The beautiful life is a conquest, those who experience it take it by force. In His miraculous power, we transcend our fallen nature and establish His kingdom on Destiny Avenue.
In the midst of a fallen world dominated by filthy demons and the strategic hierarchy of the netherworld, we spread a picnic blanket on a mountain meadow and rest, openly celebrating the beauty and purity of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, enjoying His transcendent fruit: love, joy, peace, faith, hope, the beautiful life.
All the while, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is in plain sight beckoning us to leave this wonderful place to reason with demons as Eve did in the Garden of Eden, willfully forsaking the beauty that we were so freely given. It all begins with a simple thought.
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“For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father, but of the world.” 1 John 2:16
It is a sobering reality that without Jesus Christ in our lives, we are on our own in this fallen world.
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“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.” Mark 11:23
We rarely see miracles today because we assent in our minds rather than truly believe in our hearts. To believe in your heart, you must enter the Spirit.
***
“He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21
If we will shut out the clamor of this world and seek Him in pure hearts, Jesus Christ will reveal Himself to us.
***
“Put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” Colossians 3:10
Jesus Christ created the new man in your heart at the new birth. Diligently seek Him there, and you will begin seeing things through His eyes.
***
We all conduct the affairs of our daily lives in our regular perception. As believers, we have an opportunity to experience the creativity of Jesus Christ if we will humble ourselves and discover His life in the Spirit.
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Life in the Spirit is indescribable, unmistakable, irreplaceable, unforgettable. It is the missing element in modern Christianity where all the precious things are hidden.
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The world is clamoring in error while truth whispers softly through the chaos.
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“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51.
This vibrant world we occupy is totally devoid of eternal life.
***
“He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38.
When we enter the Spirit, His life flows through our hearts into a lifeless world.
***
As Christians, if we will make good decisions and keep ourselves out of harms way, the netherworld can do nothing to derail our destinies, “he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” 1 John 5:18
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While the Israelites wandered aimlessly through the wilderness, the promised land was within reach awaiting their conquest. In the same way, the kingdom of heaven awaits those who are willing to abandon themselves and seek Jesus Christ with all of their hearts.
***
During the Dark Ages, the thousand year span between 500 A.D. and the beginning of the Renaissance, western civilization was declining and plagues were ravaging Europe. God did not alter the tenets of the New Covenant because of humanity’s pain, suffering and self indulgence.
***
While religion, the opiate of the masses, is a self justifying coping mechanism, experiencing Jesus Christ in the Spirit is transcendent.
***
It is only natural that we would want things on our own terms and no surprise that religion is always here to give it to us. Until we take leave of the babysitters and begin pursuing the precious things on our own, the world will see little or nothing of the presence or power of God.
***
The person we are when we awaken in the morning will never experience the life of Christ; we transcend our old nature when we enter the Spirit.
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Understanding the realities that govern your old nature and how to access the life of Jesus Christ in your new one will free you to enjoy your life.
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“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9. His grace was placed in our hearts at the new birth, but it is our responsibility to dig it out.
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“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
If we truly love Him, we will seek Him with all of our hearts. Only then, will we discover Him and begin the process of becoming a new creation in Him.
***
The new birth gives us access to the Spirit; sin entraps us in our old nature.
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“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10
Until we believe in His unconditional love and acceptance, we will never seek Him with all of our hearts and truly experience Him.
***
Our flesh is just flesh, and the devils are just devils, but Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Nothing on earth can keep us from His loving presence if we want to be there. In His power, we can break through every reasoning and march through every smokescreen.
ESSAYS
Regular Perception
The modern world is flooded with visual imagery. Satellites are beaming data from the skies and digital media is glowing on the faces of our miniature electronic devices. Images echo through our consciousness.
From a business and entertainment standpoint, the sky is the limit. The technologies will continue to advance at record pace and we can anticipate one breakthrough after another.
All this is great news for a tech hungry world, but it creates an added challenge for those determined to seek Jesus Christ with all of their hearts. The precious things will never be perceived mentally. In order to truly experience Him, we must shut down mental imagery.
In New Testament times, imagination and spoken words generated the mental images. Christianity transformed the lives of believers, and subsequently the world. They were believing in their hearts and demonstrating the power of God with their lives.
In today’s world, we are so captivated in our minds and emotions and so convinced that is all there is, we reason away scriptural truth. “That you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart.” Ephesians 4:17-18
Allowing the world’s attitudes, opinions and images to flood your consciousness will harden your heart and keep the reality of Jesus Christ distant in your life.
Uptown Downtown
It was a beautiful afternoon, the waves were magnificent. They were breaking over a long white sandbar, the ocean floor visible all the way out to the break. The amazing clarity was the result of the gulfstream, the giant river in the ocean running north out of the Caribbean Sea.
I was reminiscing on all the fun I just had when the Spirit of the Lord overwhelmed me. The reality of Jesus Christ in me was so vibrant and became so intense I was unable to move for what seemed like an eternity.
My Christian life had become routine. In the mornings, I would open the Bible and gravitate to the Gospels and the Psalms because they were personal to me and I could relate to them mentally and emotionally. I would read through the scriptures that address the realities established in Christ on the Cross, but never experienced Him the way I did that afternoon.
I began seeking Him in my heart, deeper and deeper. Diving from my mind into my heart, I was breaking through the images of my regular perception with a determination reminiscent of competitive sports.
“Picture yourself diving from your mind into your heart, deep into your heart, reaching then diving, forgetting and letting go, remembering only the love of God, and that He doesn’t love us based on our performance. He is love, and He put all of our sins on His Son, and not only ours, but all the sins of the world.” 1 John 4:16, 2:2
“So forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forward; looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. There are so many images in this world, but Jesus Christ is the express image of the person of the Father. Dive into Him and enjoy the pleasure of His company, the magnificence of His glory.” Phil 3:13, Heb 12:2, 1:3
Uptown downtown, it’s simple.
Into the Spirit
When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, our spirits change and become alive to Him, but our minds and emotions stay exactly the same.
The distinction between the life of Christ in the spirit of a born again believer and our mental and emotional perception is clearly established in scripture. “Put off the old man who grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and put on the new man who was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:22, 24
The old man is our fallen human nature, the person we are when we awaken in the morning. The new man, our born again spirit, is one spirit with the Lord. “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” 1 Corinthians 6:17
We will never experience the reality of Jesus Christ in our minds and emotions; we must go where He is, in the Spirit. Take the time to break through the competing images in your mind as you seek Him in your heart praying in the Spirit.
The Passageway
With His presence in our hearts, why are we so content to look the other way? Why aren’t we experiencing His creativity and His power? Why aren’t we seeing the miracles?
It’s simple, we live our lives in our regular perception. Those searching for reality in Him there will always be disheartened. To experience the fullness of Jesus Christ, we must enter the Spirit.
As believers, we access His realm when we pray in the Spirit while seeking Him in our hearts.
True Creativity
Over time, creativity defines culture. From Michelangelo and da Vinci in the Renaissance through Rembrandt, Renoir and Picasso, culture honors creativity. Our modern lives run on the creative innovation that began in the Industrial Revolution and continues today.
While I certainly respect the achievement of the great artists and inventors, I no longer equate the development of something through imagination and skill with true creativity. No man has ever truly created anything.
“For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16
Divine healing is pure creativity. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11
As we seek Him in the Spirit, His life flows through every cell in our bodies.
The creator of heaven and earth loves us and gave Himself for us, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24
If you long to experience divine healing in Jesus Christ, seek Him with all of your heart. You will see miracle after miracle.
Take it by Force
Blue light swept over us as the Puerto Vallarta police car forced our little rental off the road. The approaching officer demanded my driver’s license and I extended it through the window gripping it tightly. With a mean glare and his right hand resting on his pistol, he tried to rip it from my hand, and then tried again.
Contention follows us everywhere. It creeps into our families, friendships and professions, and is a resident factor in our spiritual lives.
Life is contentious enough, and then we become Christians. True Christianity pits our born again spirit against our fallen human nature and all the sinister forces that influence it. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12
My Destiny
The wind was blowing tumbleweeds down the road. The clouds were racing and the trees were dancing. It snowed for a few minutes earlier in the day, but the sun was out and it was warming up quickly.
Off to my left, two ducks were paddling around on a small pond. Patches of ice lined the shore and the reeds whipped back and forth in the gusts. The live oaks were still refusing to bud out, but I felt spring in the air.
I’ve seen the seasons change in many places. From a very young age, I was determined to explore the world. I’ve stood on the continents and immersed myself in many cultures.
Now, I am exploring my heart for “the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3
It is when we turn from the world to seek Him in our hearts that we begin truly experiencing Him. Jesus Christ reveals Himself to us as we surrender our lives to Him.
His Presence
Darkness consumed the last ray of light. There was no movement or sound, it was over. The Lord walked in and soft golden light flooded everything.
“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6
The Real Obstacle
In a culture that promotes prosperity and self actualization as the keys to true happiness, why aren’t successful people truly happy.. After overcoming challenge after challenge along the road to success, we stumble over the real obstacle.
Our fallen human nature blocks the life of God. It obstructs our ability to truly enjoy our lives. As new creations, we are given access to His life in the Spirit and an opportunity to experience true joy in Him.
The Beautiful Life
The Creator of heaven and earth has our best interest at heart. If we will humble ourselves and discover our destiny in Him, we can navigate a precision course through the minefields of life.
As we seek Him, He guides us. His directives transcend reason and His life the human experience.
The Human Experience
As the crown jewel of creation, humanity embodies beauty, mystery and hope. The human experience is truly enigmatic, we love and hate, laugh and cry. While young we share a common bond, an inclination to love and trust one another.
As the years go by, we harden our hearts and justify the attitudes and belief systems that frame our perception of reality. When my youngest sister was a child, it broke her heart to see people living in poverty; she wept when she saw poor children. Her heart was still tender.
Humanity loves religion, but hates God. We have no idea the trouble we are in and that our lives are on a crash course with destiny.
What compels an individual to be willing to abandon them self in order to truly discover Him?
Most people I know seem content navigating their own way through life. They will talk a little religion, donate money and even go to church, but ultimately their hearts are focused on finance and lifestyle.
Hardness of Heart
Over the years, I grew weary of the pedestrian world and its hollow trappings. I was sick of myself and my ordinary Christian life. I began seeking Jesus Christ with all of my heart.
I encountered an impenetrable hardness in my heart, the sediment of life experience and the disappointments that add up as the years go by. As I continued pursuing Him there, my heart softened and I became a new creation in Him.
After all these years, I finally discovered and now experience a life that transcends everything I thought I knew. “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” Revelations 1:5
The Tempest
Hurricane Wilma crossed the Atlantic Ocean and moved through the central Caribbean as the strongest storm ever measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The forecasters were predicting an about face over the Yucatan Peninsula and a return track to Florida.
The palms were whipping violently. Debris was flying and roofs were coming apart. Wilma was the third hurricane to come to town in thirteen months.
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8. The ways of God are a mystery to the human intellect, yet fit perfectly in our hearts.
In the midst of the tempest, we all default to what resonates in our hearts. If the love of Jesus Christ abides, we respond in faith. If all we see is ourselves, fear manifests and our true colors are revealed.
Where’s God?
For nearly a century, those educating our children have been telling them the universe is random and without a hint of divine order. Anyone with a heart knows better.
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:20-21
Primitive and religious peoples believe God is sovereign and in full control of the world. Anyone with a hint of objectivity knows better.
This is the New Covenant. He completed His work in Christ and has done all He is going to do. In this dispensation, He operates His kingdom through the lives of born again believers.
The problem for the world is that few believers understand this. God is a Spirit and He functions exclusively in that realm. As human beings, we are separated from Him in a fallen nature and if we truly give Him our lives, a miracle occurs in our spirits through which we gain access to Him, but it has no effect on our regular perception. It is “the mystery hidden from ages and from generations.” Colossians 1:26
The new birth enables us to perceive directly from our spirits independent of our minds and emotions. It is as we move through our hearts praying in the Spirit that we begin accessing His creative power.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7
Christianity
From the beginning, man has pondered the existential possibilities and rendered opinion on the meaning of life. Over the centuries, some have evolved into major philosophies, theologies and religions.
The simple truth…
1. God created all things through Jesus Christ.
2. Man sinned and was separated from Him in the Garden of Eden.
3. He brought the law through Moses to prove to man he could not keep it.
4. Jesus Christ restored all things on the Cross.
5. Those who believe in Him receive His grace by faith.
When we give Him our lives, we are delivered from the utter destruction that is the ultimate destiny of unregenerate humanity.
Old Man New Man
The consolidation of wealth and power and the use of force to defend and expand it is the dominant theme in human history. From the earliest civilizations right up to the present, it defines us. The strong dominate the weak and the rich the poor.
Some believe that through education and the redistribution of wealth man can transcend his aggressive tendencies. They feel that with the right political leadership, the world will finally experience true peace and prosperity. They turn a blind eye to history.
In the beginning, God said to Cain, the son of Adam, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.” Genesis 4:7. We inhabit a fallen world and enter it with a fallen nature.
In Jesus Christ, we can experience “the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4. “Put off the old man who grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and put on the new man who was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:22, 24
The old man and the new man operate simultaneously in the life of every born again believer and compete for dominance. The old man responds to the five senses and to the attitudes and belief systems that accompany life experience. The new man, our born again spirit, is one spirit with the Lord.
The Kite String
Madison Avenue makes a living targeting our insecurities in advertising campaigns. Why are we so affected by what others think? Why do we compare ourselves one to another? Why do we compete?
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20
If we will humble ourselves and learn to access His life in the Spirit, we can live our lives far from the codependent craziness of the world. In Him, we have the power to transcend the weakness of our fallen nature and distance ourselves from the soul ties that hamstring humanity.
While flying a kite, how hard is it to open your hand and let go of the string? Compare the ease of that motion to the brain damage of enduring a contentious relationship.
Eternity
Our modern lives are governed by the mandates of time. In disciplined families, we are kept busy from a very young age and before we know it our responsibilities are dictating our daily lives.
Imagine escaping the constraints of time and the gravity of your obligations. Eternity awaits us in the Spirit.
The New Testament scriptures that reveal the distinction between our old and new natures are not just targeting behavior, but the divide that separates them. “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.” Hebrews 4:12
We cross the divide when we pray in the Spirit while seeking Jesus Christ in our hearts. If we will patiently persist, we will experience eternity in Him.
Winter
It snowed and it kept snowing. The wind was howling, drifts were piling up and whiteout conditions were shutting down roads all over the state. Visibility from my front window was barely to the pines, a few yards away.
The sun came out and a new world appeared, a clear blue sky floating over a pristine landscape. There is a joy words cannot express and we can experience it for a lifetime.
Winter can be a time of discovery. When we take it down, He takes it up. When we quietly seek Him in our hearts, He reveals Himself personally. We can stay too busy for the rest of our lives while the unsearchable riches of Christ are just a whisper away.
Simultaneous Lives
It has been months since the ship sailed out of the Woleai lagoon. The days are long and languid, the work long since accomplished and the ritual climb of the lookout tree a hope of sighting that same ship on its return swing.
The US Trust Territories offered me a scholarship to conduct a medical survey in the Eastern Caroline Islands. The destination was a remote Micronesian atoll.
Crescent shaped islands encircle the cobalt blue lagoon. Coconut palms sway in the breeze as the islanders unload my gear onto a small canoe and paddle ashore.
Woleai is a simple culture. Food is plentiful and life demands very little work. When communal need arises, the men come together and thatch a neighbor’s hut, build an outrigger sailboat or net fish in protected areas of the lagoon. Bare breasted women tend the taro patches, weave lava lavas on looms and care for the children. Outside of a sake bottle used by the chiefs to ferment their coconut wine, there are few signs of western or eastern culture on the islands.
With the medical work behind me and a motion picture camera on my shoulder, I begin filming the activities of daily life. I presented hula hoops and frisbees to a number of children when I arrived, and three of them, two little boys and a girl, follow me everywhere.
They awaken me at sunrise with bananas and breadfruit and off we go. We dive in the lagoon, spearfish on the reefs and climb the tallest mahogany trees. They take me to a crater in the center of the largest island and show me their secret treasure, a Japanese Zero shot down in the last World War.
On fishing trips, I position myself with the camera on the outrigger extension of the sailboat raising it high overhead when we come about. With this rigging, the kids lift the mast out of a fastener on the bow and with the sail flapping in the breeze pass it hand to hand to the stern. The canoe slows to a crawl, the outrigger sinks under my weight and I am treading water to keep the camera dry.
As the weeks roll by, we run through thousands of feet of film. An opportunity arises to capture the felling of a breadfruit tree and the slow process of hollowing it out into an oceangoing canoe. We stop by every few days to observe and film the progress.
…
I hear weeping as we approach the men’s house on Iyefang. A forty year old man passed away during the night. The islanders are arriving carrying lava lavas, the brightly colored wraps women wear around their waists. They launch a canoe and begin singing as his lava lava draped remains are carried to the boat and continue as the lone white sail passes through the ocean channel on the far side of the lagoon.
Life goes on. We fashion tops out of mahogany chunks discarded by the canoe builders. Using a coconut fiber string, we throw them into a ring of palms competing to see whose top spins the longest. During a contest, a group of chiefs invite me on a midnight voyage to hunt migrating sea turtles.
The prevailing winds strengthen as Woleai disappears on the horizon. The islanders are conversing in hushed tones and flying fish are diving and splashing alongside the canoe. The hypnotic tapping of the outrigger is lulling me to sleep when the moon breaks through the clouds, a young man rifles a harpoon into the water and dives on top of the surfacing turtle riding it like a Wild West show.
Thirteen giant turtles are languishing in the sun. Everyone is excited about the upcoming feast and I am making plans to be elsewhere when it comes time to prepare it. Late that afternoon, the villagers congregate.
Sunset is reflecting on the lagoon in gold, tangerine, muted red, scarlet, then magenta hues. The kids are with their families preparing the feast and I am alone with my thoughts. Reminiscent of a Joseph Conrad novel, where the civilized man unravels in primitive society, I find myself worrying about the future surrounded by that magnificent sunset. The medical work was unsettling and I dread the return home to my studies.
My companions continue to awaken me at sunrise long after the busy months of filming wrapped. Moving through the villages and visiting with families, I smile and gesture with my hands. Communication that feels normal with the kids seems odd with adults. I begin climbing a tall mahogany tree scanning the horizon.
It is early morning and raining softly. The fog is so thick I can barely see the lagoon. Sitting in the doorway of my little boathouse, I have an experience with Jesus Christ. He reveals Himself to me.
…
The ship appears as a glint on the horizon slowly taking shape as it approaches. The islanders gather for a party and the kids stay up late. They know this is our last day.
On calm seas, we complete the circuit through the outer islands and return to Yap. I submit my report to the Trust Territories medical staff and a few days later step off of a plane in Tokyo. The Pacific Rim excursion continues south and west from Japan, through the countries on the continent to Laos and Thailand, south again through the islands to Australia, then back out into the Pacific to Tahiti.
Finally home in California, I have a heart to heart with my family about the direction of my life. I walk away from school, make a little money in a business venture and move on to South America.
As a songwriter collaborating with a college friend, I arrive by train in Buenos Aires, Argentina as an economic crisis is making headlines in the last days of the Isabella Peron rule. Inflation is spiraling out of control and there is a mad dash for anything resembling a US dollar. The official exchange rate at the bank is forty to one, but the money changers on the street are offering upwards to two thousand.
In the exchange, just a few dollars take us through evenings of dining and entertainment in a city on par with Rome, Paris and New York. The lifestyle is wonderful, but after a few weeks I’ve had enough. We lease a residence in a fashionable part of town and as I go to work on the music, he continues to spend his time in the best places. Months go by. He stays and I return home.
…
Dino is playing the piano in the sound room of his Ojai, California recording studio. As a sixteen year old boy in Havana, watching families boarding boats on the eve of the Cuban Revolution, he decided to join them. Shortly after arriving in Miami, he landed a job in one of the most successful musical acts of the late sixties and early seventies.
He gives me a wild look as I enter the room and tells me of an encounter he had with Jesus Christ while playing that same piano. I share my experience in the South Seas and marvel at his transformation.
With a bible, I drive the ninety miles south to Los Angeles excited about the future. He suggested I begin with the Gospel of John and I start reading that evening and continue the next morning. Within days, I feel compelled to leave my ambition in LA and pursue Christianity in Ojai.
I begin seeing that my perception of reality has been nothing more than the collection of attitudes and opinions I’ve gathered throughout my life.
…
The gulfstream runs north out of the Caribbean Sea bringing crystal clear water to the beaches of South Florida . On an autumn afternoon, waves are breaking over a long white sandbar, the ocean floor visible all the way out to the break.
I am reminiscing on all the fun I just had when the Spirit of the Lord overwhelms me. The reality of Jesus Christ in me is so vibrant and becomes so intense I am unable to move for what seems like an eternity.
He directs me to move to Colorado. I sell my home and head west.
On the endless road that runs through Texas, I begin seeing it from my heart, the simultaneous lives, the parallel realities, the clear distinction between the life of Christ in my spirit and the regular perception of my mind and emotions.