Heralds Digest

  “ Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; And the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. ” Psalm 33 : 12 - 14 KJV Without prejudice on claims and counterclaims on justification for attacks, the ongoing Iran-Israel-US war can be seen as a test of superiority among the world’s superpowers. These world’s superpowers are readily built on the accumulation of war machines and sophistication on surveillance. Even in life’s personal battles at home, workplaces and in society, superiority of surveillance, intelligent gathering of information, and strategic planting of moles are the best available ways of this world’s dominance. Unfortunately, the best of these human strategies often undermines the transcendence and immanence of God in relationships with those who put their trust in Him. When the psalmist declares “ Blessed i...

  “ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ” Luke 1 : 6 KJV History has shown that those who limit reigning to the possession of power, privileges and authority have always ended up being reigned over (or being ruined) by their possessions. For example, Pharaoh possessed the land of Egypt and the regulation of all its activities; but he ended up being reigned over by a sunset of these possessions - the Red Sea. Prior to this destructive end, many of Pharaoh’s subjects have had a wrong conception of the right reign in their relationships with Pharaoh. And by supposing “ And they were both right before Pharaoh, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of their lord blameless ” was the perfect definition of loyalty or uprightness, they ended up in the same Red Sea with Pharaoh. Whereas, the service lifestyle of Zechariah and Elizabeth has rather posited that right reign implies righteousness before God; no...

  “ And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. ” Mark 16 : 15 - 16 , 20 KJV Without the intervention of the resurrected Christ, the disciples would have succeeded in a mistaken perception of the gospel for a protection from intimidation and fear of persecution. Instead of ‘Go ye into all the world ’, the disciples had gone into hiding or ‘Run away from the world’ for grief, shame, and remediation. ‘Running away from the world’ is a natural and convenient response to broken relationships, social insecurity, and general disappointments in the family, workplaces and the marketplaces. When friends and associates are targeted or treated with fear and suspicion in line with the slogan ‘once bitten, twice shy’ , the door o...

  “ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: But he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. ” Psalm 32 : 10 - 11 KJV While it is surprising that people readily think the price of forgiveness is confession, on her deathbed, even the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia (1729-1796) acknowledged “ I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. The good Lord will forgive me: that’s his” . Total forgiveness is the free offering of the good Lord the Father; and the price is the rejection of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, people prefer the choice of coverup based on the pride of principals, principalities, and their personalities, thinking confession is too big a price to pay. Whereas, the “ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked“ consequence is baseless with common sense and gracious trust in the atonement of the Lamb of God. There is no need for endless, pai...

  “ Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” Psalm 31 : 19 - 20 KJV It is unfortunate that the pride of men and the strife of their tongues still represent the gross greed in every man and the consequences of his fall from grace. Even today, the absence or the lack of evidence of the great goodness of God remains the lifting of evidence of the gross greed in man. Therefore, when any day starts with an appreciation of the great goodness of God, it wouldn’t be surprising why all the activities, engagements, and relationships that make the day are blessed. And whenever the atmosphere in believers’ family units, workplaces, and marketplaces is built upon the great goodness of God, there is always zero tolerance for the promoti...

  “ And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept .” Mark 14 : 72 KJV Just as the scriptures proffer that safety is probable in the multitude of counsels, confusion and contamination also attend to multitudes of words. As we compare the divergent destinies of Peter and Judas, who were two disciples of Jesus and privileged to be exposed to the same qualities and quantities of words, it is important for today’s pilgrims to be wary of the necessity of life’s response to weighty words.  Both men had their turn of reflecting and responding to weighty words; and while Peter opted for weeping on the weighty word “ Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice ”, Judas decided to waste his life to cover up the shame. No matter their influences and affluence, mindless words of human beings are light-weighted and they cease to matter with...