TSGN13: LETTER TO OUR DEAR TRF SUPPORTER FAMILY!
DO/TS 7/95
--By Maria
My very dear Loved Ones,
1. I love each of you very much and you are in my thoughts and prayers. This is an especially busy time for me, with lots going on, many decisions to make, many pubs to work on, and much counsel needing to be given. But I want to lay all that aside for a bit in order to concentrate on you. You are very important to me, very important to Dad, and very important to the Lord. We love you very much! Please know that you are never forgotten!
2. When we think of our Family, it always includes you! In fact, when we think of you, it is with great admiration. When we think of you, we think of your faithful years of service to Jesus. When we think of you, we think of the many battles you have fought. When we think of you, we think of your perseverance, and we love you for hanging on in spite of the very difficult things you have been through! When we think of you, we think of strength and courage! We think of what a good example you are to our DO Family, who have seen you launch out on your own by faith, and witnessed that the Lord has not failed you!--So that many are now saying, "If they made it, so can we!"
3. When we think of you, we think of your faithful witnessing and your faithful supporting, which in proportion to your numbers has been greater than that of our DO Family. You have been living right amongst the people where you see their need and feel it and know what they are going through. You're where you can minister God's answers to them from the Words of David.
4. The Lord may have used a great big shove to get you out onto a rather "bumpy" road to bring you to the place where you now are, but His greatest victories come out of seeming defeats! The difficult times that you have gone through have resulted in a brokenness and a sweetness, a humility and a desperation which is very precious in His sight, and which is making you into the man or woman of God that He wants each of you to be. Only through trials can some things be learned. Your desperation has put you in a yielded position where you can accept much more from His hand, and where you can better appreciate His blessings.
5. Even above the din of the city, the noise and the confusion, the filth and the problems, the little birdie sings! He praises God and makes a beautiful song unto his Creator, giving thanks for what he receives at His hand. And because he must work harder for it, he appreciates it so dearly. Even so are you who have learned to appreciate His blessings more than ever before, to love His Words more greatly and to revel in His gifts! Although you may feel like the little sparrow, very weak and insignificant, the Lord looks down and sees your song and loves you for it.
6. You may be weak in some ways, but your love for Jesus and your love for the lost is strong, and this is what counts to Him! He is well pleased with this. If you love Him and you love His Family and want to follow even closer, He will give you the desires of your heart. So continue to climb, continue to fight the battle in whatever place He has put you! There's no space too small for you to grow in and be useful!
7. Many of you have been faithful to hold the standard high and to teach your children in the ways of the Lord, and to continue to minister the truth to others. And for this we commend you, and for this we're proud of you! The Lord is proud of you! Continue to sing His praises and continue to preach His Gospel! You are His disciples and He--and we--love you very dearly! God bless those of you who've made such great progress! You've grown because you trusted in Jesus. You've hung on, you've learned to live by faith, you've learned to live in small Homes, you've learned to train your children, and you've learned to appreciate the Word. This is wonderful! This is marvelous! This is just what the Lord was wanting for you!
8. In spite of great difficulties, and in spite of feeling ostracized and left out and unwanted and distanced from us and your other brothers and sisters, so many of you have continued fighting, you've continued making progress, and you've done the best you could. Even though you may not feel very successful or that you've done very much or that your lives have been very fruitful, the fact that you kept fighting and kept trusting is a great victory! This is great in God's eyes!
9. In this new day, each of you can be as close as you choose to be, for now the Lord is allowing each one to float to the level of their faith. No longer will there be as much noticeable difference in the circumstances of the DO Family and the TRF Supporter Family. Most everyone will be living much more by faith, living in smaller Homes and making many more of their own decisions and choices.
10. What will determine everyone's level of discipleship will be the attitude of your heart--not your accomplishments! God's not judging you by how great your ministry seems or how many important people you reach, but He judges you by your faithfulness, your obedience, your yieldedness to do what He asks you to do in the daily little things. You can live the life that you choose according to your own faith, according to your desires and according to your willingness to be yielded to the Lord.
11. Dear ones, I want you to be happy! The Lord wants you to be happy. This is very important to Him, as He loves you so much. When you're unhappy, it grieves Him and it makes His heart so very sad for you. In this new day, He's trying to make it easier for you, not harder! He's pouring out His gifts of Love and faith and anointing upon you, if you'll just receive them. He wants serving Him to be a wonderful experience! This is what I want for you also--that you will be happy and fulfilled and content, and that you will grow closer to Jesus with each passing day!
12. Your place is very important! You have great value! Don't despise your place or belittle it. It is a gift from Him. You've gone through many breakings and squeezings. You shouldn't look upon these things as a curse, but rather as a blessing! Remember that His way up is down!
13. So don't let anything hold you back! Don't let bitterness, or condemnation, or the lies of the Devil that you're useless and that you can't do anything, keep you from entering into the joy that the Lord has for you! Don't feel that just because you have battles in obeying, that the battles have canceled out the victory of your obedience. Not at all--the battles have just made it a greater victory!
14. Forget the past, live for today, and be faithful to the Words of David! Remember that when the Lord looks at you, He sees much more positive than negative. He sees how far you have come, not how far you have yet to go. What you think is so little, He considers much, and it is great in His eyes!
15. So, my dear ones, learn to love Him in a new way and find happiness in serving Him. Remember that He doesn't look on your classification, but He looks on your heart! He doesn't judge you by your accomplishments, but by your obedience, your yieldedness, your love for Him and others. He can't judge you by your accomplishments, because any accomplishments are His, and not yours. So if you accomplish anything at all, it's His accomplishment and He has to get the glory for that. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).
16. I wanted to give you all the encouragement possible, so besides writing this Letter, I enlisted the help of some of the dear folks in our Home to pray especially for you, our precious TS Family, and to ask Jesus for some words of encouragement for you. We didn't have to beg Him, He was very ready and willing, but in accordance with His principles, we had to make our requests known and open up the channels so He would have the opportunity to tell you what He wanted to say to you. He loves you so much, and He spoke so beautifully to you, as you'll hear in the message below.
17. In addition to that, there's another wonderful surprise for you!: Dad has also given a very special message to you, which I believe you'll be thrilled with!
18. So now you know that we all love you! I love you! Our dear King Peter loves you! The wonderful folks who live with me love you! Your brothers and sisters worldwide love you! Dad, who watches over us and daily helps us from the Heavenlies, loves you! And most of all, our Lover of all lovers and wonderful and eternally faithful Husband and Bridegroom, King and Savior and Shepherd, to Whom we give all the glory and the honor and the praise, loves you!--Our wonderful Jesus, Whose Love knows no limits, and Who loves each of us with love immeasurable and unspeakable and unending!
19. So below, in His Words, is His message for you!:
Prophecies
20. (Sings:) "Clap your hands, all ye people, and shout unto God with the voice of triumph! Clap your hands, all ye people, and shout unto God!" (End of singing).
21. "Clap thine hands for joy! Raise thine arms in praise! Rejoice, I say, rejoice! For it is a new day! A new day has dawned upon the children of David--a day of rejoicing, a day of praise, a day of happiness, a day of freedom, a day of great fruitfulness!--And I am calling all of My faithful ones to come, to enter in to this new day and enjoy all that I have set before thee! Reach out the hand of faith and take what I have to give thee!--Abundant blessings, abundant joy, abundant provision, abundant fruitfulness! All this I have to give. It is in My hands. Simply reach out and receive that which I have for thee.
22. "Behold, I have seen thy tears, I have heard thy prayers, and I will deliver thee from thy loneliness and from thy frustration, from thy discouragement, from thy confusion, from thy hardness of heart, from thy bitterness, from anything that doth weigh thee down and hold thee back. I will deliver thee if thou wilt only lift up thine heart to Me and cry out to Me! It is My desire to set thee free that thou mightest serve Me more fully, that thou mightest bear more fruit, and that thy fruit should remain. For there is so much to do and there are so few laborers.
23. "Thou mayest feel that thou art behind, that thou art not as trained, that thou art not as learned in the Words of David. But I say unto you, ye are all shepherds, ye are all teachers, and ye all have great wealth of the truth and wisdom of My Word in your hearts. There is much for each one of you to do! For if thou lookest about thee, there are many hungry sheep that long to be fed from thy hands. There are many desperate ones that would come unto thee and say, `Feed me of the truth of God! Feed me of the Words of David. Teach me the life of faith. Teach me how to raise my children. Teach me how to pray and hear from the Lord. Teach me how to witness. Teach me how to provision.' There are many that would come unto thee and seek that which thou knowest, and draw from the wisdom that is within thine heart.
24. "Therefore, lift up thine eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest! Say not that there are yet four months and then thou wilt go into the fields to harvest. For, behold, now is the time! Now is the hour! If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Do that which I bid thee. Feed My sheep. For the harvest truly is plenteous and the laborers are very, very few.
25. "Thou feelest that thou hast weaknesses and shortcomings which render thee ineffective in the battle and ineffective in the harvest--but this is not true! Cast off these lies of the Enemy! Cast off these lying vanities when he says that thou art of no value and that thou art too weak to be of benefit on the battlefront! Rebuke these lies of the Enemy! For I say unto you, each one of you is precious in My sight! Each one of you is hand-picked by Me! I know each one of you by name. I know every circumstance of thy life. I know all thy problems and all thy battles. I know all thy weaknesses and thy shortcomings. I know the problems thou hast had in the past and the problems thou hast today. I know all of thy worries. I know all the things that hold thee back and the way the Enemy lies to thee and tries to minimize thy place of service and tries to get thee to despise the day of small things. I know all of this.
26. "But I say unto thee, arise! Rise above this! Lift up thine eyes and reach up thine hands and take hold of Me, and I will pull thee upward, upward, above all this! I will set thee up upon a rock and I will strengthen thee with strength that thou knowest not of! I will put within thee a burning fire of faith and a renewed desire to serve Me, and thou shalt find again the joy of thy salvation!
27. "So rise above these things of the past! Let Me loose these moorings which bind thee. Shake off these shackles of the Enemy and step out by faith into the freedom and fulfillment that I have for thee, and into the wonderful place of fruitfulness and the life of happiness that I long to give thee if thou wilt just reach out, step out, have faith, obey and yield, and do those things that thou dost know are right. Live the truth that thou hast, for I am speaking in My still small voice in thine heart and in thy mind.
28. "Hear My whispers and heed My call and follow closely once again as thou didst in the days of thy youth, for it is a new day and there are many doors of service opening. There are many needs within My Family, there are many opportunities. The only thing that limits thee from fulfilling these needs and finding these opportunities is a lack of faith.
29. "Trust Me when I say that it is a new day, and trust Me when I say that this new day is for thee! For ye are My children, children of David, children of the king and of the queen. And even as the queen hath extended her hand to thee in compassion and understanding and love, so do I extend My hand to thee. Wilt thou not reach out and take it by faith? Wilt thou not walk through the open door by faith and find that place of fruitfulness and happiness and fulfillment that I have for thee?
30. "As much as thou art willing to give unto Me, so will I give unto thee; and the more thou givest to Me, the more I will give to thee. The closer thou followest Me, the wider a door of service I will open unto thee. As thou seekest greater yieldedness and greater submission to Me, so shall I reward thee with greater closeness to thy loved ones.
31. "Therefore be not discouraged nor weary in well doing, but take upon thee the armament of a soldier, for there are many battles yet to be fought! And as the days grow darker, each soldier is more and more valuable to the Commander in Chief. Therefore, prepare for the battle! Prepare in mind and in spirit and in heart. Be not foolish but be sober, for the battle is at hand and the skies are dark with clouds of warning! Dost thou hear the trumpet sound and the rallying cry of the battle? Then go forth as a soldier who is willing to give his life to the cause! If thou dost hear this cry of the trumpet and the call of the Commander in Chief, then stand tall and salute and be ready to obey and give thy life for the Kingdom! For that is My commission to each one of you, and to all of My children of David, that ye fight the good fight as brave soldiers, and that ye be willing to give your lives that others may live.
32. "Time is short and there is much to do! Therefore waste not thy time in shallowness and gossiping and frivolous living, but prepare for the battle! Prepare thy children for the battle, for time is short, and great shall be thy reward in Heaven! For I will give unto thee an hundredfold. Whatsoever thou dost sacrifice, I shall reward with rewards unspeakable, and thou shalt count it all joy to give thy life for the Kingdom, knowing that I shall say unto thee, `Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!'"
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33. "The playing field has now been leveled, for I give every man the opportunity to find his place of service in My Kingdom. Every man shall stand before Me, so forsake thy bitterness, forsake thy doubts and thy questions and thy fears, and live! Live for Me! Live for others! Live for those that die without Me!
34. "I have called thee to be My disciples, and I have called thee to raise thy children in My fear and admonition. There are so few that will follow, there are so few that will deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me, but I have called all of you! So forsake these things that hold thee back! Find thy place, and make thy calling and election sure. For if thou doest these things, thou shalt not be disappointed and thou shalt not be unfulfilled. I am only limited by thy faith.
35. "I have told thee, if thou wilt draw close to Me, I will give thee faith. Read My Word, for have I not begun to pour out My Word more abundantly to each of thee, and to shower thee with My blessings? But with this comes thy responsibility to take these Words and eat them and be strengthened by them, and to forsake thy piddly little differences and doubts and fears, and yes, even bitterness--things that hold thee back from being all that thou canst be. For I need thee, My children. The days are darker and darker, and My sheep are so lonely and so lost and so desperate for Me, and know not where to find Me. Reach out to them!
36. "Take this hand of fellowship and be strengthened, for this is indeed the true yoke of fellowship that I am offering to thee. There are no more barriers! There is nothing to hold thee back any more except thine own faith, thy own weaknesses, thine own disobedience, thine own lack of conviction, thine own shallowness, thine own desire for worldly things. Look not to put the blame on others, for this will no longer work in any way. For the door is wide open for thee to follow Me as far and as close as thou wilt, and to enter into My Kingdom by thine own free and loving choice. For the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Be not weary in well doing, for in due season thou shalt reap, if thou faintest not.
37. "Come unto Me and I will strengthen thee, and thy brethren will strengthen thee, and together thou canst continue to build My Kingdom --My Kingdom of hearts and souls and love and caring--so that ye may all be an ensample. For by this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another. I am breaking down the middle walls of partition that have separated you.
38. "So rejoice! Rejoice in the freedom that I am giving, the opportunity that I am offering thee, the answer to thy prayers, the desire of thine heart! Although it is a rough and a rugged road, My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
39. "Love one another and greet one another with a holy kiss, and thou shalt find strength! Thou shalt be renewed, and I will carry thee across this Jordan, that thou mayest enter into this new day and the new revolutions that I am now enacting in My Family. The past is gone, it is a new day! Enter in! Join in the fellowship of My Spirit and My new team that is going out to reach the world with My Love in these dying hours of these Last Days, and I will be with thee whithersoever ye go!"
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40. "Was not the Apostle Paul also a TSer for a time, and through it learned many things? --That his zealousness and his works were not the most important things; that sitting with the elders and being a leader was not the most important thing; but that ministering the gifts of My Spirit and displaying the graces that Christianity brings to one's life is the most important thing. Through it I made him a soft, loving man who was willing to go anywhere and do anything to help others, to please Me.
41. "This is what I desire from all of you.--Not that ye try to attain to some great level or fill some high position, but that ye have simple, childlike faith that will give you love. That ye will let the gifts of My Spirit pour through you to minister to others and display the Christian graces that your hardships have brought about in your lives. For in humility is strength, and in your weakness I can show My strength to My sheep.
42. "I know that in your hearts, each of you know that the things ye have been required to go through have been for a good reason, that ye could become more submitted to Me, more yielded to Me, and that ye would appreciate the wonderful blessings of My Family--the love, the tenderness, the gentleness, the caring, the prayer, the inspiration, the unity, the wonderful things that ye now realize are so important in your walk and life with Me. For ye have seen the cruelty of ungodly men--man's inhumanity to man, his lack of love, his hate, his greed, his avarice, his lust--and through this I have broken your hearts so that I can make you more useful tools in My Kingdom.
43. "So praise Me and thank Me, for I am making you the men and women of God that ye have wished and desired for so long to be. Rejoice and be happy, for My hand has indeed been on your lives and I have carried you these many years. But be submissive, be yielded, be loving and caring, be humble."
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44. (Dad speaking:) "God bless you, dear ones! I love you and I'm proud of you! Don't be discouraged, feeling distant from the rest of the Family and feeling distant from the ones you love, because you're my children! All my children are my children, and I love you! I want you to do the best you can. I want you to fight! I want you to forsake the things that hold you back and just get on with serving Jesus.
45. "Serving Jesus is the most wonderful thing! Serving Jesus is where it's at! Serving Jesus is life! Serving Jesus is happiness! Serving Jesus is the road to fulfillment and contentment. If you want more of all of these things, then serve Jesus! Let go of the things that hold you back and hold you down! Forget the past, it's gone! Let's think about today, let's think about the future, let's think about everything that God has for us! Start serving Jesus, and believe you me, He'll take care of you and He'll supply your needs, just like He did for me!
46. "As you know, many times I had to forsake all and I had to go out not knowing whither I was going, just because the Lord told me, just because I heard His voice and I knew I had to obey. So I took my wife and kids and what little money I had and I hit the road!--And He always blessed it, and He always caused us to bring forth fruit because we were serving Him and we were willing to be pilgrims and strangers. He's still the same today! He's calling you and He wants you to serve Him and to be pilgrims and strangers and to make yourself of no reputation, like I did, even to be willing to suffer persecution for the truth, and to suffer deprivation and lack of comfort in order to be able to preach the Gospel.
47. "So come on!--If you're not on board, get on right away! There's a lot to do! Let's get with it! You're my children and I love you, and I need you, so follow closely. You just put the boat in motion and the rudder will take effect, and you'll find yourself in the center of God's will. Don't worry, God won't fail you. He'll take care of you and He'll supply your needs just as He has always done. He always did for me, He always did for you, and He will in the future as well.
48. "So don't be discouraged! Keep fighting! Keep progressing and going on and climbing that mountain day by day, higher and higher! Mama loves you, Peter loves you, and I love you!--And don't ever let the Devil tell you anything else! So let's get going, let's start fighting, let's fight this battle together! We need you! So don't give up--get up!--And start fighting for Jesus!"
SEEKING HIS VOICE OF COUNSEL!
--Prophecy regarding Armenia!--By Maria
DO/TS 5/95
1. (Mama:) Several weeks ago I received a brief report saying that our new pioneer team in Armenia had experienced some rather serious persecution when a gang of 8 to 10 thugs broke into their apartment, beat them up and threatened to kill them if they didn't leave town. After praying about it, our team decided to leave. Needless to say, we were sorry that our dear folks had had to suffer this treatment, but we were very thankful that it had not been worse--that they hadn't received serious injuries or been thrown into prison, and that they were able to escape.
2. Aside from our concern for our sweet folks and their welfare, we had another major concern. With the departure of our folks, our opportunity to reach these precious people with the Words of David had been snuffed out, or at least seriously limited, even if another team should go in later. And that brought up the question of other countries and whether our pioneer teams could survive in them any better. I felt led to ask the Lord to give us some answers to my questions.
3. Below is my prayer and the things the Lord gave us when Peter and I prayed together. All we had was a very basic report; we didn't have any of the details and we were pretty much in the dark about the situation. However, we knew the Lord knew the whole story and could unravel the mystery and could explain why it happened and what we could do to prevent such situations in the future. Therefore, I prayed the following prayer after having our regular Sunday evening communion:
4. (Mama prays:) Thank You, Lord, for this beautiful time of communion we had in commemoration of You and Your death on the cross, and Your resurrection, too! Thank You Jesus! Thank You for Your great love which constrained You to come to Earth and to live and to die when Your plan was fulfilled, and to rise again. Thank You Jesus!
5. Even though You were here on this Earth in human flesh, even though You had human feelings and were in all things tempted just like we are, You had to make this great decision and be willing to give Your life for the world. You were here on Earth like us and You were having to make the greatest sacrifice ever asked of someone in human flesh, yet You were willing. You said yes. So no matter how big a sacrifice You require of us, it's nothing compared to what You had to do. If God gave You the grace to suffer and die for us, then there's nothing that You can ask of us that we can't have the grace or victory for, because You've promised to give it to us.
6. Thank You for going before us and paving the way and setting an example that we should follow. You told us that as Your Father had sent You, so You send us.--To do the same things, to preach the good news, to set the captives free, to sacrifice, to give our lives for those whom You came to deliver.
7. We want to come to You with this question about Armenia and these other countries that You have told us to go into in order to reach those whom You love and care about and whom You died for. These are the countries which You described in prophecy as war-torn and very lost and "recently freed."
8. Lord, we want to ask You about these countries, and see if You have any counsel to give us about them. We don't know why our little team was unable to stay longer in Armenia (they were apparently there just a few months), and why they received such persecution.
9. If this is going to be the pattern in these countries, it doesn't seem like we are going to make much progress. We're not going to be able to stay very long. Maybe this is just an isolated case, but in all of these countries we have very great enemies just because the Devil hates the truth. And it's either going to be the established church, or some other church, or the Evangelicals who are jealous, or the hard-line, anti-Christian Muslims, or the media, or some element that is very powerful and doesn't want Your Word disseminated, and doesn't want Your truth to be heard.
10. So, Lord, we just wonder how we are going to survive in these countries just going in with little tiny teams of folks who don't know the country, don't know the situation, may have even come from other parts of the world, don't know the culture, and don't have any idea how to operate in such difficult and different surroundings. They're not going to be hand-picked, unless they are hand-picked by You. They are going to be our dear volunteers, anybody who answers the call. The only thing they will have is You and Your Word.
11. How are they going to survive in these countries? If they are going to be thrown out so quickly in country after country, what are they to do? Where are they supposed to go? Maybe this is an exceptional case which won't happen in other countries. But, Lord, we are concerned about it, not only concerned about our voice in these countries, but our poor people whose lives are at risk.
12. Did this team in Armenia do something wrong? Is that why they received this persecution? Lord, we don't know the answer. Maybe it is nothing to get concerned about, but since there are so many of the Family that are going to be heading that direction and spreading out into all of these countries, maybe we need to know a little more about what to do and what the situation is and how they should react, and whether there is anything they can do to stay there and to get the Word out.
13. We don't quite know exactly what to ask, but You know, Lord, and You can help us with anything we need to know. The poor people of these countries need You desperately. You've told us to go into these places, so there must be some way to stay there at least for awhile. Help us, Jesus, and show us and tell us what You want done for these poor, poor people. Many of them don't have anything to do with the church and don't like the church and are just so empty and hungry for You and would receive us and Your message with open arms!
14. Help us to know how to get past these forces of evil that are so strong, that are trying to fight and trying to destroy and trying to keep out the truth, keep out the light! Help us, Lord, in Jesus' name! Tell us what You want us to know. Lord, You died for these people. You said each one of them is precious to You and You want to reach them even more than we do. So You are going to have to help us and show us how to do it, in Jesus' name. Thank You Lord!
15. (Prophecy:) "When they persecute you in one city, flee ye to another. For ye will not have gone over all the cities of the world before I return. And there are My sheep everywhere, in every city on the face of the Earth.
16. "There is a time to flee, there is a time to hide, and there is a time to stand up and fight back. Each time is different for each place and each situation, and ye must seek Me to know if it is the time to flee or the time to hide or the time to fight back. For if every time one riseth up against you, ye flee, ye shall not accomplish My will. But in times when ye do not flee, when it is My will for you to flee, neither will My will be accomplished. For sometimes I have said stand up and fight back, and I have brought forth great victories out of seeming defeats. I have spread My message abroad, I have turned the tide and I have caused you to shine forth with the truth, that My message might be preached and that My sheep might hear My voice, and that My sheep might follow Me.
17. There are times that I have let you be arrested and put behind bars, that My will may be accomplished, and in My time I set you free. Even as My Apostle Paul was put in jail that My will would be accomplished, that he could reach and minister to the top, so have I done this with you." (Mama: Even though some of you have been called to suffer for Jesus and the Words of David in prison, it has been the Lord's plan to accomplish His will of reaching not only one nation but many. With times waxing worse and worse and also with you going into the far reaches of many new countries, incarceration under very difficult conditions continues to be a possibility that you need to be prepared for. "All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" [2Tim.3:12].)
18. "So ye must seek Me to know what is My will.--Whether it is My will to go, or whether it is My will to stay. For sometimes going is that which I would show. And sometimes staying is that which I would say. Sometimes going would bear more fruit, and sometimes staying would bear more fruit.
19. Sometimes the field is not properly prepared and I send you away for a short time, then ye can return and find that I have prepared the hearts of the people. Sometimes I expect you to plow and to prepare the hearts.
20. "For even I, when I walked upon this Earth, had to make choices. When My enemies came upon Me, sometimes I had to flee, sometimes I had to pass through them, sometimes I stood up and exposed them. Sometimes I would not go to some areas. Sometimes I would go up hidden, cloaked.
21. "For have I not said that each of these countries is different? That which ye can do in one, ye cannot do in another. They that go forth into these countries must seek Me and must be prayerful and must follow My leadings, and must go through the doors that I open. They must seek My face to know that which I would have them to do. For without Me and without My guidance they will only do that which they are accustomed to doing. That which they did there, they may not be able to do here. In some I would take them to the top and make them very open. In some I would have them more hidden, more personal, more one-on-one. But it is My will that these countries be reached with My Gospel. Seek Me to know that which ye must do.
22. "I could have warned these and shown them what they were doing that they should not have been doing, had they been more open and receptive unto My voice and unto My Spirit." (Mama: Here's a very important and key part of this prophecy! In fact, this is the whole heart of the matter! The Lord says that He could have warned this team in Armenia and showed them the things they were doing that they should not be doing, had they been more open to receiving the checks He was trying to give them. In such a situation, they should have taken time to seriously pray and hear from the Lord in prophecy.) "But they were young and knew not, and now they know. This is a valuable lesson unto these, the lesson of seeking My voice, the lesson of following My checks."
23. (Mama: The Lord says here that "they were young and knew not, but now they know." He is not only teaching these this valuable lesson, but through this He is teaching us all a priceless lesson that hopefully we will not have to relearn by experience. So there will be no more excuse for being young and not knowing--because now you know! And whether you are young or old, inexperienced or experienced, one major way the Lord can reveal His will and help you to better heed the checks of the Spirit is if you will take the time to seek Him and hear from Him in prophecy, or any of the other ways the Lord might choose to speak to you. If the Lord could take new babes off the street, who immediately began prophesying [see ML #74:15], to start this Family, then there's really no excuse for any of us not taking the time to stop and seek His voice when we don't know what to do!)
24. "For I have called forth those who would come and preach My Gospel to these lands, but they must be men and women of faith, of courage, of prayerfulness, of willingness to stop and to look and to listen and to hear My voice. For these are different countries, and these are dangerous countries, and these are wild countries. But they are countries hungry for Me and for My Word. They are as wild lovers, ardent and passionate, and they do not always respond to the same stimuli as the lovers that ye are used to.
25. "So come and learn to love them in the way that they need to be loved, so that you can win them and overcome them and ravish them with the love of David and with the love of God! How do you ravish them? How do you love them? How do you give them that which they need?--By looking unto Me, by seeking Me so that I can show you the mysteries and the secrets. For I know the hearts of these people and of these lands, and I will reveal these secrets unto you as you seek Me.
26. "So come, let us ravish them together! Let us give them the seeds, the Words of David, and let us win them, that they may become My brides, full of My love, and full of love for Me." (End of prophecy.)
27. (Mama:) At the time of this prophecy we had only heard the brief report mentioned above. Several days after the prayer and prophecy, we received further details from the Armenia team about what had happened: A new patriarch had been elected as the head of the Armenian Church due to the death of the previous one. This new one was quite an extremist, bent on actively fighting all missionaries, and before the incident with our team, they had heard reports of several other groups, including Baptist missionaries, getting surprise vigilante visits. Our friends had also warned them to be careful. However, others had told them there was nothing to fear, as these attacks were only taking place on registered groups that held public meetings. They had also, previous to this raid, had a visit from the police, taking down all their passport information. When the gang broke into their apartment, they said that they had been sent to defend the interests of the Armenian Church! They beat up the male members of the team, which included kicking one of our 17-year-olds in the head, knocking him unconscious! They confiscated money, personal property and literature.
28. The Lord had given them many checks which had apparently gone unheeded. He had given advance warning, and they could have stopped and sought Him for direction. He says in the above prophecy that if they had stopped and asked Him, He would have shown them what to do. We know now that the team did try to seek counsel from their friends, but when seeking counsel we need to be sure to ask the right people.--And how will we know who are the right people unless we ask the Lord, and ask Him to sift through the different counsel and advice we get so we know what to act upon? God bless you, dear faithful missionaries to Armenia! Please don't feel condemned about this lesson, but rejoice that your experience has helped the whole Family learn this valuable lesson!
29. Thank You Jesus for Your wonderful Words, Your wonderful answers! So clear, so simple! Thank You for giving us the key to our work in these pioneer countries!--In fact, to our work everywhere! Thank You for showing us that we've got to hear from You! That's the secret, that's the key, that's our salvation, that's our survival, that's our success. You've explained how differently You work in each situation. In some You want us to flee when persecution comes, in others You want us to hide, and in yet others You want us to stand up and fight. But there is no way to know unless we ask You.
30. You warned us that we will fail if we just go blindly according to what we've done before. We all, whether young or old, can seek the Lord and hear from Him. Even in the Letters "Faith" (ML #73) and "Stop, Look, Listen" (ML #74), Dad explained in detail how to clearly hear from the Lord in prophecy. Dad knew that along with the written Word, there were many times when the Lord's detailed direction for a specific situation was needed. So you can see that the Lord has been faithful to try to prepare us from the very beginning by His Word through Dad.
31. When the Lord gives you this gift of prophecy, it's for a purpose! He expects you to use it, to get His direction when it's not in the Word. You must be willing to do things His way, because it's His work, and because only He knows what to do. He says that the pioneers in these fields must be men and women of faith, courage, and prayerfulness, and be willing to stop, look, listen and hear His voice. He says you can't do it the way you've done it before, and in the way you're used to.
32. You must get His direction, or you will fail. It's yours for the asking! It's not a heavy burden to ask Him for answers and for direction. To the contrary, it's wonderful, liberating, life-changing, marvelous, and amazing that He speaks to us directly and personally, answering our questions and giving us His counsel and encouragement and comfort, opening up to us the secrets of hearts and lands and situations. Hear from Him today. You'll love it! You'll be thrilled! You'll be so happy!--And so will He!
P.S. God bless this dear team whom the Lord highlighted to share these lessons. They have safely evacuated Armenia.
FRUITFUL CHILDREN!
DO/TS 4/95
--Prophecy About Smaller Homes Reaching Out! --By Maria
1. (Mama:) The following prophecy was a little bit of a surprise!--Not the prophecy itself, but the subject! It came on one of those days where we were telling the Lord that we didn't want to ask Him any specific questions this time, because we wanted to just give Him leave to tell us whatever He had for us. We didn't want to be so full of our own subjects and questions that they restricted Him from giving us other important things that He might want to say to us, things that we might not be even thinking about, but that He wanted to bring to our attention. So on this day when we told the Lord to tell us whatever He wanted, and that we weren't going to ask any questions this time, the following is what He gave us!--Because He loves you and He wants to encourage you that you're moving in the right direction! You TRF Supporters have a head start on the DO Family in some ways, in that you moved to smaller Homes quite some time back! Praise the Lord!
2. (Prophecy:) "For I have sent My children out from the large Homes into the small Homes that they may bring forth fruit, that they may be more fruitful unto Me; that they may be in more places, exposed to more people, reaching those that they would not otherwise reach. For I put you into smaller Homes to force you to get out more of My message that more may be reached, that ye may grow and that more may know of Me.
3. "And as ye lift Me up, I will draw more men unto Me and unto you, those that would be aligned with you, those that will love you, those that will serve you, those that will support you, that will offer unto you a helping hand in time of need. For if ye feed them, so they will feed you. As ye minister unto them the spiritual things, they will minister unto you the physical things. I could not call them unto you in the large Homes, for they would go unnoticed and uncared for. But in the small Homes where they count, where they are important, and where you will properly care for them, I can send them for their benefit and for your benefit.
4. "So open your doors unto these that are hungry, unto these that search, unto these that need the fellowship, the caring, the shepherding, the counsel, the wisdom. They need a listening ear, they need to be directed to My Word. They need regular feeding that they may be strengthened, that they too may become witnesses of My Word and of you unto others.
5. "And though they may not be willing to leave all behind to serve Me, yet they can still serve Me by caring for and loving you, by witnessing in the place of their work and to their friends, and thus they can bring others unto you. And you can encourage these with your testimonies and with testimonies of My children all around the world. And these will support, these will help, and these will be proud to be part of you.
6. "So have I moved you out of the large folds and into the smaller folds, that more can be added to your numbers. But ye are the leaders and these are the sheep. Feed them and care for them, become involved with them. Pour forth your hearts unto them. Pour forth your love unto them. Accept them and open your doors unto them. Be not afraid.
7. "For though there be few that are willing to give up their all to serve Me, there are many who are willing to love Me, who are willing to acknowledge Me, who are willing to give some of their time unto Me. If they will take these steps, I will love them and bless them. There are many of these that would fellowship with you, that would be called by your name, that would huddle about you for the feeding of My Word. They will not be as ye are, wholehearted and dedicated, but they hunger and thirst for feeding, they seek for good shepherding, for love, for truth. And they would be willing to come unto you for these things. But ye must be faithful to feed and faithful to care for them.
8. "Ye must give them that which they need, minister it unto them. In doing so, ye are fulfilling My commission to feed My sheep. And if ye care for, shepherd and love these sheep, ye will partake of their wool, of their meat and of their lambs, and ye shall be benefited.
9. "For I have spread you out that I may multiply you. And now I say unto you, enlarge the borders of your tents. Draw a circle that brings them in, that they too may hear and benefit from the Words of David; that they, too, may hear and benefit from all that I do around the world; that they, too, may be part of this great work and of that which I will do; and that they, too, may partake of the heavenly reward!" (End of prophecy.)
10. Hallelujah! Thank You, Jesus, for Your wonderful, wonderful life-giving Words!--So valuable, so precious. They're priceless!--And You give them to us freely, because You love us and because You love Your sheep.
11. Well, you see what the Lord thought was important to tell you. When He had His chance to say anything at all, this is what He said! So it must be very important and something that He wants us to really take note of and put into practice. Large Homes have their time and place, but the "in" thing now is small Homes, and the Lord makes a solid case for them. If you've ever doubted the wisdom of moving from the larger Homes to the smaller, this prophecy should dispel all those concerns.
12. The Lord says one of the reasons He has put you into these smaller Homes is in order to force you to get out His message! You can see what He's the most interested in, as always: Witnessing and winning the lost and feeding His sheep! He has a two-fold reason for moving you into smaller Homes: That more may be reached and learn of Him, and that you may grow as you learn to live according to the level of your faith.
13. Even though the friends that you will reach in your small Homes may not forsake everything and drop out, they can still serve the Lord by witnessing to their friends and bringing them to you, and by helping to support you with their time, their name, their money. They can help to supply for us physically as we help to feed them spiritually.
14. But He says you must be faithful to feed them, and faithful to care for them. You must not neglect them. You must get involved with their lives and help them with their needs and their problems, and you must give them the Word. The Lord says He has spread you out that He might multiply you, help you to reach the lost, and help you grow in Him. What an exciting challenge, what an exciting ministry, what wonderful promises! The Lord loves you and He loves them, and in His wonderful wisdom, He brings you together that both may be benefited. Three cheers for Jesus! We love You, we love You, we love You, dear Jesus! You're just so wonderful we can hardly stand it! We're just overwhelmed! We're overflowing!--With joy, joy, joy, joy, down in our hearts! And we want to flow all over others so they can have Your joy too!
15. So let's do it, Team, okay? He's counting on us! Let's not fail Him! I love you and am proud of you!--Love, Mama
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family