Heralds Digest

“The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day...The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The LORD alone will be exalted in that day,” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭2:11, 17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/isa.2.11,17.nkjv The Lord does not necessarily have abandoned projects; the setbacks in the Lord’s dealings are mostly the consequences of the preference of His abandoned people. For Judah as a typical example of God’s people, the setback was initiated by the preferences of the eastern ways to the provided ancient landmarks. After all, human considerations in terms of affluence of position, material wealth, career prospects, physical size and position comparisons, etc, often play a significant role in the desired choice of direction and devotion. While these considerations are not necessarily evil in themselves, the conflict or struggle of God’s people with any di...

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭2:2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/isa.2.2.nkjv Failure in life is never the absence of failed experiences, but the absence of persistence until the expiration of failed experiences. Failed experiences may not presently bring the desired increase in productivity. They are often the platform for building the future success stories. Therefore, all experiences of disappointments, deprivation, and depreciation of material resources without the destruction of the frustrated life are always blessing in disguise. The blessing in a frustrated life is the accumulation of the wealth of experiences upon which the glory of God can be established, if invited. Like the pronouncement to Judah and Jerusalem, the divine promise to all who wait upon the Lord is ‘it shall come to pass.....

“I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭1:26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/isa.1.26.nkjv The clamour of every sick city has always been a change of leadership at every arm of government, i.e., executive, legislative, and judiciary arms of government. Unfortunately, the endemic cancer of corruption is often difficult to fight at the superficial surface of a mere change of party and personality at any position of authority. Homes and community of people are not controlled by officers of state government; yet each of these units of people is expected to be under the leadership of a judge or counsellor (e.g., father, mother, pastor, etc). In God’s assessment, the failure of Judah is more of the burden of these unit heads rather than the disappointment of the central palace king. Therefore, every redeemed child of God is called into the ministry of righ...

“Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭1:13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/isa.1.13.nkjv Futility of hands are not necessarily the products of feebleness or the absence of productive intelligence. It is often the product of faithlessness in the hearts of worshippers in sacred assembly. As it happened to Judah, the barrenness of the land was the product of the desecration of their hearts - the centre of an ideal fellowship with God. In spite of their consistency in the convocation of sacred meetings, including new moons, the sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies, their polluted hearts cannot invite the presence of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Likewise, God is pleading for the sanctimony of the hearts rather than the sacrifice in the hands of His people. Unfortunately, the outside world remains decimated and devastated while...

“keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life...Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.” ‭‭Jude‬ ‭1:21, 24-25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jud.1.21,24-25.nkjv The evidence of the love of God is primarily captured by the quality of fellowship between God and man. Fulfillment of the emotional and material desires of man in life, family, career, and ministry are basically secondary to the essence of His love. “Keep yourselves in the love of God...Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling...”. The love of God is rich in grace, mercy, and peace to bring undeserved gain, bar deserved pain, and brighten unrestricted rain in life. Whichever the seasons from gain, pain, or rain, confidence in the supremacy of God’s wisdom encoura...

“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”” ‭‭Jude‬ ‭1:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jud.1.14-15.nkjv Humility in a fast-paced world is readily old-fashioned. And the biblical principle of preferring one another first in honour is gradually becoming a recipe for sluggishness. Even in love feasts organized in a godly assembly, harvest of honour and relevance in life is commonly promoted in a harsh environment. Whereas, the God of real harvest is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. The recommended principle of sincere harvest remains the possession of untarnished humility in the heart. Even if godliness in all harsh harvests means ungodly reception, in God’s humble har...

“Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries...But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.” ‭‭Jude‬ ‭1:8, 10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jud.1.8,10.nkjv There are those who treat every pocket of good deeds as a service deposit towards a zero liability insurance policy. Their belief is that the policy will be beneficial in cancelling a threshold of future bad deeds. “As long as the good deeds outshines the possible bad deeds, there would no cause for alarm”, they thought out passively or actively. However, the scriptures group these set of people as dreamers. True salvation saves the heart from the pollution of sin and brings the soul of man in a sweet fellowship with God. The conversion from sin and the conformity with saints experiences represent a combo package that guarantees a heart that no longer think evil and a tongue tha...