USE IT!
DO 27
12/70
--"As Using This World (System), But Not Abusing It!"
1. NEARLY EVERY GREAT REFORMER OR REVOLUTIONIST, MUSICIAN, ARTIST OR WRITER--NEARLY ALL THE INSPIRATIONALISTS--HAD TO HAVE SOME POWERFUL PATRON--a king or a politician or a rich man or woman, to protect them & sponsor them & fight for them & deal with the government for them, so they could be free to do their inspirational work! Almost every one of them had somebody to patronise them, from politicians to businessmen--somebody to handle their material affairs so they could stick to the spiritual!--The Lord always raised up someone to help His spiritual leaders handle their material affairs so they could be free to do His work! Sometimes even their enemies were used to provide for them, even while they were in prison, so they could write or get revelations or have time to talk to God! God uses the System in strange ways to His children's advantage! DON'T BE AFRAID TO SPOIL THE SYSTEM!
2. DURING THE PERIOD OF THE KINGS, GOD USED KING AFTER KING TO PATRONISE THE PROPHETS--provide for & protect them & give them a chance to hear from the Lord & expound His Words & revelations--even to warn them of their sins & mistakes! Although they frequently disagreed in their controversies, rivalries & contentions, the kings were, nevertheless, compelled to respect & fear the power of His Prophets--even when they didn't like it--& didn't appreciate their Message! They were forced to acknowledge they were of God & to handle them with care--as King Ahab with ELIJAH!
3. IT WASN'T ALWAYS EASY--THIS TICKLISH & PRECARIOUS POSITION OF LIVING IN THE HOUSE OF YOUR ENEMY, whom God had raised up to protect & provide for you while you did the Lord's work, & there were plenty of other enemies who were always ready to make things hot for you. But somehow the Lord always brought you through, in spite of everything & everybody--even causing the wrath of man to praise Him--as with the THREE HEBREW CHILDREN in the FIERY FURNACE or DANIEL in the LION'S DEN or NEHEMIAH on the WALL!--In spite of everything the Enemy could do, God always brought you through & simply used your enemies to glorify Him.
4. EVEN ENEMIES ARE NEEDED TO KEEP US ON THE BALL--or, should I say, on the WALL, so that we don't come down from doing a great work. Because IF YOU FEEL TOO SECURE, YOU'RE APT TO RELAX & LET DOWN YOUR GUARD & give the Enemy a chance to slip in & deal you a blow below the belt that will really teach you a lesson, never to be caught with your spiritual pants down again.
5. ESTHER EVEN HAD TO MARRY XERXES, THE HEATHEN KING OF MEDO-PERSIA, TO GET THE JOB DONE & DELIVER GOD'S PEOPLE! So God can make exceptions to His Own rules--if He wants to, in order to accomplish His purpose--in that case, even being unequally yoked with that horrible System--a terrible price for one of His girls to have to pay in order to free His people. She had to be willing to become a queen of the System in order to protect the Children of God! What an assignment! Would YOU be willing to go that far for the Lord & His children?--To marry someone you didn't love or even like, in order to further the work of God?
6. IF WE WERE TO START DESCRIBING ALL OF THE UNORTHODOX, UNLAWFUL & UNSEEMLY THINGS GOD LET HIS CHILDREN DO in order to accomplish His purpose, space would fail us to enumerate the multitude of ways God let His Children use or abuse the System in order to carry out His plan.
7. GOD'S CHILDREN ARE ALWAYS NEEDING THE SYSTEM FOR SOMETHING--even though neither He nor they like it. And why not? Why should we fiddle around with slaving for material things, when the System's got plenty of it & to spare! Let them be our slaves--not us theirs! Why should we let the seed be choked out by the cares of earning a living, when we can let the System do it FOR us?
8. GOD ALWAYS MAKES THE SYSTEM SERVE HIS SERVANTS, whenever it suits His purpose--if they have what He needs. "As using this World (or System) but not abusing it."--1Cor.7:31. Sometimes it looks to me like He's even allowed us to abuse this privilege once in awhile--we're such pets of His, He spoils us! Own it & use it--but watch out--don't let it own & use you!
9. THERE'S A TIME & A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING--even holding a System job when you have nothing better to do--or if God wants to use it to help the Children of God! So don't be so damn dogmatic about everybody forsaking all! God's got to let a few Systemites stick with it, so they can give their pants to clothe us & their bottom dollar to feed us or their power & influence to protect us!--And God will bless them for it-even if they don't get to enjoy the precious privilege of forsaking all & the blessed ministry of being His Prophets! Where would all these Prophets have been if they hadn't had all these kings? Don't knock it!--You need'm! Hate the damn System, but use the Systemite to get God's work done!--But don't let the System get you! You're IN it, but not OF it! You're surrounded by it--but not part of it! You're dropouts from it, but you can still use it! Just don't let it use YOU, like it was before you became God's Ecclesia, the "Called-out ones," His dropouts, like Jesus & His disciples!
10. EVEN THOUGH GOD'S CHILDREN HAD THEIR PROBLEMS WITH THE SYSTEM & living in it, under it & with it, it was there for their benefit & most of the time it was more of a help than a hindrance. Even sometimes when it SEEMED like a curse, it turned out to be a blessing, for if God hadn't hardened Pharaoh's heart against His Children, they never WOULD have left Egypt!--Or Rome, against the Christians! They would have gone "System" even sooner, as they did a couple of hundred years later when they were finally recognised by the System.
11. SO ALL THINGS, INCLUDING THE SYSTEM, WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE THAT LOVE THE LORD! So don't knock it!--Just hate it!--And use IT--but don't let it use you, unless it's part of His plan & thank God for & love the dear Systemites He uses to help us! God might even turn one of the worst of them into an apostle, like Paul, if you're just patient, love & pray for them--even if they persecute you! The System even gave Paul a police escort, free transportation, room & board, a Mediterranean cruise & a house to live in when he got there for his final missionary journey to Rome, the capital, to witness to Caesar & all his house!
12. DON'T TRY TO POUR GOD INTO A MOLD & SAY HE ALWAYS HAS TO USE THE SAME METHODS. Not everybody has to be a martyr; just die daily, as you live for Him. God won't let'm kill you unless you've finished your job & can give a better witness that way for the grand finale! THEY COULDN'T EVEN KILL JOHN THE REVELATOR, because he wasn't through "revelating" yet, so God made'm give HIM a free Mediterranean cruise to the Isle of Patmos & free room & board in exile, so he'd have peace & quiet to take a HEAVENLY cruise & come back with a ship's log of the future--the last Book of the Bible!--And as far as we know, he died in peace at the ripe old age of 90, on that lovely Mediterranean isle!
13. GOD CREATED THE SYSTEM FOR HIS USE, so His Children wouldn't have to be bothered with little things like government, transportation, education, business & earning a living! He has made the System His slave to set you free! So don't knock it!--Use it!--And thank God for it--even if you hate it! God still uses the System to save us the trouble of getting involved in all the affairs of this World & its goods & to help to protect & provide for His Kingdom.
14. IF YOU STOPPED USING EVERYTHING THE DEVIL USES, THERE WOULDN'T BE ANYTHING LEFT! My Mother even used a slot machine once to get us enough money for our dinner! I'll take anything the Devil's got, if I can get it away from him--including you--& use it for the glory of God! Don't knock it!--USE it!--Just don't let it use you! You NEED it!
15. AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE SYSTEM NEEDS YOU as God only lets it exist for your benefit! It belongs to YOU--just don't belong to IT! "ALL things are yours in Christ Jesus!" Use it!--Don't abuse it! "As using this World (System), but not abusing it!" "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good & thou shalt have praise of the same: For He is the minister of God to thee for good."
16. GOD USES THE SYSTEM FOR YOUR BENEFIT! IT IS YOUR SERVANT, because it is His servant & serves His purpose. Let it serve YOURS! It was made for your service--let it SERVE you!
17. THEY SAY WE ARE PARASITES, sponges, loafers, leeches on the body of society, unproductive dependents on their System, enjoying its protection & provision free of charge without earning it! Of course we are! They are our hosts & exist for our benefit, & without us, God would destroy them! Don't be ashamed of this! Be thankful for it!
18. GOD CREATED THEM FOR OUR BENEFIT. They owe us their very existence to serve us with their support & their protection & they should be thankful for it! THEY'RE working for us!--And may God bless them for it!--And He will! They themselves are enjoying His protection & provision free of charge, for our sakes--& they'd better never forget it!--Or God will forget them! Don't you forget it, either! Don't knock it!--USE it! It's God's gift to us, His provision for our needs, His protection for our defense, created to serve us, not us for it--except in spiritual things.
19. IN THESE, WE ARE SERVANTS OF ALL! Let them minister to us of their carnal things, as we minister to them spiritually! This is what they pay their preacher for--& we're in the same boat with him in this regard, for we're indeed His preachers! USE IT!--Don't knock it!--But don't let the System tell you what to do like they have the WHORE who has become the servant of the BEAST! Use it!--Don't knock it! Just don't let it use YOU!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family