the watcher

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Sometimes we could get too familiar with God and thus forget that we are working with the Alpha and Omega. He sees beyond our comprehension and He knows the end before the beginning. In Isaiah chapter seven Syria joined forces with Ephraim and with the king of Israel to attack Judah and thus take over Jerusalem and install a new king that is, the son of Tabeal. King Ahaz ruled Judah at that time. The Lord sent the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz telling him not to fear: Isaiah 7:7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. However we see that the Lord asked King Ahaz to ask for a sign, I love this man's answer, an answer of a man who had FAITH! Isaiah 7:10-12 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ah...

Psalms 62:11 God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God. We live in a world that is full of noise. A lot of things come in from every corner. We cannot control the environment but we can control what we are receptive to. If you are to live in faith you should hear the voice of the Lord above all the noise. Jesus said His own will hear His voice and they would follow Him, they would not follow another. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: So many things seek our attention. * Some are very important * Some are not that important * Some are a mere distraction We must decide which one to pay attention to, not everything is for us to receive. Selah! As we go about our duties and roles,  it is important to listen to the Father and He speaks to us through His Holy Spirit. No wonder the character of the Holy Spirit is "patience". We must learn to patiently listen, because He would surely speak. The love...

Isaiah 6:1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.   2 Corinthians 6:17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. From the beginning of man's surjourn on earth there has been separation(s), and most times it has been on the line of the good and the evil. From Isaiah chapter six many have taught on the death of King Uzziah as the liberty that allowed Isaiah to see the Lord. Then they go ahead to advise us to break links with this person or that person. This does have a lesson to those who have attached themselves to people instead of to the Almighty God! However, separation from Isaiah 6 is seen in Isaiah's prophecy in two scenarios: firstly we see Isaiah exclaim: Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell ...

Isaiah 5:4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? In Isaiah 5, the Lord is seen given an illustration of a well prepared vineyard, nurtured and cared for by its owner, however when it was time for it to bear fruit it produced sour grapes. What then will the vine owner do but to pull down its wall and destroy the vineyard. Isaiah 5:5&6 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. The vineyard in this text referred to Judah and Jerusalem: Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant p...

John 14:16 And I will make prayer to the Father and he will give you another Helper to be with you for ever, God revealed himself to us in Christ Jesus, and He continues to be with us through His Holy Spirit. In John 14:16 Jesus said the Holy Spirit will be with us forever. Yes forever! However, we must not keep Him silent. Imagine living in a house with someone and you two do not talk to each other, or the communication is monologue. When the bible says "walk in the Spirit" it was a daily communication. Galatians 5:16&17 But I say, Go on in the Spirit, and you will not come under the rule of the evil desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; because these are opposite the one to the other; so that you may not do the things which you have a mind to do. So as long as we keep walking in the flesh our communication with God's Spirit is hampered. Many have taken their thoughts, impulse and inner feelings to be th...

Isaiah 3:10 & 11 Say ye to the righteous, that [it shall be] well [with him]: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be] ill [with him]: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. Isaiah chapter 3 was a prophesy against Judah and Jerusalem because of the evil they had allowed to take place in their land. Just as it is today, their leaders were part of their problem. They caused them to sin. Isaiah 3:12 [As for] my people, children [are] their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. At that time women ruling and very young people ruling were regarded as a disgrace. (even till today. . .  if you understand its interpretation) Seeing the err of these people of old, just like Jesus told the Scribes and Pharisees: Matthew 23:29&30 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulc...

Isaiah 2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and [are] soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. In Hebrews we as christians are warned not to rebel like the people of old. They did not take time to study and know the way of the Lord. Many of them perished in the wilderness, they just seemed to always take the wrong decisions doing those things that displeased God. Many have turned worship into seeking a way to prosper or get their heart desires, just like soothsayers and magicians. Hebrews 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in [their] heart; and they have not known my ways. In Isaiah 2, the bible talked of some possessing wealth and this wealth led them to acquire idols. They allowed themselves to be polluted with the practices and ways of strangers thus rebelling against God. Isaiah 2:7&8 Their land also is full o...

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. There have been questions about the release of God's power as His people gather again and again. Some sects have the belief that the manifestation of God's power ended with the apostles. This is not correct! Let us look at three aspects of the gathering on that day. 1. It was not seasonal, the brethren had a habit of coming together to pray. There was an instruction that they should wait. Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. The gathering was continuous though the Messiah had ascended, yet they had to continue gathering. This many fellowships still do. 2. The content of their gathering. They of course had a relationship with one another but they did not neglect the major ingredients of fellowship: * study of scriptures * prayers * worship Acts 1:15 And in those...

Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, [that] the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. We live in times when so many religions, beliefs and opinions exist. It is a secular world and powers also do tend to impose one religion or the other on the people they govern (categorizing atheism as a religion also). Worship has not been liberal through time, it did not just begin. We remember the record of Daniel's three friends who refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's statue. Even Daniel refused to worship king Darius contradicting the bogus law of the Mendes and Persian. We even see the false accusation against Christ and his apostles as a rebellion against the ruling authority of the day. Today we still have people who kill others for refusing to follow their own beliefs. We see people manipulate others all in the name of religion. Religion entwined ...

Malachi 4:2 But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. The desire of God for us is that we should be in good health. Jeremiah 30:17a I will give you back your health and heal your wounds,” says the Lord. The earth consists of things which could make our natural body weak and fall to sickness. Some ailments were from birth, some developed from activities done after birth, some as a result of bad life style, some as a result of eating the wrong things and recently from the activities of man in improving technologies, wars and also industrialisation. From the beginning of time God had been in the business of healing. The fall of man as recorded in Genesis 3 made man liable to sicknesses and diseases. But God had always shown His power to heal. His mercy was revealed from His children of Israel and all who still came from the outside received their healing, when they stirred up...

Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. Isaiah reigned through about four tenures of about four different kings of Judah, He was God's mouth piece to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. At that time many could only see within the activities that took place that led to the captivity of Judah, the exile to power nations and the destruction of Israel's city. Isaiah 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. It was of course far more than that the deliverance God sent Isaiah to prophesy about, it went beyond Israel to all men. Deliverance was coming to the world. The shadow was to pass away, truth was to be revealed. He revealed thus: Isaiah 1:11-14 To what purpose [is] the ...

Isaiah 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. The children of Israel through whom God reached out to the world lived in an "off and on" relationship with God, they just could not stick to complete obedience being easily influenced by the world around them and just couldn't maintain a faithful relationship with God. Yet His love reached out! The Jews were not the goal, the goal was that all humanity may receive grace from God and that all will enjoy the salvation of the Lord God, freedom from the bondage of the world and sin. Romans 9:22-26 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the G...

Psalms 90:17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands. After creating the heavens and the earth for six days(whether literal or otherwise) on the 7th Day God rested. After God rested on the 7th day, what did He do on the 8th day. The answer to this question is obvious, He resumed work again. Jesus confirmed this when He said:  . . . my Father works so I work . . . John 5:17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." Idleness, laziness and mediocrity are not the character of our Father, if you have these characters then you need to explain where you got them from but definitely not from God. God has already set things in motion which you activate when you work in knowledge and wisdom. The greatest of all was redemption which He had already done from the foundation of the world. 1Peter 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the fo...

1Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. God is the all knowing, that is why He is "Yahweh the Omniscience". Psalm 139 talked about God's knowledge of all things, yet one great thing about it, is that this knowledge of all, was embedded in the nature and person of God, that is -  Love. A proverb says: "no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care". What is that knowledge we have that makes us feel we are superior to others, or make us feel that we can look down on others. No, that is not what we are given knowledge for. The advantage of knowing should be to make others better and to bring them closer to fulfil their purpose in life. When knowledge is not backed with love, it profits nothing. 1Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, a...

John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Psalm 66:19 But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. There are times we feel God is taking His time. We hear ourselves say things like, I have been waiting on the Lord for this and for that. It seems to us that the Lord desires that we should pray, pray and pray before we get that which we desire. We may not be able to explain why some things do delay, or do not actually come to pass, the moment we declare them. One thing is sure though: 1Peter 2:2b but now you have come back to him who keeps watch over your souls. Psalm 34:7 The angel of the Lord is ever watching over those who have fear of him, to keep them safe. We cannot say that there is anytime we pray and God does not answer. What did He say? Was it a dialogue or a monologue? Can we recall those times we called out silently to God in a moment of pain or distress and suddenly...

Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; This was the desire of Paul and the other elders when they heard of the faith in Christ Jesus in the church in Colossae. That they may increase in the knowledge of the will of God. That is, as believers we have received salvation, the next thing is to determine His will for us and then go ahead to fulfill it. Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Is this what believers are taught today? When one is brought to Christ what is the next desire? Paul prayed the same prayer when he wrote to the church at Ephesus: Ephesians 1:17 & 18 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of h...

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision [is] yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. The most important expectation of the believer is to be with the Lord after the life we have here on earth. That is, the minute fraction of our time which we will spend here on earth is so insignificant compared to the immeasurable time we have to spend in eternity. Thus the christian has the character of patience, else we would not finish the race. People have been taught, or by their experience come to believe that "God is slow". This is not true in the sense we speak. If we think back to see how at an instant the Lord has brought us out of many situations that needed instant deliverance (most of them we take ourselves into) we see that the Lord is swift in delivering His own. (most times we do not remember those times but dwell on times when it seems the Lord delayed. Hmm). However waiting ...

Psalm 139:23 & 24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. When we come to Christ Jesus we are reborn, something happens we receive a new birth, a new nature. God adopts us as His children. John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: He then gives us His Holy Spirit. To get more understanding on this, we look at chapter 15 of the book of John. John 15:1&5 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Thus the new birth is us springing up from Christ Jesus who is the tree in this illustration. Now the issue still remains that we still have the power to decide, if we would abide in Him bearing His fruit of righteousness, or to fulf...

Colossians 2:6-10 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. Paul wrote to the church at Colosse, he heard of their faith, he knew that they needed to be encouraged. 1. CONTINUITY :  Most businesses fall because they fail in this, we do not just sit and begin to eat the fruits of the harvest, we also go again to sow, that we keep on reaping the harvest. Ecclesiastics 3:2b a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that whi...

John 6: 68 - 69 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Any christian who has come a distance in walking with the Lord would definitely have faced challenges that would bring out the question of another option. The reasons could be: * No proper teaching * Temptations or trial * A former belief or exposure * A wrong foundation or poor soil (see the parable of the sower) * Living in the wrong environment. Many reasons could abound, from our text, the disciples who stopped following Christ did not even understand what He said. John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Read John 6: 26-67 Really many did not understand that Jesus the Christ was the Word of God. John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and...

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. We may * have fallen * think we have failed * have tried many times and feel it may never work out * feel we have waited too long * have everything working well for us People may be making fun of us, maybe behind our back. People may even be praising us. This doesn't mean all is well or that we are on the right path. We are more interested in what God says or thinks about us. The enemy may keep dropping doubts in our mind. That is his work, don't fall for it. God's word and promises overwrites and overrides it. Glory. Don't stay there get up! try again. It will surely work out. It is time to move ahead. The time you awake, like you are now from this devotional is your morning. Therefore, arise and shine! Recall, take account of, then throw away the: * mistakes * wrong de...

Psalm 92:4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. Matthew 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Jesus made this statement after he cursed the fig tree and it withered away. He went on to say that if we had faith, and doubt not, we would move mountains. When we pray a lot of activities take place, we need to remember that we pray to change things. Just like Jabez' prayer. Do we also understand that when we change a part, another part is automatically affected. Take the case of the sons of Zebedee: Matthew 20:20 & 21 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping [him], and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. Well we may all attack her as selfish, in fact, the other disciples...

Psalms 27:14 Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. There are times we have to wait. When we have prayed, maybe fasted, cried, wailed but it seems to us that God is not interested in our situation. We may be tempted to feel that it doesn't bother God. We may even find our counterparts getting it easy. Still we must learn to wait. James 1:3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Will it be easy? No. Yet we must wait. Waiting on the Lord works out our patience and proves our obedience. Micah 7:7 "Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Lamentations 3:26 "It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD" Revelations 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. "while we are expecting blessing or promotion, we keep enjoying and rejoicin...

1Thessalonians 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort [you] by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, [so] ye would abound more and more. The whole essence of all we do should boil down to "PLEASING GOD". Yes it is all about Him. We do things most times to please self, family, society, an authority or government. However above all these, the ultimate is pleasing God. This is what Jesus taught! Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. If we do not please God, then what are we living for? The very essence of our being, all we do ought to be centered at pleasing Him. Jesus said: John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. This should be our testimony. Let us reason, who exactly are we trying to please, what does the person have to offer us ...

1Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing, As little children we sang the song that ends thus: (...  Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer...) One thing is sure about prayer and that is, in all forms, as stated in the scriptures, it must be consistent and never ceasing. Daniel 6:10b  . . . he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Great men of old had the custom of praying consistently, from Abraham to John the Baptist, this was so even till the resurrection of Jesus and is still continued after the Holy Spirit came down on Pentecost. Prayers are of many types and forms but the most important part is when we have discussions with God. A child cannot but, communicate with the father! As we go on in this second half of the year. We cannot forget to always pray. No matter how busy we are, we must make time to talk with the Father. He desires that we communicate with Him if we are His. I...

Daniel 3:12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Esther 3:8 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws [are] diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it [is] not for the king's profit to suffer them. You knew him/her as a good person. You have observed and proved and all is in line. Then suddenly you begin to have a second look and you begin to search for faults, to look out for reasons, things others do and are ok, but to you this person is failing, this person is wrong. Watch out! Who has spat in your ear? You may not even have known this person but someone or people have already began to tell you things about the person an...