Watchman. A spiritual discipline that guides christians lives - Essay Example

Running Head: WATCHMAN NEE TESTIMONY Watchman Nee Testimony Date: Introduction Today, most believers get frustrated as they try to seek the spiritual path experience. They end up not getting the most appropriate path in this case. This leads them into darkness, lingering in the crossroads throughout the year, being high or low sometimes or even failing to get the right people to seek consultation regarding the problems they are facing. There is therefore need for clear guidance for the believers to take the right path. According to Watchman (1998), all those who go out to seek God with a very honest heart move step to step in the right path. Every sinner moves from his or her position to a step by step pace towards the correct spiritual life peak. There are several questions regarding spiritual life, which the believers would like to comprehend despite the fact that the answers are not given openly. Some hard matters including hearing of the voice of God as well as comprehending his will are some issues that are not clearly given to every Christian. Personal Time with God: A Spiritual Discipline that Guides Christians' Lives. The major issues concerning Christian life include: salvation, sanctification, denying the self, regeneration, baptism of the spirit, the holy spirit filling and the power, prayer, fellowship, bible study identification, supernatural experience, miracles, the discernment of true and false speaking, the emotion, the soulish life, speaking in tongues, the conscience, Gods revelation, spiritual work, Satan's war fare and the renewal of the mind. According to Watchman (1998) tying to concentrate on God almost all the time would not be a possible activity. But a closer link with God can be achieved by taking some time every day to read the bible, talk to God and hence think about Him. In this approach God would be communicating back in a powerful wave which makes the Christians to have a feeling of God's love and other times challenged by the approach they are supposed to open up scriptures. In this way the Christians would be investing substantial time into their relationship with God thus receives back a reciprocating relationship of love with Him. Growing deeply in spiritual world demands setting aside quiet times with God that has no interruptions as well as distractions hence tuning their ears to hear the God's voice. Watchman (1998) indicates that the spiritual conditions of Christians are usually varying as their degree of spiritual life. Every believer's spiritual experience has some mystery. In order to be led by the lord into a deeper spiritual life, the Christian believer has to receive a taste of the outline of that level of spiritual life prior to really getting into it. On getting a taste of a particular level of spirituality, most believers believe that they have gotten into that level. But in the actual sense, this is just but the beginning of the work of the lord leading them into such matters. This implies that a believer getting a taste of a particular level does not necessarily mean fully entering into that level. Watchman (1998) further asserts that seeing God's light means getting the knowledge of ourselves and subsequently not losing our broadness in the Lord otherwise one will be in their own thoughts as well as feelings. Involving in such self-feelings would hinder one from gaining one's self in the Lord. Spiritual self-analysis and self-consciousness are usually harmful to the believers' spiritual life. Thus knowing the necessary spiritual guidance calls for unrelenting understanding of the right path and deep teachings by the lord would help one have a better personal relationship with God. It is quite important to understand as well as remember God's way of redemption. His ultimate goal is to have all believers delivered via a new life that offers believers the time of regeneration from our natural things (nature), supernatural things and sin; all these three comprises the sinful aspects. The three deliverance steps are indispensable. A believer, who has been limiting the way of God's salvation and gets satisfied with victory over sin only, they become short of the will of God. In this case, Watchman (1998) believes that there is the need of overcoming the good nature and the supernatural enemy ought to be overcome also. One can never become perfect unless they overcome the natural narrowness as well as the supernatural evil which are even more than just overcoming sin. This sort of victory comes from the cross only. Watchman (1998) also clarifies that with every experience in the spiritual world including regeneration, there are certain changes in our inner self. This would be attained by taking sometime to create a good relation with your creator. Man is divided by the bible into three parts including the spirit, the soul and the body. Each part is different from each the other. Distinction knowledge between the spirit and the soul as well as various functions of the spirit and the soul becomes indispensable to believers seeking spiritual life. One can walk in the spirit only after knowing what the spirit comprises of and what it can do. Believers having such nature of knowledge with them usually don't find this issue hard to comprehend but the ones who don't understand this would. Watchman (1998) notes that research by Andrew Murray indicates that one thing which the church as well as the believers has to comprehend very well is the inordinate operation of the soulish will as well as that of the mind. For one to imagine what the spiritual life would have been, one has to understand how to differentiate between the spirit and the soul. Believers who are committed to leading other believers in the respective pursuit of spiritual lives needs to clearly understand the approach they are taking and what they are leading them into. They should also understand from where to where to where and what to what they are moving. The question under this issue is whether God just only wants believers to assist other believers not to sin on the negative part, eventually becoming zealous on the positive part of it or there is something deeper than that! Under such issues, the bible becomes the clearest book. The fact is that the ultimate goal of God is to deliver his children completely out of their old creation and consequently into a new wold of creation. It does not matter how well, to man, the Old World appears to be in the eyes of man, but God's eyes it appears condemned. As workers, understanding what we ought to tear down and at the same time having understanding of what we have to establish would make us not to lead other workers on a foolish approach. Regeneration, which spiritually implies getting God's own life according to Watchman (1998), becomes the commencing of the entire spiritual life. It would be worthless to spend so much of ones resources such as time and energy in activities such as persuading, debating, explaining, exhorting and researching and result with nothing a part from just some understanding in ones mind with some decisions in the will as well as some operations in the emotion and have nothing else done to lead an individual to get the life of God in their spirit. Conclusion Establishing a closer link with God can be achieved by taking some time every day to read the bible, talk to God and hence think about Him. This would help in having good communication with God in powerful waves which makes the Christians to have a feeling of God's love. This Christian discipline helps Christians to invest substantial time into their relationship with God thus receives back a reciprocating relationship of love with Him. Deep Growth in spiritual world demands setting aside quiet times with God that has no interruptions as well as distractions hence tuning their ears to hear the God's voice. Nothing would be worth unless reception of the Life of God in the deepest part of man is brought about. But does knowing this bring any revolution in the spiritual work. This implies that there are several believers who claim to have believed in Christ but have really believed in Him. Several characteristics such as zeal, good behavior and good job are not really features of a Christian life. When God, according to Watchman (1998) has given one as a believer the necessary grace and delivered them out of the flesh as well as from the darkness power, one should preach this truthful information to other people who have not yet believed in the word. There is therefore the need to guild those who are lost through taking the actual steps regarding the salvation journey. This is more important than the exhortations to be in the journey. The right path should not be for exhortation to the spiritual truth persuasion but for rightful guidance of those who are pursuing spiritual truths and those who have not found the right path to the truthful salvation. The need for this guidance is because there is unseen danger of excessively subjecting ones own spiritual life to these experiences. References Watchman, L. 1998. The Spiritual Man. 2nd Edition. Living Stream Ministries: Anaheim, CA. http://books.google.co.ke/booksid=R8y9mWsz5PwC&dq=spiritual+discipline+which+guided+christian+life-watchman+nee's+testimony-+Watchman+Lee&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=u01yS5-gApH80wTlwomhCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13&ved=0CC0Q6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=&f=false Read More