Heralds Digest

“ But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten. But, O LORD of hosts, You who test the righteous, And see the mind and heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them; For I have pleaded my cause before You.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭20:11-12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.20.11-12.nkjv A focus on the wholesomeness of God and the winsomeness of the heart in times of tribulations and trials is one of the greatest challenges of the people of God, especially those who are called into the fellowship for grace and glory. The contemptible detour into the avenue of despair and discouragement is always a common phenomenon. Even Prophet Jeremiah would easily relate with the unfortunate swing in the anticipated conviction about the righteous’ confidence in the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Whereas, the near-stumbling experience...

“And it happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD has not called your name Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib. For thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon and slay them with the sword.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭20:3-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.20.3-4.nkjv Life is always good with the abundance of useable wealth for an improvement of the standard of living. However, the experience is not the same when wealth uses life with apparent neglect of the purpose for living. Pashhur’s life in the text was obviously improved with his position and authority as the Priest and chief Governor. But when his position and authority trampled down the worthwhile words of God, it became obvious that his standard of l...

“Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’ ”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭19:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.19.14-15.nkjv Words are both powerful molder of lives and possible waster of lives at the same time. While God’s words bring light into the soul of man, the whispers from the enemy (like worldly musics, lustful expressions, inciteful statements, rebellious disposition, etc) are the sources of darkness to any promising life. Unfortunately, the style and experiences of life expose a man to light and darkness almost all the time. A concerned soul would ask “how can the soul be spared from the doom of darkness?”. When God’s words brought the doom warning of ...

“Shall evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my life. Remember that I stood before You To speak good for them, To turn away Your wrath from them.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭18:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.18.20.nkjv The experience of Prophet Jeremiah and his reaction to persecution on the field provide the challenging reflection of depressing tendencies from purposeful people in life. Most times, and just like Jeremiah reacted to frustration, punches appear to vacate purposeful pursuits in life. Whereas, no one is expected to step into the ring or pit of life for massage therapy. Unfortunately, and in times of persecution, the question ‘Shall evil be repaid for good?’ is not appropriate. Actually, it is a violation of a purposeful pursuit of the will of God. Otherwise, the enemy does sow resentment and retaliation in the heart of supposed priests who are called to the ministry of reconciliation. Whereas, the punch pit may not be the port of repudiation; but a place of rel...

““Because My people have forgotten Me, They have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in pathways and not on a highway,” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭18:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.us/114/jer.18.15.nkjv Whenever inspiration wears the regalia of interference at home and in work affairs, the free moral agent in man often finds credibility in his god-given authority. Whereas, human interference is easily tolerated, compared to God’s checks and balances in life. Concerning the matters of Judah and Jerusalem, God lamented ‘Because My people have forgotten Me’. When God’s ideas in how best to run family, business, career, human social life are no longer fashionable, human shorter pathways are considered a useful alternative to God’s ‘hopeless’ highway. Unfortunately, shorter pathways bring different entanglement and pervasiveness in the name of the new age and fashion. And human manipulation is preferred to divine inspi...

““Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” ’ ”” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭18:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.18.11.nkjv The conscience of a good examiner is clear as long as the students are taught and properly exposed to the material contents of the course before examination. And as long as the examination questions are drawn from the taught materials, the outcome of the students’ performance (good or bad) are not of a concern to any examiner. However, providing the marking scheme of a well-taught material to students is not common. It shows that the examiner is not at all interested or negatively affected by bad performance. When God exposed to Judah and Jerusalem “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and...

““And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the LORD, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:24-25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.17.24-25.nkjv In pursuit of prosperity and progress in life, the demand for sacrifices in service to the Lord sometimes come with great care and caution or suspicion. The rational considerations mostly favour the preference for maximizing personal investment to promoting divine investment. Whether in the sacrifice of time, talent, and treasure, the thought always goes ‘God understands....’. To Judah and Jerusalem, God apparently said ‘I don’t understand...I need the Sabbath Sacrifice!’. The understandin...