My world changed when I turned 70 years old, while reading Matthew 5 in the Bible. JESUS taught His disciples to pray like this:
"Our FATHER in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
I paused and began to speak to JESUS.
Not sure where I was going with this, I simply said:
"JESUS, this is how You taught your disciples to pray. As I look around me, Your people are not living on earth moment by moment concentrating on doing what the FATHER is doing and saying what He is saying.
How do we do that? How do we obey You?
JESUS, I am seventy years old, so I can't have too many more years left. For the rest of my life would You be so kind as to give me the gift of showing me 'How would Pat live on earth as it is in heaven?' I have no language for that."
The thirteen years since then have been the most glorious and the hardest years of my life.
Strangely, GOD has given me a whole new way of thinking about life. Everything has been turned upside down. Now when I am tested, when I have a trial, when trouble comes, or even when I experience sickness, I celebrate that I get to know GOD in a way that I never could have known Him had this never come into my life.
Celebrating those challenges in my life is now a taste of heaven for me. It certainly is not how we typically respond to these things on earth. It truly has to be a new experience of GOD's Presence in me. Thirteen years later, He is still answering this prayer I prayed when I turned 70.
Here in Columbus, Ohio, 2017, GOD gave me the name of this book and the road map to FATHER, JESUS and HOLY SPIRIT which creates His Legacy in each one of us. I take no credit for anything but the mistakes in this book. As I have found, so I hope you will nd the words of this book to be a spiritual stimulus to make FATHER GOD, JESUS, and HOLY SPIRIT your First Love!
This book is divided into a Five Part Roadmap . . .
Part 1, INTIMACY: Nearness to GOD and con dence in Him changes everything!
Part 2, IDENTITY: You are who GOD says you are . . . nothing more, nothing less!
Part 3, INTENT: Joy is found by walking in the pur- pose GOD created you to ful ll!
Part 4, INHERITANCE: GOD makes His deposit through you into generations who follow you!
Part 5, IMPACT: Humbly surrender, give, receive, impact the World, and populate Heaven!
The book opens as a dialogue and continues as a dialogue. It is written in a conversational script format between a female named Bernice (which means "bringer of victory"), GOD as FATHER, GOD as JESUS His Son, GOD as HOLY SPIRIT, and satan.
Bernice is a fictional character whose life story combines tragic, but real stories of real women who have been a part of my life.