Heralds Digest

  “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” ‭‭John‬ ‭13:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.13.1.nkjv The love of God brought the exchange between God and humanity with the offer of His only begotten Son - Jesus Christ. Therefore, the scriptures described this type of love as unfathomable. And for His love for the world, God freely gave them His Son. Notwithstanding, when the Son was ready to return to the Father, and in spite of the sacrifice of pain, the Son would not allow the love for the world (being redeemed as gift for the Father) to be degraded. Even at the height of an anguish of soul, Jesus braced up with towel and knelt down to watch the disciples’ feet, including the feet of His betrayal - Judas Iscariot. Anyone can engage in a limited exchange in the season of love, affection and understanding. But when we ...

  “Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.” ‭‭John‬ ‭12:35-36‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.12.35-36.nkjv The need for lifting a light in order to assess illumination has enabled the development of different types and sizes of light with varying lumen in portable systems. Even in the most obscure environments, anyone can wear or light a portable torch for illumination. But when Jesus warned His disciples about the challenge in lifting lights in the upcoming seasons of darkness, anyone can tell He was not referring to artificial lights. Real life problems can easily damn the brightest of artificial lights of this world. And with these darkness, gloominess, and catastrophic challeng...

  “When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭11:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.11.4.nkjv There is absolutely nothing wrong in great ambition for family, career, and ministry, especially when the mind is focussed on the glory of God. The only problem often lies in human intermingling of the intended glory of God with self glory and gratification. Whether in matters regarding the welfare of people within our sphere of influence, God is always in charge of all circumstances committed unto His care, even when it appears things are running out of control. For Mary and Martha, the concern was the state of sickness in the body of Lazarus their beloved brother. When Jesus said the sickness was for the glory of God, Mary and Martha could not imaging anything outside the immediate wellness of Lazarus as reasonable and acceptable. Yes, what are often referred to as reasonabl...

  “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” ‭‭John‬ ‭10:28-29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.10.28-29.nkjv Besides the spirited search for reliable vaccines to combat different variants of COVID-19, there are undeniable conspiracy concerns about the entire search process. While what is generally common to all is the prevention of the vanish tendencies, many solution recommendations are clouded with suspicious vanish agenda. Truthfully, there is no human invention that can provide a reliable and everlasting vaccination against the vanish burden in the world. Thankfully, Jesus promised “ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand ”. The best of vaccines can only offer temporal prevention of infection and death from a narrowing sour...

  “And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “ Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. ” ‭‭John‬ ‭9:2-3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.9.2-3.nkjv Courtesy enables a good way of responding to unpleasant situations and experiences in life. Instead of the offering of unnecessary criticism and an exchange of hot debates, silence and smiles often do the magic. And when the disciples of Jesus had the privilege of asking questions about the unpleasant situation of being born blind, they demanded to know who was responsible for the blindness between the blind man and his parents. Whereas, everyone knows that the silent statement is a doubt tag on the goodness of God. When things go wrong in life, family, career and ministry, the ungodly pick offences while the godly often refrain the heart from vocalizing the silent statement. But if we can always l...

  “Jesus said to them, “ Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. ”” ‭‭John‬ ‭ 8:58 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.8.58.nkjv Those who lived a purposeful life are easily remembered by the works of their hands, like by their inventions, impactful changes, and the establishment of institutions, etc. For the Jews, the name Abraham stood out as the father of faith and the chief progenitor of a privileged covenant relationship with God. Even in our contemporary days and among the redeemed of the Lord, relationship with Abraham is claimed by faith. And there are many ‘ Abraham ’ in the diverse cultures, religion, and systems of the world. Unfortunately, when we hold our peace, progress, and prosperity to the potency and proficiency of these Abraham , we cannot easily acknowledge and accept the declaration “ Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM ”. But then, the declaration stands still true for believers in Jesus in our day-to-day activities and ...

  “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭ 8:32 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.8.32.nkjv Without the treatment of the grace of God, everyone’s infectious truth deficiency syndrome (TDS) readily becomes unbearable. Since the whole world and the engagement of humanity in its system are heavily promoted by conflicting variants of the truth, freedom in life, family, business, and fellowship is obviously becoming relative. Therefore, Jesus had to tell the newly-released disciples the concept of an absolute truth and full freedom. Truth based on human understanding of himself and his preferences in life will always be relative. Whereas, the more a disciple of Christ is exposed to the knowledge of His words and the willingness to submit unto His counsels, he becomes enlisted as candidate of the total truth and full freedom. Even after freedom from sin or any observable measure of freedom, believers’ openness to the truth delightful service abo...