Heralds Digest

  “ Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: They will be still praising thee. Selah .” Psalm 84 : 3 - 4 KJV The test of peace is not in the provision of serenity, but in the serving of provocation and frustration. It is not enough to cast aspersions and blame on trouble makers at home, workplaces, and in our social circles. Those who are troubled by external agents of wickedness and evil haven’t actually found true peace within themselves. This is because the source of peace is the dwelling of the heart in the presence of God. Therefore, when the psalmist declared “ Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young“ , he speaks of the sourcing of the true peace in God’s presence. And to be still praising God is to dwell in the practice of the knowledge of the peace of ...

“ And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him .” Acts 28 : 30 - 31 KJV The closing of the Acts of the Apostles, which is accurately called the Acts of the Holy Ghost, with the scriptural model for every believer’s professional practice is instructive. Jesus Christ admonished the disciples elsewhere “ And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 10 : 7 )”, supporting the fact that professional practices are meant to be synonymous to preaching practices. When believers intentionally model purity in project management, righteousness in relationships with friends and associates, excellence in all engagements and extracurricular activities, attentiveness towards agreeable alignments, courtesy in characters and charisma, and honesty in hospitality and harmonious services, they h...

 “ And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only. ” 2 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭15‬, ‭19‬ ‭KJV The threat from king Sennacherib of Assyria is synonymous to everyday life’s overwhelming challenges and confusion. They are intended for captivating the minds and focus of believers and unbelievers alike, demanding their worship with fear, frustration, and fault-finding. When the minds are dominated by the activities of these agents, their authorities and relevance are promoted at fhe expense of recognizing the omnipotence of God. Whereas, king Hezekiah chose the recognition of the presence of the Lord with prayer and intercession. Suddenly, prayers enabled the disappearance of king...

      “ For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Acts 27 : 23 - 25 KJV Rhetorical narrative of the presence of the Lord is vague and virtual until the real experiences of trials and the challenges of life are unveiled. And for the companions of Apostle Paul enroute Rome from Caesarea, it was a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon that brought the experience of the pure presence of God. Prior to the storm, Paul was just one of the prisoners; he became a preacher with the abiding presence of God afterwards. When we are limited by the polluted presence of the gods in position, prosperity, and privileges, we are tempted to make empty boast of the power to steal, kill, and destroy in order to sustain relevance. King Sennacherib ...

   “ Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, And Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, And turned my hand against their adversaries.” Psalm 81 : 13 - 14 KJV One of the advantages of this digital age is the access to information. While it is divinely orchestrated that knowledge shall increase astronomically in the last days, God still recommended that the winning way remains every believer’s attention to divine counsels. When we walk with the Lord and pray unto Him, is it primarily for the purpose of laying down our frustrations and complaints? No, but rather to listen to His counsels on all matters of life.  Therefore, the psalmist recalled on the relationship of the Israelites with God in retrospect, “ Oh that my people had hearkened unto me,  And Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, And turned my hand against their adversaries”. Unfortunately, where kings now hold sway, where principalities gra...

   “ Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: And whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he. ” Proverbs 16 : 19 - 20 KJV Without the enabling grace to discern that the opposite of wisdom is pride, seemingly righteous people will lose good relationships to their inability to absolutely trust God to handle the challenges of life more affectionately. Meanwhile, the overtly proud and arrogant people do not believe in God. They pride their achievements and accomplishments in life on their personal efforts and ingenuity. Unfortunately, even the religious people or fools also indirectly say there is no God by their forced struggle for relevance and recognition with the overtly proud and arrogant people. Whenever we lean simply on our own understanding of ‘how things happen ?’, ‘why do people act in the way they do?’ , and ‘what do we need to do in response to the challenges of life?...