—Are You One?Do 1373Tenerife 18/9/75

1. WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THAT I WAS REALLY FED UP! I don't think Adria should be in any kind of position of leadership at all! She's no example, running off & leaving her husband & even leaving her child a good deal of the time while she was off being a great mother!—Teaching other mothers! (David Handyman's ex-Adria—another of Eve & Stephen's disciples!) (P.S. Let's call him Stephen Eve! He's not Stephen David anymore! He's departed from us & gone back with Eve!)

2. THEN SHE ALSO GOT HER SIGHTS SET ON A BIGSHOT LEADER that she thought was more worthy of her than David, & began running around after him! But he didn't want her, for which I don't blame him. She thought she was such a bigshot, she was too great to be married to David. Some of these gals want to be big leaders & only want to be married to big leaders.

3. SO WANTING TO BE A BIG LEADING MOTHER SHE DESERTS HER OWN HUSBAND & CHILD & RUNS OFF AFTER ANOTHER MAN‚ then he jilts her & now she's left with nothing! I think she must be waking up a little bit, because I think David said that the last time she wrote, she wanted to come back to him. She's beginning to appreciate him a little bit now. (Maria: You can't always tell whether they really received that correction in the right spirit or just because of what people think & people's opinions.)

4. WELL, I DON'T CARE IF IT'S EVEN SOCIAL PRESSURE THAT MAKES THEM DO THE RIGHT THING, I LIKE TO SEE THEM DO IT ANYWAY! Even if it's not the right motive! Even if they do it just because they think they HAVE to, it's better than not at all! (Maria: The other night you said that she should have to suffer as much as she made David suffer.) That might encourage David, you ought to read it to him.

5. (MARIA: YOU SAID: "HOW COULD SHE GO OFF & LEAVE DAVID? I want her taken off all responsibilities & just take care of her own baby! How can she tell other mothers what to do? She that fails to care for her own is worse than an infidel! (1Tim.5:8) Lord God judge her, in Jesus' name, & make her suffer the same as she's made him suffer! She's going to miss him now, I'll tell you! She's going to want him with great desire, but he's not going to be there unless she repents with very great repentance! She doesn't even know how to take care of her own child or get along with her own husband!")

6. HOW COULD SHE BE A REGIONAL MOTHER & GREAT OFFICIAL OF CHILDCARE? Because David wasn't her idea of a bigshot, she felt that she was such a bigshot that he was beneath her station. I'd like to know how some of these women think they're going to be bigshots if their husbands are bigshots? I mean, if some woman wants to be a bigshot leader, that's the last thing in the World she ought to have for a husband is another bigshot leader, because they'll never get along!

7. GOOD NIGHT, WHAT IF MARIA HAD BEEN ONE OF THESE BIGSHOTS WHO WANTED TO LEAD & RUN EVERYTHING? In the first place, I wouldn't have liked her! She loved me when I was nobody & she was nobody either! (Maria: You were somebody all the time!) Well, you're the only one that knew it, Honey! That's why Mama Eve left me, I was just a little shot & she wanted to be a bigshot! I am sick of these women that want to be bigshots & leave their so-called "little-shot" husband because they want something bigger! They'll probably find out one of these days they really lost a good thing—like Mama Eve did, too late!

8. JUST IMAGINE IF SHE KNEW WHERE DAVID IS NOW! But we didn't send for David because he was a bigshot leader, we sent for David because we remembered how he was when he lived with us before, how sweet & willing-spirited & helpful & obedient he was, willing to do anything, any lowly task faithfully & obediently & do whatever he was told to do. He was loyal, quiet & kept his mouth shut!

9. HE WAS LIVING WITH US IN THE CRUISER WHEN MARIA & I WERE FIRST LIVING TOGETHER & EVEN MAMA EVE DIDN'T KNOW IT! I'm sure David couldn't have helped but know it, but he kept his mouth shut. He used to cook breakfast for us after we got up late. He slept on the front couch, & we were sleeping behind the back curtain, supposedly on separate bunks. He must have certainly not had any misunderstandings about it when that Cruiser was bouncing around & people were groaning!

10. HE USED TO LEND US HIS LITTLE OLD JALOPY TO RIDE HOME EARLY from the Full of Business Gospel Men's Convention so we could be together, then he'd come home with the rest of them. I think Mom even got mad at poor David for that, letting us borrow his car to come home in. Well, those were great days, amen?

11. EVE JUST USED TO THRILL & THRILL OVER THE FULL OF BUSINESS GOSPEL MEN & THEIR MEETINGS, & she wanted to take Tony to them & all that. I think she used to leave David home to chaperone us because I wasn't interested in going—I was interested in something else! So dear David, he would get up & cook our breakfast & wash our dishes‚ then I'd give him a quarter to catch the bus to go to town to the Convention & leave us alone for the rest of the day. We really had a ball‚ didn't we, Honey? We said we'd come later, very much later, & sometimes we didn't make it at all!

12. EVE WOULD COME HOME FURIOUS & SAY: "WHY DIDN'T YOU COME TO THE MEETING? It was such a great meeting!" (Maria: We had so much work to do!) Yes, we were working hard!—Quite a few hards! It was really funny sometimes when Mother came home—Maria & I would be in bed together in the bottom bunk‚ we'd hear the car coming up & there'd be a big scramble! She'd climb up in the top bunk real quick!

13. EVE STILL WAS UNAWARE & I WAS JUST WAITING FOR GOD TO WORK IT OUT. I think she was suspecting, but she was still trying to save face by ignoring it. So we were trying to help her save face. So Maria would scramble back in the top bunk & we'd both be lying there blissfully asleep when Mom would come back, yank the curtain apart & say: "What's going on back here!" (Maria: She'd stand there staring at me for about five minutes, it was so hard to not blink my eyes!) And I'd lie there snoring! Those were exciting days!

14. WELL‚ THAT WAS THE PLACE WHERE SHE FINALLY BLEW UP because she saw what was happening & she tried to tell Maria off‚ but I told her off instead! I just told her she had despised her birthright & she was ignoring me as some kind of a little shot that wasn't accomplishing anything & she wanted to get in the bigtime. She'd even run off with one preacher once who she thought was going to be a bigtime evangelist, a flaming evangelist‚ become famous! I was nobody.

15. SHE SAID I WOULD NEVER BECOME ANYTHING BECAUSE I WASN'T SPIRITUAL ENOUGH! I was too sexy in the first place, & too much in the flesh. I didn't get down on my knees & say "holy holy holy" enough & go through all the churchy motions & her idea of being a saint! I was anything but her idea of a saint! I was her greatest idea of a sinner as far as she was concerned, so she figured I'd never become anything. I couldn't possibly be anybody, I was just a little nobody & nothing—probably the way dear Adria has felt about David Handyman!

16. WHO KNOWS WHAT MAY HAPPEN TO DAVID! NOTHING EVER HAPPENED TO ME TILL I WAS 49! We just read in the new little Pub Bulletin how this 49-year-old Chinese man in Hong Kong who does their translating had just translated the "70 Year Prophecy" (No.156), & he ran across in there how I said I had not found my life's work until I was 49! And he was so thrilled about it, because he was 49! He got up at the meeting & testified how thrilling it was: "You see‚ I didn't find my life's work either till I was 49!" He really gets inspired by the MO Letters now!

17. SO YOU SEE HOW WRONG YOU CAN BE? She'd just practically given up on me, that I was nothing & nobody, would never get anywhere, how could I ever be anything for God when I was so unspiritual & unconventional & unchurched & such a rebel? I wouldn't go to church with her, I wouldn't go to Gospel meetings with her, I wouldn't associate with Christians, so how could I ever get anywhere in religious work?

18. AFTER ALL, YOU CAN NEVER GET ANYWHERE IN RELIGIOUS WORK UNLESS YOU WORK WITH THE CHURCHES! Whoever heard of doing anything religious without doing it with the churches? Who? Who now, honestly? I have known a lot of famous Gospel men & women in my day & I don't know any of them that managed to get anywhere without the churches! Even Fred tried it for awhile & couldn't make it, they forced him to compromise.

19. SO HOW COULD ANYBODY GET ANYWHERE WHO DECLARED WAR ON THE CHURCHES? How were you ever going to get anywhere in religious work? How were you ever going to become a flaming evangelist or a great man of God without the churches & without the Christians? So she figured she might as well give up on me, that I was a hopeless case!

20. BUT MARIA, LIKE A LITTLE CHILD‚ HAD A LITTLE CHILD'S FAITH THAT GOD WAS GOING TO DO SOMETHING! I don't think she knew why, she just loved me & had faith in me! And it was her faith, really, that drew me out. I'd had interpretations before, I know, because I knew when my Mother would speak in tongues I'd be getting what she was talking about. But Mother also had a beautiful gift of interpretation, so of course I never interpreted, she did. And with others also I remember I used to get it.

21. BUT IT WAS DEAR MARIA'S SIMPLE LITTLE CHILDLIKE PRAYERS IN TONGUES THAT DREW ME OUT! I just couldn't fail her when she was so in the Spirit & praying in tongues! She'd stop & want to know what the Lord was saying, so I had to come across with it by faith! And then I began to prophesy!

22. I REALLY BURST OUT WITH A TERRIFIC PROPHECY THAT DAY WHEN EVE BLEW HER STACK IN SEARS PARKING LOT IN WASHINGTON where we were getting a new motor put in. One day when she managed to get rid of everybody else, she was going to tell us off—she started to—but I told her off instead!

23. I SAID, "LISTEN, THIS IS ORDAINED OF GOD! I love her, she loves me, you don't love me, & you have no faith in me! Maria loves me & has faith in me. You're welcome to stay if you want to, I'm not going to put you out & I don't believe in divorce. But Maria stays, & if you don't like it, you can go!"—& she stayed. She saw I meant business. That was one mistake I made in that marriage—I let her have her way too much. She was such a strong pushy personality, she just led the way. Aquarians are kind of easy-going most of the time unless you push them up against the wall!

24. SO THAT'S HOW IT HAPPENED, DAVID, & YOU WERE REALLY IN ON IT BUT DIDN'T KNOW IT! I'm sure you suspected, & that's where we settled it. God bless you, Son! I knew you loved us because you kept right on helping, kept on keeping sweet & humble & cooperative.

25. SO WHEN WE TRIED TO THINK OF SOMEBODY TO HELP US THIS LAST TIME WE JUST COULDN'T THINK OF ANYBODY ELSE BUT YOU! We thought of a lot of people but we didn't know them & we didn't know whether they were tried & proven. (Maria: Almost all the ones we knew were big leaders.) Important leaders. All the ones that the leaders always recommended were some other leaders, & we hated to rob the field of all its leadership. Well, this is a pretty important job, believe it or not, & it's got to have some leadership ability to be our business manager & housekeeper & whatnot.

26. SO ADRIA MAY RUE THE DAY & PROBABLY ALREADY HAS! Look where she'd be now if she'd stuck by David! We'd have probably wanted her to come along, especially being a childcare expert, with the babies we have. (Maria: Aries don't seem to fit too good in this job, they're too much of a leader, too strong.) Aries was Mom's sign, wasn't it? (Maria: Rachel too, they're pretty strong.)

27. SO DAVID, YOU WERE THERE WHEN IT ALL BEGAN, THOUGH YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN IT! He must have known something was going on, I'm sure, but he'd never let on he knew a thing! Just sweet quiet David, humble & willing to do any task that was needed.

28. SO SHE'S GOING TO FIND OUT THAT GOD'S WAY UP IS DOWN, & "he that humbleth himself under the mighty hand of God, God will in due time exalt him." (1Pe.5:6) In due time. It took quite awhile, but thank God, you're here. It may not seem a very exalted position with all the little menial tasks etc., but only the most trusted people can be trusted to be here & do any little task!

29. I REMEMBER HOW I READ A STORY ON HOW THEY PICKED THE LADIES–IN-WAITING WHO WAIT ON THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND, who help her to get dressed & write her letters & all the little things. They are just there in the house & live with her, take care of her & do all the little duties & menial tasks etc. They're some of the ladies of the realm, high-positioned women who are titled women themselves, but those are the only ones they can trust to live that close to her & are that trained & accomplished to take care of the Queen.

30. IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S CONSIDERED A VERY RESPONSIBLE TASK & ONLY THE BEST PEOPLE CAN BE TRUSTED WITH IT—SO HERE YOU ARE! It may not seem very important sometimes, but it is. Better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of some of these wicked Colonies, I guess. (Ps.84:10)

31. I GOT A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR LUCY, TOO. Dear Lucy, she works hard & has really been faithful. It's a strange Scripture: "But one thing thou lackest"—the Lord said to the rich young man who had everything. What do you give the man who has everything? Well, the Lord gave it to him. He asked him to do the one thing he didn't want to do, the hardest thing of all‚ to give up the things that he loved & accept a way of life that he didn't really want. So he went away sorrowful. I guess there must be only one thing you lack‚ Lucy, bless your little heart! The girl who has everything!

32. I DON'T KNOW WHY HE DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE THEM UP‚ THE ONLY REASON GIVEN WAS: "FOR HE HAD GREAT POSSESSIONS." The Lord said, "Go & sell all that thou hast & give to the poor & thou shalt have treasure in Heaven, & he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions." It hadn't satisfied him in the first place or he wouldn't have come running to Jesus for the answers, but the one thing God asked him to do‚ he wasn't willing to do it. So he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. (Mt.19:21‚22)

33. THAT COULD APPLY TO ANYBODY WHO'S HOLDING ON TO SOMETHING THEY DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP, AMEN?—Forsake it & follow God's will instead. But God will not normally override human will‚ He'll let you have your way & go your way if you don't want to do what God wants you to do.

34. DAVID'S BEEN HEAD OF COLONIES & HAD A LOT OF IMPORTANT JOBS, WHY SHOULD HE WANT TO GIVE UP JOBS LIKE THAT? I mean, even the job he had in the Colony where he was was seemingly more important than doing dishes here & fixing screens & little humble tasks like that. But not in the eyes of God! Doing dishes here is one of the most important jobs in the whole Revolution! Going shopping for us is one of the most trusted tasks in the whole Kingdom!—To be a steward in the house of the King, & a stewardess, & even a nurse, especially to the King's son!

35. SO THEY'RE PRETTY IMPORTANT JOBS, FOLKS‚ BELIEVE IT OR NOT, & WE PICKED SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE TO DO THEM because we couldn't trust anybody else. I got your letter, David, about Adria, but I didn't answer then because I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what all the facts were & I figured the Lord would work it out eventually & show us where the truth really lies, which He usually does, & He did! You're here, that's your answer! It took a little while but I guess it was worth it, wasn't it? PTL! Even if you just have to fish bugs out of the pool, it's the King's pool! So PTL! TYL!

36. ESAU DESPISED HIS BIRTHRIGHT & SOLD IT FOR A MESS OF POTTAGE—something that seemed to be a lot more important at the moment—& lost his place, the most important place. And in his case, he never got it back! There was no changing, the die was cast! "He found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully & with tears." (He.12:17)

37. THERE ARE SOME MISTAKES THAT YOU MAKE WHICH CAN NEVER BE CORRECTED BECAUSE IT'S TOO LATE! Mother Eve made that mistake, & though she was forgiven & taken back in like the Prodigal Son, the Prodigal Son never had the same status again. He had lost his birthright, he'd already spent it. Now he was nothing but a guest in the home, a home which actually belonged to his older brother, he was his older brother's guest. So there are some mistakes you can make which you can never rectify again.

38. GOD FORGIVES—GOD FORGAVE KING DAVID, BUT HE LOST THE SON. He said, "He cannot come to me but I shall go to him." (2Sa.12:23) At least he had that faith, that comfort. Then he lost the kingdom for awhile, but he did get that back anyway‚ TTL! The Lord needed him & the man who stole it was unworthy.

39. WE HAD A MAN JUST RECENTLY TRY TO STEAL IT. HE WAS NOT JUST AFTER THE AMERICAS‚ HE WAS AFTER THE KINGDOM! He thought he was going to be a great prophet, the guru, & he was really pulling some fast ones. Now he's lost everything. And his wife conspired with him to make him a great guru like Moses, so now she's lost everything too. She had hoped to be some kind of a queen, & as a last resort when she saw he was going down the drain & she was going to go with him if she didn't do something desperate, she made a last-ditch stand by dumping him & trying to latch onto me. Some women are real social climbers‚ they lust after power & position! Now she's lost it all.

40. I JUST WANT TO REMIND YOU ALL THAT THERE'S NO JOB IN THE KINGDOM THAT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE JOB YOU HAVE TO DO IN THE KING'S HOUSE, BECAUSE YOU ARE THE GUARDIANS & KEEPERS OF THE FLAME! So never belittle your task or your position‚ it's the most important one in the kingdom. There's nothing more important in the kingdom than taking care of the king, no matter what it means!—Whether it's changing diapers or cleaning the pool or doing the shopping or washing the dishes or cooking the meals, cleaning the house, doing the laundry‚ it's the most important job because it is in the most important house.

41. SO REMEMBER TO LOOK AT IT THAT WAY WHENEVER THE ENEMY TEMPTS YOU, AS I'M SURE HE DOES. He always does that. He used to do that with me when I was working for my Mother & say: "Ah‚ look, you're nothing but a lackey & a bellboy & a busboy & a driver, a chauffeur! You're nothing but a flunky! You'll never be anything, you'll just help make your Mother great!"

42. WELL, I'LL NEVER FORGET THE TIME I WAS SITTING OUT BEHIND BULLOCK'S DEPARTMENT STORE waiting for her to come back from shopping, just sitting in the car, her driver. I was really down & the Devil was tempting me with that thought: "I'll never be anything as long as I'm tied to my Mother's apron strings! I'll never accomplish anything or be anybody myself until I get away from her!" And I opened my New Testament to read & the first thing I saw was:

43. "ART THOU CALLED BEING A SERVANT? SEEK NOT TO BE LOOSED!" (1Co.7:21) If the Devil tries to tell you‚ "Oh, you're nothing but servants"—of course, you're servants! We're all servants! But look whose servants we are, & look whose servants you are & in whose house you live! That's pretty important service! That's the way Joseph got started & that's the way a lot of important men of God got started, by being servants.

44. IN FACT, THAT'S THE WAY ALL OF THEM GOT STARTED—BEING SERVANTS—BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THEY LEARNED! That's where they learned how to rule, by being servants, because you can't teach others how to serve until you've served yourself. Every one of the great kings & men & women of God were first servants. And that's what happened to me!

45. THOSE YEARS OF SERVICE TO MY MOTHER WERE THE GREATEST YEARS OF MY TRAINING! That's when I probably learned the most‚ under her, & later under Fred, to whom I was nothing but a servant. He was a great king & I learned a lot from him. I used to wash his dishes, help cook his food & I was a guest in his home. I was out on the road doing his work for him so he could stay home & take it easy. But he had a big job, big responsibility, & I helped him get it done.

46. WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT YOU? How could we live without you? I'd be busy all day doing the things you're doing. You make my work possible! You took that load off of our backs, including Davidito, so that we can do our work! So you make our work possible. Well, this is what the Lord had to show me about my Mother, that I was the one who was really making her ministry possible & I was going to get a great share of the reward for what she accomplished, probably just as great as hers because I was making it possible.

47. SO DON'T BELITTLE ANY TASK THAT THE LORD HAS GIVEN YOU, especially here with us, because you couldn't possibly be serving in a more important place in a more important position or a more responsible position. You are responsible for me, & that's a pretty heavy responsibility! So it may seem rough sometimes, Lucy, especially when Davidito's sick & bad-tempered, but it's a pretty important job‚ quite a responsibility! Even though it may seem small, we couldn't do without you‚ or someone like you.

48. OF COURSE, IF YOU FAIL YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES‚ GOD WILL ALWAYS RAISE UP SOMEONE TO TAKE YOUR BIRTHRIGHT & STEAL YOUR CROWN, because He'll always get the job done somehow. Your crown is not your salvation, it symbolizes your reward. How can somebody steal your crown?—Only if you despise it & leave it to somebody else. If you're unfaithful in your task, God has to replace you, & that way someone else steals your crown.

49. SO DON'T BELITTLE OR MINIMISE WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU TO DO‚ AMEN? We need you & you need us too‚ & we all need the Lord, & we all need to do the jobs He's given us to do! And one of the greatest things in the World is when you have learned to be content in whatsoever state you're in‚ whether it be to abound or to be in want. (Ph.4:11,12) Amen?

50. THIS KIND OF LUXURY & COMFORT MEANS NOTHING TO ME, REALLY, I CAN TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT! I was born in it, but I found long ago it's not important. It's convenient to get the job done & I've found the Lord is very good to us & tries to do His best to make it as easy for us to get the job done as possible & gives us a lot of things we like & want just because we please Him.

51. I NEED THE EXERCISE I GOT TODAY! I like it, I want it, I enjoy it, but most of all I need it, & I felt better since that little swim than I've felt all week. I really need that relaxation, recreation & exercise. So even the pool is worth it, despite the extra trouble & expense & all the rest of it.

52. NOTHING IS OF MORE OR GREATER VALUE THAN GOD'S SERVANT. Don't say we can't afford it if it's necessary. Our health is worth more than money, & to the Lord our happiness is worth more than money, & our convenience in serving Him. Look how the Lord tries to make it easy for us to be good & serve Him! Delighting ourselves in Him, He gives us every desire of our heart! (Ps.37:4)

53. WHAT ARE YOUR HEART'S DESIRES? What's the desire of your heart? If you delight yourself in His service, He's going to give you the desire of your heart. But a lot of people don't see that & they grumble & complain & minimize the job like Esau: "What good is my birthright to me? I'm dying of starvation!" He despised it & lost it. But if you delight yourself in Him you can have anything you want! What do you want? You've got me, what more could you want?—Ha!

54. YOU'VE GOT JESUS, WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? And you have His service to His Children, what more could you want? You're making it possible for us to help the whole World‚ that's a pretty important job! So, good job? You like it? I hope you never get tired of it. (Sara: We're very thankful to be here!) PTL!

55. IT WAS KIND OF A TEST FOR YOU & ALF TO BE LEFT BEHIND & ALONE FOR SO LONG! We were wondering how you were going to stand it, whether you'd really hang on or if you'd get fed up & maybe think, "Oh well, maybe he's never coming back, so why stay here?" But you held on‚ you stood the test! David stood the test—he could have gotten fed up & quit & gone back when his wife forsook him, but now look where he is, PTL! Lucy has stood the test so far, PTL!

56. IT'S QUITE A TEST TO GIVE UP YOUR OWN BABY FOR SOMEBODY ELSE'S, HOW ARE YOU MAKING IT? (Lucy: I love Dito!) He loves you too. Lately he's been jealous. Babies are so funny, they're so sensitive to spirits, sometimes they don't even know why they feel the way they do. Remember how upset he used to get whenever there was something important going on or I had an important conference? And every time we're getting ready to move, he begins to get nervous & upset.

57. SO MAYBE HE FEELS THE STRUGGLE & THE BATTLE! Maybe he's worried that you might desert him. He's been so discouraged lately, you'd better reassure him. Tell him you still love him, Lucy. Reassure him that you still love him & you're not going to desert him. But he's been pretty miserable with that cold & teething.

58. HE'S BEEN SO HEALTHY ALL THIS TIME, WE'RE NOT USED TO HIM BEING SICK. This is the first time he's ever been sick. I'm not used to being sick either, this is the first time I've been sick since the bad cold I had in London about two years ago. So thank the Lord we're all feeling a bit better‚ I think, even Davidito. At least it made him a little more cuddly than he used to be, he never used to put his head down on your shoulders at all, now he's too weak to lift it.

59. WHAT AN IMPORTANT JOB A MOTHER HAS! It doesn't seem very important, does it?—Taking care of nothing but a baby, changing diapers. But who knows what that baby will be someday? PTL! Who knows how important that child may be to the Lord!

60. ONE HUMAN IMMORTAL SOUL IS WORTH MORE THAN ALL THE WORLD, even this whole valley & all those beautiful hotels & homes, wealth & all the rest of it, & 10,000 others like it! One little babe is worth more & going to last longer. So that's a pretty important job too, amen? Don't ever despise it or minimize it.

61. IF THE DEVIL CAN'T DISCOURAGE YOU ANY OTHER WAY‚ HE TRIES TO BELITTLE YOU & BELITTLE WHAT YOU'RE DOING & sneer & ridicule & make fun of you & your task & try to convince you that you're nobody & you're doing nothing. I know, because he's worked that one on me plenty of times. Well‚ now I know he was a liar, praise God! But I wasn't too sure about it for about 50 years! A lot of times I about decided he was right!

62. EVE SOMETIMES DID HER BEST TO CONVINCE ME HE WAS RIGHT! Poor Eve! We used to wake up nearly every morning, her cursing me for being nobody & nothing: "Who are you? You're nobody!" Now she says: "Well, I knew you were going to be somebody someday, that's what I was mad about‚ because you didn't hurry up & become somebody!" Well, she didn't go about it in the right way to try to encourage me. She did more to discourage me & make me give up than anything, in those latter years especially. In the early years she still had some hopes & some faith that I might become great, but as the years wore on she gave up on me.

63. BUT PRAISE GOD‚ THE LORD SENT SOMEBODY ALONG THAT NEVER GAVE UP & STILL DOESN'T GIVE UP, IN SPITE OF HOW BAD I AM, TTL! I hope He's as good to you as He is to me‚ to give you somebody who loves you & has faith in you & is loyal & sticks by you through thick & thin‚ to comfort you & love you & encourage you—& He will when you've passed the test.

64. SOME PEOPLE HAVE GOT THEIR SIGHTS SET TOO HIGH & THEY'RE REALLY SHOOTING FOR, YOU MIGHT SAY, THE IMPOSSIBLE. It's not within the realm of reality & reason. In some cases it might be faith, in others it might be hope, & a lot of times it's just plain presumption! Shoot for the stars but don't try to go higher than you're able! You'd better thank the Lord for what you've got, amen?

65. "HAVING FOOD & CLOTHING THEREWITH BE CONTENT." (1Ti.6:8)—And look what He's given us besides that, all the rest are extras! TYL! He loves us & He knows what's good for us & what we need & what will be a help & a blessing & make us happy & comfortable & convenient. He's pretty smart about that because He knows then we'll work harder & be more appreciative & do a better job!

66. HE BELIEVES IN HAPPY EMPLOYEES, TYL! So be a happy employee & appreciate the task that the Lord has given you, amen? Despise not your birthright! Let no man steal thy crown! Despise not the day of small things! Humble thyself in the mighty hand of God & in due time He will highly exalt you. God's way up is down, amen? PTL! (Ge.25:34; Re.3:11; Zech.4:10; 1Pe.5:6.)

67. DON'T LET THE DEVIL KID YOU THAT IT'S AN UNIMPORTANT JOB! He's a liar! It's the most important job in the World, & you may never have a more important job! Praise God! The more we find we can trust you, the more we'll trust you with! Amen? Potiphar took Joseph in just as a slave & he soon was master of his whole house, so that Potiphar "knew not what he had" & Joseph took care of everything! (Ge.39:6) It's kind of like Alf there‚ I'm just dumping the responsibility on him & letting him handle everything.

68. AMEN LORD, WE THANK YOU, JESUS, FOR THIS LITTLE TIME OF FELLOWSHIP TOGETHER! Somebody must have needed this, Lord, or You wouldn't have laid it on our hearts. Help us, Lord, to remember that "he that would be greatest among you must be servant of all." (Mk.10:44) These are called being servants, Lord, to Thee & to me, let the Devil not tempt them to seek to be loosed from such an important task, the most important task in the World, Lord, to make my work possible, Thy work possible.

69. HELP THEM TO TREASURE EVERY MOMENT OF IT, EVERY BIT OF THE TASK, LORD, the meanest, lowest, most menial, humblest tasks, whatever they may be!—Even the cleaning of the toilets, Lord, whatever it may be. It's cleaning the toilets in your house, for you‚ so it's a worthy task‚ Lord! Thank You for these tasks, thank You for every one of them! Thank You for these precious helpers You've given us to do them, Lord, the tasks that have to be done. Somebody's got to do them‚ Lord, if we're going to do the work You've called us to do. We can't do them.

70. WE'RE WILLING & WE'VE DONE IT! WE'VE DONE ALL OF THEM! There's nothing here that any of these are doing that we have not done at sometime or another. So there's nothing that You're asking them to do, Lord‚ that You've not asked us to do, & we have been willing to do it. So help them, Lord, to get a glory in the tasks You've given them to do.

71. HELP THEM, LORD‚ TO PRIZE RATHER THAN DESPISE THEIR BIRTHRIGHT, & LET NO MAN STEAL THEIR CROWN! To be willing to be humbled in Thy service that You may exalt them as You have. TYJ! Bless & keep us all now safely as You have. Give us a good night's rest‚ Lord, & continue to make us a blessing to many, even the few we contact here, to be faithful witnesses, faithful examples & samples of Thy Love. They may not know who we are, but they know what we are & that's what counts!

72. HELP US, LORD, TO BE FAITHFUL! Thy Word says, "It is required that a servant be found FAITHFUL!" (1Co.4:2)—Full of faith & faithful at their tasks. Not delinquent, not disloyal‚ not lazy, but faithful! So that when the task is done You will say to us, "Well done, thou good & faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" (Mt.25:21)

73. THANK YOU, JESUS, FOR CALLING US TO BE SERVANTS! Help us to serve Thee well, Lord‚ in the important task of Thy Service of which there is no more important task in the entire World, Lord, than to be doorkeepers in Thy house, in Jesus' name! (Ps.84:10) TYL!

74. TOUCH THE BABY SO THAT POOR LUCY CAN GET SOME SLEEP! We know You're dealing with us, & perhaps even with her, Lord, for some of her mistakes, things she's been cautioned about many times, Lord, about his care & the cold & his wraps. Now she's having to suffer for her neglect & carelessness, & he's suffering too. We're all suffering with her, Lord. If the slightest smallest member of the body is hurt, Lord, the whole body suffers. (1Co.12:26)

75. HELP US TO LEARN OUR LESSONS FROM THESE THINGS, HOW IMPORTANT THE LITTLE THINGS ARE!—The little admonitions, the little suggestions, the little commands, not to fail in even the least of these, but to do all of them. Help us, Lord, to be faithful‚ obedient & loyal‚ in Jesus' name! TYL!

76. THANK YOU LORD FOR THY GOODNESS & MERCY TO US! Thank You for Thy abundant blessings! Thank You for all Thy wonderful goodness to us. You are more than good to us‚ You spoil us! You're so good to us, Lord, we are surely Thy pets, & we know we are Lord, because You're pleased with what we're doing & accomplishing in helping the whole World.

77. YOU'RE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING FOR US & GIVE US ANYTHING THAT'S GOOD FOR US. "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly!" (Ps.84:11) If it's good for us, You let us have it, Lord. If it's not good for us, please keep it away from us‚ Lord, in Jesus' name. Lord, we know You know what's good for us & we thank You for all that You've let us have. We know You've let us have it because it's good for us.

78. BECAUSE WE'RE FAITHFUL, YOU'RE GIVING US THE DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS! We only want to live to serve Thee & to please Thee & to help others‚ that's our only purpose in existence, Lord, but we need to live to do it, Lord, & we need a few of these comforts in order to survive & enjoy the task, & we thank You for them‚ in Jesus' name.

79. BLESS OUR LOVED ONES & CHILDREN THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, LORD! Keep them & continue to make them a blessing! Protect them‚ prosper them & help them to stay in the center of Thy will, Lord, & to obey Thy commandments. Thank You for the way You're scattering them more & more places all the time & winning more souls, Lord.

80. THANK YOU, LORD, FOR HELPING THEM TO OBEY & IT'S REAPING THE RESULTS! It's causing some problems but it's getting the results that we knew it would! (The "New R"!) TYL! It hasn't been easy, Lord, it's been hard in some ways, some have been offended, but we believe, Lord, it's been worth it & we thank You for it! Thank You Jesus for helping us obey, in Jesus' name.

81. HELP US TO BE FAITHFUL SERVANTS! TYJ! In Jesus' name. Amen! God bless you all! Well, we didn't know it, but I suppose you've heard another MO Letter on "Faithful Servants!" Amen? Don't despise being a servant‚ it's a great job! Just be thankful you're not the boss! GBY & keep you faithful & some day you may be!—Are you a faithful servant?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family