Heralds Digest

  “And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” II Chronicles‬ ‭20:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The atmosphere governed by rules and orderliness enables freedom of expression and honest display of potentials. Personal, family and life battles are planned freely, mostly without threat to available resources. Unfortunately, today’s free world is not designed for a free fight. Like as it was with king Jehoshaphat, even when it appears that man has gotten his pursuit of peace, progress and prosperity carefully mapped out, the invasion of great multitude often creates the unwanted disorders. Obviously, those who are engulfed in a free fight are either disengaged from the idea of faith fight or aliens to the engagement of the supernatural in the battle of life. Anyone can boost of his personal skills in a free fight unti...

  ““But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” ‭‭II Chronicles‬ ‭6:18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The concept of divine dwelling is different from human dwelling. While man thinks about physical occupation when it comes to dwelling, God is only interested in the desire to retain His presence in man. Therefore, God will either take 100% of us or reject 99% of us. Unfortunately, man sees more of competition when it comes to cultivating the presence of God, rather than companionship. And by dedicating the new temple to God, Solomon provided clarification on the concept of divine dwelling with a rhetorical question “ But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? ”. The quick response is that God cannot be restricted to a physical temple built by mortals. He will rather dwell in all the hearts that fellowship in the temple, by influencing their actions and inaction, within and without the t...

  ““The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation!” ‭‭II Samuel‬ ‭22:47‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Without the overwhelming difficulties, challenges, and the activities of opposing forces or enemies, man will surely be an island unto himself; needless to mention the mindless thought about the possible existence of the supernatural. The all-sufficient man lives alone until he is humbled by the forces higher than himself. Therefore, when David said “ The Lord lives! ”, we can understand the import of his finding God as the  Rock, Refuge, Strength in times of troubles and the vicissitudes of life. Those whose faith is solidly built on the existence of God are always grateful for their overwhelming problems, either in the family, career, and the ministry. Unfortunately, we are often tempted to promote the only man lives syndrome whenever we are temporarily out of the blues. Whereas, through our absolute confidence in the fact that the Lord lives , we are able to ...

  “So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people.” ‭‭II Samuel‬ ‭8:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The expected reflection on the experience of someone who is living at the centre of God’s will in life is the extensive rendering of an atmosphere of peace, prosperity and promotion of his ideas or ideology. Unfortunately, the experience of David and that of many real men did not always support this expectation. For many years after David’s divine anointing as king of Israel, he was confronted with a perfect mix of the opposite of peace, prosperity and promotion. Notwithstanding, these unpleasant experiences taught David the undiluted balance of judgement and justice, both at home and among his people. And in spite of David’s exploits on the field and conquest against the external enemies of Israel, the confirmation of his reign came after the demonstration of his preservation against all internal attacks on peace, prosperity and promotion. ‘ So David rei...

  “Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.” ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭12:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Instability in a system, household or organization is the mother of insincerity. Unstable minds and souls cannot be satisfied with a single source of strength, provision or promises. If Israel has been deeply thoughtful about the supernatural manifestation of God for their salvation, deliverance and preservation, they would have consistently rejected the temptation to serve any other gods or anyone who is an alien to the commonwealth of grace. Even after their lack of satisfaction with God and theology pushed them to prefer the king like other nations, Samuel was still deeply concerned that their unstable minds would obviously let them down. Sincerely, if we must consider what the system of this world could or wouldn’t do for or against us, we will not be able to fear and serve the great and mighty God alone. A sincere service to God ca...

  “Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.”” ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭1:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Nobody cares about the skills of the wicked heart in the main-bowl for grief game. The unregenerate hearts are skillful in the business of exchanging bitterness for grief. Particularly when the game is between God and the afflicted soul, almost everyone within our sphere of influence will share from the exchange of blame and bitterness. That was the expectation of the rival of Hannah when it was clear that ‘the LORD had closed her womb’ . Notwithstanding, the righteous is expected to have a different disposition when it appears the Lord is strangely throwing the grief at him. While many in Hannah’s shoe would have thrown the grief card or bitterness bac...

  “So he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ “”Judges‬ ‭18:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The evidence of a worthwhile engagement in life should normally be measured by human entitlement to genuine satisfaction. But most times, the accumulation of wealth, acquisition of property, and attainment of lofty position failed to provide a desirable fulfillment. The sincere test of the artificial fulfillment in human creativity is the show of complete emptiness whenever these gods are withdrawn. Unfortunately, many people, who are convinced that the vacuum in human hearts cannot be filled with wealth, property and position, do still seek and serve a god created by their own hands. When the challenges of life ask a self-discovery question “ What ails you? ”, the heart of a man on the path of recovery should review the evidence of its worthwhile engagements. Only the withdrawal of a worthless e...