Dad
May 23, 2003
DO 1951 6/85—You Can't, but He Can!
1. (SINGS:)
"ALL HAIL THE POWER OF Jesus' name,
LET ANGELS PROSTRATE FALL!
Bring forth His royal diadem & crown Him Lord of all!
Bring forth His royal diadem & crown Him, Lord of all!"
Well, I see you guys don't know that one! I didn't intend to sing a solo! A lot of churches, especially the more formal kind, wouldn't even think of opening a service without singing that song first! I think it's very good, only I just wish they would, I wish they did think that much of Him. I really wish they would. Well, I'd better not get on that subject!
2. I WAS THINKING THIS MORNING THAT I COULD ADD A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THE LITTLE TALK (See No.2054) I GAVE YOU THE OTHER DAY ABOUT HUMILITY & BEING YOURSELF & not trying to be somebody else or pretending to be something you're not. They used to say, "What is this note on the scale here?" They'd point to this particular note on the musical scale, & as a teacher I'd say, "That's what I want you to be—B natural!"—Although some people might be too natural, especially if their nature isn't very good!
3. BUT GOD DOESN'T WANT YOU TO TRY TO PRETEND TO BE SOMETHING OR AIM TO BE SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE NOT & YOU COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE!—However, He teaches in His Word that almost anybody can be almost anything—by faith if it's according to His Will!—If you have even a little seed of faith no bigger than one of those little mustard seed grains! Those little tiny round seeds are only about two millimeters thick‚ yet they grow into huge big trees! Isn't that amazing? He said, "If you just had that much faith & you really believed it, you could say to this mountain, 'Be thou removed & be thou cast into the midst of the sea,' it shall be done!" (Mat.17:20)—And I've seen it done! You've read the story of the time Mother cursed that Hindu Temple & it fell into the sea! (See #1371 & 980:49–50.)
4. SO ANYBODY CAN BE SOMEBODY‚ OR SOMEBODY CAN BE ANYBODY!—Because with God nothing's impossible & all things are possible to him that believeth! (Luk.1:37; Mark 9:23) So this is a little footnote I wanted to put on that talk about the churches & the church people, because it struck me again. I was thinking about how the church makes idols & images out of its Saints, even the Protestants do. They idolise the great men & women & heroes of the Bible, the Patriarchs & the Prophets, & they exalt'm so high to such an elevation that they deliberately make it impossible to attain such a status!—Because they don't want to have to be like that!—Get the point?
5. THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY, "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE LIKE THAT TODAY, it's only reserved for Bible times or great Saints or Patriarchs or Prophets, nobody else can be like that. Ordinary Christians & church people aren't supposed to try to be like that, it's out of your range‚ it's impossible, don't try! You'd have to be perfect‚ you'd have to be a Saint, you'd have to be absolutely pure & have sinless perfection, so you know it's impossible for you!"—Because they have elevated all their Saints & heroes & Patriarchs & Prophets to such heights of being so absolutely perfect & pure that no Christian could ever be expected to be like that! (Interruption—Someone came to the door thinking the house was for sale.)
6. WELL, PTL! YOU NEVER KNOW! ALWAYS BE READY TO GO! The Lord always reminds us that nothing in this life is permanent except Salvation & Love & the things of the Spirit! PTL? Nothing lasts forever except that which is Heavenly, the unseen, the spiritual. "For that which is seen is temporal, but that which is unseen is Heavenly & forever!" (2Cor.4:18) You haven't seen it yet. Well, we've had little glimpses, thank the Lord! We're trying to give you a lot of glimpses, nearly 70 glimpses of Heaven & Heavenly things in our Posters!
7. BUT I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER REASON THEY PUT HEAVEN SO FAR AWAY & SO OUT OF REACH, you're not even supposed to try to think what it's like or understand it. They want to keep it so far away that absolutely only the perfect, only the Saints, only the best people are ever going to make it anyhow. "So what's the use of trying? You might as well give up & live like the Devil because that's more fun anyhow." That's their idea.—Because they give the Devil credit for all the things that are fun‚ like sex & eating. All the pleasures that God has given, they give the Devil credit for‚ & the church gives the Devil credit for, & the church says they are sins & you shouldn't indulge in things like that!
8. WELL, OVER-INDULGENCE, OF COURSE, IS ALWAYS A SIN, but indulgence in the pleasures of this life is something that's God–given! It's just if you overdo it that it's wrong. I'm always an extremist, I always do things in excess. Whatever I do, I do with all my heart, all the way, there's no halfway with me. I'm no compromiser, good or bad I do it all the way!
LOWER THE DOORKNOB!
9. NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, AN IMPORTANT THOUGHT, ALMOST LIKE A REVELATION THAT I GOT! The church wants to make all those things out of reach so you'll feel like there's no use trying to be like that or trying to attain that, so they won't have to. It's an excuse for their own state & lack of power & gifts & saintliness & good works, saying it's impossible for normal people, therefore you couldn't expect to find such power & gifts in the average church or even a whole denomination.
10. "IT'S RESERVED JUST FOR THE SPECIAL‚ CHOSEN, HIGH, EXALTED & LIFTED-UP ONES THAT GOD HAS JUST MADE THAT WAY SPECIALLY. It didn't come off the assembly line or the normal run of humanity, these holy ones were specially made in Heaven & nobody's expected to be like that. No church people can expect to be like the Apostles & be missionaries, to be like they were & do miracles like they did, have gifts of the Spirit like they had! Nobody could expect anybody to be like that any more, no! That's just for special people back there & then. The day of miracles is past, the days of Saints & Apostles & Prophets & Patriarchs & miracle-workers & Spirit-filled people, that's all past‚ it doesn't exist any more. We're just ordinary people. Don't worry about not being that way, don't even try‚ you're not supposed to be."—That's what the church teaches, to excuse themselves for not being that way.
11. AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST LIES THE DEVIL TELLS THEM IS‚ "YOU CAN'T BE THAT WAY BECAUSE YOU'RE SO WICKED & SO EVIL & so sinful & you make mistakes & you do things wrong‚ therefore you cannot be good & bad at the same time!" Well, the Lord in His Word said, "There is none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned & come short of the glory of God!" (Rom.3:10,23) So that includes whom?—Not only you & me, but the Saints & the Prophets & the Apostles & the Patriarchs & the Angels & the whole works except God Himself!
12. NOW THAT CHANGES THE PICTURE!—And that's the kind of doctrine the church fears & doesn't want preached. Because if you start bringing the Apostles, Prophets & heroes of the Bible down to our level, that means it's possible for you to be on their level & become like they are! Regardless of sins & mistakes & faults or whatever you are or have, you too, like me, can be used of the Lord & be a hero for the Lord or somebody great for the Lord!
13. I'M SURE THE DEVIL TELLS SOME OF OUR PEOPLE, "WELL, YOU'LL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING, you'll never be anybody, because look at all the mistakes you make & look at the faults you have & look at the drawbacks you have." Some people here are more subject to that than others. Quit listening to the Devil! That isn't so!
14. THERE WAS NEVER HARDLY ANY MORE WICKED MAN THAN KING DAVID, & LOOK WHAT A SAINT HE FINALLY BECAME! He wasn't too saintly to begin with, but he sort of grew into it by learning a lot of lessons & making a Hell of a lot of mistakes & committing a terrible lot of sins & being an awful sinner! Even after he began to be great & saintly he pulled some real big boners & did some things that displeased the Lord. Even after he became King he committed some of his biggest sins! And even in later years after he had written some of these Psalms, he still had to write more confessing his sins, like the 51st Psalm‚ all about what a sinful guy he was etc.
15. YOU SEE, THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE WHOLE THING! What most of the churches literally teach is that you cannot go to Heaven unless you're a Saint & very saintly & very good & you've gotta be good & do good & stay good or you'll never make it! Isn't that what your churches taught? Isn't that what you've heard the churches teach? But that is the most damnable sin of all‚ to ever think you can be good enough to go to Heaven or be saved! That is self-works, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, & it's cursed & it's of the Devil & is a doctrine of devils & of sinful Satan himself!
16. THE WHOLE IDEA OF THIS WHOLE THING THAT GOD HAS DONE‚ this great scientific experiment if you want to call it that—but you never know whether an experiment is going to succeed or fail, so I prefer to call it a demonstration.—The whole idea of this great demonstration of His power is to show that He can save you in spite of everything!—That He can make you useful & do something with you in spite of all your faults & all your shortcomings! He can use you! Even the fact that you're as bad as you are & you still accomplish something for God is to God's glory, because it gives all the glory to Jesus! (Sings:)
"I'll give all the glory to Jesus,
And tell of His Love, His wonderful Love!
We'll give all the glory to Jesus,
And tell of His wonderful Love!"
17. WHEN YOU GET TO HEAVEN YOU'RE GOING TO FIND OUT IT WASN'T ME, if you don't know that by now. You guys that live with me ought to know that by now, that I'm not that good, I'm not that perfect, I'm not that averse to mistakes. I still make'm, I still throw boners.—Right? "You mean Grandpa can make mistakes?"—Oh yes, I'm still human! But that is the miracle!—That even in some ways‚ as bad as I am, the Lord can still use me! Like St. Paul said, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" He said, "I'm like a dead body! I stink! I'm a horrible mess!" Do you know the answer?—"I thank my God through our Lord Jesus Christ! The life I now live, I live by the grace of God!" (Rom.7:24,25; Gal.2:20)
18. NOW, DOESN'T THAT GIVE YOU SOME HOPE? When the Devil keeps reminding you of your faults & your mistakes & your shortcomings & when you've got it twisted, you've got it wrong or you've pulled some boners, it helps remind you that you can't make it, you're no good, you're a sinner, you're wicked & evil at heart.—If it weren't for God & His grace & His goodness in you & His Salvation in you, you'd never make it! "All have sinned & come short of the glory of God! There's none righteous, no, not one!"
19. SO THESE HOLIER–THAN-THOU, SANCTIMONIOUS‚ SAVED & SANCTIFIED, FILLED-WITH-THE-SPIRIT CHURCH PEOPLE who say, "I have sinful perfection", blah blah!—That was a good one, ha! I meant to say "sinless perfection" like our churches used to teach‚ but sinful perfection, that's what it is! They are made perfect in sin, or they think they are.—Holier-than-thou, sanctimonious, in their own righteousness, their own goodness.
20. EVEN THOUGH THEY MIGHT GIVE THE LORD A LITTLE CREDIT FOR IT & SAY, "WELL, HE DID SAVE ME," THEN THEY TURN AROUND & SAY, "BUT I HAVE TO KEEP MYSELF SAVED! Yes‚ I know Jesus died for my Salvation & only His blood could pay for Salvation, but once I've accepted it & I have gotten saved, then I've got to hang on to it & I've got to be sure to keep it & I've got to keep myself saved by being good & not doing anything bad!" That's the same self-righteous doctrine of self-works & self-salvation!
21. IT'S LIKE THE SCRIBES & THE PHARISEES, THE CIRCUMCISION & THE CONCISION, these legalists who said, "Yes, Jesus is the Messiah, we'll accept Him as Messiah‚ but we've still gotta keep the Law to be saved!" Well, if that's true, then Jesus is not the Messiah, He is not the Saviour & He cannot save you if He cannot keep you saved! Because God knows & you know & I know you can't keep yourself saved!
IT'S GOTTA BE A MIRACLE OF HIS GRACE!
22. IT'S ALL GOTTA BE A MIRACLE OF THE GRACE OF GOD! It's all gotta be a miracle! Your work for the Lord, your daily tasks for the Lord, your thoughts & your love for Him & for others & unselfishness & sacrifice & a life of service, all of it is a miracle of God! What is the verse?—"Faith which worketh by Love!" (Gal.5:6) It's God's work! You have the faith that God is going to do it through you. I know, Lord‚ that I can't do it!
23. FOR YEARS I WAS FINALLY CONVINCED BY MY OWN EXPERIENCE & BY MY FIRST WIFE THAT I WAS NOTHING & NOBODY & COULD NEVER DO ANYTHING! I was too wicked, too sexy‚ too carnal, too fleshly!—And she constantly reminded me of this & quoted me all kinds of verses about it & said that I didn't read the Bible enough & I didn't pray enough. She couldn't accuse me too much of not working for the Lord enough because I was devoting my full time to that! But I wasn't the kind of Saint that was always on his knees & always reading the Bible & always praying like in a cloister, like a nun in a convent or a monk in a monastery, always just totally separated from this World & totally saintly & just so good. How could I ever do anything for God when I was so carnal & sexy & always wanting to fuck her two or three times a day & just couldn't stay off of her?—If I ever had a chance, that is.
24. WELL, MAYBE I WAS OVER-SEXED, MAYBE I AM, BUT ANYWAY, I THINK IT'S PRETTY NORMAL. When I hear about some of you, I think some of you guys are over-sexed too, so you're not so much better than I am!—Except maybe you're better at sex than I am. But after all, I'm getting old, I can't do quite as much as I used to.—But I can still do more for you!
25. I WANTED TO BE SOMETHING FOR THE LORD & DO SOMETHING GREAT FOR THE LORD, I even used to think it would have been nice if I could have been one of those great men of God & done something great for Him. "But not me, I'm too wicked, sinful, sexy & carnal, I make too many mistakes. I'm nobody, look, I'm not doing anything to speak of, just peddling tracts & getting kicked in & out of church after church &‚ "Nobody wants me, everybody hates me, I'm going to go out in the garden & eat worms!"—Remember that little song? Can you imagine people that make up songs like that?
26. BUT BE HONEST, THAT'S THE WAY YOU FEEL SOMETIMES! That's what the Devil tells you, that's how he lies to you, & that's exactly what he says! So you decide to give up & go out in the garden & eat worms, back to the Pit! The Devil loves to convince you of that! Why don't you slap him in the face with it like Jesus did with the Scriptures? "It is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me! And the life I now live, I live by the grace of God!"
27. "OF COURSE, DEVIL, YOU DAMNED SATAN, OF COURSE I'M NO GOOD, of course I can't do anything right‚ of course I make a Hell of a lot of mistakes & I'm wicked & sinful & sexy & all the rest‚ & I'd be a lot worse if it weren't for God!" But praise God, how am I going to make it?—I'm not, I'll never make it‚ but God will make it in me! "It is Christ that liveth in me! It is God that liveth in me! It is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me! Ye shall have that mind in you which is also in Christ Jesus!" (Gal.2:20; Phil.2:5)—Amen? Do you understand? That's what it's all about! "For where sin doth abound, grace doth much more abound!" (Rom.5:20)
WHY THE LORD LETS YOU MAKE MISTAKES!
28. OUR SWEET STAFF MEMBER SITTING HERE IN FRONT OF ME IS ONE OF THE BEST GIRLS IN THIS WORLD! She is one of the goodest, one of the most perfect, one of the most precious‚ one of the most loving, one of the most sexy, one of the hardest-working girls in this World, a real working girl for Jesus! PTL!—Some of you know what I'm talking about, ahem!—Yet the Devil constantly besieges her with lies, accusations, discouragement & disappointment that she can't be as perfect as she wants to be & just be an absolute perfectionist & never make a mistake! Sometimes I ask her, "What do you mean? What mistake are you talking about?" I don't even know she made a mistake or I don't even remember that she did anything bad!
29. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT'S HER THORN IN THE FLESH OR HER CROSS or why it is that she's always thinking that she's so bad & so terrible & makes so many mistakes, blah blah, but she's one of the best Staff Members we've got!—One of the most faithful & most loyal! She'd die for me, she has risked her life for me, she has been faithful for years, she's done anything we asked! She will do anything from cleaning toilets & mopping floors to top-notch secretarial work or companion work or bed work or whatever kind of work she's called on to do! I'm just using her as an example, I could use any one of you, but I've just known her longer & known her better & had her around longer than some of the rest of you. And yet the Devil lies to her & besieges her with doubts & fears about not being good enough & not being perfect enough.
30. WHY DO YOU THINK THE LORD LETS YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES? Why do you think God let Adam & Eve fall prey to temptation & fall in the Garden? Haven't I preached to you about this before? What do you think it's all about?—To prove that you need God!—To prove that you can't do it on your own! And what does that do?—That glorifies the Lord!
31. DOESN'T IT MAKE YOU PRAISE & THANK THE LORD THAT YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT? Doesn't it make you praise & thank the Lord that you can do anything for the Lord, that you're here at least serving the Lord full time whatever you're doing? Doesn't it make you thank the Lord that you're saved?—Even if you're no good, sinful‚ wicked & sexy! I say sexy because that's the worst "sin" the church can possibly accuse you of! "That's absolutely damning, that's of Hell, terrible!"
32. I JUST CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW COME THEY THINK GOD COULD HAVE MADE SOMETHING SO EVIL! It's so enjoyable, such a pleasure & so necessary & so useful!—In fact, an absolute human necessity or the race would have died out a long time ago. Don't you see how God gets all the glory? If you will just let Him do it in you & through you, obey & just believe. (Doorbell rings again.)
33. THE DEVIL HATES THIS MESSAGE! Lord, rebuke Satan in Jesus' name! Rebuke these emissaries of Satan who interrupt Thy Word & Thy Work! You promised if we'd resist Satan, he'd flee from us! So help these people to get away & stop bothering us, in Jesus' name!
34. ARE YOU GETTING THE POINT?—IT'S ALL THE LORD! I write dozens of notes every day to people who thank me & say‚ "Oh thank you, you've done so much for me!" Probably it's true, I have‚ but if I have, I keep writing on there, "TTL, TTL, TTL!"—What does that mean? (Fam: Thank the Lord!) I say thanks, I appreciate what they said, but thank the Lord, because He's the One! Only God is good!
35. SOMEBODY CALLED JESUS "GOOD MASTER" & HE SAID, "WHY CALLEST THOU ME GOOD? Knowest thou not that only God is good?" (Mat.19:17) You mean Jesus wasn't good?—Of course He was good! It says He was even without sin, so He was good. But He had to take on the form of human flesh & live in a fleshly carnal life & body etc., at least at that time. He still had to go to the toilet & He still had to do a lot of things that some people count as not good or evil or foul or pollution etc. Whereas God‚ our great God, the Heavenly Father, is all perfect!
36. BUT THAT IS ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THE LOVE OF GOD & THE LOVE OF CHRIST, that He was willing to come down here & assume this foul, corrupt human flesh & live like us & look like us & work like us & sleep like us & eat like us & go to the toilet like us & have sex like us!—And yet without sin! So if Jesus can do it, you can do it!—In spite of all your carnal flesh & everything! He was tempted in all points like as we are, & yet without sin. (Heb.4:15)
37. I DON'T MEAN THAT YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO SIN & you're never going to make a mistake or have a fault, but Jesus came awful close to it! He really came close. Just having to live in this body was bad enough.—In order to be like us‚ in order to communicate with us‚ in order to identify with us, in order to in a sense take our place. They call it proxy sometimes, but there's another word for it, a theological term that begins with a "V". (Fam: Vicarious.)—Vicarious atonement! The Pope's called the Vicar of Christ‚ which literally means in the place of Christ. Well, vicarious atonement is all right if you're talking about Jesus, which means He took our sins in our place. He took our place, that was His vicarious atonement. He took our place, my place, your place on the cross!
38. IT'S AMAZING TO ME HOW THESE CHILDREN CAN SIT SO LONG & PAY ATTENTION SO LONG! GOD BLESS'M!—And they listen! They really give me eye contact! I was just reading where it's an Oriental custom in school & classes for the teachers to be worshipped like gods & you weren't even supposed to look'm in the eye‚ that was considered impolite & rude.—So they also tried to avoid looking students in the eye. Boy, if I can't look in your eyes, I don't know if I'm getting anywhere! I like to see your eyes to know it's sinking in!—I hope!
39. SO DO YOU GET THE POINT? THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT, THAT IT'S ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD! Of course you can't do it, you can't save yourself, you can't live a Christian life, you can't be good, you can't do anything without Jesus! He Himself said, "Without Me ye are nothing!" (John 15:5)—Nothing! But the church doctrine is, "I can do most of it with just a little help from God." Some churches even preach, "God does most of it, plus a little help from you."
40. I WANT TO TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, GOD DOES IT ALL‚ FOR WITHOUT HIM YOU'RE NOTHING, YOU COULDN'T DO A THING! But the churches don't like that doctrine & they don't want it to be preached or practiced that God can do it through you, therefore you can do it, therefore you ought to do it, therefore it is your duty & obligation to do it! Because you don't have to do it, God will do it through you! Do you get the point‚ Dear?
YOU CAN IN CHRIST!
41. I WAS LOOKING AT YOU THEN BECAUSE I REMEMBER A FEW TIMES WHEN MAMA HAS SAID, "NO NO, I CAN NEVER DO THAT, I can't be that, I can't run this thing, I can't do without you, I can't do this, I can't do that, I'm not that" blah blah blah! I finally had to rebuke her the other day in the Spirit of God & tell her to be quiet & stop saying that & I never want to hear her say that again‚ that she can't do it!—Because "I can do all things through Christ Who strengtheneth me!" (Phil.4:13) (Pounds on Bible!) There's not going to be much left of this Bible when I get through with it! It's the handiest place to pound.
42. LIKE THEY SAID TO THE LITTLE BOY WHO SAID HE WANTED TO BE A PREACHER, "How can you preach, you stutter so much?" He said, "Well, I kkkkknow I know I kknow know I stttttutter & sttttammmmmmer a lot, I may not be able to ppppppreach very much, but I can sure pppppppound a lot!"—Because most of the kind of preachers he'd heard preach pounded a lot!
43. WELL, I'M TRYING TO DRIVE THE POINT HOME LIKE YOU'D HAMMER A NAIL, SO YOU'LL GET THE POINT! I think my Bible's actually becoming sort of bowl-shaped from getting pounded on so much! Well‚ I haven't got a pulpit here, & that's where I always keep my Bible, at my right hand.
44. WELL, I LIKE TO POUND ON IT, BECAUSE IT SAYS SO! That's my Foundation! "How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!" When I pound on the Bible you know it's so! I'm reminding you every time I pound on the Bible that that's where I get it from, that's the Contract, that's the Authority, that's the Word!—Savvy?
45. (SINGS:)
"AND I'LL GIVE ALL THE GLORY TO JESUS,
AND TELL OF HIS LOVE, HIS WONDERFUL LOVE!
I'll give all the glory to Jesus,
And tell of His wonderful Love!"
Hallelujah! TTL! Isn't it wonderful you can just trust the Lord & not worry? You worrywarts, quit worrying! Trust the Lord, He's going to do it! Of course you can't do it‚ but the Lord will do it! Don't worry about it! I've had to tell almost everybody I work with that at some time or other, "Stop it, quit worrying about it! Of course you can't do it‚ the Lord is going to do it!" Sometimes they've had to tell me that! Sometimes they've got greater faith for some things which they have to have the faith for but I don't have to have the faith for, believe it or not!
46. I ONLY HAVE TO HAVE THE FAITH TO DO THE THINGS THAT I HAVE TO DO! They have to have the faith to do the things they have to do which I can't do. Sometimes I haven't had the faith for it, but you guys had the faith for it. That ought to encourage you! But I had the faith that they had the faith that the Lord was going to do it for them, miracles, big miracles! Some day I'll be able to tell you about them. PTL!
47. THAT'S ANOTHER THING YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE FAITH FOR THINGS YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO! Don't worry about not being a prophet or prophetess or a great preacher or a teacher or something you don't have to be, just worry about being a good cook or a good editor or a good secretary or a good maintenance man, good housekeeper‚ a good businessman‚ good young person, good childcare worker, good teacher, good business manager, good personnel director, good flunky in all things, etc.!
48. YOU'LL NOTICE THE ONES THAT LAST THE LONGEST ARE THE ONES THAT ARE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING & CAN TRY TO DO ANYTHING! A lot of times they think they're doing something that's not very important‚ but the fact that they're still here is important, the fact that we trust them so much is important, that I put my life in their hands! My life still depends on you & that's important!
49. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE FAITH TO BE ME, YOU JUST HAVE TO HAVE THE FAITH TO BE YOU & TAKE CARE OF ME. I have the faith that the Lord will give you the faith to take good care of me!—Get it? Don't try to be somebody you're not, but don't let the Devil lie to you that you can't be who you are & who God can make you & what God can do with you!
50. BUT THE CHURCH PUTS IT SO FAR OFF & SO HIGH UP & SO FAR AWAY! I don't see how they can be so inconsistent in those two doctrines. They say, "I can't be a person like that‚ I can't be good, I can't do this, I can't be that etc., yet in order to be saved I've gotta be!" It's such a contradiction, it's so inconsistent! Their two doctrines just don't jive. They say, "I can't be good, but I've got to be good to go to Heaven." So that's why a lot of them give up & never make it. At least the honest ones figure, "I know I can't be good‚ so why try? If you've gotta be good to go to Heaven, I'm hardly ever good, I can't be good enough, so I might as well quit trying, I'll never go there anyhow!"
51. IT'S SUCH A HORRIBLE FALSE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH, TWO CONTRADICTORY DOCTRINES! One doctrine says you can't be that good‚ you can't be a Saint, you can't be anything or anybody or do anything or be a prophet or teacher or whatever God wants you to be, "I can't, it's impossible, I'm not good enough!"—But on the other hand they say, "I've got to be good enough to go to Heaven, so I've got to try to be good enough to make that at least." Isn't that ridiculous? It's inconsistent, it's contradictory‚ it's confusing, one of the Devil's own doctrines! Both are the Devil's own doctrines, that you've got to be good to go to Heaven‚ & yet you can't be good enough to be anything or do anything.
52. YOU CAN IN CHRIST! With the help of Jesus you can be anything, do anything, go anywhere & be anybody God wants you to be! You're not to try to be somebody you're not & somebody that He doesn't want you to be, because that's not your job, everybody has their place & their job. Don't try to be me—thank God you're not such a mess as I am—but I can't try to be you either, because you can do lots of things I can't do.—Although I've done almost everything‚ from cooking to yard work!
53. I GUESS THE LORD GAVE ME ALL THOSE JOBS & ALL THOSE PARTICULAR SKILLS & TALENTS BECAUSE HE KNEW I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO START A WHOLE NEW CULTURE, a whole new Nation‚ a whole new Family that would have to know all those things. You never seemed to learn anything in school or in the System, so I had to teach you.—Even photography! You can hardly mention anything I haven't tried to teach you at some time or another. It would be interesting to make a list of all the skills & things that I have tried to teach the Family besides the spiritual things, things of the Spirit, I'll bet it would be in the thousands!
BE A YIELDED CHESS PIECE!
54. IT'S A BIG JOB‚ BUT HONESTLY IT'S BEEN VERY EASY! I've often said I've got the easiest job in the whole Family, all I have to do is listen or look & tell you about it, that's all. What could be easier than that?—To see it & then describe it to you!—To hear it & then pass it on to you!—To read it & open it up for you! Praise God? It's an easy job because the Lord does it all! I'm just a little pen or an instrument in His hand, that's all. I just move whichever way He moves me like a person on a chess board. Chess pieces have no will of their own‚ God has even given us a will, but the only thing we have to do & continue to have to do is to yield that will to Him, simply to choose to do it by obeying.
55. SO WHEN THE GOD OF THE CHESS BOARD PICKS UP A CHESS PIECE & MOVES IT TO A NEW SQUARE‚ the chess piece doesn't argue about it, it doesn't protest, it doesn't try to keep the Chess Player from doing it! It doesn't say, "No, I don't want to go to that space, I'd like to stay here. No‚ I want to go over to that space over there! No, I'm a knight & don't want to hop this piece, I want to hop that piece over there!"
56. THE PIECES DON'T ARGUE WITH THEIR MAKER & CREATOR OR THEIR PLAYER, THEY JUST YIELD & GO WHERE HE PUTS THEM, WHERE HE SENDS THEM. Isn't that right? Do you believe that?—Well‚ why worry?—You're in His hands! We've got a Poster like that. Look at that every day when the Devil tempts you about this & that. Why worry?—You're in the hands of the Player & He's going to put you wherever He wants you to be & you should just trust the Lord.
57. THAT'S A GOOD THING FOR ALL OF YOU TO REMEMBER WHILE WE'RE IN THIS WIND–DOWN, ISN'T IT? Don't worry where we're going to put you, we're not going to put you anywhere. The Lord has already put you here, & He's going to put you wherever you're supposed to go! We've gone off & left some people behind & they thought we were gone forever & they'd never see us again! Sometimes we came right back or sometimes we let them go & they thought, "Oh well, I guess Dad doesn't love me any more‚ I guess he doesn't want me any more, doesn't need me any more, he's forsaken me forever now. I'm deserted, I'm lost, I'm abandoned!"—And here they are right back again before you know it!
58. GOD JUST HAS TO MOVE YOU AROUND WHERE HE NEEDS YOU THE MOST AT ANY GIVEN TIME. You know how you line up the pieces in a line on the chess board?—The rooks on both ends, then come the knights‚ then come the bishops, then come the King & Queen. See, I know something about chess, believe it or not! I know something about ping-pong, badminton, backgammon, I played'm all!—Even dice and cards and all the rest. My goodness, why did the Lord make me such a computer to know about so many things?—So I could tell you about the good things and tell you not to do the bad things‚ maybe that's why.
59. BUT ANYHOW, YOU LINE'M UP ON THE CHESS BOARD & HERE ARE ALL THESE IMPORTANT PIECES IN THE BACK. The little tiny pieces out front are the pawns, they're like the footmen‚ the foot soldiers, the infantry, & they get it first. Pretty soon you usually wind up with no pawns because they can only move two spaces the first move & after that they can only move one space & they've got to stay in certain spaces etc. They're so weak‚ they're pretty powerless & they can't go very far, so they get eliminated out of the battle pretty soon. Well, if you're so weak you get eliminated out of the battle pretty soon, you ought to be thankful!
60. I REMEMBER SOLDIERS DURING THE WAR THAT WERE THANKFUL IF THEY STUBBED THEIR TOE & HAD TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL to get out of all the rest of the stuff they had to do. You have no idea how thankful I was when I froze my Achilles tendons!—That's this big tendon right here on the back of your foot, right above your heel. I froze'm so they actually squeaked & hurt! So I went to the medical tent & had a doctor examine them & he said, "You've frozen them, they're frost–bitten, you'll have to go soak them in hot water for a few hours." So they sent me back to the barracks & I sat there with my feet in a bowl full of warm water until I sort of thawed them all out & they got to where they worked again without squeakin'!
61. BUT YOU'D BE SURPRISED HOW THANKFUL I WAS THAT THAT HAPPENED, because I got a whole day off away from all that marching & all that standing in the snow & all that shootin' & all that junk the army does! But the most thankful I was, was when I konked out with double pneumonia, at a temperature of 106—people don't usually live through that—& had to be sent to the hospital almost unconscious!—In fact, I was unconscious for three days & nearly died!
62. BUT I WAS GLAD BECAUSE IT GOT ME OUT OF THE ARMY & got me out of all that military practice & that junk where you're learning how to kill people! That's what the army teaches you, you're learning how to kill people or how to give support to those that do kill the people! That's what it's all about. So I was glad to get out of it because I didn't want to kill anybody, I didn't even want to help people who were killing people, I didn't even want to be in the army!
63. AT FIRST I WANTED TO BE IN THE ARMY BECAUSE I WANTED TO GET OUT OF WORKING FOR MY MOTHER. I was tired of being in the Lord's Army, I wanted to do something different. I never really had a taste of the World, never really got out there & really saw what it was like & had freedom, I was always tied to my Mother's apron strings. Maybe you kids feel like that sometimes, "I wish I could go out there & see what it's like!"—But all that glitters is not gold. It may look interesting & fascinating & might be a lot of fun, but it's a garbage pit, it's filthy, & some of you that have been out a little ways have even found that out.—Even in the best of countries.
64. BUT THE COW IS NEVER SATISFIED, THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE & I wanted to try it, so the Lord let me have the desire of my heart, but He sent leanness to my soul! (Psa.106:15) I hadn't landed in that army one day when I knew I was in the wrong place & I shouldn't be there! But the Lord let me sweat it out for months to learn my lesson good before He let me get out of it!—But then He got me out! I was sure thankful, even though it took nearly killing me to get me out!
65. BUT YOU SEE?—I JUST PRAYED THE LORD WOULD HAVE HIS WAY. Of course, I did pray‚ "Lord, I hope it's Your will to get me out, I want to get out!—And Lord‚ if You ever let me out I'll go back to serving You & I'll never ever stop serving You again! I'll serve You with all my heart, all my strength, all my mind & for the rest of my life if You'll just let me get back in Your Army again!"—So He did, & I've never quit serving Him since!
66. OF COURSE, I'VE SERVED HIM IN ALL KINDS OF WAYS, you couldn't imagine how many ways, though you've heard of some of them. I just go wherever His hand moves me, to whatever square He wants me to go, & I'm just the piece He wants me to be! I didn't choose to be a King, I didn't choose to be a Prophet, I didn't even choose to be a teacher, but it came naturally, really. It was a gift. I say naturally because it's a natural gift of God. He made me what I am.
67. HE'S THE ONE THAT CARVED ME & MADE ME THAT PIECE, THAT KING‚ & He put me on that spot on the board with the powers & the moves that He authorised me to make.—Get it?—And that's the way I'm supposed to move. As I recall, the King can only move one square at a time. Why do you suppose they made him like that?—Probably because kings are not to be erratic & not too fanatical & move too far & be too hasty.
68. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I MADE A DECISION TO DO SOMETHING & THE LORD STOPPED ME? It's really embarrassing! It really shows what a fool I am. It really shows it's the Lord & it's not me. But thank God I yield to what He tells me to do or stops me from doing.—Amen? I wanted to do a lot of things I didn't get to do. I wanted to go a lot of places I didn't get to go. We've planned to make even more trips than we have. One of these last times God stopped me & gave me something else to do. He said, "Here, get out these Posters! You don't have time to go there now." Can you imagine? I wanted to go‚ but instead of that He made me get out nearly 70 Posters!—So that I could go in a million pieces & maybe reach a million!
69. I'M NOT ALLOWED TO WITNESS ANYHOW, I'M NOT ALLOWED TO GIVE OUT TRACTS, I'm not allowed to identify myself in any way, for fear my enemies will find me out & get me! I have to pretend to be a Systemite so they won't think I'm one of those crazy religionists or that I might possibly be a guru, one of those strange cult leaders or something.
70. BUT AS LONG AS GOD WANTS ME TO STAY HERE & PUSH PAPA'S POSTERS, I WILL! What Papa do you think I'm talking about?—Papa! PTL? I am pushing Papa's Posters! And in case you can't see me in the Letter you're reading, when I say Papa, I'm pointing to the Papa Up There!—Not the Pope down here or the poke down here, but the Papa! I'm talking about the real Pope Up There in the Heavens, the real Papa, the real Father in Heaven!—Praise God?—Got it?—Amen?—Do you understand? (Fam: Amen!)
71. SO WHEN YOU'RE PUSHIN' PAPA'S POSTERS, YOU'RE NOT PUSHING MY POSTERS‚ THEY'RE GOD'S POSTERS!—Because He gave'm! He inspired the artists‚ He inspired the writers & He inspired me to get'm organised & do it & to get'm out!—And He's inspiring our publisher, & I think He even inspires the printers & the separators & all the colourwork & all that. As far as I know, they've only made one mistake in one case. It's amazing! It's amazing how much work we do!
72. (TO STAFF MEMBER:) DEAR, YOU COULD MAKE A LOT MORE MISTAKES THAN YOU DO! You ought to thank God for all the mistakes you don't make! Why don't you thank God for all the mistakes you don't make instead of complaining & murmuring & griping about the mistakes you do make & saying, "Why did You let me do this, Lord? Why didn't You stop me‚ Lord?" Maybe He wanted you to learn the lesson.
73. I HAVE LEARNED SOME OF THE BEST LESSONS OF MY LIFE BY DOING SOMETHING I SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE & BY GOING SOMEWHERE I SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE! But thank God, at least even though I may sometimes have the wrong desire & want to go to the wrong places & do the wrong things, at least I usually have enough sense to know when God stops me! I told you the famous story about how we had the plans all made & the house rented to go to South America & He stopped us! All you need to do is just listen & obey & move where God tells you to move & stop when God tells you to stop! You don't even have to make the decisions, you just do what God tells you to do, that's all.
74. THE ONLY DECISION YOU HAVE TO MAKE IS TO BE YIELDED! Now you can choose not to be yielded. You're a free moral agent, it's a free country‚ & despite what our enemies say, we're a free society, it's a free Family. You don't have to stay here, you can get up & walk out that front door any time you want to! You say, "You shouldn't tell us that, Dad! Is that an invitation?" Nobody's keeping you from it‚ nobody's going to forcibly hold you here or handcuff you, chain you‚ tie you. It's your choice to be here, & if you choose to go, physically, politically & legally you can walk out & go!—Why don't you? You have chosen to stay here, because you have chosen to serve the Lord, you have chosen even to be put in the place that we have put you in, because we think that's where God wants you & you've accepted that as God's will. That's all you have to do.
JUST BE WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE!
75. DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN BE OR CAN'T BE OR WILL BE OR WON'T BE, LIKE I DID FOR NEARLY 50 YEARS! I was worrying about what I should be when all the time I was being exactly what God wanted me to be & learning all the things God wanted me to learn! I spent half my life worrying about what I was going to be some day. Isn't that what most young people do? They spend nearly half their lives worrying about, "What am I going to be? What am I going to do?"
76. WHEN I WAS LITTLE I WANTED TO BE AN ENGINEER. I'm not talking about the kind that draws scientific plans & designs things, I'm talking about a guy that drives one of those steam locomotives. I wanted to be up there working those gears, & I even had one engineer let me up in the cab & sit me up in his seat one time to show me what it was like. He let the engine crawl just a few inches just to give me a thrill, & that was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. Then I was sure I wanted to be a train engineer!
77. I CHANGED FROM THIS TO THAT, I WANTED TO BE SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS. I just wanted to do about everything & I changed almost from year to year, sometimes day to day! Well, believe it or not, the Lord has let me do a lot of those things, I could almost say most of those things. I never really got to drive a train yet, but that may come. It'll have to come pretty quick, though, because we're not going to have any trains in the Millennium. But I've sure been driving a train of a lot of people, dragging them around all over the World from country to country!—God's Train!—The good old Gospel Train!—Amen?
78. JUST BE WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE! The only decision you have to make & the only choice you need to make is to choose to do God's will & to be yielded in the hand of the great Player of this tremendous Game! Simply yield to His moves & let Him do the thinking & the choosing. He can see the whole game! He can see the whole board, He sees all the pieces. You've got very limited vision, very limited power, there's only so far He can even move you according to the rules of the game. "Oh‚ but I want to hop clear across the board!"—Like the Queens do.
79. IT'S AMAZING HOW IN THAT OLD MEDIAEVAL CHESS GAME THEY GAVE THE QUEENS THE MOST POWER! The most powerful piece on the board is the Queen. The King can only move a space at a time, but Queens can move clear across the board, any direction, any way!—The most powerful piece on the board. I don't know who invented that game & where he was at the time‚ under what King & Queen, but he must have envisioned the Queen as really the most powerful one in the Kingdom!—And I'll tell you, this Queen is sometimes too! She works harder & does more & supervises more & has more to do with the mechanics & the engineering & the personnel & the work etc. than I do. I just sit in my little chair, my little throne all day & read papers & scratch notes & listen to the Lord & see visions & dream dreams & hear messages! That's all I do!
80. —AND I CAN'T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS OF MYSELF, OF MY OWN WILL. I can't just choose what dreams I'm going to see: "Now Lord, this is the kind of dream I want to have tonight, this is the kind of movie I want to see tonight, or this is the kind of vision I'd like to have today."—I just take what comes! I'm just like a telephone, it just sits there, it doesn't decide when it wants to ring or talk, somebody rings it or somebody else talks on it, it's just a receiver, just a mouthpiece. Are you getting the point?
DON'T WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW!
81. QUIT WORRYING ABOUT WHAT GOD'S GOING TO DO OR YOU'RE GOING TO DO OR YOU'RE GOING TO BE! YOU'RE IN GOD'S HANDS! I don't know why in the World I'm giving this talk this morning, except it just came to me!—See? I had something else planned entirely! I've studied this Chapter twice & still haven't given it. God must have known you needed this more than you need just another lesson in Bible Prophecy, most of which you already know. Oh, I'll admit God gives me a little something more almost every time I read that Chapter‚ & I wonder if you've found the Chapter yet. Don't tell me‚ I'll find out next Class, because this Class is over! I'm not going to go on & teach another Class on Bible Prophecy, it's time to quit. See, I can have a short Class, only an hour-&–a-half—I hope! "Oh yeah, Dad? You haven't stopped talking yet! I'll believe it when I see it!"—Ha!
82. WHAT CAN I MORE SAY? "REST IN THE LORD & DO GOOD! Trust in the Lord, lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, & He shall direct Thy paths. Ye shall hear a voice beside thee saying, This is the way‚ walk ye in it!" (Psa.37:3; Pro.3:5,6; Isa.30:21) Now when you have a guide & you're going down a path, he doesn't tell you what you're going to do before you get to the turn or before you get to the fork in the path, He waits to tell you what to do when you get to the point where you need to know!
83. YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO TOMORROW! "Oh Dad, I'm really scared now! It must be tomorrow you're going to disband this Home & break up & send us to the field!"—So what? So what if we did? But I'm just saying, Jesus said don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about what's going to happen tomorrow or what you're going to do tomorrow.
84. SOMETIMES I ADMIT YOU'VE GOT TO PLAN AHEAD FOR SOME THINGS, HE DIDN'T SAY DON'T PLAN AHEAD. He didn't say you mustn't make reservations. "The Lord said not to worry about tomorrow so I'm just going to walk down to the plane with all my luggage & all my family & expect God by a miracle to give us seats on that plane!" Well, He could do that too, but normally you use normal channels, you phone & get reservations. The System expects you to make plans ahead, they require you to make plans ahead, they require reservations, they require you to do this & do that ahead of time & you have to obey the laws & the rules & play the game & do it their way because they run it!
85. BUT WHERE YOU CAN, YOU'RE NOT TO WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW! It doesn't mean you're not to plan for tomorrow, we do a lot of planning for tomorrow. We'd have never gotten these Posters out if we hadn't been planning for tomorrow, & they're not all out yet. I finished my job, the artists finished theirs, we're just finishing up the last couple of text backings & the Creations work is all done.—Then Sprint gets'm & it's their job! Then they've gotta get'm separated & printed & folded & stuffed in the envelopes & stamped & addressed & mailed & their job is over! Their job begins when they get that slide or negative from Creations, then they go to work on it, & their job's not over until it's mailed. Then they can wash their hands of it, they've done their job & that's all they have to do! They don't have to go out & distribute'm, they don't have to create'm, they just do their job‚ & it's a big job, there's a lot to it, & that's all they can do!
86. DON'T TRY TO DO SOMEBODY ELSE'S JOB TOO, JUST DO YOUR JOB! Just do what God knows you can do & what God has asked you to do—& He wouldn't ask you to do it if He didn't know you could do it!—Amen?
87. THESE CLASSES ARE TOO LONG‚ IT'S HARD TO SIT HERE SO LONG, BUT YOU HAVE TO SUFFER IT. There's not much you can do about it, you even want to suffer it! Look at these kids! But the poor people out on the field in fulltime witnessing & missionary work, they don't have as much time as you do to sit here in Class even! I know you've got a lot of things you're thinking about which maybe you could be doing instead of just sitting here, but that's part of your job, you have to sit here & inspire me. You have to sit here so I can look at you & get inspired. I do a lot better when I've got you because then I know God's gotta speak, I know God's gotta inspire me!—Because here you are & you've gotta have it!—So He does! I expect it, you expect it—that's faith—so God does it! Praise God?
88. I OFTEN COME DOWN HERE & I DON'T PREACH WHAT I INTENDED TO PREACH—OR TEACH REALLY. I'm really mostly a teacher & in some ways I'd lots rather teach. But all of a sudden God just takes the whole thing away, tosses it out & says, "Now here's what I want you to say"—& He just says it & that's it, & that's what He did today! Don't ask me why, except maybe you need it or maybe somebody out there needs it.
89. THEY'RE BUSY, THEY'VE GOT A LOT TO DO! You're busy too, I know‚ you've got a lot to do, but you are given time to sit here & listen. When are they going to get time to read all these long sermons & all these long lessons & stories & terribly long articles? Well‚ we know you haven't got time to read it all now, but you'd better read the GN, that's my personal private prerogative, I can require that. You don't even have to read the WND, but if you want to be up on what's going on you'd better read it! Some people say it takes about all the time they've got to even read the GN & the WND & the FSM, much less all these books! Well, if you haven't got time now, just save'm! Put'm on the shelf & wait till you do have time.
90. WE EXPECT THAT SOME OF OUR PEOPLE PROBABLY WON'T HAVE TIME TO READ SOME OF THESE THINGS UNTIL THE TRIBULATION OR EVEN THE MILLENNIUM! "Oh Dad, you don't suppose we're still going to have stuff like this around in the Millennium, do you?"—Yes, I do! I don't think the Millennium is going to be so much different from now, except, thank God, you'll be different & have lots of powers you don't have now‚ but I think you're still going to have to learn. But don't worry about it! That's one thing you don't have to worry about‚ because I'm worrying about it & I'm telling you about it. The Millennium, the Future etc., that's my job‚ you just sort of take what comes. Of course, you can read the Bible & if the Lord gives you something, great, that's wonderful, then maybe you can be a prophet or a Bible teacher or a preacher. It depends on what God's made you, what kind of piece you are, what powers you have & what squares God's put you in.
YOU CAN'T BUT HE CAN!
91. I LIKE TO SHOCK PEOPLE WITH TITLES!—HOW ABOUT CALLING THIS "GOD'S CHESS GAME"? I hardly ever get the title till I get to the end‚ isn't that funny?—Because I never know what I talked about till I get finished!—Ha! Praise the Lord! Sal says she gets so excited when she's listening on the earphones that she has to laugh sometimes, maybe she cries sometimes, she says sometimes I'm so sexy she's gotta stop & goose herself! So Hallelujah! Praise God! That's nothing to be ashamed of! If I get you excited, go to it!—Amen? After some of these sexy talks I'll bet you went right out & went to it!—Or to her or him, whatever! "See, Dad, I knew you weren't going to quit!"
92. I'M STILL TRYING TO GET ACROSS THE POINT: DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! GOD IS THE PLAYER! YOU'RE JUST THE PIECE, HIS PIECE, & ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS YIELD TO THE LORD! All you have to do is what God tells you to do. And He won't even make you do it by yourself, He'll reach down & take ahold of you & move you where He wants you to go. So don't worry about whether you're going to be able to move or not, or whether you're able to go or not, or do that or not, God will do it, He'll just take ahold of you & move you! PTL? Hallelujah? TYJ?
93. SO OF COURSE YOU CAN'T—BUT YOU CAN! "Dad‚ what do you mean? That's a contradiction!" Of course you can't do it, but you can with His help!—You can't, but He can! Praise God? So therefore, although you can't‚ you can with His help!—Amen? PTL? God bless you all & thank you for being so patient.
94. I'M SURE GETTING THIS CHAPTER STUDIED WELL, & I HOPE YOU ARE TOO! You know, I have to study too. I've read some of these passages hundreds of times, but I still read it before I come to Class—& I come to Class & don't teach it & instead get off on some of these other tracks! I guess the Lord must have known I needed another time to study this Chapter a little more, there are probably still some things I don't know about it that I should. I got some more new things this morning, & I got some new things last time I was going to teach this Class. I've been going to teach this one Chapter twice now, but here we are & you got another lesson instead.
95. I JUST WENT WHERE GOD MOVED ME & SAID WHAT GOD PUSHED INTO MY MOUTH! I quit worrying about it. I don't really worry about it, I know this is apt to happen. Sometimes I'm a little embarrassed that I get down here & I start to open my Bible & start to give what I planned to give you, & instead of that the Lord makes a fool out of me & you don't get what you came for, you don't get the lesson you studied.—Instead of that God gave you what He wanted & what He knew you needed!—And you're going to find out you wanted it because you needed it. Praise God!
96. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT—BUT YOU CAN WITH HIS HELP! Praise the Lord? Hallelujah! You don't have to make the decisions, you just have to be yielded! Just decide to obey, that's all! Amen? Isn't that what you had to do a lot of times, Peter, when you didn't know what was going on? "Dad must be crazy changing his mind, one day he wants to go here & one day he wants to stay there & one day he's going to do this & one day he's going to do that!" I'm telling you‚ if you think I move around a lot, I haven't moved half as much as Peter thought I was going to move or Peter was told to plan to move! So just be thankful that you haven't been moved too much before this—or haven't been moved in or out or round about or whatever! PTL?
97. SO THANK GOD THAT YOU'RE JUST SITTING HERE YIELDED TO WHATEVER THE LORD WANTS TO DO WITH YOU & wherever He wants to move you & whatever job He wants to tell you to do! Doesn't that really relieve you & make you feel better? You don't have to make the choice or decision or anything about it‚ just let God do it! Just let go & let God! Amen? PTL? TTL? Hallelujah? (Fam: Yes, Sir!)
98. WE'VE CHOSEN TEAMS A DOZEN TIMES & CHANGED OUR MINDS AGAIN, HAVEN'T WE? We've chosen to do this & do that & God's changed our mind & done something else! It's wonderful to let God do it!—Because when we get right down to doing it, then He never fails to show us what to do. And if He should let us do something wrong, well, He's chosen to teach us a good lesson of knowing when it ain't or where it ain't! Thank the Lord He hasn't let that happen very often, usually we've let Him stop us & we do what He wants us to do! PTL!—And He's always stopped us just in time.
99. IT'S LIKE THAT SONG ABOUT THE STRIPPER: "TAKE IT OFF, TAKE IT OFF‚ TAKE IT OFF‚ TAKE IT OFF, BUT SHE ALWAYS STOPS JUST IN TIME!" The Devil may tell us to take it off, take it off, but God always stops us just in time! Only the Devil doesn't tell us to take it off, we take it off all the time, he tells us to take off, take off, take off!—And God always stops us just in time! Peter & Maria really appreciate this, I've been going to take off so many times.
100. GBY! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! WE'RE NOW ABOUT TO LET YOU TAKE OFF! PTL! TYJ! As we pray Your prayer, Lord! Help us to mean it & to believe it & to know it, that You're going to do it!—You're going to answer this prayer we always pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer) GBY! ILY! Thank you! Lord bless & keep them all the rest of the day & give them a wonderful day of accomplishment for Thee. Keep them safely. Help them to be safe & cautious & prayerful in all they do‚ & to know Thy Will!—In Jesus' name, Amen! Now if there are any stories I left unfinished, maybe the Lord will tell you what the end was.—And if there were any points you didn't get, I'm sure the Holy Spirit can reveal them to you!—IJN, A!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family