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ARE YOU WILLING TO SIGN A BLANK SHEET OF PAPER? Maria No.21 DO 1927 2/85--Talk to a Leader
1. NO ONE LIKES TO CONFESS ALL THEIR FAULTS & FAILINGS TO ANOTHER, BUT I THINK IT STRENGTHENS YOU IF YOU DO! IT CERTAINLY HELPS TO TELL THE LORD! If we want the answers & want His Will then we need to be honest & open our hearts to Him! He knows everything, but we still have to be honest with Him! Even though He knows it all & what our problems are & what our deepest thoughts are & all about our failings, He still requires us to be honest with Him & not to just say, "Well, Lord, You already know all of this about me." He wants us to tell Him & to say it, to present the problem & ask for His help!
2. HE NOT ONLY REQUIRES US TO BE SPECIFIC & HONEST WITH HIM, BUT WITH EACH OTHER TOO! "CONFESS YOUR FAULTS ONE TO ANOTHER THAT YE MAY BE HEALED". (Jam.5:16) If it's a sin that everybody already knows about, or is supposed to know, or even sometimes if it's something that hasn't wronged or harmed them but is going to be a help to others, then He requires it! It's not only just for our own sake, but sometimes the Lord wants us to do it for other people's sakes too! So there are a lot of reasons we have to be open & honest with people, including the fact that it keeps us humble, & I guess that's why the Enemy fights it so much!
3. EVERYBODY DOESN'T HAVE A BIG ATTACK OF JEALOUSY ALL AT ONCE, EVERYBODY DOESN'T HAVE A BIG PROBLEM WITH BAD HEALTH ALL AT ONCE, YOU GET TRIALS AS THE LORD KNOWS YOU CAN TAKE THEM OR WHEN IT'S THE RIGHT TIME IN HIS EYES FOR YOU TO HAVE THE PROBLEM & GET THE VICTORY! Maybe this is just your time for going through some of these battles! Everybody goes through them eventually, but not all go through them at the same time. It's a good thing we don't! That would really be difficult! If we did, we probably couldn't help each other, we'd all be down in the dumps & we'd all be having the same problem!
4. SO WHEN YOU'RE GOING THROUGH A TRIAL LIKE THIS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO FEEL LIKE YOU'RE ALL ALONE--EVERYBODY HAS THEIR BATTLES & PROBLEMS, maybe they just aren't having theirs at the same time that you are. I wouldn't like to be trying to help everybody through the same trial that I was going through at the same time, & if I had to I probably wouldn't be much of a help! The Lord controls these things & He knows how to do them best & what to do & who to let have battles at a certain time. Maybe it is happening to you now so that later you can teach others the lessons you've learned & it won't be so difficult for them to go through it later!
5. IF YOU "TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL THY HEART & LEAN NOT UNTO THINE OWN UNDERSTANDING, & IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS." (Pro.3:5-6) In order for Him to direct your path you should do the first three things, trust Him, ac-knowledge Him & don't lean to your own understanding!
6. DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TRUSTING HIM FOR THE FUTURE & THAT YOU'VE GIVEN THE LORD A BLANK PIECE OF PAPER, & HAVE JUST SIGNED YOUR NAME TO IT? Do you think we should put limits on Him in any area by saying we can't do something? Should we say, "Lord, I'm willing to do anything, but I'm a field person, so I don't think You should ask me to sit behind a desk"? What I mean is, if we're really giving Him a blank sheet of paper & saying, "I'm willing to do anything," should we limit Him by saying that there are some things that we can't do? If we set limits on what He can do with us, if in some areas we say, "Well, I can do this, but I can't do that," maybe that's not complete surrender, a complete submission. It's not exactly signing a blank sheet of paper if we're putting some conditions on it! It is not complete & total surrender to His Will if we set down certain conditions! If we set these conditions, then maybe He can't really fulfil His Will until we take those conditions away! Do you realise that you could be just as unhappy or even more unhappy & unsatisfied on the field if you weren't in the Lord's Will?
7. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE A DECISION, THE DEVIL FIGHTS EXTRA HARD & THE LORD ALLOWS HIM TO MAKE IT THAT WAY TO TEST YOU, TO SEE IF YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE UP EVEN BEFORE YOU GET STARTED! Sometimes we think something the Lord may be asking of us is going to be completely Hell & that we're not going to be able to take it. It may seem like that to us at the time, but it's not always going to be that way! At the beginning while we're making the decision, things seem much worse than they're actually eventually going to be, because the Enemy is trying to get us to give up! As long as he thinks he has some hope that he can get us to not do what we're supposed to do, then he keeps fighting ferociously & he makes it seem like the worst possible thing!
8. IT'S LIKE WHEN PEOPLE GET SAVED, THAT'S THE WORST BATTLE SOME PEOPLE EVER HAVE! They think of all the terrible things that are going to happen to them, what their parents are going to do, what they're going to have to give up & who they're going to have to forsake. All Hell breaks loose emotionally, spiritually & sometimes even physically or literally! But when they say "yes" to the Lord, it usually turns out not so bad after all & they get a lot more back than they thought they had to give up! But at the time when they're making that decision, it's a terrible battle! At the time, it seems like it's the most terrible thing in the World to get saved, when actually it's the most wonderful thing, but the Enemy always twists things & lies & you have the wrong perspective, you don't see things clearly because he is coming in with all his big guns trying to get you to decide to do anything but the right thing!
9. MAYBE IN A WAY YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE YOURSELF A JOB WITHOUT BEING ASSIGNED TO IT! We often do that with the Lord, I know I do, we tell Him what we want to do, "I want to do this & I want to do that & I can't do this & I can't do that, so please, let it be this way, Lord!" We often do that. We all do it.
10. WELL, MAYBE IT IS THE LORD'S WILL FOR YOU TO DO THE THINGS YOU'VE BEEN PLANNING. Sometimes He'll put His stamp of approval on our plans, if it's His Will, but if not, then He won't! So it's better to be safe & not to plan out what we're going to do & to put these conditions on the sheet of paper & then hand it to the Lord & say, "Here, sign this." It's always safer for us not to get quite so definite about things, because if it isn't His Will, then the thing we thought we could do, we probably can't do! Of course, on the other hand, if we are in His Will, then the thing we didn't think we could do we probably can do, because He gives us the strength & power to do it!
11. IN SOME CASES, IF YOU INSIST ON HAVING YOUR WAY THEN THE LORD MAY ALLOW IT, SORT OF LIKE HIS SECOND BEST. If you love Him & you make the wrong decision, He's not going to render you completely useless & completely devoid of fruit! Wherever we work for Him & whatever we do for Him I think He lets us bear at least some fruit! Even some of our backsliders do witness a bit here & there & they do win a few souls. If they still love Jesus & they still witness for Him, then it will bear some fruit & people will be changed! The Lord's Word isn't going to return void! No matter where you are or what you're doing, He is going to let it bear some fruit, but not as much fruit as if you're in the centre of His Will where you can accomplish much more & where the Lord is going to bless your life to the fullest!
12. THE LORD PROBABLY HAS MERCY ON THOSE WHO HAVE LEFT THE FAMILY BECAUSE OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS OR REAL ROUGH TIMES, THOSE WHO HAVEN'T LEFT WITH A REAL BAD ATTITUDE AGAINST THE LORD & HIS WILL, BUT MOSTLY BECAUSE THEY WERE WEAK. We had a lot of people in our earlier days who left when things were really rough & they thought they were too weak to take it. They weren't terribly rebellious or disobedient, they were just weak, so I don't think the Lord is going to completely destroy them. I think He is going to have mercy on some of those people because it was rough & it was difficult, & maybe they just didn't have what it takes to stay in the Family, but they can still serve the Lord in other places. Of course, I don't think the Lord is going to bless them as much as if they had really stuck it out & had become really strong soldiers, but this is an army & some people just aren't suited for it! I think the Lord is going to let them bear fruit in some places where they are, not as much fruit, I'm sure, & He's not going to bless them as much, but at least He lets them have a second place, He doesn't just cast them out.
13. THE LORD HAS TO HAVE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE & HE'LL TAKE WHOEVER HE HAS, WHOEVER HE CAN USE, HE DOESN'T LIMIT IT TO US & TO WHERE WE ARE. So even if we make the wrong choice, He'll still use us somewhat, unless we just defiantly turn against Him & are completely disobedient & rebellious. Even if we make a wrong choice, the Lord still uses us & accomplishes things with us, regardless of whether we have the first best or the second best. If we really love the Lord & we want His Will, then we aren't going to be completely put on the scrap heap just because we missed His Will at some time. Of course, we're probably not going to be used as much as we would be if we were in the centre of His Will, & in some ways we'll lose a blessing, but the Lord's blessings are many & varied & He doesn't usually stop with just one blessing, so if we miss one, there will still be others later. It seems that usually He blesses all of us wherever we are & whatever we're doing in proportion to our obedience to His Will. I don't think we can really understand His great system of justice & mercy.
14. SO IF WE DO MISS GOD'S WILL HE IS NOT GOING TO STRIKE US DEAD OR STOP USING US, especially if we love Him & we really want to serve Him. Of course, I'm not talking about some of our backsliders that really are rebellious & defiant & just won't receive the Lord's Word, they'd better watch out! I'm talking about our own people, a lot of us have missed the Lord's Will at certain places in our life, but He is merciful & He has different blessings & He gives us a lot of leeway & a lot of mercy!
15. SOMETIMES WHEN WE PUT OUR ALL ON THE ALTAR, THE LORD DOESN'T REQUIRE IT OF US, BUT HE STILL REQUIRES OF US THE SURRENDER. I feel a little bad telling you about what decision to make because then you'll say, "I have to make this decision because you told me what to do." I don't want you to make a decision just because I'm telling you what decision to make, but I do feel responsible to tell you that I feel you're thinking the wrong way & I don't feel completely at ease about your inclinations.
16. I THINK YOU'RE BEING PRETTY DEFINITE ABOUT SOME THINGS & THAT MAYBE YOU'RE BOXING THE LORD INTO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO OR THINK YOU CAN OR CAN'T DO! You say you're a field person & that you couldn't be happy sitting behind a desk all day, well, perhaps you're right, but maybe He wants you to learn or maybe He wants to show you that He can change you & make you different. He doesn't always make us do the things that He asks us to do, but sometimes He makes us decide to do it & then He releases us from it. It's not so much the place, but the willingness to fill the place. Sometimes He just does it to see if we are willing, not because He is actually going to make us do it. Of course, sometimes He does want us to do it.
17. (PRAYS:) LORD, THIS IS THY CHILD, & HE REALLY LOVES YOU & HE WANTS TO SERVE YOU & HE WANTS TO BE TOTALLY THINE, TOTALLY SUBMITTED TO YOU, TOTALLY OBEDIENT. We really believe that, Lord, he has shown it in many ways & he really loves You & wants to make the right decision, but we know that the Enemy is fighting him & fighting for his life & usefulness in Thy Service, Lord. But we know that You're fighting even harder, Lord, & that "Greater are You in him, Lord, than he that is in the World", &the power that he has available to him is all Thy Promises, everything You've ever promised & all the great things that You've said that we can claim & appropriate & know that they're for us! "All things are possible to him that believeth" & we "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us." We know He can & we know that You have the victory & that if we want it & we want Thy Will & we surrender to Thee, then the Enemy can't have the victory, he can't have us or our usefulness or anything about us, any part of us, because You are standing there, Lord, just like you told the Apostle Peter, & praying for us that our faith fail not. You're strengthening us so that we can in turn strengthen others, & comfort others with the comfort wherewith we are comforted.
18. YOU KNOW THE BATTLES, LORD, YOU KNOW THE DIFFICULTIES, YOU KNOW THE PAIN, BUT ALSO YOU KNOW THAT THE GREAT JOY & THE GREAT FULFILMENT & THE GREAT SATISFACTION WILL BE MUCH GREATER THAN ALL THE BATTLES as we submit to You & as we totally obey You & follow You in complete surrender to Thy Will, Lord. Help him in Jesus' name! Help him to listen to You & hear from You, not only through me, but directly from You, to confirm what I've said to him. I don't want to just tell him what to do, I want You to confirm it & show him in his own heart & not just because of what I said, Lord, which I really trust is Thy mind, but also to confirm it with Thy Word & what he feels in his own heart.
19. IT'S BETTER THAT WE BE WEAK SO YOU CAN BE STRONG IN US. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God & not of us." (2Cor.4:7) It shows all the more, Lord, Thy power & Thy excellency & Thy strength in such weak vessels. So help him, Lord, strengthen & keep him & show him Thy Will, Jesus. Help him to be happy as he commits himself to You & to Thy Will, in Jesus' name. Thank You Lord! Amen. Thank You Jesus!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
