By MariaMaria #598 CM 3380 11/00

Why the need for slumber?—2

More on dreams … and thinking in your heart—4

Being a sensitive channel … more on dreams—6

Passing the Litmus Test …—8

Power beads—12

Sexuality and spirituality—do they mix?—13

Putting it all on the altar—15

Why the Need for Slumber?

Q:

1. Why did the Lord create the night?  We spend about a third of our lives just sleeping. Why did the Lord make it biologically necessary to get between seven and nine hours of sleep per night? And besides that, is it accomplishing something in the spirit that we don't realize?

Jesus:

2. Ah, the night. With humanity's tendency toward chaos, I created the night for peace. Of course‚ like most everything I've gotten involved in designing, there are many reasons for sleep. Aside from the obvious physical reasons for sleep—rebuilding and regeneration of the body, energy restoration, relaxation—there are also many spiritual necessities for that period of rest and distance from the physical world you live in.

3. Physically, sleep helps you to live longer‚ giving your body a chance to focus on rebuilding and repairing. You may spend a third of your life sleeping, but it's hardly a waste of time‚ because without it you wouldn't live long enough to enjoy all the time you'd save by not sleeping. And that's not even the half of it.

4. My favorite aspect of sleep is the opportunity it gives Me to work in your lives. You're clearly more open to the spirit world—both the light and the dark—which is why it's important to pray nightly for your sleep.

5. Dreams. What are they? Why are they? If they're important, why don't you remember them? What are nightmares? Do you want to know the answers to all these questions?

6. "Dream" is a word used to describe imaginings, things that are unreal, beauty that is unreal, experiences that are supposedly all in your mind. A dream is actually the shred of memory carried over from your experiences of the night. Though some dreams are just composed of thoughts carried over and reviewed from your day, most dreams are actually a fragment of the adventures of your night. Yes, I said experiences of the night, for while your body is sleeping, your spirit is far more active than it can be when you are absorbed and involved in bodily activity.

7. A good percentage of what you learn in your lifetime is absorbed in your sleep. That's when your spirit is freed from the boundaries of the physical‚ the prison of your mind that your spirit cannot escape from without your consent. When your body is at rest‚ your spirit is more free to communicate with your spirit helpers; to take spirit trips; to relive portions of your life; to receive answers from Me to questions that you haven't been able to figure out in your own mind, and that while awake, you haven't had faith or a clear enough channel to grasp.

8. Some of your spiritual battles can only be fully waged at night. Nightmares are often fragmented memories from a spiritual warfare. You remember it as a carryover from a movie or a story you read or heard, or even sometimes attribute it to your own vivid imagination. But oftentimes such memories are all that remain in your mind of a battle that took place in the spiritual realm.

9. The evil or ugly pictures that you remember are a weapon the Enemy uses against you, one which you have power over through Me. The reason that you often wake from such a spirit battle "nightmare" remembering only the evil is that it's an innate human tendency, as well as a device of the Enemy, that you remember the bad—for he magnifies that while minimizing the good. Your spirit, if you are one of My children and yielded to Me, has in fact more often than not been victorious in such a spiritual battle. But when you awake, the Enemy doesn't want you to remember the victory, only the battle.

10. There are other reasons for nightmares besides those which represent spiritual battles. Some nightmares are attacks of the Enemy or evil spirits—his attempt to cause you to be fearful. Yet you have power over such attacks and can always cry out to Me, either in your sleep or when you wake, and find deliverance from his torments.

11. Sometimes you suffer from bad dreams or nightmares because you haven't fully committed everything to Me before going to sleep. You're carrying the burdens or worries or fears of the day, and these are magnified in the night. Sometimes it's an attack of the Enemy to keep you from getting the rest you need, and he enters in through fear or a hitchhiking spirit. That's why it's so important to have good prayer before going to sleep. Not just "Lord, bless our night," but really taking a few moments to commit everything to Me‚ to plead for My protection‚ and to request My cleansing from all the activities and comings and goings of the day. That way, if you've committed all to Me, you're completely shielded from the senseless attacks of the Enemy, and the only way I would allow you to go through a bad dream or negative experience in the night is if there's something specific I'm trying to show you or teach you.

12. Some of your fiercest fighter training is received in your sleep, with your body blissfully unaware. You learn spiritual strategy, you learn how to use the weapons, you practice, and eventually you get to where you can do it almost without thinking. While dreaming or sleep–learning, your physical mind never comes into play while your spirit is warding off attacks against you. Thus you learn these principles of the spirit in their purest form, without the interference of your mind. When you awake, the confines of thought and reasoning keep you from wielding the complete spiritual power you possess. Nevertheless, the effect of these times of training lingers on, and little by little‚ clarifies and consolidates your understanding of spiritual things.

13. Those of you who have a connection with your spirit helpers spend some of this sleep/dream time communing with them‚ learning more about their lives and receiving training from them. These memories are also often recalled by you in part, sometimes just as interesting dreams, or for some, they seem to be memories of a past life. Sometimes you even remember yourself involved in these past lives, because you became so much a part of your helper's story that you actually saw yourself as one of the characters‚ feeling what they felt and seeing what they saw.

14. Even dreams that you attribute to your creative imagination are not always only that. Your spirit can interact with others whom you know, and even those whom you don't know, without the senses ever partaking. Not all of your dream fantasies actually happen, but a good deal of them are encounters in the spirit world that your physical mind remembers in part or in whole.

15. I often use the night to commune with you, to bring you to My chambers and talk over your day, to love you, to instruct you, to encourage you. We review events of the past and I help you to learn from them or understand them better. Sometimes we travel into the future and I show you what's to come so that your spirit can better support the surprises ahead. When you have premonitions or déjà vu, you could be remembering something that I told you was going to happen. Of course, there are many theories for these types of feelings, and just as many real reasons, that being one of them.

16. If you're having dreams or nightmares that you feel are significant but don't understand, why not take the time to come to Me personally and ask Me about them? Much of the training you receive in your sleep is meant to be received subliminally, and your spirit receives it whether your mind knows it or not. Nevertheless, there are times I would impart this knowledge or training not only to your spirit‚ but to your mind and body as well. So ask, that you might receive insight and understanding.

17. Without sleep, I would lose some of My prime teaching time. I made sleep a necessary part of life, and it's certainly not wasted time. (End of message from Jesus) (See also "Why Do We Dream," ML #1838, Vol.15.)

More on Dreams …  and Thinking in Your Heart

Jesus:

18. Your dreams are often directly influenced by the thoughts and intents of your heart, as well as by the fears that lie therein. There are also those bad dreams which are a direct attack of the Enemy. The night is a time when your spirit is not as bound within the body as it is during the day, and it has a chance to express itself more freely. It's not confined to behaving or thinking or reacting as it must when in the boundaries of the flesh, so it has opportunity to move and to explore.

19. Your dreamtime activity is often a test of your true reactions and innermost feelings. And because you are more spiritually in tune, it's also a time when you're more susceptible to outside spiritual forces and their effects, whether good or bad. You are more in tune with My Spirit to a great degree, because we can communicate without the boundaries of flesh, whether bodily or mental. At the same time, you're also more easily influenced by darker forces that attempt to play up your fears and negative or evil thoughts, causing you in your dreams to do harm to others or yourself, or to be the recipient of harm done to you by others.

20. What you do in your dreams isn't necessarily your true nature or feelings being exposed. It is sometimes based on that, but the Enemy often plays up the negative and exaggerates it. His purpose in doing so is twofold: first, to make you condemned about yourself and what evil things you could be capable of; second, to actually cause you to dwell on those things until they do become a part of you.

21. Of course, the nature of man is evil; nevertheless, because you are Mine and My Spirit has sway in your life, I keep these things under subjection in your spirit and body. So you need not fear when you have a bad dream that it is a true picture of yourself that is your magnified evil. It is not the true heart of your being, for the true heart of your being is yielded to Me. Therefore you can know that I will protect you—not only from the forces of the Enemy‚ but from the dark forces that are part of your own nature.

22. As for the times when in your dreams you experience intense emotions, whether positive or negative, and wonder from whence these come, at times they are simply a continuation of the fantasy that is in your mind already‚ especially in a case when you are in love with someone or very attracted to them. Your spirit continues the thought that was implanted while awake and elaborates on it. The thoughts of your mind and the intents of your heart are powerful and have definite influence on your spirit. This is why I said that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

23. Note the combination of terms there. You normally would say that you think with your mind and feel with your heart, but I said, "think in your heart." This is because both the emotional center of your body—what you call your heart, but what is really more your nervous system and the thought control center of your body—and your mind, are very closely connected. They are independent operations but have great influence over one another. The thoughts in your mind affect your emotions, and vice versa.

24. The dreams you dream are at times a product of what you "think in your heart." Such dreams can help you understand yourself and what is inside your heart. They provide a more in-depth picture—albeit at times an exaggerated one—that acts like a magnifying glass, helping you to focus on a certain thought or emotion that you may have sensed around the fringes of your consciousness, but hadn't even fully realized what it was and thus were not able to do anything about it or benefit from it. Once you've realized its nature and depth, you can then pray and seek Me about it. I will help you to understand it better, and to do whatever you need to do about it.

Text box:

The Intents of Your Heart?

From Nelson's Bible Dictionary

Heart: The inner self that thinks, feels, and decides. In the Bible the word heart has a much broader meaning than it does to the modern mind. The heart is that which is central to man. Nearly all the references to the heart in the Bible refer to some aspect of human personality.

In the Bible all emotions are experienced by the heart: love and hate (Psalm 105:25; 1Peter 1:22); joy and sorrow (Ecclesiastes 2:10; John 16:6); peace and bitterness (Ezekiel 27:31; Colossians 3:15); courage and fear (Genesis 42:28; Amos 2:16).

The thinking processes of man are said to be carried out by the heart. This intellectual activity corresponds to what would be called mind in English. Thus, the heart may think (Esther 6:6), understand (Job 38:36), imagine (Jeremiah 9:14), remember (Deuteronomy 4:9)‚ be wise (Proverbs 2:10)‚ and speak to itself (Deuteronomy 7:17). Decision-making is also carried out by the heart. Purpose (Acts 11:23), intention (Hebrews 4:12), and will (Ephesians 6:6) are all activities of the heart.

Finally, heart often means someone's true character or personality. Purity or evil (Jeremiah 3:17; Matthew 5:8), sincerity or hardness (Exodus 4:21; Colossians 3:22)‚ and maturity or rebelliousness (Psalm 101:2; Jeremiah 5:23)—all these describe the heart or true character of individuals. God knows the heart of each person (1Samuel 16:7). Since a person speaks and acts from his heart‚ he is to guard it well (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 15:18-19). The most important duty of man is to love God with the whole heart (Matthew 22:37). With the heart man believes in Christ and so experiences both love from God and the presence of Christ in his heart (Romans 5:5; 10:9-10; Ephesians 3:17).

25. If it's a good side of your nature or part of your personality that I want you to further explore, I will help you do that. If it's a fear or worry or bitterness you're holding on to, I can show you how to be released from it. If it's an emotion or feeling that you don't know how to handle, I will enable you to deal with it, and so on. This is one of the purposes of dreams, to help you explore and understand the sides of your spirit that, during your day, for simple lack of ability to concentrate on too many things at once, you cannot understand or begin to deal with. Yet while dreaming, your spirit picks one aspect, or a few combined, and deals with just those, leaving the rest of life aside for that moment, so that you can discover what is within. Not least of all, during this time when you dream I can enter your consciousness more fully and reveal things to you about My realm of the spirit.

26. There are times when you will dream something which is an outright attack of the Enemy trying to discourage you, condemn you, make you fearful, or cause a reaction which is not of Me. You should not allow these dreams to condemn you or make you worried or fearful of what is in your heart. Seek Me when you have a dream that affects you in some way. Ask Me whether it's a dream which I allowed to teach you something, or whether there's something I want you to do about it‚ or whether it's simply an attack of the Enemy trying to discourage you‚ condemn you, or make you fearful. Through Me and My Spirit you have power over anything—including your dreams and the thoughts of your mind and heart. In order to claim this full protection and power, you must be fully yielded to Me.

27. Things that happen in your dreams that may seem to you to be merely bizarre, and likely based on a collection of random thoughts that passed through your head during the day, may very well have a deeper spiritual significance. So if a dream sticks with you vividly, don't just brush it aside and ignore it, labeling it meaningless mental spam, but take the time to ask Me about it. Maybe I'm trying to get through to you about something, warn you about something, or encourage you to pray for someone. Maybe I want you to develop a link with someone in spirit. The possibilities are endless. (End of message from Jesus.)

Being a sensitive channel … more on dreams

Mama:

28. This is a message that one of our staff members received during a period when she was having bad dreams quite frequently. The Lord's counsel to her might be helpful to you as well.

Jesus:

29. There's a war in the spirit—good versus evil, light versus darkness, love versus hate, peace versus confusion—and you have been called as a soldier. There's danger on all sides in this war in the spirit.

30. Each night you plant the flag of victory deep in the soil of the land that you've gained during the day and you give praise to the Lord. You and your fellow fighters are a joy to the queen and the king. But all battles have their risks. If there were not the threat of injury or death, it wouldn't be a battle, it wouldn't be a war, and the closer you are to the front line and the heat of the battle‚ the more you feel the Enemy's attacks.

31. For you, My dear one, these scenes in the night, these movies and bad pictures that play in your mind as you sleep are an attack of the Enemy as he seeks to weaken and confuse and discourage. He especially seeks to make you think that I do not love you and do not understand your weaknesses. He seeks to make you doubt this love, as you wonder, "If the Word promises that the sleep of the laboring man is sweet, why do I suffer so many attacks in the night, so many ugly dreams that are so draining and frightening and discouraging?"

32. But I say to you, My precious one, My dearly beloved bride and lover, that these attacks in the night are not from My hand, but they come from the Enemy of your soul who hates you and seeks your destruction.

33. As you have exercised your channel more and made more of an effort to be attuned to My voice, it is as if you have entered deeper into the battleground of the spirit. This is a dangerous assignment. It's not without risk, for you are as a soldier on the front lines who must move from one place to another, from one realm to another, and as you do this you open yourself up to the attacks of the Enemy‚ for he sees you advancing. You're no longer under cover in the foxhole.

34. So you see, My darling, these attacks in the night are the result of your greater openness in the spirit. You're creating a greater vacuum in order to have greater receptivity to My messages. But this openness, this vacuum, this sensitivity to the spirit is not something that you can turn off and on at will, so it also gives you greater sensitivity to the attacks of the Enemy, to the messages that he would try to send to you. If he can't get through to your carnal mind, your thoughts as you are awake, if he can't try to distract you with doubts or murmurs or jealousy or thinking critically of others or being negative, then he will distract you at night if he can, if he finds a chink in your armor or a hole in your defenses.

35. This is a battle that you cannot wage in the flesh, but you must resist him and rebuke him in the spirit. You must fight back in the spirit—not a defensive warfare, but an offensive warfare. Surround yourself with the Word and prayer. Drink deeply of My Spirit before you lie down to sleep. Spend time not only making love to Me and receiving My seeds‚ but also pouring out your heart to Me, casting all your cares on Me, all your burdens, worries, even those little tiny nagging thoughts that you think aren't very important, the ones that you can't even put your finger on sometimes—ones which are just a feeling‚ weight, or distraction in the background.

36. Take time to think and pray about it and commit it all to Me in prayer—all your work, your responsibilities, your loved ones, your thoughts, your personal battles, your interactions with others, your concerns about the future‚ your health. All these things‚ anything that would be a weight, anything that would be a worry, anything that you're tempted to carry or take care of yourself—cast all this at My feet and leave it there. Then let Me pick you up and lay you in bed, and there we will lie together and I will stroke your hair, rub your back, kiss your face, and touch you ever so gently and sweetly.

37. I'll hold you and speak My Words of love, comfort and faith, constantly reassuring you that everything's okay, that I'm right here taking care of you and protecting you and you have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about; you have nothing to do except lie in My arms and take your rest. And I will not leave you for one moment until you awake, refreshed and comforted and strengthened. (End of message from Jesus.)

Dad:

38. You have to raise a standard against the Enemy by completely enveloping yourself in the Spirit and the Word, prayer and praise, each night before you go to bed. Don't just pray for your sleep and pray for your loved ones‚ sort of a casual‚ sweet, simple prayer, but really fight in the spirit to cast all your cares on the Lord, anything that might be bothering you or anything that might keep you from trusting fully in Him.

39. You see, when you try to do anything yourself, when there's even any little bit of self–effort or arm of the flesh‚ then you can't benefit completely from the Lord's protection and His strength. As long as you've got some of your strength in there, that displaces some of the Lord's strength. Likewise, whenever you try to take care of things and carry the load, then those are things that the Lord can't take care of or can't carry, because you won't give it over completely to Him.

40. Any kind of resistance in the spirit weakens your defenses against the attacks of the Enemy. And the more desperate you are with the Lord, the more attuned you are to His spirit world to hear His voices, the more you open yourself up to the spirit. The downside is you also open yourself more to the attacks of the Enemy‚ so you have to be all the more diligent and on guard and fighting in the spirit.—Not fighting in your own strength‚ not trying to work it up, but fighting in the spirit to trust the Lord, fighting in the spirit to let the Lord do it.

41. It's not like you've made any big mistakes with self-effort or arm of the flesh or trying to do it yourself, but it's like you've gone to another grade in the spiritual warfare. When the Lord gave permission for you to open up more and receive more from the spirit world, the natural companion to that blessing is that it draws more attention from the Enemy. You've become a greater threat, so the attacks become more intense.

42. This is nothing to worry about or be afraid of‚ because Jesus, His Spirit, the Lord of all Who loves you, is much stronger and more powerful than the Enemy and his demons that attack you. You feel weak and helpless and at wit's end with these bad pictures and bad dreams. You feel like there's nothing you can do about it‚ that you're attacked when you're helpless, when your armor and your weapons are down, when you're trying to get the rest and rejuvenation that you need so desperately.

43. But the Enemy can't do anything without the Lord's permission. The Lord knows what He's doing. He knew that these attacks would drive you to Him, to hear from Him, and would cause you to be more on the attack in the spirit, fighting more to be deeper in the spirit, to redeem the time more in the Word, to pray more desperately and lean on Him more. All of these activities create a force field around you that will protect you even in the night. Even when you feel defenseless and helpless, this force field will be around you like a bubble.

44. Thank you for asking the Lord about this problem. It helps you see that nothing happens by accident. Everything has significance, and anything that's affecting your life negatively or making it difficult for you to do your work for the Lord or to get the rest you need is definitely something worth praying about. I'm sorry that you've had to fight these attacks. I know how awful those terrors in the night can be, because I too suffered them a lot when I was there on Earth‚ as Mama knows. Many times in the night I would have the most horrible dreams, attacks of the Enemy.

45. Thank you for being willing to fight, for being willing to be on the front line—and even being willing to show yourself to the Enemy by going over the top. It's a dangerous mission. It would almost be a mission impossible if it weren't for the Lord. But you have all Heaven‚ your guardian angels, your Heavenly helpers, and me and Jesus on your side, so you can't lose. Take some sweet time of communion with your Husband. Pour out your heart to Him. Rest in His arms and seek His peace which passes all understanding. (End of message from Dad.)

Passing the litmus test …

(From "You Can Make It!—Part 1.")

I know that it's easier for you to believe that I can change a caterpillar into a butterfly than it is for you to believe that I can change your life and give you all of the beautiful and wonderful things you desire. You've seen the course of nature, how a caterpillar goes into a cocoon and then comes out as a dazzling butterfly—totally different‚ totally beautiful‚ totally changed, a completely different creature. But then you think about yourself, and since you've never seen such a drastic change in your life and it would go completely against your nature, you wonder if it's really possible.

But think back on the first caterpillar in the Garden of Eden. I'll go back in time and tell you the story of what happened. In the Garden of Eden the animals could talk to Adam and Eve‚ and the caterpillar was very sad, because he thought that he was destined to be ugly and worthless forever. If you had told him then that he would go into a cocoon and then emerge transformed into a beautiful creature with colored, patterned wings‚ a creature that could fly in the air rather than just crawl along the ground, do you think he would have believed you?

Well, let Me let you in on a secret: The first caterpillar that I created didn't believe it when I told him that he would be a beautiful flying creature—they weren't yet called butterflies because Adam hadn't seen one and named it yet. But I told the caterpillar to give Me a chance and see if he wouldn't be pleasantly surprised. He agreed, and so I instructed him to spin the cocoon. He had to do his part. He had to put his faith into action by spinning the cocoon. He had to do his part so that I could do the miracle and transform him.

It wasn't long before he emerged from that cocoon as a beautiful butterfly. How surprised he was to see the drastic‚ complete, total change that had taken place—and how happy he was too! He could then fly in the air‚ his wings were beautiful, and he was no longer destined to scoot along the ground. Adam named him "butterfly," and from that day until this, it's been natural and normal for caterpillars to turn into butterflies. So if I can perform this miracle, this total transformation, for one of the least of My little creatures, doesn't it seem logical that I could do the same for you?

I can do just as big a miracle in your life and spirit, for you are worth much more to Me than all of My other creatures combined. I can't even compare you with them because you are a living soul. You have a heart. You're My wife, a special part of Me. And so, My love, if you're willing, I am able. If you're willing to do your part, as the caterpillar must spin the cocoon, then I'll do what you can't do.

Everything is possible, My love! It doesn't matter how long you've been the way you are or how bad you think you are. It doesn't matter how you feel or what you think about yourself, because I am able. If you give your whole life to Me—your heart, your mind, your soul, your body—then I can do a miracle in your life. It's possible, because all things are possible with Me—even what may seem impossible. I'll say it again: All things are possible if you believe. (From ML #3277:13–18, GN 880.)

Q:

46. My question is concerning the caterpillar prophecy. In the story, we find the caterpillar mulling over how he looks‚ worried that he's going to be some kind of ugly creature forever. The story goes on to explain that after battling about his looks, the caterpillar then struggles with belief and disbelief.  Finally, he believes, and the result is that he is miraculously transformed into a butterfly.  The prophecy is meant to give us the example that if we will just believe God, we too can experience a miraculous transformation.  Jesus goes on to explain that we are even more important than the caterpillar, because we have a heart.  The implication is that the caterpillar doesn't.

47. When I read this to my teens they didn't buy it. "How can a caterpillar believe if he doesn't have a heart?" I'm saved because I believe with my heart, and belief is an action of the heart (Rom.10:9,10). Before reading this prophecy, I thought I understood the difference between humans and God's other creatures. (See Psalm 8.) I would have explained to my children that the difference between humans and animals is that humans went through the fall of man because of sin‚ and now need forgiveness of sins by believing in Jesus and receiving Him as our Savior.  The Bible doesn't teach anywhere that animals need a savior, or that as His disciples, we are to go out and make disciples of animals. Humans are in a class all by themselves. They are different than animals.

48. As the prophecy points out, humans have a heart. Humans have been given the majesty of choice‚ to choose whether to believe God or not to believe Him, to believe that Jesus is His only begotten Son, or not to believe Him. If we believe with our heart, then we are saved. In the prophecy, we have a caterpillar believing, but he doesn't have a heart, which is a contradiction.

49. Jesus taught by telling stories, and I believe that the stories Jesus used to get the point across were true stories—at least they were true to life. I don't think He made up His stories. There's nothing wrong with the lesson in the caterpillar prophecy:  "If this caterpillar can believe, surely you can too." It's not the theory of the prophecy that gave my teens a problem‚ it's the underlying facts.  "Does that mean that if animals believe, that they go to Heaven‚ and if they don't‚ they go to Hell?" Jesus talked about dogs outside the city.  "Does that mean they all go to Heaven, or that they get saved just like humans?" I couldn't explain how the caterpillar could believe without having a heart. I don't know any scriptures from the Bible that teach that. So I told them, "Well‚ I don't know, but Mama knows or else she wouldn't have put the prophecy in there. So why don't we just ask her."

50. I remember when the fairly recent new children's books came in a mailing. I sat down and read through the story about the little bird falling out of the tree—and look out, "Here comes a cat." So what does the little bird do? He prays. The Lord answers his prayer and sends along a human to pick him up and put him back in his nest.

51. That children's book teaching kids that birds pray and get answers from God may just be an "uneager beaver" story, and maybe children aren't going to see the underlying truths written into the message of praying and getting answers from God. But if my two-year-old son looks up at me with believing eyes and asks, "Daddy, do birds really pray?" I'm not going to say, "Of course, birds pray all the time—lots of times." And I'm not going to teach him about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy either.

52. The prophecy says explicitly that there is a difference between the caterpillar and humans.  You, as a human, have a heart.  The caterpillar doesn't. But then the prophecy seemingly contradicts itself, teaching that the caterpillar not only has battles about how he looks, but he struggles with belief and disbelief just like humans, and he's faced with making a choice to believe just like a human. If animals do all those things, just like humans, then what is the difference between animals and humans? What is the advantage of having a heart? It doesn't look like you need one to believe in God. Caterpillars don't.

53. Dad always taught us that true prophecy will always pass the litmus test of the Word. It will not contradict the Word. It can fill in the gaps, but it won't contradict. I don't know where you can find it in the Word that animals pray and get answers from God. Can you show it to me? I'm open to adding it to my list of doctrines if you can prove it to me from the Word.

Jesus:

54. I like butterflies, don't you? I agree that not all of them are pretty right now, but a lot of them are. I created them in the Garden and they flew happily around in that paradise, adding their particular splash of color. Not all the types of insects that exist now were in the Garden. As you will discover, I created a basic stock of animals and insects, and from these, many more varieties of animals and insects have developed. I know that sounds a bit like evolution to you‚ and actually it is. You'll find if you investigate that there is what the creation scientists call microevolution occurring within species. This is not the Theory of Evolution as taught, which is that one species evolved into another, but that within a species, such as for instance horses, there have developed over the centuries a variety of types.

55. The first butterflies were beautiful‚ even more spectacular than the prettiest ones around now, and they were in the Garden. The first one, I created first as a caterpillar. It was as an object lesson to all the inhabitants of the Garden—the animals, and more importantly, Adam and Eve—that if at first you might not look like there's much to you, if you'll just give Me time to work you will see what a wonder you will be transformed into. The caterpillar was sad. Even now, don't insects show emotion? Don't they show fear when it's obvious they're in mortal danger? So if they can show emotion even now, how much more could they have emotion in the near-perfect conditions in which I created them?

56. Now the caterpillar, after My admonition, believed and was transformed into a butterfly. If you look at the prophecy, I didn't say that he was getting saved or anything like that, just that he believed; in other words, he decided to trust.

57. "Pisteuo" is the word used mostly throughout the New Testament that is translated in English as "believe." That word is also used to denote believing and accepting Me, and so receiving salvation. But it is not used exclusively for salvation. So believing does not necessarily equal salvation, but salvation does equal believing. The little caterpillar's belief had nothing to do with salvation. It wasn't accepting Me as his Savior. He was just trusting that I would make him look a little better than he did, and he was rewarded for that belief.

58. That belief had nothing to do with his "heart." When you believe in something, such as one plus one equals two, that belief has nothing to do with your "heart." In Romans 10:9-10, it's talking about salvation being a deeper belief than just a head knowledge, that it comes from within, from your "heart"—the place where your deep emotions like love lie. Your spiritual you! So just because the caterpillar didn't have that same "heart," that same immortal spirit, it doesn't mean he couldn't believe that I was going to do something great. After all, everyone there in the Garden knew I was the Creator of the place and that I had made everything there, so why wouldn't he believe?

59. The world is in a fallen state. Through Adam and Eve's sin, all of creation suffered. Death and suffering entered the world. The animals lost the ability to communicate at Babel when the same fate happened to man. Communication and language is something that has to be taught from generation to generation, and the animals‚ realizing that man no longer understood them, just stopped attempting to teach these things to their offspring, and in a few generations that skill was forgotten altogether.

60. But man persevered and continued to communicate with the few of his fellows that he could, and thus was laid a foundation for the many languages of the world today. Man did this because he had been made higher than the animals, because I had created a species that would not just be My companions but My brides. Animals were not destined for that status, so they had no need for salvation. They would always be lower than men and angels.

61. There are animals in Heaven, but not all animals go there when they die. Many, due to the intercession of My children, do go there, such as your pets and those animals whom you love and care for on Earth. But animals are not destined to play the same role man will for eternity; they're not destined to have the same relationship with Me that mankind does.

62. Now as far as birds praying—if an animal or bird is aware that there is a God, why wouldn't there be some that call out to Me? My Father is aware of every sparrow that falls to the ground, and so am I‚ and if that sparrow calls out to Me, I can do a miracle to save it. But not all birds do that, just as not all humans do that if caught in a similar life-threatening situation. So do all birds or all animals pray? No, of course not. Do all humans pray? No! Can there be times when some animals call out to Me; in other words, pray? Yes.

63. As far as passing the litmus test of the Word:

* Were there animals and creatures in the Garden other than man?  Yes.

* Were the animals able to communicate at that time; in other words, speak and be understood?  Yes.

* Has this story been in any way a direct contradiction of the Word? No.

* Is the caterpillar story consistent with My nature?  Yes.

* If you apply the moral of the story, will it be beneficial to you?  Yes.

* Do you understand everything? No.

* So is the basis of your not understanding something grounds enough for not believing that it could be true? No.

* Point made? I hope so.

64. There are many things that might seem strange to you at first. It is regarded by some as an overworked example; nevertheless, let's once again look at the "flesh and blood" sermon in John 6. Are you aware of any of My disciples eating or drinking My actual, literal physical flesh or blood? But I told them if they didn't, they would have no life, meaning eternal life, in them (John 6:53). Did they end up having eternal life?  Yes! Did they have a Jesus steak? No! Do you believe I was speaking the truth when I told them this? Well, if you get down to it in the physical‚ it would seem that I wasn't. But you don't believe I'm a liar, do you?

65. How do you reconcile this saying of Mine?  You say that the interpretation had to be taken spiritually. But spirit has not flesh and blood, so how can you take it spiritually? Not even partaking of communion fits in neatly with this saying, because taking communion is not essential to salvation. But I said‚ unless you eat My body and drink My blood, you can have no life‚ meaning eternal life, in you. So how do you take this saying? You take it by faith, right?

66. So if you can take such an "outrageous story" as this one by faith‚ is it so hard to take the story of the little caterpillar by faith and gain from it the obviously good lesson it contained? Now faith is the … evidence of things not seen. Have faith! It will be infinitely more rewarding for you than being skeptical. I love you!  You have been a faithful witness and disciple for many years, none of which has gone unnoticed. Keep the faith! (End of message from Jesus.)

Power Beads!

Q:

67. Right now in several countries around the world a new fad is to wear beads. Some are called "power beads." Some people really go for the "power" stuff, and if you wear these different colored beads, they are supposed to help you do better in school, have a better love life, succeed in life, etc. Other beads that are fashionable are just cheap stones with no superstition surrounding them. I realize that this is just a cheap imitation of the real power we have with the Spirit, but I'm wondering if it's safe for God's children to wear these. In the past, for example, we've tried to avoid wearing other ornaments or jewelry if they're related to superstition and witchcraft. Should these power beads be considered the same? Are they also an inroad for the Enemy to get control over people? Could they carry spirits as well?

Jesus:

68. No one "thing" holds power in itself. No manmade trinket is powerful in itself; power comes from belief in something greater. Good power and good spirits come from My hand, but evil power and evil spirits come from the hand of the Enemy. A bead will not give you power, but belief and dependence on Me will. A bead will not make you successful in your love life, help you do better at the things you're pursuing, or make you feel good about yourself—but I can.

69. The people of the world who know Me not, seek for signs and symbols. They don't have Me to cling to or call upon in their times of trouble‚ so the Enemy concocts these little gimmicks, tricking them into putting their faith in them instead of Me. The Enemy does anything he can to keep people from putting their faith and belief in Me. When they believe that these beads have power‚ the Enemy seeks to enter their life through this and convince them that he can give them power through these beads, so that they don't have to turn to Me.

70. It's not the beads in themselves that are bad—it's where your faith lies that makes the difference. If you love Me, you're serving Me, and you want to wear some beaded jewelry because you think it's pretty and it looks nice, that's not a bad thing in itself. You should still pray a cleansing prayer over it, just like you should over everything that comes into your Homes or is given to you, and you should ask Me about it to make sure it's not carrying any hitchhiking spirits or being used as a talisman. Those are just standard precautionary measures which give Me a chance to warn you if something is not right in the spirit.

71. But if you're depending on the bead to give you happiness or to help you out in your life—which is what the Devil wants you to believe—that's not at all good for you spiritually. Through believing in something as petty as a bead, you're ultimately saying that you don't put your full faith in Me; you think that I'm not enough for you, that I'm not doing all things well in your life, and that a bead might help you more. How ridiculous!

72. When it comes down to it, a bead—or any earthly thing—is not going to save or help you; only I can do that. The Enemy can also help people to a certain extent, or make people think he's helping them, but in the end he seeks to burn and singe their souls like a red-hot iron. He's not into helping people so that they can be happy; he just seeks to lure unknowing souls into his trap. If someone puts their trust in these beads, then he may make something good happen to them, but only because he's trying to pull them away from Me.

73. He wants people to think that they don't need Me, and that through these earthly gimmicks they can have the help that they need, the love that they need, the fun that they need. But in an instant he takes it all away, and then they're left with nothing—no faith in Me, no faith in life‚ no faith in themselves. He seeks to lure people into his dens, because he doesn't want them to enter into My courts and find true happiness, peace, and prosperity. (End of message from Jesus)

Sexuality and spirituality—do they mix?

Mama:

74. Are you looking for greater sexual stimulation and satisfaction in your life? Do you sometimes see love scenes on movies or TV that make you feel like you wish you had the kind of passion and pleasure that you see portrayed there? Check out this intriguing message from the Lord.

Jesus:

75. Why not tune in to Me and My Spirit for some real sexual excitement? Enjoy the real, true beauties of My creation in sex by enjoying it with those around you!

76. You watch the passion and ecstasy of the System and let it turn you on, when in reality it's nothing but a show, a fake display of what they think is good sex. Because they don't have Me and are bound by the negative cynicism that often accompanies their sinful rebellion, their sex is just one more vain attempt to try and fill that emptiness they feel inside.

77. Satan only has imitations—imitations of arousal, imitations of excitement, imitations of passion—because these things are aroused by love, and I am Love. The Enemy has no love, so he tries to portray the beauties of love through the channels of selfishness, but it can only be fake.

78. Do you think people out in the world really enjoy such great sex? Sure, some do sometimes, but the majority of the time it's the same old humdrum routine, going through the motions, each trying to selfishly get from the other what they want, because that—they think—is what sex is for.

79. What a contrast to the gift—the pure gift—I have given you in the Law of Love: the freedom to share yourselves with one another, to enjoy the passion of the Spirit in the true ways of love—My love. In the world, sex may start off as an interesting and intriguing experience for many‚ but it often deteriorates into perversities as people continue seeking a new thing to fill the void that is left in their heart.

80. They don't know that the way to be happy is to make others happy, and the way to be happiest is to make Me happy above all others. I am the Maker of happiness, even as I am the Maker of love, and while they may seek and find thrills of the flesh, it cannot give them happiness of spirit; for that is Mine to give‚ and I give it to those who seek to bring happiness to Me.

81. The Enemy has to keep finding ways of keeping his subjects happy without Me, which is as futile an endeavor as trying to keep a battery charged without electricity! He keeps on trying to woo their hearts with this allurement, this entertainment, this blockbuster‚ this book, this theme park‚ this mall, this product—all to keep them from looking outside themselves and wondering what the true meaning of life is, and realizing that, as I said so long ago, "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesses"—or to paraphrase a bit, the abundance of the new things of the flesh that he tries. Because they're temporary! The thrill doesn't last! There always has to be something bigger, something better—and soon it leads to perversion, selfishness, and eventually destruction.

82. The Enemy is trying to imitate the ways of My Spirit. My Spirit is always moving, always changing, always finding new things and new ways in the infiniteness of My realm—the realm of light and eternal power and life that I Am. When you tap into this realm, you become partakers of this newness, of this movement, of the thrills and joys of new discoveries, new messages, new words, new stories‚ new revelations of the Spirit.

83. The eternal joy that Satan forsook when he left My side is forever out of his grasp‚ though he tries hard to deny this to himself, and attempts to seek it anyway—and his followers with him. But it is all a hoax, a crude attempt to try to outdo the things of My Spirit with the seemingly more real and obvious pleasures of the flesh.

84. I give you both—pleasures of flesh and spirit—and even the pleasures of the flesh I give you are enhanced to much greater levels than the Enemy's ever could be, because you enjoy them in the spirit—the spirit of My love and power. You worship Me through My creation, and you worship Me personally in your heart, so you can enjoy the thrills of the flesh and the thrills of the spirit.

85. When you live for Me, I enhance the pleasures you experience with My Spirit. You're putting one of My spiritual laws into effect—that when you give unselfishly and you try to make others happy, then happiness finds you. And not only does true happiness find you, but I enhance your joys and thrills and make them even more spectacular, lasting‚ and fulfilling. It's all part of My rewards to you for putting Me first, putting My Spirit first, putting love and giving and unselfishness first.

86. I can make your sex exceptional, showing you new ways, new methods‚ new places, new pleasures, new heights you've never experienced before! That's because sex in the spirit is not just a physical thing; it's also spiritual, and there are no limits to the spirit! There are mountain peaks of pleasure which you can hardly imagine ahead for those who put Me first when they share love, for I am Love!

87. The pleasures of the flesh alone come and go; they wax and wane. But when the pleasures of the flesh are combined with the spirit, with true love unselfishly shared between two hearts who also love Me, then they grow and grow and grow. And the spirit grows as well, as those who have loved in such a way find themselves growing and changing and blossoming in many other areas of their life and walk with Me. It is a wonderful cycle‚ as spiritual love shared in a physical way leads to increased pleasure and then to spiritual growth, which in turn leads to greater pleasure! Oh, the wonders of sex and spirituality!

88. Watch out when you begin looking more to the thrills of the flesh for your satisfaction and neglecting the realm of the spirit. That is when and how the Enemy finds inroads into your life, diluting My power within you and seeking to sidetrack you from the eternal things of the spirit through the more tangible things of the flesh.

89. He fights our closeness and our connection through any means he can find—whether it's to distract you from your main task‚ weakening you in spirit through exposing you to his influences‚ the things of this world; or even weakening you by causing you to chase after the things of the world for a satisfaction he persuades you you're not getting through Me. Well, in a way it's true—I do not give the kind of satisfaction Satan seeks to give you; I give you a better satisfaction, a purer pleasure, one that he could never imitate and that you will never find by looking anywhere else.

90. There are pleasures that I have given to you‚ My children of David, that I have never given to any other group of My children. You enjoy the greatest of all spiritual gifts this world has ever known, the greatest of all freedoms, and there are yet many more to be given and revealed to you.

91. Imagine the thrill of flying into space. That is a thrill you cannot enjoy unless you have paid the price required in preparation and training. But the thrill, the excitement of blasting off, of going further than any ordinary man has gone before, makes it worth it all. That's but a poor illustration of the joys and thrills that My Spirit can give to those of you who practice the ways of these new weapons and feel the power they give you surging into your souls, even into your bodies, filling you with the knowledge of Me that will enable you to do mighty exploits in times to come.

92. The greatest thrill you can experience in this world will be to fight on My side during the dark days to come. This is the grand finale, the great climax of mankind's history on this planet, and you are set to be some of the key players in it—those who will stand out for their brilliance and power, spiritual power and even physical power. You will be the stars of that day—those the lost of the world will look to and admire.

93. In those days you will be the celebrities. You will not be able to help it. The Devil will not be able to control it. You will be beyond his slander and his control—his ability to put down one star and exalt a new one at his whim. I will be the One causing you to shine with the brilliance of My truth and power in a world that has been flooded with darkness and the fake truths—the lies—of Satan. No wonder the Enemy seeks to get you to set your eyes only on the things of man, the allurements of the world designed to keep people from hungering after the things of the spirit.

94. You have asked for bread, and I have not given you a stone. Your spirit hungers for fish‚ and I will not give you a serpent. But the Enemy will, so beware of his traps and allurements, and look to Me. As you keep your eyes turned toward Me, you will find that the things of this world grow inconsequential compared to the greater truths and eternal rewards that await My faithful servants and children of these Last Days. (End of message from Jesus)

Putting It All on the Altar

Mama:

95. This message was received by a second-generation single mom who had been wanting a husband and praying for one for years. She's a wonderful woman—dedicated to her work, committed, and on board with the way the Lord is leading. But she wasn't as happy as she could have been, because she was waiting for the Lord to fulfill His promise to her of a husband. The Lord began to shine the spotlight on her life and her parenting of her little one, and in this message He talked to her about laying her desire for a husband completely on the altar, and living for what He had brought into her life today.

96. Everyone has desires and dreams which are nice to look forward to, but if you start imagining them as the solution to all your problems‚ or the one and only thing that will bring you long-lasting happiness, or thinking of them with the mindset of "when such-and-such happens‚ then I'm going to be able to really get on board and give it my all," it can quench the happiness, fulfillment and growth that the Lord would like to give you right now, today.  Maybe it's not His will to bring about the fulfillment of your dreams‚ or even of some of His promises to you, for years to come. You just don't know what the Lord's plan is!

97. The lesson of giving your all to the present—whatever the Lord brings your way today—is a valuable one‚ which‚ as the Lord says in this message, will make you happier and will enable Him to work His perfect will in your life and heart.

Jesus:

98. Giving your heart and life to Me is something that I don't demand; it's a gift that must be made willingly. But, oh‚ how precious it is to Me! The more you give Me of your heart, the more that is surrendered to Me, the more it cheers My heart and fills Me with even greater love and closeness to you.

99. I have heard your prayers [for a husband] and seen your tears. I have promised you your heart's desires, and you've long held on to that promise—through the good times and through the hard times. It's been a walk of faith, a continual forsaking, a trusting, putting your will into My hand.

100. The last step that I ask of you now is to completely give it up, to lay it upon the altar of sacrifice. As Abraham offered up his son to Me, the son of promise, so I ask that for the sake of your little one and for the sake of My work and My will, that you lay this desire on the altar of My will, that you give it back to Me. This shows your trust and your faith in Me, that you love Me so greatly that it doesn't matter to you whether or not I fulfill My promise; it doesn't matter to you if it takes years.

101. You've been yielded and trusting in this matter through the years. Sometimes you've questioned My doings, and other times you've given it to Me in full faith and trust. But what I ask you to do now is to give all your desires to Me, and to not even consider it; to accept your present state as a single mom and not concern yourself with the thought of marriage or who your husband might be.

102. This will be difficult for you, as it permeates your thoughts more than you'd like to admit, and sometimes even more than you realize it does. Even though you don't realize it, it does affect your parenting of your little one. You feel as though you're a stand-in parent and simply accomplishing the parenting on your own on a temporary basis until a husband is by your side. But you need to change your thinking and assume the full responsibility for your little one's parenting. I will be your other half.

103. You need to let go of this illusion and idea you have in your mind of a husband and father to share the parenting load with, and share it with Me. For I am a jealous God and I want you all to Myself before I will consider loaning you out to another.

104. You've made progress in drawing closer to Me in many ways. Leaning on Me in your work and in other parts of your life, you've allowed Me to become your Partner and your Helpmeet. And now in this area of parenting, I shine the light and ask you to do the same. In order to do that, you must forsake the desire for a husband and let Me fill that place.

105. Though it will be a time of learning‚ you will find much more happiness through including Me in this part of your life. I will become more and more your Husband‚ and you will become more and more My wife.

106. In this area of parenting, as well as other areas of your life, which I will show you as you go along, there are times when you think that once you have a husband, your life will be complete. You base many things around waiting for that. But you must not look at things with that mindset. You must live your life to the full and experience the joy and the fulfillment around you, without longing for and waiting for that day.

107. This is the kind of daily forsaking that I'm asking of you—to not let yourself think about it continually. Right now, your mindset is that when you find a husband and father, that will be the day when all things will come to fruition for you. It will be a great blessing and joy to you, but many things are coming to fruition for you right now—many promises, many blessings, the fulfillment of many of My Words for you. You must learn to live in the moment‚ to forsake the things of the past and not think so much about the things of the future, but give them to Me. This is the daily laying upon the altar that you need to do. This is the daily forsaking that will also be difficult for you. But you will find so much more happiness by living the present to the full rather than continually looking toward the future for the fulfillment of all your joy and happiness. (End of message from Jesus)

(End of file.)