YOU ARE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY!            DO 1945           6/85
--But Jesus Is Your Own Best Friend!

         1. ALL OF US HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF GETTING DOWN IN THE DUMPS. Remember that old Letter "Dumps"? (No.33) It's a terrible spirit to be in, a terrible state to be in.--Because you can never be down in the dumps by yourself, you always drag everybody down with you.
         2. DON'T THINK YOU CAN JUST KEEP YOUR LITTLE PROBLEM TO YOURSELF & KEEP YOUR BAD DRAGGY SPIRIT TO YOURSELF! Everybody will notice it, everybody already knows it. It gets around. They can just take one look at you & know that you're down in the dumps, something's wrong, your spirit is bad. They can even feel it in the Spirit without even looking at you, just feel it when you're around.
         3. DON'T THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO HIDE IT, YOU CANNOT HIDE A BAD SPIRIT ANY MORE THAN YOU CAN HIDE A GOOD SPIRIT! You cannot hide a happy, useful, helpful, shining spirit, it radiates on everybody the same light, the same joy! People meet us & say, "You have such a light on your face, you seem so happy, you just shine, you're always smiling!" It just radiates!
         4. HAPPINESS IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT. It's a law of God just like gravity that you don't get happy by trying to make yourself happy or trying to get somebody else to make you happy, but you get happiness by trying to give it to other people! You don't find happiness by chasing it! You go around chasing others & trying to make them happy, then happiness will find you, it will chase you & catch up with you & make you happy!
         5. WE HAVE A LITTLE SAYING, LOVE ISN'T LOVE TILL YOU GIVE IT AWAY! What does it mean? Love isn't real love until you are spending your time trying to give love to others.--Not trying to get love, that's not love, that's selfishness. That's wanting selfish satisfaction, that's introspection, that's sucking, that's desire.
         6. WHEN YOU'RE DOWN IN THE DUMPS & YOU'RE TEARFUL & YOU'RE A SAD SACK, YOU WANT EVERYBODY TO BE MISERABLE WITH YOU, you want everybody else to sympathise with you & be sad with you! "How can they dare to be happy when I'm so sad? How can you be cheerful when I'm down in the dumps? Come on down here in the dumps of the Pit with me! Don't you dare be happy when I'm sad!" It's pitiful! It's human nature. But it's godly nature, it's spiritual nature, it's the nature of Jesus to try to lift others up & encourage them & cheer them even when you don't feel like it.
         7. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE IMPORTANT THING, THE SYMPTOM IS NOT THE DISEASE, THE CORE OF THE THING IS YOU! Quit blaming your lack of victory on everybody else & on the doctrine & on the Family & on this one or that one or your bedmate or your husband or wife or child or whatever it is!
         8. THE TROUBLE IS, I'VE FOUND OUT WITH MOST PEOPLE THAT THEIR PROBLEM IS THEY BLAME ALL THEIR TROUBLES ON SOMEBODY ELSE! They think, "It's that person I have to live with, that awful Hell of a person I have to sleep with or that leader I have to work under"--or this one or that one!--But when they go from there to some other Home they take that same selfish proud heavy heart with them & drag it along & drag the next Home down too!
         9. THEY LEAVE THAT MATE & THINK, "THANK GOD I GOT RID OF HIM, NOW I'M GOING TO GET ME SOMEBODY THAT'LL MAKE ME HAPPY!"--And they go around all their lives looking for somebody to make them happy instead of trying to find somebody they can make happy. How much have you tried to make that person happy with all your heart? How much unselfish love have you got for that person maybe you don't even like?
         10. BUT THE THING IS, YOU'LL NEVER BE HAPPY WITH ANYONE & NO ONE WILL EVER MAKE YOU HAPPY, because it's not the other person, it's you that's the problem & your God-damned spirit, selfishness, self-centeredness & pride! You're the problem, not him! You're the problem, not me!--Not us!--But you!
         11. IT'S THE DEVIL'S OWN TACTIC TO ALWAYS TRY TO BLAME YOU & YOUR PROBLEM ON EVERYBODY ELSE! "Why me, Lord? I didn't do it, they did it to me! It wasn't my fault, it's his fault, her fault! They're the ones to blame! They're the ones that made me feel like this!" I've been that way with Maria sometimes, isn't that sad? "It's your fault, you made me unhappy! I'm going to go out in the garden & eat worms!"
         12. IT'S REALLY RIDICULOUS WHEN YOU LOOK AT YOURSELF AS YOU REALLY ARE & SEE WHAT YOUR ATTITUDE REALLY IS, what you're really trying to do! Just because you're sad & you're unhappy & you're a sad sack, you may not even realise it, but you're trying to bring everybody down with you! Because you're so sad & unhappy & so much in the dumps, you hate to see anybody else happy, you want everybody else to feel like you do & want to drag them down & get'm in the dumps too & have sympathy for you. Maybe you didn't know you felt like that! But look at yourself now! I'm trying to hold a mirror up in front of you to look at yourself! See yourself as God sees you, as I see you, as others see you! For God's sake, see your self as you are!
         13. MY, HOW WE LOVE SYMPATHY WHEN WE'RE DOWN, WHEN SOMETIMES THAT'S THE LAST THING IN THE WORLD WE NEED! Somebody needs to come along & sock us on the butt, kick us in the ass, sock us on the chin to wake us up out of our lethargy & our stupor of self-pity & self-sympathy so we can get our minds on the Lord & His Work & others & forget our God-damned stinkin' self! You'll never get the victory by looking at yourself, because there's nobody that drags me down worse than me & my stinkin' self, my own foul spirit! Self is horrible! Self is terrible!--That kind of self, that evil you, that evil self!
         14. DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS HAVE DIFFERENT DOCTRINES ABOUT GETTING THE VICTORY. The doctrine of the Baptists is that everybody's got a good self & a bad self & the only way to get the victory is just to get the good self on top of the bad self & hold him down! They call it the doctrine of suppression, that you'll always have that good & bad self there, but the only thing to do is just hold the bad self down.
         15. THE HOLINESS PEOPLE BELIEVE IN THE DOCTRINE OF ERADICATION: "Yes, you've got a good & a bad self & the only way to get the victory is to get rid of the bad self! Go through the operation of entire sanctification, have the bad self cut out & throw it away like a cancer so there's nothing but good self left! This is the good me! This is my self, the real self, the good self! There's no evil thing left in me now, I'm all good, just the good me!"--Self-righteous & holier-than-thou, is what they really are!
         16. WELL, THE TRUE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NEITHER ONE! You don't get the victory by just holding down that bad spirit, that bad self, that bad temptation, that weakness, by just trying to hold it down by your own strength & by your good self, sitting on it, holding that devilish bad self of yours down. You'll never get the victory that way.--And you never get the victory by thinking that you can have God cut out the bad self & just leave the good self.
         17. I WANT TO TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GOOD SELF AT ALL! THERE IS ONLY BAD SELF! Your self is only bad, it cannot be good, not any part of it!--Not half of you good & half bad. There's no good thing in you! Even the Apostle Paul said that: "No good thing dwelleth in me!" (Rom.7:18) The true victory is not yourself, but His Self, Him Self, so that "it is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me!" (Gal.2:20)--The theological doctrine of habitation, cohabiting with the Lord. God tosses out the bad self & He also tosses out the good self, because it's bad too, it's even worse!--It's self-righteous, hypocritical, holier-than-thou & critical! We've had a few people around like that too & that's been their problem, they're critical of others, they're holier than other people, they're better, they don't make that kind of mistake. They think they're good.
         18. NO SELF IS GOOD! NONE OF YOU ARE GOOD! "There is none righteous, no, not one! All have sinned & come short of the glory of God!" (Rom.3:10,23) You're no better than me & I'm no better than you! There's nobody any better than us except Jesus! He's the only One Who can be good, & without Him you're nothing!--You're empty, zero, absolutely nothing! You can't be good without Jesus, so why keep trying to be good? You can't be good, you can't be righteous, you can't get the victory, you can't overcome it! Don't try to chase out the darkness, let the Light in! Let Jesus in & He'll take care of the whole problem! Get your mind off of your God-damned self, & even your good self, & let Jesus come in & let the life of Christ shine in you!
         19. WE SAY, "THEY'D BETTER GET THE VICTORY" but they can't! Jesus has to get it & you have to let Him or you'll never have it! Let go & let God! Quit trying to be something you aren't & can never be, & that's righteous. Only Jesus can make you righteous. Just let Jesus in! What's that old song? "Lift your heart to Heaven & His Glory will come in! Lift your heart to Heaven & His Glory will come in! Let Jesus have possession, He'll save you from your sin! Lift your heart to Heaven & His Glory will come in!"
         20. YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORK IT OUT, PRAY IT OFF OR PRAY IT ON, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT JUST LET GO & LET GOD! (Sings:) "Let go & let God have His wonderful way, let go & let God have His way! He'll fill with His Spirit & turn night to day, let go & let God have His way!"
         21. YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME--I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU EITHER! NONE OF US ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR EACH OTHER, ONLY JESUS IS GOOD ENOUGH, BUT HE'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR US ALL! So why don't you get your eyes off of your God-damned self & get'm on Jesus! Why don't you get your eyes off of others & your mate or this problem person or this person you don't like or something you don't like about the Family or our doctrine or the Home or your rooming situation or your job or whatever it may be, & get your eyes on Jesus! Think about the Lord! Let the Light in & the darkness will flee! What is the Glory?--It's the Spirit of the Lord! It's His Spirit, His Glory, His Self--not yourself!
         22. I HOPE YOU'LL GET THE VICTORY!--FOR GOD'S SAKE, I HOPE I'LL GET THE VICTORY! Often out there playing ping-pong I miss the ball etc., not always because the other guy's all that good, but I've said I'm my own worst enemy! It's because of my own mistakes! It's not because he's so clever or so good that I always lose.
         23. SO IT'S NOT ALWAYS BECAUSE THE OTHER GUY'S SO GOOD, YOU'RE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY! In our school we used to have people complaining about evil spirits & demons & devils & "Oh, the Devil did this & the Devil did that & he caused me this trouble & he was the one that delayed me & I have so much trouble with the Devil!" I'd say, "Shut up! Your problem isn't the Devil! It's your own God-damned spirit that you have the most trouble with, not evil spirits! Your own evil spirit is the one that gives you the most trouble--you!"
         24. YOU'RE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY! Don't blame it on everybody else & evil spirits & even the Devil, he couldn't touch you if it wasn't for your spirit that lets him in & lets him cause you trouble!--Or even lets God let him touch you because of your evil spirit & your problems with your own heart & your own evil self! You're your own worst enemy!
         25. DON'T BLAME IT ON EVERYBODY ELSE, DON'T BLAME IT ON THIS & THAT & THE JOB & THE HOME & THE SHEPHERD & THE LEADERSHIP or the doctrine or the outside enemies or blah blah blah, it's you that you have the most trouble with!--It's your own evil spirit! You're your own worst enemy! You may have conquered all the rest, but your own spirit is the most difficult to conquer, & the only way you're ever going to conquer it is not to conquer it, but let Jesus conquer it! He's your own best Friend!--Not you, not your good self, or "If I just had some other mate, or if I just had some other place, or if I could do something else I'd be happy!"--No, you wouldn't! You'd take that same old heavy heart, that same old evil spirit with you wherever you go & you'd still be blaming it on everything else except yourself!
         26. YOU ARE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY!--BUT JESUS IS YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND & HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP YOU GET THE VICTORY!--Not over your job & others & blah blah blah, but over yourself where the big problem is. You are the big problem! If you can let Jesus conquer your evil spirit, He can easily take care of all the rest! PTL? Hallelujah?
         27. (SINGS:) "KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS, DO NOT WATCH THE WAVES! Keep your eyes on Jesus, 'tis faith in Him that saves! Keep your eyes on Jesus, His promises avail! Keep your eyes on Jesus, praise God, He cannot fail!" Quit trying to succeed yourself, quit trying to have the victory, just let Jesus come in & let Him win it! Get your mind on the Lord! Get your mind on your job! Get your mind on helping others! Seek their happiness before your own! Have real, genuine, sacrificial, unselfish love!--That's love, not this hog-wallowing trying to get satisfaction for yourself, trying to make yourself happy, trying to make others make you happy. Get your mind on Jesus! Ask Him to help you love Him so much you'll love others so much you'll forget your God-damned evil self, your worst enemy, & live for the Lord, live for others!
         28. WHY NOT GET BUSY & WORK HARD FOR JESUS, work hard for others, work hard to help other people! You'll get so busy & so filled with His Spirit & so filled with His joy & His happiness that He gives you as a result of trying to make other people happy, that you'll forget that God-damned evil self of yours & your own worst enemy & you'll find your best Friend, Jesus, that He can do it all if you'll just let Him.
         29. SO LET'S PRAY & ASK HIM RIGHT NOW TO DO IT! TYJ! Hallelujah! PYL! TYJ! Amen, amen! Do bless & keep us now, Lord! Keep us not only from the Evil One, not only from the evil ones, but most of all keep us from our evil selves & let You in, Lord, the Light in, to chase away the shadows & the darkness, to get rid of our evil self, "Christ in me, the hope of glory! So that the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by the grace of God! It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me!"--In Jesus' name! Amen. ILY!