The Man Who Called Me a Little Witch

The Man Who Called Me a Little Witch

by Ruth Robison

Transcribed from the original recording; may contain errors.

I know you don’t know it, but you make me a new talk every time I make one. Because somebody comes to me and says, “You know, Liz, you just need one more thing in that talk.” So I write that down and the next time you get that. So this is how Tracy came to me this morning. He said, “Liz, you just need to add one thing that you have in this journey. And the more victorious you are, the more you are to act this way. And these little steps put down there and attempt to play God.”

And listen, just suppose I had left that eight. Just suppose Tracy hadn’t spoken to me this morning to tell me this. Oh, well, one of those unnamed humps was that. But you see, I might not have gotten to it. Oh, and we are grateful. Now, you know, in strange ways we attempt to play God in other people’s lives. And one of the strangest ways is to feel completely responsible for another person’s life. Nobody but God can be that. Nobody. God is completely responsible for every person’s life. But you can’t be. I can’t be. God is completely responsible for every person’s life. And I want to tell you, when you realize this is truth, a great load will be lifted from your whole being. And for the first time in your life, you can really take a deep spiritual breath. You are not responsible for another person’s life. You are responsible for your own life and its relationship to God, but you reflect God in such a way that another person’s life will be influenced. This is it. And as I make this journey up or down the hills, this is all of my responsibility, you see. Now, let me read this, my scripture again, because I hope you will take it with you and read it when you go home.

Coming over to Colossians, the first chapter. St. Paul has been talking to these new Christians, and he’s been talking about the love of God, and he says, beginning with the ninth verse, “For this reason we also, from the day we heard of the love of Jesus, have not ceased to pray and express a request for you, asking that you…” Now, this is one of the prayers of the New Testament. St. Paul praying for his children in Christ, that you may be filled with the fullness… Fullness? Yes. Deep and clear knowledge. There is fullness. Deep and clear knowledge. “All His will and all spiritual wisdom…” What is wisdom? Comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God. That’s what you mean by wisdom. Comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God. “In understanding and discernment of spiritual… …spiritual… …skimmy,” something funny just came to me. I had to stop and tell you that. You know, this is the way he treats me. And you know, a little whispered in the ear, you say, none of that time, none of this. You know, I just already have the same experience, but I can be talking about the most serious things, all of a sudden, the man is on himself. And that’s… that is it. Well, I have to tell you this, the word discernment got me right here.

Because last night I was telling you such strange things happen to us who give ourselves for spiritual leadership. I was in one camp, in a game of remains, and a fine gentleman came up to me and he says, “You know, I have the gift of discernment.” And I said, “Oh, that’s wonderful.” And then he said, “You know, this morning I decided that you’re nothing but a little witch.”

I don’t have to say I was a bit shocked at first because I hadn’t thought of myself in that moment. But anyhow, it’s okay. Whatever comes in, you know, whatever comes in, it’s okay. So I said to him, “Oh, that’s interesting. Very interesting to me. Tell me the characteristics that you find in me that you think belongs to an old witch.” But he hadn’t thought about that. So anyhow, we sat and talked a little while and we shared together. And you know, you just love people who think you’re witches. And so anyhow, after that, I guess we’ve been talking about a half an hour and he said, “You know, stop looking at me.” He says, “You know, I must have been wrong this morning.”

I tell you, someone must have ever read a book on these experiences which we have. Because I think sometimes we may tell each other as old witches. But listen, be very careful before you say it, because you could be mistaken. But anyhow, St. Paul, St. Paul is saying this, you see. And of course, St. Paul is talking about using these precious spiritual gifts for the glory of the King of God. From this we went on this morning to say how one can misuse the gift of God. God’s gifts are not given to you to discern evil. Now, you don’t have to take this, but the Spirit spoke to me. God’s gifts are given to you to discern God in other people. You see. To see the Christ at work. To see God at work in His universe. And I hope and pray the time will come when you and I stop looking for these negative things and giving them power. And we will spend all our time looking for God at work in each other and in the universe. And when that day comes, we will know the Kingdom of God is here. Now, let’s go on with this. So we go on reading. “That you may walk…” Why all this? Why is God giving us all this?

“That we may walk…” The mass road, picking it up from our morning thought. “That we may walk, that is, live and conduct ourselves, in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, and desiring to please Him in all things.” Desiring to please Him in other people. Desiring to please the Christ in my husband and in my wife and in my friend and my next door neighbor. You see. “Bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in the knowledge of God, with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance with Him, and recognition of Him in all places.”

We haven’t anybody… well, to me, put it this way, in my life. Next to Jesus Christ, St. Paul has been the greatest contributor in giving me new insights into the teachings of Jesus. That’s all St. Paul is trying to say to us. This is what Jesus meant when He said so and so. But St. Paul, with his tremendous mind, his training, and his mental training, his knowledge, and they could even interpret for us many of the insights of Jesus in a deeper way than they were given through Jesus Himself. Because it seems to me that Jesus, in His little time, gave us universal principles, like love and so forth. But you and I have to break those down into the facets of the diamond, so to speak, so that you and I can digest it bit by bit. But I want to tell you this. If you digest one facet of love, it’s going to strengthen you to recognize and to know another deeper facet of love, of divine love. And I want to go over here to 1 Corinthians, the 15th chapter, the 57th verse, which is the basis for my sharing this with you. And that is, “But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory,” that is, making us conquerors, “through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And as it is, it is on a victorious journey that we have a sense of being a conqueror. With Jesus Christ, we are victorious over anything that this human life could bring into our pattern. Another lovely little thing, I want… My precious friend Mary, I shared with you last night, and I’m going to share it with you, because this fits into one of the points last night. If I go to heaven and you’re not there, I write your name on the topmost stair. If you’re not there on judgment day, you’re going the other way. So I give St. Peter back his wings, his harp, and other things. And just to show I’m really true, I’m coming to hell to be with you.

Isn’t that adorable? Anybody would like to come… Where’s Mary? Where’s your hand, honey? Some of the others might like to have something like this, too. So don’t come to me, but go and there. There she is, way down front. And this is what we must do. I’m giving you these because these are an example. Whenever you have anything that you think fits into anything that anybody else has said, give it to them. Give it to them. Give it to them. Don’t think that yours is so little that it doesn’t mean anything. Because there is no such thing in the kingdom of God. Every creative, constructive thought is God-given. It isn’t yours. So share it with another. And whatever fits into this thing, give it to them. Give it to them. That’s your business. I do that if I’m hearing somebody else talk. I may write it down, put it in my hand. He may use it, may not use it. But my part is to give it. So we move on, into our day’s experience. Now coming back here…

I want to pick up again. It’s not on this side of the board, but last night we stopped with supernatural experiences. And our dependence on those, visions such that we call supernatural. We are beginning to understand these in the most magnificent way, through ESP and other areas of insights that have come to us. But here, I began to see, as I studied, during survival study this year, of St. Paul’s tremendous experience when he was given the vision, this great vision about Macedonia. And we know, all of a sudden, here stood this powerful man crying out to St. Paul. St. Paul was on one of his missionary journeys. “Come over into Macedonia and help us. Come.” Now this was a lion. I want you to get this little picture. St. Paul was so challenged by this that he completely, he changed his eyes completely. And there was a turn of a day, and they went over into Macedonia. Well now, anybody having a tremendous vision like this would think that there would be tremendous preparation for God, by God, for God to fulfill His vision. You and I have these visions, we get these insights, and we feel, “Oh my, the ground’s going to be all ready for me to use it in a tremendous way.”

People are going to accept it, as they’ve never accepted it before. Everybody’s going to want to hear what’s happened to me. Well, by this time, I think most of you know this is not so. But St. Paul found this out too at this particular time. So he goes over into Macedonia, and after a little rest period, he looks around, and there are no temples. This was not a Christian country. They didn’t know anything about Jesus Christ. There are no temples. There’s no place for St. Paul really to get up and proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. So finally he finds out that down on the riverside, where a few people meet, there are people who will meet with prayer. This is in the New Testament, you can read it. But there are a few people who meet for prayer. Well, he and his prodigal going down on the riverside, and they can’t find a man. There isn’t a man there. Now, you remember the man called St. Paul in the vision. He was invited. Because had it been a woman, you know, St. Paul is you folks too, he wouldn’t have thought.

So anyhow, the man called him to meet a group of women at prayer. That’s right. That’s right. And that’s what I tell you precious ministers. Don’t discard a little group of women who meet to prayer. Now, St. Paul went down on the riverbank, and there was just a group of women, a very small group of women who had met for prayer. But the amazing thing out of this experience, one woman was so hungry for St. Paul’s mature message in the Spirit, that she received St. Paul’s message sufficiently to invite him to live in her house. And believe me, that’s got to be full acceptance. So you see, she invited St. Paul to come, and meet from that time on with a group of people that she invited into her home, and the Christian church was born. Listen, what I’m trying to say to you this morning is, you don’t know how God wants to use your supernatural experiences, but please, for His sake, surrender those again to Him after you’ve had those experiences for His own direction and use. Don’t tell a vision unless the Holy Spirit says tell it. Don’t share a truth unless the Holy Spirit says share it. And if you and I will get this… I see the truth behind this. This is because in doing this, you build up a spiritual reserve.

If you’re going to give away everything you’ve got when you get it, you’ve got nothing left. But if you’re going to keep some things for the Spirit to direct you to use, you’re always going to have a spiritual reserve upon which you can draw in the time of great need. And of course, the more you tell something that’s so precious to you, the more you disperse its pearl. So you want to keep it as a precious jewel in your own heart and mind until the Holy Spirit says share it to you. And then you can share it with this glorious pearl because it has not been used up. Now remember this when something wonderful happens to you here, Karen. Of course, I don’t mean that you might not tell your one mate. Share these things in the sounds of one person, maybe person to person. Even then beware. Even then beware. Because when Jesus said, “Cast not your pearls before swine,” He wasn’t saying anything bad about the swine. He was just saying that they couldn’t digest them.

See? That was it. They just couldn’t digest pearls. So therefore, don’t give them pearls. Now, when we… so often, we’re so enthusiastic that we want to… Well, the fact is, I have to put this, we’re completely self-centered. Enthusiastic is a nice heavenly word, but self-centeredness is not so good. And you know, spiritual visions make us more self-centered unless we give those completely to God. Insights that God gives us makes us more self-centered because we’re tempted to feel, “Well, boy, I’ve got this. You haven’t got it.” You see. And I could share lots of experience where a Heavenly Father has used my precious Lee to tell me when I was on the wrong track. Now, he doesn’t know this. I don’t know what he’s hearing or not. If he is, I hope he didn’t hear it. And nevertheless, because you know, he’ll say something to me that 15 years ago could have hurt me tremendously. And I would do it to him too. I mean, neither one of us are completely heavenly yet, you know. So, here’s the thing. But you see, now it startles you. It startles you. To me frankly. He doesn’t call me an old witch, but anyway.

It startles me. But that’s good. And all along the journey, these experiences ought to startle you. They ought to startle you into thinking more deeply about where you are, who you are, what you’re doing, where you’re going, and why you’re doing it. See? So, now, I believe this with all my heart. I have to inject this here. When the time comes that you and I are so completely under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, these things are not going to happen. There’s no need for them. But I don’t know anybody except Jesus that’s ever been there. You see, none of us have been. All right, now let’s go on with just a few of these other things this morning that I want to call your attention to. Unless I get sidetracked, I’m going on here. Assume, the next part here of the Middle Hump on the Hill is assuming that I always know God’s will. And talking so glibly about it. You go down the walk with somebody and somebody will say, “You know, God told me to do that.” Well, sometimes all that means is in the early morning I got the idea. And that isn’t always good. No matter if it’s good, it isn’t always good. And we get to the place that we use so casually with holy things.

In our very language we misuse relationships, you see. So we have to be careful with our words. And be so careful when you tell anybody that what you do is the will of God. Because you could almost say 75% of the times it isn’t so. Even if it’s good. Now I’m not talking about it on the level of human good. I’m talking about it on the level of divine direction. You see, that’s what I’m speaking to you about this morning. So, be so careful when you say, “God told me to do.” You can’t even trust your best human mind for this. I don’t know how you feel about this, but for me it takes quite some time to know that this thing is the will of God. And I know I had better wait a month to do a lovely thing, giving the Holy Spirit time to check and recheck me to know that this is the will of God. If we take this seriously, and I’m quite sure you will in the days to come, if we take this seriously, we would never do anything out of God’s timing as we spoke of last night. The field for the planting of the seed which God wants to give to me would always be prepared because I would have given God time to prepare that seed, that soil.

I’ve got the seed, but God has to prepare the soil. See, He’s given me the seed, the spiritual seed, but He’s got to get soil ready in you to receive this. So I don’t have to hurry. That’s what I’m telling you. About spiritual things, you don’t have to hurry. And you don’t have to go one step on this journey further than God wants you to go today or tomorrow. And you’re not rushing to get anywhere because you’re already there. You’re already in the kingdom of God. If you have once told Him you love Him, and you’re ready with all your heart, whether you’re three years old or ninety, you are there. And I want to tell you this too. I don’t care what you’ve done. I don’t care how many mistakes we’ve made. That doesn’t change God. That doesn’t change my Lord Jesus Christ. All the human mistakes in the universe can never take away one iota of His superb divine vitality and strength. He’s the same. Ever since we were little children, we have been taught that Jesus is the same today and just today. But you and I don’t believe it. I’m sure we don’t because we don’t act that way. We don’t think that way. And this morning and day in his meditation gave us that modest verse, “I will put My Spirit in you and you shall live.”

I said to myself, “Father, do I really believe that?” Hmm. So I said, “You know I do. You see, You know I do.” I believe it with all my heart. And I live it. I act on it. That’s my privilege. “I will put My Spirit in you and you shall live.” And this is what I like to take. It’s one of my favorite verses, or insights. And I like to take the people who are ill. And I like to write it on a piece of paper. This is one of my, spiritual prescriptions. Write this on a little piece of paper and put it in a person’s hand and tell them to read it and read it and read it. God said this. God said this. I didn’t. “I will put My Spirit in you and you shall live.” What more does an ill person want than that? Because everybody, everybody wants to live. And you do, you want, what do you? God wants us to live. God doesn’t want us to have any defects. God wants us to be so perfect in body, mind, and spirit as was Jesus, that you and I will give all, can give all their time to listening to Him, to being guided by Him, and not have to come back to me.

And I have to be centered in me. And when my body is perfectly usable, and my mind is clear, and my spirit is loving, God can use me completely. And this is the Father’s will. All right, now. Let’s be very careful. Oh, oh, I’m going to hear something I must tell you. Here, this, and this is where I jot them down as they come to me. And this presents a misunderstanding of what God says to us. Not only saying, misunderstanding this, that this is God’s will, but misinterpreting the will of God as His will has been given to us. And in one of my experiences of illness, I realized that, that God, I knew, I knew, I knew that God wanted me to be well. I knew that. I knew He didn’t want me to be ill. I knew He had the power to make me whole. I knew that. I had seen it. I experienced it. And so one morning, I had this marvelous, great supernatural experience, you may say, that my room was filled with light. And, just, a voice spoke to me, His voice. Now, I don’t mean, in an oral voice. I’m not, some people have this. This has not been the way God works with me. But just like a little whisper in my inner ear, “Everything’s okay.” You see? I was preparing to go to the hospital. “Everything is okay.”

Oh, boy, I was so happy. And I just knew that that meant that the thing would be worked out like this, step by step. And perhaps when I got to the hospital, nothing would be necessary. And here is great evidence of the healing path gone. So, that wasn’t so. And of course, when I realized that what I thought, what I had interpreted the meaning of God’s, revelation to be to me, was completely wrong. And the thing that the Holy Spirit said to me, you see, was, there’s something deeper than just your own interpretation of being all right. You see? And I had a concrete pattern of the way God works to achieve rightness. But you see, that’s all wrong. In every single experience, I’ve got to realize that there may be a new way that God will achieve this. A new way. The end, right? Yes. Yes. And in the end, I was all right. I am all right. But God chose a different way to bring the rightness. See? And if we will accept this, we, our faith will not be destroyed. Because God is so much greater. And I’m telling you over and over and over again, how great they are. I am all right. That you will know just how Your perfect will would be worked out in me at this moment. Not only in relationship to me, but to my family, to my friends, to anybody that I might contact, you see.

So that I could contribute something so much more wonderful than had it worked out the way I thought. Now, now listen. God’s will is still right. He wills wholeness of God in mind and spirit. But the path to wholeness, this road, is His choice. If I let Him choose those things which He wants to use me for, and those lessons, the thing that’s necessary for the lesson to be taught to me. Let me, recall just a moment this thought of worshiping our blessings and not God. I thought in the wonderful blessing service last night, that, I should have talked more than that, though. The fact that the blessing was to follow Slytony as I went on through this. And I would love to have prepared you a little more to receive it, but I perhaps you didn’t need it. But, we, these are paradoxes. You know, our Christian gospel is just simply filled with paradoxes. We usually like to find it in such. And, there’s nothing wrong with a paradox. But you and I should see how when a paradox comes close, when both ends of a paradox comes closer together, they’re one. They’re one. So we get to understand the ways of God in this way. We think of the joy of the Lord. Not my blessing. And again, at breakfast, we were talking about gifts.

Purchase gifts. I think I should share with you that, finally, the Spirit gave me, as my own adventure in this field, I believe God is so gracious because we always talk about the grace of God. And the grace of God simply means that marvelous graciousness of God to give me far beyond anything I ask, or could even think of. God, see, He will give me. And He will give me in such a tender, loving way, gracious way, that I will receive it, regardless of whether I want it or not. This is graciousness, you see. So here we are, coming in to receive the graciousness of God. And I would not ask Him for a gift. We are told to ask, we see, not seek, find. But listen, if you study this in its depth, you will not, you will see that God, what God has told you to ask for, what He’s told you to knock for, what He’s told you to seek. I recall one verse is you do seek first the kingdom of heaven. See? And if you see, may I, be careful what you knock for, be careful what you ask for, be careful what you seek. Because it may not be exactly what God wants you to give. To give you. So I began to realize, in inability to know what I needed, I said to my Heavenly Father this, “I will not ask You, but for one gift, and that is more of Yourself. Just more of You, see.”

“Now, any of these other gifts which You want to give to me that You know I can use most efficiently for the kingdom of God on earth, give me.” So give me. I wouldn’t come to any one of you and ask you for a gift. And you know, my precious Lee has said so often that he doesn’t think Heaven’s going to be very different from now. From the best of now. The best of now is an introduction to Heaven. So you see, if I’m going to be very gracious and loving and kind and gentle to you now, that is Heaven. So in my graciousness and respect and awe for God, I don’t ask Him for these things. I don’t seek these things. I seek first the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, for all the comes, I give us. And yes, it’s been my privilege to have many gifts. Others I have not had. As St. Paul lists gifts. But bless his heart, I was talking to him in meditation the other morning. After all, isn’t he still alive? Do you believe in immortality? But I had a little conversation with all these wonderful people that have gone on. And you know that, I said to him, “Listen, St. Paul, you know, you didn’t, you just made a half a list.” You see. And bless our precious people’s hearts today. After 1900 years, they haven’t added to it. But here are many, many other gifts that the Father gives to us. And because we are so stubborn in a small list, not coming from Jesus, but coming from St. Paul, you see. And that’s all right. Now, this is no criticism, but I would just like to expand your mind to be able to go beyond this. And St. Paul would want us to do this too. To make a list. I sat down and I had this challenge in my meditation one evening, and I listed 35 gifts of the Spirit. 35. That the Heavenly Father had given to me. The capacity to know for one thing. The ability to understand for another.

A mind that was made after the mind of God for another. A heart that could be and love for another. And on and on and on and on we go. And hands that could touch for another. Oh, what God has given to us. And sometimes we fail to see it. And everybody’s got them all on. And you know, I believe with all my heart that the gifts of, when we accept Jesus as our way and life and His Spirit, not the human Jesus. This is where so many people get confused. But when the Spirit of Jesus, the Lord of the living flesh as we call Him, will come into us and abide in us. Then we have all of His gifts. Now, having all those gifts doesn’t mean that I am going to use them under my guidance. But it means I’m going to use them under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So that you may see some gifts manifest in me outwardly, some gifts manifest in another person outwardly. But God has done it. Now, this is the danger. And I know this because I’ve counseled with people who have sought gifts. And have gotten them. And God’s going to give you what you beg for. He’s not loving. Sometimes He’ll even give it to you and He knows that you’re going to destroy yourself with Him.

You see, He’ll always have it. And sometimes parents have to let children have a car even though they go out and wreck it. You see, because that’s law. And God, let us do this. But don’t let’s do that. Don’t let’s be wrecked by holy things. And we can be. Because we don’t know how to use them.

The next thought, the next hump along the way is being unteachable. Walking that victorious journey is no assurance of all knowledge. Just walking it. The person who recognizes that they are walking a victorious journey has got to dig. But you know, I love the little passage in Ezekiel where it says that he, Ezekiel, dug, and behold, there was an open door.

And you know, as we dig into these mysteries of God, and the Holy Spirit reveals these mysteries to us, and He can’t do it unless we give Him time, unless we give Him our minds, you see, then always there is an open door.

I spoke to you last night, but going beyond the will of God, I should have spoken to you… But this next is sagging below the will of God, or sagging behind the will of God. And what I mean by that is failure to obey Him.

Something comes and a new insight is given to you, obey it immediately. This moment is all you have. And it doesn’t mean that… What does that mean? Yes, and all that. Oh, yes. Yes, and all that. Okay, so the reader says, that doesn’t bother me.

“Are you doing that, Bob?” No. But you know the key thing is, that’s a… This is coming. That so often it’s just a plain little everyday thing that we let throw us off the track. Just a plain little everyday thing. And you know really, it just means that some wires… Oops.

No. Look at me. You’re lying. Me and me on the next video. So all I have to do is quite quickly turn the wire. Or just plain sit by. All right, that’s good. It’s a business of obedience. Obey God. And every wonderful, lovely thought comes from God. If God says, do. If God says, say. If the thought pops in your mind that this is what I should do, I should do something for somebody, do it. Don’t stop and wonder, is this my fault or God’s fault? Did the Holy Spirit give this to me or did I just think it up? He gave it to you. You’ve got to trust Him. Complete trust, you see, here, of the goodness of God. Live in your mind. You hit it, didn’t you?

You know, the lovely thing comes to me, too, is this is coming to us this morning, but it might be perfect for Tommy tonight. The next thought is, and we must run along, but you can ponder these. The next thought is simply longing for the past and living in the future.

I think that, oh, I had this wonderful experience in the past and I’ve lost it. God will be in such a way and I don’t feel it anymore. But when the time comes that Christians live beyond feelings, it will be a blessed day for the kingdom of God. Because feelings, yes, are good. And we give thanks for our feelings, our capacity to feel, not for me, but for you. That I should feel for you. I’ve got to let you feel for me. See? The difference here? And my feelings must be so dedicated to your need that I would be stirred, my feelings would be stirred by your need. My feelings would be stirred by the need in India today. My feelings would be so stirred this morning by our precious boys in Vietnam and our country’s inability to solve its problems. You see? All of these people, whether it be leaders in any place, do not want to take life. I don’t care whether you call them communists or Christians or what not. They do not want to take life. Life has a… Life itself has a way of demanding from every human mind and heart, if they’re honest, respect and preservation. And this we must see. They want this, we want it, everybody wants it, but nobody knows how to get it.

Now, I believe with all my heart that the day has come that we should be… We Christians should be a group of people who have an answer. And I think God wants answers to be given to questions today. Everybody’s got questions. But who has answers? Who has answers? A few people have answers. Well, the time has come when we should be the answer to this whole world need. We should be the answer. We’re Christians. We followers of Jesus. Should be the answer to our world need. And then things will change. We’re Christians. But as long as I sit with a drooped head and shoulders and feel, “Oh, this is terrible.” And all I can say to you is my neighbor, “We shouldn’t be fighting over there.” But I don’t offer anything. All I do is enter into the problem. And every one of us as Christians are just simply entering into the problem without offering anything for solution. Now, we ought to begin to offer something. Even if we should share our government, not with protests, not with revolutions, but with suggestions. You see? So I like to tell a person that’s in great distress that you love them. But I want to tell you, speaking from experience, that’s not enough. That’s just not enough.

When I’m here, I want you to come telling me that God uses you as a channel of divine power and that He will heal you through me. That’s what I want. And that is love expressed at the point of need. You see? This is real love. Oh, no, love won’t do me a bit of good because I hurt too much. But if you can touch my pain and it goes, I know love. I know love then. And this is what we need in our world today. Now, coming back, I got off just a minute. This person said, learning from the past, the experiences of the past, let them go. Deposit from this moment, this morning, deposit all your past in the kingdom of God and let the Holy Spirit pick out of it whatever He wishes to use for the days to come. Forget it. Forget it. You know, this is the new day. Every day in God’s life and my life with Him is a new day. Let the past go. If He gives you new insights out of the past to be used for the present or future, all right, that’s good. But you see, we can’t afford to let our minds take up any time with that which has been because if we do, we will miss them all.

The marvelous blessings of this morning, this morning hour, we are going to miss if at this time your mind has wandered a bit and you’ve begun to think of something that has been or something you want to be. You see, trust the future to God. Trust the past to God. Deposit your past into His bank of love and let Him bring the future. But listen, you are the only one with God who can use creatively the mail. See? And this is one of the great dangers on this journey. We can get so excited about walking a victorious journey with God that we fear to be usable to Him at this moment for somebody’s need. Let’s just go on just a little bit.

Yes, I think I would have to bring this aid. We Christians have to, we have a tendency sometimes to disregard our social relationships with those of other people that do not think as we do. I mean, just plain, courteous, social relationships. Going to a party. Or going to an opera, a reception, anything like that. Or just going to visit my friend on the basis of fellowship. We are talking about spiritual things. And I say that because we say that so often. But actually, there is no difference. If my heart is right, I take with me into everything this holy thing. But just pray for fun. We don’t have near the fun that God wants us to have as Christians. Not near the fun. Because we so weighed down with a feeling of responsibility for these other, more serious things. Somebody said to me, I heard somebody here, Karen says, “Have you seen so and so? Have you looked at her face? She looks awful sad.” I said, “No, I’m not sad.”

She’s just too serious about these spiritual things. Too serious. Again, a paradox. There are times when I must be utterly serious. There are times when I’ll be utterly unserious. You see. And I go back 25 years ago because it was an afternoon tea that I’ve been invited to meet some new friends that had come to Richmond. I found my first prayer partner. I had prayed and prayed, “Father.” But, I knew that unless I learned how to pray that I couldn’t be more effective in the kingdom. So I said, “Father, I want a prayer partner who’s just as hungry to know how to pray as I am.” But I often think, just suppose I hadn’t gone to the reception. Just suppose. I hadn’t been gracious enough to accept this invitation to just an everyday lovely affair. I would have missed my prayer partner for years. She’s now in spirit with Him. This is this prayer partner way back down. Don’t you see? I would have missed her. So I come to the conclusion here, with the fact that what we need on this spiritual journey, victorious journey, is a heavenly sense of balance.

That I be balanced in my everyday living. So that whatever anybody wanted to see in me to meet their need, they would find. Our little child would find it. A mature person would find it. I could be as a little child skipping down the road with his grandchildren, you see. And then we could be children together. But this is the victorious journey. And my victory comes out of the fact that Jesus Christ was victorious before me. He walked this way. He had those humps. But the minute He had a hump, He turned straight to His Father. And the straight and narrow way is not the human path. It’s the path to Him. You see? And that is the path that assures us of eternal life this moment. Right here and there. I have eternal life as I walk the whole journey. I live in eternity now. I can draw from eternity backwards. There is an eternity backwards that you and I cannot fathom. There is an eternity forward that you and I look forward to. But the eternity there is mine. So I can live in it. I’ll be a part of it. I can draw from it. I can share it, you see. And this is what we mean by a victorious journey. Now, I don’t have to go any faster in it than my Father wants me to go.

Why? Because He’s made eternity for me. I’ll be always walking this victorious journey. When I finish with this body, I’ll run another. But I’ll still be walking a victorious journey. This is His plan. I say so often, I wish people could see the glory of this preparation which the Father has made for each one of us. And when you say, “How great Thou, O God,” you certainly ought to turn around if you could and say, “How great You’ve made me too.” See, I am great too, because I’m made in His image. And as Jesus told us, He is the way, the truth, and the life. For you, I may be the way and the truth and the life, if He’s in me. So you see the responsibility we have one to another. To be what Christ wants us to be. To let Him live in us. To let Him flow through us. So that the person who needs to see Him may see Him in me. And in you. May we bow our heads.