RULES FOR RULERS!                 DO 218            4/73

         1. Once a king gets it into his head that he also wants to be Prophet & run the whole show, there never seems to be much you can do to cure him. He either wants all or nothing at all. Kings are so often that way: They finally want all of your loyalty & all of your obeisance & are no longer willing to share them with God's Prophet, & sometimes not even with God Himself!
         2. This has been true with so many major kings with whom we've had to deal. They start off just as friends & outside helpers thrilled with our work & its fruits, so they're willing to share with us a little of their abundance in order to meet some of our needs. Then, as EVERY KING IS A BUSINESSMAN, A MATERIALIST & AN INVESTOR or he wouldn't be a king, he becomes so concerned about his investments, he is not only a good steward in seeing how you use them profitably, but pretty soon he wants to tell you how to run the whole business, although he's only one of the stockholders. But he's not satisfied with being just a shareholder & on the Board of Directors. He soon wants a controlling interest & to be the boss & run the whole business, or at least try to tell you how to run it!
         3. Nevertheless, God is merciful & He seems to want to give them a chance, give them our witness, offer them an opportunity of responsibility & a share in the blessings, while we reap some of their benefits, before they finally blow it & leave us because of their pride & unwillingness to forsake all, including their natural family, beloved old System & treasured traditions. They seldom ever seem to make it. BUT, IN THE MEANTIME, GOD DOES USE THEM TO GIVE US SOME BENEFITS FROM THEIR PROVISION & PROTECTION, at least for awhile UNTIL THEY GO TOO FAR & TRY TO TAKE OVER. Then God has to put His foot down & draw the line & they usually can't take that either, so THEY QUIT & GO BACK TO WHAT THEY TREASURED MOST ALL THE TIME or they would have forsaken it long ago, for YOU CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS, & WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO! J
         4. It seems that MOST KINGS ARE USUALLY MEMBERS OF THE CONCISION or the Circumcision or the COMPROMISERS WHO AREN'T WILLING TO GO ALL THE WAY, & THEY NEVER FULLY RENOUNCE THEIR MEMBERSHIP IN THE SYSTEM. For awhile, they try to give you the impression that they ARE doing it, but they never seem to get around to it completely. They're always going to do it some day, but that day seldom arrives.
         5. Instead, WHEN THEY'RE FINALLY PUSHED BY GOD TO A DECISION between the friendship of the World & our friendship, between their old traditions & our new teachings, between having their own way (which, of course, they always call God's way) or going our way & following our leadership-when they finally come to this crisis of choice, which they themselves usually help to precipitate with a little nudging from us or the Lord, they usually WASH THEIR HANDS OF US, COMMIT US TO OUR FATE, WITHDRAW THEIR FAVOURS & GO ON THEIR OWN SAD WAY, LIKE THE RICH YOUNG RULER, another classic example of a king who wouldn't pay the price of full discipleship.
         6. For, after all, in the final showdown, A DISCIPLE IS A "DISCIPULOS" IN THE GREEK OR A "FOLLOWER OF THE TEACHING". And, of course, WHEN THEY BEGIN TO BE RELUCTANT ON FOLLOWING THE TEACHING, THEY ARE SOON RENEGING ON FOLLOWING THE TEACHER AS WELL. In fact, they usually finally use their objections to the TEACHER as their eventual excuse for not following the TEACHING. They either don't like one or the other, so they refuse to follow one or the other because they object to one or the other. Therefore, they can, of course, follow NEITHER in the end. Thank God, we don't usually have to tell them to leave because of all the trouble they're causing & the dissension they're sowing & the confusion that's resulting, but they USUALLY LEAVE OF THEIR OWN ACCORD UNDER THEIR OWN STEAM--& STEAMING!
         7. So the problem is, how far do you let them go, where do you draw the line & WHEN should you finally put your foot down & like God Himself, say, "Thus far & no further!" How far can you cooperate with a king, work with him & permit him to work with you? Once the horse submits to the saddle & his rider, you can usually ride him a long way before he tires. But if HE WON'T EVEN TAKE A HALTER & REFUSES EITHER THE BRIDLE OR THE SADDLE, AS WELL AS THE RIDER ALSO, OR RUNS AWAY SO FAST YOU CAN'T EVEN CATCH HIM, HE HAS LOST HIS USEFULNESS & you usually have to turn him out to pasture.
         8. So these are a few simple little rules which you need to go by in order to know when you'll have to let your horse or king go:
                  a) When he balks at the bit & the bridle of the prophets.
                  b) When he refuses to be saddled or ridden by his owners.
                  c) When he ceases to provide usefulness &/or protection.
                  d) When he becomes dangerous to you &/or the livestock.
                  e) When he starts leading others astray & teaches them bad conduct.
                  f) When he rejects your discipline & training & teachings.
                  g) And when finally, as they almost always do when you can't control them, he tries to control or master YOU or get the best of YOU, & failing this, he runs you out of the barn or clear off God's ranch!
         9. This is almost always their usual procedure. WHEN GOD IS TIRED OF THEM CAUSING SO MUCH TROUBLE, He usually just lets them have the old worn-out field & leads us on to greener pastures! This is one way God has of keeping us moving so we won't overwork any one field. It has certainly happened to us again & again, but always for the better & ends in even greater blessing than before with new & better kings & queens & even more of them & in better kingdoms!
         10. So be patient, give them time. But if they finally PROVE MORE OF A HINDRANCE THAN A HELP & HAVEN, you'll have to LOVE'M & LEAVE'M OR LET'M LOVE & LEAVE YOU--IN PEACE, IF POSSIBLE! TRY TO AT LEAST KEEP'M AS A FRIEND IF YOU CAN!--Amen?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family