Today's message for watchman - racing the fastest race

The watchman woke and found that he was in a race, The race is against time. He has an appointed time to operate. The race course is already set. He has to complete the assignment in the appointed time according to the plumb line set in heaven. There is no option. The only hindrance to his finishing the race on time is himself. He must die to self and live to the Holy Spirit. He has no other road map but the Holy Spirit. He has no power except the power of the Holy Spirit (the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead). There was no one else who could help him but Jesus, the beginner and finisher of his faith.

Philippians 3:7-11 New King James Version (NKJV)

7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

 Philippians 3:7-11 New Living Translation (NLT)

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.[a] For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,

11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

 Footnotes: a. Philippians 3:9 Or through the faithfulness of Christ.

Philippians 3:7-11 Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁷ But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [^[a]one combined] loss for Christ’s sake.

⁸ Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

⁹ And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.

¹⁰ [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [^[b]which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

¹¹ That if possible I may attain to the [^[c]spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].

Footnotes:

1. Philippians 3:7 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies: His “gains” are plural, but they are all counted as one combined “loss” (singular).
2. Philippians 3:10 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
3. Philippians 3:11 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People: A spiritual, moral resurrection—not the final, physical one, which will be the climax.

THE DESERT YEARS ARE OVER! START MOVING!

One early July morning, the watchman heard this: “You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north.” 

 (So, to north he and the ark will start moving...)

Deuteronomy 2

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Desert Years

2 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.

² “And the Lord spoke to me, saying: ³ ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. ⁴ And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. ⁵ Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶ You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
⁷ “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”’
⁸ “And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from Elath and Ezion Geber, we turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. ⁹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’”
¹⁰ (The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ They were also regarded as giants,^[a] like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ¹² The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave them.)
¹³ “‘Now rise and cross over the Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. ¹⁴ And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they were consumed.
¹⁶ “So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, ¹⁷ that the Lord spoke to me, saying: ¹⁸ ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. ¹⁹ And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’”
²⁰ (That was also regarded as a land of giants;^[b] giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, ²¹ a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, ²² just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. ²³ And the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
²⁴ “‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

King Sihon Defeated

²⁶ “And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, ²⁷ ‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. ²⁸ You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot, ²⁹ just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord our God is giving us.’
³⁰ “But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.
³¹ “And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ ³² Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. ³³ And the Lord our God delivered him over to us; so we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. ³⁴ We took all his cities at that time, and we utterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining. ³⁵ We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took. ³⁶ From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from the city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; the Lord our God delivered all to us. ³⁷ Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the River Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or wherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

Footnotes:

1. Deuteronomy 2:11 Hebrew rephaim
2. Deuteronomy 2:20 Hebrew rephaim

because your motives are all wrong

James 4

New Living Translation (NLT)

Drawing Close to God

4 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. ³ And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

⁴ You adulterers!^[a] Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. ⁵ What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the spirit God has placed within us is filled with envy?^{[b] 6} But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,

“God opposes the proud
    but favors the humble.”^[c]

⁷ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ⁹ Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

Warning against Judging Others

¹¹ Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters.^[d] If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. ¹² God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?

Warning about Self-Confidence

¹³ Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” ¹⁴ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Footnotes:

1. James 4:4 Greek You adulteresses!
2. James 4:5 Or that God longs jealously for the human spirit he has placed within us? or that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, opposes our envy?
3. James 4:6 Prov 3:34 (Greek version).
4. James 4:11 Greek brothers.

May God always give you abundant harvests

KNOWING GOD: KNOW HIM THROUGH HIS PROMISES OF REAL BLESSINGS

GOD’S BLESSINGS TO HIS PEOPLE WHOM HE HAS RESCUED FROM THE ENEMY

Genesis 27:28
“From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine.
Genesis 27:27-29 (in Context) Genesis 27 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 7:13
He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.
Deuteronomy 7:12-14 (in Context) Deuteronomy 7 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 11:14
then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil.
Deuteronomy 11:13-15 (in Context) Deuteronomy 11 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

CONDITIONS FOR OFFERINGS TO THE LORD

Numbers 18:12
“I also give you the harvest gifts brought by the people as offerings to the LORD—the best of the olive oil, new wine, and grain.
Numbers 18:11-13 (in Context) Numbers 18 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 12:17
“But you may not eat your offerings in your hometown—neither the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, nor the firstborn of your flocks and herds, nor any offering to fulfill a vow, nor your voluntary offerings, nor your sacred offerings.
Deuteronomy 12:16-18 (in Context) Deuteronomy 12 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 14:23
Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 14:22-24 (in Context) Deuteronomy 14 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 18:4
You must also give to the priests the first share of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and the wool at shearing time.
Deuteronomy 18:3-5 (in Context) Deuteronomy 18 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Deuteronomy 33:28
So Israel will live in safety, prosperous Jacob in security, in a land of grain and new wine, while the heavens drop down dew.
Deuteronomy 33:27-29 (in Context) Deuteronomy 33 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

GOD’S PEOPLES MUST RESPOND TO GOD’S WORDS

2 Chronicles 31:5
When the people of Israel heard these requirements, they responded generously by bringing the first share of their grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a large quantity—a tithe of all they produced.
2 Chronicles 31:4-6 (in Context) 2 Chronicles 31 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

THE LORD GAVE VERY GREAT RICHES AND HONOR TO A KING WHO DID WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS SIGHT

2 Chronicles 32:28
He (king Hezekiah) also constructed many storehouses for his grain, new wine, and olive oil; and he made many stalls for his cattle and pens for his flocks of sheep and goats.

WARNING ON DISOBEDIENCE TO THE WORDS OF GOD

Deuteronomy 28:51
Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death.
Deuteronomy 28:50-52 (in Context) Deuteronomy 28 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

COUNTERFEIT OFFER OF “SIMILAR BLESSINGS” FROM THE ENEMY

2 Kings 18:32
Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards, olive groves and honey. Choose life instead of death! “Don’t listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us!’
2 Kings 18:31-33 (in Context) 2 Kings 18 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Isaiah 36:17
Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.
Isaiah 36:16-18 (in Context) Isaiah 36 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

2 Chronicles 32:27-29 (in Context) 2 Chronicles 32 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

RESTORATION OF GOD’S BLESSINGS CAME WITH OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORDS

Nehemiah 5:11
You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.”
Nehemiah 5:10-12 (in Context) Nehemiah 5 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Nehemiah 10:37
We will store the produce in the storerooms of the Temple of our God. We will bring the best of our flour and other grain offerings, the best of our fruit, and the best of our new wine and olive oil. And we promise to bring to the Levites a tenth of everything our land produces, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns.
Nehemiah 10:36-38 (in Context) Nehemiah 10 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Nehemiah 10:39
The people and the Levites must bring these offerings of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the storerooms and place them in the sacred containers near the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers. “We promise together not to neglect the Temple of our God.”
Nehemiah 10:38-39 (in Context) Nehemiah 10 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

THE ENEMY STOLE IN  TO ROB YOUR BLESSINGS WHEN THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS BACK SLIDED!

Nehemiah 13:4-5
4 Before this had happened, Eliashib the priest, who had been appointed as supervisor of the storerooms of the Temple of our God and who was also a relative of Tobiah, 5 had converted a large storage room and placed it at Tobiah’s disposal. The room had previously been used for storing the grain offerings, the frankincense, various articles for the Temple, and the tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil (which were prescribed for the Levites, the singers, and the gatekeepers), as well as the offerings for the priests.
Nehemiah 13:4-6 (in Context) Nehemiah 13 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED TO RESTORE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Nehemiah 13:11-13
11 I immediately confronted the leaders and demanded, “Why has the Temple of God been neglected?” Then I called all the Levites back again and restored them to their proper duties. 12 And once more all the people of Judah began bringing their tithes of grain, new wine, and olive oil to the Temple storerooms. 13 I assigned supervisors for the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah, one of the Levites. And I appointed Hanan son of Zaccur and grandson of Mattaniah as their assistant. These men had an excellent reputation, and it was their job to make honest distributions to their fellow Levites.

GOD’S RESTORATION AND BLESSINGS BRING REAL JOY

Psalm 4:7
You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
Psalm 4:6-8 (in Context) Psalm 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Isaiah 62:8
The LORD has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength: “I will never again hand you over to your enemies. Never again will foreign warriors come and take away your grain and new wine.
Isaiah 62:7-9 (in Context) Isaiah 62 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Jeremiah 31:12
They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem. They will be radiant because of the LORD’s good gifts— the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone.
Jeremiah 31:11-13 (in Context) Jeremiah 31 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

WARNING TO THOSE WHO TURNED AWAY FROM GOD AND SOUGHT AFTER OTHERS WHO WERE NOT GOD

Hosea 2:8
She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has— the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.
Hosea 2:7-9 (in Context) Hosea 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Hosea 2:9
“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness.
Hosea 2:8-10 (in Context) Hosea 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Hosea 7:14
They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts. Instead, they sit on their couches and wail. They cut themselves, begging foreign gods for grain and new wine, and they turn away from me.
Hosea 7:13-15 (in Context) Hosea 7 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

GOD HAS PROMISED A FUTURE THAT WILL BRING REAL BLESSINGS TO HIS PEOPLE- THOSE WHO SEEK HIM EARNESTLY HE WILL SURELY REWARD

Joel 2:19
The LORD will reply, “Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations.
Joel 2:18-20 (in Context) Joel 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Joel 2:24
The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.
Joel 2:23-25 (in Context) Joel 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Zechariah 9:17
How wonderful and beautiful they will be! The young men will thrive on abundant grain, and the young women will flourish on new wine.
Zechariah 9:16-17 (in Context) Zechariah 9 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

End Times watchman’s Bible Study: How to teach how to listen to the Holy Spirit?

The most difficult topic to teach is to teach how to listen to the Holy Spirit. A few students may find it effortless like drinking water or even mere breathing. But most students just do not seem to get anywhere. This has been the experience of the watchman as a ‘teacher’. Yesterday he stumbled upon his ‘old’ blog on how he started his personal journey in the Holy Spirit. It was hilarious. He just could not remember those earlier days of apprenticeship. But the outcome is worth all the foolish stumbling along, because of his analytical mind as opposed to the spiritual mind being led by the Holy Spirit (as a son of God should). He now marvels at the patience and long-suffering of the Lord who did not give up on him.

But how to teach others so they need not go through all that he had gone through? He sighed after another long hard and hot afternoon. In terms of human view, the time of 1.45pm-3pm on a hot and humid day was really far from ideal for any learning. But this was the only time slot given at this point of time. In his spirit he knew he had to set an example of learning by the Spirit. So he took the class and sat on the floor with a low table before him, reading the Bible verses together. There was minimum teaching from him. The key of learning is to go through the reading from verse to verse and let the Holy Spirit speak to individual.
The watchman was merely demonstrating what he does normally: sitting on the floor before the Lord and learning from the Lord. But the class could not get it. Even his translator started looking at the time and pushed her hand phone to him pointing to the time when it reached 3pm! He observed that people were struggling to stay awake and/or figure out what it all meant to be a “New Creation” ( a topic which the Lord prompted him to read with them today).
Sitting there before the Lord, reading the Bible verses as led by the Spirit of Christ, focusing on Yeshua, listening to what the Holy Spirit had to say, all these were exactly the practical activities of learning to follow the Holy Spirit. But after he finished the session, the translator told him that it was all theory and no practical so they all felt sleepy and exhausted. It had been a long and tiring day for them as they had to listen to a long and hard sermon before the afternoon class. They also had a heavy curry lunch.Indeed by the time he let them leave everyone was relieved.
The watchman could have gone on for hours. But there was no more ‘student’ or ‘apprentice’. He had a long day too. On the previous two nights he had only a few hours of sleep. Today he also sat through the morning worship and sermon with them. The only difference was that he skipped lunch, which has become a comfortable habit. He felt fresh and wide awake. The word of God spoke clearly and brought marvelous light into his being. They were reading a lot of verses about the light of God.
The practical part of “listening to the Holy Spirit” was actually the waiting upon the Lord, reading Bible verses and listening to what the Lord say. In his case today, the room was of course filled with sounds of toddlers at the same time. he could understand how the class must have ‘suffered’. But this is how one can be trained. In the end times no one can expect a quiet and peaceful ideal environment. At any time, emergency and crisis could emerge and one just has to ask and hear the Lord speaks. The quietness and stillness must come from inside and not otherwise.
Jesus commended Mary who sat at His feet and did exactly the same practical listening to Jesus talking. She did not do anything else. But she listened to everything that Jesus said to the disciples. When the time came for Jesus to go to the cross, she actually knew and believed he meant what he had said to them! (None of the other disciples believed or even heard such important predictions from Jesus. None was ready. Only Mary came to Jesus to say farewell by offering Him her best and most valued gift, anointing Him for the crucifixion and subsequent burial). If she had not spent all her time focusing and listening to Him, she would have missed the most memorable historical moment of being the one who performed the last service to the Lord while He was on earth as a human.
Hebrews 12:16 described Esau as ‘godless’. He gave up his inheritance rights as the oldest son for a single meal (some lentil stew). He focused on his body needs. He gave more priority to his physical needs than spiritual needs. Materially he did not lose anything as his brother Jacob had to leave home shortly to escape being killed by him. Jacob later acquired great material wealth working for his father in law (with God’s blessing) and not through inheritance from his physical father Isaac. However, Jacob who became Israel became the father of the 12 tribes of Israel (many nations) thus inheriting the promises that God gave to his grandfather, Abraham. God called Himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Ex.3:6). What a great honor and privilege! As a young man Jacob spent a lot time in the tent with his parents and listened to their teachings about the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. He listened and he believed. He valued the double blessing from heaven for the firstborn.

Living as a ‘new creation’ means living by the Spirit. He must be born of the Spirit and walks by the Spirit. He lives as a spiritual man (as opposed to being carnal/of the flesh). If he follows the Holy Spirit, he will not be constrained by his physical, mental or emotional needs or wants. The symptoms of his body do not frighten him. His mind or feeling cannot dictate to him when to be at ease and when to be uncomfortable. He will live a supernatural lifestyle.
The watchman has practiced this lifestyle for sometime now. Looking back, when he first started he really had a hard time. He had no mentor. He could not ask or learn by following the example of someone he could see often. However he attended half-yearly seminars conducted by senior supernatural living practitioners during which he witnessed the long hours they stood on the stage and read verses after verses. They went on without lunch. They had less than five hours of rest/s/sleep a day and could go on for days. They even went through long fast (40 days) before the seminar. Supernatural living could be done by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Coming back to the subject on how to teach this new lifestyle, the watchman has no other clue except to carry on asking the Lord, seeking his answer, obeying His word.
When he looked at the page his Bible happened to display now, he read: “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace.” (Malachi 4:1a) Indeed the day has been unusually hot and seems like a furnace burning.
“But for you who revere My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” (Malachi 4:2a)

End Times watchman’s Bible Study: He kept right on going because

Today the message is “faith” that makes one see the invisible. Faith requires one to be led by the Holy Spirit and see what cannot be seen by flesh and blood. Jesus was very clear and definite on this point. He told a well established teacher of the law and a high official in the Jewish Council, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.” “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:3,5) The watchman has discovered that all the following faith people in the hall of faith were Spirit-led people!
Bible verses with the watchman’s study notes in bracket. ————————-

Hebrews 11

New Living Translation (NLT)

Great Examples of Faith

11 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. ² Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
(Faith is all about things we cannot see in our physical realm or with our physical eyes and mental or emotional perception.)
³ By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
(To claim that you have faith you must first believe that the world was created from the invisible!)
⁴ It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.
(Faith is the only testimony that will continue testifying even after physical death. It supersedes the power of death! Faith sets a man free from the inevitable prison of death.)
⁵ It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.”^[a] For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. ⁶ And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
(Faith in action means you can even supersede the process of physical death! A man of faith like Enoch was not bound by the death process as other mortals do.)
⁷ It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.
(Faith means willingness to look like a fool in the eyes of other human beings. it means being a minority minority by choice in the world. It also means hundreds of years may have passed and you still need to carry on believing in what the Holy Spirit says to you through the word of God even though you have not yet seen anything as the word has promised!)
⁸ It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. ⁹ And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. ¹⁰ Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
(Faith father Abraham did not know where he was going. But he followed and listened to the Holy Spirit. He could only see in the spirit as revealed to him, the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, the City of God. And he believed. How amazing it was considering him being a man who existed over four thousand years ago! The Holy Spirit was not restricted by time and space.)
¹¹ It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed^[b] that God would keep his promise. ¹² And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.
(Sarah too existed four thousands years ago. She believed just as her husband did. Faith broke the physical boundary set by nature over her beauty, her child bearing age etc. It was amazing how the foreign kings were awed by the great beauty of an elderly woman!)
¹³ All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. ¹⁴ Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. ¹⁵ If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. ¹⁶ But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
(Faith means we believe in God and the existence of the City of God, the New Jerusalem. Like Abraham, of whom we became descendants, we must see the City in our spirit. This is a common quality of faith people.)
¹⁷ It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, ¹⁸ even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”^{[c] 19} Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
(Faith requires readiness to give up/sacrifice your best love, whether it is another person or yourself. Everyone of us is both Abraham and Isaac. Only when I am ready to let go of ‘ME’, let ‘ME’ die, on the cross with Jesus, I may receive the resurrected new ‘me’ back from the dead, just as Abraham received Isaac.)
²⁰ It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau. ²¹ It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. ²² It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left. ²³ It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.
(The above three examples showed what faith in action required of parents or patriarchs. They passed on godly spiritual blessings to their younger generations. They showed that they feared God more than they feared man and they valued the promises of God more than everything else in this world. Indeed nothing else about their achievements on earth was recorded by the Holy Spirit here illustrating their faith except this point.)
²⁴ It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. ²⁷ It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. ²⁸ It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.
(The watchman was led to read this paragraph first when he opened his Bible today. The key verse that showed Moses’ faith was “He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the One who is invisible. ” Who was he seeing? He was seeing Jesus as he followed the Holy Spirit and he dared not take his eyes off Him. Because Jesus is always ahead, showing the direction and crushing the enemies for him, Moses had to keep right on going. That was how he led over three million people out of Egypt.)
²⁹ It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned. ³⁰ It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.
(Miracles always follow faith in action.)
³¹ It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
((Faith requires action in submitting to and obeying God. even Rahab could hear and obey the Holy Spirit. Who was she? A mere prostitute who existed over 3500 years ago.)
³² How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. ³³ By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. ³⁵ Women received their loved ones back again from death.
But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. ³⁶ Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. ³⁷ Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half,^[d] and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. ³⁸ They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
(Faith in action produced victors, Faith overcomers and supernatural exploits. Suffering in the eyes of the world too.)
³⁹ All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. ⁴⁰ For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.
(God sees and appreciates faith in action, regardless of the outcome in the eyes of the world. “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Heb11:6)

Footnotes:

1. Hebrews 11:5 Gen 5:24.
2. Hebrews 11:11 Or It was by faith that he [Abraham] was able to have a child, even though Sarah was barren and he was too old. He believed.
3. Hebrews 11:18 Gen 21:12.
4. Hebrews 11:37 Some manuscripts add some were tested.

End Times watchman Adventure: Bible reading in Spirit and in Truth

The watchman went through an interval of personal training for himself. He took part in a 72 hours of Bible reading (non-stop).
Some participants read and some rested at the same time all in one common hall. Two languages were going on simultaneously. The group who read in English speed read and carried on without pause. Readers were fluent readers. The other group which consisted of mainly new Christians read in their vernacular language, of which some could hardly read. Some had never read the Bible before!There were not few words which were difficult to pronounce even to fluent vernacular readers in Bible!
The slow readers group paused from time to time to learn to pronounce a word and at times was briefed on what they were reading and how the prophets related to the history books. By the end however, the vernacular group caught up with the English readers as they put some of their fluent readers into a third group tp read non-stop. Eventually, the third group finished reading the whole Bible for the rest on time. So the whole congregation read the Book of Revelation together in unison alternating in two languages chapter by chapter until the end.

Statistics: SUMMARY OF KING JAMES BIBLE STATISTICS:

Total Books – 66  Total Chapters  1,189 Total Verses…31,102

Total words in the 31,102 verses – 788,258 (not including the Hebrew Alphabet in Psalm 119 or the superscriptions listed in some of the Psalms)

KJV Bible has 3,566,480 syllabus.

Chinese Bible Statistics (CUV): 1189 chapters; 31219 verses; 931698 words (all single syllabus).

「上帝版」和合本新旧约合计1,189章。其中旧约有929章，23,179节，706,875字。
新约260章，8,040节，224,823字。
和合本「上帝版」新旧约共1,189章，31,219节，931,698字。
圣经中文和合本译本共约931,698字，或另一统计(和合本神版)共930,222字，
约用3,186个不同的中文字。
「英文圣经钦定本KJV」计有3,566,480字母，810,697个字(较中文圣经少121,001个字)，
31,175节(比中文圣经少44节)。

One evening, the two groups read the word of God together in unison in the two languages alternately after midnight from Psalm one to Psalm 119! It was really wonderful and the watchman witnessed the power of the word of God when read in one Spirit! Of course the reading/proclaiming of Revelation together aloud as the grand finale was beyond words.
Personal encounter by the watchman:
The watchman experienced the words that he received prior the beginning of the reading, 1 Pet.4:12-13. He was at first told by his closed one that the verses she received for all those who would take part in the Bible reading was 1 Peter.4:1-2, and they were to be encouraged to fast solid food for 72 hours. But the watchman inadvertently broadcasted 1 Peter 4:12-13 ! How little did he know the latter verses were meant for him and the few who were in the same boat.
When he asked the Lord this morning about the differences of the two groups he received the following verse confirming the actions (as led by the Spirit) of both groups.

Psalm 19:7-11

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

Indeed, these confirmed the power of the word of God as in:
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
and 2 Tim3:16-17

¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.