In all relationships, be careful. Love all but trust none. Don’t give yourself freely to people. Man is always man. The heart of man is deceitful and also easily deceived. A man’s enemies can be those of his household. Never relax, watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. However holy a religious order may be; even if a place is as good as Garden of Eden, temptations will still be found there. I heard that Satan the devil was once a holy angel. He who maintained his ground over against a wicked and lawless world; if he neglects watchfulness and prayer in time of comparative safety, will fall to a comparatively simple temptation, which could have been easily overcome if he watched. A mountain climber successfully climbed Mt. Everest, but fell and broke his knee in the street from marching a banana peel. He fell because he did not watch; he did not watch because he did not expect a danger. Note that it was not in a drinking parlour that Eve was tempted. It was not a man from a far land that killed Abel but his own mother’s son, Cain. A man’s enemies can be those of his household. Beware of snake! Beware of dogs! Beware of evil workers in the garden. It is unfortunate that he who dips his hand in the dish with you, is the one who will betray you; even he who ate your bread. There is nothing as maximum security in this world. As you travel along this road of life; watch! There are spots which are smooth as glass, and others are rough with loose stones, and in either of these a fall is hard to avoid. Opportunity may knock once and go but temptation leans on the door post and persistently rings the door bell. Satan, in the past had tempted even people who were better than you; watch. In the holy book, it is written: “and when the tempter came to Him …” What will you do when the tempter comes to you? What will you do in the time of temptation? Be strong in the power of His might and prove to be a worthy saint. Make heaven proud.
Today’s best friend can become worst enemy tomorrow. The devil does not really come to you as an enemy. He comes in as a friend and at a time when you need a friend’s help, as an answer to your prayers. In Eden, Satan, pretending to be Adam’s elder sister warned him to beware of Satan’s deceit. Imagine Satan warning someone against Satan; what a casuistry. Satan does not confront the saints with power, he uses deception. He entices. Fiends may look like angles; bright and beautiful. Be awake ! Beware of sympathy from people who are still in the sinking boat you have stepped out of. If you are seemingly successful, watch, everybody wants to be a friend of a successful man! You cannot tell who your real friends are when things are going well. Don’t be deceive with ingratiating smiles. It is just that where the carcass is, there the eagles gather. True friends are like stars; you can only recognize them when it is dark around you.
Know that anything prefixed “too” is bad. If you visit a home, it is better to depart earlier even abruptly than to overstay your welcome. Don’t be too good, too holy or too righteous that you don’t destroy yourself. Forgive the man that cheated you but don’t forget his name. You make yourself a fool if cheated twice. Having matched your foot, next time he would like to match on your breast. Respect the boundaries. Self control is fruit of the Holy Spirit. Also, know that there are those whose honeyed words exceed their discretion, and their passion exceeds their restraint. They may induce you into crimes through their blandishments. These merchants of death may take you to places where you have not been before as they promised; but at the end they will also take you to hell fire where you have not been before. Beware of these predators who go about like roaring lion looking for whom to devour. The words of ther mouth are smoother than honey but war is in their heart. They, like their master do not come but to steal, kill and destroy. Walk carefully as sheep among wolves and be wise as serpent. Know that truth is not always beautiful, and beautiful words are not always true. With their mouth they show much love, but their heart pursue their own gain. “I love you”, is said both for good and for evil. The saints say it, but agents of destruction say it louder. “Oh generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things?…” Let every wife know that, “greater love has no man” than that which her husband offers.
A free citizen is one who obeys the law. All forms of sexual immorality must be avoided. It’s devastating effect can never be over emphasized, they go beyond this present life. Condom can only protect you from sexually transmitted disease but cannot protect you from divine judgment. Watch! Wine and women make sensible men to do foolish things. Nothing works out idiocy out of a man more than sexual urge that has gone out of control. In this world, no two persons look exactly alike. This is done so that no one will have an excuse for adultery and say: I thought she was my wife. And no woman will say: I thought he was my husband. In the kingdom of light where I belong, there is no justification for criminality.
Be on your guard; lest any root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble; and many become defiled. This virus is deadlier than corona virus. Beware of the tongue. Snake has no hands and legs but it has killed thousands with the poison of it mouth. Gossip had broken homes and pulled down kingdoms. One who hates his brother takes every of his faults seriously, and will go about blowing them out of proportion. He wants everybody to hear it, and desires his brother to be punished, ridiculed and be striped of his coat of many colours. But it is better to be hated than to hate someone. It is better to be murdered than to be the murderer. It is also better to be like the betrayed Son of Man, than to be like Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. A saint accepts torture but never tortures any one. He enjoys the triumph of the crucified. The bitterness of grief and humiliation is better than the indulgence of sin. Let us speak only the things that promote love and peace. If something is unkind or not true, why say it? And even if it is kind and true but not necessary, why say it? Don’t be a root of bitterness.
Do not forget that the whole world is under the sway of the evil one…the prince of the kingdom of darkness. This is the bane of today’s political system. In the political world, democracy has been changed to demoncrazy…Government of the demons, by people (human agents) against the people. So that, instead of democratic, we now have demoncratic governments. Being controlled by crazy demons, many of our leaders come to the throne through a path-way filled with numerous murders, and their thrones are stained with blood. To them dominion is the price of the strongest. These power inebriated rulers are like roaring lions; evening wolves that leave no bone till morning. They do not know that, the power of the people is greater than the people in power.
He who is our example kept aloof from earthly government. He said, “My kingdom is not of this world”. This is a truth we are slow to learn and quick to forget. But if you have opportunity to get involved, try and be example of what is right. Let your influence be for good in the society. Life on earth is temporary. We will not be here long, so don’t get too attached to it. Change your values. Covet not the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked. The closer you get to the Creator, the smaller everything else appears. Anything that is not eternal is eternally useless. Once you get what you want, you have got something to loose. It came to pass. This is no time to join them or follow the trend, not caring about the force behind the tide. Don’t just be attracted to fame, crowd and noise not minding the relevance and eternal value of the event. May the Spirit of truth help you to turn away your eyes from “the things which are seen” to behold “the things which are not seen”. The end of this life is not the end of the story. Life is a voluminous book, which all our stay here on earth is just the cover page. There is more to life than just here and now. This world is a dressing room for eternity. There is a hereafter. As nine months in the womb prepared us for this earthly life, so this earthly life prepares us for eternity. The righteous is like the palm tree which pushes all it’s strength upward in one direction without a single branch. It has no growth to the left or right. His eye is single, fixed on the things above not on things below. Watch out saints! Satan uses economic and social insecurity to promote idolatry as people will run to demons for power, money and protection and thereby give allegiance to the kingdom of darkness, as in the days of Nimrod. Fear in the heart of man becomes weapon for the enemy. Today idol worship is being revived. Call it cultism, money ritual, bullet proof charm or charm for seeing vision and crowd pulling, it is idol worship.
To “we who are alive and remain” in the faith, I say: may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless. Comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. We are all children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Allured by His love, separated by trials and comforted by the Spirit of truth, may we know him and sing for joy. What we experience presently in the Messiah is not all that there is. There is reserved in him for us a still higher degree of life, which food for it is yet hidden from our experience. Be you stirred up to persevere in the holy war for the reward of victory is great. The “hidden manna” is greater than the manna of the wilderness.
Let me remind our leaders (or do I say: our sanguinary rulers), that any government that fears the Creator, and loves her subordinates does not owe salaries. As it is written: “you shall not cheat your neigbour, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. Each day (month) you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it”. We know that human government is characterized by oppression, (oppression is a norm among people of the dark kingdom), you may ride roughshod over others with impunity for the present, but do remember that you shall be arraigned before the heavenly tribunal, to answer for your deeds. The Most High shall repay the evil doer according to his wickedness. A judge must bear in mind that whenever he is trying a case, that himself is on trial. Those who don’t know the truth are fools, but those who know the truth and call it a lie are criminals. Any nation which has achieved justice has achieved strength. There can be no peace without justice. Justice, in fact, is the clue to success. If king Ahab likes, let him kill Naboth the common man and take his land. But let him remember that Jehu must fulfill his ministry. You cannot make someone cry and be not guilty. Those who make others to cry must be made to cry. The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins. Know that a leader is not great because of his power, but because of his ability to empower others. The secret of success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members better. The most necessary possession of a leader is the friendship and the love of his subjects.
THEREFORE LET US NOT SLEEP AS OTHERS DO; BUT LET US WATCH AND BE SOBER.
-BKC YAHKA
Watch Out
