JUST SAY YES TO JESUS!   Maria #270       DO 2989  15/2/95
"Behold, I [the Lord] Will Do a New Thing!" (Isa.43:19).
Day One of the Family Feast!--By Maria

All Things New!
         1. In the few months after Dad went to be with the Lord, we had many prophecy sessions with some of our top prophets of the Family in different places praying about different subjects and different people. And the amazing and very significant thing is that in practically all these prophecy sessions given at various times and places, there were numerous mentions of the Lord doing "a new thing" and this being "a new day." It didn't seem to matter what the subject was or who was giving the prophecy or where it was being given, but at least some time during the prophecy session itself there was some mention of the Lord doing a new thing. And often there were many mentions of it by a number of different prophets during the session.
         2. I touched on this in my talk, "Serve One Another in Love" (ML #2978, Lifelines 22), that the Lord is moving the Family into a new era and a "new day"! We went through all those prophecies--and this is as accurate a count as we could make--there are 436 mentions of "new"!--How this is a new day, a new way, a new approach, and this has not happened before. It's quite significant, as it's just been since Dad went to be with the Lord that we've had this very major emphasis on newness and new things and the Lord bringing about a new way and a new anointing and a new love, etc.
         3. So we would like to read you some excerpts of these prophecies. Dad going to be with the Lord was certainly the signaling of this new time, and the beginning of a new era. The Lord started it from that point, and this was apparently His plan, that this whole new era would kick in when Dad went to be with Him, and that Dad was to help usher it in.
         4. (Mama:) "Behold, I make all things new!" (Rev.21:5). (Fam: That doesn't leave much that's not new!) Yes, what else could be new? The whole Revolution, the whole Family, the whole building and the whole outlook--everything is new!--New robes for the new man to walk in newness of life and newness of love and new ministries and everything you can think of. It's everything we could possibly need--"new creatures in Christ Jesus" with new motives and new goals and new ways to do things.

Becoming New Creatures!
         5. (Peter reads first prophecy: "All things are possible to him that believeth. Believe ye not that I can make you into a new man? Have I not said all things are new? Lean not to your own understanding, My child. For if you have the faith of a little mustard seed and you desire the change and you would put your will on My side, I will make you into a new creature, I will make you into a new man.")
         6. (Mama:) We can do that at any time, of course. The Lord is very willing, and whenever we yield completely to Him and surrender everything to Him, He has promised He can make us new creatures. But He's giving us some special "umph" and some special help right now for that, even greater power than before to become new. So if we want it and we'll just receive it, it's going to be even easier than before to become the new creatures in Jesus that we want to be and we need to be!

New Children!
         7. (Gary reads: "There are many beautiful days ahead, glorious days ahead that will thrill your souls and thrill the souls of your people and help your people to break forth into new realms and not be discouraged. There are wonderful, wonderful days ahead, and My people shall bear fruit. And the old and the tired and the discouraged, many of these shall break forth into new fruit and shall become new children again, little ones under My hand.")
         8. (Mama:) This is a promise to all of our folks--especially the older folks, and even the younger folks too, who have been so discouraged and disheartened--that there's new hope and that you can arise from the ashes of defeat to a new spirit and a new spiritual awakening, new ministries and new fulfillment in the Lord. It's wonderful that no matter how old you are, how tired you are, how despairing you've been, now the Lord is promising He's going to make you into new children with a child's spirit of faith and hope and anticipation and excitement and challenge.
         9. (Gary: This particular prophecy was originally given for the European field, which of course has had its share of big battles and where many people have been discouraged. The Lord was asking, "Believe ye not that I can make you into a new man?" Sometimes that's one of the hardest things to believe. You may believe that the Lord is doing something, but doubt that you personally can be a part of it. Maybe you feel discouraged or you feel you're too old or whatever. In that first prophecy the Lord said He would do it, but a few things were necessary: First of all, that you lean not to your own understanding; secondly, desire the change; and third, put your will on His side.)
         10. (Mama:) Yes. The Lord's saying He's making all the conditions right for us to just yield. We don't have to do anything but say yes, because everything's in place, everything's new. It's not that we have to make it new, God has made it new already. It's not that we have to strive to make something new, it's new already, and all we have to do is accept it and say yes and surrender and take that mantle and that anointing and wear it.

Forget the Past and Say Yes to the New!
         11. (Peter reads: "Let go of the past, forget the things which are behind. Forget past bitternesses and divisions, and be yoked together in newness of life and fresh love, fresh appreciation one for another. Be not distracted with these things of the past that burden you. For as I have wiped the slate clean, wipe ye the slate clean, and begin anew, for it is a new day, and I have created in each of you a new heart that ye may be new creatures for Me. All I have created new, if ye would but drop these garments of the past and take upon you My garments of newness of life.")
         12. (Mama:) The Lord is saying, "You don't have to strive to become new, it is new!" It's a new day. Before, you could always submit to the Lord and the Lord would make you a new creature. But this is a time where everything is new, and all we have to do is just accept what He's doing, so to speak, to say yes, without as much striving and without as much work. It's because of the anointing and because of Dad going to be with the Lord to help make things easier and help us to overcome these obstacles that have been in our way, and to release us from some of the problems of the past.

The New Promised Land of the Spirit!
         13. (Mama:) This next prophecy was given for Peter when he was going through some very difficult things. (Peter reads: "For every soldier must be tried in the fire seven times, as pure gold. And thou must be one of the very first to cross over Jordan into the new promised land of the spirit. For behold, My Family is on the verge of a new revolution, a new wave which shall carry them into lands that they have not yet set foot upon.")
         14. (Mama:) This prophecy talks about crossing over Jordan. Jordan is apparently significant of death, and in this case I think the Lord was signifying a death to yourself. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psa.116:15). We usually think of this as meaning physical death, but the Lord uses it just as appropriately for death to self, which is just as difficult and sometimes more so. And in this case, perhaps the "new lands" that the Lord is talking about that we have not yet set foot on are not literal lands, but spiritual realities that we've not yet experienced--getting there by simply saying yes in complete and utter faith and trust in Jesus, no matter what the circumstances seem to be.

Let Love Lead!
         15. (Gary: The next prophecy was given for one of our leaders: "It is a new day and there is to be a new way. It is not a time for tightening the grip, but a time of training. The old ways, the military ways, the forceful ways of an army are having to give way to the birth of the Family--families and children growing, and people following the Spirit of God, following the Words of David according to their heart and according to their faith. It is not a time for military control, strictness, harshness and commanding people.
         16. ("It is a day to learn how to roll according to a new speed, a day to learn to let the Queen of Love [the Holy Spirit] be the leader. It is a time to learn the new way, a time to learn to let the humble and the lowly lead. For My Spirit seeks the humble and the lowly, and it dwells there with them.")
         17. (Gary: In order for it to be a new day and a new way, we've got to let love lead.) Yes, let love lead and let the humble lead. And you cannot greatly love without being greatly humble. (Gary: It talks about letting the Queen of Love be the leader and how the Holy Spirit seeks the humble and the lowly--obviously meaning we should let the Lord do it more and not try to do it in our own might.) (Peter: And as opposed to the military way, a family operates a lot differently, in love and more understanding.)
         18. (Mama:) We've had to be an army for an appointed time, but now the Lord wants us to be more of a family. We still remain an army in the sense that we are soldiers of the Lord and we fight His battles and wear His armor, but He wants even His army to be one of love. But now the priority and the emphasis is on the family--a loving family in which each member is important, each member is respected, each one is working in unity together. Like the body, each member is needed just as much as the other; each one is important and their opinions are important.
         19. (Fam: Could it also be that before it was more like a father's strict discipline, but now it's more like a mother's loving comfort to us?) With a family you think a lot about the mother and taking care of the children. Also, the Lord did say a long time ago that after Dad was gone it would be a day of women. He also said it's a day of the weak, and women are usually synonymous with the weaker things (1Pet.3:7).
         20. But in this case the "day of women" is symbolic, and it's not just for females, but for you men too. It's symbolic of the weaker vessel. Women are generally known to be more tender and loving, but this is not a weakness; this is a spiritual strength, often manifested more by the weaker vessel. The Lord wants us all to be that way. He's not saying that He's going to run this whole Family and Revolution with the females, He just means we all need to have the qualities of Godly women more than the qualities that are generally attributed to men.
         21. Help us all to be that way, Lord, and to realize how much we need You. We can't just go by our natural characteristics or our gender, but it has to be You in us and You putting these things in the hearts of each of us to be more like You and more like You want Your bride to be. That's probably why You used the illustration of the bride, the woman, because those are the qualities that You want to come out in the care of Your children--the love and the tenderness and the gentleness and the submission and the obedience that You want us to show to You and to each other. (See 1Thes.2:7.) Amen.
         22. Though we may be de-emphasizing the army aspect of our Family life now, spiritually we are still fighting a battle against the Enemy and his evil forces. So it's not that we're no longer an army; we are an army and we must fight just as militantly as before, in the spirit. However, in our treatment of our Family, the militaristic attitudes have to go, and love and kindness and compassion must rule instead. That doesn't mean we throw out all firm discipline, but we must even discipline in love.

The Day of the Weak!
         23. (Gary reads: "The only thing that limits My using you is your lack of faith, your lack of looking to Me, and your leaning upon others and hiding behind the gifts of others. Let go of these weaknesses, for it is a new day. It is a new time of greater power and greater anointing."
         24. (I think this goes along a little bit with the woman being symbolic of the weaker vessel, but as a weaker vessel you can have a lack of faith and lean too heavily on others that seem to be stronger, or hide behind the gifts of others. The whole Family is to let go of the habit of leaning on others' faith or their stronger personalities, because it's a new day now and the Lord is going to pour out a greater power and a greater anointing on us.)
         25. (Mama:) It can be a battle comparing the weaker with the stronger, and you can get genuinely discouraged seeing the stronger members seeming to be used more of the Lord and accomplishing more. But also, the weaker ones can use it as an excuse to just say, "I don't have to do anything; they're going to do it all. The Lord uses them and He's blessing them and they can accomplish more, so I'll just sit back and not do anything." So the Lord is saying we can't hide behind that as an excuse any more.

Retooled Vessels--More Humble and Yielded!
         26. (Gary reads: "This is a new day and your father is with Me. This is a day where My tools must be retooled and made into new vessels. I require you to yield yourselves more to Me and more to those that you work with.")
         27. (Peter: Retooling is changing from what you were into something else, to produce something that you didn't produce before. You're retooled. The factory that used to make tanks now makes trucks, or it's retooled to do something different. The Lord's saying that we have to be retooled and made into new vessels--more humble, yielded, weak vessels.) (Mama:) So the vessel can be used differently now, with a greater anointing, to be used in a greater way by the Lord for whatever purpose He has.

A New Vessel!
         28. (Gary reads: "As My prophet hath told you, My times change and it is an ever-revoluting revolution; therefore My pottery must be malleable and capable of changing. And as a car must go into the garage for a tune-up, so My pottery must be changed. It's not that it wasn't fit for the purpose that it was made for, but it must change in order that it may be fit for a new purpose, for a new revolution.")
         29. (Mama:) A good verse to go with that is, "The vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it" (Jer.18:4). (Gary: Also, the vessel should not say unto the potter, "Why hast thou made me thus?" Or, "What are You doing, Lord?" [Rom.9:20].) (Peter: In other words, everything wasn't wrong, but now the Lord's doing a new thing and He wants to retool us for His new revolution and His new purpose.)

Time to Grow Up!
         30. (Peter reads: "I have a new way and a new plan. For these, My children, must now grow up. It is a new day, and they must be no longer children, because in the days to come they will have no mothers and fathers.")
         31. (Mama:) Lord, You said in prophecy that we must be no longer children, that we need to grow up (Eph.4:14,15; 1Cor.14:20). We need to connect with You more and we need to be able to have that direct heart-to-heart communication with You, where we can hear from You and You can speak to us. We need to get in the habit of hearing from You and searching Your Word and finding out what it says for ourselves, really deeply searching in those mines with You. Thank You Lord!

Dad's New Missions!
         32. (Peter reads: "Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for I do give unto you a fresh and new approach. For your Family is My Family, and it hath been weary, and it hath been tired, and it hath been worn. But I will call My David and pour through him to give a refreshing. For behold, the time of the latter rain is at hand, and I do pour upon you showers of blessing that flow from the fountain of David. He doth rejoice as a strong man that loves to run a race! He's rejoicing, he's jumping up and down, for new missions have been given into his care that are thrilling his heart.")

Serve One Another in Love!
         33. (Gary reads: "So open up your hearts, for this is a new day, and David shall pour down upon you large measures of love. For with greater love there shall be no boundary and there shall be no bondage. But this is a great commission, this is a great request, and I can ask this of no other children. I can really ask no other upon the earth but you to experience My love to the full. This is a new day and 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.")
         34. (Mama:) The Lord's saying that we're the only ones that He can count on to experience His love to the full. And what does that mean? Why are we the only ones that He can count on to experience His love to the full? (Gary: For one thing, we are the only Christians that are sexually liberated and can practice the Lord's Law of Love with our members in full assurance of faith, being married to each other and loving each other with His love.) (Fam: We're the only ones that are spiritually strong enough.) Yes. He's talking about His Law of Love, "in whatever situation you're in, to pour large measures of love on one another, to serve one another in love."
         35. "Serve one another in love" (Gal.5:13)--that's an interesting phrase that I never thought a lot about until just before I had to work on the Letter by that title. How do you serve one another in love? First of all, what does a servant do? (Fam: He does the will of another person.) Right. And if you do the will of someone, you're obeying or yielding. So to serve one another in love is to obey one another in love--to do what someone tells you in love. Maybe you don't mind serving some people, but if you're serving each other, your peers, isn't it a little hard to think of yourself as a servant? In other words, they're going to tell you what to do, they're your master, your boss, and you're their slave. The Greek word for "serve" in this verse means "to be a slave to," and like Dad used to point out, in the Bible "servant" literally means "slave."
         36. So you're each other's slaves! How does it make you feel to be your co-worker's slave? Well, that's what it says, "serve one another in love." But it's still a little difficult, because even if the other person is willing to be your servant, you have to be theirs too, and a servant just does the bidding of his master; he doesn't have any will of his own. So to "serve one another in love" or because of love is a pretty heavy duty, because we don't like to think about complete obedience to another person.
         37. (Fam: Another good verse about serving one another is, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" [Phil.2:3].) (Fam: Also, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another" [Rom.12:10]. And, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God" [Eph.5:21].) Yes, submit yourself one to another, that's the same thing. (Fam: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" [Gal.6:2].) (Fam: Also, if you have the right kind of perspective, Jesus did say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me" [Mat.25:40]. So as we serve one another, we're serving Jesus.)
         38. If it's voluntary, our own idea, and we, for example, decide to go serve someone their meal, it's a little easier. We're serving, but the person we're serving hasn't asked us to do it. The idea of "serve one another in love" is more like being a slave or an employee and doing the bidding of another. When it comes to that, then we have to have quite a bit more grace and humility and yieldedness to do what other people want us to do.
         39. And if we're bearing in mind this "serve one another in love" principle, we're of course not going to ask others to do anything that is hurtful or harmful. It's like the Law of Love. In fact, serving one another in love is the Law of Love. If we're living the Law of Love, whether we're doing the serving or others are serving us, it's all going to be loving and we're all going to benefit. And what we ask of others is certainly not going to be something that the Lord wouldn't be pleased with.
         40. Jesus said, "I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister" (Mark 10:45). (Fam: "He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant" [Phil. 2:7].) (Gary: He also said to His disciples, "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant" [Mat.23:11].)
         41. So Jesus was our servant, and He is still our servant. If Jesus was a servant and is our servant right now, how much more should we serve each other in His love and follow His example?
         42. The Bible says that "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in His steps" (1Pet.2:21). He also said, "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you" (John 20:21). Obviously His Father sent Him as a servant, and a servant has to sacrifice. That sometimes means suffering for others. But Jesus did it for us, and He asks that we follow His example.

Sit Still and Listen! Fear Not the Opinions of Men!
         43. (Peter reads: "It is time for you to cease from striving when I call you to come in and to sit still and listen, that you might hear a new voice, a new song and take new direction and fresh courage. For I give you new things, but you must listen and be attentive, sit still. And be not afraid of the opinions of others when you take your precious time to spend with Me.")
         44. (Mama:) What kind of things do you fear others might think? (Gary: When you're taking quiet time and you put up your "do not disturb" sign, you may worry that people might think you're just being lazy. Or perhaps you put up your arms to praise the Lord and you worry that people think you're just trying to act ultra-spiritual, or whatever the case may be.)
         45. Well, you shouldn't think that, because that's just the Devil telling you that! Peter said that the other day when he was lifting his arms to pray he thought, "Oh, Mama's going to think I'm trying to be so spiritual."
         46. I suppose the Enemy fights it so much and tells you all these lies about what people are going to think about it, because it's so important. The Bible says to "lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord" (Psa.134:2). (Fam: It also says, "Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens" [Lam.3:41].) (Fam: In another verse Paul specifically said that he wished that "men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath or doubting" [1Tim.2:8].) It's not that we have to do it all the time, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's something that the Lord really honors about that, something special about it, and maybe that's why the Enemy fights it so much. (See Psa.28:2; 63:4; 119:48; Lam.2:19.)
         47. Lifting your arms up to the Lord is a sign of total surrender. Also it's a sign of desire. You know how you do when you haven't seen someone for a long time and they're running to greet you and you put your arms out to them, wanting them? In like manner, lifting your hands to the Lord is a sign of desire and wanting the Lord.

A New Day of Love!
         48. "There is great anticipation in the halls of Heaven this day for My children who are about to embark on a new journey, a new path, a new path of love, a new path of caring for each other, the path of My new anointing of love. For they shall learn to know and love Me in a new and greater way, and this love shall bring forth a new spirit within their hearts. They shall have a new strength, a greater strength and empowerment of My Spirit that shall shake the foundations of the world! For never before has the world seen the power of God that is able to be manifested in the love of the children of David!
         49. "And people shall hear and shall marvel, for I say unto you this is a new day, this is a new way. And behold, you are new creatures--new creatures of love, new creatures of the love of David, new creatures of love for each other, new creatures of love for My lost children. And this new anointing will be manifested in deeds of love and in deeds of kindness one to another and to the lost and to Me.
         50. "For, lo, I pour forth My Spirit upon the children of David in great, great, great measure! And they shall rejoice and they shall be glad. For they shall hear Me in a new way and they shall feel Me in a new way, and they shall love Me in a new way. And I will love them in a new way.
         51. "And My manifestation of love upon them will be this: They shall be blessed. They shall prosper. They shall feel loved. They shall know and understand the Words of David in a new way. They shall be empowered with My Spirit to pour forth great measures of love upon those that are lost and those that are weary, those that are worn, those that are hungry. For they shall be as the Good Samaritan who has the time to care for the lost and for the needy and for the unloved. For they shall be as Mary instead of Martha. They shall be as Lazarus, raised from the dead with new life and new joy and new gladness.
         52. "For, lo, this is a day that I have planned and I have prepared for. This is a day that we here have worked to engineer to bring forth, for we have worked in the hearts of the queen, of the leadership, and of the Family. We have created the need and we have filled the need. And now they shall pour forth and it shall fill the hearts of all the children of David. And they will pour forth and fill the empty hearts and the empty vessels of the lost. For I am pouring forth upon them the desires of their heart, and they will pour forth unto Me the love that I desire, and we all together shall be one."
         53. (Mama prays:) Help us just to accept it with open hearts and open arms and to be filled to overflowing with Your Spirit of love, Your anointing of love, so that we'll overflow on others and our love will pour forth on them so that they in turn can pour forth on others. It'll be a chain reaction that will reverberate around the world. And we believe it, Lord, as we accept this new anointing of love. Thank You Jesus!
* * *
         54. (Prophecy received by Peter:) "Receive this anointing that I would pour upon you! Receive it, reach out, raise your arms and grasp it! Desire it and want it! For it is a great anointing, a new anointing, My anointing of love. And how do you receive it?--Just as you would receive any gift from Me. You ask, you accept and you believe. How do you enact it?--One step at a time in one deed of love followed by another, followed by another. The raindrops on their own are small, falling from the air, but they reach the ground and bring forth flowers and trees and life; and as these raindrops are absorbed into the earth, so will your love be absorbed into the earth of this world and those that are so lost.
         55. "As each drop of rain continues its work and gathers momentum to become a small creek, and a small river, and a raging torrent, and into the sea, so will My love multiply! For each deed of love seems only a raindrop, but they shall grow and they shall grow and they shall multiply, and My love shall fill the earth through My children.
         56. "So receive this, My anointing, and enact it day by day, step by step, deed by deed, word by word, action by action, love by love. And as you put forth an effort to give and to share and to love, I will match you abundantly, and I will pour into you a greater love and a new love and a strengthening love. Therefore be not afraid, just receive. Open up and say yes. Open up and say 'I want it.' Open up and receive, and it shall bring forth fruit in your life and in the lives of those about you. For this love, though seemingly small, is of great power and of great strength, and it will greatly change the world. And the children of David shall be known as the children of love."


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family