Maria
August 25, 2004
It's hellish and wants to make your life hell too!
By MariaMaria #671 FD/MM/FM 3482 11/03
Dear Family,
1. Following is some helpful counsel from our Husband on the subject of recognizing and resisting the spirit of lethargy in our lives. It's compiled from personal prophecies of your mates both in WS and on the field, mostly received around the time of the fast day following the "Conviction versus Compromise" series.
2. The spirit of lethargy continues to try to ensnare us. When the Lord‚ in the "Conviction vs. Compromise" series, first revealed to us that the spirit of lethargy was fighting us, He said that every Family member had been affected by it to some degree. That's quite a warning and should help each of us to be on guard, knowing that the Enemy doesn't give up easily and will continue to try to thwart our efforts and dampen our usefulness through the spirit of lethargy and all its manifestations. Lord help us and keep us free and pure!
3. Please ask our faithful Shepherd to speak to you after reading this GN about how you're doing in staying free from the grasp of lethargy, and if there are any ways that it has reentered your life and Home. We now also have the help of Styrian (pronounced Sty-RE-an), who was revealed to us when Peter was in Brazil‚ making the videos for the brethren there. She is a powerful female spirit being who fights lethargy.
4. (Styrian:) I am akin to Ellya. I am sent to bring a whirlwind of destruction to the demon Lethargy and his ilk. I am filled with good ideas that bring forth spiritual progress and which are then manifested in not just spiritual growth, but physical fruit. I am sent to agitate the demon Lethargy to destruction! I cause positive spiritual activity. I am everything which is the opposite of Lethargy, and when I fight him, he vaporizes before me. I am filled with an all–consuming power of the Spirit of God, and the demon Lethargy has no escape when confronted by me. I whirl him up in my wind of action and throw him out. I bombard him with spiritual action and he vaporizes! I am Styrian, whirlwind of positive spiritual activity. (End of message.)
5. (Mama:) Don't hesitate to call on her help in defeating this evil force that tries to stop your service for the Lord!
6. As you've probably already discovered from your own times of seeking the Lord and applying His Word, and as the Lord brings out in great detail in the messages in this GN, one of the main areas in which Lethargy fights us is our Word time and time with the Lord. Anything having to do with the spirit or spiritual progress, anything that requires effort, the spirit of lethargy will try to keep us from. This GN focuses on the spirit of lethargy, and most of the messages were received a few years ago when it was first revealed to us. But since then the Lord has also shown us more spiritual principalities that fight our Word time—like Apotheon, Obstacon, Arakan, etc.
7. The Lord has also given a lot more good instruction, tips and counsel for overcoming in this area in "What Is Jesus Worth to You" (ML #3433, GN 1016), that you can refer to and use in conjunction with this counsel about Lethargy. So when you pray against Lethargy and are faced with a spiritual battle to maintain your Word time and the things of the spirit, remember to pray against the others too, and get them all out of the way through calling on the keys and then proceeding in obedience!
With love and prayers in our awesome Deliverer,
Mama
8. (Jesus:) Spiritual lethargy is something that creeps up on you. It envelops you comfortably in its lukewarm cloak, and then gradually begins cooling you off, step by step, degree by degree, so that you don't even realize that you're getting colder and colder.—Until finally you find yourself in a state of total spiritual frigidity, unable to move, unable to change, frozen and alienated from the path I would have you follow.
9. The very nature of this problem‚ of this attack, keeps you from taking note of it. It seems like a small thing, and there are so many other much more pressing matters to tend to, so you ignore it‚ thinking it'll go away or be resolved in time. But it doesn't just go away, because you've forgotten the law of spiritual progress:
10. If you don't keep on getting‚ you'll lose what you've got. If you don't keep striving for victories‚ striving to move forward, striving to follow closely along the path that I'm leading, you begin to fall behind—and not only fall behind, but slide back. Those are the principles of spiritual physics at work‚ as sure and as definable as the rules of physics that govern your physical world. You ignore them at your own peril. (End of message from Jesus)
It's humbling to let Me make a new creature out of you, to admit to yourself that what you were before and which was fine before is not what you need to be now—for the times have changed and the needs are greater and different.
11. (Jesus: ) You have long known that absorbing My Word is a life-and-death matter for your spirit. And yet you have allowed your conviction and your desperation for it to slacken, so that My Word and your time spent with Me has abated in importance in your life, while other things have gained preeminence in your heart—both your work and the desire to accomplish more‚ as well as your own personal little sidetracks and hobbies. These things have become more fascinating to you than the things of the spirit that you have known and grown up with all your life, and with which you have become familiar. [Note: As mentioned earlier, many of the messages in this Letter were received before "What Is Jesus Worth to You," which placed a renewed emphasis on the Word for all of us.]
12. Familiarity breeds a lack of respect, which eventually leads to contempt. You don't yet have contempt for My Word, but you also don't respect it as you should, as is manifested by how you've let your heart hunger after other things. But this path, when followed to its extremity, leads to that contempt which has caused many to turn back from Me, to follow Me and My ways and My prophets no more.
13. This path is greased by the slime of lethargy, and a lack of movement to counter it, according to the laws of spiritual physics, ensures that you will follow it.
14. And though you have only seen the beginning of this backsliding path called lethargy, you have already noticed the many ways in which it has affected your life in causing you to be less desperate for Me, more confident in yourself, less inclined to ask Me everything, and more inclined to rely on your own arm of the flesh to get you through your work and your day.
15. You're not alarmed when a day goes by without your having spent time in My Word or seeking My voice and counsel in prophecy. And then another day goes by, and another. You eke out a little time in the spirit each day with a little prayer here, a little devotions there, a quick praise time here, a few words of love to Me there, as if these could appease Me like sacrifices to some god, lest your conscience overtake you for forsaking Me fully.
16. In this compromise you grow comfortable. You feel you're doing okay. You feel you're keeping your spiritual head above water, at least.—Not realizing that while you're treading water but not specifically going anywhere, the currents of human nature are pulling you toward the rocky shoals of ultimate defeat.
17. This is how you must see yourself, for only then will you be challenged to put forth the effort to begin fighting to once again reach the boat of My highest will that is about to pick up speed in heading toward the days of challenge to come. And believe Me‚ you want to be aboard My ship when the storms break, or you will be swept into the sea of confusion along with all the others whose eyes will be widened when all these things begin to come to pass. (End of message from Jesus)
You must work on overcoming lethargy in your personal study and feeding from the Word, and its application to your own life. Leave behind any feelings of pressure or of not having enough time. Being or feeling rushed can bring on lethargy in the spiritual life if it results in not putting My Words into effect.
18. (Jesus: ) Lethargy is a strange and ominous creature. It seeks to creep into your midst unawares, often little by little, building up slowly and over a period of time.
19. Where your Enemy most seeks to derail you is regarding hearing from Me personally. You have made this a habit on a certain level. You're in the habit of talking to Me often throughout the day as you go about your work, as you walk, as you ride in the car‚ as you shower, while exercising, while you're doing things in the kitchen and so on. This is good and I'm pleased‚ for I love to commune with you in this way. I love to see you make strides to redeem the time.
20. However‚ though these times are important and needed and I am able to speak to you in a multitude of ways as you do two things at once‚ as you ask Me things when you're on the go, this must not take the place of the other times when I want and need you to sit down, alone with Me, and hear from Me specifically and in detail regarding personal matters. You must not do one and leave the other undone, for in so doing you are forfeiting the chance to hear from Me more explicitly and thoroughly on matters I wish to speak to you about.
21. You must be more militant about having this vital time with Me each day, to sit down and receive My personal words for you. You must be more militant to receive the personal things I want to tell you‚ for in so doing, in taking proper care of your own walk with Me, you will be able to better serve others. It all works hand in hand.
22. I know your heart and that you desire to do that which pleases Me, but Lethargy seeks to trip you up by telling you that you don't have enough time for personal time with Me. It will require a daily, consistent effort to make sure you have this time. You must fight for this time. You must make it a priority to seek enough of My answers and direction for you personally. You must take a militant stand, call on the keys, and create this habit without fail. Start today to have renewed commitment in this area. Don't let these opportunities pass you by, and you will see definite positive results. (End of message from Jesus.)
23. (Jesus:) Your main point of lethargy is a lack of applying the Word to your daily life. You're inspired and enthused about your work for the most part, and about living, but you slack off when it comes to applying My spiritual principles of growth to your life as readily as you do the physical ones. It's easier to apply things that you can touch, feel, and see, but the spiritual growth is what will really propel you forward.
24. Because you haven't been faithful to apply the Word right away or as wholeheartedly as you could have, wrong attitudes have crept into your life—the feeling that you don't have to apply things right away, that you can keep going as you are, that you're doing pretty good, that you can be counted as an exception. This is unhealthy spiritually.
25. This is the danger of lethargy—that when you're doing fairly well, the Enemy tries to come in and pat you on the back and then keep you from advancing that last ten yards to the finish line. You've made great progress in so many areas of your spiritual life, but then you sometimes stop short of the total victory. You figure you've done pretty well, so you can lighten up a bit. However‚ it's the last effort that wins the race and gains you the trophy.
26. Another wrong attitude that has entered your life is one of figuring out how you can get out of applying the Word to your life. You toss about a variety of excuses in applying the Word to yourself and just doing it—because you're so busy‚ because you've already given so much‚ been through so much‚ etc. Look at the many FGAs who are getting older and have given 30 years already, and are still going strong! You're just at the beginning of the race‚ but at times you're already moaning and groaning. You need to buckle down and be more of a soldier. Take My Word at face value and just do it. Don't make excuses that it won't work for you or that it doesn't apply. Just do it and see if it does work. It will.
27. You've avoided jumping with both feet right into the common pot of the overall Family in obedience to My Words. You want to obey, but the Enemy tempts you with selective obedience or specialized obedience. This is very dangerous, and it has kept you from making some progress that you otherwise could have made. So now's the time to jump in with both feet, to count yourself one with the rest of the beautiful individuals who make up My Family, and see where the flow and rush of My Spirit will take all of you.
28. The Word is the best way to stay stirred up. But the only way it's going to really and truly stir you up is if you use it and apply it and put it into practice in your life. Unless you're making an effort to live it and have the desire to do so, it won't have the complete impact on you that I want it to. The water of My Spirit rushes to the vacuum, to the void. So when you're devoid of yourself‚ or at least longing to be filled with Me, then My Spirit rushes in in greater abundance. (End of message from Jesus)
Be on guard and aware and forewarned against the spirit of lethargy, for it attacks all My children—none are beyond being attacked in this way. If you will bind the forces of the Enemy and the spirit of lethargy with the power of the keys, it will have no hold over you. Call upon Me, seek Me, and I will do it!
29. (Jesus:) Where you allow yourself to get lethargic and lazy in both the physical and the spiritual is more in your personal life—not so much the things related to your obvious sample to others or your work, but the private instances of obedience that only you know about, mainly related to your personal prophecies of instruction. If something slips in your personal life‚ you figure you'll deal with it later, as it's not really affecting others or that big a deal. There are various personal prophecies that you have received that you're not faithful enough to obey.
30. There is a marked difference in the level of your obedience to the "official Word," either in the GNs or from Mama, and your level of obedience to what you receive personally and privately from Me. You've been quite negligent in your follow-through to the instructions I've given you in many areas. You've been hungry enough to receive the instructions, but then you don't follow up and obey. In that way you are a hearer of the Word, not a doer. This is lethargy.
31. This is a failure in your life brought about by that sleepy demon who has lulled you into a false sense of security, convincing you ever so subtly that you don't have time, it's not important, no one sees or knows so it's not really hurting anyone, etc. But this is not true. It does hurt. It hurts your personal conviction and it takes away some of your power—the power that comes with obedience.
32. You see, the Enemy has not only lulled you into a false sense of security and spiritual sleep regarding obedience to the personal instruction you receive, but he's also gone a step further and caused you to not desire to receive personal instruction. Subconsciously, knowing you don't obey it and it doesn't really change your life or make much difference to you, since you're not doing it but just hearing it, you have adopted the attitude of, "Why bother? It doesn't make any difference." You don't want to add to the guilt feelings you have of not obeying, not paying enough attention to what I say to you personally, so you don't want to keep getting more and more instructions. That is all the result of lethargy. That is a picture of spiritual sleepiness, wanting things to remain the same, not taking the initiative, and lack of fear of Me.
33. Through this inroad you have not made the progress in some areas that I would have you make‚ because there have been many little disobediences, little ways of not hitting the mark, repeated occasions of ignoring My instruction. It's not that you don't believe or that you consciously reject the Word or rebel against it. See‚ that's the danger of lethargy. It's slow, subtle, and gradual. And eventually you lose the conviction, you forget about the message, and it's something in the past, forgotten and useless.
34. As you well know, to receive My Word, My instruction for you, is just the first step. But you must also realize that you must accept the truth of what I say to the point that it motivates you to change. If you don't obey what you receive, if you're not a doer but are just a hearer, the instruction I give you is almost useless. In fact, you stand to lose some of My power and blessing in your life, because once you know‚ once I've entrusted you with My counsel and instruction, then I hold you responsible and you're accountable; then if you don't obey, I have to judge you accordingly. I bless in proportion to your obedience. So the more you know but don't obey, the less I can give My full blessing.
35. My blessing appears in the different areas of your life in relation to your obedience. If you're lethargic in personal matters, then that's where you'll see the lessening of My blessing, either in health, happiness, personal peace, or spiritual progress. For example, if you receive counsel about your health, diet, and exercise, but you don't obey, then the lack of My blessing will appear there eventually. Or if you receive counsel about your marriage but you don't obey, then you'll feel a lack there. Or if you receive counsel about security, or how to be a blessing‚ or how to interact with others or live the Law of Love, but you don't obey, there will be a lack. These lacks will affect your personal life, and sometimes the Home overall if your lack of obedience causes you to not interact with others as I would have you.
36. So the lethargy in your personal life is manifested in lack of obedience to the instructions I give you in personal prophecy, because you don't think it's as important and eventually you just forget. Then you don't want more guilt feelings, so you slack off from asking Me the personal questions you should. So there is a lack of intimacy with Me in some areas of your life‚ where you don't allow Me to possess you. Again, this isn't necessarily from a lack of desire or an outright rejection or rebellion‚ but it's that sleepy‚ lazy, dull spirit that comes from lethargy.
37. I want you to take a lesson from the queen. You know this is true. She reacts the same to all the instruction she receives from Me, whether it's a so-called "small" thing about her personal life or a major thing affecting the whole Family. It's because she isn't lethargic; she sees all instruction from Me as the same. Obedience is obedience to her, and she wants to be in line with Me in every aspect of her life. She realizes that there is the possibility of growing dull to My voice or selective in her obedience if she's not immediately obedient to everything I say. This attitude protects her from straying or weakening or missing My will. I know she will obey both the big and supposed little things. She is faithful in that which is least and that which is much.
38. I wish for you to take on more of her attitude of instant obedience—of being a doer, not just a hearer; not being a respecter of persons or having prejudices or attitudes that make you think it is so much more important to obey in one thing than the other. I want obedience across the board.
39. This is the main manifestation of lethargy in your life, My love. Please take this seriously‚ for now you are accountable for this truth. Now I must hold you responsible, for you know what I expect and the standard I wish you to attain to.
40. I want you to go back over your major personal prophecies, the ones that had landmark personal to-dos, and study them, pray further about them, print them out, and review them. Do anything and everything to obey in these areas. Now you are accountable, and if you wish to be a disciple in every way, then you must not separate your work and your personal life, as if one were so much more important than the other.
41. Your personal life is who you are and what you are becoming. Your personal life is your reflection of Me to others. So if you would "be Me" to others as I expect you to, as is your responsibility, then you must be a doer of all the Words, not just a hearer. (End of message from Jesus.)
Though it's a part of your personality to [be a certain way], and it is an inborn part of your character that I've built into your life, you shouldn't use it as an excuse, by saying, "This is the way I am‚ therefore it's not necessary for me to change."—Because it's there as a challenge for you to change!
42. (Jesus: ) You're lethargic in spirit because you don't see the dire importance of a regular intake of good, feeding Word and daily times with Me. This is spiritual lethargy—to think that you can do without it, or to think that you will survive without it, or to not exert the spiritual energy necessary to make this a part of your daily life that you never miss. It should be as sacred as your sleep at night—if not more so. You can't imagine a day that would go by without you taking at least a few hours of sleep at night; it's an integral part of life. So it should be with your Word time and your time with Me. It should be automatic. It should be something that you should never go without.
43. I know that you have a lot of excuses why you think you don't have time. You think that it's okay if you skip your Word time every so often when you have other important things to do. You think that people will surely notice if you're not getting your work done, but that they won't really notice if you don't take your time with Me. That's true. Probably no one will know if you don't take your time with Me—unless you continually neglect it and it shows in your spirit and the way you are. But though no one may notice when you slip in this area, which is spiritual lethargy, I see and I know.
44. You've got to drastically change your mindset. I know there's a lot that needs to be done. I know the need even better than you do, because I am the Shepherd and I know My flock. But you must stop looking at things this way—thinking that these other things are more important than your spiritual life. I know you think that you're thinking of yourself if you put your spiritual life before the needs of others, but that's not right. You won't be able to help others if you aren't faithful to help yourself.
45. I want you to take a good‚ hard look at your life and make this mindset change. If you only have two hours of time where someone is helping take care of your young child so that you can do something else, I want you to spend that time with Me. I want you to take at least an hour every day of Word time, and also at least a short amount of personal P&P time, praise time, prayer time, and loving Me‚ to add up to the minimum of an hour and a half of quality time spent with Me. No matter what else you have to do, put your Word time first. If you have five hours free, use your time for the Word first, and put everything else second.
46. You think that because you have other people helping with the care of your child, that during those hours you should devote them solely to your work, because that's why they're helping you—so that you can get your work done. But I'm going to tell you to do things differently. You can't get sufficient Word time or time with Me when you're with your child‚ so you have to do it when others are taking him. Stop being so proud and thinking you have to produce a lot of work in order to make their time helping you worthwhile. You shouldn't look at it that way. You should look at your spiritual life as being of vital importance, for it is. And when someone is taking your child, don't automatically think you have to work; you should get Word time and time with Me first.
47. If all you ever get done some days is taking care of your little one, and time with Me‚ and time in My Word, then I'll be happy. I know that some days it's just not possible to get much computer work done, because you don't always have a lot of time to work with. For example, when you're cooking dinner, that takes part of your workday. But just because it takes up that time doesn't mean you should neglect your time with Me. It should never be the first thing to go. It should always be top priority.
48. It's spiritual lethargy to think that you can do without Me and your time in My arms. It's being lazy in spirit to not want to stir yourself up as much as you should to get fed from My Word—and that's something you need to change. Change your mindset and ideas about it‚ realizing that I want you to put it first and foremost in your life, and if you get nothing else done but spending your time with Me, then it's worth it. Of course, you'll find that you'll probably end up getting more done‚ because that's just the way it works in the spirit—I bless your obedience.
49. You've also been spiritually lazy in not wanting to receive My personal words in prophecy so regularly. You know that when I speak to you I often show you things you need to do or change or grow in. So you get lazy and don't want to take that time. You know it's not just time to listen to Me, but it's also time to implement what I show you, and you get lazy and lethargic; you put it off.
50. You've also been lazy in your times of loving Me intimately. It's so easy to get lazy in this area of your life, because it's something you have to really work on and consciously do. Sure, you throw Me little love words here and there throughout the day, but I'm talking about real deep lovemaking in the spirit, real special times of intimacy. It takes work, it takes effort, and you usually shy away from the effort, which is laziness. But if you will make the effort, if you will take the time, the blessings in your life will be far weightier than anything you ever had to forsake to do it. (End of message from Jesus.)
You're lethargic in spirit because you don't see the dire importance of a regular intake of good, feeding Word and daily times with Me. This is spiritual lethargy—to think that you can do without it, or to think that you will survive without it, or to not exert the spiritual energy necessary to make this a part of your daily life that you never miss. It should be as sacred as your sleep at night—if not more so. You can't imagine a day that would go by without you taking at least a few hours of sleep at night; it's an integral part of life. So it should be with your Word time and your time with Me. It should be automatic. It should be something that you should never go without.
51. (Jesus:) Whenever I shake you up or stir you up, you do better for a while, but you need to be stirred up regularly. That is the key, the primary anti-lethargy device—regular spiritual shakeups! You can either shake and stir yourself up, or you can wait for Me to do so. The first is, of course, preferable because it's easier in a way. On the other hand, sometimes it's not enough, and sometimes it's only truly effective when I do something big in your life, something that you weren't expecting‚ and thus I sort of "force" you to get stirred up.
52. Spiritual lethargy has a strong effect on your relationship with Me. Your hesitancy to fully embrace and use the new weapons is a direct outcropping of spiritual lethargy. Now you have a label to hang on it—spiritual lethargy. Now you understand it more clearly. It's pride, too‚ for these dark spirits of pride and lethargy go together. It's an attitude of, "I'm okay. I'll do okay. I can do it myself. I don't really need to do all this spiritual stuff. It's kind of extra. I can get by without it. Or I can do a lot‚ but I don't really have to go for all of it."
53. Now that you've prayed and are praying specifically against this spirit of lethargy‚ you will be able to make more progress in these areas. If you will pray against and fight against the spirit of lethargy specifically, your progress will increase and speed up.
54. Spiritual lethargy holds you back from hearing from Me because you're afraid of what I'm going to say, or because you know that doing what I ask you to do is going to be a lot of work. You do pray, you do hear from Me personally‚ and that causes you to think that what you're doing is enough. But it's not, because you "hold out" on Me in certain things. If there are things you really don't want to ask Me about, or you'd rather leave alone because you don't want to have to yield to something, or because it's very sensitive for you‚ you keep wanting to brush it aside. You figure that if you're hearing from Me about so many other things, then maybe you don't need to dig into everything. But that is spiritual lethargy.
55. I don't want you to just hear from Me about some things‚ but about everything—and especially about the areas that you hold back in, because often they're what are most important. You try to cover them up by your "good works" of hearing from Me in so many other areas, but you know that's not really good enough any more.
56. It's true that hearing from Me and doing what I ask you to do, especially when it comes to very personal issues, does require some effort. It's not easy. But it's essential to your spiritual health and even life.
57. Lethargy is a slow killer. It eats away at you little by little until your spiritual life is gone. It doesn't generally come in parading itself bold and daring, like big doubts or tremendous battles, but it slowly, drop by drop, drains the spiritual life from you. It is what causes you to pull away from the things of the spirit because they are "too hard" or require too much effort. It's what causes you to not give the priority to your Word time that you should, or to hesitate to hear from Me about certain things‚ or even brush it off altogether. It's what causes you to not feel you have to make the effort to "ask Me everything." It's what holds you back from diligently and faithfully fulfilling your role as a prayer warrior. It's what holds you back from freely and passionately loving Me.
58. It's what holds you back from being willing to pray a "whatever it takes" prayer. I want you to give yourself to Me in that way. You have done this at times, to some degree or another, but there are still things you hold on to, some consciously and some without realizing you're doing so. So take that step, that step of full faith and yieldedness, that step of anti-lethargy. Show Me by your words and by your faith your willingness to resist and defeat spiritual lethargy in your life.
59. It's all about commitment, really. If you are committed to doing certain things every day, whether you feel like it or not, it keeps you stirred up. You might think that forcing yourself to have Word time or P&P time every day, whether you feel like it or not, is more of a ritual and doesn't really help combat spiritual lethargy if you're not inspired about it. But being inspired by My Word and growing through My Word doesn't really have much to do with feelings.
60. If you're taking your time with Me every day, if you're praying, reading, and hearing from Me, then you are on the attack against spiritual lethargy. You're stirred up, because you're obeying. You don't have to feel "on fire" and be "thrilled" about everything you read to be fighting spiritual lethargy.
61. It's true that when you're a deadhead in devotions and the Word doesn't inspire you or stir you up at all, then, yes, Word time in itself isn't enough to fight lethargy. But on the other hand‚ don't let the Enemy deceive you that if you're not jumping up and down about your Word time you might as well not have it. If you're reading it‚ if you're absorbing it‚ and especially if you're praying that you will stay stirred up every single time you sit down to read or hear from Me, then it will be so. (End of message from Jesus)
You do well when you really study over My Words in the GNs, read them with a passion and a mind to actually do them, because a lack of doing leads to lacks in many other areas.
62. (Jesus:) You've let yourself become lax in that you know I'll care for you. You trust in My love‚ and thus you can tend to ride along a bit, not really stirring yourself up to continue to pull down My power and My love through doing the things I've asked of you. You've resorted to coasting along, knowing that no matter what, I'll keep working things out for your good. This is true to some degree, but there's lots more that could and is meant to be yours if you'd reach out and really live those things that I show you.
63. In your work you tend to think that as long as there are others around who can help to safeguard and pick up the tab‚ you'll be fine just doing the bit here and there that you can, without really thinking that you need to be just as stirred up. You can't just let others bear the weight. They need you to be there all the way, really giving it all you've got. Seek Me for what your role and your place is to be, and then live it with a passion. I've got a great ministry for you if you'll seize it, live it‚ and do your best.
64. Live each day like it's your last, really giving it all you've got. You can do this by keeping ahead of things, planning things out, doing what you know you need to do to make your time quality time.
65. Make it a habit to always seek Me about what to do, when to do it‚ and to be looking beyond the "now." You won't always be doing what you're doing now, but your following closely and doing the best you can helps to lay good foundations for what you will be doing in the future and for the way things go in others' lives. Now will affect your future. Each decision, each bit of giving, everything that you pour out—it all has something to do with the way things will be and the fruitfulness of your life both later and even now.
66. The Enemy lies to you, telling you not to get so into things, because things may change. But that's just the reverse of what I want to tell you. You never know what I may bring about tomorrow, but if you're doing something now, it's because I want you there, and I love to see you giving it your all. Then, when and if things change, it will positively affect your future and what you'll be doing. (End of message from Jesus.)
Don't neglect your times of prayer. I know it's been hard to do it daily. This affects your life in many ways—and the lives of others. It takes effort, but it's well worth the effort. You'll regret each time that you could have prayed but didn't take the time to. Things will not have been done, or goals not reached, or people not brought into My Kingdom because of it. So pray like it's one of your key responsibilities.
67. (Jesus:) Have a list of the things that I want you to cover each day in your life and walk with Me. You need to keep committing your service to Me‚ asking Me for My power, really pulling down My power for what you have to do. It's not enough to say a simple little prayer asking Me to help you as you go into what you need to do. Take the time to get from Heaven what I'd like to show you.
68. Not taking time to hear from Me on something is lethargy, when it's something that you know you need to do, but you use the time otherwise.
69. You don't have to put in extra long hours in your day to the point of burning out to be stirred up. Just using the time well‚ giving it your best shot, and doing with your time what you know and have confirmed with Me is what you are to do—is being stirred up and on the go.
70. If you're finding that you haven't the time to do things that you know you should be doing, there may be other reasons stopping you. But if in your heart you're really trying to hear from Me and do what I say, and are seeking Me for My plan‚ then whatever happens or is able to get done is what I want to bring about. Then you don't have to worry that it's because you're not fighting or working hard enough. Just continue to commit things to Me‚ and be willing to do whatever it takes to follow through.
71. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way of doing whatever needs to be done. Relying on whether you're in the mood or the job interests you is not a good thing to fall back on. Just get My approval and be willing to get the direction from Me on it, and go for it. You'll find things easier than you thought they'd be.
72. Keep focused on the way I'm leading you, knowing that I'm a moving God, always changing and making things happen—growing you‚ leading you, and helping things to come about in the Family at large. And do what you need to do in order to get with it‚ be a part of it, and be a blessing.
73. Call on the spirit helpers that I've given you to help you. That's what they're there for. Let them be a part of what you do. Don't lean to the little bit of wisdom or experience that you may have. You need others. Ask for the help you need. (End of message from Jesus.)
74. (Jesus: ) Any time you don't seek to do My best, or what you know would be what I want you to do, you can be sure that Lethargy is involved and having an influence.
75. I'll give you some specific examples. Sometimes you need to start on a project that you feel is going to be difficult, but instead you spend the time doing less important things. Or you know you should have more personal Word time, but instead you choose to fellowship, or read something else, or fritter away the time in some other way. These are very obvious manifestations of the spirit of Lethargy.
76. Lethargy seeks to keep you from My best. It seeks to slow you down and sedate you in spirit so that it can take over your thoughts and actions and keep you from doing My highest will.
At times, although you do embrace the Words from My mouth, you can tend to do it with a sense of duty rather than with vigor and joy and getting with it in spirit, all the way. You don't always see the importance of doing what I'm leading you to do in the Letters. It can seem just like work to you, more to do. But this is where your attitude needs to change. You need to be revoluted, knowing that all things are for a purpose and for your good, and indeed to make things happier, easier, and better for you all around in the end—not just to add to your already full schedule.
77. When you compromise, when you don't stand up for what you know is right, it's often because of Lethargy. When you don't do what you know you should, and you choose to just go along with the flow of what's happening because you don't want to deal with the repercussions, that's Lethargy. When you put off hearing from Me about something in your personal life, it's often Lethargy; you don't want to go to all the trouble.
78. The spirit of Lethargy works to figure out what excuses work best on you, and will then bring those thoughts to your mind at appropriate times. With you, the ones that work the best and that the spirit of Lethargy uses most often are:
79. —When you need to hear from Me about a personal matter: The spirit of Lethargy tells you‚ "There's not much you can do right now anyway. You just need to ride out the storm; it will pass." While that is true in a sense, when you don't hear from Me about it, often the storm is much longer and more damaging to you personally, and you don't benefit from it as you could if you heard from Me about it.
80. —Regarding your Word time: He tries to keep you from being organized about it and having a list of things to read. He tries to persuade you that you've read something recently, so why read it again. He tries to tell you that you've had a lot of Word time just in the course of your work, so you don't really need to fight in the spirit to be filled during your personal Word time.
81. —When you're not sure if you should watch a movie or not: He'll try to make you feel like there's nothing better to do.
82. —When you're not sure about what to do: He'll try to get you to just ask Me quickly, rather than taking the time to really stop, clear your channel, and hear from Me. He knows that there are times that it's very important that you get the details, and if he can keep you from getting the full message, you're not equipped to handle the situation as well, and often don't make the best choices or judgment calls because you don't have the full counsel from Me on the subject.
83. Now that you realize these are all lies from the spirit of Lethargy, they will stand out to you when you think these thoughts, and you'll be able to realize that it's not just your own mind or desires, but that your spiritual enemy is trying to influence you and keep you from My best. That's not to say that all these things are wrong in every situation. But the key is in stirring yourself up in the spirit to seek Me, to hear from Me as to what is My best in any given situation, rather than going by your own feelings or desires.
84. You should know that the Enemy will continue to seek to influence you, especially in these Last Days. You won't be able to trust your desires or what your flesh wants to do, because it will very often be influenced. But you will always be able to trust Me and My Words to you, as long as you are sincerely hungering and thirsting after My Spirit.
85. So the key is found in seeking Me and continuing to pray a "whatever it takes" prayer‚ that I will keep you open and desirous in spirit of My highest and best, so that I can continue to give you whatever it is you need. In yourself you are not strong enough to fight these powerful demons. But when you pray a "whatever it takes" prayer and really mean it‚ then it becomes My responsibility to keep you free and stirred up in spirit, and I will. (End of message from Jesus)
If you're lethargic in these days that are coming and are almost upon you‚ you will not be able to make it. You will not be able to keep going, as much as you want to, for the spirit of Lethargy will take control of your life. You have the chance to rid yourself of this and start anew. Call upon My power to awaken that which has fallen asleep through lethargy. I can and will help you. If you cry out to Me in desperation, I will come through.
86. (Jesus:) Your spiritual lethargy comes in the form of a lack of will to change. You read My Word and you see what I'm asking the Family to do‚ and you want to be a part of it‚ but you lack the willpower to make the necessary changes that I call upon everyone to make. You fret that some of these things would be too difficult, and therefore you don't strive to better yourself in these areas. This is the effect of the spirit of lethargy. As long as you allow yourself to listen to these lies, you will never be able to become all that I want you to be. You will limit yourself by your own negative thinking. The spirit of lethargy will stunt your growth.
87. This is something that you must not let happen. It's easy to stop it. You must cry out to Me for My help, and then act upon your request and fight, with My strength, to be delivered. I will fight alongside you‚ but it's up to you to take the initiative. You know of the power of the weapons that I've made available to you, but still you hesitate in your use of them.
88. You must cast off this spirit of lethargy now before it's too late. Avail yourself of the keys to My Kingdom, start using your gift of prophecy more frequently, and use your prayer power to channel My power into helping needy situations. Stir yourself up in the spirit so that you see the need and then do something about it.
89. Don't let yourself become useless due to a lack of effort to be useful. Your faith without works is dead. You must put forth the effort and put your faith into positive action. It's going to take a constant struggle. You're going to have to die daily to your self, your pride‚ and your own willfulness in order to accomplish what I need you to. Your adversary seeks to ensnare you in his web of laziness and lethargy. Don't let yourself be overcome. You now have the warning, and it's in your court to act on it. (End of message from Jesus.)
One area that needs your continued attention is the way you resign yourself to accept certain situations the way they are, instead of fighting to change them for the better. You sometimes give up in your "fight for the right," so to speak, and this can be labeled lethargy; you call it being "weary in well doing."
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This can also be the work of Apotheon. Usually Lethargy comes in for the slow kill, and Apotheon is the one that sometimes just overwhelms you with the feeling of hopelessness, lack of strength or willpower, or desire to resign yourself or remain as you are. They work together, but those are some of their common characteristics, although they too adapt in order to best ensnare their victims. So be on guard and aware, and if you're not sure if you're being influenced by one of them, or who you should be praying against, ask Me. I love to reveal their dirty, evil deeds, I love to expose them and nullify their influence in your life. All you have to do is ask and I'll turn the spiritual light on and show you!
90. (Jesus:) Your lethargy is shown when you feel that you do enough‚ you read enough, you stir yourself up enough, and you're doing just fine. Yes, sometimes you are doing fine, but is fine all you want to go for? Why not go for great, wonderful, awesome and out-of-this-world with Me? I want you to be so filled with Me and My Words all day long that you live Me, breathe Me‚ carry Me in your heart and mind, talk to Me, love Me‚ and be My love for others all day long. That's what I want, and you're still a far cry from that.
91. You let lethargy come in and it keeps you from trying to step out and love others. It makes you get bugged too easily and you feel like it's your right because you're just a little sensitive to people's idiosyncrasies. But is that right? Is that living the Law of Love? Is that fighting with all you have within you? No! That is living like a Systemite who doesn't really care about his or her fellow man. You don't want to be that way, do you? You don't want to be unloving. You don't want to be someone who doesn't have any friends because she doesn't show herself friendly and loving‚ in season and out of season, right?
92. I want to give you love that covers all sins—that gives even when it doesn't feel like it, that smiles through the many tears‚ that cares and loves and gives again. How can you get this love? How can you go through each day with My love bursting out of your heart‚ soul, mind, ears, eyes, hands and mouth?—By reading My Word. By being so full of Me that nothing else can come out‚ that nothing else can come through. Do you want to be this way? Will you take up this challenge in your life to love, to give, to care?
93. You think that showing love and affection is not such a big thing, that it's just your character to be a little more on the reserved side. But that's not right, and this is not how I intended for you to be. Ask Me to change your heart, to change your character, and I will help you.
94. Take up that torch; love the next person on your path by showing it. If you love Me, show it by loving the next person you pass in the hall. If you love Me, say a kind word to someone who looks down. If you love Me, get some words of love from Me for that one. If you love Me, do these things that I ask of you. Don't wait another day!
95. (Channel prays:) Dearest Jesus, You told me that one of my biggest forms of spiritual lethargy is in the area of putting off sharing with others and loving others. What can I do about this? I know that I'm lazy and lethargic in spirit. I should be putting these things into practice, but it's so hard because I usually have so much on my plate and am really busy, so it's hard to try to slot in some dates, too. What should I do about this? I'm struggling with knowing what to do. Please help me, Jesus.
96. (Jesus:) Ask your mate for help. Ask him to help you with the humility to do this. Ask him if he would consider setting aside a time to pray about these things with you so that you're in unity about what to do.
97. You need help. I see and you see that you can't spur yourself on your own; you've been living in lethargy and complacency in this area for too long. So ask for help. Reach out, and you will receive My help and guidance.
98. You must first have a willing mind, and now you have taken the first step‚ which is the biggest, and that is to be willing, to yield to Me and what I'm trying to do in your life. (End of message from Jesus.)
NWOs are challenges, and challenges bring on changes, and changes build a new spirit and create in you a new heart and make of you a new person who can fill the need and be a greater blessing to Me, to My work, and to others.
99. (Jesus:) Lethargy is like foul water over the ground of your heart. It will seep in and contaminate the soil of your heart and it will cause the fruitfulness in your life to decrease. It will pollute your fruit. If it continues for an extended period of time, the soul gets so sick that it finally dies or goes into a coma. In this state there is no fruit whatsoever.
100. You have to understand this, because the invasion of your heart by lethargy is not a sudden, one-time thing, but it is a long-term thing. It seeps in little by little and you don't even realize it. It starts when you accept polluted waters running over you. These waters are delivered to you compliments of the Devil and his System.
101. He delivers the polluted, deadly waters of lethargy to you in many little ways. These polluted waters search for low spots in your life and for spots that are receptive to it. Then the water starts to move underground. You don't realize what an effect it's having in your life after a while, because the soil and the earth swallow the waters. But believe Me, it doesn't mean that it disappears when it sinks out of your sight. The polluted waters and the pollution don't disappear or vanish, but they go inside of your heart.
102. You have to be on the lookout and tasting the waters all the time. You have to fence your soil to make sure that no polluted waters come your way. You have to also constantly fill yourself with clean waters so that any pollution can be washed away.
103. Once your soil is saturated with good water, then whatever pollution may come your way only contaminates the surface, and it's easy to see and to wash away. Because your heart is so full of the clean water, there's no room for the polluted waters. In that case, the damage is much less. But when your heart lacks the water of the Word and is practically dry‚ the moment the polluted water comes in contact with it, the polluted waters go right in and seep into your heart. Lethargy then paves the way for sin‚ as it eliminates resistance to it.
104. This is the great risk and the great damage that lethargy does—it lowers and destroys your natural and supernatural resistance to sin. It makes you ignorant of the Devil's devices and of his attacks. You stop realizing and reacting to his attacks and you become indifferent. The attacks of lethargy against your life and fighting against it is a continual process‚ but when you're full of My Word and Spirit, it's easier for you to remain unspotted by it.
105. Above all things, keep your heart pure, because from it comes life. Watch what goes into the soil of your heart‚ because if the waters are polluted, then your heart will stop producing life.
106. Watch the input in your heart. Be careful about the movies you watch and pray against bad influences, the newspapers you read‚ the conversations you have with peers and relations. Watch your thoughts and ask Me to constantly guard you. Pray without ceasing and be on guard.
107. You have to be constantly on guard. Just like when you're driving a vehicle, you can't take your eyes off the road for even one moment, but need to be watching and praying all the time. You can't relax when you're driving; it's a constant state of vigilance and being on guard. If you can't keep up with this state of vigilance, then you have to pull to the side of the road and rest. In the spirit it's the same: When you're getting input from the System and from the world, you have to be on guard constantly‚ keeping your eyes on what's coming your way. (End of message from Jesus.)
Relaxation is something that everyone needs, but you can't expect that you're going to get stronger or find relief from the pressures of the battles at hand just by relaxing. You must first come to Me and ask Me to take you up in My arms and love you, and allow Me to relieve you of the battles and the trials that seek to drag you down. By doing this and using the keys to the Kingdom, you'll find the strength you need to obey and to work the works that you need to work while it is yet day.
108. (Jesus: ) Just because as a Home you're moving forward and are loving each other and working together in unity, it doesn't guarantee that you as an individual are completely on board and making enough of an effort to stay close to Me.
109. You have to realize that you can't ride on another's coattails. I expect each person in the Family to make their own decision to be fully committed. It's each individual's responsibility to renew their daily commitment to Me.
110. It's easy to get laid back in spirit, lackadaisical, comfortable with the lifestyle, but not actually have that burning desire yourself to serve Me and do your best to reach the lost. If you lay back and get comfortable, it's true that the Enemy might not continue fighting you. That's because you'll have become a dead duck! He won't be afraid of you.
111. But don't worry, because I'll help you up. I'll help you by giving you a good kick in the butt to get you back in line. Even though that may not feel very good, you need it to get you back to fighting the Devil. When you fall asleep so deeply that even the Devil isn't worrying about you anymore, that's pretty serious, and it usually takes a pretty big wakeup call!
112. So don't let yourself reach the point that I have to get really involved. Stay alive and awake spiritually by staying desperate with Me, by keeping our relationship hot and vibrant and fresh, by drinking in My Words daily and putting them into action in your life, by continually purging out the things of the world that you automatically absorb because it's all around you.
113. Don't give any place to the Devil. When your life is so full of Me and My Word, it fills your thoughts and heart and flows out of you. It fills your life with light, and leaves no room for the sleepy darkness. (End of message from Jesus)
Continue fighting against lethargy when it comes to your time with Me, and don't allow this device of the Devil to rob you of the nourishment and strength that you need. Just as you've determined to use the keys in your life to help you face certain situations with positive faith, use the keys and call on their power during your times of lovemaking with Me so that you will receive the full benefit from our time together.
114. (Jesus:) The Enemy fights your times with Me. He fights you being stirred up, desperate, and on the attack. He makes you feel tired and weary. He allows the problems to loom large above your head and causes you to feel that the weight is so heavy that you might as well just give up.
115. The last thing the Enemy wants you to do is to get stirred up and to fight in the spirit—and this is where Lethargy has affected you. Apotheon does his best to make you feel the weight of the problem and stay down. And Lethargy will try to convince you that there's no need to stir yourself up about it. You need to fight more in the spirit! You need to get more stirred up, more militant, more desperate. You need to let Me stir your spirit within you. You need to pray more fervently, intercede for others more passionately, read the Word more diligently.
116. The Enemy can't keep you from our times together, our times of lovemaking, for he knows how deeply you love Me, therefore he instead decides that the better way, and one that is more effective, is to just try to water down our times together by making them not as hot and passionate as I would desire them to be. He's content, at least for the moment, if our times together are lukewarm. For although he knows he can't stop you, he feels he can at least cause you to not access the full power and anointing that comes from our hot and passionate times of lovemaking and your times of calling out to Me with all your heart in desperation, asking Me to move and to work on your behalf.
117. So don't allow your times with Me to be passive or lacking in passion and fire and heat. Rebuke the Enemy! Ask for prayer! Be militant in our times together. Fight the Enemy! Bind his forces before we even begin our times together, for if you will be militant in these times, My darling, you will see your whole life change.
118. As you fight the spirit of lethargy in your life and in our times together with the power of the keys, you will see the fruit that it will bear in all areas of your work and life for Me. Your relations with others will be deeper, sweeter, and more passionate; your work for Me will be more stimulating, more exciting; that weariness that you feel at times, especially when the battles come, will be taken from you, and it will be replaced with the desire to fight the attacks of the Enemy and make forward progress for the spreading of My Word and message into all the world. (End of message from Jesus.)
119. (Jesus:) Procrastination in taking time with Me is something that is counted as being lethargic and lazy in spirit. You can be oh so busy working away physically and get a lot of things accomplished, but if you're not pressing in in the spirit, then it doesn't bear the fruit that it should.
120. Yes‚ I want more of you! I want you to stop and acknowledge Me in everything and press in in the spirit! As you do, I'll light your fire and make you burn for Me. I'll kill the spiritual lethargy with My spirit of life!
121. Spiritual lethargy can be like a disease. It's not easily recognized. It creeps up on you slowly. Little by little, it eats away at you and causes you harm. The Enemy uses it greatly‚ for this is how he can hide his attacks. It's not a big visible attack‚ but it's done in secret—just a few minutes lost here and there. It's all time wasted if it's not counted toward spending time with Me.
122. The Enemy even makes you tired. At the end of the day he'll tell you that you're too tired to take time with Me‚ even a few moments before you go to bed. He tells you it's okay to take it tomorrow. Then tomorrow comes and there are other things to take care of right away. He'll tell you, "That's okay, later is fine." But, My love, those moments lost are moments of power that I can give you, strength-giving moments that will make a difference in your life.
123. When you fall into a rut of putting Me aside, and not putting Me first with your time and life, you run the risk more and more of becoming a System Christian and not a revolutionary Christian. I'm warning you that those moments that were lost and could have been spent with Me add up, and have a detrimental effect in the long run.
124. It takes an effort to stir yourself up. But when you do‚ the rewards are high, and you'll never regret putting Me first in your life. You will wonder why you ever allowed yourself to lose any time spent with Me. (End of message from Jesus.)
Real love is a relationship that grows, not only with people in the physical realm‚ but also with Me in spirit. Our love is there‚ and our love is growing, but like anything else, for love to grow it also needs investment. The more time you give it, the more you put into it, the more you give of yourself to it, the greater your love will grow and the stronger it will be.—And the more you will desire it and look forward to it.
125. (Jesus:) You're lethargic spiritually in that having done your job for so long, you've lost the burning desire to reach every soul that you can, the motivation to keep going until all the world is reached. You've also let lethargy creep in by not applying this burning desire and motivation to your work and not doing all you can for the Family. You've become lazy and old. You wake up each morning not with the thought of, "Oh‚ what can I do today to reach the lost?" But more like, "Oh, no, I have all this work to do and I'll never get caught up!"
126. It's like your desire and motivation have been eroded by the natural tendencies of old age and human nature—to let things be as they are and to quit hacking away and gaining new ground. You've meandered "out to pasture" in spirit to a certain degree.
127. I don't really fault you for this, for you've worked hard for years and years, and decades upon decade on end. And as I told you in the "Warhorse" prophecy, you're just a little tired and have been in need of inspiration. (See ML #3361:199-217, GN 957.) You've also been going through great changes in your personal life, so I've made room for all of these changes and allowed you the latitude to roam a bit and to realign the direction you're going for Me in your life. This includes the forsaking of your former mate and becoming a single, and not having a lot of physical fellowship and those things which you had in abundance the last four years or so. It has all been a big change for you.
128. But your spiritual lethargy has come in the form of losing the burden and desire to reach everyone you meet or to be a witness to them in some way of Me, and of not really bringing your commitment to excellence in your ministry to the level that it should be. However, the good news is that now you're pointing in the right direction in both of these areas; you're getting back in the saddle and you have the right motivation once again. You've worked through the heat of the day and have needed a break. But now the time has come to regain that burning desire to do all you can until the world is reached, and of following Me step by step in all that you do.
129. In a way, you've sort of let the Spirit drop on the ground as you've been interested in your own personal desires. It's been a tough road, with Me trying to pull those desires out of you and getting you to pick up the Spirit once again. But you're doing it, and I'm happy and proud of you! (End of message from Jesus.)
130. (Jesus:) One way that this spiritual lethargy has manifested itself in you is through giving in to the Devil's attacks and not really fighting back. When the Devil fights you, don't just submit and get into yourself and get down and discouraged—you've gotta fight! I've spoken to you about this before, but it seems since then the Devil has been fighting you even harder and you're still giving in to his attacks and not really fighting back.
131. A problem like this might not be that apparent, and you might think you're just going through a hard time in your life and things are not going your way. But the truth of it is that the Devil is trying his hardest to get you to think that you're miserable. He's trying to throw doubts and all kinds of discouragement your way so that you'll give up the fight and not grow up straight.
132. You need to realize you have this problem and fight it with all you've got. You've gotta really get desperate and seek Me about this, and not just continue getting into your problems. You've got to fight, even though you feel like it's no use.
133. That is a major way that spiritual lethargy manifests itself in you. You're too lazy and lethargic to go on the attack and hit that punk where it really hurts! I know that this is quite a challenge and it's hard for you to fight the Devil when he throws this discouragement at you. But this is a goal that I've set before you, and a mountain that you must climb in order to continue to grow spiritually and turn into what I want you to be.
134. Do you accept this challenge? Are you willing to whack that punk with My Word, even when that's the last thing you feel like doing? Are you willing to face this problem and get desperate with Me and ask Me for deliverance from this plague of discouragement? If you are, then you'll continue to become what I want you to be, and you'll ride into the Endtime, strong, without fear, and ready to fight the Devil! (End of message from Jesus)
135. (Dad: ) Here are the main ways lethargy is manifested in your life:
*Not stirring yourself up enough in the spirit and being desperate to get as much as you can from each of your times with the Lord.
*Not being diligent in applying the Word to your life as much as you should, and following through on the counsel you receive by making clear-cut goals for yourself in order to put it into practice in your life.
*Not being a "doer" of the Word.
*Not being faithful to keep the goals that you do have for yourself.
*Not being as diligent as you should be in going back over and studying the counsel you receive, seeing if you've made progress in each area, and making sure you haven't missed anything.
*Not being as faithful to uphold others in your daily prayers, and not praying as desperately and fervently for others' situations as you should be.
*Having more of a "defensive" attitude in your spiritual life, rather than an "offensive" one.
*Not calling on the power of the keys as much as you should, learning how to use them, and having faith for miracles.
*Not striving enough in spirit to get closer to the spirit world and to be heavenly minded and attuned to your spirit helpers.
*Not making enough of an effort to include the Lord in your activities or times with others.
*Not going out of your way enough to show an interest in others and to do the humble thing.
136. In saying all this, I don't mean to imply that you haven't made an effort in most, if not all, of these areas—because you have. I know that you're extremely faithful to take time with the Lord every day‚ to sit at His feet and to listen and learn of Him. You're faithful to love the Lord, to spend time with Him, and to obey His counsel—but you can do better, you can do more. Here are some ways how:
*Pray desperately before and after each of your Word times‚ calling on the power of the keys‚ asking the Lord to open your heart and mind, and to help you to suck. Pray that the Word will sink deep into your heart and mind; that it will grow in your life, change you, and bear fruit. Ask the Lord to open your eyes that you might behold wondrous things out of His Law.
*Lay everything else aside during your times with the Lord and give Him your full attention. If you find your mind wandering‚ stop right there and pray desperately, asking for help to tune in and to suck.
*Don't just read, but study. Take note of and mark parts that especially speak to you. Then go back and review them at the end.
*Pray at the end of each Word time and ask the Lord if there's anything more that He wants to show you.
*Follow through on the counsel given; make goals for yourself.
*Make having daily prayer vigil a habit in your life again.
*Ask the Lord regularly what progress you're making in your spiritual life and what areas you need to progress in.
*Try to reach out more to people you don't know so well. Make it a goal to go on a walk or spend time with at least one person a week that you don't have a lot of contact with.
*Make it a goal to include the Lord in each of your dates with others.
*Be militant in spirit and determined to push ahead, not just to maintain.
137. Again, you don't have to be worried about being perfect in each of these areas—just be desperate with the Lord to make progress‚ to be what He wants you to be, and to be vigilant in spirit.
138. "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life" (Pro.4:23). Being diligent is the key. What does being diligent mean? It means to be faithful, to be careful, to be thorough, to be in tune. "Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men" (Pro.27:23; 22:29).
139. The Lord wants you to be one of the few "wise virgins." He needs you to be diligent and faithful, always on the lookout, close to Him and the spirit world, and determined to follow closely. Be wise. Set your affection on things above, and not on things of this world. Be diligent in all things. Be on guard. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil‚ as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith" (1Pet.5:8,9).
140. The things that are happening in the Family right now are a lot like what happened in Gideon's day. The Lord is purging the Family, much like He did with Gideon's army when He said to tell those who were afraid or half-hearted to go home. And now He is, or in some cases will be, putting you all through some further tests to see what you're made of. Through the additional tests He's seeing who's vigilant, who will faithfully and carefully tend to the garden of their heart, who will be on guard at all times.
141. His disciples need to not only be willing to fight during wartime, but they need to show themselves wise by being vigilant and careful even when all seems well and at peace. This is almost more of a test and a challenge, and takes more willpower and self-discipline.
142. So be wise and take care that you have plenty of oil in your lamp at all times; don't let your reserves get depleted. Don't get sidetracked with a little here and a little there, but keep your eyes on the goal, on the future, on the Lord. Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh!
143. "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever!" (Dan.12:3). Those that are wise will shine so brightly in the dark days ahead! But remember that many are called but few are chosen, because so few choose to follow. Many will lament, "If I only had! If I only had been wise! If I only had followed more closely. If I only had obeyed." Don't let those be your words! They won't be as you diligently and faithfully obey and as you keep your priorities straight.
144. Only He can keep you faithful. All you have to do is listen carefully and follow. (End of message from Dad.)
You too easily let discouragement hold you back from making the progress you need, and this discouragement is a byproduct of impatience. You know what you need to learn. You want to learn it. You want to grow. You want to change. But when it doesn't come instantly, when it doesn't come overnight, when you see how much more you need to fight to work on‚ you first get impatient because you want it now‚ and the resultant discouragement only slows down your progress. It gets you on a reverse cycle, and if you're not careful‚ that can bring you to a stop. Discouragement resulting from impatience concerning what you need to do and the changes you need to make hinders you from making those very changes.
145. (Jesus: ) You're lethargic and lazy in taking hold of the new when I tell you to. You're somewhat slow to grab ahold of and jump into the new revelations that I put forth. You look at things in the carnal and you feel overwhelmed‚ like there's too much to do and too much work‚ therefore you don't dig in as you should.
146. Yes, you do get on board with the new moves, but too slowly. I'm moving quickly these days and I need My elite troops to move fast with Me! You can't be lagging a couple of steps behind, still trying to digest the last revelation when I'm revealing a new one! You need to get on the ball and do things now, today, and not procrastinate. It's not that you don't want to change or take ahold of the New Wine and the new things of the spirit, but you let that evil, sleepy spirit of lethargy tell you to wait for tomorrow.
147. You're very lethargic in nature; it's a besetting sin and it's especially harmful in the realm of the spirit. You're a procrastinator; you like to put things off, to wait until you "feel" like doing a certain thing, and you often let moves of the spirit pass you by. Then you're left playing catch-up instead of getting on with the next thing I have for My Family.
148. Aren't you tired of lagging behind? Wouldn't you like to be right up there on the cutting edge? You can be! You can shake off the lethargic spirit and grab ahold of My radical and moving Spirit! You can shake off the slothfulness of sleep and procrastination by claiming My keys of fervency in spirit. Claim the keys of passion, fire, dedication‚ striving, winning, working—anything opposite of sleepiness and sloth and laziness!
149. The lethargy I speak of is manifested physically by being slow to hear from Me personally about the New Wine when it comes out. Only when you apply the Word to yourself by bringing it to Me in your P&P time can you truly be said to have grasped the revelation. When new GNs come out, especially revelations such as the "Keys of the Kingdom" or "Rising Above," you should be right in there praying almost the day you read the Letter, or the very next if possible, about how it applies to you, and getting My practical tips on how to make it a reality in your life.
150. You do often do this for yourself, and you do apply yourself to the questions that are at the end of the GNs, but My point is that you wait too long. You put them off, you procrastinate, and then the moment has passed; that revelation has lost its focus and I'm asking you to focus on the next thing, and you've missed a major happening in spirit!
151. This is a direct result of the spirit of lethargy whispering softly in your ear, telling you that you have plenty of time, plenty of future days ahead to hear from Me, to make resolutions, to get the practical applications, to reread the crucial GNs and to put them into practice in your life. He told you this about the "Keys of the Kingdom" revelation. He knows that you wouldn't believe outright doubts and detractions to the revelation, so he told you, and somewhat truthfully too, that the keys are here to stay, they are ever with you‚ and you have plenty of time to dig into them and figure out all the details, intricacies, and hidden truths.
152. So you put it off; you tickled your ears some days with Word times that were good but were not the best.—Good, but still not what you needed from the new, fresh, hot Wine of today. But it was easier; you don't have to stir yourself up as much to get into the older revelations that you've already adjusted to and accepted. That's not to say that the older Letters are any less feeding, but you must have both—the old and the new—if you're going to stay current with the spirit today. And oftentimes it's the New Wine that takes more effort in the spirit to absorb, because it contains new challenges, addresses today's needs, and requires serious action.
153. So lethargy is sometimes manifested in not wanting to get into the New Wine, settling for older Word which is still just as good, but not as demanding of you spiritually at the moment. It's like settling for progress you've already made rather than desiring to continue growing and progressing with My Spirit. So now, when you've seen everyone placing a lot of emphasis upon the keys and using them and harnessing the power, you think, "Wow, maybe it's time I really get back into that and reread those GNs and study them!" But, lo, it's almost too late. There are new moves of My Spirit, new pushes and areas to focus on as well, and you must turn your attention toward your spiritual growth.
154. As I told you long ago, there is always enough time in the day to accomplish all of My plans for you. There may not be enough time in the day for all your plans, however. Therefore it is imperative that you keep stirred up enough to ask Me what I want you to be spending your Word times on, what I want you to be memorizing and making the spiritual focus in your life. It will be tight; you'll have to move fast and make use of all available time in order to digest the sheer volume of revelations that are being poured out to you. But it can be done! If you'll not waste time, if you'll get your directions from Me as to what areas of training you should focus on each day, you can make it. You'll fit in all the new revelations according to My timetable and you'll be primed and ready for each new one as it comes.
155. Then there will also be times when the Word slows down somewhat, when there isn't as much coming out, and those times of respite I use for review and re-education. But even with those you should check with Me as to how to spend them and which things to review during the break between New Wine.
There is always enough time in the day to accomplish all of My plans for you.
156. Another area in which you battle lethargy is in your prayer life. I don't have to say much about this because it's very obvious to you. Every day when you set out to do your prayer vigil, you feel lethargy telling you to cut your time short or not take it at all. It's tough work, it's sometimes tedious and always tiring, but you have to fight anyway. You need to stay on guard and not let that sleepy spirit pull you down off the wall. Basically any area of your spiritual growth that is tough for you is probably tough because of spiritual lethargy. Some areas are affected by pride more than others, but a lot is just due to that spirit trying to dampen your enthusiasm, make you lose your focus, and lull you to sleep.
157. That's why it's tough work to love Me intimately. It's not an activity that fits any particular notch in your schedule, which is why you have to go out of your way to make it happen and set aside time for it. But you very often don't, and why is that? I'll tell you why—it's that spirit again. His potions and his lullabies and his bed sheets reach out to grab at you and make you sleepy, slothful, and long for slumber. (See ML #3361:98, GN 957.) His voice is manifested in the excuses that pop into your mind.
158. You know those, don't you? Yes, of course you do. Everyone does. You get ideas in your head all of a sudden as to why you don't have time‚ or why you have to go on to something else‚ or why it's okay if you skip this or that, or why you did it yesterday and that should make it all right. All those excuses are the direct voice of that lethargic spirit whispering in your ear. That's his voice.
159. True to form, I always speak first. My Spirit gives you the conviction to perform a certain act or deed‚ but then he takes his shot at you; he gets to come in and suggest logical excuses. But if you'll notice‚ they all lead down the path of least resistance. They all include whys and wherefores for skipping something, cutting something short, or letting you off the hook altogether. Beware! Beware of the easy path. When an excuse comes to mind, weigh it carefully to see if it is My voice telling you of something truly more important, or if it just suggests an easier alternative with no sacrifice necessary.
160. I have said that if any man will come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily to follow Me. So you can figure from that that if you're consistently getting excuses just popping into your head that excuse you from taking up your cross, that excuse you from sacrificing‚ and excuse you from the work I Myself have commissioned you do‚ it's probably the voice of Satan and his demon of Lethargy. That's when you have to resist it in My Name and call on the keys to bind that spirit and to unbind you from his grasp.
161. He may be powerful and he may have caught many Family members in his snare‚ but all the same rules still apply to that demon! He must bow his ugly head, as all the others must, at My Name and at your binding spells in the power of the keys. When you use your gold magic upon him, he must release you from his sleepy power and he must retreat and stop bothering you. You have all power to do this, and I suggest that you do it at every opportunity.
162. The road I offer is not as easy, but I never take away something from you without giving you something better. The rewards you will reap for choosing to suffer affliction in My Name rather than to be lulled into the sleepy beds of Satan will pay off in this life richly‚ and in the next life a hundredfold. It's a can't-lose deal! You just have to make the initial decision to bind the lethargic spirit, to reject the sleepy excuses, and instead to do the things that are tough, difficult, and hard. It will be worth it because your spirit will be invigorated and alive again! Isn't that worth it? (End of message from Jesus.)
When an excuse comes to mind, weigh it carefully to see if it is My voice telling you of something truly more important, or if it just suggests an easier alternative with no sacrifice necessary.
163. (Jesus:) You're still somewhat lethargic in asking Me everything and in your prayer life in general. It takes a real effort to remain on the attack in prayer, and you have much progress yet to make in this area. You need to keep putting forth more determination and work at forming better prayer habits. This is a long-term endeavor, but it reaps such tremendous rewards that it's well worth all the effort involved. You know this, so it's mainly a matter of doing it more consistently until it becomes a good habit and something you can't do without.
164. The main negative consequence from this lack on your part has been that you spend more time on things because you forget to pray about them. I allow this to show you that you should have come to Me first and gotten My instructions and plan, or My solution. This would have saved you the time of having to find out "where it ain't" before you eventually found My answer or My way. It would have been much more efficient to have come to Me in the first place so that you could have skipped the time wasted part.
165. Another area of the new moves of the spirit that you could take action in is having more faith for prophecy. It's a constant fight to overcome the doubts of the Enemy, and you could do better in this area by staying on the attack. I know you do have faith in hearing from Me, and it's easy to have faith when you see obvious fulfillments of things that I've told you, but the difficulty comes in when you find that things didn't turn out exactly as you expected and you feel that you got it wrong. This is when the Enemy really tries to come on strong with his doubts and discouragement.
166. This is all a learning process, however, and you need to go more on the attack at these times and seek Me about your thoughts and any doubts you might have‚ and not hold back and wait and wonder about the situation and how things will turn out with time. These are the times I can strengthen you and help you make further progress. These are the times when you need to go to the Word more, and hear from Me more to find out what I can tell you about the situation.
167. As you do this‚ you'll find that the Enemy will be forced to let up on his attacks because he'll see that they're not having his desired effect. As you resist the Enemy, he will flee from you. Again, this is one of those things that take some time and effort on your part. But if you promise to be faithful to come to Me, I promise that I will show you what you need to know in order for your faith to grow.
168. It's all part of keeping your mind stayed on Me so that you're not led astray. It also allows Me the opportunity to establish your thoughts, rather than you dwelling on your own misguided thoughts. There is a real war going on in the minds and hearts of men‚ as you know‚ so it would be good for you to take it more seriously and be sure you're using My help to overcome any deceit of the Evil One who is constantly trying to lead you astray.
169. Staying more stirred up in the spirit takes an effort. You have to do your part to walk circumspectly and stay in tune with Me. My signal is always there, but if you don't tune into it, it can't do you any good. It's your job to tune the receiver and keep it tuned in. You've got to stay on My channel and keep the static of the Enemy from interfering. This doesn't happen automatically. You've got to take the controls and do it for yourself‚ but once you do, there's so much there for you that you'll want to stay on the channel and absorb My Spirit, and you won't be satisfied unless you have it!
170. Then the important things in life will be in proper perspective and have the importance and priority they deserve. Your life will be truly exciting and you'll be truly fulfilled and satisfied and be able to be more of a blessing and help to others. (End of message from Jesus)
You need to productively fill in the minutes, not just the hours. I know sometimes you don't know what to do with five minutes here and there, as there's not much that can be done in such a short time‚ but there are some things—and if you ask Me, I will show you.
171. (Jesus:) One way you are weak and lethargic in spirit is in your prayer warfare. Pray and ask Me to help you when you feel tired and tempted to put it aside. You let the Enemy distract you and sidetrack you, so that after a while you don't know what to concentrate your prayers on. Well, don't try to aim at everything—just take one situation specifically and do all you can to fight for that. Then another day take on another one and commit a certain time in your day to fight for it.
172. All great battles are fought by My soldiers on their knees in prayer. The power of prayer is mightier than the clashing of swords! But it is an unknown war, only between you and a few others and My Father in Heaven. This stirring of yourself and of your time will help you defeat the spirit of lethargy. (End of message from Jesus)
173. (Jesus:) You tend to go through stages. When you're faithful to do your daily P&Ps, get good, feeding Word time (not just read the new GNs, but also read and study Letters that will help you in your NWOs and weaknesses), and when you're faithful with your prayer vigil times and praise times, then you're more on the attack; you're growing and progressing. However, when you fall down in any or all of these areas, then lethargy starts to seep in; you get weak, tired and lazy in the spirit because you're not feeding your spirit the right foods. You lose your fear of Me.
174. It all comes down to forming good habits and being obedient. It's very simple, really. If you asked anyone who is lazy or lethargic in spirit if they've developed good habits, if they're being obedient in using all the new weapons, if they're being faithful to hear from Me and study My Word, I bet you'd find they weren't. "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Through obedience comes conviction, and through conviction comes progress and growth.
175. Your problem is that you haven't formed good habits and you haven't followed through on some of the things I've told you to do‚ ideas I've given you to help you be more faithful and diligent. Just as you're trying to go on the attack and lose weight and have become more diligent in watching what you eat and exercising, so you must have that same determination and diligence to fight against a fat, lazy, slobby, lethargic spirit.
176. This is another way you can fight against lethargy—by challenging yourself and not being in such a rut. Look for new opportunities to give of yourself, or stretch your faith muscles, or make a sacrifice, and you will see how rewarding and inspiring and uplifting it will be. Challenge yourself! Keep stirred up! (End of message from Jesus.)
177. (Jesus: ) There are things that are a constant struggle: taking enough prayer time, enough Word time, enough time just listening to Me, being on-fire enough, stirred up enough, loving enough, and all the Christian virtues.
178. Throughout every Christian's life, the way you practice these tenets of your faith is constantly under attack. The Enemy never gives up, he never tires‚ he's constantly trying to wear you down and wear you out. And especially with long–term service, there are particular dangers and hazards, just as it says in the basic Letters, like "Diamonds of Dust." You must stay in the light, My light, and sparkle your life out, and not gradually float into darkness and oblivion. That's the secret right there—staying in the light.
179. What is staying in the light? It's staying close to Me and spending time with Me listening and receiving fresh instruction every single day of your life. That's what keeps you white–hot and inspired.
180. The danger with long–term service for many Christians is that their life goes into remote control—getting up and doing the same things every day out of habit and losing touch with Me. But if you hear from Me every day and put into practice My fresh daily instructions, then you'll be connected, on-fire, following Me, burning with new life and desire‚ like the burning bush—it's the same principle.
181. Just like David wrote in "Old Bottles," the danger is in going to sleep and going through the motions. But if you're tapped in, hearing from Me and following My instructions, believing Me, you'll never fall asleep or get in a rut, because I'm always changing, moving, and electric. You can be in the same place and doing the same work, but it's exciting and thrilling and it's changing the world. Your outlook is alive, your attitudes are fresh and alive and filled with faith, and your spirit and heart are turned on because you're tuned in to Me. It makes all the difference in the world. It makes the difference between a dead Christian and a live one.
182. For a Christian it's not where you are or what your job is. You can burn out or become prey to lethargy or settling down or cooling off whether you're on the frontlines as a witnesser or provisioner, or on the backlines as a pubs worker or editor, if you're not connected and obeying. The secret is not where you are, but your relationship with Me. The important thing is your intimacy with Me. As long as you seek Me and obey, your heart will be continually cleansed and purged of wrong attitudes‚ dross, and the lethargy that the Enemy tries to get long-term Christians to succumb to.
183. Lethargy is one of the long-term weapons that the Enemy tries to use on Christians to wear them down and cool off their lifelong service for Me.—To get them to settle down, lose the urgency and the fire of their service, to become comfortable and laid-back. But My Spirit never grows old. Though your flesh may grow old, My Spirit never ages; it's always the same. When you have My Spirit in you, then the things I inspire and empower you to do are as exciting and fresh and alive and electric as the day you got saved!
184. The secret is to stay plugged in and moving with the heat and fire of My Spirit! If you do, you will never cool off or give in or succumb to the hazards of long-term service, whether it's lethargy or tiredness or burnout or cooling off. If you're plugged in to Me, you'll feel My current just the same as if you were to stick your finger into an electric socket! There's no two ways about it. (End of message from Jesus.)
Become more familiar with each of the new weapons. Perfect your use of them. Develop them, little by little, day by day, more and more. Don't try to go so fast that you bite off more than you can chew and only discourage yourself for falling short. Just faithfully work at it day by day by day, and as you do, you will grow stronger. You will progressively get to know each of these new weapons more thoroughly, more clearly, and feel more comfortable with them, feel more at ease using them and more full of faith in their power.
185. (Jesus:) Your lethargy is manifested in that you don't fight the Enemy as soon as you should. You're easily duped by his lies, and sometimes you find yourself at the end of your rope before you recognize it's the Enemy who has come in and tripped you up.
186. You need to ask Me to help you be more aware and on guard. It's like a spiritual dullness to the fact that there are always going to be battles and tests, and you shouldn't be surprised at that. You need to realize that you're not the problem, but that you're being attacked. See your opponent for what he is—a master of deceit and slyness—and know that you must be on guard and that you must gird up the loins of your mind. (End of message from Jesus.)
187. (Jesus: ) Your basic nature is to be easygoing, laid-back, and accepting of things. This is the way I've made you, and it has its place and its time. However, because your nature is that way, it's necessary for you to fight even harder in the spiritual realm so that you'll continue to see things in the spirit and not be content or complacent with things that should not be so!
188. It's good to have a forgiving spirit, to overlook the faults of your brothers, to accept those around you, to be loving and open to all. This is love. But when something goes against My Word, you should not let it pass, you should not be accepting, and you should not overlook it.
189. I've given you the Word and have blessed you abundantly with much Word, way above and beyond what most people in this world have, and I hold you accountable for that. You should always be openly standing up for Me‚ for My Word, and for what you know is right. If something is against My Word‚ then it should be openly and fervently resisted. You should openly speak out against it. You should not accept it in any form or fashion.
190. Yes, you have to be sweet and loving, but you can do that and still not be accepting of that which is not right. You can love those about you and at the same time lift up My Spirit and My truth!
191. Being laid-back and accepting of everything that comes your way is lethargy! There's a big difference in being laid–back and accepting a situation that you know is not right, and accepting a situation because you love the people involved, but at the same time being desperate for the situation, being desperate to uphold My Word and My truth.
192. If you don't speak up about your convictions when you need to, with love and prayerfulness and humility, but just try to "accept" whatever's happening that's against My Word, then you too are in the wrong. You know others have done something wrong and you know you were wrong not to mention it, and those thoughts will continue to nag at you. If you don't deal with them in the way that I want you to and in the way that I show you at the time, those feelings will usually come out at a later time, but then they will not be of Me. They will be in the form of a critical spirit, negative thoughts about your mates, or some other attack of the Enemy on your spirit.
193. I bring along the situations and circumstances in your life, and I require that you deal with each one. If you are desperately seeking Me at every moment, and if you're willing to take the initiative and do what I show you, then My perfect will is performed. But when you become lethargic in spirit, when you don't heed My voice, when you don't put into action that which I expect of you, then My perfect will is not performed and I cannot bless and prosper your every action. These inactions and missed opportunities for obedience build up and weigh your spirit down more and more, and after a while your spirit becomes totally numb to My voice.
194. So break out of the inaction and become activated! Yes‚ this is the day of action‚ and the cure for a lethargic spirit is to desperately seek Me each minute of each day about every circumstance that I put before you‚ and then to put into action all that I have shown you. Action in My Spirit is the antidote to lethargy! (End of message from Jesus.)
195. (Jesus:) Because you're getting older, you're feeling more tired than you used to. This is common, but you would feel more energetic if you would call down My power more and not get into the lethargic and "feeling tired" syndrome. You've allowed the Enemy to hinder you by this lethargy, but if you would call on Me and stir yourself up, you would find you have more energy and enthusiasm. Just because you're almost in your mid-fifties doesn't mean you need to go through your day like someone in their eighties!
196. Come to Me about some physical things you can do to give yourself more energy as well. For example, getting to bed earlier, eating foods that would give you energy‚ and exercising more. Don't allow your tiredness to cause you to be lethargic in your work or play. You have a lot of energy left in you, and as you claim the power of the keys, I will energize you.
197. When you procrastinate you're also being lethargic. This is another area where I can help you. Again, this has something to do with your physical strength, but as you come to Me I will help you accomplish more. Putting things off is not the solution. Coming to Me for the strength to tackle the job—especially when it's not one of your favorites—is the answer. As you come to Me more about this, I will show you more how you can overcome the Enemy's "sleepiness." (End of message from Jesus.)
Probably one of the greatest and most important mindsets that My children need to fight against is the "it can't be done" spirit. This wrong attitude is one of the manifestations of lethargy, and also the work of Apotheon. It must be combated by using the keys of the Kingdom to rise above this serious wrong attitude and to resist these spiritual entities that seek to make your work and life so much harder and more difficult than it has to be.
198. (Jesus:) Life for My children on Earth is a bit like living on a crowded street with thousands of people coming and going. Everywhere there are distractions and confusion, shops and vendors, and you're looking for Me and trying to not get separated from Me in the crowd. It's a daily battle to stay focused and not get tripped off or separated from Me with all that is going on.
199. You must make more of an effort to make good contact with Me each and every day. Don't let the day slip by until you have sought Me out and found Me and touched Me and received My blessing and grace and words for the day. It's so easy to get into doing a little here and there, and suddenly you realize that you haven't stopped what you're doing to find Me and make contact again. Strive harder to stay in touch by touching Me often throughout each day. (End of message from Jesus.)
200. (Jesus:) If a tree is to bear the fruit I intend it to bear, it must be pruned. The old branches must be removed so that the life-giving sap can be sent to the places where it will be most useful, where it will bring forth life and fruit. The dying branches must be removed or they will slowly steal the life and vitality from the tree.
201. It's the same with spiritual lethargy. Unless it's removed and purged from your heart, it will steal the spiritual nutrition found in My Word. My Words may flow, but unless that portion of your life and heart is ready to receive them and do them, it is of little purpose. My Words will have little effect, as the sap has little effect when it is sent to a dying branch.
202. The lethargy of spirit that has restricted you has been the lack of implementation of all that I have told you. When I've given you answers to your problems‚ you've hesitated at times to put them into effect‚ fearing that they would cost you too much or that it would be too difficult for you. The only way to keep that spirit from creeping up on you is to constantly receive the guidance I've given you and to obey all that I've told you to do, even if it seems difficult and a long-term process.
203. I've pruned your tree, removing the branches that were sucking My joy and My Spirit from you. But it doesn't end there; the process continues. Your heart must be desperate and yearning for Me, for the need that I am trying to satisfy in you. The commitment of a heart does not end once you've said yes; it only then begins its life of service and dedication.
204. Having said yes to Me, you've given agreement to a continual process of change in your life; this you must accept. It is this continual changing process by which the spell of lethargy is broken. For indeed, that's what it is—lethargy of spirit is a hypnosis of the Enemy that dulls your senses to the truth of My Word, to the implementation of My Word. It silences your resolve to stand up and be counted as one of My disciples, and this is why you must fight it.
205. Once you were trapped in this lair of the Enemy‚ this cushioned world of lethargy that hid the truth from you. But I have removed you from its clutches; I have stirred up the fires within you once again. I have made you aware of all that you were liable to lose should you entertain this spirit of lethargy any longer. And now that I have removed you from it, I ask that you continue to remain vigilant in your resolve to stay spiritually alert and ready for battle.
206. As a soldier in My army, it is a requirement that you don't ever let your guard down. This doesn't mean that you will not be attacked or hit, but it means that when those times come‚ you see them as a challenge to arms, a battle you're called to fight for Me and for your place within My ranks. By committing to this and keeping a shield around your heart and spirit, and by believing and standing on My Word, you will find what you need for the battle against the Enemy of your heart and soul and mind.
207. You're destined to win, because you're on My side. But that victory is conditional on your determination to fight and remain alert against the sly spirit of lethargy and disbelief, for it's a constant threat to My children. The Enemy will not be dissuaded from his war against you as an individual or as a Family, so neither must you be swayed from your conviction to fight and remain steadfast in your commitment to excellence—your dedication to My cause and the war that we are out to win. (End of message from Jesus)
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208. (Question:) In pruning, isn't it normally the new branches that get cut off‚ the new sprouts that shoot out all over the place but which won't bear fruit? Isn't it more the new ones rather than the dying ones which steal the life and vitality from a tree?
209. (Jesus:) Did I not say that every branch that beareth not fruit is taken away? This is pruning‚ and it holds true in the physical as well as the spiritual, in trees as well as grapevines. There is also pruning of those branches which do bear fruit, that they may bear more fruit. Those which bear not are cut off and those which bear too little are cut back, to encourage further growth and more fruit. (End of message from Jesus.)
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210. (Jesus:) You well know that without Me you won't be able to do that which you've been called to do, for the work you have been chosen for is much greater than you are able to carry or bear on your own. I've called you to be a sample of My love, My light, and My power—not only to the world, but also to your fellow laborers.
211. These with whom you minister in the house of David have been called and chosen, each one by My hand, to be protectors of the flame. All of them, regardless of their talents or ministry, are called to be as priests in the temple of God, to minister before Me both day and night. They have been called to guard diligently the flame of David, the flame of Maria and Peter‚ and the flame of My Words. They have been called to guard the flame and fan it, that it might grow and spread and cover the face of the Earth with My light. For behold, darkness has covered the Earth, and gross darkness the people. The whole Earth is trapped in the morass of spiritual lethargy.
212. (Vision:) The world and all its people flashed before my eyes. Everyone was being slowly gobbled up by some kind of black, sticky, creeping goo. It was kind of like Dad's vision of the cesspool. There were people swimming in this stuff, enjoying it at first, because evidently it felt good in some way. But after a while they gradually stopped swimming and it was almost like they were falling asleep. They just kind of lay there, numb and lifeless, and the goo started pulling them under, choking them and drowning them, like black, sticky quicksand. It swallowed them up one by one until the whole Earth was covered by this stuff. It was one big gooey globe—a black glob.
213. (Jesus continues:) The whole Earth is covered by darkness, but as I have said, the greater the darkness, the brighter the light. This is what I am calling My Family to do—to shine as pillars of light in the midst of the darkness, as lighthouses on the Endtime shores. The Evil One seeks with all his might to smother the flame of David, to put out the light, to lure even My chosen ones to the darkness. He tempts and he woos, like the sirens, with his sickeningly sweet worldly goo—the goods of the world‚ the black‚ sticky, smothering quicksand of the System, and many of My children have been lured into the murky waters and have attempted to swim in them.
214. I have now thrown out the lifeline of My Words to all My Family, young and old‚ strong and weak. It doesn't matter what condition they're now in, even if they feel that they're too old, or too tired, or too compromised to struggle and to escape the sticky clutches of the Evil One's gooey mess. All they have to do is grab hold of the lifeline and I will pull them out of the darkness.
215. My Words are as lifelines. The GNs are the lifeline to the Family, and the GP and Activated pubs are the lifelines to the world. I am calling on you‚ My beloved brides, to shake off your own lethargy in order to save My Family and the world. I call upon you to give it your all‚ for the night comes when you will not be able to do what you are now free to do.
216. (Vision continues: ) I saw another scene of the same picture‚ as we were throwing lifelines out into the globby quicksand. I couldn't see anything but the lifelines at first. They were bright and shining, fluorescent against the black goo. Then I began to see a few hands grabbing hold of the lifelines and people were being pulled out of the mess. Then more and more, and more! Lots and lots of people were being saved and pulled out of the dark waters by grabbing hold of the lifelines, the Words. It was like they didn't even have enough strength to try to save themselves from drowning, and the job was much too big for us to save them. But just by throwing out the lifelines, and them grabbing hold, they were being saved. The Family was being saved, and countless others all over the world were being saved. Thank You Jesus!
217. (Jesus continues:) Each lifeline is directly connected to Me, and it is the lifeline that keeps you out of the goo and suction of the world and the Enemy who would seek to pull you down. Sometimes you stand on a rock, but other times you must go out over the goo, simply connected to Me. But as long as you're connected to Me, you're safe. You're above it. You can even walk on it when necessary. It's the lifeline of My Word and your connection with Me that makes all the difference.
218. You who have dedicated yourselves to Me and joined the selected service of the priesthood must not allow yourselves to be lured by the murky waters‚ the entrapping pastimes and enticing goo of the world. For you have not just accepted a ministry, a career choice, or a job, but you have offered yourselves upon the altar of My sacrifice. You have given yourselves to Me, to do with as I may. You have promised to be My love slaves.
219. You who have sworn yourselves in humble service and fealty to Me and to My cause must stay clear of the darkness that is all around. You must not allow yourselves to be pulled into the hold of its lethargy and apathy. You must carry with you at all times the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to cut yourselves free when the Enemy tempts you or one of your brethren with compromise.
220. (Vision:) I saw a picture of a town under siege, although it wasn't obvious. The siege was more like an infiltration by the enemy. It was in olden times, and it was night. It seemed that the townsfolk knew that the enemy was outside the walls, because some were armed and were supposed to be keeping watch. But it seemed like the enemy had emissaries in the town, and they were distracting those on guard duty by getting them involved in different things. Some of the ones on guard duty were sitting down and leaning up against the walls of the city, fellowshipping and having a good time, forgetting that there was a risk of attack. Then suddenly these infiltrators pulled off their hoods and pulled out their knives to attack the guards and open the gates so that the enemy's armies could enter and take over the town.
221. (Jesus continues:) I'm calling My Family to separate themselves from the darkness that is in the world. For what fellowship can light have with darkness? With these two there is no compromise or common ground, for they are at war. This is a time of war, a time of cosmic struggle—the war of the worlds! It is not a time to float around, attempting to swim in the murky waters. It's a time to break loose and to run into the light!
222. You who I have made My darlings, My brides, My lovers, must love and cling to the light, and hate the darkness. It is not enough that you love the light. In order to stay free and strong, you must also hate the darkness. As it was said of Me, "Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God‚ hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows" (Psalm 45:7). If you would truly be happy, if you would truly be free, if you would have the oil of gladness above thy fellows, your peers, you must recognize the darkness when it tempts you, and not give it place; you must take up arms against its sticky, murky goo‚ and crush it.
223. This is what you are called to do‚ just as Gideon was called to do in his time, and as Joshua was called to do in his. Every man and woman of God has been just as weak and bungling as you. They were men of like passions‚ like weaknesses, like battles, and like mistakes. They were nothing but instruments in My hand‚ tools whom I had fitted for My purpose.
224. I have been working on you throughout your life‚ fitting you for the purpose that I have prepared you for. I have shaped you and broken you and reshaped you, over and over. I am fitting you for all that is in store for you. You need not fear at this time that you have become too weak, or too old, or too tired to be used by Me. You are but the tool; it is I Who am strong to wield it! The tool must only be willing to be used again and again‚ and broken and remade again and again. This you have been, and this you must continue to be.
225. Continue to give yourself to Me each day, humbly asking Me to have My way. As you do, I will not fail to keep you malleable and yielded‚ broken and weak. This is your desire, and this is My will. (End of message from Jesus.)
Copyright © 2004 by The Family International
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