BELL, BOOK & CANDLE!              GP 203            2/73
(Revelations received while praying for a certain young man like the rich young ruler of Mark 10:17-27.--Or like YOU?:)

         1. IN EITHER CASE IT'S PRIDE. To want to be a eunuch like Paul, that's a real pride trip. And on the other hand, if he refuses to marry because of fear of failure, that's pride too. I think it's a little bit of both. V
         2. (DAVID PRAYS FOR HIM, THEN SAYS:) It's just as though all of a sudden I saw him speaking to me, & yet the words came through me as HE was speaking them.--They were his words & thoughts.
         3. THE WHOLE FEELING WAS, "SHE LOVES ME IN SUCH AN UNSELFISH AND SACRIFICIAL WAY THAT I FEEL SO UNWORTHY and selfish to receive such love. And therefore I'm ashamed to receive it." It's as though by loving him she puts him to shame. And that has something to do with pride. Shame is the opposite of pride--a humiliation and humbling--and because it makes him feel so ashamed, his pride keeps him from accepting it.
         4. HIS PRIDE & HIS BACKGROUND TELL HIM THAT HE'S TOO GOOD FOR HER. He fears the opinions of his family & men--that also makes him a little ashamed that he should be in love with someone of whom he knows so little. And yet he himself, in all honesty, is more ashamed of himself, because he knows her love is more pure & more unselfish & more sacrificial than his. The opinions of others humble him before them, but the truth humbles him before her.
         5. LORD, HE'S TORN BETWEEN HIS PRIDE & HIS LOVE--Thy Love & her love. With Man it is impossible. With God, nothing shall be impossible! (Dad has a vision:)
         6. I see a great vineyard basking in warm golden sunshine. Just like that bright golden Sun that I see, the Lord is able to chase all of the doubts away--all of the doubts & fears & lies of the Enemy & bring, as it were, warmth & fertility to the bosom of the Earth that it may bear fruit-many vines & many branches, much fruit. So beautiful!--A beautiful vineyard--all those ripening grapes--that golden soil--& beautiful golden sunshine! Just LIKE THE LORD IS THE SUN & WE'RE HIS VINEYARD & He's able to shine on us & chase away all the shadows & doubts & fears & the cold, & warm THE BOSOM OF OUR EARTH SO WE BRING FORTH FRUIT.--Our bosom, our fruit, His Sun.
         7. But lack of power is the result of fear born of pride: Fear of not succeeding, fear of being embarrassed, fear of being ashamed. Such fear always comes as the result of pride, because the proud are afraid of failure. THE RICH & THE POWERFUL ARE THE MOST FEARFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.
         8. There is no rest in pride. The proud are always afraid. BUT THERE'S PERFECT REST IN HUMILITY, BECAUSE HUMILITY HAS LOVE & FAITH WITHOUT FEAR. PRIDE causes fear of failure & therefore actually CAUSES failure. Pride causes fear of failure & then the fear makes you weak or impotent, so that you DO fail!-You don't have enough power. THE VERY FACT THAT YOU'RE AFRAID YOU'LL FAIL ENSURES YOUR FAILURE, BECAUSE ONLY FAITH SUCCEEDS.
         9. Fear is the opposite of faith & without faith you can have no power. The impotent do not have enough spirit or power, because they're holding back & not willing to give all. They're not willing to lie stripped before their Lord & let Him empower them. You have to have faith in God's Love in order to obey & come & strip off the outer garments of ap pearances, cover-ups & false fronts & expose yourself to the Lord, totally yielding yourself to Him in submission & humility.
         10. Then, if you do your part, the Lord will do His, & INSPIRE you or fill you with His Spirit, so you can bear fruit. THE SPIRE OF HIS INSPIRATION CAUSES A SPIRITUAL ORGASM WHICH FILLS YOU WITH HIS SPIRIT IN SPURTS OF THE SEED OF THE WORD OF GOD, which, when CONCEIVED IN RESPONSIVE HEARTS BRINGS FORTH FRUIT, NEW-BORN BABES INTO THE KINGDOM of God! HIS SPIRIT CURES BOTH IMPOTENCY & FRIGIDITY IN HIS BRIDE & gives her the strength to conceive from the seeds of His Word, & bear children unto God.
         11. But if someone is proud, then he's weak, because in his pride, he's trying to do things in the energy of his own flesh instead of trusting GOD for GOD'S grace for GOD to do it. And the reason he hasn't got the faith & can't believe God for sufficient strength is because he knows he's not yielded yet--most of all his pride. But when the day comes that he's ready to yield his pride to the Lord, then the Lord can give him what he needs in every area. But he still has a lot of pride & he's not fully obeying the Lord, & YOU CAN'T HAVE FAITH FOR GOD TO BLESS YOU WHEN YOU'RE NOT OBEYING HIM. HOW CAN GOD BLESS DISOBEDIENCE?
         12. HE CAN ONLY FIND THE FULNESS OF THE FAITH THAT HE SEEKS IN THE PATH OF COMPLETE OBEDIENCE WHEN HE REALLY BEGINS TO FORSAKE ALL & FOLLOW THEE! When he's really willing to take up his cross & deny himself & yield his pride & stubborn will & follow Thee, all the rest will come, because You'll give him the power as he surrenders to Thee.
         13. The Lord holds the book open for him to sign his name. It's as though that signature means his total commitment. But while he stands there in thought & hesitation, the Lord is not going to wait forever, but IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO HIM TO MAKE THE DECISION. But it is as though God's saying, "It's up to you, Son. But if you don't sign, I'm going to have to close the book." And it's as though the same kiss that would have freed him will have to kiss away the flame.
         14. Some people come so near, yet so far! The rich young ruler came RUNNING to the Lord asking what HE should do.-Mark 10:17-22. He came so close--ALMOST, BUT LOST! It's as though THE FLAME IS THE LOVE--THE LIFE OF LOVE THAT THE LORD IS OFFERING HIM. The Lord has both the book & the candle, but if he doesn't sign, God's going to have to kiss out the candle! He does it lovingly, gently, but He does it. I hope that doesn't mean his life. But so often when people don't make the right decision, rather than let them go back against the Lord, it's as though the Lord would rather kiss out the flame of life than let it go back on Him. There's no standing still. When you are brought to the point of decision you either have to go ON with the Lord or go BACK, & sometimes when they go back, they go so far back they even hurt the Work.
         15. He can't do it for us! WE have to make the decision. He'll do everything else for us--give us strength, power, wisdom, life & love. All He asks is for us to commit ourselves.
         16. God leaves the choice to us, we can choose! THE DEVIL CANNOT PREVENT US from choosing. That's the one thing we can do no matter what the Devil does--we can choose! We can choose if we want to. It's like THAT BOOK SYMBOLISES THE LIFE OR RECORD WHICH THIS YOUNG MAN COULD WRITE WITH HIS LIFE AND HIS SIGNATURE IF HE WOULD. That's like the record of his life, and THE CANDLE REPRESENTS THE LIGHT AND THE SPIRIT OF LIGHT AND LOVE that God is shining on the book for him to sign. But if he will not write, THE BELL IS TOLLING AWAY THE TIME and God closes the book and kisses out the candle. The young MAN HIMSELF HAS TO DECIDE TO SAY NO TO THOSE SPIRITUAL FORCES THAT ARE FIGHTING, or he's going to be left in darkness!
         17. Thank You Lord for speaking! You have all the answers & we know nothing except what You show us. All we have to do is ask. You promised we'd receive. We just knock & the door is opened to us & we can look in & see the whole picture! If we really seek the answer, we find it.
         18. Whatever God does, He does it in love. He can give it or take it away, but whichever, He always does both in love. Are YOU choosing GOD'S Way?--Or your OWN!