Heralds Digest

“So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭21:3-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://bible.com/114/luk.21.3-4.nkjv Cordiality in human relationships is often treated fairly on the acknowledgement of the volume of the receipt of favour and fortune. It is generally taken that the quantity of the receiver’s receipt has greater value than the quality of the giver’s gift. Whereas, Jesus thought the disciples otherwise: “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all”. More often than not, relationships that are driven by emphasis on the quantity of receipt are threatened by the ego, pride and unruly over-bearing of the giver, rather than being sensitive to the leading of the Spirit of God. The ultimate Provider of needs and the Giver of gifts in life is the Almighty God. Since no one can give what he has not...

““Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:46-47‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.20.46-47.nkjv The interpretation of the design for human dominion only within the context of a selfish desire to consume or devour preclude man from being a reliable disciple. Therefore, Jesus said to His disciples “Beware of the scribes”. Whether at home or within the community, self-centred services are concerned about personal satisfaction rather than the desirable public services. God appeared not really bothered about the publicans and politicians because they are aliens to the gospel of salvation and deliverance from the depravity of sin. Although sinners are not spared from condemnation for not accepting the offer of salvation, scribes and religious s...

“But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:37-38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://bible.com/114/luk.20.37-38.nkjv If only man can leverage on the spiritual understanding of all his physical exposures in life, there would be little or no misunderstanding of matters and moments of despair and discouragement. Like the Sadducees misunderstood the doctrine of resurrection, we often misinterpret dreams, misrepresent gestures, and misunderstand events in our lives. Whereas, even as far back as the early Old Testament Days, Moses was able to understand the divine design for fellowship after death without the express teachings from the doctrine of resurrection. Little wonder, when Moses was called to draw closer to the burning bush without the encumbrance of his sensible footwear, he hastened into the ...

“So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.20.20.nkjv Rhetoric righteousness is here presented as a fanciful or fake currency for manipulating the minds of people. Notwithstanding, it is useful to pretentious men for the bringing down of fancy guards at home, workplaces, and in the community of careless people. But as demonstrated by Jesus, real righteousness secured the heart of believers under the authority of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Unless the Lord permits, the righteous are equipped with discerning spirit to reveal the craftiness in all forms of attempted human manipulation. When the heart is fully delivered unto the power and the authority of the God of heaven, there is no need of living for the rhetoric of men and their craftsmanship before the governor of this world.

““Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:13-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.20.13-14.nkjv Investment on leased properties can readily gets personal with time. Moveable assets with mixed emotions will readily displace the relevance or tangibility of fixed assets. In the parable of the wicked vinedressers, the vinedressers have assumed the ownership of the vineyard, after a long time absence of the owner. Unfortunately, we are all tempted to assume full ownership of what are not really ours in life, including our time, talents, treasures and basically our entire life. When a man deliberately becomes unprepared to give account of how he traded with his time, trained his children, and trusted his life, it is apparent tha...

“But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭20:3-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.20.3-4.nkjv Argument on superiority is often difficult to manage without the expression of anger and hostility among conflicting parties. When the chief priests, scribes, and the elders confronted the Lord while on one of His teaching assignments, it was clear they were prepared to express anger at His apparent usurpation of their rights to the authority of who does what in field of ministry. In Jesus’ response, the scriptures noted “But He answered and said to them...”. Obviously, two wrongs cannot make a right. Direct responses to angry expressions have always shown to produce wrong results. They came with angry excitement, but Jesus responded with soft engagement. Truthfully, the ability to engage angry and heated parties in any relationship with soft and thought provoking questions expresse...

“Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:45-46‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/luk.19.45-46.nkjv Without a deliberate desire to clearly distinguish between exploits and exploitation in business activities, anyone would make little sense out of the zeal in our Lord Jesus Christ in driving out those who buy and sell their merchandise inside the temple. The sense of indifference would readily query what was wrong with the trading of the items that the visiting worshippers need for sacrifices right inside the temple. The clue from Jesus is the reference to distinction between the ‘house of prayer’ and ‘den of thieves’. Exploits is attained in life’s activities by lifting up holy hands in the house of prayer; while exploitation of any system composed of people’s disorganized lifestyle through hypocritical hands is possib...