Heralds Digest

  “Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭56:2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/isa.56.2.nkjv Respect for laws and order is the primary obligation of leaders in any system, institution, and state. Otherwise, demanding the same respect from members becomes hypocritical. Unfortunately, this is the bane of leadership with little or no distinction between self-interest and respect for rules. Whereas, God says “ Blessed is the man who does this [keeps the rules guiding God’s own interest above self-interest]”. When self-interest or the interest/opinion of the majority at home, workplaces and in the society conflict with the revealed interest of God, the determination of evil often become complicated. Even the security of life and property, the pursuit of excellence in life career and ministry, and the culture of integrity become compromised in the absence of a ...

  “Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/isa.55.6.nkjv Sometimes, for those who are privileged to later acknowledge their state of being drifted away from the light, it looks funny to discover how life gets easily tangled. It does not just take any two to tangle - it takes two delightful two to tangle. Dreadful and deadly lifestyles often come delightful at the beginning. Unfortunately, delightful lifestyles mostly appear not tasteful until bad habits and associates are formed. Like it goes for the habit of being drifted away from the LORD and His commandments, the scriptures admonished believers to cultivate the attitude of seeking the LORD while He may be found, or while we have not allow ourselves to be drifted away from Him. When you wait until you get tangled with the challenges of bad friends, awful associates, and horrible choices before calling upon the LORD, the overwhelming influences of yo...

  ““ There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭48:22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/isa.48.22.nkjv If the pursuit of peace is synonymous to the race for riches, the poor will be forever alienated from the commonwealth of peace. Notwithstanding, everyone is in the race for peace at home, workplace, and in the society; but true peace is alien to most of the people with desperate mindset on this blessing from God. Why? The Giver of peace says “ There is no peace on the shelf reserved for the wicked ” or “ The peace on the shelf is only reserved for the righteous ”. Unfortunately, not many people can read this clear handwriting on the wall. People does engage in several peace deals with swift strategies on cutting corners,  bribery and corruption, cheating and lies, backbiting and covetousness, etc, only to accumulate wealth that brings no peace of mind. When frududent people hear their President say " There is no peace for the wicked ", they know how t...

  “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things. ’” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭45:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://bible.com/114/isa.45.7.nkjv One of the problems with human response to the experiences of darkness and calamity is not just the asking of wrong question ‘why’. We often do not ask the same question ‘why’ in response to the experiences of light and peace. Therefore, the mind gets burdened with the responsibility of supplying myriads of blame spots, like a chessboard. Although there is no hiding in the fact that human factors, omission and commission do contribute significantly to most of life’s predicament, the sovereign God do accommodate all of human actions and inaction for a purpose. So, the right question at a single stop spot (and not myriad of spots) is ‘what’, and not ‘why’. ‘What are you doing, Lord?’ is always better than ‘Why do you allow that to happen to me?’. Afterall, if man is believed to be part of God’s work in progress, p...

  “And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/isa.30.20.nkjv Although it is generally agreed that experience is the best teacher, nobody wants adversity as his advisor. Notwithstanding, personal preferences do not always count when life is determined to serve its assigned teachers. However, people often detest adversity in the line of career development, ministerial accomplishments, family responsiveness, corporate discipline, and social relevance. Whereas, promotion always come on the platter of problem solving. Truthfully, there is an abiding advisor in every taste of adversity in life; only that human disposition to adversity always prevents its prosperity. Whenever the Lord say to His people “your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore”, He speaks of grace to always see the abiding...

  “The way of the just is uprightness; O Most Upright, You weigh the path of the just. Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O LORD, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name And for the remembrance of You.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26:7-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/isa.26.7-8.nkjv The difference between practical uprightness and the theoretical version is the awful waiting for a change. ‘ Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus ’ is only palatable to anyone who have no idea what it means for God to be watching, while a troubled soul is waiting. Yes, God does watch while man waits...because sincere waiting brings absolute confidence in God’s watching. He is more interested in the righteous’ acknowledging the fact that ‘ The way of the just is uprightness; O Most Upright ’. Unfortunately, waiting for a change of circumstances rather than a change character makes wickedness or insensitivity out of God’s watching. Whereas, God is not moved by His children’s name-calling dispositio...

  “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/isa.6.8.nkjv There is no doubt about the reality of frustration caused by a misconception of an authority’s request and a subordinate’s response. For peaceful coexistence and accommodation at home and in the fellowship of people, a compromise towards the right of both request and response is often desirable. Likewise, fruitful fellowship with God depends on the ability of His children to constantly match ‘I heard...’ with ‘I said...’. Oftentimes, we say perfectly different things from what we heard. Isaiah had been engaged in the business of saying much things about God’s business, relationships, and righteousness prior to his new encounter with the Lord here. Whereas, it has here that he knew how ‘undone’ he was. And when we are equally ‘undone’ or not in the right realm with God, our right responses would...