We were still standing beside the pond. What a beautiful day it was, and I, loved every minute of the time that me and this beautiful man in the straw hat were having. It seemed that we could talk with each other without even having to talk. I wanted earlier to skip a rock across that pond, and went to look for one, when I heard His Voice say; “beat you to it.” I’d thought that was funny, and finally found my own rock. Hey! I could make it skip as many times as He could, I thought that was sort of neat. We mostly sat and then stood there relaxing, I let down my guard quiet-a-bit, and was, in my heart, coming a little closer to this appearance of a man that was Lord, and I mean Lord and our Creator.
Standing there looking over the pond and at the mountains behind it, as the day was unfolding, was without any doubt the best day of my entire life. Once in a while we would glance at each other, but mostly I was just pondering.
I noticed that my Dad kept looking over to the right side of the pond as if He saw something. So stretching and standing a little taller I looked, and there was a man walking towards us. I couldn’t tell who it was, but he most likely was one of the neighbors. As he came closer, he looked very familiar, and I was at this point thinking it was the guy down the road, but still not sure, for I knew who he was, but just couldn’t put a name him yet.
As he walked along the side of the pond, he was no more than twenty feet away when Dad sang out; “Ross, meet my son.”
Since everyone was His son, and He knew who this was, I reached my hand out and walked toward him, smiling as if I already knew who he was. “How are you doing? Seems us two aren’t the only ones enjoying this beautiful day.”
And at the same moment, Dad said; “this is Joshua, he came to spend a little time with us, if it’s alright?”
He’s already said that He loved all the same, and this being one of His, makes him my brother, so I said; “sounds great to me.”
We sat there for probably close to a half hour, just talking about this and that, but mostly of how nice it was to spend this day in the woods among friends.
I’ve known this familiar looking guy for only a few minutes and he’s already calling me a friend. I thought; I like it. We did seem to have one of those camaraderie’s that only come along only once in a life. He had a fragrance about him that smelled like honey-suckles, and a smile just like my Dad has, so I was more than welcoming a friend like this man. He had a belt on that looked something like a tool belt, but was different.
Dad spoke and asked; do you know who Joshua is, and have you guys met before?”
“Dad, you know everything, you already know whether we’ve met before.” I was stalling, for I really did know him, just haven’t placed where we met or where he lived. There was more than a little bit of familiarity to his demeanor, and that smile that he had was brighter than the sun. About the time I started asking; “are you the guy that lives…?”
“…right down the road?” He spoke before I could get my question out.
“Yes. Are you the guy that fishes all the time?”
Before he answered, the Lord cut in and said; “Ross, this is Joshua, the man you gave your life too, back in 1975.”
I’d only given my life to one person in my life and that wasin 1975, and then it dawned on me. “You mean Jesus?”
And Joshua smiled real big and said; “that’s me.”
My knees buckled, as I almost hit the ground. He did look like what I had pictured Him to be, and He did look a whole lot like my Dad, only a little smaller. I just stood there staring at him, when a voice spoke; “This is real, and this is Joshua, the man does fish, but this my son fishes for the other kind of fish, man. Ain’t He beautiful?”
All I could say; “yes He is, and so precious.” This was a double whammy, and the greatest day of my life. I couldn’t believe it, but I believed.
“Yeah, most call me Jesus, but my earth mom and dad called me Joshua, the neighbors down the road called me Emanuel, but I’m one and the same. I knew you guys were out here talking and enjoying the day, so I thought I’d drop by and maybe relax with you a short bit.”
“Father, I heard you call Him your son, but I didn’t know He was your real Son.”
“Ross, He’s no more my real Son than you are, all are mine and all were with me in the beginning. You and the others also are my sons, or I could say all are my Son. For Joshua, I mean Jesus died for all and lives in all, all are His, and all are Mine.”
“What about those that don’t live for you, or really know who and what you are?”
And Joshua spoke up and said; “it is true, I gave my life for all, even those that hate me, and those thatdesecrate my name, my Love for them is not dependent on them loving me, my Love is for all, even those that hung me on the cross. I live in all, but few acknowledge me in their lives, but I’m there, waiting to be reached for and called upon. I was the first to be resurrected, but all, because of my Father’s work are resurrected because of what He did through me. Those that don’t lift me up, live defeated lives, and choose to tackle life on their own. That is, with their own acquired skills and knowledge, but I’m in them, just like I am with you. So, can you see that you also are His real Son?”
“I’m starting to see, but I think that I’d been blinded by the physical world and maybe I should start looking through my true eyes.”
“Just to be able to understand that,” Joshua said, looking straight at me with what looked like rainbows pouring out of Him, “means that my light inside you is beginning to illuminate you from within.”
“What can I do be one with the both of you? What can I stop doing?”
With the patience of nothing that I’d ever seen, and a gentleness that is almost unheard of, Joshua said; “you already are, I have lost none. My Father and I are one, we see the same, think the same, we are always in agreement, that’s because He, nor I, neither one held anything back, and I submitted to Him. My life was not mine, but His, and it pleases me to please Him, and at that point, all that was His, was mine, and if anyone, no matter what he’s done in his life, will do the same, he also will sup with us.”
“We didn’t make any mistakes at creation, nor any other time, When the Father had created all, He said it was good, very good. Yes, man chose to live within his own means when he chose the knowledge of the tree of the world, but we didn’t separate our being from him, for we operate in Love. The tree and the serpent in it, is all the learning, intellect, formulas, and knowledge that this world has to offer, but we are not of this world, although I did live in it for a while. I had too, I had to know the tugs, struggles, and temptations, and in spite of all them, I overcame.”
Joshua side-stepped over to a rather large stump from a long ago cut tree and was sitting there talking with me as if we’d always known each other, and I was thinking about what to ask Him, when I had a thought that I shouldn’t have had. And he interrupted my thinking.
“It’s alright to have thoughts like that’, Joshua whispered in this very soft voice. “No I’m not much to look at, but I make up for it with my Love. And another thing, we have known each other throughout the eons.”
Thinking again; I thought these were two peas in a pod. Looking up at my Dad as I was thinking, He just gave me one of those winks that said; ’I heard thaf.
I was dumb-struck, fascinated, in awe, but very much at peace between these two beautiful men, and I really don’t think that I should call them men. So I asked; how do I address you, I mean, do I call you Lord and Lord?
Dad spoke up with this faked smirk on His face and said; “we’ve been listening to you for years, and nothing in this conversation has changed the way we view you. We thought you were beautiful before this day, and we still do. We see the heart, and all those that seek us, come with pure hearts, and that can never be detrimental. So address us how you may, we just like being with you.”
“And another thing,” My Dad, in His size umpteen boots said, “If I’d sent my son looking like what you call a movie-star, would it have been as effective? Seeing how people like to be around pretty people, I rose above that and made Him beautiful.”
Standing there with my mouth wide open, I sat flat on the ground, and couldn’t help but to think. These ARE the most beautiful men I had ever seen. And then thought; am I supposed to still be calling them men?
This time Joshua interrupted my thought and said; “we have come here to you at this special time in your life, and have chosen to reveal our being to you as men, so it’s ok to see us that way. Quit worrying about what you say and think. We enjoy this wonderful experience as much as you. From time-to-time we approach many from around the world in the way that they see us. Sometimes as sailors, sometimes as cowboys, even sometimes as animals or clouds or trees, it just depends on what the person that is seeking us will accept.”
“So why are you wearing that tool belt?” And as I looked he didn’t have it on.
“You’ve always seen me as a carpenter, so I put it on for you, but now as you can see a little more clearly, I put it away. To the Greek, I’m a Greek, to the Jew, I’m a Jew, but to all, I’m a friend.”
“You mean even to those that despite you, and lash out on you, that you are still a friend to them?”
“Of course I am, I love ‘em all. The separation that comes between us and our children, never comes because of us. We do what we’re good at doing, loving them, but they have to choose to be Loved. Sin doesn’t make us separate, unless the one missing the mark thinks it does. But all miss the mark, and I will always miss the relationship that we could have, if they’d turn to me, even in their weakness.”
I listened intently as this gentleness of a man spoke with a kindness, a softness, and a love that is all but unheard of on this earth, and asked him a question. “Am I hearing right? That your love never leaves us, and we can run from you, but not from your Love?”
“Yes you can run from my Love, but not far enough or fast enough to get away from it. I have lost none and I never will, but what I am about, in my Fathers business is, establishing relationships. All that I have, all that I own is yours, you and all are joint heirs with me to the Father and the Kingdom, I will hold back nothing. I am the two edged sword, and I came to divide Truth with Love, from the flesh. I am established in my Fathers’ kingdom, I am the Vine, but the Father is the root, you are the branches. The branches cannot be sustained by the root unless they are connected to the vine, and I am the Vine. The only way for you to be fed from the root is through me. The Vine feeds from the root, which is my Father, and therefore permeates into the branches, which you are. So anyone that runs from me or ignores me still abides in our love, but misses the relationship that We are about.”
Understanding what Joshua just said, and stone sober, I asked; “so what does it mean that you are a sword?”
“I came not to bring peace, but division, and the division that I bring will begat Peace. Man is attached so much to his flesh and the set of religious rules and regulations that I came to cut them asunder so each can be grafted back on the Vine, the only place that there is real Peace. It is mans’ misunderstanding that he can do this walk on his own, he cannot. I am the Way, the Truth, and the only Life, and any other way, truth, or life is that which man has substituted for his own inadequacies. So, can you see that division is the only way to reestablish our fundamental right to a relationship with Dad? I also had to be separated from my home with the Father, while living on earth in the flesh, so the Way was made for each. Going through a divisive pain, only hurts for the short time that it takes for the withdrawels to disappear.
“Lord in this short time that we have talked, it is bringing a much needed clarity; I didn’t realize that so much was going on behind the scenes. So am I hearing right that when some tribulation or division comes around that you use it to purify us?”
“Man has trained man to strive for certain situations, and when they are not met, he is trained that he is a failure.” I was watching Him as He spoke and the peace and the gentleness that just oozed from His being. “I do not hate this thing called church, but it is not of me, but I do hate the religion that man has invented to try to satisfy his appetites of the flesh. My kingdom is not of this world, but in the hearts of those pursuing a walk with my Dad and me. Tribulation, trials, and division are a few of the roads that We use to help my people to see beyond their self-righteousness, to look past their inadequacies, and learn to lean on Us to carry them through. If a young child learning to walk, is caught each time he stumbles or falls, and never learns of the pain from a fall, then a big miss-injustice has been served. It is the same with our children, We take the mishaps and turn them into blessings for those that want their eyes open. I said to you that you were to be tried by ‘fire’, and that is for the purpose of purifying. I long for the relationship with each and every one, Our love never fades from them, but unless they come depending on Us, the relationship will be hindered severely.”
“Joshua, it is so wonderful to have you here with me, because I have always struggled with this about the tribulations of life. Why do I almost always whine and cry before I come to realize that it is you that is purging me from this unclean way of life?”
“You’ve been contaminated by the so-called truths of this world, and you’ve not yet fully trusted in Us.
Still sitting flat on the ground, and listening with amazement, I spoke;” will you help me in my unbelief?”
Sure I will, that’s why I’m here with you. Each time a new Truth is revealed, another blinder is removed, and another step is taken toward me, that’s what I want.” He said with a smile that made me want to jump in His arms.
“Go ahead,” he said with that rainbow of a smile still permeating from His being, “my arms are large enough.”
I just smiled back, while at the same time scooting a little closer.
I was so taken by the appearance of Joshua, that I think I was ignoring my Dad, so I asked Him; what do you think of all this?” It did sound like one of the stupid things that often come from me, but I had to say something, and that was all I could think of to say.
He said; “first of all, you’re not ignoring me, and you can be yourself with us, we are here to establish a deeper communion with you, not here to judge you by any means.” I don’t know how Dad could speak with so much beauty in the language of His body, for he could say things without even saying them. “When you are visiting with either one of us, you are with us both, we are one, totally connected, there is no separation. All that I do, Joshua is with me, and vise-versa. And the Spirit of my Christ Joshua is always around also.
A little caught off guard, I asked; “where is He, that spirit?”
Both spoke at the same time, and in harmony; “in your heart.”
We all sat and stood there in serenity enjoying the afternoon, the sun, the clouds, and all the diverse critters that were scampering here and there. I was still taken back by all that was going on, still a little scared, but at the same time loving every minute of it. There were yet a few more questions that I wanted to ask, so I was sitting down, pondering on them, and broke out with a mumbling of words that didn’t quiet come out right. “Dad, what is my purpose, or maybe I should ask; what are my responsibilities in this part of my walk?”
“Ross, we don’t put expectations on people, that’s what the hierarchy does to show the differences between the two, also, that’s what done when one doesn’t know the future. We are busy about loving you, for you, you are already what we expected and nothing else is required from you to live in our Love.
“You mean that we don’t have to live with rules and regulation?
Leaning towards me, He tipped His hat, smiled with a sort of smirk, and said with a funny look on His face; “no, not exactly. In this earth life, there are people that are in charge of others, and as long as they are wrapped up in this world, that’s the way it will always be. Religion must use laws, rules, and regulations to empower itself, for how else could they control others that they have to have to continue to survive? Law and religion have to have certain laborious and stringent rules or they will lose their following. That’s just what the world does, but We move in a completely different direction. Under each particular situation, they lay down a guideline to rescue, so they think, to bring that person back to the straight and narrow, or to give them some penance to pay.”
A little bewildered I asked; “don’t we have to establish this to keep everything in order?”
“The law and the tree of knowledge of good and evil is unto death, it was not meant to save people, only show them of their need for salvation. But I give you an opportunity and ability to respond in Love and to move in the freedom that each instance calls for. Because I live in you, and you in me, we work in the perfect Love that surrounds all unique and beautiful situations that are thrown at you. With the religious rules and regulations, our companionship is dead, for there is no trust in me. So can you see that religion separates man from me, for the law kills, and in this situation, it kills our companionship? You will either serve and love me, or the law, mammon.”
In my acknowledgement I said; “so this thing called ‘church’ has fed me a bunch of bologna?”
“Calm down a little,” my Dad responded as he took another step closer, “In order for them to keep control, they think they have to provide a way, their way, their law, their stringent rules to protect their followers from scattering this way or that. Joshua and I, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, come to reestablish a relationship with my people, especially those called by my name, and all we request is Love, Love cannot force itself on others, for Love always comes out as Love. There is no other basis for relationship in our Kingdom, Love conquers all, Love covers a multitude of mishaps, and everything comes into union with Love. The world operates in guilt, judgment, shame, and fear, totality different than the relationship of the Kingdom. We don’t separate, condemn, nor do we put conditions or expectations on you, Love cannot do that, Love always binds people together, the law destroys. Joshua said before that He came to give Life, and give it abundantly, Love is that abundance, along with our Grace and Mercy. Now, is what I’m saying starting to make sense?”
Thinking this over for a minute or two, to let it sink in I said; “I’m starting again to follow what you’re saying, but don’t we have responsibilities to the person we are loving?”
“Ross, you’re looking at the surface of what I’m saying. Expectations and responsibilities are the platform of judgment, guilt, fear, and shame, which encourages others to preform to meet a certain standard, then when their performance doesn’t measure-up, then the guilt, shame and judgment kicks in. But in the relationship based with Love, then all is conquered, all are free, at peace, and all that’s left is the Love and the relationship. There is no labor in Love, it is a giving of yourself with nothing held back.”
“You know, I believe that I understand that,” I sorta blurted out, “when you and Joshua are looking at us, maybe I better say relating with us, all you see is the beauty that is in us. Your Love doesn’t place expectations, guilt,fear, or shame on us because we are not perfect yet. You’re just having a relationship with us because of your Love. So you’ve never been disappointed in any of us?”
“Exactly. You’re getting it, and have come a long ways in your understanding. Disappointment is what the world uses to keep others in line, so therefore they have to turn their back on Us, and to the degree that one uses performance, they neither know me or trust in me. You are already perfect to us, and we’d know.”
“Wow, I guess that I’ve spent most of my life away from you, for that sounds so much like my life,all but that perfect stuff.”
Joshua stepped in and said; “we wouldn’t let that happen. Sure, you turned to the tree of knowledge, with all its manipulations and gimmicks, and even went out on your own with your acquired knowledge, but We were always with you. Our Love never fails, We don’t forget to Love all, so no one has to perform for Us, We are Love. The Tree of Life is who We are, and that’s having a relationship with our Sons, everybody. And again, all are complete and all are accepted.”
Mulling this over for a couple of moments, and continually looking at the sparkle in His eyes, along with that big-ole grin, I whispered back. “So you’ve never been disappointed in any of us?”
“Never, Love doesn’t keep a record, nor does it rejoice in iniquity, Love endures all things, never fails, Love is the essence of true Life. Everything in the world will fail at one time or the other, but when that which is perfect, Love, is come, then that which is in part, mostly everything else, will be done away with, simply vanish.
“WOW!!!” That’s all I could mustard up.