GN 1191 FD/MM/FM / FEAST 2007

By Maria 3618 10/06

1. Hi, everyone. I love you so much! I love you, I love you, I love you! I hope you're all comfy so that you can relax and enjoy this time we have together.

2. I'm really thankful to be able to talk to you like this. I'm so thankful that He's helped my eyes so that I can record these things for you, and I'm so thankful for your prayers that I know have been instrumental in my eyes being healed, and I'm just so grateful for His Word, His wonderful Word that He continues to give us that helps us to grow and progress and to do His will.

3. As you know, I've recorded some different things for you to use for your personal devotions during this Feast, but I think this will be our only official meeting together. I have some very inspiring counsel from the Lord for you, which I think will be encouraging and happy news. It's not going to generate more work for you on the long term. I have to be honest with you and tell you it may be a little more work at the beginning, but it will save you work in the long run. This sounds like some kind of riddle, doesn't it? What is going to make a little more work for you right now, but save you much more work in the future? When I tell you the answer, you'll see that it's good news through and through.

4. So you can all just relax now, and take a big, deep breath, and know that what I have to share with you is going to make you happy. It's going to make your lives easier and more pleasant. It's going to help you do a better job for the Lord. And the busier and tireder you've been‚ the better you're going to feel after this. Isn't that great?

5. Okay, so, dear Husband, I praise You for Your answers and solutions, and that we can have this time together with You to hear Your words, to think about You, to drink deeply of Your Spirit and become one with You. We want You‚ Jesus. We want Your answers. We want Your Spirit to come inside of us and renew our vision and our strength and our joy.

6. We're nothing without You, our dear Lover, our faithful Husband. You are so faithful to us, and You can do absolutely anything, and yet sometimes we make You wait while we try to do things on our own. We don't want to do that anymore, Jesus. We want You to do everything with us and through us! We know it goes so much better when it's all You and we're just following Your lead, so it's really dumb when we run off without You or try to do something on our own.

7. Sweet Love, please make us one body in You now, one bride for You that You can hold in Your arms and become one with. Please help me, Jesus, as I speak and read. Please give me Your words. You know that I'm helpless without You. I'm not just incapable, I'm really helpless. I need You for everything. I claim the keys of full possession, and I call on my faithful spirit helpers who help me in articulation and presentation.

8. You have said such beautiful things and have given such tremendous answers and counsel, so help me to flow with You and let You lead this meeting, sweet Love. I praise You that You will. I praise You for your promises and reassurance that You're going to do it, You're going to lead the way, and that even while giving this talk I can rest in You and let You do it. Thank You, precious Jesus‚ my dearest Love. (Praises in tongues.) Hallelujah! Precious Jesus.

9. Well‚ I think I gave away the topic for this talk in my prayer. It's not a new topic, but it's one that the Lord has highlighted for us recently, and it's one that each and every one of us really need. In fact, it's so important for the Family today that the Lord called it a revelation. He said that we've always known about this—and it's true, it's in the Bible, and Dad taught us about it‚ and most of the great men and women of God throughout time have had something about this in their poems or their songs or their sermons or their writings or whatnot. But it's a hard concept to get, because it's so contrary to the carnal mind, to what you naturally think and what your body wants to do.

10. And this is our subject: learning how to rest in the Lord. Not just rest a little bit, but really put your weight down on the Lord, learning how to completely plug in and be renewed and regenerated, and then, how to take that power and restful spirit with you in your work too, so that your work doesn't weigh on you and strain you and become too much of a burden and eventually wear you out.

11. Now, that probably doesn't sound all that revelatory to you. As I said, it's not a new concept. But in the messages the Lord has been giving us, He has emphasized it over and over, that it is the secret to success for these busy days.

12. The Lord talked about this a little bit in the recent messages on stress. And this counsel He has now given about resting in Him is not only going to make it possible for you to be obedient in eliminating stress from your life, but to also be obedient in so many other areas. It's going to make it possible for you to make so much spiritual progress, be so much stronger, and also happier.

13. We're all very busy, because there is so much to do both in your Homes as you work on being strengthened and prepared for what the Lord has in store for us in the future‚ and also outside your Homes, as you go out every day to work on reaping the harvest, ministering to your contacts, raising support, and all the rest.

14. And as busy as it is today, the Lord has said that it's not going to get any less busy, and in fact, it might get even more intense. So, if we want to survive, if we want to stay strong and fill the role the Lord is preparing us for, somehow we're going to have to learn how to cope. And I think most of you have realized, or are realizing, that you need a boost of some kind in order to handle this workload on a long-term basis. Your own strength is already wearing out‚ and we're not even in the last seven years yet! Your own strength isn't going to last. Many of you are sensing that if things keep going the way they have been, you're going to wear out‚ lose the vision, lose your energy, and even lose your ability to keep going.

15. And it's not just that you feel that way, but that is the reality of the situation! In other words‚ it's not exaggerated that you feel that way. The Lord says it's the truth too. He says:

18. (Mama:) That's what our dear Husband has to say about the seriousness of the situation.

19. And now I want to tell you the good news: The Lord has the answer! And while it's been right in front of our noses all along, He's now expanded on it and articulated it very clearly for us, and I believe that if you will make it part of your life, you will feel a huge difference. It's going to not just sustain you, but it's going to help you to continue to be strengthened, even though things get more and more intense.

20. The Lord said, "The only way to know that you're going to hold up under the strain is by being obedient—by learning to rest in Me, take shelter in Me, pace yourself, and give Me the quality time with you that is My due as your God, Husband, Lover‚ and King of the universe."

21. This concept‚ this solution that the Lord is giving us, is so simple. It sounds so easy. But then when you try to do it‚ it becomes so slippery and hard to pin down. One big reason that it seems so impossible to grasp is because it goes against everything in your natural‚ carnal‚ human grain. When you have so much to do, the last thing you feel like doing is resting in the Lord—especially because in order to really rest in Him, you have to slow things down, you have to take some time meditating and listening, and you have to invest even more time in working in the spirit rather than the flesh, in efforts like praying, using your spiritual weapons, and then waiting for the Lord to work. That's not what you feel like doing or what seems like good sense when you have a pressing deadline or things are speeding along and something needs to be taken care of right away.

22. But the Lord keeps emphasizing this principle over and over, and if you look back in history at great men and women of God, you'll see many examples of people who based their lives on this principle and did a great work for the Lord.

23. Look back in the Bible at those who really did great things for Jesus. Read "Stop, Look, Listen" and some of the other early Letters, and Dad gives quite a few examples: Moses, for example, going up to the mountain and escaping all the madness of the Israelites. Or Jesus, getting up a great while before it was day and going out into the wilderness to pray.

24. Folks, it's come to that: If we're going to fulfill the calling that the Lord has for us in the Endtime‚ if you as a disciple are going to fulfill the Lord's personal calling for you, you're going to have to learn how to get your power from the Lord and stop trying to do so much yourself. You are going to have to learn how to work more in the spirit, how to use prayer to lay the foundation and move the mountains in the spirit, how to use praise to keep you above the attacks of the Enemy, how to use brotherhood to give you and your brothers and sisters strength. The alternative is running around doing damage control, being very busy and even getting some things done, but a good percentage of the time taking care of things and fixing things that you wouldn't have to fix if the Lord was doing more of the work for you.

25. That doesn't mean that if you get this concept down real well that your job is going to go away, or the work is going to do itself. But if we are going to be leaders of the End—if you're each going to be what the Lord has been grooming and preparing you to be—then you are going to have to learn how to get your strength from the Lord, like the great men and women of God throughout time.

26. You're already on your way to this. But there is a major mindset change that I think most of us, if not all of us, need to have, and that is, to stop looking at the work and thinking, "Boy, that's a lot for me to do; I'd better get started," and instead thinking, "Wonderful! Jesus, here's a good opportunity for You to show Your power. Help me to flow with You and be Your vessel, and please show me specifically what You want me to do."

27. The thing is, you can't learn to rest in the Lord, really rest all your weight on Him, if you're not doing your part in the spirit, and using the spiritual weapons the Lord has given us, and working in the spirit. If you're busy, busy, busy, doing your work the best you can, but mostly working in the physical realm, then when it's time for you to rest in the spirit and spend time getting refilled and tanked up again, you're going to be swamped and hit with all kinds of concerns about things that you haven't gotten done yet.

28. Whereas, if you will make the switch to working in the spirit—and by working in the spirit, I mean using your spiritual weapons to work for you—using prayer as a major tool in your hand, using praise‚ communicating with your spirit helpers, and using all the spiritual weapons at your disposal—then, when it's time to rest in the Lord, you really can rest, because you know you've been doing your part‚ and the Lord is taking care of things for you.

29. You'll be able to really let down your weight, and you won't be so tied into the vicious cycle of working, emergencies, and always being behind. You'll have a lot more faith to place your burdens on His shoulders and trust Him to take care of things for you, while you're spending time with Him.

30. The Lord has given us these few days of spiritual retreat to slow everything way down and build some new habits in the area of rest, meditation, and connecting and communing deeply with the Lord. And I am desperately praying that you're able to do that. I pray you can really stop in the spirit, get quiet, and rest in the Lord and let Him refill you. The real test will come when you go back to work, when the press of everyday life surrounds you. But these few days are a golden opportunity to soak up the Lord's Spirit, to ask Him to change your priorities and help you settle into a new frame of mind that you will take with you even when you go back to work.

31. I know that all of you want to be more effective, and you want to learn to work in the spirit. We all want to rest in the Lord, and to feel that peace and contentment and wisdom that He gives us when we take the time for it. As I said, the test comes when you go back to work and you face completely different circumstances. All too often you leave the realm of calm and peace and infinite possibilities, and you enter the realm of giants where you're a tiny warrior with a bent sword, trying to defend the kingdom. You start running around and trying to do everything you can‚ and before you know it, you're totally out of the "resting" mode, and back to your own little rat race.

32. What you need to realize, and you might have already, is that it takes a considerable investment of time in order to make this switch‚ and often that's what keeps us from making it. You have to switch over to working more in the spirit, and when you do‚ then things fall into place more in the physical realm too; there aren't as many problems, the solutions come easier, you don't waste as much time and effort. But you have to first invest the time and make the switch to working in the spirit. And as you do, you learn more of what it means to rest in the Lord—not just in the times when you stop all your work and lie down and think about Jesus, but throughout your entire day and work.

33. If you're resting in the Lord, it means you're not bearing the burdens yourself. It means that you're continually putting them back on the Lord's shoulders. It means you're doing your part in prayer so that the Lord can do the big miracles. It means you're valuing the things of the spirit enough that you make the sacrifice of time for them, and because of that, you have more of the Lord's blessings and spirit in everything you do. The Lord is carrying the weight, not you. You're still busy, but you're working on the things that count the most—including making time for the spiritual aspects that you know are the wheels that are turning the very big miracles.

34. Making the change can start a cycle of strength, relief from pressure, and real progress. Neglecting to work in the spirit and neglecting to rest in the Lord starts a vicious cycle. The more you work in the flesh, the less time you have to use your spiritual weapons and rest in the Lord‚ which makes you work harder in the flesh, and thus you have even less time.

35. I'd better read that again, because since it's so difficult for us to grasp, we need to really study this carefully and see exactly what the Lord is saying. "The more you work in the flesh, the less time you have to use your spiritual weapons and rest in the Lord, which makes you work harder in the flesh, and thus you have even less time."

36. So what we need is a mindset change. We need to somehow get it through our heads that working in the spirit, using the weapons the Lord has given us, will accomplish more than all our puny efforts in the flesh ever could. The Lord has said it over and over. If we're resting in the Lord‚ if we're giving the best of our time to Him, if we're pushing our burdens onto His strong shoulders and using our spiritual weapons to work behind the scenes, we'll have the strength and the time for what we need to do. That doesn't mean we'll have tons of extra time. Setting time aside for the Lord will always be a sacrifice. But we will be clear on what our priorities are‚ and we'll know that working in the spirit is our priority. Doing what we can in the physical is always the second step, never the first.

37. (Mama repeats:) Doing what we can in the physical is always the second step, never the first.

38. We'll also have the faith to stop and take the time we need with the Lord and to rest and be refilled, because all the rest of our work is falling in line. Right now sometimes you can go into the temple to "quick quick" have your time with the Lord, not really ever turning off your connection to the wings, and then you rush back out into the wings and quickly use up whatever little bit of recharging you got in the temple.

39. It's so easy to get on your own little treadmill of work and feel that you have to keep running to keep up the pace, and yet you feel like you're not really getting anywhere. You have to learn how to sense when you're getting into that, and stop it, step off and out of that cycle, and ask the Lord to help you get in pace with Him again.

40. The Lord wants us to have a total change from taking our time in the temple "quick," to really resting in the temple, taking our time there as the most important part of the day‚ and then taking the spirit of the temple with us into our work too. We need to learn to do our work with a whole new mentality. Instead of trying to handle things ourselves as quickly as we can get through them, we should be more interested in committing them to the Lord and asking Him to work for us‚ and then asking Him what we can do to help, if anything.

41. It's basically learning to look at things through the eyes of the spirit more. It's believing that working in the spirit is actually going to save substantial time that you would have spent working in the flesh, therefore your efforts are going to be much more focused on the most important things‚ and you'll be making much better headway.

42. The Lord gave a good definition of what He means when He asks us to rest in Him, or how He means for us to apply this concept. Here's what He said.

43. He said: This is My definition of "resting fully in Me."

44. (Mama: ) Okay, that was the Lord's definition of what it means to rest fully in Him.

45. Now‚ implementing this isn't going to be easy. As I said, once you go out into the wings after your time with the Lord‚ all your old habits will be right there, ready to take you over again if you let them. But you don't have to let them! During these days you can determine that you want to change. You can ask the Lord to help you. You can spend some time asking the Lord how you can make resting in Him a reality in your life. You can study the beautiful counsel that the Lord has given on this subject, which I'll share with you in a GN that you can read during these days.

46. It's not that resting in the Lord is so complicated. It's just that it's very hard to put it into practice. It's hard to disconnect from your routine and do things differently, and it will take some time before you get the hang of it. But I believe you want to!

47. One thing you could do that might help you to understand it better is to sit down with the GN and a pen, and mark all the promises the Lord gives. Mark them a certain way, so that it's easy to skim the Letter and find them. For example, underline them and write a "P" in the margin for "promise"—or however you want to do it. Any time the Lord gives a promise of what resting in Him will do for you, a quality you will have in greater abundance, a benefit you will receive, mark it.

48. You could have another color or symbol of marking for all the times where the Lord defines what resting in Him is. So many times throughout the messages He explains more about what He means by resting in the Lord, and those would be good to mark so that you can review them.

49. And then you could go through the GN again and mark all the places where the Lord gives a tip or insight into how to do it, or what you need to do in order to rest in Him—in light of that definition He gave earlier, which is much more than we naturally think of when we think of "resting." Mark those a different way, so that you can see them easily when you skim the GN. If you do that, you'll have a much better understanding of what the Lord is asking and what benefits are in it for you. You could also mark "P&P," or just "PP," for prayer and prophecy‚ in the margin if you notice something you want to ask the Lord about.

50. Thank the Lord that though this change of mindset does require an initial investment, and it won't be real easy while you're getting the hang of it, once you start reaping the benefits, so many things in your life will change or be easier.

51. The Lord said to labor to enter into rest. That short verse that sounds a little contrary is really the crux of the matter. It's not that the concept of resting in the Lord is so difficult or so complicated. But actually doing it—leaving the flesh behind and entering the realm of the spirit, while still here in an earthly body, doing earthly tasks—is very difficult. It's so foreign to our mindsets and the way we operate naturally. But, once you get the hang of it, it will save you so much time and effort, and best of all, you'll have the strength and connection with the Lord that you need in order to go into the days ahead and fulfill your destiny.

52. This is all part of what the Lord has been telling us for years. All these beautiful pieces of the puzzle that the Lord has been giving us—like full possession, rising above, resting in Him, surrendering to Him, leaning on Him—this is part of all of those things‚ and expressed in a way that the Lord hopes will make it easier for us to live these spiritual concepts more fully.

53. There are so many promises attached to resting in Him that it's well worth your time to invest in making it a part of your life! And those who do, well‚ you'll reap the benefits and will be able to say with conviction, "I never made a sacrifice."

Copyright © 2006 by The Family International
Art by Tamar