Heralds Digest

“And it happened, when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was done by our God.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭6:16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.6.16.nkjv Oftentimes, people wondered why intelligent ideas received the stiffest opposition. Hands that are committed to good works are usually weakened by discouragement from people who are considered to be in the know; because human minds are trained to ignore or downplay the problem with possible conflict of interest. Intelligent ideas with little or no consideration for the interest of the generality of concerns will not always appeal to people. Unfortunately, it is absolutely impossible to get everyone in a system of people on the same page without a popularity contest. However, when a layer of divine inspiration is added to the intelligence of man, the risk of losing out in the contest of life is covered. Nehemiah and h...

“Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭6:12-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.6.12-13.nkjv Focus on good works without yielding to distractions and evil pronouncements from the enemies is difficult. For those who appeared to have escaped the trap of shady games of this world and the trump of political blackmail, the enemies do not easily give up the fight against the good work. Against the righteous and religious Nehemiah, the battleground was strategically shifted to the house of the Lord. Many believers would readily give audience to all prophetic pronouncements, especially when a matter of personal concerns is being presented. Little wonder the scripture warned believers to try every spirit in order not...

“Now that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of this I did not demand the governor’s provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people. Remember me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭5:18-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.5.18-19.nkjv The concept of market deregulation is the introduction of policies that enables free entry of productive market participants and the investment of free resources. Otherwise, the servicing of strict government regulated markets attracts heavy penalty on the people, especially when operational costs are more than the productivity of the system. Unfortunately, political leaders in developing and under-developed economies are often less concerned about the impacts of the cost of governance because of their self interest. Whereas, it was recorded concerning the policy of Ne...

“And I said to them, “According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?” Then they were silenced and found nothing to say.” ‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/neh.5.8.nkjv Sincere mentoring is expected to add value to the mentee; and not subtract value from them. But when reverse mentoring is promoted, the supposed mentors seek empowerment with the remnant of values from the improvised mentees. Unfortunately, no system at home or workplace can be sustained under the reverse mentoring programme. When the captive Jews were redeemed from their foreign lands and returned to their native land, the state’s social system or empowerment programme was praised as a worthwhile path to freedom from slavery. Unknowingly, the empty empowerment programme was designed to further exploit those who appeared defenceless. Likewise today, those who live to only feed on the s...

“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...