Heralds Digest

“...And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭12:23-24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.12.23-24.nkjv Privileges of possession, position and prosperity would be more manageable without a possible accommodation of the praise of men. The instrument of praise subjects the privileged into the vulnerable clinic for ego massage, where the praise of man deliberately contends with the glory of God. Unfortunately, even a pious man loose the wholesome essence of his existence with every privilege for human praise worship. For example, when the obsession of king Herod's political will received a deceptive appreciation from his enemy, it was difficult for him to differentiate between privileges and potentates. The gift of life remains the fundamental basis for man to worship God, irrespective of the height or depth of possession, position and prosperity. And king Herod was eaten by worms and died, while God's word grew and multiplied in ...

“And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭12:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.12.11.nkjv The havoc from the devil's deceptive dominance, when men slept off from their confidence in God, is more than the apparent loss of physical property, privileges and positions. Deceptive dominance subjects the soul into the captivity of hopelessness and subtle submission to the will of the devil. For the early church, deceptive dominance through king Herod's political will appeared a typical example of the consequences of spiritual slumbering. Even when religious services continue at home or in the church, spiritual slumbering brings faithlessness, fears, and fruitless efforts. But after the fellowship of James with the church was stolen, constant prayers to God were offered. Yes, absolute restoration and deliverance...

“Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul....And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭11:25, 27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.11.25,27.nkjv Tourist attractions are greatly influenced by a determined investment into infrastructural development and a conducive environment for friendship, fellowship, and fruitfulness. Starting with a strategic investment into friendship between Barnabas and Saul, the atmosphere of fellowship and fruitfulness became a serious attraction to even renowned prophets from Jerusalem. Following the same principle of Antioch Attraction, sustainable economies have proven that investment into identification of potential resources and friendly sourcing for human capacity development cannot be compromised with narrow-mindedness. Whereas, the dumping of deteriorating antique attractions without a conducive environment for friendship and fellowship have always resulted into frustration and fruitlessness. People in our family, ...

“And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭11:21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.11.21.nkjv Faithfulness without fruitfulness breeds frustration. No matter how effectively managed, frustration is manifested by the variant of discouragement, delay, indifference, frivolity, insensitivity, etc. Although the persecuted disciples in the early church interpreted faithfulness as consistent commitment to the preaching of the gospel message, their commitment would have been fruitless without the helping hand of the Lord. Under the influence of the Spirit, discretionary sharing of the gospel message among different categories of recipients (Jews, Hellenes, Greeks, etc) quickly turns out as divine strategy. Little wonder how much we need the hand of the Lord in most frustrating family, work, and fellowship projects today. Instead of encouraging subtle frustration due to an absolute subscription into fruitless human management and...

“When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭11:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.11.18.nkjv The combination of honesty with good reporting is not common, especially in public speaking. The politics of peace demands the sampling of popular opinion and a determination towards the presentation of good and acceptable report, with little emphasis on honesty. Notwithstanding, Peter gave an honest report of the instances that led to his ministration to the gentile family of Cornelius in Casearea. It was a dispassionate, honest, and true report of the happenings, without consideration of his personal biases. Unfortunately, honesty in today's reporting suffers the deserved popular respect because of personal considerations, promoting diplomacy and institutional etiquette above the sentiments of the Holy Spirit. Whereas, honesty is completely disloyal to all personal and i...

“Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭10:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.10.20.nkjv Apart from the consideration of the priority of God's mission in every sacred romance, the potency of God's message became obvious on the mission field. However, Peter accepted to embark on the mission without a clear understanding of the content of the message. Just "go down and go with them" was enough for him to proceed on a 2-day trip from Joppa to Caesarea. Most organized men have the programme of their life and ambition carefully arranged and ready for God's approval, if divine approval is believed to be necessary. Likewise, Peter appeared to enjoy the intimacy with God to the extent that he preferred to 'go up and stay with Him', while waiting for the preparation of his dinner. Then, God commanded 'go down and go with them' on a mission without a message. Apparently, based on additional admoni...

“But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭10:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/act.10.14-15.nkjv Struggling with the distinctiveness between cultural conservatism and scriptural sanctimony is common to all. Without a proactive intervention of God, the Jewish culture would have taken the priority of Peter's attention, compared to the fellowship with the family of a gentile Captain. Nevertheless, the interaction shows one of the benefits of intimacy with God as the perfect guide for the expected life of believers' consecration. Unfortunately, sensitivity to God's inspiration is always uncommon to a normal sensual lifestyle: Where we used to eat, go, wear, say, etc; and how we used to do, live, work, etc. However, God always demand higher sensitivity to our knowing His consecration better than our conservativeness. There ...