Heralds Digest

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:30-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.12.30-31.nkjv The response of Christ to the scribe’s question on the greatest commandment of all shows that loving God is greater and deeper than knowing about God and His commandments. After Christ’s acknowledgement of the scribe’s wisdom and understanding of the priority of love, He said “You are not far from the kingdom of God”. Like the deferring scribe’s position on the interpretation of the law to the position of either the Sadducees or Pharisees, many religious people in life struggle with divergent views on different matters of life. But if loving God becomes the living lifestyle of everyone, it would be easier to accommodate these di...

“Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?...He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:24, 27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.12.24,27.nkjv The inability to place a human logical handle on certain miraculous events and supernatural manifestation in life will always explain the concept of divinity. Those who have been privileged to learn submission to the power of God understands how to appreciate the limits of humanity in dealing with the realities of life. Unfortunately, like the Sadducees in the matter of the resurrection, many often are mistaken in their unwillingness to accept the ability of God to change situation and circumstances within their sphere of influence, but that appears to be out-of-control. Resurrection from the dead, and literally including dead womb, dead financial situation, marital status, and career stat...

“Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words...And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marvelled at Him.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:13, 17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/mrk.12.13,17.nkjv Without prejudice to the numerous conflicts of interest in believers’ call to holiness and their service to humanity or civility, public figures are often caught in the battle on how to bridle their tongues. The scriptures posited that if a man do not stumble in his words, the same man is qualified as a perfect man. Obviously, Jesus Christ here, when He was tempted to stumble on words, demonstrated His qualification as our Model and epitome of perfection, by giving us the principle of a combined call to holiness and commitment to humanity: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”. Unfortunately, it is always difficult to mainta...

“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.