Maria
July 18, 2005
GN 1141 FD/MM/FM
This GN‚ and the ones that follow in this series, should be read unitedly as a Home.
By Maria FD/MM/FM 3550 5/05
Dear Family,
1. I love you so much, and I'm so thankful that we're all one big, united winning team together! I'm also thankful that the Lord has provided us with a new structure and a number of different changes in order to help our Homes to be winning teams‚ and each of us to be winning disciples!
2. I'm so thankful for the restructuring of the Family, and for the year of strengthening that we're now in. Even though it's been more work than we had ever anticipated and has cost each of us a great deal, it's wonderful to see and hear about the fruit that is already being borne as a result! And this is only the beginning. Our Husband has promised that we'll go from strength to strength.
3. The more I think about the restructuring and strengthening of the Family, the more I realize what a tremendous team effort it required. First of all, our support team in Heaven—our Husband and all of His helpers—had to prepare and organize the plan. Then they passed it on to Peter and me initially. Then we met with the leadership of the Family at the Summit to pray about it and discuss it further.
4. After the Summit the work of actually bringing about the restructuring began in earnest, with the involvement of the International Board Chairpersons, the RSs, the VSs, the WS administration department, and other members of WS. It meant planning, counseling, praying about, and writing the legislation. It meant hundreds of hours of meetings‚ of prayer and prophecy, of communications, of messages back and forth. It meant writing GNs, the board criteria, how-to aids and handbooks. It meant writing classes, filming videos, recording audios, and the creation of new sections on the MO site. It also required a tremendous amount of effort on the part of every Home and every Family member to implement it, to undergo the change of mindset, to grow in spirit‚ to let go of the grip that System influence had on us as individuals, to choose to be disciples who truly live our revolutionary doctrine. It's taken the combined efforts of every single Family member.
5. The restructuring of the Family has been a miracle from the very beginning, and it continues to be. Each one of us has had to play the part the Lord gave us to play, and do the jobs He entrusted us with, in order for such a huge amount of progress to have been made in such a short amount of time. It's monumental! What has been achieved could not have been accomplished by any one person, and not even by any one group of people.
6. The changes within the Family have been a work of the spirit first of all, with our Answer Man leading the way and showing us exactly what to do, as well as giving us the grace to obey. Then, in addition to His support and that of our other wonderful helpers in the spirit world, which has made it all possible‚ we've all worked together to get the job done. Every single Family member has played an important role in the restructuring of the Family. So thank you, dear Family! It's been a tremendous team effort!
7. Just think about all that our Husband has done for us since the beginning of 2004. The amount of change we've undergone as a Family is phenomenal. We now have bigger Homes, the MM category of membership, and the new Active membership and General membership categories. We have Home shepherds‚ Home managers, Steering Councils, criteria monitors‚ and we'll have coaches shortly. We now have the board criteria and how-to aids, and the handbooks are coming. We had the renewal and the Feast workshops‚ and then the first Home review. All of this has required a great deal of work at every level of the Family, and Peter and I are so proud of each one of you.
8. You might continue to feel overwhelmed when you look into the future‚ knowing you still have a long way to go as a Home to meet the standard of the criteria. You might still need personnel for your Home, and you may be wondering if your needs will be met. Or maybe you got new personnel, or you merged with another Home, and now you're trying to get along, bond, and build a winning team. Your Home is probably still adjusting to the changes within the structure, and you might wonder how long it will be till things begin to run more smoothly, and it can be rather unsettling.
9. At times like this, it's very important to step back in the spirit for a moment and really praise and thank our Husband for everything that He has already done for us, for all of the miracles that He has performed for us as a Family and as individuals. The reason it's so important is that praise actually moves things and accomplishes things in the spirit world. It gives us vision. It gives us faith. It actually helps to move us forward, because it's a spiritual phenomenon. It opens our minds to new ideas and possibilities as we look back on what the Lord has done in the past‚ and it gives us faith that He will do whatever we desire Him to in the future, according to His perfect will and plan.
10. The Lord recently said something interesting about the effects of praise in a personal message about the future that He gave for Peter—and of course these same principles of praise apply to us all. (We've been privileged with a lot of new information regarding praise in "Art of War, Part 2," so this is yet another motivating reminder.)
11. (Jesus:) Remember to always praise Me. Even when you feel you have so far yet to go, so many problems yet to overcome, so many battles yet to win, still praise Me. Praise Me for what I have begun. Praise Me for the little signs of progress you see along the way. Praise Me for the little segments of the war that are won. Praise Me for the ground you have covered that you won't have to cover again. Praise Me for the miracles, even if they're small compared to the miracles you need Me to perform in the future.
12. You must praise Me each step of the way, because your praise is like the gas in your car—it's what will keep you going. If you run out of praise, you'll run out of fuel, and that's when forward progress will come to a halt. But as long as you keep praising Me for everything I've done‚ I'll continue to refill you with the strength you need—the gas in your car—to keep you going. Sometimes it's hard to find things to praise Me for, when the problems seem to outweigh the victories, but still praise Me. Take special time regularly to do so, to have focused times of praise.
13. (Mama:) So if you feel overwhelmed or worried or fearful about the future at any time‚ just stop and take some special praise time. Refuel with praise! Thank the Lord for the numerous miracles that He has done over the last few years—for the Family and for you personally. Think of yourself back at the beginning of 2004. Think of how huge the mountains seemed to you at that time, and how much faith it took to believe that the Lord was going to do the miracles, that He was going to help us reach the goals He had laid forth.
14. Then transport yourself back to the present, and remind yourself that you're still here. You survived! You did it! So much is behind you. So many miracles have happened. So much progress has been made. And it's all because you believed Jesus, you took the steps of faith that He asked you to take, you employed the new weapons, you allowed Him to work through you—to strengthen you, to anoint you—and you refused to say that it couldn't be done.
15. So please be faithful to use the undefeatable weapon of praise when you're besieged with fears or doubts or concerns about the future. Take the time to praise our awesome Husband for all that He has done for you so far, because that gives you faith that He can do all that He promises to do for you in the future. Praise takes you out of the realm of the flesh. It gives you an extra dose of the Lord's Spirit, an extra anointing of vision, initiative, determination, and faith.
16. Praise is not the main topic of this GN. But it's never an inappropriate time to praise‚ or to talk about praise‚ especially when we have so much to be thankful for in the past, and so much in the future that we need the fuel of praise for. Praise is an undefeatable weapon, and can enhance every area of our lives and everything we do, so I love to talk about it as much as I can and use it as much as I can. I love to set the Enemy back on his heels! I love to see him defeated by the simple—yet exceptionally powerful—weapon of praise! Hallelujah!
17. Well, now that I'm done with my little praise dissertation, let's move on to the major topic of this GN, which is training winning teams. I guess that's pretty much self-explanatory, but to give a few more details‚ this GN series is something the Lord has led me to prepare in order to give you, dear Family, more training in how to become stronger winning Homes. There are all kinds of training programs underway. Peter and I are training the RSs. The coaches and Home shepherds are being trained, and the Home managers will receive some training via the Home Shepherd Training Program audio classes that are applicable to their job as managers. The boards are creating different training programs for the children, the JETTs and teens, etc.
18. Amidst all of these training programs, if you're not involved with them personally‚ you might be tempted to feel like you're not being trained. But I want to remind you that you are being trained today, and you have received an abundance of training over the years. You're the most trained disciples in the world. And those who are going through training courses, like the Home shepherds and the coaches, for example, are not as trained in those jobs as you are in your discipleship profession. They needed more input and how-tos for their new ministry, and that's what they've been receiving.
19. But the targeted training that certain "professions" in the Family have recently been receiving doesn't negate all of the wonderful input and training that you have received to do your job for the Lord. The MLs and GNs are the ultimate training course, because through them the Lord pours out His wonderful, life-changing counsel and training. He teaches us how to be His disciples. He teaches us how to live for Him and others. He teaches us how to have happy Homes. He teaches us so much; His Words are priceless. And any other training courses that others receive are only building on the foundation of training in the Word.
20. We're all in training to be disciples, and the MLs and GNs are our very own training course. We are trained in how to use the new weapons, in how to be offensive warriors. We are trained in how to be a better sample to the world, and so much more. We're being trained in everything we'll ever need to be top–notch disciples, and to excel in the most important vocation in the world. So this "Training Winning Teams" series is simply a part of all of the training we have already received over the last 30-plus years. It's to add to it and enhance our discipleship profession.
21. The Lord said that we should prepare some specialized training for you as winning team Homes via targeted GNs. He has said many times that the strengthening of our Family Homes is the most important aspect of the restructuring of the Family in this year of strengthening. And although you have received some training on this topic through the board criteria and how-to aids, through GNs on related topics, the Home review, and via other avenues, He said that it would be a huge blessing for you to have some of the main counsel and information you'll need all in one series.
22. I don't believe that this series will contain a lot of new information. It will, for the most part, be addressing topics that have already been highlighted before in various Letters over the years. And it's not that the Word previously published on some of these subjects was not enough. But as we all know, repetition is the law of memory. The Lord even said that He needs to repeat Himself on many of the basic principles often‚ as reminders, and because we like to hear His counsel from different angles, or have new messages to re-inspire and motivate us.
23. The strengthening of the Homes within the Family is of such great importance that the Lord is willing to do whatever it takes to help us to continue making changes and progress in our Homes, to continue to be strengthened. I'm also willing to do whatever it takes to prepare this material for you, because I know how important it is. The future of the Family depends on the preservation of our Family lifestyle within our Family Homes. So even though some of these topics have been addressed before, it's well worth it to address them again, because we need to let these principles sink in; they're vital to our future.
24. As a reminder of why the unit of the Home is so important to the survival of the Family, why Home accountability matters, what Home accountability is, and why every Family member is responsible to work hard to build strong, fruitful winning teams, here are some excerpts of recent GNs on the topic (all excerpts are from Peter‚ unless otherwise indicated):
It is the Home's voting members (the Home Council) who are ultimately responsible for the success of the Home. It is the combination of their efforts, decisions, and spiritual state that determines whether the Home is an on-track discipleship Home. That is Home accountability (ML #3518:118, GN 1109).
*
(Jesus: ) The Home will be what the Home members make it. A Home can't only depend on the Home shepherds to make it spiritually strong. The Home shepherds need to do all they can, they need to be faithful with their responsibilities and portfolio, but the spiritual state of the Home is not within their power to control. The state of the Home is the picture of the state of the Home members‚ including the choices of the Home members. The state of the Home is a result of the collective decisions of the Home members.
So while the Home shepherds are responsible to do their job, to fulfill their mandate to shepherd spiritually, the concept of Home accountability is still very relevant. Home shepherds must be willing to shepherd the Home members, but just as importantly, the Home members must be willing to be shepherded. And everyone must be striving to be obedient, uncompromised, yielded, and dropped out of the System. Every member must be doing all that is possible to live the life of a full-time disciple. … The state of the Home is the ultimate responsibility of all the members (ML #3518:212-214, GN 1109).
*
Each person in the Home is accountable, because each person's spiritual state, choices, and personal decisions, as well as the Home's collective decisions, affect the overall spirit and progress of the Home. This is the essence of Home accountability. So you as an individual cannot shrug off your responsibility for the spiritual state of your Home‚ thinking it's solely the Home shepherds' job to make sure your Home is spiritually strong. It's your job and responsibility too. You are accountable (ML #3518:216, GN 1109).
*
The starting point for nurturing and living Family discipleship is the Home. While an individual may have the desire to be a disciple, the Home is where that discipleship is lived. While there are undoubtedly individual Christians who live a form of the discipleship lifestyle according to the truth they have in the Bible‚ the discipleship lifestyle for us in the Family is defined by both the Bible and the words of David, and the unique qualities of that lifestyle can only be lived out in a Family Home. To follow the discipleship calling and provide the special sample of full–time discipleship that the Lord has given to us, the Family, one must live in a Family Home. Therefore the Family Home becomes the foundation or springboard or sample of modern-day discipleship as explained in the words of David, and it is the most important unit within the Family structure.
In order to strengthen the overall Family, we must strengthen the Homes, because the Home is the core of the Family. The Home is where discipleship is lived. ... Our Family Homes show the sample to the world that true‚ living, applied Christianity, as portrayed in the New Testament, exists in today's world. True communal discipleship Homes show the world that there are Christians who are willing to live 100% for God, who are willing to give up the comforts and conveniences of selfish System living to live a life of service to others. Our willingness to live by faith, to witness full-time and trust God to supply our needs as we share all things, is a testimony of the existence of a living, caring, very real God.
The communal Family Home is what sets us apart from the majority of Christians in the world; it is what makes the Family unique. The Home provides both a supportive environment and fellowship with others to help you live discipleship as defined by the Lord.
The Home is, in actuality, a team made up of all the members of the Home. When the members of the Home live together, work together, obey together, and watch out for one another‚ they will form a winning team. A team that truly becomes one unit, with all members working toward the same goal of victory, will become strong; they'll be winners. The Lord put us in Homes because He knows that while it is extremely difficult to fully live up to His standard of discipleship as individuals‚ when we are together‚ united as a team and upholding one another, it is much easier. Thus the role of the Home becomes vital to living the discipleship life (ML #3479:68-69,71–72,76, GN 1067).
*
The Home is crucial. Having true discipleship Homes is the key to keeping the Family from sinking. Our Homes must become teams—winning teams. They must become united‚ forward-moving, going-places Homes. The Homes must understand that in order to win, to be a winning team, they have to work together with a vision, a goal, and with determination to win.
Building winning team Homes is paramount. If we can't change our present-day Homes into winning team Homes, then the Family as a whole will never progress the way the Lord wants it to. We will lose. We'll lose our place as His Endtime army, we will lose the special calling He has given us, we will lose the promises He has given to us over the years, and we will be Old Church losers instead of vibrant New Bride winners.
We must become winners! We must do whatever it takes to make our Homes winning Homes, full of winning disciples (ML #3479:80-82, GN 1067).
*
The Home is the most important unit within our Family, because the Home is where discipleship is lived and thrives (ML #3518:25, GN 1109).
*
(Jesus: ) This is not vacation time or peacetime. This is wartime!—A time when every single last one of you must be devoted to doing whatever it takes to ensure the future victories I speak of.
I want you to work day and night to ensure that your Homes are winning teams, so that you will be able to stand strong against the Enemy when he attacks. I want you to work hard to hone and strengthen your use of the new weapons. I want you to fill your hearts and minds with the ammunition of My Word to defeat the Enemy and his hordes. I want you to learn what it means to use the new weapons to actively fight the Enemy, to go on the offensive, and to destroy him (ML #3521:91-92, GN 1112).
25. (Mama:) I'll repeat some of the key points from the excerpts above: Your Home is what you make it. You are responsible. The state of your Home is the picture of your state and your choices. Having true discipleship Homes is the key to keeping the Family from sinking. Our Homes must become winning teams. We must do whatever it takes to make our Homes winning Homes, full of winning disciples. Building winning team Homes is paramount. We need to work day and night to ensure that our Homes are winning teams.
26. That's the goal of this series: To aid you in becoming stronger winning Homes.
27. (Jesus:) This is the year of strengthening, and a big part of strengthening is training. Anything you want to learn in life takes training. When you want to lose weight or tone your muscles, it takes training. When you want to learn how to master a skill, it takes training. Any vocation in life that you want to learn takes time, effort and training.
28. Through the restructuring and strengthening of the Family I'm sharpening your skills as disciples and as winning Homes, and in order to do that I have to train you. I'm training you through the GNs. I'm training you through the changes. I'm training you through the board criteria and the handbooks. I'm training you through the Home review. And the end result of this training is that you will be stronger, better disciples, and more effective Homes.
29. One of My main goals for the year of strengthening is to train you, as Homes, to be winning teams, because the Home is the most important unit within the Family. I've begun this training and strengthening already through the board criteria, the Feast workshops, the Home review, and the other changes I have instituted. But I see the need for you to be trained and strengthened further in some spiritual aspects that will help your Homes to be happier, more united, and thus more productive in your service to Me.
30. Training is high on My agenda right now. I'm training the RSs. I'm training the coaches. I'm training the Home shepherds, and am also providing some training for the Home managers via some of the audio classes from the Home Shepherd Training Program that are applicable to their job.
31. You as a disciple, as a Home member‚ have certain responsibilities. You might not feel like you have a "title," but you do—and an extremely valued one. Being a disciple is the best and most important title you could ever have. Being a disciple and a member of a Family Home is an extremely high calling‚ and with that calling comes responsibilities. Every disciple is responsible to make his or her Home as effective as it can be, as happy as it can be, as united as it can be, as fruitful as it can be, as obedient to the Word as it can be‚ as filled with the spirit as it can be, and even as fun as it can be. You've been receiving a lot of training to this end via the MLs and GNs over the years‚ and now I'm going to give you further training.
32. Every single Family Home is so important. And the success of every Home is dependent on the choices of every individual within that Home. It's like each person owns an equal share in the business of your winning team Home. Everyone is responsible for the Home, because you're all joint owners. In the world when someone owns a portion of a business, you can be sure that they're doing all they can to make their business a success—because it's partially their business, they own a section of it, and they feel responsible for whether or not their business thrives.
33. That's how I want you, My Family, to look at your Homes. Your Homes are your investment, and you hold a portion of the stock in your hands. If there are problems, they're your problems. If the business isn't going so well, it's your concern. If there are new initiatives that need to be implemented to guarantee future success, then you've got to get behind them. In the "company" of your Home, there should be no "big cheeses" who make all of the decisions and feel the full burden of responsibility. Everyone is responsible. Everyone is a joint owner in the company of your Home's work and service to Me.
34. Your Home wins or loses together. Your Home sinks or floats together. Your Home is a disaster or a success together. Your Home is a result of the sum total of everyone's choices. Your Home will be as happy as you want it to be, as blessed as you want it to be, as thriving as you want it to be, as much of a glowing sample of full-time discipleship to the world as you want it to be. It's up to you—every individual in the Home—to make it work, to go the distance, to decide that you'll settle for nothing less than the best—together!
35. So with this series I'm going to give you further training as a Home‚ so that you can know what things specifically contribute to a good, successful, happy, on-track Home. Much of the training I'll impart to you has already been covered in the Letters over the years, and maybe even touched on in the board criteria, Word basis, how-to aids and handbooks. So most of it is not going to be revelatory. But I want to put all of the most important keys to creating a winning team Home into one series of GNs‚ so that you'll have it on hand for easy reference in the future.
36. Also‚ I know that it's human nature to forget spiritual principles, or to neglect their importance. So I'm going to give you some counsel you've heard before in new ways, so that it will sink deeper into your hearts and minds, and so that you'll really work hard to apply it. Because, I'll tell you right now, the things that I'm going to share with you in this series are not going to do your Home any good unless you do them, unless you implement the counsel, unless you apply the training.
37. I could give you messages on hundreds of subjects, but if you're not willing to actually apply My Word, then you might as well not even read it. It might feel nice and inspiring to let all of the motivating things I say tickle your ears and suit your fancy, but it's not going to do anything for your Home if you don't put it into action, if you don't take steps of obedience, if you don't take the words off the paper and put them to work in your lives and Home.
38. That's why I'm calling this series a training course rather than a reading course. Yes, you begin by reading it, but it doesn't end there. You have to take what you assimilate and apply it. You have to take action. You have to move forward. You have to make changes. This series is not just about reading; it's about doing! There will be some assignments and some ideas of ways you can apply the principles and other supplements, but even these "helpers" will only do you good if you actually take the time for them.
39. I'm giving you this course so that by the end of it your Home will be stronger. You'll feel like you're more of a winning team. You'll feel like you've made progress. You'll feel happier and more blessed. It will make a significant difference for you and your Home if you apply yourself and make the most of it. Everything won't be handed to you on a silver platter, so you'll have to work at it. You will be given some suggestions, but you won't be told exactly what to do and how to do it. So you'll have to pray about how to apply the Word to your situation, to your Home. You'll have to specifically pray about what actions of obedience you can take.
40. This is a training course like any other, in that you will get as much out of it as you put into it. This is another level in your training as a winning team Home, so look at it as such, respect it as such. Realize that your study of it and your implementation of it will determine whether you pass at the end or not. It's not like there will be an official test, but in the spirit that's how it will be. You'll get exactly as much out of it as you put into it.
41. And I'll give you a word of advice: Strengthening a winning team Home can be really fun! It's not meant to be a boring and laborious study. It's meant to be fun. Learning anything in life can be fun. So learning to work together better as a Home, to have more unity, to change things for the better, can really be a blast. It's all in how you look at it. If you look at it as a big chore‚ that's probably how it will be for you. But if you look at it with a positive attitude, it will be fun and memorable.
42. So, dear Family, welcome to the winning team training course! It's guaranteed to help you in your goal of creating solid, winning teams! It's guaranteed to change your lives and Homes for the better! And it won't cost you much except for putting your will on My side, determining to be doers of the Word, and deciding to give it your all! I guarantee that if you put everything you've got into this program, you won't regret it. You'll be satisfied customers, stronger disciples, and your Home will improve for the better!
43. (Mama:) Having heard our Boss's sales pitch on the program, here are a few more details of what you may be able to expect in this series. I say "may be able to expect," because I really don't know all of the details yet. I only know what the Lord has revealed so far, and since His nature is to change things as we go, and lead us along step by step, I don't presume to know everything He has planned right now. But I do know a few details, which I want to share with you so that you have a bit of a vision of what to expect.
44. First, here are some of the topics we aim to address in this series. Of course, the Lord might lead to do things differently, or to address different things, and there may very well be more topics than these, but so far these are the ones that we will be working on. Many of these topics were covered to some degree in the Home Shepherd Training Program‚ directed to the Home shepherds. This training program, however, is geared toward Home members, so obviously many of the topics are the same, but the counsel and application is targeted to you Home members. This is your training program, just as the Home shepherds received their training program.
• The Word. The importance of living the Word revolution as a Home, and obedience to it.
• More on unity and brotherhood as a Home.
• Teamworking: Home members working together as a team in order to be successful, no matter what your job, title, or responsibilities.
• Working out glitches, problems‚ and disagreements that come up in a Home‚ rather than glossing them over‚ living with them, ignoring them, or running away from them.
• Having a free flow of communication and honesty within a Home.
• Benefits of Homes that consist of a variety of people with different personalities, gifts, talents, etc.—younger people‚ older people, singles, couples, parents, non-parents, children, etc.
• Appreciating and enhancing others' strengths within the Home. Appreciating others for the role they play, the job they do, and for their presence and contributions to make the Home a winning team. Making those in your Home feel like they're "family."
• Having a good work ethic, taking initiative, and contributing professionally to the Home. Everyone shouldering their share of the responsibilities and jobs‚ and not having some people in the Home who carry huge loads and others who are loafers.
• Home members abiding in their callings. Everyone in the Home doing the job the Lord has given them with gusto and inspiration, without the attitude that certain jobs are more important than others, and without comparing.
• Having a well-balanced Home—promoting the Word, praise, prayer, etc., as being just as important as work.
• Having fun together as a Home—taking time to relax, let your hair down, and have fun together; to become friends with those in the Home.
• How to have effective Home Council meetings.
• Brainstorming, thinking out of the box, being open to new ideas and changes.
• Building a long-term work, and learning to invest in a Home for the long haul, in order for fruit to be borne. Looking at your Home as a long-term investment.
• How to have effective prayer/conference days.
• Home members taking initiative in their spiritual lives, and not depending solely on the Home shepherds.
• Prayer and meditation.
45. An important note is that the topics in this series will not be addressed in order of importance—with the exception of the first topic in this GN series. We will start with the topic of the Word, since that deserves first place, and if we can't keep it in first place, then all of our other efforts to create winning teams will come to naught. But then after that, topics will be in no particular order. All of the topics are important, or else we wouldn't include them in the series. But just because one topic is addressed closer to the beginning and another is addressed at the end of the series, that doesn't mean the former was the most important and the latter was the least important. There will be variety in the topics covered; they won't be in any particular order. Some topics will also be longer than others, but that doesn't mean that they're more important or carry more weight.
46. I won't be going from A to Z on every topic, because for most of the subjects that will be addressed, there's already so much counsel in the Word that you can benefit from. So this new counsel, coupled with what I, the Lord, and Dad have given you over the years, will make for well–rounded study.
47. We're also aiming to‚ Lord willing, have some variety in this series. We'll try to include some things with each GN that will make it more interactive and that will encourage your application of the Word.
48. In addition to the wonderful prophecies that we'll be including in the series, we hope to include some of the following (although we probably won't include all of these things in each GN):
• Short, memorable Mop-like quotes‚ probably a sentence or two, on the topic of the GN, which will be scattered throughout.
• Optional discussion questions to use after reading the messages on a certain topic—questions of interest, or questions that those in your Home can talk about to gauge how you're doing in that area.
• A praise time idea (or more) for every topic. Since you'll be reading this GN series as a Home, we felt that you would appreciate a praise idea to consider using during your devotions.
• A short written prayer at the end of every topic that you, as a Home, can pray together, to claim our Husband's power as you progress in the area studied.
• Practical ideas and suggestions of ways to be doers of the Word. This might sometimes be simply directing your attention to a "do" clause in one of the messages‚ or at other times might be suggestions of ways you might be able to go about taking steps of obedience in the topic of the GN. These would not be mandatory assignments, but suggestions for those who really want to go the distance.
• New keys to call on, to aid your winning team as you make progress in the area studied.
• Reminders of spirit helpers to call on and hinderers to defeat.
• We may be able to include a few short stories/parables received in prophecy, as well as perhaps a few articles from Kevin (who has written for the Xn and The Grapevine in the past, as well as for the Home Shepherd Training Program). These articles might help to give some humorous examples on the spiritual principles covered.
49. Because this GN series is to be read unitedly as a Home, it may be a good idea to not pass out copies to Home members before the GN is read unitedly—similar to the Feast mailings. That way the material will be completely new for the united reading, and Home members can study the material further on their own after you have read it together as a Home.
50. Also‚ since there will be quite a bit of material in each GN—not just reading material on a few topics, but also praise time ideas, discussion questions, ideas for implementing the Word, and a written prayer, etc.—you, or whoever is going to lead the devotions, may want to be familiar with the material ahead of time. You might want to use some of the praise time ideas, as well as some of the discussion questions and other supplements‚ during your united reading. So the person who's going to lead the united reading could pray about and decide ahead of time which of the supplemental ideas and suggestions would be best to incorporate, and how to best fit those things in, along with the reading.
51. And one last point: You don't have to rush through these GNs in one or two sittings. Take your time and consider doing some of the ideas and suggestions given, even if it takes more time, as they will supplement the reading material and make for better absorption and application of the Word. I know that the Lord will give you wisdom in knowing exactly how to go about studying this GN series in your Home, and will have tailored counsel and ideas for your particular needs.
52. With all of the focus on the structure of the Family last year, and this year as well, and the many changes that the restructuring and strengthening have brought, it's important to keep the vision of what it's all for. Even with this GN series, which is focusing on building winning teams, it's so important that we remember the goal. We're not doing all of these internal improvements so that we can just be happier and feel good about our progress. It's so that our Homes can be better samples to the world, so that we can be better witnesses, and more easily let our lights shine. That's what it's all for.
53. So if you get discouraged with all there is to do and become confused about what it's all for, remember that it's not for self-perfection. The end goal is that we can be better witnesses, that we'll be in a better position to "preach the Gospel to every creature," and that we'll be the "come and see" sample the Lord needs us to be in order to win more souls for His Kingdom and more disciples to help us reap the harvest.
54. However, in the process of creating a winning team to be a better witness to the world, you'll also find yourselves happier at the same time. The Lord knows that being more fruitful as a Home is going to make you happier—individually and as a unit. You're not doing it solely to be happy; that's not your main motivation. But it always helps to know that something is going to benefit us personally, and being happier is something everyone wants.
55. So all of the changes we're making are not just for self-improvement. Yes, the ultimate goal is to be more fruitful for Jesus and better witnesses, and that should be in the forefront of our minds. But extra happiness is also a byproduct of creating a winning team. When we obey the Lord and do what He tells us to do, He makes us happy! He's efficient and multi-tasks. While helping us to do a better job‚ at the same time He makes us happier and more content. He's concerned about our witness for Him and He wants us to bear fruit‚ and He's also concerned about our personal happiness. So‚ in His great wisdom, He takes care of both as we obey.
56. (Jesus:) I have called you, My Family, out from the world, and even out from among the larger body of believers, to fulfill a special and unique commission. I have led you through every step in your history over these past 35-plus years, all toward the goal of making you as individuals‚ and above all as a body, into what I needed you to be for each time and season. I have also coordinated it so that each phase of your history, training, growth, and restructuring has helped to prepare you for the Endtime—the final and crowning phase of your history‚ the time when all your training and all that I have invested in you will come to the fore, and you will shine as lights brighter than any who have shone in history.
57. Every time I have inspired your chosen leadership, first David and then Maria and Peter, to create change in the Family, it has been as a part of moving you into place for the next phase of My plan for you. Each phase of My plan for you has been for the purpose of increasing your effectiveness, broadening and strengthening your witnessing, and pruning and cultivating your "tree" so as to bring forth more fruit and better quality fruit. This restructuring and year of strengthening, like any of the Family's eras of change before‚ is necessary to make you into the fruitful witnesses, disciples‚ and leaders that I need you to be.
58. I have not put anything, or allowed anything to be put into the Family's "legislation" that is just there to fill up space, to make life tougher, to make people more "righteous" and to feel better about themselves, or for any other reason than that I know it is something necessary to take the Family to the next point you need to reach, to the next level of strengthening, and therefore effective fruitfulness that I want you to attain.
59. I am interested in you improving your lives, habits, and spirits as individuals, because it makes you more effective and fruitful. I am interested in you developing stronger teams, with more personnel, with closer bonds of unity, with more consistent spiritual shepherding, with better efficiency and organization in your management and activities as a Home, because it makes you more effective and fruitful.
60. I know there are huge challenges before each of you, and I know that if the Enemy can get in and tempt you to believe that the restructuring, or any aspect of it, is either without purpose or for some unnecessary purpose, then it will be a far greater burden for you to fight and work toward fulfilling the goals and mandates before you. He tries to whisper things like this in some of your ears, because it weakens your resolve and weakens your fight; then it weakens your ability as an individual to live up to the standard of a disciple; then it weakens your unity and sample as a Home; then it weakens your witness, your testimony‚ and the power of your conviction in your ministries; then it weakens your effectiveness as a fruit-bearing branch of the Family's tree.
61. So sock that Old Boy one when he tries to discourage you about the restructuring and changes; when he tries to make you believe it's too much, too hard, or too overwhelming; when he tries to make you think that someone somewhere has it in for you or is trying to make you fail; when he tries to make you think that there's too much internal focus and too much attention being put on self-improvement or Home improvement.
62. It's true, there is more focus on internal structure, shepherding‚ management, Home standard, and Home operations than there has been in a long time. Some of you aren't so used to that‚ and you feel bogged down by this focus and the time it takes. You feel bogged down by having to work things out with more people than you're used to. You feel bogged down by the criteria and questionnaires and reviews and review programs and the like.
63. It takes some time to learn to use these new tools—but tools they are, and not weights. Having a larger Home with a more diverse pool of personnel is a tool of progress—not a hindrance to progress. It takes some time to learn to work together, but the end result is, again, effectiveness and fruitfulness. Having to evaluate your Home and every aspect of your work and training and operations is also a tool of progress. It takes time, but the result is improvement in areas that are weak, and again, effectiveness and fruitfulness.
64. Think about those two words. Let them burn into your mind and thoughts and use them as an offensive weapon to claim victories, claim growth‚ claim effectiveness and fruitfulness, and destroy the Enemy's attempts at doubt, discouragement, and despair. He doesn't want to see you effective, growing, and fruitful. So he tries to get your focus on the process rather than the result, on the steps rather than the goal. It's a trick as old as the hills, and you don't need to let him use it on you anymore!
65. Claim your victories as a soldier‚ and as a team and Home! Demand progress of yourself and your team as a section of a winning and conquering army! That's what this restructuring and strengthening and all the "details" that it brings with it are for. That is the goal. That is the purpose! Keep your focus on that and don't let it stray! Then you'll stay on track, and then you'll be ... you got it!—effective and fruitful!
66. (Dad:) The reason I'm asking you to invest so much in your Homes so that you can be winning teams is ultimately so that you can be better soul and disciple winners! The reason for all of the changes‚ the reason for creating winning teams, the reason for working through all of the kinks and problems is so that you'll be better witnesses, better able to win the world for Jesus. That's what winning teams do: They witness‚ they win souls, and making disciples of all nations is what they specialize in!
67. The whole point of building stronger unity and brotherhood, of learning how to be better communicators, of understanding exactly what it takes to build a successful Home, is not so that you'll just be comfy and cozy under your roof and within the four walls of your house. It's not so that you can feel good and holy about yourselves‚ because you've arrived and you really have a "happy" Home. Well, that's all nice and sweet, but enjoying the benefits of a winning team Home is not the only reason you go to all the hard work and trouble to create it.
68. The reason the Lord is asking you to strengthen your Homes, to unite more strongly than ever, and to improve your Home lives is so that you'll be a better team to do the Lord's work, so that you'll be able to be a sample to the world of what living communally for Jesus is all about, and so that you'll be better witnesses, better soul winners‚ and will attract disciples. The goal is not to perfect your Home for your own benefit; the goal is to make your Home so strong and so united that you'll be a serious threat to Satan.
69. The goal is exactly the same as it was when Jesus said these words for the first time: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." That's what winning team Homes are for! Family Homes are made up of disciples, and disciples preach the Gospel. They witness! They save souls! They make disciples of all nations! That's what it's all for. That's what all of the changes and the training is for. The goal is that we as a Family, and every individual Family Home, will do a better job for Jesus.
70. Forget thinking that you're just perfecting yourselves and your Homes for no good reason at all. There's a mighty good reason for everything you're going through, for every change, and for every bit of time you invest in your Home. Winning Homes will win others. Winning Homes will do the job we're called to do. Winning Homes will be a sample of discipleship to the world. Winning Homes will reap tremendous harvests. Winning Homes will be effective soul winners. Winning Homes will promote the message and get out the Word to the world! These are the goals!
71. So although you're going through an interim period right now when you're laying the groundwork, and ensuring your foundations are strong‚ and beginning to build your winning team, don't lose the vision of what it's all for—not self-perfection‚ self-preservation, or introspection just for the sake of it. The vision is that your winning Homes will become world changers, movers, and shakers, so that the Gospel can be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations before the End comes!
72. (Mama:) Since the Family's future is hinging on the success of our Homes, and our future witness is dependent on the same, of course the Enemy will attack all our efforts to strengthen our winning teams. He knows that so much is dependent on whether or not we are able to be the discipleship Homes the Lord wants us to be. If our Homes become strong winning teams, we will fulfill our destiny and the Lord's promises, and we will save many more souls from the Enemy's clutches.
73. So no wonder he's fighting! And it shouldn't surprise you when he attacks in the future. Forming winning team Homes is a big-ticket item, and the Enemy wants to do all he can to stop our progress, all in an effort to defeat what he sees will be the future results of our decisions to be strengthened as individuals and as teams for Jesus! But remember that anything that's worth something costs something. The success of our discipleship Homes is worth fighting for, no matter how long it takes, no matter what we have to forsake in order to do so, and no matter how tough it is at times.
74. In wartime the army will fight many different battles on many varied fronts, and that's similar to how it is with us during this time of restructuring and change. There are lots of things to focus on, many battles to fight. But the battle for the survival of our Family Homes, the Lord's example to the world of full-time discipleship, is a crucial one. It's a battle we must devote a lot of resources to. We won't win the war if we don't win this battle‚ so we've got to gird on our armor and fight with everything in us.
75. We'll all have to forsake some things in order to win this particular battle‚ in order for our Homes to be what the Lord needs them to be. Probably the things most of us will have to forsake are our own ways of doing things, our own ideas‚ our own mindsets, our own theories, and our own bad habits. Because we're at war against the Enemy, we've got to do whatever it takes to win.
76. So when we're investing in our Homes, when we're strengthening our winning teams, we have to remember that we're fighting a pivotal battle, one that we must win. And when the Enemy fights us, we've got to fight all the harder. Winning this particular battle will turn the tide of the war for us significantly!
77. (Dad:) What the Lord is really asking is for you—each and every one of you—to once again forsake all! You won't be able to win the battle or reach your full potential as winning teams unless you truly forsake all. You might not have a lot of worldly possessions to forsake, but you definitely have attitudes to forsake, and you have things in your life that are hindering you from being the winner you can be.
78. We're at war—against the System, against the Selvegion, against anything that stands in the way of unity‚ and against the Devil and his kingdom. That's the truth. You're in the Lord's army, and the Lord's army fights battles. The Lord's army isn't a peacetime army. It's not peacetime right now. It's time to fight! It's time to fight for the success and unity of your Home‚ so that your Home can then do its part to win the war.
79. Like the words from the song, "The Lord's Army," one of the songs that made the Revolution, "The Lord wants to make a fighter out of you; not a bed of roses‚ but a war is what He's promised you. So although you may not understand, just go in and claim the land!" You're in a spiritual war, and the battle is upon you. It's not going to be any easier for you than it is for soldiers in the world when they have to fight battles. You've got to be strong in the Lord, you've got to know your weapons, and you've got to be dedicated to the cause. You've got to be willing to go the distance for what you're fighting for. You've got to invest all your strength, energies, and resources into making your Home a winning one.
80. The Lord handpicked you. The Lord carefully chose who He wanted to be a part of His Endtime army, as well as in your Home. You within the Family today are not "second best" or "backups" or "try–outs." You're the cream of the crop, His first choice. You're those that the Lord knew had what it took to be soldiers in His army, to fight His battles and to win.
81. He knows fighting to be a winning team Home is going to cost you. He knows that battles are never easy to fight, and He knows that you're each going to have to forsake something—or perhaps many somethings—in your life, that will bring you back to being a completely dedicated soldier in His army, a top-notch winner in your Home.
82. You can't be a winner if you're holding things back from the Lord. You can't win this battle for our Family Homes if you're holding onto the things of this Earth or your own ideas and attitudes instead of arming yourself with the spiritual weapons you need to win. You can't win this battle unless you forsake all—all your wrong attitudes, all of your personal plans and agendas, anything and everything that would stand in the way of you being a solid, conviction-filled fighter for the truth and a Home member who's willing to make your Home work, no matter what the cost.
83. You have to choose to fight this battle—not on the strength of anyone else's decisions, not because you think it's what others expect of you, but because you know it's what God is asking of you. You have to accept that you are a soldier whom God needs in His army, a part of a winning team that He needs‚ and He needs your all. Those in your Home need you to give your all.
84. You must choose to fight this battle to the finish. It's going to be long‚ it's going to be hard, and you'll grow tired and weary. Your life is going to be a lot more hard work than you're used to, and you'll have to sacrifice more. But if you treasure the Family, the freedom and truth that God has entrusted into your hands, and you want to preserve the Revolution at all costs, and the sample of communal living, then you'll be willing to do whatever it takes to be a winner and to make your Home all that it can be.
85. You'll fight the Enemy and his forces of darkness till you have no strength left within you, but you'll still refuse to surrender. You'll raise the flag of victory and revolution as a sign to the Enemy that you will never give up, even if you're wounded and bleeding. You will rally together with your fellow soldiers in God's army, and you'll work together to push the Enemy back to Hell where he belongs. You'll fight with all your might, strength, energy—physical and spiritual—until you emerge victorious.
86. As you fight, the Lord will boost your morale with victories won along the way. You will see small victories, you will see light, and there will be hope. You will know, as you are fighting, that you're making progress, that you're setting the Enemy back, and that victory is assured if you keep fighting. You won't be able to stop with these smaller victories, however; you'll have to keep fighting till the whole battle is won.
87. The war is raging in the spirit! This year is the year of war. You have got to fight for the truth. Fight for your faith. Fight for the standard. Fight to be winning teams. Fight for your Homes. Fight for each other. Whatever you do, fight! Fight with all your strength. Fight for the future of the Family. When one of your fellow soldiers is wounded‚ fight together for him.
88. There are a number of things that you need in order to win a battle. You need resources, finances, and good supply lines. This you have in the great wealth and truth the Lord has given to the Family via the New Wine and His abundant and never-ending supply of Word. There's so much in the Word about what it takes to be winning teams, and new missives coming out all the time, so take advantage of it all.
89. In a war you need good weapons, technology superior to the enemy. This you have in the multitudes of spiritual weapons and helpers at your disposal. You also need good leadership, strategy, and organization. This you have through Mama and Peter and your Family leadership—and all of those in the heavenly realm—who are passing on the battle plans to you.
90. And a last important ingredient to win a war is good soldiers, those who are well trained and capable of using their weapons to the full and manning their vehicles of war. They also need to be willing to give their all to the war effort, and have an attitude that doesn't accept defeat. This is your part, soldiers! You must have the attitude of winners, fighters, and victorious conquerors. Creating a winning Home must be your goal, and if it is your goal, then you'll do whatever it takes to ensure victory!
91. What's holding you back from being a dependable soldier in your Home? Think about it, and then forsake all! Soldiers on the front lines have only the essentials‚ what they need to win the war. Soldiers are determined to win, and to do whatever it takes to reach that goal. Good soldiers fight until they're tired and battered and wounded. Then they fight and fight some more! Good soldiers know what it takes to win the battle, and they're willing to make the sacrifices it requires.
92. You're soldiers, Family! When you joined the Family you joined the Lord's army. And we wouldn't be an army if we didn't have to fight battles and wars. We have had some times of peace, which have been a wonderful gift of the Lord's love. But now it's time to once again put on the whole armor of God and pick up all of the spiritual weapons, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil and the spiritual entities from the netherworld.
93. I'm right with you and am more a part of this revolution and army than ever before. I'm working hand in hand with Mama and Peter, and all of you, to fight this battle for the future of the Family and win. I'm doing more from this side than I could have done if I was still with you in the flesh, and I have an advantage because I can see the way things truly are in the spirit. Even Mama and Peter have to take things by faith, because they can't see the spiritual warfare. But I see‚ and I know, and I'm telling you that the war is raging and you've got to fight!
94. Don't let the Enemy lull you into a false sense of security, so that you continue to think that you have all the time in the world to make your Home the winning team it needs to be. You don't. Peacetime is over, and the battle has begun. You need to change your mindsets, get into full-fighting gear, and reclaim all of the spiritual territory that the Enemy has taken in your lives and Homes.
95. Right now the Enemy has been wounded, set back‚ and put in a position where he can be defeated. You can start to take back the territory he has won in the past, if you keep fighting. But if you stop now, the Enemy will have time to regroup his forces and attack again with more force than ever. This is what you want to avoid at all costs.
96. Don't let up on the Enemy! Don't give him any time to make new weapons or retrain his soldiers. Don't give him time to get more resources and plan new strategies. Don't give him a break. Keep hacking away at him in the spirit through making progress as a Home! Keep setting him back in the spirit! Keep nuking his bases! Keep bombing his defenses! Keep infiltrating his territory! Keep reclaiming your territory! Stay on the offensive continually! That's how you'll win this battle.
97. If you're willing to give your all to this battle for the strengthening of your Home and never give up the fight, victory is assured. You have what it takes. You're the soldiers capable of overcoming the Enemy. You have the resources, strategies, weapons, skill, and leadership. Now you just need to determine to fight to the finish. Determine to never give up, and you'll be one of those who'll enjoy the victory! Your Home will be a victorious and stronger one! Hallelujah!
98. (Mama:) What can I say after such a stirring message from Dad?—Except that I wholeheartedly agree! We've got to continue setting the Enemy back. We've got to strengthen our Homes for the eventual goal of being better witnesses, bolder proclaimers of the truth, stronger and more brilliant lights shining in the darkness of this world!
99. No other group in the world is winning as many souls as we are‚ forsaking all and living full-time discipleship like we are, and receiving God's fresh New Wine for today to in turn pass on to the world. So because we're such a threat, the Enemy is fighting us. But he won't stop us as long as we remain obedient, keep doing our primary job of winning the world, continue offensively fighting his attempts to stop us, and keep up the momentum of strengthening ourselves and our Homes as our Commander in Chief has instructed us to.
100. That's what this series is for: To aid us in becoming stronger Homes. So by God's grace‚ let's do it! Let's get stronger! That's what the year of strengthening is for!
Getting stronger together with you,
Mama
Copyright © 2005 by The Family International.