KEYWORDS: lord, bottles, faith, things, god, way

Art of War, The--Part 5--Letter Links: New Bottles / Old Bottles

Marie

FD/MM/FM October 2005

NEW BOTTLES / OLD BOTTLES

"A Wonderful Wave of Worldwide Witnessing," ML #154:46-48, DB5

46. (Dad:) I love those aged and venerable old bottles, but some of them are going to have to get out of the way and make room for the young new bloods who are stronger and more pliable spiritually, more humble, more zealous, more on fire and more inspired by the future than resting on the oars swapping yarns about the past.

47. THEY SAY THEY CAN TELL YOU'RE GETTING OLD WHEN YOU START LIVING IN THE PAST INSTEAD OF THE FUTURE! At that rate, we have quite a few oldsters around who are still bragging about past glories, when they ought to be forging fiercely into the future and letting the dead bury the dead. They also say you can tell how old people are by the way they quit struggling! At that rate, neither my Mother, Father or Grandfather ever grew old, 'cause they were all doing battle to the very end! "There's no discharge in this war!" (Ecc.8:8)—no actual retirement!—Nobody ever arrives to where they can start coasting on boasting of past achievements!

48. IF YOU'RE NOT OUT THERE WITH THE YOUNGEST OF THEM IN THE THICK OF THE BATTLE‚ YOU'RE A HAS-BEEN!

"Old Bottles," ML #242:1–11‚15-18,25-35,37‚ DB5

1. (Dad:) To stay alive, everyone must have movement! There must be CHANGE, MOVEMENT, MOTION, and the signs of LIFE are principally manifested by MOTION, ACTION! There are only two directions in which you can move. THERE IS NO STANDING STILL. YOU ARE EITHER MOVING FORWARD OR BACKWARD, which is backsliding. So if you're not progressing, if there's any disciple who is not making progress‚ he is already backsliding‚ and any leader who is not making progress is already a backslider, because if he's not going ahead, he's going backward.

2. Every movement has to have constant change, revitalization, movement, action to stay alive!—There's plenty to keep us alive and moving till the Lord comes! Just because we have Homes in many countries of the world, some people think we've arrived: "Now we've got Homes in all these countries, there's no place to go.—There are no more worlds to conquer!" They say ALEXANDER THE GREAT DIED WEEPING THAT THERE WERE NO MORE WORLDS TO CONQUER!—The big joke was that he hadn't even begun to conquer THIS world!—Half of the world hadn't even been discovered yet!

3. So the reason some of these people sit down and quit and begin to sit back and fall out, is simply because they have lost their vision. And when they lose the vision they lose faith. And when they lose faith they no longer have any initiative to do anything. Backsliding is the reverse of pioneering, and when you stop pioneering you start backsliding. So these people who stop pioneering because they no longer have any faith to take the initiative, to do something different or pioneer a new field, it's because they have lost the vision, and WITHOUT A VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH. They backslide and sink back into oblivion.

WHAT MAKES A PIONEER and WHAT MAKES A BACKSLIDER!

4. So when you stop pioneering it shows you have lost the initiative. Any army which ceases to attack loses the initiative, and attacking initiative is what wins a war. IT'S GOING ON THE INITIATIVE, TO THE ATTACK, THAT BRINGS VICTORY! The minute any army stops attacking and just settles down, it will be defeated, because the Enemy will then launch a counterattack.—Or the army's very IMMOBILITY and ITS VERY LACK OF VISION and PROGRESS and INITIATIVE WILL CAUSE IT TO HAVE A LOSS of faith in its own cause and to quit and give up without even losing! This is one of the Devil's favorite tactics. THE DEVIL CAN NEVER WIN. THE ONLY WAY HE CAN GET THE VICTORY IS TO PERSUADE YOU TO QUIT‚ that you have a hopeless cause, so you might as well give up and quit and surrender and leave the field to him.—It's no use, he says.

5. That's the only way we can ever be conquered, if we stop attacking and give up and stop having the faith to take the initiative, stop attacking and winning new publications, new disciples, new tactics, new fields! Then you are doomed to defeat. You've already lost. ANYONE IN OUR RANKS WITH THIS ATTITUDE IS ALREADY LICKED BECAUSE HE HAS LOST THE BATTLE OF THE SPIRIT! He's given up and fainted in his mind and his body will soon faint with it and he'll quit and backslide. YOU'LL GO BACK DOWN THE CHAIN REACTION IN REVERSE FROM WHAT MAKES A PIONEER and you'll stop pioneering because you have lost the initiative, the spirit and courage, because you have lost faith; and you've lost faith because you've lost the vision!

6. What are the four things that make a pioneer?—First of all VISION! Because of the vision you have the FAITH. Because you have the faith, that gives you the COURAGE, and therefore with the courage you take the INITIATIVE and you PIONEER and make PROGRESS! Now if you STOP pioneering, it shows you have lost ALL these things. Why have you lost the faith and the courage?—Because you've lost the vision! Without a vision the people perish! If you're defeated, therefore, and your surrender and YOUR BACKSLIDING CAN BE TRACED ALL THE WAY DOWN THE LINE TO YOUR LOSS OF VISION, WHERE did you lose the vision?

7. How do you lose the vision?—Somewhere there's been a break in the contact with the source of power. Somehow these backsliders HAVE LOST TOUCH WITH GOD, direct personal intimate contact with God, that direct hotline!—They've gotten out of touch with it somewhere. Now in every Bible Kingdom God always had a prophet and always used some man, God's man. If the people have lost the vision, just like turning a television off, it's because somehow or another THEY'VE GOTTEN OUT OF TOUCH WITH GOD, SOME BREAK HAS COME IN THE CONNECTION OR THEY'VE LOST THE VOICE OF HIS PROPHET. What is the people's connection with God? Well‚ each can have his PERSONAL CONNECTION. If he loses that, he's in bad trouble. But he can still have THE PROPHET. His individual TV set can go off and he can personally lose the vision because of his break, but that doesn't mean the station's quit broadcasting. The power's still there and all he has to do is tune in.

8. What's our connection with God? Well, God has so seen fit and chosen to choose for you A VOICE and A MAN THROUGH WHOM HE SPEAKS TO GIVE YOU THE MESSAGE, WHICH GIVES YOU THE VISION, WHICH CREATES THE FAITH, WHICH GIVES YOU THE COURAGE TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE TO ATTACK and PRESS ON and PROGRESS and CONTINUE TO GROW! But I dare say a good many of our BACKSLIDERS ARE PEOPLE WHO LOST TOUCH WITH GOD and/OR ME! THEY GOT OUT OF TOUCH WITH GOD'S MAN and THEREFORE OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE MESSAGE He had given the man to give them.

9. That's the trouble with some of our leaders. They've gone as far as they want to go and they're stuck in a rut, not really interested in reaching even the souls NEAR them‚ much less the REST of the world or any NEW field! THEY'VE ARRIVED and HAVE THEIR NICE LITTLE FOLD and NICE LITTLE FLOCK and ARE NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN WHETHER THEY BEAR ANY NEW LAMBS OR NOT or bring in new sheep. They're satisfied with what they've got, so they stop.—And there's no such thing as stopping!

10. If you have lost the pioneering spirit and you're not going forward to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth and you're content short of that goal, you're satisfied with what you've already got and you're not interested in progressing until you see the Kingdom of God really established on Earth and righteousness covering the Earth as the waters cover the seas and the Coming of Christ, THEN YOU'RE BACKSLIDING!

11. The minute anybody in our outfit comes to the conclusion that he has arrived and he's satisfied and has come as far as he wants to go, WATCH OUT! I'll tell you, it's not ME!

PIONEERING—WHEN YOU STOP YOU DIE!

15. When we stop pioneering the world, we're licked! We have failed! WE'RE DEFEATED BECAUSE WE DEFEATED OURSELVES BY GIVING UP! Therefore these disciples, whether they be babes or leaders, who have ceased to progress and have stopped and are satisfied to enjoy their little bit of this and that daily in their little bitty Home and their little bit of Heaven on Earth, their little "me, thee, thou and no other" and their few little sheep and their little fold—now they're the shepherd, so‚ "Where else can I go but to the Lord?"—They've totally ceased to move and progress and go on and pioneer!

16. But some of our leaders quit long ago: They no longer have any desire to go any further. They're perfectly satisfied with where they are. THEY'VE SAT DOWN and QUIT and LOST THEIR LOVE OF THE LORD and SOULS and THEIR DESIRE TO WITNESS and WIN and GET NEW DISCIPLES and INVADE NEW FIELDS—WHICH MEANS THEY'VE QUIT!—And they think when they've quit they are going to keep what they've got. But GOD'S LAW OF PROGRESS IS, IF YOU DON'T KEEP ON GETTING MORE, YOU'LL LOSE WHAT YOU'VE GOT!—"To him that HATH, it shall be GIVEN (to have MORE, make PROGRESS!), but to him that hath NOT, it shall be taken AWAY, even what he THINKETH he HATH!"—Luk.8:18. The minute you think you HAVE it and you SIT DOWN to enjoy it‚ that's where you LOSE it! That's why many a great business, many a great nation, many a great civilization and many a great religious movement has vanished from the face of the Earth‚ because they thought they had arrived and had all they wanted and they sat down to enjoy it, and whooosh!—GOD BLEW UPON IT and IT CAME TO NOUGHT, BECAUSE THEY QUIT ADVANCING and PROGRESSING, INVADING and ATTACKING and moving!

17. We can't stop or we're dead!—If we don't keep on doing more and more every day and progressing, or if we can't sit down at the end of the day and sum things up and keep books with our soul and weigh up the accounts and say, "Now WHAT DID I DO TODAY THAT I WON'T HAVE TO DO TOMORROW?"—IN OTHER WORDS‚ WHAT PROGRESS, WHAT MOVE OR ACCOMPLISHMENT OR NEW THING OR DIFFERENT THING OR WHAT MORE HAVE I DONE THAN THE USUAL THINGS I ALWAYS HAVE TO DO EACH DAY?" IF YOU COME TO THE POINT WHERE YOU'RE JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS BY HABIT and you're just coasting along on former momentum, ONCE YOU'VE GONE TO SLEEP and LEFT YOUR ENGINE GOING, YOU'LL SOON RUN OUT OF GAS and even the engine will go dead for lack of new fuel and YOU'LL SOON COAST TO A STOP and LACK OF MOTION!

BY HEEDING THE MO LETTERS NEW BOTTLES CAN SURPASS THE OLD BOTTLES!

18. THE PEOPLE WHO ARE BECOMING OLD BOTTLES: I DARE SAY THAT YOU WILL FIND THAT THEY ARE PEOPLE WHO NO LONGER HAVE ANY INTEREST OR FIND MUCH PLEASURE IN READING MO LETTERS—and CERTAINLY NOT IN OBEYING THEM! They are no longer interested in drinking in the Water of Life‚ fresh water and food. You'll find they are not reading and studying themselves and therefore, of course, are not interested in giving them to anybody else either!

SYMPTOMS OF OLD BOTTLES—LIVING IN THE PAST!

25. THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN THE PAST ARE OLD BOTTLES! You know what my Grandfather said to me once?—"David, Son, DO YOU KNOW HOW YOU KNOW WHEN YOU'RE GETTING OLD?—WHEN YOU START LIVING IN THE PAST!"

26. If we've got any old bottles still living in the past, may God have mercy! I don't give a damn how we used to do it, if it's not the way we ought to do it now! And I don't care HOW we did it YESTERDAY, if we should do it DIFFERENTLY TOMORROW! But some of these old-bottle guys are still insisting on a rigid pattern of TOTAL CONFORMITY to the PAST and living according to the tactics of the PAST!

27. Anybody in this outfit who's stuck in a rut and wants to continue to do things the same way we did them on the road or in Huntington Beach or last year or yesterday, THEY'RE AN OLD BOTTLE and something's WRONG with them!

28. Old bottles like it like it was: They love the old, dislike the new, resist change, and therefore they've solidified, and THAT WHICH RESISTS CHANGE IS NO LONGER PART OF THE REVOLUTION, BUT HAS BECOME AN OLD BOTTLE‚ A PART OF AN OLD SYSTEM! But a REVOLUTION keeps MOVING and CHANGING and REVOLVING and REVOLUTING! TO REVOLVE YOU HAVE TO GO CLEAR TO THIS SIDE, THEN TO THAT SIDE, and FROM ONE EXTREME TO THE OTHER, BUT YOU NEVER GET ANY FURTHER FROM THE CENTER, Jesus‚ no matter how MUCH you revolve or how FAR or FAST or SLOW you go! But you're constantly changing POSITIONS. Either that or you're NOT REVOLUTING, and WHEN YOU STOP REVOLUTING, YOUR ENGINE IS DEAD and YOUR VEHICLE IS MOTIONLESS and your motor's quit and you've quit and you're DEAD, lifeless, motionless and useless!—And that's what's wrong with some of our people!

29. You can't get any further from the Center, if you stay equidistant from the axis, axle, shaft or hub, but an engine can run either FORWARD or BACKWARD as long as it's RUNNING! It can run in SEVERAL directions.—A WHEEL CAN GO AROUND AN AXIS IN SEVERAL DIRECTIONS and NOT NECESSARILY BE BACKSLIDING. … As long as it RUNS, so what!—As long as it's getting the JOB DONE!

30. But if you're an old bottle stretched as far as you can go and you can't bulge one more bulge, THE NEXT TIME I COME ALONG and DROP ONE MORE DROP OF NEW WINE INTO YOU, IT'LL BREAK YOUR BOTTLE and EVEN WHAT YOU'VE GOT WILL BE LOST and you'll lose even what you THOUGHT you HAD! "To him that HATH it shall be given."—To him that hath WHAT?—Him that hath a NEW bottle with lots MORE room! But him that hath NOT a new bottle, it will be taken FROM him even that which he thinks he HATH!—Luk.8:18.

31. As long as you've still got Christ and love the Revolution, may God deliver you from old worn-out Bible studies and old worn-out prophetic interpretations and old worn-out endless Scripture memorization and old boring ancient classes, if it means you haven't got time to LISTEN TO WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY NOW or you're not ready to CHANGE your method of operation according to what God is doing NOW instead of the way He did it YESTERDAY!

HOW TO TELL WHETHER YOU'RE AN OLD BOTTLE OR A NEW BOTTLE!

32. IF WE'RE NOT GOING TO CONSTANTLY KEEP CHANGING OUR TACTICS and METHODS and MODES OF OPERATION JUST LIKE GOD DOES‚ to what He knows will WORK and what WON'T with a new day and new situation and new people‚ THEN WE'RE GOING TO BECOME AN OLD HAS–BEEN BOTTLE JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE CHURCHES and the Revolution will have died!—Well‚ YOU can if you want to, but I'M not! ... If we're not flexible, pliable, able to stretch or shrink or bend to accommodate the NEW wine, then we're going to break, shatter and lose even what we've got!

33. Some of our leaders are still running around with the same old mold in their hand trying to make all our new disciples into old bottles! And the kind of bottles they're making won't be able to hold the NEW wine, because they're OLD bottles!

34. If this thing has been anything, it's been a Revolution from the beginning, and every time I come around I BREAK A FEW MORE OLD BOTTLES and THE NEW ONES JUST HAVE TO CARRY ON WITHOUT THE OLD ONES!—The new young bottles that can hold the new wine! That's what God did with us in the first place: He took us fresh young bottles OUT of the churches with their old unstretchable bottles, and that process has not stopped! GOD IS STILL POURING OUT NEW WINE, BUT SOME OF OUR PEOPLE HAVE BECOME OLD BOTTLES and CAN'T TAKE IT, just like the old churches and He is STILL saying, "Come out of her, ye My people!" (Rev.18:4)—And He's constantly drawing out a NEW church and leaving an OLD church behind! Some of our people are still back where we were two or three YEARS ago and the way we're going or SLOWING, they'll NEVER get any further!—WHILE THE REST OF US EVER-RENEWING BOTTLES ARE ALREADY 10,000 MILES FURTHER OUT IN SPACE IN THE WORLD OF THE SPIRIT and THE OLD BOTTLES STILL HAVEN'T LEFT THE OLD PAD!

35. If your bottle is full and can't hold any more, you know what's the matter with it?—It hasn't been pouring OUT! EVEN an OLD bottle can hold MORE if it keeps pouring OUT! They can even hold NEW wine if they keep POURING OUT the OLD stuff! They've gotta give it up and FORSAKE ALL, including some of their OLD wine they cherish!

37. So are you an old bottle or a new bottle? Well, it all depends on whether you can hold the new wine or not! Whether you ARE or NOT will probably depend on whether you've DUMPED OUT your LAST load and come BACK so you can hold some MORE! But IF YOU'RE GOING TO SIT AROUND ALL FILLED UP till you stretch your limit and get all bent out of shape to where if anybody just pokes their finger at you it will poke a hole in you and spill what you've got, then you're a has-been, an old bottle!—The days of your usefulness are ended!

"New Bottles," ML #251:17-21,23-28,31,35-36,43-46‚ DB5

17. (Dad:) DO YOU KNOW WHY THERE IS A JESUS REVOLUTION TODAY? IT'S BECAUSE WE TAUGHT YOU NOT TO DO IT THE WAY WE HAD DONE IT! BUT WE TAUGHT YOU to do it the way we WISH WE HAD DONE IT and the way in which it was TOO LATE for US to do it! We taught OUR kids to do what we wish WE had done and what was really TOO LATE for US to do! We taught you NOT to do it just like we always did it.—SOME things, yes, but MOST things, NO.

18. We really just did the best we could for you and then turned you loose to find out how it needed to be done NOW for your OWN generation by going out and FINDING your own generation and what they NEEDED and what they will ACCEPT and what would REACH them and doing it in ways we NEVER used!

19. We tried not to be old bottles to hold you back and make you do it the way WE did it in church, but to turn you loose and by the Spirit of God learn how to do it NOW! EVERY NEW DAY WE NEED TO KNOW and LEARN and FIND OUT HOW TO DO IT TODAY!—And for God's sake and the last generation's sake, your children, for the sake of the End, I HOPE YOU WILL NOT TRY TO LIMIT YOUR CHILDREN EVEN TO THE WAY YOU'VE BEEN DOING IT, much less the way I've been doing it, but THAT YOU WILL LET THEM DO IT THEIR WAY, THE WAY GOD SHOWS THEM TO DO IT IN THEIR WAY and THEIR DAY FOR THEIR GENERATION!

20. Otherwise, if you try to make them conform to yesterday‚ they will also become old bottles and an old system and a thing of the past! Let's face it: You are already old bottles in a sense!—Because your children are going to have to do it DIFFERENTLY from the way YOU'RE doing it, with NEW methods under DIFFERENT conditions and THEY'LL HAVE TO ADAPT THEMSELVES TO THE NEED OF THE DAY. So for God's sake, I can't tell you how to do everything, because I don't know, except as God by divine revelation shows me! Look at all the far-out revolutionary things the Lord shows me! But GOD HAS TO SHOW ME WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS and YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PRAY and ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU WHAT TO DO EACH DAY!—And when it comes time for your CHILDREN to do it, THEY'RE going to have to get it from God THEMSELVES too!

21. Don't hand me that old stuff, "This is the way we USED to do it!"—DAMN the way we USED to do it!—How do we need to do it NOW? ALL I CAN TRY TO DO IS TEACH YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW THAT'LL BE HELPFUL TO YOU, ALONG WITH WHAT GOD REVEALS TO ME DAY BY DAY, BUT THE REST YOU'LL HAVE TO LEARN FOR YOURSELF FROM THE LORD and your generation and YOUR situation, because I'm not THERE. I'm not one of them and the only thing we can have in common is the fact that we've got the same SOURCE, the Lord‚ for our information and revelations. But you're going to have to find out how to do it in your place with your generation and your situation from the Lord.

23. Thank God I had the faith to just turn you loose and tell you to just follow God! Because if I'd tried to tell you everything, I'd never have thought up one fraction of what YOU'RE thinking of, new methods and tactics. I haven't got enough lifetimes to live to think of all those things! That's where faith in God comes in. Even some of the things we told you to do last year are too late and we've changed tactics. As we make progress, we have to do NEW things in NEW ways as each year goes by, as each month goes by.

24. For God's sake and our sake and your sake and the world's sake, let's continue to be revolutionary! Don't limit yourself just to what I tell you or the things I've ALREADY written for LAST year and not THIS year. When you tie yourself too much to ME, you may be tying yourself down to your OLD leadership so you can't get any FURTHER, when you should be raising up NEW leaders with FRESH ideas for a NEW day! The minute you start living in the PAST‚ watch out! WE CAN LOOK ON ITS RECORD TO SEE WHAT WE CAN LEARN, BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE DON'T LIMIT YOUR CHILDREN!

25. The greatest thing we can teach our new disciples and children—and each new generation has to learn it for itself—is to follow God and hear from Him fresh every day! Moment by moment learn something NEW every day‚ because only GOD is way out there in front and knows what's going to happen and is able to lead you and guide you and show you what to do.

26. So don't get stuck with either a name, a method or a message that you can't change from day to day with whatever God has for you that's NEW, NEW wine‚ NEW message, NEW method, NEW way! Because if you do, you're sunk and you're broken because you've become an old bottle!

27. So let's not try to force the new bottles to be like us! We tried to teach YOU children to be like we HAVEN'T been but we SHOULD have been. Now, if we can KEEP THIS REVOLUTIONARY WHEEL TURNING, MOVING, REVOLVING, REVOLUTING, IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE A REVOLUTION WITH EVERY TURN AS LONG AS IT KEEPS UP ITS RPM—revolutions per minute! But unless it keeps revolving and turning and revoluting every minute, it won't HAVE any RPM's and it's not going to get ANYWHERE! The minute it STOPS turning and changing directions and stops moving it'll be DEAD!

28. Real revolution is not simply the overthrowing of one system and the establishing of another system! All things change‚ but they don't change once and for all! They have to KEEP CHANGING every minute with something new or it's going to come to a stop and get nowhere and be dead still!

31. His Word never changes, the Lord never changes, the Gospel never changes‚ salvation never changes, Christ doesn't change, but God keeps MOVING every day! YOU may be the same person basically, but YOU'VE got to keep moving to stay alive and get anywhere! IT MAY BE THE SAME MESSAGE, BUT IT IS VARIED EVERY DAY TO SUIT THE NEED and ADAPT TO THE SITUATION. The tactics and the methods definitely will change day by day and moment by moment to have RPM—movement! A MOVEMENT IS NO LONGER A MOVEMENT IF IT STOPS MOVING!

35. If we don't reach the new bottles, we're dead! If we don't start reaching some of the younger generation, we're a has-been! … WE NEED NEW BOTTLES and WE'D BETTER GO OUT and FIND THEM OR WE ARE DEAD!—We'll be just like all the rest of the churches who died that way, by failing to reach the next generation, while they hardly tried to even reach THIS generation!—They committed GENOCIDE by their STERILITY!

36. For faith without new bottles to put it in is dead! Faith without new bottles is dead and will die with the older generation of old bottles!—That means YOU!

43. So for God's sake and the kids' sake and the sake of the future, let's get out and find some new bottles!—Let's us old bottles get out and find new bottles, to learn HOW to be new bottles to reach new bottles! (Prays:) We thank You Lord, for the burden, the way You show us what is wrong with us and what is the matter. We don't want to make the same mistake the church has made, clinging to the old and inflexible, unadaptable, unwilling to become new bottles. As the old bottles crack and go to pieces, they're dying out until they'll soon be no more!

44. Help these old bottles to get out with this new wine and find new bottles to put it in before it causes them to crack and break! Some of these old bottles aren't going to be able to take what's coming. We're going to need NEW bottles to HOLD it. It's going to be so HOT and so STRONG the old bottles are going to be exploding, popping, breaking! We've GOT to find NEW bottles to put it in that can HOLD it and TAKE it!

45. If it breaks anybody's bottle, it's just going to prove they WERE an old bottle and that they resist change and anything new and different and more shocking and more revolutionary than what they've already got. Lord, You know that WHENEVER WE FEEL WE HAVE BECOME REVOLUTIONARY ENOUGH‚ WE HAVE CEASED BEING REVOLUTIONARY, BECAUSE WE HAVE STOPPED REVOLVING, CHANGING. Whenever we get to the point where we say the old wine was strong enough and the new wine is TOO strong, You know, Lord‚ WE'VE become an old bottle!

46. So Lord, please help us to find some new ones so You can give us new wine, ever new and stronger for newer and stronger bottles, lest You stay the wine for our lack of flasks in which to place it!

"Come On Ma!—Burn Your Bra," ML #286:1-3,6,8-10‚ DB5

1. (Dad:) As Jesus Himself said, He had to pour His very new wine into very new bottles who could expand their receptivity sufficiently to take it, accommodate it and even rejoice in it, for it spoke their language and helped Him to reach the drunks and the harlots and the publicans and sinners and the radical young zealots with whom He associated.

2. It also proved He was no part of the System and was not bound by its conventions, inhibitions and prejudices. He was totally liberated and free in the Lord….

3. A Revolution is a total break with the traditions of Man and his churches and his preconceived ideas about God and misconceptions of morality. We have turned completely around and are going a different direction, no longer man's way, but God's way.

6. This is no day for the weak and the fearful and those who are unable to bear the many more things that God now has to say to us in these Last Days when He must tell us the WHOLE Truth and nothing BUT the Truth‚ so help us God!

8. If you are not young enough in spirit, pliable enough, resilient enough and elastic enough to expand your vision and faith to accommodate this new wine of the Lord, you will certainly be unable to take what is coming and your vessel now shaken will be truly shattered! BUT THAT'S LIFE and THE REVOLUTION, WHICH IS BUILT ONLY WITH NEW BOTTLES on the broken remains of the old!

9. If you can't take these and understand what is happening, you'll certainly never be able to take what is coming and we're very sorry for you.—Because if you quit now‚ you'll really miss the main events! We're not out to change the world—we're creating a totally NEW one!

10. That's what being born again—repentance, regeneration and revolution—are really all about! If you're not really REVOLUTIONARY, you'll never make it anyhow. If you're not ready to abandon the OLD for a brand NEW world, if you're trying to cling to old worn-out concepts of self–righteous MAN instead of receiving the total grace and utter freedom of the glory and ecstatic Love of GOD‚ you'll never be able to bear the explosions of the love-making of the SPIRIT that are yet to come!

"The French Connection," ML #335C:12-15‚ DB6

12. (Dad:) LET THE OLD BOTTLES BEWARE, and the big shots of yesterday beware lest it go to their heads and cause them to tumble to very little shots of tomorrow! The cream of the crop of today can sometimes become the stinking old limburger cheese in the limbo of tomorrow!

13. PRIDE COMETH BEFORE A FALL! Let him that thinketh that he standeth take heed lest he fall! For unto him who truly HATH what it takes it shall be GIVEN‚ but from him who THINKETH that he hath and boasteth of it, it shall be taken AWAY from him, even that which he THINKETH that he hath! Beware lest ye be found to be a prematurely exalted novice and fall into pride, which was the condemnation of the Devil!—Pro.16:18; 1Cor.10:12; Lk.8:18.

14. SOME OF YOU MOST HUMBLE and SELF-EFFACING LITTLE ONES, time–tested through the faithfulness, loyalty and obedience of years, are now finally making it to the top where you can be trusted because you have been faithful in a FEW things, so He will now make you rulers over MANY things!

15. But some of you old bottles who have been faithful, loyal and diligent over the years, if you do not REMAIN so but become exalted in pride and willful in spirit and contrary in action, word and deed, these who leave their first estate, even though they be the Angels of God, shall lose their lofty positions for rebellion in heart! So please watch your step lest ye fall into condemnation!

"State of the Nation '95, ML #3017:81-82,84,97-104‚106-113, Lifelines 22

81. (Mama:) I believe that most of you who have had some difficulties with reading prophecy fall into the category of those who are trying to get used to the new wine. I'm afraid, though, that some of you are like those that Dad talked about when he prayed: "If it [the new wine] breaks anybody's bottle, it's just going to prove they were an old bottle, and that they resist change and anything new and different and more shocking and more revolutionary than what they've already got. Lord, You know that whenever we feel we have become revolutionary enough, we have ceased being revolutionary, because we have stopped revoluting, changing. Whenever we get to the point where we say 'the old wine was strong enough and the new wine is too strong,' You know, Lord, we've become an old bottle!" ("New Bottles!" ML #251:66).

82. I hope that's not you! It won't be if you flow with what the Lord is doing, if you thank Him for all that He's pouring out and if you drink it in by faith....

84. Remember, folks, that just because you can't figure something out with your carnal mind, it doesn't mean it's not true. If the Lord says it, I believe it‚ even if I have no evidence. That's what faith is!—And the just shall live by faith. It's a bonus and a blessing that we can understand so many things‚ and we should be so grateful to the Lord for this, and not complain or murmur or doubt when there are some things that we can't understand! If we could understand everything, we'd be like God Himself, but He has ordained that we usually "see through a glass darkly" and "walk by faith, not by sight!" (1Cor.13:12; 2Cor.5:7).

Keep Drinking the Old Wine, but Don't Miss the New!—Grass and Grain Prophecy!

97. Let me tell you, if you don't start feeding on this Word you're going to be left behind. You're going to solidify. You're going to become an old bottle! Because if you don't want the Word and if you have alienated yourself from it, then you can't go any further, and like Dad said, if you are not going forward you're going backward. You can't just stay put!

98. You are going to find yourself left way behind trying to operate on yesterday's instructions. You're going to miss quite a few grades and then it is going to take you quite a while to catch up. If you're not reading and absorbing His Words for today you are going to miss all kinds of wonderful new things the Lord is showing us and the exciting directions He is giving us and the wonderful Words He's showering upon us. You won't be benefiting from His Truth because you're unreceptive, thinking you know what's best or what's right. You decide that the new wine doesn't taste exactly the way you want it to‚ so if you can't have it your way then you're not going to have it at all. You decide you like the old wine better and you don't want this funny-tasting new wine.

99. Well, if you are going to read the old Word, at least that's doing something! But if you're not reading the latest news‚ hot off the Heavenly griddle, then you're really missing something! The Lord is still speaking! Dad is still speaking! He's even giving us new Letters straight from Heaven! The Lord is pouring it out, answering our questions, giving His directions! How can you not read it? How can you not be interested? If you're not listening to me‚ if you're not listening to Dad, if you're not listening to the Lord, if you're not absorbing what the Lord is giving today, then you're going to dry up spiritually! You're going to miss where God is going, and you're going to end up being an old bottle who only likes it the way things used to be.

100. I'm not saying that you shouldn't read the older Letters. … Just don't neglect the Word the Lord is giving today. Don't let the Devil keep you from feeding on God's new Words, His new revelations, and even Dad's new Letters. We need both, the old and the new! Recently in prophecy, the Lord said to Peter and me:

101. (Prophecy:) "You are the shepherds. Your job is to feed the sheep. Your job is to receive the grain and to pass it on to them. Their job is to eat it and to let it strengthen them and give them sustenance and joy, and to help them grow. There is much grass in the field that they can eat, that they are content with, but they must also eat of the grain to be fattened and strengthened, for the grass is not enough. The grass is there to feed them and to keep them from going hungry in-between the feedings of the grain. But they need the grain because it is the food that fattens them, makes them useful and grows them. And those that say, 'But we are content with just the grass' will find that they don't grow; that they are sustained and they do not diminish and they do not die, for it is food, but for them to fully grow they need to feed at the hand of the shepherds.

102. "So it is with the written Words and the Words of David. They are good Words and they are feeding Words and they are life-giving Words. And all need them, all must read them, for it is as the grass that gives them sustenance. But to go forward and to go onward in the places where I am leading, so must they also eat the grain at the hand of the shepherds and receive it, that they may have a balanced diet. For both are needed and neither should be rejected.

103. "But he that thinks that he can eat only the grass and is not in need of the grain, deceives himself. For he is as one who says, 'I only need the Bible and I need nothing else, for it is enough.' But look at those who stayed with only the Bible and did not move forward. Are they not solidified?" (End of prophecy.)

104. So if you don't want to solidify into a brittle old bottle, I suggest you start drinking in His new wine! Keep drinking the old, but don't miss the new. We need them both!

Open Your Hearts with Faith and Receive the New Wine!

106. (Dad:) "Folks, it is a new day! That's what I said would happen when I was gone, that Maria would pour forth the Words by the handfuls! Before, she just gave it out kernel by kernel, but now she pours it forth by handfuls. You know‚ I taught you all to be revolutionary, moving in all kinds of directions but never straying from the center. Moving first one direction, spinning and spinning in a revolution and then turning and spinning in another direction, but all on the same axis, Jesus. Well, that hasn't changed.

107. "But goodness‚ if I ever taught you anything it was to be ready for the new! I was constantly changing things because the Lord was constantly changing things! We moved this direction, then we turned and went that direction, because I was following the Lord. I was listening to what He said and I was passing it on to you and you received it.

108. "You didn't think that was all going to end when I passed on, did you? You didn't think that everything would become solidified and that there would be no change after I was gone‚ did you? You didn't think that the Lord would stop speaking and leading? I told you that He would keep speaking, that He would keep speaking through Mama, and that she would pour forth unto you, and she's doing it! She's doing it in the way appointed by God Himself. So why do you tremble? Why do you fear? Is it because the wine stretches and stretches and stretches your bottle?

109. "And what did I say before?—If you wanted to remain as a new bottle, you had to pour out the old and receive the new! That doesn't mean that you pour it out upon the ground and it is no longer useful. It means that it is properly aged and you bottle it and you use it accordingly, but you have to have receptive vessels to receive the new.

110. "So don't worry and don't fret. Don't fear. Goodness, there is lots that the Lord wants to give and will give and is giving, and there is more to come. So empty out your bottles, your wineskins, your vats! Empty them out of the old and bottle it and keep it and drink it when needed, for it is vintage wine that will strengthen you and cheer your hearts. But what is poured forth now is new wine, new direction for this new day. And believe me, you need it! You need it for what's ahead. Take my word for it.

111. "The old wine and the ancient wine is all still good, it's all still wine, it's all still usable, it's all still instructive, it's all still true, and you must apply it with wisdom and by the Spirit of God. But don't reject that which is new based on that which was past. Receive it as new wine. Receive it as new Words. It adds to that which has already been given, for it gives you new instruction for this day. It builds upon that which has been built before. It adds to it; it does not subtract from it.

112. "Even if you can't understand it all, don't worry‚ you certainly couldn't understand everything that I gave.—I didn't even understand it all! But I gave it in faith and you received it in faith. And that's the name of the game—faith! Faith to trust, faith to believe, faith to receive, and faith to be blessed. For without faith it is impossible to please Him.

113. "So open your hearts with faith and receive, just as you received the Words that I gave. Even those that you did not understand, even those that were difficult to believe, you just received by faith. And when you did, the Lord blessed you. So receive that which the Lord is pouring forth unto you now, by faith that you will be blessed and that you will continue to be the children of David." (End of prophecy.)

"Prophecies on Doubts‚" ML #3041:51-59, Lifelines 23

51. (Mama:) Throughout our history the Lord has given us‚ His children, a great deal of New Wine‚ some of it being "Strange Truths" (see ML #360). Some of what the Lord gives is very different and even quite radical and bottle-breaking. The following prophecy was given when praying for someone who was having difficulty receiving some of the New Wine.

52. (Prophecy:) There are many that I test to the very foundations of their faith so that they may take a stand for Me, for My Truth, for My Word, for My prophet, for My queen, for My king, and for the way that I do things in this new day. I test the bottles of many to see if they are old and brittle, or if they are young and vibrant; to see if they will accept that which is new and that which I do, or if they will cling only to the old. It is always so, for all through the years I test the flexibility of the bottles to see if they are loose or if they are rigid. And so is this one tested—tested to the very core—for I must know what manner of man he is.

53. But you say, "What brings about these tests?" I allow these tests, yet I do not force these tests. These tests come from their own willfulness, from their mind being made up about matters, from the unwillingness to change, from the unwillingness to be moldable and malleable and acceptive. For there is unyieldedness and unacceptance of that which I have shown, and that which I have done‚ and that which I have said.

54. This one thinks he knows better, that he is right in what he thinks—whether it is that which he thinks should not have happened in the past, or how he thinks it should be in the present. He builds the scenarios in his mind and is sure that he is right. He is unaccepting of the truth, and thus he does not accept that which I am doing.

55. The answer lies not in fleeing from the task at hand, from the job, from the assignment, for the doubts and fears will follow you. The answer comes by faith: Faith to believe that which I have said, faith to receive that which I do, faith to believe My Words‚ faith to live them, faith to accept them. It is the receptive heart that finds peace.

56. Do not think that you know best, for the mind of man is not greater than the mind of God. That which seems logical to your mind does not necessarily mean that it is the way of God. For My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. It is in the acceptance of My Word, it is in the acceptance of faith, where there is peace and where there is rest in spirit. So lay down the burden of your mind. Lay down the burden of your doubt. Lay down the burden of your analyticality. Lay down the burden of that which you have seen and that which you believed to be true, and come to Me with faith.

57. When I lay in the boat sleeping, and the waves and the wind and the storm battered about, My disciples knew not what to do, but were fearful for the wind and fearful for the waves and fearful for the vessel. So they woke Me, they came to Me, for they knew that the answer lay in My power. I said, "Peace, be still‚" and there was peace. They came to Me, admitting that they knew not what to do, and I gave them peace.

58. So come to Me in faith, the faith of a little child who knows that his father will not lead him astray, but will speak the truth to him.

59. My son, I love you, I care for you, and I say unto you, come to Me in faith, laying down your preconceived ideas, laying down that which you are so certain is so. Come to Me with an open heart and an open mind and let Me give you peace—the peace that comes from faith, the peace that comes from trust, the peace that comes from knowing that you are yielded unto the will of God. (End of prophecy.)

"Loving Jesus Jewels‚" ML #3045:35-38, Lifelines 23

35. (Dad:) God has to have those with crazy faith, insane dreamers that are willing to do the wild, seemingly crazy things that the Lord asks them to do—to go where He says to go, and say what He says to say, and do His slightest bidding. This takes new bottles who are in the Spirit‚ who have their senses and their spirit exercised, and who are thrilled and enthralled by the New Wine, who are so full of joy and excitement that it causes their light to shine so brightly on the world.

36. As with every revolution and every changing of the guard, so to speak‚ the new avant-garde, the new, fresh bottles continue, always with lots of repercussions and things left in the wake. Nevertheless, we have to keep going on, following the Lord, obeying His commandments, preaching the message He wants us to preach, and it always works out for the best. It always improves the Family. It always improves our witness and our ministering to others. So praise the Lord, and continue to thank Him for His New Wine that He pours out that is so refreshing and so invigorating to those who are open to it.

37. Don't worry about the old bottles, the ones who are left behind, because the Lord loves them and He cares for them. He provides for them and He uses them as much as they'll allow Him to. But it's those who are really sucking and seeking and fighting in the Spirit who are the ones that get to partake of the New Wine, and partake of the sowing of the seed and the reaping of the fruit—young, alive sheep that are hungry to do something for the Lord. That's just the Lord's way.

38. That's just the Gideon's band that the Lord chooses to preach His new Words and His new message, those who can follow Him the closest‚ because it takes a great deal of forsaking and continually being willing to change and fight new battles and overcome new obstacles and face new challenges. But that's the thrill of it! That's what makes it thrilling! That's what makes it exciting! That's why the Family will never be stopped, for the true revolutionaries will keep going until the end, no matter what the Lord asks them to do! (End of message.)

"Believing Prophecy," ML #3130:88-93,156–157,160, Lifelines 24

88. (Mama:) The Lord says that you can't separate the message from the messenger. You can't say that you believe in the messenger, but then reject and doubt His message. So in getting you to doubt prophecy and reject the way in which the Lord is pouring out the New Wine, the Enemy is trying to ultimately destroy your faith in the Lord's voice, and cut off contact with Him altogether.

89. Dad said in "Old Bottles" that if you lose your personal connection with the Lord‚ at least you still have the prophet and the messages he's passing on. Your individual receiver may be turned off, but the Lord is still broadcasting and pouring out His messages through His prophet. But if you lose contact with both the prophet (through doubt and rejection) and with the Lord (through your own personal channel being clogged because of your rejection of the Word of prophecy from the prophet), then there's nothing left! You're not getting anything from the Lord's channels, so all you have is the Enemy's messages, and your own carnal understanding—which isn't any better! The Bible tells us that we should not lean to our own understanding, and that "to be carnally minded is death" (Rom.8:6). So what started out as a little doubt and feeling like, "I don't have to believe this; it's just a prophecy someone got, and it's not really the Lord," can eventually cost you your spiritual life!

90. Some people feel that it's okay to just doubt a little; to just disbelieve this particular prophecy in this particular GN that they're having a hard time with; to just reject this particular bottle of New Wine, while still believing the rest of what the Lord has to say. In answer to that, I'm reminded of something Dad had to say regarding negative thinking. I hope you don't mind, but I'll paraphrase the first part a bit to apply to doubts instead, as the principle is the same:

91. "That's what the Devil will try to tell you: It doesn't hurt to just doubt a little, to just disregard that particular Letter or prophecy! After all‚ you deserve to be able to reason it out in your carnal mind just a little rather than just having to follow completely by faith! Why not? ... Listen, brother, the minute you start listening to the Devil, you're done for, because there's no end to it, no stopping place! He'll never quit! He'll never quit until he's got you completely down at the bottom, totally and utterly out of the victory‚ a terrible reproach to the cause and a curse to others and everybody else around you!" (ML #33:12,13).

92. You may think that doubting one prophecy isn't that big a deal, but it's an open door for the Enemy to get in and sow his seeds. Once you've opened it just a crack, it's much more difficult to get him out than if you had never opened it in the first place. It's like having a thief or robber outside the door of your apartment who's trying to get in. If you keep the door closed, there's not much he can do but break it down. But if you open it just a crack‚ he can get his hand or foot in, and then it's a real struggle to get it shut again. If you're not careful, he can overpower you, push the door wide open and come right in.

93. Little doubts lead to bigger doubts‚ so attack them when they're still small! Call out to the Lord, ask for prayer, soak in the Word and stand your ground! Don't let the Enemy rob you of your connection with the Lord. That's his ultimate goal! In closing yourself off to the Lord's voice in the Letters, you'll also be closing yourself off little by little to the Lord's voice in your own heart and hearing from Him yourself in prophecy or by the checks of His Spirit, until pretty soon you've lost the connection entirely and become a brittle old bottle!

156. (Dad:) If you're having a hard time with the taste of the New Wine‚ then soak yourself in the Old Wine. Drink it in, let it fill you up! Immerse yourself in it! Then go back and read the New Wine, and maybe you'll see it in a different light. I think you will! Because, after all, it's all the same, from the same Source, from the same Bottler! Praise the Lord!

157. The Lord's the Bottler, and He's got great big wine vats‚ pouring out the wine! Some of it has different tastes and comes in different bottles of different shapes, but thank God, it's all from the same grapes, all from the same Man, all from the same Source! It's all from Jesus, praise the Lord!

160. The secret is really the Word—both new and old! Like I said, soak yourself in the old Letters! Immerse yourself in the Word! Revel in it! Drink it in! As you read it, ask the Lord to show you His truth. Ask the Lord to speak to you, to confirm what He's giving in the New Wine. I know He will, because He always answers when we call out to Him with a hungry heart. When you call out to the Lord and you say‚ "I believe; help Thou my unbelief," the Lord answers! His hand is moved by your faith in asking Him for help.

"Overcoming the Generation Gap‚" ML #3161:30,148-150, Lifelines 24

30. (Mama: ) You have to realize, adults, that the young people are different. The Lord has made them different than you. They want to be different and they need to be different. And we of the older generation in the Family need their youthful enthusiasm and new ideas and the infusion of life, strength, and change that comes from the new blood of the new generation. We need their strength and their radical ways of looking at things. It's good for us when they express their sincere questions and challenge the way things are done. It makes us check our hearts and policies, see and make necessary changes and improvements, and it keeps us from sinking into the horrible abyss of compromise and the apathetic status quo.

148. (Jesus:) I'm so proud of these of the younger generation in the house of the king and queen, because they have been willing to become new creatures in My hand. They are full of youth and zeal and enthusiasm. They are unique in their reactions and likes and dislikes. They have a zest for life and a desire for change. They like to break out of ruts and do things new ways. They're looking to the future, always looking for new horizons, new challenges, new adventure. This is the nature that I have put in the heart of My young ones, to always want something new and to seek change and to look to the future, so that they might be the new blood that brings constant renewal of life to My revolution, to the children of David.

149. Sometimes it's hard for you older ones to understand the young people. They seem extreme or so prone to exaggerate or overreact. They're so easily excited, and their feelings, emotions and ups and downs in life are sometimes so difficult to harness and control or understand. So if you find yourself baffled and at wits' end and not knowing how to help the young people through their growing pains, don't worry or get frustrated or think you've done something wrong. Just realize and constantly remind yourself that these extreme emotions, desires, and reactions are part of the nature of youth that I have placed in their hearts, and that I use it to bring about change‚ and to help keep the children of David from cooling down and solidifying and dying, as have the churches.

150. (Mama: ) That's pretty interesting, isn't it! So the next time the young people in your Home are riding the proverbial emotional roller coaster, or if they're moody or getting all bent out of shape about something, or they're weeping about something that doesn't seem like such a big deal to you, remind yourself of these words from the Lord. Young people are different from us older folks, and that's the way the Lord wants it! He made them that way! And we should thank the Lord for the differences, because that's one of the ways the Lord keeps us all young and changing and alive!

"The Weakness Revolution—Part 1," ML #3218:82-87,147–153, GN 819

82. (Jesus: ) I am moving in the lives of many. I am drawing those closer who want to be closer, who want to be wholly Mine, and I am allowing those who want to step away to do so. I'm moving and working and allowing many things to happen in the lives of My avant–garde in order to purge and prepare and better them.

83. It's a time of testing and decision, a time of praying and communing within the heart, a time of proving the faith and conviction of My children. Some will decide to follow even more closely; they will decide to put away the things that hinder and keep them from seeing clearly where I'm leading. And some will decide to follow afar off.

84. This is My will and My doing—My plan to prepare the Family for the days ahead. I am testing and trying many, and their age does not matter. What matters is their newness of spirit—whether they're new bottles, willing to let go of the past, their own ideas and ways, and to go forward. I'm testing and trying the young and the older, both generations. I'm not looking on their outward appearance or their age or their past experience, but I'm looking at their spirit and where their heart and spirit are at right now.

85. This is the test that all will go through—a purging of the heart, a forsaking of the things that are not part of the new day and the new moves of My Spirit; the things that they need to leave behind‚ old attitudes, old ways of doing things, old mindsets, and the need to move on with the new.

86. Those who are willing to forsake the old and adopt the new will explode with Me into the future, and I will use them to be the avant–garde of the future, the front-line soldiers in the battles to come. These are they who are prepared to take on the challenges of the future, who I will anoint and ordain to fight the new battles ahead. Others, who wish to go no further, I will use in a different capacity, to support, to be friends, and to fight in a different arena of battle.

87. The days of preparation are in progress, and all will face the days of decision. In order to help My children decide which way they will go, I prepare situations and circumstances to test and try and purge and bring to the fore their level of faith and dedication. It's part of My plan. (End of message.)

147. (Jesus:) You must yield your all to Me, give your all, and not hold back in any area of your life. You must come to Me as an open and yielded vessel, not having any plans of your own, any will of your own. Just be willing to sign that blank sheet of paper and let Me fill it in for you. … You cannot continue business as usual.

148. Don't think that you can just coast along, for there's no such thing. I've said time and time again that there's no such thing as standing still. If you're not progressing and growing, then you're starting back. This is what has happened to some who thought they could stop progressing, that they could just stand still for a while and not really receive the new Letters and not really use the new tools that I've placed before them.

149. So learn from their mistakes and don't hold back in any area of your life, for I wish for you to make progress. And the way to make progress is by having an open and receptive heart, by hungering and thirsting after My Words so that you may be filled, and so that these Words will move and work in your life and make you into the vessel that I want you to be.

150. This is the lesson that I have for you—that you continue to grow, and that you desire to grow. If you lose that desire to grow and to make progress, it's a dangerous sign. If you lose that desire and hunger for My Words, that's also a danger sign. This is what has happened to some. They lost their desire to grow and to make progress. They lost their hunger for My Words, and now they are in a sorry state.

151. Some have not been able to let go of the past and the old ways of doing things. You cannot hang on to the old and at the same time attempt to grasp the new. You must be willing to let go of the old by faith and reach out and wholeheartedly embrace the new.

152. So let go of the old and hang on to the new! Let go of any old thought patterns, the way things used to be done, for this is a new day and things are done in a new way. You must allow yourself to be rewired to the new—and My Spirit will do this in you as you let go of the old and embrace the New Wine and use the new tools that I've given you. I will complete the process of making you new. But you must be willing to let go of the old and be willing to become that new bottle that will be able to receive the New Wine.

153. The old bottles cannot receive the new; it's too much for them. They can't contain it, and they'll crack. Only new bottles can receive the New Wine. Take these lessons to heart. Hunger and thirst after My Words and desire to grow and become the new bottle, the new vessel that I want you to be. (End of message.)

"The Family's Future and Expansion Program," ML #3308:7-16, GN 908

7. (Jesus:) I am doing a new thing. I am bringing about changes that will affect all of My children. These are changes for good‚ but changes are never easy. They require work and sacrifice. They require getting rid of old mindsets. They require vision, faith, and a desire to do new things. The change that is facing the Family is not going to be an easy one; it will require each Family member to go through the steps of change.

8. It will require them first to receive My Word, to believe it, and to take on the vision that I give through My Word. They must then have faith and courage to see it through. It's going to require work on their part. It will require a change of mind, a change of the way they do things, and a change of their present vision and goals. This is not an easy thing, but it is necessary.

9. It's important that each one prays and asks Me to give them the vision, faith‚ courage and initiative that's needed. They must ask Me for help to let go of the old—the way they've been used to doing things—so that they can latch on to the new. As revolutionary as My children are, in many ways they're stuck in a rut. Now I wish to break them out of that rut and that mold. This is the test to see how truly revolutionary they are, if they can revolve and move as I do. I'm calling them into even greater service, into greater ministries which require more faith and more dedication and more work, but which will bring about more fruitfulness.

10. This is a challenge—a challenge for each one, and a challenge for you, My queen and king. The challenge for you is to give the Family the vision and to work toward setting up the new structure. The challenge for them is to accept the change, to move forward, and to let go of the things of the past. It's a new era. It's a new day. It's a day of change. If you expect an era of action, everything cannot remain as it was. You must be prepared to do what is required in order to actively participate in the era of action, so that action, progress and change will be brought about.

11. This is the call and challenge that I put before My children—to move, grow and change. It is a time to grow. It is a time to latch on to the responsibility of making the Family what it needs to be for this new era, and it will require each one of you doing your part. So be willing to let go of the old. Latch on to the new, and have faith for it. Have faith that I will bring it to pass. Have faith that though there will be some hardship, and though it will be difficult to make this change, it will be worth it.

12. I'm moving My children in a new direction, higher up the mountain‚ and this will require faith on your part—faith to trust Me, faith to make the changes, faith to go forward. But if you will follow, you will see great results. Even now begin to seek Me about change—change in your own heart, change in your life. Seek and ask Me for an openness to the new, a willingness to try‚ a willingness to move forward in the direction that I am leading.

13. This is the new era. It's going to be an era of change, an era of action‚ an era of faith‚ an era of reaping, an era of shepherding and teaching. So grab on to the new! Move forward by faith, putting your trust in Me and My promises. For I will do more than you've ever imagined, and it will come about because of your faith and your obedience and your willingness to move on to the new. (End of message.)

14. (Peter:) Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Jesus has issued the challenge to change—to get on with what's ahead and to leave our past mindsets behind. He's clearly said that, 1) it won't be easy, and 2) that each of us will have to go through the steps of change. He's asked you to pray for vision, faith‚ courage and initiative‚ all of which are needed to propel the Family into this era of action. In short, He's asking you to pray that you will be a pioneer.

15. He's also asking each of us to pray that we'll be new bottles. Only new bottles can let go of the old‚ the familiar way of doing things, and latch on to the new. He wants to break us out of our ruts and our crusty old molds. He's putting us to the test to see if we can revolve and move with Him, and if we can, we'll find ourselves in greater service and greater ministries that will bring about much more fruitfulness. Isn't that our collective goal and desire?

16. The Lord says that it's time to grow. It's time for every Family member to latch on to the responsibility of making the Family what it needs to be.

"Shooting Straight, Part 3‚" ML #3501:20-26,32-36,134, GN 1088

20. (Dad:) I've heard a lot of young people, and sometimes older people, boldly proclaiming that they would "never" do this or that thing—often based on worldly hang-ups or simple pride. These things that people say they "couldn't or wouldn't ever do" range from accepting a leadership role to giving public prophecies in a meeting; having a sacrificial date or a date with an FGA, to marrying a guy who's shorter than you; being a single mom or marrying someone who already has kids, to having kids period. Some of you have cultivated some definite preferences, likes and dislikes‚ and in some cases, real definite ideas about your future—your career, your love life, what you will or won't accept in a relationship or marriage, and on and on it goes.

21. I have a scripture for you. It's one that you probably learned when you were either a little kid or a new babe if you weren't born in the Family. It says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

22. I know there are things that are difficult or unappealing to every person‚ and what that is varies as much as the people themselves. Everybody has their thing—something you don't like to do, something you'd like to avoid, something you are afraid of, something that you even feel is "wrong," or at least wrong for you. Well, you're entitled to your personal preferences and your feelings, and the Lord did make everybody different.

23. There's a problem, though, when people take on the attitude of "I would never do that," and get so definite about it. I'm talking, of course, about things that are options within the Lord's will. If you want to say‚ "I would never have sex with an outsider‚" that's a good thing to say, ha! But in other cases, times and situations and you yourself may change, so it may be unwise to say "never."

24. There are a lot of things that are or may be something that the Lord would like you to do—either on a one-time basis or as a bigger life decision. Sometimes it's something that He knows would be good for you because it would broaden your horizons or humble you; or, get this, maybe you'd even like it and enjoy it! Or there are things that would be good for you to do because they would be a blessing to others. They would be a sacrifice, but they would be the loving and unselfish thing to do in that case.

25. It's just not wise to put God in a box, or to put yourself in a box. How do you know what you might come up against or what the Lord might ask you to do? And how do you know it will be so terrible or unpleasant if you haven't tried it? Or how do you know that just because it went badly for someone else, it will go badly for you? Sometimes it's hard to even tell whether something you feel so strongly about is your own idea, or whether others—like friends or peers or the System—have planted that idea in your head. Sometimes you think something is too humiliating or embarrassing and you don't think it's worth the trouble, even if it is the "right" or "loving" thing to do.

26. But you see, when you put yourself in a box, when you say "thus far and no further," and when you say, "This I may do, but never that," or, "I could never handle that," what you're really doing is hindering both the Lord's ability to work through you and possibly hindering yourself from receiving the Lord's blessings.

32. There are all kinds of possible scenarios where the Lord might ask you to do something that goes against your grain, or even something that you've said you "would never" do, but He wants you to do it and it's important.—Important either because it's going to help someone else in a significant way, or because it's going to lead you into His will and blessings for you and His plan for your life. Then there are other times where maybe things aren't so "make or break," but it's still good to have a more open and flexible mindset.

33. The more open and flexible you are with the little things, the more you'll be that way when it's something more crucial. Whereas when you're in the groove of rejecting anything that doesn't fit into your preconceived mold of "the things I will do‚" then some day you're going to miss out on something that is more important and has bigger consequences.

34. And another hot tip: The Lord blesses and rewards yieldedness, and He cannot bless selfishness and holding back from Him. He will sometimes engineer things to try to help you yield and become more flexible, and the longer you hold back and resist and try to change the situation, the longer the situation continues in an uncomfortable and unpleasant way for you personally, until you get the point and say, "Okay, Lord, not my will, but Yours be done." So if you want to avoid those kinds of truly uncomfortable situations, the smart thing is to be flexible, and if you sense something moving in a direction you're not so happy about or naturally comfortable with, sort it out with the Lord right away‚ and do your best to yield. You'll often find that once you do that‚ it clears up miraculously quickly—either the circumstances change or else you change and don't mind anymore. And sometimes you'll find that whatever it was you were dreading or fighting so hard is just what you needed to complete your life and make you truly happy—on top of it all‚ reveling in abundant blessings and peace and fruitfulness from your Husband and Lover.

35. I'm not saying that you each need to make a list of "all the things I don't want to do," and go through them one by one and do them all just to prove that you're sacrificial, dedicated, yielded, or that you're not an old bottle. That would be a pure works trip. And though it might do you some good, it would mainly just be self–effort, and it would be done out of pride rather than love and humility and obedience, and therefore it wouldn't bring down the kind of blessings I'm talking about.

36. What I'm talking about is an attitude of openness, of yieldedness, of not automatically stubbornly refusing to do something or saying you'd never do it, when you just don't know the Lord's will. I'm talking about not kicking against the pricks when the Lord engineers something that He knows you need. It's just not wise. It's not going to bear good fruit, either in the Lord's service, in your personal life, or in your being a blessing to others, if you're always so stuck or hung up on what you will or won't do. Let yourself out of your little box. Set yourself free to do God's will! Amen?

Key promise:

134. The keys can help you become a new bottle, one who not only flows, but rejoices and longs for the newest and the latest from My Spirit.

"Shooting Straight‚ Part 6," ML #3505:8–25,27, GN 1094

8. (Dad:) Some of you have gotten stuck in the "way it used to be," stuck in the past, stuck in the mud, and your wagon wheels aren't really moving anymore. It's one thing to have a good solid way of doing something that is working well and doesn't need to be changed, but it's another thing to be rigid. I never became rigid and so stuck in a rut that I couldn't change—the way we were doing things‚ the way I was doing things‚ even the way the Lord had originally showed us to do things.

9. Remember what I said? We've got to find out what God wants us to do today, how He wants us to do it today, and we can't go on yesterday's plans or ideas. It's not possible to stick to the old ways or old plans in an ever-changing and fluid progression of a movement such as ours.

10. The Lord loves change! He is a moving God! He's not stuck on how it was done yesterday. To Hell with how it used to be done if it's not what is needed today!

11. This goes for many of you who have a hard time flowing in the ever-changing environment of our Homes today. You might be very good at a particular ministry, and you want to just work in that ministry and don't want to have to be bothered with everything else. But you know, that's just not the way it works! The Lord allows, and yes, even engineers circumstances of change and need to keep you stretching, growing, sacrificing, changing, learning and reaching out. So if you're stuck in the mud or being inflexible about things, that's a problem! You're not benefiting from the Lord's movement that He's engineering to bring out the best in you, and the Home is suffering from your lack of willingness and sacrificial spirit.

12. You're in danger of becoming useless! Even the world knows this. In the technologically changing world around you‚ people have to change, adapt, and continue being retrained for new jobs and new ways of doing things; otherwise their jobs become obsolete and they become obsolete! Is that what you want? Do you want to become outdated and past use? Do you want to be stuck in the past? If not, you'd better keep changing, and really work on staying adaptable and moldable.

13. Part of human nature is that as you get older, you can naturally become less moldable‚ and if you don't watch out, you can get pretty set in your ways. It may be a bit harder for you FGAs to stay adaptable and open to change, but you've got to do it, and with the power of the keys and a healthy dose of the Lord's youthful, flowing, radical spirit‚ you can do it!

14. But I'm not going to direct this entire message only toward the FGAs, because some of you SGAs have become old bottles! You aren't willing to change, you aren't revoluting, things have got to be "just the way you want it" or you get unhappy, bent out of shape, or don't fill the need as well as you should.

15. All of you need to realize that change is part of life for the Lord. Change is part of the fundamental element of this Revolution. We're always changing, always moving, always revoluting, and if you can't change with us, you're going to get left behind.

16. Some have wondered if it's necessary to be flexible or if it's possible to just remain in your area of expertise. For example, if you're a good outreacher and witness, can't you just give your best in that area and sort of neglect the other areas of life? Or perhaps you think those other areas don't quite matter as much, and even if you're not real good at filling in, you can sort of get by? Well, the answer to that is no. You, as a Family member, have to be willing to grow and change and make progress in every area of your life. Some of you have serious weaknesses, and maybe they don't affect your witness—which you consider your main ministry or focus—but if they're hindering your life as a disciple, if they're hindering your communal living‚ if they're making it hard on others, you need to work on them!

17. Your life for the Lord is multi-faceted. No one is expecting you to be an expert in every area, but you can certainly be willing in every area, and give it your best when the Lord calls on you to fill a need.

18. If you can't adapt and be flexible, you're going to find yourself without a solid team to work with, because it's very hard to unite with and work with people who can only do such-and–such. Flexibility on the part of each and every member is essential to creating well-balanced, winning teams. You have to be able to adapt‚ to flow with the needs of the day, and to focus on what the Lord brings into your court today.

19. Maybe you're good at one thing and that's where you can really shine, but that doesn't mean that's the only thing you should do‚ or that you can't help out elsewhere when there's a need. It's very important to remain open and willing. Becoming rigid and stuck in your ways can spell the end of your usefulness to the Lord.

20. Imagine a lump of clay. If it only could be molded into one shape, how useful would it be? If it refused to hold the shape of a cup when it was fashioned into one, what would the potter do? He couldn't use it. If it insisted on staying one way, then pretty soon he would have to throw that lump of clay away and get a new, moldable, and easily fashioned lump of clay.

21. I know you don't want to see life pass you by. I know you want to stay useful to your Home and to the Lord and the Family. But if you don't fight against this area of becoming rigid and stuck in your ways, you're going to end up being very limited in your usefulness, and eventually you might find yourself out of a job.

22. It's a sure sign of growing old and old-bottlish in spirit when things have to be a certain way to make you happy, when you have to do a certain thing, when you won't change. When you stop changing, you're through! When you stop being moldable and flexible, then you're finished‚ because you'll break‚ you'll crack up; you won't be able to take the changes and new moves of the Spirit that God's got in store for you, for your Home, for the Family. He is a moving God! Remember that!

23. Did you think your life was going to remain the same forever? God is not that way. He is always changing things and moving forward, and you'd do well to remember that without changes, they fear not God. Change is an essential part of Family life; it's an essential part of the disciple's life. It's the way it's destined to be, and it's not about to stop now. So if you've gotten a bit rigid or stuck in your ways, or you can't help out when you're asked to do something on the spur of the moment, or you're not willing and seeking to change and improve your weak areas and grow in your abilities in order to best meet the needs around you, then you need to check your heart and see where your revolutionary spirit has gone. A revolutionary loves change! They embrace it, they flow with it, and they look forward to it.

24. Don't let the creeping paralysis of old age—or old-bottlism—get ahold of your habits. Don't let old age in spirit make you rigid. Stay young and alive by changing, by not getting stuck in your ways, by being flexible. Even if your body isn't flexible anymore‚ your spirit can still be, and that determines your age. The oldest of people can be the youngest in spirit if they'll let the Lord keep them flexible. And some of you youngest of people can be the oldest in spirit if you don't!

25. So the moral of the story is: Remain flexible, changeable‚ and revolutionary if you want to go on with the Lord and maintain your usefulness to Him and to the world. There's so much still to come! You really don't want to get stuck in a rut now!

Key promise:

27. The keys of change can not only help you to change, but they can help you desire change and see the good in it, and take it like the revolutionary you are!

"Shooting Straight, Part 16," ML #3542:96–99,121-123,126, GN 1139

96. (Jesus:) You've got to be a new bottle to be able to hold New Wine! And there just don't seem to be that many new bottles around. There weren't then and there still aren't today.

97. I'm still pouring out a continual flow of refreshing, radical New Wine to those who have ears to hear‚ and who will receive it. But the average mainstream religionist of today is no more likely to be able to hold New Wine than could the mainstream religionists in My day. Some will be able to. Some of them are humble enough, simple enough, and hungry enough for the things of My Spirit, that I'll be able to open their hearts and their eyes and ears to the new. But not many, not the majority by any means. The majority aren't even of the mindset that there is such a thing as New Wine today. And they certainly don't see the need for it.

98. Some of you in the Family are still trying to hang on to the old—the old ways, the old doctrines and traditions, even the old MO Letters. You find comfort and peace in the old, what you might call the "old-time religion." You don't want to have to stir yourselves up or get desperate to grow and change and progress, which is what New Wine is all about. If I were trying to just comfort you and make you feel good about yourselves and lull you to sleep, then I would go about things very differently than I do; there would be no point in pouring out anything new.

99. But I have no intention of lulling you to sleep or keeping things the same as they've always been! That's not what I'm after, because I know that without the continual flow of refreshing, changing Living Waters and New Wine, My people, My Church, will gradually stagnate and die spiritually. I can't let it happen. I must and will do whatever is needed to stir the pot and keep My people awake and alive. ...

121. There's a time for everything‚ and there will be times, depending on the situation and the mission I've called you to, when it will be necessary for you to go slow and use great wisdom and prayerfulness concerning the message you share with others. You're not necessarily meant to be trying to pour New Wine into old bottles‚ nor even into the mouths of babes and sucklings. They need the milk of the Word in order to grow in the faith. But I did call you to be My special messengers to the world, and for that reason, I have poured out to you an abundance of special New Wine.

122. I haven't promised you a normal life or calling. I didn't intend or ask you to be Sam or Suzy Systemite. I've called you to be My brides, My representatives. I've called you to be My wife, Mrs. Jesus. How can you be My followers, My representatives, how can you represent Me to the world unless you're truly willing to follow in My footsteps?

123. I've called you to come out of the world, and that includes the world's sleepy, old-bottle church system. I've called you to be married to another—to Me. I may not be mainstream or normal, and as you know, I wasn't very successful or highly respected, but I can guarantee you that if you stay close to Me and follow wherever I go, you'll be glad you did! You'll be thankful that you didn't compromise or choose a cheaper and easier religion.

126. If you're ashamed and embarrassed because of the kind of things that I pour out to you that make you so different and special, you'll end up being just like I said about the salt that had lost its savor (Mat.5:13). You don't want that to be said about you, do you? Stay hot! Stay radical! Stay sold out, dropped out! Stay special!

"What Does It Mean To Be Truly Revolutionary?" Maria #44:25-31‚ DB3

25. (Mama:) OUR GOAL IS TO BE TRUE REVOLUTIONARIES FOR JESUS, 100% DEDICATED TO HIS CAUSE of exposing and destroying evil and bringing in God's Kingdom right here and now. If we're willing and yielded, submitted to Him and obedient, all the other qualities and qualifications of a revolutionary will follow: We'll be looking for a City Whose Builder and Maker is God. We won't be tied down to this world. We'll be willing to fight and die for Him because this world and what it has here, even the attractions and the comfort of the physical flesh and its comfortable selfish attitudes, will no longer appeal to us. Our hearts will be 100% dedicated to the Lord and our treasure will be in Heaven. (Heb.11:10)

26. WE'LL BE WILLING TO CHANGE WHEN THE LORD SAYS CHANGE—change our direction, our home, our loved ones, our lifestyle, our habits, our attitudes‚ our clothes, or our hair, because it won't matter to us anymore. Our only purpose for living will be to live and die for Jesus. We'll be willing to sacrifice anything for Jesus and we'll be happy to get rid of the worldly weights that so easily beset us‚ in order that we may get the job done. We'll be able to run the race and win.

27. WE'LL BE READY TO MOVE, TO CHANGE, TO GO OR TO STAY AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE. We won't resist change because we know that only with change can come progress in getting rid of the old and overcoming evil, and bringing in the new and implanting the good in men's hearts and minds.

28. Our goal is to be yielded, obedient clay in the Potter's hands, so moldable and pliable that He can make us into whatever He wants and then break us again and make us into something else if the need arises.—A Christian revolutionary so obedient to Christ's call that when He says, "Go!", we go, "Stay!"‚ we stay‚ "Fight!", we fight, "Abound!", we abound, "Be abased" and we are abased. When He says "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature", we go. And when He says, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest," we rest in His arms. When He says, "Fight the good fight of faith", we fight with everything that is within us. When He says, "Stand back and see Me fight!", we stand back and see Him win the victory. When He says‚ "Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price," then we act like it. (Phil.4:12; Isa.30:21; Mk.16:15; Mat.11:28; 1Tim.6:12; 2Chr.20:17; 1Cor.6:20.)

29. WHEN HE GETS DONE MOLDING US INTO THE VESSEL HE WANTS; WE DON'T QUESTION "WHY HAST THOU MADE ME THUS?" When He says, "Lovest thou Me? Feed My sheep," we don't make excuses but we go and feed His sheep. When He says‚ "He that forsaketh not all that he hath cannot be My disciple", we say, "Yes, Lord, all that I have is Thine. And here it is." (Rom.9:20; Jn.21:16,17; Luk.14:33)

30. IF WE'RE 100% YIELDED and OBEDIENT REVOLUTIONARIES FOR JESUS, WE CAN'T BE OLD BOTTLES, because we are so busy changing, moving‚ fighting‚ serving and exploding, that we don't have time to get settled down and become brittle and unbendable and stuck in our rut. We're new bottles no matter how old we are, because it is our spirit that counts. If we're 40 years old, we can be just as much a new bottle as if we're 12 years old. But if we're 12 years old and not obedient and yielded, we can be just as old bottlish as some 40 and 50-year-olds.

31. THERE IS NO AGE LIMIT IN THE LORD'S NEW BOTTLE ARMY, ALTHOUGH THE OLDER ONES OFTEN HAVE TO FIGHT A LITTLE HARDER to overcome years of getting settled down and weighted down with the cares of this life. But that should make them even better fighters as they know they have to fight all the harder, even get more stirred up and more angry at evil and more enthusiastic for the good. True revolutionaries for Jesus dream the dreams that the world says are impossible, but they see them come to pass and materialize before their very eyes, because "With God, all things are possible!" (Mat.19:26)

FJWL 1, #377

The old must make way for the new. But who are the old? The old are those who will not change, who will not allow themselves to be stirred up, who will not take the step of faith, who will not trust Me. Who are the new? The new are those who drink in My New Wine, who trust, who say, "Oh, yes, I will go forth! I know not what is there, but I will go forth."

They that are old are not of a certain age, and they that are new and young are not of a certain age‚ for the newness or the oldness is a matter of the spirit. Those who will allow themselves to be stirred up‚ these are they that are new and young. Those that say, "No, no, stir me not up, for I am comfortable and I am happy with the way it is," these are old. It makes no difference if they are old or young in flesh, for it is a matter of the spirit.

I raise up a new and young army, an army of those that are full of faith! Not those who are strong‚ not those who are mighty, not those who have done great exploits, but just those who have faith—faith to trust Me, faith to hold on, faith to say yes to Me. These are they that will partake of the fresh waters of My Spirit, and that shall have great rejoicing in these waters.

But the road to the well of these waters is a difficult road, and those that climb it are those that must be young—young in spirit, young in willingness, young in yieldedness, young in obedience, young in desire for Me.

To you who feel old and think, "No, but I am old, I am old in spirit and I find the changes hard and the new things difficult‚" I say unto you that before you stands the fountain of youth! The fountain of youth is the will of God, and to receive of it and to drink of it you must only say yes—yes to My will, yes to that which I bring your way, yes to My new Words, yes to Me and all that I would ask of you. If you will do this thing‚ you will be young in spirit all the days of your life, and you will have the fountain of youth!

So come unto Me, young and old‚ and I will make you all young, even as those who enter into the Heavenly realm are once again young and rejuvenated and revitalized because they are in the Spirit. Those of you who say yes to Me and who follow Me and who yield to Me and who trust Me, you are they that walk in the Spirit. The Spirit of God is the fountain of youth, and you shall be as a new creature, as a young bottle, as a young and radiant bride! You shall be forever young! (ML #2987).

FJWL 2, #111

(Dad: ) You can be an old bottle at 45 or 18‚ just like you can be a new bottle at 18 or 45. What matters is the position of the heart and your willingness to receive the New Wine.