TSGN17: THREE GIFTS OF THE LORD'S LOVE!--By Maria
DO/TS 3/95
1. (Mama and Peter come into the room singing, "Oh, Praise the Lord for Another Day of Life," and everyone joins in:)
"Oh, praise the Lord for another day of life,
Oh, praise the Lord for His promises so bright,
I will praise the Lord with heart and soul and might,
And give Him glory, glory, from morning till night!"
2. (Some people are a little rusty on the words to the song, so Mama says:) Don't worry if you make some mistakes, we were listening to a tape of Dad singing "Songs of Service" the other day and he was making all kinds of mistakes!--Ha! And here he was making a video! He was talking to the church people--he obviously wasn't even talking to the Family--and he was making all kinds of mistakes in his pitch and his words. But he didn't let it bother him! He said, "Now I'm going to sing it again and try to get it right this time," and he'd keep trying! He said, "See, just keep going! Don't worry when you make mistakes. Just keep going and you'll finally get it right!"
3. I thought, what a good sample! Dad was so humble--it takes real humility to do that.--Whereas we make some little mistake and we feel horrible! Or one little hair is out of place and we say, "Oh, I look terrible!" It's all a matter of pride, isn't it? (Fam: Yes.) It really is awful, damnable pride. Lord help us! Rebuke the Enemy, Lord, and help us to resist our horrible pride! (Fam: Amen!) Help us just to be humble like Dad was and like You need us to be if You're going to accomplish anything through us. Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord! I hope You're working on all of us, Lord! Is the Lord working on you? (Fam: Yes! Amen!) Me too! It's nice to know that He's working on all of us and not just singling out one of us. It makes me feel better! (Fam: We're in it together.) Yes, thank You Lord! Thank You Jesus!
4. Well, we have our resident musicians here with us again tonight--and this is another wonderful gift of love from the Lord that we didn't know we were going to get! The Lord gave us some musicians right here that we didn't even know we had, and they've already written three or four songs that are just perfect for the situation. They've gone from "It's a New Day," to their new rap song, "Say Yes to Jesus," to putting melodies to beautiful verses from the Psalms. So they're quite versatile and the Lord has really anointed them beautifully! I'm talking about our teen, Techi, our young adult David, and our older adult with a young spirit!--Our handyman turned musician! (To David:) You're still a YA, aren't you? (David: Yes, I'm still a YA!) (Gary: You can just say "our young people.") Yes, our young people! --Techi, David and our dear handyman! Thank You Jesus!
5. They're just doing beautifully and you'll love this new song they got! I just loved praising the Lord and exercising to it, but I don't think we have room to do that here. Well, maybe we do, but for you to be able to see the words and concentrate on them, perhaps it would be better to just listen to it and sing along with it, and we can save our dancing to it until another time.
6. Remember the other night when I asked them if they could look at the praise verses in the GN ("A Prayer of Praise to God!") and try to get some songs?--Well, they did, praise the Lord! Wasn't that prompt? (Fam: Yes!) Thank You Jesus! And the Lord really anointed them! This song is so new that they don't even know it that well themselves, so we're going to just play the tape they made of it. It'll be easier for them than trying to sing it live again. Praise the Lord! Let's go! (Peter: Shall we listen to it once and then sing it the second time around?) Yes, that's a great idea! It has good harmony, good words--of course it's got good words, it is the Word, ha!--And it has good musicians singing it and good accompaniment and good everything! Thank You Lord! And it's a good recording. (Song comes on recorder, and Family listens to it once:)
SING FORTH!
Chorus:
Sing forth, sing forth,
Sing forth the honor of His Name!
Sing forth, sing forth,
Make His praise glorious!
Verse 1:
Thus will we bless Thee as long as we live:
We will lift up our hands in Thy Name.
We will praise Thee, O Lord, with our whole heart;
We will show forth all Thy marvelous works.
Repeat Chorus.
Verse 2:
Thy testimonies that Thou hast commanded
Are righteous and very faithful.
They stand fast for ever and ever, and are
Done in truth and uprightness.
Repeat entire song.
Repeat Chorus twice.
Make His praise glorious!
Make His praise glorious!
(References: Psa.66:2; 63:4; 9:1; 119:138; 111:8)
7. Thank You Lord! Isn't it beautiful? It's inspired! Wow, that just shows you: Go ahead by faith and the Lord will do the rest! Thank You Lord! It's sorta scary when you know you have to get a tune that will do justice to the Lord's beautiful Words.--Like prophecy, you don't know how it is going to come out. Hallelujah! It's so beautiful! There, Techi! You might not get too many prophecies, but you got a beautiful song and that's not much different. Praise the Lord! (Fam: Beautiful harmony!) Yes, gorgeous! Your voices are beautiful! Thank You Jesus!
"Sing unto Me!"
8. Several mornings ago when Peter and I were having our devotions, the question was on our hearts as to how to please the Lord more in our praise and worship of Him. We asked the Lord to speak to us and give us any instruction or counsel He had for us. In writing this song, our musicians were right in tune with some of the Lord's direction without even knowing what He had said. But would you like to hear it now? If so, Peter can read it. It's on the general subject of praising the Lord, with the emphasis on praising Him in song. Okay, Peter.
9. (Peter reads the prophecy:) "Thou sayest, `Teach me how to pray. Show me how to please my Lord!' I say: Sing unto Me! Sing unto Me with the voice of thanksgiving! Sing unto Me with the voice of praise! Sing unto Me with the voice of love! Sing unto Me with the voice of joy! Sing unto Me with the voice of desperation! Sing your prayers unto Me. For in My realm there is much singing! There is much music!--Heavenly music!--Music that worships Me, music that sings praise unto Me, music that sings prayers unto Me!
10. "So sing unto Me! For as ye sing, ye can focus in even more on that which ye say and pray. For there are many ways to praise Me. Ye can praise Me in your heart, ye can praise Me with your voice, and ye can praise Me with song. Ye can praise Me with love.--And I love them all!
11. "But sing unto Me! Sing your praises, sing your love! For are there not many songs of love that lovers sing unto one another that express the love that they feel in their heart one for another? Are there not many songs of joy that express the joy of one's heart? So express your love and your joy and your thanksgiving unto Me in song! Express the things that are in your heart unto Me.
12. "These songs that are written--and, lo, there are many--are words of praise, of love, of joy, of service, and they are there for you! Sing them unto Me as prayers. Sing them unto Me as your own words, for I hear them as your words and as your heartcry.
13. "For those who say, `Oh, I sing not well,' I say, I hear in the Spirit, and I hear the songs of the heart, and not the melody of the mouth. So fear not to sing unto Me and to praise Me in song. For I love to hear these tender words, these praiseful words and these thankful words, these words of desperation, these words of service, these words of love. I love to hear them as ye sing them unto Me, and as ye pray them unto Me, and as ye think them unto Me.
14. "I have preserved these songs of old, yea, of centuries past, that ye could hear them and hear the words of these that cried out to Me in song. For these were prayers unto Me, and these can be your prayers unto Me! These songs teach you to pray. Ye can also pray the prayers of David, for there are many, and ye can sing the prayers of David unto Me.
15. "For as the husband teacheth the new bride new ways to love him, so I wish to teach you new ways to love and praise and honor Me, that together we can have full, well-rounded love. So pray to Me, praise to Me, make love with Me! Sing unto Me, whisper unto Me, petition Me! Seek My help for yourself. Seek My help for others. Be there for Me. Desire Me. Seek Me for only Me, and we shall have a variety in our lovemaking, in our loving and in our praising, that it grow not stale nor old. For I understand the heart and mind of man, and I understand the need for change, for variety, for excitement.
16. "And as no man careth to make love to his wife the same way day in and day out, but seeketh a bit of variety and of change, of new positions, new words, new caresses, so I give unto you many ways to love Me. Love Me in words. Love Me in song. Love Me in praise. Love Me in thanksgiving. Love Me in service. Love Me together. Love Me alone. Love Me in petitions. Enjoy Me! Draw nigh unto Me.
17. "I say unto you musicians, sing new songs unto Me! Bring forth songs of praise! Bring forth songs of love unto Me. Bring forth songs of worship and adoration. Bring forth songs that glorify Me, that My children may sing together a new song--new songs of love, new songs of praise, new songs of thanksgiving!
18. "For these songs are there, they await as water that waits behind a dam, and as ye seek Me and tap in, so will I pour forth these new songs. For so do these musicians of old who have written glorious songs of praise and of thanksgiving and of honor unto Me, glorious songs of service and of love, await to pour forth unto you new songs.
19. "And to you younger ones I say: Hear the voice of these songs and write them down. Seek not for glorious songs that glorify yourself and your abilities; seek to write songs that glorify Me, that lift Me up. And as ye seek these, I will pour forth unto you, and these of old will help you to write a new song, a song of glory unto Me.
20. "So lift up your arms in praise! Lift up your voice in thanksgiving and in song! Lift up your hearts unto Me in love! And, oh, how it will please Me, and oh, how I will please you through the breath and through the whispers and through the caresses of My Love. I will pour forth blessing upon blessing! For as ye praise and sing and love Me, so will I pour forth honor and glory and majesty and might and power and strength in abundance upon you and My children who love Me!
21. "Give unto Me that which I desire, and I will give unto you that which ye desire. Give unto Me that which I need, and I will give unto you that which ye need. Give unto Me the love and the honor and the praise that are due Me, and I will pour forth all that ye need. For you are My wife and I am your Husband, you are My queen, and I am your King, and I wish to bestow upon you great love, great care, and great provision.
22. "So let us supply the needs one of another. You supply that which I need--the praise, the honor, the love--and I will supply all that ye need. And together we will joy in love one with another and we shall have great happiness together, and so shall we live together and love together for all eternity." (End of prophecy.)
23. (Mama:) Beautiful!--Just beautiful! Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah! The Lord is saying many important and amazing things in this prophecy! It would be good to study it carefully to see how we can make our praise and love times with Him alive and vibrant and meaningful!--And most of all, pleasing to Him!--That which will make Jesus happy and pleased and satisfied! This is a very important message from Him. It's a contract that He wants us to make with Him. Our part is to please Him by praising Him, and His part is to please us by blessing us. He says, "So lift up your arms in praise! Lift up your voice in thanksgiving and song! Lift up your hearts unto Me in love! And, oh, how it will please Me, and oh, how I will please you! ... And I will pour forth blessing upon blessing ... upon My children who love Me."
24. Music has always been important to us in our worship and in our witnessing. Dad always emphasized singing to the Lord as a means of praising Him, and singing to others as a means of reaching them. Our witnessing to the world through music has become one of the things that we are known for. Now the Lord is wanting to put even more emphasis on our using music to love and praise Him. He is asking us to do it more, and He is asking us to find new ways to do it. He is telling us how very important He considers our praises and how much He loves our songs of praise and love to Him. He desires them, He needs them, and they make Him very happy! They make Him so happy, in fact, that He promises us abundant blessing and great reward for our willingness to praise and love Him!--With our songs, our words, and with our prayers!
25. He encourages us to sing in any way we can, at every opportunity! He says to sing the Psalms, to sing our prayers, to sing the prayers of David, to sing the already written songs--the old songs and the new songs. He wants us to sing them to Him as prayers, as our own words, for He says He will hear them as our own words and our heartcry. He gives our musicians the commission of writing praise and love songs to Him. He says, "Sing new songs unto Me! Bring forth songs of praise! Bring forth songs of love unto Me. Bring forth songs of worship and adoration. Bring forth songs that glorify Me, that My children may sing together a new song--new songs of love, new songs of praise, new songs of thanksgiving! For these songs are there, they await as water that waits behind a dam, and as ye seek Me and tap in, so will I pour forth these new songs. For so do these musicians of old who have written glorious songs of praise and of thanksgiving and of honor unto Me, glorious songs of service and of love, await to pour forth unto you new songs!"
26. Then He speaks directly to you young people and tells you the exciting news that you too can "hear the voice of these songs," and you too can have the help of these famous musicians of old to give you beautiful melodies and words! He asks you to seek to glorify Him and be careful to not try to glorify yourself or your own abilities! Composing praise and love songs to Jesus may not be the thing that you would choose, but the Lord is trying to help you to understand how important they are to Him, and He's giving you this commission to write them.
27. If you will ask Him for these songs of love and praise to Him, which are the most important to Him, He will anoint you and bless you for it, and even give you the other kinds of songs that you like! He says, "Give unto Me that which I desire, and I will give unto you that which ye desire." So put His choice of songs first, ask for help from the spirit world, and they will help you to love Him and praise Him in song! (To Techi, David and handyman:) I'll bet they helped you with this one! It sure sounds like it! Thank You Jesus!
Praise Songs!
28. As the Lord said, there are many ways to praise Him in song. When you're seeking the Lord for ideas for songs, you have so much Word that you can go to. The Psalms of David in the Bible are full of praises, and we even compiled many of these beautiful verses into a praise GN, which is where our musicians here got their ideas. You can ask the Lord to lay one of these on your heart and give you a melody that He says you can receive from one of those great songwriters of old. Or you can pour out your heart to Him in praise and thanks for all the wonderful blessings He has given you and put your prayer into a song. Or perhaps He will lay on your heart ideas from the Letters.
29. Some of the prophecies that we have included in the GNs are very beautiful and would not only provide ideas, but actual words for love songs and praise songs to Jesus. The "I Love You!--Just You!" prophecies (GN 627) should give you cause to greatly praise the Lord so that your heart is overflowing in thanks to Him, and He can help you put this praise into words and give you melodies to go along with them. We have such a rich heritage and so much wonderful Word from Him that can be incorporated into songs. You don't have to use the quotes verbatim, you can adapt them to fit your song, and paraphrase them when necessary.
(The following paragraph was not given at the meeting, but added later:)
30. Or sometimes He even gives songs in direct prophecy!--Instant, on the spot, ready-made, such as He did the other day when some of our folks were celebrating Peter's completion of an important mission! The girl who was prophesying got the following alternate words to "Amazing Grace," as though they were Peter's praise to the Lord.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That leads and speaks of Thee;
I walk by faith, and not by sight;
Thy grace is guiding me.
Amazing grace, my strength, my life,
My food, my drink, my all!
I raise my hands and praise Thy Name;
I live to obey Thy call.
Amazing grace, amazing love,
I'm Thine and Thine alone!
Thy grace has led me all the way,
Thy grace shall lead me home.
31. So please Him by praising Him through the music that glorifies His Name! It's a high calling and a priceless privilege for Him to commission you to receive melodies from His great musicians of the spirit world, so accept it graciously and thankfully as a very precious gift! He knows you can do it, or He wouldn't give you the assignment! This is a great desire of my heart also, to have more praise songs and love songs to sing to Him that praise Him and thank Him for His glory and His greatness and His Love and His power, and that tell Him how much He means to us as our wonderful Lover and Husband. The words are there so beautifully in the Psalms and so many other places in the Word; now they just need to be put to music!
32. We already have a few like this one that our team just sang for us. We have some like "I Will Bless the Lord at All Times," "Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord," etc., but these are so few. We have beautiful love songs to Jesus on the "My Heart ... Your Home" tape, but we need many more!
33. When you write praise and love songs, why not try to direct them to the Lord, to be sung to Him personally instead of just about Him. The church system has many many songs about Him, but not very many sung directly to Him. Let's write praise and love songs to Him! The Lord said to make our songs our prayers of love, of thanks, of petition to Him. When we sing directly to Him, it makes our relationship with Him much more personal, and we can tell Him how much we love Him and how much we need Him and how much we thank Him for being our Lover and our Husband and our Shepherd and our Savior and our Guide, our Protector, our Provider, and in fact, everything to us! "My Heart ... Your Home" is a tape full of examples of beautiful love songs to Jesus. You, too, can write beautiful love songs to Jesus; you can write Scriptural songs taken right from the Scripture; you can write songs based on the Scripture, inspired by the Scripture.
34. Besides the above-mentioned examples, here are a few other examples of love/praise songs that are not taken directly from the Bible:
Precious Jesus, come to me,
Soothe my soul with songs of peace.
As I look to You alone
Fill me with Your Love.
Chorus:
Glorious, marvelous, Lover of all loves,
Beautiful, wonderful gift from Up Above.
Fountains high and valleys low,
You will never let me go.
By Your fountain let me drink,
Fill my thirsty soul.
* * *
(And:)
Lord, You are so precious to me.
Lord, You are so precious to me.
And I love You, yes, I love You.
Because You first loved me.
(This is repeated over and over.)
Jesus, O Jesus
Thank You for loving me.
I'll forever praise You,
Jesus, O Jesus!
And I love You, O Jesus!
And I will love You, Lord,
with all my heart.
I will love You, Lord, with all my soul,
I will love You, Lord, with all my mind,
With all my heart, with all my soul,
with all my mind.
Oh, Lord, I love You
for all the things You are.
Oh, Lord, I love You
for all the things You do.
Oh, Lord, I love You,
help me to love You more,
With all my heart, with all my soul,
with all my mind!
* * *
(And, another one:)
When I first fell in love with You, Lord,
I gave You all my heart,
And I thought I couldn't love You more
Than I did right at the start.
But now I look back over the mountains
and the valleys where we've been,
And it makes me know I love You
so much more than I did then.
Chorus:
And I keep falling in love with You
Over and over and over and over again.
I keep falling in love with You
over and over and over again.
You fill me with Your seeds and set me free.
Oh, what a love between You,
dear Lord, and me.
35. Or you can write songs based on the Letters, or even taking verbatim phrases or quotes. Do you want to try it? Remember that Jesus is not only your Friend, but He's your Lover! Love Him through your music! Give Him the praise and love and credit He deserves.
36. If the Lord gives you a song which your Home thinks might be a possibility for use on a Family song tape, please sing it on tape and send the tape and typed words to your CRO so we can see about the possibility of recording it.
37. Now, if you are going to be writing songs where the words are taken verbatim from the Bible, the Lord isn't going to mind if you grammatically change them a little bit in order to make your songs more personal to Him, as He said in the message above that we should sing those songs as our own prayers to Him. For example, if a Scripture says, "We will love the Lord; we rejoice in His Name," the words can be made even more personal and intimate by having the words instead say, "We love You, Lord; we will rejoice in Your Name."--Or, "I love You, Jesus; I rejoice in Your Name," etc.
38. In writing Scripture songs, you can even take, for example, part A from one verse and part B from another verse, and merge them together, if you feel that will help your song flow together better. Some parts of some Scriptures are just not real understandable for us, while other parts are very clear and relevant. By using the Scriptures in this way, I'm sure they'll provide you with an even greater inspiration to help you praise and love the Lord in a more relevant and loving and personal way. I need your songs of love and praise to Jesus!--The Family needs your songs! Ask Him for the words! Ask Him for the melodies! He's promised to give them!
Praise Time!
39. I even got a simple little tune from the Lord to which we sing some of the verses in the Praise GN. Where these verses weren't directed right to the Lord but were about Him, we changed them so that we could sing them as a prayer, personally from us to Him. Do you want to hear our little song?
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and majesty: For all that is in the Heaven and in Earth is Thine; Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all.
We will praise Thy Name, O Lord; for Thy Name alone is excellent; Thy glory is above the Earth and Heaven.
We will exalt Thee, we will praise Thy Name, O Lord, for Thou hast done wonderful things. Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
So we Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give Thee thanks forever: We will show forth Thy praise to all generations.
Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor, and power, and might be unto Thee, O God, forever and forever. Amen!
(References: 1Chr.29:11; Psa.148:13; Isa.25:1; Psa.79:13; Rev.7:12.)
40. (Fam: This morning during our praise time, we picked promises from the "Praise" GN and sang them. We just made up our own tunes, and it was very inspiring! There was no set song or anything, we just sang as we were inspired to sing.) Beautiful! It just shows that you don't have to be a musician who plays an instrument with a "professional" voice. Anybody can get their own little melodies for their own private times with the Lord, either individually or as a couple, or even a little group of three or four. (Fam: Yes, that's right. We were in little groups, and the group I was in had this idea.) You've all been coming up with lots of new ideas to help you to praise the Lord more and to pray more and to spend more time with the Lord. What are some of the things you've been doing?
41. (Fam: Like Dad and you have always pointed out to us, things just don't usually get done unless they're scheduled. We need to take our Word time, our naps and our get-out, and we schedule those things, which enables us to get them done. So we decided to schedule some praise time! After devotions every day, at which time we eat breakfast, read the Word and have prayer requests, we then go to different rooms by twos, and for ten minutes we just praise the Lord.--Either singing songs, reading praise verses or whatever, but it's strictly dedicated to praising the Lord. It doesn't include any talking or fellowshipping or sharing lessons, but is just a time completely dedicated to praising the Lord. It's a good way to start the day! It's like making love, you get going and you want to keep going! You're thinking about the Lord and praising the Lord and you don't want to stop, so it sets the pace for your whole day.)
42. (Mama:) Do you decide ahead of time that everybody is going to do the same thing? (Fam: No, everybody does something different! David printed out a list of song titles to choose from, and that's very helpful for referring to the songs. And he also printed out individual praise verses from the "Praise Verses" GN on colored paper, and these are cut up and put in a praise promise box. You can also play a tape or you can sing songs, you can do whatever you want; it's up to the individuals.
43. (It just so happens that we have an equal number of women and men, so we have a woman and man in every corner of the house, and then every day we rotate. We're with a different person every day for praise time, which keeps it new and fresh.) (Update: The Staff tried this for a while, and everyone enjoyed it, but have now gone on to try something new: "Affection Time with Jesus!" See DFO GN 41.)
44. (One inspiring testimony is that one day we had prayer and prophecy with our praise partners for a local situation, and it's just amazing that each of the couples came up with basically the same thing that the Lord wanted to do in this local situation. It was just real short and quick, but it was very inspiring. Everybody took a few minutes to hear from the Lord, either getting verses or prophecies, and because everybody was doing it in pairs, we could do it all in 10 minutes!--Whereas if we had been all together it would have taken a whole lot longer. So everybody gave what they got and it all fit together real well.) (Mama:) Thank You Lord!
45. And what did you do on one Sunday night? (Fam: This was inspired by Mama and Peter and all the time they've spent singing to the Lord and praising the Lord. On Sunday night we regularly get together for communion and fellowship, and we do it together as a Home. But on this particular Sunday we paired off so that the people who normally live together would be together. We did it this way because it's been a weak area in our lives as roommates taking enough time to praise the Lord together.
46. (So we picked up our meal and a glass of wine, and everybody ate in their room with their partner. That was a time to fellowship and talk while we were eating our meal, and then afterwards we had some time dedicated to praising the Lord, without any fellowshipping. David made copies of the tape "My Heart ... Your Home," which is strictly love songs to Jesus, and most people listened to that, which was really beautiful, and either repeated the words to the Lord or sang along with it. Other people had the praise verses or prayed praises to the Lord. But once again, it was a time that was set aside and dedicated strictly to praising and loving the Lord, and it was very inspiring for everybody.)
47. (Mama:) Thank You Jesus! That's wonderful, isn't it? I'm glad you're looking for new ways to praise and love the Lord, and getting a list together of things we can share with the Family too. You're pioneering and you can help the rest of the Family. I like that idea of having a list of song titles, because often when you want to sing a song, your mind just goes blank. So if you have all the titles, you can just refer to them. You know most of the songs, but you just need a little help in jogging your memory.
48. I'm going to ask David if he would like to get together all the Psalms that our musicians have set to music down through the years, so we'll be able to sing those and review them.--Songs like "Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord," "O that Men Would Praise the Lord," "O Magnify the Lord with Me," "The Lord Is My Shepherd," all those particular ones, as well as individual praise verses, of course. We want to stick mostly to praise songs for the special praise times with the Lord! We sing a lot of the other kinds of songs--of petition, commitment, witnessing, etc.--but we want to concentrate in our praise times on praising the Lord!
49. In one book we heard about which describes Heaven, a question was asked by a newcomer, "How do you pray here in Heaven?" --And the answer was, "We praise the Lord!" So it seems like the Lord is trying to give us a little Heaven down here and trying to get us prepared for our Heavenly Home by inspiring us to do the same thing that they're doing There. That way when we get There, it won't be unfamiliar and we'll be used to praising the Lord and singing to Him. Thank You Jesus! He's really putting a lot of emphasis on praise.
50. Perhaps you don't write songs but you like to write poetry. If so, I'd love to have you write love poems to Jesus and send them in to me! I know that many of you teens write poetry, so I encourage you to write love poetry to Jesus. I hope you'll be willing to share it so all of us can benefit from making it our own prayer to Him!
We Can All Make a Joyful Noise
Unto the Lord!
51. Now we can all sing together our new song, "Sing Forth!" It's a beautiful song, I love it! (Family sings along with the song, then lifts arms and praises and thanks the Lord afterwards!) (Mama prays:) Thank You Jesus! Thank You for Your wonderful, wonderful Name and all Your marvelous works! Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah! Praise You Jesus! That was beautiful!--Wonderful!
52. It's going to be such an encouragement to the entire Family to know that you don't have to be a musician to get songs, but that you can all get inspired and make a joyful noise unto the Lord, and a beautiful noise too! Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah! This is just as good as our other songs. Thank You Lord! Praise the Lord! It just shows that the Lord's Spirit is not limited to working through only our "professional" musicians, but there are many of you who He is going to give beautiful songs to, if you want them and will ask Him for them.
53. All of you can seek the Lord and ask the Lord for beautiful music! If you use the Lord's Words from the Bible and the Letters that are already written down and inspired and anointed, then you've got the lyrics, so all He has to give you is the melody. You don't have to worry about the lyrics, you know those are inspired and anointed! And you know that because He wants to bless His Word, He'll give you a good tune to go with it! Of course, as we mentioned before, you don't have to use them verbatim. It's good when you can, but many songs don't lend themselves to this. Some are more you pouring out your heart to the Lord in your own words, with ideas and thoughts that are inspired by the Lord, which He helps you to put into your own words.
54. Repetition in a chorus is very good. It's what Grandpa recommended. The repetition provides the catchiness and helps us to remember the song. People like repetition and it really sticks with you. If you don't remember anything else from the song, at least you get the chorus, which is sung repeatedly. As you can see from Peter's and my song above, we don't have one!--We didn't get that far! This was just for our own private devotions, and this is just an example of what any of you folks could do, whether you're musicians or not. Of all those songs I learned in church, I remember the choruses to them the most. There were usually four verses and we just sang each verse once, but that meant we sang the chorus four times each time we sang the song. So if that's all that most people are going to remember, you need a good catchy chorus!
55. In the Family, though, I notice that we learn our verses almost as well as the choruses, so we have a jump on the church people! We don't sing the hymns or the church songs as much as the church does, but I'll bet if you'd go into the church and sing along with the church people, you would remember the verses of the songs far better than many of them do, because they sing them but they don't really think about what they're singing and they don't sing them from memory. Most of them need a book for a crutch, and that way they don't learn it as well. I should know! I know from experience, my 20-some years singing hymns in church, that I really didn't think about the verses too much or even remember them. But I learned the choruses because we sang them over so often. Anyway, thank You Jesus for these wonderful praise songs! If you get a song that your Home feels should be shared with the entire Family, please send it in!
56. We're continuing our Love Story about the wonderful, wonderful Love of the Lord, and tonight I want to tell you some of the wonderful ways the Lord has shown His Love to me just recently. Such exciting ways! I'm not telling you these just to tell you how the Lord especially loves me, but because there are all kinds of lessons in these for all of us!
A Gift of Love--The Miracle of the Wind!
57. About a month and a half ago we had all kinds of horrible odors outside! It smelled like rotten eggs and refineries and air pollution. There was quite a variety, ha! It was like a cesspool of all the worst odors in the world practically all outside our door at one time or another. I was living in this little room completely confined and closed up, because when those odors were outside, I had to keep the balcony door closed. You feel pretty stifled after awhile without some fresh air, but the smells were terrible, and probably the effect on our health was terrible too from breathing that horrible air! It smelled like rotting things, decaying things, all kinds of terrible things. You can't even describe how horrible they were!
58. So I finally prayed, "Lord, I know this is a big thing to ask You to do. I'm just one little person in this one little room, but I would like to have some fresh air." I just stood there and cried, I guess it humbled me so much to ask the Lord to do this. I said, "Lord, I think the answer is to bring a constant breeze to get rid of the odors before they settle and before we can smell them. I know it's a big deal, Lord, but I know You love me that much, and I'm really thankful." I really cried. I asked you guys to pray for it too, which you did, but I don't know if you realized what a big deal it was and what we were asking!
59. I don't know much about it at all, but I know enough to know that the weather is all interconnected. You see on weather maps that the weather you're going to get here tomorrow starts hundreds of miles away somewhere else, and it's all part of the great air currents. And what else? (Fam: High pressure and low pressure areas.) Yes, it's all built up and interconnected, and you can't just say, "Okay, Lord, please change the weather here," and not have changes occur in other places as well. We don't know all that it involves, but it's a big deal to ask the Lord for a permanent change in the weather.
60. Well, it usually takes time for the Lord to answer--not that it takes Him time to do it, but more because it's a test of our faith--and about two days later the wind started to come! And it came, and it kept coming and coming and coming! It didn't stop for about three or four weeks!
61. Then a few days ago it was calm again and the bad smell was out there, and I thought, "Oh Lord, I'm sorry." I'd been wanting to ask the Lord to speak about it and to tell us what a tremendous sign and what a wonderful gift of His Love it had been, but I hadn't gotten around to it. Then I realized when the Lord stopped the wind temporarily, that that was my cue to ask Him. So I did, and He spoke in a beautiful way and gave us something really precious to help us to pray more, and that's what I want to share with you tonight.
62. So that's another case where the Lord's Love was so, so beautiful, just to see how He's willing to do whatever we ask and whatever we need and want, no matter what it is.
63. So last night I thought, "Oh Lord, I haven't shared this with the Family yet. Forgive me, Lord, I'm going to do it tonight!" Then we prayed and the wind came up almost as soon as we prayed. But a few hours later the wind was all gone, and I thought that perhaps the Lord wants us to not only keep thanking Him for it, but asking Him to continue the miracle. Perhaps it's an illustration of how, even though Jesus has done the miracle of cleansing our hearts with His blood, we still have to daily ask Him to keep us from sin and the polluting things that would hurt our service to Him and our love for Him and others.
64. So I'll give you my little prayer here, and then what the Lord said He had done for me in answer to my request. In my prayer I am acknowledging the miracle the Lord has done, but I'm asking Him to explain what a great thing it is, and to tell us what a marvelous sign of His Love He has shown us through this. (Mama prepares to listen to the tape and repeat it to the Family, and turns the recorder on without putting the earphone in her ear.) Whoops! It's not in my ear.--Ha! I get so used to having this in my ear all the time, I don't know if it's in or not! (Then Mama realizes she picked the wrong tape from her little tape box and laughs!) Oh, this is something else! I have so many things I want to tell you, but we'll have to leave that one until later. (To Peter:) Is this the front of the tape? (Peter: Yes.) You can't see either. Sorry, it's so dark in here. (The room is very dimly lit during the meeting for the sake of Mama's eyes. Mama repeats her prayer to the Family as she listens to it on tape:)
65. "Lord, three or four weeks ago we prayed desperately for You to take away these foul odors that were permeating all the air around us outside and even our house inside, coming in through the windows and the doors. We couldn't open the door at all because the place would fill up with this terrible odor of chemicals, pollution, all kinds of terrible smells. We'd never know when they would come. We couldn't leave our door open, we couldn't even exercise outside on our balcony because there was such a horrible smell. It was probably very bad for us to even breathe it. We desperately asked You to take the smells away, and we knew You'd have to bring a constant breeze in order to do it. And we asked You to do that, knowing it was a big deal to change the weather on a permanent basis.
66. "We've often asked You to bring sunshine on a certain day or to take the rain away or whatever, but those are much smaller things and temporary. But to ask You to change the complete weather conditions or climate, the currents and the winds to conform to our need was a pretty big deal. It doesn't just happen in one spot, but You have to change a lot of things to make a permanent change in a weather condition. We don't know all that it entails, Lord, but we know it is not a small thing to ask for our comfort and convenience.
67. "But, Lord, we know how much You love us and we know how You want us to be happy. (Mama crying.) And we know that You love us so much that we could ask what we will of You. You said You would do anything for us, so we knew that if we would ask, that You would do it, and You did. It's been so wonderful most of all to see how much You love us. Of course, the fresh air has been wonderful too, to always be able to go out on the balcony and feel the wonderful breeze that You brought to clear away those terrible smells and to give us fresh air. It's been wonderful to have fresh, clean, clear air with no pollution or chemicals or whatever the horrible smells were. Thank You Lord, we know You did such a big miracle!
68. "This morning the odor returned, and it just filled the whole room with this horrible, horrible smell. We had to light incense and try to cover the terrible smell. Lord, we guess that You did that as a reminder that we needed to thank You, and we have been doing that personally and privately. But we believe You also want us to make a big deal about it to our Home and really testify to it and tell them what a great thing it is, because maybe they don't understand and don't realize what a miracle You did!
69. "And, Lord, we were going to ask You to speak to us about it, but we kept putting it off because we thought there were more important things to ask You about. But apparently You want us to ask You about it and let You tell us about the big miracle. We know by faith it is, Lord, but You can tell us about it and explain how great a thing You've done and what You've done because You love us.
70. "Even when we didn't ask You about it, you mentioned it in the prophecy You gave the other day about how You had brought the wind to clear the impurities and give us the pure, fresh, clean air. You thought it was important enough to even mention it in something else completely unrelated that You were talking about, to remind us of the great thing You've done and how much You love us. Thank You Jesus!
71. "Of course, it's probably not any greater than a lot of other things that You do that we don't realize, but we do know that this is a great thing, and that You have to turn and change a lot of things in order to do this for us. We're sure there are so many other things that are great things that You do and ways that You protect us and provide for us. You change the times and the seasons and the climate and the hearts of men, all the things that You do to give us our needs and our desires and fulfill Thy will in our lives and to help us to accomplish Thy purpose in the world today.
72. "Thank You, Lord, for Your Love that is manifested in so many different ways, and so often we don't even realize it. We don't know what You're doing behind the scenes and we just get little glimpses. We see the result and we don't see all that went on to bring these things to our lives. We don't know all the things that have had to happen and had to be changed in order for You to do them, and how You do move Heaven and Earth on our behalf. You do change the times and the seasons. You change the hearts of people. You get them out of the way if they're in our way. You change governments for our sakes. You change people. You do everything in Your power, and that's everything! You do whatever You need to do in order to take care of us and to love us and to accomplish Your will. Thank You Jesus! You're so great and so wonderful to us!
73. "I don't really know what we want to ask You, but we just want You to tell us what a wonderful thing You did and how greatly You love us and how You are willing to go to any lengths to give us happiness and pleasure and take care of us and keep us safely and do whatever we need. We want You to tell us that, Lord, so we can even more greatly praise You for Your wonderful works. Thank You Jesus!
74. "(Crying.) Thank You for Your Love, Lord. It's so great! We're so nothing. You do so much for us.--So much that we don't thank You for and we don't see. Lord, help us to know. We do know by faith, and help us to thank You by faith even for the things we don't see. We do see so much, and we could be thanking You all day long just for the things that we do know about and feel and see.
75. "But, Lord, there is so much we don't even know and we don't feel, so many ways in which You protect us and care for us. You keep the countries we're in and the weather and the governments and all the things that You do for us because You love us. You keep our neighbors at peace with us and keep us from disaster and fires. You keep everything operating smoothly for our sakes. You keep the traffic going safely and moving in the way it should. Your angels guard and guide all of us and all the things around us. You keep us protected. And it's not just us they have to take care of, but they have to take care of everyone around us and all the things that concern us.--The buildings that our folks walk into and shop in, the traffic that they drive in, the places that they take their walks.
76. "You keep everything in perfect harmony and under Your control and Your protection because You love us, and You love Your children. And You even love those who don't love You, and You give Your Love to them. Thank You Jesus, for Your great Love!
77. "Lord, we ask You to say whatever You want to say to us now to let us know how much You love us, and so that we can even love You more and praise You more. Thank You Jesus! Forgive us for not praising You enough before the people for this wonderful miracle that probably means more to me and Peter (since he has moved in with me) than the others. We're the ones that most wanted it and most needed it, since we stay in this room constantly. We needed to have fresh air and we needed to have the door open and we needed to be able to go out on the balcony and exercise whenever we wanted to and not be overwhelmed by those horrible smells. The others didn't need it so much, Lord, or they didn't think they did, so I'm sorry I didn't make more of the wonderful miracle it was and testify more to it, and that You had to let the smells come back.
78. "Please bring back the breeze that has been constant for three weeks now, or however long it's been. Bring it back and forgive us and keep those smells away. Thank You Jesus!
79. "Speak to us now, Lord, and give Peter a clear channel. Keep away any distractions or disturbances or interruptions or construction noises or dogs or the neighborhood children or anything that could distract. Give Peter faith. And even in spite of some of those things, we know You can punch through and we can hear from You if we have to.--Like our dear handyman the other night had to give what You were giving him in spite of the loud noises from the neighbors the whole time. Thank You for giving him the faith for that. But it's difficult, Lord, to give Your Words when things are really distracting, so we ask if possible that You will keep the distractions away and let us hear Your voice in quietness and in stillness.
80. "Thank You, Jesus, for the priceless privilege of hearing from You and the wonderful, marvelous miracle of being able to hear Your voice directly when we ask You, and that You, the great God of the Universe, are willing to stoop to talk to us and even tell us whatever we want to know, whatever we ask about.--And not only be willing to, but want to and love to! You asked us to ask You. It's such a wonderful miracle, so great. Thank You Jesus! We're so overwhelmed by it. It's so amazing that You give Your children this gift and speak to them when they need You and when they want You. It's so wonderful, Lord! Thank You Jesus!
81. "And thank You for how You've given us Your printed Word and we can go to it at any time. You've given us the Words of David in an abundant, overflowing treasure chest of words! Thank You Jesus! It's so wonderful and beautiful. Hallelujah! We love You, Jesus! So speak to us now with whatever You want to say to us. We're yielded to You and we want to hear what You want to say, in Jesus' name." (End of Mama's prayer.)
82. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to share my prayer with you. And now I'm going to tell you what the Lord had to say! Thank You Jesus!
Engineering in the Spirit World to Answer Your Prayers!
83. (Mama repeats the prophecy:) "Behold the power and the might of God who doeth all things well! For if thou couldst understand the power that is within thine hand through seeking Me and through claiming My Word and through belief, thou wouldest praise and worship Me all the more. For I have delivered unto thine hand great power and great might through the power and might of God. If I would open thine eyes and thou couldest see the multitudes that help thee, that are there at thy beck and call, that serve thee, that I have commissioned to protect and to guide and to strengthen and to please thee and to answer thy prayers, thou wouldest have much more faith to pray and to seek Me and to listen, and to ask of Me the miracles that thou needest.
84. "For I have set the winds in their courses, but when thou hast a need and thou seekest Me for a change and for a miracle, I can do these things. I can send forth those who command the winds and they can turn them for Me, for such is My Love for thee. And this is a small thing for Me. If thou couldest see the engineering and the planning and the preparation that those who help thee go through to bring to pass the little miracles throughout the day, thou wouldest be amazed! For they love to help thee and they love to engineer, and they work hard to do such things, that thou mayest have the answers to thy prayers. They do these things to bring forth pleasure to thee, to accomplish My will and to bring to pass those things which must happen in order for My will to be fulfilled.
85. "At times there is disappointment because the plans and the preparations are made, but My children do not listen, or do not hear, or do not yield, and thus they miss the opportunity for the fulfillment of My will. This is why I wish for them to listen more to Me and to listen unto the spirits and the whispers, and to listen to those that I have sent forth to help, to lead and to guide. For they prepare and they engineer and they work, but they also must depend upon thee. They must depend upon that which thou seekest in prayer. They must depend upon thy yieldedness, thy willingness, thy listening ears and thy listening spirit.
86. "Dost thou find this hard to believe? Lo, I opened the eyes of the one with the prophet Elisha and he saw thousands of fiery chariots! And I delivered unto My prophet the plans of their enemies. How thinkest thou that I did this thing? I sent forth those who heard the plans and whispered them in the ears of My prophet. There are multitudes, multitudes that are there to help thee, to help My children. They are those who love thee and that love Me, and that serve thee and that serve Me. For, lo, they too hear thy prayers and they suggest the course of action to answer thy prayers. And with My approval they go forth to engineer the answer to thy prayers.
87. "It pleaseth them, for they know that it bringeth thee great joy to receive the answers to thy prayers. It gives them even greater joy when they see thee praise and glorify Me for the answers to these prayers. For they love Me and they love to praise Me, and they love to help thee praise Me.
88. "So when thou seekest an answer and when thou askest for a miracle, these do help to engineer it. Even as thou didst ask for the wind to drive away the foul smells, so did these help to change the courses of the wind, that thou mayest be pleased and that thou mayest praise Me.
89. "This is all part of My Love for thee. This is all part of My great plan, that we all will work together to show forth My Love unto the world. And I make this more manifest, for the days to come will be dark days, they will be evil days. But I will keep thee and I will protect thee and I will anoint thee, and thy helpers shall lead and guide thee.
90. "And for this purpose do I teach thee and thy children now to hear My voice and to hear the whispers of these that help thee. For the time cometh when this will be of great importance, for it will be a time when thou must tap into My power and My resources. But those resources are there now at thy disposal, at thine asking, at thy bidding. So ask and seek and believe and let thine helpers help thee, and let them do the work. Cooperate with them by listening, by obeying, by following the checks of the Spirit. For it is these checks that bring thee to the place where thou needest to be so that all of the pieces are in place for the plan that hath been engineered to be fully executed.
91. "But when thou art so full of thine own ideas and thine own plans and so determined, and not willing to stop, to look, to listen, to go slow, to be prayerful, thou missest being in the right place at the right time, doing or saying the right thing to the right person; and the plan is foiled and there is disappointment. But, oh, what great joy and rejoicing when thou steppest into the plan of the helpers, the plan of God, and it all works well and each piece functions just as it should and it bringeth forth great results. Yea, there is great rejoicing and great happiness both in the Spirit and within thee, when thou seest the answer to thy prayers, when thou seest the power of God, when thou seest the engineering of the spirit world.
92. "For all of this is part of the power of God. All of this is part of the strength of God. And if thou wouldest go forth in My power and in My strength, it means that thou wouldest be letting these participate in thy life, and that thou wouldest be working well together with them to fulfill My will.
93. "So work together and work in harmony and be in tune, be in touch, be listening. And be weak--weak in thine own strength and thine own plan. And be strong--strong in listening, strong in quietness, strong in rest, strong in hearing My voice and hearing the whispers, that when the plan is ready to be put into action, thou shalt step right into thy place, that all the pieces may fit well together to bring forth the results that these have prepared and I have approved, that we may together bring forth My will and My plan and accomplish My purpose." (End of prophecy.)
94. Thank You Jesus! Wow! Isn't that almost overwhelming? Thank You Jesus! (To Peter:) And what was the picture you saw along with it? (Peter: It was like one of those Rube Goldberg contraptions where you drop a marble, and it drops down and it hits a lever, and the lever goes up and hits a bird, and the bird flaps its wings, and because it does, it hits this other thing that causes something else to happen. It's like a big chain reaction that is to end up with some specific result. It's the same kind of idea, that there are people involved, and right at the right time you've got to go here, because it has been worked out for this guy to be there and this car to come there, and it would stop and you would be there, and then you would talk to the person. There's a whole intricate plan that has to be engineered for these prayers to be answered, and you have to be tuned in to step into the plan in the right place at the right time.)
95. The Lord is saying that it's all there, it's all engineered for us! In a way it's very sobering to think that we can foil or obstruct or completely put to naught God's plan and the purpose that all of our spirit helpers have worked on so hard. In response to our prayers, they make certain moves and prepare situations accordingly, and then we miss it! Can you imagine? It should certainly put us in the fear of the Lord so that we're not just tootling along thinking, "Oh well, if we don't listen one day, we can listen tomorrow. We missed it one day, but we'll get caught up tomorrow." This picture and what the Lord is saying here should really burn in our minds!
96. Marvelous things are going on in the spirit world! Plans are being engineered that we are supposed to be part of, and if we miss our cue, they have to start over again from scratch.--The whole thing is aborted, this huge plan that's been worked out in the spirit world that has involved spirits on that side and people on this side and everything being moved to be put in the right place. And then we come along so oblivious and so insensitive and so unwilling to listen to the Lord and take the time with Him, and we miss it! No wonder they're disappointed!
97. This is nothing different than what Dad has taught us all along, but the Lord is reminding us of the seriousness of this by telling us again in another way. He's telling us what's happening behind the scenes, just like Dad said in "The Operator" and "Prayer Power" and "Heaven's Children" and "Heaven's Girl." Dad's already told us that lots of times and it's throughout the Letters, but we constantly need to be reminded of it. The Lord and Dad are hoping we'll finally get the point and get serious and we'll finally do something about it. --Not just think of it as a nice theory or consider it something nice we read and we marvel at, but that we'll really start doing our part and start putting it into practice!
98. The Love of the Lord is so wonderful! He's willing to do whatever we ask, having His helpers arrange all kinds of things behind the scenes for us to give us pleasure and to help us accomplish His will. Thank You Jesus!
The Gift of "New Wine" in Prophecy!
99. Another way in which the Lord has been showing His great Love for us all is in the marvelous way in which He has been speaking to us in prophecy. I already knew this, of course, but what the Lord said to me the other day made it even clearer what a wonderful, sweet, precious gift of Love these prophecies from the Lord are to me in a way that I hadn't even realized so strongly. It's just a very precious thing, a sign of His Love not only for me, but for you as well!
100. It sure has been a lot easier for me to come in here and read you what the Lord has said instead of having to get it all myself! I'm very, very thankful that the Lord is giving these wonderful things in prophecy and that you don't have to sit here and listen to the Lord just speaking to you in my words all evening. I could tell you basically the same things in my own words and it would be the same idea and you would get it, but wouldn't you rather have it a little clearer and more beautifully said? If you have a choice, why not hear it directly from the Lord in His Words?
101. He'll say it through me too, but when He says it in prophecy, it's clear, it's precise, it's beautifully said, it's got illustrations! I don't know why you wouldn't want to hear it this way! However, I do understand that when the Lord says it through me, in my words, it can have a certain beauty also, and often does. If you want to hear what I say, well, I can tell you, and the Lord will say through me basically the same thing that He would say in prophecy. But I've been really thankful He's been giving it direct, because it's been so much easier for me. This is not to say that I don't have to get desperate with the Lord any more! Whatever I do, whether I give you a message from the Lord in my own words or whether I read to you what He has said in prophecy, I still can't do it without the Lord's help and strength! But getting these beautiful prophecies in such abundance certainly does make my job easier!
102. I'm sure a lot of folks have had a question about all this prophecy! "My goodness, Mama, no sooner has Dad gone to Heaven, than look at the big change that has taken place! Instead of either quoting Dad or saying it yourself, you're giving us so much prophecy! The GNs are full of prophecy! This is really a radical change! We've gotten pages and pages and pages and pages of prophecy, and what are you saying? On some of them, you only put a little editor's note or footnote. We're hearing far more from Peter or WS or your staff in the form of these prophecies than we are from you! This is quite a radical departure from what we're used to!"
103. I know that many of you are probably having questions about this, so this is what I was asking the Lord about, and Peter, as well, because he was also concerned.--Ha! "What is the Family going to think about all of this? All of a sudden they're getting prophecy on every conceivable subject! We're pouring forth this volume of prophecy, and what is the Family going to think? They may have some problems with this, so what are we supposed to tell them?"
104. But at the same time I thought, "Here's all this beautiful prophecy! I can't let it sit on a shelf just because people have questions about it or are uncomfortable with it. The Lord has told us so many wonderful, wonderful things that I'm sure He wants us to share!" Of course, I don't want people to be stumbled and I want to make it as easy as possible for them to be good! But when I hear all these marvelous, wonderful things the Lord is telling us, I can't refrain from printing it just because it's prophecy and it's different and it's not what we're used to, and because the Family thinks I should be giving Letters! "Why is Mama holding back and just printing all these prophecies? She's really falling down on the job!"--Ha! This is quite a big change for the Family, I understand. It's amazing! It's a huge change!
105. So we were praying, "Lord, could You please tell us something about this change, in order to comfort people's hearts and help them not to be too worried about it?"--And the Lord did answer us! Do you want to hear what He said? (Fam: Yes!) Thank You Lord! Help Peter as he reads this, in Jesus' name.
The Winetaster Prophecy!
106. (Peter reads the prophecy:) "Consider this thing that I do, this new way that I have chosen to lead My children, and ask yourselves these questions: With so much that I have to pour forth unto the children, so much instruction and guidance and counsel, can you think of a better and faster way to do it?
107. "And you who know My queen so well and how she works and the gifts that I have given her and the clarity that she desires and the perfection of wording and the well-roundedness, covering all facets, do you think that she would be satisfied with just speaking these things? How long would it take to get them out and to pour them forth unto My children if she had to speak every one of these words and every one of these explanations and try to make it well-rounded, trying to cover all facets and all sides and all explanations in her own words?"
108. (Mama and Family laugh!) Do you want to tell them what it's like, Peter?--Ha! He sits in there and we're both working, and he's dictating one letter, two letters, he edits a draft, he does something else, and then he says, "How are you doing, Mama?" And I say, "Well, I'm only 30 minutes into this and it's taken me three hours to do this 30 minutes, and I've got about three hours more to go to finish editing the last 30 minutes of the tape." (Peter: Yes, poor Mama. Or sometimes I'm working at my computer and she says, "Do you have this Letter that I'm working on?" So I put it on screen or I have it on paper, and she says, "Can you read this paragraph to me?" So I read it. Then she says, "Say it this way." So I write down the change. Then I go a little further and she says, "Could you please go back and read that one again?" So I go back, and then she says, "No, let's make it say this." So I write that down. Then a minute later she says, "Could you go back and read that one more time?" Poor Mama really has to work hard. And she can't even see it, so that makes it extra difficult!)
109. (Mama:) Well, that's a physical handicap, that I can't see it, and when you can't see something with your eyes, you have to see it in your mind. You try to work on one phrase, but then you're missing the other phrase because you can't see it, so you have to hear it again. You have to hear how it all fits together, and it's very difficult to edit in your mind. Some editing I'm not even able to do because I can't retain one paragraph to see that it would be better to put it two paragraphs down, for example. Well, I try sometimes, but it's quite difficult to edit that way.
110. So that's the physical handicap, but apart from that, I do pray desperately over each word. Words are real things, and the presentation of things is very important. It's not that it's a matter of my wanting to be more eloquent or profound or complicated, but it's a matter of presenting words in the right order, and finding the right words to say the right things. Things take on very different meanings if one word is used instead of another, or if it's put in a certain order in the sentence instead of another order.
111. The Family studies these Letters! The GN is not like a secular magazine that people read once and then throw it away. These are the Lord's Words and they study them, and they need to be right!--And I'm responsible to make them right, and it just takes me a lot of time. Sometimes things flow easily, but many other times they don't and I have to really work on things. So it just takes a long time because I'm very slow in my work and in my editing. Peter knows that better now than ever before because he works right with me in the same room all day long! He's always known this because he's worked with me before on things, but I think now that he sees all the things he's able to get done in comparison to the time it takes me, it's quite an obvious difference. (Peter: Well, I'm just working on other kinds of things that don't require such deep thought and intense work.) But you do help me on the editing, too, and you can do much more and work much faster than I can.
112. (Peter continues reading the prophecy:) "Consider the work that would be involved, the time, the ruminating, the concern, going over the words over and over again trying to get it to say just what it should say. For she fears Me and desires to get the message across clearly and precisely, and thus she labors over each and every word.
113. "And how fast could My Words get out through her in this way? How much labor would it be for her, and for you who work with her? Why would ye even wish that upon her? For it is difficult for her as she strains over every word and prays over them. And I say unto you, I love her, and I am trying to make it easy for her; especially now at this time that her David hath been taken from her.
114. "There will be a time when it comes more clearly unto her, when she speaks My Words more clearly, and when she speaks directly from Me. But in My Love I have done these things to help her.
115. "What difference doth it make if she labors over the Words of God and feeds them to the Family, or if she approves the Words of God that come from this channel and feed the Family? For it all comes from the same stream, the same source, from My Spirit and from Me.
116. "I have much to say, and My capacity and My desire to pour forth is much greater than her capacity to speak the words and to write them and to edit them and to polish them. For in this manner and at this time I have chosen to give polished jewels into her hand, cut precisely and prepared. She takes these and she holds them up before all of you and she explains them and she shows them and she applies them and she helps you to apply them. And with her explanation and with these jewels I feed My children.
117. "It is good food! It is good grain! It is nourishing, and it is so much easier for this one to present it in this way, instead of laboring, instead of chipping, instead of polishing and cutting and splitting these precious jewels.
118. "For I have said unto her, `Lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep.' And her heart's desire is to feed My sheep, yet she knows that it is beyond her capability to pour forth the grain in such abundance. In times past she wondered, `How can I ever pour it forth in the abundance that Thou hast said that I would?' For she knows herself the difficulty that she has in pouring forth these things, because she loves My Words and she loves My children and she wishes to get it exact and just the way that I would say it.
119. "So now I pour it forth in a more polished manner, to make it easier for this one, My shepherdess, to pour forth the grain unto My children. Why would ye wish for her to labor? And I use this even as an illustration to show you how I wish it to be for all. Why should ye labor? Why should it be so difficult? Why should trying to find out that which ye should do require so much work, when ye could just ask? And, lo, as I have made it easier for My queen, so do I wish to make it easier for you all.
120. "Judge ye that which is poured forth and the Words that I have given, the Words that My queen hath approved and she saith, `Yea, these be the Words of God.' Have these Words not fed you? If ye look at these things with an open and believing heart, ye shall see that they feed you and give you strength. And they shall be as the Words of David, for the Words of David were the Words of God. And all that I pour forth unto you through your queen and through the Words that she approves, these are Words from Me, whether they come out of the lips of your queen or whether they come from her faucet, or whether they come from others she hath called upon to hear from Me.
121. "As she approves of them and says, `Yea, these be the Words of God,' then ye should believe and understand that it is from My Love for her that I have done these things. It is from My Love for the flocks that I have done it. For if I did this not, the flocks would go hungry as they wait for the shepherdess to pour forth the Word.
122. "This is My Love. This is My Love for her, and this is My Love for you! Receive ye My Love! Fear not, neither be afraid. Receive My Words, receive the waters of life, receive the refreshing cool waters that I pour forth!
123. "Trust My queen, for I have given her great wisdom and great judgment. She knoweth My Words well, for she hath lived with the very voice of God, David, My chosen one. She hath tasted of My Words and she knoweth the taste and the fragrance, the smell. As one who is an expert at tasting wine can tell from the fragrance and from just a little taste where it comes from, its year, its vintage, because they are so attuned and experienced, so is she. When she tasteth the wine and saith, `This cometh from the vat of God,' then ye shall know, for she is an expert.
124. "Why should she have to pick the grapes and stomp them and wring them and age them and bottle them all on her own? For she can just go to the vat of God and draw from the draught that is there. She can taste and she can say, `Aaah! This is the wine of God!' And if she feels it is the wine, and that it has good body and good spirit, and that it is of Me, and it is of My Words and of My Spirit, she can say, `This is good wine,' and she can pour it forth unto My children. She may taste and say, `Aaah, this is new wine!' And she can pour it forth. I say unto you, I have vats of new wine, and she will taste it and she will judge it and she will pour it forth! And when the new wine cometh unto you, ye must receive it.
125. "Ye are now comfortable with the Words of David, and ye are happy with them and they feed you and ye are familiar with them. But there was a time when the Words of David shook your very foundation and it was a struggle. Some of the Words ye did not understand. His Words divided the sheep from the goats, the weak from the strong, the faithful from the faithless. Ye have forgotten these things because ye were those who were faithful, and ye believed and ye applied, and ye saw the fruit. And now ye look back at some of those things and laugh that it was so difficult for you, for ye had faith and ye believed, and the Words brought forth fruit; and ye saw the fruit and ye accepted it.
126. "Those who did not believe or who found the Words too hard or too harsh or too difficult or too radical or out of the realm of their understanding left, and they never did see nor comprehend nor understand the full fruit of these Words. For it was new wine and it broke many bottles. But I will not let My children become so settled and so familiar with My Word that it no longer affects them. For I wish to pour forth abundant new wine!
127. "Have I not said this is a new day? I have chosen new ways to do things. I am explaining them, and I am wooing My children so that they can accept them. This is just what I do, for I am bottling new wine. And the merry (Mary) old wine taster hath tasted it and said, `Aaah! This is a good vintage! This is what my children need!' So she pours it forth, she bottles it, and she sends it out. And I say unto you, drink ye! Drink ye of this new wine! It shall thrill you!
128. "Though the taste of the new wine may be different than that of the old and aged vintage, the vintage of David, the vintage of Moses, the vintage of Daniel, it is still good wine. And ye must remember that all wine was first new wine; it only became vintage wine after time. So drink ye this new wine and accept it with the understanding that though it be as new wine now, the time will come that it will be vintage wine and ye will be very comfortable with it, and ye will grow accustomed to its taste and ye will find that it brings forth real joy and happiness. And it will be a strength unto your soul and a merriment unto your spirit!
129. "This new wine shall loose you from many of your inhibitions. It shall set you free to love Me, to serve Me and to follow Me in the days to come." (End of prophecy.)
130. Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! Praise You Jesus! What a gift of Love to us all! We love You, Jesus! Thank You for loving us!--I feel so loved, don't you? Thank You Lord! I don't know how the Lord can love us any more, but He keeps pouring it on! He keeps thinking up new ways to love us. Thank You Jesus! Help us to think up new ways to love You, Lord.
Pour Forth the Words and Empty the Vats!
131. And here's a "follow-up" to what the Lord told us in the above prophecy. There He talks about my adding "explanations" to the prophecies He gives, and He talks about this abundance of Word He is giving as "vats of new wine." Recently He told me to "empty the vats" and He explained exactly how He wanted me to do this. He said:
132. (Prophecy:) "Pour forth, pour forth! I say, pour forth My Words! For I have poured forth upon thee in great abundance, and now thou must pour forth unto My children in great abundance. Do that which I have called thee to do, to be the shepherdess that feedeth the grain to My sheep.--To those who seek for the truth, who seek for My comfort, who seek for My instruction, who seek for My guidance, who seek for My Love.
133. "So pour forth My Words, pour them forth, pour them forth! Thou shalt hear My voice. Thou shalt hear My voice in thine heart, and I will speak unto thee and I will show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. I will speak unto thine heart and I will pour forth through thee. As thou listeneth to My voice, and listeneth to the Words that I have already given (in prophecy), I will open thy mouth wide and pour forth, that My Words may be sent out along with the Words that I pour forth through thee; that with My Words that I have poured forth directly and My Words that I have poured forth through thee, we shall together feed the sheep of God, the flock of God, these My children who seek unto thee for the Words, for direction, for guidance, for counsel, for wisdom, for strength, for love.
134. "So fear not that I will not speak to thee, for as thou takest these Words and as thou criest out unto Me and sayest, `Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me to pour forth Thy Words, help me to say unto these, the sheep of Thy pasture, the Words that Thou givest unto me to say!' As thou criest unto Me, I will pour forth unto thee and I shall make it easy and I shall make it possible and I shall pour forth through thee.
135. "So fret not and fear not. Listen to the Words that I have already poured forth (in prophecy), and then listen, listen. Listen unto Me and I will whisper! I will whisper into thine ears. I will whisper and I will say unto thee all that thou needest to hear, all that thou needest to feed the flock of God. Yea, I will pour forth through thee! Yea, I will give thee all that thou seekest. And yea, together with the Words that I have spoken (in prophecy) and together with the words that thou shalt speak--My Words speaking through you--we will feed the sheep and they shall be pleased and well-fed and strengthened.
136. "So fear thou not nor be afraid, for have I not said that I speak unto thee? I speak unto thine heart, I speak unto thy mind, I speak in thine ears. Yea, and thy David speaketh unto thee, and yea, those that serve thee speak unto thee, and great are they that speak unto thee. So fret not and fear not.
137. "And empty thy vats! Empty thy vats that I may once again fill them, that I may fill them to the full! For in harvest the grapes are picked and pressed and the vats become full of juice. It ferments a while, and it is processed and it is tasted and it is bottled and it is shipped. And the harvest cometh not at all times, and the juice cometh not at all times, for there be no more room in the vats. And now is the time to pour forth! Pour forth! Work on the Words! As thou doest this thing, as thou openest thy mouth I will speak through thee and to thee, and I will anoint thee. As thou emptiest thy vats, thou preparest a vacuum for Me and I will once again fill it.
138. "These Words are that which they need, that which they seek, that which will help them. Thou shalt work with Me hand in hand, heart to heart, lip to lip. We shall commune together and I will fill thee and I will bless thee, and I will love thee. And together we shall feed My children. As a father and mother work together to feed their children, so shall we work together to feed these, My precious ones, My precious children, our precious children.
139. "For the Words that I give unto them are those Words that they need, and I will lead thee and I will guide thee, and thou hast nothing to fear. I will bless and I will anoint and I will speak unto thee, that thou shalt have the wisdom thou needest to pour forth the Words of God!" (End of prophecy.)
140. (Mama:) Isn't it amazing how the Lord tells us exactly how to present these words to you, exactly what to do with them, exactly how to bottle them and package them and ship them?--Another very great sign of His Love! He wants you to have the Words that He has given directly, along with the Words that He gives me through the "whispers" in my ears and heart. He goes to such great lengths to feed you His good food. How privileged we all should feel and how thankful we all should be! It's not only His great Love gift to me, but it's His great Love gift to all of you as well!
Another Gift of Love from the Lord--Peter!
141. Now, would you like to hear of one more gift of Love from our loving Lord?--Whose Love never stops, and Whose Love never ends, and Who keeps giving and giving and giving again! I've already told you in previous talks about this great gift; in fact, we've talked a lot about it! But I want to let you hear something very beautiful that the Lord told us about it. I'm referring to the Lord's and Dad's great love for me in giving me Peter, who loves me deeply and who helps me carry out the responsibilities of the kingdom, and who helps me hear from the Lord and put His Words into action and share them with you.--Who helps me to be more humble, more honest, more loving, more unselfish, more bold, more full of faith, more obedient, more dependent, more yielded, more stirred up, more slowed down, more prayerful, more cheerful, more full of conviction, and enjoying life more.
142. It's very difficult--if not impossible--to express adequately the love you feel for someone, to tell them what they really mean to you, to articulate those deep emotions. Unless your communication skills are exceptional, unless you are eloquent or very poetic, your words fall so far short. Peter wanted to tell me how much he loves me, and I in turn wanted to express my love for him, but each of us felt that our words to the other were so insufficient. But we knew that if anyone could say it, the Lord could! If anyone knew how we felt toward each other and could express it, the Lord certainly could, because it was His Love, and who would know His Love better than He would? Who would know our hearts as well as He? So here again is another very great manifestation of His Love to me--and to Peter--as He speaks of the great Love that He has shown to each of us through the other. The Lord spoke through Peter both times, first to express Peter's love for me and then to express my love for Peter.
143. (Prophecy, Peter speaking in the Spirit:) "And these are the words that I whisper unto thee, my love. The depth of my love for thee is as the depth of the ocean; and the breadth of my love is as the breadth of the Earth; and the height of my love is as the height of the moon; and the fullness of my love is as the fullness of the Earth. For the love that I have for thee is a love created by God, and it fills my heart to overflowing; yea, it bursts forth from my heart unto thee!
144. "Never have I known a love so deep, so wide, so high; and never have I received love that so fulfills my very being! For thy love to me is as bread, is as water, is as all those things that sustain life. It is as the air that I breathe! The love that I have for thee overwhelmed me, for I knew not that I was capable of loving in this way and in this magnitude. And, lo, I am not capable, but this love created by God pours forth through my heart and through my very being and fills me. My love for thee is the love of God for thee and a simple manifestation, yea, a small token of the tremendous love that He hath for thee. It pours forth from the wellsprings of my heart and from the deepest places!
145. "Thy love for me hath lighted the dark places of my heart and it hath brought forth great joy where there was sadness, great light where there was darkness, great filling where there was loneliness. For thy love hath filled the empty spaces of my life--spaces that could be filled by no other, for they were spaces to be filled by thee and by thy love, even as I was created to fulfill the will of God in loving thee. So is my love for thee a fulfillment of the plan of God, and thus my love for thee is God's Love for thee.
146. "And, oh, how pleasant it is to fulfill the Lord's will with one such as thee--one who is so tender, one who is so kind, one who is so loving. And, oh, what great pleasure it is to be together with one who is the will of God and the love of God for me. Together we help fulfill the plan of God, and together we fill the need of love one to another. For there is no greater love between a man and a woman than that which is the will of God. For what God hath put together, let no man put asunder.
147. "So I kneel before thee and say, thank you for being the Love of God for me, and thank you for helping to fulfill God's will for me. Know that there are no words that can express the depth, the height and the breadth of my love for thee, nor for the gratefulness that I hold in my heart for thy love for me. For God's Love through thee hath breathed life into my soul, hath filled the empty places and hath made me whole."
148. (Mama speaking in the Spirit:) "Being able to love thee is like having a second chance. For the love that I have of David is a great love, a fulfilling love, an enduring love! I know that he hath engineered this love that I have for thee and hath allowed me to love thee from the depths of my heart. It hath given me the opportunity to experience new things that I had not experienced before, and new things that help me to understand others. I am even surprised at the depths of the feelings of my love for thee, for they overwhelm me too and I am surprised at my desire for thee. I love these feelings and they bring me great joy and great happiness! They make me feel young and they help to bring forth in me a new life, a different life which is so appropriate for this, the new day.
149. "This love is different than the love that I had with David, for our love together was rich and full and deep. It was as vintage wine and the feeling one gets when one drinks the olden vintage, for there is joy and there is depth. But our love together is as the drinking of new wine which bringeth forth much joy and merriment. And as our love grows together and ages together, it too will grow deep and rich and full.
150. "As I made a place for thee in my bed, and as I made a place for thee in my room, so have I made a place for thee in my life. As I find great joy in having thee in my bed and having thee in my room, so do I find great joy in having thee in my life. For I feel safe and I feel secure, I feel very loved and I feel desired. I feel wanted, and, yea, I feel young. These things have brought me great joy and happiness.
151. "But the thing that I love thee for most is that thou lovest our Lord and that thou wilt love Him with me, and that thou wilt put Him first and foremost above all things. Nothing could make me love thee more than that. For if I were to search for a man to love, I would search for a man who loved God above all. And in thee, my dear one, I feel I have found just that!--And that makes me love thee! That makes me desire thee and want thee! That makes me admire thee and cherish thee.
152. "I too feel and know that thou art the will of God for me! So bursts forth my heart with love for thee, for I too know and understand that the love that I have for thee is poured forth from the hand of our Creator, and He hath poured it forth in great abundance! It bursts forth from my heart too, yea, from the wellsprings of my heart, and it bringeth me great joy and great happiness!
153. "Do not fret and do not fear; for the love that I have for thee is an everlasting love, because it is the Love of God, and His Love never ends and His Love never fails. Though I may have to bed with others, and care for others and help others, there is none that I could or would ever love as I love thee, for thou art the will of God for me and I am the Love of God for thee!" (End of prophecy.)
154. (Mama:) Beautiful, beautiful Words of Love! Thank You Jesus for Thy Love that loves and loves and loves again! Thank You for the love You give me through Peter. Thank You for the love You give me through Dad. Thank You for the love You've given me through Your Words, and through Your wind, and through Your wisdom. It's overwhelming, Lord, and it's marvelous, it's beautiful, it's wonderful!
155. Though You don't always show Your Love for each of Your children by giving them someone with whom they are so close, You nevertheless do love them with very great Love --Love that has no limits, Love that knows no boundaries, Love that is wider than the ocean, higher than the heavens, deeper than the deepest sea; Love that goes to any lengths to make them happy and to give them the desires of their heart as they trust in You!
156. Help them not to doubt Your Love, Lord, but to reach out for it and to praise You for all the wonderful things that You've already given them--the many, many gifts of Your Love that are showered upon them each day.--So many love gifts from the hand of the most wonderful Lover who wants His Bride to be thrilled with His Love! As our praises go up to You for all these wonderful gifts, You shower us with even more in the form of victories and blessings of all sorts.
157. We love Your Love, Jesus! More than loving and wanting Your gifts, we love and want You! We need You, Lord. We love You most of all! You are our breath, our life, our warmth, our comfort, our joy, our peace, our freedom, our salvation, our deliverance, our everything, our all in all! We can't make it without You! We need You so much!
We All Have Gifts of Prophecy Because We Have Each Other!
158. Well, shall we pray and ask the Lord to speak if He has anything more? I always feel like, "Oh, Lord, You've spoken so much already!" But the Lord obviously wants to keep speaking--that's what He said--so we keep asking Him! We don't force Him, but if He wants to speak, then let Him speak; if He doesn't have anything to say, then don't worry about it. Praise the Lord! Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah!
159. As I said earlier, we all have the gift of prophecy because we have each other and we're all one. We're all married to each other, we're all one body, so if you don't think you have it personally, you can just grab somebody else and hear from the Lord! It just amounts to our availing ourselves of it.
160. So when we ask the Lord to speak, don't feel bad if you don't get anything this time or next time or any time! Just don't feel bad. We're not putting you under pressure. The only pressure you have is if the Lord gives you something and He wants you to give it; then you need to give it, because that's pressure and conviction from the Lord. But don't feel bad if you don't get anything--ever! If you don't get anything, you don't get anything!
161. (To Home member:) You don't usually get prophecies, but you're not condemning yourself about it all the time, are you? You get verses, and sometimes you get visions, and when you get something, you give it. Right? (Fam: Yes.) There are enough people here that we don't have to have everybody get something from the Lord. But if He gives it to you or you think you should get it or you need to be humble enough to get it and you should ask Him for it, well, do it. You know in your own heart what you're supposed to do. So Techi, if you don't get anything, don't be embarrassed and don't feel like we're putting the pressure on you, okay? (Techi: Okay.) If you get it, then you give it, all right? And if you don't, don't feel bad. And the rest of you who don't usually get prophecies, don't worry. Give your verses, give your visions, and if you don't even get those, we're not worried about it. That's all right.
162. We just want everybody to give what they get from the Lord. It doesn't matter if you have prophecy or you don't have prophecy, or if you have verses or you don't have verses. We've got somebody here who has it, so that's enough, thank the Lord! Some of you can prophesy five times if you need to.--Ha! If the Lord wants to speak to us and wants to speak a lot, then even one person could do it. We could put one of you in a room and let you prophesy for five hours! (Everyone laughs.) If the Lord wants you to and He has that much to give us, He can give it through even one person. But if you have the gift, the Lord wants you to use it and exercise it, like He said. And that's why we ask the Lord to speak, not only because we want to hear from Him, but because He said to do it. He said you need to exercise your gifts, if you have them, and you need to practice. And if you don't have the gift of prophecy, you should probably ask the Lord for it, because how will you know if He wants to give it to you unless you ask Him for it? Then, if He gives it to you, fine. If He doesn't, fine. (See also 1Cor. 14:1, 5a, 12, 39; Num.11:27-29.)
163. Don't feel bad if you don't have the gift of prophecy and the Lord chooses to give it to others. Maybe your gifts are in a different area. When we say everybody has gifts of prophecy, well, you do all have the gift because we're all together here and we're all one. So I have the gift too! I have a lot of gifts!--Ha! I have a big gift right here too, my faucet! (Patting Peter.) But you all are my gifts too, as well as those at our WS units who pray and hear from the Lord when I ask them to. I have lots of gifts of prophecy, thank the Lord!
Confirming Prophecies
164. (Mama prays:) So speak to us now, Lord, if You want to, whatever You have to say, anything more. Thank You for the beautiful Words You've already given us, so wonderful and marvelous! We just thank You for speaking and we thank You for saying You want to keep speaking, and that You want to keep giving and filling us to overflowing. Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah! We love You, Lord! We praise You, Jesus! We thank You, Lord!
165. Jesus, we're absolutely nothing, we can't do anything without You. You have to say the words, You have to give the thoughts, You have to use us. We're just channels. We're just so nothing without You. We don't have anything, and only as we hear from You and as You move in us can we be anything at all. We're dead, Lord, we're crucified with You, but we do live because You live in us and it's Your life that we live. So they're Your Words that we speak and Your songs that we sing and Your thoughts that we think. And if You have any more words to say through these channels, then we ask You to speak. (Mama praises the Lord and speaks in tongues, and the Family joins in praising.)
(Prophecies:)
166. (Fam:) "I say unto you that if these should hold their peace, the very rocks would cry out! For My Words shall be spoken and My Words shall go forth to feed My sheep in the voluminous amount that I wish for them to go forth. I have done this for My dear Maria, to give her surcease from the hours and hours and hours and days and months of laboring over these Words, that she may minister unto you in other ways as well. For I have doubled and tripled and quadrupled her gifts through this new way that I am feeding My children. So seek these Words diligently and let them sink down into your hearts, and they shall lift you to new heights. They shall give you greater love, greater understanding and greater wisdom in My Spirit and how to minister it to others. For these are beautiful, clean words straight from My mouth to you, to help you and guide you and lead you in the way that you shall go."
* * *
167. (Fam:) "Behold My queen, My prophetess, My shepherdess who loves My Words and creates a vacuum for My Words so that she can feed My sheep. As My servant David said of My precious shepherdess, she shall feed the sheep, she shall give the Words. And where shall she get the Words? From her big bag! And as she scatters these Words to the sheep and feeds her sheep out of love for them, the bag continues to get replenished. As she scatters faster, it is replenished faster, and she cannot pour forth fast enough, for the Words continue to pour in.
168. "For there is going to be an abundance of Words! So many Words!--Because My shepherdess was faithful to scatter My Words as she learned from My servant David. For who hath given My Word so faithfully and abundantly and so diligently and in such measure? This is why I am pouring My Spirit upon My children and giving them My Words, because My queen, My prophetess, is scattering the Words to feed the sheep, to get out the truth that will change the world and which will win many for My Kingdom, souls which will last forever."
* * *
169. (Gary:) "When I, the Son of Man, walked the Earth many years ago, did I not say that I have many things to speak unto thee, but thou canst not bear them now? And yea, I walk upon the face of the Earth and speak the Words today, and there be many that say, `Oh, we cannot bear these now. There is too much! We cannot absorb it all! It is too much to be given, it is too much to be received!' But I say unto you, I pour out in abundance, and though there be not room enough to receive it all, and though there be not capacity enough to understand it all, I pour it out, that ye may receive what ye can receive, that ye may be filled to the brim and overflowing. For I seek such. I seek that your spirits may be full, that men may say of you, `These men are full of new wine! What do they? Yea, they reach unto the ends of the world! They speak the Words of God unto the ends of the world! Did not also the early disciples?'
170. "And I do not hide these things under a bushel, but I do these things that your lives might be manifest to others. And the Words of God that I pour into you are not for yourself alone, but that ye might be strengthened, that ye might be drunken with new wine, that ye may be putty in My hands to do as I will. And if ye cannot receive them all, receive what ye can receive. If ye cannot read them all, read what ye can read. For I will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, I will not give unto you more than ye are able to receive.
171. "Receive as much as ye can receive and worry not about the rest. For I shall pour unto you, and the time has come that, though I understand your limited capacity, and I know that My capacity to give is much greater than that, the time is short and I must give that which I have to say. I must speak the Words, and ye must speak the Words, and these Words shall go into all the world through you, and ye shall be inspired and motivated by these Words. Yea, men shall say of you, `These men are full of new wine!'"
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172. (Fam:) "Sweet, loving Maria, how I love you so!
You suck the seeds and give the seeds to help My children grow!
Keep longing for Me and asking for Me, and I will show and show!
Just like with My David before you, I'll give you mo' and mo' and mo'!
I love your heart that pleads to Me; you love to feed your sheep,
Just keep looking to Me and longing for Me, and the paths of your feet I will keep.
173. "I love thee so, My precious one, My new and beautiful bride. And fear not that with these Words that thou dost pour forth, the people will wonder and doubt. Just keep giving them forth, for by the fruits of these Words they will know that they are truth and they are life. Keep praising Me and showing the sample of how to love Me and seek Me. They know thee and trust thee, and they will know by thy fruits that these are My Words from My Spirit and My life."
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174. (Mama:) Thank You for giving her the faith for that, Lord. It's so sweet! Thank You Jesus!
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175. (Fam:) "Love Me! Praise Me! Thank Me! When you're doing dishes, stop and thank Me for the dishes that you can eat on. When you're cooking a meal, stop and thank Me for the food that you can eat. When you're typing, stop and thank Me for your fingers which allow you to type. When you're listening to a tape, stop and thank Me for your ears, that you can hear. As you step outside and breathe the fresh air, and as you gaze on the greenery of the trees and the bushes, so this stopping and praising and thanking Me will refresh and revive your spirit and will give you strength for the tasks that I have given you to do. So have faith to stop and to thank Me and praise Me, no matter what You're doing."
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176. (Fam:) "My sheep hear My voice. It mattereth not to them what channel it is that it comes from. For I use the weak things and the offscouring of the Earth to show My greatness and My glory. Have not all of My prophets of all ages felt that they could not do it, that they were too weak? `I cannot, Lord, for I am a child! I cannot, my speech is not good!' Nevertheless, My Words have gone forth and My new wine was received and has now become the vintage wine that feeds and intoxicates many with My Spirit. So worry not. Give forth the Words of God as I pour them through you, for ye are called and chosen for this purpose."
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177. (Fam:) "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. And blessed is My Maria, for she doth hunger and thirst after My Words. Therefore have I poured unto her in abundance, because she doth long for My Words, she doth desire them. She loveth My Words, and that is why I have poured them unto her. And as she doth highly esteem My Words, I would that ye too would highly esteem the Words that she doth pass on to you. For these are My Words to all of You, My children, that ye may be fed and nourished and strengthened for these days ahead."
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178. (David:) "For thus saith the Lord, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. Why is it hard for you to rejoice at My Words? Why do ye not rejoice as one that findeth great spoil? For it matters not the channel or how they come, all that matters is that it doth come. I would that you were like a man in the desert without water, and then when he findeth it, his joy is so great, for it is his salvation from death. Why can ye not be like that? Why can ye not rejoice at My Words, no matter how I see fit to give them?
179. "Be not afraid! Fill your glasses with My new wine! Lift them to your lips and drink without hesitation, for My wine is like a healing balm which shall heal your infirmities, your problems. But be warned: It is a poison to those who doubt, those who do not believe, those who [critically] analyze it.
180. "Be not as those who say, `The old wine is better.' You need to look more to Me. Quit looking at the man, and regard not the cult of the personality. They are My Words! I can give them as I see fit. All I ask is that ye believe. For if ye do not, ye will die without My water, My Word, My wine. Ye must not doubt, but ye must jump on the bandwagon of My new way, My new wine, and let it fill your souls and enrich Your lives!"
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181. (Fam:) "These signs shall not only follow those that believe, but they shall precede them. For these are also gifts of My Love--gifts of healing, of My miracles that ye ask Me for, even to change the currents and the winds, and this gift of My new Word, My new pouring. For time is growing short. I have to cut the red tape, and this will save you hours and hours and hours of labor just by letting Me pour out. How easy! Like the old cowboy from the Rio Grande, it's time to bring our ranching up to date. He knew every trail in the Lone Star State. He learned to ride before he learned to stand. We've got to get in our new Ford V-8 and bring our ranchin' up to date!"
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182. (Mama, laughing:) Thank You Lord for Your sense of humor!
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183. (Fam:) "Scatter the seeds, the seeds which you can harvest, for they are white and ready to harvest now. Scatter all of these delicious grains to the little birdies who hop around. Scatter it to all the birdies--the big ones and the little ones. You can grind the grain up for the little ones, to make it easier for them to eat, but the big ones love the variety!--The corn and the peas and the barley and the wheat. They love this fresh grain that you are harvesting from My Spirit, the grains of My Spirit-Words. Scatter them to the birdies! Scatter them out! Scatter this seed, for they love this variety!"
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184. (Fam:) "Be not afraid to drink this new wine. Drink and drink and drink until ye are intoxicated!--Greatly intoxicated by My Love, full of My Spirit! And as ye become more intoxicated with My Love, filled with Me and My Spirit, ye shall become as new men and new women, saying things that ye never said before and doing things that ye did not do before, and being the kind of people ye were not before. For this is a new day, and ye are to become My new creations with greater power, greater love and a greater anointing. Ye will become the creations that I have planned from the beginning of the world for this mighty Endtime. For ye will do things that ye have not dreamed of! But ye must take these steps, ye must reach out and drink that which I am pouring forth, to give you the Spirit and the power and the strength to become what I want to make you."
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185. (Mama:) What a feast! Thank You Jesus! (Everyone praises and thanks the Lord!)
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186. (Fam:) I got the words: "More precious than silver and gold, yea, than rubies and diamonds are the Words which I give unto Maria through you." Also, when someone gives you a jewel, you don't look at it and say, "I wonder who polished this diamond? I wonder what factory actually did the work?" You're just so thankful, and you go to the person who gave it to you and you thank them so much for it.
187. (Mama:) Look at even the things we put in the "Good Thots" books that have been such a blessing to so many for years now. We didn't originate those, but they were from many sources and many saints of the Lord down through the ages.--Beautiful things! Inspired things! Some of them probably weren't the greatest saints in the world, but they were inspired of the Lord for the time or the situation or the subject, and look what a blessing those books have been to us all! We didn't know the authors, and with many of those things we don't even know who wrote or said them, but when we judged them against the standard of the Word, they came up to that and they were good and they were right. So we chose to use them and to say that this is some of the Word, because it is. It's from Godly sources and Godly people. If we had not done that just because we wanted to be the only channels, look what we would have missed! Thank You Lord!
Closing Prayer
188. Thank You, Lord, for this wonderful Word You've given and all of Your rich blessings. You said You give us all things richly to enjoy. You've just been showing us that You want us to enjoy things and not be so burdened and so strained. You're constantly emphasizing that now to show us that if we'll just rest in You and seek You and love You and praise You, that You'll make things so easy for us.--And that that's what You want, because You love us and You've created us for Your pleasure and Your enjoyment.
189. How can You enjoy us and we enjoy You if we're just so burdened with the pressures and straining and almost collapsing, nervous and fretful and worried? You want us to love You and to enjoy You, and for us to enjoy all the things You've given us and You've made. You want to take pleasure in us. Thank You Lord for showing us how, and thank You for making it so easy for us, and continuing to remind us that it is possible and that's what You do want for us, that's what You've given us in Your Love.
190. Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah! You're so good to us, Lord. Thank You Jesus! Praise You Lord! As we go from this meeting, help these Words to sink into our hearts, help us to imbibe them, to digest them, to eat them, and we pray that they'll really make a difference in us.--That we won't just hear them and they'll fall on shallow ground, but that they'll sink deep into us and change us and make us into the kind of people You want us to be and You need us to be--vessels of Your Love and Your power that can fulfill Your plan for us in these Last Days. Thank You, Lord, for working on us and remaking us into vessels fit for Your use, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family