LET'S ALL GET ON FIRE FOR JESUS!--By Maria--To All JETTs, Teens & Adults!--More on the Discipleship Training Revolution (DTR)! Maria #143 DO 2678 2/91
1. Do you JETTs & Teens know that over the years Grandpa & I have been very burdened for you & concerned about you? Would you like to hear a little bit of history about how the Lord has led & guided us concerning your training? I think this might help you see & understand why the Lord has now led us to instigate a Discipleship Training Revolution! Hopefully, if you know a little of the history behind these changes & moves, it will clearly confirm in your hearts & minds that this wasn't a "snap decision," but rather it was made in the multitude of counsellors, after lots of prayer & seeking the Lord's Will. Some of the things I'm going to tell you may sound a little bit familiar to you, because I touched on them slightly in my previous talk with you called "The Discipleship Training Revolution!" But this is a little different angle or a little different approach that I thought might be interesting & helpful to you.
2. So here we go: As many of you may remember, back in 1986 & 1987 we commissioned some of our top leaders to host TTCs in many different countries, because we saw the need for our young teenagers to receive some good solid training from anointed teachers & Shepherds. After these TTCs, the first Teen Homes & Teen Combos were opened, which were mostly centered around Teens & their needs & activities. Then in 1988, the Lord led Grandpa to inspire the Family with the "School Vision," motivating us to pioneer Schools all around the World. These Schools further focused on the needs of our children & Teens, & made it possible for you to receive even more & better training.
3. Then six months ago Techi began to experience some vicious spiritual attacks of the Enemy, which caused us to become even more aware of the battles that some of you JETTs & Teens encounter. The Lord used the battles Techi was having to further open our eyes to the special care & training that you all need. Grandpa & I have been working with Techi to help her overcome these serious attacks & to help her gain victories in her life. We've shared in the Techi GNs what we've gone through & the progress that's been made in Techi's life, with the hopes that this would in turn help the adults in our Family learn how to better care for you. For the past six months we've been praying desperately for the Lord's answers about what else we adults, parents, Shepherds & teachers can do to help you JETTs & Teens grow spiritually stronger, overcome the attacks of the Enemy, & become more committed in your love & service to the Lord.
Following the Lord's Leading Step-by-Step!
4. One thing's for sure, if we pray, the Lord will answer!--And He has answered! PTL! Through prayer & counsel, the Lord began to unfold His plan. He first revealed to us that we needed to have a JETT/Teen Revolution! The goal of such a revolution was to cause all of us adults to focus on the needs of you JETTs & Teens, & we determined that we were going to have to make your care a top priority in our Homes & lives, no matter what the cost. We decided it was necessary to make major changes in our Homes' priorities, so we could give you the spiritual training you need so you'll be able to stand strong against the onslaughts of the Enemy & become the dedicated disciples you desire to be.
5. Several months ago, we felt led to organise a meeting of some of our top leaders from around the World. Peter led this meeting, which lasted through the month of November. During this meeting these leaders prayed about & discussed various suggestions & ideas on how to implement the JETT/Teen Revolution. Grandpa & I were encouraged to know that these leaders were desperately praying & counselling together & seeking concrete ways to put the ideas & direction that the Lord was giving us into practice, so that it could work at the Home level. We were also very inspired by these dear leaders' wholehearted agreement with & backing of this JETT/ Teen Revolution.
6. Of course, we continued to pray for further direction & solutions. Sometimes when the Lord gives a solution to a problem, He doesn't always give the full solution or the complete picture all at once. He gives you enough to get you started, & then, if you obey & follow what He shows you, He'll unfold the rest of His plan step-by-step. As we prayed further we began to realise that the Lord had something more in mind than just helping our Homes focus more time & attention on their JETTs & Teens. We began to realise that there was still something missing in the equation. That's when the Lord began to show us, & it was confirmed by the leaders at the meeting, that in order for this revolution to take hold, it had to be more than a revolution for you JETTs & Teens!--It had to be a revolution for everyone, in every Home, in every heart!
7. It became clear that in order to effect change in your lives, we adults are going to have to change as well!--We're all going to have to be part of this revolution! In fact, we felt an appropriate name for this next step of our growth as a Family would be not the JETT/Teen Revolution, but the Discipleship Training Revolution! Hallelujah!
The Adults Also Need to Be Strengthened & Change!
8. We all periodically need revolutions in our lives in order to get us more on-fire, dedicated, stronger in the Lord & stronger in His Word, which makes us happier, more fulfilled & more excited about our love & service for the Lord! I'm sure you parents & adults will agree that not only do we need to spiritually strengthen our JETTs & Teens, but many of you adults need to be strengthened as well. Some of you haven't had the opportunity to get as good a foundation in the Word, memorisation & one-on-one personal witnessing as you would have liked.
9. There are many different reasons why some of you adults might be a little lacking in these areas: Maybe you joined the Family at a time or in a city where there was less emphasis on solid babes training, or maybe there was a lack of good teachers in your Home. Possibly when you joined you were used right away in outreach or other important ministries, so you didn't have the opportunity to join a good babes training program even if it was available. Some of you who joined in more recent years may have been so busy trying to keep up with the "new wine" of the latest GNs & FSMs etc., that you haven't had the time or opportunity to get firmly grounded in the basics of the older Letters & classes. Or maybe when you joined the Family many of the basic Letters & classes were not available in your native language, so you had to get your basic training little-by-little, as you learned to speak English & as more of the Word became available in your native tongue through the faithful work of your local translators. So there are many reasons why you adults may have missed some important training when you were spiritual babes.
10. Also, we should remember that many of you adults have been in the Family for less years than our Teens, & you haven't had the opportunity they have had to be constantly cared for with Word classes & lots of memory work & all the training that many of our Teens have been so privileged to have received. When you Teens & JETTs were young you weren't called upon to handle a ministry or take upon yourselves the physical or spiritual responsibilities of the Home, so you had much more time & opportunity to read the TKs, the Grandpa Letters & the Bible. So you JETTs & Teens have been very privileged, & actually in some ways many of you should be better disciples & even stronger spiritually than some of our adults.
11. But it's important that you realise that this is mainly because you've had more opportunity to be filled with the Word, & you've benefitted from more spiritual input & training than some of our adults. You shouldn't be critical or self-righteous, because this good training is not exactly something you did--it actually is a result of what the adults did for you! They are the ones who gave you such a wonderful opportunity to be filled with the Word. Of course, the adults would have liked to have received this same kind of training, but they were too busy giving it to you JETTs & Teens & making sure you had what you needed, so they couldn't always feed themselves. In some cases, we adults have saved our children, but ourselves we could not save.
12. Unfortunately, the problem with many of us adults, & possibly some of you Teens too, is not so much that we didn't get the training or the strong spiritual foundation we needed.--Instead, we may have let our fire cool down somewhat, so that we don't have the verve & inspiration & enthusiasm that we should. Many of us have let the cares of this World drag us down, & the day-to-day life in some of our Homes has become monotonous & boring. We've failed to pray desperately & stand on God's Word, expecting His answers, so the Lord hasn't been able to work in our lives as much as He would like. Sad to say, many of us adults have failed to pass on the inspiration of the Spirit & the excitement of living for Jesus to you JETTs & Teens.
13. But this has got to change! We adults need to shake out of our spiritual ruts & our hum-drum, business-as-usual, "Oh, what a weariness" attitude, & regain the joy of the Lord, the joy of our Salvation! We all need to heed this call to arms! We must rally together against the attacks that the Enemy has been waging against us. We need to fight side-by-side, no matter what our age or how long we've been in the Family. We're all co-workers, soldiers in the Lord's army, & when the battle cry sounds, we have to fight side-by-side whether we're 13, 25 or 40 years old! Age doesn't matter! We're all serving the same Commander-in-Chief, & we must all be in shape spiritually to fight the Enemy together.
14. Most of us adults know what it means to be on-fire & sold out for Jesus! We know what it's like when we're really living our life to the full for Him! Seeing the Lord move & miraculously answer prayer should stir our souls! Seeing the message get out & souls won should thrill our hearts! Fighting & overcoming the Enemy & winning victories in our spiritual lives should make us shout for joy! Stirring ourselves up in desperate prayer together & hearing the Lord speak in prophecy should fill us to overflowing! Praising the Lord together in song & dance should revive our spirits! Swimming in the cool waters of His Word & memorising & quoting the Word together should feed our souls! And every one of us should be experiencing these ecstacies of the Spirit together as a Home & in our personal walk with the Lord every day!--And if you're not, then you need this revolution!--Because this is what the Family is all about!
A Call to Arms for Everyone!
15. So this is the Lord's challenge to us all, every JETT, every Teen, every adult: That every one of us, right now in prayer together, dedicate ourselves to this new revolution--the Discipleship Training Revolution! (Mama prays:) Lord Jesus, help each one of us to commit ourselves, right now before You, Lord, to be totally 100% sold-out disciples!--Disciples who "lay down their lives daily," who "forsake all that they have," who have the attitude of "not my will, but Thine be done." Lord, we pray that each of us will determine in our heart right now that whatever it takes, whatever the cost, we'll become sold-out, on-fire disciples for You, Jesus!
16. Lord, we admit that we need a revolution!--An inspiration revolution, an enthusiasm revolution, an obedience revolution, a training revolution, a Word revolution, a Holy Spirit revolution--in one word, a Discipleship Revolution! We need to become fully sold-out, enthusiastic, inspired, Spirit-led, Word-filled disciples!--Those who follow & obey Your Words!--And because we do, Lord, we'll be empowered by Your Spirit & Your strength, & we'll see You working in our lives daily through answered prayer, miracles, souls won & Your Work accomplished! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
17. Lord, we see that this Discipleship Training Revolution is, above all, a dedication revolution!--It's a time for each one of us to dedicate our hearts to You, Lord! It's a fighting revolution!--Where each one of us, each JETT, Teen & adult, must determine to fight the Enemy to overcome our weaknesses, our compromises, our double standards & our spiritual problems! Jesus, with Thy help we are going to pull out our offensive weapons, the sword of Thy Spirit, & cut the Enemy to the heart & overcome his attacks on us through Thy Word & prayer! This is a call to arms! This is a Revolution!--A Discipleship Training Revolution, & all of us need to be part of it! Lord, help each one of us to do all we can to make this Discipleship Training Revolution a reality in our own hearts & lives & Homes.--In Jesus' name, amen. Thank You Jesus!
18. It's not going to be easy, revolutions are never easy, but it's necessary! If we're going to continue to grow & prosper as the Family, if we want to continue on as real disciples, then we must all commit ourselves to this Discipleship Training Revolution. We must "lay aside the weights & sins that do so easily beset us."--Heb. 12:1. We must desire to obey, to be dedicated & to live the Word, the Letters. All of us can no longer just preach the message, we must live it, every day! We must overcome the stumbling blocks & compromises that the Enemy has put in our way.
19. We must remember we are soldiers, & when soldiers are part of an army, whether they're 40 years old or 15 years old, they still have to obey the same rules. A soldier, when given a command, cannot say, "Sorry, I can't follow that command because I'm 40 years old." No, he follows it because it's a command, he obeys because he's a soldier.--And we adults need to have that same attitude.
20. If we expect you JETTs & Teens to be inspired & obedient & on-fire, then we should expect the same of ourselves. This is what this Discipleship Training Revolution is about--that we cry out to the Lord to re-inspire us, re-ignite our fire & that we begin to see ourselves--all of us, JETTs, Teens & adults--as one, as a strong united force, sold-out & on the attack, obeying together, working together, praying together, being inspired together, being enthusiastic together, & marching on to victory together.
21. This call to arms is for you! This Discipleship Training Revolution is for you! "Lead on, O King Eternal, the day of march has come!" PTL! Are you with us? Are you willing to revolute, to change? Are you willing to be the disciple that Jesus wants you to be? If you are, He'll bless you beyond measure. He'll give you thrills of the Spirit like never before & He will bless you abundantly!
22. It's not going to be easy, we're going to have to make changes. In one of the following GNs, Techi Series 8, you'll see a Letter entitled, "The New `Back-to-the-Basics' Home Requirements!"--This Letter explains some of the main changes that all the leaders recommended & that Dad & I agreed upon to help implement the Discipleship Training Revolution. Over the next months the CROs & NOs will be hosting Delegates' Meetings for the adults to help facilitate the implementation of the Discipleship Training Revolution. We will do all we can to help bring this revolution into every Home & every heart through the GNs, FSMs & the Delegates' Meetings, but its success depends on you!--On your desire to obey & dedicate yourself fully to Jesus! If you will, we know the Lord will bless you as never before! PTL! GBY!
POW-WOW QUESTIONS
Following the Lord's Leading Step-by-Step! (1-7)
1) Talk about the different ways Grandpa & Mama Maria's love for you JETTs & Teens has been manifested to you personally over the last few years.
2) How has the Lord used the battles Techi has been fighting? How is this a fulfillment of Rom. 8:28?
3) Why do you think the Lord sometimes doesn't reveal His whole plan or picture to us at once?
The Adults Also Need to Be Strengthened & Change! (8-14)
4) Talk about the ways you've seen your parents or other adults sacrifice their own time in the Word or their own spiritual training to care for & feed you.
A Call to Arms for Everyone! (15-22)
5) Describe in your own words what the Discipleship Training Revolution is all about.
6) The Lord has poured a lot into you JETTs & Teens over the years through TTCs, Teen Combos, JETT Camps, Schools where you have received spiritual & ministry training, HOPE mags & Teen Specials, etc.! And now you're going to receive more attention & training through the Discipleship Training Revolution! The Bible says: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required." (Luke 12:48b) How does this verse apply to you? What do you think the Lord is requiring of you? What do you plan to do about it?
7) How about ending the reading of this Letter with an on-fire, rock'm-sock'm prayer session where you really get down to business & re-dedicate yourself to the Lord! But this doesn't mean long, boring prayers--why not try Conversational Prayer so everyone can participate, with a rousing praise & prayer session, asking the Lord to bring you to greater commitment & dedication. The Spirit may even lead you all to really cry out to the Lord with desperate prayer & tongues as you rededicate your lives to the Lord with a whole heart. Whatever you do, make it exciting & alive with the Spirit! Hallelujah! You can even ask the Lord to speak to you!--We're sure He'll thrill your souls! PTL! GBY! WLY!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family