January 19, 2005
Power to Overcome in Persecution
FD/MM/FM Compiled 1/05
ML #3420:10-24, 28-37, 59-85, 128-191, GN 1007
10. (Mama:) We all need to be well founded in the basic beliefs of the Family in order to be effective witnesses. We need to know what we as members of the Family believe and why. We need to be fully convinced that our beliefs, lifestyle and goals are Scriptural. We need to be prepared to give powerful answers to those who inquire about our faith‚ so that we can do what the Lord has commanded us—feed the sheep, win disciples, and build a strong church of dedicated outside members.
11. In addition to helping us to be the witnesses and fruitful missionaries we need to be, being strong in our foundation of faith is crucial when we experience persecution and hear the accusations of apostates. When you face bad publicity, inquiries from authorities, or hear the tales of those who are no longer with us and have chosen to fight us, it's natural that you'll get hit with doubt, fear‚ discouragement, etc. The only thing that will help you to stand strong in the face of such challenges to your faith and lifestyle is being strong in the Word.
12. It doesn't matter if you're smart, talented, a good speaker or debater, personable in relating to those outside the Family‚ etc.; those qualities will not be enough when you need to defend the Family and your faith against the vicious attacks of our enemies. Only the Word will give you the strength, power, and faith to keep going and trusting the Lord.
13. Being strong in the Word is what makes the difference! That's the secret to making it through such battles, challenges‚ and tests with your faith still intact! In fact‚ if you're strong in the Word, you can come through such experiences even stronger and more full of faith and inspiration, having defeated the Enemy and witnessed the Lord's tremendous saving power.
14. If you and those in your Home have made commitments to not read the accusations of our detractors and apostates, and to not go on the ex-member Web sites‚ Peter and I commend you. That's the best thing to do. It's unwise to deliberately and willfully pollute your mind and spirit with attacks on the Word and your faith. But even if you are steering completely clear of the verbal attacks of our apostates‚ you still need to be prepared for eventual persecution, and the way to prepare is to strengthen your faith through diligent study of the Word.
15. If you have read the writings of our detractors, please get cleansed! As I said recently on video, our detractors can get pretty convincing sometimes, especially some who have lived with us, and when they leave and get bitter and filled with hate‚ they come up with all sorts of stories. They exaggerate or twist the truth, distort it by telling only one side of a situation, or rewrite history based on some of the strong delusion they've received since they've rejected the truth, going so far as to believe a lie and tell lies (2Thes.2:10-11).
16. I know for our Family, it's hard for us to believe that someone would get to this state, distorting, exaggerating, and sometimes even deliberately lying about things. We're taught to be honest. That's one of our personal goals—to be honest with each other and with the Lord. So when folks who have been with us leave and you hear them tell some pretty outrageous stories, you may find it hard to believe that they could possibly be making these things up. But they often do.
17. Now, whenever the Enemy lies‚ he always weaves some truth in. If he just slapped together some lie, you wouldn't believe it. He has to weave some truth in. And he weaves it very skillfully and very cleverly, so that it really plays on your sense of right and wrong, and makes it sound very bad. You think, "How could they be telling such a huge lie if it weren't true?"
18. So that's one thing we want to warn you about when you hear these tales, which are out there—and maybe some of you have already heard and read some of them. I wouldn't advise you to go looking for them, but if for some reason you have to hear these things or you've already heard them, then please listen to what we're saying.
19. Please don't swallow these things that some of our detractors are saying. It'll hurt your faith. It'll cause you to have doubts. It'll hinder your work for the Lord and others. You have to get cleansed of these things through going to the Lord and hearing His Word, even personally. There are a lot of answers already published on many, if not all, of the topics our detractors harp on, and you should go back and read the pubs, but also go to the Lord personally and ask Him about them.
20. You have to do that, you must, or these things are going to eat at you and fester like poison arrows. You can take the arrows out, but if you don't cleanse and take care of the wounds‚ that poison will continue to circulate through your system and you will end up in pretty bad shape with some pretty bad doubts.
21. Now, you say, "I'm strong enough to take it. I can read these things and it doesn't hurt me!" Well, just as we know that the Lord's Words are sharp and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and they're life and warmth and light and salvation and everything to us, and work in our lives in powerful positive ways, we also know that the Devil's words work in powerful negative ways. They're powerful, too.
22. Please don't underestimate the power of the Devil's words, because when you take in those things without being convinced of the truth, without coming to the Lord and getting His Word on it, without being cleansed, it's one of the principles of the spirit that you're going to be hurt by it. You're going to be dirtied by it.
23. We know you want to be strengthened, because you wouldn't be in the Family, you wouldn't still be here if you didn't want to be the best disciple you could, and if you didn't want to continue to the End—the glorious End, by the way! It gets better all the time!
24. So I want to emphasize—and this is one of the most important things I can tell you—if you do read or hear those things, if you have to read or hear them‚ get cleansed. It's very important to your spiritual life and your strengthening. We're not telling you not to read them. We're suggesting that it would be better if you didn't, but we know sometimes you have no choice and you hear things. But they're very discouraging and depressing at the least, and they can be very damaging to your spirit. So please try to ask the Lord about these things, or if you don't feel you can ask the Lord, ask someone else to ask Him for you. It's very important.
28. We have talked about the possibility ... well, not just the possibility, but the definite fact that eventually we will have persecution. And that's just a fact of life.
29. Some people say‚ "Oh, I think maybe I'm going to have to leave the Family because I don't want to subject my children to persecution ever again; that would be too frightening." Dear Family, you don't have to be fearful. The Lord has given wonderful promises that you can stand on! You can leave the Family if you want, but if you still want to serve Jesus, you're going to suffer persecution eventually, whether in or out of the Family.
30. The Family seems to be the forerunner in suffering persecution, because we're out front and we're really getting the job done and the Enemy is angry with us. There are, however, other Christians who are also suffering persecution in many countries today. I suppose you've probably heard in recent months of some very serious persecution of missionaries who have even had to give their lives for the cause of Jesus. We and these other active Christian missionaries are some of the ones that are popping up all over the place, so the Devil can more easily target us, whereas other Christians aren't doing nearly as much right now. But as the End draws closer, Christians all over the world are going to be suffering persecution.
31. So you can leave the Family if you want and if you fear persecution‚ but if you still want to serve Jesus‚ eventually you're going to be persecuted for righteousness' sake, just like every Christian is going to be. Jesus said‚ "All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." So don't link persecution just with the Family, because it's linked to everyone who wants to live for Jesus and is dedicated to doing His work.
32. And it's not a bad thing! Everybody gets a little freaked out when we start talking about persecution, but there are so many promises connected with it. And the Lord doesn't do anything just to make you fear or to make you go through bad things just to see if you're strong. That's not the purpose. He doesn't allow anything to happen to His children unless it's going to bring forth good, not only for the work, but also for you personally.
33. We're going to read you some of our dear Husband's promises that are very positive and that should dispel any fear that you might have. As you claim the Lord's promises, He can calm your fears and your troubled spirit, if you are tempted to feel that way, and He can give you peace in knowing that any kind of coming persecution is going to be good for us. It always has been‚ and it always will be.
34. The Lord also said, however, that how much we're affected by persecution depends on how much we pray, and if you want to limit and minimize the persecution that will come in the future, your biggest defense against it is your prayer life—your prayers that the Lord will do whatever it takes to stop those who are fighting against us, and prayers for the Family and yourselves that you'll really be on board, doing what the Lord has asked you to do, that you'll be yielded and obedient.
35. So remember that prayer is a major factor in limiting and minimizing persecution. Also‚ of course‚ your obedience is another key factor—how much you're doing the job to get out the witness, including standing up for the meat of the Word.
36. So these are some things that if we'll obey, if we'll do what the Lord has asked, if we'll pray, if we'll be faithful witnesses, if we'll not compromise‚ if we'll build a strong missionary work, then we can really minimize persecution‚ and the Lord will not let it be one little bit, not one ounce more than it needs to be to accomplish His purpose.
37. So please pray against our enemies, pray for the Family, pray for yourselves, strengthen your follow-up programs, keep getting out Activated‚ get out the meat of the Word, build your work as the Lord has said, show the Family as a positive force in your community, feed your contacts and let them know who you are and what you stand for‚ and have conviction! Then you don't have to worry about persecution.
59. (Dad speaking:) The Enemy is constantly looking for ways to foil, hinder, and stop the progress the Lord is making through the Family. The Family has gone over the top with the "Conviction versus Compromise" series and is making advances again, reclaiming territory that had slipped away. They're back into more of an attack mode again‚ progressing more in spirit and closing up the gaps in the spiritual walls of defense. This means greater effectiveness and greater fruitfulness; it means winning more souls and becoming a stronger witness; it means claiming the land, and the Enemy doesn't like it. He doesn't like the prospect of a more effective, efficient, and engaging fighting force that he will not be able to prevail against.
60. The Family is restructuring governmentally with the boards, strengthening the unity and flow of ideas and information, building greater fellowship and interaction, creating more involvement, greater cohesiveness, and more interconnectivity. This means the Family is noticeably stronger and more unified, and thus much more formidable.
61. With the Family rallying and regrouping and making these critically important advances, the Enemy is frantically trying ways to stop or to thwart these initiatives before the Family gains enough momentum to become a virtually unstoppable juggernaut of influence and spiritual power.
62. The Evil One is trying to bring together those who have left the Family. He's trying to unite them and use their lies and misconceptions; he's trying to get them to fight together. He knows that alone, each individual lacks the strength and ability to have an effect or to make an inroad into the Family. He knows he also has to bring about some sort of cohesion in the Family's detractors to make the lie look big enough to cause concerns among the authorities. This is not easy to do, and their alliance is weak. But he will be marginally successful, for there are enough with enough bitterness in their hearts to believe in the "righteousness" of their lie, and be drawn by the possibilities of recognition and support.
63. But what they're not fully counting on is the Family's ability to rally to the need and to amass a force of prayer, calling on the power of some very potent and commanding keys. The Enemy does know how the Family united and rallied and won great victories during the past persecutions‚ and he fears that power and unity. But he's hoping that a preemptive attack, launched before the progress the Family is making gels, will not only stop the progress, but also that the Family won't be united enough to rally against him. He desperately wants to deal a very critical and potentially debilitating blow before it's too late.
64. Right now it's still a battle of strategy and planning, like a game of chess, maneuvering and positioning, advancing, fortifying and placement. But if your moves, both in anticipation and in response, don't thwart his attempts and block his advances, while showing your force and determination‚ simultaneous to advancing on him and dealing him blows, he will make his move more quickly. This will set you back in all areas by putting you on the defensive, and we can't let that happen.
65. The Lord is giving you advance warning and intelligence to foresee the Enemy's plans. You've been faithful to ask and listen, so He's faithful to give you direction and foresight. So now the question is how to best use this advance information and turn it to your good and not to your disappointment.
66. Like I've always said, the best defense is a good offense. The Lord is leading you, dear Family, to further strengthen and expand your witness, encouraging you to build the reputation of your local works, showing that the Family is a positive force for good in your local community.
67. Your enemies are still attacking with the old, old lies, but the old is long gone and will never be again. Build around the new restructured Family; build on how the Family helps and encourages the lives of others; build‚ so that your good will not be evil spoken of. Face outward to the fields and the harvest. Get out witnessing and winning, being a testimony for good. Get out building your contacts, encouraging your friends, and giving to others. Strengthen your follow-up programs. Build the influence of your work. Set the foundation of your local work on a rock‚ testifying of the Family.
68. Remember, the darkness flees of itself in the face of the light, but as well‚ greater darkness requires greater brilliance and a more resolved determination. The best defense is a good offense, and their machinations will come to nothing in the face of the power of your testimony. The two-edged sword of the keys will both work for you and defend you.
69. Use this warning of impending persecution as a rallying cry to expand your witness, to fortify your work, to reach out further and more effectively. Use it to come together in your boards, to pray together about how you can strengthen and build your local work, to pray together about how to thwart the Enemy's plans and minimize their effect by building the good name of the Family. Don't just defend, proclaim! Proclaim the Lord's Words and call on the keys. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
70. This is something you must begin right away. Your enemies are looking for ways and means to attack in the hope of setting the Family in disarray, so now is the time to go on the attack before the Enemy gets his initiative.
71. Persecution will come‚ it's inevitable, and so you must attack now by proactively building, expanding‚ and fortifying. If you do this, and if in your desperation you pull together and strengthen any breaches, if you counter the plans of your enemies with a witnessing and follow-up offensive‚ this pending attack will at most be minimal, and at best fizzle completely.
72. The most important thing right now is not to let the threat of persecution cause you to batten down the hatches and to go into a waiting, defensive, hiding out, hunkered-down mode. It's time to unify, to look outward, and to go on the attack!
73. The threat of persecution should bring an attitude of soberness and desperation, of calling on the keys for strength, answers, and help. It's not something to take lightly. What are you going to do with the information the Lord has given you? Remember, persecution can either greatly hurt and hinder you, or you can use it to fine–tune, strengthen, and tighten your work‚ thereby making the Enemy's attacks of little or no effect. If you work in love‚ humility, faith‚ and in the power of the keys, nothing will be able to stop you. (End of message from Dad.)
74. (Peter:) Dad gave some excellent instruction that you should definitely endeavor to follow. He said you should: "Build, so that your good will not be evil spoken of. Face outward to the fields and the harvest. Get out witnessing and winning, being a testimony for good. Get out building your contacts, encouraging your friends, and giving to others. Strengthen your follow-up programs. Build the influence of your work. Set the foundation of your local work on a rock, testifying of the Family.
75. "Use this warning of impending persecution as a rallying cry to expand your witness‚ to fortify your work, to reach out further and more effectively. Use it to come together in your boards, to pray together about how you can strengthen and build your local work, to pray together about how to thwart the Enemy's plans and minimize their effect by building the good name of the Family. Don't just defend, proclaim! Proclaim the Lord's Words and call on the keys. To be forewarned is to be forearmed."
76. The Lord is giving you time to build your solid, well-balanced missionary work in the name of the Family. Please use this time wisely and be well prepared for whatever comes your way! If you have a flock of believers who know who you are and what you do, if you're feeding them the Words of David regularly, if you're grounding them in the faith, then they'll be on fire for the Family because you've gotten them on fire with the Word, and they'll stand up for you, the Word, the Family, and the work that you do for the Lord and your community! Remember the Lord's promise: "If you counter the plans of your enemies with a witnessing and follow-up offensive, this pending attack will at most be minimal, and at best fizzle completely."
77. The Lord has mentioned several times about beginning now. We need to pray now; we need to obey beginning now! The Lord is giving the warning, He's giving us time, but we have to use that time wisely, beginning now!
78. Mama and I ask that you use your next Charter-required Home council meeting, which we pray you will be able to schedule fairly soon‚ to discuss the instruction from Dad in the above message, as well as ways you can be more effective in your prayer lives. Before having your Home council meeting, please take time to pray about some of these points and hear from the Lord, so your time will be very productive and you can make concrete progress.
79. Talking about it is not enough. You must have an actual plan that you follow. Continue to hear from the Lord in prophecy each step until you have an effective, feasible plan of attack for putting into practice the instruction of this GN regarding your preparation for persecution.
80. Here is some wonderful encouragement from our Husband:
81. (Jesus speaking: ) The time of persecution and turning your eyes outward will strengthen you greatly, My Family. It will motivate you to become better witnesses, for you will be reminded that time is short. My Word will come alive in living color as you see the prophecies fulfilled. It will light the fire of you who are wavering, and it will force those of you who have been weakened to make a decision—either to go on for Me 100%, or else to choose another path. It will be good for the Family. It is My time. (End of message from Jesus.)
82. (Peter: ) And then again:
83. (Dad speaking:) In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge. Those who love, obey‚ and follow the Lord don't have anything to worry about regarding any persecution that will come. They will only be made stronger, more united, better soldiers who are humble and more adept at using the weapons of the spirit that the Lord has given to all of you.
84. So this coming persecution from those who hate you shouldn't discourage you who have been making the commitment to obey the Lord, to strengthen your convictions, and to cleanse yourselves of your compromises. You're walking the road of commitment, and you'll only benefit from the persecution. It's to make you strong.
85. "Yea, and all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." You might have to go through the persecution, but you'll be protected and you need not fear, for it will benefit you spiritually. (End of message from Dad.)
128. (Mama: ) Our weapons are not carnal, they're spiritual. They're from our all-powerful Miracle Man, the Ruler of the universe! They're created by Him and empowered by Him. In order to fully use our supernatural weaponry‚ the Lord often teaches us about who we're fighting. We have been blessed with a tremendous amount of insight and revelation in the last year about our enemies in the spiritual realm. I pray that you have noticed, as Peter and I have, a definite increase of power and more miraculous answers to prayer when you've prayed against your spiritual adversaries by name, commanding the Lord to rebuke them through the power of the keys.
129. Once again, in order to make our prayers more powerful and to help us understand what we're up against in the spiritual realm, the Lord has seen fit to reveal another important piece of the puzzle of our spiritual warfare. At times I'm concerned that some of you won't relish another graphic vision and explanation about a powerful demon who is assigned to fight the Family. I know it's not pleasant, but this is important. This will help us to pray against our detractors and apostates who fight us in this world by knowing more about what's happening in the spiritual world.
130. It has recently been brought to our attention by some of our faithful media folks that the postings on various ex–member sites are becoming increasingly aggressive and belligerent. There are a number of detractors who are trying to rally those who have left—even those who have been friendly for years—to unite to fight the Family. They're talking about trying to hinder our work through such things as class action lawsuits, requests for law enforcement investigations, personal lawsuits against individuals‚ criminal complaints, use of the media, production of their stories through documentaries, books, and writings, etc.
131. They're trying to round up as many alleged "abuse" stories as possible to provide investigators with some kind of "ammunition" to justify taking action against us. They're trying to draw the attention of the authorities to the education methods of the Family, attempting to convince them that our children's education is insufficient. They're supposedly trying to find out the locations of our Family Homes. They're trying to unite, pool their energies and resources, to bring the Family down.
132. There is increased activity against us, and it's not just people telling stories. These apostates and detractors are egging each other on. They're trying to influence authorities against the Family‚ and they're trying to launch an offensive.
133. We need to desperately pray! As was brought out before, how much we pray and how desperate we are to beseech the Lord's help and that of our spirit helpers will determine how much we'll be able to minimize these attacks‚ or avoid them altogether. As Dad said earlier, "What our enemies are not fully counting on is the Family's ability to rally to the need and to amass a force of prayer, calling on the power of some very potent and commanding keys." We have the keys, they don't! But we must wield them, and we must do so as effectively as possible.
134. Now, understanding that, it's pretty obvious why the Lord would reveal the following at this time:
135. (Vision:) I saw a clean-cut, handsome-looking man, around his early 30s. He looked like a nice guy, well-groomed, together‚ confident and on top of things. Then all of a sudden he morphed right in front of me into the most grotesque creature! He turned blood red from head to toe, starting from his head down. His clothes were no longer defined once he morphed, but rather it looked like he was covered in some type of blood-red cloak that was clinging to his body—it was like a hood over his head, and it covered him like a long cape all the way down to his feet.
136. His eyes look very bloodshot. His red cloak looks somewhat like the traditional cartoon picture you see of a ghost—the typical ghost covered in a sheet—only this covering is clinging to him and it's blood red. The horrible thing about it is that he seems to be dripping all over with blood. It looks like he's just come up out of a swimming pool or some body of water, like the ocean, and he's dripping wet. Only the outstanding and yucky thing about this is he seems to be dripping not water, but blood—from his eyes, his nose, his lips, his arms, his hands.
137. It's totally grotesque, and if I didn't know the Lord is protecting me, it would be downright frightening. It's horrible, disgusting! One minute he's this handsome-looking fellow, then he's this horrible, red, dripping creature. Then there were rats, of all things—horrible, big, filthy rats running all around!
138. Now I see a big crowd of people. It's a public place, like a crowded city street, but among the crowds, I zero in on different people. I'm not able to pick or choose where I want to look; it's like I'm being led by a spirit helper to zero in on specific people in the crowd. And as I look at certain ones, they are morphing into these same ugly–looking creatures.
139. I see a woman, about 20, fairly normal looking, not outstandingly gorgeous or anything, but my first impression was that she was sweet looking. And all of a sudden she morphs into the same red-dripping creature, a blood-red dripping monster! I see a teen boy, about 16 years old, who looks like your average high school student, and he morphs into the same horrible red creature too! Now I see an elderly couple‚ a man and woman, white-haired, about in their mid-70s, and they morph into the same thing.
140. It's horrible—they look terrible! For a few minutes I feel like I am going to get sick. But I have amazing peace, because I know they can't touch me. I know I'm protected and I feel very peaceful. There seems to be a sober warning, though‚ about these creatures. It's not a light matter, but at the same time, I know if I claim the keys and if I'm obeying the Lord‚ they can't do a thing to me. (End of vision.)
141. (Jesus speaking: ) As I have revealed to you before, the emissaries of Satan can often take on many forms. You see them disguised as the innocent, the inviting, the average member of society, and I show you that all that meets the eye is not as it appears. I show you what lies beneath, that you might walk circumspectly, that you might continue to raise your guards and walk in vigilance in these dark days. I reveal this to you, My friends, My brides and lovers, so you can watch and pray and not be ignorant of the Devil's devices, so that you will not enter into temptation as those in the world.
142. These repulsive, blood-red creatures you see transformed before your eyes are the Vandari, agents of the netherworld, who infiltrate the world population in the Last Days. (Note: Phonetically this is pronounced Van-DAR-ee, with the accent on the second syllable.) Look at the significance of the Vandari name in your human language. The "van" is derived from the word "vandals," the "dar" from the word "dark," the "i" spelling of the last syllable signifies "I," denoting self or selfishness.
143. The Vandari are out to destroy. They are out to suck the very life out of the living. These seek to snuff out both the physical as well as the spiritual lives of those who are not protected by My Spirit. They are hitchhikers who work through many vehicles—those who are ignorant of the truth, darkened in their understanding.
144. The Vandari latch on to their prey and seek to use them to oppose My truth. Be aware, My children. Be wise, not ignorant of the Enemy's devices. Walk in vigilance. I don't care to give undue importance to the dark workings of Lucifer, yet I am a true Husband Who warns His brides of danger so you can avoid it.
145. The Vandari are let loose upon the Earth. Their mission is to recruit those who will bow down and worship the son of perdition in the appointed day. Likewise, they seek to oppose My truth. Walk in wisdom toward all who are without‚ for the world is full of demons, sorcerers, and every foul bird.
146. You've seen rats, because these cohabitate with the Vandari. The Vandari populate and dwell in the sewer systems of the world‚ a fitting place in the physical world for such creatures. In the netherworld, they belong to some of the lowest strata and levels of the spirit world, where they dwell with the dregs of the spirit. They dwell in the darkness in these stinking tunnels and putrid bodies of water, where they seep up to the cities and civilizations of man above to do their dirty work.
147. You, My brides, have nothing to fear, but I call you to live in My Word and to do all things in the power of the keys of the Kingdom.
148. I'm giving you another piece of the puzzle, in order to help you open your eyes more to the spiritual warfare that rages. The Last Days are not far off. They have begun, this is why I keep revealing to you the things of the spirit, so you are aware‚ forewarned, and forearmed.
149. I show you this picture so you can avoid Satan's traps. I want you to open your eyes wide and see the truth about what goes on in the real world. I have revealed to you evil ones, against whom you must take a stand—those who oppose the children of David. I have revealed the identity of these evil demons who oppose you—Oplexicon, Lethargy, the evil Selvegion, Pan, Bacchus, Apotheon, and others—so you will not be ignorant of their devices and can fight to defeat them. Now I reveal to you the identity of the Vandari—not to overwhelm you, but so you can bind their power, as well as catch the full vision.
150. Like it or not‚ you are in a war of the worlds. No matter what personal choices you might make, this war is raging and will touch all the inhabitants of the Earth. The Last Days are playing out—it is inevitable. As the passageway narrows, the time quickly approaches when no neutrals will stand; all must choose to be either for Me or against Me. Those who are not strong in My Word will fall.
151. Time is running out; you must stand strong and be armed. The world has become the habitation of devils and of every foul spirit. The nations drink the cup of fornication.
152. My call to the children of David remains the same: Come out of the world! Do not touch the unclean thing. Do not partake of her sins. Do not give in to her delicacies. Do not let your guards down and leave yourselves open prey, to be washed away in the wave of iniquity that sweeps the world, but do all in your power to live in the Word. Do all in your power to advance in the use of the weapons I put in your hands. Do all in your power to win others, to salvage souls whose spirits cry out for salvation.
153. I pull back the veil and reveal more to you now, to strengthen your resolve as to the need to put on My mind and live in My Word. Along with revealing to you the identities of the wicked ones who fight you, I have spoken repeatedly to you of the need to work more closely with the spirit helpers I freely send to aid you.
154. I know your temptation to mull over these truths in your mind, to ponder, "Is it really so?" I know Satan tempts some with thoughts of wondering if this is all too bizarre. "Is this all too much? Are there so many who would fight such little ones as us? Do such strange and odd creatures truly exist? Do such powers really fight to oppose us?"
155. Yes, they do exist. Yes, they are determined to stop you. Even the children of the world at times catch glimpses of the truths of the spirit. Even in the wildest of fiction stories created by modern man and presented to the world through books and popular movies, you catch glimpses, albeit small, of the truth. Science fiction portrays stories of aliens infiltrating the Earth and taking on human form to work their wickedness, of heinous creatures bent on destroying the innocent and taking over the world. And these tales are a shadow of the truth, for these netherworld creatures are alien to you and seek to destroy you and to take over this world for their evil master, Satan.
156. The Devil promotes this, for it is one approach through which he tries to desensitize the masses, by familiarizing them to a degree with glimpses of his own monstrous cohorts. He tries to inoculate the masses to the workings of the spirit world through making it seem like a fantasy‚ like child's play, or a figment of the imagination. These books‚ movies, and things of the world do not show a true picture of the true things of the spirit, for the Enemy mixes a lot of lies with glimpses of the truth—but I show you true pictures through My Spirit.
157. I have revealed to you some of the Vandari regiment‚ evil lords of the netherworld, set on preparing the ignorant to worship the son of perdition. These of the Vandari are dark‚ malicious ones. They are bent on destroying what is pure; they seek to mar the truth.
158. Every dark demon who serves Satan is ultimately out to destroy you, My children, for you represent the greatest threat to their dark kingdom. These of the Vandari, however, target others who would then try to hurt or destroy you, or hinder your work in some way. They are hitchhikers. They cannot travel freely on their own, but they work through vessels who yield to darkness, through those who are ignorant of truth and darkened in their understanding. I show you this picture because the Vandari are many and they seek to work through your enemies—that through them they may hurt you.
159. You must rebuke and bind their power to work through those who want to bring you down. Rebuke the evil workings of the Vandari through your enemies, through those who have rejected My Words, and through those who hate My Words and have been a long time under their control.
160. The Vandari are dark ones, defiant, willful, and vicious; they are vandals of the spirit world, who seek to destroy. They are dark vandals of the backwards, upside-down world. Thus they are called Vandari.
161. I show you this picture that you might call on the keys and bind the evil working of the Vandari through your enemies. Rebuke them in the power of the keys‚ and bind their power!
162. Be wise and prayerful; acknowledge Me and acknowledge the keys in every way, so that I can keep you protected. Your constant protection is to stay so close to Me, in tune and in sync with Me, My Word, your spirit helpers‚ and the keys, so that I can see to it that there is not a moment concerning you that goes unguarded. Live in My Words moment by moment. Let the Word burn in your hearts, for this is the light that will carry you through to triumph. (End of message from Jesus.)
163. (Mama:) The Lord knows we need this information to combat our enemies' attempts to destroy the Family. We need to pray both against the Enemy using our detractors and apostates‚ as well as misguided officials, sensationalistic reporters, deluded lawyers or publishers, and against the specific evil spirits, the Vandari, that inspire these people's ungodly actions and stories. Use the keys and the key promises to pray against our enemies, and against these vile, disgusting vandals that live in the filthy, putrid sewers of the depths of the netherworld!
164. Here is more insight, which I pray will help to increase your vision for the need to really study and get well grounded in your foundation of faith through the Word.
165. (Jesus speaking: ) The Vandari, like all of your other spiritual enemies, cannot harm you or even come close when you are strong in My Word. That is your best defense against spiritual attacks, to be strong in My Word and My Spirit, for then you are well armed, well defended, you are one with Me and one with the keys‚ and you have access to their full power. The Enemy‚ being cunning, doesn't like to attack those he knows will give him a hefty blow in return; he looks for those who are weak.
166. These are the reasons for revealing the Vandari to you at this particular time:
167. You must pray against the Vandari influencing and working through your enemies and others in the world who can harm you. Simultaneously, you must strengthen yourselves in spirit through taking in My Word‚ so as to guard yourselves from falling prey to the Vandari, who also seek to work through those who are weak in the Word. Being strong in the Word gives you the conviction and strength to rebuke and bind the Vandari, and makes you a powerful and effective prayer warrior.
168. My Word is like repellent; the Vandari can't stand it, and you are no longer appealing to them when your spirit is liberally coated with it. To Me, they appear as mosquitoes. Yes, they are annoying and pestering and dangerous carriers of disease, but also easy to squash‚ and easy to stay free from, through the repellent of My Word. Through the power of the keys they are minimized from large, blood-dripping creatures into little mosquitoes—easy to squash and be rid of, if you are using the repellent of My Word and taking it in faithfully!
169. Do not fear, My brides. I reveal this to you not to scare or threaten you, or to make you live in fear, but rather to arm you against these attacks, to make you aware and able to defend yourself through My power—the power of the Word. It's very simple. As long as you are strong in My Word, they might try to fight you through your enemies, through those in the world that have become their prey, but they cannot touch you. (End of message from Jesus.)
170. (Mama: ) There's a lot said there about the Word. Please, use this next month to concentrate on the Word. Help the Lord turn these horrible demons into little pesky mosquitoes, nothing but tiny pests that can easily be swatted and destroyed!
171. Unfortunately, at times we need to talk about evil spirits and their powers. It's necessary so that we're aware of their identity and tactics, but it's not very inspiring. Of course, we also talk a lot about our spiritual weapons and the keys, which are far greater than any evil spiritual power!
172. So let's now dwell on the good, on our spirit helpers and those mighty forces that fight for us! When we asked the Lord who we had on our side to fight these evil ones, He had the following very inspiring response:
173. (Jesus speaking:) Legions, armies, archangels, powerful spirits, great bands of mighty ones‚ departed saints who are now vested with unprecedented power fight for the children of David! More than the number of grains of sand of all the seas the world over are the helpers of My children! All Heaven is at your command, and all Heaven stands ready to fight for you.
174. You know not what you ask, for you cannot comprehend in your carnal mind how great and powerful are the numbers of the heavenly armies who fight on your behalf. I have said that through the power of the keys, you command all My power. The power of the keys is more than a match for your foes, for the power of the keys far surpasses all power of those who oppose you. The keys of the Kingdom themselves are as your spirit helpers. Through the keys you have unlimited help, for the keys put the power in your hands that will defeat the foe and all demons who oppose you. There is no match for the keys, which are at your command.
175. Many, many, many more than you can number are your spiritual counterparts who are at your command through the power of the keys, to fight on your behalf. They are innumerable—many, many more in number than the ones who oppose you; likewise, their awesome strength is far beyond these puny peons of Satan.
176. There are times when I assign specific helpers to help you fight specific ones, but you must call on them. You must ask Me which of your helpers to call on when you have need. Search My Word, for I have made many helpers known to you.
177. Among the mightiest who help you are the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, who stand guard over My Family to protect, to come to your defense, and to command great armies of angels to aid you. Natalia leads you in praise, and through your voices raised in praise to Me, strong force fields of protection and power are raised around you.
178. So many are your spiritual counterparts who fight for you‚ My brides! But you must call, you must do your part to lean on them, call on them, work with them. You must work closer, hand in hand‚ with your helpers in the spirit. But you must call‚ you must ask. I have told you this often, but now that I reveal the identity of these who fight you, you must not fail to make this transition, to learn to work more hand in hand with the helpers I provide.
179. There is great danger if you don't call. If you don't command My power, then there is great threat to you‚ My children. Calling on the power begins with living in My Word, reading, absorbing, and applying My Word daily in your lives.
180. I give you Myself—I am the greatest of your spiritual counterparts and the mightiest opponent of these who try to oppose you! I give you My Word, the most powerful truth on Earth, the greatest power in all existence! I implore you, live in My Word! Read, absorb, apply, and become one with Me. Nothing can withstand Me, My Word, and the power of the keys‚ for We are one! (End of message from Jesus.)
181. (Mama: ) Thank You, sweet Love, precious Jesus! We thank You, Lord. We thank You for Your promises and Your awesome power embodied in Yourself, the Word and the keys of the Kingdom! We thank You that You've given us all the power of Heaven and dominion over Hell through the keys. That includes power over the Devil, Oplexicon, Apotheon, the Selvegion, Pan, Bacchus and the Vandari. We know we have nothing to fear as long as we stay close to You‚ strong in Your Word, and obedient to Your will. These evil demons can't come near us when we have the "repellent" of Your Word running strongly through us. Help us, dear Lover, to stay strong in the Word, very deeply immersed in it, reveling in it, loving it‚ drinking deeply of it!
182. We thank You that You're going to bring persecution eventually, because if You weren't, then we wouldn't be able to be strengthened, we wouldn't be able to fulfill Your plan as You want to fulfill it. So even though we don't like to have to go through persecution‚ we do praise You that Your will is going to be fulfilled and that once we get through all this we will be a strengthened and more powerful force for You.
183. Lord, You said, "Give praise in everything," and we do praise You for this too. As we lift our hearts to thank You for whatever You need to bring into our lives‚ we also ask You to take any fear away from anyone‚ Jesus.
184. You've promised that when the Enemy or our enemies come in like a flood, You lift up a standard against them through the keys, and cause their attacks to come to naught. You said the keys will settle you and keep you through every storm and from all evil. Jesus, we thank You for these promises.
185. You said the keys will protect you from those who speak with lying tongues, and will stop the mouths of those whose intent is to cause My brides harm. The power of the keys will calm the storm and still the waves of persecution and bad publicity.
186. You also said that fear and dread have no place in the keys‚ that we should call on their power and You will go before us to fight our battles and to bring us to victory.
187. So, darling Lover, we're claiming all these wonderful promises, and we know that as we do‚ You will bring them all to pass in our lives, and there's absolutely nothing that we have to fear or worry about. To the contrary, we can rejoice and be exceeding glad, because You are accomplishing Your will and You're going to bring us through even stronger, with more conviction‚ and more ready to do the great things that You have in store for us.
188. Jesus, we know that You have to help us go through this, so that we can come into the great power and glory of the Endtime events that You want to have us participate in. We can't go waltzing into the Endtime without being strengthened ahead of time, not having to fight. So thank You for these great promises and that we can do all things through You, and that there are no impossibilities to those who call on the power of the keys. You said that when we fight our enemies and those who persecute us by wielding the keys turned to swords, then You will dispel the Enemy's fury and vaporous fiction.
189. As we each in our own life continue to pray, we ask You to help us to claim these keys promises constantly and to make them a part of our lives, so that they will be constantly in our minds and hearts and thoughts, and they will dispel all the evil lies, fears, or fables of the Enemy.
190. Thank You, dear Jesus, that You've conquered all and that we have nothing to worry about. Things are only looking up, and it's a wonderful day of rejoicing for the things You have done and the things You have yet to do to make us into the victorious Endtime Bride and Church that You have promised that we will be—strengthened, powerful, glorious in Your sight, humble before You, and ready to do whatever You have called us to do.
191. Thank You, sweet, precious Love, wonderful Husband! We thank You and praise You‚ sweet Jesus, precious, precious Love. We give You all the honor and the glory! We thank You that You are with us and no evil can befall us. Thank You, sweet Jesus! Praise You Lord! Hallelujah!
ML #3458:5-130, GN 1043
5. (Mama:) I'm sure you've noticed and experienced personally that the Enemy is fighting us, and fighting harder than ever. He's trying to weaken you, destabilize you, water down your convictions‚ and stop you from being a disciple! He hates the work you're doing for the Lord—that you're winning souls, that you're making disciples of all nations. You, dear Family, are a hindrance to him and his world plan—and not just a hindrance, but a deadly threat to his regime—and he's trying to defeat you in any way possible. This isn't just my imagination; it's the truth! And if you value your service to the Lord and your position as His disciple and a radical follower of His truth, then I beg you to listen with open ears and hearts to the counsel I'm going to pass on to you.
6. The Enemy isn't just sitting in the corner idly twiddling his thumbs. He's waging all–out war for the hearts and souls of men. He's fighting the Family, and he's fighting you! He wants to defeat you, because in defeating you, he chips away at the Family. You're each a vital part of the Family, and your commitment‚ faith and sample are the Family's commitment‚ faith and sample. He wants to steal your faith, and he's going to great lengths in order to do so—through overindulgence in System music, movies, the Internet, novels and magazines, lukewarm churchy books, the media‚ TV, worldly propaganda and entertainment, etc., to name just a few of his tactics. Sadly, he's even using some of those who were formerly a part of us‚ those who have left us and have now chosen to actively fight us and our faith.
7. If you want to stand strong, if you want to be a disciple, if you want to go on for the Lord and protect your faith, then you're going to have to make a decision and take a stand! Your faith, your discipleship, and how much you're willing to cherish it, is a personal decision, and no one can make that decision for you. I'm sorry to say that some of you don't seem to value it much, or don't see clearly the things that are weakening your faith. You're not raising a standard against the attacks of the Enemy and the avenues he's using in your life to eat away at your faith. You think you're strong enough to handle it. But I want to tell you again plainly that these things—these compromises‚ these inroads of the world, these things that bring doubt and disbelief—will weaken your faith and will pull you away from the Lord, because that's the Enemy's plan through them.
8. You've got to ask yourself, "Do I value my service to the Lord? Do I treasure my place as a disciple in the Family? How much? Am I convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'm in the right place, giving my life to the right cause‚ and serving the right Boss?" If you answered yes to those questions, then for Heaven's sake, act like it! Stop being half-hearted! Wake up! Stop fooling around and acting like you're on a playground rather than a battleground, and start being a soldier! Realize that the Enemy is out to put a stop to your life for the Lord, your spiritual life. Start protecting your spirit! Start feeding your faith! Start preserving your place in His ranks! If your faith‚ your life for the Lord, and your service to Him is important enough to you, you'll do whatever it takes to remain called out and to keep yourself from being weakened. If you value your place as His disciple, then you'll fight to preserve it no matter what the cost.
9. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you are tired of hearing me tell you to resist worldly influences, to fight the Enemy's doubts and inroads into your life, to be cleansed and strengthened. You may not like to hear what may sound to some of you like "the same old challenge" once more—the challenge to become better disciples. You probably wonder, "Is Mama ever going to stop talking about the same old thing?" Well‚ I would love to stop talking about "the same old thing." I'd like to go on to bigger and greater victories and challenges. There's a reason I keep harping on these things, and that's because many still haven't gotten the point.
10. Dear Family, if you'd do what the Lord has been asking and go on the attack against the Enemy and his devices, then we could go on to new and exciting things for Jesus. But because there are still those who aren't obeying and moving forward and being cleansed, some who are still sitting on the fence indecisively, the Lord in His mercy keeps giving more chances. It's in His love that He continues putting forth challenges, asking us to take up the cross of discipleship even if it's a difficult cross to bear, because that's the only way we'll be what He needs us to be. We should be thankful that He's giving us yet another chance‚ another call to arms‚ and realize that this could possibly be the last one. He won't always strive with us and lovingly lead us along.
11. You've got to make some decisions, dear Family! You must take a good hard look at your life and determine where you stand. If your place of service and your commission as a child of David and a part of the Revolution for Jesus is worth anything at all to you, and if that's the choice you have made, then it's worth sacrificing for, it's worth defending, it's worth nurturing, and it's worth protecting at all costs! Don't think that the Enemy is going to let you live this high calling without fighting to take it away from you! He knows what you are worth and how important your service to the Lord is, even if you don't see it so clearly. That's why he fights you so hard, and why you should be driven to fight him all the harder in return!
13. The contact that many of you have had, and some of you continue to have, with the Enemy's lies via antagonistic ex-members—either in person, by letter or e-mail‚ or going on their websites and chat groups on the Internet—has been a part of your weakening. It has caused a deterioration of your faith and convictions, and has contributed to pulling you away from the Word and causing you to doubt. It's one of the Enemy's inroads to bring about compromise and to ultimately destroy the Lord's work. Sad to say‚ some of you just don't see it. You think you're strong enough and can drink it all in without being affected. But you who think you know better or who don't heed the Lord's counsel will continue to be weakened to the point of eventually forsaking your place of service and your crown.
14. I realize that not everyone has been in contact with antagonistic ex-members, but there are a great many of you who have‚ either personally or via others who have and who have passed on to you what they are saying. So if the shoe fits, wear it! Or if it doesn't fit, ask the Lord what other areas of your life you need to "pull up your socks" in and how your commitment to discipleship needs strengthening.
15. You must make a personal decision to not keep dabbling in the doubts, but to slam the door and realize with conviction what these things are all about, and that they're designed by the Enemy to destroy your faith. You can't continually open the door of your heart to the Enemy's garbage, because it will weaken you. You can't allow yourselves to be so blown about by what antagonistic ex-members are saying—even if they're your loved ones or friends. And if you're not sure if an ex-member you're in contact with falls into the category of an "antagonistic ex-member," ask the Lord. He knows.
16. Some of you certainly aren't "trying the spirits" to see if they be of God or not (1Jn.4:1). You're not asking Him personally about the things you see and read. Even after all that the Lord has explained about how vicious and malicious the Vandari demons are (ML #3420, GN 1007), some of you are still wallowing in the stuff that those who are influenced by the Vandari are spewing out. So how do you think you're going to be strengthened? If you continue on down this path, you're on your way out of the Lord's will and out of His service. You can't help but be weakened.
17. And if you're tempted to believe the apostates' words and advice over God's Word and the things Peter and I have said over the last few years in many different GNs—such as "None of These Things Move Me" (ML #3307, GN 906), "The Way Things Really Are in WS" (ML #3309, GN 910-911), and "Stay on the Wall" (ML #3303, GN 902)—then you'd be wise to ask the Lord why. If you are having a hard time believing His Word or certain specifics in His Word, then go to Him about it personally. If you're really serious about living for Jesus, then you've got to live His Word, because that's the basis of our faith. And how can you live His Word if you don't believe it? It's very important, folks!
18. Some of you tend to think, "What's the big deal? Why all the fuss about protecting my spirit? I'm strong enough to read others' doubts and not be affected!" Well, I've got news for you—you're not strong enough! And if you want to remain strong, if you don't want to be weakened, if you want to be a professional disciple, you've got to raise a standard against the Enemy's attacks in this way. His ultimate goal is to pull you away from the Lord's service and then tear you completely away from the Lord. That's what he's done with the apostates who are fighting us. He's convinced them to give up their faith and place of service, and now he's trying to use them to convince you to do the same.
19. (Jesus:) The agenda of the Enemy, and those who are following him most closely‚ is to stop My work. That has always been Satan's agenda. He has always been My arch-Enemy and will continue to be so, the opposite of everything I stand for, the opposer and destroyer of every work of My hand, of every plan I enact in the world, of every group of disciples on Earth that I have ever rallied together. He has fought Me since his fall, and because he cannot touch Me directly, he seeks to harm My work‚ My children‚ and foil My plans. This is his agenda. (End of message.)
21. (Mama:) This GN is not a verbal attack on the apostates. I'm not mad at them; I'm angry at the Devil, the one who's really behind it all. He deserves the blame, and I don't mind getting angry at him—and I do! It makes me boiling mad when I see him do his dirty work, and especially when it affects you in the Family‚ those I dearly love!
22. I also love the apostates, but unfortunately I can't show them that love now, except through my prayers. I'm so sorry for them—sorry that they've chosen the "husks" of the world, sorry because of what they're missing out on‚ both here and now on Earth and in the world to come. They'll never lose their salvation, of course, because their helmet is firmly attached, but they will miss out on much of the commendation, approval, blessings and rewards that would have been theirs had they held on and kept living full-time for Jesus.
23. So even though it's very sad what some are doing in fighting us, they're still a part of us, and they always will be—and of course they're going to get credit in Heaven for the many years of their lives they gave to Jesus and the fruit they bore for Him. They're still our brothers, sisters, friends‚ and "family." The truth is that any one of us could be where they are today‚ except for the Word and our connection with the Lord that keeps us and helps us to fight on.
24. The Enemy fights furiously to divide and conquer, to bring division‚ to stir up trouble. That's a known fact. He is anti-God, and against anyone who serves God, and that includes you. So it shouldn't surprise you or be news to you that his goal is to destroy faith, to destroy the Family, and to stop every person in it, from the oldest to the youngest, from serving the Lord, with any and all tactics he can employ. That's been his goal since the Garden of Eden. He's been trying to draw people, and even angels, away from the Lord so that he can fulfill his plan of setting up his kingdom on Earth. That's his agenda, and he hasn't let up over the years. In fact, he's become increasingly vicious and ruthless in his attacks, and in the end he'll even "make war with the saints!"
25. Those who are actively serving the Lord are always his prime targets and those he wants to persuade to give up their service and forsake their crown. And then once they're away from the Lord's service, he continues to influence their hearts and minds, and if they'll yield to him, he'll solicit their active help in hindering‚ harming, or trying to stop the rest of the Lord's children. That's what's happening now with the apostates' actions and attacks against the Family. The Enemy's using whatever means possible, even landing some pretty low blows, in order to try to stop our work for the Lord—or more specifically, stop you from serving the Lord and being a revolutionary disciple.
26. But that's not the end of his goal. He doesn't want to just stop you from serving the Lord. He wants you to completely reject the Lord and turn away from Him entirely. He doesn't want to just stop you from being an active Christian, he wants to stop you from being any kind of a Christian at all.
27. (Jesus: ) The Enemy's goal is not just to destroy the Family, to stop you from serving Me and reaching the world. He doesn't just want to take you away from the Family; that's not his final goal. He will start there, but his ultimate goal is to destroy your faith, and he'll eat away at it bit by bit. He doesn't just want you to stop serving Me. His end goal is to get you to reject Me and even hate Me. He doesn't even want you to be a Christian. That's his ultimate goal, to get you serving him instead of Me, and he is relentless.
28. You've got to recognize his attacks for what they are. He doesn't just want you to stop active service, but he wants to draw you completely away from Me, sap all of your faith, and render you ineffective as any kind of Christian. He'll try to steal away from your heart anything of value‚ and if he's allowed entrance, if you entertain his doubts and lies, and you aren't strong in the Word, then it's the beginning of the end for you. (End of message.)
29. (Mama:) I'm going to share with you a few examples of things that some of the apostates are saying so that you can see more clearly what the Lord just talked about in the above message. Now remember, I'm talking about apostates here—those who are actively fighting the Family. I'm not talking about every former member, as most former members don't fall into the category of apostates. Some of these apostates no longer even consider themselves Christians. They've lost all faith. They have become reprobate, vicious, hateful, bitter, and have even talked about violence against us in some cases. They're not just against the Family; they're anti–God and against all that He stands for‚ and the Enemy is trying to use them to attempt to destroy the Family, whose main and express mission is to win souls.
30. The results of a recent poll on a Web site for former Family members, tallying the votes of 135 participants, showed that only 29.63% still consider themselves Christians. 31.11% were agnostic, and 39.26% were atheist, Buddhist, pagan, undecided, or other.
(Excerpts from ex-members:)
I don't discard Christianity (and all religions for that matter) because of the Family. That would be too simplistic and irrational; truth and fact are not based on emotionalism. I reject religion because it is false, irrational and otiose. … We've heard enough of this rubbish and don't care to hear anymore.
I don't personally believe in religion, and as far as God goes‚ I'm an agnostic.
I just wonder why do some people feel it's a bad thing to reject religion? Is it really that bad that people decide that they will no longer believe in fables and questionable ancient writings found in the Bible and other religious books?
I turned from Christianity‚ which triggered so many unpleasant memories, to a more holistic and mystical type of spirituality. Instead of cracking my Bible, I read tarot cards.
A lot of ex–members are no longer Christians of any kind. Some are all-out atheists. Others are still deciding, and some don't care, and yet there's also those who still wake up and cross themselves before they take a smoke. … I don't care for or about religion of any sort and it's not in my train of thought. I'm not an atheist; I just couldn't care less for living a religious lifestyle … my opinion is that it's totally normal to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Now when I see a Bible, I throw it away! All it brings me is bad memories!
Prepare yourselves [the Family] for a future of fighting for your very survival as an organization. The tidal wave will grow. You will be washed away.
If I could, I would rid the world of all those that started and had any part in [the Family].
The Family is heading towards a full-on confrontation with their victimized generation. And if we have our way, we will bring the Family to its knees. … [Mama, Peter] and many others must (and hopefully will) be brought to task for their crimes.
31. (Mama:) That's just a small sampling of the words and attitudes of those who've drifted so far from the faith that they've discarded it in many cases‚ and have even turned to fight us in some cases. So when you hear things from folks like these, consider the source, and be sure to ask the Lord about it. Is it sowing love or hatred, peace or discontent, unity or division, reconciliation or bitterness? By their fruits you shall know them.
32. Most of the apostates' complaints and accusations are about things that they themselves admit were only done in the past. (Of course, you also have to realize that some accusations aren't true‚ and never happened at all, or the facts have been embellished and distorted.) But the Enemy is still using them to try to annihilate the Family of today and the work we're doing that no other missionary group is doing as enthusiastically‚ willingly, and effectively as we are.
33. In their bitterness they're trying to tear down God's work that's saving souls every day because something bad happened to them in the past, or they heard about something bad that happened to someone else. They keep repeating whatever happened to them or to others, and it grows and is enhanced and embellished each time, as the Enemy stokes the fire of their bitterness and they keep adding fuel to it. They spread their bitter tales, that are cleverly spun by the Enemy, and it doesn't matter to him what they say or what they spread—whether it's true or false—as long as it accomplishes his goal of hurting people's faith and making them doubt. The Enemy wants you in the Family to stop what you're doing, leave the Lord's work, quit winning souls, and ultimately turn your backs on Him completely.
34. I'd like to share with you a message from Dad about this very topic. He's earned his right to preach and shoot straight with us after his many years of faithful service to us on Earth, and now from Heaven, so please take it to heart‚ dear Family.
35. (Dad: ) I don't understand why any of you would even desire to read the lies of those who are fighting against the Family. A very few of you have to, because it's your work, but I pray you are being faithful to clean your hearts and spirits through the Word.
36. Do you think the Lord gave the Devil the time of day? Do you think He sat down and listened to all the Devil's lies, accusations, and the like? No! Give no place to the Devil! Those negative postings‚ letters, and e-mails from apostates are designed by the Devil to destroy your faith. So for you to be reading them, you are giving place to the Devil. You are deciding to give place to the Devil, and it is disobeying God's Word to do so.
37. Once you find out where the antagonistic ex–members are at—even if they are your friends or relatives—why even bother to burden your spirits with such depression, if these communications are nothing but garbage? Maybe you think you have to read this stuff because it's your friend or your brother or your sister. Well, if doing so is bearing bad fruit, I'd suggest you pray and ask the Lord about not reading it, or sending such communications to your shepherds to read first, and get the summary without having to read all the doubts and trash they contain.
38. Maybe that sounds drastic to some‚ but we're in a war! Would soldiers in war want to read letters from their enemies that would demoralize them and tear down their faith in their commander and their cause? Of course not! The Word says you are to love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you and despitefully use you. You are to pray for them and love them as the Lord loves them. That doesn't mean that you're to love them so much that you wade through everything they have to say, and give them your time and attention by drinking in everything wholesale—including their trash and doubts.
39. Give no place to the Devil! That should be the motto of our Family. We fight the Enemy; we don't listen to him and reason with him and sympathize with him. We fight him! We hate the Enemy! We hate the God-damned Devil. And when he is working through the apostates, that means whatever tactics the Enemy is using through them to get to you must be fought, resisted and rebuked. Pray for the apostates, but don't give the Enemy any place in your heart. (End of message.)
40. (Mama:) Remember, we are living in the time of the End, whether you see it and believe it or not‚ and Jesus predicted many years ago that at this time in history the Enemy would try to deceive even the "very elect" (Mat.24:4, 24). He's willing to go to any length, to stoop to any depth, to use anyone in his employ, in order to do so—even those who were once our brethren, friends and co-workers.
41. The bottom line is that the Enemy is trying to use them to destroy your faith. But even if I tell you this a hundred times, it won't do you any good unless you choose to believe it yourself, unless you get down to business with the Lord and ask Him to open your eyes to see things as He does. If you do, then no matter what doubts the Enemy throws your way and no matter what avenue it comes from, you're going to have the faith to stand on the Word, take it to the Lord, and then say, "I know the Family isn't perfect. I know we've made mistakes, and we're still making mistakes. I know we're still not living up to all that the Lord needs us to be and we fall short in many ways, but at least we're serving Jesus, winning souls, and doing the job! I know where I stand, and I'm firmly grounded in the Word, and none of these things others say will sway me or destabilize me."
42. Some of the antagonistic ex-members are right about some things and some situations, and they do have some reasonable arguments about how bad situations were in certain instances in the past—and even today they could make some pretty convincing statements about how spiritually weak some people are‚ those who aren't living up to the standard, etc. There are some things they can say that are correct, but there's a whole lot more they're saying that isn't correct.
43. So how do you know what's correct and what isn't? Well, the goal is not to try to figure out what accusation is right or wrong, or what percentage of it has some element of truth in it, and then if something someone says is right‚ say, "I guess I won't be able to live for the Lord anymore because he's right in what he's saying, and the Family really does have problems." That's a very immature way to operate. Some of you are so weak in the Word that if you hear something some antagonistic ex-member says that seems to really shake your faith, you swallow it hook, line and sinker. So what if they're right about some things! Of course the Family makes mistakes, and we'll continue to make mistakes—which we're sorry about, apologize for, and do our best to rectify and keep from happening again—but why should that make you stop serving the Lord?
44. Why should some idea, or some doubt, or some new bit of information—perhaps true, perhaps not—make you lose your faith? Is your faith that weak? If you're not really grounded and founded in the Word and you're looking to man more than to God, then your faith can be very easily shaken. It makes me wonder what your faith was built on in the first place or whether you had any solid convictions to begin with, if you're blown about with every wind of doctrine or every apostate tale.
45. Boy, I'll tell you, if I were you and had been in the Family and believed in its doctrines and goals for 15 or 20 or more years, I'd want to be dead sure that I was doing the right thing in throwing it all down the drain just because of thoughts put into my mind by the Enemy. It would only be smart and sensible to hear the other side as well, to ask the Lord my questions, to think things through‚ and get the right take on things, instead of just listening to a few people's opinions and making my decision based on that. "Where no counsel is, the people fall‚ but in the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Pro.11:14).
46. I've heard of some who have heard one thing from an ex-member and they've said, "That's it. When I heard that, I decided it was time to go." Well, obviously they'd already been weakened and thinking about leaving for a long time anyway, but still it's amazing how some of you can be so impulsive after hearing just one thing that totally shocks or destabilizes you. You don't think it out, you don't go to the Word, you don't ask the Lord, and you just think, "How could that bad thing have ever happened? And if it did happen, then I can't conscientiously stay in the Family."
47. If you're doing a work for the Lord and serving Him in a place that you believe is the most conducive to doing so‚ and if you have your convictions firm in that respect, then it behooves you to face the facts that you're probably just going to have to live with some of the mistakes or things that may have happened—or didn't happen‚ as the case may be—in the past. If you're doing the job you know the Lord has called you to, in the place you know is His will for you to do it, then you're just going to have to own up to the fact that nothing is ever going to be perfect!
48. You're going to stand before the Lord one day and give account for your life and service to Him, no matter what anyone else does or says. I don't think He's going to accept an excuse like, "Well, Lord, I know You led me to the best place on Earth to serve You (or I was born into it), and You gave me so much truth, but there were just too many problems and mistakes made by other people, and the organization wasn't perfect. I couldn't in all good conscience continue serving You, so I had to take a different road." I'm pretty sure that's not going to "cut the mustard" with the Lord or be a good enough excuse in His book!
49. Look at people in the world. There are millions who put up with problems and difficulties because they like their job or vocation and they feel called to it. And there are many more who put up with a whole slew of difficulties for no higher purpose or reason at all. You can't always have perfect working conditions or a perfect organization to work within. No organization is perfect—no church group, political group, commercial group, business, or what have you. And if you want to do the job of reaching the world and you know that's what you're supposed to do, then so what if the conditions aren't the greatest or if there are problems along the way! (2Tim.2:3). You endure problems and difficulties just by living on this Earth in the first place, because it's life no matter who you are! But thank the Lord that we in the Family have it a whole lot better than those in the world! And we're working to make the Family better all the time, solving the problems and overcoming the difficulties as they come up!
50. When we sent an advance copy of this Letter to some of our media spokespeople‚ Marc and Claire in the U.S., they sent us a confirmation of this point:
51. (Marc and Claire:) We were thankful for this line being drawn clearly for the Family. In our experience, many Family members seem to have a hard time discerning the difference between praying for and loving our apostates and reasoning with them when possible, while not allowing them to repeatedly unload their doubts, vindictiveness and hatred after their having received countless apologies for any hurts, real or imagined. We believe that line has to be drawn in the sand at some point, letting them know that we won't allow our beliefs to be denigrated or all that we hold dear to be attacked.
52. We often hear of situations where Family members take a defensive posture because of past mistakes or situations that maybe should have been stronger, better‚ more loving, etc., and once they take that stance, from that point on the apostate becomes "right" on every issue, and puts the Family member on the defensive. After reading this Letter we can see so clearly what an inroad of the Enemy that is, as the end of that road is the doctrine that unless the Family is perfect in all its ways and in every individual's life, it can't be a valid body of believers doing the Lord's work!
53. We have found that former members tend to set an incredibly high standard for the Family, basically impossible to attain, as much as we would like to, straining at gnats while they swallow the camel of the System and all of its injustice and corruption! Some expect nothing of the System or System churches, while setting an impossibly perfect utopian standard for the Family. Of course, this is the Enemy attempting to make Family members feel that unless we're perfect, our beliefs and way of life and uncompromising stance toward the System are not "valid" and are, in effect, wrong. Sure sounds like the Accuser of the Saints‚ with the same old bag of tricks—nothing new under the sun!
54. With this kind of mistaken perspective, every lack of love‚ every mistake, every wrongdoing is magnified 100-fold under a magnifying glass, while no mention is made of all the good‚ all that the Lord accomplishes and all the wonderful blessings we each partake of in giving our lives to Him. You can't help but wonder what "atrocity tales" apostates had to tell in the days of the early Christians when people were being thrown to the lions, literally dying for what they believed. We can't even begin to imagine how that level of discipleship today would be painted by detractors, how they would paint the believers as abusive extremists who were endangering the very lives of their children and converts by not compromising with the System of their day and being "just like everyone else."
55. We believe this counsel will be important and needed in differentiating between apologizing for any past hurts, expressing our love for our former members, but then requiring the same level of respect from them that they expect from us—that is, of not verbally attacking our beliefs or pushing any System-worshipping theology on our members, and particularly on our kids and young people. We respect their choices‚ so if we are to have a loving interaction, it has to be based on them respecting ours as well, which is really the foundation of any true friendship—mutual respect.
56. In our opinion, we shouldn't allow people to just walk all over everything we hold dear and say nothing, meanwhile only pouring out unconditional love, acceptance, forgiveness and kindness to them! Our calling is to "speak the truth in love," to "in meekness instruct those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the Devil, who are taken captive by him at his will" (2Timothy 2:25-26). We don't see how allowing people to rail on our beliefs without contending for the faith and speaking the truth in love can bear good fruit! It may keep them as our "friends" in the short term, but what kind of friends? (End of comments from Marc and Claire.)
57. (Mama:) Have conviction‚ and keep things in perspective. Ask yourself, "What am I doing with my life? What am I accomplishing? What's my job? What has the Lord called me to?" Get your convictions solid about those basics‚ and if this is the place you want to be to serve the Lord, the place that is most conducive to doing your best for Him and living your faith, then do it regardless of what people say or what went on in the past or how bad things are around you. Let's do the job for the Lord that He needs us to do! And if things are a bit rough, let's have a little patience to wait and give the Lord time to work things out. Don't throw everything away just because of the conditions around you, or things that others are saying from the outside, or even from the inside, or doubts that the Enemy is putting in your mind. These things are for the sole purpose of tearing you down and destroying your life of service for the Lord.
58. You see, you're not just winning souls, but you're winning people to the Lord's service—that means more people who are going to be a threat to the Enemy's plans. You're doing a great work for the Lord, and if you weren't doing it, many, many souls would not be won, and multitudes would not be fed—and, for the future, there are thousands who would not be led, instructed and helped to go on for the Lord in the midst of trial and tribulation.
59. You are doing an important job for the Lord that hardly anybody else is doing—at least not with the same intensity and with the amount of truth you've been given. While you don't see or consider yourselves that important, it's amazing what the Lord is doing with the Family all over the world. You may feel like it's just you in one little Home and think you're not accomplishing that much, but together all of our Homes make up a phenomenal force for the Lord, a great moving of His Spirit. When you read the testimonies in the FSMs, the Grapevines‚ the FARs, and the year-end report GNs, for example, it puts things in perspective and it's clear to see how the Lord is using you in monumental ways, even if you don't realize it most of the time.
60. Not only are you witnessing, but you have the power of the Lord. He's put His blessing on you because you are obeying Him, you have forsaken all to serve Him, and you are using the new weapons He's given you for the job. You've been yielded to accepting His new revelations and you have multiplied power as a result. All of this makes you a very effective force for the Lord throughout the world. You do tremendous things in the spirit for people, such as healing hearts and minds and spirits, that sometimes you don't even realize because you've become familiar with the Lord's miracles.
61. You often fail to realize the power and authority in the spirit that the Lord has given to you‚ but other people see it, and the Devil sure sees it and hates it. When it's multiplied thousands of times over by the work you're doing for Jesus all around the world and the souls you're winning for His Kingdom, it's very powerful—and it's going to grow more powerful all the time. The Enemy is even more scared about what's going to happen in the future than he is about what's happening now. It's not just your present work that he is so angry about, but your work for the future that he is trying to eradicate and wipe out. What you will be in the days to come is what he fears the most.
62. (Jesus:) The Enemy doesn't just hate your service to Me today. He hates your future service to Me. He knows what you will become, the Endtime powerhouses you will be in the days to come as you continue yielding and growing stronger in Me and in My Word today! It's not just the souls you're winning today and lives you're reaching today that sends him screaming, but his knowledge of the great defeat you will bring to his kingdom in the future, the great ruin to his plans, the thorn in his side that you will be to him in the days to come. That's why he wants to stop your service to Me today, so that you won't be an even greater threat to him in the future.
63. All of the things you go through today--all of your training, all of the battles‚ all of the instruction and insight and counsel and guidance I give—is not just for today, but it's for the future as well. It's not just to help you to be better witnesses and samples and soul winners today, but also My Endtime witnesses and samples and the reapers of the last great harvest.
64. The Enemy fears the future more than he fears the present. He knows that as you draw closer to Me‚ as you become more obedient to Me, as you live more in My Word and let My Word live in you, you grow more powerful in spirit, and thus I'm able to use you more. And in the End, when My disciples are highly trained and have been through much preparation of heart, mind and spirit, and are highly proficient in using the new weapons, you will be a strong and overwhelming threat to him.
65. You are a bother and annoyance to him today, because you're snatching souls out of his clutches and you're doing wonderful things all over the world for Me. But he knows that in the future his losses will be even greater and far surpass his losses today. Your power through Me and the new weapons will be stronger—stronger for the purpose of defeating him, setting the captives free, and winning the final battle.
66. Even in the near future, before the End comes, the Family of today will grow stronger and be a greater threat to him, simply through your greater obedience and dedication. As I purify and strengthen you‚ I will be able to use you even more mightily in the days to come. (End of message.)
67. (Mama: ) I know some of you don't like to look at situations as attacks of the Enemy, or blame problems on the Devil. After all, it's easy to think that if these active disgruntled former members, even if only a handful, are so determined to put a stop to the Family, then there must be something wrong with us or what we're doing. You wonder, "Can it really just be that the Enemy's using them?" You'd rather have some kind of logical‚ reasonable explanation. It's odd how sometimes the simplest answers are the hardest for you to accept‚ possibly because you've allowed your faith to weaken so drastically and no longer have the "faith of a little child" you once had (Mk.10:15).
68. I'm in the business of telling the truth, and the truth is that there is a spiritual warfare raging, and you're a part of it whether you like it or not. The spiritual affects the physical, and the physical affects the spiritual. There are forces for good and bad in both realms, and if you can't believe that—one of the most basic spiritual principles—then you'd better get serious with the Lord and ask Him to open your eyes and help you to see things in the spirit, as they really are, because in the physical‚ carnal realm, the Enemy is always right there to make things look very different, to convince you to see things from his perspective.
69. To have faith is a conscious choice, a vital one, but no one can make it for you, dear ones. You've got to choose the road of faith, keep the heavenly vision, stay connected to the Word, and fight to keep your spiritual eyes open so that you're aware of the supernatural realm and the battle that's raging. That's how you'll see things through the Lord's eyes‚ and remain strong and steadfast in Him!
70. (Jesus:) Faith is a gift of the spirit that many of you, sad to say, have all but lost. You've lost your childlike faith to believe, to receive, to grow, and to see things through My eyes. Many of you have chosen the logical, analytical‚ carnal, fleshly road‚ and you've been walking that path for so long that it's now very difficult for you to see things in the spirit. Many of you have become dull and familiar with the spiritual realm after hearing about it for many years, and now there is a great wave of those of you who have turned toward the road of your carnal mind, choosing the road of skepticism over faith.
71. Yes, you do believe in angels and demons, but you take it only so far and no further. You have a hard time believing the realm of the spirit actually affects the physical realm so powerfully. So because you don't believe that, you have a hard time accepting the revelations of demons, spirit helpers‚ and the like. Most of you are content to just look at the demons and angels as far-off beings who don't really affect life on Earth. It's sad, but true. This isn't the case with everyone, but it's quite a widespread mentality—the rejection of hearing things explained in spiritual terms and instead wanting to sort out in your own mind how it all makes sense. This lack of faith is prevalent in many areas of your lives, not just the rejection of the spiritual warfare.
72. It's precisely because the Enemy is fighting so hard, and you haven't raised a standard against him by strengthening your spirits with the Word, that you are lacking in faith, and because you don't really realize it, you are becoming prey to his devices. The spiritual warfare has intensified and the ante has been upped, and My Words and truth do need to be explained more clearly now than ever before‚ because the Enemy fights it harder than ever. But oh, how I wish that you, My children, would return to the simplicity of My Spirit, to the faith of little babes sucking to receive My Words!
73. Many of you have faith that goes only so far and no further. Your faith is conditional. That's why so many of you are swayed and stumbled by the lies of the Enemy—your faith is weak. You have conditional faith that believes what it wants to believe and rejects what it doesn't understand or doesn't want to accept.
74. You must see things in the spirit! You've got to choose to see things with the eyes of faith, because there's so much that can never be explained in carnal or fleshly terms. There's so much about the dynamics of the spirit, My spiritual gifts, and the workings of the world of the spirit that you will never understand with your human mind, and which will never make sense to the scoffer, the doubter, or the unbeliever. But that's where faith comes in—faith of a little child, faith as a grain of mustard seed, faith that can move mountains, faith that transforms you and gives you understanding.
75. To choose the road of faith is a choice you have to make! It's a choice no one else can make for you! But it's a vital choice, because when you lose your faith, then you have lost everything‚ and you're in danger of becoming alienated from My Spirit. (End of message.)
76. (Mama: ) As we all know so well, or should know, faith comes by reading the Word (Rom.10:17)! Faith is a byproduct of the Word, and something we have to feed by faithful study of it.
77. That's one of the reasons why the Lord said in the Feast 2003 Letter "What Is Jesus Worth to You": "Those who don't live in the Word will suffer more outstanding consequences and the results of their disobedience will be more shocking. And those who appear to want the Word, yet carelessly allow it to be crowded out of their daily lives‚ will also suffer greater consequences than in the past. The effects of their neglect will be seen; it will be more obvious" (ML #3433:60, GN 1016).
78. He's saying that in the future it will become clearer who is obeying His Word and living it and who isn't, and the effects will be more obvious. And one of the results of neglecting the Word is that those who aren't receiving and living the Word will fall away, and those who are strong in the Word will remain. Which will you be? Where do you stand?
79. (Jesus:) No matter how grand your intentions, no matter how enthusiastic you are about serving Me and doing great works in My Name, no matter how much you want to remain strong and unswayed by the attacks of the Enemy in your life, this will never be enough if you're not connected to Me and strong in My Word!
80. Faith—the faith that keeps your spirit strong, the faith that helps you to see things through My eyes, the faith that keeps you forging on for Me—is only found through faithful study of My Word. You've got to read it, absorb it, drink it in, and let it change you and strengthen you. Otherwise you'll continue to weaken, and the Enemy will continue fighting you until he's rendered you totally useless and you'll fizzle out and fade into oblivion.
81. No one is strong enough to stand on their own without the Word. Without that strong standard in your life, without the ballast that keeps you stable, you will be blown about with every wind of doctrine and your faith will crumble. That's a fact! Faith is built by faithful study of My Word, and that's the truth! Faith is not automatic; it must be fed and nurtured through the Word.
82. If you know you're weak in the Word, don't take that as a defeat. Look at it as a challenge, because it's not too late to make a renewed commitment to strengthen your faith. It's your life and your service to Me at stake here and that you're in jeopardy of losing, if you don't decide to reestablish your connection with the Word. You need it desperately, and you can be strengthened if you desire it with all of your heart.
83. Cry out to Me in desperation of heart and humility! Tell Me that you crave and need a renewed hunger for My Word in order to survive. Do whatever it takes to strengthen your lifeline to the Word: Reread the Feast Letters, use the keys to claim a renewed hunger for the Word, ask for united prayer‚ hear from Me in prophecy, pray a "whatever it takes" prayer, rebuke Obstacon and any other demons that are hindering you, and delve deep into the wells of My Spirit and be fed from My hand.
84. And don't go by your feelings either‚ because if you are obeying‚ even if you don't feel the results immediately, then you will be blessed—and some of the direct blessings will come in the form of strength to your spirit and a stronger force field to protect you from the Enemy's attacks, even if you don't feel it in the physical.
85. The Enemy will do all within his power to cause you to feel like the Word isn't doing you any good, and to tell you you're too weakened and that a decision to be strengthened at this point would be a waste of time and energy. But don't listen to him! Rebuke him in the power of the keys, and his wiles and lies and doubts and fears will be obliterated.
86. Now is the time! It is possible to be strengthened, even if you are severely weakened in spirit‚ and you will be strengthened if you choose to be. (End of message.)
87. (Mama: ) A lot of the apostates' accusations are related to things in the past—bad things that happened, restrictive guidelines, etc. They say, "Such-and-such happened to me while I was in the Family, and that's why I had to leave." While Peter and I are the first to admit that there were mistakes made in the past, and we're very sorry for those who were hurt or affected negatively‚ and we've made this abundantly clear in many past publications, there comes a time when we each have to personally make the decision to go on for the Lord, to choose to serve Him‚ and to not get caught up in bitterness about the past.
88. The Family is a growing, changing movement, and as such it has gone through many phases‚ revolutions, and even difficulties. That's because we're a movement in the making, disciples in training, and our Husband is preparing us for what lies ahead. The Family of today is a very different Family than that of yesterday, and that's because we continue to change, progress, adapt‚ and follow where the Lord leads us. He's got to bring us through experiences, periods, times, and even battles, to test us, mature us, and strengthen us. We should focus on the good things from the past and not forever dwell on what went wrong or what mistakes were made. The good far outweighed the bad, even in the cases of those who did suffer from mistakes or problems. We've grown as a result of difficulties and have changed things that needed changing, and we'll continue to do so.
89. The antagonistic ex-members go on and on about all the things about their past that were wrong or the ways they were mistreated, but there are many in the Family today who went through the same kind of rough experiences, but they held on and they're still fighting. The point is‚ folks‚ that it's not your circumstances that determine your happiness; it's your state of mind.
90. Look at the Devil—Lucifer. He was once God's right-hand man, the light bearer. He lived in the most perfect place in the universe‚ was next to Jesus Himself, and had everything that he could have ever wanted—a perfect environment, a perfect place to grow and learn and create, much acclaim‚ responsibility, authority, and everything he could have ever wanted. He had the most ideal circumstances you could ever imagine, but despite all this perfection, he still turned his back on it all. He left Heaven because of pride and independence, because he wanted to be the most powerful‚ he wanted things his way, and he wanted to be the boss.
91. And ever since‚ he's lied about the One Who was the most perfect Man ever to walk the Earth, our loving Husband and Savior Who made the ultimate sacrifice in dying to save us. Satan has lied about Him, fought Him, put millions and millions of doubts in people's minds about Him and His Home in Heaven and His world and the way He does things. But why did he do that? Was it that he was mistreated, misused, put down, talked badly about, or dealt with unlovingly? No. There was no basis for him to have any complaints whatsoever, but he still did.
92. It was because pride and bitterness entered into his heart and he no longer looked back on his life in Heaven as the beautiful gift it was, the rich heritage it was, the Home of Love it was, with the greatest King of Love. Even with the perfect conditions he was blessed to live with, he still threw it all away, and through pride and bitterness could no longer see any good in his past, and ever since his whole purpose for existence has been to try to tear down what he once cherished and loved.
93. He had the best life anyone could hope to have‚ but he threw it all away because of pride. And now for centuries and centuries he has been trying to discredit his former life and make it look like something very horrible—questioning God's motives and ways of doing things, trying to convince people that there is no Heaven or spiritual realm, fighting the Word, etc. And that's what some of our ex-members are doing as well. When they look back on the good and happy times, all they can see is the bad and the negative. It's a change in perspective.
94. (Jesus:) Lucifer is a clear example of the spiritual principle that pride, bitterness, doubt and other sins are not automatic byproducts of a bad situation, of negative things happening in your life, or of rough circumstances. Even rejection of My Spirit is not something that is caused by circumstances. It's the result of choices—choosing not to yield, choosing your own way over My way‚ choosing to disobey a little here and a little there until you've drifted farther and farther away from My Spirit.
95. That's what Lucifer did: He chose the wrong way—the way of pride, the way of self, the way of independence, the way of glory, the way of destruction. No one made that choice for him, and there were no reasons that compelled him to rebel. In fact, there was no excuse. His circumstances gave him cause to praise and thank Me‚ because he was highly honored in Heaven‚ as My right-hand assistant and light bearer. But pride overcame him, and he forsook his place at My side and instead chose the road of opposition to Me‚ My truth‚ My Word, and My world.
96. He has chosen to walk the anti-God, anti-Heaven, anti-love road. He is the opposite of everything I stand for and promote. He attacks My Word. He fights My principles, and he hinders My children. He disdains everything that I have created—from the smallest creation of My hand in nature to the intricacies of the human souls I breathe life into. He is pro-war and anti-life. He promotes doubt when I embody faith. He brings grief and heartache where I bring joy and happiness. He is proud, when I am humble. Anything that is from My hand‚ that is a part of My Spirit, he is against and actively fights.
97. He has chosen to turn his back on all that was good, on his perfect living conditions and his privileged job by My side, and has instead chosen the road that leads to destruction, wanting to bring along with him as many as he possibly can. He doesn't care for the hearts and souls of those he has in his clutches; he uses them only to his end, toward his crafty and wicked plans—and it's all to get back at Me and his once–beloved Home. He has rejected the truth and is in strong delusion, as strongly deluded as a man or spirit could ever be.
98. So you see‚ My children, even Lucifer, who had everything he could have ever wanted and lived in sheer perfection, threw it all away in his pride. And the life he had once lived, a blessed existence that was once beautiful and lovely and wonderful, morphed in his mind into something horrible, evil, and worthy of being destroyed. It wasn't that he had a bad life or that he had reason to turn on Me and his former life in Heaven. It was simply that he chose the low road. He chose rejection of truth and embraced the darkness‚ and ever since has been trying to convince men to love that same darkness rather than the beautiful light and love of My Spirit, truth, Word, and all of My fruits and blessings.
99. Because Lucifer was very elevated in the hierarchy of Heaven, he had a lot of influence. Spirits and angels looked up to him and respected him. He represented Me and My Father to the hosts of Heaven, and thus it caused quite a stumbling when he, in his pride‚ rejected the truth. It's much like it is for you in the Family as well, when those who were leaders, or very respected, turn away from the faith‚ and it causes a stumbling for the sheep. This is how it was in Heaven when Lucifer made his wrong choices; it was a big time of decision, and he influenced many with his doubts and lies.
100. He was able to use the most subtle and deadly, yet also most believable, lies—things about Me and My Father and the inner workings of the leadership of the spirit world. He said things to the spirits and angels such as, "You think you know Jesus, but I have seen things that you never saw." He used the trick of telling them that he had the inside scoop on the workings of the running of Heaven and Earth, and that if the angels and those in Heaven really knew how things were, if they really knew the "truth," then they wouldn't want to be a part of it.
101. Unfortunately, many chose his way and believed his lies—a third of My angels. But I allowed it, however, to test and try them, and it purged and strengthened the heavenly hosts. Those who have remained have been strengthened as a result, and continue to grow stronger all the time.
102. Sadly, some of My children in the Family—both the first and the second generations—who have lived near-ideal lives with so many blessings from My hand, have chosen to walk away and forsake the life they once lived close by My side. Their lives were never perfect, but I cared for them and protected them and nurtured them in the way that I knew was best, and those who loved them did the same. I shielded them from many of the problems of the world, and they led what many would call a "charmed life"—filled with love, joy‚ care, sincerity, trust, and truth.
103. But many have gone away and now look back on what was once a happy life—not a perfect one, but a happy one—and see everything so differently. Their perspective is warped and their view is tainted. In the place of many happy memories‚ there's only sadness and bitterness. In the place of the good, the bad is now all that is visible. But it's not that everything was bad or evil, or that their lives were filled with horrible memories. It arises from their perspective, the way their views have changed, and how they now see things differently as a result of the choices they have made.
104. The way they see things today is not determined and judged by the reality as they once knew it, but by the yardstick of their feelings today, which are so different due to the choices they have made and how their perspective has changed drastically as a result of the path they have chosen. (End of message.)
105. (Mama: ) Some of our ex-members did suffer. It's true. When I hear some of the things that happened to some people in the past, and how some were treated without respect, dignity, love and understanding‚ and how some shepherds abused their power and misunderstood people and did things contrary to the Lord's way, it's very sad, and Peter and I are very sorry these things happened. But on the other hand, you have to look at both sides of the picture and realize that most of our ex-members did have good lives, and were treated with love‚ respect and understanding. It's just that now some have chosen to see things very differently.
106. I recently heard of an ex-member who was complaining that she grew up learning to trust people in the Family, and that now she's disadvantaged because she can't trust anyone out in the System. Living in an atmosphere where there's love and trust is a beautiful thing, but now she looks back on her upbringing in the Family and feels it was negligent that she wasn't taught to be skeptical and suspicious of others! That would almost be comical if it wasn't so sad.
107. Our children in the Family had an awful lot of love lavished upon them when growing up. Sure, they had a lot of problems and trials, just as all children do, whether in or out of the Family. There's no child that doesn't have problems and battles. That's because that's the way the Lord has ordained it, and that's life. But many, many of the children in the Family had a very wonderful heritage and upbringing, and love-filled lives—not problem-free, of course, but if they'd been in the System their problems would have been a lot worse.
108. So it's very sad to see some of our ex-members who‚ while still in the Family would have admitted that they were very happy, are now so antagonistic and bitter. Their story has changed about their life as a whole, to the point that they're not able to be happy about anything anymore and they complain about everything. For some of them, there's not one good thing left for them to talk about that has to do with the Family. That's not even realistic or logical. Even people who have had horrible lives in the System have at least some happy memories and sweet times to remember. So when folks don't have anything good to say about that long a period of time in their lives, then it's time to look at it again and see what they're missing and how true their accounts are.
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Academic perspectives regarding ways people can perceive their past—"private mythologies?"
There are things about memory you should know. There is ample evidence that memories are often inaccurate ... parts are forgotten, parts are added‚ memory segments from different times are all mixed up, memories are simply distorted to meet our own emotional needs, parts are often changed to make us look good and innocent, and so on. In short, memories can't be entirely trusted, at least not to the extent that we should allow them‚ without questioning and/or confirmation, to be used to make our lives miserable. Memories may not reflect what actually happened … and certainly our assumptions about other people's motives and intentions in our memories are often wrong.
Of course‚ human memories are an amazing phenomena. But, at the same time, careful study should convince us that memories are seldom if ever the total truth—there are idiosyncratic distortions and omissions.… Our memories may be our most available and direct view of the past, but it could be healthy to recognize that we are seeing our past through a murky, dark, wavy glass. The total picture is almost never available to us.
It might be helpful to find out if others who were there have the same memories. These efforts to corroborate our memories often leads to discovering that others familiar with your history have somewhat different interpretations or impressions—different opinions. Sometimes the memories of others are quite different from ours. In many situations, the consideration of other views could be realistic and healthy. Even the reduction of our certainty of what happened and why it happened might be useful in our search for insight and understanding.—From the book Psychological Self-Help (Mental Health Net, 1996), by Dr. Clay Tucker–Ladd‚ chair of the Psychology Department at Eastern Illinois University from 1974 to 1980.
*
Apostate accounts are essentially autobiographies, and autobiographies are never perfect works of nonfiction. While we may recoil from the sentiment so starkly expressed by George Bernard Shaw in his own autobiography—"All autobiographies are lies. I do not mean unconscious, unintentional lies: I mean deliberate lies" (1969, p.1)—there is no denying the fact that autobiographies consist of highly selective, idealized accounts of the lives of the people who write them. For the narrative theorist, it could be no other way: "When someone tells you his life ... it is always a cognitive achievement rather than a through-the-clear-crystal recital of something univocally given. In the end, it is a narrative achievement." (Bruner 1987, p.13).
This characterization applies doubly to apostate narratives, which are shaped by something more than just authorial vanity or constructionist endeavors. Beyond the authors' basic concerns that the tales told of them coincide with what Adams (1990) calls their "private mythologies," the autobiographical elements of apostate narratives are further shaped by a concern that the targeted religious groups be painted in the worst possible light. In this respect, every apostate account—even the tamest among them—strives to slacken the lines that tie it to its moorings in "real" biographical history. The only question is, just how much slack can they give themselves?—From the book The Politics of Religious Apostasy—The Apostates Who Never Were, p.118, by Daniel Carter Johnson, Praeger Publishers, Connecticut; 1998.
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109. There are many of you in the Family today who went through just as difficult times, trials, and battles as the folks who are out of the Family now and complaining so vocally about their past, broadcasting that things they went through in the Family ruined their lives and they should receive compensation for it, etc., and are extremely bitter. But you who are still in the Family are happy, well-adjusted, loving individuals who are going on for the Lord and are thankful for the things you went through, because they helped to make you what you are today. It wasn't easy, but because of your attitudes, because you saw the Lord's hand in the battles and problems, the Romans 8:28 in tough times, you've pulled through.
110. Even though people have gone through things that weren't right‚ things that shouldn't have happened in the first place and weren't good, the Lord has the amazing ability to take things that are bad and shouldn't have even happened and turn them around and actually make something so good out of them that we can say, "Thank You, Jesus, that they did happen, because it taught me, trained me‚ strengthened me, and gave me greater understanding and more compassion on others." That's the miracle of Romans 8:28! It is a miracle‚ a very big miracle. But it transforms you when you accept things that come into your life and you say, "Lord, I know that You allowed these things in my life. You care about me so much that You wouldn't allow anything in my life that wouldn't be good for me in some way in the end, and that You can help me turn into something good for my growth and my blessing."
111. It boils down to your attitude and your faith. It's how you take things and what you make of them. Everybody in the world, whether in or out of the Family, is going to have tough things happen to them, and even bad things, or things other people shouldn't have done to them‚ but it's an individual choice whether you allow those difficulties to make you better or bitter. The Lord can use those things in your life‚ if you let Him! And many of you have, because you're still fighting and living for Jesus!
112. You've got to remember that problems aren't caused by being in the Family. Problems happen simply because you're alive. That's what happens in life; there are problems. That's what happens to everyone, whether you're a child or an adult, a male or a female, a Christian or an atheist; there are battles in life. In everyone's life there are going to be battles, trials, and difficult things, or else we wouldn't build any strength of character. The Lord makes sure that in everybody's life there are rough patches; you can't expect to go through life without having difficulties and battles and trials.
113. The brass-tacks truth is that it's not the circumstances that determine your state; it's your attitude toward them. You become bitter and resentful when you leave the Lord and the Word out of your life, when you fail to see the Romans 8:28 in a situation. Many of you in the Family have gone through super difficult trials and battles, and you've risen above, and the Lord has made you better instead of bitter. That's the difference.
114. It's easy to wish that we as a Family would be perfect in every way, that our whole structure would be ideal with no glitches or mistakes, that we wouldn't have problems in Homes and areas, and we'd have the solution to every problem. Aside from the fact that it's unrealistic to expect such a problem-free life, where's the challenge in that? We'd then become a movement, a church‚ a group that would not only be stagnant and unmotivated to change‚ but also a group of people who wouldn't have what it takes to understand others and to help them through their problems and difficulties, thus bringing them salvation—which, after all, is the whole purpose of our existence.
115. We should be thankful for the changes the Lord has brought us through and the faith-testing eras of our history, even though some have been difficult. Such experiences are the things that mature, strengthen and help us—both as individuals and as a missionary movement. I pray desperately that we'll continue to have that spirit of change, improvement, progression, and strengthening our foundation through the battles.
118. Peter's and my faith, discipleship, and decisions won't be influenced by how many others believe as we do and want to serve the Lord alongside us‚ believing and obeying the full meat of the Word. We put all of our time and effort and prayer every day toward serving you, and we are here because we are convinced of our place of service to you and our faith, and by God's grace we won't let any of the Enemy's attacks—directly or indirectly through antagonistic ex-members—dissuade us. I pray that you each have the same commitment, know where you stand, and have your feet firmly grounded in the Word, the stabilizing force of our faith and the only trustworthy support. Those are the kind of people who make the Family strong and able to withstand whatever storms come our way.
119. If you're tempted to think you're too weak and wonder if you should just give up, if you feel like there's no hope, please give the Lord another chance. Realize how much you'd be giving away if you just gave up, and fight for change and renewal. Remember that, "What you weren't able to do before is now possible through the power of the keys!" That's what the keys are for: To help you to fight and make it!
120. The Lord puts all His power on your side and He's willing to do anything at all—whatever it takes to help you make it—so it's just up to you and your will, and the decision is yours. Anybody who wants to badly enough can make it! You don't have to throw away everything the Lord's invested in you and go back to the beggarly elements of the world. You can go forward and far with Jesus and be one of His miracle workers in the End!
121. No matter how weak you feel, dear Family, there is great hope, as our loving Husband explains in this next message.
122. (Jesus:) If you feel weak, if you feel like you've been a lousy soldier and disciple, don't give up! Don't throw in the towel! Don't let all you've been through up until now trickle down the drain. There is hope, and you can make it if you want to badly enough. If you're willing to give Me everything—your whole heart, your desires‚ wants, plans, sins, treasures, loved ones, and all that you possess—you will be strengthened.
123. Even if you've just been drifting along, not really getting anywhere‚ or even if you've been drifting backward in your commitments to Me‚ you're not too far gone to be helped by My power. The keys of change are available to you. Please don't look at yourself and your failings and say, "Well, maybe I was never meant to be a soldier after all. Maybe I'm not discipleship material. Maybe I'm a square peg in a round hole and I just can't make it."
124. There's a place for you in My ranks, a place for you in My army‚ and a treasured anointing and crown of glory for you, if you'll reach out for it with all your heart‚ might, soul, strength and willpower. It's not going to flutter into your lap like a feather; it's going to take real guts and determination to fight for—and you're going to have to fight hard and with every ounce of strength you possess. But if you desire to move forward with Me, if you desire My Words and truth, and if you want to be strengthened so that you can be the man or woman I need you to be‚ then you will be. It's guaranteed.
125. The keys of change and newness of life are powerful enough to reach into the heart of anyone, no matter how far you have strayed, no matter how weak you feel, no matter how many weaknesses of the flesh or worldly ways are holding you back. Change will come and the strengthening of your spirit will become a reality if you're willing to give Me your all, if you want the treasures of My Spirit and your privileged place of service badly enough.
126. There's nothing in Heaven, Earth or Hell stopping you, not even the Enemy's dirty tricks, or his voice when he tells you it can't be done. He can't defeat you unless you believe him, entertain his doubts and lies, and give in to his false reality. The keys will conquer all impossibilities and empower you with forward movement, if you cling to them tightly enough.
127. That's what the keys of the Kingdom are for—to bring change and victories. They're not just pretty ornaments or cool spiritual weapons to talk about. They're real‚ alive, vibrant‚ and ready to show their full power on your behalf if you will put your faith in them.
128. Even if you don't know what to do or how to change, just say, "Lord, I'm a mess. I can't do anything without You. I'm weak and not even fit to be Your soldier or disciple, but I want to serve You with all my heart and I'm willing to pay any price. Even if I have to forsake some things that are very dear to me, or things I think I need in order to be happy, or things I don't fully understand the need to give up, I'm willing to do it because You are asking it of me, because You know what's best, and my place in Your service and my life for You is worth paying any price for.
129. "I don't understand everything right now, Jesus, because I'm weak in the Word and lacking in faith, but I do know I want to take a stand and make my calling and election sure. So I claim the keys of change that You have promised will work miracles for me. I need a miracle, Lord—a miracle of deliverance, change, newness, and strength to rededicate myself to You. I know I can't do it on my own, so I'm trusting You to help me make it. I want this badly, Jesus. I want this so badly that I'm willing to pay any price."
130. If you can pray this and are willing to take the steps I show you‚ then you will see miracles and forward progress. There is no doubt about it. No matter how lost you are, no matter how far you've strayed, no matter how wayward you've been or how you've allowed your faith to be weakened, you can make it, and you will make it if your heart, mind, soul, body and will is on My side. I specialize in replacing the old with the new, transforming the weak into the strong, and bringing change and renewal to every heart that cries out to Me! (End of message.)
ML #3459:6-8, 10-55‚ 114-125‚ 216-233, GN 1044
6. (Mama:) There's a huge range of attitudes and relationships among our children and loved ones who have left. Some are bitter‚ angry, and vindictive. Others are unhappy and struggling. Others are indifferent toward the Family‚ or fairly content in their new lifestyle. Others remain very hungry for the Word, counsel, love and fellowship.
7. I don't like to dwell on the negative, but this GN is going to focus mainly on your relationship with those who have bitterness or grudges against you or against the Family, or who even go further than that and are actively working against us. But before we get into that, let me say that there are many former members who don't fall into that category at all. In fact, in comparison to the many thousands of former members, just a very small but very vocal minority fall into that category.
8. We have many former members who still appreciate our love and communication, and do their best to stay positive and dwell on the things we have in common. We are proud of them, and urge you to help and encourage and support and feed them spiritually in whatever ways the Lord shows you are appropriate in your situation.
10. However, in this GN we're going to talk more about the subject of our young people—children and loved ones—who have left and are antagonistic, negative‚ and want you to know about it. I'm sorry we have to talk about this topic‚ but as I said earlier, the Lord has solutions He wants to give us. He doesn't want us to be estranged from them, and He doesn't want walls of bitterness or hurt to exist between us. Of course, all we can do is our part, and they also have to do theirs. But the Lord gives counsel in this GN that I think will help to put things in perspective for many of you, so that you can be doing your part—both of loving and forgiving and communicating wisely, as well as staying on the wall of your high calling and not being pulled down by the guilt, condemnation or discouragement that the Enemy would like to place upon you.
11. That's the way the Enemy would love to use these difficulties the most. If he can't weaken your faith or cause you to give up serving the Lord, he would like to make the burden of guilt and condemnation and discouragement so heavy that it completely snuffs out your joy and your faith, and pretty soon you won't be able to carry on with the same strength and determination.
12. If he can get you listening to everything that those who have left and are bitter say, and get you to take it personally‚ accepting the blame and guilt he wants you to feel and dwelling on it—which is easy to do if they're your children or loved ones and you feel responsible for what they went through or are going through—then it destroys your faith to continue on for the Lord. You'll wind up feeling like a failure, and that train of thought will continue until your faith to keep on serving the Lord, putting Him first and following His lead even when it means sacrifices, will be completely destroyed, kaput, nil!
13. I'm not saying that there's no element of truth in what those who have left and are bitter say. I know that we have all made mistakes—there isn't a parent on this Earth who hasn't made mistakes in the rearing of their children. And some of those mistakes did affect some kids negatively, which is very sad. I'm not minimizing that. We have apologized many times for the mistakes that we made as leadership in the Family, when we didn't put in place good safeguards and rules or emphasize more of a balance to some of the extremes that people tended to. We are genuinely sorry. And I'm sure that there are personal mistakes that you as a parent or loved one made which were also hurtful, and you should be willing to apologize for those and do what is necessary to make things right again.
14. But you have to go to the Lord to find out what those were. Not everything that a young person wishes was different about his or her childhood is necessarily a mistake on your part. And especially once people become bitter, their recollection of the past becomes very different and is sometimes distorted. So that's where you have to go to the Lord and let Him sort out for you what things could or should have been done better‚ what things you should apologize for, and what things are just lies of the Enemy, distortions of the truth, and the voice of bitterness speaking. Our Husband and Good Shepherd will then also be able to encourage you and show you how to rectify things, what you can do to make the situation better, or what steps you can take toward helping your child or friend to find closure, so that they can move on with their life and find something that will make them happy.
15. Please remember that we in the Family are not the only ones who have rifts with our children, or who have people leave their group and become bitter. We're not the only parents whose children wish they had been born into a different situation. But who in the world gets to choose what situation they're born into? I'm sure that many of the poor children in India or Africa wish they had been born into rich families in the U.S. or the western world. I'm sure that those born to military parents who have to travel and live in places they don't like wish that they had been born to some more settled and stable profession. And there are thousands upon thousands of other missionaries of all different faiths and religions who have also chosen to raise families in the ministry they have given their lives to, and some of their kids come to dislike it as well.
16. The life of a missionary isn't for everyone. And especially in a group like ours, which academics call a "high commitment" group, there will be people who wind up leaving and being bitter or unhappy about things, because we're different from mainstream society. But that's the life that we have chosen as disciples, missionaries, and professional Christians.
17. In parts of this GN I'm going to talk quite strongly about resisting the Enemy's attacks, being militant against them, and not giving the Enemy your ear. I want to clarify right from the beginning that I'm not talking about our young people or other ex-members as being "the enemy." The Enemy is the Devil‚ Satan, Lucifer‚ the accuser of the saints. He will try to get in in any way he can. He'll use anything or anyone to try to hinder and stop the work of God. That we know. We also know that we love our children and loved ones who've left. That has not changed. We may not see eye to eye, and in some cases, if we can't resolve things to reach a state of being amicable, we might choose to not have as much contact or communication as we'd like for the time being. But that doesn't mean we think they're "the enemy" or that we love them any less.
18. It also doesn't mean that we'll stop fighting the Enemy, even if he tries to use our loved ones and children to get us to come down off the wall of our calling or compromise our faith. We'll continue to fight the Enemy with all we've got, and we'll continue to love our children and those who have left the Family just as much. We must make that distinction clear. Otherwise it can be almost unbearable to talk about if it's not clear who we're fighting and who we're against.
19. While we're on the subject of who we're fighting, we know that there are some very powerful principalities of the spiritual world that are fighting us. The Vandari, for one, are constantly looking for any way to hinder and stop our work for the Lord. Some of our young people out of the Family have the impression that we call them the Vandari. That is not the case. As you know, if you read the Letter carefully (see "Pray, Obey and Prepare," ML #3420, GN 1007), the Vandari are spiritual beings, demons that look for any way possible to cause trouble. In some cases our young people outside the Family who have allowed themselves to become very bitter and hateful are manipulated or influenced by the Vandari to try to hurt others of the Lord's children. But the Vandari are a spiritual enemy that we have to fight in the spirit—just like Pan‚ Bacchus, Lethargy and all the rest—and they sure try to cause us trouble. They also try to use our ex-members against us—except that in many cases, because of their bitterness and hatred and rejection of the truth, some ex-members are much more susceptible to their attacks, and are easier prey.
20. One of the main topics I want to address in this GN is the condemnation and guilt that many of you parents feel because of the bitterness of your children who have left‚ and the way they blame you for so much that they don't like. Central to being able to deal with the situation, put it in perspective and handle things in a way that generates a positive outcome, is realizing that the Enemy is using this as an attack on your faith and your service to the Lord, plain and simple. I know some of you won't like me spiritualizing it like that, but that's the bottom line. That doesn't mean our former members are the enemy, or even that they all have malicious intent in their accusations and blame. Some do, but some are just genuinely unhappy and need help. But the Enemy wants to use all their unhappiness, accusations, blame and bitterness against you‚ and he will‚ if you let him.
21. Something that's very important to remember in your interactions with former members, especially if they're bitter, is that in order to be able to answer them wisely and help them pull through to have happy, productive lives, you must keep your faith strong. You have to take the high moral ground of not being pulled down into their bitterness and doubts. If you allow your faith to be weakened or destroyed, both of you will have lost your perspective on the issues, and you won't be able to help them.
22. That's easier said than done when you feel for them‚ and especially when they make you feel guilty or like all their problems are your fault or the Family's fault. But that's where you have to take things to the Lord and ask Him to help you put things back into perspective. While you're under the Enemy's heavy cloud of guilt and condemnation, everything is wrong, everything is bad, everything you ever did was a mistake—and when you believe that, it's impossible to sort the good from the bad or put things in perspective.
23. So first you have to realize how the Enemy is trying to cripple your usefulness through this attack. And he uses the bitterness of some of our former member children or loved ones to make it very personal‚ very painful and believable. That doesn't mean you didn't make mistakes or that you're exonerated of all responsibility. It just means you have to recognize this device of the Enemy so that you can have faith to do what the Lord shows you to make things right, and continue on for Him.
24. Again, I'm not saying that there was never a mistake made or something that shouldn't have happened. Mistakes did happen. Some of the mistakes were very serious and hurtful, like the ones involving sexually inappropriate behavior or harsh discipline—both of which should never have happened. (See "An Answer to Him That Asketh Us!" ML #3016, Lifelines 22.) I'm not trying to justify or gloss over the mistakes with a "who cares" attitude. It would have been so much better if mistakes hadn't happened. We are truly sorry for them, and you should be too, if you were involved. But sometimes they do happen—everywhere in the world, in every circle of society, not just in the Family. And a lesson that everyone on Earth has to learn at some point in their life is: When you're wronged in some way‚ when a mistake happens that affects you, there are ways to get over it. There are ways to rectify the problem. There are ways to bring it to closure. The test of a person's success isn't their ability to eliminate all the problems in their life‚ but their ability to work out and work through the difficulties as they arise.
25. In the case of some of our former members who have become bitter and are turning and railing on you as their friends or parents or others in the Family for mistakes and problems in their lives, there is no all-encompassing act that can be done to help them over the bitterness they feel, right the wrongs they feel have been done to them, and clarify their perception of how they were treated or what happened to them. Every situation is different and every problem that happened in anyone's life has to be handled individually. That's where you have to seek the Lord as to what He wants you to do. Peter and I have apologized for the mistakes of the Family as a whole. There are likely some things that you'll need to apologize for personally as well.
26. Following is a message from the Lord for you parents that helps to put things in perspective as far as what were mistakes and what were not. Some former member young people feel that you were negligent parents because you didn't allow them to go to System school, have System friends, listen to System music, explore other religions or ideologies, etc. Some even complain that they didn't have a choice about being in the Family‚ or what country they wanted to live in as they were growing up. Others complain that they were brought up in such a trusting environment that they weren't prepared for the deceitfulness, selfishness‚ and lack of trust in the System. It's becoming a more common thread that comes up, most likely because they talk to each other and communicate online, validate each other's complaints, and often adopt the gripes of other former members as their own.
27. But to put things in perspective, since when do any underage kids in the world tell their parents what to do in these ways? Kids of all walks of life have no choice in where they live, what jobs their parents have, where they go to school, or how much they see or don't see their parents.
28. This mentality that some of our former members have taken on of "being wronged" because they weren't given the choice of what lifestyle they were raised in causes them extreme heartache. And the Enemy uses these feelings from your former member children to make you feel bad and guilty‚ like you failed your kids. But you've got to step back from the forest a little bit so that you can see the trees. Of course, mistakes were made, and some things that you did were probably not the best. But who ever had an idyllic childhood? It's unrealistic for your former member children to be accusing you and saying you were terrible parents, just because some things weren't perfect or to their current liking or way of thinking. The message that the Enemy would love to make you believe is that you were irresponsible, unfit, coerced by "the cult," blind followers who damaged your kids, etc. The Enemy is using this train of thought, these accusations‚ to weaken you parents, to try to hurt your faith‚ to make you feel guilty.
29. Going back to what I said earlier, I know that mistakes were made, and I'm not discounting those or trying to gloss over them. Dad, Peter, and I have apologized for the things that were our responsibility as the leadership of the Family, and we have taken concrete steps to ensure that those things never happen again. And if there are issues that come up from your past, each of you will need to seek the Lord about how to rectify things and if there's anything else you should do to make amends for things that were wrong or handled badly. We'll talk more about that later on. But first you need to realize that the heavy feelings of guilt, despair, and "everything's ruined" are from the Enemy. Here's what our wise and loving Husband had to say on this matter.
30. (Jesus speaking:) You've heard this before‚ but let Me remind you of it again—feelings of condemnation are of the Enemy. If you're ever tempted to feel under condemnation about something, or if others make you feel guilty and condemned by their words or actions, you can be sure this is not of My Spirit.
31. The spirit of placing blame and accusing, causing guilty feelings and condemnation is not of Me‚ but is of the Enemy. You must recognize it as such and not allow yourself to accept it and fall under the condemnation of the Enemy. It's natural to feel you could have done more as a parent‚ that you should have given more of yourself, your prayers‚ your time, your everything. It's because you are good parents that you wish you had done more. It's because you genuinely love your children and are concerned about their happiness and welfare.
32. At the same time, I ask you not to beat yourself up for any lacks, and especially don't blame yourself for your grown children's problems today. Your children have to make their own choices in life, and if they choose to be bitter‚ you can and should try to help them, but in order to get over it, they must make a conscious personal decision to do so.
33. Everyone has problems. Problems are part of life and part of My plan to give people the opportunity to draw closer to Me through their desperation and seeking of Me, and also to teach them lessons of life and maturity and give them opportunities for growth. If you of the first generation had not had problems growing up, you wouldn't have felt such a need for change in your life and such a strong attraction to My Spirit. Your problems worked together for good to bring you into the Family and full-time service to Me. It's the same with today's younger generation, both in and out of the Family—I allow them to have problems‚ and I hope that they will draw closer to Me through them. The spiritual principle is still the same—battles can equal good; battles can equal growth and victory. That's not to excuse you or anyone else for mistakes that were made, but the point is that your kids would have problems and face difficulties in life even if you were perfect. I allow problems to test the human spirit, and everyone on Earth has to learn to deal with problems, mistakes and difficulties.
34. I know it's more difficult to remember that when it involves your own children‚ especially when they voice their bitterness toward you and blame you for their situation and problems. But remember that you are not responsible for your adult children's actions. You're not responsible for any bitterness or hateful attitudes, even if they want to place the blame on you, even if they tell you you're responsible—you're not responsible for their bitterness and unhappiness. You might be responsible for the things that they're bitter about, but no one has to be bitter and unhappy about the past. You can get over it. There is deliverance from bitterness in Me‚ but it's up to the individual to reach out for it and accept forgiveness.
35. My childhood upbringing wasn't perfect either. I had to go through childhood like other children do in order to understand human nature and difficulties. I had to let go of what I considered unfair treatment by My earthly parents. I had to choose to accept what I considered unfair rules and discipline and boundaries by them. All children go through a period of rebellious behavior toward rules and what they consider the lacks in their upbringing.
36. Through My Own childhood I learned that it's often natural for older children and junior teens to feel their parents are unfair in some aspects of their upbringing. It's part of growing up. But most teens get over these resentful feelings once they take on more responsibility themselves, or once they become parents. It's when they don't get over it and they continue to hold grudges and ill feelings toward their parents that the Enemy can use it to make them very unhappy, bitter, and to take on a sour perspective on life. He will also use it to try to condemn or discourage the parents in some way and separate you from your children.
37. Especially with you parents in the Family who have given your lives to Me, he'll try to use such situations to hurt your faith in Me and the Family, and cause you to feel so condemned and guilty that you even consider putting down your crown of service. He'll try to persuade you to give it all up—your ministry, your service and place on the mission field, your faith and beliefs, your calling—all of it in order to somehow prove that you've seen the light, and as some type of restitution to your antagonistic children.
38. But this is an outright attack of the Evil One! You do not owe your children penance because you weren't a perfect parent. You don't deserve to be punished and made to feel guilty because their childhood wasn't perfect. You must believe Me when I say this, because otherwise the Enemy will continue to use your bitter, backslidden children to make you feel condemned and guilty and awful no matter what you do, when you should feel proud of the wonderful Christian upbringing you gave them.
39. They may wish they'd had a different upbringing, but that's not grounds for false accusations about their upbringing—how "evil" it was, etc. They might feel that way, but it doesn't make it the truth.
40. Dear parents of antagonistic children, you must recognize where accusations and blame throwing come from—they spring from a well of bitterness, and the source of that condemnation and bitterness is the Enemy. So when you hear your own children accuse and berate you‚ blame you, and try to place guilt upon you, remember that it's not the whole truth—even if they think it is. Ask Me to explain the situation to you, to talk to you about the particular accusations leveled against you and to show you how I see it and what really happened.
41. It's very important that you don't just accept everything that antagonistic former members accuse you of without asking Me to give you the truth. This is especially true when it comes from your own children, because naturally you feel for them and want to believe them and help them. So you must be extra prayerful about the things they tell you if they cause you to feel guilty and condemned, or to waver in your convictions and faith.
42. Some of your former member young people are of the mindset that their problems today are directly related to their upbringing in the Family, and in fact, that their parents, teachers‚ and shepherds are to blame. Some former member young people openly accuse their parents and blame them for such things as not having the material possessions they wanted; not having their parents' attention and time as much as they wanted; being restricted in what friends or teachers they had‚ what schooling they had, what country they lived in, what they were allowed to do with their free time, etc.
43. These former member young people are of the mindset that if they'd had the type of upbringing they wanted‚ things would be different for them today‚ their future would not have been "ruined," etc. They also feel justified in blaming their parents for what they consider lacks in their upbringing, saying that it's because of their parents' choice to put Me first and obey Me that they, their children, suffered. This mindset and way of thinking is not only inaccurate and wrong, but it's also just plain unfruitful and will only lead to more bitterness and resentment—which, as you know, only serves to hold the person back and stunt their happiness and spiritual growth.
44. The first step for you to take is to realize that you are not obligated, nor is it even a good idea, to accept and bear all of their complaints and bitterness. Next, you should ask Me about them‚ and let Me sort the good from the bad, the truth from the distortion or misconception or outright untrue. You'd be amazed just how much that one step of hearing from Me will help. After that, you will be more ready to go on to the next steps of apologizing, making things right‚ and doing your part to help them move on. (End of message from Jesus.)
45. (Mama: ) Marc and Claire, who read an advance copy of this Letter, commented on the tendency of some former members to feel victimized, and suggested that they're using the wrong standard of comparison.
46. "My life was ruined" or "I have seen many lives ruined" is a typical statement that we run into a lot with apostates.
47. When we hear former members saying their lives are "ruined," we can't help but wonder what measuring stick they're using. Certainly, if a young person gets caught in the very sad lamentable cycle of drugs, alcohol abuse and crime that is such a problem in society itself, that can become a ruined life and is very heartbreaking and a matter of great concern. But when a young person who has a scholarship in university, has a great job, girlfriend or boyfriend, and is moderately successful in the System says their life was "ruined" because they grew up in a high commitment religious group, we just have a hard time buying into that western mindset.
48. Many seem to believe that every child born in the Family is supposed to live in a western upper middle class standard, and if not, they are deprived, abused, dysfunctional and handicapped for life. That just isn't realistic, in our opinion. Actually, only by the grace of God do our kids have such a wonderful, protected‚ nurtured life, as if you go by the odds of statistics, any one of our kids could have been born in Afghanistan to a poor goatherder with no future, or to a poor family in Mexico, where many kids have to go out to the streets every day to support their parents' alcoholism, meanwhile walking around with no shoes. Or they could have been raised in a cycle of discrimination and poverty so prevalent in ethnic slums in the United States.
49. It's sad that some of our kids who leave make their parents feel that their lives were so bereft of their basic needs instead of counting themselves amongst the fortunate minority in the world! Recently, when visiting relatives in Argentina, we went to visit our nephew there (he is native Argentine). At 30 years of age, he is still unemployed‚ with no hope for the future, and has never even traveled outside the city area he was born in. He can't get married to his girlfriend because he can't find a job, and his parents survive in part thanks to the generosity of their relatives in the Family who continue to provide for them through these difficult times. His parents are good, hard-working people, and he is a decent fellow.
50. Sometimes we ask ourselves why some of our former member kids feel that just because they run into difficulties in life, somehow they "deserve" everything and more that many kids can't have out there. Our nephew never complains, and is a loving‚ caring son who wouldn't think of berating his parents. Surely he could complain that it is their fault that he wasn't born into an upper middle class family where he could have more opportunities?
51. This can even apply to the States itself, as the golden picture of ease and success for all is quite an illusion that some of our apostates have bought into. We recently came across an article outlining a study performed by a team from Northeastern University in Boston. According to this study, joblessness amongst young people ages 16 to 24 in the United States is reaching dangerous levels. The findings reveal that "the figure is a staggering 5.5 million and growing. This army of undereducated, jobless young people, disconnected in most instances from society's mainstream, is restless and unhappy, and poses a severe long-term threat to America's well-being on many fronts" (Excerpted from an article in the New York Times by Bob Herbert, February 6‚ 2003).
52. Thank the Lord, from the statistics we have gathered, it would seem that a high percentage of our former member young people are able to find jobs‚ careers and professions, with a minimum of difficulty. Their training as missionaries gives them problem-solving tools that a lot of young people in society are sorely lacking. We don't want to minimize the difficulties they go through in transiting from the Family to the System, but on the other hand, we would have to say that many of the "my life is ruined" stories that are so devastating to parents just aren't borne out in the lives most of our kids are able to lead after they leave the Family. This really bears out the spiritual principles at work behind these attacks. (End of comments from Marc and Claire.)
53. (Jesus speaking:) Claim the key of destiny for your children—both those in the Family and those out of the Family. The key of destiny works within the choices they make and can help to guide them through life. Of course‚ the key of destiny has much more power to help and intervene when someone makes their choices based on the Word, love, sacrifice and obedience to Me and My calling for them. But it can also help those who have strayed‚ gently leading them to find purpose and meaning and to learn through life's experiences, so that they are later ready to fulfill their destiny. It will nudge them and gently lead them to make choices that will better their life and help them to find more purpose and meaning and clarity.
54. Life as a whole is difficult. And life in the System is very difficult—especially for those who have abandoned their faith. But they still must get to the point where they accept the choices they've made before they can have peace and make progress in life. The key of destiny can help to propel them out of the negativity swirling around their lives and permeating their minds, and put them on a path where they can start to do something with their lives and learn from their experiences, rather than remaining embroiled in fighting a losing battle of blaming others for their problems and lacks in life.
55. Pray for the former members who are bitter. Pray against the Enemy's influence in their minds and for the key of destiny to work for them. I love them dearly. I have never stopped loving them. I know that for most of them, beneath the brittle, confident exterior beats a lonely human heart consumed by their solitary rage that they haven't been treated the way they desired. Right or wrong‚ the frustration and hurt are real to them. So pray for them, for the deliverance of their souls and minds. Pray against the demon of bitterness. Claim the keys of acceptance, humility‚ motivation and godly perspective. Claim the key of destiny to help them find their way. (End of message from Jesus.)
114. (Mama:) As we talked about earlier, in trying to reconcile with your kids, or at least do your part to help them, bitterness is something you'll likely come up against. It's a problem that is making some of our former members' lives very difficult and miserable. Bitterness contorts what you think and then distorts your outlook on life and others, and makes you cynical and resentful.
115. It's incredible how bitter people think that only they see the world as it really is, and that others are only looking through rose-colored glasses. They feel they have a better grip on the realities of life than those who aren't bitter like themselves‚ so they are usually very sincere in their accusations and negative perspective on things. Bitter people also tend to congregate and flock together to build on and validate each other's bitterness. They actually believe the distorted lies they are thinking, and have yielded themselves to its strong delusion.
116. This is where a lot of the problems of former Family members stem from—a root of bitterness that took hold somewhere in their life after something happened to them. Whether this incident was a mistake or not‚ it was something they didn't like, or didn't understand, or felt they couldn't handle properly and just couldn't forgive. So they grew bitter instead of getting prayer or counsel or help‚ or going to the Lord and the Word.
117. It's scary to see how much bitterness can deform and cripple a person's mind and thinking. When we asked the Lord about it, He revealed that there is a demon of bitterness, which makes it more understandable how someone can change so drastically and become so unhappy and have such a different perspective on life. Knowing this makes it possible to pray against this demon by name and hinder his efforts to hurt and poison our loved ones.
118. (Jesus speaking: ) You may call him Bitterness, for he carries the most sour, bitter spirit you have ever imagined. He carries this by choice, not by destiny. He works together with Pan and the demon of Rejection to turn the sweet things of life—or things which I intend to bring out the sweetness—into bitter, sour, sad memories.
119. He cannot make anyone become bitter. He can only come in when pride and resentment are allowed to grow in a person's life, to the point that there is an opening for him, a virtual invitation for his infestation. There he works together with Pan and the demon of Rejection to actually influence or change a person's memories and perspective on life, so that they feel justified in carrying around the weight and poison of bitterness. It's as if he convinces them that they need that poison of the spirit that he feeds them in order to be happy, or that somehow by carrying it around, it will rectify the situation and make things better or at least bring revenge on those whom they feel have done them wrong. Neither is true.
120. A person's spirit will only become more and more crushed‚ sick, and sour, if they continue to let bitterness reside in their heart. In saying this, I don't mean the actual demon of Bitterness can inhabit the heart of one who knows Me‚ for I am in their heart. But he continues to influence their mind and thoughts whenever they give him entrance through pride, and he leaves traces of his poison behind that continue to grow in his absence. It's very sad to see a spirit crushed, sickened, and weakened to the point that they don't even long to recover. Those who really know what bitterness does to you avoid it like a plague—because it is.
121. Of course‚ I have the antidote and can help anyone to cleanse their spirit and be made anew. But they must be willing to forsake their pride, forsake their sense of being wronged, and let Me cleanse even their memories of what they think happened. For whenever someone is influenced by the demon of Bitterness, their memories are always distorted.
122. You can pray against Bitterness, because like any spiritual entity fighting you, he is bound and hindered by your prayers and calling on the keys. You can pray on behalf of your loved ones who are not in the Family. But as long as they yield to pride, resentment will soon follow, and the door is left open for bitterness. So you must also pray for them to humble their spirits before Me‚ or that they'll receive My humbling and My perspective on things, so that they're not constantly easy prey. (End of message from Jesus.)
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123. (Jesus speaking:) Pride keeps you from seeing things as I see them. Pride opens the door for resentment, because you automatically feel you deserve better. It keeps you from humbling yourself when I allow things in your life to break you or soften you or teach you things‚ and instead it causes resentment. That's why I say that when you yield to pride‚ resentment will often follow. Everyone goes through situations in life that they wish hadn't happened, or that had happened differently, or situations when they are wronged.
124. If a person is humble, and can accept things from My hand, and learn to see things the way I see them, those negative circumstances are steppingstones for good, and don't derail them in any way. But when a person yields to pride, it's not long before something comes up that they can't get over, that they can't understand, or that they assume the worst about—and then resentment begins to build in their heart.
125. It's the natural, sinful, rebellious nature of man to think that he knows better than Me. That's why you have to constantly pray for My humility, because it's not something that comes naturally. It's something you have to want‚ cultivate‚ and fight for. But along with that humility comes grace, peace, understanding, acceptance, and many gifts that make life pleasant and a wonderful learning experience‚ rather than a journey of pain, unhappiness‚ resentment and bitterness. (End of message from Jesus.)
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216. (Mama:) Going back to the subject of our kids who are out of the Family and negative, even if you really try, really pray, and do all you can, it's not guaranteed that your kids will reconcile with you or that your relationship will become amicable immediately. That's not something to be condemned about or think that you failed in. They have a choice too, and in some cases they probably just aren't ready yet to humble themselves and apologize for their part in the matter. But if you've done what you could, then you can trust the Lord that He will help them come around when they're ready to humble themselves, just as you had to humble yourself.
217. Staying positive in your communications with them and continuing to love them even if you're not seeing the fruits, and yet remaining focused on the goals the Lord has shown you to strive for in your life on your mission field‚ while not letting the Enemy's attacks through them weaken you, can be a challenge. The Lord gives some beautiful counsel and encouragement in the following message that really sums it all up.
218. Remember, they are the Lord's, and always will be. That will never change. And even if you're not able to help them come around, our wonderful Husband, Shepherd, and great God of the universe is in control, even though they've temporarily turned away from Him‚ and He will eventually bring them back to the fold—here and now on Earth, or there and then in Heaven. So comfort yourselves and others with those words, and continue to commit everything to Him, all the while staying faithful to your calling of winning the world for Him.
219. We asked the Lord to give counsel about how you can handle this attack, how to best overcome it. I pray His counsel will be strengthening and encouraging for you.
221. (Jesus speaking:) Guilt is an extremely debilitating bondage and a very powerful weapon and tool in the hands of the Enemy and those listening to and dancing to his tunes. And that's precisely why the Enemy is using it more than ever—particularly through apostate children upon their Family parents—in an effort to derail our dear FGA parents by weighing them down with heavy feelings of guilt laid upon them by their own departing children.
222. Of course, you of the first generation have felt the impact of this weapon before. Many of your own System parents used it on you to a degree: The emotional guilt laid on you for "leaving" or "deserting" them to serve Me. When all other attempts failed in their efforts to dissuade you from forsaking the world to follow Me, their last resort—and one of the most emotionally charged and powerful ploys of all—was to lay a guilt trip of one sort or another on you. "Look what you're doing to your mother! You're messing up her life! That's not very Christian‚ that's not very loving! How can that be right? She's distraught‚ having a breakdown because of what you're doing!" "We've poured everything into you, given our lives for you, and is this how you repay us?" Most of you have heard these lines or similar ones before. You've all felt this ploy to one degree or another. And if you didn't feel it with your own parents, then most likely you'll at some time feel it to some degree from departing children or other loved ones.
223. The Enemy will use anything at all to pull you away from fulfilling your destiny and My highest will in your life. He plays low and dirty—about as dirty as you can get—and at the drop of a hat won't hesitate to play the puppeteer and pull on your emotional heartstrings regarding your children. It's one of the most effective tools he has, because emotions and feelings of commitment and responsibility toward your children as parents are some of the strongest bonds and attachments there are. So when confronted with these emotions, not only does it distract you and draw your attention away from the harvest before you, but it lays guilt on you.—Something which is very difficult to shake and deal with, especially when it has to do with your own children—the most sensitive part of your heart and emotions.
224. The Enemy will condemn you left, right, and center‚ all with the purpose of derailing you and making you feel so bad for serving Me and having raised your children in the Family and what they're supposedly going through because of it, that your only possible hope of redemption and helping your children is to pack up and leave as well!
225. You have to remember, the Enemy's not a bit concerned about your children and their welfare, but he'll use any means he can—including these same ex-member young people—to twist the truth, to wring and twist your emotions and get you so consumed with guilt and your obligation and duty toward them that you'll virtually be ready to do anything for them—including deserting your plow. That's his goal—plain and simple.
226. And this sort of thing will only increase as times wax worse and worse and the Enemy's lies and accusations increase, and those given over to him—including apostate children and apostate loved ones—increase in numbers. This is a sad truth, and you'll continue to see My Scriptures fulfilled as the days go on in seeing "daughter turned against mother‚" "mother against daughter," and even they of your own flesh and blood and household shall turn against you and persecute you, thinking they do Me and mankind service (Luke 12:53, 21:16-17; John 16:2). This Scripture was not just given for the first generation in departing from their parents and the System of their day. It's a Scripture that will continue to be fulfilled generation after generation, and unfortunately as the days grow darker and darker, this Scripture will be fulfilled more than ever.
227. Certain things have not changed over time, and one of them is the Enemy and the same old tactics and tricks he's always used. Your apostate children may say they have your best interests at heart—and some have sincerely deluded themselves into thinking this way—but that's not the case‚ nor will it be in your best interests. Many of these active apostates have become consumed with the Enemy's lies and their own bitterness and selfishness. All they really want is vindication, attention‚ and support of their lies and the lie they are living. And what better way than to get their parents' support and sense of responsibility focused solely on them? Of course, these ones are so taken by the Enemy's delusions and lies, they don't see it as pulling their parents down from the wall—in fact, quite the contrary. But that is the truth and reality behind this renewed ploy of the Enemy.
228. You have to remember, My dear FGA parents‚ that once your child or children have allowed bitterness or the Enemy's lies to consume and overtake them, then they will no longer give you the respect you deserve for the life of sacrifice you lead. Instead the finger of blame will be pointed your way—either directly at you, the Word, the Family or leadership. A scapegoat will be needed. In following the Enemy's train of thought, he will demand it of them, all the while very skillfully pointing any blame away from themselves and at the scapegoat the Enemy wants the blame really focused on—Me! He wants to slander Me and all that I stand for through your apostate former member children.
229. Your apostate children's vision and attitudes have become warped and distorted, and to expect them to be proud of what you do is unrealistic. It's an expectation you can no longer have‚ because they are no longer seeing things with the same eyes. In many cases their spiritual eyes have become closed. They revert to the state of their natural man, who receives not the things of the spirit. Their eyes have become clouded with selfishness, their own interests, and the distortions and lies of the Enemy.
230. So, My dear loves—you who bear the weight of having apostate children—I know this is a hard saying, one I am even grieved to lay upon you‚ but this will be the cross you will have to bear for Me as you continue to follow Me. It may mean living with the scorn and disdain of your own children—those who you trained and poured your heart, soul, and life into for years and years. It may mean having to continue to bear the brunt of their allegations, inflamed emotions, and accusations against you, the Word, and the Family, and yet continuing to show them you love them and are interested in them, and supporting them in whatever way you can in spite of all these things.
231. In short, it may mean taking up your cross—continuing to love and try to help your apostate children in the ways that I show you‚ even if they don't receive it—and yet continuing to love and follow Me anyway. I know this is a heavy and sorrowful cross to carry, because for many that cross can grow heavier and more draining and time-consuming over time, as the days grow darker and darker, and as some of these ones give themselves over more and more to the spirit of the Enemy and the world.
232. In your love for Me and your service for Me as My Endtime soldiers, there will always be such acid tests—tests of your love, devotion, and loyalty to Me and your calling above all. Always to you‚ My Endtime brides, there will be the question and call before you of‚ "Lovest thou Me?—Feed My sheep," and "he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me" (John 21:17; Mat.10:37-38). This is discipleship. This is what it costs and what it will always cost. Frequently—and it will become even more so with time—it will strike at the heart and emotions heavily. I'm sorry for this, My loves. If there were any way around this, or over this, or under this, I would find it for you, because I love you so very dearly and would withhold nothing from you. And I love these apostate children dearly. They are Mine and always will be.
233. What remains is that you must continue to love them, continue to support them in whatever way you can, but you must recognize when the Enemy is attempting to derail you, even through your children. This is when you must draw the line in the spirit and know just how far you can and cannot go in your convictions and stance as My fulltime disciple. It's the same stance every Family member must have. It's the same stance of faith and conviction your king and queen have of following Me no matter what. So this is when you must continue to commit your apostate children to Me in full faith and trust, as a true and faithful Father, knowing you have done what you could‚ and then … you go on for Me. (End of message from Jesus.)
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(From "Mama's Birthday 2002, Part 1," ML #3443:35-42, GN 1024:)
(Vision:) Coming forward is a simple but beautiful girl. She's very demure and nondescript in appearance. There's nothing outstanding or dramatic about her appearance at all. It seems that she is not of importance‚ but what she bears in her hands is of importance.
She's holding and gazing into this beautiful, glowing crystal ball. I say crystal ball because that is the closest description I can give, although it really doesn't do it justice. Inside this supernatural ball, which resembles a ball of moving liquid light, is a beautiful rotating golden key.
(Spirit being speaking:) I bear the key to strengthen your heart‚ Queen Maria. You ask, "What is this liquid light? What is this key?" This is your Husband's personal gift to you—His special and chosen love, His Own dear Maria.
This is the ball, the spiritual circumference, as it were, of your personal and collective tears and prayers that have reached our Husband's ears and heart over the departing of your young ones, and even that of your own flesh son. This golden key is suspended within the "liquid" of your tears and prayers. And the supernatural glow you see enveloping and surrounding this ball? This is the power that your tears and prayers have generated for your young ones.
I come now on this day of celebration of your birth to bear this gift to you, Maria, and the children of David. This key has been created and is empowered by your tears and prayers, and that of your children. It is the key specifically designed to strengthen your heart and your emotions and to give you the resolve and fortitude to fight on despite the natural heart of man. This is the key to help you rise above your emotions and above the natural heart of man. It gives you access and entrance to the lock of the heart of God—the Creator of all living things, the heart of all that is and ever shall be. This is the key to the very heart of God, which sees and knows and comprehends all things.
This key has the power to help you and all your children see things as they really are, to see beyond emotions, beyond the heart of man to the very heart of God. This is the key of all-knowing love. You will need this key in the coming days. Its power lies in its magnitude, its foresight, its ability to see beyond human love and emotions to what lies ahead, what lies within the realm of the spirit, which is so far beyond the flesh and earthly life. Just like love‚ it has an extra spiritual eye which sees beyond the flesh and the carnal, and transports you instantly into the realm of the spirit and how the Lord sees things.
So take this key, my Maria. You and your children will need it. It is generated and activated by prayer, so see to it that it remains empowered through the heartfelt prayers of your flock for your young ones—those who have departed and wander in the wilderness of this world. (End of message from spirit being.)
(Mama:) The grace that the Lord gives us is really an ability to see things the way He sees them. It's something to be sought after‚ so that you can see the Romans 8:28 in a situation‚ even in something as personally devastating as one of your loved ones departing. Accepting the Lord's mercy and grace helps you miraculously not to feel so bad, because you can then see things the way He sees them, the "silver lining" in the dark clouds overhead. (See also ML #3166, Lifelines 24/GN 762-63.)
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Copyright © 2005 by The Family International
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