Heralds Digest

“And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.” ’ ”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭35:18-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.35.18-19.nkjv The secret of passing the waters of political correctness in every social expression is nothing but the ability to sample public opinions, and the agility to respond appropriately to the demands for compromise. Invariably, a stand with the majority is perceived a smart and polite disposition. In order to correct this disillusioned disposition, God encouraged the house of Israel to learn from the courage and forthrightness of the Rechabites. They kept their conviction in the power and pride of moral distinctiveness, by keeping the instructions...

““Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the LORD — ‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭34:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.34.17.nkjv It is not funny that while everyone cannot be a Master, everyone is called to be a Follower. Getting a follower out of people commands respect and a recognition of their personal achievements. And being the king of Judah and the incumbent leader, Zedekiah and the elite people of Jerusalem would boast of holding the key to the people's liberty. Unfortunately, a fruitful leader must first be a faithful follower. " ...thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me'... ". A leader at home, workplace and in the society is called to model the follower-ship of Jesus Christ, by doing everything possible to make the...

““Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭33:25-26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.33.25-26.nkjv The seeming inconveniences with every commitment to covenant relationship makes contract arrangement a convenient alternative. Man is limited by circumstances beyond his control, like the change economy, status, season, culture, etc. And his experiences of time with day and night change uncontrollably; but God's covenant with the same day and night never change from the creation of time. Therefore, irrespective of the facts there are possible unpleasant change in human situations and circumstances in life, career, and family, faith i...

“‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭33:3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.33.3.nkjv Achievements in life, career and ministry are mostly influenced by socio-political maneuvering. But there is little or no danger when the parties involved have totally surrendered to the way and will of God. However, considering the plight of prophet Jeremiah in the court of the prison, he appeared to be a loner in the pursuit of greatness. When efforts to resist temptation to seek for help from those who claimed great achievements in the business of professional and political maneuvering appear discouragingly low, it must be acknowledged that there are significant measure of God's grace to go round. Believers need to put a strong 'hold' on the distractions arising from the anticipated help of man, in order to lay hold on the everlasting help from the throne of grace. The manifestation of the promises of God is a...

“And fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32:43‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.32.43.nkjv The onset of hopelessness may be due to the condition of the state of affairs in the family, career and state life, it eventually ends up as the product of the condition of the mind. Hopelessness is the sickness of the mind that requires greater impact of the supernatural, beyond the therapy of decent declarations. Prophet Jeremiah had responded to the divine declaration by faith, being the word of God that demands the action of an obedient servant of God. But obedience to the Lord's instructions may not remove the onset of hopelessness within the heart. And as expected, he had expressed his burden rightly by making decent declarations of the abilities of the Lord, even when the realities on ground make little or no sense. Therefore, he waited on the Lord until a definit...

“‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.32.17.nkjv Expressions of the state of affairs in reality are often laden with fear and frustrations, unless man refuse to face the facts. Prophet Jeremiah had just responded positively to divine declaration of restoration in the midst of devastation of the land of Judah and the desecration of the people of the Lord. There wasn't any sensible explanation to the call to buy a portion of land that has been heavily captured by the mighty king Nebuchadnezzar, besides the declaration of his submission to the great counsel and the mighty power of the Creator of heaven and earth. And like the experience of prophet Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones, decent declarations from man in times of devastation and hopelessness are clearly unreasonable. When decent declaration make little or no sense, tru...

“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.” ’” Jeremiah‬ ‭32:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.us/114/jer.32.15.nkjv Decisive declaration in times of recession and economic instability does not favour intelligent investment. Ordinarily, useful moments for possible strategic review of untapped potential are readily turned down in exchange of an embrace of wasteful engagement in blame game. While king Zedekiah was busy with the transfer of aggression to prophet Jeremiah, due to an invasion of Jerusalem by a foreign Emperor, it was noteworthy that the prophet did not allow the strategic disconnection plan of the enemy. Likewise, the voice of reason in times of distress and disappointment in family project, career prospect, and economic planning embraces conservative protectionism. As a result, new ideas appear dead or discouraged; and all hope of restoration are lost. No matter how difficult it may appear, believer...