renewal part 3

As You Pour Out, He'll Pour In, and You Can Never Outpour Him!
50. The Lord has given us a big challenge of making this time special for our kids and teens, which you'll read about more in the GNs to come in this series. He wants our children and young people to be one of our main focuses during this time. You might not feel so excited hearing about that right now, especially as you're thinking about having to forsake some of these addictions and forms of worldly entertainment that are fun for you, and doing the hard work of pouring into the kids might not seem like a real enjoyable replacement.
51. But it's a spiritual principle that as you get out of yourself and into others, happiness finds you. And I believe you'll find that's a key during the renewal as well. Focusing on the very great need of our children and teens will not only give you something worthwhile to do with your time and bring a new sense of fulfillment and satisfaction into your life, but it will also bring about the cleansing in the best way possible, because you'll be motivated to do it for others.
52. The Lord said, "Focusing on the children and teens is going to bring about a healthy cleansing and renewing for everyone. They won't have to be digging deep into their own sins and get condemned or self-righteous. Instead they will be taking the quickest, clearest path to growth and progress, and that is getting into others, the kids and JETTs and teens in their Home, who are desperate for help.
53. "Through giving of their time, their love‚ and making those sacrifices for the sake of others, they will find fulfillment and happiness. Even the forms of worldly input that they're dreading doing without won't have the same appeal or hold on them, because they'll be replacing the time that they would have spent on those things with something that I will really bless. Those blessings will make up for what they're missing.
54. "At first it will be difficult. It will seem like more work, and there will be a lot of personal sacrifice involved as they strive to obey My counsel. But with time, they'll start to see progress in the lives of the young ones in their Home, and that will bring them encouragement and fulfillment. They'll start to be bonded together as one big family, each Home forming a strong and united team. As they get to know the kids and the JETTs and teens better, a special love will develop, and this love will make the sacrifices worth it. And all the while‚ they'll be being cleansed and renewed and refreshed."

It Gets Easier with Time
55. (Mama:) Whenever you have to forsake something that you've been accustomed to having for many years, or when you make a push in some area of your life that you've been lax in, it's never easy at first. If, for example, the Lord tells you to cut a certain type of food out of your diet for health reasons, that can be difficult to adjust to, especially if it's a food you really enjoy. Or if you start doing regular exercise after years of not doing it, that requires a lot of willpower and determination. It's hard at first, but then it gets easier. Even something like learning not to bite your fingernails is definitely challenging at first. But the longer you stick to your commitments, the easier it gets.
56. So please don't get discouraged and give up in the beginning when it's more difficult. It's a natural reaction to miss something you've been used to having for a long time, and to feel the loss. And of course the Enemy is going to exaggerate those natural feelings and make it very difficult for you to yield, or to be happy about yielding, specifically in the beginning. But remind yourself that it will get easier as you yield. Yieldedness is the key.

57. (Jesus:) It's going to be difficult at the beginning of the renewal for many of you, but an encouraging thought I want to remind you of is that it's not going to get worse with time; it's only going to get better. The things you depended on so heavily will no longer hold the same allure they once did. The things you thought you'd never be happy living without will be replaced by other things that will be just as satisfying for you--if not more so.
58. When you yield to My will even when it's difficult, I make it easier for you to yield with time. It's never as hard as it is when you first make the decision to yield. That's because the Enemy fights that first decision so hard‚ and makes you want to walk out the back door of your commitments. He knows once you've passed fully through the doorway of yieldedness that you're going to discover a whole new world of possibility, enjoyment, contentment, and happiness. That's obviously not what he wants for you, so he makes it downright difficult for you to get where I want you to be.
59. Give Me a chance! Give Me time! As each day passes, I will give you an extra portion of grace to yield. And with time you will hardly remember the initial trials anymore. Every trial will be replaced by benefits, and the memory of every difficulty will be washed away as a reward for your yieldedness to Me. Yield to Me, and I will give you the grace to make it--not just grace to survive, but grace to thrive and flourish as never before.

Everyone Is on the "Hot Seat"
60. (Mama:) We've talked about the fast of worldly input, and those who have more of a proclivity or hankering for the things of the world have been on the "hot seat," so to speak. But I realize that not everyone falls into this category. For some of you it's not going to be too difficult to forsake worldly input because you either don't desire it much or it doesn't have a big hold on you. But regardless of your worldly addictions--or lack of them--we're all in the boat of renewal and cleansing together.
61. Don't think that just because you may not be a particularly "worldly" person, or have an addiction to something real obvious like computer games, movies, System music‚ books, or the Internet, that you're not in need of cleansing. We all need cleansing! We all need this time of renewal and rededication!
62. There are many types of addictions, and some addictions don't necessarily fall into the category of "worldly input," but they can still be just as damaging to your spirit. There are specific addictions and things people have grown dependent on that aren't technically "forbidden" during the renewal‚ but some individuals will still want to forgo some of these things that aren't officially "disallowed." For example, alcohol is kosher according to the rules of the renewal‚ but some people in the Family are a little too addicted to it or have grown to depend on it to an unhealthy degree. So if you're one of these people, then you should pray about fasting alcohol. Just because it's allowed according to the guidelines of the renewal doesn't mean that it's necessarily going to be the best thing for you.
63. I'll list a few other examples, just to get you thinking and praying about what the Lord might want to focus on in your life. What about junk food? Are you addicted to junk food? Has your appetite for healthy food been stamped out? If so, maybe you should forsake junk food. Are you addicted to extreme exercise? Have you pushed your body beyond its healthy limits, to the point that now a good healthy vigorous get-out is no longer enough for you--you have to keep pushing yourself harder and harder? If this sounds like you, maybe you need to put some restrictions on your personal get-out and exercise regime, and seriously cut back.
64. What about fashion? Are you overly obsessed with the way you look and the clothes you wear? Are you materialistic, and do you have an addiction to acquiring things--technical gadgets, equipment, new worldly "toys"? What about work? Are you a workaholic who is addicted to working too hard in the arm of the flesh? Do you need to slow down and spend more time with the Lord? Are you addicted to independence and privacy, having your own little world that no one else can venture into? Have you closed your life off to others?
65. I'm highlighting a few examples of addictions that aren't labeled "worldly input." But this is far from a comprehensive list. These examples are simply food for thought, to get you thinking about your own life. I trust that the Lord will show you the areas He wants to highlight in your life. You're accountable to search your own heart and see what the Lord is shining a spotlight on, and then you're responsible to do something about it. The Lord is zeroing in on all of our lives; we all need to change and make progress, and that's what this time is for.

66. (Jesus:) Everyone has addictions. Everyone has things that they put before Me, that they sometimes put before My work, or that they have made gods of. The purpose of this renewal period is to remove from your life anything that comes between Me, as your Husband, and you as My bride. For many people it is a worldly influence that comes between us, or that takes away some time that I wish to have, or that supersedes the important things in life like spending time with Me, witnessing, or reaching out to others in love. So this period of renewal, this time of setting aside worldly influences, is to make it easier for you to be good, easier for you to forsake your addictions or crutches, or to help you minimize them to a healthy level in your lives.
67. There are some people in the Family who will have other things in their lives that are holding them back, or that are addictions or timewasters. The regular and most predominant things--like movies, computer games‚ novels, sports, or other similar worldly forms of entertainment--are not the only things; they're not the only addictions. Each person has something that they can forsake, something they can minimize, something they can yield to Me, and that's what this time of renewal is all about. It's about seeing what you have in your life that holds you back from Me, or what you're putting before Me, or what you're giving most of your time to, or what has gotten bigger and more important to you than is spiritually healthy, and then working to change and build new habits.
68. Maybe you don't play computer games, watch movies, view sports or TV, or listen to System music. So what is this renewal period going to mean for you? Don't just look on the surface at the most logical or obvious things that might need changing in your life. I may wish to cleanse you of any number of things during this period of renewal-–wrong mindsets, bad habits, ties with certain System relatives that are having a detrimental effect on you or your loved ones‚ addictions to food, alcohol, bodybuilding or extreme exercise, perverted appetites in sex or a desire for ungodly sex, the spirits of seduction, eating disorders, a materialistic spirit, an addiction to acquiring the latest and greatest worldly gadgets, to name a few. Some of these things aren't as clear-cut or obvious addictions or habits as movies, novels, System music and the like, but they can be just as dangerous to your spiritual life‚ if not more so.
69. The cleansing of this renewal period is going to touch everyone--ALL. No one will escape being changed and cleansed in some way.

Personal P&P Question
70. (Mama:) Now that you know the Lord wants to cleanse you and change you, and He wants you to forsake the addictions, bad habits and wrong attitudes you have in your life, please ask the Lord specifically about this. As soon as you can, please bring the following question to the Lord and receive His counsel for you.

71. (Question:) Dearest Husband, You know me better than anyone in this world. You know me even better than I know myself. So I ask You to clearly show me right now what You want to change in my life. What addictions--whether obvious or hidden--do I have that I need to forsake? You said that everyone has addictions, everyone has things in their life that they put before You or Your work, things we've made gods out of--so that means me, Jesus. Please show me specifically how You want to cleanse me.

Don't Hold Your Breath
72. (Mama:) It's clear that the Lord intends for the renewal period to help each of us-–and all of our Homes--to make long-term, permanent changes in our lives. It would be pointless to go through the renewal and cleansing if the changes we make in our lives are superficial ones that aren't going to last. If we're not going to make durable lifestyle adjustments and changes, then we might as well not even go through all the trouble. What's the point, if not to have a total revolution and to break away from our old ways?

73. (Jesus:) Don't hold your breath during this time, waiting to exhale when it's all over. That's not the goal or the plan. That's not what I have in mind. I wish for this time to bring a complete and lasting change in each person's heart, life‚ and spirit, and in every Home. I want this time to cleanse the Family. I want those things that have such a strong hold on the Family today to never have the same power over them again. I desire mindset changes, priority readjustments, and for each person to have a clearer perspective on their goals for Me and how they can best achieve their goals, and clearly know what things hinder them from achieving their goals.
74. I don't want the Family to welcome the worldly influences, or other things they have forsaken, back into their lives in full force after the six-month period is over. That's not to say that you're never going to see another movie, read another book‚ play another computer game, or ever watch sports again. But I do wish for the importance of these worldly things to fade‚ for them to be kept in their proper place, and for the things of My Spirit and the challenges of lives lived for Me, and anything that aids you in your job of reaching the world with My love, to come to the fore, to be what is most important to you.
75. It's not about you saying, "Okay‚ I can live without movies and the Internet for six months, and then I'll just go back to the way things were before." It's all about changing your lifestyle and asking Me to rewire your mind and help you establish new and different habits that are more in line with what I need in My disciples for this time, for this era of history. Ask Me to help you make progress, not to make one step forward during the renewal and one step backward afterwards‚ as you exhale and return to all the things you've been longing for. Right now you may not feel it's possible to be changed and rewired, but give Me a chance! Remember, I can change your very nature and personality if you're willing to yield them to Me--if you're willing to be made willing, even if you don't feel that way at the moment.
76. This renewal is a time of cleansing for those who want to be cleansed--and if you're My disciple, if you're a Family member at any level, you should want to be cleansed‚ because it's good for you. Everything needs a deep cleaning every so often. Your teeth need to be deep cleaned, your cars need to be deep cleaned, and even your house needs to be deep cleaned. So My disciples need a good deep cleaning and scrubbing up every so often too, and that's what this time is for. The goal is that once you've been through the deep cleaning, you strive to stay clean.
77. I'll wash the mud and dirt and grime off of you. But going through the cleansing isn't going to do you any good if you just go straight back to the mud of your previous habits or mindsets or ways of doing things. Why go through the washing machine of renewal and cleansing if you intend to get back in the same dirt you came from?

78. (Mama:) The Lord is cleansing the whole Family, at every membership level. He wants us all to start living up to the standard of Family membership we've committed to, or that we're working toward. That means that if you're a Missionary member, you need to make changes in your life and Home that take deep root, changes that will help you to fulfill your responsibilities as outlined in the "Missionary Member Statutes" on the long term.
79. For you whose goal it is to be full–time disciples in Family discipleship Homes, this is a time when you need to focus on the quality of your discipleship. By being in a Family discipleship Home, you have the greatest responsibility to preserve the sample of full-time discipleship and live the totality of the Word. So during the renewal you should be making the changes necessary for you and your Home to portray a sample to the world that is much more in line with what the Lord needs in His full-time disciples--changes that you can't afford to let fade with time.

What's at Stake?
80. It's permanent lifestyle changes we're talking about here, and it's important that you understand this before you even enter the renewal period. The changes the Lord wants to make in your life need to take root, so that the Family as a whole doesn't sink back into its sad state prior to the renewal. If we do, He'll raise up others to take our place. Our future is not guaranteed; our destiny is only going to play out if we make the right decisions, if the cleansing and restructuring of the Family takes hold, if our children and young people are also strengthened. That's why it's so important that the progress we make in these next six months isn't torpedoed by decisions to sink back into our bad habits of the past.

81. (Jesus:) You now have the chance--the last chance in many ways--to prove whether or not the Family as you know it will still be the body of believers that will march into the Endtime as My brides, as My miracle workers of the End, as My called and chosen radical revolutionaries. If this cleansing fails and does not accomplish all that I mean for it to accomplish, then the Family will forfeit this place in world history and it will be given to another. I've told you this so many times, but now you're standing at the threshold of that very thing happening. The decisions being made now are the decisions that will make or break the Family's future.

82. (Mama:) This is a pretty strong statement, but it's not an entirely new concept. The Lord talked about the fact that our destiny isn't guaranteed in 1999, during the S2K, when He said:

"The Family is not what it should be, not what it was. This must change if the Family is to fulfill its destiny. … All is not guaranteed. It's not that you are destined to be My avant-garde Endtime army and there's nothing that could ever change that. Even that promise is conditional, contingent on your obedience and faith" (ML #3257:50-51, GN 857).

83. The Lord also reminded us of this in the "Conviction vs. Compromise" series in 2001. Here's a quote to refresh your memory:

"The place of the Family in the Endtime is not guaranteed. It's not like we can do whatever we want and everything that is promised us will just come to us on a silver platter. We have to be worthy of the calling by continued obedience. We have to stay in the fear of the Lord. We have to be doers of the Word, not just hearers" (ML #3361:32, GN 957).

84. But I still wanted to hear a little bit more about this, specifically in relation to the renewal. It's a very sobering prospect that we could lose our crown and forsake the future that the Lord has destined us for through wrong decisions. I was also wondering what the Lord meant when He said, "You now have the chance--the last chance in many ways…" I wanted to know if this renewal was a "make or break" situation, if it was bigger than any of the other things that will play a part in the restructuring and strengthening of the Family. The Lord's answer was very interesting.

85. (Jesus:) The renewal in itself and on its own will not be the determining factor as to whether or not the Family as you know it will fulfill its destiny. It's going to take a combination of many important things within the restructuring to bring the Family into the future that I intend for it--such as the choices of each individual, the choices of the leadership, the Word that gets out to the Family‚ the obedience of individuals and Homes to the Word, the changes of mindsets and attitudes‚ and much more. None of these things on their own make or break the future. All of these things work together and need to be in place.
86. The future is determined by many things; no one thing is the deciding factor. The Family getting to where it needs to be is going to be the result of many right choices, many right changes, many right moves and initiatives, and many individuals being a part of it all. The renewal is important because it's a vehicle to help the Family be strengthened and cleansed, which is a key factor in getting them where I need them to go. The renewal is a gift of My love.
87. What I'm teaching the Family now is that every decision is important, and the decisions that need to be made now are decisions that will make the Family's future what I need it to be. Decisions that individuals make now need to be decisions that will mold them into the disciples I need them to be. It's not that one choice today is going to automatically change the tide of My will, but many choices-–whether good or bad--accumulate and do have the power to change My plan. You never know what decision is going to be the "last one," the "make or break" one, the deciding factor, because only I know that. But the point is that everyone needs to get serious about their decisions for Me. I'm not going to be forever patient, merciful, forgiving‚ and understanding. There will come a time when I'll have to move on with or without the Family, or with or without the majority of the Family.
88. I wish for as many as possible to make it‚ and that is why I have not given up on the Family yet, and why I will remain patient throughout these times of restructuring and cleansing. But at a certain point I will have to make a decision, and that decision will be whether I will continue to use the Family as you know it today, or pull a small percentage of the Family and use them in a completely different way. There is no telling now which way things will go, because no matter how much something is My will and desire, it is dependent on the choices of My Family.

89. (Mama:) The Lord is making it as easy as possible for us to be good. That's why He's cleansing and restructuring the Family. That's why He's bringing about change. That's why He's giving us and our children this gift of the renewal. But still, no matter how easy He makes it for us and no matter how effective the physical changes are, the cleansing that will make the Family of today into the Family we need to be in the future has to take place in our hearts. We each make the decision to be cleansed or not. We each make the decision to be a disciple or not. The Lord does His part, but then it's our responsibility to do ours.
90. What you have to realize is that even if the Lord didn't go to all of this trouble-–and if Peter and I and your leadership didn't invest all of this time--to restructure the Family, you would still be responsible for the decisions you make. You have the Word; you know what the Lord expects of you. The restructuring, and this time of renewal, is to make it easier for you to do the right thing, to make the right decisions. Peter and I, and your leadership, are also desperate to do our part. But even with all of this help, in the final analysis you stand before the Lord individually‚ and you are personally accountable. It doesn't matter if the restructuring of the Family is conducted perfectly or not; what matters more than anything is the personal choices each person makes.