SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE!--Mama's Epilogue to the Love Charter  Maria #259       DO 2978  2/95

My dear children and co-laborers in Jesus,
         1. With the advent of the Love Charter, and Dad helping us now from the spirit world, we are entering a new era in the Family which I believe is going to take us to new and greater heights in the Spirit--to places we've never gone before! Why do I say this?--Well, for one, since Dad's Homegoing, the Lord has said over and over that this is a new day, hammering home this point in various prophecies our worldwide Family has received. This recurrent theme of a new day is something that was predominant in prophecy after prophecy at Summit '95, which took place soon after Dad's departure. Here are a few excerpts of what the Lord said in prophecy:

         2. * "Behold, it is the dawning of a new day, and there is to be a new way. Old things are passed away and new things are brought upon you, and changes will be upon the whole Family."
         3. * "There are many great and mighty works which I long to do through you, but ye must take upon you this new garment, this fresh approach, this newness of life that I have given you and that I long to continue to give you, if ye would but renew your minds and hearts, and your communication and your love for one another."
         4. * "I will hold you responsible in whatever situation you're in to pour large measures of love on one another, to serve one another in love."

         5. Oh beloved, I pray that you can feel in the Spirit the great and glorious changes the Lord has in store for us all. As you've read above, the Lord is holding each of us responsible to "serve one another in love." This is the key to implementing the Charter! The Lord is moving us into a new day of love. He wants to anoint us with the Spirit of love, His Holy Spirit, so that we can shed the bondage of our pride, inhibitions and hang-ups, and in doing so we can love Him, each other and the lost in a greater, more manifest way.

Lessons of Love--For God and Others!
         6. Along these lines, the Lord has been teaching me many lessons of love of late, while at the same time reviewing lessons that I learned in the past but have fallen short in over the years.--Lessons on the importance of loving those around me, not just in a measured way, with limits, but fully and deeply.--Lessons of compassion, of taking time to put His love into action.--Lessons of self-sacrifice, of sacrificing my time and energy in order to love others.--Lessons of greater dependence on Jesus, a greater desperation for a more intimate love relationship with Him, so that I can be more like the New Church, His new Bride.--Lessons of humility, for only in humility can there be great love.--Lessons of yieldedness, for only in yielding to Him can I be empowered by His loving Spirit, and only in yielding to others can I give unto them His love.
         7. Jesus is impressing upon me how much He wants my love--that He wants me to spend time in the bed of love with Him, loving Him, wooing Him and receiving the seeds of His truth.
         8. In the time immediately following Dad's Homegoing, the Lord was underscoring to me personally and also to our top leaders who were gathered together at the Summit meeting the need for us all to be more loving to others. Here are just a few of the beautiful Words He said about all of us loving one another:

         9. * "Lovest thou Me? Pour forth My love upon those who come across your path. Lovest thou Me? Lay down your lives, your selfishness, your personal desires, your own will and your own way, that ye may love those who are so in need. For I have bestowed great, great love upon you. So go forth in the same love. For as much as ye do it unto the least of these My brethren, ye do it unto Me. As you love them, you will love Me, and as you pour love upon them, you will be pouring your love upon Me."

Responsibility Draws Us Closer to the Lord!
         10. The Love Charter is going to essentially force us to draw closer to the Lord in prayer and loving one another. Since the Charter gives each of you so much personal responsibility for your own actions and decisions, it will be necessary for you to pray more and seek the Lord for the directions that He has for you personally.
         11. You are responsible to make major decisions that will affect your life. Others may offer counsel, but ultimately it is you who must decide what God's will is for you. Making important decisions and being responsible for the outcome of your choices should cause you to be very desperate to find the Lord's will. It should cause you to cry out to Him, to seek His Word, to search the Scriptures, to hear His voice, which means you must take time with Him.
         12. And as we seek Him for guidance, as we swim in the cool refreshing waters of His Word, and as we spend that time in fellowship with Him, it will help us to get to know Him better, to love Him more, to become more intimate with Him. And as we draw closer to Him and learn to love Him more, we will draw closer to others and learn to love them more. The more we have of Jesus, the more others will feel it.
         13. It is my hope that the effects of the Charter will allow you to have more time for the Word, for prayer, for loving Jesus, and for loving others. And with more prayer and greater communion with the Lord and deeper fellowship with each other, there will be more miracles, more answers, more excitement in the Spirit, more manifestations of the Lord's wonderful power. This will bring about more praise to the Lord, because you'll want to thank Him for all He is doing in your Home and life.
         14. When we begin to love one another with His love, it makes us want to put the needs and desires of others before our own. It makes us unselfish, it makes us responsible. We become our brother's keeper. We become less concerned about ourselves and instead seek to make others happy.
         15. To apply all this to a day-to-day level, under the Love Charter we are going to be faced with participation in the decision-making within our Homes. Each day we are going to have to prayerfully make joint decisions that will affect the lives of the others around us, so we will be faced with the question, "Am I going to vote for what is best for me or am I going to be unselfishly thinking of what's best for others and the Lord's work?" Each decision we face is going to be a daily test of our love and unselfishness.

Living the Law of Love!
         16. The Love Charter is forcing us to live the Law of Love--"to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, and," in some ways more difficult, "to love our neighbor as ourselves." The Charter will not work unless we commit ourselves before the Lord to live His Law of Love--to put Jesus first in our lives, others next, and ourselves last.
         17. If we fail to make this commitment, then the Charter becomes just a rule book, a vain attempt to legislate righteousness. The responsibilities and rules outlined in the Love Charter are necessary in order to help us live in harmony and to help guide us in our daily lives, to make sure we all have our needs met--spiritually, physically, emotionally and educationally. But without love our Charter becomes dead law.
         18. Love is the life of the Charter, which is why the Lord spoke to me about titling it the "Love Charter." Actually, the Lord impressed upon me that only through love, in love and by love, would the Charter be operable. It would only work if implemented with love; otherwise it would only be a weight and burden. The Charter is primarily about love, not law. The Lord is so pleased when we show love to one another, because in loving each other we are loving Him.
         19. Love is, after all, what God is all about. Love is what Dad and the words of David are all about. Love is what our Family is all about. However--and I'm sorry to say this--sometimes we as a Family have fallen a bit short in the love department. It is an area the Lord is zeroing in on--our need to be more loving and caring, more affectionate, and more compassionate and understanding toward one another.

Putting the Law of Love into Practice!
         20. Putting the Love Charter into practice gives us the opportunity to love one another more fully--to unselfishly lay down our lives, our selfishness, our personal desires and our own will to help and love others. Although the Charter grants a great deal of freedom to each person and each Home, it also makes us obligated to handle those freedoms responsibly and lovingly.
         21. Dad wrote a Letter on the Law of Love many years back, which many hitherto have only applied on a sexual level. As we pointed out in the Charter, "Many have the idea that the Law of Love concerns only sexual matters. This is not so, as the Law of Love governs all of our actions and is the basis for all of our Family rules, rights and responsibilities."
         22. I believe that we can truly live His Law of Love, and that together we can be the loving Family that He wants us to be, His loving Bride. It won't be easy, because it takes self-sacrifice, forsaking all, yieldedness and a willingness to follow Jesus no matter where He leads. It requires us to live His Word; to let His love reign supreme in our lives; to let it be the governing force in all of our actions. Although He has given us many freedoms, our love for Him and others imposes on us an even stricter law, His Law of Love.--And to live it we must be filled with Him, because it takes the love of God to overcome our natural selfish tendencies and to put the needs of others above our own.

Let Us Love One Another!
         23. Each of us has Jesus; we love Him and we serve Him. Each of us is filled with His Holy Spirit; we have Her power and Her love within us, and therefore we can live according to God's love. So as we are about to embark on the implementation of our Love Charter, let us christen it with love--His love, and our love for Him, our love for one another, and our love for the lost.
         24. Let's truly love one another with the unselfish, never-ending love of God, the love that Jesus commanded us to live when He said, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 13:34-35; 14:15; 14:21; 15:9-13; 17:26).
         25. Jesus clearly commands us to love one another. So as we enter this new day, let's do all we can to love Jesus with all of our heart, and let's put that love into action as we love one another in deed and in truth.
         26. In order to help you better understand how to practically apply love when implementing the Love Charter, I thought it might help if I shared with you some thoughts on the application of the Charter.

The Need for Patience! Change Takes Time!
         27. In order to be loving, considerate and understanding of others, it is important that we all realize that we shouldn't expect everything to happen overnight. It's not just our physical circumstances that need to change, but deeply ingrained habits and attitudes, which take much longer.
         28. Therefore, there will be a need for much patience, Family. Although we are certainly expecting that the Charter will bring about needed changes in the Family, we all need to realize that change takes time.
         29. Within any group or organization as large and widespread as ours, people always have varying outlooks on matters. Some people tend to prefer more strict rules and guidelines and like things the way they are and don't like a lot of change. Others like a great deal of change; they'd like to do away with most of the rules and they'd like to be allowed to burn free. There are others somewhere in the middle.
         30. Your particular attitudes will color your perception and opinion of the Charter and its implementation. You may feel that the Charter is causing a great deal of change, and things are moving so fast that it's difficult for you to keep up. On the other hand, you may think, "Finally I'm free to do what I want! I just wonder why its implementation is taking so long? I'm unhappy because the changes are not happening quickly enough."
         31. This is a monumental readjustment of our Family structure and the way we have been operating for many years. It is going to take some time for us to adjust to operating according to the Charter, and it won't be without difficulty.
         32. Many of you adults have been through several major shifts and revolutions in the Family over the years, so you understand that changes take time. You have learned that hearts and attitudes must change, and that this doesn't happen instantaneously. But our younger generation--you YAs and teens--have not been through as many major Family shifts, and may find yourselves impatient for these changes to happen.
         33. To you I say, please hang on and have patience and try to understand that change takes time. You cannot expect that everything will change and be operating according to your liking from one day to the next. So please be patient and loving and understanding as we all change together.
         34. We all want to go in the same direction, we all want to live according to the Charter, and we are all committed to doing so. So Lord help us all to have the patience to see these changes come about in the Lord's time, to minimize any negative or unwanted side-effects of these changes.

The Right of Mobility, and Your Effect on the Home!
         35. I'm glad that we have incorporated the Right of Mobility into the Charter, as it will make it much easier for all of you to follow the Lord in regard to where He wants you to be. It will make moving Homes, going on the road, or even launching out and pioneering your own Home much more feasible if the Lord leads you to do so.
         36. I do have some concerns, though. In a small Home, the loss of even a few members can have a major effect on the Home and its ministries, and could in some cases even result in its closing. A Home might be functioning pretty well, with a fruitful "consider the poor" ministry, as well as good outreach ministries. However, if several of the voting members give notice and decide to leave in 30 days, regardless of whether there are replacements for them or not, it could result in a tailspin for the entire Home, which might completely stop their ministry and greatly hinder their outreach and follow-up of their contacts. Those members exercising such a right could eventually cause their established work to grind to a screeching halt.
         37. So even though the Charter does allow for members to give 30 days notice and leave without waiting for a replacement, in a case where such a departure would hurt others--in this case, both the existing Home and those to whom they've been ministering--then the loving and right thing to do would be for those leaving to try to arrange a staggered departure, or wait until the Home finds replacements for them.
         38. I'm concerned that in granting the Right of Mobility our folks don't get the wrong impression; that is, thinking we want them to be constantly on the move now, or that they should only remain in a Home for just two or three months and then move on to another! Although the Right of Mobility is one of the most important and necessary rights granted under the Charter, each of you will need to be prayerful and act in a loving manner, making sure that you are taking into account the repercussions your decisions could cause.
         39. I would hope that those of you who are giving your 30 days notice will consider the overall situation and look at the needs of your Home through the eyes of love. You'll need to prayerfully consider the timing of your move, making sure it is not detrimental to the work of your Home or is going to result in the Home folding or its ministries being hindered, leaving the people to whom you're ministering heartbroken and disappointed in you, hurt and offended by what they perceive as your lack of love for them. I trust that you will pass on your duties and ministries to others so that your departure will not thrust a well-functioning and successful Home into a state of major disruption, and there will remain a continuity in the Home's ministries.
         40. There may be times when you feel led to move, but you may have to move according to a slower timetable than you might personally desire, in order to accommodate your present Home's needs. Such decisions will be tests of our willingness to live His Law of Love. In some cases you may, after prayer, decide that the loving thing to do is remain an extra month or two to keep the Home stable and functioning or until such time as there's a replacement for you, or those already in the Home are trained and capable of taking over your ministry.
         41. Of course, this is not meant to be an excuse for the Home to try to keep you there indefinitely while claiming that you are desperately needed and there is no one to replace you! To do so would be unloving on their part. The Law of Love is a two-way street, and both sides must be loving and giving, trying to do what's best for others instead of only trying to please themselves.
         42. We must all realize that we have responsibilities that go along with our freedoms, and our main responsibility is to the Lord and others. When we pray about and consider our decisions, we need to look at the repercussions that our actions will have on others.

Importance of Building a Work!
         43. Those framing the Charter compiled a list of the characteristics of our more successful Homes worldwide. One point that the successful Homes had in common was that they had remained in the same city for a considerable amount of time, and often with mostly the same personnel. Or at least the same core of personnel had been together for a considerable amount of time, and they had learned to work well together, in harmonious interaction with each other.
         44. It often takes time to forge a tightly knit team, and these Homes have invested their time and energy into building a lasting work; they have fostered good relations with the community in which they live; they have nurtured friendships with their converts and contacts; they've been there when their friends needed them; they've given the public a chance to get to know them--truly reaching the city they are in. Because of this commitment, many of the local officials and other members of these communities have come to love and trust them.
         45. When there have been problems or negative publicity, these Homes stood their ground and went on the attack to refute the lies. They gave their address and phone number to the authorities and invited them to visit, and by so doing have been able to dispel the authorities' fears of the unknown, and thereby shed the fly-by-night "here today, gone tomorrow" image, replacing it with a "we're here to stay" commitment.
         46. This is not to say that people should not change Homes or that no one should leave their existing Home to pioneer a new one! To the contrary, we want to see you pioneering new Homes, new cities, and new countries. We want to see the Gospel being spread to all the world, to every creature. Those with the faith to launch out to new uncharted territory are some of our most valued members. But pioneering is not an end in itself, it is only the first step in the process of building a lasting work.
         47. The Right of Mobility is by no means an end in itself. It isn't designed so that everyone can be constantly on the move. It's designed to allow you to move when the Lord wants you to move, or to pioneer when the Lord wants you to pioneer. It's also designed to help you to find a Home that you can join that is doing a ministry that you like to do, that you are happy in, working with people you like to work with, staying there as long as the Lord wants you there, investing whatever portion of your life is necessary into ministering in the place where God has called you.
         48. So unless the Lord gives you a specific leading to be a roving missionary, then He probably wants you to find the place where your talents, gifts and abilities can be used to the fullest, and when you've found it, to invest them in His work there. One advantage of committing yourself to stick in the place that the Lord has placed you is that you are able to work together with others who are like-minded in reaching the people of that city or area. It takes time for a Home to become a strong team, for each member to recognize and accept one another's strengths and compensate for one another's weaknesses. If a Home is constantly changing its personnel, it's difficult to bond into a cohesive team.

A Time to Shtick!
         49. When you get to the place where you know God wants you, then you should roll up your sleeves and dive in to the situation, wholeheartedly committing yourself to stick, no matter what problems arise, what hardships you encounter, what frictions you have with your co-workers or what setbacks occur. When the going gets rough, instead of just trying to get out of a bad situation into a better one, all your prayers and energies should be directed into finding the solutions that will enable things to operate more smoothly.
         50. If you know God called you there, you should stick it out and seek to overcome whatever obstacles may exist. It's like a marriage--just because things go wrong sometimes, that doesn't mean you should desert your mate. It's those hard times, the times when you have to get desperate together, when you have to overcome your differences, when you have to make a stand together against the attacks of the Devil, that help to deepen your relationship with each other, whether as a marriage or as a Home.
         51. Just because we now have the Love Charter doesn't mean things are always going to be hunky-dory! There are going to be problems, hardships, personality clashes and all the rest. But if every time such problems arise you give your 30-day notice and move on to another Home, you are going to find yourself a constant vagabond! You can't just be a fair-weather Home member, you've got to be willing to ride through the storms as well as the sunny days. You need to have stick-to-itiveness.
         52. Read Dad's Letter "Shtick" (ML #703). If the Lord has put you in a place and given you a job, then stick to it! If He's put you together with others, and unitedly all of your gifts and talents make a good Home, then stick together and build a work--until the Lord clearly shows you it is His time for you to move. If you do, the Lord will bless you.

Continued Teen Shepherding!
         53. I trust you senior teens understand that although the Lord has now opened the door for you to have full sex with other 16- to 20-year-olds, this doesn't mean that according to your whims you can now just be having sex with whoever you want to, whenever you want to! The Lord does not mean for this to be a free-for-all! The Lord also made it very clear in the prophecies that you will need a great deal of shepherding to help you as you enter into this new area of freedom and responsibility.
         54. In prophecy, the Lord said that He would shepherd you, and that by giving you this freedom it would cause you to learn, grow and mature, and that He would be there to comfort and teach you, and that He will use these experiences to draw you closer to Him. He said that the adults would need to shepherd you in this as well, and that you would have to realize that you have much to learn and thus you must take this matter seriously.
         55. Parents, teamworkers and shepherds, you will need to help shepherd our teens in this brave new step. And teens, the Lord said that you will need help, so you must be willing to accept their shepherding. By the way, lest there be any misunderstanding on this subject of shepherding, the Charter does not relieve you shepherds of this important responsibility, nor allow you to abdicate your shepherding duties. You are still expected to advise and counsel those in your Home and correct people when they are off track. And as far as shepherding teens, we are still expected to shepherd them. Nothing has changed in that respect, except now these senior teens are permitted to engage in this new activity if they so desire. But just as we shepherd their other activities, we're going to have to shepherd their sexual activities.

Responsible Attitudes Toward Sexual Freedoms!
         56. Right now some of you senior teens have boyfriends and girlfriends, those you're attracted to, which obviously is not going to be altered by the implementation of the Charter! My hope is that you teens' attitudes toward the opposite sex will not change all that radically just because you have been granted this new freedom--unless it's to become even more loving and considerate of your peers--that you won't put too much emphasis on relationships now, like many of our adults did after the RNR when they gained new freedoms. The Lord is simply giving you more liberty so you will have the freedom to take your physical interaction further, if you are so inclined, and do so according to the Lord's Law of Love.
         57. It's my hope and prayer that you teens will put these changes in the sex rules in their proper context and that you'll be prayerful and wise in your handling of this new freedom--that you will pray to keep your sexual activities in their proper place and that it will not become your major preoccupation nor your major activity. Hopefully you will carry on with your normal responsibilities and activities and with your normal schedules and routines and try not to put much more emphasis on your boyfriend/girlfriend relationships than you have previously. For those of you who have had lots of boyfriend/girlfriend relationships and spent time with each other in talks and on walks and other activities, you'll still be able to do the same, except now you'll be able to go a little further--or a lot further--if you want to.
         58. Of course, some of you other teens may go much more slowly, and that's your prerogative. Sex has never been the main emphasis or priority in our Family. We are missionaries, and our goal and major activity has been to reach the lost, and it should remain that way since the time is shorter than ever. If we don't keep things in their proper context and in their proper place and time, things could get out of proportion and out of perspective and sex could become the major activity of you 16- and 17-year-olds, or at least take too high a priority in your life!
         59. Of course, these cautions apply not only to you 16- and 17-year-olds but to the YAs and adults as well. Therefore we need shepherding--and probably some pretty in-depth shepherding, as these will be you teens' first such intense experiences in matters of the heart. The introduction of sex into your relationships will bring about a lot of new factors in your lives, which will in turn bring up questions and problems that you will need counsel about. It is my hope that allowing sexual fellowship amongst you senior teens will draw you closer in spirit to your shepherds and other adults, as you adults will be able to share the lessons you've learned or are presently learning along the same lines.
         60. We hope it will bridge the gap between the two generations as we will all be learning the same lessons together. It should bring out in you teens a greater understanding and respect for the adults and all they've been through in their lives. And in you adults, it will bring about a greater love and compassion for our senior teens, as you help to shepherd them through this important phase of their lives. Remember, it's not just our teens who need shepherding, you adults will need shepherding as well. Just because the Love Charter is in effect doesn't mean that shepherding is out and everyone is free to do their own thing! I don't want anyone to misunderstand and to all of a sudden think they can say "hands off" to their Home teamworkers when they try to shepherd and counsel them. Nor do I want you teamworkers to back off from your shepherding of the sheep.
         61. Please don't make the mistake of misinterpreting the Charter and thinking that you no longer need shepherding. The Charter states very clearly in the "Responsibilities and Authority of Home Officers" that shepherds are to shepherd the Home. Without shepherding and without counseling, purposes are disappointed.
         62. This holds true not only for teens but also for adults--everyone needs shepherding. You teens must understand that your shepherds aren't necessarily going to wait for you to come to them with your questions before they offer you their counsel. They will become involved in this aspect of your lives immediately in order to help you right from the onset of this new freedom and responsibility of sexual relationships with your peers. You've been used to shepherds counseling you on every other aspect of your lives, so this won't be any different. And you need to listen to and welcome their counsel and guidance. Okay? I'm counting on you!

The Role of Leadership Under the Charter
         63. Perhaps one of the most significant changes the Lord is bringing about through the Charter concerns the role of Family leadership. During the drafting of the Charter, the Lord led us to more clearly define and limit the role and authority of Family leadership. Those preparing the Charter sought to find the correct balance in granting the leadership ample authority to carry out their responsibilities, yet limiting that authority in such a way so as to prevent leaders from quenching the freedom of choice and individual responsibility that the Lord wants each Family Home and member to have.
         64. During the Summit meeting, the Lord confirmed the role of Family leadership as outlined in the Charter, and the changes He wants. He made it clear that He wants your leadership, both VSs and CROs, to allow you and your Homes to make the decisions that directly affect you--that although we need shepherds, they shouldn't be attempting to dictate or direct the way your Homes choose to operate.
         65. As Peter explained in "Moving Forward: The Need for Change" (Lifelines 22), the DAS/GAS/NAS leadership structure we had was needed for the period the Lord had it in place, but now the Lord has led us to do away with so much area leadership. We will still have VSs and CROs who will be available to supply a minimum of supervision, but now that we're moving into a new day--a day in which the Lord wants each of us to be connected to Him through His Word, through prayer and hearing from Him directly, and through loving counsel with one another--the Lord now wants Himself in the prominent leadership role. He wants each of us--each individual, as well as each Home--to fellowship more with Him, and to get our instructions from Him day by day, thereby letting Him lead us in what He wants us to do.

Mama's Encouragement to Our Young People
         66. I want to say a special word to you, our young people: I realize that the Love Charter, with its freedoms and responsibilities, is something very new for you. More than any other change in the Family up to this time, this one will probably affect you the most, since it is the first major change or revolution in the Family that you have been old enough to fully participate in.
         67. But don't let the Enemy scare you into thinking the Love Charter isn't going to work, or that you don't have what it takes, or that your training isn't sufficient to live in a small Home or to pioneer. My goodness, what training did our early Family members have--the vast majority of whom were YAs at the time--when they went off to pioneer?
         68. You young people have so much more training, more Word and more experience than our young people did in those days! You are the ones the Lord has said time and again are very special to Him and that He is going to anoint in these coming days. Don't let the Enemy steal that from you! Don't quit before you have a chance to see the Lord work miracles in your life! Don't give up before the blessing! Fight! Get desperate with the Lord and let Him know that you want to fight for the blessing, for the victory, and that you don't want to be defeated! He'll help you!
         69. If you give up now, you are going to miss the exciting things the Lord has in store for us. Even I am surprised at all the Lord is giving now, but it's exciting, thrilling, and you won't want to miss it! So hang on! Keep fighting! Don't give up! Just watch and see what the Lord can do with you!
         70. Please try to study and familiarize yourself with the Love Charter. If you will read it and perhaps discuss it together and help one another find the answers to your questions about it, and if you will pray and ask the Lord to help you see beyond just the rules, you will have a much better understanding of it.
         71. I've heard that some think we included various points and rules in the Charter just for the sake of the System, and that you aren't expected to actually follow them, and that if you go against them, it will be overlooked. This is not the case. Everything that is included in the Charter is 100% for the Family, and every word is applicable to each of us. So please do your best to live according to what is outlined therein.
         72. I love you dearly and have you in my prayers.

Desperate Prayer for the Gift of Love!
         73. I started out this Letter by sharing about what the Lord has said about this being a new day, and how He spoke of wanting to give us His new anointing, His gift of love. Therefore I feel it would be appropriate for us all to ask the Lord to pour forth this anointing--to give each of us this gift of the Spirit, His gift of love.
         74. During prayer at the Summit, someone received a vision of the CROs praying desperately for an infilling of His Spirit, but instead of cloven tongues of fire above their heads, there were hearts of love! So let's pray He will pour upon us all His promised gift of love to help each of us have greater love for Him, for one another and for the lost of the world who are so desperately crying out for the love of God.
         75. Let's cry out to Him for His anointing and His strength, and pray that we will be more like Him; that He will shine through us so others will see Him when they look to us; that we will be more considerate and loving of one another; that we will bear one another's burdens gladly; that we will sacrificially give and share to help our brothers and sisters; that we will love and care for our single moms and all of our children; that we will all be married together in His love, bonded together by His Spirit, serving Him together as His yielded, loving bride, the Bride of Christ.
         76. Pray desperately for the infilling of His gift of love, and that we can therefore implement the Love Charter in a loving manner. Also pray that through it all, He will give us a renewed burden and desire to win the lost with His love and His Word, so that when the day arrives that He calls us Home He'll be able to say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Mat.25:21).
         77. After all, that's the purpose of the Love Charter--to enable each of us to better live the Lord's love, His Law of Love, to interact together in love, to work in closer unity and harmony, thus making us a better sample and a better witness, which is our main calling. Everyone's ministry is witnessing, no matter what else we do for the Lord. So while I pray that the Charter will allow each of us to find our calling and individual place of service, my most fervent prayer is that we will each be a greater witness of His love to others and the lost than ever before.


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family