Heralds Digest

“And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish— stones that are burned?”...And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭4:2, 14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.4.2,14.nkjv The battleground for the fist of man is his mind. No matter how strong or feeble the fist is, once the enemy is able to manipulate the mind; the enemy has taken the upper hands. And like how most battles of life usually start, Sanballat, Tobiah and the enemies of the Jews threw the first arrow “What are these feeble Jews doing?...” It was a rhetorical question for the disarmament of all motivations to ...

“Next to them the Tekoites made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord....After them the Tekoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭3:5, 27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.3.5,27.nkjv Nobility comes with a great sacrifice and dedication; but once made, the celebrity concern appears to pervert the novelist in nobles. Man is purposely made to do anything necessary; and whatever he becomes in the process should never distract the primary focus of a purpose-driven life. Unfortunately, the nobles among the Tekoites lost the novelist in their calling on the altar of their noble status. ‘Anything necessary’ eventually appeared the assignment for common people to these nobles, who ‘did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord’. And by the time the next assignment, to repair ‘the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel’, appeared, they have been dise...

“Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode...And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭2:12, 18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.2.12,18.nkjv Truly, “O God of creation, direct our noble course...” is a powerful prayer point. But, not many do care to wait for God’s direction after saying the prayer. We often pray because it is a good thing to do; and not because we actually need guidance. Unfortunately, knowing ‘what thing to do’ in life is one thing lesser than knowing ‘how thing can be done perfectly’. For the common mixup in the ‘what’ and ‘how’ projects of life, managing the balance between the inspiration of God and the interference of human intelligence is vit...

“Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.” So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭2:2-3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.2.2-3.nkjv Apart from the fact that sorrowful heart seldom has friends, it endangers cordial relationships and fellowship, either at home or in the workplace. Many people hardly find solace to manage depression and suicide tendencies when it appears no one would care to listen before condemnation is recommended. Therefore, Nehemiah had struggled to manage his burden in the secret place for more than 3 months. A sorrowful heart in the palace (his workplace) is often treated an act of insubordination, especially for palace servants. Who would care to listen to victims of abuses, oppression and intimidation in mo...

“O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭1:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.1.11.nkjv The passion for prosperity is the natural endowment of a serious-minded man. The only concern is that self-centeredness represents a significant drawback in finding the right motivation for passion in life. Unlike Nehemiah, once human preoccupation provides the basic things of life, there are likely to be little or no passion for calls that risk the present comfort for selfless welfare of others. Whereas, the scripture defines pure religion on the basis of service to the vulnerable people within believers sphere of influence. When Nehemiah prayed for the prospect of being an instrument to secure the mercy of the king for the welfare of his brethren in J...

“Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭52:31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.52.31.nkjv One of the endless frustrations in the battle against evil is the lack of capacity for evil to combat evil. Protest against a perceived act of evil has always lead to the escalation of wickedness and unrighteousness. Unfortunately, human beings have always blamed God for the cause of their evil-generated wickedness and the consequences of their unrighteousness. Unlike king Jehoiachin, instead of accepting the judgment and turning away from wickedness, most of the kings of Judah and Jerusalem rejected the judgment of God with the consequent and endless escalation of evil. Jehoiachin spent about twice the length of his life’s ...

“And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, then you shall say, ‘O LORD, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51:61-63‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/jer.51.61-63.nkjv Words of powerful people need the mobilization of the system principalities in the world before their manifestation. Unlike the word of God, the spoken word of men cannot travel in vacuum. Little wonder, manipulative tools are required in order to mobilize the support of fellow men towards accepting the declaration or bid. Whereas, the scriptures declare that the words of God are settled in heaven, even when spoken on earth. That was why Seraiah needed to just read out the spoken s-word once, then it became settled in heave...