Waylon the Watchdog

Waylon weighs in at about twenty pounds. When he was a little pup inside the house at Arkadelphia, I would get down to play with him and Willy. Waylon would stay under the lower shelf of the end table at the end of the couch. After much coaxing and demonstrating how much fun Willy and I were having playing in the middle of the living room floor, he would finally, bashfully come out. In other words, he has never been the free-wheeling, fun-loving life of the party. He has always been bashful and sensitive to sharp noises. And, he still is that way. He’s ninety-eight dog years old (one human year equaling seven dog years times fourteen human years), and he still has the same personality, and he is sweet as pie. And he is very orderly. There is a trail around the perimeter of our property where I walk each day. Part of it runs parallel to the street. It is about twenty-five feet from the street. He can be seen safely walking along the street right on the trail.  He is great as a friendly pet, but when it comes to watchdogging with humans—all they get is a warm greeting and a wagging tail. A different personality would have to come on him if he was going to be watchdogging with humans. The Lord does a wonderful work to come into our lives and take the “coarseness” out. His Spirit coming into us makes us “sweeter” by the personality and the fruits of the Spirit of God operating in us. But there is a watchdogging aspect of the Spirit. The early disciples had followed Jesus for three and a half years. They knew about His sweetness to help others, and they knew about His power. Now, a transition. He was leaving. Now, that same sweetness and power was to come in and upon them. Now, they were to take the role of being the witnesses of the good news of God to the world. Now, another personality was to come upon them to make them bold witnesses of Jesus. Now, they were going to do the “watchdogging” so the whole world could come to know the Lord Jesus Christ in His love and power. That is what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is all about. It is not for just a feeling and a church-house show. It is total surrender to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ so His anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon us to empower us to be His witnesses. Sweet, yes. But not just sweet. Empowered so no fear controls us. Empowered to carry out the assignment God has given to us. Empowered to demonstrate the love and goodness of God in a supernatural way—just like Jesus demonstrated it. God has sent us to “watchdog” for the souls of mankind. We are to do it in every realm of society. To do it effectively, we must have His power.

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