"Let it be known that there will be stories and information that you may not have heard before. I encourage you to allow yourself to remain open and to receive what is meant for you. Time continues to go by so quickly. Grasping for crumbs of harmony and joy is not what your life ought to be about. Be assured that it's definitely not the reason you're here."
How does a Jewish woman from Brooklyn become best friends with Jesus? What makes one person's experience of Jesus more important than another's? Does Jesus speak to people in the twenty-first century, or is He confined to the Scriptures? The truth is . . . there is no way to really answer these questions definitively. Even the authenticity of the Gospels is questioned by many scholars, as there have been so many revisions and translations over the centuries. The only way to approach the information in this book is to consider whether it is relevant to you, the reader-- whether it touches you and makes sense to you . . . or not.
As we are all the creators and judges of our own lives, we also know what is meaningful to us. As you read these pages, you will hear the wonderful and profound messages that Jesus wishes to convey, and you will know if its truth is yours . . . or not.
You be the judge.
Editor's Note
I remember years ago Neale Donald Walsch appeared on Larry King Live to talk about his extraordinary series of books called Conversations with God, which by that time had been on the New York Times bestseller list of over 170 weeks. One of the first questions Larry asked, in a somewhat gruff tone of voice, was, "How do you know you're talking to God?" To everyone's surprise, Neale responded that he didn't know. Larry relaxed. Okay, he was probably thinking, this guy is not certifiable. Neale went on to point out that no one could really know the information he recieved was from God--only that was how the source of his information identified itself. He wasn't vested in proving anything. He only requested that when people read the book, they decide for themsleves if the information was meaningful to them, and if the knowing of which would make a difference in their lives.
Having edited and published both books, I can say that the same principle should apply for Conversations with Jesus. Alexis Eldridge calls Jesus an intimate friend, and talks to him every day. He wanted to write this book with Alexis and convey some information that he thought would be beneficial for people to know. Alexis also knows that there is no way she can prove that Jesus dictated these words. She can only know that these words did not, could not, have come from her own mind, and that to the depths of her soul, she believes that they come from Jesus. The fact is, either you believe in life after death or you don't. If you do, then it makes sense that time is different in that realm and it may be certainly possible to communicate with anyone who lived in any "time" period on the earth.
Much of what you will read in this book will gently change the perception of who Jesus was and what his role was in the brief time he was on the earth as the man they called Yeshua ben Joseph. I believe this book has the real message that he came to communicate to all of us. Jesus said that one can know the nature of a thing by the fruit it bears. Thus, Alexis can only ask that the reader decide if what is written here makes sense to them and if the thoughts and ideas ring true in their heart. I know they do for me.
Robert S. Friedman
June 2010
Acknowledgments
I offer my deepest gratitude to Jesus for beckoning me to co-create this book with him. I also thank him for his trust in me.
Thanks to Bob Friedman, publisher, now friend, for knowing there were more conversations in need of hearing, and suggesting that I write them down. I also appreciate his encouraging and the acknowledgment of my knowing.
Finally, to Kristine Sensenig, I send a bouquet of chocolate flowers for the heart that she put into this book while typing and editing.
Introduction by Jesus
My dear fellow sons and daughters of the Creators,
It's through this book made manifest that my own prayers have been answered. It was my dream to have someone, other than those who have already done so, speak on my behalf. And, it was also my dream that the sharing be done in a way that would not further confuse people who come to hear my teachings, stories of difficulties, and the ways I got through them.
Both Alexis' belief in her experiences of the time by her side, and her unadulterated quest and need for truth no matter what the cost or consequence, has offered me all I needed. She has allowed me to share the information with which you will soon be blessed. Before now, my heart longed to be heard. Out of exile, chains dangling, open and free, I welcome you to our conversations--which are completely directed toward what I know is the highest good.
Our conversations are meant for inspirational and transformational purposes. Both Alexis and I allowed only our truths to speak in the pages that follow. Our time together was organic. There was no planning of the topics that were addressed. We knew trusting in the divinity coming through us would be the right way to proceed.
Let it be known that there will be stories and information that you may not have heard before. I encourage you to allow yourself to remain open and to receive what is meant for you. Time continues to go by so quickly. Grasping for crumbs of harmony and joy is not what your life ought to be about. Be assured that it's definitely not the reason you're here.
My intention for everyone who travels the pages of this book is for them to find their way out from underneath the layers of falseness that make up much of modern society--so that the beauty of who they are, and of the course they are meant to be walking, will be clearly known. Through my real teachings, personal challenges, and joys, may my intention become reality.
Lovingly,
Jesus
Introduction by Alexis
How does a Jewish woman from Brooklyn become best friends with Jesus? I ask myself this still, even though it has been quite some time now. Although when I reflect upon it, there is some indication of the answer. I see myself as a young girl in the single digits. I'm at an adult gathering of my father's friends--standing in the background and watching them. It was at that time when I first knew there was something different about me--something different from the rest of my family. I asked my father to step out of the group, so that I could speak with him. I then told him I knew what everyone was feeling and thinking. He smiled strangely, went back to his friends, and we never spoke of it again.
Many additional occurences in my youth continued to encourage me to suppress my intuition. It was painful them, living through my teens and twenties, having forgotten what I once knew ...
I first noticed Jesus about ten years ago. A symbol related to him appeared in a painting I had done. The difficult choice not to smear the form, so that it would become once again only color, changed my life in myriad ways--including recovering my intuition. He then became a presence in various poems. I began writing about his strife, and the way he loved. It was as if I knew him intimately. I felt him and his life's experiences.
I started believing that there was someone I could relate to--another who had been judged, misunderstood, and not appreciated for his way of being. I didn't question how I knew this, having never been exposed to a Bible or what he taught. It simply felt natural and right.
An actual relationship began a few years after the time I've just described. Through a guided visualization with a group of others, all being led to meet our individual spirit guide, he came to me. He let me know he was the one. It was surprising, despite what had come before. Previously it had been a bit of a mystery. This made it real. I understood, at that point, that the groundwork was being laid. Through the painting and the poems, he was becoming accessible to me as I was becoming open to him. And at the age of thirty-three, feeling ready for a new chapter of my life to begin, one with more richness and meaning, the most loving being I had ever known showed up to guide me there.
It took some time for me to accept him into my life on a regular basis. But I did. Learning how to hear him fully also took practice. The most significant challenge was believing in his guidance and trusting in my experience of it. I often wondered if it was just my vivid imagination creating it all. As his guidance began to prove itself to be that which was for the highest good (which was not something I was used to), my belief strengthened. My daily experiences became less threatening, more understandable, and I felt deeply supported. Life was unfolding as I was hearing it would.
All of this, and more, has led me here--wrtiting the introduction to a book about what Jesus wants to be known. The book was first encouraged by a friend I had told that Jesus and I spoke together regularly. The idea came as a surprise. And yet, when I asked Jesus if that's what he wanted, I heard a clear confirmation. However, I didn't know if I could do what he asked. "How will I know which questions to ask you?" I said. "Will I be able to really hear your answers clearly enough to transcribe them?" I was them reminded of the pages and pages of written information I had received for myself, by hearing him. And yet, it was still inconceivable to be able to do it for others with such precision and deliberateness.
Before I agreed, I wanted to practice. I was afraid that I would fail, so I decided to be very nonchalant about it. One autumn day, driving around in my pickup a long way from Brooklyn, I asked Jesus the type of question to which I thought people would want to hear an answer. He answered me with vital information, and I heard it clearly. I was then one step closer to committing.
A few more weeks went by and then our process of written converstations began. Autumn was ending and the nights now had a chill to them. One in particular had a little more obvious magic that it wanted to share. I was pulling into a parking space at my local DVD rental shop, enjoying the last few lyrics of an unfamiliar folk song. What I heard, although I can't recall exact words, I'm now going to share:
"We spend our lives learning ways to live ... when really it's about learning how to live from the truth of who we are."
Those words sum up my life so far and why I agreed to co-create this book. Those words have also proven themselves to be the theme of what you are about to read. It is my deep wish that this sojourn leads you to the truth of who you are.
Through grace and with gratitude,
Alexis