The whole ground shook below me. I watched as bit by bit that great mountain of pride crumbled and fell. It began to dissolve before my very eyes, finally caving in upon itself until it stood no more. It was gone; and with it, all that it held.

I fell again, with my face to the earth, and with fear and trembling, I cried out, “O Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner...Thank You Lord God Almighty, for You are my salvation.”

From that spot where the mountain once stood there arose a hill upon my plea that my sins be forgiven. I looked up and saw atop this hill of my pleas, a Rock, and on this Rock the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and whose brightness shone as merciful and gracious, long-suffering and kind, filled with goodness and truth. His wings stretched out wide, as if to embrace all who came to Him with repentant heart. On the right was the rod of His authority, held up by the brightness of His truth. At his left was staff of justice, held up by the splendor of His mercy.

From the Rock on which He sat, a river of water sprang forth, flowing down the hill and washing me in its refreshing coolness. It continued past me and as I watched, it cut deep embankments into the earth, alongside which trees began to grow. The roots from these trees reached forth from the banks and deep to become moistened by the river flowing past. On each tree fruit appeared in abundance such as I’ve never seen and of a size I’d never imagined.

I suddenly realized how very hungry I was for the taste of this fruit, how thirsty I was for their nectar. I felt parched and dry and weak from the lack of nourishment. I looked back to the top of the hill of my pleas for forgiveness and I fell before it to worship. From its midst I heard a voice that said, “Stand and go now.”

For a moment I just stood there, to frightened and amazed by what I saw to move, when a child appeared by my side.
This child took me by the hand and said, “Come, we must take our journey. Do not be afraid. First you must eat of all the fruit from the trees in this place. They will strengthen and nourish you for the journey that lies ahead. Eat your fill while you are here.”

I turned once more towards the top of the hill and again the voice spoke, “Go now. I send you forth to fulfill the purpose which I have purposed. Obey my commandments and it will be well with you. Now go!”

I looked into the eyes of the child standing beside me and for a brief instant, divinity flashed across His face. A faint recognition spread like warm milk throughout my heart. As we turned to leave the base of this hill, He said, “You’ve known Me and know Me and will know Me greater still.” Intrigued, I allowed myself to be lead by this Child.

As we approached a grove of trees whose fruit glistened firm and ripe in the light of day, three men appeared out of there midst. Their names were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who became Israel. “Blessed be the Most High God,” I greeted them. They greeted me the same way in return. There set before them was a table prepared with the fruit from the trees. They invited me to sit down and eat, and eat I did. Ravenously I gorged myself on all they set before me until I could eat no more. During the course of our meal they spoke to me about many things. They taught me what they knew of the Great and Mighty God whom they served. They spoke of their own lives and how He was a part of them, what He had taught them, and the ways in which He revealed Himself to them. They showed me the places in my own life where God had appeared, not unlike to them. They told me how I came to be in this place and why I was here. When they had finished speaking, the Child brought out bread, and after giving thanks He broke it, sharing it with me. And afterwards He poured a cup of wine for us to share. I ate and drank all that He gave me. When I had finished the cup, I set it down again on the table and when I looked up, they were gone. All that remained were the Child, I, the trees that bore fruit and the words of the men that filled my heart.

A bit bewildered, I blinked in amazement, but my mind began to piece together all that was said, guided as it were by an unseen Spirit within me. The Child returned to my side and, taking me again by the hand, He said, “Come and see. There is much more to learn and many things to see.” We moved on to the next tree.

I noticed as we walked that this Child seemed to have grown a bit during this last visit. When and how it happened I’m not quite sure, but He was taller, sturdier, and more mature. A new glimmer of familiarity broke out across His face in every expression.

As we stopped along the way at each fruit tree by this river, the scene before me repeated itself. The messages were repeated over and over as men would appear; Men who bore names such as He Shall Increase and Rescued, God Is Salvation and Bold. There were twelve sons of Israel whose names said, “The Lord has surely looked upon my affliction, now therefore my husband will love me, because the Lord has heard that I am unloved; he has therefore given me this son. Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have born him three sons. So now I will praise the Lord because the lord has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son. With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and indeed I have prevailed. Now a troop comes and I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed. God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband. God has endowed me with a good endowment, now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. God has taken away my reproach, so the Lord shall add to me another son, and his name shall be called Son of the Right Hand.” This was Israel and the precious stones of its name were laid upon the breastplate of the One who is come.

As we traveled onward, we came across the groves of a man king named David who was Much Beloved, and his son Solomon who was a prince named Peace. There were prophets whose written word from God begged of washing in the waters of repentance and the forsaking of sin in preparation of a straight path that was to be made for the coming of the Greatest Prince of them all. Gideon and Deborah, Ruth and Naomi, Samuel the judge, Ezekiel and Isaiah, Daniel and many more. All were present. All had tables prepared with the fruit from their trees. All shared the bread and the wine with the Child who led the way.

As we moved along in this Kingdom, such as it was, and as we all did eat of what had been prepared, this child who walked before me grew to become a man. Noble and strong, confident in His word and sure of the God He serves and the path that he treads, this man was the perfect image of God as He had revealed Himself to men. As He blessed them with the abundance of Himself; and as he increased each with their portion of His inheritance.

This child who became a man turned to me and said, “What time? What day? What hour? Can you be sure? And yet my brother, as you toe the line between two eternities, both past and present, this brightness shall light the dark of night, and in the heat of the day I shall adore thee. Your own troubles will become small by the noble cause which was mine alone to bear, whose feet impress the sands of time, and whose voice shall whisper to you in each new day. And yet, if you should stumble, or even fall, I gave you this time to remember.”
Divinity once again scrolled itself across His face as He spoke to me these words.

He also said to me, “The rich man who wants to be seen as God, whose passion is for others to see him as such in order to lord over the poor man, can only help the poor man to see that in him self is Christ the King. And there he shall keep Him, safe and secure. It will be the one thing that the rich man will be unable to take from him, ensuring that he will always be free. It will be the one thing he shall possess that the rich man will refuse; because to find Him he has to first become poor.”

As he spoke these things to me he turned towards me and a warm smile broke out across His face. “Now do you know Me,” He asked? My heart leapt in sudden recognition of Him by the very nature of the words that He spoke. It was He whom I followed through darkest night, through the mountain of pride and the sins of my past; He who had washed me with His tears and prayed that I should know God; He that suffered in all the places that I’d been and now walks beside me in all the places I am now going.

As His warm embrace circled around me, He seemed to vanish before my very eyes, and for a moment I was lost without Him by my side. That is, until I heard Him speak from within my heart.

I looked at the road that stretched before me and imprinted in the sands of time was a pair of footprints that tread the road ahead. “You must take your own journey now. But I am with you always and wherever you go. Do not leave the way in which I showed you, turning neither to the left, nor the right. Keep your thoughts fixed straight ahead, loving all, and judging none. I will be here whenever you need Me. I pray that you will. One day, you too will be planted like a tree, beside the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not whither, and whatever you do shall prosper. Go now, in peace with God.”

And so my journey begins. George W. Bush is King of the Americas, at war with the nations of the Ishmaelite who wage their battles across the earth, but especially in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. The Americas call the Ishmaelite ‘terrorists’ and the Ishmaelite call the Americas ‘The Great Satan.’ Only the LORD God Almighty knows who shall be victorious. As Abraham before me, I make my encampment with those with me, by the terabinth tree of Mamre. The worldly kingdom of Israel, reformed after the second great battle between the nations of the world, is locked in battle with its brethren Palestine. A battle of wills... a war for inheritance.

Worthiness of love is not found in our ability to please others, but rather, it is found in the love and forgiveness given to us by God Almighty through His Son, Jesus Christ. Gratefully received first, and then given willingly. Worthiness of this love values the love received from others as their own ability to love depends on that and in turn becomes gratefully accepted. It should be valued and treasured to the point where our desire is to do nothing to offend that love given, nor be offended by it but instead, only return it in kind.

Lord God Almighty…Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”