Jeremiah's Journey - 13: She Is Coming

Jeremiah returned to his home in the countryside of the Midwest. After leaving Tuscany, Italy where he met an angel, a messenger, who introduced him to her Father, the Vinedresser, Jeremiah ventured to Black Mountain, North Carolina. There he found what he was searching, a new home where everyone he encountered was a new and fresh soul. The past was left behind. He was who he is, a son of the Father, and no one disputed that, for Jeremiah showed God’s love to everyone he met, radiating with a glow of the Spirit.

I’m speaking of God’s Spirit within me. When I returned to my cabin in the woods from the cabin in the clouds at Black Mountain, I continued my journey in the Creative Way. I am a storyteller and open my heart to you. I compose transformational fiction, stories about you and myself, for our hearts are not far apart. If you feel that your circumstances are so unique, your trials are only yours; someone has experienced them, also. I come alongside you with a story that may very well be your own.

Adelina was an angel. An angel is a messenger from God that points to your journey with God. I loved Adelina, but love with an angel is fleeting, like the wind. She showed me that the Vinedresser, her Father and mine, would prune me of the dead branches of my past. The buds of new growth would yield fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All that I needed to do was to live in the True Vine.

I will advance to sixty years in August, and I will celebrate my birthday on Black Mountain. Then, I will attend the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Nashville, Tennessee. It is there that God is placing my steps even though I resisted…out of fear.

Yes, I said the “F” word. The word that holds us back from receiving the blessings that Father wants to give us, if we would only ask. I requested the present of the daughter that the Father reserved for me many years ago…but I was not prepared to receive. Seven years in November and the divorce will be complete. Seven is the biblical number representing completeness. My solitary life is finished. My journey with my life partner will begin and will not end until I pass into an eternity of heaven. My journey of transformation to who I am, a son of the Father, will take a new course, hand in hand with His daughter as He is with us, three cords bound in love.

“She is coming.” These words resound like a trumpet from heaven. I did not call them; His angels are singing them, messengers from the Father.

Think about it.

When you surrender your will for God’s will for your life, when you surrender every aspect of you, your loved ones, your health, your possessions, your ability to produce income, even your very life, you receive the steps He will take you on the journey to give you the desires of your heart. It is a promise of God: “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”¹ Delight in the LORD is to receive His will in place of your own.

I do not want to sound preachy by quoting God’s Word, yet when I told my son that he is “not guilty” and asked him if I was too spiritual, he responded, “Not at all.”

We can speak God’s Word by doing it. The people you encounter will see something different about you. They will open their hearts to you. That is your opportunity to encourage, to edify, to speak what you hear from the Holy Spirit within you. And that was what I declared to my son.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”²

Live on and find your mountain. I have found mine.

“She is coming.”

To follow the story of Jeremiah’s Journey, review the archives of this blog.

Thanks to Father for the words He has given me.

Copyright © 2016 by Jeff Cambridge

References:

1.     Psalm 37:4 NIV

2.   Romans 8:1 NLT

Like Father, like Son

It's time to for me to write about what is shaking the American family to its core. It's time for us to take a stand for fathers who are separated from their children. Are mothers kept from their children? Not.

Where in our thinking for the best interest of a child would we diminish the role of a dad? I’m not talking about a deadbeat dad, never around, never caring, never paying child support. I’m talking about a dad that is involved, cares immensely, and deeply loves his children.

God is our Father, a perfect father. Where in his Word does he authorize, condone, or displace the dad of a son or daughter from his or her life? You will not find one word in God’s Word that supports this. So why does the court of law, the law of the land, separate fathers from their children?

It is time to return to God’s moral values of family life. God does not condone divorce, but it happens. Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. We could argue whose fault it is, but that will not get us anywhere regarding the best interest of the children, and yes, there are times when divorce is in the best interest of the children.  He said, she said, he did, she did, and it doesn’t matter. The children’s best interest are served when the law of the land provides for equal parenting unless it is proven that a parent is truly harming the child with her or his presence.

That is not the case with my situation. I have experienced this firsthand. All a mother has to do is rant and rage and show tyrannical emotion that the father is the devil. Judges, in our court of law, submit to this.

I chose not to berate the mother of our children, to blast her with accusations. I chose to love her as Christ loves her. Not one derogatory comment was presented about her in court. I could have, but I forgave and forgot. I had no record of her sins against me. I had no account of her trespasses. She had an entire notebook of mine. Page after page, she documented every wrong doing of mine. The notebook was thick.

I just wonder, I wonder if God kept track of our wrongdoing how thick the book would be against us. Yet, God sent His Son to save us from the death of our sins. Jesus submitted to God’s will and became our sin on the cross. Don’t think for a moment that your “book of sin” is thin. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. We cannot claim our salvation in our good works. It is only by the grace of God that we are saved.

So then, I return to my claim on my children as their dad. No one, no one can separate me from my children. I claim this in the name of Jesus. Amen.  

Remembering Dad

The earliest memory of my dad was clinging to the hairs on his chest as he walked into the Gulf, waves splashing me as they crashed against him. I’m guessing that I was two-years-old. Given the opportunity, I did the same with my children. Stalwart and strong, he was my protector from any danger.

Dad was an army man, a sergeant in the National Guard. The armory was nearby, and I watched him from the porch of our house as he drove a Duesenberg army truck in the caravan that paraded down our street to a weeklong training at Camp Atterbury.

Riding my bike, a red Rollfast, he held the seat as I pedaled hard through the yard. I don’t remember falling, so my first launch into freedom as a child was exhilarating.

I remember mom serving squash for the one and only time as a side for dinner, you know, that mushy stuff that may be pawned off as orange mashed potatoes. Dad didn’t like it, so I didn’t have to eat it.

I remember Dad giving me my first baseball mitt, bat, and ball. I was a Little Leaguer, and he was my coach. Upon coming home from work, we played pass together. His glove looked like an antique with fat fingers and no web, catching the ball in his palm. I wouldn’t have been a pitcher without his encouragement.

My dad formed a Boy Scout troop, and I became the leader of the Rat Patrol, named after my war heroes from the episodes that aired 1966-1968.  One week of his vacation was to take me and my brother to summer camp, a time to live in the woods, make a fire by friction with a bow, spindle, and board, act out skits at the bonfire, swim a mile, and practice first-aid and water life-saving techniques.

My friends and I were going to build a fort in a tree of a tree line that divided a cornfield. I showed him where it was, and that same day after he left, I fell out of it breaking my arm in a spoon break and compressing three vertebrae. He rescued me.

Dad bought our first house when I was twelve, a brand-new, three-bedroom ranch style with a full basement. He made a Ping-Pong table and Grandpa gave us an old, miniature size pool table. We didn’t have air-conditioning, and it was cool in the basement to play during the hot days of summer.

My dad showed his emotions. He stood for what he believed in and shed a tear when the National Anthem was played as he stood at attention with a military salute.

He drove my girlfriend and me to the movies on my first date. I felt like I had a chauffeur. Fast forward three years, and he caught me skinny-dipping with my high school girlfriend in her pool while her parents were on a trip – date cop!

If there are words that I remember him saying often to me it would be these, “I’m proud of you, son.”

The day I went to college, Dad and Mom said goodbye, Mom with tears and Dad with a smile. He knew his son was ready to become a man.

When I remember Dad, he was always there, always supported me, always encouraged me. I will always be his son, and he will always be my dad.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I miss your smile. I miss sailing with you.

              Sail on, dear Dad in heaven.

What You See

You are watching me. I'll give you something to watch. I'll show you who I am.

I'll show you a boy that grew up as the smallest, the shortest youth in a senior class of 998 students. Yet, while I was less physically, I made up in mental prowess, in insightful discernment, in creativity. I did not need to be a powerful man in strength, an athletic jock, nor an intellectual nerd. I was I, and I blossomed as a rose unfurls its petals, in full bloom, the radiance of my inner being stopping others to peer deeply into the heart of the bud. Where is the last petal, the one that is growing at the moment?

I'll show you a man that succeeded, and a man that crashed and burned. Many times, I had the fast rise and the descending plummet. I made it happen. I pursued my will with the zeal of a nitro pulse that rockets a car down a racetrack. Yet, I was in the sprint of life, taking no heed of its marathon timeline. After twenty years of experiences powered by the rocket fuel of my passions, I burned out.

From the ashes I rose, and from the fertile ground that a wildfire leaves behind, new roots penetrated the rocky soil of my life from the Root that never dies. Though my house had fallen, the foundation remained built upon the Rock. Said, that if a wildfire burns a vineyard, the grandfather root, from which every branch was planted, will live. This is the story of my life. All that remained was the True Vine of my life, the root that lasts forever, beyond our concept of time.

Like a lotus flower that blooms in spring, it came from a source buried in the dark of a lake, a shoot that reaches upward to find the Light. Once it broke the surface, it could breathe again and blossom with beautiful life. A Phoenix is rising from the ashes, a lotus flower blooming, a rose that opens to bear the petals of each stage of life. That is vulnerability.

I say this to those that are watching me, that the past is dead and gone, like ashes, like the mud of decay at the bottom of a lake, like the remnants of a rocket that disintegrates upon its fall to earth. A new life begins, and this is what you should watch, not the reruns of tiring episodes of a soap opera. Embrace the new, the uncertainty of tomorrow, the blessing of living by faith in what is not seen, for it is not what we see that is important, but what lies beyond our perception viewed with the eye of the heart and not the eyes of the mind.

Selah.

Shalom.

Amen.

On Trial

I awoke this morning to words from the accuser. Word upon word described that which I am not, each one a fiery dart that hit not my heart, but my shield of faith. You see, I am a son of the Father, and I am complete in Christ, joined as one with Him. As a son of the Father, I am an heir to the kingdom of God, the eternal kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God within me. Through my inheritance from the Father, I am cloaked with the armor of God¹:

The helmet of Salvation claims that Christ is the head of my life, protecting my mind from false ideologies and accusations that come against my true identity in Him.

The breastplate of Righteousness claims that Christ sealed my heart with Him with honor as a son of the Father.

The belt of Truth secures holding up God’s Word, Truth that clothes me.

The gospel of Peace shod my feet wherever I walk in the Spirit of God, proclaiming the rule of Christ to love God above all things with all of me and to love others as I love myself.

And it is the shield of Faith that protects me from the lies of Satan, the accuser of God’s children that attempts to diminish our faith in the one and only God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

As a son of the Father, I have one weapon, and this is all I need to fight against, not flesh and blood, but rather, the darkness that clouds the Light within me, for I am the light of the world. That weapon is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden form His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”²

When we are “put on trial” by the world, the sons and daughters of the Father have the sword of the Spirit, a double-edged sword that is both an offensive and defensive weapon. As a weapon of offense, God’s Word – The Holy Bible – is illuminating, revealing right from wrong, the wise among the foolish, and the light clouded by darkness. The sword of the Lord cuts out the darkness (lies) that veils the Light (Truth) that transforms you from who you perceive yourself to be (based on the accusers of the world including yourself) to who you are in Christ, perfect and complete in Him.

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart.”³

O how I love your law!
All day long I meditate on it.
Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
for I am always aware of them.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your rules.
I am more discerning than those older than I,
for I observe your precepts.
I stay away from the evil path,
so that I might keep your instructions.
I do not turn aside from your regulations,
for you teach me.
Your words are sweeter
in my mouth than honey!
Your precepts give me discernment.
Therefore I hate all deceitful actions.

Your word is a lamp to walk by,
and a light to illumine my path.⁴

This morning, what the accuser attempted to hurt me with, at first, prompted me to defend myself. But then, the Spirit reminded me that I am a son of the Father, and I am in Christ, an heir to the kingdom of God where there is no condemnation in Him, the first born among many brothers and sisters.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”⁵

So, know that when you are “put on trial” by this world, your Father uses these trials for your growth in Him. God’s Word removes the darkness that clouds the Light, surgically cuts out the evil of this world, the lies that attempt to condemn you, and frees you from the snares of the enemy. For your all-knowing Creator, knew you before you were born, appointed you in advance for an eternal purpose, summoned you to be His son or daughter, freed you from any question of error, dishonor, guilt, or negligence, and made you shine brilliantly as the light in a world of darkness.

So then, this question remains, “When you are ‘put on trial’ by this world, do you think only about saving your reputation, or are you more concerned about what people think about Christ?” Defend yourself for the cause of the gospel, not to satisfy your ego.⁶

References:

1.     Ephesians 10:20

2.     Hebrews 4:12-13 NKJV

3.     Jesus’ Prayer for Believers, John 17:14-19 NET (italics added)

4.     David sings of the Sword of the Spirit, God’s Word in Psalm 119:97-105 NIV

5.     Romans 8:28-3- NIV

6.     2 Corinthians 12:11-15, Notes from the Life Application Bible NKJV