Walk with Jesus : last ten days on earth prior the cross

There are ten days to the cross. This year’s Easter falls on 29th-31st March. The watchman is led to read Matthew from chapters 19-28 daily one chapter with Jesus.

He invites everyone who wants to walk this journey with the Lord to join in. Today the reading is for spiritual background covering chapters 16-18. 

The goal of the entire reading is to walk with Jesus on His last journey to Jerusalem, to Calvary, to the cross, and finally to the resurrection. Know Him as the Son of God. 
What are His last concern while on earth? His last concern is all about His disciples. His own. Will they learn to be led by the Lord, the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) after He left this earth (as a human, Son of Man)? will they see and understand spiritual matters and set their mind on the Spirit (the unseen and can only be discerned in the spirit) and not on the flesh (what they can see in the physical)? Will they mind the things of God and not the things of men? 

This is a unique spiritual journey. Only the Lord Holy Spirit can bring us along and guide us all the way. Angels too will line up and minister to every disciple / follower of Jesus. (Hebrews 1:14)

BACKGROUND: WHO MAY WALK WITH JESUS? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WALK WITH JESUS?

Chapter 16 JESUS WANTS HIS DISCIPLES TO REALLY KNOW HIM BEFORE THEY COULD WALK WITH HIM TO THE CROSS

verses 15-17 MAKE SURE WE KNOW WHO JESUS IS

Jesus made sure His disciples knew Who He really was. He asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter answered correctly, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”

Then He knew they could hear God after all and He was ready to go. He described this ability to hear God ‘blessed’. Then He explained, “My Father in heaven revealed this to you. You did not know this from any human being.”

Ability to respond according to God’s view point is called, “blessed”. (Today, believers and followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit Who tells us
God’s viewpoint. No excuse not to know or understand what the Bible is saying to each of us!)

v 21-28 EITHER BE BLESSED OR BE CURSED

v21-23 BE CAREFUL TO SEE JESUS IN GOD’S VIEWPOINT  (Peter’s example)

Only then He began to tell them His readiness to go to Jerusalem where He would suffer, be killed and on the third day be raised from the dead.

When Peter responded from his flesh (human view point), he was classified as ‘Satan’ and dangerous trap for Jesus. Here Jesus clearly stated that human viewpoint is equivalent to Satan’s viewpoint!

V24-28 TWO VIEWPOINTS, TWO RESULTS

Human viewpoint: always look out for self. The key words are: keep ‘my ways’, save ‘my life’, gain ‘my whole world’.

God’s viewpoint on your viewpoint: ‘your selfish ways’, ‘you cannot save your life’, ‘your gain means loss’. The loss will be terrible because Jesus said you need to exchange your world with your soul (life)!

Outcome: Only God’s way can save your life (soul), but you need to first give up your self, your ways and your life. Jesus’ demand is meant for all His followers, i.e. disciples.

Chapter 17 Jesus further made sure His disciples knew Who He really was and told them again what His mission on earth was

V1-13 TRANSFIGURATION: He showed three of the disciples Who He really was. God also testified from heaven just to make sure the three got the message. “This is My dearly loved Son Who brings Me great joy. Listen to Him.” (Up to that late time, they had not been listening to Jesus!)

v 22-23 Later Jesus and all His disciples gathered and He told them again that He would be betrayed, killed and on the third day He would be raised. (v23 “the disciples were filled with grief.” They were still not listening to Jesus.)

WALK BY FAITH VS WALK BY SIGHT

V14-20 BY FAITH: Jesus said, even mustard seed size faith can move mountain. Unbelief hindered faith in operation. Unbelief of disciples is due to walking by sight (seeing the evil manifestation in the boy under torment, the boy’s father’s exasperation, the bystander crowd).

V24-27 BY SIGHT: (regarding temple tax) Peter viewed Jesus as an ordinary man like any Jew who must obey the temple law to pay temple tax. Jesus brought up two spiritual points. In the spiritual realm Jesus was far above the man-made temple and even Moses law. Jesus is the Son of God. The second point is that only those who had been conquered need to pay tax to the conqueror. Jesus is the Conqueror and not the conquered!

(This is very relevant today: why are the citizens paying taxes? Because the citizens are actually the ‘conquered’ by the political and related ‘conquerors’ who receive the taxes /benefits from the taxes!)

Chapter 18 Jesus’ answer to “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

V1 The disciples asked the ultimate question of a human mind, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” In the human political system, physical (material) power and status are fought over naturally. Even the devil runs his subordinates with hierarchical levels of authorities ( Ephesians 6:12).

V2-14 Jesus answered in great details to make sure His  disciples knew how the Kingdom of Heaven operates.

HE WARNED THEM OF THEIR PRESUMPTIONS (V2-10)

1. Make sure you get into heaven first before you ask for heavenly positions. The requirements are: repent for your sins and humble yourselves.

2. Make sure you do not sin further. Just as heaven is real, hell and eternal fire are real. Jesus warned specifically of causing others to sin as well as sinning yourselves.

3. Angels (messengers of God) are always watching and making reports of what you do.

4. Don’t ever look down on the humble. In God’s view, they rank high!

JESUS TOLD THEM OF HEAVEN ACCOUNTING PRIORITY (BASED ON GOD’S WILL) (V12-14)

The number ‘one of them‘ is of great priority in Kingdom of Heaven’s accounting.  God’s will is ‘Not one lost’, ‘Not one perished’. Jesus made sure the disciples got their priority aligned with the will of God first! (distributing political / governmental post is of the least priority as Jesus clearly showed here).

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN’S POWER COMES IN TWO FORMS: EXECUTIVE AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE (V15-20)

EXECUTIVE POWER: (v15-17) Jesus taught them how to operate this power which was an administrative authority. The goal was to gain back the erring or sinning brethren so his soul would not be lost.

SPIRITUAL POWER: (V18-20) Jesus also taught them how to use spiritual power in the heavenly realm. This power is used to release the captives and set the oppressed free from from spiritual imprisonment. Indeed Jesus had given His disciples this power and they had used it effectively. (Luke 4:18)

HOWEVER, JESUS KNEW WHAT HIS DISCIPLES NEEDED MOST AND HE WARNED THEM FURTHER! (V21-35)

UNFORGIVENESS IS A BIG ISSUE AND UNLESS THEY RESOLVED THIS MATTER THEIR ENTRY INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN REMAINED QUESTIONABLE.

Journey to see God: GOD, GOD, GOD!

Today we see God in God, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
So there is no 'I', 'me' nor 'mine', but GOD,GOD, GOD ONLY!
Romans 8

New King James Version (NKJV)
Free from Indwelling Sin
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Sonship Through the Spirit
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
From Suffering to Glory
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
God’s Everlasting Love
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”[c]
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Footnotes:

1. Romans 8:1 NU-Text omits the rest of this verse.
   
2. Romans 8:26 NU-Text omits for us.
   
3. Romans 8:36 Psalm 44:22
   

Introducing “A dictionary for navigators on spiritual rough waters”

The watchman has been assigned a task. Here

is the result (in parts) – a dictionary for the word of God, as led by the Holy Spirit.There is a new dictionary which is not exactly new. It has been hidden to many who do not venture into the spiritual realm. The mindman has discovered this new way of reading words, really important words, the words of God. So he begins his real journey on the rough uncharted waters.

Here are some of the new meanings of words or phrases he has found on the way. Enjoy your own navigation through the spiritual mind journey!
________________________________
Anger: it means murder when you think anger in your mind concerning your fellow Christians.
Matthew 5:21-23 (NKJV) Murder Begins in the Heart ²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.²³ Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Bravery: If you think of men and fear them and do what they like you to do, you are  a coward. Only when you mind the matters of God and do the will of God regardless what men may say or do to you, you are considered brave, Jesus is the best example of bravery. Peter is a typical example of the opposite.
(Matthew 16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Matthew 16:22-24 (in Context)  Matthew 16 (Whole Chapter)  Other Translations )
Consider: means accounting action. Many think this is just a matter of thinking in your mind. But in the new dictionary it means real action. For example, it is same as the word count or account. When you consider something in your mind your account in heaven starts updating with debits and credits being input into it!

 Romans 6:11 (EXB) | In Context | Whole Chapter ¹¹ In the same way, you should ·see [count; consider] yourselves as being dead to ·the power of sin [^Lsin] and alive ·with [to; with reference to] God ·through [or in; in union with] Christ Jesus.

Defile: it means even your thoughts are action words. Mark 7:20-23 (ESV) ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Excellence: come in two forms: the power of God (the Holy Spirit); your spiritual knowledge of God.

• 2 Corinthians 4:7 [ Cast Down but Unconquered ]  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
• Philippians 3:8 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.

http://freemindconfession.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/a-dictionary-for-navigators-on-spiritual-rough-waters/
http://freemindconfession.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/a-dictionary-for-navigators-on-spiritual-rough-waters-chapter-2-more-gems/
http://freemindconfession.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/a-dictionary-for-navigators-on-spiritual-rough-waters-background-explained/

Why does the spiritual mindman start this new journey to read God’s words? Because he has navigated the uncharted waters previously and known how tough it is to sail without a pilot or a navigation guide. So in this dictionary he records everything he perceives in his spirit to share with his spiritual novice friends and brethren. This is not a conventional Bible words dictionary. It is a compilation of his spiritual notes while reading the Bible.

There will be many more gems posted on the above spiritual mindman blog from time to time. Please look out for them. 

Journey to see God: see His eternal power and divine nature

Here comes Romans 1, for those who have been following the Journey in the Holy Spirit.

 Lightning and thunder

 water

fire   

 hail and snow

 Love

"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)
"by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." (2 Peter 1:4)

 

Romans 1

English Standard Version (ESV)

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehandthrough his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh⁴ and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (butthus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

2 Peter 1:3-5 (in Context) 2 Peter 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Journey to see God: See God. Don't see yourself!

Today's message is to whom we are looking. When we focus on ourselves, we see defeat. When we turn to look at the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit), we see victory! The law (the words of the whole Bible) is not dead letters. They are alive and spirit. Jesus said in John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

Romans 7

English Standard Version (ESV)

Released from the Law

7 Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? ² For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. ³ Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

⁴ Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

The Law and Sin

⁷ What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
¹³ Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Watchman’s letter to Junior: end times here, persevere to watch after midnight

Dear Junior: (a watchman/intercessor who started young) Greeting to you in peace.
The following sharing is also for the benefit of those aspiring to be watchman/intercessor.
The end times watchman was admonished lately after he had moved away from his Mount of Olives attic for sometime, giving way to some overseas visitors. The visitors had returned to their country but the watchman was too lazy to clean up and move back. But now his two trees outside the prayer window had shown charred leaves and the third one too started to show brown color. (He admitted in his spirit he had not prayed consistently. He was earlier told that the first three bread fruits from a breadfruit tree planted by him in a former prayer house he attended were plucked and wasted before they matured!) The warning word from the Lord is “BEWARE DESOLATION”!
Thus he decided to move back and he completed the task after a day of spring cleaning. The first midnight was truly different and fruitful. He was woken after midnight. He was led to read Zechariah 3-4, Malachi 3-4, Luke 13-14.
The message came to him clearly, confirming the signs he had received intensely even during the last quarter of 2012: The Lord is talking about end times. Two types of burning: those refined and those perished. Two outcome: those who will enter and those who will be left out of the kingdom of heaven. The message is for both Christians (even the high priest Jeshua was like a burning stick snatched from the fire! Zech. 3:2, 3:8) and unbelievers. It was a last call to repentance. Luke 13:2-8; the Lord’s personal urge for all to work hard to enter the narrow door Luke 13:24-30.

On the second night the watchman was again woken after midnight. He was led to read Ezekiel 3-7.
Chapter 3 message is for all watchmen to be alert after midnight. He was tired and sleepy as he had not practiced for sometime. For those who do not know, the watchman has to learn and practice to live divine. He is human like anyone. He learns to fast and pray. He learns to read Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to him through the Bible. He learns to do various types of fasting as led by the Lord (Holy Spirit). Often it is tough. For example, fasting the Esther fast (three days no food no water), or even Daniel fast, no meat, only light vegetable soups, a bit of rice and mainly liquid (water) for prolonged period (like 21 days or more when the Lord prompts him to extend). Often he just sleeps or stays very still and silent, using only his eyes, his ears and his spirit. But now the Lord wants him to reduce sleep and even intercede.

While lying on the floor he heard this very clearly in his spirit, read Ezekiel 3-4. He finally got up reluctantly and open his Bible. Not surprising, the warning to lazy watchmen is here.
3:20-21 warns: ““If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. ²¹ But if you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself, too.”

Nothing can compare with this way of waking him. He continued reading and soon knew the prayer he made on the previous day, asking the Lord how he should intercede for his nation, had been answered. The warnings are shocking.
chapter 4: A sign of the coming siege
chapter 5: A sign of the coming judgment
chapter 6: Judgment against Israel’s mountains (idols, false gods, pagan shrines etc.)
chapter 7: The coming of the end
By reading the headlines above one should understand and hear what the Holy Spirit is saying.

What should a watchman do in this time? A novice watchman may ask.
The answer is: obey your calling and watch and pray like never before.

Be soaked in the joy of the Lord Holy Spirit!
love in Christ from uncle watchman.

____heavy reading from the Word

Ezekiel 7

New Living Translation (NLT)

The Coming of the End (excerpts)

7 Then this message came to me from the Lord: ² “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“The end is here!     Wherever you look— east, west, north, or south—     your land is finished. ³ No hope remains,     for I will unleash my anger against you. I will call you to account     for all your detestable sins.
⁵ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Disaster after disaster
is coming your way!
¹² Yes, the time has come;
the day is here!
Buyers should not rejoice over bargains,
nor sellers grieve over losses,
for all of them will fall
under my terrible anger.
¹³ Even if the merchants survive,
they will never return to their business.
For what God has said applies to everyone—
it will not be changed!
Not one person whose life is twisted by sin
will ever recover.

Journey to see God: God's Accounting -obedience counts

Romans 6

English Standard Version (ESV)

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, butpresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.