The New Garment of Prophecy!
The Lord's Great Love for Us All, and "the New Garment of Prophecy!"#2995 3/95
--By Maria
(Family sings “Open My Eyes that I May See”)1. Thank You Jesus! Speak to us tonight, Lord, with Thy beautiful Words, telling us what You have for us. You know best. We're just open to receiving from You whatever will be a blessing to us and Your children everywhere. Thank You Lord! Thank You for that beautiful song that expresses our desires so well. Thank You for the scripts You prepare for us, these words that we can sing and that we can say that have been inspired by Your saints down through the ages. Thank You that we don't have to depend on our own poor, stumbling words, but we can look in Your Word for praises to You and for instruction, and we can also sing these beautiful songs of praise. Thank You Jesus! Thank You for how Your saints have shared these songs with us, and thus have blessed so many generations. Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord!
The Lord Loves Us Just the Way We Are!
2. The Lord loves us, folks! He really really loves us! He keeps saying that He loves us as a lover. How does a lover love? If you're in love with someone very deeply, don't you overlook a lot of their faults? (Fam: Yes.) You overlook things constantly. So try to get that in your mind, that that's the way the Lord is with us. He looks at us so lovingly and just wants to help us to make it. He does everything He can to make it easy for us and to help us to enjoy Him and enjoy the life He's given us.
3. I don't know if anyone here particularly needs this message as much as some of the rest of the Family might at this time, but I do think some people need it desperately. We all certainly need it to some extent, and the more the Lord says it, the more we believe it. He keeps saying it over and over. Dad told me for 25 years how much he loved me. He kept telling me over and over and over until I really believed it. His love was just so constant and so unconditional that no matter what failings or shortcomings I had, I knew that Dad loved me, and I knew that he would always love me, no matter what my faults were; therefore I knew the Lord loved me that way. I've always been very assured of the Lord's love because of Dad's love for me. I knew Dad's love was a reflection of the Lord's love--so deep, so constant and unconditional, no matter what I did.
4. That's the way I wish all of you could feel about the Lord's love, and not ever doubt it. I know that basically you don't doubt the Lord's love up to a certain point--you know He loves us all--but you need to be able to see the Lord as a lover who is going to love you no matter what!--Who will love you no matter what's wrong with you or what you do or how you act or what your faults are, or your shortcomings or your problems and incapabilities and weaknesses and pride or whatever it is! The Lord loves you and wants you and doesn't stop wanting you, no matter how bad and incapable you see yourself.
5. I never have a problem with doubting the Lord's love. I am assured of the Lord's love no matter what I do. I don't question the Lord. However, I do have the problem of understanding and accepting these beautiful things the Lord says about me. Every time He says them I think, "I really know You love me, but why do You love me? How can You say these things?" I never question the Lord's love, but sometimes I question.... (Gary: His judgment?) Yes, His judgment, ha! That's a good way to put it.
6. Sometimes I question His judgment, and I think, "Lord, I don't know how You can say all these things about how much I love You and how much I love Your Word and how much I love Your children and all of this." Every time I read one of those beautiful things He says about me, I say, "Lord, I know You love me and it's really wonderful, and I love these things You say, but I don't really see it, and I don't know how You can say all these things. I know how far short I fall of the mark, and I know that I'm not any more dedicated nor do I love You more than a lot of other people. Look at our wonderful, precious Family who have suffered so much for You, and who give their lives for You daily and who have given everything to You for years, and are sold out. I admire them so much! I just look at these people and I think, `Oh Lord, I know I'm not like that. I'm so selfish and I'm so proud and I've got all of these problems. How can You say these things to me?'"
7. These are thoughts that cross my mind every time I hear the Lord say some of the beautiful things He says about me. And so it finally spewed out of my mouth, since I had Peter to talk to about it, and I made my lament about all of this for about 20 minutes! I said, "I feel like such a hypocrite, I really do. I know I'm just not that dedicated and I'm not this and that and another thing." So Peter said, "Okay, let's pray about it!" (Everyone bursts out laughing, and Maria is laughing!) (Peter: Touché, ha!) I said, "No, I don't think I want to. I'm going to get rebuked for doubting the Lord!" (Everyone laughs again.) But he said, "Well, I think we should if you're having a problem like that. I really think we should pray about it and hear from the Lord."
8. So I said, "Well, okay, because even the Lord's rebukes are so precious, and I would rather hear a rebuke from the Lord than not hear anything, so we might as well! I want to know, because I see this big discrepancy between what the Lord says about me and the way I see things. Of course, I've got to believe the Lord, but I still have this question and I would like to get the answer." So we prayed, and would you like to hear what the Lord said? (Fam: Yes!)
9. Remember, the theme of this meeting is how much the Lord loves us, and the great, great love He has for each one of us. So now I'm going to show you another example of that great love. I'm not just reading you this prophecy to show how much He loves me, but this is the way He sees all of us to some degree or another. Like the song goes, "He looked beyond my fault and saw my need." That's what the Lord does, He looks beyond our faults and our failings and our shortcomings and our blemishes and sees our need, and also sees His love for us. I said to Peter when I was lamenting, "I guess the Lord has some rose-colored glasses on for sure!" But you'll see what the Lord said; it's even more than that!--Ha! Thank You Lord!
The Lord Loves Us as a Lover, as a Blind Man Who Sees No Faults or Failings!
10. (Prophecy:) "Behold, I have heard thy prayer and the lamentation of thy heart. I say unto thee, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and there is none righteous, no, not one. For as far as the east is from the west, so far do I remove thy transgressions from thee.
11. "For I have loved thee, and I have given thee two men (Dad and Peter) who have loved thee dearly and see not the blemishes and the faults and the failings. When thou lookest at thyself in the mirror, thou seest one thing. But when they gaze upon thee, they see something completely different. Where thou seest blemishes and faults and failings, and where thou seest improvement needs to be made, and where thou seest things that are a bit of an embarrassment to thee, they see only love, and they see beauty. For their eyes are clouded with love.
12. "And so it is with Me, for when I gaze upon thee, I see not the blemishes. I see not the faults and the failings. For I love thee; yea, I love thee as a lover. And when I speak unto thee these precious words, it is from the depths of the love of My heart for thee. As thy lover overlooketh the things that others may find fault with because of his love, so it is with Me.
13. "For I am even as a blind man who sees no faults or failings, but only sees with the hands and touches and feels the softness and smells the cleanliness and the perfume, and hears the words of love, and knows just from this that his wife is beautiful and lovely, having never even seen her. And though she may even see herself as homely, he seeth not this way. For he feels the love and he touches with his hands, and he feels the softness and the beauty. So it is with Me when I gaze upon thee.
14. "And as thy loved one speaks unto thee these words of love and adoration, and as he expresses the beauty he sees with his eyes, and he says it unto thee over and over, again and again and again, so it is with Me. And for this cause I speak unto thee these precious words, for these words are the words of My love unto thee, to express unto thee how I feel about thee. And these words humble thee.
15. "When thou lookest at thyself in the mirror and seest thy faults and thy failings, and thy husband cometh in and sayeth, `Look at the beauty here,' it humbleth thee.--But it also makes thee feel loved. For as one who overlooks the faults and loves in spite of them, so am I. As one who overlooks the blemishes and loves anyway, so am I. Thou canst not understand the depth of My love for thee, but thou must understand that these words that I speak unto thee are true words. They are true words of My love for thee, an expression of how I feel about thee.
16. "Thou lookest at thyself differently, and My words humble thee and make thee feel inadequate, but this is part of the process to keep thee humble. But do not doubt these words, for I do speak them in truth and I speak them in love. I speak them in truth for My great love of thee.
17. "My dear one, thou art learning and thou art growing, as I am guiding thee day by day. So fret not, for I work a work in thee, and I work it in My time and in My way. So trust me. Just stop for a moment and look back. Look back just three months. Hast thou not changed? Has there not been a great deal of yieldedness in this time? Have I not spoken unto thee and hast thou not responded? Just compare the difference. For I say unto thee, the difference is as night and day.
18. "Thou sayest, `Oh, I wish to love, I want to love.' But consider the difference. Just consider the love thou hast bestowed these last months. Is it not different than it was before? Is that not progress? Art thou not moving upward and forward? Do not try to run ahead, just go with Me. I am taking thee there, I am showing thee, I am leading thee, I am guiding thee with My hand.
19. "But there is only so much that thou canst do, and when I am doing one thing in thy life, then thou mayest not be able to do the other thing. And when I am doing the other thing, then thou mayest not be able to do this thing. Just flow with Me and trust Me, and I will help thee, and yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness. I will lead thee and will guide thee and will direct thee. I will take thee to all the places that I wish for thee to go. I will do this in My time and in My way.
20. "And concerning thy love for Me, dearest one, I know thy heart, I know thy make-up and I accept thy love as it is. For I have made thee the way that I have made thee, and thou art a vessel of My making. I love thy love, and I desire thy love and I am well pleased with thy love.
21. "Again I say, look at the illustration that I have given thee in the love of this one that loveth thee. For does he not find pleasure in thy yieldedness? Does he not find love in the love that thou dost bestow upon him? And so it is with Me. Thy love is not perfect, for no love is perfect but My love. But you are you, and you are the one that I love, and I love you the way you are.
22. "So do not fear and do not fret, do not doubt, just love Me. Do not compare thyself to the others that thou feelest are so far ahead of thee and have so much more experience and can do things that thou canst not do. I did not choose a perfect one, lest the children should look and say, `Oh, lo and behold, our queen is perfect and we cannot attain!' For I have chosen a weak and humble one and rested My love and anointing and power there.
23. "So why seekest thou to be so strong in dedication and powerful in might? I have not chosen thee because of this. I have chosen thee for thy love, thy lowliness and thy weakness, that the power and the excellency may be of Me, and that no man, not even thee, will think it is anything but Me. And lo, I love thee greatly, and I love all My children greatly, but I have placed upon thee a special love, for thou hast been chosen to wear the mantle of David. And as thou didst love David especially, above all others, so do I love thee.
24. "It is not thy doing, it is My doing, so enjoy it! Revel in it! Enjoy the benefits of it, for it comes with a price. But thou truly art My beloved and I am well pleased in thee, and I am well pleased with thy dedication, well pleased with thy love for Me, and well pleased with thy love for thy children. I am well pleased with the love that thou bestowest upon others. And in all of these matters, of course thou canst improve and take steps, but know that I am well pleased with thee and I love thee, and I find no fault with thee in these things. For thou art My beloved in whom I am well pleased." (Family and Maria praise and thank the Lord!)
25. What love! It's so wonderful to see how the Lord loves us just the way we are, with all of our faults and failings and shortcomings. (To secretary:) He said the same thing to me as He said to you, ha! "I love you in spite of the faults I have made you with." In some cases, our make-up, the way we're made, is hard for us, and is contrary to the way the Lord wants us to be. But when we do the best we can and when we try to overcome some of our weaknesses, He takes us where we're at. He takes us the way we are and as much as we can do and He loves us for that.
26. This kind of love just overwhelms me! And it should be a sample. You should look at this as the way the Lord loves you too, as a blind man that doesn't see your faults and failings and blemishes and shortcomings because He loves you so much, as a lover, and just wants you, just you, the way you are. Thank You Jesus!
27. These are just a few illustrations of the Lord's love for us, for all of His children, to try to impress upon you how very, very great it is. And when you feel that loved, you really want to share it and reciprocate it, don't you? (Family: Yes!) When you know the Lord loves you so much, you want to love Him back and you want to share that love with others and help them to know His great love too. Thank You Jesus!
Don't Belittle the Lord's Use of Your Minds!
28. Can you give me another example of the way the Lord is loving us all right now in this new day and this new era in the Family? The Lord has talked about it in previous meetings. Does anyone want to venture a guess? (Secretary: Getting His love words through prophecy?) Yes, praise the Lord!
29. The gift of prophecy is a beautiful gift the Lord is giving to His children in these Last Days, and He wants us all to hold out our hands and accept it by faith. I don't know that the Lord will give it to every single person, but He's giving it to most of you here who are asking for it. He's given it to another of you who mentioned the same thing I've heard others say: "Well, I don't know if what I got was from the Lord or not, I think maybe it was just in my own mind." Many of our teens say the same thing, "When I get things, it's probably just from my own mind. I know the verses already by memory, so I'm probably just thinking up appropriate verses."
30. Look at me. I don't have the gift of prophecy, but Dad said to me, "I'm going to whisper things in your ear." And the Lord said, "I'm going to give you things in your mind that are from Me." So what if I were to say, "I'm not getting it from the Lord because it's all just thoughts that come to me; so I guess it's not the Lord, it's not any good." For goodness sake, folks, the Lord doesn't only use direct prophecy as a means of speaking to us. When you pray and you get things from the Lord, it's not all in direct prophecy. Most of what we've all gotten from the Lord, for years and years, wasn't all in direct prophecy!--But haven't you gotten lots of things from the Lord? (Fam: Yes.) So the Lord uses your mind to receive the things He puts there, when you prayerfully seek Him for His answers and direction.
31. If you've prayed and asked the Lord for something, whether it comes through your mind or some other way, it's still from the Lord! You can't just say, "Well, it's not from the Lord, it's just my own mind." When some of our teens get verses they say, "I memorized them, so of course it's logical that they come up." Well, the Lord uses those things, and if He can, He'll use the beautiful verses that He has in His Word. But obviously when you're asking about something specific, sometimes He can't use the verses in His Word because they don't apply to the specific thing you're asking about.
32. But if the Lord puts beautiful verses in your mind, I believe the Lord is bringing them to mind as an answer, and you should take them as such. If you've prayed and you've asked Him for something specific for a situation and He brings to your mind a verse, what else are you supposed to think it is but from Him? So don't belittle your minds and the Lord's use of your minds, because the Lord does use our minds. The Lord has many ways of working--we just have to be open to what He wants for us and how He wants to give us things.
33. The Lord is trying to give us the gift of prophecy more and more in this Endtime, because we're going to need it for specific answers that are not already in the written Word, and as a beautiful, wonderful sign of His love. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: `And it shall come to pass in the Last Days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and ... see visions, and ... dream dreams'" (Acts 2:16,17). It's really a new day and the Lord wants to shower it upon the Family if they'll just reach out and accept it.
The Solid Rock Foundation of the Word and the Unused Garment of Prophecy!
34. This is a new day and the Lord definitely is leading us into hearing from Him more directly. After awhile I thought, "Well, Lord, I don't want to misuse this gift. It's so wonderful to just ask You and hear it pour forth like this so directly and so easily, so effortlessly--certainly very effortlessly for me--and I love to hear from You this way. But You said You haven't given it to me personally because You want me to get Your Words another way, and I don't want to get so dependent upon just hearing from You in this one way that I neglect the other ways in which You want me to hear You, and the very reason for which You haven't given me this gift of prophecy personally."
35. So I got concerned about that, and I was praying desperately that I wouldn't get tripped off into just wanting to get my answers in this one way, which results in beautiful prophecies, of course, and it's so easy. I didn't want the Lord to have to take it away so that I wouldn't be so dependent on the gift of prophecy. So we prayed, and basically the Lord said, "I'm happy that you ask in this way, and you can keep asking. I'm glad you ask. Ask as much as you want, and if I don't want to tell you this way--through direct prophecy--I just won't! If I want you to get it another way, I'll indicate that, and I won't give it to you this way. But keep asking, and I'm happy you want to ask this way. I have many things to tell you this way. But if I don't want to show it to you this way, I just won't give it to you and I'll tell you I want you to get it another way." So wasn't that sweet of the Lord? (Family: Yes!) That was a nice, easy answer too, and then I didn't have to worry about it, praise the Lord!
36. Then for the past few days I've been thinking, "Lord, we're really promoting prophecy in talking so much about it. And if our worldwide Family starts using this gift and exercising their gifts and really hearing from You in this way, they will get quite turned on to it, and it will be a tool and a way of hearing from You that they will very much appreciate. It will be a great joy to them and instruction for them, and will just be a wonderful edification and comfort! Therefore they may be tempted to depend a little too much on it and strike a false balance."
37. Just like I was saying about myself, I wondered if the Family might be tempted to depend a little too much on prophecy to the exclusion or the crowding out of the printed Word, the Bible and the many Words of David that they've been given for years and years. If they start doing that, I don't think the Lord will bless it, because whatever they get has to be based on the Word. So they're going to have to know the Word and they're going to have to keep connected to the Word. They can't just all of a sudden put aside all of the Word that they've had for the last 25 years and say, "Okay, Lord, this is a new day and we're going to get our Word this way now."--Which could be a temptation, because you get such specific answers through prophecy. When you have questions and problems, you can get help with direct prophecy for specific questions that of course aren't in the Letters.
38. So since I was concerned about this, we decided to ask the Lord about it, and He gave a real sweet answer, which we titled "The Solid Rock Foundation of the Word and the Unused Garment of Prophecy." Would you like to hear it? (Fam: Yes!) This sort of ties up how we're supposed to look at the printed Word and the direct voice of the Word that we can get fresh every day.
39. (Prophecy:) "The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. For, yea, I am the Word of God. I am the solid rock foundation. My Words are enduring and My Words are truth, and I exalt My Word even above My name. For My Word is spirit and life. And if ye build your house on anything but the solid rock foundation of My Word, it will be built on the sand and will collapse.
40. "I say unto you, the Words of David are My Words, for they are the Words of God, and they are part of this solid rock foundation. All that ye do, ye must do on the foundation. For your works and the raising of your children and the ministering unto your friends, and the feeding of the lost, I say that all that ye do, must be done on the solid rock foundation.
41. "And when ye seek Me and wish to hear My voice, it too must be done on the solid rock foundation. For without it, it would be as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. For have I not said that in the Last Days I would pour forth My Spirit upon your sons and daughters? And I say unto you, I am fulfilling this and I will pour forth My Spirit upon My children that they may hear from Me in a new and additional way. But it must be done on the solid rock foundation of My Word.
42. "For I am not replacing My Word with these gifts and with the hearing of My voice. I am simply adding to it. Have I not said through your David that there are seven ways to know the will of God, and is not the first way the Word of God? My children have not neglected this. Have I not said ye may also find My will through the voice of the Word, through Godly counsel, through burdens, through open and closed doors, and through fleeces? And My children have not neglected this. But have I not also said unto you that direct revelation is one of the ways? But this has been neglected because of fear and pride, and because the Enemy has snatched away the great joy that My children could feel if they would use this gift in full faith.
43. "But now is the time to overcome, and now is the time to use this gift from God, for I say unto you that Satan and his minions are not afraid to communicate together. And, yea, this giveth them power, and it giveth them instruction from the netherworld.
44. "I say unto you, there is a great cloud of witnesses that are present to help you, those that are ordained to give you strength and wisdom and direction and guidance. They would speak to you and through you, if ye would have the faith. And if ye will do this thing, ye shall also have power. It is a way to find the will of God. It does not take the place of My written Word, but it is a source of additional power and strength and instruction. This ye ought to do and not to leave the other undone; for a false balance is an abomination unto the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.
45. "For as ye cook a meal and must add in all the right ingredients to get the perfect blend, so is this. My written Word and the Words of David are the base of the stew, and the meat and the broth, and without it there would be no stew. But these other things, these other ways to know My will and the hearing of My voice, they are the additions, and together it makes a nourishing, full and well-rounded meal.
46. "My children have the basis, they have the Words and they are well-versed and they use them well, and they know they need them to survive. That does not change, and that should not change, but they must add this other gift in order to have the power that they need for the days ahead. For in the dark days they will have to depend greatly on the voice of the Lord, and they must learn to exercise it now together in unity to learn.
47. "But I say unto you, if they will stand on the solid rock foundation, they shall not stray in this. For if they abide in My Words and My Words abide in them, they shall ask what they will and it shall be done unto them. They will ask to hear My voice, and they shall hear.
48. "For this gift is as a beautiful garment hanging in the closet with all the other garments: the garment of My Word, the garment of counsel, the garment of open and closed doors. And these other garments are well worn as work clothes, and they are sturdy, and they are comfortable. But this other garment, the garment of My voice, has seemed to be out of fashion. When one weareth it, people look rather strangely and say, `This is an odd garment.' And thus it is only worn infrequently.
49. "But I say unto you, it is now in fashion! This does not mean that one does not wear the sturdy work clothes and the others, for they have not gone out of fashion; it's just adding a new garment to the wardrobe. When one weareth the garment, people look and think this is odd. But when it becomes fashionable and all wear it, it is normal and no one looks oddly upon it.
50. "And as when new fashions come out on the market, they must be advertised and it must be shown that these are in vogue, so it is with this. So must ye promote the hearing of My voice, that My children will know and understand that this is the way My Spirit is moving. But ye would not wear a brand new beautiful garment to work or it would get soiled and dirtied; no, ye would wear the work clothes, the solid work clothes of My Word and of counsel. But this is an addition, and this will help in the decision-making, it will help in inspiration, it will help in encouragement, it will help in instruction. For in this way I can easily personalize the instruction and words that I have for you. But ye must call unto Me from the solid rock foundation.
51. "So use the gifts that I give unto you and be not ashamed, and wear this garment that I have given unto you and be not afraid. For this is not the only gift and this is not the only garment, but it is the neglected gift and the neglected garment. So read My Words, drink them in, for I have poured forth abundantly unto you, more so than any of My children before. And My Word is the solid rock foundation that I have given unto you, and that ye stand upon, and that which your work and the house of David is built upon. For that is what has made you strong, and this is not a call to change that.
52. "So abide in My Words. Let them abide in you, let them dwell in you richly. Drink them in, eat them, imbibe them; but do not neglect My voice, listen to it. For I speak unto you through My Word, and I speak unto you through the gift of prophecy, and I speak unto you in the whispers in your heart and in your mind when you commune with Me, and when you stop here and there and look up; in those times when your receptivity is highest and those that help you can whisper in your ears and place things in your heart and mind and can give you direction. So exercise these gifts.
53. "But know and understand that My Word is first and foremost, for I exalt it even above My name. But for further strength and help and guidance, listen to My voice and listen unto the whispers. And ye shall have strength that ye know not of. It shall make your task easier, for ye will be allowing us to direct you more from this side, and we will work together even better.
54. "So tune in! Fine-tune and hear the voice of the Lord your God, and of those that He has sent to help lead and guide and instruct you. For we are in it together, and together we will march forth to victory, and together we will win the world for Me! And we will do it so much more effectively if you will tune in, if you will get your radio signals from Heaven and your instructions through My Word, through My voice and through the whispers.
55. "As you exercise this gift, you will have a clearer understanding and greater faith. As you see those things work that I say unto you, and the fruit that it brings forth, and the joy and encouragement and instruction that it gives unto you and others, ye will see how much easier the job can be if ye let us participate.
56. "So come on! Let us work together.--You working together there and we working together here, all of us working together. For it is our work and it is your work and together it is all of our work. For we all seek the same goal, to bring forth My light and love to the lost, to bring great joy to the world, and to proclaim My truth unto the ends of the Earth." (End of prophecy.) Thank You Jesus! Hallelujah! Thank You Lord! (Family praising and thanking the Lord.)
57. Thank You for the answers, Lord. Thank You for the balance. Thank You for showing us that Your written Word is still the foundation and we can't stray from it. We've got to connect with it, we've got to keep it in our hearts and continue to look to it daily for our instruction and our guidance, but these other means of hearing from You are additional gifts and we need them too. You're just pouring forth more than ever before because of the need and because of Your love for us, to help make the job easier. Thank You Jesus!
58. Thank You so much for Your wonderful Words and Your counsel and direction and instruction and explanations of things that make it easy for us to be good, and easy for us to do the things You want and to go in the right direction and not be misled or get off the track. You just explain things so beautifully and so simply because of Your love for us.
59. Thank You, Lord, so much for all of this wonderful love that we're just showered with and we're bathed in, that we are just overwhelmed by. Thank You for it. We feel so loved and so secure in You, and we know we're Your pets. As such we have so much and we need to share it with others, and we want to share it with others to help them be loved and help them to feel Your love in a greater way. So help us as You pour it on, that we'll pour it out and give it to others. And as we pour it out on them, You'll give us more. And together we can fill the world with Your love. Thank You Jesus!
