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    VISION: Aligning With God's Purpose For Your Life
    VISION: Aligning With God's Purpose For Your Life
    VISION: Aligning With God's Purpose For Your Life
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    VISION: Aligning With God's Purpose For Your Life

    By J. L. Campbell

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    About this ebook

    Have you ever wondered why we allow other people’s opinions to warp the view we have of ourselves? What if you could refocus on who God created you to be instead of where you fall short? How do you know beyond a doubt that you are on the path that feeds your passion and satisfies your soul? Journey into the past, examine the present, and receive encouragement to pursue your dreams and step into your purpose with a new Vision.

    ABOUT THE MERRY HEARTS INSPIRATIONAL SERIES

    Some use God's word to justify domestic violence, imprisonment, slavery, and systematic racism rather than preach peace, joy, salvation, and love. Throughout the Merry Hearts Inspirational series, readers will experience scripture as never before. Authors take one-dimensional Biblical characters and breathe new life into them to become relevant for the reader.

    Over time, many things have been misinterpreted, but the one important thing is that God’s grace isn’t just for men. Christ valued women so much. He had His most profound conversations with women. Christ performed astounding miracles through them, and following His resurrection, He appeared to the women first.

    Throughout scripture, God's love for women and everyone—no matter ethnic background or gender—may be found, from Genesis to Revelation. May you come to know His love in an authentic, tangible way.

    Each book in the Merry Hearts Inspirational Series is a standalone and can be read in any order:

    Book 1 – Journey – Lisa Dodson [Ruth and Boaz]
    Book 2 – Vision – J. L. Campbell [The Outside Child]
    Book 3 – Purpose – Florenza Denise Lee [The Unnamed Woman]
    Book 4 – Growth – Janice Allen [Esther, The Three Hebrew Boys]
    Book 5 – Transition – Naleighna Kai [The Levite’s Concubine]
    Book 6 – Choices – Pat G’Orge-Walker [The Faithful Wife]
    Book 7 – Patience – Terri Ann Johnson [The Pharaoh’s Daughter]
    Book 8 – Persistence – U. M. Hiram [Hannah, Daniel, and The Centurion]
    Book 9 – Transformation – Naleighna Kai [Tamar and Amnon]
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Writer's Suite
    Release dateJun 29, 2021
    ISBN9789768307101
    VISION: Aligning With God's Purpose For Your Life

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      Book preview

      VISION - J. L. Campbell

      1

      Face to Face with Reality

      I’m a child of adultery.

      My mother never kept it a secret. I had known for a long time, but not at a conscious level. Many times, she’d say, Your father’s wife … in reference to one incident or another.

      Yet, it was only a few years ago that I realized the significance of how I came to exist. At the time, I was thinking about my mother and our relationship. By then, fifteen years had passed since her death so it was way too late to find out more about how my parents found each other.

      The most significant thing I remember about my father is how he loved me. He ran a hostel-type motel in downtown Kingston, and I'd visit him there. My memories of him are sketchy, but I cannot recall him ever speaking a harsh word in my hearing. He always sang Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline to me, which I never figured out because that was nowhere near my name. I guess it was one of his favorite songs.

      I believe he was a serial cheater because aside from the two sons he had with his wife, he had me and another boy that I only saw once or twice. My father's wife was never unkind to me, but she wasn't kind either. Aside from greeting me with a sour expression, she had little to say to me. Now I understand why. Not only did she have to deal with the pain of a cheating husband, but he had the gall to thrust the result in her face. 

      From my mother's accounts, he was overprotective where I was concerned. Didn't want me visiting my grandmother in the country during the summertime because he thought she wouldn't have enough to feed me. Of course, my mother was outraged because this was her mother he was doubting. 

      My early years were filled with everything a child could possibly want or need. I was loved, spoiled a little—although my mother was a strict disciplinarian—but knew I was special to my parents. Somewhere along the line though, life intervened and I lost sight of that fact. 

      From time to time, I think about my mother's choices, which were at odds with some of the things she taught me. One of my earliest memories is of her teaching me the Our Father prayer. Despite the fact that I was but a tot, she expected me to memorize it. My evenings were traumatic because if I missed a few words, she took me to task, a few slaps being part of that deal.

      Looking back, I realize she didn't know how to deal with the frustration she was going through in her situation, and some of that was transferred to me. As I still tell people, my mother beat me for everything.  Thankfully, this stopped when I became a teenager, but we had verbal battles as I rebelled against what seemed to be the stranglehold she had on my life.

      When my father died, I was devastated. At the time, I was twelve and in first form—grade seven—which is the age most children transition to high school in Jamaica. Naturally, our situation changed. No longer did we have the cushion of the financial support he provided. Thankfully, my mother, who was no sluggard, had gone into cosmetology.

      In high school, morning devotion was part of our school life, whether we wanted to participate or not. I'm grateful for that now. So many of the hymns we sang have remained a constant in my life and now have even deeper meaning. At that time, I first came across a song based on Psalm 139 by American composer, Dan Schutte. The title is Yahweh, I Know You Are Near.

      David wrote that beautiful Psalm, which talks about God knowing us intimately. So much so, that while we were in the womb, before anyone else knew we were there, He knew. 

      Some years ago, I was talking to someone whose husband had had a child outside of their marriage. As she expressed her outrage and pain, I joined her in speaking unkind words about that child and her future. Later, I had a come to Jesus moment when I realized that the things I had said applied to my life since I came into the world the same way. I had to cancel all those words and ask my Heavenly Father for forgiveness. 

      The biggest take-away from that conversation was realizing that even when we can't see our purpose, God has a plan for every life. I can testify that I’ve never lost any opportunities or been deprived of any advantage because of how I arrived on planet Earth. David knew his Heavenly Father had chosen him, was with him every step of the way, and understood his every thought. In the same way, we should also be convinced that He chose us and is an ever present part of our journey, despite how we came into the world. 

      There’s an interesting story in Judges 11 about a brave man, Jepthah, whose mother was a harlot, or prostitute, in today’s terms. His father, Gilead, had a wife and other sons. When they became adults, they kicked Jepthah out of the house.

      You’re not going to inherit anything that belongs to our father, they told him, because you’re the son of another woman.

      Jepthah left home, fell in with some bad characters, and went about raiding with them. When war broke out between the people of Ammon and Israel, the elders of Gilead made a beeline to Tob, seeking Jepthah.

      We need your help fighting against the people of Ammon, they told him. Come and be our commander.

      Hold on a minute now, Jepthah, might have said. Weren’t you the ones who kicked me to the curb? Did you not hate me and forced me to leave my father’s house? Now you’re in trouble, you come crawling to me to help you out?

      Well, this is exactly why we need you, the elders said, as if nothing major had happened. Come back with us, be the head over all the citizens of Gilead and help us fight this war.

      So let me understand this, Jepthah replied, hardly believing what he was hearing. "If I come and fight for you and the Lord gives

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