Tag: spiritual discernment

Categories
Politics and Society today

Identifying the Watchman – the Blurring of Sexuality as a Sign of the End of the Age

Are you a Watchman?

Sound the Trumpet! Blow the Shofar!!

A Watchman is one who sees with a spiritual eye and discerns the significance of events of the Age. He or she witnesses in his/her spirit with sensitivity and is aware that certain sights and sounds of the Present Time have spiritual significance, and asks God: “What does this mean?”

I am a Watchman.

One particular signpost for these days that indicates to me that time is short and our impact upon the world is imperative has to do with the bending of our sexuality.

Beyond reason, our sexuality is being called into question; whether we are male or female has become complicated.

This reminds me of a particular scripture:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;

Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,

And prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21)

For example, women who bear children are called mothers, right? But in the UK there is a move even in the medical field to de-sexualise the term mother and remove child-bearing from being considered exclusively a female thing.

Doesn’t anatomy define gender? Not in America, where there have been disputes over the right for men to use women’s public toilets and women men’s, because some people do not feel their anatomy best defines their sex.

In our Age is this not beyond reason! Is this not man becoming wise in his own eyes?

What do we who are Believers do with this information?

We pray, entering into Intercession for those who are confused by socio-political agendas, and by their own sexuality. We pray that children who are bombarded with an agenda which asks children to question their sex and to experiment with same-sex encounters, will not succumb to pressure to sin. We ask God for clarity and discernment, that we will see the move of the enemy and the power of God to protect society from engaging in practices that are an abomination to God and self destructive emotionally and physically.

And we love: all, whether denying their sex or confident in their God-given identity.

Other Attributes of a Watchman:

A Watchman sees detail in the general, and the bigger picture from the detail, with lenses which are both microscopic and telescopic…. Always, always, events, people and occasions are seen with a duel understanding: in the natural and in the supernatural.

A Watchman signposts or announces the spiritual significance of events in order to sound the alarm and to protect or prepare others, some of whom are Believers and even some who are not.

A Watchman intercedes, praying and drawing God into everyday situations that need His hand and His eye.

A Watchman warns: calling others to account for their behaviour and their relationship with God, aiming to protect those who might be in danger of slipping away from Him.

A Watchman needs to know scripture well – in order recognise signs and times which have been prophesied as they are unfolding in the natural.

We who are Watchmen observe and discern. Always our sign posts must be tested as no prophecy or pronouncement replaces the Bible. But God has placed in all of His children some gifts for the sake of the body of Believers, and for the World, that some may come to recognise and follow Him.

We listen, we look, we read and digest… and then we share our understanding. Those who have ears to hear when God is speaking through a Watchman will be convicted in their spirit that truth is being spoken.

Are you a Watchman? Is it possible you are and don’t even know it?

Have you a discernment that you need to test, to share with others to see what God is saying in His revelation to you?

Share here, please, and let us all have ears to hear what God is saying to those who are ready to listen.

Categories
Examining Biblical Scripture

What is a Watchman

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:” (Ezekiel 3:17)

I am not Ezekiel, but I am a watchman** and now, for 2017, I am on alert. I am measuring the days, for the time is short! (Psalm 39).

The first step to communicating with you the reader is to signpost a change:

I have re-named this blog from “Larus Blog” to “Watchman on Alert”. “Larus Blog” was designed to help people to SOAR: See Over All Repression, free to discover and fulfil their call. Now, I introduce “Watchman on Alert”, with the same desire for you the reader, but with an emphasis on looking at events and people of these days, and ask God, “What’s going on?” I observe, reflect, pray and draw conclusions, in order to engage with you the reader in light of these times, so that you will be better prepared as you work to fulfil your personal calling.

Allow me to begin this transition by explaining what a watchman is:

“Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.” Nehemiah 4:7-9

Nehemiah was aware of the impending danger to the plan to rebuild the wall, discerned who the enemies were, and ensured full protection over the people and the project.

There is a prophetic anointing of the watchman, the person whose calling it is to see danger, to discern the times and seasons, or to call others to pray at significant moments. For over 15 years, I have believed and have had confirmed that I am such a person.

Watchman is not a high profile calling. For some years I had been searching for my personal calling in Christ when I had a chance encounter with a woman called Martha Lucia. I walked into a prayer study and this woman, whom I later learned was named Martha, was speaking to the room about the role of the watchman, and the anointing she carried as a watchman herself.

“What is that?” I wondered, as I’d never heard the term before.

As I listened, I soon discovered that she was describing me: a person with the gift of discernment, a prophetic edge, and a tendency to see the spiritual angle in natural events.

Over the years in my spiritual walk with the Lord, I have often found myself drawing a parallel between the here and now and a situation in the Bible. At other times, I have seen in the spirit the motive behind a person’s actions: whether they are seeking personal gain, are seeking to fulfil the Lord’s call, or are double-minded, caught between a desire for self and for God. Often I’ve had revelation of a spiritual significance to world events. These are the kinds of things a watchman recognises. When a watchman sees and shares, intercessory prayer can rise up, go into a root of trouble, and knock it out even before it arises in the natural.

A watchman is not an intercessor, although they work together to serve the LORD and His people. While an intercessor’s call is to pray into situations, to bring God’s transforming power, a watchman sees, discerns and speaks out words of warning to the people of God.

In the case of Nehemiah, he felt a deep sense of tragedy when he learned of the decay of the walls around Jerusalem, the city of his God. Eventually, he stood watch over the re-building of the walls, and recognised the adversaries to the project. He ensured protection was in place so that the work could be completed.

Perhaps the most vivid example of a watchman in the Bible is Ezekial, who reflected the woe, mournings and lamentations of the Lord for His people.

There is also a responsibility that the watchman carries, which is to exhort those in error.

“Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me….” Ezekiel 33:2-8

I believe our time is growing very short, to be all we were created to be, to do all we have been called to do.

As a watchman, I know there are other watchmen besides me and Marcia Lucia. Perhaps some of you reading this are recognising this gift within you. A watchman takes note of the world around him, and see the “signs of the times” as the slogan goes. Sometimes the signs are significant.

I intend to write about signs in the context of your call and the timing for your action.

This is the Year of Intention – at least it is for me.

I felt in December a deep, deep sense of the Imperative, as though this is the year the Lord has earmarked for me to break through: to accomplish the goals He has laid on my heart. I believe as it is for me, then so it is for others, by faith. Each reader, each person I encounter with this message, must decide if this message is also for him/her.

As I see it, the political situations in Britain and America are particularly important today. The democratic vote represents an ushering in of these nations as sheep nations. What man does is insignificant compared to God’s plans and purposes. But as Jesus said in Matthew 25, there will be nations who follow him and those which do not. I believe the votes in those countries represented a harkening towards the things of God, whether individuals intended it to be so or not.

Time is moving quickly. I choose to be one of the wise virgins of Matthew 25, whose lamp was full and ready for the Master’s Call. I hope each of you makes the same choice. My aim is to enable you to be that much more prepared for him when he calls.

 ** All things that I say must be tested by the reader, to ensure I am sound. No one should take my word blindly, but should test what I say and do, to ensure I am following God’s Word.

Categories
Reflections and Poetry

A Time for Spiritual Maturity

A Revelation about Spiritual Maturity, Physical Reality and Miracles: Spiritual maturity means facing challenges without contest. It means fighting the good fight and finishing the race. Today, I believe it also means God enabling us to see into Revelationthe future and into Heaven at a deeper and broader level than ever before. We are in a new age. Old things have passed. New things have begun. Let’s begin to allow God to use us to shift them.

Ready: God is doing a new thing in His people and we need to be prepared to be ‘blown away’ by His power and presence at work in us. We need to prepare ourselves for a paradigm shift.

Set: We live in a material world. Reality is tangible. But I believe our awareness of reality needs to expand – at least for the spirit-filled believer in Jesus Christ, hungry to mature and see God’s purpose fulfilled in his life. This is a time for a paradigm shift.

What is a paradigm? A paradigm is a way of thinking, a way of perceiving our reality based today on our previous experience and the assumptions we’ve developed from those previous experiences.

For example: We base our thinking on certain assumptions, which in turn leads us to make certain decisions. For example, the thought “I’ll eat lunch at noon today because I’ll be hungry at noon today” is based on our previous experiences which established our eating habits . We usually feel hungry at noon and so we assume we will feel hungry today. Because of a pattern in our previous experience, we anticipate or expect we’ll be hungry at noon today.

A paradigm shift is a shift in our thinking, our expectations and assumptions. The example above is trivial. But it leads us somewhere… As we walk out our faith and grow in maturity, God will use us when are prepared. Studying the Word of God, learning to give and receive love and forgiveness, surrendering every moment of our day to the Holy Spirit – all of these are signs of our growing spiritual maturity. Our character is being built. But there is more to this faith-walk. What about the miracles?

For what are we being prepared, if not for more of God’s glory on earth as it is in Heaven? 

Friends, I want God to move mountains for the Glory of God and as a witness to the world! Jesus said with faith we could.  How about you?

I believe there is something new on the horizon for the disciples of God who wish to fulfill their purpose in Christ. What it is and how it effects our walk with God has to do with our concept of physical reality. There is more to be learned about our physical world and it’s boundaries. In order to move in God’s miracles we need faith. To move beyond our assumptions and limitations and into an understanding of different dimensions, we will be enabled to move in God’s miracles.

Today, humankind’s suspicions about other dimensions and ways of perceiving our world is growing. But we must stay God-centered. Isn’t it time to fully explore the supernatural and otherworldly nature of His universe? How do we move mountains? How do we do greater things than we saw Jesus do?

I believe it has to do with our understanding of reality. Perhaps it is through a Godly-supernatural transcendence of reality that the limitations of our physical world are overcome, and the sort of miracles that Jesus accessed we also will be able to do. Individuals in our secular world today assume what we touch is real. In fact, some people believe “if we don’t see it or can’t touch it, it’s not real.” I’d like to propose a paradigm shift.

What is most real, Believer, is that which we cannot see. Until we live and breathe this truth, we are limited in our faith and action.

Consider scriptures such as the following: “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:4) Anointing of Christ Clearly the literal/physical meaning of weapons is being replaced by the concept of spiritual weapons. I suggest that this transcendence into the spiritual realm can be discovered elsewhere in scripture to help us deepen our understanding of, commitment to, and maturity in Christ.

“But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”(Luke 9:52)

When we read scripture from the 1st Century church, do we filter everything based on our current understanding? Let’s consider Jesus’ words carefully, and put it in the in light of a paradigm shift. Let’s go back to what Jesus and the hearers knew.

First, we need to be fit for the kingdom of God. How do we know if we’re fit? For one thing, we look forward (not backward). For another, we relinquish the plow (and the provision by self-effort that it symbolizes).

I have nothing but an inner sense of revelation; I believe the plow also represents the confines of physical reality.

“Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” (Acts 4:32) Jesus encourages us to let our possessions – or family members or significant persons or things – go. As we become unfettered in our mind and will, God may move us into a different dimension where the tangible cannot hold or limit us. But in order for that to happen, perhaps, first we have to let go.

John transcended our reality when he saw the Revelations. Philip was translated in order to meet the Ethiopian Eunuch. Jesus walked on water; he moved through walls when doors were locked, he was translated to be with Moses and Elijah on a mountain. Might it be that, through faith he overcame physical reality so that he was able to accomplish these miracles?

Understanding how his faith worked does not change the fact that Jesus worked miracles. But perhaps in order for us to do ‘greater things’ for the Kingdom, we need to alter our perception of reality so that we can overcome physical – and mental – limitations, and allow God to increase our faith.

Jesus promised ‘greater things would we do.’ The Church seeks to operate in the healing miracles and the food multiplications and to ‘move mountains, but relatively few of us are doing these things. I’m wondering if a key to this is a paradigm shift to our understanding of reality. Can we begin to operate more effectively in the realm of God’s supernatural power when we have an improved understanding of God’s different dimension(s)? Is it through this revelation that we can defy the natural world and it’s natural laws – which are subject to God’s laws? Are we being called to overcome the physical world in a Godly way?

The 1st Century believers may well have done this; perhaps we need to do this in order to bring the fullness to earth as it is in Heaven, the fulfillment of what Jesus promised for his Church, and bring it all of the glory to God.

Steps to enabling a paradigm shift from a tangible focus to the supernatural: 1. In God’s timing, willingly surrender your worldly goods in principle (I’m suggesting you don’t literally give away everything, but through Holy Spirit’s conviction upon you – if it should come to you – surrender all of your worldly goods to God). This way you break free of any hold they may have over you. 2. Pray and ask God to bring us all into a deeper experience of His love and glory. 3. Seek the will of God: Does He want you to move in the supernatural? Ask Him to take you there in the Spirit. 4. Go (physically, literally) to a place local to you where a miracle is needed. Ask God to show you Truth and how to bring it closer to whomever you are with: in hospital, in the street, or in your home or workplace. Be open to whether the miracle will be measurable in the physical realm or internal. 5. Pray for a miracle.

Go: We can’t manufacture miracles. We can’t even manufacture faith. But we can ask God for both, and we can grow in our understanding of how He can make these as accessible to us in a greater way, as He did for the 1st Century Church.