had another idea... So beware, as you will at times meet angels unaware, as they are here to help keep you on track. They may at times even take on human form

Kicking the Wind Desperation clung to her, and she went on and on and on all about herself, wondering, wishing, hoping and praying, all in vain... or at least so she thought. The wind outside of her hut howled at the trees and windows inviting her out to play... But no, I should stay here and rest and spend time alone with God...

250

Wait, she said to herself, I can just go out and rent a small movie and rest my mind, and she did and it was an all so little thing. The wind danced all around her happily, as she was out now to play with them, those who hid in the winds of distraction... They laughed and giggled, as it was all so easy and simple to keep her off track and distracted. This woman all so aged in years, full of wisdom and experience, and yet they simply spoke to the small child inside of her, the one that was still all alone.. Yet, I could see her all cuddled up in the corner. All so afraid of the world around her and yet on the outside for the world to see was a woman who just seemed to have her act all together. The winds howled and tugged at her... Go spend some time with him while you are out, its ok, no one will ever know... Its a sure thing that he will give you some comfort... Some shalom, some peace, some reassurance...just some needed emotional support and yet she never saw the cords being drawn and tied between them to their souls. Soon in the spirit, she looked like the center hub of a bicycle wheel, with cords running out from the center of her very being to others here, there, and almost everywhere, in her quest for peace... soul ties. The illusion they used was her desire to help others, which had been birthed out of the pain the child inside of her knew all too well... Abandonment. He came along almost on a horse, drawn to her in the spirit... He was a healer... One who saw into and then
251

healed the insides of others, the soul, and the spirit and helped set them free, something he needed as well... She as always was lonely, and God in his sovereignty was at work bringing these two together across a great distance. Her spirit was crying out for someone to help her understand. One who was stronger in the faith she so desperately needed, and yet was straying from all the time. As the cords tied to others, would pull her in all so many different directions. He was looking not so much for a faith filled person, as he needed someone who saw him for who he was on the inside, lonely and afraid, as she was to meet his needing of someone just to love him as he was. They met in and under unusual circumstances, as that seems to be the way things like this usually seem to work out. It was almost as if it all had been scripted out and put on the big screen for the Creators to watch just like a movie is. One for us all to play a part in straight from God's master plan and script. They grew and new each other as they had never known any others and she no longer needed to go out to run and kick in the wind and he no longer needed another's arms, as they had found each other, and the gooey, sappy kind of love, began oozing out of these two, into and onto others. Their message is simple and easy enough to do... Trust God, stay on course, and He shall guide you on your paths, always making the crooked places straight, and
252

never ever never stray out into the wind... The distractions will cost you dearly. And they also take all so much extra time, effort, and energy just to cut loose Love ya H.H.

THE PUZZLE MASTER Did you ever put a puzzle together? I bet you have, if not you may want to after this... A simple one at first, then graduate to maybe a harder and harder one. Ive done so many puzzles now that I like to work on 10,000 plus piece puzzles that have nothing but all white pieces, like the clouds in all so many puzzles. But back to you and your puzzle... The first thing you usually do after dumping it outta the box is, you start turning all of the pieces over so you can see the colors and then sort out all of the pieces that seem to have flat edges so you can set the frame or borders in place.. Then you sort all of the other pieces into piles based on their color similarities. If you dont do things this way then maybe you outta try. I usually then start on the smallest pile of colors to put the buildings, or people, or trees or in the case of the puzzle I am doing right now the canoe as it was small and the
253

pieces are red, not a huge piece, maybe ten pieces at most. Then I started working on some of the tannish color, as there werent as many of them as there are of the sky, or tree line, or the huge soaring eagle that occupied the center of this huge puzzle I am working on now. So, I also need to confess, my small daughter put the canoe together, so I had a little helper. That never hurts... unless they like to hide a few pieces so that they can be the ones to put those last pieces in... I hate that. Life as it is was not the same as it was a year ago. Now I'm divorced and life is so much simpler and easier... I no longer need to heal everyone, just them and those who truly wish and want healing. So life changes on us from time to time, yet we remain within the guides and framework of our spirit and the destiny we all seem to have, whether we want to believe it or not. So the frame and or border is now all put together. I did do most of that part. She did the canoe and flittered off to other things. I then returned to the tannish pieces sorting them into an order of sorts that they needed to make. So in real life when I have a lot of something to do; I search for the odd shaped and or outta the normal type pieces and try and make them into larger segments thereby chewing the large pile into more palatable sized sections. Slowly at times they and things start coming together. But then at other times they just stall out, and I cant seem to force them together, and as you know, sometimes we will
254

force the wrong pieces together, and then have to tear them back apart to see just where it was we went wrong. Then at other times, frustration takes hold and nothing seems to make sense in that section. So I wander off looking for something else to just jump out at me, so I can maybe focus on something else for a while, and then shortly some odd piece will sorta pop out from all of the others and I will seek out its mate in the puzzle. So I will do that for a while, until that seems to fizzle out. So then there are times that nothing in the puzzle makes any sense at all, as I have just focused on it all too hard and all too long, and I have to walk away from it and just leave it all alone. Then after a short break I return to it, and suddenly its as though a lot of pieces just simply fall into place, things that made no sense before, now make perfect sense. Things that seemed outta place are now just there, in the right place, at the right time. Then I seem to drift off back onto small sections of the puzzle that dont seem like the right things to work on at that time but they just seem to just come together. Its as though none of this makes any sense, as does life some times. People looking into my life from the outside cant make sense of just what it is I'm doing at times, as they cannot fathom the deep things of God, nor the timing and or places of God. So they watch and wait, as this seemingly foolish guy wanders around making what seems to be mistake after mistake; looking, trying, fidgeting, wishing, hoping, praying all seemingly at random.

255

But I know that there is one who is watching and orchestrating it all from a position I rarely and sometimes never get to see from... heaven. He knew the whens, wheres, and even the hows of what I should, I could and I would do, before I ever knew there would be a puzzle called my life. Many live this lifetime feeling unfulfilled, empty, and useless and yet they have as well, orchestrated lives just like mine and yours are. They just never seemed to know how it was all planned from the beginning. But I am digressing So where was I? Oh, the puzzle... At times pieces just seemed be missing. After blaming the puzzle maker, people in packaging, the kids, the dog and or other children for hiding a piece so that they could be the one who gets to put that very last piece in. I step over and get a cup of coffee all perplexed, as I know that I know, that its there, I just can seem to see it.. And its probably right there just under my nose Thats about when I lift up my coffee cup and there it is. Where it has been all along, stuck to the end of my elbow Laughingly, I place it right where it belongs in the puzzle, called my and your life, and it just snaps in place and a whole section is now finished. So at times the answers we are struggling with, and about, and over, are right there. We just need to take a break, and let God move them into position at times. Not struggling, not fussing, not mussing, about who, when, where, how... All the while just knowing that it is in His timing, and in His way that this will all come together, whether we like it to or not.
256

So just let go and let God put your life together as He wishes, and at just the right time all of the pieces will come together. All of the things you have gone through, all of the things you have fought with, prayed about, and held out for, will seemingly just put themselves into the place and order that they should go in... Shalom. He is still looking out for you from above. IT WILL ALL make sense in His time. Peace shall guide you, not strife. Oh and I forgot sorry my bad. When you get to the sky part of the puzzle, which is the usually the part of your life just before its completion, and all of the major things in your life have come to pass and you are working in and on the clouds you will probably want and wish for a straight jacket. As they are all the same, blue or fluffy white... Start with the off sized and shaped pieces; put them together, then look for other abnormalities, and then, you will just have to try almost each and every piece one at a time. This part is extremely slow and arduous and should never have happened in your life. But when its finished, so is and are all of the things you wanted, wished, hoped and prayed about in your life, and God smiles, as you were already a finished work to him.

257

TEMPTING He stood in the garden with the Father talking. As I watched, they paced about. He said to the Son, that He would go through some horrible and horrific things in a moment. They being the Spirit and the Father chose Him prior to the foundations of the earth, as They presented Him with a cup full of dregs. Shalom is being made whole, sometimes through the most horrific of circumstances, as God's heart for mankind is and always was eternal. In the cup were the dregs of the earth, those who despised the one who held the cup. It was the cast down, the downtrodden in life, the rejects and cast offs. It was all of their pain, suffering and sins. Healings and miracles had already happened with these very same hands that now help the cup of grief as the Father explained His plan to His Son and the temper watched and waited from afar. Seeing all that was about to transpire as he and she being the whore, had thoroughly schemed and planned and plotted about this thing called the cross. Why should He go? They wondered as they helped plant and orchestrate the scheme now all ready to go into action. One that should and would appear one way, but actually be carried out for another reason. Why should I go to the cross on a place called Golgotha? He wished to know, but the Fathers heart was set. As He looked into the cup, He saw in the cup; the beatings, whippings and scourging, rejections, pulling and plucking
258

of His beard, which not all so long ago flowed down with precious oils, from one which should and could not, but did. He saw all of them that were before Him, with Him, and behind Him in time... He saw them all, including those and them who should, but would not, nor ever drink from His grace. He saw victory in death, and they still schemed from afar. Shalom, all is made whole, sometimes even in the death of our dreams, goals, plans and schemes... Shalom means nothing is lacking, nothing is missing, to be complete and whole, to be well and prosperous, and yet sometimes the things that we think shall make us whole, actually just lead us astray. They soon left the place called the garden to leave Him alone to think, to pray to wish and even hope that maybe this would pass from Him... however they knew that He and He alone, could ever pass this test of the temptation to pass on this opportunity.

MY WILL BE DONE. Ok, I can accept that I do have a free will... and that God has a plan of sorts it seems, but its all up to me to make this happen and work out according to His will, right??
259

Well sorta, I answered. I know that His will, will be done none the less. However, He, being the Father that is, knows your heart and its schemes and or plans, so sometimes He has to put obstacles in our paths, so that we go in the right direction and or do His will. I just cant believe this, as his answer was speared into the wall as firm and forthright. Well answer me this then. Do you believe the bible? Yes! Do you believe that its right? Yes! Do you believe that God is in control of everything and that he is the Alpha and omega? Yes! Do you believe that God knows the beginning from the end in other words He already knows how everything will turn out? Well Maybe Can you change what happens in the Book of Revelations?? No!! Good, now show me how it turned out for Paul, Jonah, and Jeremiah. Why and what do you ask of me? Well, Jonah for example was told to go to one city and preach repentance right? Yes. However he decided to go in exactly the opposite direction right. Yes Good how did it turn out? Well I ain't exactly sure... K here goes; Jonah was on a ship heading in the opposite direction from Nineveh, just after God told him to go there. So in a way Jonah was using his own free will; when a storm came along, and all the while he was sleeping in the bottom of the ship, everyone on board is freaking out. They
260

went to him and asked him why wasnt he praying to his God? It while hes was sleeping that they sensed that he may be the culprit for this storm, so they drew straws or as they said in the old days, cast lots, to see who was offending the gods and Jonah lost. So they throw him overboard, the storm stops and a huge fish, which for the sake of argument is maybe a whale, comes along and he is lunch for three days. The whale gets indigestion and spits him out on the very shore of the place he was running from. So, hows that working for ya? Whew. So yes, Jonah had a will; however God had a plan and a purpose... Jonah just found out the hard way thats all... so you will as he did, do God's will before its all over with. Well then, whats Jeremiah's story? Well, in the beginning of his book, he is being told by God that he has been selected to be a mouth piece for God and even though he is still very young he has been selected for a specific purpose and plan. So what if he had chosen to open a falafel stand? Too bad so sad then You see God said he had been and was chosen by God for a specific purpose before God had even formed Jeremiah in his mothers womb. So what was Jeremiahs choice? And what about Paul who was formally Saul the murderer? Well. he was out riding on his high horse on the way to Damascus to go sack and kill some more Christians, so he could quell the uprising of Christianity. He was a good
261

solid Jew who was very well educated and knew and upheld all Jewish laws and traditions. On the way there, he is knocked off his high horse and blinded by a bright light. His travel partners scatter and he was left blind. Then Jesus cries out from Heaven... Saul... Saul why do you persecute me? He is then told to go somewhere to meet someone who should and would pray for him to see again. He was then shown what he should suffer for the gospels sake. He maybe had a will before this and was exercising what he thought were his rights, but God had other plans Should he say no, ya think? God has a way of making his plan and purpose plain and simple for those who He plans to use here on planet earth. He can shut off supplies, change peoples hearts and minds, take things away, add things you never knew would be in and a part of your life, and change your ways and thoughts, as you grow older and hopefully somewhat wiser. So I know you are only three and a half, but somehow God wants to use you in a mighty way Todd, and I just know this and wanted you to know it. So how you feel about that?? Not sure? Wanna go fishing granddad? Sure why not, just give me a second; I wanna talk to God about something... K. God, show me how to be the one who speaks into his life always, as you want me to, shalom, shalom amen.

262

FLESH HOOKS I was walking one day praying and praying about things going on in my life... Asking God the usual when, how, where, why and should, could or would I? As I walked and prayed I could see in me, what looked like flesh hooks, you know like the ones you fish with There were lines tied to them and they went out into the spirit as others were tied to or held onto the lines that led to me. They all had opinions for and in my life, and I had allowed them to speak into my life and at times caused more confusion than I was already in... They all came from various backgrounds, administrations, denominations and religious backgrounds I had let them in unknowingly, as I had asked them to pray for me and their opinions about things that surely mattered to me; however little to none for them. But their words were loosed into the atmosphere to create and to be contended with at some later date So I watched and prayed over myself and asked God to show me the attachments I had inadvertently made, as there were all so many flesh hooks in my soul So I asked God to help me remove them all, each and every one Some of them were actually quite painful.. But as they each came out, I was released from opinions I knew werent mine, or maybe even Gods.
263

You see everyone it seems knows what you are supposed to do, how you are supposed to do it, when you are supposed to do it and even why you are supposed to do it... But I know that in your heart, you are seeing a different picture... One that sees freedom, life, and options that they cannot see... So you do what you have to, as you are searching and searching for your lifes real truths; but they just seek to sink their flesh hooks into you deeper and deeper... Many Indian tribes as a right of passage used to put men through terrible ordeals so they could let go of this world and embrace the real or spirit world. The bible even talks about how the things that we see are temporary and the unseen things are eternal. So they suspend the man with hooks until he lets go of this natural world and enters into the spirit world... Fighting back the pain of the flesh and mind, to enter into the spirit where a right of passage has been earned There he sees who he shall be, by facing the worst nightmares in his life and then choosing to let go of this life and embracing the real not seen spirit world. Scriptures tell us that, He who lets go of this world gains everything... But he who holds on loses everything. There is also scripture that says He who lets go and has nothing has everything. The samurai were taught from a young age (in the feudal days) to embrace death this way. When they faced an opponent, that opponent was in fact fighting a dead man, with nothing to lose... You were also taught that when you were facing an equal or even better opponent, to offer up your left hand as a sacrifice, knowing your opponent would strike and cut your left arm or hand off as you then took
264

his head off with your right arm... So sacrifice is written about in many cultures, as it is in the bible... For God so loved the world, he gave (sacrificed) his only begotten son... So in essence God lost his son on the cross, but gained millions or billions of new children and even got His Son back in the deal... Wow talk about a stacked deck... So when the very thing you want to hold on to says to never ever let go... Just let go, and let God put something of even greater value into your hands, something with an eternal value such as love, peace, joy, as well as the other things you can never put a price tag on. And it may, and will most likely cost you everything, and also mean letting go of the things, people and life you hold onto so tightly and dearly So shalom... Just let go and let God bless you.

A CRUSTY HEART Have you ever seen a geode stone?? That is before it has ever been cut open and polished?? Well on the outside its not that impressive, in fact is just sorta looks like a rock... an ordinary rock... but on the inside it is a wonder to behold... There are beautiful colors, crystal formations and other things such as; layers and layers of color to behold on the inside, all just waiting to be seen by others, and yet still hidden from the world. From the outside though, you would never know it... Unless you were
265

the type of person that knew how to spot these unusual rock formations. A friend of mine has some that have never been cut into and they wellJust look like those rocks I mentionedNothing spectacular, and yet I wonder if she will ever find out about the beauty on the inside of those stones that she has carried around for years... Most people are like those geode stones As they have hearts that have become crusted over because of years and years of neglect, rejection and abandonment... They look like everyone else in the world, and in fact some of them are just like you, as you just may be one of these, that seems a little crusty on the outside.. But a wonder and beauty to behold on the inside afraid to let just anyone look in Its only when the inside of the heart is reveled, that the beauty of the heart can be seen... Many never see these places in our hearts, because we just dont let them in because of our past hurts, mistakes, failures and trusting the wrong people at wrong times, as well as the other things that have caused us to safeguard our hearts and protect them from the others in the world... We feel safe and shielded behind our layers and layers of protection. Often warm and a little cozy; however mostly and totally emptyas most will never see the real us. God wants us to be able to open our hearts and pour out what is on the inside that is, all of the love, passion, joy, hopes and dreams, as well as our compassion; but we are often too afraid to allow Him to cut us open and polish us. It just seems all too painful This is because fears, doubts and other things have caused us to encase and protect our hearts causing us to not want to let others in... I can say this as I too had a geode stoned heart like many of the others I meet. Thats why its all so easy to spot them We all look alike on the outside... But each of us holds a secret beauty on the inside waiting, hoping and
266

praying to be seen by someone who will love us for just being us. When we meet someone and start to fall in love its hard to for us keep all of this contained inside, as the other person wants to see whats truly in our heart... However years of neglect and abandonment have often caused us to draw back and hide away, in order to prevent them from seeing the true us... As our heart is a mess, and we believe that no one really wants to see the real us. So we shy away and then draw away from them, as we fear getting too close to them, as the fears in our minds are well founded because of all of the past hurts and pains in our lives. But its only when we allow others to see the real us and we open up and let them in... That they can, as well as us often see the beauty held captive inside... This fear we often hide behind is well founded... I made the mistake once of totally loving someone and this someone crushed my heart causing me to hold back, stay defensive, protective and to not let the next someone I really wanted to love, get in... So I held her off, as she was the one I wanted to marry, but I was too scared to trust her completely with my heart... I didnt want to make that same mistake as I had before and as it turned out She also had the same makeup of a geode stone that I did... hidden and covered with some of the same fears and doubts I had. So now I want to make things right, and this means trusting someone I am afraid to trust... but it is in this trusting, that the beauty of two hearts can be exposed and used by God to minister to others, who seem on the outside to just be crusty old geode stones, yet contain hearts full of beauty and love.

267

WHAT IF? What if you had never been? How would you ever know? What if you never will? What will you do then? What shall you do, when you are faced with changes because someone else let you down..? What about when your dreams have drowned and you cant swim out and save them..? I hope and pray that you can you see from some of these stories that, God is in control and He always has been. Way before He ever stood up from the throne and said; Light Be. I hope you can see yourself somewhere here inside of this book and you will learn and know that; He is in control of all things. And these things will all work out for your good in time... Everything you have been through in your life was constructed to make you exactly who and what you are today. Good bad and or indifferent. He chose you to know Him, and all about Him. He wants you to know Him and He wants to draw closer to you, than you even wanted to draw close to Him. Because He can, and always has had you figured out, even before you even existed; as God has a plan and purpose for you and your life. Your entire life is a puzzle and your life's puzzle is merely a piece in His eternal puzzle. Which He completed before

268

He even sat down, after He said Light Be and saw that it was good, and He saw you as good as well. So enjoy your life, even if you have to learn how to, as his Son paid the price you could never pay, for a sin He never committed. But He chose you from before the foundations of the world to be who He created you to be I hope you ask God if He is real if you never have, and ask him to show you personally, so that you know for yourself that He is real and has a plan for your life. I hope and pray that He shows you in the way, that you need for Him to show you that he is real. And I believe and agree that He will God is good, and everything shall and will work out perfectly according to His plan and purpose, even if you manage to screw it up royally. So, I ask you to take your broken dreams, promises and relationship train wrecks to Him and just ask Him who created you, to fix them. He never shuns those who ask for help, as I ask Him to help me all of the time, as I am a broken leaking vessel that seems to want to leak His love all over the place. And I wish above all things, that you see God in and at work here and not me.

So Shalom, and if we should ever meet, I hope that this makes somewhat of a change in your life, so that God Himself can help you better understand. Humble Heart

269

IN THE END His fiery eyes stared out across the vast expanse of what we would call nothing... The other two beside him just watched, as the throne room was for once silent. They often laughed at him for telling them about his dream of a house all so grand, with a pool house, and a large garage filled with toys. They often just slapped him on the back while grinning at this foolish dreamer. He was calculating, precise, exact, thinking of all the angles and the things that could and would and should go wrong, across the expanse of something He would need to create for them, called time. His words painted a picture of an unseen ending with vibrant colors, scenes unimaginable to those who stood beside Him at that time. As even time at that time, did not exist and as He explained it, they began to understand. Soon one after another they appeared beside Him; first was Wisdom, she was cute, attitude-ish, fiery, spunky redheaded. She said, I will teach them and she began giving them her ideas, opinions and thoughts to some things she really knew little to nothing about at that time. Then came Understanding and Knowledge, they assisted Him in the planning process as well...
270

He stood there after they left, looking at woods, trees, squirrels, and someone else s name on the sign, as the current owner, where his name used to be, but he believed. Life was not turning out the way he had always thought it would and should be, but he was determined. She whispered in his ears at times, about things he could not imagine at that time, as to what He had in his heart for him... So she often helped this seemingly foolish one that simply followed and believed. He, after determining the outcomes that shall, will and can only be, the way He determined them to be; started talking about an ending all so seemingly horrible to imagine, as they knew not death or that which should be, so He explained it to them, all about death, hell and the grave. They listened, and absorbed all that He and wisdom had to say. They heard the story as told in reverse, backwards to them. They heard all about those who would be created which they would soon enough hear about and then actually see. They watched the painting of words as they came from His mouth, of an end that yet had no beginning. They heard about a place called Patmos an island, whatever that might be. And a man that would one day see into where they were at, and yet, they knew not, nor had at that time even seen a thing, to be called man. He described a battle that would cause the extinguishing of something called earth, a place this creator of the unseen seemed fond of and loved. A battle with the Son and one who sat at His very feet... Praising and worshiping the one

271

who sat on the throne, and glancing from time to time at himself, admiring his own beauty. This ending was to be climatic, establishing a mirror image of where they were now in this remote location. But why must all of this happen? The Son asked, as well as the one who was brooding and pouting already over that, which should and would be. He walked away from the land with a less than held high head, as they laughed and giggled, but she held his hand. Its all ok, I can see it. You know... I am just not sure what colors we should paint our home, but I can share what I have with you, if you share what you have with me. So what are you thinking? They smiled and walked off that sunny day, planning dreaming and almost scheming about the woods that held a home no others could yet see. They spoke about a pool, Japanese gardens, jets skis, love, warmth, laughter, passion; children and even eventually grandchildren who would inhabit this home in what was yet still woods. They spoke softly of things that would have to be overcome, ways to do things, meals they would cook together, healthy ones, and of chasing each other around the house, that was truly a home filled with laughing and giggling and lots of love. But... how should or could this all be? Because things here on earth were all wrong, and contradictory to the naked eye. Yet all the while, wisdom was there with them, planning, plotting, drawing, painting, planning, and scheming about how it all should come about. She was in her prime and at her best. Wisdom as usual butted in when things got a little heated in the throne room and took the conversations over into
272

other things such as; shorelines, mountains, majesty, oceans, weather, time, wars, enemies, what all things should be consisted of, the internet, animals, waves, planetary pull, E=mc2 and how to keep it all simple... Geeshh... you guys sure need me here to help you figure this all out, and He, the Father and creator, smiled and winked at her. They listened with intent, as she rambled on as it seemed forever, when they asked her to help them with that which yet did not exist. They all agreed that she seemed like a good delegator. So she stepped up to the plate, designing some things with extra color and splash. She asked for some assistants to be her helpers so understanding, prudence and knowledge came to help share the tasks and they eagerly assisted. Now, the throne room was buzzing. He soon talked about a man that would be evil at first, but after the Son knocked him off his high horse, he would be blinded and changed. This would be because of the ministry and death of one to be called Stephen, who would be able to help change this one of a hard heart, into one who would tell of the kingdom not long after the Son had left this thing to be called earth. The Son then asked, Why should I be there? What is it I am to do while there? What is salvation, He asked? A cross? Crucifixion? Death? Nails? Whipping? Hey I am not liking this story right about now... I kinda like it here. Why should they need a savior? Sin? What is sin? It was then that they all turned to the one who sat at the feet

273

of the One on the throne, who was once again enamored with himself and said him...!! How is he, ever going to ever make the earth tremble?? And why should or would anyone ever listen to him? he always has his face stuck in that mirror looking at himself admiring himself... thinking more of himself that he already is... he is just all so full of pride... I just knew he would be trouble, the Spirit said... I told you so... What do you mean that one third of these created ones will follow him? WHY? They all like it here as well... revolt? Whats a revolt? The two had dreamed the same sort of dreams, even though they didnt know each other. Miles and worlds apart and yet they were on a collision course that no one in their right mind could have ever imagined, planned and or schemed about ever happening. The lottery would be easier to hit while blind folded and one arm and leg tied behind your back, than to have ever imagined what the One who sat on the throne, along with wisdom, had planned for these two. These two would meet on the internet, something wisdom whipped up in her spare time on the side. Then the circumstances designed specifically for them prior to even time existing, began to unfold from their very births, through their childhoods, dreams and hopes, which they would one day share, down to the love they were storing up to share with just that one... the special one, when and if they ever met. Many frogs were kissed and left along the way, looking seeking, planning, hoping, praying, watching, failing, winning, losing and then hoping some more, and then the wish and desire in their hearts started taking shape.
274

She was a busy beaver... Wisdom had her drawing board covered in papers, ideas jotted down, scribbles, things that should never be and things that eventually would be. Then she presented them to Him, and He accepted and approved them saying... good job, as she was also at His side a lot in the beginning and planning stages. The ladies of creation were pretty persistent and pushy at times with the things they seemed to want, and they pushed to have their way and say so in some things. The Son and the Spirit snickered at them some times... Yet they were right more times than they were wrong. As it was to be... They all had a hand in creation. You need more than one tree and everything cannot be white! I know you like things simple, but if you add a splash of color some times, you would like it all so much more. Inside they knew she and they were right, but just hated to admit it. They met on this thing created in Wisdoms spare time called the internet and she nudged Him, saying, See, I told you it would work. He smiled from the throne and said, It is good, and so it was. They talked about things such as teachers, prophets, apostles those who would lead, follow; wars and fights that could and should be written down in a thing they were now calling a Bible. Wisdom asked permission to help a special one, the son of the one, after Gods own heart, as he too would love people. Call him Solomon. They talked of betrayals, the death of a brother at the hands of the other, as an apple or fruit of the lie that had
275

been believed and bitten into, even though the two who would bear these two brothers, were told not to. They talked and planned and schemed about a beginning. They talked about how that it all should start with something catchy and as simple as light, just Light BE!! The two Son and Spirit said it was all just preposterous and too simple. We would know everything they ever did before they ever did it, everything they ever thought before they ever thought it, who wins, loses, lives dies, laughs, cries, born into this world and even those who would never see its light. The Son was asked to be the savior, in order to correct the things that the one they whispered around was going to do, as he was conniving, sniveling and cunning and there was just something wrong with him. he was however, awesome at praise and worship... the one thing that the Father loved... The Creator simply offered, I was having an off day and shrugged his shoulders, as He had already worked out all of the details of this lifetime, and the ages yet to come after this. You see He was still so far ahead of all of them, as He said staring off into space... LIGHT BE ! Authority and fire came from His hands eyes and spirit and Light was, and He said It... is... good!! NEXT. They walked up the beautiful aggregate concrete driveway holding hands... all so in love. Many things had been overcome, some just left behind in the dust of time.
276

Washed away by this now bright future they spoke of all so many years ago...before they ever met. The children clamored around the kitchen listening to stories of good times, bad times, heartaches, happiness, and tears shed in joy, as the special one was born to sew them altogether into one happy family and the Father of all above smiled and said, It is good...

THE END
Or at least until the ages to come get started... so... to be continued.
H . H .

277