Karen Zerby
GN 1115 FD/MM/FM / Feast 2005
Praise and Promises
By Maria FD/MM/FM 3524 12/04
Dearest Family‚
1. Praise and honor and glory be to our wonderful Lover‚ Who has brought us through another year!—And it's been a big year too! Our WS Homes have been busier than we've probably ever been, and I know you probably feel the same way. So much is happening and changing—but they're good changes, strengthening changes. We're making progress, the Family is being strengthened, and just the fact that we're still here and can celebrate the Feast together again is a real cause for celebration and praise to our awesome Husband! Peter and I are so proud of each of you‚ and proud to be fighting together with you to win this war!
2. This Feast promises to be a milestone. It's going to be very different from most of the Feasts we've had in the past, and as I explained in the introduction, instead of it being a time in the temple when He gives us new revelations or shows us new spiritual truths, this time He's asking us to pull up our sleeves and be ready to do some good hard work together to strengthen our Homes and make some solid forward progress. He called this our "wartime" Feast, as we're all working hard to restructure and strengthen the Family. We still have a ways to go, so the Lord wants to use this Feast time to propel us forward and help us to gain new territory.
3. He's given us a good outline for the meetings, as usual‚ and a plan for how to use this time, but making it a reality will require hard work on each of your parts. Your schedule for the next three days will be full. Each board workshop covers big topics, and will require your focus and concentration and prayerful discussion to come to good conclusions. But the Lord has promised that not only the conclusions you come to, but the experience of discussing and praying and working through these issues together is going to be a milestone, something that will help strengthen your bonds as a team, solidify your convictions, and get you moving even more quickly down the road of progress toward your goal of becoming a winning team! It's going to be exciting!
4. Peter and I will be praying for you, and we know that our wonderful Husband will be making available all the spirit help and power and anointing you need! So don't fail to ask for it and use your spiritual weapons! That's how we're going to win this war. In fact, that's the only way we're going to win—by fighting it in the spirit. That's where our big guns are! In the flesh, we're all just frail men and women, like the rest of the world. We can't meet the challenges‚ solve the problems, or do the impossible by ourselves. We can't do all that is necessary in order to be shining witnesses in this dark day. That's way too much for us!
5. But in the spirit, we have weaponry that can blast the Devil to Hell‚ cut through any obstacle, propel us over any mountain, and give us strength that we know not of! That's how the Lord expects us to be the Endtime witnesses, the strong and uncompromised children of David, His ecclesia!—Not by some strength or goodness of our own, but by using the spiritual gifts and weaponry He's given us, and calling on our many helpers of the spirit who are here to fight beside us and lighten our loads. If we don't use the tools He's given us to do the job, we're not going to make it. It's as simple as that.
6. So‚ to get this Feast started off on the right foot, this night is dedicated to rousing praise‚ which will defeat the Enemy right off the bat in the spirit. We'll also strengthen our faith with some fresh promises from our Husband about the days and meetings ahead of us. Are you ready? Are you ready to wield your weapons like a pro?
7. The Lord has given some new inspiring ideas of ways to praise Him, some of which you'll be using in tonight's meeting. After reading the remainder later, I think you'll want to try them all at some point, and you can use them as praise primers for devotions, Home Council meetings, Bible classes with your Active members, etc. Have fun!
8. Before you start the praise exercises, take a minute of silent prayer and ask the Lord to help you leave your pride behind, and get into these with your whole heart. You might also want to call on the Eleria, our personal guardians of the Revolution who can help to free you from your pride and all that would hold you back, and give you the freedom of spirit you desire. If you can really get out of yourself‚ and especially if you can all get out of yourselves together, I think you'll really enjoy it and will feel a tremendous difference in the spirit. It will be wonderfully uniting and inspiring! It's always hard to get started‚ it's humbling to do these things, and especially if you're the first one or you aren't used to using the new weapons wholeheartedly in front of others, it can feel embarrassing.
9. For your encouragement, I asked the Lord to remind us of some of the benefits that we reap through participating in these types of humbling‚ public expressions of praise and loving Him together. I understand it's very difficult for some of you, so I wanted you to have some fresh encouragement about the benefits!
10. (Jesus:) I love all forms of your love for Me and praise to Me—whether quiet or public. I love the intimate moments we share together as lovers, that are just between you and Me. I love it when you silently direct your thoughts to Me—when, even though a lot might be going on around you, we connect in spirit and become one.
11. I also love the times when you join together to love Me as One Bride. I love it when you can declare your love for Me aloud. I love it when you get free in the spirit and don't care about anything else but loving Me and praising Me. It's so good for your spirit when you forsake your pride, and put everything you have—your body, actions, energy‚ enthusiasm, voice, imagination, expression—into using the new weapons, singing to Me, praising Me, or whatever activity of the spirit is taking place or called for at the moment. It benefits you tremendously when you seize those opportunities!
12. (Mama:) After reading that list, I believe you'll want to make united praise activities and opportunities to enjoy the freedom of the spirit and use the new weapons together a regular part of your devotions, classes, and Home meetings!—And the more you do it‚ the easier it will get!
[Text box:]
Note to the person(s) leading this meeting: At the end of this GN, you'll find the list of praise exercises the Lord gave. Feel free to use them as the Lord leads you throughout this meeting—doing a couple now, and maybe some interspersed between the following messages, and another one to close—or whatever time allows and the Lord shows you to do.
[End of text box.]
13. (Jesus:) This is wartime and you're probably all feeling it a little—or a lot! You've gotten a lot of new instruction over the last months, the Family is moving ahead with the restructuring, and it's dawning on you how much work it's going to be to make it a reality in your Home. It can seem a bit overwhelming when you look at all the criteria and think about trying to apply every point to your already busy and stretched Home. You wonder if you'll ever get your Home to the stage where you'll pass the Home reviews with a good grade. And then you wonder if you do, if all you'll be doing is taking care of your Home—if you'll even have time for anything else. Then you look at the harvest, which is white and ready to be reaped, and you feel even more overwhelmed.
14. But take heart, soldiers! As I told you in an earlier GN, this is a busy and difficult time—not because you're not cut out for the task ahead‚ not because you can't do it or it's too much, but simply because it's wartime and it's a crucial moment, a defining moment in Family history. You're fighting for the survival and progress of the Family. It's not just you, or your Home, or your battles—it's all-out war, and each Home needs to hold their part of the front against the Enemy, so each Home is feeling his onslaughts. It's part of being the Endtime church and getting your house in order for the multitudes that I will bring you!
15. Never lose sight of the final goal! The goal isn't to be in these intense wartime battles forever. It's to get through them, to rout the Enemy, and then go on to conquer his territory in a major way! This is just par for the course‚ part of getting to that stage. So buckle up, soldiers! Put on your armor and be ready to fight!
*
16. (Jesus:) It's extremely important to conduct these workshop meetings in the spirit‚ for everyone to be personally prayed up, and fight to keep things positive‚ loving, praiseful, and working toward unity. Make it a point of honor to present things as lovingly as possible. Make it a point of credit when someone says something positively and praisefully, rather than negatively. Make it a major personal goal to react to your mates and co-workers with respect and appreciation for their points and contributions. You can do it. These workshop meetings can and will be successful as you all fight together toward these goals.
17. It is important that goals are reached and conclusions are come to in each of the meetings. But the way you reach those conclusions, the discussion or process of "getting there," is equally as important.
18. You're bonding as a team. You're setting guidelines that will either help you become an effective winning team or won't. You're setting the pace for how future meetings and discussions will go. If you show yourself open‚ if you fight sensitivity and really work hard to see the other person's viewpoint‚ if you all study the Word together and fight for unity and oneness, these workshop meetings will do far more for your Home than just helping you establish guidelines. They will bond you together, they will be a shared experience, a time of heart sharing and doing the humble thing in front of each other, asking for each other's help, admitting your weaknesses and drawing on each other's strengths. These meetings are a perfect opportunity for your team to really "become one" in spirit.
19. So don't let yourselves get rushed or pressured by the amount of work or topics to discuss. Don't let yourselves fall into pushing things through‚ railroading decisions, or leaving anyone out of the discussions. Really become a team through these workshop meetings.
20. As you call on the keys of love, humility, faith, and perseverance, as you begin each meeting with prayer and praise, and fight to get in My Spirit and leave your own thoughts behind, you will feel the difference, you will have what you need to become one with each other, and you will have made a good step toward becoming the winning team that I want each of your Homes to be.
*
21. (Jesus: ) I am the Challenge Giver, because I know each challenge you face is your helper. A challenge is what keeps you alive! It keeps the old young, and the young brave! It keeps all of you stirred up, moving forward, and accomplishing My goal! Without a vision the people perish; without a challenge you will sink down into a horrible pit of lethargy‚ self-satisfaction, and ultimate defeat.
22. Although you are accustomed to taking time out during the Feast to refill, rest‚ and relax in My arms, this year I ask you to rise to a new challenge! The times warrant it, for continued forward progress must be made.
23. Over the next three days you can expect hard work. You will have to meet, discuss‚ deliberate, counsel together, pray, and make decisions. As a result, your faith will be tested. Sacrifices will need to be made for unity's sake, and for the sake of obedience to upholding the high standard of My Word. This will take a large measure of love, prayer‚ humility, and open, honest communication. It will take faith and determination. It will take hard work and fighting together in prayer.
24. The Enemy will fight this time. He will not take these workshops lying down. He will try to enter in, in any way he can, with every trick in the book to try to dissuade you from stretching your faith, from putting forth the time and effort needed to make these workshops a success. He will try distractions, tiredness, lack of focus, discouragement‚ condemnation‚ sensitivity, hurt feelings, and all manner of roadblocks to try to prevent you coming to solid, united, prayed-through conclusions. But what is this to you? As you put your faith fully in Me and in the power of the keys, as you fight with the powerful weapons you have access to and have learned to use over the years, he will not succeed!
25. No device of Satan can stand against the power of the keys! You can face this task with the knowledge that with the power of the keys you are capable, because I am capable and I will see you through.
26. I'm calling you to make war! Declare war on the Evil One, who would like to slow you down and impede your progress.
27. As you share your hearts, discuss, pray, and seek Me, you will know My mind. I will give you My perspective on matters, and you will find solutions!
28. As you allow your faith and abilities to be tested, these three short days will go a long, long way in catapulting you into the Family of the future, and your Adversary will be set back.
29. The keys of courage and daring will help you to take this plunge by faith! The keys of obedience and total abandonment to My will, will bring you the satisfaction of new accomplishments, and you will be greatly blessed. Your spirit helpers Change‚ the Eleria, the Knights of Victory, Illuminus, Ellya, Styrian, and many others are standing by, ready to assist you when you call on them, and through their anointing and gifts it will be possible for you to attain what I have asked of you.
30. Fear not, but embrace this challenge, My loves, for I‚ your Challenge Giver, know what you best need. Let this time encourage your hearts and move you out into good things! Have faith, My brides, knowing that the obstacles you must overcome, the battles that must be fought and won, and the problems that need solving, are your helpers!
31. Launch out into the deep, keys in hand, trusting Me, and these workshops will prove to be a great thrill for you!—Because this is My will! Because I will see you through! Because you will rise and overcome, and the new Family will become a reality!
*
32. (Dad:) These are days of preparing your house, upping your standard, and seeking the Lord for how to become the disciples He's called you to be. Preparation is not always easy. It takes time and obedience and effort, and it's easy to wonder what all the fuss is about, why the need for a total revamping.
33. As I told you many times while I was with you, the Lord loves change, because He uses it to keep you stirred up and on your toes. But more than that, change keeps you at the forefront spiritually. With change you can't afford to grow lax and comfortable; you have to be prepared for the unexpected‚ ready for anything‚ flexible, and on guard, and those are traits the Lord loves to see alive in His disciples.
34. There will be sacrifices that each person will have to make to enhance the unity of your Home‚ but those sacrifices will be worth it—completely worth it. You'll be a far more formidable foe against the Enemy through this time of preparation and obedience. Your happiness and joy of the Lord will escalate‚ and your present levels of productivity will pale in comparison to the rocketing new heights the Lord will take you to.
35. What's a little personal sacrifice in comparison to the tightknit, productive, effective, on-fire‚ 100%-dedicated team of disciples the Lord will transform your Home into? Nothing! You'll look back and see that there was truly no comparison to the wonderful changes that were brought about through this time of counsel‚ prayer, and getting the Lord's perspective and view on things.
36. Even though this Feast isn't the usual time of spiritual refilling, there will be just as many spiritual and supernatural personal benefits for each of you as with other Feasts. In fact‚ for many of you, the fruit of this Feast will be even more profound and dynamic, because it won't merely be you as an individual making commitments to move forward, but you'll be striving for progress and living the standard of the Word together as a team. You'll have the united incentive to move forward, and that will be a driving force of outstanding improvement—personally, as a Home, an area, and on the international scale. The Family as a whole is going to be infused with a new burst of life and fruitfulness from this Feast.
37. It's beautiful to watch the Family embrace the path of change, even when it's difficult and requires more of you. It's this willingness to change that makes me so proud of the Family, not just as a whole, but each individual who is committed to change and make a difference. That's what keeps the Family a revolution—the ability to change. Yes, it's a purge, but the spiritual cleansing you receive in return makes it worth it.
38. You're building for the future with this Feast. You're redefining many things in your personal lives and Home standards, and it's all going to be for the best. You're helping to strengthen the Family; you're fighting to preserve your calling as His elite, His called-out disciples‚ His chosen few.
39. Thank you for being willing to open your lives to change, even at the cost of personal sacrifice and surrendering of your own will and preferences. You're going to reap such wonderful blessings in your life, and in your Home, and in the Family at large from this. This is your step into the next level of growth; this is the next grade. Hallelujah! (End of message.)
40. Claim the keys of grace when the sacrifices are hefty, and you will experience My comfort and peace in your heart, you will be reminded of the rewards of those sacrifices, and you will be filled with the determination you need to keep going.
41. Even if you usually have a hard time expressing yourself or communicating with others, if you call on the keys and are willing to do the humble thing, My Spirit will fill you, and you will be able to share your heart in humility and express yourself clearly.
42. The keys can take two opposite ideas and help them join together in perfect balance to fulfill My will.
43. Claiming the keys of unity, coupled with a personal desire and willingness to do whatever is necessary to achieve unity, is a sure recipe for success.
44. No matter how impassable a problem seems, how complicated a scenario, or how delicate a discussion topic, the keys can bring perfect sense and solutions when you call on them in faith and unity.
45. Claim the keys of objectivity if you're tempted to be personally sensitive during honest discussions‚ and your spirit helpers will have more power and authority to bring things to your mind that will help you to see things clearly, objectively, and with My perspective.
46. (Mama:) Thank You‚ wonderful Love, for those faith-building promises! I know you're going to do very well‚ dear Family, as you follow this counsel from our Love. Remember to use your spiritual weapons at every opportunity. Fight in prayer before each meeting. Use your praise weapons to keep the Enemy at bay so you can really make good progress. And don't neglect the powerful weapons of love and unity, which will be crucial in making these meetings a success.
47. Go out of your way to be appreciative of one another, to start and end each meeting with hugs and kisses and touches of love, to show respect and appreciation for each person's point of view and contributions to the meeting. Think about what strengths each person brings to your Home and discussions‚ and build on those.
48. Remember, these discussions are not only for the purpose of reaching the goals, or coming to the conclusions that are necessary, but the process of discussing and sharing your hearts and praying together is a milestone for your Home as you work to build your winning team. So give attention to the whole process—not only what you say, but how you say it, how the meetings are conducted, how the conclusions are reached.
49. The Lord will bless and honor your obedience, and this Feast will be a fulfillment of the Lord's promises. He will use it to strengthen your team and propel you forward! Praise the Lord! I love you, and Peter and I are praying vigilantly for you during these important days.
Much love in our mighty Defender and Leader of our troops Who has gone before us in this battle,
Mama
(Jesus:)
1) I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. You can pull examples of My miracles from the Bible and read them in a fresh, new way. Act as if you're hearing of My miracles for the very first time. [Note: See MOP 2, pages 1207-1209, for a list of the miracles of Jesus.]
Someone could pull a piece of paper that says‚ "Wow! Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after he had already been buried for three days!" Then you can praise Me unitedly for that miracle, and not only that‚ but then you need to appropriate that praise for yourselves, for your era of action.
As I said, I'm the same today as I was then, therefore you need to praise Me for that power which is still present. It might take some faith, but for example, you can praise Me like this: "Thank You, Jesus, that through Your power‚ we can raise the dead!" Or, "Praise You, Jesus, for the power You give us to heal the sick/walk on water/multiply our food, etc."
That way you're not just praising Me for what's past, and making the mistake of relegating My miracles to just the Gospels and the Bible, but you're praising Me in faith that I can do and still do those miracles for you today.
2) Have a "though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" praise. It's a good way to really defeat the Devil and throw his murmurs, worries, and fears right back in his face by turning them into praises to Me. Mention bad situations, and then proclaim for all your brothers, sisters‚ and all the devils and angels to hear how you would still praise Me anyway.
For example, "If a hurricane came and took the roof off of our house and we had to spend many nights in a shelter, I'd still praise You, Jesus, because You'd use us to witness to the many other homeless and despairing people and You'd win a big victory out of a seeming defeat."
You could choose some everyday scenarios, and some more far-out and drastic ones, showing how in each case you would turn every defeat into a time of praise, knowing that I will always help some good to come out of it. Not only is this a real praise testimony, but it also prepares you mentally to always have that praising attitude in hard times.
3) This is a persecution prep kind of praise: Have people name as many different times that they can think of that enemies of My children tried to snuff out My work and bury My Words, but they always failed. You don't necessarily have to say‚ "Praise You, Jesus‚ that..." as you're not praising Me specifically here, but you're glorifying My power and protection of My church, and glorifying My Words and their everlasting guarantees.
You might say, "They tried to stamp out the Early Church through martyrdom, but it only grew and multiplied." And then someone else says, "They tried to put us in prison in Argentina, but we were all released and again the victory was ours." Then, "They tried to ban Your Words in Communist Russia, but that system fell and we and others came in and filled the void with a flood of truth and love."
That kind of praise is very faith-building for you, and something that I always love to hear. I love to hear you recalling My mighty acts, which Psalm 150 says you should praise Me for.
4) For a praise that doesn't require as much thought and imagination‚ you can pull praise phrases from the Psalms and the Bible, real short ones such as‚ "Who is like unto You?" and "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised," etc., and give everyone in the meeting one to say. (Tip: Use the "Wild Wind" tape for ideas of which verses to pull from.)
Then have everyone stand together in a tight circle for unity, and praise Me all together with hands upraised. Then have everyone randomly quote their praise phrases while you keep your hands raised to Me. Try to chime in with lots of "Amens" and "We love You, Jesus" kind of things so that it's not just a dry reading of each person's phrase, but a real love feast to Me while you're all gathered together in a passionate praise circle.
Depending on how long it goes, it may be unrealistic for everyone to keep their hands upraised the whole time, so be Spirit-led. I don't want anyone to be tired and distracted. The main point is to be on fire and passionate about your praise phrases to Me, and to enjoy the unity of being gathered together as one.
5) Have some time of praise for different aspects of the Family, and then put that aspect into practice. These should be written praises‚ not long, but prepared ahead of time so they flow. What you do afterwards should also be prepared ahead of time.
What you'll do is prepare praises that have to do with what is unique about the Family, and then a quote or exercise to do afterwards that goes along with that praise. For example‚ a praise could read, "Thank You Jesus for the Word that we're privileged to receive in the Family," and then you would have a quote for the person to read from the Word, something radical, something awesome‚ and then praise together.
Another example is, "Thank You, Jesus, for Your Words in prophecy, directly to us," and then the exercise is everyone opening their channels to Me and asking one or two people to receive a few words from Me. You would want to encourage everyone that it doesn't have to be long or a real "complete" message on anything in particular; just get something from Me—nice and simple—to demonstrate the awesome gift you're praising Me for.
You can praise Me for your unity, and have each person turn to those beside them and say a few uniting words, thanking them for being their brother or sister and saying that they're proud to stand alongside them. You can choose other aspects of Family life too that you can actually put into practice there and then.
The last one should be, "Thank You, Jesus, that we can love each other freely and without reservation," and you should hug and kiss and love one another.
I like this because you're not only telling Me that you appreciate these gifts and aspects of your life, but you're showing Me that you like and love them by putting them into practice right there and then. It's very positive and will get people in the spirit.
6) Do a kind of skit or re-enactment of the "Beggar Bride" prophecy. If you don't have too many people, you can have everyone in the meeting do this, or you can just pick a few if you're lots of people.
Since there is no male or female in Christ Jesus, you can all, boys or girls, be Jesus for each other. Have those who will do this little skit be an even number, and pull their "roles" out of a hat or bowl. Half the slips should say "Jesus" on them‚ and have a little "From Jesus with Love" quotation about My great love for you and all that I'll do for you. The other half should have a little written praise prayer, with the emphasis on humility, neediness, and desperation for Me.
Those that drew the praise prayers are the beggars, and they should sit down. Then one "Jesus" should come up to the first one in the line and the beggar can reach up to the person playing Jesus and praise their praise prayer, really saying it as unto Me, as this is just a little visual representation. Something like, "Oh, Jesus, I need You so much! Without You I can't do anything. I'm so weak, so foolish, so nothing, and I keep making mistakes and can't do what I need to do. I need Your power in my life, and more than anything, I need Your love."
Then the "Jesus" should take the beggar by the hand, pull them up, hug and kiss them (try to pair up male/female as much as is possible), and then read their "From Jesus With Love" excerpt. Repeat until all the beggars are pulled up.
Close with some united praise to Me, using the little skit you just saw to help you to really identify with the beggar brides that need Me so desperately and praise Me accordingly.
7) This is more of a "Loving Jesus" type event, and may not be classified as "rousing" or be as good for the opening of a meeting, but it is a fun idea and something which I'd like.
I always like people to exercise their imagination of Me, and while it's important to "walk by faith, not by sight," I do like you to have spiritual-type experiences which encourage you to shut off your earthly senses and open up your spiritual ones.
The idea would be to choose a "Loving Jesus" song to play quietly in the background (instrumental might be less distracting), and then have the person leading or preparing the meeting write, or receive from Me in prophecy, a short script to go for the length of the song, to kind of guide everyone's imagination, with the goal being that you're taking a short spirit trip up to Heaven to meet Me. [Note: You can download the BMTs and minus ones of some of our LJ tapes from the audio section of the MO site.]
If you just said for everyone to think about that while the song is playing, most people's minds would start to wander before the end, so the script is to help people focus. It would simply be a bare outline. For example, at the beginning it could say, "Okay‚ close your eyes and picture your spirit leaving your body and flying up out of the atmosphere, and up through the stars and zooming toward Heaven." Then you can be quiet to let people picture that part. Then say‚ "Now you've arrived in Heaven and have appeared directly in front of Jesus' beautiful mansion." Then more silence for each to picture that.
You don't have to give details; just let people's own imagination fill it in. Keep going like this for the duration of one average-length song. You don't want to make it too long for the sake of those who may have a problem seeing or imagining anything in the spirit. It's just something to get your minds on Me and on Heaven. You can have the script go something like going to Heaven, arriving in Heaven, meeting Me, hugging Me and being welcomed in My arms, speaking the words on your heart to Me, hearing a few of My Words for you—letting Me tell you something special, and then flying back down to Earth and arriving back in your bodies.
You don't have to stick exactly to that order, and you can throw in extra things if you want, but that's a general outline. As I said‚ that isn't so much a "get you all stirred up" kind of praise idea; it's more a way to get your thoughts on heavenly things‚ to leave the earthly plane behind, and to let your spirit spend some special personal time with Me.
8) Have a chain reaction of praise! Use associations to build a big long sequence of praise and see where you end up. One person should start the praise, and then call the name of someone else, with that person praising Me for something that the previous person's praise brought to mind. You'll be surprised how praising Me for one thing will remind you of more, and on and on until you've started a real chain reaction of thanks.
It's also neat to see the topics that you can cover simply by relying on your thoughts of association. An example:
Person 1: Thank You, Jesus, for the good food You supply.
Person 2: (Thinks of cooks) Thank You, Jesus, for ______, who is always so faithful to prepare it.
Person 3: (Thinking of cooks makes him think of the other ministries in the Home‚ so he praises:) Thank You for the teachers and those who so faithfully pour into the children.
Then person 4 might think of the kids and praise Me for them.
Person 5 thanks Me for the miracle I just did of delivering the new baby.
Which makes person 6 think of another miracle of healing, and you've gone from food to healing with a lot covered in between.
And who knows? If you're in tune with the spirit and praying that I'll fill you with My spirit of praise, I may just be able to "influence" your thoughts to remind you of things and guide you toward all sorts of interesting praise topics.
9) The praise-o-meter: This is one you could do if you're sure the noise you make won't bother your neighbors, or you could adapt it to be a very quiet, yet passionate‚ praise activity. Appoint someone in the meeting the official "praise-o-meter" and tell them that they need to discern the power of your collective praises on a scale of one to ten. One would be a pretty weak praise, and ten would be a mighty, bring-the-roof-down praise. Then start praising together, priming the pump‚ shouting out verses, love words, praises, thanks, songs—whatever you can think of to raise the level.
Have the praise-o–meter person call out how you're doing. For example, as you're getting more on fire, call out 5, 6, 6½, 8, etc. He or she should be aware if the praises start to die down and indicate that too. Try to hit a 10! Remember, though, if you're the praise-o-meter‚ no group can hit a 10 right away‚ it takes some good priming of the pump and real freedom of the spirit to hit a perfect 10, but it can be done!
Pray before you start that I'll give the praise-o-meter person wisdom and heavenly discernment to feel the power of your praises. Some of you might feel that this method of praise might tend a little toward the "vain repetition" type, and it's true that while some people might repeat things, it's okay, as the goal of this method is not originality or uniqueness, but passion, fire, fervor, and enthusiasm. It's what Natalia talks about when she says to get so full of praise that it just bursts out of you, free flowing and powerful. That's the "critical mass" of a perfect 10 score.
10) I love your praises! I love them when they're loud and fiery‚ and I love them when they're quiet and personal. So an alternative to the loud and passionate praises can be a quiet‚ intimate, silent praise. But to prevent your mind wandering or having trouble thinking of topics, have topics passed out ahead of time for each person to praise Me for during the portion of silent praise. They can be things like, "Praise Jesus for a lesson He's taught you recently," or, "Praise Jesus for a way that you've felt His love manifested to you recently," and things like that.
There doesn't even have to be a unique "praise assignment" for each person in the room, as since it's silent, no one will know the difference. You can have as many or as few as you want. Try to have some variety, as I do like to have praises on lots of different topics. These are just to help guide your thoughts as you praise Me.
11) Glorify Me in song! Have an inspiration, or simply play songs from Family albums, where praises are interspersed between each song. The praises can even be on the same topic as the song. For example, sing "Gonna Live in a Golden City," and then praise Me for what you know awaits you in Heaven.
12) Stretch your faith and praise Me in tongues. Then a volunteer can pray a prayer of praise in tongues, and someone else can receive the interpretation.
13) Ask Me for brand-new key promises about praise especially for your Home. You can receive them on the spot unitedly, if you have the faith, and I will honor your faith. Or, you can receive them quietly‚ with everyone writing them down on slips of paper, and then read them afterwards.
14) Read a Psalm, and between each verse, praise Me for something that verse reminds you of. For example, if you're reading Psalm 1‚ the first verse says: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."
Someone in the room may then be reminded to praise Me that you are separate from the world, or praise Me that I have called and chosen you and you're My disciples, saved from the System.
Most of the memory Psalms would work well for this, such as Psalms 1, 2, 8‚ 19, etc., but there are many others that provide a variety of praise-triggering topics.
15) Here's one that should help you have a fun and even slightly humorous time praising Me. Go around the room and praise Me in the following format:
Person #1 calls the name of someone in the room and then says, "If I were ________..."
Person #2 (who was just called) says, "...then I'd praise You, Lord, for _______."
For example, Frank says:
"Sally."
"If I were a squirrel..."
Sally completes the sentence with:
"I'd thank the Lord for nuts."
The next person says:
"Mary."
"If I were running from the Antichrist forces..."
Mary says:
"…I'd praise You, Lord, for the get-out guidelines in the Charter."
Have fun and use your imagination to give Me praise and glory!
16) Briefly talk about a miracle I have done for you during the last year and have someone else in the room say a short prayer of praise specifically for that miracle. The miracles can be both great and small‚ for I love to hear you thank Me for any variety of them.
17) Have everyone in your Home who can play the guitar (or any other appropriate instrument) sing a praise song. There are plenty of short praise songs or choruses for those who feel less musically talented.
18) Praise Me for any of the many spirit helpers you especially appreciate personally. You could praise Me for ones that have been published in the Word and help the whole Family, or you could praise Me for ones that I've revealed to you personally that help you. Include in your praise what they do for you, or what you are thankful for about them. For example, someone might say, "Thank You, Jesus, for Einstein, because I really need his help teaching the children!" Or, "Thank You‚ Jesus, for Natalia, because I so need her to help me remember to praise You often!" Or, "Thank You‚ dear Love, for Change, whose help I really need during these days of revolution and strengthening!"
(Mama:) The Lord instructed us to ask Him for some short declarations or statements of faith that you can use in the opening meeting, or throughout the Feast, as the Lord shows you. The idea would be that everyone has a copy and can say them emphatically together, or one person can say the first part, and everyone else answers with the second part.
1. Jesus has called us, He has changed our lives, and through us He'll change the world!
2. Jesus wants to hear us and answer us today. He wants to do miracles through us, create the Endtime army He needs, and deliver the power of Heaven into our hands. Help us not to fail You, Jesus!
3. If He's said it, we're going to do it! If He's asked us to obey, we're going to go all the way!
4. Obstacles won't stop us, challenges won't scare us. We are David's mighty men, we are conquerors, and through Jesus and the keys we'll win!
5. Full obedience is our goal, and no sacrifice is too great compared to the rewards of that obedience! We refuse to let Satan steal away our place as God's Endtime Army! We're determined to obey, come what may!
6. What we couldn't do before we can do today because we have the keys and all the power of Heaven at our command. We command it, we claim it‚ we stand on it now as we launch into a new day where obedience to Jesus is our creed, reaching the lost our mission, and loving our Husband our greatest desire.
7. United as one, we pull out our spirit guns—run‚ Satan, run!
8. Victory is ours! We will never give up! Empowered by the keys, we will now triumph!
9. Heaven's power is ours! We are strong in His might! We go forth in full faith with the victory in sight!
10. We value our unity, we treasure our bond of love, and we are ready and willing to fight to maintain it and build it together!
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