Heralds Digest

“You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain...My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭4:10-11, 19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/gal.4.10-11,19.nkjv One of the major ingredients of love is attention. There is no mistake in the fact that attention gives birth to affection. Unfortunately, the weapon of attention represents a strong instrument against the demand for believers’ intimate relationship with God. When the scriptures admonished believers to be wary of loving the world and the systems of the world, it was declared that no one can entertain the attention of the world and the love of God at the same time. Notwithstanding, the world has a dynamic system of appealing to the natural needs of man. And since the satisfaction of human needs is the incontestable language of love, little wonder why a stronger influence is needed by those who are called to establish ...

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭4:6-7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/gal.4.6-7.nkjv Citizenship comes with the equality of both rights and responsibilities; but with a biased disposition, it is easier to embrace rights and ignore responsibilities. Whereas in God’s adoption into the citizenship of His kingdom, only an ignorant son is disposed to act slave by embracing rights and ignoring responsibilities. The rights and responsibilities of the righteous in all relationships with God is mutually inclusive. The scriptures declare “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”” showing the responsibility to call and depend on the Father, but not without the assistance of the Spirit of God. Therefore, the responsibilities of the righteous to call the attent...

“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith...And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:24, 29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.us/114/gal.3.24,29.nkjv The pursuit of an invisible promise at the expense of building on visible processes in life is a lonely path. When Abraham pursued the promises of God, the process of relationships and the operational systems of running different institutions were apparently non-existent. However, many generations after Abraham with developing operational systems and laws find it easier to relate with visible process than the invisible promises. And to the Galatians in the New Testament dispensation, Apostle Paul still struggled to establish the superiority of the promise over the process. For aliens to organized process and godly institutions, everyone knows the challenges of building sanity in an insane society. Notwithstanding, intimate relations...

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:13-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/gal.3.13-14.nkjv One of the amazing privilege of grace is the access to the presence of the Lord. After starting the day on my knees in Schipol, one of the Airport staff approached me with a question “Are you okay?”. With the freshness of the spirit and a smile on the face, I asked “Why do you ask if I am okay?” Sensing his unpreparedness to answered straight, I added, “I guess because you saw me knelt down...I was praying”. Then, “Did you also pray?”. Those who truly pray understands the amazing opportunity to engage the King of kings and the Lord of lords on all matters of life, especially at the start of each day and when bothered by the loads and car...

“Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?..Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:3, 7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/gal.3.3,7.nkjv Someone has rightly posited that it takes a greater faith to sustain atheism than to embrace the existence of God. Whereas, the father of faith - Abraham - walked the ladder of perfection from the constraints of the flesh to the comfort of the spirit by obeying God, through faith. Unfortunately in our contemporary times, advancement in human knowledge has attracted the comfort of the flesh with its confusion and foolishness. Apostle Paul noticed this concept of foolishness in the Galatian believers, who started their relationship with God by faith and in the spirit. The experience of salvation and the first work of grace is undoubtedly built on the faith of the comer in the Living God. Relationship with God on the basis of the evidence of touch, feel, sig...

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.us/114/gal.2.20.nkjv It is almost impossible for any successful minister in the ministry to build respect without recognition. Faith in Christ without the face of the Chaplain is almost impossible and not practice-able in any charismatic setting. Unfortunately, the ‘I’ in Christians is becoming more significant than the identity of Christ in all relationships. When Paul noticed the danger of the faith in the face of the icons against the faith in Christ, he deliberately rebuked Peter in order to spare the vulnerable converts. No doubt, faith in our public appearances and the make-belief lifestyle often rob believers of the public announcement of the character of Christ’s love and graceful relationships. Little wonder why Christ himself dec...

“But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ http://bible.com/114/gal.2.6.nkjv If significance in life is truly limited to the accumulation of material wealth and an improvement in position or status, the pursuit of a life driven by corruption, conflicts and competition makes the ultimate sense in this world. But there seems to be something deeper and higher than the status-based achievements in life. To Paul the Apostle, this base achievement in life is frankly nothing, compared to the singular pursuit of the purpose in the heart of God for every human existence. Unfortunately, many homes, fellowships and associations that are built on godly heritage are easily hijacked by the status-based ‘nothing’. Those who care for godly change and the expansion of the kingdom of God through parenting, preaching, and prof...