He's not an imaginary friend; He is real!

“Fear of the Lord leads to friendship, which leads to favor,” my Pastor once said. Certainly at three years-old, I didn't know this and wasn’t mature enough to grasp this concept. But in its simplest forms, I have been well aware and in AWE of God’s presence in my life from one continuous vision that comes to me during deep moments of prayer. In the first childhood dream, a man walked with me holding my left hand. He was clothed in dazzling white so bright I couldn't see much of him or know where we were. There was a cross ahead of us and He was leading me there. I woke with nothing but a assuring sense this man is my best friend. Throughout grade school, I didn't connect this man with the name of Jesus who I learned about at church, but somewhere, my soul must have sensed it. When I was 12, I was introduced to Jesus as Savior. I was attending a Protestant summer camp with my earthly best friend and her church was teaching us what Jesus can mean to us personally. The Bible was so powerful and intriguing I accepted Christ was who He said he was; the Savior. As life goes on, the story continues with more and more revelation of what the dream means. Eventually I'd understand where I the road I went wrong, why parts of it were scary and how to get there in meditation to learn more. I've learned to lean on the Spirit's guiding to seeing this road and evaluating my life on it. The first time I was assured this was all God's leading was when my dream became a real, live scene played on an altar during one Easter week. I was 19. A giant wooden cross stood in the center and the priest walked out clothed in dazzling white. I fell to my knees. Tears flooded my face. I returned to my best friend who I ignored in rebellous teen years at times. Countless times God would bring me back on this road in the last two decades showing me more and more evidence like this real experience. For me, spiritual life is deeply impacted by a childhood dream then practiced with a real world relationship. We saw things most kids never do. We had spiritual occurrences most people would classify me mentally insane if I told them. But they were real! And Jesus knew what would happen so He prepared me in advance to know Jesus would be my best friend to the end. These moments with Jesus give me hope, an everlasting eternal assurance of the One who holds my left hand and leads me to Heaven. This is what allows me to persevere in faith, to stay in a state of AWE, and to never let go of my friendship with the Lord .

So you say you want a king, huh?

You can spend the entire day reading all the text in the Bible about Old Testament kings; you can be intellectually wrapped up in how God is going to keep David's royal chosen line safe in this hot mess of people killing people and terrible punishment coming down from Heaven. Jealousy in rage. Nations torn apart and all the world can see this divided house perfectly aligned for a fall. Somehow David's line is spared the bloody sword, even when the two opposing sides of Israel intermarry and God sends one replacement outside the line to murder both kings. Studying the carnage laced text, you can wonder how it got so bad. It all comes down to one verse. The intro to the saga explains it all-they asked for it.Hungry and thirsty, they demand one way to feed their souls. Their starvation blinds them to make a choice based on what they see in front of them and how they feel. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." 1Sam 8:19 Begging to be led in a way that will satisfy what they perceive is missing, the Israelites ask for a king. They see other people gaining much benefit from being led. Nations of people look strong and mighty with someone in power. This request comes from a people who believe God is sending them a mighty warrior to take out their oppressors and have them reigning in glory for eternity. They got it all wrong. Not much different than I did on the dating scene sometimes haha. Never compare your status to what or who you see around you and what other people have. Maybe that's why there are two commandments on coveting in Gods top 10 list of things to look out for. See Jesus was the leading man. But, He wasn't going to just come in blazing a trail of hurt for everyone who hurt me, pick up all the bills I can't afford to pay, raise my son so I'm not as stressed, heal all my families illnesses so everyone is well and spoil me till the end of my time. Nor was Jesus going to come this way to the Israelites. Jesus would come as a baby needing to be fed, burped, diaper changed and taught the ways of a proper Jewish servant. Dutiful and faithful to His earthly parents and Heavenly Father, He would be an "out-of the box" success story beaten right out of this world He created because they wouldn't get the eccentric demands of love He possessed and stressed everyone live by. Surely I felt the love Jesus offered. I knew who He was thanks to my loving parents. But in my teens I rebelled that love and never really got on track until I realized Jesus was my one true love. So in the meantime, I'd live like the Israelites in Judges doing my own thing and put kings in place of God to lead me.