new GN 165-194

165. (Mama:) Then‚ about a month later, Johnny wrote (his update was posted on the MO site in full; the following are just excerpts):

166. (Johnny:) Joe has been here with us in Taiwan now for 2 months, and he's totally "there," helps out in the Home in night singing, with teaching the younger children in the Home, and being a partner on follow-up, etc. He has also seen a local doctor, who is doing follow-up (minimal), and has told us it's not necessary to keep seeing him unless something comes up.
167. Joe is learning to "despise not the day of small things" in the Home, and is happy being a "little person‚" knowing this is part of the training and lessons the Lord wants him to learn at this time. The whole experience has been a major breaking for him, as you can imagine, but as in Rom.8:28, the Lord is really using it to remake him as a more humble, yielded vessel for Him. Thank you for your prayers for him!

168. (Mama:) We asked Johnny and Sunny to share an advance copy of these GNs with Joe, as we wanted to be sure he was in agreement with the way things were presented, and okay with sharing these lessons with the whole Family. After reading over all three GNs in the series‚ Joe responded,

Dear Mama,
169. I just read "Choices and Consequences," and I have to say that I'm very thankful for the Lord's words to me and His counsel for all of us in the Family.
170. I feel that what the Lord said was very true, and the prophecies received for me really hit the nail right on the head. As I look back, I now very clearly see the areas that this Letter brings out, and hope and pray that the Lord can help me to keep fighting the good fight in the spirit, and obeying Him in the little things.
171. It's a bit difficult to hear all of my mistakes and sins published for others to read, and it's very humbling for me, especially for all those who I've known to know the naked truth about the real me. I'm glad‚ however, that others are able to understand why it happened to me and prepare themselves spiritually and see that "a curse causeless shall not come," and that the line is drawn.
172. I really want to thank you again for taking care of us all, and am happy that others can be warned of the consequences of my wrong choices.
173. On a personal note, I really agree with the letters at the end of GN number 3, and really try my best, with the Lord's help‚ to fight to serve Jesus and not drag the Family down.
Much love, Joe

174. (Mama:) God bless you, Joe! We are so proud of you‚ and so thankful to have you serving the Lord together with us. Through this breaking, you have come out a more humble, and thus stronger and more dependable, soldier. We need you, and really appreciate the sacrifices you have made to win these victories and what it has cost you. It is Peter's and my prayer that everyone in our Family can benefit from your lessons and your love and willingness to share them. Thank you very much.
175. We'll talk more about Joe's situation later in this series, and I'll share with you some answers that we've received in response to other questions that some of you have written us, and that others of you might be wondering about. I'll also share with you some beautiful encouragement the Lord gave for Joe.

Was Joe Actually Possessed by Evil Spirits?
176. Some of you will wonder, from what you've heard about Joe's situation, if he was not just spiritually oppressed but actually demon possessed at times. From the Word it sounds like it's not possible to be possessed if you're saved, but when hearing about a situation like Joe's it's easy to wonder how something like that happens. Clearly, as the Lord said, he had been yielding to the Enemy in some areas and wasn't keeping his guard up, but you figure that at some point there must have been a definite decision that Joe made in order to allow the Enemy so much control over him. In other words, it wasn't just a few wrong decisions or instances of not yielding that cost him his mind.
177. In Megan's situation, it initially seemed to be more a case of the "unguarded moment‚" although the Lord has since revealed to us that there was more background on it, and that earlier decisions played into the situation and paved the way for such a serious disobedience. But in Joe's case, for Joe to allow such a huge breach in the spirit, you can't help but feel that there must have been quite a bit leading up to it, as well as a very deliberate decision and willing yielding to the Enemy on Joe's part. Some questions that come to mind or that some of you have asked are: "Can't something like this only happen to someone if they make a definite decision to yield to it‚ especially someone who's saved? Can someone who's saved even be possessed? I always thought Dad said they couldn't--they could be oppressed, but not possessed, as once you're saved, you're the Lord's forever."
178. The Lord gives some very interesting counsel in answer to these questions, and explains how, although a Christian can never be fully possessed by the Enemy or evil spirits, he can be temporarily given over to them, according to the choices he makes. This is something that Dad often puzzled over and wondered about. He usually felt that it wasn't possible to be possessed if you have the Lord. But during his later years he opened the door to the possibility several times, saying it was rare, but that it does happen. I'll include a couple of comments from Dad at the end of this message.
179. As you'll see in the following prophecy, the Lord makes a distinction between being fully possessed by the Devil and being partially possessed or temporarily given over. Once we're saved, which we know Joe is, we're the Lord's forever. The Enemy can never take us away from the Lord. But he can control the part of our life and mind that we give over to him. That's what happened in Joe's case. Through many wrong decisions, Joe gave a lot of his mind over to the Enemy to control.

180. (Jesus:) Yes, things of this nature happen as a result of a definite decision to yield to the Enemy. These are very good questions, and to properly answer them, let Me set the record straight on a few points.
181. It is not possible to be fully possessed by Satan if you are a true child of Mine. Once you are saved, you are Mine--you belong to Me. But the crux of the matter is that, although you cannot be fully possessed by the Devil if you belong to Me, you can be partially possessed or temporarily given over, according to the choices you make to give room in your mind and heart to evil.
182. Satan's demons are always trying to take control of whatever they can get. The choice belongs to the individual to give in or to send them away.
183. Don't get too hung up, however, on figuring out the difference between being oppressed or possessed, and partially or fully, lest the Enemy deceive you into thinking just a little bit of giving in or giving over part of your territory is okay. You don't want to yield any part of your life, your mind, your thoughts or your will to the Devil. Give no place to evil!
184. Joe made many wrong decisions, some smaller and some you would call bigger. From My perspective I can see that the smaller decisions he made were actually the most important ones. If you keep making the wrong decisions in small things, you will never be able to make the right decisions in the bigger things. If you're trying to find the one trump card, the final decision that clinched the deal for Joe, you're not seeing this picture in the right perspective. Joe's state is the result of many wrong decisions. Don't be fooled into thinking that just a few wrong decisions or failures to yield are not too serious, because in this present day, it is deadly serious! That one tiny choice might seem small in itself, but it can lead to bigger matters which really count, and you cannot separate the two. Every big decision started out as a small decision.
185. Let Me explain one whopper of a lie that My children are hearing these days--that little things, little choices, little compromises, and little disobediences aren't so important. Satan tells you things like, "It's only a small thing." "Go ahead just this once-–after all, you have to try it." "It's just a tiny wrong decision, a little unyielding." "It's not really a big deal; no one will even notice." "Don't worry, you can stop doing this any time you want; just one more time won't hurt a thing." "What's a little disobedience going to do?" "What's a little bit of pride going to hurt?" "I deserve to feel just a little bit discouraged." "Not yielding just this once won't cause any harm," etc.
186. This is nothing you haven't heard before--that little things are important. Many of you have heard it your entire lives. But before you brush this aside as an all-too-familiar statement, let this situation with Joe put a little "skin" on how important little things are.
187. Yes, Joe did make a "bigger" wrong decision that flipped the switch, so to speak, but it's not the kind of decision most of you are thinking of. If you are expecting Me to tell you that the Devil walked right up to Joe and tempted him with power and riches if Joe would fall down and worship him and let the Devil have control over his mind‚ no, that's not the case.
188. Joe's big decision that got him to where he's at was the first wrong decision he made to not yield to Me in a little thing. That was the biggest decision in Joe's life--a big decision in a seemingly little thing that led to big consequences.
189. Everyone makes wrong decisions. This is not to say if you make one wrong decision you'll end up the same, but the key is that when you make the wrong choice, you've got to do something about it. It's whether you learn from it and move on that matters. You've got to keep checking yourself, and in the case of little disobediences, you've got to keep coming clean if you want to move forward. You've got to correct the mistakes, confess your sins, and not let one wrong decision lead to another. If people think they can just stop making mistakes and move on without remedying the problem‚ then they're likely to continue making them.
190. Once Joe made the first little wrong decision and then continued to make "little decisions" to not correct things along the way‚ to not confess and get help, to not get things out in the open--all these "little decisions" added up, and have gotten him into the state he's in. I do not expect perfection, but I do want you to lean on Me‚ confess when you've made a mistake, get help, and make progress. Joe didn't think these little things were important. He was more concerned with looking good on the outside and preserving his pride. And look where it got him.
191. I did not cause this breach in the spirit with Joe. Joe brought it on himself through his consistent ignoring of My little checks--checks to give Me praise, to do the humble thing‚ to not entertain proud or negative thoughts; checks to not give in to condemnation; checks to reach out to others‚ even the difficult to love; checks to give, to pray, to obey in all things; checks to be honest about his battles and get prayer; checks to give Me all the glory.
192. You say, "Can't something like this only happen to someone if they make a definite decision to yield to it?" Yes‚ but in Joe's case‚ the definite decision in his life to not yield to Me in the little things is what led to his present state, and gradually took him further and further away from My protection and further and further away from Me. A conscious choice to not yield to Me is a choice to yield to the Enemy.
193. You can give the appearance of following closely in the majors, of obeying in the things that seem to count the most, such as dedicating enough time to the Word each day, but if your actions in following through in the little things I tell you to do don't match up‚ it'll all catch up with you sooner or later. There are no little things in My sight. (End of message from Jesus.)

Text box:
194. (Mama:) Here is a little clip from Dad where he's discussing whether it's possible for Christians to be possessed. As you'll see, it's a rather fine line. In the preceding message, the Lord says that it's not possible to be fully possessed, but you can be temporarily given over to the Enemy. In Joe's case it was many small decisions that eventually let the Enemy in to such an extreme state that he was temporarily given over to the Enemy and many evil spirits, as the Lord says earlier.