The Father and son sat on the edge of the garden’s wall, looking down over the seven hills of their Kingdom. Their home was so high, they had to walk down to the garden which sat just beneath the clouds. The garden wall was a favorite place for both of them.

They sat there, both remembering the building of that garden and its walls. The son, he had been right there with his father when he’d planted the trees tall enough for a boy to climb, and each tree with fruit enough to make the climbing a reward: the peach, the apricot, the grapes and dates with their juicy, delicious fruit. The rabbits, chipmunks, kittens and puppies, the deer and horses they’d brought to the garden – and the streams of water so clear and refreshing – water that seemed full of life. It was home away from home beneath the clouds.

They sat there, both remembering, the man His father had made and his companion, a woman, who was such a compliment to the man. How much enjoyment they all had in the garden. The people who lived on the seven hills would have called it paradise. The son thought they were right in their estimation, while realizing at the same time they really had no concept of what true paradise was like. The man and woman had been exiled for breaking the one rule his father had made. The father’s son missed their time together in the garden.

They each sat there lost in their own thoughts when the Father sighed, turning his head to look at the son he loved so very much.

“Look, son,” the father said, pointing out across the seven hills. “Look closely. What do you see?”

The boy looked closely, and the joy in his heart slowly ebbed away. He saw injustice, cruelty, He saw men and women worshiping man-made gods in the high city of their Kingdom that they had created for the man and woman when they had to leave the garden. He saw money changers taking advantage of those who’d come to the temple to worship his Father – and the lamb owners selling blemished lambs for sacrifice, a sacrifice that would cover their wrong-doing so the father could see them. He saw one man spit at the name of Yahweh while another man sat on a bench in his home, his head bent, tears on his face calling out to Yahweh, “How much longer, Yahweh. How much longer?” Not all his children had forgotten the King in the city above the clouds.

“I see our people suffering,” the boy said. “Those who have turned their backs on you suffer, and those who remain true to you, suffer. They are like those lost lambs in that field over there” he said, pointing to a field without a shepherd, a wolf pulling a lamb into the brush.

“They are like lambs who need a shepherd to walk with them,” he answered.

“It is time, son,” his Father said.

The son looked up, surprised, suddenly weighed down realizing what was being asked of him. They had talked of this plan ever since the man and woman had left the garden.

“Is there no man brave and wise enough, Father,” asked the son, “to turn their hearts back to you?”

“No, my son,” replied the father, saddened and overwhelmed at what he was asking his son to do.

“Are there no David’s, no Elisha’s, no Isaiah’s or Enoch’s?” asked the son.

“No, my son, but even they could not do what I need you to do,” the father said quietly.

“No Moses’, or Gideons, Hezekiah’s, Josiah’s?” the son asked.

“Oh, there are plenty of those my son, but even they could not do what you can do,” the father said.

The father continued, “You, my son, are the only vessel that can take my Holy Spirit – only you can become the spotless lamb in a man’s body, and carry it into their lives – their unfaithful, unkind, rebellious lives. One day, people will call those lives toxic to the ways and heart of God. Yes, toxic lives because those things which are toxic can destroy a body and a soul.”

“Why then save them, Father,” asked the boy. The father looked at the boy, raised his eyebrow – and the son remembered his Father’s promise to Noah – and his father’s conversation with Moses, when his Father had been so angry, he was ready to destroy them all, but Noah and Moses. The son waited, though, for his father’s answer.

“Because they are family; they are mine and yours. We are bound to try and save them – by the covenant we made with them, and by the unconditional love we bear them in our hearts.”

The son nodded in agreement.

“After you go to our family, you will then go to those outside our family. I have heard their cries, also. We need to bring them home, too, son – to adopt them in full sonship that we have with those that live on the seven hills.”

“What will be the difference I make,” the boy asked.” What will I do that Moses, David, Enoch and all the other great men who brought our people’s hearts back to you did not do.”

“Remember when I said a few moments ago that you would be the vessel carrying the Holy Spirit to our people,” the father said, gently. “Your coming will allow all men to carry the Holy Spirit at all times within them. Your sacrifice will cover their sins, like the unblemished lamb. That is why you must not sin, my son. You must be strong. If you cannot, no one will be able to save them. You will carry the Holy Spirit with you and give it to them, creating a highway through you directly to me, to my throne room, to my mercy seat. Only then will they understand how much you and I love them.

By going into a toxic world, you will forever replace the need for the sacrifice of an unblemished lamb. You will show them the way, empower them to go themselves into the throne room – and by going to the throne room, they will, like you, be able to go to the toxic places, to toxic people, to see them as I see them, and to save them as you can save them, and by saving them, bring them home to us.

It’s a one-on-one approach, my son. Eye-to-Eye. Soul-to-Soul. Sitting across the house table, breaking bread, in heart-to-heart soul saving conversations. All this, despite the harsh words, the unjust reactions. You will be turning the conditional law into our kind of unconditional love. Our kind of love is willing to lay down our life for our fellow man – and you will be the personification of all that means.

His son looked down at the world, saw the souls – the lost, ostracized, abused, those who couldn’t find a place to belong, even unbelievers – He saw them so very far from his father’s love. Having experienced that kind of love all of his existence, his heart grieved for what they knew not. His heart broke hard at their separation from his father. He suspected it would be anguishing, torture beyond endurance without His father, without the Holy Spirit. As the son felt the pain of his people, he turned to his father, tears in his eyes at the pain he witnessed.

He realized no one else could carry this precious Holy Spirit gift to the world. He recognized the truth. He was the only one who was equipped to carry it into the world, into all its toxic places, and that by doing so all men would then be able to walk into the toxic places that would one day be called mission fields, and show them how to do what his father asked him to do.

Sitting up taller, as if summoning up all his strength and courage, he told his father, “Yes. It is time, Father. Let us stop their suffering and give their hope life.”

 “Therefore, we are the Messiah’s representatives,
We plead on the Messiah’s behalf:
‘Be reconciled to God!^‘  
God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us,
so that God’s righteousness would be produced in us.”
~ 2 Corinthians 5: 20-21

Remember Me Monday: #93 & Link-up

“I’ll make a list of God’s gracious dealings,
    all the things God has done that need praising,
All the generous bounties of God,
    his great goodness to the family of Israel—
Compassion lavished,
.    love extravagant.”
~ Isaiah 63:7, The Message

In the Old Testament, God repeatedly, quietly and loudly, tells his children, “You have forgotten me!”  (Jeremiah 3:32, Ezekiel 22:12, to name a few). It’s a heart cry from a father to a child who has forgotten all the love, all the saving, helping, little and big blessings – and it leaves me stunned when I realize our Father, the creator of the universe, who knows things I cannot begin to fathom, who authors storylines that leave me amazed, delights in all of us so much, He cries out, “Remember Me.”

While every day is a Remember God Day, I am inviting you to join me on Monday mornings to come by and remember what God has done for you, for your family. Maybe God sent a cardinal darting out in front of you, as if to tell you, “I’m here,” or broke a child’s fever after you laid it all down at His feet in a 2 a.m. bedside vigil. Maybe He stood with you in the wait of a prayer sent out, or brought someone you loved to Christ. Maybe He healed your broken heart, gave your courage, or you gave Him your dreams as a love offering only to have Him give them back in an unimaginable way. Maybe God helped you survive to bedtime after a crazy Monday, or forgive yourself for missing it with your kiddos –– Whatever it is, let’s Remember Him. . . in a “Remember Me Monday” love letter.

“My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
Of your salvation all the day long,
Though I know not its measure.
I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord”
~ Psalm 71:15-16.

Let us delight in Him by telling the  stories of what He’s done!  If you wrote a blog post remembering what He’s done for you, join the linky. If you didn’t but still want to praise Him for what He’s done – write it in the comment section. Then visit a comment before or after yours! One of the beautiful things about the blogging community is the relationships it builds!

Rules?  Write long or short, a list or a story, include photos or not. Just Remember Him and what He has done, and let the gratitude of your heart guide you. Let’s make Monday so Rejoice, that the goodness of God spills into the rest of the week!

Note: The Linky Powers That Be suggested that you load your own photo from your computer. For some reason, it will not load from your link. I will continue to try to sort this problem out. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Places I’m Linking at This Week:
 Inspire Me Monday,   Instaencouragements, 
Legacy Link-Up, Recharge Wednesday
 Faith on Fire, Tell His Story, Grace&Truth
Let’s Have Coffee Wednesday Celebrate Your Story