DIVINE TOKENS OF LOVE
Abba Father…Who are we, that You would pour out such incredible, wonderful, incomprehensible blessings upon us…continually pouring into us all Your Blessedness, all Your Goodness? How great, beyond measure, is Your fathomless Love freely lavished upon me by virtue of being born of the Spirit into Your Family, and thereby counted as one of the children of the King! That is who I am! I stand in awe as You lavish upon me wondrous tokens of Your Divine Love, Mercy, and Grace…just the little, seemingly insignificant things You do for Your child that mean so much to me! This is our heritage as children of the Most High God!
One late morning, while visiting my mother in Florida, I went to a lonely private beach that had access across the road bordering her Condo…just to spend some time alone together with my Father and commune with Him. I was the only one there, and was enjoying our quiet time as I lay out on my blanket under the umbrella.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two people on a jet ski were buzzing back and forth along the ocean water directly in front of me! I couldn’t believe it! They had the entire ocean available, but continued buzzing back and forth right in front of me! The noise of the jet ski pierced the peaceful silence, and was ruining my time alone with the Lord I had so looked forward to.
After a while, when it became apparent they were not about to move on to another spot, I began quietly lamenting before the Lord, “Abba Father, I really just wanted to spend some time alone together with You, and now this jet ski is interfering with our peaceful time together. I know this is not an important matter, and is kind of insignificant and meaningless…but it would mean so much to me if Your would just intervene and cause this jet ski to go away.”
As I continued quietly talking to the Lord in this manner, suddenly there was silence. After a short while I looked up to see what was happening. The 2 riders had pulled their jet ski up onto the beach, and were busy trying to get its motor restarted. So I casually walked down to where they were, and asked, “What’s the problem?” They responded, “I don’t know. Our jet ski suddenly shut down, and we can’t seem to get it started again.” “Oh,” I said; “too bad” as I walked away trying my best to contain myself! I was ecstatic; I could have done cartwheels along the beach! “Thank You, Father, for this wonderful little token of Your love for Your child! Thank You for this little blessing; it means so much to me!” Hallelujah!
Do you really think this was just coincidence? Well…in the Spring 1995 I had just finished writing a book the Holy Spirit had given me to put together entitled “Personal Letters From The Heart Of God.” I was asking the Lord whether I should publish it; I didn’t want to do so without His clear confirmation. While waiting for an answer, I was able to find a printer who would put together 1,000 copies of the book for me at $1.00 per book. This was really an incredibly low price, but in those days there was no way I could afford to spend a thousand dollars to do this. Just about one week after obtaining this quote, my boss [whose Company I was working for] called me into his office. This was not unusual; it happened every day since I was Assistant to the President. He was not a Christian; his god was money…and he had a big god that most definitely did not like to share! I could never talk to him about the One True Living God; he didn’t want to hear it. Of course, he knew nothing about the book I had written and was considering publishing. As I sat across from him at our usual little work table, he wasn’t saying a word. Silently, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. Still not saying anything, I watched as he slowly counted out $100 bills on the table in front of me. When he had reached 10, he picked them up and handed them to me, saying, “I just wanted to give you this” [that is a quote!]. Right out of the clear blue, and for no good reason!… except that the Lord somehow moved him to do this as a confirmation to both publish the book and to provide the exact amount of money I needed to do so! Hallelujah!
Do you really think these were just coincidences? Well…at 5:00 on a Friday afternoon in the mid 1980s, I left Brooklyn with a 15 passenger van filled with 5-12 year old inner city kids on our way to a weekend retreat at a Christian Center in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I was their Youth Leader. The Conference Center Director told me that the Prayer Band from the Brooklyn Tabernacle was going to be there for the entire week… and they had been praying for us every day. I was deeply impressed by their doing this, because they certainly did not know us, and at that time I had never heard of the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
It was winter and it was cold, but everything seemed OK…until we got into Pennsylvania. The van was being pelted with an ongoing mixture of wind-driven snow and freezing rain, and the narrow mountain roads were becoming slippery and treacherous. I was in a cold sweat, continually pleading with the Lord to watch over us, protect us, and keep us safe. With a heart of thanksgiving, we arrived at the Retreat Center at 9 PM…and the gracious staff was there waiting for us, with a wonderful dinner they had prepared for the kids!
Saturday was spent involved with our kids program, and then we joined the Prayer Band in the early evening to have dinner together. After dinner, our kids went over to the fireplace at the other end of the dining hall to sing kids worship and praise songs along with the tracks I would play on our boom box. We always sang these songs, everywhere we went. They knew at least 100 songs, all by heart! We had been invited to sing at a number of churches over the past year; it was our particular God-ordained ministry. The kids were enthusiastic and all lit up when they sang; they thoroughly enjoyed pouring out their little hearts in these songs! Invariably, it would bring the house down wherever we went!
I selected a track, and the singing began. I never had to tell them which song I was going to play; they knew in just a few seconds into the opening music! Soon members of the Prayer Band began wandering over and joining in, and we were all immersed in singing worship and praise songs! Suddenly, out of the clear blue, the Spirit of God fell upon the group! Both kids and adults were weeping with joy, and then break out into another song! Then kids and adults were joyfully weeping and embracing one another, breaking out again into yet another praise song! Everyone was filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit! And so the inaccessible Light of the Glory of the awesome Presence of God just kept going on and on! No one would ever be able to forget that evening when God poured out a Divine token of Love on our small group! Hallelujah!
Do you really think these were just coincidences? Well…in February 2016 the Spirit of God opened a door for me to go to Mississippi to appear as a guest on a radio broadcast at the American Family Association. I was invited to stay at the home of a Christian family during my five day trip. They offered to pick me up at Memphis airport on my arrival, and to bring me back there for my return trip home to Florida. The airport was an hour and a half trip…so I needed to arrive there no later than mid afternoon for them to avoid rush hour traffic, and to depart from there very early afternoon in order to arrive in Florida at a decent hour.
The following late-Saturday morning, after finalizing my trip plans, I determined to go on-line to make plane reservations through Orbitz ticket agency. I was kind of talking to the Lord about it, asking Him to lead me and guide me by His Spirit, as I make a habit of doing in everything, and decided, “Abba Father…I think I will go for a walk first along the water, and spend some time alone together with You. When I get back this afternoon, I will go on-line to find a suitable flight, and book reservations.” But the Lord startled me, saying in a voice as clear as you and I speaking face to face…except it was not an audible voice, “No; do it now” [that is a quote!]. I responded, “Well…OK, Lord; I will do that.”
There were probably 100 flight combinations for the departure and return dates and hours I needed [there were no direct flights]…but all of them had long layover times. Except one. It was perfect in times of departure in both directions, had the shortest layover times, and was one of the lowest airfares among all available round trips! And there were only 2 remaining seats available! I immediately booked one of them. Later that afternoon, after returning home from my walk, out of curiosity I looked to see if the other remaining seat was still available. It was gone!
Do you really think these were just coincidences? Well…just about a month ago, in the early hours of the morning well before dawn during which is my daily time of communing with the Lord, I was prompted to ask, “Abba Father, I know this is not an important matter, and is kind of insignificant and trivial…but it would mean so much to me if You would just cause our Condominium Master insurance policy renewal to come in at the same premium as last year.” I am President of our Condominium Association, and was scheduled to meet with our insurance agent later that morning to finalize the renewal. We have an unsettled claim against our policy, and I was told two weeks prior that it looks like the best quote was going to be $1,500 higher than the current expiring year. As I sat with the agent reviewing the policy, she got to the premium page, and announced, “I am happy to say that we were able to get the renewal at the same premium as last year.” I was ecstatic; another little token of my Father’s love… granting even insignificant and trivial requests for no other reason than just because His child asked!
Do you really think these were just coincidences? Well…on the morning of 9/11/ 2001 we were at 30,000 feet on a flight from Florida, one hour from New York City. The pilot’s voice came over the intercom, as he calmly and quite matter-of-factly announced, “There seems to be some terrorist activity going on in the New York area. So we’re just going to turn around and head for Atlanta.” I was sitting in a row of seats with two other men, and thought to myself, “Why doesn’t he just head for Washington; we are practically right there.” It wasn’t long before passengers with cell phones found out what was going on… that two commercial passenger jetliners had just deliberately flown into the the Twin Towers and another one into the Pentagon; the Towers were engulfed in flames and were being utterly destroyed in a massive heap of rubble!
We circled Atlanta Airport for several hours before being cleared to land… all planes in proximity of the Eastern seaboard were being re-routed there. Myself and the two men I was sitting with…total strangers…decided to band together and pool our resources, if necessary. They knew the huge Atlanta Airport very well, and knew exactly which airport train to take to get to ground transportation services. There were going to be 35,000 passengers stranded at this airport, so their knowledge would prove to be a great blessing! We planned to get transportation to Macon, Georgia [sort of a central hub], and then to Valdesta on the Florida border, where we would spend the night at a motel. The wife of one of the men arranged to drive to Valdesta and pick us up, and we would all head back to West Palm Beach. Would you believe the three of us…complete strangers… “just happened” to live within a few miles of one another? Would you believe that when we had gotten to the Atlanta Airport ground transportation area, our absolutely critical point of departure considering the sheer volume of people looking to find a way out of the airport area, there were only 3 seats left on the last 15 passenger van to Macon? Incredible!
Do you really think these were just coincidences? Well…in the Spring 2013, my mother turned 95. The Lord had miraculously raised her up off her death bed in July 2004; He had Personally told me three times, in a voice as clear as you and I speaking face to face… except not an audible voice…“I am going to raise up your mother.” [That is a quote! You can read the testimony on this website, entitled Divine Healing]. Even in her old age, her spirits were almost always high. She would say things like, “I am thoroughly enjoying life!” When she awakened in the morning, she would say something like, “Oh, it’s a beautiful morning; the sun is shining. I might be getting old, but there is nothing wrong with me. I’m just getting old, that’s all.” And sometimes she would add, “It’s so hard to get old.”
But this one morning, as I lay beside her on one of our double twin beds, when she woke up she was not high-spirited at all. She was so depressed… saying things like, “I can’t go out and walk anymore for an hour; I can’t bake; I can’t sew” And she just went on and on, lamenting in that manner. “Just take me to the grave. Just bury me; put me in the grave.” It kind of broke my heart. I was just lying there, holding her hand, not saying anything… and just began to pray, silently, “Oh Lord, You see her…it’s so difficult to be old. Just reach out and touch her; just give her Your peace and Your comfort.” I continued silently praying along those lines for a while…and then there was silence. Shortly, out of the clear blue, my mother said, “Do you hear that beautiful music?” Well, I didn’t, and I knew that she couldn’t hear anything without her hearing aid anyway. Even when I was right next to her, she could hardly hear me. Yet, she heard this beautiful music, and said, “I wonder where it’s coming from? It sounds like it’s coming from outside.” Every single morning, from that day on, when my mother awakened she heard this beautiful music…which I never heard! But there, the answer to prayer…or rather, I should say, “Prayer moves the hand of God.” The Lord answered my prayer, and He provided this Heavenly music…this beautiful music for her. Every single morning, for weeks and months, until the end of her life, my mother heard this beautiful music first thing every morning when she awakened!
I don’t know whether in the depths of your heart you really believe there is a God in Heaven or not, but this I do know…my Father’s ear is attentive to the voice of His child, and He loves to give His child little tokens of His Divine Love whenever my requests are within the framework of His plans, purposes, and will. Scripture tells us, “You have not because you ask not…or you ask with wrong, selfish motives.” Do you really think these seven testimonies were just coincidences? If you do…then it wouldn’t make any difference if I were to write the several dozen more that have taken place. [Read John 9:1-38]
I proclaim to you Christ Jesus…the One Who existed from the beginning, from Eternity Past, Whom I have heard with the ears of my own inner being, and have seen with my own spiritual eyes. I have gazed upon Him and have spiritually touched Him with my own hands. He is the Word of Life. His Life is continually being revealed to me; I have seen it and testify to it, and I proclaim to you that He is the One Who is Eternal Life. He always existed with the Father, and is now continually being manifested afresh and anew to me. I proclaim to you what I have personally seen and heard in the depths of my soul, so that you also may enjoy this same fellowship together with us. The fellowship I continually enjoy is with the Father and with His Son, Christ Jesus. I am writing these things so that you also may fully share together with me in this fullness of joy. [1 John 1:1-4]. It is our birth-right as a child of the Most High God!
Preserve Christian Family 