FD/MM/FM; ML#3758; Comp. January 2009

Posts compiled from "History In the Making" (Mama Online)

Boeing 747

Here's an interesting little excerpt from a book called Built to Last:

In 1965, Boeing made one of the boldest moves in business history: the decision to go forward with the 747 jumbo jet, a decision that nearly killed the company. At the decisive board of directors meeting, Boeing chairman William Allen responded to the comment by a board member that "if the [747] program isn't panning out, we can always back out."

"Back out?" stiffened Allen. "If the Boeing Company says we will build this airplane, we will build it even if it takes the resources of the entire company!"

Indeed, as it had with the P-26, B-17, 707, and 727, Boeing became irreversibly committed to the 747—financially, psychologically, publicly. During the 747 development, a Boeing visitor commented, "You know, Mr. Allen, [Boeing has] a lot riding on that plane. What would you do if the first airplane crashed on takeoff?" After a long pause, Allen replied, "I'd rather talk about something pleasant—like a nuclear war."

This little, somewhat humorous, anecdote reminded me of the Offensive and how it's like our "Boeing 747." We're putting everything we've got into it, we're banking on it, and we know that the Lord is going to come through for us.

We are "irreversibly committed" to it, and there's no way we will "back out." If the Lord has said that we will succeed in the Offensive, then we will, no matter what it costs us. And just like the 747s got off the ground—and not only got off the ground, but made the difference between Boeing being average and being the top company in the business—so will we!

Do I Love the Fight?

I realize that there are some of you who don't feel inspired by the concept of battles and fighting, or who don't feel that you'll ever have "battle lust"—a passion for the fight, or a love affair with spiritual war.

Well, I don't think that I could say that I love the actual fight itself either. I do love the victory. I'm after the end result. So in that way I do love the fight, because you can't get the end result without the battle. I just don't have those emotional "loving it" feelings.

Maybe it's a little bit like love for the lost. The Lord has said that we don't have to have the feelings, we just have to obey—that our love for the lost is manifested in our obedience and willingness to sacrifice in order to give them the Lord's love. So perhaps that's similar to fighting battles. We don't have to feel emotional about it in order to love the fight; we just have to be obedient and willing to fight and win the battles.

I went back and researched what the Lord and Dad said in "Art of War, Part 6" about learning to love the fight. Dad's answer was pretty clear. He said: "Even though the fight is not pleasant in itself at times, it's knowing you're fighting for the Lord, for goals worth attaining, and the love of the victory that enables you to love the fight. … Basically, loving the fight is based on loving to win—loving to overcome, loving to triumph." (ML #3590:5-8, GN 1173.)

Also, here are some practical tips that I gleaned from that "Art of War" GN on learning to love the fight:

We have to look at things through the eyes of the spirit. We have to think about the fact that there are demons in the spirit world, and we do actually want to hurt them—slash them, burn them, send them to Hell. So if we think about what we're doing in the spirit when we fight battles, I suppose in that way we do actually love to do it—no matter how we feel in the physical.

Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you, if you're a more "peaceful type," like me, and if you don't feel naturally battle-inclined: The Lord can make us fearsome fighters in the spirit too.

Here are two key promises that I like a lot and that I am claiming for myself, and maybe you'll want to claim them too:

"No one in their right mind enjoys the suffering, the exhaustion, the wounds of battle, but through the power of the key of conquerors you can love seeing evil defeated, sin crushed, hatred obliterated, and My Spirit ruling more and more over all, as you persevere in your tasks for Me."

The next one is: "Loving the battle doesn't mean drawing pleasure from pain or enjoying the suffering. It means loving the thrill of knowing you can change any situation if you fight on and refuse to quit. The key of the big picture carried close to your heart in times of great struggle will bring you that joy, even in the midst of the suffering of the moment."

Free-Skate

Someone recently wrote me: "Many times I feel that I just need to be alone with the Lord without a lot of pressure to do this and do that, and feverishly receiving prophecies. It's like the ice-skaters who have to perform certain tricks or requirements in order to be considered top-notch skaters, but once in a while they have to be able to free-skate—like we have to have that free expression of love and faith and prayer in our relationship with the Lord. [My husband] is continually encouraging me that our relationship with the Lord has to be fluid and flexible and has to capture the spirit of closeness, the free expression of intimacy, and really what's at the heart of it. … All the new weapons are to help us with this, but they have to be wielded in the spirit or it becomes a works trip."

That's an important key, dear Family: Finding pleasure in fulfilling the spiritual requirements, and learning how to enjoy the Lord and the things of the spirit and wielding the new weapons. Your Word time and times with the Lord can't always feel like work. You do have to "study" the Word, of course. But you also need to regularly have times with the Lord that are personally rewarding, interesting, relaxing, and provide something you can look forward to.

I hope that each of you is able to find that time to enjoy Jesus and the things of the spirit. It's part of having the joy of the Lord and resting in Him.