What comes into our minds when the word watch is mentioned? It may draw our attention to either, look at, be attentive to, or get careful with, something. The bible in so many scriptures calls for the need to watch, or rather, be watchful in life. What exactly is it that God wants us to watch for? When we look at, or pay attention to something, it is usually for the purpose of understanding. But when it comes to being careful with something, it has some securical concern. Since in both cases, the sole thing is to watch, then it is good that we have the thorough knowledge of what our maker is instructing us to understand so that we may deal with it carefully.
To make sure we understand something clearly, we always search from where it starts. So here, it is God commanding us to watch. We must begin with Him.He made the heavens and all its hosts, the earth and all that is in there, the seas and all that is in it. In His hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of every mankind-Nehemiah.9:6; Job.12:10.
It is therefore evident that He is the only one who knows what we should be watchful about. And because he created us with a purpose, then, the watchfulness must be a carefulness to achieve that purpose. Knowing the purpose therefore, is the beginning point. So now, what is it? Whatever is uppermost in God’s mind right-now is to restore His kingdom here on the earth, and it is for this purpose that He created human beings, for He says, let us make man who is like us( in our image and our likeness), that he may rule…upon the earth-Gen. 1:26. But here, it is very clear that, we must first be made spirit beings in the same way God is spirit, before we begin to rule the earth( we have a message, “ Why the physical bodies?”, which has details).
So, if there is any watchfulness we have to apply in this physical life, it must be in that process of being made spirits. This means that, all that we strive to do and achieve should be an advancement towards that spiritual goal. Are our lives right now bent in that commitment? Yes, is that the goal we are living for? Examine yourself please. What is uppermost in our minds, which is what we strive for in all our undertakings, which is also what we are very watchful and careful not to miss?
A BLIND GENERATION
If somebody is not realizing that there is some work God is doing in His life, such a person is blind. Why am I saying that? For if we accept that, God created us to be spirits beings for the purpose of ruling in His kingdom, and right now, we are flesh and blood (physical), which can’t enter or, inherit a spirit-kingdom-1 Cor.15:50, then it is obvious that God hasn’t finished creating us; for when he finishes, we will be as He is, holy and spirits-1 John.3:2; Lev.19:2. If then we are still in the factory, in God’s hands-Jerem.18:6, It means that, whatever we are doing as living must be what God is doing in us, being the means by which He is furthering our creation. What then is that thing, which God is doing in us right now, and which is what to watch on? Right now, everybody in the world is striving for wealth, fame and leisure.
So, we are being very careful and watchful, not to miss an opportunity of somebody or something that can enable us to achieve them. We are also being very watchful, against anybody, or anything that stops, or is hindering us from such an achievement. Friends, this is where the blindness lies. For if, all our efforts are geared towards becoming spirit beings, Will wealth, fame, and leisure enable us to achieve? Allow me to ask please: Is wealth, fame and leisure, what God is commanding us to watch about, to see that we don’t lose them? Can’t be.
For God stately says that those whose life’s-goal is wealth, fame and leisure, are fools, and nothing- Luke.12:20; Psalm.49:13,6-7;Gal.6:3, for they do see that, those who have achieved those things, do die and leave them to others; their breath departs, and to the grave, they go and become dust-Zab.49:10; 146:3-4. And after witnessing the end of those achievers, the living continue to pursue the same goal. Surely, if they are not blind, then what are they? The truth is, the today’s generation is not watching according to the God’s command; for if it was what he commands about that they watch, then surely, they would not end up in the grave but instead, they will become spirit beings and live forever.
But because the successful in that direction, the like of Mussolini, Hitler, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy (name any famous guy you know of), are all dust in the graves right now, then they weren’t achievers of what God commands. This is why we say that this generation is blind.
THE RIGHT WATCHING
If there is anybody who wishes and desires that we live, who does whatever is in his power to make us succeed in life, it is God. Also, if there is anybody who knows how we can go about a successful and, an achieving-life, its God. If this is the case then, what does he say we should watch on, which is what we should be careful to guard in all our efforts?Know and understand that, it can’t be something outside His purposed plan for our lives. So, what is it? Listen please if you want to know and watch rightly. Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it comes the issues of life-prov.4:23. Brethren, if we will obey God’s command to watch, and get careful, then, this is where to begin.
But why should the heart be the beginning point? Remember this, that, the God’s goal for our lives is what should be our life’s goal, and the very aim for our right now undertakings. We know that, this physical life we are living now is the very first stage of our, God’s-creation process ( read an explanative message, “ Man’s creation process”, please), for He tells us, it is first the physical, then afterwards, the spiritual-1 Cor.15:46,49. So now, what is it that we should be doing in this life, which will advance us to the spiritual destination ( a message, “ why the physical bodies?”, has details please)? The heart is the very seat of the mind, and the store of all knowledge and understanding by which, one lives the way they do. God never created our hearts with that knowledge and understanding ready-stored in them.
Being the second stage of our creation process, which is also the beginning point of the spiritual creation, God planned that, another spirit be put in the heart of men to pump knowledge and understanding in it, to enable man to live according to that acquired knowledge. So, the acquisition of knowledge and understanding is the beginning of the spiritual stage which will culminate in spirit bodies. It is by this acquired knowledge which, when applied in doing, that we develop our behaviours.
On the other hand, Satan, who is the right-now ruler of this world is strongly opposed to this spiritual creation of man, for he knows man’s potential, which is to dethrone him, for soon, the qualified people will be given the kingdom, the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven-Dan.7:27 ( our message, “the two trees”, has details). So, Satan is striving to the best of his ability, to captivate our hearts, by placing his deceiving spirit in us, to make us believe a lie, so that by it, we may destroy ourselves and die.
This is why our hearts are the thing to guard most, with all our strength. For if we receive the spirit of Satan, the knowledge that we will acquire will be a lie which is meant to corrupt and destroy us-Eph.4:22, and it is the one God warned Adam about saying, if you eat( receive of Satan,s spirit)of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die-Gen.2:17.It is therefore evident that the life that one lives springs from one’s heart, for which reason, if the heart is captured by the enemy, then you live in captivity, for, as one is in the heart, so, one speaks and does-Mat.12:34-35. Let everyone of us now look into their heart. As a God-obeying person, is your heart, what you are watching, making sure that the spirit which is operating there, which is giving you to speak and do the things you do is that of God? Confirm please. How?
PURSUE ETERNITY
We have just seen that, the stage-two creation which is spiritual begins with the acquisition of knowledge from an indwelling spirit. So, it is important to be sure that the spirit in your heart is that of God, by which He is developing His knowledge which, we will apply to develop His holy, righteous behaviour, for, His work in our physical lives is to, put His spirit in our hearts, by which, He is writing his laws in there( pumping his knowledge in us), to cause us to walk ( behave like him) in them- Ezek.36:27;Jerem.31:33-34.
The laws of God are His life. Since He is creating us to be like Him, then, the only way we can be sure we have His spirit, is to see ourselves living His law- 1 John.2:3, which is also, the only knowledge by which we can successfully be watchful-Psalm.119:9. For this to happen, God has permitted that, everybody enjoys the freedom of choice. This is why, though He wants to make us spirit beings, He never made us into it straight away. It takes our free-will choice for Him to further our creation to that finished spirit condition.
Now, since it is knowledge that enables us to do and it must come from an indwelling spirit, and the knowledge that comes from God’s spirit is His word, are we seeing ourselves doing according to God’s word, the only prove that we have His spirit? Brethren, our watchfulness is to make sure that the knowledge that we are using to do, is that God’s word, the only life there is in the entire universe-rov.4:22; 3:16,15,17. Therefore, let us know, and understand that, if our goal in life is that of God, then, we will apply no other knowledge other than His word, for, it is our only knowledge and understanding-Deut.4:6.
As God’s-obedient children, is His word our only knowledge and behaviour? Let everyone search his/her heart first before giving an answer. One whose knowledge is the word of God does not defend the flesh, its benefits, nor its desires, for he knows it to be, nothing-Gal.6:3, an enemy of life-Rom.8:6-7, and without any value-Gen.18:27; James.4:14; Isa.40:6-7. So, his watchfulness is to pursue the valuable spirit nature, to put on glory, honour, and immortality-Rom.2:7. For this reason, wealth, fame, and leisure no longer holds anything worthy of watching to him. To him, they have become nothing, just like dung-Philip.3:8.Why? For they don’t help him in any way, in pursuing his goal of becoming like God. He is somebody who has discovered that, the benefits of wealth, fame, and leisure in this body, are short-lived-Job.14:2-3; Heb.11:25. He has also discovered that, he cannot uphold his own life by his strength, and therefore, the only way to defend this physical life is to operate it according to God’s word, something the body is totally opposed to, for, it is an enemy of God’s law-Rom.8:7. This is where choice-making is needed because, while the spirit of God is leading us to rejoice in God’s law-Rom.7:23, the devil uses the desires of the flesh, bringing differing thoughts which oppose the law of God-Rom.7:23 last part.
Dear brethren, this is where we can be sure which spirit is filling our hearts, for if it is that of God, we will hate, resist and reject Satan’s appeals through the fleshly desires-1 Pet.5:8. We have a cloud of witnesses, those who chose to live God’s life before us, yes, who chose to pursue eternity. We all know that, the act of sexual intercourse is a very pleasurable thing, very comforting. But God has ordained that it be enjoyed only in marriage. So Joseph, being in his pursuance for eternal life, was approached by Satan through the wife of Pontipar, an extremely beautiful and attractive lady; who told him, “ lets have an affair-Gen.39:7. Now, because the spirit that filled his heart was that of God which says, don’t have sex outside marriage-Exod.20:14, Yes the one that hates Satan’s life, he resisted him, asking the woman, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against my God-Gen.39:9?
He remembered what our Lord- Christ is telling us against pleasing the flesh, saying, whoever seeks to save his flesh will lose it, but whoever loses it( rejects its desires) for my name’s sake will save it-Mat.16:25. This is because the flesh desires and takes pleasure in that life which opposes God’s life-Gal.5:17, the only life there is in the entire universe. So, whoever listens to, and obeys it, is pursuing destruction and death-Rom.8:12-13; Eph.4:22. Since God is the creator of our bodies, then He must be the only one who knows how they should be attended to; and this, he has explained through His word.
It is because, His word is, that way of doing, which will lead and take us to eternity. Back to our hearts now. Is the spirit that fills our hearts the one that rejoices in the law of God or, the one that rejoices in the flesh, but because we profess to be godly, we only display an outward obedience while our hearts burn with fleshly desires? Anyone who has the spirit of God, genuinely obeys His command to watch, and naturally rejoices in the law of God, and meditates on it day and night-Psalm.1:2, because it is the only knowledge he has. Therefore, in everything he does, he is watchful to make sure that he does according to God’s word, for he targets, becoming like God. This is possible only if, the spirit that fills our hearts is that of God, the one that wrote His word (the scriptures).
CONFIRM YOUR FAITH
Let’s not forget what God is teaching us here, the true art of watching. We have seen how watchfulness comes by knowledge; and knowledge comes from the spirit that fills one’s heart. So, if the spirit that fills one’s heart is that of God, then the knowledge by which we will watch, is the scriptures, for our Lord says that, one will watch his/her way by doing according to the word-Psalm.119:9. This being so, have we confirmed that the spirit that gives us knowledge by which we are being watchful, is that of God? Let’s examine ourselves again, bearing in mind that, one doesn’t do what fills his heart by being forced or in pretence, but because it is what he loves above all others-yes, because it is the only knowledge one has.
Any enforced or pretended doing does not come from the heart, a good reason why hypocrites, honour God with their mouths while their hearts are far from Him-Mark.7:6-7. So, is our watchfulness, one that springs from a heart filled with God’s spirit, which makes us watch out of love, and for which reason, like God, we can’t change? If yes, then, whether tribulation, poverty, riches, famine, sicknesses, powers nor, dominions, nothing can pull us out of that watching- Rom.8:345-38. All our talks, reactions, deeds and thoughts will be God’s word. All of us do understand the behaviours of God’s spirit, and they are what He is creating in us in order to make us like Him.
Are they then, our behaviours; I mean, do we live,love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control-Gal.5:22-23? Remember, these are fruits of the spirit that fills our hearts, and so, they are our desire and pleasure, meaning, we do them naturally and therefore, non-conditionally. They are as a result of the only knowledge we have, for our Lord says, out of the heart, a man speaks and so, he does. Its impossible for a heart which is filled with God’s spirit to produce the fruits of Satan’s spirit and vice vasa-Mat.12:34-35; 7:17-18. For this behaviour- development to be possible, God created us with a body which desires according to Satan’s way ( our message, “ why the physical bodies?”, has details), and He also allowed Satan to continue being on earth as its ruler, to test us and see if we will obey Him and watch according to His word or not- Judges.2:22; James.1:3-4.
So now, you who have the spirit of God, which has pumped his knowledge in your mind, when Satan comes to you with His suggestions, do you answer him by it is written, I mean, do you remember what God says, or, You go by the way you feel, or the way your body desires appeal to you? Search your heart and your actions to confirm before you answer please. If somebody right now takes your possessions by force, or insults you, doing you shame before men, how do you respond to that? If truly, the spirit that fills your heart is that of God, You will have nothing else to do except the goodness which comes with that spirit..
This is why those who were before us testified saying, when insulted, we bless; when afflicted, we endure; when slandered, we conciliate; we have become like the refuse of this world- 1 Cor.4:12-13. Most of us may not have understood what Christ means by, before you remove a speck in your brother’s eye, make sure to first remove the log in your own eye so that, you may see clearly-Mat.7:5. The point is what we are addressing in this message; to be watchful. Its impossible to deal with your neighbour in the right way if you are not careful to make sure that the spirit inspiring you in your dealing is that of God. Peter had this in mind when he wrote, keep your conscience clear-1 pet.3:16. In other words, in everything you do, think or desire, always begin by making sure that, the inspiring spirit is that of God. If you discover it is not, then don’t do it; first go to prayer, ask for the right spirit, then once in place, go and do whatever you will. This is how to first remove the log in your eye. This is how our forefathers never defended themselves and retaliate.
Because their minds understood life differently from their aggressors; because the inspiring spirit was different. And because one must do according to the knowledge that fills his mind, then they have no other than to do good, just in the same way their aggressors have no other than to do bad. This is why as rightful watchers, we are being admonished, not to be overcome by evil but rather overcome it by doing good-Rom.12:17-20. Why should we live by what, according to human reasoning, appears like getting careless with ourselves? Because, what we are pursuing, cannot be got by self-efforts or defense, like the world does. It can’t be got in, or, hindered by wealth, fame, or leisure. It can’t be protected by fighting, or mistreating those who oppose us.
It can only be achieved by God’s power which works only in those who obey Him-Acts.5:32. This is why those who pursued eternity before us never treasured their lives in these physical values, in people’s support, or wealth, nor in their own strength. For this reason, they rejected the so called high-class life-Dan.5:17; Heb.11:25-27, 35-38; Mat.22:16;John.2:24. They understood very well that the purpose of being in this physical lives is not for the now-life, but rather, the now life is for the sole preparation for the coming one-Heb.11:10,15,26.
They knew very well that, it won’t be until that time when they become spirit beings, for they said, our common wealth is in heaven, and from there, we await a saviour who will change our vile bodies that they be like His glorious one-Phil.3:19-21. So, we must put our minds where our lives are- Col.3:1-4.Until such a time, when we will be thus clothed, we don’t see anything else in here between, and all our values and desires are out there, for everyone who has the spirit of God does know that he/she is in this present world, for the sole purpose of being created in the likeness of God until we be fully like Him, and this for the purpose of ruling the earth-Gen.1:26.
The knowledge and behaviours of God’s kingdom, and how to achieve them, are the extreme opposite of that of this world. Yes, the goal of the present world’s life and that of God’s kingdom are two, totally different and opposite ones. This is why our carefulness is in making sure to follow His word, instead of our own thoughts, so that we may follow him until He takes us to His desired goal-Psalm.119:105. Brethren, this is the right watching, the only way to be careful. Are you godly? Are you therefore watching in spirit and truth? It is your Lord and saviour, Christ the Messiah calling with love, for all his sheep to carefully watch, through His servants.