IT'S ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! DO 2586 11/89
1. It seems like all the news nowadays is good news, when normally it's been nearly all bad news! At last some good things are happening, so much so that it's almost astounding! It's almost unbelievable that things could change so quickly & so widely with all of these East Bloc countries getting their liberty & freedom & rebelling from their former slavemasters etc. It's almost like the revolt of the slaves in the days of the Roman Empire!--Except for Romania, that is.
2. The funny thing about Romania is that it was the most independent of all the Russian border states & was always sassin' back at Moscow. Romania was favoured by the U.S. even more than the other Communist nations of that area, because outside of Yugoslavia which was totally independent under Tito, Romania seemed to be acting the most independent. But now Romania is the hardest of all! There have been no demonstrations, no marches, no nothing! The people there are not daring to. In one of their last big celebrations President Ceausescu even got up & gave a five-hour harangue to the people about how great he was & they were & said they would never yield to this rebellious attitude & blah blah blah!
3. But the Lord gave me something in the night about the situation in Eastern Europe & what's apt to come. Mama, would you read it again? (Maria: It was the night after we first heard about the big demonstrations & police brutality in Czechoslovakia. You said, "There are those who are dedicated to restore the old order, & then there are those who are dedicated to form a new order! I was one who sought a new order! Hallelujah! I'm dedicated to form a new order, in Jesus' name! TYL! Czechoslovakia is determined to enforce the old, but reform will come at great price & great sacrifice & many lives. God help Czechoslovakia! God help the people of Czechoslovakia & give them strength & determination to have reform!
4. ("In Czechoslovakia there is terrible, horrible sacrifice of life like Tiananmen Square, because the old leaders are determined to strike out & crush any reform. My God! It's horrible!--Almost the same as Tiananmen Square! They are determined not to yield & to resist the spirit of reform. My God! What horrors! What horrible crime it is to resist the spirit of reform & democracy. My God! Help them, Lord, in the Name of Jesus! Rebuke the Enemy! Rebuke the horrors of the Enemy! Rebuke those hard, hardline Communists, anti-Christs, in the Name of Jesus! Oh, Jesus! Do it, Lord! Do it! Deliver those poor people from the hard, hardline anti-Christs, in Jesus' name, amen! TYJ! Please help, Lord! Please help the poor Czechs! Help them to gain their freedom in the Name of Jesus! Grant Thy favour to the Czechs who want to be free!") I didn't even know I said it! She told me the next day & I was shocked!
5. The way I look at the present situation there--the seeming liberation of Russia & all those Communist states & the literal crumbling of the Communist Empire--except for the horrible thing that happened in China, it just seems that this is all too good to be true & some of those top Communist dogs are going to get fed up!
6. Well, you know what the rumour & the legend is about Michael Gorbachev. The legend stated that Michael the Marked would be the last Czar of Russia, & the general interpretation was that he was to be assassinated. Well, you can certainly imagine that! Here's a Christian taking over the Communist Empire! The Lord said he was a Christian, He called him "My son!", & everything has corroborated that!--His early history, his religious tendency when he was a boy, his devout grandmother & all of that. (Fam: And it's now even legal to take Bibles into Russia!) They're opening up & are having much greater religious liberty now.
7. There's been story after story about Gorbachev's Christian upbringing. Of course, Stalin was also a student in some kind of church school. And Khrushchev definitely had a Christian upbringing. He went to a Catholic monastery school and learned a great deal of the New Testament by heart when he was a boy and could quote it by passages! He also tried to bring about reform, but apparently it was too early. Stalin and all of those had been too hard and there were still too many of the hardliners around.
8. Well, here are these monsters who have ruined Russia & ruined its people & ruined its economy, & Gorbachev comes in & tries to save it when it's already too late! The people have been ruined by Communism & the economy's been ruined. So they've been almost glad to hand it over to him to get rid of it so they wouldn't be blamed for it, & so that he would have to take the blame. But there are also plenty of former Communist leaders around who are angry at being discharged & thrown out & their places taken by others etc. The more saviours that arise in those countries, the more enemies that arise to oppose them, & we need to really pray that this present situation will last as long as possible, at least a period of peace & detente & reconciliation.
9. It's just almost beyond belief! Who would have ever thought that it would come to this? It looked like it was going to go on to worse rather than ever get better, & that the Antichrist would be the worst. Well, there are a lot of men offended by the new freedom movements, & they're pretty hard men & they usually stick together, just like the Chinese leadership did in the long run. Some writers are even beginning to voice fears that it could still turn. They have control of the armies & they could do just like the Chinese government did at Tiananmen Square--they just sent in their big military forces & crushed the rebellion!
10. It's almost too good to be true that with all the different nations concerned, not one of them will try to crush it! It looks like Ceausescu of Romania, who has previously been considered the most rebellious one as far as dictates from Moscow are concerned & has often thumbed his nose at Moscow, apparently is thumbing his nose at the new Moscow & is declaring, "It will never happen here!" That was his whole big five-hour harangue, that he's not going to ever let it happen in Romania! So we'll see. There have been no demonstrations there, no marches, nothing. So apparently his people know what he would do!
THE COMING OF THE ANTICHRIST!
11. So we need to pray about that situation. There are several possible scenarios about the coming of the Antichrist, which I have discussed with some of you already, & we're getting out two new Prophetic GNs on our feelings about what will now be the order of events. (GNs 404 & 405.) But you know & I know that what's going on now could not possibly meet with the Antichrist's approval--we know he must be alive somewhere--& I can see that perhaps somebody will suddenly try to stop this deluge of rebellion & freedom marches etc. & try to take the lead of the elements which don't want to have all this freedom. It could easily be the Antichrist himself, or if he doesn't want to be revealed yet, some particular chosen leader who would be appointed to resist this rebellion & crush it.
12. I cannot help but go the way of the Scriptures. Of course it depends on our interpretation, but the Chapter which outlines the progress, the identity & the home country of the Antichrist & which makes it the clearest & the most detailed about the order of events is Daniel 11. And according to Daniel 11, the Antichrist arises as a leader & as a warrior who leads wars, personal wars against the South, even before he signs the Covenant. I think in the 25th verse he fights a war in which he has a tremendous victory over the South--the South in this case represented by Israel, one of his primary enemies, & the countries to the South.--And of course their allies as well, which could be the U.S.A., as it seems to speak distinctly of the U.S.A. in some of those verses.
13. He comes against the South, which results in this Covenant or Peace Treaty being made. It's called the "Holy Covenant" but can also be interpreted as a peace treaty, obviously made partly with the Jews, because it speaks of the South distinctly, & Judah or Israel is just a few hundred miles South of Russia. Apparently this Covenant is made to try to settle all the squabbling that's been going on, it's a peace treaty resulting from his war.
THE WAR IN LEBANON!
14. There have been oodles of wars going on! It could be just some little war like Lebanon's where they've just blown up Rene Mouawad, their new president. They finally had everything going smoothly with Arabs all in consent & a certain division of the Christians, the Druzes etc. Only General Aoun & the Maronite Christians didn't like that peace plan.--General Aoun is the one who recently restarted the civil war, by the way, by shelling the Muslims & the Syrians of West Beirut. He started the battle all over again when it had just about died down & they were just beginning to bring peace & settlement.
15. There were plenty of people who had a lot to gain by Mouawad's death. Plenty of people have a lot to gain by keeping the Lebanese civil war going. --Of course, mostly Israel, because as long as the Lebanese are fighting with themselves, they're no danger to the Israelis. But it said that lots of other people also have a lot to gain by keeping that war going. If there's no election & no president, then General Aoun stays in power.
16. It's also a lot easier for big criminals & drug dealers & arms traders to function in a nation that is without police, without customs officers, without power & where anything goes! It's just a whole country run by armies of gangs, each loyal to a different leader or a different person. It's just about the worst state any country & city could ever possibly get into & it fulfils a lot of prophecies in the Bible. (See Isa.23:1-10; Eze.26:2-7, 28:21-23.)
17. In a situation like that, anybody can do anything! I remember when we were living in that little hotel in Cyprus, three men arrived & one of them seemed to be perpetually drunk, probably on drugs, almost like they were holding him hostage or holding him under control with their drugs. One of them offered me hash one day & said, "I can get you the best & the purest. I've got it, & cheaper than you'll get anywhere else!" Well, I love hash, especially hash brown potatoes & corned beef hash! That's the only kind of hash I ever took!--And I really like it!
CRASHING COUNTRIES--WHO WILL SAVE THEM?
18. So anyway, it seems like this is almost like the calm before the storm. If you wanted to make a worldwide dictatorship & become king of the World & you already had things pretty much under control through the Communists, at least in one half of the World, how are you going to like this sudden rebellion against Antichrist Communism & a man leading Russia who is virtually a Christian? I just have a funny feeling of apprehension about it, that it's too good to be true! Something's gotta give, or somebody's not going to give in to it & there's going to be one Hell of a horrible reaction that somebody's going to lead to try to stop this flood of rebellion & crumbling of the Russian Empire! Who's it going to be? Where's it going to be?
19. It looks like Romania is definitely against it, but Romania is not important enough & I don't think Ceausescu is important enough to really try to stop it. But somehow or another something is going to give, it just seems to be too good to be true.
20. How would these countries fare if the Crash comes now?--Which has got to come soon! Even some of the most optimistic of the economic prophets say that it couldn't come later than 1990, & most of them have predicted the last part of '89, which is where we are now. How would the Crash, if it now came, affect all these little countries that have already crashed? There would be nobody left to help them, no saviours to guide them.
21. It looks to me like the Crash would be the next most logical occurrence to bring down all these countries which have already crashed, including the Latin American countries & the Third World countries. They've already crashed! They're already suffering horrible economic chaos! They're already bankrupt! The U.S., of course, is already bankrupt too, but doesn't seem to know it, they're just going on with business as usual. But when that happens it's not going to be business as usual!
22. So who is there going to be to save all the little Russian countries & the big Russian country, the Communist countries that have already gone bankrupt? That's why they're trying to get rid of their armies & are willing to sign disarmament deals & everything else, they can't afford to spend that much money on war any more, they've got to try & take care of themselves for a change! That's also why the U.S. is in such a dilemma spending 300 billion Dollars a year for all of its military. It just can't afford it! Of course, the Americans are smart, they know that stopping that war spending is what brought on the Great Depression last time. I've told you about the vicious cycle of War-Boom-Bust. (See ML#H.) That's why they've kept this Cold War attitude going for over 40 years since the last war.--Think of it, for almost 50 years now!
23. As I've told you before, the thing that most dictators do to take the people's minds off their own domestic troubles is they cook up some big enemy that they can all join together & fight against! Well, that's exactly what the U.S. is doing & has been doing now for almost 50 years since the last war! Think of it! The U.S. has kept its people's minds on Russia, "This is your enemy! You've got to have a massive build-up of armaments & you've got to build this gigantic war machine!"
24. That's where we got dear Amos!--He was a part-time Baptist preacher who had a secular job working at a huge war plant in Texarkana, on the Texas-Arkansas border. He was a Christian & was conscience-stricken about having to work for the war machine making weapons & whatnot, so when we finally came along he was ripe & ready & just fell in our laps! He had two little boys & an obstreperous wife who was hardly even a Christian, much less our kind, & hated him & they were about to break up, but he didn't know what to break up to till we came along! So he just was ready to forsake all!
25. Dear Aaron told him, "Well, you've spent all those years working for the war machine, why don't we go down there in front of the gates & protest?" They couldn't get anybody else to go with them, so just the two of them went down there with signs & placards marching up & down protesting this war plant! The cops stopped them & took them in for a little while, but they figured they were just a couple of kooks & they let'm go. But of course they said, "Don't you ever come back here again!" Well, that's how we got Amos & he's been one of the best men we ever had, God bless him!
26. Well anyway, that's what my feeling is right now, that what has been happening recently seems almost too good to be true! And the thing that I got the other night about Czechoslovakia, I don't know whether it's just for Czechoslovakia or Prague or what, but blood is going to run in the streets again! There are some who are not going to put up with liberalisation & they're going to start fighting against it!
27. And of course when America & Japan & some of these other big rich Western nations crash, there's nobody to help them! So what kind of a climate do you suppose that would be after such a crash of the major Western Northern industrial moneyed nations, the banking nations? If the whole World crashes, nobody's going to be able to help them. So what do you think would have the ideal opportunity then to occur? (Fam: The rise of the Antichrist.) That's the way it looks to me.
28. These poor countries that are now crashing & leaving the Communist fold are too late! It's pitiful. It's a sad tale. But in a way they brought it on themselves. Many of their people yielded to it, they consented to it, they even joined it, until they found out it didn't work & didn't satisfy their needs. After 70 years of Communism you get pretty sick & tired of all those promises of Utopia & the golden shores & Heaven on Earth, blah blah, & things have gotten worse & worse instead. Like that guy who told me, "Cheer up, things could be worse!" So I cheered up, & sure enough, everything got worse.--Ha! That's about the way it is right now.
29. So let's pray about that, that the Lord will have His way & get it over with as soon as possible. We've got a lot we can be thankful for, but what I'm trying to say is that we've also got a lot to pray about. It's my opinion & it's the Bible opinion & I'm sure it looks more like it all the time that while we're cheering up tonight & thankful for all our blessings, things are going to get worse, & these are probably the last of our days of Heaven on Earth, our days of Heaven. So let's go around the table & have a quick prayer from each of you about the World conditions & ourselves & the Family, & last of all you can pray for me. I'm going to have special prayer tonight & have Peter come & anoint me with oil when we're finished praying. PTL! (Each of the Family prays.)
IT'S ALL WORKING FOR GOOD!--THE HOUR OF JUDGEMENT!
30. Well, I don't want you to leave this meeting tonight feeling like too much of a pessimist & as though we're worried at all about what's going to happen. I can see great good coming from all of these events! You know God would not be letting them happen if they were not going to do some good. "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord!"--Rom.8:28.
31. Just to mention a few, I can see how God is bringing judgements even right now on the Earth & on some countries for their sins, such as America. People & politicians are going to have to stand up for their convictions now & fight for their faith, & one of the main issues now is abortion! Another one of the big issues for the politicians & their policies has been drugs & crime, one of the worst things being crime in the schools. I believe God has let that happen to show America her sins in casting God & Jesus & the Bible & prayer & the teaching of Creation out of the public schools. He's making people now face their sins!
32. It's a great hour of judgement! And to be properly judged, people have to stand before the Judge facing their charges & their sins, & be shown! I don't think America's ever been shown the issue of abortion & how horrible it is! They've just let it go on year after year without even hardly thinking about it, with an attitude of, "Well, that doesn't concern me." But it concerns everybody! Politicians are now having to take a stand! Every single voter is having to take a stand! And God is going to judge them according to their stands about abortion, about drugs, about Sodomy, about Jimmy Bakker, about crime! Why are the young people such criminals today? Now they're all facing their just desserts! "As a man sows, so shall he also reap!" As a nation sows, so shall she also reap! --Gal.6:7.
33. So I am thrilled with how God is compelling them to face the issues & face their sins & face what they're guilty of! They're already standing in God's Court of Law & being judged according to what stand they take & how they vote, & that thrills me! When I think about those Americans & how they treated us in our early days & all the rest, that was only the beginning! Now they're having to face even bigger issues than us. Most of them don't realise how big an issue we were! Of course, the Devil's worst still realise what an issue we are & what dangerous enemies we are, because we've got a voice that the people have heard & they've been exposed by the Truth we've been telling! Now they're beginning to find it out. There are even great sections of people in Christian churches who are now turning to the truth of the fact that they're going to have to go through the Tribulation.
34. There's a lot of good coming out of all of this! It must just absolutely infuriate the Devil & his Communists to watch their prime Communist states of which they've been so proud crumble before their eyes, & to see the people sicken of Communism! It has failed, gone bankrupt & crumbled. That's good! There's a lot of good coming from a lot of this. And eventually, of course, even the Antichrist's government will crumble.--What was supposed to be the most perfect government of Man the World has ever had will utterly fail, & he's going to live long enough to watch it!
35. God's got to show that not one of Man's great wonderful expectations of the glory of Man himself has ever really succeeded, that every single one of them has failed & is going to fail! This World has got to see that Man has failed!--Even the best of them, even the greatest of them.--Even the most supernatural & miraculous of them, almost like a god, the Antichrist will also fail! That's what the Lord has to do to let the people see that it just doesn't work. No government or creation of Man is ever going to work without God!
36. So it's all for good! God is now showing the people their sins & showing them their failures & showing them that they can't get along without God. That's the whole purpose of this big demonstration or experiment or whatever you want to call it. God's got to let Man run the gamut & run his face into the stone wall to see that he cannot make it without God!
DON'T WORRY!--GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU!
37. And as far as worrying about the Tribulation & the Future & how things are going to get tight etc., the Lord's always taken care of us! So why should we worry? He's brought us through lots of things, although maybe not quite that bad. But He Himself says, what is the thing which people live all their lives in fear of? Can anybody quote me that Scripture? (Fam: "And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."--Heb.2:15.) Bondage!--All tied up & twisted inside. They call it stress & tension now, but it's fear! Jesus Himself said in these Last Days men's hearts would be failing them for fear!--Luk.21:26.
38. That's the difference between us & the rest of the World--we don't have to fear all these things! What are you worried about the Tribulation for? So you die! Don't fear death, that's the least thing you have to fear! The only thing we really worry about is life! When you die your troubles are over! I've thought of that more & more during these last days of my life when I've been having one affliction after another. I often think how much easier it would be to just go on. Death, in a sense, would be easy, knowing where we're going & everything. But like Paul said, I need to stay here to try to help you as long as I can.--Phil.1:24-25. Well, maybe I don't, but I want to!
39. When I work with you boys on our handyman projects, I don't do much at all myself, really. Sometimes I give you a hand, but there's not much physical work I can do nowadays. But I sit there & at least I keep you company & pray for you & I'm there for your questions & to give you guidance & to help you do it the right way & the easiest way etc. There's very little I can do but just sit there now in my old age. I used to be quite strong & do a lot of hard work myself, even as recently as a few years ago. But now I've been sick & I can't help very much except to be an encouragement & try to answer questions etc. But that's a help, I think. The decisions may be about small things, but they're difficult. As my Mother used to say, "Decisions, decisions, decisions! Life is nothing but decisions!"--And that's true!
40. So even though I can't help you much physically any more, I can at least help you & guide you with your plans & decisions & things like that. (Maria: The Lord said He'd guide us with His eye--that's kind of what you do!--Psa.32:8.) Amen! So I'm still here, thanks to you & your prayers. You must have gotten through, & apparently I'm not through! Evidently the Lord is allowing me to stay a little longer to kind of help you out & help guide a few of the major decisions of the Work. I still read the important reports & I help to guide what's going on in the way I think the Lord wants it to go, & everything's going great, TTL! We never have been better off, we have never had greater success!
41. I've been a real pessimist & I've kept predicting every year since we were in Switzerland, "Well, this is our last great year & we couldn't possibly do better than this!"--But we've gone on & every year has been better! So why think it's going to be any worse? I've always figured, "Well, we'll plan for the best but be prepared for the worst!" So we've tried to use wisdom to make sure that we'd make it, & when it looked like things were getting a little worse we'd wind down & tie up some things & tighten the Family & things like that, & the Lord has always made us come out on top of every difficult time. And I think He can still do it again & again & again! PTL?
42. Jesus said, "Fear not what Man can do to you, but fear Him Who can cast both soul & body into Hell!"--Mat.10:28; Luk.12:4,5. Fear not what men can do to you, because after they've killed you, there's nothing more that they can do. As I've said before, they've released you! Don't worry about what Man can do to you. Just relax & say, "Well, thank You Lord, the sooner the better!" Mark Twain said, "I'm an old man & I've had many worries, most of which didn't happen!" So you're probably right now worrying about things that are never going to happen to you! So stop it! Stop worrying! It's not worth it.
43. I know I sometimes get you to focus on the Future & what's going to happen--not for your sakes, because you know God is going to take care of you, but to show you where the World is at & how God is judging the World for its sins!--And to show you how far along we are, that the worse things get, the sooner they're going to get better! PTL!
44. So we should be the happiest people in the World with the least worries, because we're God's children & He's going to take care of us no matter what happens! He'll either take care of us or take us! So stop worrying about it! I'm sorry I get some of you perhaps a little worried about the Future because I keep talking about things that are happening, showing you what's happening & telling you what's about to happen, & you get all worried that you're somehow going to get caught up in it. But we're going to be better off than anybody else because God is taking care of us! (Sings:) "So God will take care of you, through every day, o'er all the way! He will take care of you, God will take care of you!"
DAD'S FINAL TESTS!
45. So, PTL! He's been taking care of me in spite of all my afflictions, & they haven't been too great to bear. Once or twice they seemed like they were almost insufferable, but the Lord pulled me through & here I am!--Thanks to your prayers & mine, & I'm sure the prayers of many others!
46. But God's Word does say, "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, & let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick & the Lord shall raise him up; & if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him!"--Jam.5:14-15.
47. So I often think, what sins am I suffering for now? Well, the verse that always encourages me about that is, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin."--1John 1:7. I'll never forget when I preached that verse to the little Catholic girl who lived next to our church in Valley Farms. She said, "Well, I'm worried about my sins." I said, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth you from all sin! Here, look, read it yourself!" She said, "I'm going to have to ask my priest about that! I don't understand that, that's not what he seemed to be telling us!"
48. So, PTL! "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin--past, present & future! He's not really punishing us for our sins, most of these things are attacks of the Devil, & the Lord lets them happen to test our faith! I must admit during these recent illnesses my faith has been really tested & I haven't always come through too well, sometimes I have murmured & complained a little bit. (Maria: You're pretty cheerful most of the time.) At least I'm still here & I try to make sure I get out every day & make sure I'm still alive! All I can say is thank you for praying, & I'm sure sooner or later the Lord is going to answer your prayers for my healing!
49. My first wife's uncle was a real Pentecostal & Holy Roller, shouting & praising the Lord every day, but he was quite sick at the end of his life. He got all excited one day & came down to tell them all, "The Lord has told me what day I'm going to be healed!"--And he believed it! He shouted & praised the Lord, "I'm going to be healed on that particular day, that date!" The Lord even gave him the date, think of that.--And it turned out that that was the day he died! The Lord really healed him! He got rid of his old body completely!
50. Well, sometimes I've thought maybe that's what the Lord was up to. Of course, these recent afflictions of mine have been attacks of the Enemy, but the Lord allows them, don't forget, for some reason.--Chastening, scourging, "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth & scourgeth every son whom He receiveth," & "many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all!"--Heb. 12:6; Psa.34:19. TTL!
51. I asked the Lord for another year & look what I'm getting! Well, I'm getting wonderful experience in this wonderful life, but I'm also suffering the problems of physical existence of an additional year at my age, & I've had one little affliction after another. I said the other day that this is the price of asking for another year, that I have to suffer all these afflictions. Well, as David said, "The days of a man's life are three score & ten."--That's 70. "And yet if by reason of great strength they may be fourscore & more years, yet are they so much more suffering & sorrow."--Psa.90:10.
52. Well, I haven't had any sorrows yet, TTL, but I've been suffering a little. Maybe the Lord was trying to save me from this, but now that I've asked Him for it, I have to take what comes along with it! I apparently am not in Moses' class who lived to be 120, & "his eye was not dim, neither were his natural juices abated."--Deut.34:7. A Jewish boy in Haifa explained to us what that word really meant in Hebrew! It says in the Bible, "Neither was his natural force abated," because the Bible interpreters were very gentlemanly, scholarly men who liked to put things very very gently & not be too specific. But the Hebrew meaning of that verse is, "Neither were his natural juices abated!"
53. Well, I don't have as much juice as I used to have, but anyway, I'm trying to be thankful! I'm very thankful that in spite of my afflictions I'm able to still operate & function & serve the Lord & be happy, enjoy you & our work & see the children develop into real helpers & learn so much that's so important!
54. (Maria: Look how good your eyes are at your age, & look how much you can still talk, the two main things that you need to do your job!) I never seem to run out! I never have time to talk as much as I'd like to! If you think you're suffering to have to listen to my long harangues sometimes, you don't realise how much I have left unsaid!--Ha! I've really been cutting it short, down to only two or three or four hours!
55. So I'm learning lessons that I haven't really had time to learn before, I was too busy for the Lord & His Work, but He's testing me now in these last tests. I have said that old age is the final test of your faith, because then you usually have more afflictions etc. (See #2479, "Old Age--The Final Test!") The Scripture says, "Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, ere the evil days come & thou hast no pleasure in them."--Ecc.12:1.
56. Well, I really can't say these are "evil" days. Though I have some suffering, I think I have a lot more pleasure than suffering. PTL! I'm a lot happier than sad! I'm a lot more up & on top of the situation than down, in spite of it all! Every time I get a little too down & almost discouraged, the Lord lifts me up, or Mama lifts me up, or you lift me up! (Maria: The Family's prayers!) And I sure am learning lessons through it.
57. Sorry to have to ask you for so much prayer, it seems like every day it's something else! But the Lord let me have a good day today & not as much of one problem as another, & I feel great, thank the Lord! I'm hoping I'm not going to be like the old lady who, when they asked her how she was, said, "Well today I feel fine, but whenever I feel good, I feel bad, because I know it's not going to be long before I feel bad again!" (Maria: I don't think you ever have that attitude!) Well, I've sometimes wondered, "O Lord, how long?" But tonight I just want to try to cheer you up & let you know that you have much more to be thankful for than even my worst problems! PTL?
58. Don't worry about the Future! It's exciting! It's thrilling to be alive in these Last Days! It's a little dangerous, but it's not any more dangerous than it has been almost all throughout time. Christians have always been persecuted & it hasn't gotten as bad as the arena yet! So how bad can it get? Don't worry about it! Otherwise you may be worrying about something that will never happen. So TTL! PTL! ILY! Now you can all pray for me one more time & I'll ask Peter to come & anoint me with oil. TYL! (Peter prays for Dad.)
59. TYJ! PTL! Hallelujah! Amen, Lord, help me to learn the lessons I still need to learn. "Our light afflictions are but for a moment, but worketh in us a far more exceeding & eternal weight of glory!"--2Cor.4:17. So don't worry about it! They're all for a reason, to help purge you & try you & teach you & make you clean, to make you more pure than ever as you go. And you're especially thinking about it when you sometimes think you're almost gone! But the Lord has really done a lot!
60. I've been plugging away on my paperwork & working with the boys almost every day, & I haven't let these afflictions stop me! I figure, "As they went, they were healed!"--Luk.17:14. And today I had one of my best days as far as one affliction is concerned. Of course, the Lord didn't want me to get too cocky, so He let me have a different one instead! It's kind of fun, you know? (Maria: To see what you're going to have next!) It's almost like playing a game, if you don't have any challenge or competition, where would the fun be? Apparently the Lord believes in competition--He's got the Devil & a lot of fight & competition! This is all to teach you & train you. As you gain a new step, a new level, a new grade each time, you don't have to learn the same things over again.--I hope! But remember, our competition is to be pretty much confined to the spiritual realm, with our opponent the Devil, not manifesting itself in sports, personal rivalries, comparisons, inter-relations etc.
61. So PTL! GBY! Thanks a lot, & thank You Lord! This was a wonderful evening & a wonderful day, & I hope to be working with you boys tomorrow, Lord willing, to give you a little counsel & advice when I can. It's good exercise for me, & I enjoy seeing our finished handiwork!
62. I love to work with my hands & I like to see the work of my hands! Well, the Lord did that too. He stood back & saw the work of His hands & saw that it was good!--Gen.1:31. So He's a Creator too, & in a way, we're following His example. We take joy in being creators! And you are each one a creator of some kind. You're creating good meals or creating good typing or you're creating good pets & learning things, or some of you create good shopping & business! Mama & Peter guide the creators that create the right things.
63. So we're all following the example of our Creator! We are creators too & I think He likes it that we create good things as well. And I like to create not only a good Family that follows Him & follows His teachings & the way He wants you to be, but I even like working with my hands to create things. I've always done that. It's fun! Sometimes it's a little difficult & maybe a little hard. Our poor handyman, I've seen him work so hard sometimes, he was almost gruntin' & groanin'! It's hard work! He is a hard worker, I'll tell you! But you all are in your own fields. PTL!
64. I guess we'd better stop & go to bed or we'll be thanking the Lord all night! TYJ! PTL! Amen. Bless & keep us all now safely for the night & give us a good night's rest & strength for tomorrow! Thank You for the wonderful day we've had today & how You did give us strength for this day, & how You did keep us & help us to be a blessing, in Jesus' name.
65. Has anybody got anything else? If you have something from the Lord, you're just as able to give it as I am. (Fam: When we were praying for you I smelled this strong smell of incense & I thought maybe somebody forgot to put out the incense in the bathroom. But I got the picture of the Lord smelling our prayers like incense!) Amen, TYJ! Hallelujah!
66. We've had that experience a few times before. I can remember one time in particular at that house in Tenerife where we had a leadership meeting. We'd been having prayer & a little talk & we all smelled this really strong incense. I thought it might be coming from some tree outdoors, so I rushed outdoors & it wasn't out there. It was just a manifestation of the Lord's Spirit & His blessing on our prayers. They say demons really stink & they blow cold winds & stuff like that, but the Lord let us catch a whiff of His Heavenly incense! All right, you're dismissed! GBY! ILY! PTL! Thank you all, GBY! This has been a wonderful day! PTL! (--AMEN! GBAKY!--IJN, A!)
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