Shooting Straight, Part 15--Letter Links: Perseverance and Long-Term Commitment

April 25, 2005

Table of Contents

(ML #3540‚ GN 1130)

FD/MM/FM March 2005

Organization I

ML #54:6- 12, DB 4

6. "LET PATIENCE HAVE HER PERFECT WORK" & "WAIT PATIENTLY ON THE LORD", "For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the Will of God, ye might receive the Promise!"—Jam.1:4; Psa.40:1; Heb.10:36, 6:12.

7. DON'T QUIT TOO SOON! DON'T FLUNK OUT BY RUNNING OUT JUST BEFORE GOD'S SCHOOL BELL RINGS & He's about to promote you to another grade! Don't run away from your school of Laban just before you begin to inherit the promises!—Genesis 29. What patience Jacob had: He worked seven years for one girl‚ fourteen years for another & twenty–one years for the flocks! Some of you can't even wait a few weeks!

8. WAITING & LEARNING PATIENCE IS PART OF YOUR TRAINING, because if you flunk that test, you haven't got much faith or perseverance & you wouldn't last long anywhere! A few of our folks have gone back just when we were about to promote them to something they really wanted to do & felt they were capable of—but God knew they wouldn't make it because they had no patience!

9. REMEMBER THE STORY I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN ON THE ICE FLOE & the Russian soldier, who exchanged places at the last minute, just as God was handing out the crowns! The Christian missed it; he didn't last quite long enough—& the Russian got it!

10. HOW ABOUT YOU? ARE YOU GONNA STICK—OR HAVEN'T YOU GOT THE FAITH THAT IT TAKES? Patience is the result of real faith & without faith it is impossible to please God‚ because faith worketh patience!—Heb.11:6; Rom.5:3-5. Have you got it? We have our eye on you & we're waiting to see! Like Amundsen, the famous Arctic explorer, we don't want to rescue you prematurely or take the heat off until you're well done—or it may leave some flaw or impurity in the finished product‚ some weakness that would cause it to break later under severe strain in time of emergency, when your job is much more important!

11. WE CAN'T AFFORD TO LET THAT HAPPEN—NEITHER CAN THE LORD, SO HE'S TESTING YOU NOW; He's putting you through the fire to burn out the dross & through the storm to blow away the chaff; & through deep waters so you can learn to swim, when you haven't got us to lean on! PTL! Do you wanna make it? We all hope & pray you do & we're rooting for you, trying to make the growing process as painless as possible; but it's not always easy, 'cause if it were, you couldn't stand the hard knocks later!

12. BETTER TO LEARN TO TAKE IT NOW, WHEN YOU HAVE OTHERS TO LEAN ON, THAN TO HAVE TO LEARN IT WHEN YOU'RE OUT THERE ALONE! But learn it you will, here or there, the easy way or the hard way, if you really wanna serve Him. THIS way is a shortcut!—Out there, it may take a lifetime of bitter experience to learn it, & that may be too late to do much good! The people who are ever learning & never coming to a knowledge, who never profit from the lessons learned, who never make the grade, who never stay in God's school till the bell rings, seldom accomplish much for the Lord. He just can't trust them—& neither can we! Hope it's not you!

Shtick

ML #703‚ DB 1

1. THE GREATEST MEN IN THE WORLD WHO'VE ACCOMPLISHED ANYTHING AT ALL THAT THE WORLD HAS HEARD ABOUT WERE THE MEN WHO STUCK to their jobs through thick and thin, even when they hated it. If you don't know how to stick, you're "double–minded and unstable in all your ways, wavering like the waves of the sea. Think not that that man shall receive anything from the Lord!" (Ja.1:6-8)

2. Jesus said, "He that having put his hand to the plough and even looking back is not worthy of Me." (Lk.9:62)

3. EVERYBODY GETS FED UP WITH A JOB AND BORED WITH IT sometimes, and even sick of it. But if you don't stick to it, you'll never pull out and pull through and accomplish anything for the Lord.

4. THE DEVIL MAKES US SICK AND FED UP AND BORED and resent this or resent that, and don't like this and don't approve of that. But if you stick with it, God is going to bless you mightily, because we're not finished by any means yet.

5. BUT IF YOU QUIT‚ YOU COULD MISS THE BLESSING, cause a tremendous collapse in God's work or diminishment or something and untold damage to His Kingdom. But if you're faithful, the Lord will bless you.

6. ONE KIND OF INDIVIDUAL GOD IS NOT ONLY DISGUSTED WITH, HE ALMOST HATES, IS A DESERTER! (Heb.10:38)

7. TURNING YOU BACK ON THE JOB GOD HAS GIVEN YOU is just as bad in God's sight as turning your back on HIM! Because that's exactly what you're doing. If you turn your back on God's JOB, you're turning your back on GOD!

8. "ENDURE HARDNESS AS A GOOD SOLDIER OF JESUS CHRIST, that you may please Him Who hath called you to be a soldier!" (2Tim.2:3-4) If it's a job that you know God has put you in where you've got a good ministry and you're helping souls or being a blessing and you know it's the Lord, you should be afraid to quit!

9. SO YOU'D BETTER STICK IT OUT UNTIL YOU KNOW GOD WANTS YOU TO LEAVE A JOB and you KNOW He's finished with you there and He's got something else He wants you to do.

10. MY MOTHER ONCE ASKED DR. WISEMAN, THE LITTLE JEW that ran a mission in San Francisco and hardly ever had many people there‚ "How could you stay here so many years when you seem to be accomplishing so little?" He said,

11. "SHISTER, IT ISS VON TING YUST TO SHTICK!" Apparently he felt called there to stick it out and he just stuck. Now if God makes it plain to you that you should move or you should change or this is not the place for you, He better make it awful plain and you better make sure it's God!

12. IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR MY STICKING to a good many unsavory and unfavorable jobs that I didn't like, and some of them for years, we wouldn't have our Family of Love today!

13. SO "IT'S VON TING YUST TO SHTICK!" And you'd better learn a lesson on faithfulness and how to "shtick" to a job, no matter how boring or how tiresome or how fed up you get, or offended sometimes, or feel like you're unappreciated and all the rest.

14. "IT ISS VON TING YUST TO SHTICK"—at least until God tells you it's time to go. I was so afraid that I would jump the gun and leave before time, that I usually waited until I got kicked out or I got fired or forced out, to make sure it was God's will and time for me to go.

15. IT'S ONE THING JUST TO STICK in the job that God has given you, no matter what happens, if it's of the Lord and you know it's of God. Sometimes you may even doubt that.

16. BUT YOU HAD BETTER MAKE SURE THAT IT'S NOT OF GOD AND LET HIM THROW YOU OUT first‚ before you take it upon yourself to make that decision and run away. Because you can be sadly mistaken.

17. So you had better be sure that when it's God's time, He will let you know.—Or if you're not sure just wait till He throws you out or you get fired or something, then you'll know for sure. So,

18. "IT'S VON TING YUST TO SHTICK!"—God help us to be faithful and just to stick! Praise you Lord! Hallelujah! Help us to have some stick-to-itiveness, Lord, some determination to go through. Lord, there're so many stories in Thy Word of men who went through many trials, but they stuck to the job.

19. SO LORD‚ IN JESUS' NAME, WE ASK YOU TO HELP US ALL TO REMEMBER THAT IT'S ONE THING JUST TO STICK AND BE FAITHFUL. "It is required of a servant that he be found faithful." (1Cor.4:2) And the one thing that You said as they entered Heaven‚ Lord, was "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Mat.25:21)

20. HELP US TO REMEMBER that the most important thing in our service for Thee, the most important thing in the world for us, the most important thing to Thee, Lord, is our faithfulness.

21. EVEN IF WE'RE STUMBLEBUMS LIKE PETER and we make a hell of a lot of mistakes and we do crazy things like I do, still Lord‚ help us to be faithful.

22. Please don't be unfaithful! "It's von ting yust to SHTICK!"

Hold On

ML #1650, DB 2

1. THERE ARE SOME THINGS THE LORD JUST CAN'T REVEAL TO YOU IN ADVANCE BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT READY FOR IT & you just can't comprehend it‚ you just couldn't cope with it, you just couldn't understand. He has to break you the news little by little.

2. IF THEY ONLY KNEW, IF THEY COULD JUST STAND THIS TEST! I must look at them the way the Lord looks at us. If they only knew what the future holds for them! But I don't dare tell them, because that would ruin the test, it would give them too much hope, they'd be willing then to do anything & endure anything if they knew what the reward was going to be, but we don't dare tell them—otherwise it wouldn't be a valid, credible test.

3. BUT THEY'VE GOT TO GO THROUGH THESE TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS & TESTINGS & BREAKINGS & HUMBLINGS WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING what the future holds.

4. IT'S WONDERFUL‚ IT'S JUST THRILLING TO SEE THEM PASS THE TEST! It must be the way the Lord feels when He watches us go through trials, you know? He loves to watch us make it in spite of all the tests & trials. He loves to watch us win the race, endure the affliction & the battle & fight through & win! But you can't tell'm the answers!—That's cheating! You've just got to hand them the paper with the questions & they have to struggle through‚ & then, when they think they're flunking, they find out they graduated!

5. THEY THINK THEY'VE FLUNKED BUT ACTUALLY THEY'VE WON! Like in Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If": If you win or lose, you can treat both these two impostors, success & failure the same. That little poem has had a great influence on my life, I've often thought of that when I failed or felt I'd failed or wasn't a success.

6. WHEN I SEE THOSE PRECIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS ON VIDEO, I HAVE THAT FEELING, "OH BOY!—JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER!" You just really pray that the Lord will help them make it, that they'll stand the test, so that He can use them for something greater than they've ever done before, much more important.

8. SOMETIMES THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE GOAL IS & YOU DON'T DARE TELL THEM because you don't dare rescue them until they've really stood the test & shown that they were willing to give their lives to reach some goal, even though they don't know what the goal is—just give their lives to the Lord, to the principle & to the Lord & to His Work, whatever it may be, not even knowing.—Like Abraham‚ you don't have to understand, all you have to do is obey!

9. GOD HELP THEM TO STAND THE TEST, LORD!—To fight a good fight, to finish the course & keep the faith‚ so they'll inherit the crown & receive the reward that You have in store for them, the high calling which is in Christ Jesus, the highest they could possibly have, Lord! (2Tim.4:7-8) They already have a high one, but You've got an even higher one in store for them, not just something good but something better, the best! Help us not to fall short of Your best, Lord. Help us not to trade the best for something that was just simply good. Help us to not settle for anything less than Your best! In Jesus' name, amen. Praise the Lord!—Hold on a little longer!—The best is just around the corner!—And worth it!—Amen?

Feeling Inspired to Do God's Will

ML #2747, DB 11

1. (Mama: ) We all have certain responsibilities and duties that the Lord expects us to fulfill whether we feel like it or not! Even prayer—our communion with the Lord—is a duty. It's something the Lord expects us to do and that we know we're supposed to do! So whether you feel like praying or not, it's your duty, your responsibility.

2. Memory work is another one of our duties, it's one of our responsibilities. Witnessing is another very important duty of ours, a definite responsibility. A lot of things are our duty and responsibility, which means we just need to do them because the Lord expects us to, whether we feel like it or not! We don't always feel inspired, enthusiastic and like jumping up and down for joy to go out witnessing or to memorize or to read the Word, or even to pray! So we need to get the idea out of our system that we have to feel like doing something in order to do it!—That the only time we should do something is when we really feel "inspired" about doing it!

3. Sure, we're going to feel like it once in a while, but if that's what we're going to go by, our feelings‚ the Enemy is going to make us not feel like it most of the time! We can't go by our feelings! Of course, it's nice to be thrilled about doing any of these things that are our duty to do, that's wonderful. And if our teachers can help our kids to get thrilled and inspired about doing something, about learning new things, that's wonderful! That's the ideal, that's great!

4. But we cannot sit around waiting until we feel inspired, or think that we've got to feel good about doing whatever it is we're supposed to do, or we're probably going to end up never doing anything! The Devil will see to it that we don't have any of those nice feelings, because he can often steal our good feelings away. We just can't go by our feelings or live by our feelings, or we're going to be sunk!

5. We would like people to be inspired, but you don't have to feel inspired or feel anything about what you know the Lord wants you to do.—You just need to do it!

6. Feeling enthusiastic ဦ is fine, but it's not a good enough motivation because it's not going to last or be consistent. Feeling inspired about doing something is a motivation that comes and goes—mostly goes! But the motivation that we need to hang on to are the facts, not the feelings.

Criterion for Teachers!

7. It's a danger signal if people think that they need to feel good about doing things before they'll do them! I certainly believe that teachers need to try to motivate and try to help their kids feel inspired about learning, try to help them feel happy, delighted and thrilled about it. And they might be able to do that to a certain extent, but there comes a time when the kids just have to knuckle under and go about the hard work of studying and memorizing and learning—whether they feel inspired about it or not!

8. Besides, what if the teacher just isn't that inspiring? We don't have that many teachers who are so great that they can always provide the "rah rah" and be the cheerleaders and beat the drums and get their kids all excited and jumping up and down for joy every minute of the day about everything they need to do! There may be a few that can, but we can't make that our criterion for teachers because we don't have that many who are that way. So that's no excuse, to say, "I can't learn this because my teacher's not very inspiring!"

A Balance in Teaching!

9. There's a balance, and as I say, we want to try to get teachers who are inspired, we want to try to teach and encourage them to be inspiring and to inspire their kids. But if they just don't have it, if they can at least pass on the Word and instill the Word in their hearts, that's the main requirement and objective.

10. In System school, whether you have an inspiring teacher or not, you don't say, "I'm sorry Mr. So–and-so, I'm not going to attend your class any more because you're not inspiring enough. I'm going to go next door to the other teacher who's more inspiring!" You can't do that in school, you take your teachers whether they're inspiring or not. And you're expected to learn the course or class, whether you have an inspiring teacher or not.

11. Of course‚ it's more fun if you have an inspiring teacher, an enthusiastic teacher. You can probably learn a little bit easier, especially System kids who don't have any other motivation. But that doesn't give you an excuse for not learning what Mr. Sourpuss and Miss Dull-and-Boring are trying to teach you! You can't go to the principal and say, "I flunked that class because the teacher's not inspiring enough!" Who ever accepted an excuse like that? It just doesn't hold water.

12. In System school you have your textbook, you have the facts, you have the printed word, and your motivation is supposed to be the fact that if you don't learn this class, pass this test, pass this grade, you're not going to graduate and go on to the next grade. So you have a pretty good motivation for learning, whether your teacher is "inspired" or not.

13. As I say, we want to have a good balance and we do want inspiration when we can have it. But that's no excuse for anyone, that they can't learn because they don't have enough inspiration.

Learning and Obeying by Faith!

14. There are a lot of times when you go to the Word and you read it, but it's hard to really get into it. You may not feel like you're getting anything out of it, but that's no excuse for not reading the Word and not hiding it in your heart!—Because some day when you really need it, it's going to come back to you if you faithfully feed on it now.

15. Maybe you don't need it so much right now. We don't have to tell our kids, "You need this right now!" Maybe they don't really need to memorize all of that for right now, but they're going to need it some time, so they have to get it right now while the getting is good! A lot of it is probably for future use.

16. So whether you feel inspired about it or not, if you know that something is God's will, just obey Him and do it by faith, as unto the Lord, and He will bless you for it! "For without faith, it is impossible to please Him!" (Heb.11:6).

17. If the great men of God in the Bible had only obeyed the Lord if and when they felt "inspired," they would have never accomplished anything for Him! Moses certainly didn't feel like socking it to Pharaoh and leading all those Jews out of Egypt! Nor did the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc., feel like doing all of the difficult and dangerous things that the Lord commanded they do.—In fact, most of them argued with the Lord that He had the wrong guy and that He should get someone else to do the job!

18. And we know that Jesus didn't "feel inspired" about dying on the cross for the sins of the world, and even pleaded with His Father that "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me!" But the bottom line was, "Nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done!" (Mat.26:39).

19. And look at the many times and situations in which the Lord tried and tested Dad's faith and obedience.—That's what the entire Letter "Shtick" is all about! (See ML #703.) There were many times when he didn't feel particularly "inspired" about shticking with the difficult and wearying assignments that the Lord gave him.—Such as being his mother's bag-boy, chauffeur and servant for 20 years, or being Fred Jordan's underpaid and overworked road–man for 14 years, leaving home and family to travel alone throughout the U.S. in order to book Fred's Gospel TV show across the nation.

20. Nor did Dad feel inspired to wake up every morning to face driving a school bus full of rowdy System kids to and from a school where he had to teach them as well!—A class that was so unruly that all of the previous teachers had walked out on them and quit! But Dad stuck to it day after day, month after month, until the Lord gave him a new assignment, two years later! At one point during his bus-driving/school-teaching time he wasn't even sure if he could keep it up for another day, and the Lord told him to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ!" (2Tim.2:3). So he did!—Whether he felt like it or not!

21. And that's how it should be with all of us: When we know the Lord wants us to do something, whether we particularly feel like it or not, we should just go ahead and do it, knowing that that's what we're here for. We're His servants, His love slaves whom He's bought and paid for‚ and He can do with us as He pleases! Amen? PTL!

Endure Hardness as a Good Soldier

ML #2786:7- 20, DB 11

7. (Mama:) We've had lots of battles‚ lots of tests and lots of tribulations over the years, but for the most part, they've been short battles with quick victories. We've won souls quickly! We've learned the Word quickly! We finish projects quickly. We get quick answers to our prayers. We see instant deliverances and rapid healings. We have quick childbirth and early recuperation.

8. Although they're not necessarily easy, most of the things in our lives have been quick and simple. Many Christians who aren't in the Family struggle for years to win just one soul to the Lord, or to get delivered from their afflictions. Some of them are persecuted for years by antagonistic members of their families. Some of them struggle for years under cruel and demonic taskmasters in their System jobs. Many who testify of their faith are ridiculed and criticized and rejected by friends and colleagues. Stuck in the rut of the System, they have to learn to endure. And victories often do not come quickly; they're often alone and without the support of others, with little inspiration and few victories to keep them inspired and to keep them fighting.

9. On the other hand‚ it seems like we can accomplish anything we want to.—There is nothing too difficult! There is no limit! If we decide the Lord wants us to do something, we're usually able to do it! Of course, one reason for this is because we're not bound by the System and its red tape and bureaucracy and ruts by which it confines its victims. And because there is so much to do and so few of us to do it, the Lord has miraculously enabled us to get things done quickly.—Souls saved, literature distributed, audio and video tapes produced, afflictions healed, countries pioneered, etc.!

10. We may have a lot of battles and a lot of problems, but in spite of them we get a lot of things done quickly! Things come a lot more easily to us in many ways than they do to the rest of the world because of our faith, and because the Lord has blessed us with many victories and quick results, since He knows there is so much to do and so few of us to do it.

11. However, as we now come closer to the end and begin a new phase in the war, one that will be of much greater intensity and vehemence and ferocity, with all the forces of Hell throwing everything they have into their efforts to defeat us, we are going to have to learn more patience. We are going to have to learn how to endure! We are going to have to get used to fighting more long-term battles. We are going to have to learn what it means to really hold on‚ not just for one day or one week or one month, but perhaps for many months at a time. We are going to have to learn to truly cling to God's Word and "endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ!" (2Tim.2:3).

12. We are going to be involved in long drawn-out court battles, longer and more intense fights for housing, and more protracted battles with afflictions and illnesses. We'll be beset by more vicious longstanding personal trials and testings, and we'll have to fight longer and harder for our children's progress in their weak areas. The Devil won't give up so easily, as he knows his time is short.—And because we have come out full force against him, he is going to respond in like manner.

13. Comparatively speaking, most of us have not had to learn such heavy lessons of patience and endurance. We have learned many other lessons, but now may be the time that the Lord wants us to work on these new ones. "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. In your patience possess ye your souls" (Heb.10:36; Luke 21:19).

14. The Lord tells us, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation" (Jam.1:12). "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful‚ and of tender mercy" (Jam.5:11). "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure" (2Thes.1:4). "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry" (2Tim.4:5). "We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope" (Rom.5:3,4).

15. In our personal battles and trials in the past, if we didn't bounce back full force and come out from under our clouds of discouragement, depression and heaviness within a few hours, or at the most, a day or two‚ we'd be worried that we were never going to. If we couldn't feel inspired or loved or anointed for a few days or a few weeks, we'd worry that something was dreadfully wrong and we became almost persuaded to give up the fight.

16. For the future, you may have to make up your mind that you may have extended periods of not feeling much at all, times when, if you in fact feel anything, you may be feeling pretty rotten!—When you'll not be able to go on your feelings at all, but will have to cling to the fact of His Word, that God still loves you and God still cares, and is expecting you to go on for Him, no matter what you feel like, and no matter how long you feel or don't feel like it! You're going to have to learn to keep going even if you feel like a zombie or a robot just going through the motions, just doing what you're supposed to do because God says to do it!

17. You may have to keep going even when absolutely everything seems to have turned against you, just believing that truth will triumph in the end‚ and Jesus will be victorious. You may just have to put on that "Fear Not" Scripture song tape and listen to it over and over and over until even if you can't think or make decisions, you will be able to just rest in Jesus' arms with those unbreakable promises going over and over in your mind and heart.

18. We are in a war, and if you aren't really grounded in the Word, and if you don't have the conviction that this is our calling to fight for the truth and uphold the standard of the Word and preach the warning message to people, then you're not going to be able to take it! It's going to require a lot of sacrifice and it's going to be difficult and you have to be convinced that you've just got to do it and that this is the Lord's will for you, and that He intends for you to do it and that's His purpose for you and you've just got to fulfill it, no matter what!

19. You can't go into this like a lot of people do in marriages nowadays, "Oh well, if it doesn't work out, I'll just get a divorce." If you're in this Family and you figure, "Well, if it gets too tough, I can just leave and become a TRF Supporter‚" then you're not going to make it! You've got to be "fully persuaded" in your own mind and heart, and committed to the fact that this is a do-or-die situation and you're sold out to the Lord, you can't turn back, you've burned your bridges and there's nothing else for you to do in life: You'd rather die than do anything else!

20. You've got to have the attitude of "to whom shall we go, no one else has the Words of Eternal Life!" (Jn.6:68). Otherwise you're not going to make it! If you have consecrated and dedicated yourself and have made that kind of a commitment, then no matter how hard it gets, you're going to stick. If you know you've got to stick no matter what, then it won't matter whether you think you can make it or not; you'll just keep going and you'll just keep serving the Lord, even if you die on your way.

Jewels on Going Slow and Resting in the Lord

ML #2939:19- 28, Lifelines 21

19. (Mama:) In the Family we really expect quick results! In our witnessing, our memory work‚ training of people, in almost everything, we think it all should be zip zap, abracadabra & it's done! That's the way we train people! We give them a two-hour class on some computer program & think that's all they need. From then on we expect them to know it. Or we train someone for a couple of days in the kitchen & we think that by then they ought to be right in the stream of it with no problems or mistakes.

20. We think when new babes come into our Home that after they've been there a month they should be model disciples just like the rest of us who have been in the Family for up to 25 years! We go out witnessing & we think all we have to do is wave our magic wand & presto!—Everybody will get saved, filled with the Spirit & be on fire! And we expect our catacombers & our kings & queens to be able to understand things that it's taken us our whole lives in the Family to learn. We pray for healing & we expect to be healed right away.—And we often are!—Thank the Lord! We think our kids should be potty trained at 8 months, walk at 9 months, & read at one year. If they don't, we think we've failed! We get discouraged & frustrated! We think something's wrong with us or something's wrong with them.

21. This quick-results attitude contributes to having a lack of patience, & even a lack of diligence & faithfulness. It's good that we do get some quick, miraculous results, but when we don't get them we think something's wrong & we get impatient‚ disappointed, discouraged, frustrated & condemned, which isn't good.

22. I grew up in the church hearing of wives who prayed for their husbands to get saved for years & years! Or you hear of someone praying for years for some wayward relative to get saved, & then on their deathbed the person would get saved. The church world figures if you're going to pray for somebody to get saved, then you should pray & pray & pray for years!

23. But we don't look at things that way! We go out & we find the receptive sheep‚ the ones who are already ripe. The Lord has already worked on them & we just reap them. We're often reapers much more than sowers. We go out there & find a harvest ready to be reaped & we reap it! We're used to reaping, bringing in the harvest, picking the fruit, but we're not so used to sowing & cultivating & nurturing, etc. So when we have to do some sowing & tending, we're impatient & not so diligent or faithful sometimes‚ because we want quick results.

24. The Lord's given us this reaping ministry‚ so we don't want to belittle it, but we do need to understand the other side as well. We need to understand that, although we have mostly one kind of ministry‚ we shouldn't despise the other. When things don't move as quickly as we're used to, we shouldn't get impatient or frustrated or condemned or worried or feeling that something's not right or not working right. Because not everything moves as fast as we're often used to, nor is it supposed to.

25. Often, when we don't get healed miraculously, in a few hours or a day or two, we question the Lord. "Something must be wrong with me, Lord!" Or, "Something's wrong with our prayers, something's wrong somewhere!" Sometimes it is‚ & it's good to ask that question, but if you've asked it & you haven't found anything wrong, it's not good to keep insisting that there must be something wrong. Maybe nothing's wrong, maybe the Lord's trying to test your faith! Maybe you have lessons to learn through it.

26. Everything goes so fast in the Family! We're living in the Time of the End & we want to accomplish so much, & we feel we've got to get everything done right now because time is so short! That's not a bad attitude in some ways, because it's true; we are living in the Time of the End, we don't have much time & the Lord does want us to get a lot done. But we need to see the other side & have the proper balance! We must realize that some things do take time & patience.

27. Some of our most fruitful Homes have been those whose members have "shtuck" in the same place & have slowly & methodically cultivated a solid & fruitful work. They have faithfully ministered to new converts, day after day, week after week, month after month, who have eventually become close friends & supporters. They've built good relations with the neighbors & the local community by gaining the reputation for being there when needed, volunteering to help, & not being a "fly by night" organization—"now you see them, now you don't!" They don't expect everything to happen overnight & they keep faithfully plugging along day after day.

28. I would venture to say that most of the people in the Family haven't learned this lesson yet, & they're chomping at the bit to accomplish everything immediately. They're in such a hurry, & if things don't get done immediately they think something's wrong. God help us to learn the balance & to remember what Dad said in "Squeeze, Don't Jerk"—that it takes time to accomplish some things, & if we're too busy or going too fast, we'll miss some of what the Lord is trying to teach us!—And we may end up with a nervous breakdown!

Serve One Another in Love

ML #2978:49- 52, DB 12

49. (Mama:) When you get to the place where you know God wants you, then you should roll up your sleeves and dive in to the situation, wholeheartedly committing yourself to stick‚ no matter what problems arise, what hardships you encounter, what frictions you have with your co-workers or what setbacks occur. When the going gets rough, instead of just trying to get out of a bad situation into a better one‚ all your prayers and energies should be directed into finding the solutions that will enable things to operate more smoothly.

50. If you know God called you there, you should stick it out and seek to overcome whatever obstacles may exist. It's like a marriage—just because things go wrong sometimes, that doesn't mean you should desert your mate. It's those hard times, the times when you have to get desperate together, when you have to overcome your differences, when you have to make a stand together against the attacks of the Devil, that help to deepen your relationship with each other, whether as a marriage or as a Home.

51. Just because we now have the Love Charter doesn't mean things are always going to be hunky-dory! There are going to be problems, hardships, personality clashes and all the rest. But if every time such problems arise you give your 30-day notice and move on to another Home, you are going to find yourself a constant vagabond! You can't just be a fair-weather Home member, you've got to be willing to ride through the storms as well as the sunny days. You need to have stick-to-itiveness.

52. Read Dad's Letter "Shtick" (ML #703). If the Lord has put you in a place and given you a job, then stick to it! If He's put you together with others‚ and unitedly all of your gifts and talents make a good Home, then stick together and build a work—until the Lord clearly shows you it is His time for you to move. If you do‚ the Lord will bless you.

Let Jesus Bear the Weight

ML #2987:40- 48, DB 12

40. (Prophecy, the Apostle Paul speaking:) "In my time on Earth I saw many afflictions. For I was shipwrecked at sea and spent a day in the water. I saw the high waves crashing all around and it was very frightening. And I was not delivered out of it but I was kept through it. I was beaten and I was stoned and I suffered sickness.

41. "Many times I was so discouraged that I felt like giving up, but I knew I had to keep going, that I was called and commissioned to spread the Gospel far and wide. And had I given up, others would have taken the crown, but it would have taken much more time, for I was the instrument, the vessel that was chosen to do the task that was set before me.

42. "But I saw much hardship and many times I felt defeated physically, mentally and spiritually‚ and tired. And at times I would think, 'I've endured so much, and I'm so tired.’ But I knew I could not give up, for I knew there was a great crown of righteousness laid up for me. And I knew that others expected it of me, and that if I had laid down my righteous crown‚ it would have stumbled many.

43. "And so in my defeat, in my discouragement and in my despair I carried on faithfully. And as I did, these things came to pass‚ and I was brought through them. The storms did not always end when I wished them to. I had to go through the beatings and the stonings, but the Lord always gave me the grace, and afterwards comforted me and healed me and kept me and rewarded me.

44. "And though I went through these things, I had so many highlights and wonderful things that the Lord did for me and used me to accomplish. And when you compare the fruit of my life to the sufferings, there is no comparison. For Satan buffeted me and tempted me and discouraged me, and tried to defeat me; yea, he tried to kill me. But our Lord kept me and protected me. He did not deliver me from these things, but He kept me through them.

45. "And what of the martyrs of all ages? They were not delivered out of their afflictions, they were kept through them and they were delivered unto their Heavenly reward. And there are those who have suffered imprisonment year after year after year. They were not delivered out of these things, but they were kept through them.

46. "So when the storms come and beat high upon your ship, and it seems as if your vessel is breaking into pieces, trust. For our Lord is always there‚ and He does not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able to bear, but He makes a way to escape—not always to escape from the affliction or the battle or the test, but you can escape through trusting.

47. "Hold fast that which thou hast; let no man, no, not even Satan steal that which thou hast‚ the crown of glory that is given unto thee. Hold it fast. Hold it through the storm. Hold it through the flood. Hold it through the fire. For there is laid up for you that are faithful and trusting an exceeding great reward.

48. "And once you choose to hold on, then we can spring into action and help even more. But you must choose, you must take the step of faith, that is for you alone to choose. So be not fearful to undergo whatever it is that is sent your way—your testings, your trials, your purgings. But know that He is faithful to keep you in all your tribulations‚ and through your tribulations and beyond your tribulations." (End of prophecy.)

Mama's Memos No.10

ML #3246:2- 48, GN 854

2. (Grandpa speaking:) Hi, kids! I love you! I understand that some of you don't like to do your schoolwork. I know how you feel.

3. I can't say that I was that way when I was young, because I was pretty studious and liked to study. But in my later years, I really went through trials sometimes having to sit down and get to work on my papers. It was really difficult for me. I much preferred to be talking to the Family, or reading something interesting, watching an interesting documentary or inspiring Family video, or doing a handyman project, or traveling, or going out to pioneer, or any one of many other things that I preferred doing about a hundred times more than my paperwork!

4. Sometimes my paperwork seemed very boring to me. There were some days I would have done almost anything to keep from having to do it. Are you surprised to hear me talking like that? You thought that because I was a prophet I could do anything I wanted, huh? Ha! I had to sit down each day and get my work done—and it was hard work, and it didn't come easily to me most of the time!

5. There were times when I was really inspired about a project, such as all the work we did in producing the posters. Because I was really excited about the project, it made it a bit easier for me. But most of the time, I didn't look forward to my hours at the desk, so to speak. Well, it wasn't always at a desk. Sometimes I worked in my chair, or on the bed, or on the floor‚ or outside—but no matter where I did it, I still had to do it. I had to buckle down and concentrate and work at it.

6. I'm sorry to have to say this, but you just need to buckle down and do your schoolwork. There will be some subjects that you'll like more than others, and every once in a while you'll get to do something that you really enjoy and look forward to. But you can expect the majority of it to be hard work—just sitting down and applying yourself.

7. I know when you're young‚ it's hard to do that. It's hard to have a vision for things you don't really relish doing. It's easy to sit down and waste the time, or just try to get by with as little done as possible. But someday you're going to regret that!

8. Someday you're going to need that information for one reason or another‚ and you'll regret it if you don't have it. For example, maybe you really, really want to do a certain ministry, but it goes to another person because you haven't learned all you need to know in order to do it. Or maybe you're talking to a friend or contact and they're surprised that you haven't learned something or other, which might be a poor testimony. Or worse yet, maybe you're having to face some authorities or education officials who are checking out your scholastic progress and you haven't learned what you should have and were told to.

9. You've heard the saying, "God helps those who help themselves‚ and He also helps those who can't help themselves. But He doesn't help those who can help themselves but won't." That means if you're in the category of those who "can help themselves"—that is, the Lord has given you the opportunity to have school time and you're working on learning what you need to learn—and you do help yourself, then He's going to help you.

10. If you're in the second category, "those who can't help themselves" for some reason, then the Lord will also help you. If you or your teacher get sick, or you have to move‚ or some other sort of emergency comes up where you have to miss school for a good reason, then the Lord will help you make it up in some way. He'll either teach you what you need to know through those experiences, or else when you need to know something later on, He'll give it to you miraculously or He'll help you to learn it real fast when you study it later. That's a case of "God helping those who can't help themselves."

11. But if you fall into the third category‚ "those who can help themselves but won't," then you can't expect the Lord to help you much either. He'll do a lot for you because you're His child, but He also expects you to put forth some effort and willpower and put yourself in a position to be helped!

12. In other words, this third category is when you have the means and the opportunity to learn and study and you could help yourself, but you won't because you don't want to make the sacrifice to sit there, or you waste time and fiddle it away, or you don't apply yourself to really learning. Then, when the Lord has need of you, you might not be ready to fill the very important slot that He has for you. Or you might find yourself in a place you don't really want to be, because you didn't prepare like you had the chance to.

13. What you learn there on Earth is going to help you throughout eternity! It's not only for the few short years you have left on Earth. The Lord is going to use it for ages to come! So you'll need to learn it now or in Heaven, and if it's some instruction the Lord has for you now‚ something you need now, then now is the best time to learn it! Otherwise you're just going to have to learn it in Heaven. But why go back to school in Heaven if you don't have to?

14. That's another case of applying the "God helps those ဦ" quote. The skills and talents the Lord has given you are like the talents of gold and silver they had in Bible days. The weights varied, but they were extremely valuable. In days of old, a talent was more than 100 pounds of gold or silver, and that's a lot of money—thousands and thousands of dollars. In the same way‚ your skills and talents are very valuable. In fact, they're priceless!

15. If you've been faithful with your talents—whether the Lord gave you ten, or five, or only one—He's going to give you more talents! Fifty, or 100, etc. (Mat.25:14-29). But if you go and bury your talent and don't make use of what the Lord has given you, then you're going to be found wanting and lacking, and you're going to have to do some remedial* studies in Heaven while your peers who applied themselves are going off on missions and exciting assignments! You don't want that, do you? So apply yourself now! (*remedial: helping; intended to correct or improve skills in a specific subject)

16. I know some of you are probably wondering if you'll really need to know all this in the Millennium and in Heaven, and why you can't just learn it then. Here's the Lord Himself to explain why:

17. (Jesus speaking:) Even the physical‚ practical things of life—math, spelling, practical knowledge—will come in handy during the years of the Millennium, and those who do not apply themselves to learn when they have the opportunity will be sorry. But even more than not having the practical problem–solving skills that you need, you will have missed out on the important lessons that come when you apply yourself to something—even something that you don't like or personally care for.

18. The lessons of faithfulness, not skipping grades, persevering, concentrating, disciplining your mind, learning to do things neatly and decently and in order‚ methodically working through a project until it is done, reviewing something again and again and retaining it in your mind—these are all very important lessons, and these good habits and concepts which you will not be able to get by without are even more important than the facts you learn in school.

19. Yes, you will need to spend time doing remedial work if you don't apply yourself now. I prepare each of My children wisely, and I give them opportunity to learn all that they will need in preparation for their ministries to come. For some, it comes in the form of the opportunity to do school and have scholastic training. For others it comes in the form of vocational training as they learn by doing.

20. The important point is to apply yourself, to make the most of your time and opportunity, and not to belittle the training that I'm giving you, whatever it may be! I give you many opportunities to learn and grow, and it pleases Me when you take advantage of them and make the most of them! Don't let any pass you by, so that you may grow into the strong, mature young men and women I need for My Kingdom! (End of message from Jesus.)

21. (Grandpa continues: ) Thank You, Lord! Kids‚ I know you're going to have high times, when it's easier to learn and press in, and low times when you really have to just make yourself sit down and it feels more like a punishment than a blessing. Please try not to murmur about it, though. The Lord can't bless you and can't give you more exciting studies, or more Heavenly help to help you learn, if you murmur. So try to be good soldiers, and just count this as part of your job for the Lord.

22. Did you know that when soldiers join the army, for the first several months or years, depending on their rank, they don't do anything but learn? They have classes‚ they train to develop their physical or mental skills and coordination, they have firing practice, they go out on maneuvers with other troops, and they study whatever it is they're going to be called on to do in wartime. All that time they're being trained‚ but they're not able to put much of that training to use. Of course, they're preparing, but that doesn't seem so important to them at the time.

23. You may not feel like you're getting anything done, but you're preparing too. You're doing the most important thing you could be doing right now—being a good student and learning what the Lord knows you're going to need to know in the days to come.

24. What if soldiers didn't apply themselves during their boot camp or training times, because they didn't see the need? Maybe they felt like they weren't accomplishing anything, and it all seemed pretty pointless to them at the time—not only boring, but downright difficult and painful sometimes. Now in the army the sergeant is going to make you do something, if necessary. That's like your parents or teachers make you do some things today, because they know you need to learn them. It's for your own good.

25. But the sergeant can't make you apply yourself, just like your parents and teachers can't make you apply yourself, as much as they'd like to. You have to have a vision and do it yourself, because you know you need to learn these things. If soldiers don't learn what they're supposed to, then they won't be ready for battle. They'll be handicapped, and they could wind up injured or killed. And if you don't learn what you need to, you'll be handicapped in the battle of life. You'll be an unskilled, uneducated soldier, and in some cases that might make you easy prey for the Enemy.

26. Now, I'm not giving you that illustration to glorify men's armies—because the Lord hates the wars, the killing‚ the mass destruction and pain they bring about, all because of selfishness. But the Lord has often used the illustration of the army to teach us lessons, because we're in His army. So learn a lesson from that and apply yourself now, so you can be prepared for the days to come, okay? I love you!

27. I'll be real proud of you when I see you sitting down and doing your best to apply yourselves, because I know how hard it is. I had to do the same thing for years and years, and it wasn't easy. But it was because of that perseverance that we, the Family, have gotten as far as we have. Of course, it was all the Lord‚ and I had an awful lot of help from Mama and Peter and our dear staff—and it was all of you, our dear Family, who went out and did the job! But if I hadn't sat down every day, even the times I didn't feel like it, we would have been pretty disorganized, and the Lord might have had to find someone else to do the job.

28. All glory to Jesus! He really helped me, and I know He'll help you, too! Praise the Lord!

Love, Grandpa (End of message from Grandpa)

29. (Mama: ) Others of you may feel like A., age 11, in India, who wrote me the following letter:

Dear Mama,

30. Hi! I love you! You are a wonderful shepherdess. Thank you for all the beautiful Word you send our way. I am praying for you!

31. I am 11 years old and am doing school and sometimes I go witnessing and I enjoy it. I wanted to write you and tell you what I'm going through. You see, I have a trial about school. I am not happy when I have to do school. I cannot spell properly. I also have a bad habit with daydreaming. I wanted to ask for prayer so I can get the victory.

I love you so much!

Love from A.

32. (Mama:) I love you too, Honey! Thanks for your sweet note, and for being a faithful missionary. I'm sorry school is a trial for you. I'm praying for you! We brought your situation to the Lord in prayer and He sent Grandpa with the following message for you and any others who might feel the same way.

33. (Grandpa speaking:) Hi, kids! It's me, your ol' Grandpa‚ here to talk to you about school again. Now don't give up on me. I want you to hear what I have to say because it's important!

34. When I talk about school here, I'm talking about the basics that you really need to know—not getting into all sorts of worldly head knowledge that you're never going to use! But the basics are needful, they're important and they're useful! Okay?

35. I know that some of you have real battles with school. You just don't like it, and I understand. You'd much rather be going witnessing, doing fun activities, or even helping with your younger brothers and sisters, cooking, or helping around the Home, but instead you have to sit at your school desk or work area day after day. You have to keep learning and learning, and sometimes you don't feel like you're making any progress or see what's the point of learning all these things. Does that sound familiar?

36. Your teachers try and make your school exciting and interesting, but sometimes you just get bored with learning how to spell, having to review your times tables, having to do endless math problems—learning addition‚ subtraction, multiplication, division, and then on to fractions, percentages and more. You try your best to put your heart into your school, but when you have to do it year after year after year, you just don't see the point. You wonder if you're really getting anywhere or learning anything, and what your knowledge will be good for. You ask, "Why do I have to do school?"

37. Kids, school is important, both now and in the future. You need to know how to read well to get your spiritual nourishment from the Word or to be able to understand forms and paperwork you have to fill out. Knowing how to write well enables you to witness to others better, because some of your witnessing to friends, contacts and relatives is going to be via mail or e-mail. And you need a basic knowledge of math, history, geography and other subjects both for the sake of your witness, so people won't think you're a dummy, and for your own sake, for your future ministry.

38. When you're younger you don't see all of the reasons why, but when you get older‚ you'll be thankful that you took the time to study hard and learn all you could. You may have to run a kitchen, you may have to manage the finances, you may have a childcare group to oversee or teach, you may become a secretary or have to take care of office work and handle a mail ministry, you may become a handyman, a driver, a mechanic‚ or a computer expert, and all of the knowledge that you've gained through your years of school will pay off. You'll be so thankful you didn't give up, but that you kept learning.

39. But you may say, "Hey‚ Grandpa, what are you talking about? Jesus is coming back soon and we won't have time to grow up and do all of these fancy ministries that you just mentioned. What if Jesus comes back in a few years? What good will all of this school do for us then?" That's a good question! The answer is that your life in Heaven and in the Millennium is a continuation of your life on Earth.

40. When you get to Heaven you won't automatically know everything. You'll still have to learn. Everything isn't just handed to you on a silver platter. So if you don't learn how to read and write while on Earth, you'll have to spend some time in Heaven learning those things, while the other kids your age may be discovering new planets and traveling around the world on special missions. See, what you learn on Earth isn't going to be wasted once you get to Heaven. If you study hard on Earth and learn what you need to learn‚ you'll be given more exciting jobs in the future.

41. The Lord wouldn't make you learn how to read, write, spell, count and do math, and learn your science, history and geography if it wasn't going to benefit you in the years to come and in the Millennium. In that day, you may be the shepherds, teachers or rulers of groups of people, or even of cities or nations. You'll have a lot of spiritual knowledge to share with them and maybe even a lot of practical knowledge, because those left on the Earth may be simple folks in many cases. Maybe you'll even have to teach them how to read and write and spell so they can read the Word and grow‚ or learn the things they need to know. We'll have Heavenly bodies and will be able to communicate through our minds, but those on the Earth will be bound to operating in very much the same way that we operate now.

42. If you study hard now, you'll be able to teach others. Whereas if you don't apply yourself to learn what you can now, you'll have to be one of the pupils and learn it in Heaven. There are going to be lots of fun things to learn in Heaven, and it's going to be very exciting! But I'm sure you wouldn't want to have to go back to some of the same old lessons that you were supposed to learn on Earth‚ would you? I'm sure you'd much rather be discovering the mysteries of Heaven, or exploring new planets and flying around to the different villages to teach others how to live and learn, so that they can find out more about Jesus, the Bible, and the history of the world.

43. Your schooling is for your benefit while on Earth, so you'll be better equipped for the jobs and ministries the Lord has in store for you. But all of your knowledge will also come in handy when you get to Heaven. Instead of having to relearn all that you missed while on Earth because you were daydreaming during school and skipping work, you'll be way ahead of everyone else. You'll be a ruler rather than a pupil. You'll be a teacher rather than a student.

44. So wouldn't you much rather press in here and now and have a blast later in the Millennium as you teach and rule others? I know it isn't easy to get your mind on the hard work. It's easy to get bored as you sit down to your schoolbooks day after day, but just remember that the purpose of it all is so that Jesus can use you in the future.

45. Your parents and teachers try to make your schooling as lively and fun as possible, and you should try to enjoy it all you can, but sometimes it's just plain old hard work and it takes a lot of concentration and stick-to-itiveness. So, don't give up! Your parents and teachers know that you won't want to be stuck in a classroom while your other friends are ruling the world, going places and doing fun things‚ so they want to teach you all they can while there's still time. Do you understand why school is important?

46. Give your parents, teachers and shepherds some cooperation. Remember that they're doing what's best for you. The easier you make it for them, the easier it will be for you. One day you'll be thankful that you learned all you could while on Earth. Keep learning and growing. It's all a part of your training‚ in preparation for the exciting jobs the Lord has in store for you! I love you‚ kids!

Your Grandpa (End of message from Grandpa.)

47. (Jesus speaking:) My precious children of David, you are blessed with a rich and full education, one that far surpasses what you learn in the actual classroom with your workbooks. Every moment of the day you are being trained and prepared for your coming ministries and the role I have for you to play—both as My Endtime witnesses as well as the instructors and teachers of many in the Millennium. Each time you go out witnessing you learn more about how to understand people and relate to them‚ how to pass on My Words and counsel to them. Each time you help around the Home you learn the important lessons of being great through being a servant of all. You learn faithfulness, unselfishness, compassion, how to love and give, and much more!

48. Your schoolwork at your desk is a small part of your education, but in this special message to you, I want to encourage you that it's a very important part. Some of you enjoy it, while to others of you it's the most boring or difficult part of the day. But I want to encourage you that it's a very important part of your training and preparation—because you'll not only need much of what you learn in the very near future, as you grow and take on more and more responsibility‚ but you also build good habits and learn perseverance, faithfulness, how to discipline your mind, concentration, and much more—all skills which are vital for you to learn. So take advantage of the time that you have and put your all into it, and I will bless and reward you for it! I love you! (End of message from Jesus.)

The Endtime Series‚ Part 3

ML #3280:89- 100‚ GN 896

How a Long-term Vision and Shortness of Time Jibe!

90. (Dad speaking:) You say, "Mass marketing sounds great. Publishing all these books sounds fantastic. Organized, long-term follow-up is also a dream come true. But it takes time, it takes planning, it takes a good deal of organization, not to mention personnel and finances to boot! We want to do it, we want to obey, but we just don't see how we can‚ Dad. It just doesn't seem feasible. It's hard to have the faith to invest the time and finances to get these projects going if there's not gonna be time to see them completed. We'd love to get on the stick and live as if the End is coming tomorrow‚ but what about all these projects? Why is the Lord leading us into these areas that look like long-term projects if the time is so short?"

91. Are you wondering how on earth you're supposed to get turned on to what seem like long-term projects when there's not much time left? Well, for one, the Lord said He wanted us to witness right up to the very time of the End! The Lord promised there would never be a time when we wouldn't be able to get out the Word and our tools, right up to the very End!

92. Right in the middle of all the chaos and mass confusion is when the world is gonna need our message the most. Our materials are gonna go far and wide and get into places that our people would never dream of going. The Enemy knows this, so he's tryin' to scare our folks out with a few little minor details and facts and figures about how long everything takes and what an investment of time it's gonna be.

93. But don't limit God! Don't put God in a box! All you have to do is follow where He's leading—and if He's leading you into a more organized follow-up program, then you'd better follow. If He's leading you into mass marketing and into a more structured plan to distribute the tools, you'd better follow—and trust Him for all the details!

94. But this doesn't contradict the shortness of time, folks, not in God's eyes. It doesn't contradict the Endtime vision at all. On the contrary, it complements it; it's all working together, even though you can't see how right now.

97. Here's another thing to remember, and something that oughtta encourage your hearts when you think about these long-term projects. Everything in the world is revving up. Technology is revving up and things are moving faster and faster all the time. What took a long time to produce yesterday, you're gonna find might go a lot quicker tomorrow. Things are taking less and less time, simply because of modern technology booming. The Lord is able to open the doors for the Family in the blink of an eye, and as you stay faithful‚ as you keep at it and stay importunate, He will do it for you, precisely when the time is right!

98. He's taking you a step at a time for many reasons—to sharpen your faith‚ to keep you humble in some cases, and to cast your lines in places where He wants you to be at the moment.

99. Remember‚ by the time Jesus started His public ministry, He didn't have much time left—so once these projects do take off, your time will be nigh! By the time the Lord really had full exposure and He went up to Jerusalem and delivered His soul, His time was about up. Those were His days of final publicity, and then His days were numbered.

100. The Lord is going to fulfill all that He promised. He's gonna get the message out through our publications, our books and tools, the videos and so on. As long as you keep following closely, He will open the doors wide and lead you to places you never thought possible. All of a sudden it'll take off, and you're gonna fly! But you'll burn up fast and bright for Jesus, because these are the days of fast living. These are the days of the End, and it's later than you think! In this day of fast living, everything is going to go faster than you think. (End of message from Dad.)

Activate the World, Part 2

ML #3358:28- 37, GN 955

28. (Jesus speaking:) My dear children, I beseech you to keep the long-term vision. I know there are children to teach and care for, meals to cook, bills to be paid, rent money to raise, performances and shows to take part in, and CTP programs and people to minister to, among the many other things you do. These things are good and needful and you must do them, but don't neglect the other at the same time—the winning and feeding of My sheep.

29. For the sake of lost souls, feed My sheep. For the sake of My Kingdom, feed My sheep. For your own sake and the future of the Family, feed My sheep. Lead them to Me so that they too might become part of My Bride and dwell with Me forever. Lead them to Me so that they might have true life, real life, everlasting life, and joy and peace forever after. Lead them to Me so that you might have fellow laborers in the harvest fields which are so wide and so white to harvest.

30. You have so much to do every day, every week, every month, and it's necessary for your survival and continued work. But please don't neglect the winning of souls and ministering to them through Activated or faithful follow-up. This is what is most necessary to the future of these souls and to your own future as a Family, as I have shown you.

31. Make soul winning and Activated a part of your everyday life in some way. I can show you how if you ask Me. Perhaps you can set yourself a daily, weekly or monthly subscription goal‚ something to keep striving for. Perhaps you can do something crazy or out of the ordinary to get out Activated, depending on the culture of your country. Maybe you could set up a stand at a store or market‚ or prepare flyers to advertise Activated, or check with friendly local bookstores to see if they would carry any of your material or flyers. There are wild and wonderful ways that I can show you to get out Activated during the course of your day!

32. If you can't go out much because of your ministry, perhaps you can set aside a time every day to pray for your brethren who are out, that they will bear much fruit with Activated. If you're at home with the children, maybe you can pray and claim verses for those who are out‚ or do a study on follow–up from the Book of Acts or from Family pubs, or read testimonies of those who were won by follow-up and faithful feeding. There are many things you can do, whether you're out or at home, and I can show you if you ask Me.

33. Don't let the flame of your ardor for Activated flicker low and grow feeble. Stir yourself up if you feel your enthusiasm is waning and your zeal is diminishing. Yes, there will be problems and difficulties. Yes, I know it often seems like there is a never–ending stream of emergencies, and there is never enough time for everything. But you must keep your eyes on your goals, My dear ones—the winning of souls to My Kingdom and their feeding and nurturing. It is vital to their future and to yours!

34. In all your ways acknowledge Me, and I will direct your paths and help you to activate others. Come to Me and await My instructions; sit quietly, in confidence and trust, and I will supply the guidance that you need.

35. I told My people of old to bind My law upon their foreheads so that they might always be reminded of it, to keep it. To you, My brides of this new era, I recommend something similar—always keep Activated before your eyes, so that you might be motivated to excel in it. As you think of your friends, contacts, and supporters‚ pray that they will want to get activated, and want to help their friends get activated, and then put feet to your prayers. As you are out, be in tune with Me, for I may lead you to someone who is ripe and ready for Activated. As you read the local newspaper or listen to the news, be open to My whispers, for I may show you a way to promote Activated, or show you some person who could benefit from it. Always be asking Me ways in which you can get others activated, and you'll be amazed at the things I can show you.

36. Let Activated be a part of your conversations at home as well. Brainstorm ideas. Have a session where you unite and ask Me to speak to you on it. Share testimonies daily of the victories. Post pubs about it on your bulletin board and read and review them to get new ideas. As you yourselves are activated, the Activated ministry will flourish in your Home, and multitudes of hungry sheep will press into My Kingdom and be fed therein!

37. Have you gotten activated today? If you have, then many more will be activated as well, and the fruit of your efforts will be eternal. I love you, My dear children. Be activated today! Go all the way! Don't miss a day or languish away. Okay? (End of message from Jesus)

Copyright © 2005 by The Family International