FD/MM/FM July 2006

"Don Quixote," ML #198, Vol.2

—1Cor.1:25; 3:19.

"Hallelujah for Happiness," ML #1393, DB1

1. IN MANY RELIGIONS, THE SADDER YOU ARE THE MORE RELIGIOUS YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE!—The more you suffer and the sadder you are, that's a sign of being very religious. But it's the opposite with us!—We consider you're not very religious or spiritual unless you're victorious and joyful, smiling and really happy, right?

2. God and His Word haven't made religion that way, the prophets haven't made it that way, not even Moses made it that way with his strict laws. It was those subsequent religious leaders who changed things and began to interpret things to suit themselves, to exalt themselves and to get a tighter control on the people.—Who as Jesus said, "bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne‚ and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers!" (Mt.23:4)

3. And, of course, I don't see how any people are ever going to be happy without the Lord—truly happy. Even if you supply all their physical needs, they have to have something to satisfy their spiritual needs and their hunger for happiness. Thank God that's what we have, as well as satisfaction for all our physical needs, all of which it takes to make you happy.

4. I'M NO ASCETIC, I COULDN'T BE SATISFIED WITH SITTING ON A BED OF NAILS PRAYING ALL DAY, torturing myself, denying myself everything and fasting all the time. I enjoy everything God has given—wine, women, song, food‚ everything—and I'm very happy!—And I especially enjoy my work, believe it or not!

5. We even enjoy our work! It's work and it's hard work and it keeps us busy, but we enjoy it!—And I hope you enjoy your work! With the love of the Lord and having the right kind of work‚ work you know is doing some good and helping people and making others happy‚ it helps you to be happy and to enjoy it.

6. Our religion makes us happy, our work makes us happy, our play makes us happy, and we have very little that makes us unhappy, except the fact that some other people are not happy. And actually sometimes even our enemies make me happy because of the way they publicize us, and when those that hate us get mad, that almost makes me happy and amuses me, because I know I'm hitting where it hurts. So even those things ought to make you happy!

7. Sometimes concern about the way my own people and children behave, or the mistakes we make, makes me a little unhappy. Sometimes wondering if I made the right decision or choice or did the right thing concerns me, so that for a little while I'm not as happy as I should be.—But I always come out of the woods afterwards to find out that the Lord did it and everything's all right and I shouldn't have worried after all!

8. SO THANK GOD FOR A HAPPY RELIGION AND A HAPPY LIFE!—And we should urge others to be happy and to enjoy the same happiness that we have too, amen? If they haven't got it and they see us happy, they're sure gonna wonder why they're not happy!—And I think that is the greatest challenge we have in our sample, when they see how happy we are.

9. So, hallelujah for happiness! TTL for being able to enjoy the physical pleasures He gives us as well as the spiritual pleasures. We've got everything! The only thing I can think of that I want is for other people to be happy, as happy as I am. That's the only great real longing or need or want that I have, if we could just somehow make them understand and make them happy. Otherwise we lack nothing, physically, materially or spiritually—we've got everything! TYJ!

10. SO IF YOU'RE NOT HAPPY, I ALWAYS FIGURE THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU OR YOUR RELIGION OR YOUR FAITH OR SOMETHING. Of course, sometimes we can be sick and that may not make us feel very happy for a while, but that doesn't destroy our total happiness. We can still be very happy in the spirit and mentally and in fellowship with the Family and everything else. It may leave a little something to be desired, health and strength, but it doesn't make us all that unhappy‚ amen?

11. So thank God for happiness!—And enjoyment of life, and our religion and the Lord! (Sings:)

—TYJ!—Are YOU happy?

"Rise Above," ML #3317:8-13,15–18,25-34, GN 921

How Jesus Did It

8. (Jesus:) I know the demands on you are great‚ and these will only grow greater in the days to come. You, My loves, will always be on stage‚ both before one another and before the world. This is a responsibility you must bear. I too was always on stage. Even when I managed to get time away from the crowds, I remained‚ to a degree‚ on stage before My disciples. Of course, it was different with My intimate twelve; in some ways I could be more relaxed with them. Yet even so, I was still responsible to teach and train them to live in love and righteousness. I was to be their keeper, as you are to be your brother's keeper. I was responsible to pour into them‚ to minister to them, to teach and train them, to show them a large measure of love and patience.

9. A shepherd's job is never done. A shepherd is always on call; he must always be there for the flock. This is also now the call of every Family member, for I call you all to be shepherds. Every one of you is a caretaker of another; you are to be your brother and sister's keeper, as well as keepers of My flock. I call you to care for one another, as I have cared for you. This is an enormous responsibility.

10. The crown is never so heavy as it is to the one who wears it. It's a heavy load to the wearer, though it may appear bright and light and beautiful to others. That same crown serves as a constant reminder of the great responsibility that rests on your shoulders. This is one reason why you must live in a state of constant vigilance, for there are many who look to you, just as there were many who looked to Me when I walked with My disciples.

11. I lived on Earth during pressing times in world history. The world needed a savior, and the time was right; things couldn't continue as they had, business as usual—something had to give. The responsibility that rested on My shoulders to save mankind was great indeed. This duty was too great to muff or mess up. Too much was hinging on My human shoulders for Me to fail. Though I felt totally incapable in the flesh, I knew I couldn't give up or give in; I couldn't throw in the towel and say, "I quit!" To accept defeat was not an option I could consider. How could I let you down? I simply could not fail.

12. This responsibility drove Me to such desperation that I determined to seek My Father, pleading for the solution—how was I to overcome? It was then that I vowed to learn the art of rising above. There had to be a way, otherwise My Father would never have allowed Me to be put in such a position. I was determined to find that way.

13. Right now you are in a position much like I was—the world today is in dire straits and it needs the Savior. The destiny of the world rested on My shoulders when I walked the Earth nearly 2,000 years ago. Now the baton is passed to you, and this mammoth responsibility rests upon your shoulders. You, as My representatives, are destined to bring My saving Words to the world—to impart salvation to the world in the Time of the End.

15. I know there are many sacrifices involved in the leadership that you, My Family, must bear. I know what it means to carry such a weight, to be shepherds, teachers, bellwethers, pillars in My Kingdom‚ those who bring salvation and truth to mankind. It's a hefty responsibility. This is why I want to comfort your hearts; for though the cross you carry weighs heavy on your shoulders, I will make compensations available to you which will help you carry on to final triumph.

16. When I was faced with the impossible, with that which was too hard for Me in My human strength to bear, I was driven in desperation to look for a way to overcome. This is what led Me to learn the art of rising above. This was My salvation. I didn't have to give in. I didn't have to succumb to defeat. I didn't have to bear unbearable burdens; all I had to do was rise above—up and over each and every obstacle.

17. I wasn't looking for a way to shirk My responsibilities, but I did know that if I was going to fulfill My destiny, I had to find the way to rise above the things that tried to hinder Me, stop Me, or hold Me down. I knew that what was expected of Me was too difficult for My human hands, for My Own arm of flesh. Clearly, it was impossible for humankind. The tasks before Me were too difficult for Me, too much in every sense for My human frame to contend with. Realizing this, I got down to business with My Father.

18. We were alone, My Father and I, on a hillside, when an amazing event took place. I cried to Him, saying, "I cannot meet these expectations. My spirit is willing, but My flesh is too weak." My Father then spoke to Me not only with words, but He showed Me a vision. He opened My spiritual eyes and revealed to Me how it would be possible for Me to rise above any and all impossible circumstances that would present themselves during My earthly life.

25. All I had to do was become one with My Father and let His Spirit dwell fully in Me, that is, in My flesh, and thus I had His strength and power to pull Me through each difficult spot.

26. Through that little talk with My Father, and through the vision He opened to Me there on the hillside, I began to understand with My human mind what the art of rising above was all about. This is how I was to rise to triumph—by letting the Spirit of Almighty God dwell in Me, live in Me, move in Me‚ and lift Me above all obstacles. By becoming one with My Father, yielding completely to His Spirit, taking on His Own divine nature, I could overcome.

27. What is greater than all the impossible circumstances around you? God Almighty! This is how you too can rise above every seeming impossibility that presents itself to you today. Each of you who have received Me, and who have asked for My Spirit, carries with you a measure of My Spirit at all times. But when you're in dire straits, when you're faced with the impossible in these days of action‚ you will need to let My Spirit come into you in full strength. If you are to rise above, you must let My Spirit rest in you, completely and without reservation. You must take on My divine nature.

28. This concept of receiving more of My Spirit may sound familiar to you. You know the principles of what I'm telling you, and you may think, "But, Lord, we have Your Spirit and have had it all along." Yes, you have, as I too carried a good portion of My Father's Spirit with Me. But when I was fully into My most demanding ministry, when I lived through My Own era of action, I learned I needed to fully yield to His Spirit if I was to rise above. I had to let the Spirit of My Father come into Me and fully dwell in Me.

29. You have received My Spirit, and you do make strides to let Me dwell in you more completely all the time. But believe Me, you haven't fully understood or experienced the full extent of the matter—for now, in these days of action, you must receive more steadily, more readily, more completely. You've had glimpses; you've experienced it to a degree and you're getting closer all the time. But I tell you, dear loves, that as you now continue in the era of action, you will need to receive My Spirit in you in a greater and more complete measure. As you yield more completely, as you receive My Spirit and let it fully rest upon you, as you truly "let go and let God," as you allow Me to have free rein in your heart and mind and spirit, you will be able to rise above! This is the art of rising above—to truly let go and let Me have full sway in you! This is how you can overcome any problem‚ any difficulty‚ any impossibility!

30. I had to allow My Father to have full sway in My life. We had to be one; this was crucial to My survival. You must now do the same. I've been teaching you the importance of greater yieldedness and greater sensitivity to My Spirit‚ greater fine-tuning of your channels to be ready to receive My Words at all times, and this is what rising above is all about. The ability to rise above lies in fully receiving My Spirit in every fiber of your being; it's about letting Me freely flow through you, completely and without reservation.

How to Cultivate the Art of Rising Above

31. After My Father showed Me this vision on the hillside, I sought Him in the following days as to how I could cultivate the practice of rising above. I asked Him how I could let go of the flesh and let more of His Heavenly Spirit prevail in Me‚ enough so that I could truly take on His divine nature and rise above impossibilities. He was faithful to give Me the guidance I needed, and I want to pass this same guidance on to you.

32. As you go over these points, guard against thinking, "I already know this." For though some of these points may seem familiar‚ I ask you to think in terms of action‚ in terms of being full-time doers, all-out practitioners, in order to form these good habits, fully embracing these principles, putting them into use in your lives. Think big. Think in terms of "all the way." Think, "It's gotta be all or nothing at all!" Be a practitioner. Follow these points, My loves. Put this wise counsel into motion in your lives, not only in theory but in genuine practice, and you too will rise triumphant every time:

33. The Spirit of My Father was My refuge, just as I will be your refuge. This will be your only recourse if you are to rise above what is to come in these Last Days. As My Father's Spirit rested upon Me, My Spirit will rest upon you. I've been preparing you for these many years. Your destiny, like Mine, is to preach the Word of truth‚ to heal the brokenhearted, the sick, and those who are beaten down, to deliver those who are bound.

34. As you let go of yourselves and let My Spirit rest on you fully, you will find that My grace is sufficient. This is how you, like Me, will become more than conquerors. This is how you will stand steadfast and immovable. This is how none of the surrounding circumstances will be able to move you. This is how, though troubles surround you, you will not be distressed; though perplexities arise, you will not despair; though war rises around you, though famine and pestilence are rampant, it will not shake you; though your enemies seek you out to destroy you‚ they will stumble and fall—while you rise above! This is how you will overcome! (End of message.)

"Leadership Lessons, Part 1," ML #3347:14-17,19-30,32,35-54‚56-57, GN 941

14. (Mama:) In this message the Lord talks to the [RSs] about how many of them had lost the joy of their salvation. We asked the Lord if that applied to the Family overall as well, and here's what He said.

15. "Many of My beloved brides have lost the joy of their salvation. It's something that not many people want to admit—they feel condemned and humiliated that they feel this way, and they wonder if they're the only one. Some of the older ones wonder if it's because they've reached the end of their steam‚ the end of their usefulness‚ or if it's a condition that comes with the slowing down of the body as you get older. Many of the younger ones have accepted it as just a way of life, and many wonder if they'll be able to keep going and doing the same thing day after day.

16. "It's something that I want to free My children from! The joy of their salvation is a right, a blessing that I've ordained for them to have, part of their reward for following Me! I'm furious at the Enemy for his plan by which he has stolen it away from My children, and I wish to give it back in full measure! Each one should read this message as if it were given for them, because it is indeed for them. While there might be small details that are different in every situation, this overall message, this plea, this ultimatum, is for each of My dear brides.

17. "I want each of them to reach their full potential. I want each of them to go on to serve Me to the greatest capacity and enjoy the greatest usefulness possible. I want each of them to be fully happy in Me. This message will be a turning point. This message holds the keys to victory!" (End of message.)

I know what you're going through

19. (Jesus:) My darling loves, My generals and faithful warriors, I love you, I appreciate you, and I need you. I know the hardship you have borne over the long term. I feel the heartache you have felt at seeing your plans and desired progress frustrated and thwarted and not moving forward as you have wished. I've been touched with the physical afflictions you have endured, which are often a direct result of the load you carry, with all the stress, worry, concern and physical sacrifices that come with it. I'm not a stranger to the personal discouragement and even despair that you've felt, as you view yourself as so incapable of meeting the great demands before you. I understand the times you've nearly collapsed under the weight of your enormous to–do list, wondering if maybe it would be better for you‚ your family, and everyone if you were to just resign.

20. I realize that you feel embarrassed and ashamed that you don't use the new weapons more, that you don't love Me intimately more, that you don't ask Me everything as much as you should. I understand that feeling of falling short in your personal sample. I have felt your anguish of heart when you've looked around you at the overwhelming problems in the Family and felt it was impossible. You felt horrible for your lack of faith, but there just seemed no end to the troubles, and no solutions in sight.

21. What a job, the job of [an RS]. You are all saints in that you have been willing to accept and endure such a job. What could possibly motivate you to do that? What could make you want to live such a life of sacrifice, where you get so little credit for the good or the progress, and yet nearly all the blame for the bad or the mistakes? What could possibly cause you to look deep within you for the strength and endurance to keep going for so long under such a weight and such pressure? It is love that compels you to do it—love for Me, your brethren, and the lost of the world!

22. I know that each day you give to the limit, you pour out all that's within you. You try your very hardest to get as much done as you can. You weep when you hear of the problems of the sheep, and it pushes you to work hard for their sakes.

23. I am intimately involved in each of your lives, and I know what you're going through. I see it. I feel it. It hurts Me to see you so burdened, so sad. While I admire you for your willingness and unselfishness‚ at the same time I weep for you. Deep within Myself I grieve for you, My loves, for I know that it's too much to bear‚ too heavy a load. I know you've lost your joy, and your lives have become drudgery. It's just so much work. Work, work, work, every hour, every day, until there's so little of anything else—so little laughter, so little time with the babes and the children, so little time singing and dancing, so little time in My creation, so little time just loving and enjoying Me.

You've become Marthas

24. Where did it all go—the joy, the simplicity, the happiness in knowing Me? Have you stopped recently to reflect on that? What changed in your life? It used to all be so exciting. The Word was a source of constant fascination. You loved witnessing. Each day you woke with a song on your lips. There were so many little miracles. The supply of your needs was a continual manifestation of My love for you. There were new adventures, interesting things to learn, great people to talk to, and life was fun. Serving Me was a constant thrill. What happened?

25. All that I just described to you is part of what I refer to as "the joy of your salvation." Those people who know Me and are saved are the most blessed people on Earth. And you, the children of David‚ are the most blessed of the blessed—for not only are you saved and you know it, but you are also rich in spirit because of My truth and revelations‚ and in having a purpose in living. There's no one on Earth as blessed as you, as privileged, or as rich. What a calling, what a vocation, what an honor!

26. But in spite of that‚ most of you know that something is missing in your life. You hear these words and you're pricked in your conscience. You feel ashamed because you know you haven't been feeling this way or even been aware of this perspective. You've gotten so far away from this simple vision and reality. It seems like a dream, almost childlike or surreal. I will tell you why.

27. My darling loves, as much as you have meant well, as much as you have had the right motives and served Me with unselfishness and sincerity, there is one thing that you're not seeing or not accepting. This is a serious problem. For the most part, you have not chosen that good thing that will not be taken away. You have become Marthas—very faithful, diligent, concerned and caring Marthas, but Marthas nonetheless. You are cumbered about with so much service, so much work and labor. It hurts Me to have to say this, because I know you've meant well and you've truly wanted to do your best. I know it seems impossible for you to have done anything differently. For that reason‚ this chiding might seem unfair, and you might even feel a bit resentful or upset. I understand.

I don't hold the past against you

28. In pointing this out to you, I'm not minimizing your desire to do the right thing. I know why you've done what you have. … For this reason, trust Me when I say I don't condemn you for your Martha-ism, for your many works, for the effort you've put forth. I appreciate it, and I give credit where credit is due.

29. I applaud you for your unselfishness! I honor you for your endurance and perseverance under very difficult conditions!

30. I speak not to condemn you, or even to make you feel bad. My intent, My loves, is only to make things better for you—better for your families and better for the flocks you care for. That is My goal. The way I look at it is, this is a new beginning. I'm not holding the past against you. I'm looking at today and at the future. I'm not thinking of the past, but of your needs today and where we're headed.

32. Let's learn from the past, and then forget it. Let's just look at the future. I want you to know what to expect in the months and years to come. I want you to know what you can expect of Me and what I expect of you. Fair enough?

You will always have too much to do

35. I want to explain something that is key. You must understand this principle if you're to make the change needed in your life: You will always have too much to do. … I purposely allow you to have too much to do. That's part of My plan, and it's for a very definite‚ express purpose.

36. Your having too much to do should force you to come to Me, to depend on Me. I want to carry your load. I want to work with you. I want to be your primary Teamworker. If your load were so manageable for you, if it weren't absolutely overwhelming and crushing, then you'd carry it on your own, thinking, "I can handle this." So I'm forced to keep the pressure on, to keep you under the weight of the burden in hopes that you'll cry out to Me and let Me carry it.

Your work must be founded on the spiritual

37. Besides the fact that I want to work with you and be close to you, helping you on a daily basis, there is another reason why I make your load in the physical more than you can bear. It's because your work for Me, the Family's work for Me, is a spiritual matter. Your efforts and works must be founded primarily upon the spiritual. As you well know, you wrestle not against flesh and blood‚ but against principalities, against powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Greater am I that am in you than he that is in the world.

38. No matter how much training, expertise, wisdom or initiative you or your co-workers have‚ that alone will never be enough. Never! Even your best efforts, your hardest work, your greatest teamworking and pumping people power will never be enough. Only I can make up the difference.

39. You must have My miracle–working power, otherwise everything you do will fall short. This is the crux of the matter. If you can just understand this point, then I believe you'll never stray down that path of Martha again.

40. What that means is, no matter how hard you work, no matter how many messages you write or how many meetings you host, it will never be enough‚ because it's the dynamics of the spirit world that My work must be done first and foremost in the spirit—through spending time with Me in the Word and prayer. I know you know this in principle; you've read it hundreds of times. But the full truth of this has failed to sink deep within your heart. The reality of My power and your need for it has not taken hold in your mind to the point that it governs your priorities, decisions, and mindset.

Let Me work for you!

41. Be honest with yourselves. If you truly understood this concept and accepted it fully in your heart‚ do you think you'd be missing your Word time, skipping your prayer vigils, and regularly postponing or cutting short your conference days? Step back and examine yourselves. Look at the way you operate. What do you see?

42. I'll tell you what I see. There are multitudes who need to be reached with My message. There are countless disciples to be won. There's a hungry and bleating flock already within the folds. There are ravenous wolves attacking and trying to maim and kill the lambs. There are harvesting tools to be made and implemented. And there you stand with your little tools in hand, ready to go to work. You're determined and dedicated, and you're looking around seeing which direction to move first. Of course, it's overwhelming, as each and every need would be a full-time job. So you dash around, a little here and a little there. Your tools are very tiny and outdated, so you get your hands all scratched up and your clothes torn. By the end of the day you're exhausted, dirty, and sad. The next day it begins again.

43. All the while I'm standing right behind you—Me with My team of angelic helpers and spirit beings who tower above you like giants—and we're trying to get your attention. We're waving and shouting and whistling! We have huge modern technology in our hands, tools that you've never seen. If you'd just ask, we're ready to operate our tools on your behalf, which would make your work much easier. But alas, you keep running around here and there‚ saying, "I'll be right with You. Just a minute. I just have to take care of this one thing‚ and then this other, and then this other. Ahhh ... just one second. Really, I'm almost done."

44. Every once in a while you collapse, and then you call on Me and My team, and we're so happy! Finally we're able to step in and do the work for you. But then, as soon as you feel you've recouped a tiny bit of strength, you're up and at it again. "Oh, excuse me," you say, as you push your way to the front. "Uhhh, I need to get to work. Could You move over a little? Let me see, now where was I?" And there you go again. Same story, over and over.

45. If you could see it from My point of view, you'd see that it's really ridiculous! You are merely weak men and women. I am the God of the Universe. All power is given to Me. I rule! I keep My promises. I am a faithful, doting Husband, and yet there's so little room for Me in your lives.

46. You know what that is? It's self-righteousness. It's thinking too highly of yourselves. It's the epitome of the arm of the flesh. Anything and everything that you could ever do is minute, weak and pathetic compared to what I can do. I can do anything! I can do everything! When you really think about it, what can you do?

47. This is My work, My Family‚ My flock‚ My harvest field, My tools, and I am the Boss! This is something I want to get straightened out once and for all. If you want to work for Me, if you want to be an example to the flock, if you want to be in leadership, there are rules, and the first one on the list is to let Me work! The way you do that is by letting Me into your lives fully. Instead of thinking the world will fall apart if you don't rush into the day answering your mail messages, instead of working late into the night trying to finish up that last file, instead of all those long, draining meetings, instead of rushing around here and there to tie up every loose end in sight—call on Me. Let Me work for you! Let Me do it! Because don't you get it?—Only I can!

48. I want to see your priorities change. I want that time with you in My Word every single day. I want to speak to you in prophecy every single day! I want to give you answers as you meditate in prayer every single day. I want you to lay hold of My miracle-working power through intercessory prayer every single day. You either do that or you're fired!

49. Sorry, but we need to be clear here. I'm the Boss. It's My company. Those are the rules. It has to be that way, and the reason it has to be that way is because otherwise you'll fail, and the Family will fail. It's as simple as that. There's too much for you as a human to do. The load is and will always be too big. The battle is waged in the spirit, not in the physical world. You must have My miracle-working power.

You could have taken more time with Me

50. No matter what the circumstances were that you faced over the last months or years, you could have come to Me. You could have taken the time. You could have cast your burdens on Me. You could have cried out to Me to do what you couldn't do. You could have shown yourself weak to your mate, teamwork, Home and field. You could have done it. You could have solicited My power.

51. If you had done so more, you would have seen miracles. You would have released the power of Heaven on your behalf. Things would be different today.

52. Of course, it's not that you never prayed or sought Me. You did. Sometimes you did so more faithfully than other times. But again, it was often not too long before most of you muscled your way up to the front again, pushing Me and your spirit helpers aside, so you could go to work. You failed to avail yourself of My power fully, because you refused to show yourself fully dependent upon Me. You chose instead to do it yourself, to work hard‚ to push and cram.

53. That's why you're so tired, so burned out, so sad. Your sample trickles down, and the loss is cumulative. When others don't see you spend the time you need to with Me; when they don't see you commit your needs to Me, expecting miracles; when there's a lack of intercessory prayer—then that affects their habits as well. I know that's a terrible weight of responsibility, but it's sad but true that most people look more at the sample of their leaders and shepherds than at what's written in the Word. I wish I could free you from that burden, but it's the nature of man to follow man and what they can see, rather than what's invisible or known only in theory.

54. I know your hearts and I know that your greatest desire is to please Me. Again‚ I acknowledge that what you've done, you've done with good motives. For this reason, I beg you, My darlings, to not allow the Enemy of your soul to come in with lies, condemnation, and remorse. Forget the past. Let's just learn the lesson and go on. Look at the future. This is a new day, and there are miracles to come!

56. If you will take up the challenge to change, My loves, you will see a change—in your spirits, your personal happiness, your relationships, and the fruitfulness of your Homes and fields. I want to make life easy for you. I want to free you from the addictions to stress and overwork. I want you to be happy and inspired. I want others to see Me in you.

57. I know you can do it‚ but it will take building new habits. Work together. Help each other. Start today! Make it all worthwhile—all the sacrifices and hard work of the past—by letting Me finish the job! I love you and need you. I know you won't let Me down or push Me away again. You won't be disappointed! Your Lover and doting Husband, Jesus. (End of message.)

"Rising Above, Part 1," ML #3379:37-39,94-101,230-234, Post–it GN #2

37. (Jesus:) Are you no longer expecting miracles? Has it been a long time since you felt your heart leap with joy over some new truth—or since you did the unusual or offbeat thing, just out of sheer joy for Me and happiness at being one of My chosen few, one of My brides? If it has been a long time, then break out of your ruts and allow Me to surprise you, to thrill you, and to manifest My ability and power to regenerate and change you and give you even more zest and fervor for life and living than your earlier years! Strive to be an "up" person. Grab ahold of enthusiasm and optimism as opposed to your natural tendency to be a "realist" on all occasions.

38. Enthusiasm for life and all I'm doing comes from living more in Me. Enthusiasm is the rainbow atop faith's sky; it puts a new positive light on things. So strive for the spirit of enthusiasm. That doesn't mean you won't stumble and fall sometimes, but even an enthusiast "falls forward."

39. My resurrection life within you, and each one of My brides‚ is more actual energy than you've probably ever realized or utilized. You have the Spirit of My Father which raised Me from the dead dwelling within you, My love, and just as He raised Me from the dead, so can He quicken your earthen frames by His Spirit. That's one of My wonderful truths and promises I've given to you, and this resurrection power that is within you through Me has given you the same power to rise above. Claim it as yours!

94. (Jesus:) Rising above means you can have total victory, happiness, and My spirit of joy and delight all the time. Sure, there will be times when you're going through it or get bogged down with something, but at those times you can rise above. Anything that comes up in your work or your personal life is not too much for Me to handle. It's not too hard for Me to help you to rise above it.

95. In other words, there is life and hope and love and joy available to you in any situation you find yourself in. There are no limits to the happiness you can have in life once you've learned to rise above.

96. Life is full of troubles‚ trials and problems. That's the daily grind of life—the wearing and chipping and grinding and polishing that makes you the jewel you are, if you're allowing Me to work in your life, and allowing Me to let circumstances and conditions fashion you into a better gem. All the nagging little details of life don't have to get you down—they can thrust you into rising above and garnering all the joy and fulfillment out of life that you didn't know was possible before.

97. Rising above and having the ability to do so at any time also means that you can leave off worry or fear‚ because there's nothing that I cannot help you to rise above. You don't have to be fearful or worried about what will happen, because you have My personal assurance that once you've learned the art of rising above, nothing will be so very difficult for you. You will have the extra special spiritual power and strength that rising above gives you, and nothing will be impossible to you.

98. Whether a small thing or a big thing, rising above gives you the equal chance to get over and above something without having to bear the weight. You can cast your cares on Me and trust Me to sustain you. You don't have to worry so much about you having to do something, because I'm going to do it through you. I'm now going to help you to rise above through the power of the keys of the Kingdom. I'm going to live in you and through you by giving you this special, unique power.

99. It means that you now hold the power that enables you to defeat the Enemy in every way that he tries to discourage and hinder you. You don't have to fear him and his attacks anymore, because the power of rising above is a greater power. It's not a power that struggles and fights against the Enemy's power; it simply rises above, it lifts you above‚ into a special impenetrable protective field of My Spirit, into My Heavenly atmosphere. There's nothing the Enemy can do about that. He can't fight back‚ bring in reinforcements, or pull out a new weapon or tactic. All he can do is vainly struggle on while you have risen above and are out of reach of his attacks. So the power of rising above is much greater than conventional physical or spiritual warfare the Devil can hit you with, because it can't be beat no matter what.

100. You have to realize the power that I've given in rising above. It's not just a metaphor or a cool-sounding thing. It's not just a spiritual symbolism. It's a real and living power. Once you realize this, then you'll have much more faith in every area of your life, because you'll realize that you have not only a strong and powerful Lover and Husband to protect you, but an invincible, can't-be-beat power of rising above at your disposal, anytime you need it. It will help you realize just how important you are, and how powerful you are through Me, because I've seen fit to give you this special gift.

101. So rejoice in it! Praise Me for it. Love Me for it. It's your salvation and will help to make the way before you perfect, because as you stumble or fall or encounter difficulty, you can rise above on the wings of faith—the faith that I've given you this gift, and faith to call on the power of the keys to make it a reality in your life—and that all you have to do is appropriate it, and it's yours! Let Me lift you to new heights, and help you through the difficulties of the present and the future. I will do it for you because I love you, because I adore you, because I care for you, because you're Mine, and you're special to Me. (End of message.)

230. (Jesus:) You've been bound with chains forged by the Enemy—chains of lethargy, of apathy, of indifference, of selfishness, of carnal thinking, of negativity, of hopelessness. There is so much to hope for and look forward to! The future is as bright as all My promises! There's nothing that the Enemy or your enemies or anyone can do to thwart My plans and defeat My program. We will overcome! We will be victorious! You are on the winning team, and we are going to go places! It's up to you, though, what kind of player you'll be on the team—whether you'll be a member who mostly sits on the sidelines and cheers and fills in for the other players every now and then; or whether you'll be one of the star players, one who gets out there and runs and pushes for all you're worth, and gives it your all! I'm not just talking about pushing in your work here‚ and I hope you understand that. Focusing too much on the work is another way that you can push Me aside from being in first place‚ and a very common mistake that is made. I'm talking about your overall life—about your work, your time with Me, your interactions with others—everything being filled with the zeal and dedication of being My disciple.

231. It's the joy of salvation that you've been feeling the lack of, and I want to restore that to you now. There are other issues and problems in your life, but these will fall into place far more smoothly once you have that joy of your salvation once again coursing through your spiritual veins. It will bring you life, light and nourishment.

232. How do you get that? How do you feel that? Start by rededicating yourself to Me in spirit. Even now‚ this very minute, you can rededicate your heart and spirit to Me. You can place it all in My hands. You can determine and commit to giving Me first place. Start with your time. That's what really counts. Whatever matters to you, you spend time on. Fight to take more time with Me, to take good quality feeding, refreshing‚ renewing time every single day reading My Words‚ hearing from Me, praising Me, loving Me, communing with Me in prayer. Do each of these things every day. Maybe sometimes you'll take a half hour for each, maybe sometimes just a few minutes, but if you are striving to at least touch on each of these facets of your spiritual life, and seeking Me for how to make these times we have together really count, then I assure you that you will be so much better off. You will be happier, you will be more efficient and effective—and above all, you will be pleasing Me, you will be serving Me wholeheartedly as a true disciple, and thus your witness and power and effectiveness will be so much greater.

233. It's not that you haven't been a disciple all along, but I want you to now be a more active one, more forceful in spirit. It's that forcefulness and determination in spirit that will combat lethargy of spirit. Pray for that. Seek for that. It's the keys of the Kingdom that will help bring about that assertiveness and vigor in your life.

234. I want you to determine and will to fight for changing things in your own life, and in turn in your Home and ministry‚ so as to suit them more to My design, to My plan, to My highest will. Be willing to be a fool for Me, to be a robot for Me, even if it makes you feel stupid or like you're not yourself any more. You'll be a better self, a self more filled with Me, and that's what really matters. (End of message.)

"Leadership Lessons, Part 2," ML #3385:11-15,17-24, GN 982

Be Filled with My Joy!

(Jesus sings: )

12. I'm bubbling deep inside because I'm so happy, pleased, proud, delighted, glad, in love with, thrilled, inspired and excited about you and all you've done and how you've grown, My wonderful brides, that I just can't keep it quiet! It's bubbling right up inside‚ and I just had to sing it out!

13. Another reason I sang that song is—and this is very important for you, so listen up—I want to set you at ease right from the start. I don't want you to be fearful or remorseful. I don't want you to be nervous. I don't want you to be thinking about your failures. I don't want you to be feeling you have to do everything just right. I don't want you to be fretting or fearing failure. I don't want you to be feeling disappointed in yourself or your performance. I don't want you to feel guilty because you haven't lived up to your unrealistic expectations. I don't want you to feel like you have to push yourselves so hard. I don't want you to be looking at your lacks, because I'm not. I want to wipe all that away from the beginning so that you can have peace, knowing all is well.

14. I want you to put that all aside now‚ and I want you to be filled with My joy, and that will be your strength. I want you to be convinced of My love, and of Mama and Peter's love for you. I want you to believe they understand your problems as I do, and love and pray for you. I am very proud of you, as are Mama and Peter. We've seen how you've grown and progressed, and we want to tell you how happy we are with you. We understand your limitations and the difficulties you face with your Home situations, lack of support staff, your many children, physical afflictions, and the list goes on. You have all those battles to fight and more. We understand, so there's nothing to worry about.

15. I want to take away your feelings of inferiority and your feelings that you haven't achieved all you think has been expected of you. Sometimes your expectations are unrealistic and cause you to overextend yourselves, and then you feel guilty that you didn't make the grade. I want to wipe all those negative feelings away. In My book you've made the grade over and over again! I want to wipe away these fears and worries and give you peace.

17. As the scripture says, "The joy of the Lord is your strength!" And so it shall be unto you. If you believe that and claim it, I promise that My joy will be your strength. You can hold on to that promise. That can be your motto from this day forth, because if you have fear and worry, that's debilitating‚ and you won't benefit from [what I bring into your life and want to give you]. Any nervousness, fear, or worry quenches the flow of My Spirit in your lives and dampens your personal happiness. So relax. Trust Me, and trust Mama and Peter. We love you and we want to make your job easier.

18. Now‚ let My joy bubble up in you! Let it be your strength! Rejoice in your victories. Rejoice in the battles. Rejoice in the blessings. Rejoice in the triumphs. Rejoice in the changes. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! Stop looking at all your shortcomings and seeming defeats. Serving Me is supposed to be joyous! I know it's not always fun, and there's a lot of pain and suffering along the way, but there should always be a joy bubbling in your heart.

19. Remember, My joy is your strength. That joy comes from Me and My Spirit, not all your good works—although I am pleased with your works. I know your sacrifices and I'm pleased with them too‚ but nothing pleases Me more than your love for Me and others.

20. Remember that all the goals and objectives I put before you are just that—goals. They're something to keep you going and moving forward, to stretch your faith. But the thing that is most important is your love for Me and others.

22. These things have I spoken and sung to you, that My joy might be in you, and that your joy might be full. So let your joy bubble up! Don't refrain; go ahead and sing it!

24. How's that for an icebreaker and bottle breaker? I love you, My precious brides. Any seeming defeats or lacks will all be resolved in My good time, but now is not the time to be dwelling on them. Now is the time to fill your hearts with joy and to know that I am well pleased, and Mama and Peter are too! (End of message.)

"Being Rewired," ML #3412:33-36, GN 998

33. (Jesus:) Many of My precious brides are so busy. They carry heavy loads, the work just keeps coming, and the day-to-day run of things can be pretty grueling. They are devoted, they're loyal, they want to do their part, they want to be responsible and further My Kingdom. But when things get out of balance‚ when they become so work-oriented and focused on the to-dos that their whole life revolves around work, meetings, messages, or accomplishments‚ they lose My joy. That is a signal that something is wrong.

34. They need to realize that it's not My will for them to lose their joy and happiness under the burden of the work. And in order to maintain that perspective, they must have a balance in their life. It's not My will for them to go without the moments of quiet peace and communion with Me when they aren't even thinking about their work, the moments of relaxation and enjoyment with their mates and their children. It's so easy for the simple pleasures to be pushed out—the simple joys of My creation, loving Me, fellowship, sex, time with children‚ recreation, time to laugh and smile and appreciate. If those things don't have a place, things are out of balance.

35. I have given so much counsel about the need to let Me carry the load. I've chided, I've scolded, I've pleaded. I need each and every one, and it makes Me so sad to see My brides push themselves too hard to the point that they lose My joy—for then they lose their focus‚ things become a blur‚ out of perspective. The bottom line is, if they're too busy to stop and take good, regular, feeding, restful time with Me, if they're too busy to stop and enjoy these things, then something's wrong. They're too busy. And when they're too busy, they lose My joy in it all. It becomes a weight, a heaviness, because they're not allowing Me to carry the load for them.

36. Look at Mama; she's always cheerful, happy, and thinking on the good things and joys of life. She's not foolish or irresponsible. It's not like she lets her guard down and takes off her uniform; but no matter how much she has to do, no matter what big problems she has to take care of, she still remains happy, laughing, cheerful, and has a positive‚ uplifting countenance. You know that to be true. Follow her sample. (End of message.)

"Death to Depression," ML #3464:22-24, Post-it GN #10

22. (Jesus:) Depression in simple terms is a yielding of the mind to the negative. It's a yielding or giving up of faith‚ hope and joy. It's turning away from the light and facing the darkness. That darkness is more often than not yourself, or self-pity; the seemingly "hopeless" or "sad" circumstances and conditions that surround you; or allowing the Enemy to smother the flame of hope and happiness in your heart.

23. It's a yielding of your mind and spirit to the negative. Consequently your physical body can fall fast behind, succumbing to all sorts of maladies and ailments as a result of your weakened spirit. Through this powerful negative weapon and tool of depression, the Enemy literally steals hope and faith and joy from your heart. When he's stolen these, he effectively holds everything regenerative from your spirit.

24. Hope‚ faith and joy—all of which come from Me—have regenerative power. They are forces of power within themselves. He knows that when you relinquish these to him, you have little strength even to lift your voice in praise, to call on the keys of the Kingdom, to read the Word, to lift your eyes toward Me that you may be lightened‚ to even have the will to fight on. Your vision becomes distorted, impaired, and clouded, your mind muddled and confused. (End of message.)

"Shooting Straight, Part 1," ML #3499:150-165, GN 1086

The issue:

150. (Mama:) I'm concerned about those of you who have such big loads to carry on a daily basis—that you don't let the work take the joy out of your life. It's easy for that to happen, but when it does, you're lacking a very important element of spiritual strength: the joy of the Lord.

151. You might not even see that as a wrong attitude, because it probably crept up on you slowly as your work and responsibility increased, and you just figured that was the way it needed to be in order to bear your burdens and get the job done. But that's not right! Listen to this very good counsel from the Lord that sets things straight.

God's mind on the matter:

152. (Jesus:) Part of your sample as a disciple is to be a happy one. Isn't that the thing that Christians should be known for?—Not just discipline and being students of the Word, not just witnesses, but happy people, ones who are full of joy. And not just a little joy‚ but joy unspeakable. That means there's so much joy that you can't even express it; you're overflowing with happiness and contentment and excitement about Me and life itself; you have light in your eyes and on your face. That is your greatest witness.

*

153. (Jesus: ) Some of you probably look at the children, or at people with less demanding responsibilities, and you see them being happy and laughing and just generally upbeat, smiling, and enjoying life—and you think, "I wish." You think about that verse, "The joy of the Lord is your strength," and somehow it loses its meaning in the midst of your workload. You can be tempted to feel you don't have time to enjoy life, that your work saps the pleasure from your day and you're left tired and weary. Some of you probably feel on the verge of tears in the face of all there is to do.

154. I'm sorry, My loves. I understand. No one wants to feel the weight‚ to feel pressed, or "tied to the work" to the point that you just don't feel happy. Yet some of you have allowed the weight to settle on you, to the point that there's no time or room or place for happiness. Your countenance looks more burdened than it should. That's not My will, not for you or for the calling I've given you.

155. There is a way of escape—I'm your joy. When the simplicity of My love starts to fade away, you need to fight to focus on the beauties of your life and the blessings of My Spirit. You can't let the work drain your life of the peace of mind and happiness that you should have and deserve. Nearly always there is an enormous amount of work, so the battle is great to not let it cloud your perspective. You have to fulfill the responsibilities that come with your job—hard work and more hard work—but please don't lose your celebration of life. Don't let the problems squelch the simple joy of serving Me.

156. Like every one of My brides‚ you too are meant to be happy. You're meant to have peace of mind and spirit. That is My will for you, along with the job I've given you. It's important that you do not let the Enemy steal away your love for life, your happiness in being alive today in the Family, doing what you're doing. It makes Me very sad if I see you letting your work steal away your joy. That's not My will.

157. If the Enemy succeeds in weighing you down in the spirit to the point that you're just not happy, then you won't have the strength you need to face each day. When you begin the day with enthusiasm and you look forward to your work, it's so much easier. There's no weight, it's a pleasure to do it. You love it, problems and all. You like it, even if it is hard work. The spirit of faith and positiveness and praise keeps you upbeat. It helps you rise above the Enemy's weights. It lifts your heart and keeps things in perspective.

158. You need to feel some pleasure in the things you do. Your life needs to be a pleasant experience‚ otherwise you won't enjoy your work and you won't enjoy life. It's important not only for your sake, but for the sake of those you live and work with. They need to see that you're happy serving Me, because that reflects your faith.

159. After all, you're in My will, My full-time service, and you have all My promises and the keys of the Kingdom and all your spirit helpers and all the power of Heaven on your side. You have new updated spiritual weapons to fight every battle with. You have prophecy to hear My step-by–step counsel. I give you My revelations of the spirit world before any of My other Christian brides on earth. You have My Word to run to for comfort. You have a wonderful Home, a worldwide Family. You have a great team to work with. I supply your needs. I pour out My love and blessings daily upon you. You're working for something eternal. You're saving souls. You're witnessing every day through your job of serving Me—whatever it might be. You're receiving prayer power daily from Mama and Peter and those in WS. The Family is moving forward. Your Activated sheep are growing.

160. My blessings are all around you, so do whatever it takes to stay focused on the beauty of living for Me. If you let yourself get so burdened with the work, you'll crumble, burn out, and you just won't make it. You have to take the "happy pill" of My Spirit—whatever that is for you personally—whether spending time alone with Me getting refilled, taking praise time until you're really praising, getting prayer from your teammates, memorizing a key, or simply relaxing and having fun with the kids, putting on rabbit ears and playing with them—or all of the above. Whatever it takes‚ please fight off the chains of the Enemy and be happy in Me.

161. You can have that infusion of joy back in your life. Claim the key of joy and expect results. It will be your strength and make your work so much easier and lighter and even enjoyable.

*

162. (Jesus:) Don't forget the unbeatable weapon of praise in this battle. The Enemy will try to weigh you down with anything possible‚ but the weapon of praise can help you rise high above, out of his clutches. Any time you start praising, I'll be there to help you see things as I see them, to infuse you with faith, peace, and trust in Me, which makes it possible for you to relax and be truly happy and full of My joy! It's impossible to be really happy when you're weighed down with too much. So any time you feel that way‚ start praising Me. Activate your weapon of praise, and send the Enemy running for cover! As you praise, My spirit will pour down, and your joy—My joy in you, My heavenly perspective on things—will return. I love you! (End of message.)

In summary:

163. It's God's will for you to be happy and have peace of mind and spirit! Don't let the burdens and cares of life—which will always be with us, until we leave this earth—steal your joy; they don't have to!

Challenging Thot:

164. (Dad: ) We have the best Boss in the world, with the best pay (eternal rewards, tailored to our personal desires and dreams, plus guaranteed supply of any earthly needs in the meantime), the best benefits (health, protection, security, and guarantee of lifelong employment), the best insurance plan (miracles when we need them!), the best job (helping others to find happiness in our wonderful Jesus), the best co-workers (we're married and going to enjoy our bond of love for eternity!), and the most to look forward to—Heaven forever!! What more could we ask for?!

Key promise:

165. Claim the keys of joy and happiness‚ and together they will open a special channel for an infusion of My strength and perspective. Circumstances don't always immediately change, but your outlook on life after claiming the keys will be fresh and renewed, and the solutions will come in My time and My way.

"Praise = Answers, Solutions, Progress, Power, and Victory," ML #3539:79-82, Link #1

In My joy is your strength. In praising Me, you find strength.

79. (Jesus:) How do these two work together? Praise brings on joy, and joy brings on strength. When you praise Me, you're forgetting about yourself and your problems and concerns. Your lack of concentrating on yourself, and instead looking to Me, brings sweet joy to your heart. With this joy in your heart you're no longer pulled down by your negative feelings, doubts‚ fears or worries, and I give you strength to rise above.

80. It's a simple recipe:

81. The recipe sounds simple‚ but how do you add praise to the heavy heart?

82. Lift up your eyes unto the hills. Make a concerted effort to lift your eyes off yourself and look above. (See Psalm 121.) This takes effort on your part, but once you do that, I will carry you from there. I will fill your heart with joy. I will drive away the Enemy and his negativity. Your praises create a force field of protection that he cannot penetrate. Call on the power of the keys to give you the oomph needed to look up. You call, and I will answer. That is My promise to you!

"What Really Matters to Me," ML #3555:64-73‚ GN 1143

64. (Jesus:) My dear loves and precious brides, if you are feeling the weight of the burdens and cares of life pressing heavily upon you, then this message is for you. If you're feeling like it's all just too much, that there's no way you can fulfill the criteria in every pillar‚ then this message is for you. If you're worried that you're not going to make it, then I want you to sit still and listen.

65. This message isn't going to be a new revelation or something you haven't heard before, but it's what I know you need to hear right now. Sit with Me, lie with Me, or walk with Me—however you want to picture Me giving this message to you personally, in whatever setting helps you to relax and think about Me and enjoy My company.

66. I want you to meditate upon My love and care for you. I want you to picture Me holding you close, stroking your hair‚ wiping your tears, and easing your concerns. I want you to picture how I look at you, just you, and what a treasure you are to Me. Above all, I want you to know My unending love for you, and that I would never do anything that wasn't for your good. Do you believe and trust that?

67. Okay, now let's talk heart to heart about these battles that have weighed heavily upon your heart and spirit, to the point that you feel that you can't keep going, that it's too much, or you're worn out physically and spiritually from the battle and the call to change in so many areas.

68. I know it's a lot all at once, and your shepherds have acknowledged that as well. They are also tired. The restructuring has been a time of change for all, and change is rarely easy, especially change that involves sacrifice, giving more, and striving to be a professional disciple for Me. But I have not given you more than you are able to bear‚ My loves. I'm not asking the impossible of you. It might seem that way in some respects, especially if you look at all that has gone into the last months. There have been changes on so many fronts, and then with the Home review you realized once more that there are yet more areas to work on strengthening and changing in.

69. But that constant forward movement is what is keeping you alive, My loves. It's keeping you desperate with Me. I'm not letting you settle down, solidify, and stagnate. Though the restructuring changes won't continue indefinitely, and things will settle and fall into place, I will continue to work in your life to change you and to keep you on your toes spiritually.

70. That's the way of My Spirit—always changing, moving, revoluting, and keeping you fresh and alive. Wouldn't you rather that, than settling down in a more comfortable life and losing that spark of the spirit? It is that spark of My Spirit that keeps you so different from the world. The most uncomfortable place for a Christian is a comfortable place. I don't want you to settle down and just take it easy. When you settle down, I lose the marvelous potential that I have to work in you fully; and what a sad loss that would be—both for My Kingdom and for you.

71. But by saying this, don't get Me wrong. I want you to cast your burdens on Me. I want you to take time to rest in My arms and in My Word every day. I want you to have times for relaxation and fun. I want you to enjoy your life too! So don't let the Enemy steal that away by getting you under pressure with all that there is to do. If you put Me first, I will add all these other things unto you—whether it's the solution to problems or difficulties, excitement in your service for Me‚ fun and enjoyable times of recreation, and so much more.

72. So, My dear loves, take your load off, cast it on Me, and have patience. Have patience that things will fall into place and that the picture will become clearer. "You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise" (Heb.10:36). That "promise" is all the wonderful things I have said will come of the restructuring and a stronger, tighter Family. That promise is the fruit that will be borne as a result of the work you've put into forming your winning teams. And that promise will be fully fulfilled when I take you into My arms and tell you, "Well done, My good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord!" (Mat.25:21).

73. You'll see that it was worth the work and the effort to change. Don't get discouraged if right now it doesn't seem that much good is resulting from all the work that you're putting into it. Be patient, My loves, and trust Me. You will see the fulfillment of My promises—all will come to pass, and not one will fail. (End of message.)

"Training Winning Teams, Part 6," ML #3586:5-7,81-82,84-86‚167-170, GN 1169

5. (Mama: ) Remember, dear Family, that we're to enjoy life, enjoy one another, and enjoy Jesus most of all. We have a happy religion‚ not a sad one. We're serious about our service for the Lord, but we're also to have "joy unspeakable," as the Bible says (1Pet.1:8). We have so much to be happy about, so much to praise our Husband for, so much to celebrate, and a wonderful life to enjoy to the full. Our lives are one big, long, happy adventure compared to many people's lives in the world.

6. So let's take the time we need regularly to savor the sweetness of the happy lives that we are blessed to live, the friends and loved ones and family that we are privileged to know and live with (as well as those we meet along the way), the important responsibilities for Jesus that we are honored to bear‚ the children that we can play a part in loving and training and raising, and all that goes into our fun, lively‚ revolutionary lives for Jesus.

7. Truly we have more to be thankful for than we could ever express, and more in life to enjoy than any others in this world. Thank You, Jesus, for being our source of perfect happiness!

81. (Jesus:) If you want an easy indicator of how balanced your Home is, ask yourselves how happy everyone is. Do people in your Home exhibit My joy? Or does everyone always seem stressed and busy? Do people in your Home generally exude a spirit of peace, faith, and trust? Or do you more often feel that things are rushed and people are frazzled? Are those in your Home too busy for people?—Too busy to take a minute or two to talk to a child, too busy to stop for a hug, too busy to appreciate someone, too busy to take some time at the end of a full day to relax and fellowship?

82. If your Home is in balance‚ people will be happy, because your needs will be met. You will have My joy; you will exude peace and faith and trust. You will take time for people. You will take time for Me, and the spirit of your Home will bear witness of a good balance.

84. Manifesting joy and happiness in serving Me is so important, and it largely comes about as a result of your Home having a good balance in all things—working hard, but not too hard; investing in your children, but not to the neglect of other important things; spending time with Me every day and making it count; taking time for people, and showing them that you love them and have time for them because they're worth it; taking regular time off to relax and recuperate and fellowship and enjoy the bonds of love and camaraderie I've blessed you with.

85. I don't judge your Home only by how hard you work. I look at the overall picture and see if everything important is given sufficient time. I desire to see balance in your Home, and to see your faithfulness to schedule in My priorities. When you get to Heaven you'll be sad if you discover that you missed out on much of the joy of life because you didn't take time to enjoy times of recreation or fun, or you thought you were too busy to get to know and love the children, or you rushed through life without stopping to take enough time for people.

86. When you get to Heaven I don't want you to say, "I lived a good life because I worked night and day in order to live a packed-to-the-brim life for Jesus. I was so busy for Him and accomplished a lot of good works. I really got a lot done." I want you to be able to say, "I lived a full life for Jesus, giving His love to others!" The main purpose of having a balanced life is not simply to have one, but so that you remain loving to others, you keep Me in first place‚ and so you don't burn out. When you stand before Me, it will be the effects of your balanced or unbalanced life that you will see, not whether or not you had one. If it was one full of My love, then I will be pleased with your service, and so will you.

167. (Prayer:) Jesus, we want to be fun like You are! You're the coolest Person in the universe, the most hip Individual! You're not just our great God and High Priest, but You really like to get down with us and have fun! You have fun in Heaven, and You like to join with us in our times of fun, to make them special, memorable, and better than they would otherwise be without Your Spirit enhancing them.

168. Help us, Jesus, not to get so busy serving You that we forget to enjoy life and to enjoy our dear friends and loved ones that You have given us. Help us not to wear ourselves out by not taking sufficient time with You most of all, but also by not taking time to relax and regenerate. Help us to remember how important it is‚ make the sacrifices necessary for it, and fit it into our schedules. We know that if it's important, You can help us to be able to slot it in.

169. And when we do have times of fun, relaxation, recreation and entertainment, help us to be faithful to include You, our wonderful Husband. Help us to remember to make You a part of everything, to invite You to our activities and parties, so that You can give them that extra zing and zest of Your Spirit, and also keep us within the boundaries of Your will. We know that when we include You, no matter what the activity or event‚ it's always better. You make fun times so much more fun, Jesus!

170. We want to have fun with each other, and with You most of all, as we call on the keys of the Kingdom and our spirit helpers to assist us. Thank You, Jesus, for being so awesomely powerful, yet so personal and down–to-earth as well. Thank You for loving us so much that You can actually enjoy the things that we enjoy along with us. Help us never to forget that You're right beside us, with loads of happiness and fun to pour down upon us. Thank You, Jesus, for the blessings and gifts of Your Spirit!

"Making Things Right," Christian Digest #20

Excerpts from the book by Paul Faulkner

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

If you want to make wrong things right, if you want to set the world straight‚ if you want to get your act together, you have to get your attitude right. Get your heart right. Everything you are and do is a product of your attitude about life.

All of God's creatures lug around an atmosphere, wherever they go. When a little black-and-white bundle of fuzz called a skunk is around, he's in full charge of the atmosphere—both his and yours. The skunk has no choice. But if your attitude stinks and is fouling up the atmosphere for those around you, it's because you choose to stink. When your attitudes go wrong, you can choose to make them right.

Your disposition sets you apart‚ in one way or another—a positive way or a negative way. Do people stay away from you as they would a skunk? Or are people attracted to you as they are to a single bright star in the night? "Do all things without murmurings and disputings; that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke‚ in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:14,15).

Right attitudes are the foundation stones of successful living. All that you are and do today is the sum total of your thoughts and attitudes of yesterday. You will travel the path tomorrow which your heart and mind blaze today. The thoughts, images and perceptions cast upon the screens of your mind become the blueprints you will use to build your future.

The Bible says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). It adds, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

Do you hear what the Bible is saying to you? Peter looked at Simon the magician and said, "You've got heart problems" (Acts 8:21). Jesus looked at the people of Jerusalem and said, "Their hearts are far from Me" (Matthew 15:8). Heart problems can mess up your life.

Karl Menninger, a celebrated psychiatrist, said, "Attitudes are more important than facts (appearances)!" But we humans have always had a tendency to judge a person by his outward appearance (facts). This happened when Samuel saw Eliab and thought God would surely anoint him king. Eliab was good-looking, tall, seemingly a fine man. But God said: "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature‚ because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1Samuel 16:7).

You can always spot folks with bad attitudes. They swell up like a toad when they don't get their way. They're always grumpy and out of sorts. Read this out loud to yourself: "Murmur, murmur, murmur." Sounds just like what it means, doesn't it? God said the Israelites were murmuring and complaining. Can't you just hear them? Or there's the boy murmuring as he walks through the garage into the yard after you have told him to mow the grass. Can't you hear him? As I was growing up, my mother would sometimes tell me, "Paul, you just have a bad attitude!" And you have probably heard the response loud and clear: "I do not!" I gave myself away with that answer.

I heard about one fellow who said to his complaining friend, "Did you wake up grumpy this morning?"

And the friend replied, "No, I just let her sleep!" He couldn't see his own grumpy attitude, but he could sure see it in someone else. And that's typical, isn't it?

If you get right with God, and your heart's right with Him, you don't have to worry about having a problem with other people; it will take care of itself.

Is your heart right with God? If so, you are likely right with your family, friends and coworkers, too. If your attitudes rebel against God, you're likely "out of sync" with those around you as well. It's a direct parallel.

PREDISPOSITION

Do you ever decide before you even meet a person that you're not going to like him? Do you ever make up your mind before you go somewhere: "I'm not going to like it"? Or before you go to the company picnic, do you think, "It will be boring"? The fact is you usually find exactly what you expect to find. Your predispositions determine beforehand the way you will see things.

Consider the perceptions of two neighbors: The first husband wakes up in the morning and looks at his wife. Her hair is in rollers. Her face is covered with cold cream. There's a rip in her robe. The guy thinks: "Man, what on earth am I doing married to this?"

The fellow next door wakes up in the morning, looks at his wife and sees the same things. Her hair is in rollers. Her face is covered with cold cream. There's a rip in her robe. But he thinks: "Isn't she a doll? She jumps up in the morning, fixes breakfast and gets the kids off to school before she takes care of herself! What a wonderful wife!"

What made the difference? Attitude! Psychological tests reveal that our responses toward others are determined more by our attitudes than by what others actually do. It's all in how we look at things.

For example, a child spills a glass of milk. Mama is in a good mood‚ so she says, "Oh, dear‚ the milk is spilled. I'll make a dam with this napkin. You run get a towel, and we'll clean it up." When her disposition is cheerful, the mother addresses the issue, which is the milk, not the child.

Two weeks later, the same child spills some milk and the same mom points her finger at the horror-struck child and shouts, "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times not to set your milk so close to the edge of the table! (and then there is the usual question) Haven't I? Haven't I?" The mother makes what the child does the issue, not the milk. Do you remember being at the end of one of those pointing fingers? You don't know whether to shake, cry, or just roll over and play dead.

How do you treat someone when they mess up? Do you put them down with a barb like, "I've told you a thousand times, haven't I?" Do you kick them while they're down? Or do you gently pick them up, dust them off and get them going again? It all depends on whether you are predisposed to find the negative or the positive in life and people. You'll find what you're looking for every time.

Negative attitudes toward people and things distort our mental capacity to see things as they really are. So, we respond foolishly or irrationally to the bogus notions our minds invent about people and events.

TURNING THINGS AROUND

Here's the key to a changed attitude about life: Not only can we change our attitudes‚ we can change them in any set of circumstances. Think about the thief on the cross, for instance. He was nailed to a cross, in excruciating pain. It was a horrible circumstance, to say the least. He had apparently been railing away at Jesus; then he had a change of heart, a change of mind. He changed his attitude from bad to good in the midst of the most horrible circumstances. You can change your attitude‚ your mindset, your heart, in any set of circumstances.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote this truth in poetry:

The Apostle Paul said it this way: "I have learned‚ in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11). And that was a mouthful for a guy who was beaten‚ put in prison, stoned, shipwrecked and chased out of town after town. Yet, do you find it difficult to be content even in the lap of luxury? Attitude‚ that's the difference.

WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

Things are going to go wrong in your life. That's the way life is. It's a series of mishaps and problems that you must solve. It's like a mouse trying to run a maze. There's a place to go in and a place to come out, but there are a lot of dead-ends and walls to overcome in between. When you hit a wall, you just have to change your attitude, your heart and your action to make them right. If you don't change your direction, you just keep butting your head against the wall, because the wall won't budge.

It's up to you to change your life. It's up to you to make things right when things go wrong. And God has given you the power to do it. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).

WILL TO, WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT

Robert was physically handicapped. He was confined to a wheelchair because his muscle movements could not be controlled. Robert's speech was so slurred that he was difficult to understand. You're probably thinking: "Poor guy. What a miserable life!" But wait!

Robert was a student in the university where I taught. And what a delightful person he was. He was a favorite among the students because his attitude was so wonderful. He had his "willer" in control and was living a full and exciting life.

Robert couldn't write, so he would carry carbon paper with him to class and ask the student next to him to put the carbon paper under his own paper as he took notes. If that student took good notes, Robert had good notes. If not, Robert had poor notes, too.

He couldn't pull himself forward in his wheelchair, so if no one was around to push him‚ Robert just turned around and pushed himself backward with his feet, looking over his shoulder to see where he was going.

One day Robert came too close to the edge of some stairs in the administration building. Robert, wheelchair, books and all went tumbling and crashing down the stairs. The wheelchair rolled off down the hall, and Robert ended up sprawled out on the floor but relatively unhurt. Several concerned students rushed over to help him. From his rather undignified position, Robert looked up at his rescuers, laughed out loud and said, "Let me teach you how to dance!"

Robert was a Christian and he wanted to preach and share the message of Christ with others. One Sunday he spoke to a large crowd of over a thousand Christians in church. He sat in his wheelchair on the podium with his Bible in his lap. He struggled hard to speak plainly and to not let his arms wave about. Very few people in that audience understood all of Robert's actual words that day, but not one person missed the message of the love of God he communicated. There wasn't a dry eye in the place when he finished. And everyone went away trying to remember what their own flimsy excuses were that kept them from sharing God's love with others. How legitimate it would have been for Robert to make the same excuse Moses made: "Lord, I just don't speak well enough!" But he didn't.

The last time I heard about Robert he had gone overseas with a group of missionaries. He had them put posters on the sides of his wheelchair and park him on a busy downtown street corner. There he sat all day every day handing out tracts to passers-by about the Lord that was so important to him. He truly had the mind of Christ. And he had, indeed, become the dynamic preacher he so wanted and willed himself to be.

See, folks‚ Robert had learned to be content in his seemingly impossible circumstances. He was making the most of what he had and not worrying about what he didn't have. He had mastered his circumstances with his good attitude, instead of allowing his circumstances to master him.

LIVING RIGHT IN AN ALL-WRONG WORLD

What's needed is an inner attitude, an unshakable conviction that, regardless of the circumstances which life may send your way, with God's help you can triumph in your troubles, if not over them. To triumph in your troubles is really the only victory you need‚ "for great is your reward in Heaven" (Matthew 5:12).

In the first century, the Apostle Paul demonstrated this principle. Here's what he wrote to his brethren in the city of Philippi: "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11). And Paul had been in some miserable circumstances. On one occasion he was falsely accused, beaten and thrown into prison, where he was shackled hand and foot. He was put in the inner prison (which we'd call the maximum security cell). But at midnight, of all things, Paul was singing. And he wasn't wailing the words to "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" either. He was singing praises to God (see Acts 16:25)! What a fantastic attitude in such dire circumstances. But if your heart is right with God, circumstances just don't count. Now, that may not sound very revolutionary the first time you hear it, but the idea grows on you. It suggests a truth that everyone has to wrestle with sooner or later: Until you're able to be happy in every situation, you can't really be happy in any situation.

No matter how hard you try to convince yourself to the contrary, your happiness and satisfaction in life are not determined by your actual circumstances but by your attitude.

HOW DO YOU CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDES?

How can you learn to be content in any situation? How can you achieve this significant goal in life?

Believe You Can

The answer is simple: Believe you can. Some psychologists would say that you can find happiness and contentment in life through your own human resources. They view each person as a self–sufficient being who can manufacture his own do-it-yourself kit to achieve whatever he believes. But I question that philosophy. I know many self-sufficient folks who see no need for an enabling power above or beyond their own. Yet‚ I know very few who have learned to be content "whatever the circumstances!" God has made it clear that whatever we accomplish is not by our own power, "but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty" (Zechariah 4:6).

How did Paul learn to be content in any set of circumstances? Did he learn it through his own human self-sufficiency? No way! Rather, he said, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. ... I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:11-13).

What exactly did Paul mean by this stunning claim? Was he actually saying that with Christ's help he could do anything? Some folks take it that way, but does that fit the context of what Paul said? I don't think Paul is claiming to be some sort of superman who can pray for Christ's help and then leap buildings in a single bound or catch bullets in his teeth. He is simply saying what any committed Christian can say: "In Christ's strength I can be content in whatever circumstances life may choose to hurl at me. His Spirit will help me do anything God wants me to do."

Role Models

Another good role model to follow in learning contentment is the prophet Habakkuk‚ who could say:

"Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines‚ though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls; yet, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (Habakkuk 3:17–18).

These are certainly not the words of a man who allows negative circumstances in life to spoil his personal happiness.

One Christian who found great strength in the Lord, despite much personal suffering, was Edith Reuss‚ a young wife and mother who died of lupus at age 34. Before her death she wrote:

"Joy is knowing that even our crosses in life can be used by God for His glory and our good. We are too finite to see the overall picture‚ but we can trustingly thank Him even for the pain, because we have the assurance that though He doesn't deliberately cause us pain‚ He is still there and in control. Joy is this reassurance, but it is also more. Joy is a deep, soul-realizing knowledge that whatever our situation, God is hanging in there with us. He rejoices when we rejoice; He cries when we cry. He allows us our free will, even though He knows we will hurt ourselves by it, just because He loves us so much. He is always there. Emmanuel‚ God with us. As far as I know, this is the ultimate joy. It is something that death and depression, doubt and lupus flares cannot weaken. Is there even more joy than this? I wonder and thrill at the possibilities."

Contentment, even in the face of death. It is the art of looking at what you have left, rather than what you've lost. It's looking at the donut and not the hole. It's seeing a glass of water as half full, not half empty. It's accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative from your life.

It's a thought worth repeating: The way to change your attitude is to believe through Christ that you can.

GRAB YOUR WANTER BY YOUR WILLER

Once you believe you can change your attitude and learn to be content in any set of circumstances, then you must decide you will change. The fact is, you can will to change. You can grab your "wanter" by your "willer" and turn your life around! You can will to, whether you want to or not.

Abraham Lincoln once observed that, "People are about as happy as they choose to be!" And that's about right, isn't it? Even among non-religious folks there are some who are happier than others. Why? It's because they have come to grips with life in a more responsible manner than others. Their lives are under control because they have their wanters in submission to their willers.

Comparison Kills Contentment

Contentment largely depends on your ability to be satisfied with what you have and not worry about what everybody else has. Life is filled with this type of thing. You probably have a friend who makes more money than you do. He lives in a larger house and drives a finer car than you (even though you're obviously smarter and more talented than he is). How you handle the difference depends on your attitude. If you're always comparing yourself and your situation to others, you'll always be discontent. You'll spend all your time at a personal pity party that will destroy your happiness and contentment. But you can choose to rejoice in the good fortune of others‚ and you will spend your life rejoicing and happy "whatever the circumstances."

Change Your Way of Thinking

Now that you believe you can change, and you've decided you will change, you'll most likely have to change the way you think. Fundamentally, our challenge is to learn how Christ thought and then make His thoughts our own. The Bible says it this way: "Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2Corinthians 10:5).

"You can change motivation and improve performance by changing the way you ... think," says David McClelland after a 25-year research study conducted at Harvard University.

Reframing—A Way to Change

One way to change your thinking is to reframe the way you perceive the circumstances that surround you until you can think of them in their most positive and favorable light. An artist can take an ordinary-looking picture and, by putting a decorative color-coordinated frame around it, completely transform the picture. You look at the reframed picture and think, "My, I didn't really see that picture's beauty until it was framed!" That's the gift of an artist. He has learned to display his handiwork in its most attractive form. Life can be reframed, too! Reframe the things around you until you can see them in their best light.

Biblical Reframing

The Book of James urges us to reframe our thinking this way: "Count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations!" That seems illogical. Why should we be happy about hard times? "Knowing this‚ that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting (lacking) nothing" (James 1:2-4).

And 2Corinthians 4:7-9 emphasizes it again: "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted‚ but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."

But what if something horrible, a real catastrophe, happens to you? Can you reframe catastrophe? A friend of mine was mugged and shot in the face.

When I saw her a while back, and the conversation fell into a discussion of this past incident. I said, "You must really resent that guy!"

Surprisingly, she answered‚ "No, I had to work through those feelings!" Then she grinned, pointed to her chin and said, "Say, have you seen my new dimple?"

If a catastrophe like that happened to you, could you handle it as well? Many would allow such an incident to rob them of happiness and contentment for the rest of their lives. But my friend shows that it doesn't have to be that way. You can reframe your thinking and find the dimple in the disaster.

The Say-Yes Face

President Thomas Jefferson was once riding horseback with some companions, and they came to a swollen stream. A foot traveler was there by the stream‚ waiting to ask someone on horseback to give him a ride across the rushing water. The President responded to the man's request. He pulled the man up on his horse and later set him down on the opposite bank.

"Tell me," asked one of the men, "why did you ask the President to help you across?"

The man answered‚ "I didn't know he was the President. All I know is that on some faces is written the answer 'no' and on some is written the answer 'yes'! He had a 'yes' face!" What you put in your heart will reflect in your attitudes and actions. If you have the mind of Christ, the yes attitude of Christ will show on your face and in your actions. Be more thoughtful than necessary, kinder than necessary, more compassionate and sympathetic than necessary. Keep practicing it and doing it, and people will begin to see that attitude written on your face.

USE IT OR LOSE IT

If you put your arm in a sling and keep it inactive, soon it becomes limp and useless. The fish in Mammoth Cave are blind because they do not use their eyes. Stop acting in faith, and faith dies. Stop hoping, and hope dies. Use it or lose it; that's the message.

When I speak with appreciation of my wife and children, my attitude of appreciation toward them increases. When I go out of my way to do something that puts the interest of someone else above my own, my attitude of goodwill toward that person grows. When I express my love for God through my actions, the attitude of love for God blooms.—So exercise the qualities you want to acquire, with God's help, and you'll soon find yourself actually becoming like that.

ACT BETTER THAN YOU FEEL

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you always felt like doing what you ought to do?

"Honey, the yard needs mowing‚ and you need to clean up after the dog!"

"Oh, good," you say. "That's exactly what I want to do!"

"Sweetheart, the clothes need to be ironed, and the bathroom needs cleaning!"

And you say, "Great! How did you know that's what I've been waiting to do?"

If life worked like that, you wouldn't have nearly so many problems. But life has its uncanny way of hurling you into situations where you must act better than you feel. Following your feelings often leaves important things undone. And it's so easy for feelings to misfire, lash out and cause devastating results. But there's good news: You can make things right when they've gone wrong by acting better than you feel.

JUST DO IT!

Do you like slick okra?—You know‚ the slimy, boiled kind. Well, me neither when I was growing up‚ but there is a way you can learn to eat that slick green stuff and like it. You have to say to yourself, "Eating boiled okra is beneficial to my health‚ and I'm going to keep on eating it and acting as if I like it until I do like it, even if it kills me!"

The attitude to want to like it plus the action to seal the commitment will work six times out of ten (nine times out of ten, if you don't give up too soon). You have to just do it. You have to act better than you feel about it.

FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT

You may be thinking: "Faulkner, acting better than you feel is hypocrisy!" But you are a hypocrite only when you deceive others into thinking you are what you never intend to become, like an insurance salesman who goes to church to make sales rather than to become a better Christian. In contrast, acting out a part on the stage of life because you honestly desire to adopt the noble qualities of that character springs from genuine motives, not hypocrisy.

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous use a motto to encourage each other to succeed: "Fake it 'til you make it!" You can be sure these people are not using the term "fake" in a phony or hypocritical sense. Their intent is to make it. Their intent is to fake the feeling that they don't want a drink, one day at a time. "Acting as if" they are recovered alcoholics, they cast themselves in the direction of sobriety, until they really make it.

Hypothesis, Not Hypocrisy

The hypothesis is, "If you will keep acting as if you like to do what you do not want to do, the time will come when you will like and want to do it!"

O. H. Mowrer said: "It is easier to act yourself into a better way of feeling than to feel yourself into a better way of acting!"

I also like the way William James put it: "You don't sing because you are happy, you are happy because you sing."

Waitin' for the Urge?

The odds are overwhelming that you will never do what you ought to do if you wait for the urge to strike.

Let me level with you. If I had waited for the urge this morning, I would not have gotten out of bed at 6 A.M. to write these lines. By nature and temperament, I'm a night person. Mornings are not my thing. I throw one leg out of bed, and if it survives, I throw out the other leg. Then an arm. But when I finally get all my parts assembled in a standing position and the blood circulating, I feel downright cocky and proud. I don't feel like getting up early, but I feel good once I've done it.

Ernest Newman, an English music critic, said: "The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he is working. Beethoven, Bach and Mozart settled down day after day to the job at hand with as much regularity as an accountant settles down each day to his figures. They didn't waste time waiting for inspiration!"

ACT AS IF—THE CHANGE AGENT

By changing your actions‚ you can actually change your attitudes and the way you think. One psychologist observed: "Behavior causes attitudes. There is now sufficient evidence to suggest that ... one of the most effective ways to change hearts and minds of men is to change their behavior!"

"Acting as if" allows you to transcend and transform your own nature—to do what's unnatural until it becomes natural.

THERE IS A PRICE FOR FEELING BETTER

Jesus sealed His commitment to us and paid the price on the cross. Where do we get the idea that God put us on Earth to indulge our feelings? He promises us a cross, not cushions, and scars‚ not medals. He makes it clear that if we are not willing to nail ourselves to the cross again and again and act better than we feel—willing to pay the price for the privilege of following Him—He would rather that we not follow Him at all. He has never admired the lukewarm attitude (see Revelation 3:16).

The Power of Commitment

Charles Garfield and his associates at the University of California School of Medicine interviewed 500 high achievers. They concluded: "The single most powerful predictor of success in the long run is commitment—a passion to pursue well–defined goals."

Arie Kieve, a psychiatrist, has written‚ "Observing the lives of people who have mastered adversity, I have repeatedly noted that they have established goals and, irrespective of obstacles, sought with all their effort to achieve them. From the moment they fixed an objective in their minds and decided to concentrate all their energies on a specific goal, they began to surmount the most difficult odds."

DON'T GIVE UP

When Thomas Carlyle had finished writing his history of the French Revolution, he took the manuscript to a neighbor, John Stuart Mill, for proofreading. A few days later, Mill came to Carlyle's house with disastrous news. His maid had used the manuscript to start a fire in the fireplace.

Carlyle raged like a madman for several days. For two full years he had poured his whole being into that manuscript. Now, it was gone. Two years of his life were reduced to ashes. In view of that tragic blunder, Carlyle thought he could never again give himself to the difficult discipline of writing.

One day Carlyle stood looking out his second story window over the rooftops near his home. Across the way he saw a stone mason slowly and patiently rebuilding a collapsed wall, putting one stone upon another, until finally the new wall took form. For the first time Carlyle accepted the unfortunate mistake of his past and began to rewrite his book. Diligently, one page at a time, one day at a time, he wrote and finished what was probably his finest work.

To make things right when they go wrong in your life‚ you must rebuild by carefully replacing one stone of your life upon another, one day at a time.

COMING TO GRIPS WITH THE PAST

Perhaps you've observed that some people have stumbled and failed times without number. Yet, they are able to come to grips with the past and move ahead with the living of today with greater zest and vigor than ever before. How do they do it? How can you do it?

You would do well to talk to yourself about the past. You need to say: "Self, the past is gone. There is nothing you can do to change it. So why waste your strength wrestling with the past when you need all your power to grapple with the vital issues of today!"

In the closing scene of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero says of Alonzo: "Let us not burden our remembrances with a heaviness that's gone!" Vivien Larrimore gives similar advice in her poem, Keys.

It's foolish to cling to unresolved problems and difficulties from the past and to bring the burdens and worries about the future into today's schedule. Our shoulders are just not broad or strong enough to carry the loads of more than one day, and only then by the grace of God.

ONE DAY AT A TIME

The members of Alcoholics Anonymous have a slogan that says: "I can make it, one day at a time!" And that's the only way they do make it. Don't tell an alcoholic to not take a drink for the next nine months. It's too much of an overload. He will break under the impossible thought. But if you encourage him not to take a drink today—just today—that's a possibility! "I can make it, one day at a time."

God's power comes as you yield your will to His will one day at a time. "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).

Jesus makes it clear: "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). Why? If you take your eyes off the things God wants you to do today to look over your shoulder at the headache of your past, it makes you unfit for kingdom service today.

As hard as we may try, we can live only one day at a time, and that day is always today. Yesterday is past, irrevocably and irretrievably gone. We cannot walk back into it or lay any new claim upon it. And the future belongs to us no more than the past. We may prepare and plan for the future, but we will never be able to live in it. For when it arrives, it becomes the now of today. Live today!

RESENTMENT DEFINED

Do you know the origin of the word resentment? It comes from the Latin word resento, which essentially means to re-feel. Someone may hurt you deeply. Temporarily, you may shove that tragic experience into your subconscious. But then something happens to conjure up that painful memory. And you re-feel the full agony and hurt of it. You may even externalize those feelings by lashing out in anger at someone else.

Married couples are often specialists in resentment. They probe around in the garbage dump searching for old, sharp bones of contention from the past they can use as weapons to wound one another. They delight in deliberately lashing one another with old mistakes and probing old sores. It's tragic, isn't it? All that resentment and hurt! And there's not one positive thing to be gained by it.

When you were a kid, did your mom or grandma have a slop bucket? You know, it sat over in some out-of-sight corner in the old kitchen where the smell couldn't be detected too easily. Sometimes it even had a lid. And every few minutes when she was cooking, Grandma would throw something in there that she didn't want to keep—trimmings off the meat, potato peels, spoiled milk and all the rest of the leftover food garbage. I think "slop" was a good name for it.

Then about every two or three days someone would have to take that bucket full of slop and go pour it into the pig's trough. Sometimes that old pig would get so excited about eating he couldn't wait for them to finish pouring, and he'd stick his head under the pouring slop. Well, I've found out that folks carry their own personal slop buckets around with them. Especially married folks do. But these are emotional slop buckets. We fill them up with all our leftover feelings and emotions from spats and quarrels. We throw in the trimmings from old conflicts and disagreements. We just collect all sorts of emotional slop from our past.

Then, every so often, when our emotions are running high over some current problem, we grab up our slop buckets and empty them on the heads of our husband, wife, kids or friends. We pour out all the slop from our past and muck up the present with it. It's disgusting! We're far more expert at resenting and begrudging than we are at forgiving.

Christ Took the Initiative

Well‚ let's face it. It's going to take a deep conviction to inspire you to impale yourself on a cross to forgive someone who hates you. Only a compelling love for the One who loved you and gave Himself up for you could provide you with the necessary incentive.

The Christian concept is this: When people mistreat you, and feelings of resentment arise within you, don't express resentment toward them. Take the initiative by forgiving them in the same way that Christ forgave you. Let them see in your actions the Christ who is eager to forgive every person.

Take the Initiative in Forgiving

Take the initiative. Forgive the one who has wronged you unjustly, whether that person requests your forgiveness or not. This is why resentment is so much harder to resolve than guilt. Not to forgive in advance of someone's request for forgiveness tends to harden our hearts‚ it keeps the door closed on the relationship and gives us a reason to continue to harbor hate. It's really rationalized hate.

When someone wronged me in the past, my following that formula did nothing to remove my feelings of resentment toward them. In fact, my resentment increased because of their stubborn refusal to request my forgiveness. Instead of soothing my conscience‚ playing the game of "I will forgive you if you will ask me to forgive you" only served up more trouble. What about all those Scriptures that insist I love others and return good treatment for wrong? Shall I just ignore them and continue to resent the person who wronged me?

It's tough to forgive because it's so costly. If you've wronged me‚ it means that I must bear the suffering you've caused me, in order to bless you with my forgiveness. The person who takes the initiative to forgive pays a tremendous price. For instance, suppose someone has slandered you and ruined your reputation. You must be willing to bear the loss of your good reputation in order to "Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you!" That's tough. But with God's help, it's possible. After all, look at the reputation Christ gave up for you.

HOW DO WE OVERCOME?

How do we overcome the problem of resentment? What is the solution? I dare say you know the Biblical answers to that question already. No doubt‚ these phrases flash back: "Love your enemies!" "Do good to those who hate you!" "Overcome evil with good!" "Do not return evil for evil ... ; but on the contrary, bless!" Understanding these Scriptures isn't our problem‚ is it? The thing that trips us up are those tough decisions required to translate these beautiful ideas into our daily behavior.

Be Vulnerable

To cut the line to resentment, you must choose to become vulnerable to hurt. When you respond to hate with love‚ to resentment with forgiveness and to cursing with blessing, you will expose yourself to cruel and abusive treatment from a few people, but it's worth it! If you never risk, you will never know love.

Learn to accept rejection. It's a fact of life. It's the folks in this life who use rejection as a stepping stone to higher ground that succeed.

Forgive

Next, you must choose to forgive the person who has wronged you. You must cut the line and "forget what lies behind!" When Paul said, "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before," he is not suggesting a literal forgetting of the past but rather the development of a right attitude toward it. It is true that we can never forget the cruel and abusive treatment that we have received from others. But we can forget to nurture those feelings of resentment caused by such treatment.

It's similar to looking at an old cut on your body that has become a tough, permanent scar. When the cut was fresh, it festered and was painful. Now that the cut has become a scar, you've forgotten the pain. In fact, you seldom think of it at all. But you can still see the scar. Similarly, it is possible to forget the hurt of past resentments.

Jesus summed it up this way: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.... Do to others as you would have them do to you" (Luke 6:27-31).

Easy? Nope. Possible? Yep. "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).

How Do You Get Rid of the Pain?

Well, unfortunately, you may have to live with some of it for the rest of your life. But, thank God, you can learn to use that pain to bless other people who have experienced similar tragedies.

You're not alone in your pain, you know. There are a lot of people who have been right where you are. A lot of other people have been abused. A lot of people have had misfortunes. Those people need you to minister to them.

You can reframe the pain into a strength. You can use your thorn in the flesh as a source of power or turn your disaster into a dimple.

By laying your hurts and abuses of the past next to the current hurts and abuses of someone else, you can help draw the festering out of their situation and help them move on to healing. They need you and your reframed pain to help them see the picture as it really is.

It's like the university professor who told me recently how he shared the sudden loss of his son with a policeman whose son had killed himself. He said‚ "It allowed both of us to find some resolution and peace in the problem of a missing son!"

So, use your pain. It is a gift from God with which to minister to His other hurting children.

Love Lets the Past Die

You simply must learn to reframe life's rejections and abuses into stepping stones to power.

In his book, Love Within Limits, Lewis B. Smedes writes this beautiful and inspiring summary:

"Love lets the past die. It moves people to a new beginning without settling the past. Love does not have to clear up all past misunderstandings. The details of the past become irrelevant; only its new beginning matters. Accounts may go unsettled; differences remain unsolved; ledgers stay unbalanced. Conflicts between people's memories of how things happened are not cleared up; the past stays muddled. Only the future matters. Love's power does not make fussy historians. Love prefers to tuck the loose ends of past rights and wrongs in the bosom of forgiveness—and pushes us into a new start."

SERVE OTHERS

Karl Menninger, the founder of the famed psychiatric clinic in Kansas that bears his name, was once asked, "What would you do if you thought you were going crazy?"

He replied, "I'd go out and find someone less fortunate to serve!" Life just seems to make a lot more sense when you're helping someone who has more problems than you do. And it's somehow reassuring to be the one helping another person up, rather than being helped up yourself. For instance, when you pass a man sitting on the sidewalk who has no legs and you put a dollar in his cup and take a pencil, you walk away thinking, "My life's not so bad after all!"

It's your perspective on yourself and on others. You see, good relations come from serving one another. When you serve others, you serve yourself, too. You have to just get out there and serve.

CHARITY BY STEALTH

Charity by stealth is doing something good for someone else without letting them know who did it.

For example‚ there was this little guy named Billy. And it seemed that everything went wrong for him, especially at school. He just wasn't very good at many things. You know the kind, he was always the last kid chosen for any team. Nobody wanted Billy. He was a born loser, it seemed. The teacher noticed the problem and wondered what she could do to help.

One day the teacher was walking home from school, and Billy pulled up beside her on his bicycle and began to pedal at the same slow, steady pace that the teacher was walking. She noticed that, even at that slow pace, the bike wasn't tipping, wobbling or anything. So, to test it further, the teacher just started walking even slower. Sure enough‚ Billy just slowed down, too, and his bike stayed steady and upright. No matter how slowly she walked, he stayed right with her. "That's amazing," she thought.

The next day during recess period the teacher said‚ "Hey‚ kids, we're going to do something different today. We're going to have a slow bike riding contest!" And who do you suppose won? And who do you suppose "made little Billy's day"? It was the teacher with a charity-by-stealth spirit.

GO FIRST, EVEN WHEN IT'S NOT FAIR

It's not always easy to take the initiative or to do charity by stealth, especially when someone has taken advantage of you or treated you unfairly. But it's still the best idea in the long run.

Watchman Nee tells the story about a Chinese Christian who owned a rice paddy right next to one owned by a communist man. In order to irrigate his rice paddy, the Christian pumped water out of a nearby canal by using one of those leg-operated water pumps that make the user appear to be seated and riding on a bicycle. And every day, after the Christian had pumped enough water to fill his field, the communist would come out and remove some boards that kept the water in the Christian's field and let all the water flow down into his own field. That way, he didn't have to pump water.

Well, this process continued day after day. Finally, the Christian said, "Lord, if this keeps up, I'm going to lose all my rice and maybe even my field. I've got a family to care for. What can I do?"

In answer to his request, the Lord put a thought in his head. So, the next morning he arose much earlier, in the predawn hours of darkness, and started pumping water into the field of his communist neighbor. Then he replaced the boards and pumped water into his own rice paddy. In a few weeks both fields of rice were doing well, and the communist was converted.

There are two ways to handle a situation like this one. One way is to become angry, chew the guy out and take measures into your own spiteful hands. The other way is to become a servant. You just keep on loving and serving until, finally‚ you gain a hearing for the Gospel of God. It's how to take wrong things and make them right.

Oh, I know‚ it's easy to talk about being a servant or to write about it in a book like this. What's tough is getting out there and working until your legs ache, pumping water into the field of a lousy communist who's doing you wrong. But the joy of it is discovering when at last you have finished pumping that you haven't been serving a lousy communist at all but a brother in Christ. And the rice in his field that you watered‚ he will now gladly share with you.

Sometimes you just have to go first anyway, even though it's not your turn and it seems unfair. Just bite the bullet and do it. The end result will be worth it when a relationship that's gone wrong is made right again.

Listen Louder

Some people listen louder than others. I like that way of saying it. It may not be proper grammar‚ but it makes the point that attentive and sensitive listening is hard work. It takes concentrated energy and control. The ears of servants are fine–tuned to sense the vibrations of need in the tones and emotions of the speaker. They pay close attention and look for opportunities to draw you out and help you express what's on your heart.

That's one of the differences between men and women. Women are really wired! They have little emotional wires sticking out from them in all directions. They are wired for sound and two-way communication. They talk and receive. They hook into another person's line and listen loudly to that person's emotions and needs.

We men are hardly wired at all. We have two little wires sticking out, and often they're both bent. Our speakers are usually hooked up‚ but our receivers are dead. So, we have to work a lot harder to listen loud than the women do. We're just wired differently.

Servants are good listeners. They are listening for opportunities. They are listening for hurts to heal and joys to share. Learn to be a loud listener‚ and you'll be amazed at what will happen to you.

DOIN' WHAT COMES NATURALLY?

If you want to grow, change and move in the direction of love, there is only one person in a relationship whom you can reasonably expect to change. You know who that is, don't you? The only person I can change is me. Thus, if my relationships are to change, I must be the one to initiate the change.

There's a myth going around called naturalism. The myth assumes that "doing what comes naturally" is the authentic thing. It's the real stuff. And if you have to change or make adjustments, then it isn't natural or real. Hogwash! Many marriages suffer from this myth. In their book Vitalizing Intimacy in Marriage, Pat and Robert Travis say, "Many couples feel guilty when they find they have to work on their relationships. It is as if they perceive working on their marriage as meaning that they are not successful or that they do not 'naturally' love each other."

This myth grows out of statements like, "And they lived happily ever after," as if you naturally find a one-and-only and all else just flows beautifully like a stream to the sea. Ridiculous. Pardon my grammar, folks, but there ain't nothin' that simple in this life. Most good things in life require hard work to accomplish. You have to do your homework to learn math and English. You have to work hard to learn how to ride a bike, swim or play tennis. The "good life" requires growing, learning, unlearning and relearning. Life is a colon, not a period. There's more to come.

RISKS AND THRILLS

Life is risky business. In fact, you can't get out of it alive. But you can't sit around with your hands folded in your lap trying to avoid the consequences of taking a risk either.

It's like the trapeze artists in the circus. They swing back and forth hanging on to the trapeze bar. But if that's all they do, there's no thrill for the audience. It's that split second when the artist lets go of the bar and is "flying through the air with the greatest of ease" that makes the audience stand up and cheer. It's the letting go, taking the risk that the other trapeze will arrive at just the right moment, that gives life excitement.

Sure, the danger of falling is always there. But the guy who clings to the trapeze bar and never lets go cannot know the exhilaration of the guy who releases himself to take the risk. He may live longer, but he won't live better.

Copyright © 2006 by The Family International