I AM SIMON OF CYRENE

Praise the Lord everybody! I pray everyone is enjoying these holy days leading up to Resurrection Sunday. These are days of wonder, days to look back in retrospect at what Jesus did for us. The other night I was watching the "Passion of the Christ" and as I watched I was again appalled by the brutality of His death. I also was intrigued by the plight of Simon of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry His cross. As I meditated on it I was moved to write the following account as seen through Simon's eyes. Luke 23:26
²⁶ As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷


I am Simon of Cyrene and a heartbreaking but wonderful thing happened to me on a  Friday many years ago as I entered the city. There were crowds everywhere and as I neared the via Dolorosa I heard the sound of woman weeping and wailing mixed with the shouts of men.I could not see to whom or to what all this emotion was directed, so I pressed in closer to get a better view.

It was then that I saw this large wooden cross that seemed to be dragging itself down the stone covered street surrounded by Roman soldiers. I said to myself "how is it that the cross moves?" Then I saw Him, half  hidden by the cross bar a bowed and bloody figure stumbling under it's burden. Blood was pooled in his every foot print as He grunted and groaned with His every step. Every part of him I could see was ripped and bruised, His flesh hung in ribbons.

As I detachedly watched, the agonizingly slow procession I was suddenly thrust into the surreal scene when I heard a voice loudly growl "YOU!! YES YOU! COME HERE AND HELP HIM CARRY HIS LAST BURDEN!" as the soldiers laughed, I hesitated and started to protest, then I thought about running but thought the better of it.
As I approached this poor soul I could feel his pain and anguish, it was weird. I sped up to avoid the lash and arrived at his side just in time as he fell into me placing all his weight and that of the cross on me. I summoned all my strength and somehow kept us both upright.

Just like that I found myself going from onlooker to the eye of the storm, surrounded by a whirlwind of emotions. As I joined in this obvious death march I was conflicted as I looked upon Priest and Pharisees and other devout men cursing this man yelling "blasphemer!! Crucify him!!" as they spit at us as I now shared in his shame. I thought to myself "my God what has he done to deserve this?"

At that point he lifted up his eyes to me and I saw tears, not tears of anger or pain but tears of compassion FOR ME!! FOR ME! OF ALL THINGS!  he was concerned for me even as he was suffering in what was undoubtedly his final moments. He looked at me and never said a word but that look said it all.
He then righted himself and continued on ahead of me leading me and his cross toward Golgotha the hill where hey liked to crucify and leave them hanging to be seen by everyone as an example. He could barely carry his own weight and as we drew nearer stumbled again and again, finally I dragged Him, myself and the cross to the top of the hill.

"OK you can go on your way now!" barked the Centurion as they began to unload the hammers and the nails. They grabbed him out of my grasp and though I wanted to turn and run away I reached out to Him and asked "Who are you?" but He did not speak but again I felt his compassion as I finally turned and walked away covered in his blood. One of the soldiers cried out "YOU SHOULD BE HONORED, He CLAIMS TO BE A KING! KING OF THE JEWS!"

As I walked away I tried to wipe his blood from my person but I am glad I was unsuccessful, even though you can't see it anymore it is always there and the man whose name I did not know, three days later rose from the dead, I know Him now as Jesus the Christ my Lord and my Savior.
                     God bless you all, Simon of Cyrene

     I KNOW IT WAS THE BLOOD!   BROTHER DARRELL, A WATCHMAN

THERE WILL BE BLOOD: REVISITED

Praise the Lord everybody! Sometimes you need to revisit a message for your own edification, this is one of those times. I first posted this in April of last year. I needed it then and I need it now.


THERE Will Be Blood

Praise the Lord! Here we are it's "Good Friday" a day when the body of Christ remembers the body of Christ. The broken, battered body of our Lord and savior that He willingly laid down to be crucified for our sins. The brutality of His death underscoring the beauty of His mission. Jesus fully understood the magnitude of what He was sent to do and the suffering He had to endure, yet He came down from glory and put a flesh suit on and walked the path assigned to Him. The word of God states in Isaiah 53:4-6
⁴Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

When you think about what Jesus endured for us and you think about how easily we fall flat on our faces every time we have to suffer a little hardship or endure a little temptation. We say things like "I tried but God knows my heart" or "God gave me these desires, what did he expect?" or even " I'm not perfect, I'm just flesh and blood!" These are excuses a lot of us make when we fall short of the mark.

Over the years we have become wimpy Christians only wanting to receive Gods blessing and rejecting every trial and tribulation as "from the devil" and not part of God's plan for us. The word says in 53:10 Isaiah
¹⁰Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Some times it is God's will for us to go through certain things in order to bring about His plans for us to grow and even prosper. It is not always easy to be obedient to God's will, even Jesus had his moments when He wanted to turn back in Luke 22:42-44
⁴²Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
⁴³And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
⁴⁴And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Jesus asked that God would let him out of the mission He was on, just like we all do when we are going through something but then Jesus gave into His fathers will saying "never the less not my will but thine, be done" This is where a lot of us part ways with God, our flesh wins out. Hebrews 12:4 states
⁴Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
How many can say that they have travailed in prayer until they sweat blood? How many can say they were broken and bruised because they stood for God against sin? Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 4:8+9
⁸We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
⁹Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
Today's believer needs to have that same attitude, willing to endure the utmost hardship even to the point of shedding blood knowing that in carrying out Gods will God is pleased and will be with you every step of the way. We need to keep our eyes on the joy that lies before us just as Jesus did as we go through our own "via dolorosa". Remember there will be blood, the blood of Jesus that covers us all.
God bless you, Brother Darrell, A Watchman

THROWING GOD A BONE OR "DADDY I'S MARRIED NOW"

Praise the Lord everybody, for He is worthy to be praised!!! Again I pray everyone is enjoying Gods blessing. My wife and I are experiencing a period of relief right now, we can actually see some light at the end of the tunnel. God is positioning us for what He has planned for us. God has called us to a life of holy obedience. I like to tell people that "God has me on a short leash" I can't get away with the things other "Christians" think they can get away with.

A few days ago I was up at 3am praying and this one scene kept playing in my head, if you've seen the movie "the color purple" you may remember this one scene where Shug Avery (a woman burdened down with all kinds of sin) is walking down the road when her estranged father comes riding along on a horse and buggy, he is a man of God and when he See's her he speeds up and passes her without saying a word. As he passes she yells out "daddy I's married now!" as she holds up her left hand showing off her shiny new wedding ring. She seems so disappointed when he ignores her and continues on. I thought to myself "that's strange" I meditated a little longer and the Lord began to deal with me and gave me this scripture,
Matthew 7:21-23   
²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity


shug Avery in this scene is like a lot of people I imagine, Think of her father as God, Abba Father, Sugg is estranged from her father just like man, going our own way, doing our own thing, living it up. On one hand, we want to please God and on the other, we don't want to give up our sins, so what do we do? We throw God a bone.
Sugg's bone was she got married, "I's married now!" she screamed, thinking that would make a difference as she continued to drink, party and sing at juke joints and speak Easy's all over the south. Some of us do the same we might start going to church just to get God off our backs as we continue to live in all kinds of sin. We continue in sin thinking everything is going to be alright but one day as we walk down this road we will see our Father and when He turns His back on us we will say just like Sugg "Daddy I's married now!" thinking that just because we did a little something for God that He will stop and recognize us as righteous children.

God is not interested in our little gestures. It's like that one dollar tip we put in the plate on Sundays when we know we can do better. Jesus is interested in a relationship not religious gestures. He wants our love, our obedience, our lives. We can't just throw God a bone and continue to live in sin, lying, stealing, drinking, drugging, fornicating and the rest. God wants our all! not just our fingers.
Stop shouting "I's married now!" as God passes by, give him your all, body, soul and spirit.

             God bless you all, Brother Darrell, A watchman

TEAR THE ROOF OFF!!!

Praise the Lord everybody for He is worthy to be praised!! I pray you are all enjoying Gods blessing.
My wife and I are still enduring our valley experience. The spirit of depression is trying to move in on my wife and by association on me. Our faith is being pushed to the limit but we are not giving up. I am not turning back and therefore we are not turning back. My wife and I have an agreement She follows me as I follow Christ.

I was praying  the other day when God spoke to me and God gave me this scripture Mark 2:3-5
³ And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

⁴ And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee

I began to think about how we Christian believers are always talking about how we are "pressing" our way. Paul said it first when he said "I press toward the mark..." I've often heard myself and others say "I don't feel well but I'm pressing my way" and there is nothing wrong with that as we see in verse 4 that everyone was pressing, pressing to get near Jesus. To "press" means to compel, to try and influence, to exert steady force against.

 My wife and I had been pressing into Gods presence for a long time, waiting for our touch, our healing. We had been pressing through prayer and supplication week after week, month after month, religiously without change. But God was showing me sometime your usual efforts are not enough. Some times you have to "tear the roof off!" make that extra effort, find another way to get before God. Sometimes the status quo is not enough, some times you can't just follow the crowd, sometimes you have to break free, break through your ceiling and find your own way into His presence. I'm not saying start your own religion, don't get it twisted, I'm saying sometimes God needs to see how far you are willing to go for your blessing.

Maybe you need to spend more time in personal prayer. Maybe you need to get a prayer partner. Maybe you need to Fast as well as pray. Maybe you need to live a more consecrated life, a more Holy life. Maybe you have not been fully obedient in your walk with the Lord, whatever!, It's time to take it to another level, time to tear the roof off your situation and find a way to get closer to God and your blessing.
My wife and I have decided to take our problems through the roof, we're fasting more, praying more, consecrating and being more obedient to His voice when He speaks to us regardless of how it may look to others. We want to hear The Lord say "your faith has healed you"
TAKE YOUR PROBLEMS THROUGH THE ROOF!! GOD IS THERE WAITING!!
               
                                     GOD BLESS YOU ALL, Brother Darrell, A watchman


 

I AM A SOLDIER!

 Praise The Lord everybody! Because He is worthy to be praised!! I am sharing with you all an article I wrote for my church web sight three years ago. At that time no one from my church read it but I pray that you are blessed by this re posting as I was when I first wrote it. 

I Am A Soldier

Posted on March 11, 2010 at 11:02 PM

2nd Timothy 2:3+4

3) Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4) No man that entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.


I have noticed that there are many more "civilians" in the body of Christ in these last days. Civilians are noncombatants,some are conscientious objectors. They come to church on Sundays and enjoy the Gospel "show" many churches are putting on these days, then they go home and get caught up again in the cares of this world. Cares about jobs, getting raises, promotions and achieving wealth and fame. And when things get tough they fall apart, they can't stand, believing in God but denying the power there of. It's all just a show to them, a front and a private club to others. Some are oblivious to the fact that there is spiritual warfare going on all around them. Others know their is a war going on but they prefer to let others do their fighting for them like their Pastors for instance.

Paul talks about us being soldiers in the army of the lord called by God to fight the good fight of faith. The duty of a soldier is to serve and follow orders, the orders of his commander and chief and the commander and chief is God. A soldier knows he will endure hardships and even setbacks but he also knows that weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning. When he's having a valley experience he looks to the hills and he knows from whence cometh his help. If he falls he will not be utterly cast down. He knows that many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all. His desire is to serve the Lord because He first served us. He loves the Lord because He first loved us. Even when he is not in battle a soldier stays in training by putting his hands to whatever good he can find to do. He loves his fellow soldier and prays that none would be left behind. A soldier experiences many things during war, long sieges where the enemy tries to starve them out, but they know man does not live by bread alone but every word out of the mouth of God.

A soldier keeps his weapon clean and in good working order by studying to show himself approved, rightly dividing Gods word. A good soldier is well drilled and ready for anything, keeping his or her flesh under submission in order to stay on task and not look to the left or right.

As for me I don't know how much time I have left on this earth but I'm giving my all to Christ who has called me out of darkness into his marvelous light. Every morning as I put on the full armor of God and prepare to do battle in this world I look in the mirror and tell myself, "I am a soldier."

God Bless You all,
Brother Darrell

HOLD ON OLD SOLDIER!!!

Praise the Lord everybody fore He is worthy to be praised!! I pray everyone is enjoying Gods blessing. My wife and I are enjoying the blessing of a warm home during this nor-easter that is pounding our area today. God is moving in our ministries and we are still believing Him for our healing.
While in prayer yesterday He reminded me of an article I wrote for my churches website awhile back called "I am a soldier" all about soldiering in the army of the Lord and the things you have to endure while serving in His army. As I was thinking on those things a song came into my spirit "Hold on old soldier!" and as I sang that song to myself God gave me this scripture, 1st Samuel 30: 3-8
³ So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.

⁴ Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

⁵ And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

⁸ And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all

I thought about how David and his men had been out doing what soldiers do and after another long battle were finally on their way home. They were looking forward to some rest, some peace of mind, a time of refreshing with their wives and children as they trudged home in anticipation of all these things. When they finally arrive home they are hit with another trial another heartache another let down. My wife and I have been experiencing the same thing lately, every time we think we're getting out something pulls us back in.

Davids men did not handle this well, they began to dis pare and became angry with David and even talked about stoning him but David did the right thing, he encouraged himself in the Lord. He asked for and as king put on the priestly garment and enquired of the Lord as to what he should do about all this.
We are soldiers, my wife and I but we are also joint heirs with Christ and as such are able to put on our priestly garments encourage our selves in the Lord. And that's exactly what we have begun to do. We are spending more time before God enquiring of Him, "what shall we do?" and just waiting on Him in his presence. What a wonderful thing.

When David enquired of the Lord, He was told " Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all" And God is telling us the same thing today. Pursue your hopes, your dreams, your desires and most importantly your needs. you will not only catch up to them but you will "overtake" them meaning like David not only will you get what you went after but you will get more than you had hoped for like they did.  More importantly you will "recover all" recover your family, your friends, your job, your career, your wife, your husband and your life, whatever was stolen from you. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!. 

           HOLD ON OLD SOLDIER! PERSUE, OVERTAKE, RECOVER ALL!!!!
                                     God bless you all, Brother Darrell, A Watchman
 

CRY LOUD AND DON'T HOLD BACK!!

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! I pray everyone is enjoying Gods many blessings. My wife and I are still holding on to Gods promises. It seems like God is still way down the road somewhere, no where in sight. The word says that "we walk by faith and not by sight." and it's a good thing that we don't because I probably would have stopped walking by now.

We love the Lord, we've witnessed His work in our lives on numerous occasions in our lives but some trials, some tribulations are so painful you feel like dropping out, giving up before the blessing comes. Right now my wife and I feel like we are reaching the end of our rope and we've begun to cry out to Jesus "when!! when are you coming!" some of the people who were there praying with us from the beginning are starting to fall away, They have stopped believing for us and are starting to say "maybe it's time for you to stop crying out and praying, maybe it;s time to accept the fact that it is not Gods will for you to be healed." and I was starting to believe them until God Gave me this scripture Matthew 20: 29- 34  And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
³⁰ And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

³¹ And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

³² And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

³³ They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

³⁴ So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

You see we are like those two blind men right now sitting on the side of the road, waiting for something to happen in their lives and we, just like them, know that Jesus is our only hope. we can't allow ourselves to be discouraged by friends and "church folks" who don't understand your faith and have not heard what you heard from God. We must cry out all the more "Jesus!" and stop holding back out of fear of what people might say or think. We must stand on His promise because He is not a man that he should lie.

Jesus is walking by right now in our lives and we are not going to be stifled hindering spirits sent by the enemy to deprive us of our blessing. WE WILL CRY LOUD AND NOT HOLD BACK! JESUS WILL HEAR OUR CRIES AND SAY "WHAT WILL YE THAT I SHOULD DO UNTO YOU?"
AND WE WILL BE HEALED!!
We have built up our "spiritual stamina" over the years and now we have to put it to work, we will hold on even as others fall away we will persevere.

                  God bless you all, Brother Darrell, A Watchman