What Jesus Has to Say...
...at the Onset of the 21st Century
M. T. Vessel
“My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways,
saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
(Isaiah 55:8,9)
What Jesus Has to Say at the Onset of the 21stCentury about…
… Action, Initiative and Diligence
… Anger
… Attitudes and Mindsets
… The Big Picture
… Change
…Children & Parenting
…Choices, Decisions and Consequences
…Churchianity
…Commitment & Devotion
...Communication
…Correction & Discipline
…Creation
…Death
…Dependence on God
…the Devil’s Devices
…Discernment
…Discipleship
…Doubt
…the Endtime
…Faith & Trust
…Flesh vs. Spirit
…Faithfulness, Perseverance, Endurance & Loyalty
…Giving God the Glory
…Hearing from God & Prophecy
…Learning & Teaching
…Love
…Money
…Overcoming & Rising Above
…Relationships & People
…Prayer
…Sin
…Spiritual Warfare
…Trials & Tests
…Witnessing
What Jesus Has to Say at the Onset of the 21stCentury about…
…Action, Initiativeand Diligence
“If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.” – John 13:17
“Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” – James 1:22
Focus on the immediate little steps of love to take, right in front of you – as opposed to far-off goals of grandeur & splendor.
It’s the tiny little faithful actions & deeds of love that make Love the greatest thing in the universe.
If you just stick to the tiny little actions, deeds & steps of love, you’ll be doing just what’s necessary to bring about the triumph of good over evil, and you’ll be doing just fine.
How can you assume that you’ll be ready to lay down your life for another someday, by some grand endowment from on high, if you’re not willing to take the little steps each day to show others that you care for them, that you consider their happiness and satisfaction and care more important than your own?
The World knows enough big mouths. What it needs is to see action.
Whatever you may say: tiny deeds of love will always speak louder than words. What convinced people that I was the Christ were not only My Words, but ultimately My actions: the miracles I and My disciples performed. And through My Words I want to give you the faith to do miracles yourselves. Just remember, the way to get to those big miracles of love is via tiny little stepping stones of faithful deeds & manifestations of love toward Me and your fellowmen everyday.
Action in the spirit will ultimately also result in the kind of physical action that will reap spiritual and eternal results: fruit that remains, the bull's eye of My plan for you.
Sometimes you have read My Word all your life, and yet you have never really lived it, never really gotten the point of that passage you memorized or read or heard a thousand times. "Yes, I know all that," you say. But, have you ever really tried to live it and to experience it, to put it into action and to the test? Have you found out how happy you can be if you don't only know these things but actually do them?
"Forward, march!" is the motto of the day! Time to attack! Testing & training time is over. All further training will happen right on the field, where you will see and experience it much more intensified, much more real.
I've been preparing you, and it's time to take the theory & put it into practice.
"As they went, they were healed. You've got to do the wenting. Once you get in motion, each will find their calling, their strength & personal ministry. What matters is that you get going. Sometimes, in order to get a car started or a boat off shore, all hands on deck have to get out & push, even the driver, or the captain, & once the vehicle or vessel is underway, each one can assume the position they're best at.
To get your boat going, you might have to make a sacrifice & do what you don't feel to be your calling so strongly, even if it's something you don't like to do or you have trials doing.
Because there's such a need right now to save the lost souls which are otherwise going to be lost to Me for this age, I'm calling all hands on deck. It's an emergency situation, a red alert kind of situation, where even the captains have to pitch in and row the life boats in order to get them saved.
An attack is definitely a change, isn't it? It may be a passive attack, as in when you're being attacked by the Enemy, or it can be an active one, when you take the initiative, but in both cases, it signifies change. In the first scenario, change is inflicted on you, and you must take it passively. In the second, you determine what impact the change is going to have. You take the initiative, leave your camp and go out to "change the world!"
If you make changes instead of merely taking and accepting them as they come, then you take the initiative, and you call the shots, you're on the offensive, and not on the defensive.
You've got to partake in the battle in order to really feel part of My army! You've got to do the job in order to get paid. You've got to obey to be blessed, do the "wenting" to get healed... You've got to do your part in order for Me to be able to do Mine.
It's taking spiritual action concerning the matter that counts. There isn't much you can do about it in the physical, & getting upset won't help any! But you can command Me whatever you want Me to do concerning the situation, and trust & believe that it will make a difference, and it will.
I can get you places, but you've got to "rub the lamp" or say the magic words that are going to make your carpet fly, so to speak!
You can't just passively expect Me to do something about it. You've got to tell Me what you want done & how you want Me to take care of a situation!
The notion that things are just going to fix themselves under the right conditions is wishful thinking at best. It requires some attention and elbow grease to fix problems, not avoiding, but confronting them, dealing with them, working on them.
You can't ignore even the smallest problems & simply build over them. If you have a faulty basements or foundation, the whole building is going to collapse sooner or later, and I'd rather have you rebuild the foundation from scratch over & over again until you've got it right, than risk a whole bunch of people getting hurt by a carelessly built house collapsing around their ears.
No team can work with only one party giving their all & the other giving as little as possible, just in case it might all collapse. You've got to have faith in Me, that everything in your life truly does come from My hand, and whatever thy hand findeth to do, whatever the situation or task before you, it was meant for you to do it with all your might.
I put a project or challenge before you to roll up your sleeves & show what you can with it!
Employ your elbow grease in it and give it all you got in order to make it work.
What's stopping you from giving them the love that they need? What's stopping you from obeying My counsel, from putting it into action and from doing more than just merely "being there" passively, waiting for lightning to strike you in order to bring you back to life?
Life is in your hands, you've got the key of life, you've got the power to give, to love, to create, there's nothing you can't do!
Is My power all just theory in your head or do you actually believe it, act on it, use it?
You've got to put it into action! You've got to make it happen & just do it!
It's time for you to quit being a hearer only & start being a doer. Quit deceiving your own self! How do you deceive yourself by just being a hearer of the Word instead of being a doer? By believing the Devil's lies that it won't work for you! That it's all good & nice & may work for others, but not for you, for whatever reason... You're not good enough, you're not worthy, you don't have enough faith... to hell with all that rubbish! It's irrelevant, just like all the other baloney the Devil concocts in order to get your focus off your goal & off your task.
Believe it, act on it, do it & send the Enemy back to hell where he belongs!
To love does not just mean to passively & reluctantly tolerate. To love is reaching out, actively going on the attack & doing something to alter your "neighbor’s" state, not blaming them, but taking the responsibility to do something about it!
The little things you can accomplish by striving for the gifts of humility and faithfully doing whatever you can to really unselfishly be of help to others for them to make it on their way, that's what I consider mighty works.
"Come on down, walk on the ground with Jesus!" You're not going to do anybody much good up there, floating high above everybody else... You'd be much more of a help right down there in the nitty-gritty, pitching in with all the little things that need to be done & that are necessary in order to make life smooth & workable for everyone.
Obedient action will get you places! You're better off knowing a little less and doing a little more than vice versa. It's better to do than to know, and, of course, best of all, to know these things and do them...
It's not time for any more words, it's time for action. Get your mind set on the task at hand. The task is winning and warning the world, spreading My message, My Gospel.
It's time to get serious about your work. Determine what your goals are, focus on them & pursue them & work at them until you will have achieved them!
It's no longer time to haphazardly do whatever you feel like doing, but focus & concentrate on the sheep, and the best possible way in which you can do your part to reach them!
When you've accomplished something, don't rest on your laurels & feel self-satisfied, but realize that whatever you happened to accomplish is only a small beginning & a tiny step towards a larger goal, & you shouldn't stop then, but use the momentum to look around what you could do next.
There's no more time for coasting along in "idle." In order to fulfill your destiny, you're going to have to apply some elbow grease!
While My Words can give you the faith and some incentive to take the initiative and the vision, when it comes down to it, the decision and final choice to actually do something about it is all up to you and needs to come from you.
I've poured out & supplied you with the counsel you needed, the necessary assurance of all you need to know to get going. Now you just need to put it into action and actually do it. The doin' it is your part!
I'm sayin' it, you're doin' it. That's the way it usually works when you're working for or serving somebody. So, I've done My part, now it's time to let Me see you do your part. It's time to get working. Now comes the obeying part. The being-doers-of-the-Word-part, not hearers only.
It's the difference between just thinking that something is merely a good idea or something nice to do eventually, and actually doing it.
A lot of times I'm actually having to repeat Myself, and that is a sign that it's time for you to do something about what I've already said. It's your turn.
I've done My part, now it's time for you to do yours. I've done the speaking, now you move to action.
The emphasis now is on putting into practice what you've heard. It's time to make hay while the sun shines.
"The boat has to be in motion before the rudder can take effect," and that's what it's all about right now: getting the boat moving.
Consider this school of life an apprenticeship where you don't only learn the theories, but also how to apply them in practical ways! It's time to apply your hands & put some feet to the things you've learned. Life isn't only theory! It's important you grasp the theory, but the practical part is what will get you somewhere.
You've been receiving it, now it's time to start giving it.
We've moved from receiving mode to application mode.
You've received all the initial software, now you need to get going & get your machine operating. You'll still receive more information and occasional updates, but basically, your Operating System is installed now, and you can just work away!
We're going to have to be making some progress & move the things I've told you to the application level & put them into action.
The things I've told you are for a purpose, they're a means to an end, not an end in itself. They're not the ultimate desired result, but only messages to help you to get there, like sign posts. Don't get into the habit of collecting sign posts, or get so busy creating sign posts that you fail to read what they say or fail to follow the direction in which they're supposed to guide you.
Recognize when there is a needy situation that requires rolling up your sleeves & pitching in and show the world (or sometimes just a single lonely person) what it really means to be a Christian!
More than anything you say or tell people, it's your actions that will reap the greatest benefits & repercussions & rewards. What you do speaks so much louder than words. So, be a doer & find out what you can do to help others! Just look around! Once you're through helping them, they'll often be much more willing to listen to what you have to say!
You've got to live it for them to see, first, before they're going to buy it! Give them a sample that's going to be worthwhile imitating and following! That's what counts, more than any words you can say!
If you just coast along, thinking, "oh, well, yeah, the Lord's gonna pull me through somehow," I might do it, but there will be consequences to pay for your lack of actively doing your part.
Do what soldiers do, prepare for battle, and not act as if life was a permanent vacation.
Sometimes it's just not enough anymore to be preaching the good stuff without ever really living and doing it yourself! Sometimes there is a point where it's enough words, and now it's gotta be action, where they can't take anymore preaching, they gotta see you living it, or else they're just gonna boo you out!
It's gotta be the real thing, made real by your actions!
your life is only a farce unless and until you're taking up that cross; there's just no way around it!
If you're hearing from Me but aren't doing the things I say, then what good is it?
"What matters is the things you do." Your actions are what make you what you are, not your intentions, not even your belief or religion, if they never go any further than your head or your mouth. Your faith has got to determine your actions, otherwise, what good is it; what is it worth? (James 2:17,26).
When I'm telling you it's no use for you to do anything except by My Spirit & Power, that doesn't mean that your part is to do nothing. But I'm expecting you then to take the initiative to pray desperately for Me to make it happen. That's the kind of action I want and need you to take.
When you do something good, don't immediately rest on your laurels, but let it be only the beginning. There's lots more to go on to from there. Don't stop already when you've hardly yet begun!
All the counsel in the world will do you no good if you don't put it into practice.
All of this will merely remain in the realm of the theoretical, if you never put any of it into practice.
You're going to have to develop more initiative & get on the ball, if you're going to find and fulfill your dream and vision!
I need you to do all you can to bring in the harvest before the storm.
Look for opportunities, ways & possibilities in which you could be of help in order to further My cause.
It doesn't come natural to most to be helpful, so that's something you've got to strive for & make a conscious effort to work toward.
Time is short, as far as those are concerned who ought to have been reached yesterday, as far as those are concerned who are ripe & ready for the message today. There is always a certain amount of time pressure involved in the task of getting in the harvest - ask any farmer - and the timing is crucial with some things. It takes a lot of work & action to respond to the opportunity. My spiritual matters need to have that urgency for you, they need to become as pressing & important to you as your own physical needs.