Wed, Feb 20th - 8:30PM

TO WATCH, OR NOT TO WATCH, THAT IS THE QUESTION!

"Then let him that thinks he stands take heed to avoid falling (I Corinthians 10:12)."

   "Take heed" means to pay attention to what is happening all around you at all times.  It means to be watchful, observant, vigilant.  If I am not watchful I will end inevitably suffer from falling into temptation and sin, things which will seriously damage my personal testimony if not destroy it altogether.  I will be rendered useless as a Christian, except to be used of God as a living example of how not to live a life of faith and service to Him.

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching therefore with all perseverance and supplication for all saints (Ephesians 6:18)."

   Too many times believers focus solely upon the first phrase in this verse at the expense of ignoring the last phrase.  Praying in the Spirit can't be divorced from watching out for all saints.  God commands us to watch diligently over all of the saints.  Saints over in China need us to be praying and watching over them in the Spirit.  The power of God is unleashed to do its work through our being obedient to Christ's urgings to not be lukewarm in how we live out our faith each and every day.  We must go to our knees in prayer whenever possible, at the very least stop what we are doing, bow our heads low, and ask God to watch over those who live in dire need of His protection and love.  I must do this better. 

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2);"

   Again, prayer and watching out for the welfare of others are united, not separated.  My watching is not to be pessimistic but full of thanksgiving in that God is with me and is also seeing what I am seeing.  In this knowledge I can be grateful that God will take action and answer my prayers.  My watching could very well reveal to me that one is about to embark upon a huge task for God and that they require my prayers for a large door of opportunity to open for them so that they may speak that which God has laid upon their hearts to speak: the mystery of Christ.  For such things to happen I must be prepared, through studying God's Word and serving Him, and must be watching for the when the opportunity arises.  It will do me no good whatsoever to realize in hindsight what passed me by last week, and will not do the person who needed a door of opportunity to open for them last week any good either. 

"Therefore let us not sleep, as others do; but let us watch and be sober (I Thessalonians 5:6)."

   So I am not to be unobservant of events taking place all around me.  I am not to overlook the behavior of those working with me.  I am not to be blind as I go through my life.  I am to see the things that people are experiencing and try to help them.  This I can do through prayer, through conversation, or through physical helping.  Jesus reprimanded His disciples in the Garden the night before His arrest for falling asleep and not watching while He prayed to the Father in heaven.  I do not wish to fall into the same "boat."

"But watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry, For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith (II Timothy 4:5-7)."

   One who is involved in a fight does not win said fight if they are not watching what their opponent is doing.  Do I fully understand that I am in the spiritual fight for my very life?  Do I understand that my family is embroiled in spiritual warfare with an enemy that is implacable, unrelenting, unmerciful, and vicious?  If so, then I shall be very motivated to remain vigilant for the sake of my family.  By extension, my fellow believers in Jesus Christ are also my family.  Therefore I must be vigilant and keep their best interests in mind at all times.  Warnings must be lovingly given at appropriate times.  Why?  Because the time will inevitably come when I must rely upon them to warn me when my enemy is closing in from behind me, and I appear to not notice.  I can't love the things of this world more than I love God or fellow believers.  My children can't come between me and Christ.  My wife can't come between me and Christ.  My parents can't come between me and Christ.  It is not that I jettison all of these relationships and are monopolized by God.  By keeping my relationship with God in its proper place I am then enabled to properly relate to all others in my life.  Be advised, watching can bring upon us afflictions, persecutions, and even death.  Satan is not pleased with those who choose to obey God and remain vigilant.  It means that he is less able to roam across this planet and wreak havoc upon unsuspecting people.

"But the end of all things is at hand: therefore be sober, and watch unto prayer (I Peter 4:7)."

   Once more we see that prayer and watching are teamed together.  I am to remain free of drugs so that I can clearly see what is going on.  My perceptions must not be reduced. 

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks around, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world (I Peter 5:8-9)."

   Did Jesus' words of warning stick in Peter's memory?  Assuredly they did.  Peter understood that Satan walks around looking for any opening to step through into someone's life and lead them astray into sin.  Peter went there personally just before the crucifixion.  In order to "see" Satan approaching I must be awake and watching.  If I refuse to admit that he is real, then how can I possibly avoid falling into his traps and snares?  I can't.  I must confront spiritual reality in order to stop living a reactive live and begin living a proactive life.  When I sense Satan coming closer in my life I am to resist him by staying strong in my faith, by not doubting Jesus Christ. 

"Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found your works perfect before God (Revelation 3:2)."  "Behold, I come as a thief.  Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, otherwise he walk naked, and they see his shame (Revelation 16:15)."

   Here we find the same warnings being given to us, be watchful, do not think that you have gained perfection in this life.  Keep on seeking knowledge through the Word of God and sharing what you find with others.  Christ is coming again, and we must be ready for when He arrives.  We are to avoid being shamed by our lack of vigilance and zeal. 

   That is all for today, beloved.  Next time I will look at examples of watchmen found in the Bible and how they apply to our lives today.  Grace and peace be with you.

~Eric

Fri, Feb 8th - 9:41PM

TO WATCH, OR NOT TO WATCH, THAT IS THE QUESTION!

"Watch therefore: for you do not know what hour your Lord does come.  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be vandalized.  Therefore you also be ready: for the Son of man comes at a time unknown to you (Matthew 24:42-44)."

   I pull these verses from out of the parable about the fig tree, which can also be found in Mark 13:28-29 and Luke 21:29-31.  Jesus was explaining what this parable meant and then expanded upon it even more.  Jesus stressed upon His disciples the need to be watchful at all times.  Diligence is necessary, determinaiton in the heart, in order to be a good watchman or woman.  Jesus taught that no one could know when He would return, at least not specifically the day or time. 

   How important is it to God that a believer be watchful?  Does He even care?  God implores us to become watchful at all times in our lives.  "Watch therefore" is to begin upon the minute that one accepts salvation from Jesus Christ.  Again in chapter 25 of Matthew our Lord and Savior exhorts us to be watchful.  "Watch therefore, for you do not know either the day nor the hour when the Son of man comes(25:13)."  We are given general signs of the End Times later in the Bible, but nothing that will enable us to calculate the day, nor the hour of the day, when Jesus returns.  We are to remain prepared each and every day.  "And He came to the disciples, and found them asleep, and said to Peter, What, could you not watch with Me one hour?  Watch adn pray, that you do not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (26:40-41)."  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus took the disciples with Him so that they could watch over Him while He prayed to the Father in heaven.  They all fell asleep, despite their willingness to watch while He prayed.  Our physical failings will do us in, unless we continually strive to strengthen our spiritual nature, the one given to us by God.  I can desire to watch over my family but have my mortal fleshly body betray me by becoming so fatigued that I fall asleep.  To overcome this weakness I must become stronger spiritually so that my spirit can overcome the body's weakness.  I also see here that it is not enough to simply be watching.  I must also be making requests of God to be involved in the lives of those over whom I watch.  God must be invited to participate in the watching in order to make it effective. 

"For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.  Watch therefore: for you do not know when the Master of the House comes, at evening, or at midnight, or at the rising of the sun, or in the morning: otherwise when He suddenly comes He finds you sleeping.  And what I say to You I say to everyone, Watch (Mark 13:34-37)."

   Jesus Christ put this concept into terms that these men could easily identify and understand.  The owner of an estate decides to take a vacation far away from his property he would instruct the porter to remain on watch/guard.  All of the other servants were given their work orders, what they were expected to accomplish while he was away.  Authority was delegated to the servants in order that they could make certain decisions on their own while he was away.  This is what God has done with His Church.  He has given believers their work to get accomplished before He returns to rule from Jerusalem.  Take the Word of God out into all of the world, make disciples, teach them exactly what the Holy Spirit has taught them.  Duplication of disciples through the unity of the Holy Spirit living within each believer.  Where ever we do not find unity within Christianity reflects the lack of the Holy Spirit's presence.  He is not there for some reason.  Lack of faith, lack of belief, lack of surrender, lack of repentance from sins.  People then tend to inject their own understandings of scripture into teachings and become mislead from the Way of Christ.  We were taught that there is One Spirit, One faith, One Body, One Church, for good reason. 

"And you yourselves be like men waiting for their lord, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open the door for him immediately.  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find them watching: truly I say to you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to a meal, and will come out and serve them.  And if he will come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants (Luke 12:36-38)."

   I have cut short quoting this passage for it really continues on into the next parable about the steward and his servants.  What does a wedding have to do with us watching for Jesus Christ to return?  The Wedding of the Lamb of God and His Bride, the church.  There will be a magnificent wedding feast that all of the believers will be attending, but only if they answer the call when He returns.  Those who have claimed to be Christians and yet, they do not do the things that please God, will fail to notice when He returns and knocks on their door.  They remain followers in word only, not doing those things that a lover of God is motivated to do.  The redeemed soul is driven by love to please God in any way possible.  What I love about the picture painted for us here in Luke is that Jesus Christ will be the One who goes in and out of the kitchen, bringing out delicious trays of food made especially for each of us.  He will lovingly place a platter before each of us and bless it.  The love radiating from His wonderful eyes will force us to smile in return and glorify His name all over again.  There will be no Martha's present at this wedding feast trying to orchestrate all that needs to be done to feed such a huge crowd of guests.  God will serve us willingly, lovingly, at that time. 

"And take heed to yourselves, otherwise at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.  For as a snare shall it come on all of them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all of these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:34-36).'

   Luke continues to record warnings given out by our Lord and Savior about His return in the future.  We are to remain acutely aware of how much the "cares" of this life can, and will, overload our hearts to the point where we no longer are thinking at all about God, His Holy Spirit, the work we are supposed to be accomplishing for God, or even reading His Word.  We can easily become too wrapped up in caring for our families, our loved ones, the plight of pets, the plight of endangered animals, the plight of our environment, and the plight of our planet.  Our media outlets hammer away at us every day, seeking to gain our sympathies for their cause.  We must learn to say no.  We must learn to remain watchful for the deceptions of our mortal enemy: Satan. 

   That is all for tonight, beloved.  Next time I shall expand upon this opening post and give supporting verses for the need of the Body of believers to have watchmen/women and to be generally watchful.  Until then, grace and peace be with you all.  To those in the winter storm's path, please do not be foolish and go out in it simply to experience its wrath.  Stay safe, stay inside and off of the roadways so that work crews may clear them of the snow. 

~Eric

Tue, Feb 5th - 9:37PM

THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT