August 9, 2004
(ML #3503, GN 1091)
FD/MM July 2004
ML #250:9-20, DB 5
9. The mental & spiritual companionship of a woman is so much more exciting than the mere flesh! Some girls excite you just to look at their FACE!—They have an exciting PERSONALITY, far more exciting than just plain FLESH. BUT SOME GIRLS HAVE NO DEPTH: THEY'RE JUST AS SHALLOW AS THEIR SKIN & THEIR BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN-DEEP! But others have SOUL & FEELING & EMOTION & can have real COMPASSION, the kind that would LOVE you just because you NEED it, because she WANTS to make YOU happy!
10. So to have real lasting, genuine love, it must be based upon a more enduring foundation than mere fleshly gratification. It must be an unselfish innate desire to protect & to help & to make someone else happy.—AND THERE DEFINITELY MUST BE A MEASURE OF ADMIRATION FOR FINER QUALITIES THAN MERE PHYSICAL BEAUTY! A man can be in love with a woman's MIND or he can be in love with her SENTIMENTS. He can be in love with her SPIRITUAL REACTIONS, he can be in love with her emotional COMPANIONSHIP, all of which have little or nothing to do with her physical body & their SEX life! THESE DEFINITELY HAVE AT LEAST 90% MORE TO DO WITH LOVE THAN PURE PHYSICAL SEX OR SEXUAL GRATIFICATION.
11. REAL love is a SPIRITUAL thing! It's not merely physical, but it is ALSO manifested in the physical, but not in a mere jump-on-jump-off relationship! It's mostly manifested in the spiritual & mental COMPANIONSHIP & COMPATIBILITY of likes & dislikes & things & habits that you have in common. EVEN THE FEW THINGS YOU DON'T HAVE IN COMMON CAN SOMETIMES BE INTERESTING & AMUSING.
12. So the woman who desires to hold her man had better seek some better way of holding him than mere sexual desire & sexual craving & physical excitement. As a young man seeking a wife‚ my mother told me not to put the physical features first in my quest, since these are fairly standard equipment with most women & well furnished on most models. But rather, in a woman LOOK FOR SOMETHING MORE THAN MERE FLESH & fair face, voluptuous bosoms, sexy hips & pretty legs, because most women are made by the Lord to have all these pleasing assets, with a good deal of variety. But seek something more in a woman than THAT, she said!
13. Most of all seek that indefinable thing called personality‚ that sparkle, that thing we used to call "it" back in the 20's.—Seek not only the vivaciousness of the FLESH, but the liveliness of the SPIRIT, the fascination of the MIND, the irresistibility of her HEART & its genuine unselfish LOVE & the greatness & magnanimity of her SOUL, that spiritual part of her—her whole composite personality make up—which can only be satisfied by the spiritual in YOU & the absorbing interest of YOUR mind & the warmness of YOUR heart & the thrill of YOUR soul! THE THINGS OF THIS EARTH CAN SATISFY YOUR BODY, BUT GOD HAS MADE YOU SO THAT YOUR HEART OR SPIRIT CAN ONLY BE SATISFIED BY THE THINGS WHICH ARE SPIRITUAL & the things of the Spirit!
14. Therefore we're told to love (or worship) not the World, neither the things that are in the World, such as the love of the flesh, the lust of the eye & the pride of life. FOR THE FASHIONS OF THIS WORLD & THE LUST THEREOF SHALL PASS AWAY, HE SAYS, BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF GOD ABIDETH FOREVER! So, He said, set not your affections on things below, but on things above; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen are eternal! He did not say you would not like or enjoy or need or desire‚ with even His GOD-GIVEN DESIRE, THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD & THIS LIFE, INCLUDING THE LUST OF THE FLESH, WHICH IS VERY NECESSARY FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES‚ PARTICULARLY FOR THE SURVIVAL & VERY EXISTENCE OF THE FLESH. BUT YOU'RE NOT TO LOVE THEM, WORSHIP OR LUST AFTER THEM EXCESSIVELY & intemperately, inordinately, more than is necessary‚ more than is meet, to the point that you put these things before the greater & higher values & EVEN MORE ESSENTIAL NECESSITIES OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH ARE VERY NECESSARY TO THE SURVIVAL & ETERNAL EXISTENCE OF THE SPIRITUAL MAN.
15. For if you love the material World more than the spiritual then it becomes a form of worship of the Creation more than the Creator, & God & His Spiritual World refuse to take second place in your affections & your interests or even in the activities of your life. So, He says, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART‚ ALL THY MIND, ALL THY STRENGTH & ALL THY SOUL & THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. HE SAYS THESE ARE THE FIRST & GREATEST OF ALL COMMANDMENTS in importance & that YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE HIM, for He is a jealous God & HE desires your love & for you to love HIM FIRST of all, ABOVE all & seek FIRST His Kingdom! But then if you DO, He's happy to add ALL these other things unto you, including every desire of your desirous little heart—as you delight yourself in Him!
16. He's always given me everything that I wanted that was good for me or not harmful. HE USUALLY SUPPLIES ALL MY NEED ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY, including even a fairly convenient, safe & comfortable place to live, sufficient for my needs & secure enough to serve Him, BECAUSE MY GREATEST DESIRE & LIFELONG DELIGHT HAS BEEN TO PLEASE HIM & TRY TO MAKE OTHERS HAPPY!
17. But if you put these desires of the flesh first above God & others & the needs of your spirit, then you'll find that nothing ever satisfies, not even the most total indulgence in the flesh! You will become as the World-famed poet, Lord Byron, when he despaired at the height of his fame with these words: "I've drunk of every fount of pleasure & quaffed every cup of fame, yet, alas, I die of thirst!" FOR THE THINGS OF THIS EARTH CAN ONLY SATISFY YOUR BODY, BUT ONLY GOD & HIS TRUE LOVE CAN EVER FILL THAT ACHING SPIRITUAL VOID OF YOUR HEART WHICH HE CREATED FOR HIMSELF alone! For true happiness comes NOT in your personal pursuit of selfish pleasure & satisfaction‚ but in finding GOD & giving His life to OTHERS & bringing THEM happiness! THEN happiness pursues & overtakes & overwhelms YOU, personally, without even seeking it for yourself!
18. So the man or woman who seeks only fleshly gratification or to merely gratify the flesh of the mate alone, will never find complete satisfaction or happiness or be able to make themselves completely happy. You must GIVE & it shall be given UNTO you. LOVE BEGETS LOVE. I knew a woman once who was always seeking a new lover, a new love, but never finding one that satisfied or lasted, because she was always seeking to GET love, to RECEIVE love, to BE loved. So when I suggested to her that perhaps she needed to learn how to GIVE love & to love unselfishly for the benefit & happiness of ANOTHER, after years of searching, this struck her as an entirely new thought that had never occurred to her before! She went out & soon found what she was looking for all the time by trying to find someone whom SHE could make happy by GIVING her love to THEM.
19. So maybe that's what's wrong with you—you've been looking for someone to make YOU happy.—Maybe you need to look for someone to make THEM happy & then happiness will find you! for whatsoever a man SOWETH‚ that shall he also REAP. It's just one of god's rules & laws of the spirit—just as definite & certain as some of the scientific laws of gravity. The laws of the SPIRIT, however, NEVER fail! They always work—either FOR you or AGAINST you, according to how you OBEY them & whether or NOT you obey them.—And the first law is the law of LOVE—unselfish love—love for HIM & OTHERS. If you will obey THAT one & GIVE that love which is his & their due, so shall ye also RECEIVE, "for with what measure ye mete unto OTHER men's bosoms, so shall they also mete unto YOUR bosom."—Luke 6:38.
20. This is why so many love me, because they know that I love them—REALLY love them & really would prefer THEIR happiness to my OWN, THEIR enjoyment to my own, THEIR fulfillment to my own, THEIR comfort to my own, THEIR satisfaction to my own, THEIR safety to my own, THEIR pleasure to my own. Because I really ENJOY seeing others happy & I enjoy most of all MAKING them happy, for that is MY happiness—& it could be YOURS! LIFE, LIBERTY & THE GIVING OF HAPPINESS TO OTHERS: THESE ARE THINGS THAT ONLY GOD CAN GIVE & THE ONLY THINGS THAT WILL EVER SATISFY YOUR SPIRIT! So if you want to be happy & make a mate happy, seek the satisfaction of the SPIRIT in both of you in GOD! "For the fashion of this World passeth away & the lust thereof, but he (& THE LOVE) that doeth the Will of God abideth forever!"—1Cor.7:31; 1Jn.2:17.
ML #313, Vol.3
1. A GIRL RECENTLY WROTE US: "I joined the Family for eight months a couple of years ago, and then I left because my face became very spotty. It sounds so silly‚ but it was my biggest trial! I prayed God would heal me, but for some reason He hasn't. Then I rejoined the Family again recently and have been with them for two months and my face has become all spotty again! I have worked myself into such a state over it that it keeps me from hearing or obeying God like I know I should. Sometimes my face comes out in big boils. I may have prayed myself out of faith, as I've cried out to God so many times!
2. "I'VE GOTTEN SO LOW AND DEPRESSED THAT I WOULD HAVE KILLED MYSELF if it wasn't for God's mercy. But I know if you pray for me, God'll heal me. I want to serve Him, I want to be free and get my eyes off myself and reach the world for Jesus‚ but I don't know how long I can go on like this! Please understand: Don't just say it's my pride, but have compassion on me! This is my last hope! I'll be waiting to hear from you and will know you have prayed when my face clears up. Hugs and kisses from one of your little birdies."—(I love you too!—MO.)
3. YOU POOR LITTLE GIRL! Won't you know I've prayed for you until your face clears up?—Just like you can't seem to believe God loves you unless He heals you! This is the Devil's business to give you such tests and trials to try to convince you God doesn't love you and He doesn't answer prayer!—But we do and He does!
4. THE VERY FACT THAT THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS WHEN YOU START SERVING GOD PROVES IT'S A TEST OF THE ENEMY and he's trying to discourage you from going on! What is really happening is that the Lord is letting the Enemy do it in order to test your faith and see how much you really love the Lord and what price you're willing to pay to serve Him! Of course, it could be partly your diet: Maria had that problem very badly until she came to us and I took her off of sweets! Now she's beautiful!
5. BUT THIS CASE SOUNDS TO ME LIKE A DEFINITE DEMONIC REACTION BY THE DEVIL AGAINST YOUR TRYING TO SERVE THE LORD! In other words, the Devil doesn't like it when you're with us. (Prays: O God, have mercy and show her whatever you're trying to show her!) The Lord's probably dealing with you on pride, the very thing you're afraid of having exposed and don't want to confess! Because at the root of all sin is always pride—And the fact that you let it stand in you're way of serving God sounds like you're putting self before the Lord's service.
6. IT'S A TEST AND VERY HUMILIATING, BUT YOU'VE GOT TO GO AHEAD AND SERVE THE LORD REGARDLESS! When you prove you love the Lord and His service more than your face, the Lord will probably heal you. You're still making your service for God and your faith contingent on God doing that first, when actually it works the other way around.
7. FAITH AND OBEDIENCE COME FIRST, THEN GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! So many people have told us‚ "If God will heal me, then I'll serve Him, then I'll believe." It means nothing else in the world but that you're putting self first‚ trying to make a deal with God! "If God will serve me first, then I'll serve Him. You work for me first, God then I'll work for You!"—And He just doesn't work that way!
8. HE STILL HAS THE SAME OLD FORMULA: "SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD and His righteousness, then all these things shall be added unto you." The blessings don't precede obedience. You don't say, "Lord, You bless me, then I'll obey." But God tests you first to see if you'll obey, and then He can bless you. It's such a common mistake people make!
9. IT'S A REAL TEST TOO, BUT IT OFTEN ENDS IN MURMURING: PEOPLE HOLD IT AGAINST GOD because He won't heal them! "If He'd do it, then I'd serve Him.—So He doesn't love me, He doesn't care‚ because He won't heal me!" A lot of times even I feel like quitting because things don't go just right, but I don't quit! I just keep on plugging along and eventually the Lord works things out.
10. IT'S KIND OF A "ME FIRST" ATTITUDE: "You heal me first, then I'll believe You, then I'll obey." It's really a form of self-righteousness, because it's pride. It's just like the scribes and Pharisees told Jesus: "Do us a miracle, then we'll believe!"—But He'd already done all kinds of miracles and they still didn't believe! So He said, "If I'd even raise somebody from the dead you still wouldn't believe, because you don't believe what I've already said!"—So then He did raise somebody from the dead—Lazarus—and that's what made them decide they had to kill him!
11. THIS BUSINESS OF HINGING YOUR FAITH ON THE ANSWER INSTEAD OF ON THE WORD IS LIKE A WORKS RELIGION! It's like, "Show me!—I'll believe it when I see it!—Seeing is believing!" But that's not the way faith works: With faith, believing is seeing! Faith works on blind obedience no matter whether you ever get the answer or not! You can't make the answer conditional to your service for God. Though your face may be one big boil you ought to serve Him regardless!—Who knows?—It might encourage some poor people who have worse problems than you to go ahead and serve the Lord!—If they'd see that you're willing to serve the Lord and not ashamed regardless of your handicaps, it might encourage them to do the same!
12. GOODNIGHT!—JOB LOST EVERYTHING!—His family‚ his fortune—and finally his health—everything! He was covered with boils from head to toe, but he still said it didn't matter!—It didn't matter if God killed him, he'd still keep on trusting Him! Job had been serving the Lord a long time, all his life, and look what happened to him!
13. YOU JUST CANNOT MAKE YOUR OBEDIENCE CONTINGENT ON YOUR TERMS and the way you think God ought to answer, and providing everything goes all right. You can't just only be God's fair–weather friend! You have to keep on serving the Lord even when everything goes all wrong! If you're only going to be willing to believe and obey the Lord as long as everything goes all right‚ you won't be believing or obeying very much, because a lot of things go wrong when you're serving the Lord!—"Many are the afflictions of the righteous!"
14. IF EVERY TIME YOU HAVE AN AFFLICTION YOU QUIT SERVING GOD, YOU'LL BE A PERPETUAL QUITTER! Of course, sometimes others put you under condemnation if you're not healed.—They blame it on you: "There surely must be something wrong with you!"—Just like Job's counselors!—All three of them said, "There must be something wrong with you!" Well, in Job's case it did turn out that something was wrong with him: It was his self-righteous pride, because he was proud of his faith‚ proud he was so good, proud he had served God all his life. So God had to let the Devil knock him flat to prove he was nothing without the Lord!
15. SOMETIMES YOU'RE ASHAMED BECAUSE OTHERS ARE ASHAMED OF YOU, and they don't even want to have you around because you look like a poor testimony! But Jesus had all kinds of handicapped people following Him‚ and He healed all that He could.—But who knows if they all got healed? But there are plenty of examples in the Bible of how the people who kept after Him and kept following Him no matter what eventually got healed even when it seemed like He was ignoring them!—Like the blind beggar and the woman with the sick daughter and others. The ones who quit before they got healed, of course, never got healed!
16. GOD WANTS TO TEST YOUR FAITH AND WILLINGNESS TO OBEY BEFORE HE'S GOING TO HEAL YOU, and He wants to see if you'll believe and obey Him even if you think you may never get healed! What's your healing got to do with faith and obedience? Nothing!—But your faith and obedience have a lot to do with your healing! Whether you get healed or not should have nothing to do with whether you believe or obey the Lord or not!
17. YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE AND OBEY THE LORD EVEN IF HE NEVER HEALS YOU! Paul had a thorn in his flesh to the day of his death to keep him humble! He couldn't even be trusted with full health because it probably would have made him too full of pride, because he'd been honored by the Lord in so many other ways.—But his thorn in the flesh didn't keep him from serving God!
18. AS LONG AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO KEEP ON SERVING GOD, YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP ON SERVING Him regardless of whether He ever sees fit to heal you or not! You may be a whole lot more useful to the Lord with a face full of boils, or a whole lot more humble and believing with a whole body covered with boils like Job was, than if the Lord would heal you!
19. A LOT OF PEOPLE JUST WANT TO USE GOD: I've known a lot of people whom God healed too easily, and then they just took off and went their own way! They were really lying to God: They'd sworn up and down if He'd just heal them then they'd serve Him.—But the minute He did they just took off and forgot all about it!
20. ISRAEL USED TO DO THAT ALL THE TIME: "O God, if you'll just save us we'll serve You forever!"—And the minute He did save them they forgot the whole deal and were worse than ever—more unbelieving and more murmuring and more disobedient!
21. I NEVER GOT HEALED THAT WAY. Some of the times when I was nearest to death, which has been a lot of times, I told the Lord, "Well, Lord, I'd like to be healed so I could serve You better‚ but I'm not going to stop serving You just because you don't heal me."—And just like Job, there have been plenty of times when I told the Lord‚ "Well, if You heal me, Lord, fine!—But if you want to kill me, that's up to You!—I'll still believe and love You anyway: —That's Your business. It's my business to believe and love and serve You no matter what and not quit just because things get tough and it looks like You have deserted me, and when everything seems to go wrong!"
22. LIKE ISRAEL, GOD MAY BE JUST TESTING YOUR FAITH to see if you're going to believe and obey Him no matter what! But the minute they had a little test they quit believing and quit obeying‚ and so they died and never made it, just like so many so-called Christians, especially churchy people!
23. THESE SELF-RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE WHO TRY TO TELL GOD WHAT TO DO REMIND ME A LOT OF THE JEWS OF TODAY: They're always saying, "Well‚ if God is so good, then why does He let us suffer like this? Why didn't He save us? Why did He allow Hitler to kill us? Why are we still getting kicked around? If God would be better to us, then we'd serve Him! But He's mean to us, so we hate Him!" When the fact of the matter is, the minute He is a little better to them, then they go their own way and do as they please and forget all about Him!
24. THEY CAN'T BE TRUSTED FOR HIM TO BE BETTER TO THEM!—Maybe He'd even rather have them hate Him than forget Him!—At least then they remember He's still around and chastising them for their sins!
25. I REMEMBER WE HAD A GIRL AT OUR SCHOOL IN MIAMI WITH THE SAME PROBLEM—some kind of skin affliction—and she had two children and no husband on top of it! She was always saying, "Why? Why?—Why has God done this to me? Why does God let me suffer like this? I thought maybe when I came to your school and joined you, God would heal me, but I'm still suffering!—He still hasn't healed me!—How come?" When people start asking God why in that spirit it is pure self-righteousness because the Lord gave me a Scripture for her, the same one God gave Job: "Can a man be found righteous with God?"—Or compared to God?
26. PEOPLE WITH THAT SELF-RIGHTEOUS ATTITUDE ARE SAYING, "WELL GOD‚ IF I WERE YOU‚ I'D DO THINGS BETTER THAN YOU'RE DOING THEM!—I'd be more righteous!—I'd heal me!" Just like recent popular song: "If I were king!" It goes on to say that if I were king I wouldn't let all these bad things be going on in the world! In other words, "I'm more righteous than God! I'm better than God! I'm more good than God! God isn't good, or He wouldn't let all these things happen!"
27. BUT THAT'S JUST BECAUSE THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND GOD. They don't understand what He's doing or why He's doing it, and they'll never understand until they have faith to trust Him that He knows best!—It's just like a child has to trust a parent even though he doesn't understand why he must do this or that or not do it, or why he has to behave this way or that way. He just has to "Do it because Daddy says so!"
28. HE HAS TO BELIEVE AND OBEY whether he likes it or not, because Daddy knows best, and he'll probably find out Daddy was right in the long run! But if he doesn't believe and obey, he'll probably find out he was right anyway, but the hard way!—It's just that simple!—Can't you see it? Like a father‚ I love you but must tell you!
29. GOD TESTS OUR FAITH TO SEE IF IT'S REAL GOLD FAITH AND WE'LL STILL BELIEVE AND OBEY HIM NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! He says that "The trying of your faith is more precious than gold!"—The testing of it!—"Yea," He says, "than much fine gold!" Gold will go through the fire and still come out pure gold, even purer gold‚ if it is real gold!
30. BUT YOU TRY PUTTING THAT PAPER MONEY FAITH THROUGH THE FIRE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS! That so-called faith—so-called value, like paper money, is not worth a damned thing the minute it's put to the test!
31. THAT'S WHY THE WHOLE WORLD'S PAPER-THIN FINANCIAL SYSTEM IS COLLAPSING RIGHT NOW!—BECAUSE IT IS BASED ON PIG PAPER MONEY INSTEAD OF GOD'S GOOD GOLD! (See Letter Nos. 243, 284, 294, etc.)—You just stick them both through the fire and see which one comes out the best! You'll find that real gold—no matter how hot the fire or how long the fire‚ how hot the test or how long it lasts—will still come out gold—even finer gold! "Yea, than much fine gold!" Because the fire burns all the dross and the impurities away!
32. BUT THAT PAPER PIG STUFF THAT CLAIMS TO BE VALUABLE ISN'T WORTH THE PAPER IT IS PRINTED ON When the real test comes‚ like now! The minute it feels the slightest flame it goes up in smoke and you've got nothing left but a few ashes just to remind you of something that wasn't there in the first place!
33. THAT'S THE EXACT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL FAITH AND SUPPOSED FAITH: Real faith can stand the test and go through the fire and still come out better than ever before, like gold! But that something that looks like faith, like the paper-pig–money which only looks like it is valuable‚ the minute it goes through the fire, see what you've got left!
34. GOD DOESN'T JUDGE YOU BY HOW MUCH YOU GIVE.—HE JUDGES YOU BY HOW MUCH YOU'VE GOT LEFT!—And He doesn't even judge you by how much you claim to have, but by how much you have when He gets through with you!
35. IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE '30s the guys with great financial paper-pig empires who had all their values written on paper pigs and in paper-pig money and paper-pig bonds and paper–pig stocks and paper-piggy banks didn't survive! They dropped right on through the grate with the rest of the paper–piggy ashes on the paper-piggy ash—heap of a paper-pig system built on paper-piggy man by paper-piggy men instead of God and wound up on God's ash-heap for paper piggies!
36. BUT THE ITTY-BITTY FARMERS WITH NOTHING but an itty-bitty plot of land to grow their food on and some real itty–bitty pigs to keep their families alive on lived happily ever after! But the big paper-piggy financiers were jumping out of their sky-scraper windows because they'd lost everything they thought was valuable, every little paper-piggy they held dear, which weren't worth a damned thing when the real showdown came just like it is coming again now! It all went up in smoke with their paper piggy money, paper-piggy stocks and their paper piggy bonds!
37. PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN PAPER PIGGY HOUSES SHOULDN'T STRIKE INFLATIONARY MATCHES OR THEY'RE GOING TO FIND OUT THEY'VE JUST MADE A PAPER-PIGGY ASH OF THEMSELVES!—But people who live in God's Golden Gates of Faith can survive anything—even death! And can still say, like Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" And you'll enjoy God's really Golden Gates forever after in His really Golden City while the rest, who claimed they had faith, are still going up in the smoke of the flames of Hell because their faith was nothing but wood, hay and stubble and didn't stand the test of the fires of God's afflictions and trials of faith!
38. SO IF YOU'VE GOT REAL FAITH YOU'LL KEEP ON GOING FOR GOD EVEN IT KILLS YOU!—And it will kill you‚ because it means death to self and pride and all that damned self-righteousness as you die daily as people look at that ugly mug of yours and those ugly clothes and that ugly hole you live in and all that ugly food with such an ugly job as what they call a "paper-prophet peddler", and wonder how you can possibly stand it!
39. THE PROUD PAPER-PIGGY PEOPLE-EATERS THAT DEVOUR THE POOR WOULD RATHER DIE FIRST THAN SERVE GOD THAT WAY!—And they probably will die and rot in the Desert of Sin like the Jews did when they refused to believe and obey God, and like most of them are still doing, while you'll keep on going and live through it and survive eternally even if they kill you!—Because you refuse to doubt and you refuse to quit no matter what happens!
40. I'VE FELT LIKE QUITTING LOTS OF TIMES because I'm so stupid and I make so many blunders and I'm so wicked and have so many sins I don't see how you or even God can possibly love me or put up with me! (Tongues and weeping with prophecy, probably from Abrahim: "What confessions of truth come from the heart of your father! Behold how he bares his bosom to his beloved!")—But you do, because I keep on going! I refuse to quit because I believe God! Therefore I know I have to obey Him and I don't dare quit! Too many people believe in me and obey me, so I can't quit any more than God can!
41. WHAT IF GOD QUIT EVERY TIME YOU GAVE HIM A LOT OF TROUBLE?—Then we'd all be in a helluva mess! What if God quit every time you, His face, break out in a bunch of ugly spots and pimples and boils and acne and whatnot?—You're the only face He's got!—What if He quit just because you're ugly sometimes? You're the only face He's got and He's gotta keep going no matter how ugly you are or how bad His Body behaves sometimes, in spite of what His Head tells it to do!
42. HE'S GOTTA KEEP ON GOING EVEN IF YOU GET YOURSELF ALL TANGLED UP AND IN A HELLUVA MESS! He's gotta keep on trying to pull you through and teach every part of His Body coordination and how to function properly and operate smoothly and gracefully instead of all jerky and twisted and grotesque like the spastics we so often are! He's got to keep on teaching you how to walk even if you seem like a hopeless cripple—you, His Body!
43. HE'S GOTTA KEEP ON TRYING TO TEACH YOU HOW TO TALK EVEN IF YOU SEEM TO BE TONGUE-TIED! He's got to keep on yelling loud enough so you'll listen, even when you've got your fingers in your ears trying not to! He's gotta keep on trying to make you see the truth and read it even when you're so spiritually sleepy you'd rather shut your eyes and drift off into the Devil's dreamland!
44. HE'S GOTTA TRY TO MAKE ALL THE ORGANS FUNCTION PROPERLY EVEN WHEN YOU ABUSE THEM with the wrong food and contaminants!—And He's gotta try to make you bear fruit, the bare little spiritual babbling babies of the Children of God, and even a few sick and misshapen ones rather than none at all! When much of the time much of His Body or Bride, like the churches‚ is doing her best to keep from it by either taking the pill of spiritual genocide, or killing the babies with hatred before they're even born, or being so rebellious toward God He can't even make love to them!
45. THAT'S THE KIND OF A BODY GOD HAS TO PUT UP WITH! So why should you be griping about a few little afflictions?—Look at the mess God's Body's in! Only the love, grace and mercy of God can ever pull her through by faith and obedience to His Word, or she'd never make it! Even if she's diseased‚ cripples‚ disorganized, deaf, dumb, blind and ugly, she's still gotta keep going to take care of her Children!—And I'm sure if she does God will probably heal her so she can even do a better job of it!
46. "BUT IF NOT", SHE'S STILL GOTTA KEEP GOING and believing and obeying! Like the three Children of God who went into fiery furnace in Daniel 3: They said, "Our God is able to deliver us, but if He doesn't, we're still not going to bow down to your God–damned System idol!"—And it looked like the end, because into the furnace they went, and it even killed their executioners! But because of their faith and obedience, God was with them there, too, and they came out without even the smell of smoke on them!
47. LIKE JOB, WHOM THE LORD LET THE DEVIL NEARLY DESTROY by killing his family and his finances, and almost even killing him, but he still didn't say "Uncle" to the Devil, not even to his wife who told him to curse God and die! He just kept on believing and obeying, with boils from head to toe, sitting on a heap of ashes and wearily scraping away the puss and the scabs and the sores with a piece of broken pottery saying, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!"—Can you?—I hope you don't have to get in such a mess as Job! But if you do, don't quit, whatever you do!
48. KEEP GOING FOR GOD! Keep believing and obeying no matter what happens! Maybe you'll come out without even the smell of smoke on you and with a bigger family and richer and healthier and happier and wiser than ever, like Job—if you will just hang on a little longer like he did and not give up!
49. LIKE THE FAMOUS CAPTAIN JOHN PAUL JONES, wounded, half his men dead or dying and his ship sinking and on fire, when asked by the enemy if he was ready to surrender he screamed‚ "Hell‚ no!—We haven't even begun to fight yet!"—And he won—in the long run!
50. MAYBE YOU HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO FIGHT THE OL' DEVIL YET! Maybe you haven't yet resisted unto blood like Jesus did, even unto the death of the cross! But even though it killed Him, only three days later He rose in triumph from the tomb! Even death itself couldn't hold Him down! Medical science is now talking about the "threshold of pain": How much pain does it take to kill you, and that some people's threshold is pretty low!—It doesn't take much to kill them and they die pretty easy!
52. HOW MUCH PAIN IS IT GOING TO TAKE TO KILL YOU? How much of a test can you stand before you quit and turn traitor and rat on your brethren! It doesn't take much for some! They turn color easily and take the "easy" way out, like Judas!—At least he thought it was the easy way till he realized he'd betrayed his own Savior!—Then his conscience hurt him so bad he hanged himself!
53. OR WILL YOU TAKE GOD'S EASY WAY OUT: DEATH RATHER THAN DENIAL! Which will it be for you? You that deny Him He says He'll deny before the Father! But you that are not ashamed of Him nor His "words before this wicked and adulterous generation" He says He'll confess before God and all the Holy angels, even if it kills you to do it, like it did the martyrs, who live forever! Which will you be?—A doubter, disobeyer and denyer?—Or a believer, obeyer and broadcaster of the truth, even if it kills you!
54. IF YOU GO BACK, YOU'LL MAKE GOD SICK! But if you go on even if you're sick‚ you'll make God happy in the end‚ even if it means your earthly end!—The churches are always talking about "Sudden death, sudden glory!"—That's the way they wanna go!—No pain, no suffering, no dying daily!—But even if it means slow death, it'll bring you eternal glory!
55. WHICH ARE YOU?—A FIGHTER OR A DESERTER‚ a keeper-upper or a quitter? "Many are the afflictions of the righteous‚ but the Lord delivereth him out of them all!" But let me tell you, the way of the transgressor is hard, a helluva lot harder!—Hell on earth and Hell hereafter!
56. SO WHICH WILL IT BE FOR YOU?—ARE YOU GOING TO QUIT JUST BECAUSE OF A FEW LITTLE TRIALS AND PROBLEMS AND AFFLICTIONS‚ much less torture and crucifixion!—Or are you going to keep on going with God even if the Devil's allowed to kill you as a witness to your belief and obedience to God!
57. I HOPE YOU'LL BE A MARTYR, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE WORD MEANS: A WITNESS!—And what greater witness can you give than to both live and die for Jesus? God bless and keep you! But if He doesn't—"but if not!"—die for Him and He'll keep you forever!
58. COME WITH US AND LIVE AND DIE FOR JESUS AND LIVE FOREVER!—OR YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD! I hope this helps you make it! We love you!—And God loves you!—Remember that no matter what happens! He wants to heal and help you if He can trust you to obey Him.
59. "BUT IF NOT‚" IF HE DOESN'T HEAL OR HELP YOU YET KEEP ON GOING FOR GOD until He does or you die, like Job thought he was about to. But instead he was doubly blessed and lives forever!
60. WILL YOU?—PLEASE TRY! We'll be praying for you!—And hope you make it!—Just think of the good your suffering has already done just by inspiring us to write this letter to help others!—And your faithfulness can do the same! God bless and keep you keeping on!
ML #3209:268-310, GN 812
268. (Mama:) Possibly you feel that all this talk of sharing sexually is a little out of reach for you. If you no longer feel so sexy or attractive to others, you might feel quite embarrassed about or left out of this whole new move of the Spirit. Maybe you thought the Family wouldn't return to living the Law of Love fully, and this has caught you by surprise. You wonder what can be done to help you get back in the swing of sharing‚ giving and loving others, when you feel you've aged and are now just not what you used to be sexually. I asked the Lord the following questions:
269. What about older men and women who have let themselves go physically so that they now suffer from very low self-esteem? They've gained too much weight, quit grooming themselves well, and have lost their sex appeal, therefore they feel no one would want to be with them. This really stands in the way not only of their taking the initiative to share sexually, but even having the faith to accept someone else's love. What can be done practically?
270. If you can relate to the scenario I just described‚ I think this sweet, informal chat from Dad might just be the nudge you need to get you out of the slump you've fallen into, if you need to give your physical appearance a little more attention or if you're uninspired about how you look or feel a little down on yourself.
271. (Dad speaking:) I think that Mama, as well as a lot of other women, would agree with me that I always stayed well groomed. I liked to be clean and to smell nice. I know the women appreciated this. I mean, my goodness‚ if you're going to give someone a hug or a kiss, you want to make sure your hair is clean, your face is clean, your clothes are clean, and that you smell nice!
272. I didn't always like what I saw when I looked in the mirror—or should I say, I didn't always recognize that old man! I wanted to see someone younger‚ the young man that I was used to, but I got older, just like all of you. But as I did, I knew that the Lord wanted me to take care of the temple that He'd given me that housed His Spirit, and I tried my best to do that. I just don't see how anyone can be close to the Lord and be dirty, sloppy and unkempt. It just doesn't go together.
273. Everything Here in Heaven is clean and natural, and no one's ashamed of how they look. There really isn't any comparing, because everyone's content with just how the Lord made them. It has a lot to do with them being very much at ease with the Lord's love for them. They've accepted the Lord's love for them, and therefore they aren't afraid to be happy about the way He created them—to be content with how they look and how they act.
274. That's the way it is up Here! You have some thin ones, you have plumper ones, you have short ones and tall ones, larger people and smaller people. There are all kinds of people that the Lord made, and everyone is beautiful, very, very beautiful.
275. Up Here everything is clean and it smells so nice! There are beautiful fragrances everywhere. The beautiful fragrances make you feel like loving, like being loved, and like giving love.
276. They try to copy those fragrances down there on Earth. They copy them from the flowers and other beautiful things the Lord created, and those fragrances are wonderful! They can stimulate you! They can make you feel even more beautiful‚ even more handsome, even more sexy! They can make you feel light and breezy. They can make you feel fresh and clean—the beautiful fragrances of Earth. But up Here, the fragrances are beyond compare!
277. Down there I loved to splash myself with a nice clean fragrance, but up Here‚ I just can't decide which one to pick! I choose a new one almost every day. Well, at least when the old one wears off, I look for a new one, because they're so far out! Every fragrance sends me, and I find that the ladies up Here are attracted to so many different scents, so I experiment with many different ones to see what the reaction and attraction is going to be, ha!
278. Well, how did I get off on scents? Smelling good is just a big part of feeling good, and if you smell good, it's usually because you're clean. You can get pretty sloppy and dirty down there on Earth. You work hard, and a good day's hard work can work up a sweat. Or a good get-out can work up a sweat, dirty your clothes‚ and make you smell pretty bad. That's the time to run to the shower, wash your hair if it needs it‚ and change your clothes.
279. Personal appearance is part of your testimony, so it pays to stay clean and well groomed! Keep clean and fresh! Use deodorant; keep your hair combed, mustaches and beards trimmed; keep those teeth brushed and nails clean and those hands soft; and by all means splash yourself regularly with some nice-smelling cologne! It doesn't have to be expensive; some of the cheaper ones I used to get in the five-and-dime while I was down there worked just fine! Personal appearance really has a lot to do with simply taking good care of the temple that the Lord's given you—your body, your vessel that houses His Spirit.
280. You know what Mama and I would do when we'd start gaining too much weight? We'd just stop eating so much and get a little more exercise. Now, for you folks who are approaching middle age, remember it's natural to gain a little more weight and put on a few more pounds than you donned in your youth; this is normal and to be expected. As you age, a certain amount of weight gain, within reason, is normal, healthy, and even looks good. But being overweight and gaining way too much weight is not good for your health. You can be putting a lot of extra pressure on your heart and building up fat tissue throughout your whole body. If you're fat on the outside, you've often got fat tissue built up between all of your organs too, and this is a sure formula for early death. Your heart can't handle too much fat.
281. So those of you who've put on too many pounds, especially if you're older‚ might need to seriously consider losing some weight—not only for your health's sake, but just for your own self-esteem. The goal is not that you try and kill yourself so you can look like you did when you were 20 years old. The goal is to take care of the temple the Lord has given you, to stay in good health‚ and to look beautiful as you grow older!
282. I've preached time and time again over the years about the importance of getting enough good exercise! This has not only been with the purpose of keeping your weight down if necessary, but also because to stay in good overall health you need proper exercise. This is not just a suggestion, folks! If you want to stay healthy, getting proper exercise is imperative, and if you're not getting some good stimulating exercise on a regular basis, I'd suggest you sit down and plan your next get-out program!
283. Now remember, I'm not talkin' here about killing yourselves. I'm not talkin' about starving yourselves in order to have a toothpick figure, or pushing yourself too hard and too fast in an unrealistic and time-consuming exercise program to where you keel over and collapse on the spot. I'm not talkin' about takin' drastic measures like these poor folks in the world do, with all their finagled false fronts to make themselves look good. God forbid! The world today has gone mad with false fronts and quick fixes to try to make themselves look better—all the while they're actually endangering their health!
284. But if you do what I've always preached—live right, eat right, sleep right, exercise right and stay right with the Lord—He'll help you to feel good and look good, even as you grow older! There's beauty in aging when you take care of yourself! You might gain a little more weight, your hair color might change or thin out, your skin might change some, but you can still keep in shape and be beautiful and well groomed! You can grow in years with grace and beauty and lots of sex appeal to go along with it!
285. You dear folks who've gained too much weight and can't find decent clothes to fit you and who now feel that you'll be left behind because you just don't have any sex appeal at all anymore—I'm here to tell you that that just ain't so! You're all very beautiful and handsome, but some of you just need to take better care of yourselves. Maybe you're eating too much. Maybe you're not exercising enough. So if this is the case, let's go over these obstacles one at a time.
286. If you're eating too much, one of the best ways to lose weight is to just eat less! In addition to eating less, you may have to consider the kinds of foods you're eating as well. If you're eating foods that are quite fattening, have somebody help you; do some research and find out what your nutritional needs are for your age and stature, what you should eat or not eat in order to stay healthy. You may need to cut down on empty calories, and you may need to add other good nutritional things to your diet. You need a good balanced diet. All of this works together to keep you in good health, in tiptop shape and energetic!
287. And if you're not getting any get–out because you're too busy, why don't you just relax and enjoy life a little more? Take some time out every day for some good get-out or to play some games. I'm talkin' to both you men and women here—there's plenty you can do! Why not take up games or group sports if you can, like volleyball? Swimming, if it's available, is great exercise‚ or plan a good aerobics program. I used to put plenty of articles in the WNDs about the good old standard—walking! A good brisk walk is one of the best exercises you can get. That's something almost anybody can do! Find what suits you and stick to it. Or why not try some vigorous get-out with the kids! The men might try soccer or basketball—just be careful and prayerful, warm up properly and don't play so rough, or get so competitive that you get hurt! Dancing might appeal to you women—and the men may even want to join in on that! It would do the kids good to see you takin' time off and enjoyin' yourself, and they'd appreciate the opportunity to be able to do some of those fun things with you too!
288. Get some get–out and get it regularly. You'll feel so much better, you'll look better, and you'll probably last longer too! Just be prayerful and careful to plan your program well. If you've been out of the habit of getting good exercise‚ or you want to change or increase your exercise routine‚ remember to ease into it. I want you to get in shape‚ but not at the price of doing too much too fast, so that you risk your health by putting too much strain on your heart or other muscles and body parts! Ease into it, folks! Pray and find out what is a good exercise for you, and then build up to it slowly.
289. Be consistent! Most experts agree that an inconsistent exercise program will do more harm than good to your health! Be faithful! Find what's good for you, and make it a habit!
290. Remember‚ it's always good, even if you are simply walking, to warm up in the beginning and then cool back down at the end with some stretches, so that your muscles are not overworked or strained. Did you know most injuries to muscles and bones occur for lack of proper warm-up? So if you want those ankles, feet, knees, arms, legs, all those joints and every moving part to work well‚ warm up properly every time with all your exercising by stretching and starting out slowly. Even if you're simply walking, start out easy, then build up to a good pace if you want, and finally slow back down. Pray and ask the Lord to keep you safe during all your get-out times and to give you checks to know how much and when you've had enough!
291. That's on the practical side, but building self-esteem also often has a lot to do with your relationship with the Lord. The closer you draw to Him and the more at peace you are with Him, the more content and at peace you'll be‚ the happier you'll be, the more relaxed you'll be‚ and the more you'll take time for some of these other things, such as taking more get-outs, or taking a little longer time to just relax and learn how to love your husband or your wife again, or those around you.
292. See, when you're relaxed and you're taking time to reach out to others, of course you're going to be more concerned about how you look and how you smell, because you'll want to be attractive to others, you'll want to be accepted by others, but you'll also want to be a sample of the Lord's love for them. You'll want to come to them and give them of your best.
293. I'm not saying you have to start spending a lot of money on clothes and expensive colognes and all kinds of things of the world to make yourselves better. All you need to do is be clean and healthy‚ and then you just don't have to worry. If you're close to the Lord, you're handsome and you're beautiful, because His love and His light shine through.
294. We really don't have any ugly folks in this Family. There's nobody that's unpleasant to be around or to look at when they're close to the Lord and they're clean and they're happy and they're content. In fact, that's the most attractive sex appeal there is—just letting the Lord shine through you the way He made you!
295. You don't have to try to be young if you're older—you can just be you! Be beautiful and let the Lord shine through! But you can be a happy, energetic‚ healthy, good–looking you. Even if you men are losing hair‚ just shine your scalp! Get some hair care information from the pubs or from the local barber so that your hair looks nice even if you don't have much of it. Maybe it needs a little trim, or maybe you need to let it grow, but whatever, just be happy with who you are and how the Lord has made you.
296. And you older women who feel you're unattractive and who are maybe letting yourselves go, all this applies to you too. I'm speaking to both men and women. You both have sex appeal. You're both attractive—especially when you're very full of the Lord and happy and content with how He's made you, and happy and fulfilled in what He's called you to do.
297. You know what I'd suggest you all do? Sit down sometime and let the Lord speak to you about yourself personally. If you can't do it yourself, then have someone else do it, and let Him tell you how He sees you, what your inner beauties are, what your inner strengths are, what those gifts and abilities are that He likes to bring forth, that He likes to see shine for others. Let Him encourage you, and then be encouraged by Him. Because when you're encouraged, then you want to pour out to others, you want to give to them and love them. And when you feel like that, then you want to look good, too. You want to take care of yourself so that you have some appeal—what we call "sex appeal!" There's nothing wrong with that.
298. There's nothing wrong with being attractive, and everyone's attractive when they're close to the Lord, when they're content, when they're clean, and when they're healthy. When they've had good exercise and good rest and they're fulfilling the job the Lord wants them to do, then they're very attractive, for they're fulfilling their role in the Kingdom and there's a magnetism there that draws others to you because they want to be a part of it. And if they want to be a part of it, then they want to be a part of you, and you've got something to give.
299. When you're open with the Lord, you're open with others. And when you're open with others, they'll know how they can meet your needs too—your love needs, your emotional needs, your physical needs, even your spiritual needs.
300. So, folks‚ don't let the Enemy drag you down with extra weight or extra problems or extra burdens. Pray today to be relieved of all of these weights, and enter into His peace and contentment so that you can be happy with Him and happy with yourself—clean, healthy, smelling good, and making those around you feel happy and loved.
301. Remember, in order to care for others, you need to take some time to care for yourself‚ and let Him take care of you most of all. And then He'll care for those others right through you in all those fun, filling, affectionate, and even sexy ways. I love you! Stay clean and happy and healthy, and you'll be able to enjoy the beautiful gift of love that He's given us all so freely.
302. By the way, did you know that Jesus looks very good? He has a sexy Bride, and He's always ready to meet her needs with His strong sex appeal! That's just one part of Him, but it's a very strong part, because love is what it's all about! Love is creative, and love is powerful, and love, given in His Spirit, is a vehicle for drawing others to His love‚ and for sharing His love with each other. It's one of the most beautiful freedoms that you have‚ that's been given to you.
303. He revealed to me so long ago that we were to be a sexy Bride, because we have a very sexy Husband and a very sexy God, and you have a very sexy Heaven awaiting you! Not everyone up Here looks like an athlete or a model, but everyone is filled with the Lord and everyone is content and happy.
304. Everyone's very sexy and they enjoy a lot of love with one another! They meet one another walking down the street or flying through the air, and they communicate love through their thoughts, through their eyes, and they meet and hold one another. These embraces often lead to lovemaking, and they draw on the Lord's love. The Lord's love is the most beautiful and creates the most Heavenly orgasms, so they draw on His love to love one another completely.
305. You have a very sexy God, and He wants you to be happy‚ enjoying how He made you and enjoying loving others and giving of yourselves to each other. So you're missing a lot if you let yourself get old in spirit, old in your outlook‚ if you let yourself go in your physical upkeep. If you just give up and let those pounds hang on you, let those clothes stay unwashed, let that body go a little unkempt, you miss out on a lot. You could be enjoying life to the full, enjoying how He made you‚ and enjoying others to the full. That's how He wants it to be for you.
306. He wants you to be attractive to others so that they'll want to be with you‚ so that He can love you through each other. He wants to love you so much! He desires to love you. He desires to give you His seeds. He desires to make love to you, to fuck you. He desires it! He desires to make love, and He wants you to desire it too. It's a spiritual connection there that you can have only when you're close to Him, that no other people on the face of the Earth can have unless they have a touch of this revelation and this reality.
307. So if anything in the flesh is hindering you, causing you to have low self-esteem, to feel like you're no good, ugly, too fat, too this or too that, well, just hear from the Lord. He'll tell you what to do. He'll tell you how He sees you! If any of you older men and women feel like you're going through what they term the midlife crisis and you're not feeling attractive to the opposite sex, ask the Lord what to do about it. Did you know that one of the best preventative measures you women can take to avoid possible side effects of menopause is to get enough sex! It's true! Good, loving sex helps to keep you healthy and happy! The Lord can show you how to sidestep the possible negative effects of the change of life if you ask Him! (Please see GN 738 and 739.)
308. And any of you men who may be going through a slump—thinking now that you're getting older you can't be sexy, you can't live the Law of Love fully because you feel you can't "go" like you did in the past—don't fall for it! I enjoyed lots of good lovin' to a ripe old age! Even if you have to slow down a little, you can still be sexy and loving and satisfy a woman and yourself at the same time, and the women will love you for it! Be open and honest with each other, accommodate each other, and you'll find life will be wonderful! Ask the Lord how to boost your self-esteem. You're all beautiful, you're all handsome, you've all got Jesus, and you can all give a lot of love to each other, a lot of happiness‚ and a lot of fulfillment. He wants to do it for you and through you.
309. Anyway, if for nothing else than just to feel better and live a little longer to do what He wants you to do, to fulfill the commission that He has for you‚ I'd say you'd better start taking care of yourselves—lose some pounds if you need to, get some good get-out, get some rest, eat properly, don't eat too many fats, starches or sweets—and you'll be more what He wants you to be and you'll even be around longer.
310. I love you! You men are handsome and you women are gorgeous, and I'd love to make love to you gals! I'd love to kiss you! I'd love to caress you! I'd like to be right there with you—every one of you beautiful women! Come on, men, be for those women what I'd be if I was there. I love you!—Your sexy Dad. (End of message from Dad.)
#145, 160
(Dad:) This thing about not feeling beautiful and feeling like you're ugly, oh my! If you girls could only understand how the Lord looks at you and what real beauty is all about! He looks at you, and we Here all look at you, and see such radiant beauty—the beauty of your heart and soul and spirit! That's what real beauty is—not that lump of flesh that you are going to leave behind one of these days.
Jesus looks at all those big tests and trials you had to go through with those afflictions, and all those big battles you had to fight and win, and He is so proud of you! You are one of His precious rare and special jewels, and He is polishing you up extra special. Even though it is difficult, you're coming through with a real sparkle and beauty! He's making you an even more beautiful and shining jewel, and He's not done yet!
If you could just see yourself like the Lord sees you, and how beautiful you are to Him, and what beauty He sees when He looks at you‚ it would change your perspective on things greatly!
(Dad: ) I know how it feels to get discouraged about yourself, because I got discouraged about myself lots of times, and thought I was skinny and ugly. But I had to just keep fighting. I had to keep my mind and eyes on Jesus and do my best to love Him and please Him and give His love to others and make them happy. Because of this, the Lord blessed me abundantly with so many people who loved me—even lots of women who loved me more than anyone else, just because I gave them the Lord's love. Then it was Jesus' beauty they saw in me, the beauty of His love.
If you're full of Jesus and His love and you're radiating it and giving it to others‚ others will love you greatly‚ and you will be very beautiful—full of the beauty of love! That's what is most beautiful. That is real beauty and what will make you beautiful!
That's not to say you shouldn't take care of your body and eat right. You need to have a good healthy diet and eat in moderation, and get good exercise and stay in good health. But if you're doing your best to stay healthy and follow His health rules, then you shouldn't worry about it. I know that's something you girls are really tempted to worry about and get discouraged about, but don't let the Enemy use that to defeat you. And remember what I just told you about beauty—that real beauty, the real beautifier‚ is love!
#23, 452
When I gaze upon you, I see not the blemishes. I see not the faults and the failings, for I love you! I love you as a lover. As a lover overlooks the things that others may find fault with because of his love, so it is with Me.
I am even as a blind man who sees no faults or failings, but only sees with the hands, and touches and feels the softness, and smells the cleanness and the perfume, and hears the words of love, and knows just from this that his wife is beautiful and lovely, having never even seen her. Though she may even see herself as homely, he sees not this way. For he feels the love and he touches with his hands‚ and he feels the softness and the beauty. So it is with Me when I gaze upon you. For as one who overlooks the faults and loves in spite of them, so am I. As one who overlooks the blemishes and loves anyway, so am I. (ML #2995)
(Dad:) Don't worry about some physical imperfections; they really don't count for much of anything at all. It's the things of the spirit that count. Don't worry about all of the little things. Instead, just be filled with the Lord! Just give people Jesus, give them His love. That's all you need to give, and then you'll shine with His beauty‚ His love, and His light. None of the rest will matter.
Don't worry‚ my dear one. Just let Him fill you up. Let Him fill you to the full, to overflowing, so that you overflow everywhere on everyone. Then these other things you worry about won't matter at all, because everybody will just see Jesus shining through and they'll know that you love Him. They'll know that He's in you and that you're full of Him.
So just fill up on Him! Don't worry about any of your seeming imperfections which loom so big in your eyes, but which really don't count at all. All that counts is your love for Jesus, your love for His children, your love for His sheep, and your love for the lost. Those are the true riches and the true beauties.
Definition: Those qualities that delight or give pleasure to the eye, ear, mind or heart; loveliness; elegance; a particular grace or charm.
* 1 Samuel 16:7b For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
* Psalm 45:13a The king's daughter is all glorious within.
* Isaiah 28:5 [True beauty, the beauty that God bestows upon His children by His Spirit‚ is eternal.] In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem [crown] of beauty, unto the residue of His people.
* 1 Peter 3:3‚4 [The key to true beauty:] Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
* Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. [See also Luke 11:36.]
* Matthew 5:14–16 [Our eyes should radiate happiness and the joy of the Lord.] Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works‚ and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.
* Proverbs 15:13a [The joy of the Lord is the best "makeup,"] A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.
* Psalm 149:4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with Salvation.
* Proverbs 31:30 Favor is deceitful‚ and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
* Proverbs 11:16a A gracious woman retaineth honor.
* Proverbs 11:22 [Beauty without godly behavior couldn't be any less appealing.] As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
* Isaiah 53:2a He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
* Isaiah 61:3,10 [God is the giver of true beauty.] To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes‚ the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of Salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
* Exodus 34:29 [When Moses went up on the mountain to see the Lord, he returned even visibly changed so that the people were amazed.] And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while He talked with him.
* Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem [crown].
* Psalm 96:6,9 Honor and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. 9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before Him, all the earth.
* Proverbs 1:9 For they [instruction and teaching] shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head‚ and chains about thy neck.
* Proverbs 4:9 She [wisdom] shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
* Ecclesiastes 8:1b A man's wisdom maketh his face to shine‚ and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
* Isaiah 52:7 [Our beauty is enhanced whenever we share God's love with others.] How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth Salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! [See also Daniel 12:3.]
* Acts 6:15 [Stephen, one of the first martyrs of the Early Church, was transformed by the Lord as he witnessed.] And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
* 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
* Jeremiah 4:30b In vain shalt thou make thyself fair.
* Job 15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompense.
* Psalm 39:11 When Thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity.
* Psalm 49:14 [Death and God's judgments take away the "beauty" of the wicked.] Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
* 1 John 2:15–17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world‚ the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
* 2 Samuel 14:25; 16:5‚6 [David's son‚ Absalom, used his charm to steal the loyalty of David's people from him, as he intended to overthrow his father's government.] But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 15:5 And it was so‚ that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance‚ he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. 6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
* Proverbs 6:23-25 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. 25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
* Proverbs 7:10,12-14 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.
* Ezekiel 16:15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. [See also Isaiah 3:16.]
* Revelation 17:1b-5,18; chapter 18 [God's greatest Endtime wrath is poured out on Babylon, the whorish, deceitful, world materialistic System, that deceived the nations with her fleshly beauty and materialism.] Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
* Psalm 42:11 [God paints true beauty on our faces.] Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
* Psalm 90:17a And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. [See also 27:4; 50:2.]
* Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of Salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
* Ezekiel 16:14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through My comeliness‚ which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.
* Zechariah 9:17a For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty! [See also Psalm 50:2; Isaiah 33:17.]
* Ephesians 5:27 That He [God] might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot‚ or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
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