Heralds Digest

““O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭18:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.18.6.nkjv Concocted as a putty-like clay modelling compound, play-doh is pliable, non-toxic, reusable, and a non-staining object of creativity for kids. Every kid loves the idea of getting whatever is imaginable at will out of play-doh, without the slightest reservation. And God being the potter, while the house of Israel is liked as the play-doh, God appeared to suggest to prophet Jeremiah "I love having fun with the work of my hands". Unfortunately, believers struggle to resist God's interest in having fun with their made-up plans for developments and progressions in life. But as soon as they submit to remain in His hands (a play-doh is a useless compound mould when outside the reach of kid's play), God remains committed to making something beautiful out...

“As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You, Nor have I desired the woeful day; You know what came out of my lips; It was right there before You.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.17.16.nkjv Impulse followers may not readily set out to be unreliable; they are probably forced by circumstances of life to seek refreshment in hollow cisterns with no sustaining waters. When the health life of a minister like prophet Jeremiah became shaken and tried, it took a strong faith to defend the faithfulness of the Lord to His promises. As a faithful shepherd, prophet Jeremiah endured his woeful day without blasphemy the name of the Lord. A Shepherd who has not been proved to retain commitment to following the Lord, in spite of the challenges of life, is not qualified to be followed or taken seriously. Faith in the Lord believes in the statement of God's mercies more than the status of His manifestation. And when delay suffers denial, the faith...

http://bible.us/jer17.7.nkjv “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. A blessed home is appreciated; but the appreciation is not visible without a beautiful house. Being human, man measures blessing by the quantitative metrics, like the scale of elegance, value of wealth, score of beauty, numbers of accolades, heights of achievements, etc, without necessary consideration of the quality of its impact on the divine purpose for living. Unless the heart of man is fully assessed by the quickening Spirit of God, healthy hope for the blessings from God is preferable to heavenly hope for the blessing of God. Whereas the blessings from God depreciate and measurable, the blessing of God is difficult to measure but renewable, being planted and watered in the river of the Spirit of God. Healthy hope becomes unhealthy when mountains refuse to move, waters remain unparted, and problems appear recalcitrant. Unlike healthy hope, heavenly hope seeks the Lord of the bl...

http://bible.us/jer16.19.nkjv O Lord, my strength and my fortress,My refuge in the day of affliction,The Gentiles shall come to You From the ends of the earth and say,“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,Worthlessness and unprofitable things.” The worthlessness of wealth and material riches cannot be appreciably expressed by those who are restricted by the penury of poverty. But when the wisest and the richest of the earth underscores the vanity in this world's Inheritance, many will be willing to pay good attention. The scripture says that when the Gentiles (i.e., the famous, influential, prosperous, civilized, intelligent, etc) shall declare the worthlessness in their Inheritance, the restored people of the Lord shall behold the indispensability of the name of the Lord. Therefore, in pursuit of better standard of living for self and the family, true believers wouldn't trade the name of the Lord for the unprofitable citizenship of this world. Even in times of trouble, the...

“And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭16:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.16.12.nkjv One of the benefits of the New Birth is a changed heart; where man is delivered from his wicked and evil heart, to be consistently inspired by the Spirit of the Lord. However, access to the presence of the Lord for divine inspiration does not withdraw the freedom to explore the potentials of human intelligence. The only challenge is the knowledge of the limit, where human intelligence contradicts the will of God. God had to outline the boundaries for the social lifestyles of prophet Jeremiah, in order to ensure that his possible relationship with those whose hearts have been polluted with idolatry is foreclosed. Today, the challenge of balancing believer's conservative faith with his openness to liberal lifestyles appears a wider misfortune, with sophisticated intelligence. But t...

“Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, Then I will bring you back; You shall stand before Me; If you take out the precious from the vile, You shall be as My mouth. Let them return to you, But you must not return to them.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭15:19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.15.19.nkjv Change is a constant phenomenon in life, especially when considering the human standard of living. Since most measure of this standard of living is based on self-service or the taste of people, the desire for change drives the noticeable level of improvements in life. However, God's standard for life and godliness does not change. When prophet Jeremiah became seriously intimidated by the desire for change from the people, he was tempted to modify the style and standard of his preaching. The same reason why the Church today can argue that ' if the pew is responsible for picking up the bills, why not it being responsible for influencing the message from the pulpit '. Whereas, faith in ...

“If I go out to the field, Then behold, those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, Then behold, those sick from famine! Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.’ ”” Jeremiah‬ ‭14:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.14.18.nkjv The overbearing news of devastation, destruction, and deprivation in the cities and nations have a pathetic way of affecting the sense of responsibility of people, taking the responsive obligations ordinarily as reasonable oversights. The story of deprivation in a local assembly or family unit is synonymous to the burden of the larger society. When the prophets and priests of our land lose their heritage of being saddled with the responsibilities for declaring and disciplining the congregation of God's people, the state becomes overburdened; and unable to own the social mess beyond its capabilities. Whereas, every overseer, either at home or in the society, has the responsibility or oversight that cannot be abrogated to so...