Whenever he had a few lazy moments he'd take a walk on the beach below the cabin his parents had left him some years ago. They had worked and saved all their lives to buy the land and build the cabin that they would some day proudly pass on to their only son.

The sand felt warm and crunchy between his bare toes. The morning sun scattered warming sprinkles of light across his shoulders. The clouds were clearing away now, as they often did, as if by some unseen decision they decided to play hide-and-seek with the sun.

The night before he'd heard the waves crashing on shore, angry energy that'd been more intense than normal. Perhaps a storm out at sea had riled up the water, pushing it with a vengeance onto an unsuspecting beach. It had reached up the bank and carried dirt and rock away, a prize for a grumpy storm.

It was curious how the sandy beach had stood its ground. It now bore the scares of retreating rocks and dirt without giving up more than a little of its sand.

A glint of sunlight splashed up ahead, just above the sand line. The man sauntered up to the source. Brushing away a tangle of seaweed ancient-looking narrow slabs of wood seemed to stare back at him. He cleared away the remaining dirt that blocked his view of a lid. It was an old chest. I wonder what secrets this old boy is hiding, he thought as he pried it open with a stick that'd been hiding nearby.

The tarnished golden coins lit up his brain like a Christmas tree with its lights fully engaged."Oh, wow!" He said out loud. He started to lift the chest for a trip back to the cabin. It wouldn't budge. It was far to heavy and still mired deep into the ground. This job would take some excavation.

Excavation would draw attention to the source of his work. It's a public beach after all. The contents would legally belong to the county.

A nifty idea encouraged him to take a trip to the county office. "Can I buy a little strip of land next to my cabin?" County government was always looking for extra money to pay for beach maintenance. "Public beach access wouldn't be affected."

"There's just this little knob of land behind it that I need to build some steps from my cabin down the hill."

"I'll run it by the council and we'll get back to you."

The response didn't seem very favorable. So, he spent the next several days planning for a midnight raid on the chest.

A call announced itself with a recognizable ring on his cell phone. "You can buy fifty feet for one million dollars."

They probably thought that would end the conversation. He'd calculated the value of the coins in the chest, left buried long ago by some enterprising pirate.

He took the next few days off of work and busied himself selling everything he had, including the cabin.

The clerk at the county office nearly fell off her chair when he laid the cashier's  check on the counter. At first she just stared at it with a puzzled look.

"Ok." She said as if her brain had suddenly become a slow motion movie clip.

It took the better part of a month but the deal went through. He hauled a backhoe out to that thin strip of land and dug up the chest.

He was right the chest stirred up a lot of interest in the local community including a front page article in the local paper.

LOCAL MAN FINDS PIRATE COINS WORTH MILLIONS!

But it was all his because it was found on land that he owned.

The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid  it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought the field. (Matthew 13:44, NIV)

This first short story is a modern day dramatization of what Jesus said about his Father's neighborhood. What is this treasure that Jesus is confident that when found a person will do anything to obtain it? And, what is the unimaginable benefit that this treasure had to offer? Let's take a look at this treasure and its impact on one's self.

Love is patient, love is kind. (I Corinthians 13:4,NIV)

We are talking about patience and kindness in grace-mode, where mercy creates a forgiving environment and personal events can be changed by altered thinking and newly refined actions. The three stories we just read  describe three unique and profound journeys, where the Father's agape-love was applied to glorious recovery.

Applied patience gives people time and space, even material goods when needed. It is a commitment on the part of a fellow traveler to join in the struggle against whatever is tearing them down and blocking a positive life experience for them.

When we are experiencing life in the never-ending way we see the treasure, who are the people where agape-love will flower into unforeseeable reward. The Father's children are not overwhelmed by depression found in the sinking trails of human experience. Rather we bring the power of the Father's love into their actual experience by lifting them up to our level of experience in the Father's Way.

Acts of kindness don't bring with them judgement but hope for a better present and a hopeful future. This doesn't mean that we don't speak truth from the Father's Word—Bible.

There is no guarantee that people will respond positively to our grace-mode initiatives. Earthy neighborhoods harbor rough places where unforgiving resurgence may draw blood. However, earthy neighborhoods are the gyms where agape-love character is built.

...we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:3-5, NIV)

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered....(I Corinthians 13:5a, NIV)

The thinking and behavior that these words describe promote a corrupt desire, a me-first drug that binds brain receptors and creates an illusion that self-seeking thinking and behavior will reward you with an all-you-can-be life experience.

When whole neighborhoods of people buy into the me-first drug conflict is going to call the numbers in this imagination-inspired lottery. This is where boasting and rude behavior jump into action. They distance people from unwanted relationships that are not worthy of their time and talents.

When this corrupted imagination divines that there are one or more people who are partaking in some me-first advantages—job description,material possessions, or whatever. The earthy brain's reward center is alerted. Someone is going to beat you out! You can't allow that to happen if you are going to keep your self-esteem in tact! Anger steps up to meet the opposition face-to-face, or behind the back with a good twist of the knife blade. A life drama proceeds to verify the illusion and resolve perceived problems in time and space with a boat-load of unhappy events.

...but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to death. (James 1:14-15, NIV)

These negative thoughts and behaviors have no relation to the Father's agape-love. They don't exist in His neighborhood, nor are they promoted in His Way.

When tempted, no one should say,"God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;...(James1:13,NIV)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James1:17, NIV)

...it keeps no record of wrongs. (1Corinthians 13:5b,NIV)

In earthy neighborhoods their occur any number of person-to-person interactions and events that drive emotion enhanced trauma deep into our psychic caverns. The question becomes will we keep these deposits as proof for revenge, or will we let them escape this conscience corroding trap?

It can be hard to let them go because they would rather entertain our minds by playing their dramas in endless film loops.

In the Father's Way agape-love gives its power and wisdom to the editing process. When we walk with Jesus all that baggage is taken away as we open those psychic caverns to the light of His promises. We have talked about being born again, in an earlier chapter. This event births in the Father's children a Spirit-to-spirit relationship releasing hard-kept experiences into His arms. We are released from the responsibility of caring for them.

What about consequences?

Certain revengeful acts that break the laws established in earthy neighborhoods may require some form of legal payment. However, good can be made the eventual out come rather than destruction.

Therefore,there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans8:1-2,NIV)

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1Corinthians13:6,NIV)

In earthy neighborhoods there are people who use evil as a resource for their thinking and behavior, from the less noticeable to the outlandish. There are the smaller, yet twisted, daily assaults on peoples' routine experiences. Then, there are the over-the-top,ruthless, assaults on the rule of law. These crimes, when the perpetrators are caught, splash newspaper headlines with the gruesome details of their heinous acts and, the terms of their detention in prison. They have avoided any consideration of the Father. Rather they have stumbled into the dark earthy roads that lead to death's dead end.

The people who rejoice in truth are the ones who are living with Jesus in the Father's Way—agape-love. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1Peter1:22-23, NIV)(Since we read in John 3:16 that Jesus came to save the whole world, that means brothers, sisters, etc.)

Agape-love is the treasure that Andrew, the Merwins, Stephanie, Brad and Heidi discovered and changed their lives when the Father's imperishable seed was planted in them. They were born again into a new life in the never-ending way.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.(1Chorinthias 13:7, NIV)

When we are born again the Father's agape-love flows through us like a river, welling up to eternal life. (John4:14b,NIV) This eternal spring becomes the source for the growth and development of all our thinking and behavior.

It is a treasure that does not depend on the unexpected or chance expressions of space, time or mater for its essential work. Rather,agape-love is the ultimate reality, the permanent promise of the Spirit's presence. That is the promise of the always,for protection, trust, hope and perseverance.Everything that is found in protection, trust, hope and perseverance in the Father's Way will be eternally permanent in the never-ending way.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our lord.(Romans 8:38,NIV)

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.(Romans5:5,NIV)

How are you able to listen to your favorite music on the radio, or view their videos on TV? You have to tune in to the right frequency. This is what we are going to talk about in the next chapter. Let's get tuned in to the Father's Way!