A teaching by Rev. Barbara Williams, President of the Ministry of the Watchman International
Week of December 18-22, 2023
MONDAY
And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
Luke 2:1
The decree goes out. Whenever God wants something done, He does it by decree. When God gets involved, it is well known to all. National holidays are established by decree. When God wants the attention of man, He makes a decree. He makes the decree through a government. When God wants something done, He will find a person who will speak these things in the earth. For instance, God wants people to thank and honor Him, so He puts the idea of Thanksgiving in the hearts of men. In this way, God is able to release a spirit of thanksgiving upon the earth, and people respond accordingly. Christmas is the time of year when He reminds us to give by decreeing the gift of Jesus, and releasing a spirit of giving upon the earth.
If you are in need of healing, there is good news! Proverbs 4:20-22 SAYS:
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
So there is life and health in God’s word. Since God’s word is medicine, we must take it like we would a prescription. I suggest three times a day, like you would your food. Remember, healing is the children’s bread. Consider this your “dose” for today. Remember, read, and meditate three times a day the following:
Rx: Jeremiah 30:17a ~ “For I will restore health unto you and I will heal you of your wounds,” declares the Lord.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
If you’ve never studied the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we invite you to join us as we read through the Bible in a year. Read and meditate on these chapters this week:
December 18: 2 Chronicles 21, Revelation 9, Zechariah 5, John 8
December 19: 2 Chronicles 22-23, Revelation 10, Zechariah 6, John 9
December 20: 2 Chronicles 24, Revelation 11, Zechariah 7, John 10
December 21: 2 Chronicles 25, Revelation 12, Zechariah 8, John 11
December 22: 2 Chronicles 26, Revelation 13, Zechariah 9, John 12
December 23: 2 Chronicles 27-28, Revelation 14, Zechariah 10, John 13
December 24: 2 Chronicles 29, Revelation 15, Zechariah 11, John 14
TUESDAY
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38
This is the season to sow gifts. It does not matter what you paid for it. You must respond in obedience to the spirit of Giving. This is the Holy Spirit of God. Satan is not a giver he is a taker. He will never move on you to give anything to anybody but grief. When Christmas time comes around, there is a different spirit in the air. God releases this spirit to make giving easy and heartfelt. God commands this upon the earth to help us to love, serve and give. Whenever His Spirit is in operation, He enables us to be more like Him. When the spirit of Giving is released, we are more like God. We are better able to give freely and completely. We can do extraordinary things under the influence of the Spirit of God.
WEDNESDAY
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
Acts 2:17
The Spirit is for all. Can sinners respond to the spirit of giving? Of course they can. For some unbelievers, Christmas is the one time of year when they become generous. They tend to forget past offenses, sins and wrongs, and seek peace. Prisoners are often released from jail in time to spend Christmas with their families. When the spirit of Giving is in operation, it is made available to “whosoevers.” Whosoever is willing to respond to God by saying, “yes, I will be a blessing and give to someone who has a need” will receive of His spirit. This is the greatest blessing of all…that we become partakers of God’s spirit. God saw the alms deeds of Cornelius (Ac. 10:2), a sinner, and blessed him to the point that his whole house was saved.
THURSDAY
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
It all started with God. He gave the ultimate gift. It is from the initial seed that God gave that all of this happens for us. All giving is seed planting. All gifts are seed. Whenever we get a gift from someone, they have planted a seed into our lives. Learn to be a willing receptacles for all seeds sown into your life. We may sometimes only get a token of the other person’s appreciation for us, but let us be thankful and understand that they are merely responding to the spirit of giving in the best way that they can. When the spirit of giving is released, we may feel prompted to look for ways to bless others. We may sometimes feel burdened because of the numbers of persons we want to bless with our limited resources. Don’t give up! God has already made the provision. He will supply your need. He just wants a willing and obedient servant to give.
FRIDAY
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There is a season for giving and responding to this spirit, just as there is a “Christmas season” or “holiday season.” God wants everything done in the proper season. Just as you would not wait for winter to plant spring crops, so you must not wait for next Christmas when you have more money to give. Give what you have in this season and God will bless you with more. What we sow in the giving season of Christmas makes way for us to have a prosperous New Year. We can make up for what we have not done all year by giving toward the end of the year. This process is so important for our prosperity that god sets aside a season and sends His spirit to help us carry it out. The true meaning of Christmas centers on the gift of Jesus and His spirit that helps us to be like Him.