Good Morning, Everyone! :hibye: Daily Scriptural Text for Thursday, February 15, 2007:
42 "Watch therefore [give strict attention, be cautious and active], for you do not know in what kind of a day [whether a near or remote one] your Lord is coming."
--Matthew 24:42, The Amplified Bible.
Complementary Scriptures:
43 "But understand this: had the householder known in what [part of the night, whether in a night or a morning] watch the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be undermined and broken into.--Matthew 24:43, ibid.
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30 Jesus, taking him up, replied, "A certain man was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of his clothes and belongings and beat him and went their way, [unconcernedly] leaving him half dead, as it happened."--Luke 10:30, ibid.
(Verses 25-37 provide the familiar context, relating the parable of "the good Samaritan.")
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10 "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."--John 10:10, ibid.
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36 "But of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."--Matthew 24:36, ibid.
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44 "You also must be ready therefore, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him."--Matthew 24:44, ibid.
__________
My comment: "Keep on the watch." That is how the NWT renders Jesus' words. Perhaps you would agree (or, perhaps not) that the "feeling" conveyed by "Religion," as it discusses these words of Jesus is a feeling of fear and dread. A feeling of perpetual inadequacy. A feeling similar to the feeling you might have walking down a dark street alone in a "bad" part of town, in the middle of the night; just knowing that someone is going to jump out and assault you at any given moment. Isn't it true that "Religion," generally speaking, does make God out to be a big ole' Boogie Man?!? :shocked:
Well, I believe that many of us are well along in our personal process of growing beyond such things; and, being able to see right through them as transparent attempts to keep "the sheep" in a stirred-up and "controlled" condition. A condition of always needing to look to the Religious Entity itself as a "go-between" to shelter them from that "Boogie Man," known as God. When one fully dissects the premise and calls it what it is, ... how disgusting is that!?!?! :rant: Jesus called religious leaders of that sort ... "thieves," ... who come ... "only in order to steal and kill and destroy." (See John 10:10, above; also Matthew 23:13.) He also called them ... 'hired men,' ... who (when all is said and done), ... 'do not care for the sheep.'--John 10:12, 13.
I would really like to invite you to add your thoughts; especially pertaining to what it actually does mean for a Christian to ... "watch," ... "give strict attention," ... et al. Here's one to get us started:
15 Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.
--1 Timothy 4:15, English Standard Version.
What are "these things"?
"Fruitage of the [holy] spirit." -- Galatians 5:22, 23.
Cultivation and maintenance of "the new personality" in Christ.--Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 2:8-10.
Seeking and implementing "the wisdom from above."--James 3:17.
Constantly demonstrating LOVE, the identifying mark of true Christians.--John 13:34, 35.
Following Jesus' footsteps as closely as possible.--1 Peter 2:21.
And, why would we be concerned that "all may see [our] progress"? I can think of two reasons. Maybe you will add more.
(1) YHWH and Christ Jesus will be among the "all" who will see our progress and rejoice. It will show Them that we would never contemplate 'turning the grace of God into an excuse for loose conduct'; or, fail to properly esteem all that They have done, are doing, and will yet do for us.--Hebrews 10:29; 2 Corinthians 6:1.
(2) Others  who see our progress may come to recognize the intrinsic value of leading a life of "full godly devotion," and decide to become 'imitators of us, even as we imitate Christ.'
--1 Timothy 1:2-6; 1 Corinthians 11:1.
OK. Just one more thing: We may come to know the unspeakable joy of providing our Creator, -- in our very own personal case, -- 'a reply to the one who is taunting Him.'--Proverbs 27:11.
Pretty good reasons to "keep on the watch," don't you think? ;)
Have A Thoughtful Thursday, Everybody! :thinking:
Let's All Keep "Watching" The Right Things! :ok:
Much LOVE to ALL! :love: isomam
In what way are we to 'keep on the watch' ...
Well the obvious answer would be to keep abreast as to what we see happening AROUND us ... seeing how Bible prophesy is being fulfilled ... and looking forward to seeing how it will yet be fulfilled ...
But today my mind and heart seems to take me in slightly different direction for some reason ... :huh::heartbeat:
When I read the account in Matthew :read: I decided to go back a wee bit, as I always do for context and such and saw that oh so familiar account of Noah's day just prior ... perhaps I'll post the Scripture to refresh our memories and then try to put into words what I am feeling ...
Matt. 24:36-44 ...
36 “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 38 For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; 39 and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken along and the other be abandoned; 41 two women will be grinding at the hand mill: one will be taken along and the other be abandoned. 42 Keep on the watch, therefore, because YOU do not know on what day YOUR Lord is coming.
43 “But know one thing, that if the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 On this account YOU too prove yourselves ready, because at an hour that YOU do not think to be it, the Son of man is coming.
In relation to the people of 'Noah's day' ... how were THEY supposed to KEEP ON WATCH? What we they supposed to be LOOKING FOR ...? Jesus WASN'T coming back then ... I don't think there were really any prophesies to be 'fulfilled' for them to be keeping on the watch for was there ...?
What was Noah known for ... 2 Pet. 2:5 says ...
5 and he did not hold back from punishing an ancient world, but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people;
So, while Noah would have been very busy, along with his family, in getting the ark built ... he was also telling the people that Jehovah was going to bring to ruin UNGODLY people ... so WHAT exactly would he have been telling them to do perhaps ...
Would not his message been similar maybe of that of John the Baptist where he was asking people to REPENT ... to turn away from their ways and TURN TO GOD ... to MAKE THEIR LIVES OVER ... in living a righteous life ...? To KEEP A WATCH as to HOW THEY WERE LIVING ... seeing if it was 'good' or 'bad' in the eyes of God ...
So, too with US today ... perhaps we should really begin to view how important our 'keeping on the watch' OF OURSELVES AS CHRISTIANS should also be ...!!
Are we viewed as GODLY or UNgodly ...?
One thing I had always taken note of in the account of Matthew was that Jehovah seemed to focus on the CONDUCT and ATTITUDE of the people. That they were so caught up in their everyday physical life and concerns that they 'didn't take note' ... of their SPIRITUAL LIFE'S NEEDS ...
SINCE WE DON'T KNOW the 'day or the hour' ... we need to KEEP VIGILANT in our PROGRESS as 'spiritual followers' of our Lord and Savior ... we CANNOT AFFORD to get 'slack' in our 'making our minds over' ... in our 'putting on the spiritual suit of armor' ... 'in the doing good to all' ... in LIVING a Christian life TO EVERYONE ... believers and none beleivers ... as can be seen in the illustration of the 'good Samaratan' ... and so on ...
One Scriptural verse that has always caused me to 'wonder' is what is mentioned after the 'flood' part ...
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken along and the other be abandoned; 41 two women will be grinding at the hand mill: one will be taken along and the other be abandoned.
Here we see two people to the SAME THINGS ... both in the 'field' ... both 'grinding' ... and one is TAKEN and one is LEFT ...
So, IMHO ... could this not mean that it is not what we are on the OUTSIDE that our Lord and Savior is looking at ... but rather what is on the INSIDE ...
On the OUTSIDE we may LOOK like CHRISTIANS ... even be 'living' a 'Christian' ... but yet we are NOT on the inside ... we are hypocrits ... thinking that by WORKS we may get our 'reward' ... instead of what we are in the HEART ...
For example ... when it says the man's 'house will be broken into' ... because the 'OWNER' of the 'house' wasn't PREPARED ... or KEEPING ON THE WATCH ...
If WE are NOT keeping on the watch of our HEARTS ... our MOTIVES ... keeping our 'house clean' ... keeping it 'safe and protected in the arms of our Father and his Son' ... then indeed it will be EASY for a thief ... or someone who would 'corrupt our Christian ideals, views, lifestyles' to cause us to get caught up the 'physical' things ... and neglect or stop altogether the 'spiritual' things ...
Yes, indeed we DO need to KEEP ON WATCH and BE VIGILANT in SO MANY WAYS I am thinking ... but in keep our eyes focused on Jehovah and Christ ... by looking forward to the REAL life ... that of the paradise or heavenly hope ... we CAN keep awake ... even if the hour the Lord arrives is in the early morning ...!!
I don't think I really expressed myself very well as to what was in my heart ... but hopefully a glimmer came through ...
Love to all ... your sis BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts:
Christian love to you and all.
Sister Grateful.:giverose:
WE live life to the fullest every day as children. We don't even want to go to bed for fear of missing something..
We live our life based on truth (in most cases when we are young because we have nothing to fear)  when we are children.
We live our lives based on love and friendship and always trying our best,  because we never learned any other way.
We live our lives always seeking to imitate our parents as they are the greatest thing in our lives.
WE live life to the fullest every day as children. We don't even want to go to bed for fear of missing something..
We live our life based on truth (in most cases  when we are young because we have nothing to fear)  when we are children.
We live our lives based on love and friendship and always trying our best,  because we never learned any other way.
We live our lives always seeking to imitate our parents as they are the greatest thing in our lives.
Those are beautiful sentiments, TD.  I wish they were true in more cases- but then, the world would be a better place if the only fear we had as children was the fear of missing out on something good.  It would be a far better world if all children lived their lives based on love and friendship, and strived(?) to do their best always.  I, for one, never learned any of the things you reference above.
So maybe, that is what I need to keep on the watch for....truth, beauty, love, faith, joy....all of it.  Because I've never known the real thing- except in getting to know my Lord, my sweet Lord, Jesus, and his wonderful, loving, caring father, my Father, Jehovah God.
Much love to all of you- more and more as I understand it more and more thru the Grace of God!
Your sister, Micah
Satan has already stolen our gifts.  He is a thief..  It is only thru the grace of our Father and Jesus that we can even get a glimpse of the real life.
Not this prison within our garden..
Most of us yearn to really understand love..  sometimes we need to be emptied completely to begin to understand it.. Â
Much love to you sis.
My comment: "Keep on the watch." That is how the NWT renders Jesus' words. Perhaps you would agree (or, perhaps not) that the "feeling" conveyed by "Religion," as it discusses these words of Jesus is a feeling of fear and dread. A feeling of perpetual inadequacy. A feeling similar to the feeling you might have walking down a dark street alone in a "bad" part of town, in the middle of the night; just knowing that someone is going to jump out and assault you at any given moment. Isn't it true that "Religion," generally speaking, does make God out to be a big ole' Boogie Man?!? :shocked:
Well, I believe that many of us are well along in our personal process of growing beyond such things; and, being able to see right through them as transparent attempts to keep "the sheep" in a stirred-up and "controlled" condition. A condition of always needing to look to the Religious Entity itself as a "go-between" to shelter them from that "Boogie Man," known as God. When one fully dissects the premise and calls it what it is, ... how disgusting is that!?!?! :rant: Jesus called religious leaders of that sort ... "thieves," ... who come ... "only in order to steal and kill and destroy." (See John 10:10, above) He also called them ... 'hired men,' ... who (when all is said and done), ... 'do not care for the sheep.'--John 10:12, 13.
Thank you so much iso for these comments.
It started to strike me some time ago that the WTÂ Â had turned this incredibly beautiful scripture in John 10 into something else.
It is not a scripture about a class system, it is a scripture about freedom.
Jesus comes to a group of sheep that has been kept safe in a walled pen, (the law covenant, Galatians 3:23 'we were being guarded under law'). He calls for them and they recognise his voice and come out. They can trust him as a good shepherd who will watch over them, so they no longer need to be in a 'pen/fold', a walled-in structure to preserve them.
Jesus is the door and whomever 'should enter' through him will
1. be saved
2. go in and out and find pasturage
v. 9 is telling us that if we stay close to this shepherd we will be safe.
We do not need to fear the hired man (those who are supposed to have oversight but don't care), the thief (those who would like to steal us from Jesus' care), the wolf (rapacious ones that will feed off us any way including monetarily and spiritually strip us to our bare bones).
If we stay close to our fine shepherd, under his gaze, we will be safe.
Many would like to stick us back in a pen, a religion with its own rules, but sheep in a pen can't feed. Sheep in a pen are only fed if they are tossed some food, by those who have put them there.
Sheep in open pasturage can feed themselves, and that is where we should be, out in free grassland, chomping away on spiritual food under the care of our watchful shepherd.
BTW iso, when I look at all the colours you use, I recognise how much work you put into your posts.
love vicky
isomam
:clap: Greetings fellow slaves!! :clap:
Thank you to everyone who posted so far!! Awesome stuff!! And thanks to ISOMAM!!
Keeping on the watch, to me, signifies ones efforts with regards to the conscious upkeep of ones spiritual life. Our Lord Jesus dwells in a Christians heart, by way of the gift of Faith, which is given in a superabundance directly through Christ, from the Source -- Jehovah God! Often times, dark religion tries to keep adherents focused on the negative polarity, by indirectly accentuating ones perceived imperfections.
Considering the vast array of conditioning done to ones Life Force, from the womb to old age -- it is not hard to keep one focused on ones own imperfections -- because we all have many, and some, unfortunately have more than others.
And yet, as you look around, and see the systemic array you call life, what do you see, but the manifestation of Life Force Energy existing outside of Law. You see other humans, most of whom, havent the faintest idea of what Love really means -- I know I have only a theoretical understanding, based on what the Spirit has shown me -- but can I really say that I truly know what Love means, in its fullest expression? Amazingly, I can! We all can!!
We are all made in Jahs image -- and it takes following Christ to get back to what are the Fathers True Intentions for His creation -- that is for us to realise, through the Spirit and the life course of our Lord and King Jesus Christ -- our God-Connection. How do we get there? We get there through what is quite possibly the most Loving act ever expressed in existence! The Ransom Sacrifice of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ!
:yahoo: YOU HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN! :yahoo:
:flyinghigh: YOU ARE FREE!! :flyinghigh:
:dancebanana: YOU ARE LOVED!! :dancebanana:
:friends: SO KEEP ON THE WATCH, BY ALWAYS REMEMBERING THE TRUTH!! :friends:
:bow: YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR JEHOVAH AND JESUS!! :bow:
:peace: YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR LOVE!! :peace:
May LOVE be with you!
your bro -- beau! :friends::hug::drinking:
Amen to that - :nicethread: this is a GREAT thread!
TD - I've thought A LOT about being like an innocent child towards our Heavenly Father.... may we never give in to the self-delusion that we can do it all by ourselves, or that we don't need any help, or that we understand it all perfectly well without His assistance - He wants to help and is ready, willing and so very able!
Iso asks >>> what it actually does mean for a Christian to ... "watch," ... "give strict attention," To me it means be aware, awake, mindful of what's going on around us - so as not to be taken by surprise by the lure of Satan's world and let our spiritual health suffer and possibly our faith falter. Â
This scripture also came to mind - "Look, I am sending you out as sheep amidst wolves; therefore, prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves." Matt.10:16
There was a time when I thought that was impossible to do - seemed like a juxtaposition - but I get it now... in the same way we come before our loving God as innocent children(((TD))) - no matter how scarred and tainted by the world we may be, or how old we get to be - we are still like children to Him when we cry out to Him. He loves us and wants to help. And He does help us completely, perfectly, through the 'God Connection' (((Beau))) - Our Lord, King and Messiah - His Son and our Saviour!
If we stay close to our fine shepherd, under his gaze, we will be safe. (((Vicky)))
Iso asks >>>> And, why would we be concerned that "all may see [our] progress"?
Another thought - to continue to upbuild one another in faithfulness and trust in YHWH and His Chosen One... it's an exercise in encouragement for all brothers and sisters in Christ as we progress together.
~Peace of mind to all ~ and much Love~
:peace: