—Are You a Good Copy of Jesus?DFO 13973/9/81

1. YOU'RE SUCH A GOOD BOY, HONEY! YOU'RE SUCH A GOOD EXAMPLE TO YOUR SISTERS. You should be proud of it that they all want to copy you & all want to say what you say & do what you do. It shows you're a good boy & you're doing the right thing. That's what all students do, they copy their teachers. That's what you did for years, you copied Sara & what she told you & what she said, & in a way you're still doing it.

2. (DAVID: BUT I'M NOT TEACHING TECHI.) OH‚ BUT YOU ARE, HONEY! YES, YOU ARE! You're one of her teachers, Honey! (Maria: You teach her every day, all day.) She will learn more in some ways from you, what they call one of her peers, one of her fellow children, she'll look more to you to learn than even to her older teachers.

3. THEY'VE FOUND THAT'S TRUE IN THE KIBBUTZIM, IN THE NURSERIES & IN THE CHILDREN'S SCHOOLS, ETC., they found the children learned more from each other than they do from their teachers. So you're her most important teacher! That's the responsibility God gives an older brother! They look to you to know what's right & see what's right & what's wrong, & they'll copy you, everything you do. So you have to be very careful you do the right things.

4. THEY FIGURE BECAUSE YOU'RE OLDER THAT OF COURSE YOU KNOW WHAT'S RIGHT & you always do the right thing‚ because they know that Sara & Mama have taught you the right things‚ Daddy's taught you the right things, so they always want to copy you. The older sister or the older brother, the oldest child in the family always has a great responsibility in helping bring up the other children.

5. DID YOU KNOW IN THE BIBLE THAT THAT'S WHY THE OLDEST SON IN THE FAMILY WAS ALWAYS GIVEN THE WHOLE FARM or all the property & all the sheep! When the father died the older son always inherited everything, & then he would divide it up according to what he thought best for the others. The oldest son got the birthright & the blessing of being the oldest son & all the property & everything, because he had to take care of the others after the father & the mother were gone.

6. SO THE OLDEST CHILD IN THE FAMILY IS A BIG JOB, A BIG RESPONSIBILITY of teaching & training your brothers & sisters & being a good example to them. So don't be surprised when they copy everything you do, because that's what they're supposed to be [doing]!

7. BECAUSE GOD KNOWS THAT PARENTS WILL DO THEIR BEST ON THE FIRST CHILD & teach them everything the way they should & do it right & do a good job, because they give the first child more attention than any other child. Did you know that? You got more attention, much more attention than Techi's ever gotten. I only see Techi a few minutes a day—I used to be with you all day long! Not much now, but when you were being brought up & I was teaching you all those new things.

8. SO WE REALLY WORKED THE HARDEST ON YOU. God knows that‚ because He knows then that the parents will have more children & they'll get so busy that they won't have time to spend so much time with any of the other children as they do with the first one. And therefore the first one is usually the best one. The first one usually is the smartest one & the best one & the best behaved‚ has the most responsibility & sets the best example to the rest of the children.

9. YOU'RE LIKE A FATHER TO THEM, NOT ONLY AN OLDER BROTHER. And often after mommies & daddies are gone, an older brother has to take care of the other children. Many times mothers & daddies have been gone & older brothers had to take responsibility of the whole family. They inherited all the goods & the house & all those things because God knew that they needed them to take care of the other children.

10. SO AN OLDER BROTHER IS VERY IMPORTANT, HE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT CHILD IN THE FAMILY! You have a big job to teach & train your little sisters. You're with them a lot, so you can teach & tell them what's right. Even when Mama & Daddy & others & their teachers aren't looking, you're looking! And they should do whatever you tell them to, too, because you're the boss! That's right.

11. YOU'RE THE OLDEST CHILD‚ YOU'RE THE OLDER BROTHER & YOU'RE THE BOSS & they're supposed to do what you tell them to do, because you're older & you know what's right. You wouldn't tell them to do anything wrong, would you? You just tell them to do what's right & they should obey you. You're their boss, you're the older brother‚ you're the most important one. You're the oldest & the wisest & the best & you have more knowledge & you're their older brother, & the older brother is very very important!

12. REMEMBER THE STORY ABOUT THE PRODIGAL SON? It wasn't the older brother that ran away, was it? He stayed & was faithful & loyal to Daddy & helped Daddy take care of the farm & helped take care of Daddy when Daddy was old. It was just the foolish younger brother that ran away & wasted all his money! He should have looked at his older brother & seen what a good example he was, then he'd have stayed home & helped on the farm.

13. BUT HE RAN AWAY & BLEW AWAY ALL HIS MONEY & WOUND UP A BIG MESS & LOST EVERYTHING HE HAD! So that when he came back, do you know that there wasn't a thing there that was his anymore? He'd already thrown his all away, & everything belonged to his older brother! You ought to read that story again & you'll see how important it is to be an older brother! There was only one thing the older brother did wrong that everybody was blaming him for, but I can understand why!

14. WHEN HIS YOUNGER BROTHER CAME BACK, HE'D WASTED ALL HIS MONEY & THROWN AWAY EVERYTHING HE HAD, he didn't have anything left at all except his labour—he could come back & work on the farm—but there wasn't a bit of it that was his—not a blade of grass‚ not a grain of corn, not a piece of furniture in the house! Nothing was his anymore, none of that money, he'd wasted all of his & the older brother was a little bit angry with him for it.

15. YOU CAN'T BLAME THE OLDER BROTHER FOR BEING ANGRY WITH HIM FOR WASTING EVERYTHING, COULD YOU? And then he was a little bit provoked because the father made so much fuss over his youngest brother who had made such a big mess of things. You can't blame the older brother for being a little bit upset about it, huh? I would have been too, I think! But the father said to his oldest son, "Well now, Honey he's still my son, although everything I have is yours! All that I have is thine!" (Lk.15:31.)

16. THE YOUNGER BROTHER DIDN'T GET ALL DADDY HAD, HE JUST GOT ONE LITTLE PIECE & he went out & threw it away! Now everything the father had belonged to the older brother, that was his reward. They were both sons, they were both saved, they both had salvation, but the older brother got all the rewards, all the crowns & all the prizes & all the surprises & everything, everything that was the father's belonged to him.

17. WHEN I DIE‚ EVERYTHING I HAVE IS YOURS, THINK OF THAT!—& MAMA'S OF COURSE! But you'll be the man of the house then. You'll probably be a big boy then, too! (Maria: It's a big responsibility, but you don't have to worry, the Lord will help you!) Yes! You're going to be a big boy, but you're still a fairly small boy now.

18. GOD WILL NEVER GIVE YOU A LOAD ON YOUR SHOULDERS MORE THAN YOU'RE ABLE TO CARRY. Now your shoulders are small, He'll just give you a small load. When your shoulder are big like mine, I have to carry the whole World, all the Family around the World, thousands of them! You're only responsible for two. You have two little disciples right now, your two little sisters. Daddy's got 10,000! Think of that!

19. THE LATEST STATISTICS ARE ALMOST 10,000 NOW‚ & NEARLY 2‚500 HOMES! In fact, by the time I'm saying this we probably are much more, because my stats are already two months old. (David: We're almost 9,000?) We're over 9,000, we're nearly 10,000! I'll show you! I'll show you right here‚ do you want to see it? Sit down a minute, girls, we're having a Grandpa Story!

20. AND LOOK‚ WHAT DOES IT SAY? (DAVID: 9,280!) And see, you count one thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five thousand, six thousand, seven thousand, eight thousand, nine thousand, & what's the next one? (David: Ten thousand!) Ten thousand! So we're almost up to ten here, aren't' we? Almost 10,000!

21. AND LOOK, HOW MANY HOMES HAVE WE GOT? (DAVID: 2,417.) You've taught him to read numbers! (David: Yes, of course!) Big numbers like that! He knew that‚ isn't that something? We have now how many Homes? (David: 2,417.) What's the next number after four? (David: Five.) So we're almost up to 2,500 Homes, aren't we? Nearly 10,000 people & we're living in almost 2,500 Homes! Think of that!

22. SEE, THEY'VE BEEN CLIMBING & CLIMBING, LOOK HOW THEY'RE CLIMBING! They just skyrocketed, shootin' for the stars! Look at that! Look at those stats! (David: Next they're going to go up to here, & next they're going to go up to here, & next they're going to go up to here, & next up to here, & next up to HERE!) (Points.)

23. SEE, ONCE IN AWHILE WE'RE DROPPED BACK A LITTLE BIT WHEN WE WERE REGROUPING. This is while we're winning battles that it goes like this, but once in awhile we lose a few battles. But it teaches us good lessons, we learn & then we climb up higher than ever before! Here's where we were once before‚ but that's only about right here, see? Now we're up higher than that!

24. AND LOOK HERE, LOOK HOW OUR HOMES HAVE GROWN! It went down a little bit here & down a little bit there, down a little bit here, but we always climb higher each time. Down a little bit, higher, down a little wee bit, then up higher, just a little bit higher right there. (David: And when we're over that, that means we're over 25 thousand!) 25 hundred! When there's just two zeros it's hundreds. We're almost up to 2,500. We'll be up there pretty soon. And this line is already over 9,000 & going on to 10‚000.

25. SO DADDY'S GOT A LOT OF DISCIPLES DEPENDENT ON ME, YOU JUST HAVE TWO! When you're young & your shoulders are small you don't have such a big load. But the Lord has given you the responsibility of two little disciples, your two little sisters, to teach them, train them & help them. You're their older brother.

26. JUST LIKE IN OUR FAMILY, THE OLDER BROTHERS WHO ARE IN THE HOMES HAVE TO TEACH THE YOUNGER BROTHERS, don't they?—Both spiritually & physically. The older children have to teach the younger children. Did you know we have some families now with ten children! And by that time the older boys & the older girls are so big, they're maybe 10, 11, 12, 13, 14‚ 15 years old, they're almost full-grown, so they have to start being mamas & daddies to the younger children.

27. JUST ONE MAMA & ONE DADDY COULDN'T POSSIBLY TAKE CARE OF ALL THOSE CHILDREN THEMSELVES, could they? So the older brothers & sister become mamas & daddies to the younger brothers & sisters & help take care of them. Mama was the older sister in her family & that's how she learned so much good responsibility, taking care of her little sisters, to where now the Lord's given her the whole World to take care of, almost 10,000 little brothers & sisters!

28. OLDER BROTHER ARE VERY IMPORTANT! You're the most important child we have. Every one of them is important, every one of them is going to have a job, but because you're the oldest one you're the most important & have the biggest job, to teach them the right things. "No, no‚ Techi, don't do that!" "Yes, that's OK‚ Davida." "No, Davida, you mustn't do that, you know that's wrong Davida!" You do that all the time, don't you?

29. YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU WERE TEACHING THEM, DID YOU? All the time you've been teaching them! You're their most important teacher because you're one of them & they'll listen to you‚ because they want to be like you. They want to grow up & be big like you.

30. IT'S REALLY FUNNY HOW TECHI COPIES ALMOST EVERY WORD YOU SAY! And she'll copy your actions & sometimes she'll do what you do & say what you say. It's just a little annoying sometimes, I know, & it kind of bothers you, especially when you're trying to say something & she's always interrupting you in the middle. We used to call'm "Little Sir Echo." You can call her, "Little Miss Echo"! (David: Little Techi is much like a little Xeroxer!) Little Xerox, that's really good! Ha! (Maria: The chemical age!)

31. WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY WE USED TO SAY, "COPYCAT! COPYCAT! COPYCAT!" We said it because we older ones didn't like the little ones copying us. But that's what they're supposed to do! Who else are they going to copy? The big folks are too big for them to really understand how to copy them, so they copy the big children‚ the biggest children. The little children always follow the big children. When you're playing "Follow the Leader," aren't you usually the leader? You usually lead the way because you know what's best.

32. YOU'RE LIKE THE BELLWETHER SHEEP! The bellwether sheep is the great big husky lead sheep, but he's not as important as the shepherd, & he's not as smart as the shepherd, so he should always follow the shepherd. But no matter where the shepherd goes believe it or not, the sheep are always following the bellwether because he's one of them & he's close to them & they keep following him.

33. NOW PROBABLY IF THE BELLWETHER WENT OFF BY HIMSELF, THE SHEEP WOULD KNOW BETTER, that he wasn't a good bellwether, & just follow the shepherd. But the bellwether is one of them & always right there with them, so without even thinking they just go wherever he goes & do whatever he does.

34. THEY FIGURE, "WELL, HE'S OUR OLDER BROTHER SO HE KNOWS BEST & WE'LL JUST DO WHAT HE DOES. And of course he, being an older brother & the bellwether & the oldest sheep‚ he's supposed to be smart enough to follow the shepherd, so of course he'll always be following the shepherd, so as long as we follow him, we know we'll follow the shepherd."

35. THAT'S WHAT THE WHOLE WORLD'S DOING NOW WITH DADDY, did you know that? I'm their shepherd‚ but Jesus is the big Shepherd. I'm just an undershepherd & I'm like a bellwether sheep. A bellwether sheep is the lead sheep that wears the bell, that's why they call him a bellwether, did you know that? He's a bell-wearer, he wears the bell.

36. WHY DOES HE WEAR A BELL? (David: So the other sheep will hear the bell.) Exactly! And if the shepherd has to go back to fetch something from the house & leave the sheep there for a minute or something, if he comes back & they've moved‚ he'll always know where they are, how? (David: The bell!) He can hear the bell!

37. WHEN WE LIVED ON THE RANCH WE HAD A BUNCH OF COWS, & ONE COW WAS NOT A GOOD BELLWETHER! She was a bad bellwether, she kept leading them astray, Old Red! So we had to put bells on her & one other cow, so no matter where they strayed off in the woods, we always knew where to find them. Daddy or Uncle Aaron would go out on his horse every evening before sunset & we'd wander all around looking all over the Ranch—it was a mile long & half-a–mile wide & lots of woods and it was hard to find them!

38. BUT WE'D ALWAYS STOP THE HORSE & LISTEN & THEY COULDN'T HELP BUT HAVE THE BELL RING, because every time they'd eat grass & nod their heads like they're eating grass, the bell would keep ringing. So they couldn't stop the bell from ringing, although I'm sure Old Red would have stopped it if she could have, she was a bad cow! I don't think I ever really laid hands on her & cast the devil out of her, which we should have. So she was always leading them off in the woods astray somewhere & we had a hard time finding them. But Daddy would listen & we'd hear the bell.

39. SO YOU'RE A BELLWETHER, BUT YOU'RE A GOOD BELLWETHER. You lead them the right direction, you don't lead them astray. Isn't that good? And they'll always be listening for your bell & they'll always be following you wherever you go, whatever you do, your two little disciples, your two little sheep. They're your two little sheep, you're their bellwether, & I'm their shepherd, see?

40. SO DON'T GET TOO ANNOYED WHEN SOMETIMES IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE IRRITATING. Do you think maybe sometimes you're a little bit bothersome to Sara? Once in awhile, huh? Once in awhile you're kind of a nuisance to her, annoying. Once in awhile, not very often.

41. BECAUSE YOU'RE ALWAYS ASKING QUESTIONS & YOU'RE ALWAYS WANTING TO KNOW WHAT SARA KNOWS & you're always wanting to learn from Sara the right things & you're always copying what Sara says & does, aren't you? (David: Yes.) Yes, of course you are, & that's why your little sisters are doing the same thing with you. They can understand you better than Sara & Dora, because you're down here on their level & they can look at you eyeball–to-eyeball & give you the hairy eyeball! They can understand you.

42. THAT'S WHY JESUS HAD TO COME DOWN & LIVE WITH US TO BE LIKE OUR BIG BROTHER, SEE? Jesus came down & was our Big Brother, because God is so high up & so far above us, we can't even see Him‚ much less understand Him, right? So He had to send Jesus down here to be our big Brother, & therefore we would look at Him & we could understand Jesus, couldn't we?

43. WE COULD LOOK AT HIM & SEE WHAT HE DID & LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS‚ & we're just supposed to copy everything Jesus said & everything Jesus did, right? He's our example. Jesus is our Big Brother, isn't He? He's not our Father, God's our Father. Jesus is God's Son & we're sons of God too, so what does that make Jesus? He's our big... (David: Brother!) Brother! He's the oldest Son of God, right? Like you, you're the oldest son in our family.

44. IN A WAY, I'M LIKE GOD & YOU'RE LIKE JESUS & YOUR LITTLE SISTERS ARE YOUR YOUNGER BROTHERS & SISTERS, YOUR DISCIPLES. And you have to teach'm & you have to lead'm & of course they'll copycat you all the time because they love you. They love you & they like you & they know you're right & they know you're doing the right things & good things. Isn't that good?

45. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE SUCH GOOD LITTLE GIRLS, BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN FOLLOWING YOU & DOING WHAT YOU DO. Not just only what Sara & Dora teach them, but it's what Sara & Dora have already taught you, you're doing, & they're following. That's why it's so important to do such a good job on the first child, because you'll be the bellwether, the big brother‚ the lead sheep.

46. AND IF YOU WERE A GOAT, THINK HOW BAD THAT WOULD BE! You'd lead all the sheep astray, wouldn't you? Like old Ma Barker from I think, the Kentucky or West Virginia mountains—she was a bad wicked evil woman! And do you know, she taught every one of her big boys—there were a whole string of them—to be bad wicked evil boys! They formed a whole gang of gangsters called the Barker Boys, Ma Barker's boys, all with guns & robbing people & killing people!

47. ALL BECAUSE SHE WAS A BAD PARENT & THE OLDEST BOY WAS A BAD BIG BROTHER & taught all of his little brothers to be bad! The whole wicked family were taught to be bad & got bad because the parents were bad & the older brother was bad & led the younger brothers astray. And do you know what happened?—Eventually they all got shot! (David: By the police?) Yes!

48. THE POLICE WERE CHASING THEM & THEY WOULDN'T GIVE UP, they wouldn't say they were sorry, they wouldn't repent, they wouldn't quit. They caught them lots of times, put'm in jail, & they'd get out & be worse than before! So when the police finally cornered them one place‚ old Ma Barker, their mother, helped them shoot it out with the police until the police shot every one of them dead!

49. THAT'S HOW BAD IT IS TO BE A BAD MOTHER OR FATHER OR A BAD BIG BROTHER! They led all the rest of them astray & made a whole bad string of criminals out of all of them! But your Mommy & Daddy & Sara & Dora are all good folks & love Jesus. We all follow somebody—who do we follow? (David: Jesus!) Yes! That's right. Who does He follow? (David: God.) Right! And God knows the very best, right? He knows the best of everything.

50. SO YOU KNOW WHAT JESUS SAID? "I CAN DO NOTHING OF MYSELF, ONLY MY FATHER! I can say nothing by Myself, just what My Father tells Me, that's all." Jesus followed His Father, right? And so whom do we follow? (David: Jesus.) Jesus! So if we follow Jesus, Who else are we following? (David: God.) Right! That's the way it works, isn't that wonderful?

51. JESUS IS OUR OLDER BROTHER‚ WE'RE FOLLOWING OUR OLDER BROTHER, WE'RE COPYCATS! We're all copycats! That would be a good name for this, "Copycats!" Every one of us are copycats, we're all trying to copy Jesus, because He copies God. So don't worry about your little sisters being copycats‚ that's what they're supposed to be! They're supposed to copy everything, & the more they copy you, the better!

52. THE MORE THEY LEARN, THE MORE THEY DO THE RIGHT THINGS—which is why it's so important for you to do the right things, you know? Because if you do the wrong things, they'll copy those too. They'll think it's the right thing because you did it, & they'll do it too. So therefore it's much better for you to always do the right thing.

53. I THINK YOU'VE GOT A BIG LONG HAIR IN YOUR EYE! I think I got it! It was a big long eyelash. You've got such long eyelashes! I think you do have the longest eyelashes of anybody I ever saw, because you came from Tenerife & you're part Indian! You're related to Taurug! And that's why you have such bushy hair like a thatched roof, to keep your head protected from the hot sun in Tenerife!

54. NO TENERIFANS LIKE THE SUN, I THINK THAT'S WHAT'S BOTHERING YOU RIGHT NOW, you've got the sun in your eyes. Oh Tenerifans!—They just don't like the sun, they always sit in the shade! And they look at those crazy tourists out there on those meat racks wasting & they think the right thing, that those people are absolutely insane, they're crazy!—And they are!

55. SO SEE HOW IMPORTANT YOU ARE? Don't worry about the copycats‚ they're supposed to be copying you! You've just got to be sure you're a good original. You know what we walk about in our Letters, the original is the first copy, the first one made, but these are just copies, see, these are Xerox copies. But if the original is wrong, what would these be? (David: Wrong.) They'd all be wrong, because they're all exact copies of the original.

56. WELL, YOU'RE THE ORIGINAL & YOUR LITTLE SISTERS ARE GOING TO BE JUST SORT OF COPIES OF YOU, & if you're OK & you're right, they'll be good copies. If you're wrong or bad, they'll be bad copies, won't they? So you don't mind them being copies of you, they're going to be your copies & they're gong to be just like you—act like you & talk like you. They might not look like you, exactly, but they'll even act a little bit like you.

57. THEY ALL SEE YOU CHILDREN & THEY KNOW YOU'RE ALL GOOD CHILDREN & happy children & happy smiling faces, because who do we look like? (David: Jesus.) Right! And we go into restaurants & people look at us & say, "There have been some people in here before that sort of remind us of you. Do you know these people?" Do you know who they recognise in them? They don't know what it is or why‚ but who do they see in us that they recognise? (David: Jesus!)

58. BECAUSE WE'RE SUCH COPYCATS OF JESUS! WE HAVE HIS HAPPY SMILING FACE! We have joy & happiness & salvation on our faces & they recognise it. They recognise if somebody else comes in, even if we've had nothing to do with them, didn't know we had anything to do with them, they look & say, "You remind me of somebody!" They see Jesus in us! They see Jesus on your face. They see Jesus in you, see?

59. SO ONE OF THESE DAYS FOLKS ARE GOING TO SEE YOU IN YOUR LITTLE SISTERS‚ because they're such copycats. They're going to copy you & do what you do & look like you & act like you & talk like you & be more like you than anybody else, really, because you're a good boy & love Jesus. They're going to look like their big brother & act like their big brother & talk like their big brother & they're going to love you almost the most of all, because they love their big brother!

60. THEY MAY NOT ALWAYS ACT LIKE IT NOW, SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE SPAT WITH THEM or you might have a bit of difference of opinion or an argument or they may do something you don't like. Do we ever do anything that Jesus doesn't like? Sometimes we do, don't we? But then we're sorry aren't we? Well, sometimes your little sisters do things you don't like that displease you.

61. AND WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THEY DO THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE? (David: Tell them not to do it again.) Exactly! And if they keep on doing it & they're bad & naughty & annoying & they keep on touching something they shouldn't or grabbing something of yours that they shouldn't, what do you if they won't listen?—Then sometimes you grab it back! Once in awhile. Well, you should sometimes if they won't listen & won't do the right thing.

62. NOW SOMETIMES WE SAY, "WELL, SHE'S JUST A LITTLE GIRL. Let her have it a little while, because she doesn't know any better, she's so young, she's little." But it's still yours & sooner or later you've got to get it back, right? Unless you want to give it to her. Well, the Lord's the same way with us about some things. He gives us things sometimes to play with‚ & sometimes it's just a loan. Sometimes we can keep it but it's still the Lord's, really, & if we don't do well with it & take good care of it, He'd have to take it back.

63. IF YOU GAVE ONE OF YOUR SISTERS SOMETHING & THEY START BANGING IT UP & BREAKING IT‚ WHAT WOULD YOU DO? You'd take it away from them! (Maria: Usually you ask for it nicely first.) That's what the Lord does too. First He asks us nicely not to do that, then pretty soon He says, "Don't do that!" He says, "Now if you do that again I'm going to swat you!" So if we do it again we get swatted! So probably you have to do that with your little sisters sometimes, too. Huh? Or don't you ever swat'm?—Never swat'm? You're such a kind boy!

64. WELL, IT MIGHT GET TO THE POINT ONE OF THESE DAYS WHERE YOU MIGHT HAVE TO SPANK THEIR HAND or something like that a little bit for being naughty, because you're their big brother. Jesus spanks us sometimes, doesn't He? You've got to be sure you're right, & you've got to give them lots of warning & lots of rebukes & tell them several times, & finally you tell them the last time: "Now, if you do that one more time I'm going to swat your hand or your fanny or something!" Because you're their big brother. You're not supposed to hit & fight, only if they really need it & you're just doing it in love.

65. WHEN JESUS SPANKS US, DOES HE DO IT BECAUSE HE HATES US? (David: No.) So He doesn't spank us too hard‚ does He? Just enough to make us sorry & so we don't do it again, right? …

66. SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO BE A BIG BROTHER, BECAUSE SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO CORRECT YOUR LITTLE BROTHERS & SISTERS. And not only just warn'm & correct'm & tell'm, but if they keep on doing it, they keep banging something on the floor & breaking it, you've got to stop'm by force! Right? Grab it & take it away from them! And if they keep on doing something naughty that they shouldn't do & they won't stop‚ you say: "If you do that again I'm going to give you what Paddy gave the drum!"

67. WHEN YOU WERE A LITTLE BOY YOU WERE ALWAYS SO GOOD THEY HARDLY EVER HAD TO LAY A FINGER ON YOU, you were such a good boy! But once in awhile if you kept doing it, I'd [swat you]‚ & you didn't like it at all! You'd turn around & glower at me & you got such a terrible chip on your shoulder, you'd bear a grudge all day long! Sometimes you'd remember it till the next day!

68. IF I SPANKED YOU OR DID SOMETHING TO HURT YOUR FEELINGS YOU REALLY REMEMBERED IT & you didn't like it—especially if you thought I was wrong & you were right. Sometimes we think we're right & maybe God is wrong, & we would have done it better or we can do it better. But who really is right? (David: God.) God! Sometimes when He spanks us we don't like it.

69. SOME PEOPLE GET MAD BECAUSE GOD SPANKS'M, they get mad & mean & they curse God & they're even worse, because they're wicked bad people! He says even if you show mercy to the wicked, he'll not learn righteousness. (Isa.26:10.) Even if God's good to them they won't learn righteousness. So then when He's bad to them, then they won't learn it either, even when He spanks them & punishes them.

70. MY GOODNESS, I'VE GOT TO LET YOU GO! Here we've turned just our little thing we were telling you about being a big brother into a Grandpa Story! So you be a big boy—you're already a good boy, I don't have to tell you to be a good boy, & you've been real patient sitting on Daddy's old boney knee & in the hot sun at that! GBY! ILY! Well, let's pray.

71. LORD BLESS HIM & KEEP HIM & HELP HIM TO BE A GOOD BIG BROTHER & not to mind his copycats, because that's what they're supposed to be. All the little brothers & sisters are supposed to be copycats, they're supposed to be copying their older brothers & sisters & mamas & daddies & aunts & uncles, older members in the Home & all the older folks.

72. AND ALL OF US ARE SUPPOSED TO BE COPYING YOU, JESUS, BECAUSE YOU'RE A COPY OF GOD & we're all supposed to be copies of You. That's the first thing you did, was to make man in Your own image. In other words, You made him a copy. We're just copies‚ carbon copies, Xerox copies, copycats of You!—And the more we copy You the better!

73. SO THE MORE HIS LITTLE SISTERS COPY DAVID, LORD JESUS, THE BETTER OFF THEY'LL BE, because he's a good boy, a good original. They're copies, he's the original. Just like You're the original, Lord, & we're just copies of You. So it's good for us to be good copies & accurate copies, exactly like You, then we'll be very good copies just like the original, all good copycats, in Jesus' name. Amen! GBY!

74. DID YOU LIKE THAT LITTLE STORY? Amen. PTL! TYL! GBY, Honey! Well‚ I just thought I ought to tell you that so you won't worry about them copying you‚ they're supposed to. PTL! I guess the Lord wanted you to have a Grandpa Story today, we haven't had one for a long time. I'm so sorry, I've been so busy!

75. MAMA'S GETTING OUT SO MANY BOOKS SHE KEEPS ME REALLY BUSY! I can hardly finish one thing & she hands me something else. Because she's my manager, she's the one that gives me my work to do. Of course, I follow Jesus & He's the big Boss, we all follow Him, we copy Him. But she's just trying to get me to do my copycat'n, trying to make me do my copycat'n so I'll keep copying Jesus!

76. SHE'S TRYING TO MAKE ME A GOOD COPYCAT so I'll make all these copies & pass them on to the whole Family & they'll all be copycats too, so we'll all be copycats for Jesus! Amen? See, all these copies, copies of the tapes & copies of the Letters & copies of the books‚ we copy'm all & send them out to the whole Family so they can all be copycats too!

77. WE'VE GOT A WHOLE FAMILY OF NEARLY 10,000 PEOPLE, ALL COPYCATS, all copying Daddy & Mommy & Jesus & all copycats of God! "In His Own image," that's a good Scripture to have for the text of that little lesson, huh? That's what that means‚ "In His image"—copycats! We're all copycats, PTL! So you be a good original.

78. GOD'S THE ORIGINAL, WE'RE JUST MADE IN HIS IMAGE. We're like images of God, reflections of the Lord, we're just copies of God, because Jesus is just like God & we copy Him & He copies God. And God's the original‚ so we're all copycats of the Lord, & it's good to be copycats. So your little sisters are doing what they're supposed to do when they copy you. You just have to be careful to be a good original so they'll be good copycats, good copies‚ OK?

79. SEE, MAMA & SARA & DORA & DADDY ARE ALL BURYING THEMSELVES IN YOU & did for years before Davida & Techi came along. Now you sort of bury yourself in them, just like the original buries himself in a copy. You take the original away & there's the copy! I buried myself in Mommy & that made you! Ha! That's how every child is a copy of their Mommy & Daddy.

80. DADDY BURIES HIMSELF IN MOMMY & THE BABY'S FOUND GROWING IN MOMMY, buried in Mommy, & pretty soon out comes baby, a copy of Mommy! You're a copy of Mommy! Mommy's making copies—you're one copy‚ Techi's another copy. They don't always look exactly alike, but in Spirit you're the same.

81. WE MAY NOT ALL LOOK JUST EXACTLY LIKE JESUS, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT US THEY RECOGNISE THAT'S THE SAME. It's His Spirit they recognise, because we all have the same Spirit. See? That's how you're a copy of Mama & each of the children are copies, & because Sara's one of us, Davida's a copy too! So, PTL! Amen!

82. SO ALL OF US ARE BUSY EITHER COPYING OR MAKING COPIES. Can you hear Sue in there typing right now? She's typing away! And I'll bet you she's got a bunch of copies underneath her original, carbon copies she's making, so there'll be more to spread around.

83. SEE‚ THE MORE COPIES WE HAVE THE MORE WE CAN SPREAD AROUND & there'll be more of us & more copies of the books & the Letters & the tapes & we can spread the love of God more & the message more & the music more & get more copies & make more copies & make more people copies—because there's got to be a lot of people-copies too! And then all of our children, they're copies of us. And their children are going to be copies of them!

84. SO THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA, MULTIPLICATION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME! Copying is the whole thing! That's what we're here for is to copy—keep copying & make copies & more copies, & every disciple's a copy & every child's a copy & everybody's a copy, even Jesus! For He's a copy of God! So God's the only Original, & we're all copying somebody, think of that! Every one of us is copying somebody, & every one of us should be busy making more copies. Good idea? So copying is our business! Right?

85. WHEN HE SAID, "GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD & PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE," what was He saying? He said, "Make disciples of all nations"—go make copies! More copies of the Gospel‚ preach it to more people to make more copies of them, more disciples. What's a disciple? My disciple is somebody like me, somebody that follows me. A disciple is a follower of the teaching, in other words, a copier‚ a copycat! More copies all the time!

86. SO BE A GOOD ORIGINAL! BE A GOOD COPYCAT OF SARA, MOMMY & DADDY & JESUS & then you'll make very good copies, & your sisters will be good copies of you, all your disciples! They're your little disciples!—Take good care of them & make them good copies! That's what you want them to be now, huh? Good copies! Very good! Amen! OK, go out there & take care of your copies! Bye-bye! ILY! TYL!

Dearest Dad & Maria: On our way out with the kids today, David "copied" David—& he assured both the girls, "That's OK if you're a copycat! Did you know you're copycats?"—Right away Techi repeated, "Copycat, copycat, copycat!" Cute! On the jungle gym, Davida said, "I'll follow you!" "That's 'cause you're a copycat," David said. And Davida answered, "And where thou lodgest, I will lodge & where thou climbest‚ I will climb!" Ha! (Like Ruth, which we've been studying!) Cute kidz! Thank you for a stupendous Grandpa Story! Love, Sara—3/9/81

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family