THE VOICE I HEAR
ã
1999, by P. WellsIS THE VOICE OF THE LORD
PART II
SHOULD ONE CHRISTIAN
STRIKE ANOTHER
SHOULD ONE CHRISTIAN STRIKE ANOTHER?
The following is an account of the first conversation that I had with the Lord. I had been in a state of despair, and blaming myself for problems that three of our six children as teen-agers were having in the sixties. I cried unto the Lord and he answered me. The questions that I asked are probably not as important as the way the Lord answered them--with patience and wisdom according to my needs at the time. To some of my readers, they may seem trivial. However, I know He will answer your questions too, no matter how important or how trivial. He does care!
Several people have asked me questions about this conversation, as to whether it is truly a divine revelation or not. I do not call it that in the usual sense. I would never compare Paul’s revelations on the road to Damascus, for example, to mine, because Paul’s writings were ultimately canonized and introduced new information not explained before.
On the other hand, Jesus spoke to me primarily for my edification, concerning matters particularly designed to answer my questions, explaining Bible verses that had confused me, and clearing up misunderstandings of Scripture which had terrified me.
At no time did Jesus tell me anything that was not already in the Word of God and which was not already plainly written, but I--as have many others--had a blind spot where each Scripture Jesus explained was concerned.
Jesus made His words in the Bible clear to me by removing the scales from my eyes. It is my sincere belief that no one can understand all Scripture without the teaching of the Holy Spirit. I was so delighted at finally seeing the truth that was there all the time, that I decided to share my experience with others. I pray that all my readers have the same experience.
I RECORDED THE CONVERSATION, AS THOUGH IT HAPPENED TO SOMEONE ELSE USING MY FIRST NAME, PAT.
SHOULD ONE CHRISTIAN STRIKE ANOTHER?
The Prayer
Pat had just finished reading a part of an account of how a father should discipline his children, and had become so offended that she slammed the book shut, laid it aside, and went down on her knees in the bathroom to pray to Almighty God for greater understanding.
"Oh, Lord," she prayed, "I just cannot spank my children deliberately and in cold-blood. I cannot harden my heart against their pleas and their cries as this Christian writer suggest that we as parents must do. Please help me to understand, Lord. Show me the Bible verses, or send an angel, if necessary, to explain it to me.
"I know there is a verse that tells us we must hate our children if we want to be a disciple, but I cannot. I love my children, and I do not understand that verse, either. There are so many verses I don’t understand.
"Lord, I do want to obey you; I do want my children to obey you. I’m just so upset and angry that I ache inside. Why can’t you speak to me? Everyone I know says, ‘The Lord told me this or that or led me here or there,’ but I’m just like a motherless lamb.
"I pray to you for hours asking for guidance and explanations of Bible verses so I can obey you and serve you better. You know my heart, and you know that I am really sincere. For thirty years, I’ve tried to rear my children according to your will, but you say so little in Your Word about rearing children. Only a few verses are addressed to parents, and most of those are in Proverbs, which really puzzles me, because they seem to contradict everything you taught in the New Testament.
"Many giants in Christendom have all advocated spanking as a means of disciplining children, so why have I always felt under conviction when in a moment of righteous indignation, I gave in to the temptation to swat one of mine? Why have I felt so guilty and moved to apologize for my haste?
I cannot even pray that you harden my heart, because it seems so sinful to me to strike anyone, as in Timothy 3:3, where Paul advises Timothy what a believer must do to qualify for the office of Bishop (Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre;). In the same passage you say that a Bishop should rule his house well, and have his children in subjection with all gravity. Is spanking the only way parents can rule well, Lord? Without striking?
"Why don’t you speak to me, Lord? Spanking to me is violence and in every sense an unloving act. You say in Ephesians 6: 4, ‘and, ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.’ You say in Colossians 3:21, ‘Fathers provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.’ Lord, I can’t spank a child without provoking him to anger, nor have I ever met anyone who can.
"I used to smoke and Christians would say to me, ‘Can you see Christ with a cigarette in His mouth?’ I could not, Lord! Nor can I see you spanking a little child, either, or even scolding one. I can only see you blessing little children and hear your warning in Matthew 18: 6. You stated ‘But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’ Can you spank a child without offending him, Lord?
And then there are those Proverbs and Hebrews 12: 3-11. I’m so frustrated by your apparent contradictions, Lord, as Proverbs advocate the use of the rod, and New Testament teachings do not. How I wish we could sit down and talk all these things out. It’s always so one-sided, Lord. I’m not even sure you hear me most of the time. If you’d just nod or drop a snowflake or--anything! I get so perplexed, because I really do want to know the truth--no matter which side you are on. What really baffles me is your apparent contradictions, because I know you are Faithful and True."
Jesus asked, "Do you know what you have been doing in the Spirit?"
"No, Lord," she answered mechanically-- "Lord, IS THAT YOU!" she exclaimed.
"Do you know what you have been doing?" Jesus repeated.
"No, Lord; I mean, Yes, Lord; I’ve been praying. Is that what You mean?"
"In the Spirit you have been crying out, ‘Jesus, come here,’ and demanding that I come to you. You are beginning to sound like a ‘Bride.’ So, I came."
Pat was stunned, but recognized the Scriptural reference to the fact that members of the Body of Christ are in the Bride.
THE ENGLISH LESSON
"Lord, I’m sorry I accused you of not hearing my prayers. Truly, I am. May I ask you a question?" she asked.
Only one?" Jesus asked.
"Maybe a hundred, but how much time will you give me?" she asked.
"Is it not written that I shall never forsake you?" Jesus asked.
"Yes, but you’ve never talked to me like this before, have you, Lord?" she inquired.
"From now on, I AM going to talk to you in plain English that you can understand, English teacher. You say that I contradict myself, and I do. You say I contradict myself, and I do not. If you take everything in my Word literally, and out of context, it does seem to be contradictory. If I teach you by my Holy Spirit, then my Word never contradicts itself.
Let us consider various passages together. Let us start with ‘discipline’. Look that word up in the dictionary, and also, ‘admonish’ and ‘nurture,’ too, so we both will be speaking the same English language," Jesus advised.
She looked up "discipline" and learned that it came from "discipulus," a follower of Jesus in His lifetime. Jesus instructed these "Disciples," and "discipline" is that instruction which He taught. Also, "teaching," "learning," and "doctrine" were listed as synonyms. No mention was made of the "rod," and I said so.
"That is right," agreed the Lord. As far as my Word is concerned ‘discipline’ means making children followers of me by teaching them my Word. Teach them by precept (My Word, laws, rules, and principles) and by my example. ‘Discipline’ is pointing to me always while training your children. You should reinforce your teaching by spending all your time obeying Me and setting an example yourself. Correction should always be from my Word." Jesus exhorted.
Pat looked up "nurture" which was "nourishing food" and wondered why persons who paraphrase the Bible changed "Nurture" to "discipline," and defined "discipline" as "corporal punishment." Was the language changed to support man’s desire to support their spanking doctrine? "Admonition" simply means gentle or friendly reproof, which by no means can be interpreted as meaning, "spank" unless one knows how to do that gently and in a friendly manner.
Jesus said, "To bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, means to quote appropriate verses of my Word or paraphrase them when correcting your children. Also, to feed (nurture) them on my spiritual body and my spiritual blood or simply bring them to me early in life and I will nurture them, as I nurture you."
"Is that all?" Pat asked.
"What more do you need?" Jesus asked.
"What about Hebrews 12: 3:11, Lord?" she asked.
Jesus explained that that passage was intended to describe how God chastises his children and only God the Father. "Read the verses carefully, and you will see that earthly fathers are not qualified to do so, because they chastise "after their own pleasure," and no man knows what is in another’s heart, including his children.
"It is written (Hebrews 12: 9, 10, 11) ‘that we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we (parents and children--all) not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. No chastening (from God) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.’
"Under the Old Covenant, fathers used the rod of reproof, chastised and punished, because they did not have the Holy Spirit. Under the New Covenant, the Law is a schoolmaster to show that men cannot obey the Law without Me. Spanking is in the same class as stoning an adulterer, but the threat of death by stoning did not save any man. (Romans 7: 8). Why? Because men chasten "after their own pleasure." It is written.
"Any man who chastises does get satisfaction that is sinful. It is written. In his pride he is usurping that power and authority that belongs only to God. If the one who chastises tries to justify his behavior, by saying he is to act like God, he should beware. Satan made that same mistake before him, and was cast out of heaven.
"Nowhere under the New Covenant does my Word advise parents to chastise or punish. Under the New Covenant, The Holy Spirit shall gently admonish and chastise both you and your children.
"There is no way that parents can punish children without provoking them to anger and thereby sinning. Parents who punish without anger have hardened their hearts against the pain of their children, which may even be sadistic.
"Hard-hearted beating of a child, followed by affectionate gestures, evokes masochistic tendencies in children. Many adults, seek sado-masochistic relationships almost unconsciously, because they associate pain with affection, and "love." I am using modern terms for problems of the human flesh that have existed since the fall of man."
THE ENEMY IS A LIAR
"Lord," she ventured, one particular writer said that we should discipline children as Christ disciplines us. You don’t agree with that, do you?"
"I do agree with that, Jesus said. "How did I make disciples of men? To make disciples of men is what ‘discipline’ means in my Word. Satan has caused the word, ‘discipline’ to mean punish, hoping to promote an evil that would keep men and children from becoming disciples.
"I made disciples by healing, casting out devils, and teaching sound doctrine, not by punishing. My servant thinks he can chastise in righteousness as I do. He can, but I used no rod, or threats of punishment, because I came to save--not to condemn."
"Lord, do children learn to fear you by making them fear us?" she asked.
"Where in my Word does it say that one man or even a child should fear another? Rather it says not to fear anyone who has power to kill the body, but fear Him who has the power to cast both body and soul into Hell" (Luke 12: 4).
"Since the rod advocators have received their authority from Proverbs, they should consider Proverbs 8: 13; ‘The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.’ Many parents who punish do so, because their pride, which I hate, has been offended by the embarrassing behavior of their children.
"Again, ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power, of love, and of a sound mind’ (II Timothy 1: 7). "And again (Romans 8: 9 and 15, ‘But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.’ and ‘For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.’
"Finally, ‘There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love’ (I John 4: 18). Men apply these verses to themselves, but do not choose to apply them to their children."
"Anyone who seeks to cause fear in the hearts of little ones is trying to usurp my Father’s Throne. Such parents should be an example of love showing that God is love; and what does my Word say love is? Does love punish? Or does my Word say ‘love is kind’ and ‘love is gentle’."
"Lord, I was so depressed when I read that quotation of David Wilkerson’s where he advocated spanking," she sighed. "I was grieved in the spirit."
Jesus responded, "He was the best of all servants when he courageously reacted to the young man with a knife. He said that if that young man cut him in pieces, each piece would cry out, ‘I love you.’ Yet if I should come, I might find him teaching the false doctrine that one should beat one’s own child.
Jesus continued by quoting, ‘But and if that servant say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day, when he looketh not for him, and at an hour he is not aware, and cut him in sunder, and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.’? Is beating a servant worse than beating one’s own child?"
"Lord, David Wilkerson was quoted as having said that woodshed therapy was the reason he became a minister of the gospel instead of a gang leader," she told Him.
"His earthly father did not make him a minister of the gospel; I did. Nevertheless, his fleshly parents were good parents in many ways as were their parents before them. The boys in the gangs had nothing in common with David Wilkerson except the beatings and whippings that they received--much more severe in most cases than David Wilkerson ever experienced. They certainly were not brought up in church on my Word, as David Wilkerson was, which works to overcome the effects of beatings.
"Ghetto children have been battered and beaten beyond belief. Parents do not need advice to punish. Their fleshly nature will take care of that. Bears, cats, apes, tigers, and lions all cuff their young, because they do not know any superior means to train them.
"The New Covenant set men free from their old fleshly ties and old natures, and men love to say, ‘I am free!’ out of one side of their mouths only to bring their children under condemnation in fear and bondage out of the other side of their mouths. Do they not believe my Holy Spirit can teach their children better than they can? Their faith is not evident in their behavior."
"Lord, what about Proverbs 23: 13, 14? They say that beating a child with a rod would save his life from hell." she asked.
"Under the New Covenant, believing in me saves a soul from hell, and that is the only way it can be done. The Old Covenant--rod and all--paves a path to hell, because not one man, woman, or child, has ever been saved by the rod or by the law," Jesus said.
THE LAW OF MOSES IS THE SCHOOLMASTER
"The rod of reproof is a figure of speech for the Holy Spirit under the New Covenant. It was an instrument of punishment under the Old Covenant," the Lord began explaining after they had taken a break. Pat’s children had come home, and were demanding her attention, so that her prayer time with the Lord was interrupted. The next morning, while Pat was having coffee, the Lord just picked up right where they left off, which took Pat by surprise. Always before, she had initiated their conversations. He obviously wanted her to understand something that He considered important. He continued.
"The Old Covenant failed and was never intended to save souls, but rather was the schoolmaster to lead all men to Me, as men came to realize in hopeless despair that they could not make peace with God by their own righteousness and their own good works.
"Furthermore, no matter how severe God’s threats of punishment for disobedience, or how lavish his promises of rewards for obedience--all that God did to enforce the Laws of Moses was totally ineffective in turning man from his sins. Our Father wanted to prove to man that suffering, imprisonment, enslavement, severe beatings, and forced labor on the one hand, and all the wealth and luxury that Solomon enjoyed on the other hand, did not work to effect righteousness--neither did it fill the void nor the emptiness in man’s heart.
"The plan was a four-thousand-year experiment, in which the Israelites were carefully chosen by the process of elimination to demonstrate that man could not succeed without submitting himself to the will of God. Of all men, God chose the descendants of Adam and Eve, who were the most receptive to his leading. He chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, David, Daniel, and all the other prophets--not for their personal righteousness--no man could be righteous--but for their willingness and ability to hear His voice and obey Him. They were not ‘good,’ but they were ‘meek,’ or ‘teachable.’
"Those who could communicate with God, suffered more than most, because all other men were not aware of their guilt or the guilt of mankind. In his mercy,
God, the Father, continually spared those who were not as receptive by cutting them out of the sheepfold; therefore ten tribes were "lost." And only two tribes continued to fulfill God’s plan to save all men.
"Since men could not obey, but God needed their obedience to carry out His plan, He was forced to use harsh measures in dealing with the Jews for the sake of all men. That is why He intends to reward them for their suffering, captivity, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, and for the ultimate torment they suffered, the Holocaust, perpetrated by Satan in an attempt to prevent God’s prophecy--that Israel would become a new nation in one day--to come to pass.
"ISRAEL IS THE ONLY NATION CHOSEN TO CARRY OUT GOD’S ULTIMATE PLAN TO SAVE ALL MANKIND. Considering their history and mine, you would think that the rest of the world would be grateful that they were not chosen to attract so much attention from God’s spiritual enemies, who were cast out of heaven.
"Satan’s attempt to thwart the Lord’s plan--that only the Jews were destined to fulfill--was the primary reason that the Lord’s chosen suffered so much degradation, humiliation, and rejection by all men initiated by Satan. The Lord Himself allowed much of that suffering to prevent disobedience that would also thwart that plan.
"The Lord’s plan has always been to save all men--Our favorite creation--but the Lord cannot continue to permit men, who insist on believing Satan’s lies and taking what they want at the expense of others, to remain on earth indefinitely to destroy the happiness of everyone else.
"I came into the world to save ALL, but all men have free choice. All men will be given an opportunity to choose me. If they refuse, and choose the Enemy, then they must suffer his fate, because they cannot be allowed to destroy the peace, joy, and love of those who are willing to submit themselves to me--certainly not throughout all eternity. That would not be merciful, nor would it be justice. It would, indeed, be catastrophic, totally defeating the plan of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit from the beginning.
"Punishing men has never been The Lord’s plan, and in that respect, we are in complete agreement. If there had been any other way to save mankind, I would not have had to come into the world, and I would not have had to go to the cross. Trust me, it was the only way to save all men, but they do not have to accept it. Many have not listened to me. Do you think they will listen to you?"
"I cannot believe you asked me that question," Pat responded in a state of shock. The stool that she was sitting on was shaky to begin with, and she was rocking and slipping perilously back and forth. "Why would they listen to me?" she demanded.
"Because you hear my voice, and are willing and able to tell others what I have to say to you. Is not that the question that you wanted answered? Also, you really are not motivated to succeed in this world, are you?" persuaded the Lord.
"You make a very good case, Lord, but there has to be someone else. I could never make it through all that torment you were discussing, but I do appreciate the Jews.
I do more than I ever thought of doing before. But there are many Evangelists out there preaching the Gospel in a way I could never do, who are world famous, and effective,"
Pat was responding to the very bleak picture that the Lord had just painted from her point of view.
"Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" The Lord quoted from His Word (Galatians, 3: 3).
Pat desperately wanted to change the subject, so she returned to her questions of the day before, "Did you ever say that parents should love their children? I disagree with one writer that parents do not need to be told to love their children. I think they do need to be taught how to love them, because many children are left alone or with veritable strangers day and night and are truly neglected. Why are you so silent concerning the rearing of children? No wonder parents fall back on Proverbs!"
"That is another reason I chose you for this particular job, you are stubborn and persistent. You refuse to give up. A worthy trait, since I called you to serve me." Obviously, The Lord was even more persistent!
Pat could not help but wonder exactly what He had in mind, but she was afraid to ask. The Lord understood her reluctance, so he continued to teach what she later learned was exactly what He wanted her to pass on to others.
"My Word says nothing about parents loving their children, because I do not contradict myself. Men do not know how to love without me. If men accept me as their Lord and Savior, then their children are mine. They are no longer their children, they are their brethren.
" I do tell men to love their spiritual brethren. Men in the flesh are not capable of loving their fleshly children, so why should I command them to do so, which would only cause confusion? I gave my life so that men could love one another. I would not have had to do so, if men could love one another on command.
"Why does that make so much sense, Lord, and nobody understands it?" Pat asked in amazement. "Do you really think they will listen to me? I mean, if I am able to make that much sense?"
"I AM counting on it, Little One. I AM counting on it. Are you ready for this?"
The Lord continued.
Pat was eager at this point to hear, and Jesus asked, "What must a man do to be my disciple?" She responded, "Hate his children! My God, you actually said we must hate our children! I forgot. No! I just did not believe it. I mean, I thought I did not understand it. Why did you have to bring that up?" Pat stammered, believing that she was digging a hole for myself. "I’ve been ignoring that verse, Lord," she finally excused.
"You have never ignored that verse, because you have always wanted to be my disciple. You just did not like that condition, so you have been correcting my English. How many times did you write in the margin of my Word, "W. W." for wrong choice of words?"
Pat laughed. "Every time I read that verse, I suppose, Lord. Sorry! So, why do I have to hate my children? Or was I right in thinking that a great deal must have been added or lost in the translation?"
"Do you think that I do not know how to preserve my Word after practicing for six thousand years?" He chided.
Pat defended, "Well, I did read in a very highly respectable commentary once, that you did not mean ‘hate’ exactly."
"Where?" The Lord asked. Pat repeated, "In a commentary. I forget who wrote it, but he has an excellent reputation. Really!"
"Better than Mine?" the Lord asked.
Pat could not believe that she was doing this! She slipped into a deep state of self-examination, "What is the matter with me? I had the Lord waiting patiently to teach me concerning one of the most puzzling verses in His Word, and I was bringing up some idiotic commentary!" She was agonizing--even wallowing--in guilt and was too tongue- tied to confess and be forgiven. The silence was haunting.
The verse in question (Luke 14: 26) states, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother and wife, and children, and (natural) brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." In her mind, Pat thought "natural brethren," because she already understood that we were to love our spiritual brethren who were in Christ.
"That verse means that you must ‘hate’ all fleshly ties enough to give them up, if necessary, if you want to be my disciple," the Lord said, breaking the silence. "If you respect these ties--no matter how constructive they might seem to be in your walk in the spirit--they can bring you into bondage, and subject you to temptations to sin for the sakes of your children.
"Your new family relationships, which are spiritual, will encourage you, while the old ones can discourage you. Many have fallen away from following me, because Satan used unsaved family members or lukewarm Christian family members to tempt them.
"My Word does say, ‘Do not be unequally yoked,’ so that one’s spouse, at least, will be more tolerant of one’s desire to be a disciple. The same direction was given to the Jews--not to marry outside their faith."
Jesus brought to her mind another verse, Matthew 12: 48-50, "Who is my mother? And who are my brethren?" And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, "Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
To apply Pat’s experiences to that which He had been teaching, the Lord brought four incidents from her past to her mind. They all had one thing in common. She had gone to school on behalf of four of her children with legitimate complaints concerning unfair treatment each one of them had received on different occasions.
In most cases, where her children thought they had been unfairly treated, she had been able to point out to them that it was all a misunderstanding, but on these four occasions the teachers had been really unfair and even hateful--had falsely accused them.
Pat inquired concerning these cases, "Are you saying, Lord, that I shouldn’t have? But, of course! I should have set an example of turning the other cheek, and forgiving--or even loving--my enemies. If it had been me, who had been treated unfairly, I would have! My fleshly loyalty caused me to forget. Is that what you mean by hating one’s own children?"
The Lord did not answer, and Pat was still wondering, if she could have "hated" her own flesh enough to forgive those thoughtless teachers. She was left consoling herself with all the times she hadn’t succumbed to the temptation to defend her cubs. What does He expect, perfection?" she caught herself murmuring. She learned years later that The Lord Jesus Christ really does expect perfection, but not overnight!
THE MATHEMATICS LESSON
"Are you a Christian?" Jesus asked.
Yes, Lord," she replied. She was learning to answer His questions directly, knowing that The Lord was leading her to a new lesson by setting the stage for her thinking process.
"How do you know?" asked Jesus.
"It is written?" She inquired
"Very good." Jesus commended. "You are also very good at inserting your name in Scripture in order to claim my promises."
"Shouldn’t I do that, Lord?" She was surprised.
"What does my mathematical law say about substitution?" Jesus asked.
"Equals may be substituted for equals, Lord?" she asked.
"Very good," Jesus said. "You are a Christian. My promises are for Christians, so you may substitute your name in any promise that I have given. Are your children Christians?" Jesus pursued.
"Yes, Lord, it is written." she agreed.
"Are they equal to you in this respect?" Jesus continued.
"Another mathematical law proves that they are, Lord," she was beginning to anticipate where the Lord was leading. "Things equal to the same thing (Christian) are equal to each other!"
"Very good!" Jesus said. "Now can you substitute the names of your children in my Word everywhere it speaks of ‘brethren’ and in those places my Word speaks of ‘one another’? If you can, then you shall be able to see that many verses are directions for how to rear your children."
Pat stared ahead in amazement and exclaimed, "Yes, Lord, I can see that! You are absolutely right--the whole New Testament is a map for rearing our children. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. That is the best news I have heard in my whole life."
Pat was given to exaggeration and the use of the figure of speech, hyperbole. Nevertheless, she could not wait to write down what she had just learned to share with other parents.
The Lord waited for her to calm down from her ecstatic reaction before He continued the lesson, "You do believe that I am in your children and they are in Me, do you not?"
"Yes, Lord, it is written," she agreed.
"Very good," Jesus said. "Can you see your child in the middle of the floor playing with his toys, while you are bustling around, getting things in order, because company is coming?"
Pat could easily visualize such a common scene in her household. She was staring ahead in the spirit waiting on the Lord, who directed her to tell the child to put his toys away, because company was coming."
"Yes, Lord. I mean, No, Lord! Do you mean that I cannot tell my child or You to pick up his or Your toys, because You are in him? Lord, I am totally confused," she admitted.
"Would you like for me to direct the child to obey you, when you are telling--or even asking--the child to pick up his toys, because of your sinful nature (your pride)?" Jesus asked.
She was shocked, "I never thought of it that way, Lord. I guess not, but? We are supposed to correct our children using your Word for the love of the one who is being corrected, but picking up toys is not on your list? Is that what you are saying? I thought we were supposed to train our children to be neat and orderly." As an afterthought, she suggested optimistically, "I know God is a God of order, Lord!"
The Lord asked, "If that is true, why are you so defensive?"
"You said something about, pride, Lord. I guess it struck a nerve. You are right!
I do clean house and set it in order before visitors come, to avoid real or imagined criticism, or to impress friends and neighbors. And pride is a sin, but so is sloth, isn’t it Lord?"
"Do you think that permitting a child to play with his toys is being slothful?" the Lord inquired.
"Of course, not!" she agreed. "That was just an excuse. But my home is much more attractive without a bunch of little soldiers, or whatever might be scattered around. What would you have me to do?"
"Well, Martha," He began, and she laughed. "You are not saying I am wrong. You are just saying that there is a much better way, right, Lord?" She recalled the story of Mary and Martha, in which Martha asked Jesus to tell Mary to help with the household chores, and Jesus told Martha that Mary was doing that which was more important, conversing with Him. See Luke 10: 38-42.
"We were discussing, ‘pride,’ Little One," the Lord reminded her, "as a motive for correcting children--not orderliness, not sloth, and not because the chores around the house had to be done. You are the one who brought all those other problems into the picture that I asked you to visualize. I ask you again. What was you primary reason for wanting me to pick up those toys?"
"Pride" she answered. " Pure and simple, I was motivated by a desire to impress my company, who was probably my mother, now that I think of it!"
"Why didn’t you quit while you were ahead--with ‘pure and simple’ the Lord admonished.
"O. K. But Am I really that bad, Lord? I hate ‘pride’ in others."
"Pride is the major reason that parents inflict corporal punishment on their children, and that is the reason for this lesson. When children disobey their parent, the pride of the parents is offended, and they retaliate in self-righteous indignation by inflicting harsh punishment for disobedience," explained the Lord.
"I know of no cases at all," continued the Lord, "in which a parent inflicted any kind of punishment on their children, because they were trying to teach their children to love one another as I have loved them and their children. Not one single, solitary case."
Pat was in a deep study as she pondered the Lord’s words, trying desperately to think of such a case herself, and she finally concluded that the reason she could not think of any was because God’s love cannot be taught by punishing. "God’s love can only be taught by precept and example," she murmured suddenly comprehending the truth.
She had known for a long time that teaching children to love was the only important thing they needed to learn. LOVE FULFILLED THE WHOLE LAW. Those who know how to love would never break God’s laws or man’s laws.
Pat was not aware of how long she was deep in thought, but she finally decided that she wanted the Lord to answer one more question on this subject, "Lord, how do you teach your children to love?"
The Lord answered, "Make a game of picking up the toys. Start picking up the toys yourself, as if it were a fun thing to do, and invite your child to help you. You did read Tom Sawyer, didn’t you English teacher?" the Lord chided. "Any Christian child would respond with alacrity to such a suggestion. They like to do what adults do.
"I have often directed my little children to obey their parents despite their sinful motives, because children do need to learn to initiate peace and to pour oil on troubled souls. But Christian parents should make it easier to obey than most of them do.
"I will give you the only three reasons that parents punish, and they all begin with the letter, "P." I just explained ‘pride.’
"My Word states that fathers also, ‘chastise after their own Pleasure.’
(Hebrews 12: 10.) They take pleasure in revenge, and sometimes they deliberately provoke both spouses and children into bad behavior so that they can excuse their sadistic pleasure, which is most despicable of all.
"Finally, they punish to satisfy their desire to express ‘Power.’ Parents who are most powerless and ineffective in other areas of their lives are the ones most likely to kick the dog, whack their kids, or beat their spouses. My Word does not condone any of those sinful practices.
"Parents hit their children to ‘teach them not to hit.’ They scold their children, using abusive and accusing language, ‘for not being polite,’ and they angrily yell at them for ‘getting angry.’ Hypocrisy is the worst of all sins, because it is a failure to recognize that one is condemning others for what one is doing himself.
"Hypocrisy is born of pride--the first sin committed by Satan, and the sin that caused Eve to believe Satan--and the one sin most people try to convince others is a virtue. Men say, ‘I am proud to be proud.’
"My Word states that humility is the beginning of wisdom, and that I hate the proud and the arrogant." (See Proverbs 15: 33; 18: 12; and 16: 18.) The Lord’s lesson was well taken by Pat, and satisfied her questions concerning what she had surmised to be contradictions in God’s Word before she had this wonderful teaching in September, 1974.
This is the conversation that a member of her church destroyed without reading it, charging that she had really been communicating with Satan. This is the incident (details recorded elsewhere) in which the author fasted and prayed for forty days and forty nights to retrieve this conversation, after that same member burned it. But there is more.
This is indeed the first conversation Pat had with the Lord, which she had written down and had asked her daughter to read. The Lord directed her to call a second witness to confirm that it was from the Lord. Do you think it is contrary to God’s Word? Do you think it is from Satan?
Pat was satisfied, but the Lord had much more in mind that He wanted her to record and share with others.
GOD’S TRUTH CAN BE OBSERVED IN ALL THINGS
The Lord asked in reference to a book Pat had read in which the author had condoned corporal punishment, "What did you think of Sheila who told her mother, ‘I hate you, you old witch,’ and the way her mother replied?"
Pat began, "The author condemned that scenario as being based on what he called, ‘permissiveness,’ but many polls taken by those of different opinions indicated that only three percent or fewer parents actually practice the ‘permissive’ method of rearing children. Therefore my opinions are mixed where that story is concerned," explained Pat.
"According to the polls, the majority of all parents either neglected their children, or they were very authoritarian, expecting obedience without question on threat of punishment. Few parents had the time, patience, or were around enough to practice ‘permissiveness’ as many psychologists theorize about it, but do not practice themselves."
"What did the mother say to her child, that the author of that book condemned as being ‘permissive,’ therefore ‘unacceptable’ in his opinion?" The Lord pursued.
Pat decided to get one thing straight at once, "Lord, I do not approve of the ‘permissive’ way of rearing children, either, but she said that she hated her mother, too."
The Lord asked, "Was she obeying me, when she made that statement?"
"Was she?" Pat exclaimed in surprise.
"What does my Word say about confession?" The Lord prompted.
"Confess you sins to one another, and you have already established that every verse that says ‘one another’ or ‘brethren’ applies to our children," Pat demurred. "But--" Pat could not think of one more thing to say--other than "But." She listened, instead.
"Anytime, anyone obeys my laws whether those laws are discovered in a laboratory, or as the result of careful and objective scientific study, or simply discovered while reading my Word, I will honor that kind of sincerity, so that eventually all men seeking truth will find Me in that Truth. Truth is my middle name, and I can be discovered by observing nature."
See Romans 1: 20, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they (who deny God) are without excuse."
"Certain of my servants who express contempt for discoveries in science are right to do so, if scientists reach conclusions that are contrary to my Word, either because of denial, or sloth in gathering too few facts or evidence.
"But some of my servants reject scientific studies for exactly the same reasons, denial, or sloth by not studying my Word and by not seeking the wisdom of my Holy Spirit to understand it," explained the Lord.
Pat was repentant as she admitted, "I am beginning to think that I am one of the latter, Lord. I am sorry. But I have another question, now. Are you condoning the ‘permissive’ method of rearing children?"
"I AM condoning the rearing of Christian children by treating them as ‘brethren,’ and according to the way all Christians are commanded to love one another. To the degree that the ‘permissive’ doctrine agrees with my Word, I would condone that behavior. But wouldn’t it be wiser just to take my Word for it in the first place?" the Lord admonished.
Pat laughed in agreement.
"If the goals of parents were the same as my goals, MANY PROBLEMS WHERE DISCIPLINE IS CONCERNED WOULD NOT OCCUR IN THE FIRST PLACE.
I have one goal, "Preach the gospel unto salvation, while doing and saying nothing to prevent the gospel from being more attractive to all men than Satan’s lies."
"Make it very clear to your children and everyone else that God is love--kind, patient, forgiving, gentle, temperate, good, joyful, and desires trust and peace in all His children. On the other hand, my children need to be warned that Satan tempts to destroy, is a deceiver, and the one who confuses their minds, accuses, and condemns.
"If parents practice what they preach, set a good example, and gain the trust of their children, then they will not have so many excuses to beat them. Does that make sense to you?"
All that the Lord said made perfect sense to Pat, because she and her husband had not used punishment or threats of punishment to control their children. However, their methods had not achieved perfect results, and that fact led her to question their methods. They reared their children according to the Love Chapter, I Corinthians, chapter 13, which she thought was the most beautiful chapter in the Bible, and according to The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7). To Pat, The Ten Commandments were inadequate and Proverbs had nothing to add. She believed Christians could not please God by trying to live by the Old Testament without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord had explained to Pat that problems with any children were not necessarily due to faulty parenting. The best parents rear children who are persuaded by Satan to stray, and the worst parents have children who become a blessing to everyone they meet. But no parent has ever reared any children who did not sin at one time or another, regardless of the methods they used. However, God’s way has a much better chance of success than Satan’s way, which is doomed to failure.
While Pat was pondering all that the Lord had taught her concerning her own apparent failures for a time, the Lord brought up one more subject, "Remember, how I drove the moneychangers from the temple? To drive the enemy out of my Father’s house, (Matthew 21: 12)? Anyone who lays a whip or rod to the backs of the brethren may drive the brethren out of my Father’s house.
The Lord brought the following verse to Pat’s mind (Matthew 18: 6). The verse states, ‘Verily I say unto you, anyone who offends one of these LITTLE ONES WHO BELIEVE IN ME, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’ He commented, "This verse says what I think of those who offend little ones who believe in me.
"Also, fathers who punish and do not forgive seven times seventy are breaking my commandment to forgive. Those who do not forgive shall not be forgiven by my Father in heaven." See Matthew 6: 14 and 15.
FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES I
Pat was weeping and sobbing in the spirit, and Jesus was holding her like a little child trying to console and comfort her. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Did someone offend you, Little One? Tell me, Little One, did someone offend you?" Pat was not consoled.
Suddenly she felt in her spirit a stirring all around her that she recognized as being terrible--even the wrath of God--but she was not harmed. She realized that the wrath of God was not directed toward her, but was kindled to avenge her, and she felt it as a cloak wrapped around her like a warm cozy blanket of protection from all evil in the world..
Jesus asked her again, "Did someone offend you, Little One?" Suddenly the significance of that question became apparent as she realized that Jesus was referring to a particular Bible verse (Matthew 18: 6). The verse states, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Immediately, Pat stopped crying in the spirit.
"No, Lord, I am not offended. Please, Lord, I am just fine," she insisted. Knowing that the wrath of God was on her side and against any and all who might offend her, suddenly moved her to become ultra-generous in her desire to be forgiving.
"Please, Lord," she pleaded, "there isn’t anything anyone could do that would offend me enough to ask you to avenge me. Please give them another chance. I was a bit offended at the book I had read, because it seemed many ‘little ones’ would pay for that foolish unscriptural advice. But I think they should be forgiven, Lord.
"As it is written (Luke 12: 47, 48), ‘And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes’..."
"I do not believe, Lord, that anyone understands your teachings concerning the rearing of children. I ask you to forgive them--at least--until I have a chance to pass on what you taught me," she reasoned.
Pat believed that the Lord heard her prayer, because the presence of God’s wrath had subsided. Then she heard Jesus say, "Thank you for forgiving your enemies."
Pat explained, "Lord, I do not pray for the wrath of God to fall on anyone."
Pat could not remember when she wished eternal evil to fall on anyone. Maybe she had been lucky, and had not been the victim of any terrible crimes, or had any close loved ones that had been victims. She prayed frequently according to the following verse from I John 5: 16. "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death...."
That was one of the verses Pat continually prayed by, and she claimed that verse on behalf of every enemy who ever tried to hinder her, whether he wanted to be saved or not. She wondered. Could it be that an enemy could be saved in spite of himself? She liked the idea, and considered it to be the ultimate "revenge."
She even imagined herself looking him/her up in heaven and congratulating him for not being where he thought he wanted to be--with his crummy friends. She decided not to expect gratitude. That would be too much! Those thoughts were her happiest, and she could not imagine why some people found it so difficult to pray for their enemies. To her, it was all joy!
FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES II
"I really burned, Lord, when I read how one of the author’s own sons had prayed for forgiveness and the author beat the boy hard, anyway, and was telling his readers to do the same. I kept thinking of one of your parables (Matthew 18: 22-25)."
The story was about a servant who owed the king 10,000 talents, and was forgiven the debt after much pleading. However, the same servant refused to forgive one of his fellow servants who owed him only l00 pence, and had him cast into prison. When the king heard, he rebuked the servant for his lack of compassion after being forgiven for owing so much more, therefore, the king delivered him to his tormentors.
Pat was well aware that the Lord expected us to forgive or we shall not be forgiven, so she could not understand why so many Christians were blind to that fact where their children were concerned? When the dad accused his son of making his request for forgiveness ‘an empty ritual to get out of punishment,’ Pat’s first impulse was to laugh, thinking he was a pious old hypocrite. "Were those the words he would want to hear from the Lord on Judgment Day?" She pondered.
Pat argued with the author for days in her mind, remembering one Scripture verse after another. "Judge not, lest ye be judged by the same measure," and thinking, "How does he know exactly what his son was thinking. He even admitted that his son was pleading for mercy with tears."
Pat muttered to herself, "And whatever happened to ‘forgive seven times seventy’?" Pat threw the book in the trash dozens of times, only to fish it out so she could respond point by point to his blind stupidity again and again.
She knew that he presumed without any evidence that the lack of corporal punishment was the cause of all the chaos in the schools. She thought--even in 1974--that it was the increase in broken homes and absentee fathers that caused the chaos, because she had observed the effect these tragedies had on the friends of her children, who came to her home, every time they "ran away" from theirs.
Reliving these thoughts while conversing with the Lord, she asked, "Where in your Word, Lord, does it say disobedience must be punished? I thought that if we agreed that we had sinned (confessed), God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I have in mind a boy who allegedly did confess, and his dad beat the stuffing out of him, anyway."
"And you have stewed over that tragic account ever since, haven’t you, Little One?" sympathized the Lord.
Don’t call me, "Little One," she snapped. "I don’t want the father punished. I just want him to be enlightened, the stupid idiotic fool." and she had all she could do to hold back the tears. Also, Pat was remembering the Lord’s willingness to avenge "little ones."
"Is it possible that you remembered the incident longer than that man’s son remembered it?" the Lord suggested.
"I do not know that, Lord. I was talking to a middle-aged man who was adamant in his advocacy of corporal punishment. Then he told about how his teacher had beat him at school, and his dad, when he heard about it, whipped him again after he came home. That grown man could hardly hold back the tears as he was recalling the incident. He didn’t forget! And when I asked him why he had been punished, he shrugged and mumbled, ‘I don’t remember.’ Those beatings certainly did him a lot of good! He still doesn’t know what he did wrong, yet he insisted kids need to be beaten!"
"I am wondering why you cannot wait to enlighten all those blind parents out there, instead of refusing to discuss with me your competency to do so," the Lord suggested.
"If I cannot see my way to do a job right, I do not believe I should do it at all. And right now, Lord, I have my hands full rearing these six kids. I understand that rearing children and caring for the home is just as much the responsibility of women under the New Covenant as it was under the Old Covenant, and I think it may be even more important in these perilous times. Doesn’t your Word say that being a good wife and mother is a woman’s first concern? Somewhere in Timothy I think (Timothy 11:14). Ask me again when I am sixty or so."
"I will keep that in mind," the Lord agreed. "In the meantime, keep writing--as if anyone could stop you--and take accurate notes concerning all your experiences and observations."
For some reason that she could not explain, His Words were not welcome to her heart. She protested, "I would rather write than eat, but it has already been said by Paul, and Peter and John and all the rest. What makes you think that I would have anything to add?" she grumbled.
"Without Me, you wouldn’t," the Lord agreed. "I have something to add, and I think you can say it for me. Would you like to hear something new?"
"Not if it is so new, that no one thinks it is Scriptural, Lord. I’m sorry. I know that I’m being hateful, and I even feel more guilty, because you are being patient. Why is that?"
The Lord did not deign to answer her petulant mood. Instead, He asked her to repeat after Him, "I hate my children."
She protested vehemently, "I cannot say that. I have agonized over those words, even after you explained them to me. I love my children, and I cannot help it. I am sorry, Lord. You just expect too much too soon. I am not worthy to be your disciple. As much as I would like to be, I just cannot say, "I hate my kids."
"I promise you that you will not be sorry, if you repeat after me, ‘I hate my kids, as your Word says that I must, if I want to be your disciple’," encouraged the Lord.
"Suddenly she was intrigued, "You are up to something, aren’t you, Lord?"
"I AM," he admitted. "Don’t you want to find out what?"
"O. K." she agreed. If curiosity affected Pat the same way it does cats, she would have been long gone many moons ago. So, out of curiosity, she repeated rapidly and mechanically, "I hate my kids as your Word says I must if I want to be your disciple. There! Now, what?"
"Very good," the Lord commended. Now think of a Proverb that I am bringing to your mind. Suddenly, the words of Proverbs 13: 24 popped into her mind, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes."
The Lord inquired, "Are you absolutely certain you cannot hate your kids by sparing the rod and qualify to be my disciple? Do you still insist that you love your kids?"
Pat was overwhelmed with joy and excitement. "Lord, you are so right! I hate my kids with a passion. I will never say that I love them again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You are incredible. I cannot believe it. And you are absolutely right. That is ‘new’ and it is Scriptural.
"Excuse me a minute Lord. Do you mind? I have got to write this down. Will you please excuse me? I will--I promise--I will get back to you, later. Oh, by the way, I do want to be your disciple. No conflict! Praise God!" As she ran to find the ever-evasive pen and paper, she acknowledged more than once, "The New Covenant really is altogether better than the Old Covenant. I love it! I love it! I love it!"
OH, HOW THE ANGELS DO SING!
The recorded conversation that Pat had with the Lord in 1974 took place over a period of several days, and Pat had taken a break at this point to catch up on mundane household duties. Nevertheless, some unanswered questions that had nagged at her over the past years began to surface, and she felt that she could no longer postpone taking these questions to the Lord in prayer.
Pat had attended the University of Illinois in 1945-1946, when atheistic, communistic, and humanistic doctrines were held by a number of professors on campus--and they preached these ideas freely from their pulpits without censorship. Pat’s world history professor--not only openly condoned "free love," but he taught as fact that Christianity was an eclectic religion invented by men, who used its tenets to control the masses (a Marxist theory that religion was "the opiate of the masses").
Pat knew all these teachings were false and even challenged her biology teacher concerning Darwin’s theory. She asked him how symbiotic relationships could be possible, when organisms are mutually dependent on one another for their existence, if it took thousands of years for each mutation to occur. Did each of them wait in limbo for sustenance?
Much to her amazement, he became very agitated at her question, ordered her to leave the classroom at once, and threatened that her grade would suffered, if she continued to cause trouble. Several members of the class expressed sympathy in private, advising her that her question was legitimate, but none dared to give open support.
Pat also knew the history professor was teaching that which was totally contrary to her own experiences and observations, but she decided that it would be a big mistake to take on the whole campus and be asked to leave the University.
Also, at that time, she was no match for any professor’s sophisticated arguments. It is one thing to know in your heart someone is dead wrong, but it is quite another thing to present evidence to prove it, especially, since she had not given such matters any thought. SHE ALSO KNEW THAT ONE DAY SHE WOULD!
"That day has come," she thought, as she went to the Lord in prayer. She began by reiterating her thoughts on the subject, concerning her past efforts to find answers in other religions and secular literature, but admitted that most of the questions still remained unanswered.
"Lord, you know that I have read many books involving cults, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Herbert Armstrong, and the Mormons as well as many Oriental religions and cults, and even dabbled in occult practices. I have read volumes, related to philosophies, political theories, and ancient historical accounts in an attempt to find out what is behind all the deception or ‘who’.
"My biggest all time question is why men who did not hear the gospel, would spend all eternity in misery. I cannot believe Our Father, a God of love, would allow that which I, a rotten sinner, would never allow. As you know, I was questioning Christian doctrines and even blaming Christian theologians for driving men out of the Kingdom of God with their narrow-minded and bigoted interpretation of your Word, but I really didn’t know the Truth, either.
"I even read an account stating that you studied Far Eastern religions during that period when your activities are not recorded. And that you actually based your ministry on these foreign ideas, which had only a superficial resemblance to Christian faith and absolutely nothing to do with the Gospel, and your true identity.
"Bottom line, I was mad at everybody, except you! I knew that everyone who were deceived and wanted to be deceived wanted to malign you. Forgive me, Lord, but I am telling it like it was at that time in my life! I was unable to explain it then or now.
I know that these ancient religions existed before Christianity, and that there are undeniable similarities between their rituals and festivals and the ways we celebrate, but I cannot explain those parts that I know must be a lie."
The Lord did not answer, and Pat was aware of a deliberate and appalling silence in her spirit, that frightened her. She inquired anxiously, "I know you are there, Lord, because of the eerie silence that has come over me. Did I say something wrong? She was so shaken that her mind had gone completely blank. "Tell me what I said that was wrong, and I promise never to say it again. I really want to know the Truth!"
Immediately, Pat recalled her last words before the "silence" began, and she asked, "Didn’t the Christian Church come into existence after most of those other religions?"
The Lord answered, "I AM the head of my Church. I AM God the Son, the Only Begotten Son of God, who has existed from the beginning. No one existed before me, and no religion was formed before my Church was in the mind of the Father, even in the beginning.
"Did Our Father in heaven say, ‘I would be like the most high’?" The Lord asked.
Pat did not have to be a genius to realize her mistake, so she quickly agreed, "Noooooo! Satan said that." (See Isaiah 14: 14.)
"Who imitated whom, then?" the Lord asked.
Pat rapidly began reviewing what she had read in light of what the Lord had just said to her, "Of course! Satan knew of God’s nature, that He is a triune God, God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and all his religions consist of some kind of trinitarian relationship.
The Egyptians worshipped an alleged divine triad; The heads of all the early Roman gods (pantheism) were a triad, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva; The East Indian religions have a triad, Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Siva (the destroyer)." Pat snickered at the thought that Satan even included himself in that triad!
She continued to recall other examples: The Persians and later the Babylonians worshipped Mithras, whose religion spread throughout the Roman world. Satan’s followers performed many rituals to worship Mithras that were later practiced by Christians. Satan incorporated rituals and many beliefs like immortality of the soul and resurrection of his gods into his religions, which were later valid for the Christian religion, as Satan knew they would be. Pat realized Satan’s devious motive was to deliberately cause confusion.
As Pat’s thoughts rapidly came into her mind, she gradually apprehended that "Satan must have borrowed all he could discover of God’s plan, which were recorded in the stars by the Lord himself! Satan certainly knew about the zodiac and why God really hung those stars in the sky as a permanent record of God’s plan for Jesus Christ that no man or angel could destroy or alter!
"That is why Satan falsified the meaning of the zodiac, and based all his religions on the idea that the stars controlled men’s lives instead of the Lord," Pat concluded.
Everything was beginning to make sense again, because God’s Word called Satan, the Deceiver and the Counterfeiter for a very good reason. Satan imitated God’s Plan or tried to sabotage it, before it was made manifest to men, and he has every intention of trying it again. His latest religion teaches of the coming of a new avatar, but he plans to appear himself instead, as the Antichrist. In most false religions, Satan’s "gods" say that they will return, preparing men for Satan’s grand entrance as the ruler of the world.
"O, God" Pat offered weakly, "Why didn’t I think of that, Lord? Why, indeed!"
Since the Lord did not answer, she decided to clarify a few fuzzy loose ends by asking more questions, and probably getting in hot water again. But she had to know!
"In almost all secular accounts of Christianity, I have read that the Christian religion is an eclectic religion, has borrowed all its rituals, beliefs and doctrines from other pre-existing religions. Even the Laws of Moses were allegedly borrowed from Hammurabi, some ancient Babylonian lawgiver. I now understand who imitated whom, but I am not sure why Christians adopted pagan ways of celebrating. Doesn’t that cause confusion?" she suggested.
"Even our most beloved Christian Holy Days, Christmas and Easter, are reputed to have pagan origins. How can that be, Lord? I know that the dates we celebrate those Holidays were determined by our Church fathers, because the exact dates of your birth and Resurrection are unknown, but what about the ways we celebrate?"
Pat had read in the Encyclopaedia Britannica that the early Christian fathers deliberately chose the date to celebrate the birth of Christ to coincide with the days following the sun’s crossing the equinox, which all nations have always celebrated.
Apparently, the early Christians thought that the time of year was appropriate, because Jesus had brought new life into the world, just as Christmas Day follows the shortest day of the year, when the days begin to get longer, promising a new life on this planet, in the new year.
The account also stated that the early Christians had reasoned that if they celebrated Christ’s birth at a time when the whole world was celebrating anyway, they could incorporate the gospel of Jesus Christ into that celebration, spreading the good news in a joyous way. The plan was so successful, that hardly anyone in the Western world celebrates Christmas without hearing about Jesus Christ.
As Pat pondered the account she had read in the encyclopaedia, she suddenly thought her questions about pagan rituals were foolish and simple. However, the Lord answered her thoughts.
"Your questions are not trivial, because they represent some of the harshest criticisms of Christian holidays, even by sincere Christians themselves. Include in your writings the account that you read as to the wisdom of the early Church leaders.
"Our Father honored that choice--even sanctified it--when he performed the miracle of stopping World War II for twenty-four hours on Christmas Day to allow all nations to pay respects to Me on the day that my birth date was celebrated. The whole world wondered, and many heard my name for the first time in their lives. Satan hates Christian Holidays. You are right to wonder why Christians are also critical.
"That is right!" Pat exclaimed. "That happened in my life time. I remember!"
The Lord continued, "As far as the way men celebrate my birthday is concerned, men celebrate all joyous events in the same ways, whether religious or secular. The Jews celebrate weddings and commemorate the Passover and other events by eating and drinking, dancing and singing, decorating their houses, wearing special costumes, and giving gifts.
The wise men also brought gifts, and I came eating and drinking and helped celebrate a wedding with the first miracle, by changing water into wine. I was called a drunkard and a glutton (Matthew 11: 19), for the same reason men criticize the ways men celebrate today. It is not the "ways" that these hypocrites celebrate that men find objectionable but the reason for the celebration.
"Those who criticize are deceived by Satan, because he hopes to put an end to the celebrations altogether, and if the celebration has become too commercial, then that is Satan’s doing, too. Corrupting that which is pure is always Satan’s department. And those who see evil in that which is good have corruption in the hearts.
Titus 1: 15, "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled."
"The Father blesses those who make merry because I came into world, and those who rejoice that I rose from the dead. Just teach your children the reason for the celebration, so that they will never forget that Our Father wants joy for His children.
"As for gifts, ‘God loveth a cheerful giver’ (II Corinthians 9: 7), and many good gifts are cheerfully given in my name to the poor and the needy as well as to children at Christmas time. Long before your children find out that Santa is a myth, make sure that they know that I am the true gift-giver and know to expect miracles from me, then they will not be disapponted when their fantasies fade away.
"Also, ‘Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a holy-day (holiday), or of the new moon, or of the sabbbath days: Which are a shadow (metaphor) of things to come; but the body is of Christ’."(Colossians 2: 16).
"Finally, ‘whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.’ (I Corinthians 10: 31), and ‘Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him’." (Colossians
3: 17)
Years went by before Pat remembered to ask the most puzzling question she had ever pondered. "Do those who do not hear the gospel suffer throughout all eternity?" In the meantime, she reassured herself that all would hear the gospel one way or another. She knew for sure that God was neither worse than the devil nor would he do what she herself could not do. She trusted Him completely in that respect. She also thought she should do her part, but what?
Pat began praying again during one of her coffee breaks, "Lord, are children of Christians also Christians, automatically, as it says in your Word, concerning the jailer’s household?" (Acts 16: 31)
The Lord answered, "Even though young children are included in the salvation of their parents, the gospel should be taught as early as possible so that they know what it means to be a Christian. Children who do not have a firm foundation in Scripture may fall away, when they reach the age of accountability.
"Then the children of Christians do have the Holy Spirit when they are born, and are not--as some insist--born in sin, which has to be beaten out of them, is that right?" she nagged. Yes, she really was nagging about possible loopholes, just in case she ran into any hopeless legalists, who could always think of something to justify their violent behavior.
The Lord addressed her last thought, "Many parents do not have the humility to admit their faults to themselves, much less to their children, and they are certainly not able to regard their children as equals in Christ. They would do better, if they thought of their children, who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, as having the same wise guidance that they themselves have by the same Spirit."
"I would think that the things you have been saying would be obvious, but we do have a blind spot where our children are concerned. We parents act impulsively without thinking and we lack experience, especially in the beginning," Pat mused.
"Parents attach too much importance to their own thinking and experience, because the experience of adults has most often been as liars. They lack the kind of honest faith and guilelessness that little children have," admonished the Lord.
"Do you think your children would like the opportunity to admonish their parents, on occasion?’ The Lord observed."
"Oh, yes," Pat agreed. "I know that they love to do that, especially if they heard it from their parents in the first place!"
"Children are more aware of hypocrisy than adults," the Lord confirmed. "Do you think they would want you to wash their feet?" The Lord suggested.
"Not literally! Do you mean figuratively? If you do, the answer is a decided, yes. Kids would let us wait on them hand and foot and tooth and toenail," she laughed.
Just then the Lord brought a vivid picture into Pat’s mind of an arrogant and insolent little boy who demanded that his mother make him a peanut butter sandwich.
The Lord asked, "Should his mother make him the sandwich?"
"If the child asks politely, then she should, or I would, anyway," she amended.
"Where in my Word does it say, "asks politely"?
"Oh, no!" Pat objected. "I hate to say this, but it must have been an oversight on your part, Lord. You surely are not suggesting that we honor that little hoodlum’s demands!"
"My Word states, "Give to him that asketh thee," (Matthew 5: 42).
Pat argued, "How are kids going to learn to ask politely, if you give them everything they rudely demand? That kid you showed me is going to be spoiled rotten!"
"Where in my Word does it say that the flesh I am in can be spoiled rotten, but rather doesn’t it say the opposite? Can my Holy Spirit dwell in an unclean temple?"
(I Corinthians 3: 16-17).
"My Spirit can work in a child more efficiently, if parents would do their part without scolding--in patience, kindness and gentleness, and obedience to My Word. If parents would turn the other cheek, then my little ones would regret the pain they caused. If parents retaliate in kind, children will take that response as justification for their bad behavior in the first place, which makes the work of My Holy Spirit in them more difficult--sometimes impossible."
"Lord, I have a feeling that parents who are that longsuffering will end up being doormats," she ventured.
"As for a parent being a doormat," The Lord proceeded, "Doesn’t my Word say, ‘I AM the door?’ If a parent is a doormat for their children to walk on, will they not come to the door?" The Lord concluded.
"How do you do that, Lord? You have this way of turning hateful ideas into good ones. I’d give anything, if I knew how to do that. Is it because you really do have a pure heart--I don’t mean that--I mean--I know you have a pure heart! But is that the reason that everything I say goes out from me not so pure, goes through you, and comes back to me so marvelous--really beautiful. I feel like writing a song, ‘I’ll be a doormat for Jesus’!"
"Very good!" The Lord commended. "Purity is contagious. You are already catching it." Then He warned, "Just don’t let it go to your head."
Other verses that the Lord paraphrased that He thought should be applied to dealing with children were: "Walk the extra mile." "A soft answer turneth away wrath." "Do not falsely accuse." Then He added, "or take for granted that all in authority tell the truth and your child does not. Check it out. If practice makes perfect, all adults are competent liars, and they have more to lose, if discovered." ("All men are liars," Psalms 116: 11.)
"Be teachable; learn from you children; and enjoy the experience." Humility gains respect from children, contrary to what most parents believe. Pride, arrogance, and self-righteousness breed contempt. Reserve your anger for a good cause. And I repeat, give to those who asketh."
The Lord said that I did not have to cite the verses mentioned above, because they are familiar to all. The difference is that only a few have the humility to admit that they apply when dealing with everyone, even little children.
The Lord explained that if anyone comes to Him in despair, because of his/her children, the problem began because that parent did not respect the Sermon on the Mount, The Love Chapter (I Corinthians, chapter 13), and failed to forgive seven times seventy.
She gambled by throwing out the same old dice again, "Did you mention, ‘Give to those who asketh,’ twice, because I have this notion that some kids would definitely take advantage. Lord, some kids ask for everything they see!"
"Did your six kids ask for everything they saw?" the Lord reminded her.
"No, they did not ask for anything--ever. When we went shopping with all six kids, customers remarked about how good they were, but they didn’t know that the kids didn’t scream for stuff, because they knew that we couldn’t afford it. They thought it was fun just for the ride."
"Very good! I rest my case," agreed the Lord.
"What case? What does our situation have to do with parents who can and do buy their kids everything they see?" Pat felt bamboozled.
"Your facts are straight, but your reasoning is at fault," the Lord explained. "You admit that you took all six kids with you to go shopping. You admit that you did not have to drag them--that they enjoyed the trip. You called it, ‘fun.’ It was fun for the kids, your husband, and you had fun, too, I recall. You told each child he could pick out his favorite cereal or one favorite thing that he wanted to eat. That privilege made them feel special. Money cannot buy the experiences those kids had that they will never forget. Now, may I rest my case?"
"O. K." she almost choked on the tears that were forming as she did remember.
"I do remember. Can we change the subject?"
The Lord complied, "Parents need to behave so as kids can see a distinct difference between my way and Satan’s way. The two should never be confused. Satan is a liar, deceiver, harsh, punishing, threatening, and condemning.
"He not only destroys property, lives, and health, but he robs everyone of his peace, joy, and generous spirit. Too many people are seduced into believing Satan’s ways are good, and my ways are evil. My wrath is not for the brethren whom I delight in instructing. My wrath is for the enemy." Jesus stated his case with such authority that no one could argue, and who would want to argue with that?
"You certainly are a stickler for that Word of yours, Lord," Pat observed.
"That’s one of my names," the Lord, retorted. "My Word! Why wouldn’t everyone want to obey it?" He wondered, and she couldn’t imagine why, either.
But after considering the possibility, she suggested, "I have a feeling that if I try to publish this work I am supposed to be working on, that Christians will be the ones who will oppose me."
"Do not be afraid, Little One," He encouraged. "I AM on your side," He reassured her.
Pat laughed, "That should help a little, Lord. Thank you," she added facetiously.
"Lord, why do you say ‘Very good’ so often? That doesn’t sound like you in a way," Pat inquired.
Immediately Jesus brought to her mind an English paper she had graded to assist another English teacher in a nearby high school. Written in her handwriting at the top were two words, "Very good." Jesus said, "What you sow, you shall reap."
"Well, I didn’t sow that many ‘Very goods,’ did I, Lord?" She was trying to remember.
"Very good!’ Jesus said. "I’m in a generous mood."
"But you just said, ‘What you sow, you shall reap.’ and I don’t know how many ‘Very goods’ I sowed," she admitted.
"Very good!" Jesus repeated. "I do. Do you still think that children will take advantage of you if you obey my laws and are always generous where they are concerned?"
"No, Lord, I believe you are the best of all teachers and that you are teaching me, and I am to do my part by encouraging them to know the Word and by setting a good example. Ninety percent of my time will be spent in learning to set a good example,"
Pat agreed.
"Very good!" Jesus said. "Make that l00% of your time."
"It takes a great deal of faith to be the kind of parent that you want us to be. I mean, "A GREAT DEAL of faith!" Pat fathomed.
"Yes, Pat, FAITH. Very good! Very good!" Jesus quickly conferred.
In that moment, the mountains could have crumbled to dust, the lakes could have dried up, the stars could have disappeared, the moon could have rolled away, and the sun could have reversed its course and bounced up and down--all these things and more--and Pat would not have noticed. The Lord Jesus Christ had just called her by name! In the spirit, she threw herself at His feet and worshipped Him.
"Very good!" the Lord continued to lavish His blessings upon her. "That is much better than those empty phrases that you have been mechanically repeating in the past."
She laughed in recognition of her attempts to drum up gratitude, and had failed.
"That’s confession," Jesus said. "Very good! You are forgiven."
Astonished, she challenged, "I laughed and you call that confession?"
"Isn’t it? Jesus inquired. "By your laugh, you agreed with me concerning your empty praises and unthankful, ‘Thank you’s,’ didn’t you? What is confession if it is not agreeing with me that you have sinned. Laughing at yourself is one of the most sincere of all confessions."
"I did not know that confessing was so simple," she admitted.
"Very good! I AM the groom; the Church is my bride. Do you think I AM worse than an earthly groom, and what does my Word say about that (Ephesians 5: 22-33)?"
Jesus asked.
"Paul said that you love your church as you love your own body. You really do love me, don’t you?" She had always had a big problem believing that He did, but she couldn’t explain why!
"Very good," Jesus said. "You are part of my body," He reassured.
"Lord, I really do feel a little uneasy about all those ‘Very goods!’ I know that I do not deserve them, because I could not have sown so many. I did not grade that many ‘Very good’ papers," she reasoned.
"Did I mention that another reason that parents do not have to be concerned about children asking for too much, is because they have a much keener sense of justice than most adults? They do not expect what they do not deserve, but adults often expect me to answer their prayers whether they are in obedience to me or not, and they get mad at me, if I don’t," the Lord informed her.
"You did not mention that before, but I think you brought it up now for a reason," she suggested.
"Did I say that you deserved that many ‘Very goods’? The Lord persisted.
"No, Lord, but you did say I was reaping what I sowed," she answered.
"Very good!" Jesus said. "What did you sow?" Jesus reminded her of the first verse she had memorized and believed, John 3: 16.
"I believed in you, Lord!" she exclaimed. "That is what I sowed!"
"Very good! Very good! Very good!" Jesus said. And it seemed to Pat as if hundreds, even thousands of "Very goods" showered down over her spirit and all around her until her spirit was drenched in "Very goods."
How many times had she read that verse (Galatians 6: 7), "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," and was convinced that she was in trouble. It had never once occurred to her that sowing good seed, would reap blessings. "What a wonderful teacher you are, Lord." she joyfully conceded.
A LESSON IN OBEDIENCE
Pat was so thankful for this best of all lessons from the Master Teacher that she had prostrated herself before Him in the spirit, worshipping Him in spirit and truth. She promised, "I’ll do anything, Lord; Please, just ask. I love you so much."
"Go call a witness to confirm that I am the one who has been teaching you," Jesus advised.
"Oh, no, Lord, I do not need a witness. I know it is you. You are the only one, who could have taught me such wonderful things!" she exclaimed.
"Have you so short a memory? Did you not just promise to do anything that I asked of you?" reminded the Lord.
She was instantly chagrined. She felt that she could identify with Peter, when the cock crowed the third time, she was so miserable. She moaned, "Oh, Lord."
"You said, ‘Oh’ in agreement with me. That is confession. You are forgiven.
Now, go call a witness."
This time, she promptly obeyed. She called a wonderful Christian lady who had been walking in the spirit for many years--most of her very long life. This lady had prayed for her many times during the past year. Even though, Pat had given up all occult practices in which she had been involved, and had firmly renounced them in Jesus name, and had burned all books and papers and all paraphernalia connected with these alleged "innocent games," she continued to suffer attacks by the enemy. She had not been able to cope with these severe attacks alone, and was deeply grateful for this lady’s effective prayers.
Obviously, Pat’s sincere repentance did not prevent Satanic attacks on her mind in which he accused her, condemned her, and put negative thoughts and self-doubt in her head. She warned everyone that she knew how dangerous it could be to play games with Satan, but it was the prayers of this dearest of all souls which had helped her the most.
Physically, this lady was not strong, but Pat came to recognize her as being a spiritual giant, who could rout the enemy with just a few words over the phone, so that time after time, she brought Pat relief from the panic attacks Satan had evoked. Her patience with Pat was endless, and she taught Pat effective ways to deal with these attacks herself, so that they gradually became less frequent, less severe, and subsided earlier.
Just the thought of calling her friend and sharing her experience was exciting, and she believed that Jesus told her to call a witness for that reason. At first, the elderly lady had to remind Pat to speak more slowly so that she could hear every word.
The patient lady listened so attentively that she forgot the frying apples that she had left on the stove. As Pat read what she had recorded, her mentor remarked, "That is just beautiful. You have had a rare and wonderful experience, but you must be careful about sharing it with strangers."
"Then you also believe that the Lord really did teach me these lessons?" Pat pleaded for her confirmation.
The well-qualified witness assured her, "I have no doubt. Only the Lord, Himself, could have taught you those lessons---Oh, dear!" she suddenly interrupted herself. "The house is full of smoke! I forgot all about my apples! But don’t worry," she added hastily. "I would rather have a dozen skillets of burnt apples than to have missed your phone call. It was a blessing." She hung up the phone, and ran to rescue her kitchen.
Within seconds, Pat heard in her spirit, a harsh, grinding, and accusing kind of voice. "You did not talk to Jesus. You know your record. You are going mad again. You are insane and hearing voices. Jesus wouldn’t talk to you. You will end up in the hospital again. You will see."
Pat began to panic, even though she recognized the voice of the liar, Satan. But it wouldn’t stop, and Pat grabbed her head in torment, when she suddenly remembered and she screamed.
"You are a liar, Satan. Jesus told me to call a witness, and I did, and my witness believed me, and she confirmed that the Lord had spoken to me, and she has always had a sound mind. So, get out, you liar, and leave me alone."
Satan was gone, and instantly she sank to the floor, weeping in relief and exhaustion from the ordeal. She thought, "No wonder the Lord sweat great drops of blood, when praying under such evil attacks!" She, of course, realized that her experience was kiddy land compared to the Lord’s, but it was certainly bad enough.
When she finally caught her breath, she called, "Jesus, are you still with me? Why didn’t you help me, Lord?" she complained. "I was so frightened."
"AM I not in you?" He reminded. "Do you think Satan would flee, if it were not for the power that is within you?" (I John 4: 4), "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.")
"That is one of my favorite verses, Lord, and it is one that my witness told me to say, when dealing with Satan. But I forgot to speak in your name! I just yelled at Satan!"
"You did speak in my name," Jesus contradicted. "You said, ‘Jesus told me to call a witness, and I did’." Jesus explained. "Obeying me is the only way anyone can speak in my name. Remember the sons of Sceva, who used my name to cast out devils, but they were not in obedience to me, so the devils attacked them?" (Acts 19: 14-16)
"Anyone can repeat, ‘In Jesus name,’ over and over, but unless that person is in obedience to me, he cannot speak in my name."
"I shall remember that, Lord," she murmured in awe, "Believe me, I will remember that!" she repeated, correcting her own English.
SATAN, THE DEFEATED ENEMY
"I’ll never be frightened again, Lord. But why didn’t you heal me sooner, even a year ago, when I first renounced all that evil, and prayed fervently for your forgiveness? Was it a lack of faith on my part? I was too scared, not to be sincere!" She needed an answer to this question, especially, since she knew it was one everyone asks.
"I could have interfered, Jesus said, "but Satan was not really hurting you, just scaring you a little. He is a liar and a pretender, who likes to jump out and say, ‘Boo!’ He is dangerous only if you believe that he is, and that is what I thought you needed to learn. I made certain that I kept my Word. You were not tempted more than you could bear. (I Corinthians 10: 13)
"I also wanted you to find out exactly how dangerous it is to open the door to Satan and invite him into your mind, and I expect you to warn others. Satan has caused others who do not know where to find help to take their own lives. No government institution can prevent these attacks, because Satan is god of this world. Would he interfere with his own plans to destroy? (Matthew 12: 26, "If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?")
"Idolatry is the worst of all sins from my point-of-view, just as adultery is intolerable to an earthly mate. My Spirit was grieved for you, Little One, and I yearned to bring you back into my fold. Isn’t it written that I AM a jealous God? The more Satan cracked his whip around your ears, the faster you gamboled back to me like a little lost lamb.
"I could have interfered, but then again I could not, because I mourn more for one lamb who strays, than I rejoice over the ones who are safe in the sheepfold," He acknowledged. In this respect, man does have the nature of God," He concluded.
The Lord murmured an afterthought, "You would be amazed at how many men cannot forgive ME, because I am so much like them in this respect!"
She laughed, "In this case, I think you are referring to males, and not mankind."
The Lord did not answer, and she observed, "You really do have a sense of humor, Lord. At least, I thought what you said was funny--and true!"
"Do you think Satan is funny? Jesus asked.
She shuddered, "No, Lord, I certainly do not!"
In that very moment, Jesus brought a vivid picture into her mind. On one side was a beautiful, wonderful picture of Jesus holding out his arms. Before him were hundreds--no, thousands--no, millions--even more than any man could count--children running toward Him with peanut butter and jelly all over their faces.
Occasionally, they would peer over their shoulders and terror was in their eyes as they fell pell-mell all over the others in their eagerness to get to Jesus Christ. They called out, "Abba, Abba," or translated, "Daddy, Daddy," as they tumbled over one another in their haste.
On the other side, behind them, was Satan cracking his whip furiously--though ineffectively--and screaming, "Worship me! Obey me! Follow me!" but his commands were in vain.
Jesus was scooping the little children into His arms and they were spilling happily all over The Lord, as He called to them gently and sweetly. Oh how He loved them, as He carefully cleaned the peanut butter and jelly from their faces!
Occasionally, one little child would fall back or stray, and the Master pointed to him, and called out, "You missed one, Satan." Immediately, Satan attacked, and drove the wanderer straight into the Master’s arms. The Lord would say, "Thank you, Satan," and the enemy was more furious than ever.
The fascinating graphic parable faded, and Jesus explained, "Satan is a defeated enemy, and he is no longer being as subtle as he once was in seducing my children. He is furious, and showing his true colors more and more every day. He is the father of lies and deceit, but he deceives himself even more. He may appear innocent outwardly, but his motives and works are becoming more apparent to men.
"I want my followers to be like me in that picture. So that all my little ones will know exactly which direction to go to be safe. I do not want the unsaved to be confused, and Satan is being more cooperative than ever. I call upon all men to open their eyes and observe and remember, I AM the Only One who came to Save All Men and Give All Men Life."
WHY ME? O’ LORD
"Lord, why did you choose me to receive this message? Beyond just answering my questions, I mean, Pat wondered.
Jesus brought a scene to her mind in which she was talking to a mother of five children, who attended her church. They were discussing the rearing of children during a fellowship meeting following a regular church service. Pat had told the younger mother that she could not deliberately spank her children. She admitted that in a moment of frustration, she had whacked a couple of her six kids a few times in the appropriate place, but she regretted her loss of control.
She said that she regretted her impulsive acts so much, that she remembered each of the times in detail, and apologized immediately afterwards. "They must not have minded as much as I did, because I was the only one who cried," she admitted.
She explained that sometimes she almost whacked, but her hand was stopped in midair, when she thought of the fruit of the Spirit, "gentleness," and she ended up giving her kids "love pats." (Galatians 5: 22), or of Titus 3: 2, which says all Christians are required to be "gentle."
The younger woman was surprised. She said that she thought parents always spanked their kids in the "old days." But Pat said that to her knowledge it was not as common a practice as it was in the present--and certainly not preached from the pulpits.
The above-described conversation actually took place, and Pat asked the Lord,
"Is that conversation you just brought to my mind the reason you gave me this message?"
Jesus repeated two words from the conversation in which Pat had said she sometimes started to whack, but the Word about "gentleness" had stopped her. "Love pat," "love pat," "love pat," until Pat realized that she was reaping what she had sown. The Lord was giving her verbal "love pats," and her name was "Pat." She was being showered with "love pats" on all sides in the spirit.
Again she fell down before Him in the spirit and worshipped the Lord, praising and thanking Him and calling Him by all His names--all the ones that came to her mind. "Oh, Wonderful, Counselor, Master and Teacher. Oh, Glorious King, Lord of lords, and King of kings, Savior, Everlasting Father, Light of the world, Almighty God, Prophet, High Priest.
"You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Prince of Peace, Our Righteousness, Advocate, Bread of Life, Lamb of God, Deliverer, Creator, The Cornerstone of Our Building, Redeemer, Beloved Mediator, Our Judge and the Morning Star. How Great Thou Art, Oh Lord! Oh, Good Shepherd! How greatly this little black sheep loves you! How much I love to hear your voice!"
Jesus asked, "Do you know what you have been doing?"
"No, Lord," she said, because she wanted to hear His explanation.
"You have been calling me every name in the Book; you are beginning to sound like a faithful bride."
Pat recalled that in the beginning of their conversation, the Lord had said that He came when she called to Him, because she was beginning to sound like a bride. This time He said, "faithful bride." The thought made her happiness complete.
Pat had referred to herself as a little black sheep, because of her past involvement with the occult, for which she had been forgiven. She told herself that she did not mind being a black sheep, just as long as she was a sheep and not a goat, symbolic of those not forgiven.
The Lord responded to her thoughts and said, "You are like the black sheep in the painting, called "The Good Shepherd." Pat was familiar with that famous painting, but she didn’t recall seeing a black sheep. The Lord told her to look at the picture and see.
She thought she had a print of it somewhere from the days she had taught Sunday school, and she looked everywhere, but could not find it. She was disappointed and decided to go window-shopping in the bookstores.
In the meantime, she attended church and a lady whom she barely knew walked up to her smiling, "The Lord told me to give this to you." The lady handed her a very small oval picture in an inexpensive plastic frame of "The Good Shepherd."
Pat was overjoyed and she told the Lady about the Lord’s saying that she was like the little black sheep in that picture, but she had never noticed the black sheep before. The lady admitted that she hadn’t either. They went outdoors to take a better look at the very small print and there he was, standing closer to the Lord than all the others, even touching the hem of his garment!
"That really is me," she cried. "I can tell!" The lady had tears in her eyes, as she confessed how happy it made her feel, when the Lord was able to use her in this way.
Pat prayed to the Lord to thank Him for all His wonderful blessings and admitted,
"Lord, I was delighted, but so surprised, when I saw how close the little black sheep was to you."
The Lord reminded her, "Does not my Word say, ‘He that is forgiven the most loves me the most?" (Luke 7: 36-48)
THE LITTLE LOST SHEEP
In the middle of the night Pat awakened to a lovely little tune that was running through her head, and heard these words:
I lost one little black sheep,
I yearned for one little sheep,
Oh, how the angels would sing,
"Praise, God, Praise God, Amen, Amen," Jesus said.
You cried, my little black sheep,
I found you, little lost sheep,
Oh, how the angels do sing,
"Praise God, Praise God, Amen, Amen," Jesus said.
You know this better than I,
The worst of all sinners was you,
Oh, how the angels do sing,
"Praise God, Praise God, Amen, Amen," Jesus said.
You know how much I’ve forgiven,
Your love so great reaches heaven,
Oh, how the angels do sing,
"Praise God, Praise god, Amen, Amen," Jesus said.
Now, little lost sheep, you are found,
The worst of all sinners loves best,
Now angels sing and rejoice,
"Praise god, Praise God, Amen, Amen," Jesus said.
God’s Grace, Sweet Song, True love, Angels sing.
"Amen, Amen," Jesus said.
(Luke 15: 4-7) and (Luke 15: 10)
THE GAME WE PLAYED
While praying or talking to the Lord, Pat asked Him, "Lord, I have many more questions, but it has been some time since you have answered me. We haven’t communicated since I fasted for forty days and nights to retrieve the conversation we had which I recorded, but the enemy sent his servant to burn it.
The Lord asked, "Do you recall the game that we played, during that conversation?"
"That’s right, we did play a game, but I did not recall it until now. And I cannot remember how it went," she lamented. "Didn’t we play the game to understand why no one can say, "Jesus Christ is Lord, but by your Spirit?" (I Corinthians 12: 3). I think I asked you why anyone couldn’t repeat that phrase.
"We played anagrams. Would you like to play the game again, English major?"
Pat laughed, because she did not think her major would help her win, playing a game with the Lord. But she had a feeling that she would end up being a winner, anyway, so she agreed with alacrity.
"What are the first letters in the word, Lord," Jesus began. Pat answered, "L-O."
"God is what--beginning with those two letters. She answered, "Love."
(I John 4: 8)
"Can you substitute, ‘God, the Father,’ for ‘L-O’ in the word, ‘Lord,’ using one of my; mathematical laws?" Pat said, "Yes, Lord, equals may be substituted for equals."
Jesus said, "Very good! What is my name at the beginning of the book of John?"
"The Word," Pat agreed. Jesus explained that "R-D" from the "Word" is the last part of "Lord."
"Therefore, you have God, the Father, ‘L-O’ (God is love) plus God, the Son, ‘R-D’ (The Word) which spells Lord. Substituting equals for equals, Jesus Christ is God, the Father, and God, the Son, in One Word, which is ‘Lord’.
"In the Old Testament, God the Father is called Lord. In the New Testament, God the Son is called Lord. We are one God, because my Father and I are One (John 10: 30).
Scripture says, Jesus Christ is the One True God, the Father and the Son together."
"What about the Holy Spirit, Lord? Where is He?" Pat asked.
"Do you not know?" Jesus chided.
"I know that He is in me (John 14: 17), but I do not understand the Trinity, and some say there is no Trinity.
"What does my Word say, Little One?" Jesus asked.
"I am a little confused concerning what it says, Lord. That is why I asked," Pat explained.
"You know that the Holy Spirit is in you? Do you think that I am in you, also? Or do you have reason to believe that God the Father is in you also?" Jesus challenged.
"I think Scripture says," Pat stammered, "Isn’t there a verse that says that you and God, the Father, would make your abode in us or something like that:" Pat went to her Bible and looked. She found John 14: 23, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him,"
Jesus summarized, "The Holy Spirit, God the Father, and God the Son are all in you. We are Three Persons in One God. We are the One Triune God."
"Why do you say, Jesus Christ is Lord--meaning God, the Father, and God, the Son, and leave the Holy Spirit out?" Pat pursued.
Jesus said, "No one can say, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord,’ meaning that Jesus Christ is One with God the Father, without my Spirit (I Corinthians 2: 9-16), so why do you say that I left the Holy Spirit out? Is it possible to leave my Spirit out and know that I am Lord?"
"Lord," she puzzled, "Followers of a particular charismatic teacher say that in the Great commission you said, ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,’ (Matthew 28: 19)
"Then in Acts 2: 38 and Acts 19: 5, the disciples baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. This group frightened me, because they said that if we are not baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, we are not baptized at all and cannot be saved. They said that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are titles—not names. To baptize in the NAME of the Trinity, we must be baptized in the NAME of Jesus Christ, the only NAME given for all three-in-one persons."
"Of course, in Acts 10: 48, the disciples simply baptized in the name of the Lord, but you have already explained that. Anyway, I was sprinkled as a child in the Methodist Church, and the Baptists told me I had to be immersed. So, I was immersed in the Baptist Church as an adult, because they said that I was not in obedience to you, unless I was. Finally, to be sure, I was nearly drowned in the river on our property by an elder of this very exclusive little group of Pentecostals in the Name of Jesus Christ. I just want to know who is right?"
Jesus said nothing, but Pat sensed that he was--smiling? "Lord, did I say something that amused you, Lord? I did not think these differences of opinion were one bit funny! They all scared me!"
Jesus asked, "Since you confessed me three times before men, are you going to expect me to confess you three times before the Father?" Jesus asked. (Matthew 10: 32,
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven.")
"At the time, Lord, I thought that I needed all the help I could get, but I definitely am under the impression that you think that I was taking the ritual of baptism too seriously," she suggested. "I was having these terrible panic attacks, which were more distressing than childbirth pains, and I did not know why. Every hint as to why I was suffering, Lord, made me willing to try anything. My faith was weak."
"You were not wrong to do so in that case," the Lord explained. "My Word (Romans 14: 1-23) ends with ‘and he that doubteth is damned if he eat (meat of idols), because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’ You acted according to your faith at the time."
"I would have doubted that I was saved, if I had not been baptized each time that I was, Lord. So, I did what I had to do, but that does not answer my question, does it?"
"Whether one says the name for the Trinity, Jesus Christ, or says "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost without mentioning that name, it is the same, is it not? Equals may be substituted for equals, do you agree?" asked the Lord.
"As for sprinkling versus immersion, the Methodists taught that water baptism was symbolic, and the only true baptism was baptism in fire or in the Holy Spirit. Do you believe that the thief on the cross who asked me to remember him was saved?" Jesus asked.
"That is right!" she agreed. "Are you saying that salvation is not dependent on water baptism at all?" she was stunned
"My Word states (Acts 2: 21) ‘and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ Since Peter was quoting the prophet Joel, when he made that statement, both the New Testament and the Old Testament confirm that you are saved by faith in the Lord, but you must know by the Holy Spirit who the Lord is. For how can you have faith in one you do not know?"
At this point, Jesus directed, "Go look up the word, ‘anagrams’ in the dictionary."
"Really?" she asked, while going to the dictionary. She found, "to rearrange (the letters of a text) in order to discover a hidden message."
Pat was delighted and said, "Lord, that is exactly what we did! Can we play anagrams again, sometime?" That is the conclusion of the first conversation that Pat and the Lord had, including the almost forgotten account of the game that they played.