Heralds Digest

“Then He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.12.1.nkjv Considering the fact that life’s demands are sometimes not straightforward, the level of preparation for a good life dressers are most times equally complicated. And whenever anyone finally appears to get a good handle on some life management skills, like good hygiene, commitment to body exercise, principled lifestyle and routines, breakthrough in career prospects, financial success, it becomes understandably strange for the mind to accept the concept of a leased life. Whereas, as Jesus shared the parable before the Pharisees and the carefully mastered religious people, life is not owned like a piece of equipment or electronics. Unfortunately, not many life planners do always consider the purpose of the Almighty Go...

“And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’...So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:31, 33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.11.31,33.nkjv Struggling for relevance and attentiveness is somewhat related. The more crowd a public figure is able to pull always appear to represent the significant test of his relevance and popularity. And being threatened by Jesus’ public appearances and the poll of public attentiveness, the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the temple came with the question “By what authority are you doing these things? And Who gave you the authority to do these things?”. Fortunately, the response of Jesus exposed the major root of their problem: the unwillingness to submit their attentiveness to the authority of God. Likewise, the frequent cat fight over rel...

““And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:25-26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.11.25-26.nkjv By starting the teaching on forgiveness with the use of a conjunction “and”, the interrelationship between the subject of faith in God and the unwillingness to forgive others is obvious. The unwillingness to forgive others in the heart indicates a lack of faith in the God of heaven. When an offence due to the actions or inaction of fellow human being influence and entertain the thoughts of man, the ability to focus on God as the only Source of provision and prosperity is compromised. Jesus said it is like designing a self-locking system against one’s open access to the throne of grace. Invariably, contemplating on the negative effects of offences is a subtle allocation of releva...

“Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.11.17.nkjv Even when it seems unoccupied, the heart is the centre of all human activities. And in order to truly serve as the temple of the living God, it implies that unapproved human activities must be disallowed. Just like Jesus walked through the physical temple to overthrow the tables of the money changer and port for the transaction of doves, consistent efforts are needed in order to rid the heart of man from unrighteous accommodation. Unfortunately, all unrighteous activities enjoy the act of trespassing on unoccupied lots, i.e. the trading in the variety of stocks, like bitterness, malice, wickedness, etc. Therefore, a tried temple requires the consistent maintenance by the washing of the word of God and prayer in order to retain the presence and power of God.

“And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it...So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:13-14, 22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.11.13-14,22.nkjv A focus on figs rather than faith can easily misrepresent the lessons from the experience of Jesus Christ with the fig tree having leaves. Considering the response of Christ to His disciples, it is obvious that the story addresses the subject of fake faith rather than the season with fake figs. Although the scriptures clearly define faith as the substance of things hoped for or the evidence of things not seen, our focus on ‘leafy figs’ in life (like the appearances of a marital, career, or ministerial prospects) often removes believers’ faith and absolute confid...

“And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭11:3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.11.3.nkjv The evidence that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof is practically played out in the sourcing of the special colt for Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The narrative clearly showed that the colt was specially prepared in form of a sacrifice to the Lord, presented at the altar of sacrifice, and waited upon for acceptable consummation by the Lord and avoiding contamination. And with the acceptable code from the disciples ‘The Lord has need of it’, consent was immediately granted. It shows that without coercion, extortion, hypnotism, and demonic manipulation, an heavenly-inspired consent code is all that is needed to unlock the door to favour, promotion, and breakthrough in life. And whether found in position of receipt or release, the understanding of the workings of the heav...

“So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭10:51‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.10.51.nkjv Even though ‘Blind Bart’ and ‘Bright Brain’ appear the sensible and latent description of Bartimaeus before his encounter with Jesus, no one could hardly recognize his relationship with the latter. But on his deliverance day and the divine hour, he heard about the presence of Jesus and he response with the appropriate use of his mouth; he received the invitation from Jesus and he responded with the coordinated use of his legs; and he was asked to clarify his request and he responded with accurate expression of his need: “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight”. It implies that the choice of an acceptable description of anyone with either his sensible ‘Blind Bart’ or the latent ‘Bright Brain’ is always personal. Although the sensible description of everyone’s present situation and c...