—Medicine vs. God's Healing.—MOAugust 8, 1977DO No.599

Copyright © Sept. 1977 by the Children of God

(We'd been working all night and when I finished and was relaxing a moment before retiring for the day, Maria suddenly popped this big question:)

1. ("WHY DOESN'T GOD USE THE MEDICINE TO HEAL ME since He hasn't healed me any other way?") You start these big subjects at 8 o'clock in the morning! (Maria: You're just sitting there, Honey.—I don't want to waste time.) I was just giving you a little talk on healing, Honey.

2. WELL, I JUST ALWAYS FIGURE THAT IF GOD WANTS TO HEAL US, HE DOESN'T NEED ANY HELP!—AND IF HE DOESN'T, NOTHING WILL HELP! But on the other hand, maybe that's too extreme a view, because I believe in washing my hands and taking care of my body and giving Him a lot of cooperation. If I get a cut or something I believe in putting an antiseptic on it and cleansing it and when I had a broken bone I had it set—and I go to the dentist.

3. SO I GUESS WE DON'T ALWAYS NECESSARILY EXPECT GOD TO DO IT ALL. He can do it by a miracle, but I guess He usually lets you do what you can do, and He does what you can't do. So, maybe the medicines will help. It's doing what you can do, and then maybe He'll do a miracle and heal you, the thing you can't do.

4. (MARIA: WELL, IT BOTHERS ME BECAUSE IT'S NOT NATURAL, I mean natural medicines. If we only knew what to take! Of course I have a lot more faith in them because they've been proven for years and years and centuries—but then all these chemicals?!)

5. DON'T THEY GIVE YOU ANY OF THAT INFORMATION IN ALL THESE HERBAL DICTIONARIES? (Maria: Well, a lot of these herbs are things that are hard to get. In some of the herbal stores in London, for example, they have practically everything, but anywhere else in the world it's pretty difficult, you can just get certain ones.

6. NORMALLY IN SOME OF THESE THINGS YOU HAVE TO MAKE CONCOCTIONS of quite a few different kinds of herbs for a certain prescription for a certain ailment. There are actual doctors that have experience in those things too, but they're very few and far between, so we seldom run into any.)

7. I ALWAYS THINK OF MARIE SMITH'S EXPERIENCE when she was telling her … neighbour that she had had this operation for cancer‚ and the Lord had healed her. The neighbour lady said, "Well, I had the same operation and I got healed too‚ and I don't even believe in God!"

8. (MARIA: YES, YOU FEEL SORT OF FUNNY GOING TO THE DOCTOR AND TALKING ABOUT HOW GOD HEALS YOU!) Yes, when testifying to a doctor about healing, he kind of looks at you like, "Well, so what are you doing here?" (Maria: Yes, exactly!) And another thing,

9. "I THE LORD THY GOD AM A JEALOUS GOD, AND I WILL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME!" (Ex.20:3‚5.)—He doesn't like to share the glory with the doctor! I'm just telling you my personal opinion, the way I've felt about some of these things all my life and the way I was taught. Now my view may not be strictly 100% bona fide, and it might be that some of mine are really extreme views, but okay:

10. YOU TAKE THE MEDICINES AND YOU PRAY, BOTH—BUT THEN HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH DID IT?—GOD OR THE MEDICINE? I remember some Christians always used to say, "Well, God uses the medicines, dear, He works with the doctor, they work together, so you thank both the doctor and the medicine and the Lord." But He says,

11. "I WILL NOT SHARE MY GLORY WITH ANOTHER!" (Isa.42:8.) So maybe if you've got faith in the medicine, maybe it'll heal you—but what if you don't? (Maria: After all this‚ if you really believe in the Lord and His power, I don't know if you can really have faith in the medicine. I guess it sort of comes down to: Either you believe one or the other, huh?—At least you believe one more than the other.)

12. BUT IF YOU DOWNRIGHT DON'T BELIEVE IN IT, THEN IS IT A SIN TO TAKE IT?—If you don't believe in the medicine, like me! (Maria: Oh, it's a sin to take it, yes it must be.) Those are my problems. When it comes to medicine, I just wonder... Again it's all the same thing, it's whether you've got the faith for it or not.

13. IT'S "ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH BE IT DONE UNTO YOU" (Mt.9:29)‚ and if you've got the faith that the doctor and the medicine will do it‚ well, I suppose the Lord in His mercy will let it work that way—maybe. But I don't have much faith in doctors and medicines and pills‚ but you do.—So because you do, then what am I supposed to do? (Maria: I really don't.) See you say,

14. "IF I'VE GOT TO TAKE IT, YOU'VE GOT TAKE IT." (Maria: I don't unless they're natural.) So you made me take them. (Maria: Well, I don't though, I don't have too much faith in these pills.) I've not got any faith in the pills nor the medicines—for one thing, because I learned a lot from old Dr. Koger (our naturopathic family doctor when I was a boy) and from quite a few other health books and whatnot.

15. BUT I'VE GOT FAITH IN THESE PILLS THAT THEY MIGHT BE DOING US SOME DAMAGE OR SOME HARM at the same time they're trying to do us some good! (Maria: The thing that bothered me was mostly not for my own self, but I just wondered if you have a mate and you're an FFer or something, it completely puts you both out of commission for maybe months! But I guess the Lord knows about that too.) Well, maybe you're supposed to be out of commission for awhile. It's sort of like this way:

16. YOU BELIEVE IN THE PILLS, THEREFORE MAYBE IT'S NO SIN FOR YOU—BUT MAYBE IT'S SIN FOR ME TO TAKE THEM BECAUSE I DON'T BELIEVE IN THEM. I don't have that much faith in them. But you say if I don't take them then there's no use in your taking them. You see, that's the difference. It wouldn't hurt me‚ but it was hurting you.

17. (MARIA: BUT MAYBE IT HURTS THE WOMEN—you go making love with me then other women and maybe they get it too. Maybe I don't feel the need but you do. That's the thing, it's not just us but many people. So you say, well, maybe the girl's supposed to be out of commission for awhile.

18. (BUT WHAT IF HER HUSBAND CAN'T STAND HER BEING OUT OF COMMISSION—women can usually take it more easily—but then the man needs some other help. So he has it too, but he goes and spreads it—it's not hurting him—but he goes and spreads it to another girl from whom he needs help, and then she goes and spreads it to somebody else.

19. (I HOPE I'M NOT MURMURING ABOUT THIS, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO IT ALL?) Well, maybe he'd just better refrain and abstain for a while or something until his wife gets back in commission. (Maria: That's the point—it's not a question of medicine or no medicine, whether God's going to heal you or the medicine's going to heal you or what.

20. (IT'S A QUESTION OF WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO IN THE MEANTIME: If the girl has to discontinue FFing‚ well that's one thing. But then the mate‚ what if they keep going right on and making love?)

21. WELL, IF ANYBODY'S GOING TO TAKE THE MEDICATION, YOU BOTH HAVE GOT TO TAKE IT if that's the way your faith runs. Because there's no use one of you taking it if the other one has a disease and keeps it. As soon as she's cured she'll get it back again, he'll give it back to her.

22. (MARIA: BUT IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO WAIT FOR THE LORD TO HEAL YOU, THEN YOU'VE BOTH GOT TO ABSTAIN while you're waiting for the Lord to heal you—I suppose, at least abstain from making love with anybody else. If you want to make love together, well that's one thing, but making love with anybody else is out.) One advantage, what I finally got on the whole thing was this:

23. WELL, IF THAT'S THE WAY YOUR FAITH RUNS, THEN YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE DOCTOR AND TAKE THE MEDICATION. If that's the way your faith runs‚ let's go ahead and do it‚ just hoping and praying it won't do us any harm. The least we can hope is that it won't do us any harm.—And the most we can hope is that it might do us some good. But one thing it will do:

24. IT'LL EITHER CURE YOU OR IT'LL PROVE THAT IT CAN'T—AND THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO TRUST THE LORD! (Maria: I think it's going to prove that it can't, so why don't we just quit taking the medicine right now? I don't really have faith in it.) It really doesn't bother me, the little chocolate-covered pills—for all I know that's all they are, little candy drops!

25. (MARIA: WELL, I REALLY DON'T THINK THE LORD'S GOING TO LET THAT CURE ME, so I don't think we should continue taking it. I think I should have more faith than that.) No, you've got the stuff and you've got the medicine, and I don't think you'll ever be satisfied unless you try it. Now let's go through with it. (Maria: I will be satisfied, because you know why?

26. (BECAUSE I'VE TAKEN ALL KINDS OF SUPPOSITORIES AND PILLS AND THEY NEVER SEEMED TO HELP.) Let's go through with it, this is something different. You've got it, you may as well use it. Let's go ahead and try and see if it does any good. I'm just warning you that I don't have too much faith in it, that's all. (Maria: I don't either. I'd like to quit right now.—I have the faith to quit right now.)

27. I JUST DON'T KNOW THAT I'VE EVER BEEN HEALED OF ANYTHING BY TAKING MEDICINES as far as I know. (Maria: Yes, I'd rather trust the Lord and praise the Lord, even if I don't get healed.) I don't recall that medicine ever helped me‚ just because I'm almost totally against it as unnatural and unspiritual and unscriptural! But they gave me all kinds of antibiotics in the Army, and what was that stuff they were so crazy about a few years ago‚ that mold?

28. —PENICILLIN! YOU NOTICE YOU DON'T HEAR MUCH ABOUT THAT ANYMORE. Medicines seem to get old, out of style. They start out just like a lot of other things: I think people always have to have a new word, a new name, with more new power for healing. They say that even the bacteria seemed to have built up a resistance to penicillin, the doctors claim.

29. BUT I'M SURE IT WASN'T THE PENICILLIN OR THE ANTIBIOTICS THEY GAVE ME IN THE ARMY THAT CURED ME OF DYING OF DOUBLE PNEUMONIA.—I KNOW IT WAS THE LORD! Because it was the minute I gave Him that answer, when I prayed and told the Lord if He'd save me, heal me and save my life, that I'd live it for Him better than ever before. Right away the fever left, I regained consciousness and strength and was hungry, and I believe I was healed right then!

30. IT TOOK ME ONLY THREE DAYS TO GET BACK ON MY FEET, and I'd have been back on my feet before that if they'd let me! But they wouldn't let me get out of the bed! They said, "Oh no, you've been too sick‚ too sick!" I wanted to get out of bed to go to the bathroom but they wouldn't even let me do that! The nurse kept bringing me a bedpan, and it made me so mad! I really was a difficult patient.

31. I DON'T KNOW WHY WE SHOULD BE RECORDING ALL OF OUR DOUBTS AND FEARS ABOUT MEDICINES AND DOCTORS. (Maria: That's right.) What's right? (Maria: I believe what you say.) That we shouldn't be recording it?—Then why don't we shut it off? I don't know whether I want anybody to listen to it.

32. I DON'T KNOW, MY FAITH JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO RUN THAT WAY. But I'm willing to try it for your benefit, because your faith does. (Maria: It doesn't really.) One thing it's going to prove: Either it's going to heal us or it's not! (Maria: Well, the last thing I want to read you that you said in the Spirit last night was:)

33. "I CAN'T STAND HEARING MURMURS LIKE THAT WHEN YOU SHOULD BE THANKING GOD AND SAYING, 'THOUGH HE SLAY ME YET WILL I TRUST HIM'!" (Job 13:15.) But you say if He tests me a little bit I'll just run off to the doctor. He's tested me a long time with my cough, but I still trust Him, and I know I probably deserve it—it helps keep me humble in front of the children, to know that I'm human too.—So that's like a test‚ that shows:

34. WELL, YOU'VE BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT YOUR ILL HEALTH, LIKE YOU COMPLAINED ABOUT YOUR PREGNANCY. But look, what if you hadn't gotten pregnant and had Little David?—It made you start a whole Childcare Revolution! You started reading books on it, and as a result you've been a tremendous help to the whole world, by your having to go through it yourself!

35. NOW YOU'RE GOING THROUGH A PERIOD OF ILL HEALTH—WHAT HAS IT MADE YOU DO? (Maria: It made me see I shouldn't have run to the doctor.) I don't mean that.—It has made you read all kinds of health books and herbal books and diet books and made you run around all the time everywhere making everybody diet conscious and asking,

36. "ARE YOU GETTING YOUR VITAMINS and are you getting your minerals and are you getting your nourishing nutrients and so on?" You're now writing stuff on it and you're going to write some more on it I hope‚ to help the rest of the world. So what has it done?

37. YOUR AFFLICTION HAS BEEN A BLESSING TO THE ENTIRE WORLD LIKE YOUR PREGNANCY WAS A BLESSING TO THE WHOLE WORLD! And Davidito, the Lord says, is going to be a blessing to the whole world! Well‚ he is already being a blessing, because Davidito started the Childcare Revolution! Now, maybe "your light affliction which is but for the moment," but which you seem to think is pretty heavy... (Maria: No it's not, it's completely ridiculous! Lord forgive me!)

38. I MEAN YOU COULD BE A LOT WORSE OFF AND A LOT WORSE THINGS WRONG WITH YOU! Just because you're a little tired all the time, you feel not too good. Don't forget, you were really sick last week, you really had a bug or something, you were loose all week. So with that on top of your frail strength...

39. I'LL NEVER FORGET MADAME M SAID THAT YOU WERE VERY FRAIL, your health was frail, but that I was very strong.—But that it was your strong spirit that helped keep me going, your faith. Well, if you weren't weak and frail and tired all the time, you wouldn't be reading all these books on diet and herbs so you could start telling the world how to eat‚ right?

40. "ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE THE LORD!" (Ro.8:28.) (Maria: That's true, praise the Lord! But the question I wanted to ask is‚ what happens if a girl starts fishing the guy and gets an infection and she can't make love to him for say, five months, how's she going to fish him?) Well now, that's a problem which you're facing tomorrow.

41. (MARIA: BUT ONE TIME, I CAN SEE THAT ONE TIME YOU HAVE AN EXCUSE. You could say, "Sorry‚ but I'm on medication for a week or ten days." Or you can just say, "I have an irritation and I'm waiting to get it cleared up"—if you're just trusting the Lord and you're not taking medicine.)

42. DID THIS DOCTOR SAY YOU COULDN'T HAVE ANY MORE SEX FOR FIVE MONTHS?! (Maria: No‚ but I mean if something goes on and on and you're trusting the Lord, but He hasn't healed you yet, it might take a while. Because I've had what I have for months now. So how are you going to do it? You can say one time that you can't make love, that's understandable. But next week I can't either, and the next week and the next week and the next week!

43. (I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK OF WHAT THESE GIRLS ARE GOING TO DO. Because it's not the thing itself, it's the effect it has on other people and the problem it is for other people. Because normally these things aren't that bad for you‚ they don't seem to do too much unless you get an infection or inflammation and they're a little problem.

44. (BUT THEN YOU HAVE TO STOP ALL SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS FOR QUITE A WHILE. For women that isn't so important, but for men, it seems like it's the biggest hugest thing in life! It gets to be quite a problem in their life. Even if you're good at sucking them off or jacking them off, well, that might not be too bad.—But some girls aren't.

45. (BUT THAT'S REALLY TRUE ABOUT ONE THING: I REALLY HAVE STUDIED UP ON DIET MORE AND NOW WE CAN WRITE SOME CLASSES ON IT. I think we've really found some good things in our dietary regimen.) Amen, praise the Lord, thank the Lord! (Maria: But I think I failed—I mean I know I failed and I didn't have the faith. He just tests me a little, and then I run off to the doctor.) Well, you were a lot better, Honey‚ for a long time. But with just one little bit of something and boom, your faith is all gone! (Maria: That was pretty bad.)

46. WHEN MY MOTHER FIRST SAT UP IN BED AFTER HER MARVELOUS HEALING SHE SUDDENLY HAD A LUNG HEMORRHAGE and the blood spurted out of her mouth all over the bed! She could have quit right then and died, but she refused to believe the Devil and kept on trusting the Lord. It was just a test of the Enemy.

47. TWICE IN LATER LIFE THE LORD LET HER BE TESTED WITH TWO MORE ATTACKS OF PARALYSIS, and she said, "If I'd accepted them, I'd have been paralysed to this day!" But she rebuked the Devil and said, "It's a lie!" The Scripture she got was "lying vanities" (Psalm 31:6) and got up and walked and was healed!

48. "THE TRYING OF YOUR FAITH IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD, YEA THAN MUCH FINE GOLD!" (1Pet.1:7.) (Maria: Well, I really feel bad about getting involved in a lot of doctors and all kinds of medication and everything, 'cause I don't really have much faith in them and I think it's not the right way to go, because I didn't have much success with all my suppositories and things.

49. (I GUESS THAT'S WHY THE LORD LET THE PILLS FAIL. 'Cause either it turns out you have to have faith for everything and trust the Lord completely‚ or you start getting involved with doctors and medicines and more involved and more involved‚ until you're dependent completely on the medical profession! It usually works that way.)

50. I TOLD THE DOCTOR I HADN'T BEEN TO A DOCTOR FOR 35 YEARS! But that's just the way I feel and believe and think about medicines, and not only that, I've read so much about them and the damage they do as well as maybe help a little and hurt a lot!

51. BUT HOW DO THE DOCTORS KNOW, HOW DO THEY KNOW?—They know so little about God or the human body, and there's so much mystery to it that they can't possibly understand.—So how do they know that what they're putting into you is really going to help you or that maybe it's upsetting God's own natural means and His own natural resistances and His own created processes?

52. MAYBE IT'S REALLY UPSETTING THE BALANCE OF NATURE OR SOMETHING. (Maria: That's probably why some people get so many of their aches and pains and all kinds of things that they don't know where they came from.) We know one thing is for sure, and I've heard of that lots of times, that some medicines have done some people a lot more damage elsewhere from some medicines they would take for something else.

53. (MARIA: I JUST READ SOMETHING IN THAT PAPER THAT THE U.S. STOPPED SOME KIND OF MEDICINE that Europe is continuing because they think that it's not a risk if taken in moderation.) Saccharin was one thing.—They've stopped using saccharin for sweetening because it causes cancer! Oh you're always reading about some medicine like that in the paper.

54. YOU READ THOSE NOTICES SO MANY TIMES WHERE THEY PUT A STOP TO THIS OR THAT BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID IT MIGHT BE DOING SOME DAMAGE—they put a stop to some pills because they discovered that some women were getting this and that. Look at that thalidomide, how horrible that was! The women that took thalidomide were giving birth to little armless and legless children!

55. ANOTHER MEDICINE THEY DISCOVERED WAS CAUSING UTERINE CANCER and the women who took it were ten times as susceptible and had ten times as many problems about certain things. All my life I just sort of practiced the policy of‚ well‚

56. LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE AND TRUST THE LORD.—BECAUSE IF HE CAN'T HEAL IT, NOTHING CAN! And if He wants to heal it, He can sure do it without all that stuff! (Maria: Amen, that sure sounds better!) Honey, I don't want you to go throwing away your medicines just on my word. (Maria: No, I don't. I believe it completely, I really believe it. Lord forgive me for doubting.)

57. WELL, I SURE HAVE TO PRAY OVER THOSE PILLS EVERY TIME I TAKE ONE OF THEM!—It's almost like I'm saying‚ "Lord forgive me, 'pardon me in this one thing' (2Kings 5:18), please don't let it do me any damage!" I don't have all that much faith it's going to do me any good. Maybe I should say I'm sorry that I have so little faith in medicines, but...

58. (MARIA: WELL, WE HAVE TO DECIDE ABOUT THE WHOLE REVOLUTION: I mean, if they're going to go to medicines they're going to probably go all the way. If you do it for one thing, well then, of course you know if you say for sexually transmitted diseases you can go to the doctor, well then they'll start going to the doctor for everything. But if you say‚ "Trust the Lord!"—then they'll trust the Lord for everything.)

59. WELL, WE STARTED OUT TRUSTING THE LORD, "having begun in the spirit are ye made perfect in the flesh? O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? Having begun in the spirit are ye made perfect in the flesh?" (Gal.3:1,3.) The Revolution started out trusting the Lord for healing, we had a lot of healings and God has healed us all and kept us pretty healthy. Yes‚ you're right:

60. WHEN YOU START TAKING MEDICINES, WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO STOP?—AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO START TRUSTING THE LORD?— Probably only when you find out the medicines don't do you any good and don't do the job, then you turn to the Lord. But I always remember that verse my mother used to quote about old King Asa who was diseased in his feet. It said

61. "BUT HE TURNED NOT TO THE LORD BUT HE TURNED TO THE PHYSICIAN, AND HE DIED!" (2Chron.16:12.) The Lord doesn't tell you too many good things about physicians in the Bible! It said about the woman who'd had an issue of blood for years: "She had suffered many things of many physicians, and yet was not better!"—The one that touched the hem of His garment. She had suffered many things of many physicians. (Mark 5:26.)—I always thought it was funny that this is the one point Luke the Physician didn't mention!—Ha! The Lord didn't have too much good to say about lawyers either.

62. (MARIA: WELL, IF WE DO THE THINGS WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING, like the right diet and the other health rules, and if we're doing as much as we can naturally‚ I guess that's the whole point, if you do the natural things that you know how to do, then just trust the Lord.) No, I don't want you to stop taking your medicine just because of what I say.

63. (MARIA: NO I'M NOT STOPPING THE PILLS JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU SAID.—THE LORD SAID HE TESTED ME AND I FAILED, I want to do what I'm supposed to do and I didn't feel good about pill popping anyway. Because I didn't have faith in anything else that I ever took‚ it never seemed to help, so I certainly didn't have much faith in this either.

64. BUT I GOT REALLY IMPATIENT AND DIDN'T WAIT FOR THE LORD.) Well you see, you put me pretty much on the spot when I say‚ "Well, I've been trusting the Lord and I feel fine!" You say, "Yes, but that doesn't mean you don't have it‚ so you've got to take 'em for my sake." Well, what can I say? What can I say?

65. (MARIA: I MEAN THAT'S A DIFFERENT QUESTION, BECAUSE THE MAN NORMALLY FEELS FINE, BUT HE'S A CARRIER OF IT. That's what our couples would have to understand‚ that because the woman has something, medicine or no medicine—we're not talking about that now—the man probably has it too if he's been making love with the woman.

66. (THE MAN CAN'T JUST SAY, "BECAUSE I FEEL FINE I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING." If he's going to be making love with other women other than his wife or even his wife's going to be making love with anybody else other than him, if they just keep it to themselves...)

67. WELL, HOW DO YOU KNOW?—MAYBE I FEEL FINE BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE IT! MAYBE BECAUSE I'VE BEEN TRUSTING THE LORD I DON'T HAVE IT! (Maria: Yes, that's a possibility, right!) But you say there's no use your taking the medication if I don't take it too, because otherwise I'll give it back to you. How do you know I'd give it back to you?

68. (MARIA: HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU DON'T HAVE IT, THOUGH? I mean, what about all these guys that say‚ "Well, I feel fine so I must not have it," what are they going to do? But if we're going to trust the Lord, we'll just trust the Lord, I guess, until He heals us...

69. (WELL THEN, YOU HAVE TO TRUST, BOTH THE WOMAN AND THE MAN HAVE TO TRUST THE LORD until the girl's all cleared up, then the man knows he's healed too, or what? It's sort of a complex problem.) All I can say is‚

70. I'VE BEEN TRUSTING THE LORD ALL THESE YEARS AND I'M IN BETTER HEALTH TODAY THAN WHEN I WAS YOUNG, stronger in these later years than I was when I was younger‚ without going to any doctors or hospitals or anything, except when they made me when I was in the Army!

71. SO HE'S NEVER FAILED ME ALL THESE YEARS—WHY SHOULD HE FAIL ME NOW? OR WHY SHOULD I FAIL HIM NOW? I feel like the old Armenian when the Turks were ready to behead him, when they told him if he'd deny his faith in Christ they'd let him live. He said, "Well, I've known Jesus all these years and He's never failed me, why should I fail Him now?"—And he died for his faith!

72. (MARIA: I AGREE—IF WE'RE GOING TO TRUST THE LORD, WE HAVE TO TRUST THE LORD. But if we're going to trust the doctors, then we'll have to trust the doctors!—I don't think the two of them jive very well!) Lord Jesus, have Thy way‚ You know what's best. I've trusted You all these years, Lord, and You've never failed me—without going to the doctors or hospitals or taking medicines or anything.

73. "OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION WHICH IS BUT FOR THE MOMENT WORKS A PEACEABLE FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS" in the long run. (2Cor.4:17.) It's not that I've never been sick, Lord, that I haven't gone to the doctors, hospitals and taken medicines. It's not that I haven't had lots of afflictions, and it's not because You've always healed me instantly or immediately either.

74. BUT I JUST ALWAYS TRUSTED YOU, LORD, and believed that sooner or later You'd either heal me or kill me‚ and either way I'd die trusting. And if I was afflicted, I was afflicted for some reason—my own fault, my own sins‚ or you were trying to teach me something, and that when I learned the lesson You'd deliver me—and You always did, You never failed!

75. I'VE BEEN SICK MANY TIMES, INJURED AND WHATNOT, BUT YOU'VE ALWAYS PULLED ME THROUGH IN THE LONG RUN LORD. I had to wait a little while sometimes, but You never failed, Lord, eventually You always did the work. So Lord, I'm just really ignorant about doctors and hospitals and medicines. I just don't know much about them and I don't have much faith in them.

76. I GUESS THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAITH IN PILLS AND NOT IN YOU—MAYBE THEY'RE THY MERCY ON THE WORLD, Lord, maybe they do help some people. But I just never had much faith in them for me, Lord, since I know You and know You expect us to trust You and believe in You and You'd either heal me or kill me, one or the other or something.

77. SO HERE I AM‚ LORD, I'M STILL HERE, STILL TRUSTING YOU LORD, and I haven't died yet and I have no major afflictions that I know of. I have survived many accidents and injuries and close calls and death. It's not that I haven't had the afflictions, Lord, for "many are the afflictions of the righteous‚" but You've delivered me out of them all!—All!

78. "MANY ARE THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT THE LORD DELIVERETH HIM OUT OF THEM ALL" (Ps.34:19)—A double L, Lord, all—not just some or a few or most or many, but all, all of them! You've never failed, Lord. You know Lord‚ how that's been my motto many a time‚

79. "THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST HIM" (Job.13:15). I figured if You wanted to kill me, okay, I'd die, still trusting You and praising You Lord, whatever You want to do—I'm Yours, my body is Yours, my life is Yours, I live for You, so it's Your business to take care of me because I'm in Your business and You've never failed, Lord to pull me through sooner or later somehow.

80. SO I JUST DON'T HAVE MUCH FAITH IN ANYTHING ELSE, LORD‚ BUT YOU. I just don't have much faith that anything else can help me but You because I depend on You Lord. You know that—I have for years. I just don't have much faith in this chemical experimentation and tinkering around with my body with a bunch of chemicals that we don't know what they're doing to us!

81. I HAVE A LOT MORE FAITH IN YOU, LORD, that You know what You're doing and You know how my body's made. You created it, You made it, so You ought to be able to fix it without any of this other junk! If You can fix it then You don't need any help necessarily, as far as I can see.

82. AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIX IT, WHY, I DOUBT IF ANYTHING COULD HELP ME, LORD. That's the way I've looked at these things for years and here I am, still here, still going strong—not because I've never had any afflictions or close-calls or sicknesses or injuries or accidents, but I survived them all‚ You've delivered me out of them all! So I've had many afflictions, Lord, but You've always delivered me out of them all, You've never failed me‚ Lord.

83. AND WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR ME TO DIE, LORD, YOU'LL DELIVER ME OUT OF THAT TOO! You'll deliver me out of this life and set me free from this body! So that'll be a deliverance too Lord, "out of them all." It's not that we don't have afflictions, Lord, it's not that we aren't going to die sometime, but You'll deliver us out of them all, including death! Praise God! Hallelujah! That's a thought! I never thought about that!

84. "THOU SHALT NOT TASTE OF DEATH!" (Mt.16:28.)—What You mean by that‚ Lord, we don't exactly understand, because we all die. But You said, "I am the resurrection and the life—he that believeth on Me though he were dead‚ yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die!" (Jn.11:25,26.)

85. WELL, YOU MUST BE TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUALITY THERE‚ because You said, "It is given unto man once to die." (Heb.9:27.) We'll never really die in that sense of spiritual death, or to taste the agony of death and separation from You.

86. BUT YOU'LL DELIVER US OUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH TOO, LORD: "Oh, grave, where is thy victory? Death, where is thy sting?" (1Cor.15:55.) We pass through it Lord‚ but without sting—through the grave with victory for us, not the grave! Thank You Lord! It's a Homegoing, a relief, a deliverance, it's our Coronation Day!

87. SO EVEN DEATH IS A DELIVERANCE‚ LORD! So if You don't deliver us from the affliction and we die, then You deliver us from everything. So, Lord‚ we just take it all as from You, and whatever You want to give us or deliver us or whatever You want to do, like You did with Job, it's our job not to murmur or complain, but to just trust You Lord in spite of the tests and the trials.

88. WE REALISE YOU'RE TESTING OUR FAITH WHEN WE HAVE THESE TRIALS, TO SEE IF WE'LL TRUST YOU or we'll suddenly just run the other way and forget all about trusting. So praise You Lord! Thank You Lord! Lord, it doesn't take much to scare some of us out of trusting. Forgive us, Lord, help us, in Jesus' name.

89. ONE LITTLE TEST OF THE DEVIL AND BOOM, WE SAY UNCLE AND OUR FAITH FALLS FLAT! If it doesn't go through the fire, Lord‚ it's not faith. If it doesn't come out as pure gold it's not faith! Because real faith stands the test whatever it may be!

90. SO JESUS, WE JUST HAVE ALWAYS PUT OURSELVES IN YOUR HANDS AND TRUSTED YOU TO TAKE CARE OF US one way or another, somehow, and You always have. You've never failed, and here we are. We've started a worldwide spiritual revolution, Lord, that's covered the Earth and won millions of souls and witnessed to billions and You never failed us Lord, we're still going.

91. THE ENEMY TRIED TO SCARE US the other day that sooner or later our enemies are going to get us, sooner or later they're gonna get you.

92. WELL, LORD‚ THE DEVIL'S BEEN TRYING TO TELL ME THAT ALL MY LIFE: "SOONER OR LATER THIS IS GONNA GET YOU OR THAT'S GONNA GET YOU or something else is gonna get you—your heart's gonna get you or your lung's gonna get you or your side's gonna get you." I had this pain in my side, Lord, since I was 12 years old, and heart trouble since I was 12 years old, but none of them ever got me yet and I'm still here.

93. SO THE DEVIL'S A LIAR, LORD, BUT SOME OF US SCARE PRETTY EASY. When he says "Boo!" we run! When he says "I'm gonna get you!" we believe it and surrender. Oh Lord, helps us to put up a fight, the fight of faith‚ the good fight of faith, put on the armour, all of its parts.

94. TAKE THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD AND INSTEAD OF SURRENDERING, LORD, WE SHOULD ATTACK, and conduct an aggressive warfare, Lord, instead of a defensive warfare. Help us to fight‚ Lord, some of us don't have much fight in us, we give up awful easy, we surrender too quickly to the lies of the Devil.

95. OH JESUS HELP US, LORD JESUS HELP US IN JESUS' NAME! Help and strengthen and deliver us Lord. Most of all, help us to trust You, Jesus, for everything‚ Lord, that You never fail. You never fail! Thy Word never fails, Love never fails, and Jesus, You never fail!

96. FORGIVE US FOR GETTING SCARED OUT SO EASY BY THE ENEMY AND HIS TESTS. So help us Lord to pass the test and not let the Enemy scare us off and scare us off of our position, our stand of faith‚ off of Your territory that belongs to You, even our bodies!

97. HELP US O GOD TO HAVE FAITH, AND NOT GET SCARED OUT OF IT! For if we've got real faith we won't have fear and we won't let the Devil scare us with his doubts and fears and "boo's"! You've kept me this long, Lord‚ from my enemies, safe and secure in spite of people who would like to kill me—demon-possessed people who would like to destroy me.

98. YOU'VE KEPT ME ALL THESE YEARS, LORD, YOU'RE CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO FAIL ME NOW. You'll keep me until, as You said‚ "You'd not suffer me to be cut off before my time," You'd keep me till the end of my time Lord, until it's Your day to take me or let me be taken. So we believe You'll do that, Lord.

99. WE BELIEVE YOU'LL KEEP ME HERE AS LONG AS YOU WANT ME AND NEED ME TO SERVE YOU HERE and as long as the Family needs me, and You're not gonna let the Enemy scare me out of Thy will or even touch me without Thy permission. We trust You, Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.

100. (MARIA: THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL PRAYER, HONEY! Thank You Lord! I agree! Help me Lord to take good care of my body!) Honey, you have got to do what you have faith for. You cannot lean on my faith—you've got to do what you have faith for, and if you've got faith in the medicine, you better take it. (Maria: No, I don't.)

101. IT SEEMED THERE FOR A WHILE WE WERE BOTH COMPLETELY HEALED, you were all healed, but all of a sudden you had a little test and boom‚ you ran off to the doctor! (Maria: I failed, Lord forgive me.)

102. BUT IF YOU'VE GOT ANY DOUBTS OR FEARS ABOUT IT, HONEY, I WANT YOU TO GET YOUR MEDICINE and go to it, because I don't want you blaming me for it afterwards and say‚ "Well, you wouldn't take the medicine and you wouldn't trust the doctor and you wouldn't let me take it and you talked about the Lord and here I am still sick!" (Maria: Oh no!)

103. "THE LORD WOULDN'T DO IT AND YOU WOULDN'T LET THE MEDICINE DO IT." (Maria: Oh Lord forgive me, I hope I don't say that!) Well you better not, because I am telling you right now, if you are, you better take the medicine. I'd rather have you take the whole course and find out that it doesn't do you any good‚ than stop now and always wonder if it might have.

104. (MARIA: NO, I DON'T WONDER. I AGREE, IF GOD DOESN'T WANT ME TO BE HEALED, I WON'T BE HEALED NO MATTER WHAT I TAKE. And if He does then He can do it without the help of anything.) Well good for you, Honey, that's a good statement! Seems like I've heard that before somewhere. (Maria: I think I learned it from you, Honey. That's one thing I remembered in my little bad memory little mind.)

105. WILL YOU PLEASE QUIT TELLING THE LORD HE GAVE YOU A BAD MEMORY! (Maria: Yes, I got checked about that when I said it!) Now you stop it! You've got a very good memory and you remember all the things you need to remember! Just because He lets you forget a lot of junk you didn't need to clutter up your head with doesn't mean you've got a bad memory.

106. YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD MEMORY FOR ALL THE THINGS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER. (Maria: Amen, Lord forgive me.) The Lord doesn't want your head stuffed with all that other junk you don't need to remember. I guess I remember almost everything because I need to remember it, and I have a brain like a computer.

107. I HARDLY EVER FORGET ANYTHING I ever read, heard or saw or felt smelled or tasted!—So I could educate the whole world with all the things they need to know. I think the Lord has me remember the things I need to remember and forget the things I need to forget, praise the Lord.

108. I JUST REMEMBER MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE I NEED TO KNOW MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE.—I'M EDUCATING A WHOLE NEW GENERATION! I've stripped them away from their demon-inspired, Devil-designed worldly education‚ and I've got to give them a whole new education.—Or the Lord's got to give it to them through me and the Word.

109. SO THAT'S A BIG JOB! … If you have a dirty mind you've got to have it washed! But then you've got to fill it up with something else, you can't just leave it empty. Amen?

110. SO DON'T GO ACCUSING THE LORD ANYMORE! I don't ever want to hear you say that again "I've got a bad memory."—It hurts me every time I hear you say it, because I don't believe God gave you a bad memory. That's a slap at the Lord every time you say it.

111. —AND EVERY TIME YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR LOOKS IS ANOTHER SLAP AT THE LORD! Maybe if you'd praise the Lord a little more for how much good skin you've got instead of complaining all the time about a few little pimples‚ maybe the Lord would give you a nice totally perfect clean skin.

112. BUT INSTEAD OF SPENDING 99% OF YOUR TIME PRAISING THE LORD FOR THE FACT THAT MORE THAN 99% OF YOUR SKIN IS PERFECT, YOU SPEND 99% OF THE TIME COMPLAINING ABOUT THE LITTLE FRACTION OF ONE PERCENT THAT ISN'T! Now that's the truth!—And the Lord doesn't like it! He doesn't like your slam at Him saying, "Lord, You gave me bad skin, You gave me a bad memory, You gave me bad teeth, You gave me bad looks!"—That's murmuring and complaining!

113. —AND ABOUT YOUR TUMMY! If you didn't have a little tummy you wouldn't be a Mummy! Men love voluptuous tummies with a lotta curve! Look at the nude art masterpieces: The women all look a little bit pregnant! It's sexy! Why be flat? Better 120 pounds of curves than 100 pounds of nerves! Be thankful you've got a tummy!—You'd look funny without one!

114. WHY DON'T YOU THANK THE LORD FOR ALL THE GOOD THINGS HE'S GIVEN YOU, for all the good skin you've got and the good teeth you've got and the good looks you've got and how much of your memory is good instead of complaining about the little tiny infinitesimal jot and tittle that isn't!

115. MAYBE HE GAVE YOU A FEW LITTLE AFFLICTIONS AND A LITTLE FORGETTER SO YOU'D BE MORE THANKFUL FOR YOUR REMEMBERER! Maybe He gave you a few pimples to be more thankful for all the nice good skin you've got! Maybe He had a couple teeth stick out so you'd be thankful for all those that don't. I mean it! (Maria: Amen‚ Lord‚ thank You Jesus for the ones that don't, and even the ones that do!) Amen!

116. YOU OUGHT TO THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING!—Thank God for your pimples that keep you humble, your teeth that keep you humble and your memory that is sufficient for what you need, amen?

117. IF WE'D START THANKING GOD MORE FOR OUR BLESSINGS, our many many many multitudes of blessings instead of complaining about the few tiny little infinitesimal nothings, maybe the Lord would deliver us from them too. But when we don't look at anything but the button off of Mutt's vest instead of all the nice fine clothes and the bright red necktie, no wonder the Lord must get angry with people!

118. LOOK AT ALL THE MIRACLES GOD DID FOR ISRAEL! Look at the miracles‚ the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, water out of the rock, manna from Heaven!—But all they could do was complain about a little discomfort here and a little danger there and a little of this and a little of that, when most of their worries never even happened!

119. I THINK IT MAKES GOD ANGRY! I know it makes God angry—it says so in the Bible! He wanted to slay them all!—When He'd done so much for them, yet all they could do was complain! He had done mighty miracles for them.

120. HE'D DONE SUCH GREAT THINGS FOR THEM, BUT ALL THEY COULD DO WAS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE LITTLE THINGS HE DIDN'T DO! I mean they'd say‚ "Yes ... but", "Yes ... but", "Well yes, the Lord gave me a fine mind, but ... why didn't He give me a better memory?" Or, "He gave me beautiful skin, but where did I get all these pimples?" ... "The Lord gave me lovely eyes, but why did He give me these two buck teeth!"

121. (MARIA: IT REALLY SOUNDS BAD, DOESN'T IT!) "The Lord gave me all these men and all these lovers and all these Salvations and all this good fruit, but He let me catch a little something." (Maria: Oh dear, God help me!)

122. "THE LORD LET ME START A WORLDWIDE REVOLUTION FOR LOVE through which hundreds and hundreds of people are getting saved, but He let me get VD or fungus or trichomoniasis or whatever they call it." (Maria: Thank You Lord, I don't have VD!) But I mean what if He did let you get it, look at all the good you've done—you could die happy! (Maria: I'm counting my blessings that I'm not worse!)—VD won't kill you!

123. BUT JUST BECAUSE EVERYTHING ISN'T A HUNDRED PERCENT PERFECT AND JUST THE WAY YOU'D LIKE IT, THEN YOU'VE GOT TO COMPLAIN about the little fraction of one-percent that He didn't do or He did do or you didn't like it—or whatever!

124. IT MUST MAKE THE LORD FURIOUS! After all He does for people they complain about some little tiny infinitesimal thing He didn't do!

125. IT REMINDS ME OF THAT GUY THAT TOLD FRED SHULTZ—Fred Shultz had brought him over from the old country, from Germany, loaned him tens of thousands of dollars, set him up in business, and then when Fred wanted him to cash a little check one night after the bank was closed he said no! Fred said‚

126. "WELL, BUT LOOK AT ALL I'VE DONE FOR YOU! I mean you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for me! You wouldn't even have a business‚ you wouldn't have the money to cash this check if I hadn't done it all for you!" But the guy said,

127. "YEAH, BUT WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?" That's the way some people treat God! He's done everything in the world for them, but just because He hasn't done something about this one little trial or problem they're having, they say,

128. "YES LORD, I KNOW YOU DID EVERYTHING FOR ME, You saved me, You kept me‚ You provided for me‚ You've used me, but what have You done for me lately about this little thing? What have You done for me lately—why didn't You do this little thing?

129. "HOW COME, LORD? I'm going to quit trusting You now because You didn't do this little tiny thing! I'm going to quit trusting You and run off to man to help me because You failed me in this one little thing!"

130. AFTER ALL THE LORD'S DONE FOR YOU, YOU QUIT TRUSTING HIM OVER ONE LITTLE TRIAL, ONE LITTLE TEST! Lord help us and forgive us! I don't know, maybe the Lord hasn't given me very big trials or tests because maybe I couldn't take them. He sure seems to be awful good to me, He even spoils me!

131. OF COURSE I SUPPOSE SOME PEOPLE WOULD THINK the things I've been through were pretty big tests and trials. I've nearly died a lot of times and been awful sick and in bad accidents, all kinds of things, had big problems, big enemies, had to flee for my life a lot of times.

132. BUT THE TESTS AND TRIALS NEVER REALLY SEEMED TO BE TOO BIG, at least not to me. Compared to all the Lord has done for me‚ they don't seem to be very much. I mean, even if I have to flee for my life He always sets me up someplace else and is good to me‚ takes care of me.

133. "SO, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? Yeah, Lord, I know You did all that, but that was a long time ago—what have You done for me lately?" Honey, you start these big things, you ask me big questions, you get me started on something big and then I've got to finish it. (Maria: Thank the Lord for the breath that you can use to give it!)

134. I CAN TALK LIKE MAD WITH MY BIG MOUTH AND LECTURE FOR HOURS—WHY SHOULD I COMPLAIN BECAUSE I HAVE A LITTLE COUGH? (Maria: Oh Lord forgive me, I'm the worst of all!) I mean if the Lord sees fit to let me be afflicted with a little cough—for what reason I don't know—probably punishment for my past sins or something, but it doesn't keep me down!

135. PAUL'S THORN IN THE FLESH DIDN'T KEEP HIM FROM SERVING THE LORD! It didn't negate his service for God! He didn't quit and give up just because he had a little thorn in the flesh which sounds like bad eyes.

136. HE DIDN'T STOP WRITING LETTERS BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE A PAIR OF GLASSES! He didn't complain, "Well Lord, I can't write all these epistles now because You don't heal my eyes!"—and just give up! Are you listening? (Maria: Yes, I definitely am, I'm getting every word.)

137. HE JUST WENT AHEAD AND WROTE THEM ANYHOW, even if he had to write with such big letters that they could see them half-a-room away—probably very very easy for them to read too! If he could see them he knew good and well they could see them, right?

138. AND IF HIS EYES GOT SO BAD HE COULDN'T SEE ANYMORE HE PROBABLY DICTATED THEM—they dictated letters even in those days. Even Jeremiah had a secretary or scribe, Baruch, who took down his prophecies, an amanuensis. So, I didn't say to the Lord, "Sorry, but I can't prophesy because I don't have any secretary." First the Lord gave me a secretary, then He gave me the gift of prophecy, so praise the Lord!

139. "WHAT IS THAT IN THY HAND?" I began using what little I had to the best of my ability and the Lord gave me more. You can't stop trusting the Lord just because you have a little handicap or a little trial or a little test or there's some little thing He doesn't do for you or doesn't seem to want to or won't or hasn't yet—especially since you stopped trusting Him, why should He?

140. IF HE KNOWS AT THE FIRST LITTLE BOO YOU'RE GOING TO STOP TRUSTING HIM, THEN WHY SHOULD HE DO IT? He likes gold faith that goes through the fire, that's real faith! But if He knows that the next time the Devil says "Boo!" you're going to quit trusting Him, then why should He heal you? Why should He?

141. THE KIND OF FAITH THAT GETS RESULTS IS "THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST HIM"—Like Job, praise the Lord? If you'd thank Him for all your blessings you wouldn't have to spend so much time complaining about a few tiny little light afflictions. (Maria: Amen‚ thank You Lord!)

142. LORD HELP US, FOR EVEN ME, LORD, I'VE BEEN GUILTY LOTS OF TIMES. Sometimes because you, Honey, said one little thing to me that hurt me, I have forgotten all the good things you ever did for me and I have cried and felt sorry for myself and got the "poor me's" just because you said one little sharp thing that sometimes you didn't even know it hurt me, like you did the other day.

143. (MARIA: LORD FORGIVE ME, HELP ME NOT TO DO IT AGAIN, HELP ME TO PRAISE YOU‚ LORD.) I should have just brushed it off and thought, "Well, think how good she's been to me all these years, look at all she puts up with.—Why should I get so hurt over one little passing thoughtless careless remark that she didn't even intend," but the Devil blows it up into a mountain!:

144. "AHA, SEE, SHE DOESN'T LOVE YOU! Aha, see, if she really loved you she wouldn't hurt you like that! If she really loved you she wouldn't have said that!"

145. THE DEVIL JUST OBLITERATES ALL THE GOOD THINGS YOU EVER DID and he blots it out and blows the thing way up out of all proportion to everything and tries to make me forget every good thing you ever did and all the goodness and all the mercy and all the patience, and all the long long suffering you've had with me—all over one little tiny word! It's the truth!

146. IT'S TERRIBLE HOW THE DEVIL REALLY GETS US ON THE RUN SOMETIMES 'CAUSE WE LISTEN TO HIM, then we believe what he has to say! What you ought to do is slam the door in his face and don't even listen to him! Then you wouldn't have a chance to listen to his lies and you wouldn't have a chance to believe them! Right?

147. DON'T LISTEN TO HIM‚ HE'S A LIAR! You ought to know he's a liar and father of them‚ the father of deceit, the father of lies! "A liar from the beginning," Jesus said, so why should we listen to him? (John 8:44.) Why should we listen to his doubts and fears and his lies?—when he says all these terrible things and tries to scare us out!

148. WE SOMETIMES GET JUST LIKE DAVID WHEN HE BEGAN WORRYING ABOUT SAUL until he finally said, "Well, one day I shall surely die at the hand of Saul!" (1Sam.27:1.) Can you imagine King David saying that? Well, he said it! "One day I shall surely die at the hand of Saul!"

149. AT LEAST HE DIDN'T MAKE A SONG AND A PSALM OUT OF IT, because how could you put that to music? It'd be some kind of a dirge!—That wouldn't have encouraged anybody! But at least it encouraged me that he said it, which showed he was human, which showed he went through the same kind of temptations and doubts and fears that we do sometimes. So I think what he really meant by it was that, "If I stay here I'm surely going to die at the hand of Saul," which was about right!

150. SO HE FLED THE COUNTRY! So I wouldn't blame him too much even for saying that if that was the general meaning of what he said. "If I stick around here, boys, in this cave with you 600 ruffians, we are going to get it! We had better beat it instead to some other country where we're not so persecuted! Hire ourselves out to somebody else." So he did. So Praise God!

151. IN THAT CASE HE COULDN'T LICK 'EM SO HE FLED 'EM! He went over and joined the enemy‚ think of that! But I don't think he complained about it, it doesn't sound like he ever complained about it. He got a pretty good job and they gave him a certain part of the country and let him fight some of their battles for them—and some of them they didn't.

152. LORD HELP US AND FORGIVE US FOR OUR COMPLAINTS AND MURMURINGS AND DOUBTS AND FEARS‚ for listening to the Devil, for believing his lies, letting ourselves get scared out of trusting You, scared out of what we're supposed to do. Thank You Lord that we went on the attack on these periodicals, these newspapers and magazines that have been attacking us. And what did You do for us Lord?

153. YOU GAVE US BACK TWICE AS MUCH SPACE TO ANSWER THEM AND NOW THEY'RE PUBLISHING WHOLE MO LETTERS! We're getting them to say more for us than they said against us! So it all worked out for good in the long run, Lord, all things work together for good to them that love Thee and trust Thee—and we should have known that in the first place!

154. SO LORD, PLEASE FORGIVE US FOR OUR DOUBTS AND OUR FEARS and for listening to‚ much less believing, all the lies of the Enemy. Help us, Lord, not to be afraid and not to doubt and not to fear, but to trust You, Lord, and have faith in Thee, in Jesus' name.

155. HELP US, LORD, NOT TO BE FREAKED OUT OF OUR FAITH AND SCARED OUT OF OUR TRUST AND BOOED OUT OF OUR PRAISE! Lord help us‚ in Jesus' name! Help us, Lord, not to let one little lie of the Devil get us all shook up and all freaked out so that we stop trusting, stop believing and we run for the nearest doctor or pill. Help us, Lord Jesus! In Jesus' name. O Jesus help us!

156. SOMETIMES I THINK MAYBE I SHOULDN'T HAVE LEFT TENERIFE. (Maria: 'Cause you were getting scared out?) But when I prayed I got that verse: "When they persecute you in one city, flee ye to another" (Mt.10:23), so I did. So maybe it saved my life, 'cause our enemies were getting pretty hot and heavy. (Maria: And "he that fights and runs away, lives to fight another day"!)

157. BESIDES, WE WOULDN'T HAVE DONE ALL THE GOOD WE'VE NOW DONE IN THIS CITY and reached all the souls we've reached here and helped all the people we've helped here.—And God knows these people sure need help! Wow‚ whew!

158. BUT, LORD HELP US NOT TO RUN AWAY TOO SOON. Help us not to give up too soon, Lord. Don't save us prematurely before we've accomplished the mission, accomplished the task, finished the job. Praise the Lord! Thank You Lord! Praise You Lord! Thank You Lord! Praise You Lord! Help us to trust You, Lord, help us never to fail You, Lord in Jesus' name.

159. "HAVE YE SUFFERED SO MANY THINGS IN VAIN?" (Gal.3:4) Having begun in the Spirit are you now going to be made perfect in the flesh? I mean having begun and gone all these years in the Spirit, are we now suddenly going to turn to the carnal and to the flesh just because of a little testing, a little trial, when the Lord is making us wait for the answer?

160. (MARIA: WE'VE HAD IT SO GOOD WE'RE NOT EVEN USED TO WAITING.) The Lord knew you were going to run off to the doctor and off to the medicine, so why should He heal you? If He knows you're going to quit trusting Him anyhow and run off in the long run anyway, why should He heal you?

161. WHY SHOULD HE HONOUR YOU WITH HEALING WHEN YOU DON'T HONOUR HIM WITH FAITH? If you don't trust Him till you die‚ then you don't trust Him! If you're going to compromise at the last minute, then you've failed.

162. THAT'S WHAT NAAMAN DID after the Lord healed him, when he could have been such a big testimony and such an influence in Syria, maybe converted the whole country so it wouldn't haven been such an enemy of God's people.—But he made that compromise:

163. "THE LORD PARDON THY SERVANT in this one thing—I've got to go to this heathen temple with the King—forgive me!" But that wasn't much of a testimony was it? I always think about two guys possibly sitting out on the curb in front of the Temple of Rimmon when they saw Naaman go into the temple with the King, and one guy says‚

164. "WELL‚ I HEARD THAT HE GOT HEALED of his leprosy down in Israel by the God Jehovah." The other guy goes, "No, no, it must be the god Rimmon, 'cause look, there he goes into his temple with the King!" Does that apply? "Oh, I heard that they got healed of their affliction by the Lord!"—"Oh, no, no, no, it was the doctor—I saw them go to the doctor and get the medicine."

165. SO WHO'S GOING TO GET THE CREDIT? If the Lord did heal you, how are you going to know it was the Lord? And how is the rest of the world going to know it was the Lord if they see you going to the doctor and taking the pills just like they do?—Hmm? What kind of a testimony is that?

166. THERE'S NO TESTIMONY WITHOUT A TEST, THERE'S NO VICTORY WITHOUT A BATTLE‚ THERE'S NO TRIUMPH WITHOUT A TRIAL! So why should we hesitate to fight the battle‚ the good fight of faith? O Lord help us in Jesus' name! Well Honey, how many sides have we done now on this faith business? (Maria: Three, and we're starting on the fourth.) That's too long! The poor kids will probably be so tired they'll go to sleep before they finish reading it! Then Sal will go to sleep before she finishes typing it! (Maria: Never, never, never!) O Jesus, help our faith!

167. "O YE OF LITTLE FAITH, WHEREFORE DOST THOU DOUBT?" (Mt.14:31.) "Lord I believe—help Thou mine unbelief!" (Mark 9:24.) Well, he must have believed something, but he still had a few doubts and fears apparently. But he did ask the Lord for help with them. (Maria: I think that sort of fits me!—O Lord!)

168. DOUBTING THOMAS WAS PRETTY HARD TO CONVINCE.—He just couldn't believe it unless he saw it with his own eyes! Well‚ the Lord was merciful, He let him see it, see the wounds‚ He let him feel them.

169. IMAGINE, JESUS STILL HAD SCARS EVEN THOUGH HE WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD! Now Jesus could have said to God, "But now Father, listen‚ I know You raised Me from the dead, but why these scars? Why did You let Me have these scars? Why do I still have the print of the nails in My hands and the scar in My side from the spear? How come Lord, You didn't do a good job? You didn't do a perfect 100-percenter!

170. "YOU RAISED ME FROM THE DEAD, BUT LOOK AT THESE SCARS!"—I mean, that's the way people are!—"Lord, You resurrected Me, but look at these scars!" I guess the scars were left there to prove to Thomas it was really Jesus. So we should be thankful for everything, "in everything give thanks," "not to doubtful disputations," "nothing wavering.

171. "FOR HE THAT WAVERETH IS LIKE THE WAVES OF THE SEA when it cannot rest. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord!" (1Thess.5:18; Rom.14:1; Ja.1:6–7.)—Especially when God in His all-wise wisdom knows ahead of time what you're going to do, He knows the choice you're going to make, He knows if you're going to waver, He knows if you're going to stop trusting.

172. SO THEN WHY SHOULD HE HEAL YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T STAND A LITTLE TEST, huh? I want to quit and go to sleep‚ don't you think it's time to quit, Honey? I'm just saying just the same old thing over and over again‚ I must have said all these things before I'm sure, somewhere some time in space, some time or place in space, haven't I?

173. (MARIA: WELL‚ THERE'S ALWAYS A NEW WAY TO SAY THEM! THEY MIGHT SINK IN!) I don't know, it's beginning to sound to me like I'm saying the same old thing the same old way. (Maria: Lord forgive us‚ we need it repeated.) Lord help us. Jesus forgive us!

174. HELP US, O GOD, TO HAVE MORE FAITH! My God, I sat there looking at that little pill today and I thought, "Now isn't that ridiculous! We're looking at this little pill instead of God!—that little brown pill, this little pill that can neither see nor feel nor speak, like the idols of Egypt!

175. YET WE'RE LIFTING UP OUR EYES UNTO THE PILL!—

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the Pill!—

From whence cometh our strength?

Our strength cometh from the Pill

Who hath made Heaven and Earth!"

—which can neither see nor speak nor feel! (A parody on Ps.121:1-2.)—A god fashioned with man's own hands, which then he putteth up in packages and to whom he prayeth:

176. "SAVE ME O MY GOD! DELIVER ME O THOU PILL, THOU PILLAR OF MY FAITH!" That's what they do! In that little box over there come your gods! Behold, as Aaron said of the golden calf, "Behold, these be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt—worship them!" Think of it! I sat there looking at that little pill and thought,

177. "MY GOD, YOU MEAN TO TELL ME I'VE GOT MORE FAITH IN THIS LITTLE PILL THAN I HAVE IN GOD!" I mean, man's gods have been getting smaller all the time—now they've gotten down to the size of a pill! Think of that! I sat there looking at that little pill in my hand and I thought, "Ah, these be thy gods‚ O Israel!" Since one god didn't do it and wasn't big enough, they have to have a lot of little gods now! (Maria: It's so true!)

178. "I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES UNTO THE PILLS! From whence cometh my strength? My strength cometh from the Pills which made Heaven and Earth!" It's blasphemous, but that's what they do! I mean I looked at that pill that, as Isaiah said, "hath neither mouth that it can speak, neither eyes that it can see, nor ears that it can hear" (Isa.42:17-18), but we give it credit for being able to save us! So we pin our faith to the pill! (Sings:)

179. "MY FAITH IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS

THAN DOCTORS, PILLS AND ALL THAT MESS!

I dare not trust our mighty God,

But wholly lean upon His sod!

O Mighty Pill, I take my stand,

All other ground is sinking God,

All other ground is sinking God!"

—How's that for a new hymn, huh?

180. (MARIA: OH DEAR, I DON'T THINK I CAN EVER TAKE ANOTHER PILL! That's true!) Instead of ... how does it go? I've done forgot the other song! See, if you listen to the Devil's lies, you even forget the Word of God! If you spend your time singing his dirges, you forget God's praises.

181. (MARIA:

"MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS

THAN JESUS' BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS!

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

(Dad joins in: )

But wholly lean on Jesus' name!

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other pills are sinking sand!"

Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! That ought to be a good place to end and go to sleep.

182. (MARIA: AMEN, THANK YOU JESUS, AMEN LORD‚ HELP ME TO TRUST, HAVE FAITH AND PRAISE YOU, never murmur and never doubt, and always remember that if God wants to heal me He will, and He doesn't need any help! If He doesn't, then nothing else that I could take for it would help anyway. I think I've got it straight!)

183. IF HE WANTS TO HEAL YOU HE DOESN'T NEED ANY HELP, but if He doesn't want to heal you, nothing would help!—Amen? (Maria: Amen! Hallelujah! That's our stand!) Amen! Hallelujah, I hope so! Jesus help us! The guys are always asking,

184. "DO YOU TAKE THE PILL?" SAY, "NO, I HAVE THE WILL—THE NEW TESTAMENT!—I take the Will!—I take the Hill—God!—I've got the Hill and the Will, not the pill!" Praise God, thank You Lord! Amen, thank You Lord! Hallelujah! Do you believe that? Do you really believe that?

185. DO YOU MEAN YOU REALLY BELIEVE GOD IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THOSE LITTLE BROWN PILLS? (Maria: Yes Honey—how could I not believe it after that!) If you're going to believe in the pill you can see, how are you going to believe in the God you can't see? (Parody on 1Jn.4:20.)

186. MY LORD, THEY'RE SO EXPENSIVE! Think of what the idol makers are making off of the pills! It's one of the biggest rackets! (Maria: They're probably crooked too‚ half the companies—they probably don't even put in what they say they do!)

187. ESPECIALLY IN A COUNTRY LIKE THIS WHERE THEY DON'T HAVE A STRICT DRUG REGULATION, food and drug administration with laboratory testings and everything else like they do in the States. (Maria: And even the places where they do they're probably smart enough to rook you somehow, put in some kind of substitute or something that isn't very good for you.)

188. THE POOR DOCTOR! How does he even know he's getting what it's supposed to be! In a country where they have no food and drug testing and laws. It used to be an old joke, we sang a song the choir was singing:

"He took the pill!

He took the pill!

He took the pilgrim home!"

(Maria: It's a good thing it wasn't she!)

189. IT SEEMS LIKE MOST PEOPLE WOULD RATHER TAKE THE PILL THAN THE PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH! Are you taking the pill or the pilgrimage of faith? That would be a good title for this, huh? "The Pill or the Pilgrimage?" Are you a pill or a pilgrim? Mmm? Praise the Lord?

190. HONEY, YOU'RE WEARING OUT YOUR TAPE RECORDER! (Maria: I hope I'm not wearing you out!) You're wearing out your batteries and you're wearing me out too! Although I seem to still have quite a bit of juice in me. (Maria: I never saw anything like it!) For some reason, I don't know why!

191. MAYBE I COULD GO THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT SLEEPING AT ALL! But I just really sleep for your sake so you can get some sleep. That's the truth! (Maria: I'll sleep while you work, you don't have to sleep, you can sit and work and I'll go to sleep!) But you usually don't. (Sings: )

192. "SHE TOOK THE PILL!

SHE TOOK THE PILL!

SHE TOOK THE PILGRIMAGE HOME!"

(Maria: One guy asked me if I took the pill the other day. I said, "The pill?" ... I was almost blank‚ until finally it dawned on me what he was talking about!)

…

228. (MARIA: I DON'T KNOW THAT ALL DOCTORS HAVE FAITH IN THEIR OWN MEDICINES.) Well, I don't think they have as much faith in the medicine as their patients‚ that's for sure! That's what Dr. Koger said. He said most of the doctors he knew didn't have too much faith in their own medicines. They were just playing around and experimenting with them.

229. "PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF!" (Luke 4:23.) We prefer the pilgrimage to the pill!—The certain pilgrimage of faith in God!—Amen? Do you?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family