October 4, 2004
(ML #3506‚ GN 1095)
FD/MM/FM August 2004
ML #1006:26-29, Vol.9
26. (Dad: ) I ESPECIALLY AM FOND OF VOLUPTUOUS TUMMIES! I think a girl is much more sexy with a nice big full tummy, especially after having a few babies. If her tummy really comes out in its glorious blooming beauty‚ oh, that's sexy! I think nice big bosoms are sexy too‚ ’ of course I think little ones are sexy as well!
27. LITTLE FLAT TUMMIES ARE NOT BAD AT ALL, I like to stroke them as much as big ones. But the big ones, there's more of it, you know? Like the little boy said about the ocean, "Well‚ Daddy, there's one thing at last there's enough of it!" So nice big bosoms ' nice voluptuous tummies are very satisfying, a real handful, ' those nice broad hips, beautiful derrieres—that's a French word for buttocks for you uninitiated—' luscious rounded curves! Yummy tummy!
28. AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, I'D RATHER HAVE 200 POUNDS OF CURVES THAN A HUNDRED POUNDS OF NERVES! So dear girls‚ don't be afraid to bare the assets—ass-ets I said—as well as all of you, when the occasion warrants. And if you've got it, flaunt it! Praise God! Just because it's a little bit full ' well-rounded ' really blooming ' blossoming ' bulging, don't think it makes you any less beautiful, unless you're just plain too fat!
29. NOW DON'T LET THIS GIVE SOME OF YOU GIRLS AN EXCUSE FOR NOT DIETING ' keeping it down within reason.
ML #3125:44-80, Lifelines 24
44. (Mama:) Now that we're on the subject of beauty and trying to look nice and attractive in our dress, appearance, makeup, etc. (I'm mainly talking to the girls here), I'd like to touch on the other side of trying to look too nice or attaching too much importance to it. Well, maybe some of you girls feel that there's no way you could look too nice, and that you never look nice enough. But maybe that's just because the members of the opposite sex don't tell you enough how lovely you really are. Or maybe you've gotten so overly concerned with looking nice that no matter how good you look, you feel that it's not enough. It can be a real problem, and we've had some girls in the Family get so obsessed with their looks and their weight that they stopped eating altogether so that they could be slimmer and fit into the smaller-sized clothes that they wanted to wear, because of their misperception that they were fat!
45. It's pretty normal for most women, especially as we get older, to feel a little self-conscious if our hips start getting wide and our thighs start growing. There's nothing wrong with any of us trying to do vigorous exercise every day and watch that we don't eat too many fatty foods in order to keep our weight in check if we find that we easily gain; in fact, it's a good idea. But if you get too concerned with it, especially when you're still a teenager or young adult‚ it can get to the point that it becomes dangerous and a burden rather than a blessing.
46. And of course some girls are just naturally a bit on the heavy side and battle with feeling fat—not because of a misperception, but because they are bigger than some of the other girls. But we're all different‚ and there's nothing wrong with being a bit heavier than other girls if that's the way the Lord made you. And there's also nothing wrong with trying to stay fit and healthy through eating smart and exercise. But when it becomes such a monumental concern and is on your mind all the time‚ that's when trying to look nice becomes a problem and even dangerous! In fact, if you stop eating properly, regularly skipping meals in a desperate effort to keep slim and trim‚ it could end up costing you your health, or even your life! Or, if you later find out you're pregnant, it could cost you your baby's life in a miscarriage, or severely affect his health, strength and intelligence once he's born.
47. On the other hand, maybe there are some girls who are truly overweight and need to watch their diet and do more vigorous exercise in order to get down to a healthy level. For them it's not imaginary, but a real problem that they struggle to overcome, God bless them.
48. Since overzealous dieting to stay slim and trim is a problem some of you girls have experienced, I thought you might be interested in reading the following message from beyond that we received from a Christian girl named Mary Kemper, who was anorexic. She tells her story and what caused her anorexia, leading her to an early grave. While I don't think many of you girls have as serious an obsession with beauty and appearance as this girl did, nevertheless you may find this warning about the ultimate consequences helpful in warding off this attack of the Enemy, by which he tries to hinder your usefulness to the Lord.
49. (Mary Kemper speaking: ) There's a saying that beauty is only skin deep. Have you heard it? Many folks know that real beauty lies not on the surface at all, but is inside you. Real beauty, the beauty of the Lord, is much deeper than your outside shell. It's real and lasting‚ deep and eternal, and will last forever. True beauty goes much deeper than meets the eye. But though many people realize this, they unfortunately still base a lot of their decisions about their appearance on skin-deep beauty instead of the true beauty within.
50. It's one thing to take care of your body‚ obey God's natural health laws, and have a nice, neat, pleasant appearance. There's nothing wrong with looking nice. But today things are getting way out of hand. Folks look to the outward appearance and go to extremes to adjust their looks, just so they can be what they think is more beautiful. It's gotten so far out of hand these days that in some places it's even fashionable to use plastic surgery or dyes to snip it, tuck it, inflate it, deflate it, color it—you name it! People don't think anything of it! It really is horrifying, because all these adjustments and attempts to beautify your flesh are designed to destroy you. How smart of the Devil to make it fashionable and the accepted "in" thing.
51. If you only knew how Jesus sees you, you wouldn't want to tamper with your body at all! A normal amount of body care and staying in good health and good shape is good, but tampering with your body and trying to change things that don't need changing is another ballgame.
52. Real beauty is more than skin deep, and all these new and fancy ways to achieve a certain look are extremely dangerous. Fashion is mostly designed for a purpose—to destroy you. Watch out for fashion; it just might strip you of your passion—the passion of love, the passion of the Lord, and the passion to get out there and love the lost at any cost! When you get so bent on all these self-improvement kicks, and so immersed and obsessed with fashion and false looks, it can grow and grow until that's all you can think about!
53. Unless you stop it while there's still time, a process begins inside you of being overly concerned about yourself and how you look on the outside. It's the process of elimination‚ and the target is you. The Devil's trying to eliminate you! He wants to destroy your real beauty so you can't shine and help others. He'll try to hurt and harm your body with all these falsities, all the while making you think you're improving it. He projects these false images and wrong ideas to trap you in his snare, to take you past the point of no return.
54. The physical and spiritual are deeply interconnected. Physical beauty is only skin deep, but that physical beauty is often altered from within. That is why it's important to do what you can to take good care of your body. Your physical appearance can shine, glow and radiate, or it can be dull, haggard and wasted. The spiritual affects the physical much more than most folks think.
55. I never realized this until I finally came Home to Heaven, and that's why I'm here to talk to you now, so you can hopefully learn from my experience. You might be thinking, "Plastic surgery, breast implants, I'm never gonna go that far! Come on now, I'm not that stupid." Maybe so, and I certainly hope not. But you see‚ it's still out there. There are temptations‚ tricks and decoys all around you to entice you if you're unaware.
56. It's all around in many forms, surrounding you in ways you don't even realize—through advertising, fashion magazines, newspapers, the people you see in the movies or on TV—all constantly trying to influence, to mold your thought patterns and tear you down. Movie stars, sports heroes, musicians and rock stars, that beautiful girl on the billboard or that hunk of a man you see in a commercial. Some are genuinely beautiful—God's creations, the way He made them—but many are false images, unreal, synthetic, not natural.
57. When you pass over to this side‚ you will be seen as you truly are—the way God made you, the beautiful real you. Over Here everyone is the way God made them to be‚ because that's what beautiful is. Only the way God made you is gonna shine forth, because He made you a certain way for a reason.
58. God designed each person in a unique way. Wouldn't life be boring if everyone was the same? It's true that some people do gain or lose too much weight because of their lifestyles and ungodly habits‚ or they are affected in some way because of wrongful living. But if each person would live right, eat right, exercise right, and follow the truth of God's Word, if everyone would follow the instruction manual of their Maker‚ then even on Earth they'd be beautiful, just the way God made and intended folks to be. God likes variety. He is the Creator. He made all the shapes and sizes and colors, tall and short‚ hefty and lean, black, white, yellow and red; all are beautiful in His sight.
59. I never personally got into some of the extremes they have nowadays. I never changed my nose or inflated my breasts. I never even colored my hair. I'm guilty of something much, much worse—I starved myself to death!
60. It started out because of fashion ideas that were implanted in my head. It seemed so innocent at first, and I didn't have sense enough to brush it aside, so it grew and grew into a vicious cycle. Because of my pride and my unyieldedness and refusal to get help, my refusal to admit that I was wrong, there was no stopping place. After a while I hardened my heart. I yielded to the wrong voices‚ the wrong spirits, and I took the long, hard road.
61. I was not really overweight, although I admit there were a few times when I went overboard. I'd go on a binge of eating too many sweets every once in a while, after which I could afford to shed a few pounds, or even 5 or 10. There were a few times in my junior high days when I overdid. I ate too many sweets—cakes, pies, jelly-filled donuts, ice cream, and oh, candy bars! I just loved candy bars! Yeah, there were a few times when I genuinely could afford to lose a few pounds!
62. My sweet binges were relatively few and far between, though. I couldn't afford to overdo too often. For the most part, as an active teen, I was doing fine. I was pretty average all around—not too tall, five foot five inches—and my weight went up and down between 115 and 125 pounds (52-57 kilos).
63. My best friend Sally was different altogether. She was tall and thin—the boys called her skinny. Sally was just made that way, though. It wasn't because she didn't eat; as a matter of fact, she always had the appetite of a horse! Not only that, she could eat all those lusty sweets I craved so much and she never put on a pound. I never did think that was fair. Sally and I had different figures—she was tall and slender and I was shorter, more built, and I definitely had a little more padding in the buns!
64. Have you ever heard of a model named Twiggy? She was popular when I was in school. The Twiggy look became the rage. I didn't know then what I know now, and that's how the Devil uses fashion. He creates new trends with a purpose. He'll send out his thought patterns through fashion.
65. Fashion is one of the vehicles that the Devil uses to project false images in the form of a certain look or style. He attempts to shape the thoughts of those ignorant of his devices. His images project certain thought patterns that move people to act or think or strive for a certain thing, or a certain look, a certain thrill. It's all very subtle, but very real.
66. Twiggy was the rage‚ and Sally, my best friend, certainly had the "in" look more than I did. "It wouldn't hurt to shed just a few more pounds to be in vogue," I thought. With the Twiggy look all around on the billboards, on the TV‚ in the movies, and my dear best friend Sally staring me in the face day after day‚ I thought, why not? Besides, I always wanted to shed my extra padding on the rear end and thigh area.
67. So in an attempt to be "in‚" I got a brainy idea: Why not just stop eating for a while and shed the pounds quickly? Crash diets were also the trend, and quick results were what I was after. So I simply stopped eating. I never really stopped to think about long-term effects in those days. All I really wanted was to be able to wear a smaller size and cram my fanny and thighs into a designated favorite pair of pants—the skintight ones. I never once stopped to think about what it was doing to my body on the inside—all I wanted was results on the outside.
68. So I started skipping meals. It was subtle and very gradual at first. The Devil is sly. He gentled me into it with a gradual cutting down of my meals until I was able to get used to it more and more‚ to where I could go for long periods of time with no food at all. The thing is that I never really missed eating so much. I didn't miss it because I yielded to this driving force that was egging me on.
69. After a while you just sort of get to the point where you hardly feel it any more—at least you think you don't feel it. Your stomach shrinks and you don't feel so much. You can't see what is going on inside of your body until you get past the point of no return. It was downhill from then on, until I was a confirmed, full-fledged anorexic.
70. Although I was no expert on the subject of food and health, somehow I knew in my heart that to abuse my body by just not eating was wrong. But I was driven with the desire to be fashionable, and the more I yielded to that desire, the more I lost conviction.
71. I never meant to stop eating altogether, forever. I never meant to kill myself; in fact, that thought never entered my mind. All I knew at first was that I wanted to look a certain way. It seemed innocent in the beginning, but my point of reference was all wrong‚ and this is where I got way off track. I was getting hit with all the wrong input around me and I soaked it all up. I started actually thinking I was fat, when I was never really fat at all. I thought I had to be like someone else, instead of just accepting I was me—the way God made me.
72. With my clouded vision, I convinced myself that I was fat, I was too heavy, and I wanted to be skinny. The more weight I would lose, the more I wanted to lose. Deaf to all the good intentions of loving family and friends around me who would prod me to eat, I just couldn't see it, because I was blinded. When I looked in that mirror I actually thought I was still too fat‚ because I couldn't see the real me. I saw an image that was planted in my mind—the image of how I thought I needed to be—skinny!
73. If you don't receive the truth, you get strong delusion and you believe the lie. I didn't receive the truth of Jesus, that He made me the way He wanted me. So in my rebellion and disobedience to God's natural laws, I received strong delusion. Every time I looked in the mirror, that's what I got—strong delusion. Truth resisted loses its power over the mind, and that's what happened to me. I rejected the truth of God and received the lies of Satan.
74. I believed the lie—the lie that I was too fat! Too fat by whose standard? What I was seeing was the Devil's beauty. I listened to his lies and I was deceived, until I became a pitiful deformed figure of bone and flesh—a distorted, distraught, shallow shell with sunken, empty eyes. That's the beauty of Satan. I was deceived into thinking that the ugliness of Satan was okay. My eyes had no sparkle. They were empty and dark and glazed over. I was the sad state of what Satan has to offer. Empty, pale, exhausted and worn, I simply wasted away and silently passed into the world of the spirit way before my time. Mary Kemper, dead at age 17. A sad, sad tale.
75. Do you know what the word anorexia means? Maybe it has little meaning to you, but watch out, because the name is derived from its author—Orexis. He's out for keeps. Just as Oplexicon seeks to stop the life-giving flow of the Words of life, Orexis, his companion, seeks to stop the life-giving flow of fuel to your body. Orexis seeks to bottle up your body fuel and the nutrition that you need to keep you going, vibrant, and alive. Orexis seeks to starve you and destroy you and your usefulness to help others.
76. It could have been different for me. I could have received help and been delivered from this disease of anorexia. I could have lived a while longer on Earth and helped others, instead of causing so much grief and pain. But I made a willful decision to listen to the wrong voices. I listened to the lies of Orexis. I let the dark voices in. I just gave up. I didn't hold on. I didn't ask Jesus to help me. He could have. He would have.
77. Don't let it happen to you! Remember that God made you the way you are, and He is not the author of extremes. If you are on the thin side, but you eat enough good balanced meals and you put enough fuel in your body‚ then don't worry about it if you're a little thin. If you're on the heftier side, but you eat smart and cut out unnecessary fat and fluff, the grease, and too many sweets and empty calories, and you don't stuff your gut with the Devil's poisons, then don't worry about it if you have a little padding that others don't have.
78. If you get enough good exercise, proper sleep and fresh air, if you live, eat, exercise, and sleep right and obey all God's health laws and rules for good living, then don't worry about the way you are! He's the maker of the tall and slender, the short and hefty. He shaped you with His Own hand and put all the curves and handles in the right places! Stay fit and take care of your body by obeying His health rules! Live according to His health laws and you will be beautiful. You'll shine the way He made you to shine. The only beauty that will last forever is the beauty of the Lord, the way He made you and the way He wants you to be.
79. Jesus has healed me now. I'm delivered. It hasn't been easy, though; going before your time never is. It's been a hard and long recovery. It would take too long to tell you of the grief and pain I caused others, and that I've had to endure myself. You wouldn't want to go through the same. That's why I wanted to share my story with you. Won't you please take my advice? Beware of the fashion lies! Don't fall for the tricks of Orexis! Go God's way! Take care of your body, obey His loving laws and enjoy life. (End of message from Mary Kemper)
80. (Mama:) Like this girl said, each one of you girls is God's creation, and He made you just the way He wants you to be. You're beautiful in His sight and He delights in you just the way you are! If you find you're having a problem with always being negative about yourself and your looks or your weight, or thinking that you're overweight when you're really not‚ call out to the Lord for deliverance‚ and He will help you! Like this girl testified‚ she could have been delivered and able to eat that very day had she called out to the Lord. Nothing is impossible for Him! And remember that while it's natural to like to look pretty, and even beautiful‚ it's pretty insignificant when measured up against the more important values of life, like your love and your beauty of spirit.
ML #3209:271-310, GN 812
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.)
ML #3253:1-72, GN 858
Is Skinny Beautiful?
1. (Mama:) Not long ago, I received the following heartbreaking letter from a senior teen girl. Not only does she talk about such things as gossip, ostracizing people, and some young people's bad attitudes about sex, but also about a serious eating disorder called bulimia that is reportedly fairly prevalent with young women in the Family, at least in some Homes or areas. This is a serious problem in the world today‚ along with another common eating disorder, anorexia. Together these conditions are causing serious health problems or even death in many young people through self-imposed starvation. Here are this young woman's candid views on the subject:
(From a senior teen girl: )
2. Some of the stuff going on amongst the teen group and even quite a few JETT girls on this field is quite off. People have this mentality that you have to be so skinny to be beautiful. They will go to almost any length to get that way. The hard, ugly truth is that most of these girls, some as young as 12, are becoming bulimic—they chuck up everything they eat. Even though this is very hush-hush and the shepherds, parents, and anyone else wouldn't have the slightest idea it's happening, if you're a teen girl‚ you know!
3. A few months back I went through a time when I was always worried about my appearance and what people thought of me. I was never thin, and I'm more your average "Plain Jane." I'd get really discouraged and down on myself, because no matter how hard I tried, I was never accepted or thought of as "in" or "cool." I think what caused me to feel that way was the way people judge or segregate. There are all the top‚ beautiful "queen bees" and their little boyfriends, and then there are the low, ugly little nerds like me, who they all talk about.
4. Gossip is major big—like way‚ way too much. The boys will freely make fun of us ugly ducklings and size up different girls as to who's the prettiest, the thinnest, who are the fat and ugly ones, who's had the most sexual experience, and those with lack of it, etc. You can never live up to their expectations. They have this high standard of a super thin, firm, toned, Barbie doll. It just gets sickening after a while.
5. I don't even know where to start as far as what the girls talk about. It seems to me, from my past experience, that they want you to be miserable and make you feel lower than the dirt under their feet. That's how gossiping can make you feel. The Devil would constantly hit me with negative thoughts like, "Oh‚ I'm so ugly and good for nothing. Nobody likes me. I'll never be used of the Lord in any great way. I'm so fat, I might as well keel over and die!"
6. It got to the point that all I'd think about was how I looked, the exact amount of calories I'd intake, how many more kilos I just had to lose in the next week, and so on. I was miserable. It was a total bondage.
7. I don't want to come across as Miss Perfect or self-righteously point a finger here, but thank the Lord I finally had enough of all that. I figured, "Look, this is the way I am! I'm definitely not perfect, but this is the way the Lord made me! I can't change the way I am, so I won't try. If anyone has a problem with that, well, they can go knock themselves out!"
8. Letters like "I Love You—Just You!" and the '98 Feast mailings on jealousy and comparing were an absolute lifesaver—just what I needed at the time. Comparing was my middle name. It was very real, and totally took me over. Anyone I saw I would compare with.
9. The From Jesus—With Love book was so timely. I can remember sitting out on our balcony and crying bucketfuls over different things that were being said about me. But that book was perfect! I would flip it open and there would be something totally relating to the situation, as if it were written, packaged‚ and sent just for me! It was wonderful! I felt so loved.
10. Then little by little, I started trying to get prophecies for myself, and the Lord was so encouraging and wonderful, I really flipped out! I found myself in this whole new world where petty things like what people thought and said about me didn't matter anymore. I just wouldn't let them get to me. All that mattered was the Lord and the Family. I was just happy to serve Him. Whale or no, for the first time in a long time I was truly happy!
11. I grew a lot closer to the Lord through the whole thing. Thanks to the Lord, the Letters, and some very loving, understanding adults‚ I somehow got the victory!
12. I'm very concerned for the junior teens, JETTs, and anyone else who might be going through the same things I did, because people don't always accept you for who you are. You feel you have to carry around this image. People have their different looks: The boys are really into their clothes, brand names, and wearing their pants so low their butts hang out. If you mildly suggest they pull up their britches, they look at you like, "Hello, welcome to the twentieth century—it's my style."
13. I guess because teens want to be accepted, it's like, hey, anything to get laughs. I don't think the teens realize what an effect we have on the younger ones, especially if you're "in," "cool," or "beautiful." Teen girls get together and talk about how "fat" they are and the different diets they try, how so-and-so is fatter, thinner, prettier, and so on. Ugh!! It starts to grow on you until you can never lose enough; you'll always be a little too fat. If you weigh even a little over your standard unattainable "twig," you really must starve yourself. It's simple, "If you want to lose weight, just don't eat. And if you do eat, just get rid of it; chuck it up!"
14. I can understand how you feel if people are telling you this kind of stuff and you're surrounded by it. The more you think about it‚ the more "desperate" the situation seems‚ until you're stupid enough to try almost anything to get quick results.
15. People have come up to me and said, "Try living on liquids for a couple of weeks. It really works. I'm telling you this as a friend, but you really need to lose some weight." Gee‚ thanks a lot! I'm sorry, but common sense tells me that if these girls are throwing up after every time they eat, there's bound to be some irreversible damage to their insides! And what about when you get pregnant? Your kid might turn out with something wrong with it—that is, if you don't lose it first! Am I right or am I right?
16. I'm sorry this has turned out to be such a gruesome tale of woe, but maybe if you print something on the subject, they'd be more inclined to have second thoughts. When I tell'm‚ they look at me like, "Yeah, a lot you'd know, Fatty." The JETTs and juniors here are a real sweet bunch of kids, but it's really sad that they feel they have to try to be something they're not, just so others won't label them as geeks or dorks. Most people probably don't mean to be this way, but no one will buck the tide or stand up to anyone.
17. Please don't think I'm painting the whole picture black, I really quite love everyone here. The adults especially are great, I love'm all. They're always there for you through thick and thin‚ and God knows where we'd be without'm.
18. I'm really sorry if this has been a bit of a bummer for you to read—I just had to dump it on someone. I love you heaps and pray for you often. Thanks so much for everything you do for us. Even if it sometimes seems you've run into a brick wall with us teens and our trips, know that it's not in vain; someday, by God's grace, we'll get the point. (End of letter from senior teen girl.)
19. (Mama: ) I'm so saddened to hear that some of you girls are suffering from this terrible bondage of the Enemy‚ and trying so hard to be thin that you damage your bodies—not to mention the terrible effect that putting so much emphasis on the outward appearance has on your spirit, in many cases making you plain miserable and depressed!
20. I'm so happy for this dear girl, that the Lord helped her to find freedom and deliverance by just accepting the Lord's love and accepting that He made her the way she is!
21. This problem of eating disorders affecting some of our young people was confirmed by a mother in another Home, who wrote us shortly before this GN went off. She had no idea we were addressing this topic, but her comments echo those of the teen girl above. She wrote:
22. For some time now I have been very concerned about the number of young girls in our area who have eating disorders or are borderline. Some of my own daughters have had battles with both anorexia and bulimia. What helped one of them get the victory was when she read about the dangers of bulimia. She said it scared her so badly that she found the strength to get desperate and stop.
23. In just the past couple of months another one of my daughters has become anorexic. She was overweight and did need to lose some weight, but it went too far and now she is so thin she looks like a skeleton.
24. In thinking, praying and discussing it with some other moms, we realized how many of our girls, from as young as OCs through SGAs, are almost obsessed with a desire to be skinny. A few of the girls here are very thin, to the point of looking sickly. Then the girls who are normal weight feel fat and piggy in comparison, so go through big trials and begin dieting. Sadly, it filters down to the children‚ who then worry about their weight (although they usually keep eating).
25. I can honestly say that it has been the minority of girls that I have met in the past few years who are not worrying about their weight and what they are eating. Many girls I have known throughout our area go on diets ranging from vegetarian to I don't know what. Of course, most of them can't get the special foods they need to follow these diets correctly, so I'm sure they end up being deficient and having unbalanced diets. In some cases their periods stop and you know they are not going to be in good shape to bear a baby in the future unless they really turn around.
26. Funny thing about it is, many of them, no matter how vigilant they are about their weight, are not averse to eating junk food. Or some only want to eat seafood (some of it being unclean), since it's low fat. There are numerous diet "trips," but the underlying theme is "get skinny"!
27. It seems like a real sign of the times. The word "anorexia" was coined only 12 years ago according to some research we did. It seems like another trick of the Devil to try to destroy life, or if not that far, destroy health and trip our girls off by getting them so engrossed in their bodies and diets. (End of comments from mother.)
28. (Mama:) Lord bless and keep our dear precious young people who are suffering from such eating disorders! Here's a message we received from Dad after reading the letter from the teen girl above. I pray that this will help others of you who are caught in such snares of the Enemy as this girl described to see the light of the truth, to be able to accept yourself and others the way the Lord made you, and to enjoy and be happy with it! Ask the Lord to open your eyes and help you learn what true beauty is all about!
29. (Dad speaking:) What a sad story! This is a real tale of tragedy! If only you girls who are into this trip would realize the road you're going down! What delusions of the Enemy, what blindness he's sent your way!
30. This business of barfing up your food or of starving yourself—bulimia and anorexia—is a quick path to self-destruction! Bodies weren't meant to run on air—or just water, coffee, juice or a few minimal raw vegetables—they need fuel! You have to eat healthy if you want to be healthy, folks!
31. I shouldn't have to get into all this, because I've said it before. You can read it in the Letters. You can read it in the Childcare Handbook. For goodness sakes, you can read about it in the newspapers and hear about it on television—and you should! You should read about some of the gory facts‚ and maybe that'll wake you up and shake you up and help you see that this "thin" trip just isn't the way to go.
32. There's nothing wrong with being thin if you're that way naturally, but there is something very wrong with going to ridiculous and unhealthy extremes to make yourself skinny if you aren't that way naturally—or to make yourself even skinnier when you're already a twig. Why worry so much about what you look like and what weight you are? I know you girls want to keep yourself attractive, but you are. Getting so into your appearance just makes you self-centered rather than Christ-centered and only serves to lessen your attractiveness.
33. This trip down the road of destruction starts with some real screwed-up attitudes about what's beautiful and what is sexy. True beauty starts with the spirit, not the flesh. It's the spirit that gives life and joy and beauty and happiness! Have you girls read "Revolutionary Women"? If all you remember from that Letter is that I said I'd prefer 200 pounds of curves to 100 pounds of nerves, you'd do well to read it again, because you're missing a lot. There's a lot in there about what true beauty is, and it's not just my opinion but the Lord's as well. If you have any doubts about that, why don't you ask Him yourself?
34. You know‚ it's not just me‚ your old Grandpa, who feels that way about women, who likes some curves and flesh on those bones. Even some of these young teen guys who say they want their girls all twiggy, I'll bet you anything a lot of them just say that because that's the accepted thing to say.
35. If they're honest with themselves, most guys will admit that true beauty, sex appeal and attractiveness are not at all based solely on whether a girl is thin or not. Everybody has their own ideas of what "thin" means‚ of course, and a very overweight girl is not usually what turns a guy on. But for goodness sake‚ there's quite a range between the super skinny and the overweight, and if you're anywhere in that nice medium range, you've got great potential!
36. God made you the way He likes you, and He gave you a certain body type and general weight range. It's one thing if you've messed yourself up through improper care—which, sad to say, some of you have—but in most cases, He's made each of you young women and men beautiful and healthy. Now I know some of you folks are probably going to say, "But the Lord didn't make me the way I am. I'm fat, and I made myself that way! So I need to lose weight and I want to take drastic action to do so." Okay, let's talk about this.
37. First of all, who says you're fat? Are you really overweight, or has the idea just been drummed into your mind by your diet-crazed peer-pressuring friends or the media? If you're not sure, find a friend or older adult who you know will be honest with you and ask them to let you know, with all love and honesty. After all, some people simply have bigger bones and larger frames than others, and the extra weight may just be in your mind. If you're still not sure, ask the Lord. You know He'll tell you whether it's in your mind or not.
38. But suppose it's not, and you do need to lose a few pounds. Well, you're not going to shed those pounds overnight, just like you didn't put them on overnight. You'll lose them gradually‚ and the best ways to do so are the old tried and proven methods that have worked for thousands of years: Eat less, especially of fattening foods, and exercise more. If you're not sure you can control your eating, have a friend make your plate for you. And if you're having trouble being faithful with your get-out, have someone remind you of that too. Please, don't starve yourself, folks! Those of you who starve yourself for the sake of a rail-thin look are going against His plan, and in the end you're neither beautiful nor healthy.
39. If you quit eating altogether or keep the nourishment from getting through in one way or another, your body is eventually going to just shut down. You're not going to see the results immediately, and if anything‚ at first you'll think you've gotten great results. "Wow, I'm skinny and beautiful now, and all the boys like me. I've got a cute boyfriend and I'm just having a real high time!" You've got to realize that you can't just live for the moment, though. That's a common problem with young people. Even just a few years down the road, you often really regret some of the decisions you made or the things you did without even thinking about the consequences.
40. You may think that it's going great guns now and you may see no need for concern. You may think you'll last long enough, and you may not even be concerned about the health of the children you might have in the future—either because you may think you won't be having any kids anyway, or because you're just so selfish you don't care. But you've got to start growing up a bit and thinking ahead, realizing that the way you feel now and the things you enjoy now aren't necessarily the things that are going to be your priorities for life.
41. You know what the saddest thing about this trip is?—That most of you who are so into it are so into it that you're not into anything else! Let's face the facts here: What are we in the Family for?—It's for Jesus, for souls, to reach the lost with the Gospel. Anything that gets you so wrapped up in yourself that you get your eyes off that goal is dangerous. That's why the Devil sends these worldly attitudes and devices your way.
42. Besides this obvious problem with your eating habits, these worldly attitudes about beauty and looks reach their tentacles into other areas as well. It all turns into a very cruel and cutting game, when those of you who think you are really "hot" or "cool"—however you put it—start preaching your lifestyle to others and even pushing it on them. When you do that, you're hurting people in one way or another. You're either getting other like-minded kids to join you on your merry way to self-destruction‚ or in other cases you're really hurting and making life miserable for those who don't fit into your little mold—those who you consider not "thin" enough or "beautiful" enough, who you look down on and even gossip about or criticize and mock to their faces.
43. It's really a pretty disgusting attitude that some of you young people have toward your peers. If only you could have the Lord's love and see others the way He does. Maybe they're not your ideal of beauty, good looks or charm, but every person has something very beautiful, very valuable, very unique and precious about them. Sometimes you have to look below the surface, but that's where the most precious treasures are.
44. Right now, some of you think of life as fun and games, even looking at sex and relationships as a game, and other people's hearts as toys. You may not even realize it, but if you'll step back and look sensibly at how you're acting, if you'll stop thinking about yourself for just a few minutes and put yourself in the shoes of those around you, you'll realize that you've stepped on and squished a lot of people. It's time for it to stop, and also time to apologize to those you've hurt.
45. Folks, there's real freedom in humility. There's so much fear and bondage and such a weight and cloud over you when you're struggling to live up to the ideals that you think are expected of you by your peers. You know who the happiest people are?—Those who just accept themselves the way God made them, who learn to be happy with what they have and to not care what others think.
46. If you were honest, I think you'd admit that you really admire people who have the guts to be themselves—to live right, live healthy, and have their priorities straight. Of course, those who make such decisions and take such stands often face loneliness battles and a feeling of terrible isolation from others around them, which is really sad. It's tragic and pitiful that within our own Family there are these cliques or clans that shut others out, especially on the basis of their looks or their style. Lord help us to be the Family of Love that we're supposed to be!
47. Those of you girls who are entrenched in these unhealthy habits, I want to let you know that the best time to get set straight is now. The longer you wait, the harder it is to recover. If you've been abusing your body by not feeding it, then the longer you wait, the more damage will be done to your insides. There's only one way to lose weight safely, and that's slowly, by eating smaller portions, by watching it on the sweets and snacks, and by exercising. Any dieting beyond that is hurting your body and is a problem that needs to be remedied.
48. If you've been into this trip for a while already, it's going to be difficult to overcome and start eating healthy again—but it's not impossible. You should ask for prayer and help from your shepherds and others in your Home. The Lord can help you. He can give you the strength and the guts to change your lifestyle and to forsake these habits that have gotten a grip on you.
49. Bulimia and anorexia are vices, nervous disorders, addictions. They're like drugs or smoking—hard habits to kick. But nothing is impossible for the Lord, and He can do it if you put your will on His side.
50. You need the Lord's help to overcome these problems, because bulimia and anorexia are more than just physical eating disorders. Even the world recognizes that‚ and they call them psychological problems or mental disorders. But they're even more than that. Overcoming these addictions is a spiritual battle, a battle against the Enemy.
51. The Devil is not only the enemy of your soul‚ but since the Lord has put you in this earthly body and made it His temple‚ the Devil is also the enemy of your body‚ and he and his demons are out to damage and destroy it however they can. This is one way in which the Devil has deceived and deluded thousands of young women around the world into throwing their lives away. You may think you'd never commit suicide, but really, if you get obsessed and oppressed with these eating disorders, you're embarking on a form of slow suicide.
52. So don't go foolishly throwing your life away over some worldly trip, but give your whole self—spirit and body—to the Lord and His service. You're the temple of the Holy Ghost and God's Spirit dwells in you‚ so treat that temple in the way you know the Lord wants it to be treated‚ amen?
53. I've spelled out the rules for healthy living from A to Z, and so have zillions of health experts around the world. But all our talking doesn't do any good if you don't listen. So please listen!
54. I beg of you, for your own sakes, take heed to the advice and counsel of your elders, of those who have seen the results and bad fruits of unhealthy living, and who are proof of the benefits of a Godly, healthy lifestyle. (End of message from Dad)
55. (Mama:) Please do, dear Family! You're very precious to us, and we can't bear to see you, our loved ones, weakened or sickened by such eating disorders. You're beautiful to us just the way you are. Please don't compare your weight or your appearance with others. Here's another message Dad gave along those lines‚ to another teen girl who wrote us:
56. (Dad speaking:) You know, I didn't like the way I looked either. I thought my nose was too big and that I was too skinny and ugly. I had quite an inferiority complex about that, especially when I was young, and it took me a long time to get over it. Part of it was pride, part of it was comparing. But then as you grow older, you realize it really doesn't matter. You understand that the Lord made us the way He wants us, and made us the way we are because He loves us.
57. He loves you the way He made you, and we're all beautiful in His eyes. We're all unique and special. In His eyes there is no ugliness no matter what we look like. The only ugliness is in trying to destroy what He has created. But if you want to please Him and make Him happy and me happy, then you have to do everything you can to take care of yourself so you can win others.
58. You're one of my precious teen queens and I have none to spare; no, not one. I need you and the Lord needs you there, not Here, at least for now! And there are some pretty lonely teens out there who need you too, and who are waiting for you to help them. So do it for them and for Jesus, okay? You're gorgeous! I love you! (End of message from Dad.)
59. (Mama:) Please take heed to Dad's wise counsel in the messages above. You're each beautiful in your own way‚ and you need to ask the Lord to help you appreciate yourself and your body and be thankful, even if you think you have some imperfections. "In all things give thanks." Dwell on the positive, not the negative; the doughnut, not the hole. Pray against comparing and negative thinking. The battle against bulimia and anorexia isn't just a physical one; it's spiritual as well‚ and can best be won with the Lord's help and strength!
60. Here's some wise counsel from Dad on appearance and self-esteem which he gave several months ago in the "Law of Love" series:
61. 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.... If you're close to the Lord, you're handsome and you're beautiful‚ because His love and His light shine through.
62. 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!
63. 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. (ML #3209:291, 293-294, 297, GN 812).
Some Facts and Figures
65. (Mama:) I'd like to supplement Dad's talk with some facts and figures we've researched about the serious physical results of bulimia and anorexia, and the diets and attitudes that lead up to them.
66. It's reported that eating disorders are often foreshadowed by "innocent diets." Once dieting careens into an eating disorder, a girl (or boy) faces serious health problems‚ including stunted growth, menstrual cessation, even heart problems. Five to ten percent of long-term anorexics actually die from the disease, giving it the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric illnesses.
67. Besides the obviously bad effects on your body, these illnesses—because they are spiritual, as Dad said—have a very negative effect on a person's mind and spirit and their attitude toward life. One research group found that pessimistic thinking is reported in 71% of bulimia nervosa patients, impaired concentration in 60%, lassitude (weariness, diminished energy, or listlessness) in 51%, sadness in 51%, sleep disturbance in 35%, inner tension in 35%, inability to feel (blunting of emotions) in 28%, and suicidal thoughts in 17%.
68. As the dear girl who wrote me brought up, it's common that bulimics attempt to hide their problem. They may eat normally with other people, but binge and purge in private. Observant family members, roommates‚ or friends who suspect bulimia should look for warning signs: a chronically inflamed and sore throat that bleeds, decaying tooth enamel caused by frequent exposure to stomach acid that results from induced vomiting, and swollen salivary glands in the neck and jaw which makes the face look puffy.
69. If you personally battle one of these potentially life-threatening disorders, please follow Dad's counsel to ask for prayer, which is the key to overcoming these serious disorders. Ask for and accept help from your shepherds, parents, and friends, too‚ who love you and want to help you be happy and healthy.
70. Also remember that we're our brother's keeper‚ and if you don't battle such problems yourself but you have a friend or sister or brother who does, it's your responsibility to reach out to them and do your part to help them be delivered from the clutches of the Enemy. Please let their parents or shepherds know. Encourage them to ask for prayer‚ and also tell them how beautiful and special they are, and how much they mean to you.
71. Do what you can to help others feel loved and appreciated for their good qualities and pleasant attributes, rather than awkward or out of place because of whatever physical lacks or imperfections they might have. Nobody's perfect, but everybody's beautiful or special in one way or another.
72. Let's be a loving Family and take good care of each other, and good care of ourselves so that we can be of some use to the Lord and others, amen?
Parts 1-4‚ ML #3390–3393, Post-it GNs
Please see online copies. Not included here because of their length.
ML #3402:153-174‚ Post-it GN
Dieting and Keeping Extremes in Check
153. (Mama:) One of the manifestations of Bacchus's influence is in extreme dieting and eating disorders. Both Pan and Bacchus play a role in creating false illusions in the minds of those who are suffering from these conditions.
154. I urge those of you who are struggling with eating disorders to seek the Lord for His counsel on how you can be delivered. Ask Him to expose the devices of the Enemy in your life! The Enemy is out to kill you, or at the very least make you so miserable and wrapped up in yourself that you're no good to the Lord or His service!
155. We love you and need each and every one of you, and can't afford to lose even one of you to this horrible device of the Evil One! Please, folks! It's not a game! Recognize the Enemy for who he is, and start fighting!
156. (Jesus speaking:) The desire to run back to your crutch of dieting to make you feel better about yourself is one great way in which Bacchus works in your life. Pan gets it started by making you feel depressed, and then Bacchus calls you. He pulls you with his tentacles back into the muck and mire of dieting and the vicious cycle that it is. You have been cutting his tentacles, fighting and praying, and you must continue to do this.
157. But the true victory lies in overcoming the hold that Pan has on you, and then you will be able to stay away from Bacchus completely. Bacchus has strong power over you in the area of dieting, but only when you open the door to Pan, for Pan comes in first in your life. Then when you open the door to Pan, you start feeling the tentacles of Bacchus weaving their way around you. If you don't fight them, you're caught again. The longer he holds on, the stronger and thicker his tentacles grow, until you're overpowered again.
158. You've come this far by faith—don't let him in! Keep Pan at bay through prayer and the laying on of hands‚ and then you will find that full victory will come to you because of your faith and willingness to ask, seek, knock, and receive My healing power for you.
159. It is your natural inclination to take anything to an extreme, to hold on to the thing that you want and do it and do it and do it. This is also something that Bacchus uses in your life. It starts out as something that is part of your nature, which, when turned to good use, is a great tool in My hand, for you have spirit, fervor, and drive to do what you're told or what you know I want you to do. You do it with your whole heart. But at the same time, when not turned to good use but when turned to self-destruction, it is a great hindrance in your life, and makes your walk with Me, your physical health‚ and your life a misery.
160. So you must always pray over each new decision that you make, to be sure that it is in line with My will, and that you will not take something too far, for extremes are your weakness. You do not know how to keep something in check. You saw this clearly in your anorexia: Once you decided to diet to an extreme‚ it took only a few short months and you were nearly dead.
161. You must be prayerful that you do not allow Bacchus to play upon this area of your life—of putting your full will and energy and time into any given thing—which I would like to use as a strength, but which he would use to destroy you. So keep your heart stayed on Me and check all of your actions, thoughts, and deeds by Me to make sure that you're not taking anything too far to any extreme, and I will help you and keep your actions in check by speaking to you or making it impossible for you to be extreme in the wrong direction.
Recovering from the Grip of
Bacchus Addiction to an Eating Disorder
162. So far you have held on to some Huddersfield in your heart. You have not yielded fully, and thus you have not been able to grab onto and receive the full victory I had waiting for you. All My promises are not without conditions. Just as you want the full power of the keys to avail yourself of My full resources from the spirit world and to receive My full angelic force to help aid you in this battle‚ you must first make the step towards yielding and receiving. That is the condition of the power.
163. You have been plagued by these two impostors [Pan and Bacchus]. These two demons‚ though they come in sheep's clothing, have been ravenous beasts‚ both on your spirit and your body. Your mind has been viciously attacked and filled with these two, and you let them in freely. You did not notice them at first, and therefore did not fight to get help and cleansing right away.
164. Your mind was clouded by the ways of the flesh and you entertained them, for they were deceiving. They didn't seem so bad to you; at the time your convictions were weak.
165. And because you were weak in My Word, they took advantage and have done so for a long time now. Other little things allowed [this problem] to grow much bigger too, other influences or others' views. Others' ways have also added to this. But you failed to weigh them up right away and compare them with My Word, discerning right from wrong. You fed on each thought, each idea.
166. You drank in each doubt‚ and they eventually became a part of you. And so there is no question as to why it is now a much more difficult fight in the spirit. All these spirits you have let in now feel they have the right to be in you and a part of you, distorting your vision‚ confusing your mind.
167. Yes, even now at times you will feel like you want them to stay because it feels good to you. The Evil One works deceitfully and very cunningly; that is why you must be so on guard and aware of his tricks and evil plans. You have become so confused and don't even know what to believe anymore.
168. You can't see clearly what My standards in healthful living and keeping a healthful balanced diet are anymore, for you have been seeing as they see, how the world sees—things so distorted and contrary to how I have created and made life to be, and your bodies to be—a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Me, your reasonable service. That is why you encounter periods when you don't want to eat for fear you will gain weight. Then one moment later you can be stuffing yourself and feeling totally out of control.
169. You're not your own, for these beasts have taken over parts of your life that have been off guard and full of pride, full of self, self-consciousness, self-mindedness, self-effort and selfishness.
170. You have to take what is My will by faith and by the faith and instruction and counsel of others for now. This is your complete healing and your complete surrender. Will you now yield and just let go? This is the total yielding that I have been talking about.
171. You must now fight to see as I see, and be willing to admit you need to gain weight and regain your strength by taking extra time to stop and rest, and also by receiving help from others. You have not been able to make it alone, because you have been holding on to trying to do it yourself.
172. You now need to humble yourself fully and keep your heart and mind cleared from the Enemy's lies and distortions and take in what others tell you. Don't even try to figure it out or reason it out, but take it by faith to be the truth and My sure word of instruction to you. This will be your complete healing.
173. My dear‚ follow these simple steps to recovery if you want the full healing and cleansing I am speaking to you of:
Feed from My Words whenever you feel a negative thought enter your mind.
Don't just quote a little Scripture, but fight it with all you've got. You don't want them sent to the end of the property, but you want them sent to the bottom of the ocean.
Go call on your support group to pray with you often, to help fight with you.
Each thought that comes, you must expose it and be honest about it, so that there is no room for it to come back. This will destroy it right then and there.
Plenty of thoughts will come, for the Enemy will be vicious and persistent, but it will be something different each time. This is why it's so important that you trust My Words when I say that it's a lying vanity. You have been unable to tell right from wrong because you have been confused, but I will speak to you on this.
Don't start questioning it or figuring it out, but send it far away immediately.
This is the victory—if you can begin to see and realize when it's a lie and it's the Enemy coming in.
If it causes you to be unhappy and miserable, thinking about yourself, then you know it's wrong and not of Me. If it feeds your pride, if it keeps you from yielding to the help and counsel and instruction of others, it is not of Me.
Read and soak yourself in My Words. Don't ever feel condemned in doing this, for this will be your lifesaver. And whether you feel like it or not, whether you see the time for it or not, whether you understand it or not, you must do it.
Take times off for intercessory prayer—prayer for others and prayer when you cry out to Me with all your heart.
Spend sweet times in the bed of love with Me. I want to hear your heartcry, your deepest feelings, and desires. I do see them, but I want you to express them to Me in words—even the simplest words that you feel most comfortable with. For I see your sincerity, even though you feel you lack all the vocabulary you may need. Expressing it in words will use your mind, your heart, and your mouth, so the Enemy will have no room whatsoever.
Making time to relax with others, too, will keep your mind occupied and away from thinking of yourself. Though you may be tempted to see this as a waste of time, I say that it's definitely worth it. It will show that you believe and trust in Me, in My power to take care of all the rest.
Of course you must confirm each plan with Me first‚ as you wouldn't want it to be just an escape route or a distraction from My highest and best plan for you. But if you are faithful to yield to this, then I will bless you with happy times and happy occasions with others, spirit-filled experiences.
Your schedule may be quite messed up. Your highly organized ideals and plans will need to go. A patient in the hospital has no plan of their own. You will be told to go and rest and take some time off‚ when maybe you want to be working at your desk. You may want and fight to keep your mind busy at your computer, but I may ask you to forsake it for a little time. This‚ My dear‚ is yielding and doing the humble thing, that which I ask of you‚ for I know it will do you good.
174. If you are faithful to willingly let go of what you think may be better, I will grant you your heart's desire in making happen what is the very best. I give the very best to those who leave the choices with Me, remember?
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