June 22, 2005
(ML #3542, GN 1139)
FD/MM/FM April 2005
ML #54:24-29, DB4
WARNING AGAINST THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM AND ITS BOOKS
24. I AM WORRIED ABOUT SOME OF THE BOOKS YOU'VE BEEN READING and TEACHING OUTSIDE OF THE BIBLE, INSTEAD OF THOSE OF OUR OWN DOCTRINE! This is a REVOLUTION, not a reformation, and we've got no time for reformers and those who themselves have not broken with the System, cannot even see anything wrong with it or merely want to patch it up; or have some other log to roll. If you prefer their teachings‚ you ought to join them—and you're welcome to do so—any of you, but I don't think you'd be satisfied, because they're just not our cup of tea; or I'd say they're weak tea, compared to our strong liquor!
25. HOW FAR CAN YOU TRUST A SYSTEMITE, WHO IS STILL A MEMBER OF THE DAMNABLE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM, some of whom you don't even know‚ so you don't know what their fruits are! Get rid of those books! Burn'm! Books were my downfall! They nearly ruined me! I oughta know—I used to have a whole roomful of 'm, so many I couldn't even read'm all, until the Lord showed me I didn't have time to read books if I didn't have enough time to read the Bible!—I don't care who the hell wrote'm! If you wanna read something revolutionary, read OUR stuff! At least you know who wrote it and what our fruits are!—You!
26. THE WORLD'S HEARD ABOUT US—WHO THE HELL EVER HEARD OF THESE OTHER GUYS, except for a bunch of damn Systemites, stuffed-shirt Christians and namby-pamby little pipsqueak Pentecostals? We're right now rockin' the World and we're goin' to blow it apart for God! Who the Hell ever heard of these other guys! How many all-out followers have THEY got?
27. THESE OTHER GUYS AREN'T PREACHING "FORSAKE ALL" OR "GO YE"! They're preaching "Pay me"! and "I'll go for you"!—a damnable doctrine of devils that has damned the Church for generations, until organized Churchianity is becoming a dying species, soon to be extinct!—And I'd like to help it along‚ so we can show the World what REAL Christians are like! If these other guys are so all-fired hot, WHERE ARE THEIR FRUITS? WHERE ARE THEIR RESULTS! WHERE ARE THEIR DISCIPLES? WHERE IS THEIR MOVEMENT FOR GOD? And how much of a dent has it made in this World? How much of this last generation of lost youth is it turning to God? Let me see their samples! Where are they?
READ OUR REVOLUTIONARY LETTERS AND BOOKS
28. TO HELL WITH YOUR DAMN SYSTEM BOOKS! WHY DON'T YOU READ and STUDY OUR LETTERS and listen to our tapes or those of our disciples and teachers or even my mother or my grandfather—the people who started this Revolution of which you're supposed to be a member—or get the Hell out of it! You don't belong here if you don't believe in what we teach, preach and write enough to read it, study it, memorize it and teach it—at least your Bible‚ if nothing else—that's all you really need, if you learn it; and you'll never have enough time to learn enough of it for what you need! So get busy right now, Brother! Start studying, Sister! Get with it, Cat! Those other damn books are not where it's at! If they told it like it is, you'd be there, so why aren't you? Because they haven't got it! WE ALONE HAVE THE WORDS OF THE KIND OF ETERNAL LIFE THAT JESUS MEANS FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE and WE'RE THE ONLY ONES THAT I KNOW OF THAT ARE LIVING IT, TEACHING IT and PREACHING IT, in any sizeable number, with any sizeable effect! How about YOU?
29. MAYBE IF YOU WERE REALLY READING and STUDYING and LEARNING OUR LETTERS and our tapes and living in your Bible, we wouldn't have so damn much trouble with you and your always getting out of line!
ML #775:1-3‚ 18, 21‚ 23, DB1
1. SOMEBODY ONCE SAID, "YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ." It's like the old saying about health, "You are what you eat", physically. Well, you are what you read, mentally and spiritually. If you like to read the Word of God best, then that shows you love the Word of God and you would rather hear from the Lord than anybody.
2. WHATEVER you're reading is SPIRITUAL food‚ whether you believe it or not, and if it's not the Word of God, written by a man of God, then it is the word of the Devil written by a man of Satan! And if you spend more time reading books like that than you do reading God's Word, something is wrong with you!—You have a perverted appetite spiritually‚ a perverted hunger.
3. You cannot dwell on THAT stuff and make that your major source of inspiration, relaxation or recreation without it affecting you. It's hurting your spiritual life! It's hurting your relationship with God!
18. ONLY THE WORDS OF GOD HAVE LIVED ON! Only the Words of Jesus actually accomplish anything! All that stuff from the famous teachers and ancient philosophers is shit!—Just plain sickening shit of man!
21. Why go the way of the rest of the World? Why get all tangled up and confused and misled by their false phony wisdom? Beloved, you either believe God's Words and the Bible and the Letters or you don't. And you believe them as much as you read them.
23. JESUS, HELP US! Help us to read what Your King David said, how he did find Thy Words and he did eat them, and all the things You said about Thy laws and Thy Word and Thy precepts. He lived in them night and day, as we did for years, Lord, and still do in trying to teach them to others. (See Jer.15:16; Pr.3:3; Ps.119.)
ML #1598:38-42, GN Book 13
38. IF THE DEVIL CAN'T KEEP YOU FROM DOING THE BEST THING, HE TRIES TO SIDETRACK YOU INTO WASTING YOUR TIME ON SOMETHING THAT HE MAKES YOU THINK IS GOOD!—Like all this ancient history and analytical study of the past and ancient Bible gory gruesome Jewish history and all that junk! My God deliver us from that stuff! You don't even have enough time to study the MO Letters!
39. THAT'S NOT EVEN STUDYING THE BIBLE! THAT'S NOT EVEN READING THE BIBLE!—THAT'S JUST READING WHAT SOMEONE SAYS ABOUT THE BIBLE, and that's the kind of junk the Churches and Bible Colleges are into! They spend most of their time reading what somebody said about the Bible or hearing what somebody says about the Bible instead of reading the Bible! The whole Church and the Christians in the World would be better off if they would just read the Bible instead of going off and hearing what somebody is saying about it or reading a bunch of books about what somebody else says about it! That's the whole Church system and Bible College system—reading and hearing and studying about what somebody else has to say!
40. EVEN WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY I USED TO THINK, "WHY THE HELL IS THIS GUY TALKING SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE?—If he's going to say the Bible is so great, why doesn't he just read it to us?" At least if I've talked about other things they've been things that are up-to-date and appropriate to this day and have to do with what we're doing and what we need to plan for the Future—and frankly, I think that's all you need! If I thought you needed anything more I would have given it to you, and I certainly don't want to get you stuck in the kind of junk that the Churches and the Bible Colleges are stuck in and spend years on and don't know a damn thing about witnessing or winning a soul or evangelizing the World, and even less about the Future and Bible Prophecy!
41. I MEAN, THE DEVIL HAS GOT THE WHOLE CABOODLE ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY SIDE-TRACKED, not only side-tracked, but completely turned around and going on the opposite track into the past! They don't have anything else to do and they don't witness, they don't litness, they don't live by faith‚ they don't win souls and they don't go into the whole World and preach the Gospel to every creature! They're not doing the job God gave them to do, so they've got to fill up their time with something that looks and seems religious and is supposedly good, so they spend all of their time studying the past and how great they used to be and how glorious it used to be and what great heroes there used to be, right?
42. THEY HAVEN'T GOT ANY PRESENT, MUCH LESS ANY FUTURE, SO ALL THEY'VE GOT LEFT TO STUDY IS THE PAST, a bunch of has-beens, because the Church is a has-been! I mean‚ it's dead and it ought to be buried!—Except for those, of course, who are actually active and witnessing and winning souls and evangelizing the World. But the rest of them would be better off dead and to be swept out of the way unless they're going to support the ones that are doing the job. But my God, the Lord has delivered us from all that, let's not get back into it!
ML #2795:6,9, Vol.20
6. The psychiatrists in psychology are the priesthood of the Devil!
9. Well, psychiatry is a religion really, let's face it! Psychiatry is the new so-called "scientific religion" that's taking the place of religion and churches today. Psychiatrists are becoming the pastors of the people! (Maria: As you said, they're the priesthood of the Devil.) Yes‚ it's the Devil's own religion. So of course they resent the Scientologists and have attacked them and are trying to crush them.
ML #3022:27-35, Lifelines 22
27. (Jesus:) There are three wells! One is the well of the System. When you put your bucket into the well of the System and draw from the waters thereof, they are poisonous waters. The water may look clear and seem no different, but as you drink it in, it poisons, it destroys, it kills.
28. Then there is the well of My children who know Me, who love Me, who sing of Me, but who do not live My Words; who, though called to spread My Message, do it in a way that they feel is good and right, but do not live according to what I have written; who do not sacrifice of themselves or their lives. I bless them, and I use them to pour out My Message. I use the music that they write to send My Message into the hearts of those who don't know Me, and those who only know Me lightly. From this well comes water that looks clear and is drinkable‚ for it is not poison, but it is brackish, salty. It is enough to sustain life, but it is not pure water.
29. Then there is the well of those who love Me, who serve Me, who give their lives to Me; the well of those who have suffered, whose hearts have been squeezed‚ whose lives have been a struggle; those who love Me enough to give their lives to Me; those who love Me enough to do My will no matter what it is, no matter when it is, and no matter how it is; who are willing to say, "Not my will but Thine be done." From this well comes clean and pure water—water that refreshes, water that is good, water that is pure! And so must be the water that you pour out to My children. So must the songs be that you pour into their ears, into their hearts, and into their minds.
30. When you send out water from the brackish well, though it is drinkable water, it is not fresh water, and the message contained therein, though it is My Message, has not the purity of My Message. But if you will pour out the pure water, it will strengthen the hearts and the minds and the spirits of these who so desperately seek to be strengthened.
31. For your younger ones now face greater challenges, greater battles, greater mountains! As they fight and as they climb and as they march forward, they need songs of the Spirit to lift their hearts‚ to encourage their spirits, to say to them, "Carry on! Carry on!" But how can you pour out this message of carrying on from those who do not carry on themselves and who do not fight? (Mama: Most Christian musicians and singers.) Their songs are designed for another purpose. But the songs that I pour out to My children of David are designed for My children—to inspire them to move upward and forward, to fight, to enter into the fray and to fear not! For these songs are meat of the Spirit!
32. My children are no longer children—they are men and women of God! They are strong in Spirit! They are soldiers! They are valiant, and they need the meat of the Spirit! They need the strength of the Spirit! They need the rallying cries of the Spirit! And so I pour out to them that which they need. And so will I pour out to them in great abundance as they take up the challenge to fight for Me, to take their stand, as they enter into their day—their day of battles and their day of victories.
33. The children of yesterday are the soldiers of today! So they must lay aside the childish things, the brackish things‚ and the poisonous things, and they must seek for the clear waters of the Spirit. For it is the clear waters that give them strength, that refresh their souls, that give them the vision and the courage and the faith to carry on!
34. Do not look to the well of poison for your inspiration. Neither look to the brackish well for the uplifting that you seek. Look to the pure waters, the pure water of My Words, the pure water of My music, the pure water of My Spirit. Oh, come! Come! Come up! Come up to the mountains where the mountain streams are clear and fresh! Come up where the air is not polluted! Climb! Climb ever upward, leaving the things of this Earth behind you, and you shall find a purity of spirit, a purity of heart. You shall find thrills that you never knew existed!
35. Come to Me with your cup in hand‚ and see if I will not pour out to you some of the fresh water of My Spirit! For if you will look to Me in prayer and in desperation, if you will seek Me, and if you will ask Me to pour out to you the songs of the Spirit, then I will pour forth. You will have the music that you seek, with the message that is good, that is strong, that is healthy, that is pure, that is clear, that is filled with Me and My Love and My Word and My strength and My power and My anointing.—Words that speak to your heart‚ words that pour out the heartcry of your heart, and that bring My answer to those heartcries.
ML #3090:10-25, Lifelines 23
10. (Mama:) I want to share a message the Lord gave recently concerning some faithful shepherds who had borne good fruit and cared for the sheep well in the past, but who the Lord said have now gotten "caught in the brambles of misunderstandings, half-truths, critical thoughts, and bitternesses." These dear ones have also battled quite seriously with doubts. I think this particular message will be of interest to many of you‚ because it not only shows how easy it is to get contaminated by the System, but again the Lord emphasizes the importance of the Word!
11. (Jesus:) These have lost their simplicity and the joy of their Salvation‚ and have become weighted down with the cares of this life. They have lost their love for My Word, and when they read it, it is work; it is no longer pleasure. They no longer sit at My feet and find great joy at hearing My Word‚ but now they labor and they are burdened when they read My Word, because they have become confused.
12. They have drunk of many fountains and their sense of judgment now is askew. They have taken into their heart and mind the waters from many fountains—not just the clear, pure, refreshing, strengthening water of the fountain of My Word, but also the brackish water from academics and other religions, from politicians, lawyers and professionals, and even the poisonous waters from backsliders and weak sheep who speak the words of the Enemy and his doubts and condemnation.
13. Both of these‚ My shepherds, have a thirst for knowledge, and when they talk to someone [from the System] who they admire, who they feel has a lot on the ball, who they feel has a lot to offer, or if they read something [from the System] that is interesting, then they open their minds and their spirits to it, and they allow themselves to be fed from these waters‚ even though they are not the clear, pure waters of My Word. They take in these waters, the brackish ones and the poisonous ones‚ and they feed from them. They have become weakened and dirtied and distracted, because they have drunk deeply from many fountains.
14. They have admired greatly those who do not deserve such admiration‚ and they have allowed the thoughts and words and principles of those ones to become their own thoughts and words and principles. So it is that those of the outside have had great influence on the hearts and minds of these, My children.
15. Because they did not aggressively wash their hearts and minds with My Word‚ and constantly check the input they were receiving against My Word, they became dull in their understanding. Their wits were no longer quick and sharp, and their discernment was weakened. So now they have lost their childlike faith. Their once great loyalty and simplicity has been replaced with skepticism, criticalness and high-mindedness.
16. They have read much and heard much and taken in much from the outside, but they have not balanced all that input with the clear‚ refreshing, cleansing water of My Word. So now they are off-center, and it has sapped them of their strength and their happiness and their peace of mind.
17. They think that the confusion they now feel is the fault of the Family‚ or the leadership, or the Word, or the mode of operation, or the Homes, or their immediate shepherds. They do not realize that these feelings of dissatisfaction and discontent are merely symptoms of a greater, more serious disease, and that is that they are no longer looking through the glasses of faith. They are no longer judging righteous judgment, but they are judging with a false standard.
18. They want to be strong and powerful and to have influence. They want to be as those they have seen on the outside, who in their eyes are strong‚ aggressive, assertive, independent, getting things done left and right, and exercising their individuality. They are dissatisfied with their present place of service. Instead of seeing it as My hand in their lives, to teach them and mold them and break them and remake them, they blame others. They blame the "system" within the Family. They blame their leadership. They even blame the Word.
19. I will restore health unto them. I will heal them of their wounds, their broken spirits, their confusion, their wrong perspective, their doubts‚ if they will come to Me and My Word, and receive the truth that I would give unto them. But they must be willing to forsake their own thoughts, and give up the brackish and polluted waters that they have drunk deeply of, in order to allow the pure water of My Word to flow freely through them. (End of prophecy excerpts.)
20. (Mama:) Many of you are in positions where you have a lot of contact with outsiders through your witnessing, provisioning‚ follow-up, consider the poor ministries, etc. You spend a lot of time talking to people, and listening to them. And some of you, depending on your ministry, are like the shepherds the Lord spoke of in the above prophecy whose ministry required that they have quite a bit of contact with academics, lawyers, politicians, people from other religions, former members, etc. In the course of your work for the Lord, you are all exposed to worldly opinions, ideologies, doctrines, etc., to varying degrees. This is inevitable. This is not necessarily dangerous to your spiritual health unless you fail to counter this influence with the Word, and instead you allow yourself to become fascinated by these outside influences to the point that you open yourself up to them and drink in their thoughts and ideas, and allow them to become your own.
21. I think this is especially a temptation when you're around professionals who are quite successful. It's easy to kind of stand in awe when you're around people who are successful, fast-moving and quick-thinking—the "mover and shaker" types who are powerful in the ways of the world and very respected by their peers or associates. You see them calling the shots and making things happen‚ so you feel a little intimidated around them. It's easy in such a case to take the low seat and let them feed you, so to speak.
22. Apparently, this is what happened to the dear ones that the above prophecy was given for. They were hungry for knowledge, so instead of seeking Godly knowledge in the Word as much as they should have, whenever they'd talk to outsiders who had something to say, or whenever they read any System material that was interesting, they'd open their minds and spirits to it. They drank of what the Lord called "brackish and poisonous waters‚" which weakened them spiritually.
23. The Lord again talked of the importance of the Word. Because these brethren didn't aggressively wash their hearts and minds with the Word and constantly check the input they were receiving against the Word, they ran into serious trouble. The prophecy said they became dull in their understanding; their wits were no longer quick and sharp; their discernment was weakened; they lost their childlike faith; their loyalty and simplicity was replaced with skepticism, criticalness and high-mindedness; and they lost their strength, happiness and peace of mind. That's quite a negative downhill chain reaction!
24. But then do you see what all this leads to? When they lost faith, they got confused, and then started placing the blame on everything and everyone else, rather than recognizing that their problems were caused by their own lack of staying close to the Lord through the Word! You see, it's all tied together. If you take in ungodly influences and you don't wash your heart and mind with the Word, then before long you become deceived and you start blaming others, or your leadership, or the Family, or even the Word. That's what the Devil wants! That's his ultimate goal—he's trying to get you to doubt!
25. But the key, the solution, is in going to the Word! Are you suffering from the negative effects of this type of System influence? Have you drunk deeply of worldly wisdom, outlooks, and values to the point that you're now confused and doubting and blaming the Family, the Lord, the Word, WS or Peter and me for your problems? The Lord promises that He will heal you and deliver you from your confusion‚ wrong perspective, and doubts if you'll go to Him and His Word. But you must be willing to forsake your own thoughts and give up the brackish and polluted waters of the System‚ in order to allow the pure water of the Word to flow freely through you.
ML #3174:3-26, GN 779
3. (Mama:) From all we've heard, the Web has become quite a problem in some places with some people and has contributed to all sorts of ungodly attitudes. The Lord warned us of its dangers before in "Mama's News and Views, Part 3" (ML #3053:91-135, GN 682), and when we brought this situation before Him again, to get His viewpoint on it, He sent Dad with the following message.
4. (Dad:) The Internet is like a magnet, and it's got an almost hypnotic drawing power. It sucks in and draws in everything that comes close to it. It's like a magnet that pulls those who aren't strong in the Word or the Lord into its center of knowledge. Even those who are strong in the Lord need to watch out, because the pull is so strong. It's like trying to pull apart two heavy-duty magnets that are drawn to each other!
5. The Web is a tangled mass of confusion that the Enemy has spun in order to catch his prey—just like a spider spins its web and waits for passersby to get stuck in it‚ and thus they're no longer just passersby, but they're lunch! The spider doesn't hesitate to gobble the insect up, because that's the spider's whole purpose—to catch its prey. And so it is with the Enemy's web—his whole design is to catch the passersby, the browsers, those who get stuck in this web of idolatry.
6. Oh yes‚ the Web is beautiful, just like a spider's web that shines in the sun. There may even be nice juicy drops of dew that rest upon the strands and shine like diamonds. But this is only a faèade. This is only the lure to attract you into the clutches of the Web. There may be nice fun things on the Internet, and these things attract you and draw you in, but once you're in, the pull is like a magnet that's almost too strong for you to humanly pull away from. Once you're in, you're stuck, and pretty soon the Enemy's going to have you for lunch!
7. You start off very casually. You're interested in the knowledge, in the easy accessibility of the facts, stories‚ and goodies that are contained in this massive Web, but you don't stop there. You go on, you explore, you search deeper and lust after the knowledge of the world—that which has been carefully guarded from you young people during your life, because your caretakers knew of the dangers lurking within these dangerous vices and devices of the Devil. You dig deeper and deeper and fill your mind with polluting pornography or perverted sex, ungodly attitudes about love and marriage, witchcraft‚ communicating with evil spirits, the occult, and much, much more. You'll find it wasting your Word time, robbing your witnessing time and destroying your conviction! Once you've stepped into the Web, there's no limit to the dung of the Enemy that'll come flying your way!
8. Sometimes even the so–called good stuff, articles from other Christians or religious leaders, can be dangerous. I'm not saying that it's evil, but if it's something that causes you to water down your convictions and doubt our Family doctrines, beliefs and lifestyle, then it's bad for you! It's brackish water from a tainted well and it'll make you sick in the end. Or even if it doesn't make you sick‚ if you try to get your spiritual nourishment from it‚ you're gonna wind up getting malnourished!
9. You can't just feed yourself with worldly knowledge and wisdom and not suffer for it too. It's the same temptation the Devil used with Eve—fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Well, the Serpent's fruit and knowledge is all evil. It may seem pleasant to the eyes and sweet to the taste, but if you walk the path of man's wisdom without seeking the Lord, you'll find it is foolishness in the end. It's a subtle deceit, these words of men. You absorb more and more of them, and after a while you start wondering why you need to live and love and believe the way you do. They eat away at your foundation and your structure little by little, like termites do in a house, unseen. And before you know it, the house just collapses!
10. This web of worldly knowledge clouds your mind and goes to work right away to change your thought patterns.
11. This is Satan's propaganda, Satan's desire, to get you to stop thinking for yourself, to stop thinking the way the Lord wants you to think. Satan's whole desire is to control the hearts and minds of mankind, and with this tool of destruction, he is slowly but surely accomplishing just that. It's a tangled web he's woven, and many are falling for his trap. It's a powerful magnet that's attracting many who aren't firmly attached to the most powerful magnet known to men or angels—the Lord! If you're not firmly attached to the magnet of God, then it's only a matter of time before you're drawn to the Enemy's magnet, because his pull is very strong.
12. This tangled web of the Internet is one of his most powerful, heavy-duty magnets, and it's attracting millions and billions to its core. And sad to say, it's also attracting some of our Family members. In fact, some are pretty deeply embedded in the Web, and it's going to take a miracle to salvage some of these lives for the Lord. The Enemy's having a heyday with his little distractions and chocolate-coated poison that he has distributed to the nations, and he's not stopping anywhere. He wants complete control. He wants to rule the hearts and minds of men, and seeks to do this through sucking in those who aren't on guard, who aren't firmly attached to the magnet of God. The Lord's children have a clearer sense of what right and wrong is, and the wrong has an even greater effect on them.
13. You wonder where all of these wrong attitudes are coming from? Where do people get their ungodly views about sex? Where do people get their screwed-up ideas about relationships? Where do people get their System ideologies? Where do people get their knowledge about the dark side? Where are all of these doubts coming from? Where is your love for the lost? Where is your desire to serve God and fight for freedom no matter what? Whatever happened to the Revolution that we once had? Have our folks just gotten so damned lukewarm and cool in their convictions that they don't want to stay dropped out of the System?
14. Why are our young people hungering and thirsting after the knowledge of Babylon? … My God‚ it's really going to take something drastic to get some of our kids to wake up! That's their problem—they're asleep in the spirit, and some of them are pretty deep sleepers! What's it gonna take to get them on-fire for the Lord and dropped out once again?
15. I hated the System with a perfect hatred and I didn't want to have anything to do with the world and its ways! I knew where it led to. I knew that thriving on the pleasures of the System would only weaken me and make me useless‚ dry, cold, lifeless and dead in spirit! I've always tried to impart that same revolutionary spirit to my children, and I think I did a pretty good job.
16. What do you kids think this army is? Do you think that just because I'm in Heaven now, you can do your own thing and water down your convictions? If I'd heard about things like this happening when I was there with you, do you know what I would have done? I would've given you a tongue-lashing! I would've told you to "get with it, or get out!" Well, I'm Here now, but things like that haven't changed.
17. Maybe you think that I can't see the traps some of you have fallen into, the lack of conviction you have and the ungodly System things you're allowing into your lives. I can see not only in the physical, but I can also see in the spiritual. I can see that some of you are getting weaker and weaker, and if you don't pull out of the downward spiral that the Enemy's gotten you trapped in, pretty soon you're not going to make it in this Gideon's band.
18. Get with the spirit of the Family! Get with the Spirit of the Lord! Get with the spirit of the Revolution! To Hell with what the System thinks! To Hell with their views on social issues! To Hell with the Whore and all her little whorelings! You've got to get stirred up and realize that we're fighting a war, and you don't have hours to waste doing your own thing, reading System publications … and certainly not wasting your time getting trapped in the tangled web that the Enemy's spun to catch you and destroy your usefulness for the Lord!
19. Whatever happened to our perfect hatred of the System and her ways? Have you forgotten about the verse that says‚ "Come out from among them and be ye separate"? The Lord didn't say, "Wallow in the mire, but you can still stay separate." No. If you're wallowing in the mire with everyone else, how are you going to be able to reach out a helping hand to save them? You're not going to do anyone any good by getting all dirty and tangled up yourself. You've got to come out from among them and be totally, completely and revolutionarily separate!
20. This world's going to Hell, along with all of its wicked ways! The Enemy's leading the world on the pathway to destruction, and it's your job to show the world a little bit of Heaven. The Enemy knows that the little bits of Heaven that you show people are going to shine as a bright and glorious light‚ especially in these Last Days when things are waxing worse and worse. So don't you see why it stands to reason that the Enemy is fighting so hard to cool down your convictions?
21. He's fighting to dim your light and snuff out your fire, so that the world won't come out to see you burn. He knows that God's Spirit is going to attract the duped people he has within his clutches. He knows that God's magnet is stronger than his, and if people will only see the truth, they'll come running to find that same power, that same joy, that same freedom! Do you want to give the Enemy one more victory? He's trying to water down your convictions and turn off your light. Do you want to give him that satisfaction?
22. The Internet is one of the Enemy's weapons of destruction, as he seeks to lure you with the riches and knowledge of this world. He robs you of your time reading the Word, witnessing, loving, or being a blessing to those in your Home. He draws you into his web ever so slowly‚ and pretty soon you're digging deeper and deeper into the deadly depths of destruction.
23. As with all of his weapons‚ it looks good from the outside, and is even good and useful as a tool to get out God's Word and to warn the world of impending doom, as well as proclaim the glorious future. But deep inside there are dangerous traps which the Enemy uses to ensnare the multitudes. Remember the verses about how in the Last Days there would come a falling away from the truth, and the Enemy would seek to deceive even the very elect? (2Thes.2:3; Mat.24:24). Well, this is a perfect example of him trying to deceive the very elect!
24. Please don't you be his next meal! Please don't let him eat away at your convictions and foundation by reveling in this web of knowledge that is set to ensnare those who do not walk prayerfully and carefully within. Please stay revolutionary, dropped out, and free from his diabolical ways that we don't want to have any part of!
25. If this shoe fits, wear it! You know who you are. You know who I'm talking to. You know if I'm talking to you or not. You know whether or not I'm asking you to forsake this lust for worldly knowledge and sever all ties with the System. And if you're one of the ones I'm talking to, I pray with all of my heart that you'll have the conviction and the guts to take a stand and be counted with our Gideon's band! If not, you'll have Hell to pay in the future, and it's not a pretty sight when you become the Devil's prey! He has no mercy or justice, and only uses you as his pawn until you're of no use to him anymore. Then you're wasted.
26. So don't become the Enemy's next meal! Stay mighty close to the magnetic pillar of the Lord's power and knowledge. Stay separate, dropped out, revolutionary and single-minded, so that you can reach out and pull others toward the light! Keep your heart clear and free from the hazy distractions and brain clouds of the Enemy, so that you can pour forth the Lord's Words and quench the thirst of the world! Stay radical, uncompromising and unfaltering in your convictions, so that the Lord can use you as one of His mighty leaders of the End—and He will!
ML #3233:47-50, GN 836
47. (Dad:) Do our folks want liberty to gain worldly knowledge? For what? Why would they want to get all confused and tangled up and misled by the false, phony theories of man‚ when they have the knowledge and wisdom of God and the secrets of the universe at their fingertips? The wisdom of man is just a decoy, but it holds an evil fascination for some. Lord‚ deliver our folks from these lying‚ cunningly devised fables of man! Deliver us from worldly ways and a hankering for the world!
48. You know, I watched movies and documentaries and read different things. I was always learning and curious to know what was going on. And to some extent our folks do need to be aware and informed. But unless they're going to constantly be measuring up all this input with the standard of the Word, they need to forget it. If they're not going to recognize most of this stuff for what it really is, then watch out. A lot of the filth and things going around should only serve its purpose in proving to God's people the truth and the validity of the Scriptures—signs of the times that you're living in the End!
49. Now, don't misinterpret this and use what I just said as your excuse to wallow in all the shit the Devil has out there! Don't use this as your excuse to go out and watch all the movies you want and read all the books you want, just so you can measure it up with the Word; that's not the point I'm trying to make. I'm just saying that when you're exposed to these things, you need to balance it out. The point is that the Devil's propaganda is all around; you can't be in the world and get away from it. So our folks need to be prepared.
50. The only way to be in the world and not of the world is to stay pumped up with the Word—to be inoculated with the Word and the truth. To hear fresh from Heaven on a daily basis, so that you will be able to stand up with conviction and give an answer to every man that asks. The way to be in the world and not of the world is to not go out and play their game along with them. If you want freedom to go out and be just like them, you're going to find out that fifth column in your heart will poison your soul! It's the Devil's own tool when our folks are being tempted with worldly ways and a hankering for the world.
ML #3250:36-54, GN 852
Familiarity with the Word Is the Road to Defeat!
36. (Mama: ) Needless to say, the Enemy really fights our Word time and times of loving the Lord. He'll do almost anything to stop us, hinder us or keep us from getting fed once we do sit down and begin reading. Probably one of the greatest dangers for us, the children of David, is to get familiar with the Word, because we have so much of it. We've been richly blessed, the Lord says, above all on the face of the Earth, to have so much of the Lord's written Word, as well as fresh living Words whenever we take the time to receive them.
37. The Enemy tries very hard to get you to become familiar with the Word‚ because if he can make you familiar with it, then you're not hungry for it and you don't receive from it like you should. Ultimately you stop growing and begin backsliding if you don't desperately fight to renew your hunger and desire for the Word‚ and your receptivity to it. The Lord gave a very sobering message about familiarity with the Word‚ which I want to share with you here. Please take it to heart, dear ones, because your spiritual life depends on it!
38. (Jesus:) One of the greatest dangers to your spiritual life is familiarity with My Word. Your connection with Me through My voice of prophecy and My written Word is your spiritual lifeline. The Enemy is always trying to hinder or disrupt your link with Me through the Word, and even destroy it if you'll let him. If he can't convince you to not read the Word, he'll try to squelch the power and effect of My Word in your life through familiarity or a lack of hunger.
39. My Word has the spiritual power to change any life, any heart, if it is received in receptive, fertile, hungry ground. It has the power to transform any personality and heart. No matter what the problem or weakness or longstanding bad habit, there's great power in My Word to effect change.
40. I've given My children the answers for their personal needs, for their individual problems and situations—it's all in My Word. I've provided them with clear, step-by-step direction for the road ahead, for their entry into the Last Days. I've not kept these things a secret from My children‚ but I've been faithful to reveal to them what they'll need in order to be strong, faithful witnesses for Me in the Endtime.
41. I've been pouring out page after page of guidance and counsel in preparation for the Last Days, of things My children will need to do in order to stay very close to Me, to be used mightily of Me, and to remain in the center of My perfect will—loving Me intimately, praising Me, using prayer and prophecy—and there is yet more to come.
42. These are priceless treasures of My Word, real spiritual truths that have a great effect on the lives and spiritual growth of My children. Those who are close to My Word‚ who drink it in and absorb it, obey and follow, continue to grow and move forward. They remain strong and even go from strength to strength.
43. But those who allow themselves to lose their fire for My Word, who grow familiar with it and think it isn't necessary to study and absorb it every day, will not stay strong and healthy in spirit. They will slowly grow weaker‚ and when the big tests come along, they won't have the power and strength of My Word in their hearts to give them faith and strength of spirit. They won't have the good, strong foundation of My Word, which they should have been building on every day, to hold them strong and steadfast through the storms of the battles ahead.
44. I don't blame My children for becoming a little familiar with My Words at some time, because I understand your frame and I know that this is a human weakness. It's not easy to keep yourselves stirred up in spirit, to keep yourselves desperate and hungering and thirsting after the Spirit. Your human flesh and carnal mind tend to get weary in well doing‚ weary with fighting in the spirit. It's a spiritual fight, a spiritual warfare, and that's one of the reasons that My children get weary with the battle. The Enemy is always trying to persuade you to take what seems like the easier way out—the road of lethargy, spiritual laziness.
45. He's always there to tell you not to bother reading My Word, not to absorb it or believe it. He's right at your heart's door trying to tell you that you don't need to believe or accept this or that new move of My Spirit. "It's okay if you just let this one thing slide and don't try to practice it. You don't need to get desperate; nothing will happen." But you must be very careful, My children, that you don't fall into the Enemy's trap of familiarity or laziness towards My Word, because this is the road to defeat and real problems. It's a dangerous road, and the end thereof could lead you right out of My service. I can help you, whether the problem is familiarity, laziness‚ daydreaming, poor reading habits, or an outside attack of the Enemy, who hates to see you reading and absorbing My Word.
46. If you find yourself getting familiar with My Word, or not feeling like reading it and absorbing it; if you find that it's hard to concentrate and be fed, to get yourself stirred up in spirit and drink in My Words and find the answers, the peace‚ the encouragement, and the treasures in it that you need; if it's a drag for you to read My Word and something that you don't look forward to‚ then this should be a warning to you that it's time for you to wake up to the fact that you're heading down the wrong road and you need to get desperate with Me for a change of attitude, for a renewal of your hunger and desire for the spiritual power of My Words.
47. I've promised to feed My sheep, to feed My children the things that they need, but I can only feed those who want to be fed from My hand‚ those who come to Me and eat it out of My hand. I've provided the spiritual food and instruction and direction that you need and that you must have in order to stay strong and spiritually healthy and in step with Me, but you have to stir yourselves up to eat it, to want it, to desire it and hunger for it so that it can strengthen you.
48. If you find that you're regularly just flipping through the pages of a GN, or thumbing through a book aimlessly to try to fill up the time, that should be a warning to you that something is wrong—that you're not hungering after My Words as you should be, which is a danger signal. Stop right then and pray and ask Me to give you a new hunger for My Words. Ask for united prayer from your Home the next time you have devotions together, and ask people to pray for you to be fed from My Words and to have a renewed inspiration in your quiet time with Me.
49. You have to start your quiet time with Me with the right attitude. You have to slow down in spirit and really connect with Me through My Words. Go slow as you read and really think about what you're reading; think about what I'm saying and apply it to your life. It's much better to read one page and be fed and inspired by that page than to read a whole Letter and not even remember what you read.
50. You have to fight against the spiritual lethargy and familiarity of the Enemy, My children, because he's out to destroy your link with Me and your lifeline through My Word. Without My Word in your life as a living, changing force, you'll slowly but surely drift further and further away from the standard of My Words.
51. I promise to feed you as you call out to Me, and at the sound of your sincere cry, I will answer and strengthen you and renew your hunger for My Words. It's not wrong to run into dry spells when you don't feel like feeding yourself with My Word. This happens to all of My children at some time, because you're human. I don't condemn you when this happens. But you mustn't stay in that condition. You mustn't let it go on and on for a long time, because then it becomes harder for you to stir yourself up and get back on the right track of letting My Words move you and change you.
52. It's wrong and dangerous to not do anything about it, to ignore this weakness and just hope it will go away. You must fight against familiarity with My Words through personally asking Me for help, or with united prayer if you need it. You must do whatever it takes to stir your spirit up—whether by changing your reading diet by reading Letters you haven't read for a long time, oldie-goldies; or by reading on a subject or theme you've never read about before; or by changing your quiet time or the place you read; or having someone read with you; or by reading slower or faster‚ or reading out loud. Whatever it takes for you personally, you must work on it and fight to be truly fed, inspired and renewed through My Words.
53. Don't worry about what people around you are reading or doing in their Word time; just concentrate on what you need, what turns you on in spirit, and what helps you personally to be fed and inspired and renewed in spirit.
54. The power is there! The inspiration is there for each of My children—the answers, the comfort, the encouragement, and the direction. All that is needed has been provided for My Family through My Words, and My children must fight to receive it and apply it and be changed by it. (End of message.)
ML #3322:80-99, GN 925
Opinion? Or Oracle?
80. (Mama:) There's a general trend in the world today toward "open-mindedness," with a multitude of opinions and a large quantity of information floating around—often facts mixed together with theories. Through movies, TV, the news media, the Internet, and even in your witnessing and ministering, this abundant input from all kinds of worldly sources seems to surround you sometimes. With so many available options, how do we know that the Word is the right opinion?
81. (Dad: ) The Word is what I built this Family on. The Word of the Lord is what brought this whole revolution together! I was nothing. I didn't think I had what it took to be a great leader, teacher or prophet, and I didn't—I just followed the Lord! I gave His Word, come what may, and that was the foundation of this Family. And the foundation of the Family hasn't changed.
82. Our Family was built on the firm rock of the Word. We weren't built on the sand; otherwise when the winds and storms came, we would have fallen flat on our faces. This Family was built on the pure solid rock of the Word of God, and that's the only reason why we've made it thus far, why we've survived so many revolutions, so many persecutions, so many changes, so many time periods‚ fads and trends.
83. The Family is like a house that was built on the good foundation of the Word. Over the years we've replaced different things in the makeup of the house. We've changed procedures, we've changed the way we did things—like changing the windows, giving the house a new paint job, replacing tiles on the roof, or putting in new carpet. We've changed and moved with the Spirit of God, but we've never taken away the foundation of the Word, because that's what really keeps the whole house of the Family together.
84. The Word is the only sure factor in the world today. This Family is not based on anything else save the Word of God. I always preached that and lived that, and now Mama and Peter are preaching that and living it more than ever before. They're pumping out more Word than ever before, getting out the millions for the billions—Letters and wonderful counsel from Heaven about every topic under the sun.
85. How on earth can some of you think that you can do without the Word? Maybe you think that you know better or that you've become intelligent and smart by increasing your knowledge through avenues of the Enemy—worldly books, movies, TV, the Internet, etc. Some of you have let yourself become deluded into thinking that your opinion, or the opinion of some worldly author or celebrity, is just as good as the Lord's opinion and Word, or the words that He gave me and Mama. Let me tell you, opinions are one thing but the Word is another! Maybe it's because you haven't been around long enough to know that everything can change—the Family can change, the whole world can change—but the only thing that's going to last forever is the Word!
86. If you don't respect the Word, you'd better watch out! You're poking your finger directly in God's eye, and He won't stand for it. You're not just personally offending Mama and Peter when you doubt the Word or count it as simply another opinion and store it away in your memory banks and information files, but you're offending God! He's not going to stand for your indifference for very long. He'll stop talking to you if you won't listen.
87. His Word is not like a newspaper where you can pick and choose and decide to believe what you want and then throw the rest in the trash can! How can you hold the knowledge that you receive from books, movies, System magazines, Internet pages and other information sources of the System in higher regard than the Word of the Lord? Don't you think that's a pretty dangerous position to be in? Don't you see that this is a deadly attack of the Enemy on your soul? He's planting his evil seeds of indifference, "open-mindedness‚" and a wishy-washy, string-for-a-backbone type of lukewarm conviction.
88. Are you like a jellyfish that's going to get beat around by the waves and go with the flow‚ wherever the currents of this world lead you? Are you going to be as flabby and see–through as a jellyfish, with no real substance or purpose in life? Are you being duped by the knowledge of this world, and is it alienating you from the life–giving Words of the Lord? Or are you aboard our ship that is firmly anchored with the Word and will not be moved, even though the waves will no doubt beat upon it?
89. I'll tell you, if you're not fully on board the ship that is anchored with the Word, you'll not last long out there in the open sea of knowledge. There are sharks and other predators out there! You'll soon find yourself starving for lack of nourishment. Without the life, light, warmth and spirit of the Word, you'll soon start to slowly die and lose your usefulness to the Lord.
90. Folks, the Word is not just another opinion in the polls! You can't just take the Word and pick and choose what you believe and what you don't believe. The Lord gives us well–balanced meals, and if you're picking and choosing what you want to eat—throwing some away and supplementing it with junk food—you'll soon find that your hankering for junk food will grow and grow until you no longer desire the pure, fresh Word of God.
91. There are a lot of theories in the world today and a lot of information, but not all of it is true or good. The Enemy has designed this "information overload" to confuse people as to what's right and wrong, good or bad, truth or deception. Since the boundaries are no longer so clear to them, they become willing to take in a little bit of almost everything. One of his biggest devices is to cause people to become so open-minded that they begin to believe that there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. As rampant as this "anything goes" attitude is in the world today, it's no wonder it's also creeping into the ranks of our Family. But you should sit up and take notice and become aware of the Enemy's devices!
92. I'm not meaning to declare that you can never read other informative books or receive added information from other sources besides the Word. The danger comes when you start replacing the Word with worldly knowledge and turning to its wisdom and solutions‚ esteeming it above the Word.
93. Everything you read and everything you hear should be balanced and judged by the Word. You can research the Letters, or if there's nothing in the Word already about it, you can hear directly from Heaven. There's a lot of information in the world today, and that's the danger. It all looks so good and is presented so well, it's very enticing and appealing to the eyes, but some of it is just plain wrong or misleading, especially when it leads you away from the Lord and His Word. You have to be more aware than ever that the Enemy is out to destroy your faith in the Word.
94. If you're one of the ones who's been duped by the System's knowledge and has given it a higher place than the Lord's Word, then I'd strongly suggest that you have a fast from all System input for a while until you get fully rewired and plugged into the Source once again. Otherwise, if you're not honest with yourself and if you don't take this stand to keep your feet firmly fixed upon the only absolute in the world today, you're going to find yourself getting weaker and weaker, to the point where you won't even be able to tell right from wrong anymore. That's what's happened to millions of people all over the globe. They don't even know what's right and wrong, truth or fiction‚ real or unreal, good or evil—they're brainwashed by the System's indifference and lack of discernment and spiritual principles.
95. If you catch yourself looking to the word of the System above the Word of the Lord, you'd better sit up quick and pray desperately for the Lord to help you see things as He sees them. When you receive so much worldly input on a regular basis, your eyes can become blinded to the evidence of the spirit world and the beauties and answers that come from the halls of Heaven. You'll become alienated from the life of God if you don't watch out, because these other avenues of information slowly creep in and take the place of God's Word in your heart. It's never something that happens overnight; it's a gradual process, and if you don't put a stop to it, it will destroy your usefulness to the Lord.
96. Like I said, the foundation of this Family—and the foundation of any Christian, for that matter—should be the Word. If you don't hold on to the Word for dear life, you're going to find yourself slipping into the oblivion of little or no usefulness to the Lord. He wants to use you, each and every one of you, but He can only do so if you keep your mind stayed on Him and His Word, rather than forming your thoughts, conclusions, and philosophies based on the world's mass of information confusion.
97. If you want your tree to continue bearing fruit, then you'd better remain planted by the rivers of His water, rather than letting parts of your roots drink from the sewers of the System. You can test the waters here and there to see if they're good, but your measuring stick should always be the Word, the Word, the Word!
98. Okay‚ have I hammered this nail in long enough? Have I driven the point home? I think I've said all that needs to be said, but it's up to you what you do with this counsel and warning. You know your heart and you know whether you're drawing your conclusions from the Word or from other System ideologies. So I'm trusting that you'll all be honest with yourselves and make sure you're drinking in the pure waters; not the pollutants of Satan, or even that which may seem and taste good and pure, but is filled with chemicals that will eat you away from the inside out.
99. The Word is not just a source of information; it's the only thing that will keep you alive and filled with the truth of the Spirit! The Word is not just somebody's views or opinion; it's the truth of God, and to survive spiritually you'd better read it and live it! (End of message.)
ML #3350:63-73, GN 945
Familiarity with the Lord's Words
63. (Jesus:) Hearing from Me is like lovemaking, in that sometimes you're too tired physically to have a long and active date or go all the way. The love is still there, the respect, the desire to please and care for your loved one and to show them that you love them. Sometimes you have to sacrifice and do things for your loved one that you don't even like doing that much‚ out of love for them, to show them how much you love them. Other times you have to humble yourself and admit that you don't have the energy, and trust that your loved one will understand and will still love you.
64. I'm your spiritual Husband and I understand your weaknesses when it comes to loving Me in the spirit and receiving My Words in prophecy. I understand how you can only take so much spiritual lovemaking, only so much sucking and receiving of My seeds. Sometimes you're just too tired to go on. You can only receive so much‚ only so many messages, before you need to rest both physically and spiritually and be strengthened through drinking in My written Word before you can go on and receive more.
65. But as long as you show Me that the love for My seeds and My Words is still there, then I don't mind the times that you have to rest and do other things. As long as you respect Me and respect My voice of prophecy, then I know that you're just tired and in need of rest from our much lovemaking. But if you disrespect Me, if your attitude is negative and you say negative things about My Word or prophecy, if you talk disrespectfully behind My back to others about the things I say and show a lack of respect for My Word, you're more than just tired—you're becoming familiar with the Spirit of God.
66. Familiarity in any marriage is a weakness that you have to recognize and fight against—but even more so in our marriage, for I'm not only your Husband, but I'm your God. It can be difficult when you allow yourself to become familiar with your physical mate; that has its own set of problems to overcome—the pride, the lack of trust, the lack of love and respect. But when you allow your pride to cause familiarity in our spiritual relationship, it's much more serious.
67. You have to remind yourself that no matter how you feel‚ you can't let your pride tempt you to become disrespectful toward My Word, because My Word is Me. When you think negatively about My Word, have questions or doubts about something you don't understand, or maybe you don't agree with something I've said—this isn't a real problem if you come to Me and ask Me about it. If you do, I'll explain it to you and give you the answer. Having questions or wondering about something isn't a problem as long as you ask Me and let Me clarify it to you. But if you don't ask Me and you let that question or doubt linger in your mind, it can cause other questions, doubts, and confusion. It's important to seek Me for My perspective and counsel. I will speak to you and give you the answers you need.
68. Having questions isn't a problem, but when you speak negatively to others, when you voice your contrary opinions or belittle My Word to others‚ this is being disrespectful to Me—your Husband and God—and by doing so, you're tearing down our relationship. Just as a wife can tear down her marriage through pride, lack of respect‚ and lack of trust toward her physical husband, so do you when you become familiar with My Spirit and lose your fear of Me and your respect for the power of My Word.
69. You might not understand or agree with every single thing in My Word or the ways of My Spirit, but it's not your place to criticize My ways or to assume you know better than Me. If you've found you've slipped into thinking or speaking negatively about My ways, it's time to stir yourself up to the spiritual warfare and realize that this is an inroad of the Enemy straight to your spirit. The Enemy will play on your pride and cause you to be critical of Me, to be just a little disrespectful, to say a few things here and there that aren't very Spirit-led or wise, and that's his way of entering through your pride. You have to shut that door of entrance through pride and familiarity right away, before it's open so wide that it becomes a major spiritual battle to slam it shut.
70. You have to keep your spiritual walls strong by keeping your attitude right, keeping your spirit right‚ and keeping our relationship strong in spirit. And the way you do this is through seeking to be humble. I've given you some wisdom, some understanding and knowledge, but you have to keep reminding yourself that you're nothing without My anointing and that you don't know anything except what I show you.
71. Fight the Enemy's temptation of pride, his temptation to criticize and belittle My Word or to talk down about it. You have to really fight this spirit of familiarity if you want to stay strong in spirit, in tune with Me, and moving forward into the era of action. If you allow your pride to enter into our marriage, it will weaken your faith in Me, your trust in My Word, and therefore your faith and trust that I know what's best.
72. You have to recognize the seriousness of it and realize that just being a little negative here and there can have a very weakening effect on your spirit if you don't stop it and turn it around. It might not seem like a big deal to you; you might think that you can get away with it once or twice, and that it's fine to talk to your friends and let it all hang out—let out all your questions and your negative thoughts about Me—but it's not fine. It's a dangerous habit to get into because it strengthens your pride. It tears down our relationship of love and trust, and it stumbles and infects others.
73. The key is humility, recognizing Who's really right‚ and giving Me the honor, respect, and reverence of a humble servant. You may not like everything I say, how I say it, or how I do things, but you have to accept it and respect it in order to move forward. (End of message.)
ML #3376:43-52, GN 973
43. (Jesus:) I want to fully possess you—but you must be of a ready mind, a willing mind. This is the step you must take if you are to use this new gift I place in your hands. You must desire the things of the spirit over the things of the flesh. You must put off the mind of man and put on the mind of God.
44. Many of you hold on to carnal–mindedness in some areas of your lives. These are hindrances that prevent Me from possessing you as I need to if you are going to hone the gift I wish to give you.
45. What you spend your time doing tells the tale. How much do you delve into the knowledge of the world over the knowledge of God—through movies, books, magazines, music, the Internet, the news media, through study of worldly knowledge and man's wisdom, through listening to the philosophies of men of the world that are not in accordance with My Word?
46. I am not asking you to put away all forms of recreation that involve the world, or always forgo or shun movies, books, magazines‚ the Internet, etc. But what you need to ask yourself, and ask Me above all, is how much these things influence your thoughts. How much time do you spend relaxing with those things, and how much time do you spend relaxing with Me? Do you take time in My Word to cleanse yourself after partaking of the things of the world, even when it's for simple relaxation? There probably is no more important time to seek to be cleansed than after delving into the world for relaxation and entertainment, because if you're on the job and doing research, you're more likely to be on guard and prayerful, and thus the Enemy cannot come in as much. But when you're relaxing, this is a time when the Enemy can often get in wholesale with his ideas and thought patterns and mindsets, because you're "just relaxing," so you take it all in without filtering it or measuring it against the yardstick of My Word, and without taking time to be cleansed afterwards through prayer, communion with Me‚ and even seeking Me about specifics that stick in your mind from those things.
47. There are also times when it's necessary for the sake of the work, and I give you the go-ahead to immerse yourselves in some of these things, when it's necessary to pass through the waters of worldly wisdom and knowledge. But I want you to ask yourselves, what care do you take to filter this input through the sieve of My Words during those times, both written and My Word in prophecy for you personally? Do you delve into the knowledge of the world and the ways of the world without following through with the cleansing process of My Spirit afterwards? Do you delve into worldly wisdom without proper inoculation and detoxification? Do you delve into worldly knowledge and let it linger? Or do you shun that which is carnal and put on My mind? Do you ask Me what I think about the conclusions you come to after talking with people of the world or reading their material? When you look something up on the Internet‚ do you stop to ask Me what I think of it, or if I agree with their conclusions, or if their information is even accurate by My standards and the way I know things to truly be? These are habits you must build if you are to be able to receive this gift I want to give you.
48. Or is your reaction when you read a GN or message from Me to weigh it against other so-called "facts" that you've learned from worldly sources, to see if My Words really "hold water" or are accurate? Do you judge the worldly knowledge or information or thoughts that you take in against My Words‚ or do you judge My Words against your own thoughts and other sources of information? If other sources of information are your yardstick‚ you need some serious adjustment in your mindset if you are to take on My mind and be ready to receive this gift I am waiting to give you.
49. What care do you take to filter carnal thoughts and wisdom through My Spirit, without fail? You must filter what contact you have with the world through Me‚ without fail, if you are to stay pure and undefiled, ready and able to be conductors of My full power. I have spoken to you of this need to filter all things through My Words and Spirit; now it must be put into continual practice.
50. In order for Me to have full possession, you must not only give Me your mind, but you must clear your mind and thoughts of all that is not of Me, of all that is worldly or carnal. You must be willing to relinquish those ideologies you hold so dear if they don't match up with what My Word says. You must be willing to believe Me above all, even when all your research and everything the world says seems to contradict it. These are sacrifices you must be willing to make if you are to truly put on My mind. When I gave you the greatest commandment, I said you are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul‚ and with all your mind. This means you are to give all your mind to Me. Giving Me all your mind means you are not to give place to carnal-mindedness through retaining worldly wisdom and letting it become part of you.
51. The natural mind of man does not receive the things of My Spirit. Those who would be vessels of My great and awesome miracle–working power must retain My knowledge in all their thoughts. Worldly knowledge and carnal-mindedness surround you, it is true; you cannot escape being aware of it. However, there is a definite difference between awareness and allowing it to become part of you.
52. I have put you in the world, My loves, yet you are not to be of the world. To activate the new gift I will give you, you must come out of the world, be separate in all your ways, and touch not the unclean thing—that is, in your mind, in your thoughts, in your spirit. You can be in the world, but not of the world, only by putting on My mind. You may need to be aware of the worldly wisdom, yet you are not to let it become part of you, nor let it use you and guide you.
ML #3469:371-389, GN 1056
Beware of churchy doctrines and compromises
(From "Putting 'Skin' on Sin")
371. (Peter:) Some of you have gone to the churches to get your information, and in doing so, have brought that churchy spirit back with you. Some of you have made a god of this. Soon you're saying, "This is better than the Words of David. The Family's wrong." You've strayed from the simplicity of the Family. You feel like you've pioneered your way beyond us.
372. Your pride has blossomed to the point that you speak against Mama‚ against me, against the Family. "The Folks aren't doing it right. The Activated program isn't the way to go. Oh, the Folks, they don't know. We know. We're doing it. We've gone to the churches and found out what they're doing and we know what to do."
373. (Dad: ) You can't model the Lord's work after the works of a dead or dying church system, regardless of how fruitful that system was in the past, or how fruitful it now looks to be.
374. Yes‚ there are things you can learn from the old, some of what to do and what not to do, but the comparisons quickly come to an end with the realization that the children of David have been called out of the church system.
375. There are many churches that are godly in their own little way. They're niche ministries, if you will, and they bring souls to salvation or help and teach others. There are many churches that know how to build and organize their following. But where are the churches that promote the deeper, meatier, stronger messages of the Spirit as do the children of David? Many are saved, but few there be that are the children of David.
376. So if you want your following to join the bands of David, the Gideon's few, you have to lead them to the water by the spirit and into the spirit, instructing them in the deeper truths of the spiritual world around them and into a passionate, intimate relationship with the Lover of all lovers. (End of message.) (ML #3453:46-49; GN 1038).
(From "Be True to the Revolution!—Conviction versus Compromise, Part 4")
377. (Mama:) The Lord is doing all He can to preserve the Family as we know it, so we'll still be a revolution in the years to come, rather than getting lost in the maze and morass of the church system.
378. The CM Family needs to be a sample of full-time discipleship so the new members who join as a result of the Activated program will be believers who are following the teachings to the best of their ability, not lukewarm members like the millions of sick sheep in the church system.
379. ...Many of you are moving toward toning down our message, trying to fit in and be generally "accepted." Isn't that the age–old temptation of every revolution? With time, the natural tendency is to want to conform‚ to please man, to walk a more accepted path and be more "mainstream."
380. One thing Peter and I will not do, and what Dad never did, is to let others convince us that we need to compromise or conform for the sake of support, comfort, or to look good in the eyes of man. We are revolutionaries. We are dropped out. We are prophets. Since when did the prophets of God give a convenient message that was accepted, so they could avoid rattling the masses or preserve the status quo? They didn't! And neither will Peter and I.
381. Some of you have very logical arguments as to why we should be more "reasonable" and why we need to tone things down and not be offensive. But I have news for you—we are not getting more mainstream or more acceptable if that means compromising the very important messages that the Lord has given us and expects us to be examples of. Again, this brings us back to the question of: Are we part of the established church system, along with the millions of others? Or are we God's chosen Endtime mouthpieces? I know what we as the Family should be, but what are we? What are you?
382. It's not like we can blend into society and be just like everyone else for now, for the next X number of years, and then when things get hot in the Endtime we'll just morph into a radical, disciplined, united army of disciples. It doesn't work like that. We will be what we are becoming! What we'll be tomorrow depends on the choices we're making today. Are we becoming those Endtime prophets and disciples, or are we becoming compromised, lukewarm church members? We're either walking the walk of the dropped-out army God has intended us to be, or we're heading back into the System.
383. I'm very concerned about the conservative, churchy, religious element in our CM Family, wondering what in the world happened to many of you! Where's that dedication you once had to the Words of David?
384. (Dad:) If you're ... toning down the presentation of some of our doctrines so that you can work with the church system and be more acceptable to them and make friends with them and have them accept you, I can guarantee you that you're going to be toning things down so much that you're going to have very little of God's present-day message left!
385. As far back as 30 years ago, church Christians were having difficulty with the Family's doctrines of personal witnessing! And even 40 or 50 years ago, that used to get me into so much trouble when I would talk to churches and church folks about personal witnessing, because they didn't want to do it; most of them didn't want to be involved in it or make the sacrifices to get out and personal witness. They wanted to leave that up to the pastor on Sunday morning. And they didn't want to accept forsaking all, they didn't want to accept the fact that you didn't have to have a church building to go to in order to worship God—that you could worship Him standing out in the park with your friends. And they certainly don't want to accept our beliefs on sex! They never have‚ and I wouldn't be surprised if most of them will never fully be able to accept it. And if they're not willing to accept God's simple, basic Law of Love and godly sex and sharing and giving love one to another, they're certainly going to find it even more difficult to accept Loving Jesus.
386. The churches tried to persuade me for years, as did my first wife, that I was going about things the wrong way, that I shouldn't be challenging them left and right, that I should tone things down‚ that I shouldn't be telling people that we really can live according to the Bible‚ that Jesus did really mean that true Christians should be willing to forsake all and follow Him. The minute I started standing up for the truth, I was never fully accepted by the church Christians.
387. And that's why the Lord had us start the Family, because in you He saw people who were willing to accept His message. The Family didn't want it toned down. They wanted to believe it. They were excited and thrilled and turned on and happy to have finally found others who wanted to live the Word, to preach the Word‚ to give the Word, and to obey the Lord and follow Him no matter what! They were willing and happy and were honored to deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Him.
388. God called me out of the church system so that He could use me and make me into the vessel that He wanted me to be to give His message to the world in the Endtime. He personally spoke to me and to others and told me my calling and my job. He was the One Who told me that I was David for the Endtime, that He would set up one shepherd over His sheep and He would feed them. And even though I didn't understand everything at that time, I still had the personal conviction and faith to follow God. I believed that God knew what He was doing and that He knew best.
389. And that's what each person has to decide for themselves. No one is forcing you to believe anything that you don't want to believe. You're not being forced to stay in the Family. You're completely free to stay if you want to uphold the standards and beliefs of the Family, or you're completely free to serve the Lord in another way‚ whether it be with the churches, with another Christian group, or whatever. You have freedom of choice. (ML #3364:1, 2, 14, 16-18, 57, 106-107, 110-111, 118-119; GN 960).
(excerpts), Christian Digest 6
(Editor: Following are excerpts from the book of a Christian psychologist, William Kirk Kilpatrick‚ exposing the de-Christianizing effect psychology has had upon the world, contrasting true Christianity with psychology, and showing why many psychologists hate Christianity.)
True Christianity does not mix well with psychology. When you try to mix them, you often end up with a watered-down Christianity instead of a Christianized psychology. But the process is subtle and is rarely noticed. …
"It's important to like yourself."
"If you don't like yourself‚ nobody else will."
"Jimmy's problem is his poor self-esteem."
How many times have we heard these or similar sentiments? The taxi driver is as likely to express them as the teacher, the plumber as readily as the psychologist. In fact, we're all pretty much convinced that self-esteem is the key to any number of problems.
This business of liking oneself has become for us almost a first principle. It seems self-evident, in the same category with "the sky is blue." No one is inclined to dispute it. Psychology, of course, didn't invent the notion, but it has capitalized on it. You might say it is the "good news" of the psychological gospel.
So when I undertake to criticize the idea of self-esteem, it is with trepidation. It is like criticizing the proposition "babies are lovable." Nevertheless, the idea does require a closer look, because ideas, like dinnerware, usually come in sets, and some of the notions that accompany the faith in self-esteem are not so charming as little babies.
Self-help books, for example, will often start off by asking you to love yourself, but before long they are telling you you're not responsible for other people and that you shouldn't waste time living up to others' expectations. Most of us know also that "feeling good about myself" is sometimes a handy excuse for doing self-centered or even selfish things. We say, "I won't be much good to others if I'm not good to myself," and the next thing we do is send our three-year–old off to daycare for fifty hours a week or dip into family funds so we can take a day at the races.
Our response to the question "Should you like yourself?" has to be tempered with common sense. Our answer should be "That depends" or "Under what circumstances?" All of us, I take it, would like to see the self-rejecting teenager who frets over her popularity learn to relax and accept herself. The main question, I suppose, is should she continue to like herself when she is spreading vicious rumors or when she callously manipulates others to improve her social standing. Are we, in other words, to like ourselves regardless of how we behave?
How the Christian View Differs
Now the psychological answer to this question is to say that if we truly like ourselves, these other things won't happen—or they won't happen as much. According to this view, people who realize their self–worth don't have any need to do ugly or unkind things. And this is the point, please note, where Christianity and psychology part company. People will continue to behave badly, says the Christian, because human nature is twisted, and liking yourself doesn't remove the twist. But psychological theory doesn't take account of the Fall of man; it takes the position that there are no bad natural inclinations. As a consequence there is no reason we shouldn't accept ourselves as we are.
Although, as I say‚ this is a point of conflict between Christianity and psychology, some Christians do not see it as such because‚ at first glance, the psychological view and the Christian one seem to correspond. Christianity also tells us we ought to love ourselves but for an entirely different reason: because God loves us. We are not centers of wholeness and goodness all by ourselves. We are of infinite worth because we are the apple of God's eye. He loves us as a mother loves her child.
The reason Christians have to be careful about mixing these two views of self-esteem is because the psychological perspective reduces the good news of the Gospel to the status of "nice news"—"nice" because there was never any bad news in the first place. If psychology's great optimism about raw human nature is correct, then Christianity is not necessary: Christ's redemptive action on the cross becomes superfluous. After all, why should He have suffered and died to redeem us if there is nothing wrong with us? If all we need do to find wholeness is just be ourselves, then His death sums up to a meaningless gesture, a noble but unneeded self-sacrifice.
Clearly then, Christians cannot accept the doctrine of natural goodness implied in most theories of self-esteem. The question is why anyone would want to accept it. It is worth noting that Freud himself did not believe it. He believed something quite the opposite: "Man is a wolf to man‚" he observed in Civilization and Its Discontents. Yet his opinion on this matter is largely ignored or evaded today. We prefer to keep our faith in human nature. But the claim for human goodness requires much faith. And that for the very good reason that it is denied at every turn by certain well-known facts: crime statistics, terrorism‚ war, slavery, concentration camps, brutal parents‚ ungrateful children, the meanness of everyday behavior. G.K. Chesterton once observed that the doctrine of fallen man is the only Christian belief for which there is overwhelming empirical evidence.
The Weakness of the Psychological Position
The next thing to see is that this attitude toward the self flatly contradicts the Christian one. The idea that "your worth is determined by you" is about as far from the Gospel message as one could travel. Our Lord's greatest wrath wasn't directed at obvious sinners like Mary Magdalene but at those who were convinced of their own worth. And He never asked His disciples to have self-confidence, only to have faith in Him. There is not the slightest hint in the New Testament that we should have faith in ourselves. As for the proof of our worth, it lies in the fact that God has made us His children and Christ has redeemed us.
Copyright © 2005 by The Family International