“I guess what I’m trying to ask; are we puppets directed by you or do we make our own choices, and you then take our stupid mistakes and make something beautiful from them?
With a nod, Dad crossed His leg and leaned back with a content demeanor about him. “Ross, I have different sheep scattered around the world, some have a designated purpose, some have a free choice, but most are just wondering around, but all are being prepared. Many happenings in your life was orchestrated by me, some were just happenstance, and you have made several decisions on your own. But I was there in every one of them, every fall, every victory, to pick you up or to knock you down, so you would take your eyes off yourself and find a deeper, meaningful relationship with me.”
“But Lord, why didn’t I sense that you were there with me? Why did I at so many times feel all alone? So much of the time, I felt ashamed of myself for the stupid things that I’d done. And I will admit that I did gloat too much in the good stuff that was occasionally coming my way, but, why didn’t I know that you were intervening on my behalf?”
He leaned forward as if wanting to show me His sincerity, and still having that beautiful smile said; “that’s what I said before, you were so full of yourself, and your eyes were fixed on the problem or the victory and your inner perception was out of kilter. I was there, but Love doesn’t flaunt itself, so I had to wait on you to see, you had to see me on your own and that wasn’t going to happen until your eyes were wide shut. People everywhere think that they are seeing the world and life by opening their eyes, that is their flesh eyes, but the three dimensional sight will only blind a man. What I have stored for you and all, flesh eye cannot see, nor flesh ear hear, nor has it been conceived in the heart of carnal man. Jesus is an exact reflection of me, and we both, with the Holy Spirit came to give you True Life, and give it to you abundantly. So it takes a few bumps, falls, even a few high points, and maybe a tragedy or two to bring you about, that you can’t take these ‘tree of knowledge’ eyes and find that Rest, that is only in me.” Reaching up and pulling a paper bag from under His straw cap, he continued; the complicated cases are the folks that have such small horizons, I called them near-sighted, for they will take so many of the superficial, shallow things in life and make what you have so often done, gloat in their mini victories, thinking that the few good things is what life is all about. It is not, for I see the whole realm of life, and I’m not detoured from my goals which exist for more than new cars, new clothes, good grades, another raise at work and the such, but I still use these worthless victories to work my Grace and Love into their lives.”
I thought about this for a moment and looked up with a kind of smirk look on my face and said: “I really didn’t get away with nothin’, did I?
Pulling the brown bag down to His lap replied; “Ross, I wasn’t trying to catch you in something, that’s not what Love does, I’ve just always wanted a friendship with you. I don’t keep any records of your ‘goods and bads’, I think you’re beautiful the way you are.”
“How’s that, most people think I’m sorta on the goofy side?”
“Not me,” as His face lit-up in the colors of the rainbow, “I don’t see things and people the way others do, I see my image in each and every one of them, I look through Love.”
As Dad began pulling stuff from the paper bag and laying it between us, I allowed my thoughts to roam freely through my mind, thinking, my thought was; “WOW!… What did I do to deserve such attention and love from my Dad?”
Without me saying a word He spoke. “Nothing, nothing you can do, say, or even think can make me love you more, and for that matter, even love you less. Love doesn’t have conditions, it doesn’t keep a record, love is all I know, so I just love you the way you are. Besides that, I’m not finished with you yet. I want you to be fulfilled in your heart, that you can also have that satisfying, peaceful and resting relationship with me, and with others.”
The words that he spoke were more than just words, they had a peace about them, a power that I’d never experienced before, as if we were best friends and always have been. At this point, I hoped the day would never end.
Allowing Himself to slip down the slight hill towards me, I noticed for the first time during this conversation, that He’d laid out a picnic lunch that looked as good as it smelled. There, on the ground were sandwiches, potato salad, chips, plates, napkins, drinks and just about everything else one would want. And I was hungry. Not sure whether it was the sight of the food, the smell of it, or that I’d not eaten since early this morning, but it was more than good.
We both just sat there and ate and talked about this and that for about thirty minutes, nothing of real importance, we just talked. And after dusting more than a few crumbs from His lap, Dad stood up and pointed with His face down the hill a little, indicating that He wanted me to follow Him in that direction.
Now, I don’t know where all that food came from, surly not from under that straw hat, but the residue of our wonderful lunch was gone, with the same mystery that it had appeared.
As we both sorta meandered down that hill, Dad, with this whisper of a voice said; “Right over here a little ways, I want to show you something that you and the world need to see and know. It’s not much farther, just right beside that dead-fall,” pointing towards the west, “is a tree that I’d like you to see.”
As we walked upon the broken down tree that looked as if it snapped off half way up the trunk, was this huge oak that I did know was on the property, but was too big for fire wood, and too knotty for lumber.
Walking around to the far side He motioned for me to follow, and as I did round the huge tree, I saw a hollow. It looked as if a million years ago a large limb had been there, but now was replaced by this huge opening that was almost big enough to crawl in. As many times as I’ve been in these woods, I’d never noticed it.
We stood there a few minutes in silence, and then He spoke again in His whisper of a voice. “Look inside that hole, there’s something I want you to see.” He even rolled part of the dead-fall next to the tree so I could step upon it to get high enough off the ground to look inside. As I was looking through the knot-hole, all I could see was black. Turning around to face Him, I blurted out; “All I see is the darkness, does this have significance?”
“No,” and He placed His hand on my shoulder, “You’re not looking past your nose, be a little patient, and look again, maybe even squint your eyes.”
Placing my hands on both sides of my face I peered back into the hole where a limb had once been. Standing there for maybe a minute or so, my eyes started to adjust, as I could now make out a few shadows. A few seconds later I could see as if looking at a movie screen in a theater.
As far as the eye could see, and I could see for miles and miles, there was an endless valley that looked somewhat like the Serengeti plains. It was either early morning or late evening for the sun was barely above the horizon. The sky was tinted orange with very few clouds. The grasses and small bushes were green and the farther they were from me, the grayer they had become. Close before me was a small river, or maybe I better say a large creek, that ran from left to right, and was maybe fifteen or twenty feet in front of my view-point. It had bare banks and seemed to be flowing very slow, and when I say slow, I mean oh-so-slowly. Instead of water in the creek, it looked more the substance of tar than it did the water that one would expect. It was an eerie black tributary with these bubbles that looked like the mud-pot geysers at Yellow Stone national park, large bubbles, scattered all over, and there was many of them, about ten inches in diameter, and were oozing up as if in slow motion to an height of about ten inches, and then slowly bursting, with what looked like tar splattering in all directions. But instead of a plopping sound, as each one popped and then splattered a voice sounded that said; “feed the demon”.
Looking closer and more to my right, I could see that the creek meandered left and then right many times as it flowed on and on to a distance towards the horizon where the sun was either setting or rising. But the last object that I could see before it went over the curvature of the earth was a large rounded rock that was sitting in the middle of this thick mess of tar. It appeared that the river of tar was flowing on both sides, and then I could see no more.
Leaning back, and stepping down from the round log I had been standing on I barked my shins on the side of the tree, rubbed it a few times and just stood there. I had to let my eyes adjust back to the bright sun-shine that my Dad and I had been enjoying previously. More than a little stunned, all I could say was “WOW!”
We both stood there for what seemed like thirty minutes before I looked back up from the ground and said; “Dad, I’m not sure what I was looking at, don’t know if I can even digest it, and with this uneasy feeling that I’m having, not real sure I even want to know.” Still standing under that large oak, with my legs a little weak, I sat on the same log that a few minutes ago I was standing on.
Looking up at my Dad, I asked; “what did I just see? Was I looking at my life as it is, or the life of and in this world, or was it just a sadness that was upon the Earth?”
“Yes, yes, and yes, it is you, it is the world, and there is a great sadness on all of humanity. But there in the midst of all the land was hope, a great hope that will and is overpowering any and all sadness. Ever since that fall of man in the Garden I have always made provisions for my people, many, many don’t see what I am really providing, but I have always kept a remnant who continually seek me in the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
“What was that…”
“…That river of tar?” He spoke before I could finish my sentence. “The river is life obstructed, is a cancer upon the world that was delivered by the deceiver, fear, which is the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” But most of all, it is your life, the darkness of the river, the tar, is the fear that you’ve had and still having, it wants to be fed more fear. For without the continued adding of fear, it has no choice, but to vanish.
“Was the river then representing a depression on humanity also?”
“Yes it was, and a whole lot more, that’s what fear does. You see, when we continually take of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, we continually feed the power coming forth from that tree. Man and his struggle for power, and he always wants it, seeks it from the deception that good, evil and knowledge has tricked him into following. Don’t get me wrong here, what man does can’t separate him from me loving him, but it does dampen severely his relationship with me. The tree, and what it provides, feeds from mans’ desire to be like I Am. It has no power of its own, so must feed on the power of those made in my image, man.” Hope is not wishing for something, hope is the expectation of positive change, Love and Hope cast out all fear.
Pondering several minutes on what the Lord just said, I looked back up at Him, and with a weary expression on my face asked; “so that means we all have power, the kind of power that can really change things?”
“Yes it does. I have given mankind all power on earth, but he is so involved in that knowledge stuff, that he now sees himself as limited, helpless and therefore hopeless as that river of tar has deceived many into thinking. The flow of the tar through ones’ life is eliminated when he walks away from that tree and comes boldly to the Tree of Life, where all that is needed is given freely.”
“So if, I mean since we have power to change things, why do so many live their lives defeated? You know, with all the worries we seem to find, sorrows, heartaches, all the disappointments we have, that at times are not a few? Power should have a positive effect on us, not having these broken down bodies, or for that matter broken down homes etc., that so many people experience, why can’t we get through them with a lot less pain than we do?”
“Listen carefully”. He said as He handed me the stick that was being used to scratch in the leaves and dirt. “Power, when taken from the tree of knowledge, with all its’ delusions, and artificial promises, can and will eventually corrupt. As long as man feeds from that tree, the best he can hope for is to break even and in truth, that really never happens. Man has always wanted his independence, and he got it, but I came to give Life and give it more abundantly. But each individual must be willing to give up that false freedom, turn his back on that tree and eat of the Fruit from the Tree of Life, which is me. My promises are not given lightly, they have substance behind them, Me. I sent my Son to express to the world that I love them, I care. I long for the intimate relationship with each and every one, but there is still a gulf between us, and it’s called that tree. It’s really not the tree, but the façade that it represents.”
“Am I understanding you right that we are as close to you now as we were in the garden, you know, before we ate of that fruit?”
“Yes you are. I have and never would forsake you, I love my Son, in which you all are. You are all my entire corporate Son, a many different membered body, with Jesus as the head. Not all can be hands or legs, not all fingers or belly-buttons, some are hair follicles and so on, but all make up My body and are very dear to me. No, I have never left you, but far too many have clung to the false hope that knowledge said it would provide, but cannot. I did not make puppets out of you, for I could make the rocks sing out and worship me, but what I did want, is to be chosen over all thoughts, ideas, rituals, institutions, programs, religions, and the buildings that they meet in. Remember this; my Son Jesus never claimed to be a christian, He is me, and so are you. Jesus came not to bring peace, but a sword, a sword to divide my Truth from the religious fables of this world, that I could have it once again as it was in the beginning, have the relationship with my Son, which is you.”
“Lord, thank you for explaining this to me. I may not understand it completely, and when my head clears a little, and your Holy Spirit settles inside of me, I will probable see a little more plainly. So if I do understand what you were showing me, maybe it’s not all doom-and-gloom, maybe somewhere down the line there is hope.”
“Ross, there is hope and it’s not somewhere down the line. I Am the I Am, I’m here and I’m now, the hope is now, today’s the day. Did you not see the sky, rock, sun and the horizon? Don’t you even care what that rock was doing to the flowing tar? What was beyond the rock? What color was the sky? What was waiting for you above the horizon? Those that seek me, will find me. Those that ask, will be answered. Those that knock, I will open the door and they will come in and sup with me. Look beyond your own nose, beyond the things that your natural eyes can see, I am here and now, I was in your yesterdays, but I don’t live in those days anymore, I live in the now, and now is the time.”
We’ll continue the vision shortly