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WHAT'S HAPPENING DURING THE 1997 FAMILY BIRTHDAY FEAST! Maria #367 TS 3094 11/96
--By Maria
My dear, wonderful Family,
1. I love you! It's almost 1997 and nearly time to celebrate another Family Birthday! What an ideal time to step back and take stock of all the wonderful blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us! He's so good to us--constantly showering us with abundant supply, protection, fellowship with one another, beautiful loving children, exciting and fulfilling work for Him, precious co-workers, loved ones and friends, and especially His marvelous unending Love and mercy! We are so blessed! And now we once again have the privilege of being able to partake of a four-day Family Birthday celebration, from February 15th through 18th. Praise the Lord!
2. Peter and I prayed about what should be the subject of this year's Birthday Feast, and the Lord showed us that it should be a time of prayer, praise, love and celebration! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for! We are the richest people in the world. And so, as the Lord indicated, we want to spend much of our time during this year's Family Birthday celebration praising the Lord, counting our blessings, and thanking Him for His marvelous goodness towards us.
3. One very big event which is worthy of celebration and great rejoicing is that this Family Birthday is the second anniversary of the Love Charter! Peter and I have prepared some GNs which you will be reading during the days of the Feast which enumerate many of the blessings we have received, the tremendous victories that have been won since the implementation of the Charter and the "Loving Jesus" revelation, and the great progress that has been made. I believe it will thrill your hearts to see how much you have accomplished in this last year--not only in your Homes and personal lives, but also in reaching the lost.
Days of Prayer!
'4. This year's Birthday celebration will offer lots of variety, as the pubs you'll read will cover several different subjects. We pray this will be a very inspiring time for you all. The Lord made it clear that these are also to be days of prayer. He said:
5. {\b \i (Jesus speaking:)} These days of feast and celebration and praise and love are also days of rest and reflection and quiet. These are days when you can step back from your busy schedules and the many demands that you constantly face to take time in prayer--personal prayer and united prayer. Use these days to rest in My arms and to cast all your cares upon Me. Use this precious quiet time to unload your burdens on My shoulders and to bring before Me the requests and needs that are heavy on your heart. For these are not only days of joy and celebration, but these are also days of serious prayer and meditation.
6. So come to Me, look to Me, lift up your hearts in prayer. Make your requests known, for I am attentive unto your cry. What you ask shall be given unto you, and what you seek you shall find. I will reward your desperation before Me with great reward. Your burdens will be lighter and your loads will be lifted. You will see great supply, great answers, and great deliverance! So make good use of these days of peace and quiet and rest, to pray.
7. Pray for the needs of your queen and king and their household. Pray for the needs of the Family as a whole. Pray for the needs of your Home. Pray for what is on your heart personally. From these prayers will spring forth great fruit, and the answers to these prayers will be evidence of My great love for you, My Bride. So forget not to pray, forget not to seek My face, both unitedly and privately, for it shall be well worth your time and effort. For as the children of David come before Me unitedly, their requests shall reverberate throughout the halls of Heaven, and I shall answer right speedily! I shall attend unto your requests, both great and small.
8. So pray, My precious ones, and great will be your reward for your labors. Pray for what is coming. Pray for what is ahead. Pray for more victories. Pray for more miracles. Pray for more supply. Come before Me and petition Me for all that is needed, for it is the Family's birthday. These are the feast days, the days of rejoicing and praise! It is a time for you to lift up your eyes and look upward, a time to be proud that you are My children! (End of message from Jesus.) (Mama:) As the time of the Family Birthday draws closer, we will provide you with some specific prayer requests for these days.
The Involvement of Our Children--And Our TS Family!
9. When Peter and I prayed and asked the Lord about the involvement of our JETTs and children in this year's Feast, He indicated that as much as possible He would like you to be able to participate in the meetings with the adults, YAs and teens.
10. I trust that you'll apply yourselves with enthusiasm and do your best to tune in to the pubs that you hear, pray wholeheartedly in the prayer meetings that you attend, and generally try to get as much as possible out of the activities that you participate in during these Feast days. I pray that this year's Family Birthday will be a very special and memorable occasion for you.
11. As I said, I asked the Lord about how much the JETTs and children could or should participate in the adult meetings. During the same prayer session I also asked what the Lord had in mind for our TRF Supporter members for the Birthday Feast this year. Following is His answer to both of these questions:
12. {\b \i (Jesus speaking:)} Let it be a wonderful celebration for My whole Family--TRF Supporters and DO members and JETTs and children alike--that they may all rejoice in the great victories of this year, and praise My Name and lift their hearts to the Heavenlies in praise for the great victories that have been won in the Spirit.
13. Let the children participate in the adult meeting times as much as possible--those who will be able to understand and who are of the age where it will bear good fruit in their lives, and who will benefit from being included in the adult fellowships.
14. Let one and all lift up their hearts to Me in praise, and celebrate and sing unto Me their praises and thanksgiving! Let the TRF Supporter Family benefit by receiving the praise prophecies and victories and testimonies, the same as the DO Family, for they are part of the victory. The TRF Supporter fellowship times and meetings, the steps toward reconciliation, and the uniting of hearts and spirits have been part of the victory for this year. So let them rejoice and be united in the same fellowship. Be of one mind and one heart and one body.
15. Let the praises roll! Let the victory bells ring! Proclaim it far and wide! Stand strong, unitedly, in your love for Me, and let us celebrate. Lift up your voices unto Me and sing unto Me and dance and rejoice in My Love--My love-kisses to you for this year. (End of message from Jesus.)
Personal Quiet Time with the Lord!
16. The Lord also seemed to indicate that this year's Feast will be more relaxed and restful. He said that these would be days of "rest and reflection and quiet," and that you'll be able to "step back from your busy schedules and the many demands that you constantly face to take time in prayer." He also said He wanted us to "make good use of these days of peace and quiet and rest, to pray."
17. Because most of the small Homes that you live in have many children that keep you pretty busy full-time, when you read this you may feel, "Well, I don't see how we're going to get much rest, or how we're going to be able to sit down and reflect and meditate when we've got so many children running around getting into everything and having to be closely supervised and shepherded. We only have three or four adults in the Home taking care of all these kids, and things can never just stop. We can never relax, because we always have to be on the go with the kids." I understand your feelings, and this is especially true when you have so many kids in a Home.
18. I know, though, that if the Lord says you can do it, then you can do it. But I was hoping there was some way we could make it easier for you to take the rest and quiet time you need. When praying further about this, I realized that one thing that may alleviate some of the pressure this year is that we'll try our best to make the reading schedule less demanding than in years past. With fewer pages to read unitedly, you'll hopefully be able to take things a little more slowly, and you may have more time for private reading, prayer and communion with the Lord.
19. Also, perhaps the Lord means that comparatively speaking you will get more rest during the days of the Feast, because you won't be doing outreach, you won't be provisioning, you won't be doing the jobs that you normally take care of outside your Home. You also won't be having your normal Home meetings during those days. But nonetheless, you may look at all your kids and wonder, "How in the world will we ever get any rest from our kids, who take up virtually all our time?"
20. I understand that the care of your children in itself demands a lot of your time and that their care can't be put on hold while you parents or teachers or caregivers step out of your busy schedule in order to have rest, quiet and prayer time. I feel concerned and burdened that each of you--each adult, YA, teen or JETT--will have the blessing and reward of being able to have that precious, personal quiet time with the Lord, in His arms, where you won't feel the press and pressure of your busy schedules and duties. But how, I wondered, can you organize it or work this out?
21. I knew the Lord must have some kind of solution, or some added information that could shed a light on this dilemma. I asked Him if He wouldn't mind explaining further about how we are going to have days of peace and quiet and rest when we can't stop our kids from continuing to wake up early, needing constant attention, being active and noisy, etc. He gave the following counsel, which I hope will be a help to you:
22. {\b \i (Jesus speaking:) }The rest must be in the spirit, for that is the only pure and lasting rest that will sustain you both spiritually, physically and mentally. But I understand that in order to rest in the spirit you must also bring your body to a standstill. It is like the bottle that must hold still so that My Spirit may be received. So I understand that within some Homes it may be difficult to balance the time needed for each person to have rest and peace and quiet within their busy schedules.
23. I know that you are concerned, My queen, and that you are deeply moved for My children, for the Family, and that you do not want to ask them to do something that is not possible, or that they may feel is unrealistic. For they may look at their Home situation, their schedule, their large families and the things that continue to need care and attention, and some may question and wonder, "How can this be? How can I have days of rest and peace and meditation in the midst of my busy demanding schedule?"
24. I understand and I see your need. Although perhaps not every member can have the same amount of rest and prayer and quiet time away from their schedule--because some may be needed to carry on with the care of the children or perhaps other jobs that must be taken care of--it is still possible and important that the Home members strive to help each other to have as much time as they possibly can away from the schedule and the work, in order to be alone with Me.
25. If you will all do your best and submit to one another, in order to make it possible for everyone to have some time alone, then can I bless and reward and give the answers that you need. I understand your needs. I understand your schedules. And even if you're not able to take as much time away from the work as you want to, if you have the desire to commune fully with Me in whatever time is available to you, I will still reward and bless and give unto you the riches of My Spirit that you need.
26. What is most important to Me is the sincerity and the desperation of the heart. So even if you can only find a short amount of time with Me, if you make good, wise use of that time to really unburden your hearts and set aside the thoughts of your work and business, and come fully into My presence, yielded and humble and submissive to Me, totally yielding and waiting and receptive, then I will bless you abundantly. I will fulfill My Word, and I will reward. I will strengthen and supply the answers and fill the needs and encourage each heart.
27. For I am not a faithless, unloving Father or Husband. I understand each personality and each heart and each situation. So do not feel condemned or worried or guilty if you have not been able to spend days or many hours in quiet prayer with Me, for I look at the sincerity and the vacuum that is in your heart and spirit. As you work together in unity and love and cooperation to help one another to have as much time as possible in rest and quiet, then will I make the way, and prepare the time that you need.
28. I will bless and reward with a special touch of My Love those of you who I require to sacrifice more of your time with Me in order that you may take care of the children and other work that must be done. I will reward you and encourage you and strengthen and bless you for your labors of love and your sacrifice, and I will make the time that you have with Me to be very special and very anointed and very blessed.
29. All things are possible to Me! Therefore lift up your eyes to Me. Reach out with the hand of faith to My Spirit, and trust in Me. Think not about your business or your schedule or the children or the duties, but block it all out. Close the door, even if it's for a short time, and I will help you to leave it all far behind as you come into My presence. Open your heart and mind and spirit to Me, that My Spirit may flow into you and bless and strengthen and refresh you!
30. I have special things in store for each person, for each member. I will forget no one. I will leave no one out. All will feel the touch of My Spirit if you do your part and come into My presence with sincerity and desperation. (End of message from Jesus.)
31.' {\b \i (Mama:) }I pray that this counsel from the Lord will help you to organize your Home activities and the care of the children so that possibly you'll be able to get at least a little much-needed and much-deserved extra rest and quiet time. I know that it will be difficult for some, but just do the best you can. Try to work together and share the load together, as the Lord instructs in the above message. As much as possible, try to put the Lord first, take turns with the work that needs to be done, and don't do anything that doesn't absolutely have to be done. You can discuss this as the days of the Feast approach to see how you can make this time as restful as possible.
The Lord Loves Praise!
32. My dear ones, the Lord loves you so much. He's so excited about having this special time with you, during which you can hear His whispers, drink deeply of His Heavenly New Wine, rest in His arms, enjoy His lovemaking, and pour your heart out to Him in prayer and praise. I believe when you read the wonderful things the Lord has to say to you in this year's Feast pubs, you'll be moved, challenged, and comforted. I think they'll motivate you to praise the Lord as never before--not only as an expression of your love and appreciation to Him for all that He has done, but also to please Him and create a vacuum to draw nigh to Him.
33. Several months back, one of the members of my Home received a prophecy of praise to the Lord, after which He spoke in return, saying:
34. {\b \i (Jesus speaking:) }Your praises call Me! Your praises beckon Me! Your praises are like the love call. When I hear your praises, it is then that I come. Your praises move Me! Your praises arouse My Love and My passions! I cannot resist coming to you when I hear your praises. When I hear your praises I become excited! I want to kiss you and hold you when I hear your praises. I cannot resist loving you!
35. It is a love potion and I cannot resist! When I hear your praises I want to fill you with My seeds! I cannot resist filling you with My Love and giving you all of Me. I need your praises. I want your praises, because your praises tell Me you want Me, you need Me. Your praises are your love.
36. Give Me your best! Give Me your praises first thing, and last thing, and throughout the day, to let Me know you love Me, you want Me, and you need Me. For I am King and I am worthy to be praised and to be loved above all else--your needy and grateful Lover, King of loves, King of praise, the King of the universe, King of creation, your King, your Lover, Jesus. (End of message from Jesus.)
37. {\b \i (Mama:) }Recently when hearing from the Lord for someone who wrote me a personal letter, Jesus spoke again on the subject of praise, saying:
38.{\b \i (Jesus speaking:) }I love praise!--Not because I just want to feel better, or because I need encouragement that I am the King of the universe, but it's just the way things are set up. It's the way My Father has ordained it. He said, "I, the Lord, dwell in the praises of My people." When someone has this attitude of praise, they fit together with Me. Their will is perfectly aligned with My will and the will of My Father, because they are resting in happiness and joy. As they express it, they become more and more one with Me.
39. The more a person spends time with Me, the more praise becomes a natural part of their being. The more they spend time with Me, and the more Love they receive from Me, the happier they are. And then praise is as easy to them as breathing. It comes as naturally and as easily and as freely as breathing or walking or anything else.
40. Your father David was continually praising. Every good thing in life that he saw, he praised Me for. He even praised Me in advance for the good that he knew I would bring out of the bad things that happened.
41. Praise fits together with My nature, so that when a person praises Me, it is like he or she is enticing Me and wooing Me and drawing Me. It draws My Love and My Spirit and My blessings. (End of excerpt of message from Jesus).
42. {\b \i (Mama:) }Let's make these Feast days not only days of celebration and thanksgiving, or days of love and prayer, but also days of praise. Let's sound out the love call! In fact, why wait until the Birthday Feast? Let's praise the Lord today, at every opportunity, and follow the good example that Dad set!
43. Peter and I love you and are praying for you. We're so thankful for each of you. We wish you a Happy Birthday, dear Family! May this year's celebration be your happiest ever. God bless and keep you! Love, Mama
Feast Pubs and Presents!
44. P.S.: I have listed below a general description of this year's Feast pubs and other Birthday presents. Peter and I want you to be able to look ahead and anticipate the many wonderful things that are coming. At first I thought that we could just surprise you with all that's planned for this year's Birthday Feast. But when praying about it more, I came to the conclusion that your being able to anticipate these wonderful treasures from the Lord would be a large part of the enjoyment for you. So we have opted to include below a list of many of the pubs and other goodies that your dear NPCs, LIMs and Service Centers are working hard to prepare for you. (Several of the Letters, tracts and publications below aren't final yet, so we're not sure what the final titles will be nor if we'll be able to complete them all in time for the Feast. Please pray that we can do so, and that all of these items will reach each of our Homes on time!)
45. I have a big favor to ask of you. I'd very much appreciate it if you would refrain from reading or skimming the pubs that are designated for the Feast celebration, or from listening to the new tapes until February 15th. I know it will be difficult to resist, but maybe some of you can relate to how it was when you were a child and you had to wait to open presents either on your birthday or at Christmas. It was hard to wait, but in the end you were glad you did because then you got to enjoy all the anticipation leading up to the appointed day, and then you also got to enjoy the gifts themselves!
46. So, dear teamworkers, when you receive the pubs, tapes and children's material for the Birthday Feast, please refrain from showing them to the whole Home. And unless you receive specific instructions otherwise, please refrain from reading or listening to them yourselves. (When you actually receive these materials for the Feast, you will also receive an FSM that will give more detailed instructions on some of the pubs.) Please just put the pubs, tapes and children's material for the Feast aside in some private place where you can hold them until the time when they are to be distributed. Thanks!
47. You should be receiving the following publications to read during this year's Birthday celebration:
* Come Together--In Love!
This revelation from Jesus and personal message from Dad give new meaning to communion.
* The 1996 Victories, and the Vision for 1997 GN (or GNs)!
A fascinating rundown of the good news of 1996--victories, progress, new ministries, open doors, etc., as well as plans for 1997.
48. When we were praying about the pubs for this year's Feast, Dad said to Peter and me:
49.' {\b \i (Dad speaking:) }I used to always give an analysis, a synopsis of what was going on and all the victories that we had won. That's important and the Family needs to hear that, so plan to tell them all the great things the Lord has done. Show them how things are going, where things are going, how inspiring it is, and all that the Lord is doing. Give them the good news!
50. It's been two years since the Charter was implemented, and one year since the introduction of the "Loving Jesus" revelation. This is an important time to analyze and to show'm the victories, to show'm the marvelous things that have happened, even though it's been a struggle. It's like fighting a war. You struggle and you fight and you don't always see that you're defeating the enemy, but you are! You may not see it right in your little foxhole or behind your little tree or in your little battle, but it's important to know that the generals know that the victory is being won, and that they can tell everybody where they're going, how it's going, and where they're headed.
51. These are important things, and the Family needs to know them! So prepare a report and let them know, so that they can praise the Lord, and so they will know that there is good fruit from the directions you've been giving--good fruit from the GNs, good fruit from the Charter, good fruit from the "Loving Jesus" revelation, and good fruit from loving the Word! (End of message from Dad.)
52. You will also receive in time for the Family Birthday, Lord willing, the following special pubs and tapes:
* A tremendous 64-page (A4 size) black-and-white photo book of Dad entitled "Now It Can Be Shown!"
You'll see a fascinating variety of many of Dad's expressions and activities in this compilation of photos from the years 1968 to 1981. The reason this photo collection does not include Dad's later years is because the negatives of the photos from that era have not yet been computerized. Publishing these photos was a monumental job! For years our faithful photo man has kept and cared for over 100,000 Family pictures, and for the last year he and some helpers have scanned thousands of these negatives on to computer. Recently while Peter was visiting this WS Home, the two of them spent 12 hours selecting potential photos of Dad. Peter then spent another three days selecting the final photos and doing a rough layout. Our precious photo man and layout team spent a further two weeks laying out and finalizing the book in preparation for printing.
* "To Jesus, With Love"--A gorgeous 126-page book (DB size) of words of praise from you to Jesus!
These are the praise prophecies from which the "Praise Kisses" were excerpted. This marvelous little book will surely be a favorite, as those who have seen a rough mockup of it can hardly put it down!
* "From Jesus, With Love"--A 32-page booklet (DB size) of messages of love from Jesus to you!
This is a sneak preview of a tremendous little book that you will be receiving later, by the same title, which is similar in size to the "To Jesus, With Love" book. But instead of your praises to Jesus, this book contains hitherto unpublished Words of Love from Jesus to you! This priceless gift from Jesus picks up where "I Love You!--Just You!" left off! Terrific! (The full version of this book will not reach you for quite some time because there is still much to be done to finalize it and print it. So we are sending you this 32-page pub to whet your appetite for what is to come!)
* Two tapes of Simon Peter reading the entire "To Jesus, With Love" book.
What better way to have words of praise to the Lord echo in your heart and mind than to have these precious prophecies available on tape!
* A second "Loving Jesus" tape entitled "Desiring You."
Like the Heavenly music on the "Open for Love" tape, these fantastic songs will move you and excite you, as they put into words the love and desire that's in your heart and soul for our precious Bridegroom.
Exciting new outreach tools:
* Two new far-out tracts for teens entitled "Check Me Out" and "The Answer!"
Jesus Himself "gets down" with some real hip language in these tracts that relate to today's kids. The layout of these tracts has been designed by the Free Zine team, if that gives you any idea of what they'll look like! Way cool!
* A new tract for adults entitled "True Love--Forever!"
A beautiful message of the Lord's love for people from all walks of life, similar to the "To You With Love" tract. A great new tool!
* "What Heaven Is Like!"
A new tract that explains in everyday terms what Heaven is going to be like and how to get There!
53. You will also be receiving some terrific children's pubs, thanks to the faithful labors of our Family Care teams! These include:
* "Praisin' U!" mags for the kids.
Four terrific mags for various age levels of kids, based on the kids' praise prophecies. Fully and beautifully illustrated!
* MLKs and Hope TKs, including "Gifts and Blessings!" and more!
* Coloring and activity pages
For inspiring activity times for the kids while the big people are reading GNs, or having prayer and rest time.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
