HEED THIS CRY: “HOW LONG”?

Today’s cry is “HOW LONG?”
JESUS ASKS CHRISTIANS (HIS DISCIPLES): “HOW LONG?” Matthew 17:17
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”
PROPHET ASKS GOD: “HOW LONG?” Habakkuk 1:2 [ The Prophet’s Question ] O Lord, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save.
GOD ASKS GOD’S PEOPLE: “HOW LONG?” Hosea 8:5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them— How long until they attain to innocence?
WISE KING ASKS HIS SONS: “HOW LONG?” Proverbs 1:22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge. Proverbs 6:9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
GODLY KING ASKS HIS SUBJECTS: Psalm 4:2 How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness And seek falsehood? Selah
GOD ASKS THE PASTOR (MOSES)WHO REPRESENTED THE CONGREGATION: Exodus 16:28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? Numbers 14:11 [ Moses Intercedes for the People ] Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? Numbers 14:27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.
THE CHURCH WEARIED LEADER ASKS THE LETHARGIC CONGREGATION: Joshua 18:3 Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? (i.e. How long are you going to stay in the old man of sin and not put on the new man of righteousness?)
THE ANSWER FOR A TRULY CBORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN IS “NO LONGER”: Romans 6:2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

FINALLY, THE PIERCING CRY OF THE MARTYRS:
Revelation 6:9-11New King James Version (NKJV)
Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

The Jesus Generation

Some years back, we read of people born in different periods being classified as generation X or generation Y etc. The social classifiers (mostly commercially linked) tried to put people into periods with distinct market related characteristics (for the sake of selling the right consumption products to each niche people market) by the chronological years in which they were born. This watchman did a bit of market-related study on such classifications then. Of course nothing of original note or unique worthiness came out of the study. Any serious researcher will admit that there are no fixed factors. One famous management saying at one time was, “The only constant is change.” Having been in the management scene practically all of my corporate years, I have learned this important fact and principle: “Do not attempt to presume and classify an individual.”
Because this is not a management blog, I will proceed to share of some recent testimonies of Christian individuals I have met who have lived a fruitful life in the Kingdom of God and have never fit into any ‘sociology-commercial’ or ‘pseudo-psychology’ categories.
I have been honored and blessed to meet with a godly couple. A medical (dentistry) doctor and his wife who used to be a professional nurse until she became a full-time housewife cum intercessor. When I listened to their sharing I was humbled and touched. The man (now in his mid-fifties) came from a Christian family and went through the whole journey of being in Sunday school, junior and senior youth in the church. When he attended university, he was exposed to and discipled by many Christian theological and Bible-focused scholars and practitioners. He was also given many opportunities to serve the Lord in various Great-Commission-oriented evangelical ministries. After graduation he heard from the Lord, “Give Me your best 25 years.”
He went back to his hometown, started his dentistry practice (as a ‘tent-maker’) and resumed serving as an elder in his home church. He continued this ministry for thirty years to date. When I interviewed him I perceived his unwavering and ever-burning zeal and passion for the Lord and the Great Commission given by Jesus to the disciples. His wife and his children (two medical doctors and one dentist) too serve the Lord actively. This is a family of disciples of Jesus. Their affluence and professional successes have not diverted them from their first love.
The head of the house shared how he was overwhelmed by the great love of God in the form of brilliant light twice in his life, comforting him at his depressed moments when he felt such burdens on his shoulder from the external environment in spiritual valley (family and church lives not being what he wanted them to be). He shared how the love of God changed his perspectives.
What generations are they? They are members of only one generation -the Jesus generation. The Child of God generation. They are timeless. They live the characteristics of the Kingdom of God people.

a letter: each must find his/her or its own course and follow through to its end

DEAR BELOVED OF GOD:

Last night I slept after 2 something.I came back from a posh French dinner and had a scare when my mobile phone was jammed at the starting screen and couldn’t be shut down. I did open both ends and found that they did not house the battery. Later I waited for the battery to run out using the fan at full blast to cool it to prevent explosion if any. my over imaginative mind…sigh.

Then I went on internet and discovered this phone’s battery was fixed and could not be removed!

How to shut if off ? A blogger advised that he did it by pressing the on-off button and the sound volume increase-decrease button at the same time.

Anyway my prayer was answered. The phone actually shut down itself when the battery was exhausted. Then I recharged the phone and discovered to my relief it came back to ‘life’ by itself. (Rather, by angels’ working overtime! )

While all these were going on, and I was sitting in darkness in the humid and sweaty night, I thought of how even a jumbo jet could exhaust its fuel and shut down itself wherever it 'happened' to land itself (on solid ground or on stormy raging waters).
So is life without God.

There is an appointed time for each appointed living being and even non-living thing. How awesome is our Creator.

Lesson and reminder learned:

1. appointed time cannot be ignored. It doesn’t change its course.

2. each must find his/her or its own course and follow through to its end.

3. Believers can ask the Lord and follow through without fail if we really want to. Jesus has promised each believer His Spirit to lead and enable us to complete the race in the time appointed to each.

4. Reminder to all: when time is up, it is up. Like choosing a path in the maze: once a wrong choice is made,  it will still lead the mistaken to its end, usually a dead end.

Frightening without the Holy Spirit!

5. My resolution: Must spend the rest of my appointed time to use my spiritual gifts to the max., hopefully, to bring many to the Holy Spirit pathway.

love to all,

watchman

an appoinited time for each man