Maria
August 8, 2005
GN 1144 FD/MM/FM
By Maria FD/MM/FM 3556 4/05
Dearest Family,
1. With the negative media publicity we've been facing in different areas of the world lately, and a few very determined detractors doing their best to stop our work for the Lord, some of you have written me, asking, "Is this really persecution for righteousness' sake? Or is this something that we could have avoided somehow if we had been wiser, remained more mainstream in our doctrines, or just avoided certain topics in our message? Could we still have done just as effective a job for Jesus if we had stayed away from our controversial doctrines, which have gotten us so much negative attention?" I think the Lord's answer will be very encouraging for you.
2. It all comes down to: "If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20). We're in good company! While we should learn from mistakes of the past and improve—and we have!—we'll never please the world. As long as we're on the attack, saving souls, and serving Jesus, we'll never please the Devil—the Enemy of our souls. We'll never please those who hate God's work and thus try to destroy us because we're doing God's work.
3. So here's to persecution! May it make us white, and motivate us to do an even better job than ever, knowing that "so persecuted they the prophets which were before us" (Mat.5:12). Praise the Lord!
4. (Jesus:) The answer to this question depends on whether you believe that the persecution you suffer is simply brought about by people, or whether it's inspired by the Devil for a more sinister purpose. Lots of your enemies would have you believe that Satan has nothing to do with it, and that it has nothing to do with Me either‚ but that it's simply them against you‚ and that's all that it has to do with.
5. The problem is, that just doesn't hold up. That's an excuse‚ a diversionary tactic, and it isn't the truth. Consider the words of Gamaliel in reverse. He said that if the work of the apostles was of men, it would fail, but if it were of God, it would continue no matter what was done against them (Acts 5:34-39). In a sense, that holds true of the Devil and those who fight against you too. If your persecutions were just perpetrated by people with genuine grievances because they'd been wronged by someone, then with My help and a large measure of love, wisdom‚ humility, prayer and communication, you'd eventually be able to reconcile. But since these persecutions are ultimately because the Devil hates Me and hates My work and thus hates you—you're never going to be fully rid of them, because he doesn't reconcile or stop.
6. Of course, I will stop him in the end. But until that time, if he's your adversary, if he's got your number, then it doesn't matter who is against you and what they say—after they're done, there'll be someone else to take their place and bring new accusations against you.
7. The truth is that it is My enemy who is on your trail, and he is the one who's trying to defeat the Family.—Not because of the 1% of your sins and shortcomings‚ but because of the other 99% where you were right, and you were on the ball, and you defeated him and dealt him blow after blow through being My messengers, My brides, My lovers, My prophets, My truth-givers‚ and My lights in this dark world. That's why the Enemy hates you. That's why the world hates you.
8. But in typical fashion, the Enemy will mask his reasons and his attempts behind the outrage of a few who feel that their fight is not against righteousness and Me, but for righteousness and against the Family, because they think the Family is evil. This is not surprising or new and it shouldn't cause you to waver in your convictions or doubt the righteousness of your cause. If they persecuted Me and My prophets and saints of old, they will persecute you too.
9. Look at Me. I was without sin. I had nothing wherewith they could accuse Me. Yet even the records of My death show that according to the laws and perspectives of man, I didn't die for love or truth or justice, but for political trespasses, for being a "troublemaker‚" a "disturber of the peace," and an enemy of Rome. Or, as the Jews charged, I was a "breaker of the Sabbath," a "heretic‚" and a "blasphemer."
10. But is that really why I died? Are those really the reasons why My enemies hated Me?—Or were those merely convenient excuses? And if they could find plenty of excuses to persecute Me—and I was perfect, without sin—how much more will they find excuses to persecute you, who are not without sin, who are fallible and human and have sinned and come short of the glory of God?
11. Just because someone has an excuse or reason that they're fighting the Family doesn't mean that you're not fundamentally suffering for the good you've done. If you're just looking at the people themselves, you might believe that maybe it's just them against you; but if you look at the spiritual causes and identify which side I'm on, and who is ultimately fighting against Me and you, it becomes clear that there's so much more to it than the wrongs that the Family—or individuals within the Family—stand accused of.
12. As the crowds said when they tried to stone Me, "For good works we stone Thee not" (Jn.10:33). Even then they were straining at the gnat of the small trespass of their law I had committed to give them an excuse for the fact that they were going to kill Me, because they couldn't stand the light and truth with which I was exposing them. It was Satan that was mad, not simply the people whom he was using.
13. "Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Those are My Words and they're true today of you, My Family. And just as in My day, those who are picking up the rocks today say, "For good works we stone thee not, but for this sin and that mistake and this hurt" and so on. And while that may be what they believe to be true, you can still rejoice and be exceeding glad, knowing that ultimately it is the Enemy who is trying to stop you, who is persecuting you. It is for My sake and for the defeats you have caused the Enemy through winning souls for Me and sharing My love with the world that he persecutes you, not for your sins.
14. Of course‚ the Family has made mistakes and you cannot pretend to be blameless. There will always be ammunition that someone can use against you, because you're not perfect. But it isn't for those sins that the Enemy is picking on you. It's because of all the good. It's because of all the righteousness and love for Me, and it's because of all of the other sinners that you've plucked out of his hand and rescued for My sake that he wants to destroy you. He'll use whatever he can get to try to bring you down.
15. In your past you have had many persecutions, and they have all focused on some different aspect. In the old days you were accused of brainwashing and kidnapping and holding people against their will. And if you will remember‚ this was before sex (outside of marriage) was even allowed in the Family, and there was nothing on that score to accuse you of. You have been persecuted for proselytizing the youth, for converting heathen in countries where that wasn't looked well on. You have been accused of child abuse, child slavery‚ trafficking children, prostitution, drug abuse, drug trafficking, treason against governments, money laundering‚ and many other allegations.
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16. (Comment:) Reading this long list of accusations makes me feel like a criminal, even though I know we're not guilty of these things.
17. (Jesus:) I want the children of David to reach the stage where they stand boldly in the face of any accusation—whether there is any twisted truth involved, or it's a blatant lie—and know that they are being persecuted for My name's sake. Be steadfast and bold and at peace, just as I was when I was brought before the Sanhedrin and the Romans and accused of stirring up the people or calling Myself a king. It's not that those accusations had no truth in them, but I knew I was being persecuted as the Son of God, and because I exposed their hypocrisy and wounded their pride and threatened their control. So I was able to stand boldly and with peace in the face of those accusations.
18. I want the same from you. Even though you're not perfect, you're doing My work the best you can, and yet you know you will suffer for My name. Thus you can have faith, and not fear or worry or cower in the face of persecution, but rather know that the God that you serve is able to deliver you! You might not be vindicated in every case. You might not always have the pleasure of seeing the lies of your enemies exposed and everything righted in this life. Sometimes I allow that as a test for the public, to see what they will believe. You need to get used to having your name smeared and not always wiped clean immediately. Sometimes you'll need to bear the accusations bravely, knowing in your heart that you're doing your best for Me, even when all around you the world thinks you're guilty.
19. It's good for you to hear these accusations and to get used to them. If you feel guilty or intimidated when you hear these accusations against you, then something is wrong. You must strengthen your faith, study up a bit‚ and get the facts straight in your mind and heart, so that you are prepared for the day when these things will be screamed in your face, posted on your door‚ and you will still need to stand up as My shining witnesses despite it all. (End of message.)
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20. Your past persecutions should show you that it's not any one sin of yours—whether true or untrue—that you are continually persecuted for, but rather that you can't win with the System, and there is no way you can ever conform and be completely accepted by them as long as you continue to be the revolutionaries that I have called you to be. If you're not accused of one thing or persecuted for it, it will always be another. If there's not something you've actually done that they can use against you, your enemies will make something up. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.
21. The hard fact is that although mistakes were made that can give your detractors excuses and seemingly valid reasons for speaking evil of your good, if it weren't for the fact that you're actually doing so much good and so much right, the Enemy would let your mistakes slide. The Devil doesn't care about your mistakes. He doesn't care if people get hurt. He doesn't care about the times people acted out of My will and outside the boundaries of My Law of Love. He was in fact the instigator of most of those mistakes or sins‚ and he plans to use them against you. The Enemy does not care as much about rectifying individual injustices, unless it would hinder My greater work in some way. He cares more about stopping the Family as a whole.
22. He loves the fact that he has a cloak of righteousness for his sins. With it, he can feel free to use anyone who will let him to throw any amount of mud on the Family's good name and good works and say, "Aha, see, you deserve to be persecuted because such-and–such happened!"
23. But you don't deserve it, My loves. You don't deserve this persecution that you're getting via the media. You're getting it because you are good people, loving people, and most of all because you're a revolution. You're outside the System. You're like those mountain men who have their heads above the masses and can see the darkness for what it really is, but whom the valley villains hate and throw stones at.
24. That doesn't mean the Family is perfect or hasn't made some mistakes in the past, but it does mean that your few sins and errors don't add up to the wave of hate and demonic power arrayed against you. I'm on your side, and Satan is on the other side. That is a fact. The Devil is trying to wipe you out because he hates you—because you love Me and you give your lives for Me.
25. This means that you can stand firm, knowing that you're receiving persecution for the good you've done. You can know that the Enemy hates you and is trying to snuff out your witness because you are shining lights in the midst of gross darkness.
26. The Enemy will always hit hard with condemnation and try to make people feel that they're guilty or bad, or in a bad group, but that just isn't the case. The Family has confessed and forsaken and repented of those things that caused hurt to some in the past, and you are moving forward in love and in My power.
27. But confession and repentance don't matter to the Enemy; in fact, he'd rather the Family didn't confess or repent. He sees where you're going and he sees what you're becoming. He sees that the Family is stronger now than ever, and is getting more organized than ever, and the fruit that remains is some of the strongest fruit ever.—Which is why he has chosen this very time, during the year of strengthening, to let loose with all his guns of filth, bringing up your sins and mistakes exaggerated many times over to try to get you discouraged and think that I have forsaken you and that you deserve to be vilified, persecuted, and even disbanded because you're such bad, bad people.
28. But if you can hold out against his attacks and just tell him that you know that you're sinners but that I have forgiven and cleansed you, and you're going to go on for Me anyway regardless of what people say, there will be nothing more he can do. And the more often you take that stand, the more Satan and your enemies will expose themselves for their true motives of hating you because you are of God. You need to keep rolling for Me anyway‚ knowing that there will always be someone who has something evil to say about your good, but none of those things should move you.
29. Consider something for a moment: Even if all the lies spread around about the Family were true, what would you do then? If you swallowed every bit of filth and crap that the Enemy is trying to cram down your throat, what would be your next move? What the Enemy wants is for you to leave the Family, lay down your crown of loving service to others, and feel guilty for the rest of your life, while not doing any good for anyone.
30. But the fact of the matter is, even if you were as bad as they say you are—which you are not—the best thing to do would be to give your life in loving service to others, and spend the rest of your life spreading My love, helping others, and living unselfishly.—Which is exactly what you're already doing.
31. You're not horrible people. You're My brides and My prophets. Yes, you are sinners, and yes, you have often come short of My glory and My standard of perfect love, but the answer is not to abandon your place and go out and wallow in the filth of the System. The answer is to keep on going for Me and do a better job than ever of being My love to the world. The answer is to keep on keeping on, because the closer you are to Me, the closer you are to being right and pure and just and loving. And does the Family help you to do those things?—To be close to Me, love Me, and help others to know Me too? If the Family helps you to be closer to Me, then despite the accusations and tales from the past, even if all of them were true, you would be in a better place here than anywhere else, and the Enemy knows it.
32. Therefore the more you say, "Screw you, Devil, and all your garbage—we're going forward with Jesus!" the more you enrage him and infuriate him and expose both his true intentions and his powerlessness. He can't do anything against you to stop you, which is why he lets loose such a barrage of guilt and condemnation to try to get you to stop of your own accord and give up.
33. It's really handy for your detractors to have this or that excuse to justify their hate‚ but at the end of the day, that's all it is, an excuse. Some of your poor apostates and detractors are genuinely duped into believing their own lies‚ thinking that they are doing My service by "killing" your work and reputation and faith. It's like Saul was before he became Paul, or like millions of Catholics who thought they were upholding My truth by trying to quash the Protestant Reformation. They tried to stamp out what they considered heresy because of something they disagreed with, when in reality they were fighting My truth and My new move of the spirit. Like many people today, they focused on only part of the issue—the part they disliked—for so long that they began to think that's all there was to it. That's when people lose perspective, and that's when they can become truly dangerous.
34. Then the Devil can just sit back and let these attack dogs go to work for him, railing against you for being this "horrible group," when he knows full well that it's not like that. But he's got this great excuse, this great smoke screen, this great cloak for his sins under which he can operate in secrecy, never having to expose the real truth that he hates you because you're of Me.
35. So you can't really judge any situation by the charges or the accusers. You have to look further and identify who I am for and who the Enemy is for. That's the only way you can tell. It's a common practice for people to have their one noble reason for doing a thing, when in fact that's one tiny portion that is serving as a mask for their true intentions.
36. Look at all the wars that have been fought. There is always some noble reason, some higher ideal, but beneath it is lust, greed, hatred‚ and thirst for blood. Nations will say, "They came into our land," or "They invaded this country," or lately it's been, "They need democracy!" But only a fool believes those excuses are the real reasons for the war. It's no different with you.
37. Your detractors have their excuses of the moment for why they're fighting the Family, and although they will eventually come to naught‚ new accusations will rise up in their place, because there is a power arrayed against you that is larger than any accusation or any group of people—the Enemy. You're suffering persecution for the good you have done, for your righteous works, and for that reason you will never be fully free of it.
38. But that's a good thing. That means that you're still a revolution! As long as I'm still your First Love and winning souls is your main occupation, the Enemy is going to continue to fight you.
39. Some of the radical doctrines I've given you have served the double purpose of drawing you closer to Me while also distancing you from the world. Some of these things that cause such ire in the hearts of your enemies are doing exactly what they were intended for. I want to drive you away from the world and solely into My arms.
40. Your David told you that power, popularity‚ and plenty are dangerous, and I said to beware when all men speak well of you. And because you, My Family‚ have been faithful to Me—and although you have strayed at times, you have always returned to your First Love—I am doing My part to keep you clean and pure from the world. I am ensuring that you will never have all men speak well of you, and you will never find total plenty and popularity and power in this world's corrupt System.
41. So many of these doctrines that cause the masses to look down upon you or fear you because you're so "different" or "strange" are in fact My answer to your prayers that I will keep you free from the pitfalls and snares that have quenched the fires of so many other revolutions. I am preserving you as a revolution by calling you out and making you separate from the world through the radical doctrines that they will never accept. Some day you will know that it couldn't have been any other way. Some day you will see the wisdom of My plan.
42. If you're waiting for the day when all the opposing voices will be silenced and you can go about your work in peace‚ you will wait forever‚ because that day will not come on this Earth. That's the Millennium you're thinking about. But before you can get there, you must "through much tribulation inherit the Kingdom of Heaven." So forget about being liked, understood, justified, or vindicated. I will do enough miracles for you to keep you operating freely and in relative peace, but it will never get to the point that you'll have no enemies, no detractors, or no adversaries.
43. In many ways that is the highest compliment you could receive. Of course, your enemies will not think so, and if you let them, they will go to great lengths to explain that‚ once again, "for good works we stone thee not...," so it's up to you whether or not you want to listen to those things. Your enemies can only condemn you as much as you listen to them.
44. So you can believe Me, that I'm with you and that we're going forth to conquer and to continue to bring in the sheaves before and during the final storm; or you can believe the Enemy, lay down your tools, and go jump back in the slime pits and live out your days in obscurity. The choice is yours. (End of message.)
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45. (Jesus:) This Family is a revolution, and no matter what any of your enemies throw at you, you will continue to be a revolution so long as you follow Me. Remember what David said in "Mountain Men"? Those who you rise above hate you for it, because you dare to tell them there is a different way to live. You dare to tell them that they can live free, and they hate you for that freedom because they haven't the courage to live it themselves.
46. No matter what you could have done in the past, no matter how politically correct you could have been, because the Enemy is out to persecute you‚ he will do whatever he can and use whatever he can, whether real or trumped up, to attack you. Even if you'd never produced controversial publications or your art had never been sexy and radical, Satan and the Vandari would have found something else to persecute you for, because you are Mine. Satan hates you. In this world you shall have tribulation. But you need not fear, because if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. Indeed, you are a part of Me when you are persecuted for righteousness' sake.
47. When you are tempted to think that without your controversial doctrines you would be home free of any troubles and accepted by the world today, remember that I am in control. I was in control then and I am in control now. I have allowed the controversies to propel you forward and to help you to become what you are today.
48. If I hadn't entrusted to you these controversial doctrines‚ you would not be at peace now. You'd be falling apart‚ and would either be part of or fast becoming part of the corrupt world System from whence you came. It is the radical truths I have entrusted to you, the freedoms I have given you, and the liberty in spirit that I have freed you with that makes you different, unique, and strong.
49. Regardless of your beliefs, if you are an active Christian, an active witness for Me‚ you are in for persecution sooner or later. No matter what you do, no matter how compromised you could try to be in order to placate and satiate the hounds of Hell, the Enemy will never leave you alone as long as you are a called-out disciple for Me. That's the truth. End of story.
50. Through the years‚ millions of My children have been persecuted for their beliefs—most without any hint of sex in their doctrine and beliefs. They were persecuted just the same. If it wasn't one thing, it was another, and that's because Satan hates Me. And because he hates Me, he hates those who follow Me. It's that simple. So long as you follow Me you will always be envied, feared, and maligned by Satan, and by anyone he can motivate to try to harm you.
51. Satan and I are not, cannot be, and will never be in agreement! That is fundamental. This revolution of the Family, this life-changing movement, this army, will not make peace with Satan—your mortal enemy—so if you don't like it, you'd better get with a different program. This movement will receive persecution till the day you return to be with Me. There will be no making peace with the Enemy. There will be no giving in to Satan's wishes. If you did that, you would be decimated and destroyed for sure.
52. Satan wants you to no longer be a threat to his kingdom. Satan wants you to be cold, dead, and lifeless like the established church system. As long as you are a part of this army you can expect persecution and need to learn to revel in it.
53. It's time to strengthen your faith and believe that you are being persecuted for righteousness' sake, attacked for your association and closeness to Me, no other reason. If you were dead ducks, you wouldn't even appear on the radar. But because you are like an incoming missile storm of terror on the Enemy's forces‚ he fires his anti-aircraft guns at you in desperation.—Because he knows that should you hit his position, you will obliterate his power. He fears you; therefore he must defend himself against you by attacking and trying to destroy you. But as long as you keep hitting him where it hurts‚ you'll defeat him.
54. You are destined to be winners! You are My secret weapons! You are feared in the private councils of the antichrists of this Earth, because you have the potential to defeat their plans completely. The Enemy is so afraid of you that he is desperately seeking for ways to cool you off and minimize the threat you pose to his kingdom.
55. But you are not getting colder; you are not turning back! We're moving ahead, full steam, full throttle, and with full spiritual firepower—a firepower that is going to destroy his kingdom in the long run. You are going to be a consistent thorn in the side of his power on Earth till My return. You‚ the Family, will be his greatest enemies as long as you stay close to Me. As long as you follow closely, I will use you to be a perpetual nuisance to his power, and in fact a dangerous threat to his world domination.
56. It's time to realize that you are not a passive, peace-loving‚ and gentle movement when it comes to coexisting with evil. You are a radical, active, fighting army that will die before it compromises again. You have regained your place at My side. You have fought to claim your calling, and part of that calling is to resist, defy, overcome and cast out the works of Satan till the day of My coming.
57. Step up to the plate and be recognized as one of Mine! All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You are living godly, so expect persecution! It's going to come, and it's not something that's going to go away. I'm not going to abandon you. I'm going to keep you through it.
58. Beware when all men speak well of you—because when they do, chances are that you're not doing your job and you've cooled off and are no longer a threat to evil. Beware when you are not suffering persecution. You should be nervous, uneasy, and a little scared when all is silent on the persecution front, because it should make you wonder if you are really being as radical and called-out as you should be.
59. Expect persecution; it's part of the Christian life. The cooled-off sectors of organized Christian religion may not be getting it today, but one day‚ even their frigidity is going to glow as warmth before the sub-zero temperature of the Satanic kingdom that is coming. Even they will receive persecution. How much more should you receive it when you are the blazing hot fire that melts the ice palaces of the power of the Enemy!
60. He'll try to put out your fire, but he'll never succeed! That's My promise to all of you who blaze with My fire. He'll try to stamp out your fire by using whatever means he can, but I will always come through for you and use you to burn, singe, and destroy his works. He'll be the one who is running and terrified of you when you are fully energized with the power of the keys and loosed on this world. He's going to be the one who will be in defeat and in terror—not you!
61. So don't fear him who may kill the body, but after that has no more that he can do. Take up the white-hot sword of the spirit and fight back! You are winners, called to win since the foundation of the world. It is written into the very code of the universe that you will win. It is impossible for you to fail as long as you are on My side, for I will win. Do not be defeated, do not fail, do not give in to fear and the lies of the Enemy.
62. If you're godly‚ you will suffer persecution. That's a promise. It's a good promise, because with persecution comes growth, strengthening, and expansion. How do you think you're going to cover the whole Earth with the Word and My doctrine? How do you think you will become powerful and feared? It's not through twiddling your thumbs on the sidelines of the Christian arena. You will be thrust into the public eye through controversy. You will defeat the Enemy through his attempts to attack you. You will become champions by having a challenge and winning.
63. Don't expect peace—it's not coming. What is coming is increasingly intense spiritual war, all-out relentless war against Satan and his forces. From here on out, there will be persecutions. I will give you breaks in between, but I'm letting you know now to expect persecution, and learn to praise Me through it, because it's coming, and you will face it till the end of time. It is a fact of the discipleship life, so get used to it.
64. And don't expect to lose, either. You can't have a loser's mentality; you've got to have a conqueror's mentality. You are winners; persecution will only prove that to you time and time again. Don't worry if it seems like you never get a favorable presentation in the media. Don't worry if men speak ill of your good. Your fruits themselves will show the validity and righteousness of My cause.
65. Don't expect to be coddled in the cradling arms of this world's System. Expect to be rejected. Learn to love that rejection. Learn to love the turmoil you create in Satan's camp. Learn to love the fiery attacks against you, because it is when he attacks that you grow the most and become stronger through the struggle. Learn to relish the fight, for the fight is on! It is upon you. To the front‚ to the fray!
66. You are ready. My army is marching to the battlefield to win! Win through the power of the keys and the courage of the spirit. You are destined to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. Expect to see the rewards I have for you. Expect to see miracles of deliverance and protection and witness, for the day of overcoming is here.
67. You are on the threshold of your greatest witness and greatest fruitfulness ever! Get ready to see the supernatural, because the fight is on‚ the war is heating up, and you are on the frontlines! Stand up to defend My Name, and be proud to be defamed and maligned along with Me. Take it as a compliment, for it shows you are doing the job and that you are obeying Me. That's it. Don't shy away from the battle—dive in with your sword swinging!
68. Believe in My power to keep you through persecution. Keep fighting; keep wielding the spiritual weapons of praise, prayer, brotherhood with your fellow soldiers, and the keys of the Kingdom.
69. The victory is yours. It is guaranteed. It may not always look like it, but the more Satan persecutes you, the more nails he puts in his own coffin. The more your enemies attack you, the greater you will shine and the greater your victory through Me will be!
70. Fight and win, for it is your destiny to be My shining lights in the deepest darkness, to tell the truth when the world is full of lies, to free those who have been bound with the chains of the Evil One. He will hate you for it, but I will love you for it! Get ready to see the days all the prophets have dreamed of. They are upon you. (End of message.)
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71. (Jesus:) Right now you are My beggar bride, mocked and reviled by the world, and persecuted for your conviction to be Mine. But when that day comes that I return in My splendor and glory and put the crown upon your head that has always been yours, they will know not only of your love for Me, but of My great love for you. Together we will bring peace to the Earth, freedom to the oppressed, salvation to the hungry, and you will rule with My love and on My behalf. My power will be your power‚ and all of Heaven and Hell will see that I have loved you and rewarded you and vindicated you.
72. So rejoice, for your days of humility now are preparing you to rule with My love and wisdom‚ and your conviction to stay true to Me now despite opposition will be your glory then. (End of message.)
Copyright © 2005 by The Family International.