Heralds Digest

  “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/jhn.15.11.NKJV Despite the clear difference between joy and happiness, Jesus draws a further distinction in the quality of joy assessable to His disciples: ' My joy ' and ' your joy' . It is one thing for believers to start a relationship with Jesus that guarantees salvation and the forgiveness of sin. This is the beginning of the journey of joy: believers' joy, joy in heaven, and joy among the angels of God. But as we proceed in this relationship, the diversity of motives for joy brings the heart to the consideration of divers priorities. Obedience to the will of different people in our lives is not necessarily sinful; but if this obligation is not in direct obedience to the commandments of the Lord, it lies only in the spectrum of ' your joy ' and not ' My joy' . Whereas, Jesus joy is the only just joy in l...

  “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.15.8.nkjv Imaging an excited child present his academic report card with over 95 percentile at home, and the father responded first with ‘ what happened to the leftover percentile ’? Most child will struggle with this over-demanding attitude of fathers before later get along with their good intentions and the love for excellence. Unlike earthly parents, our Heavenly Father do not just demand excellence, He produces the excellence in us. Unfortunately, we often bear less or no fruit because we fail to abide under the influence of His grace. Needless to mention that the atmosphere under which we live, work, and play daily are bound to be toxic and provocative. Notwithstanding, only excuse-makers must count on their experiences outside the influence of God’s grace as the basis for their lack of fruitfulness. Therefore, it is more productive fo...

  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” ‭‭John‬ ‭ 13:34 ‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/114/jhn.13.34.nkjv When someone said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ” , the thoughtful would have asked how could anyone possibly prefer someone he hasn’t seen before. Obviously, the truth about the character of Christ is evident in the expression of His selfless and endless love. After all, at the first observers’ coinage of the word ‘Christians’, the characters of the early followers were unmistakably assessed as befitting that of ‘ little Christs ’. Besides the countless examples of true love episodes in His life and ministry, Christ demonstrated this type of love at His last Supper table, especially in the stunning relationship with His betrayal - serving him meal with absolute zero expression of disaffection, bitterness, and anger. Even the other discipl...

  “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...