Heralds Digest

  “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭115:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While mercy prevents the service of the consequences of the bad choices we made, truth promotes the service of the commendation for our good choices. Unfortunately, no human being can be trusted with a reliable service of both mercy and truth. And with a common baggage of consequences for the wrongs on the plate of all, no one deserves the credit for his great achievements and breakthrough in life. Notwithstanding, man is often tempted to shift the glory attention from God to fellow men, in recognition of their life’s achievements. These men and their achievements have always become idols that takes away human attention from the glory of God. Whereas, the psalmist truly observed the necessity of the grand glory to the great God for His mercy and truth over all who trust and fear Him. Truly, God deserves the grand glory in all of the righteous’ f...

  “A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion.”‭Psalms‬ ‭112:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ With a pocket of good work, a man is considered a good man. However, it is clear that building a sustainable ecosystem of goodness requires more than a pocket of good work. When a supposed good man is consistently surrounded by a corrupt and compromised system, he is easily influenced to drop the culture of giving to the system for the famous demand of rights from the system. Unfortunately, the resulting unsustainable system keeps losing its good men as the agitation for takes becomes more pronounced than the agility for lends . But in God’s economy, a good man is made to lend and not to take by grace. His righteousness is graciously renewable; and not subject to depreciation by the corruption or compromise in the system. Although the quest for the agents of good works is ripe at home, workplaces, social circles, and our political space, a sustainable system needs more of...

  “In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭109:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ With blind confidence in the world’s compensation system, the stakes for bitterness are high. Even when it appears the body is focussed on consistent productivity, the hearts of those who expect at least human recognition of love and selfless services remain the fertile ground for the seeds of discouragement. Whereas, in moving away from the bitter bet, the psalmist proposed a better bet: the giving away of the heart to God in prayer. Knowing that the prayer of a bitter heart is an abomination to the Lord, the righteous are always smart with the better bet. Unfortunately, many believers are equally ignorant of the devices of the enemy; whenever they decide to play along with ignorant accusers and all agents of discouragement. God is the ultimate paymaster of all service offerings in the world, even in the most highly compromised system. Therefore, whenever the heart is given to s...

  “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,”Psalms‬ ‭107:1-2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Those who have not been privileged to ply regularly on rough (sincerely, ‘ bad ’) roads may not truly understand the story of redemption from death traps. To many, redemption simply means finding alternative or escape routes, like through  flying. Whereas, true redemption engages the mercy of God to navigate through the rough patches, enduring the wear and tears, and escaping the affront of road marauders, etc. Israel’s travelling through the wilderness was synonymous to life’s experience with rough roads. Whichever represents the face among financial problems, health challenges, career difficulties, toxic relationships, family mistrust, etc, rough roads readily drain useful resources. But while the experience on rough roads are mostly stressful, the access to the throne of mercy every tim...

  “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore! Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭105:4-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ To get easily deceived and distracted in life is to be attracted by wonderful works on earth. While these works are mostly powered by divine purpose and empowerment, privileged men in positions of power and authority are always eager to take credit for the marvellous works on earth. Unfortunately, this selfish ambition often leads to a derailment from the original plan of God; or the denial of His relevance to human achievements. Whereas, human promises and pronouncements are limited by space, time and circumstances; but the words of the Lord are not only settled in heaven, they are established eternally on earth. Therefore, to be stable and remain focussed on life’s purpose for existence is to seek the Lord only and His strength. While the psalmist even reminisced the wonderful works God used people lik...

  “As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:13-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The concept of superman is rather wishful; but in reality, authentic life readily acknowledges his weaknesses. Particularly, in believer’s relationships with God, being fickle is really not an offence for those who are faithful to God. Without the breadth of God, man being dust are lifeless, empty and void; but the grace of God is the Source of strength, deliverance and salvation for those who put their confidence in God. Therefore, fickle fellas are unassuming in characters, carriages, and charisma. And since they are simply what the grace of God enables, there is always no pressure to do anything special in their places of primary assignment. Even though faithful believers are fickle fellas, they represent a fearless force for fruitfulness and productivity in the presence of God.

  “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Truly, salvation brings total freedom from the deadly three (the world, the devil, and the flesh); but many professing Christians often abuse the grace of God by reneging on their responsibility to detach self from what grace has taken away. Whereas, the mercy of God works only for those who sincerely fear Him enough to segregate self from sin. If God’s grace can go as far as the east is from the west to take our sin away from us, we can at least keep ourselves clean from the new attractions of the deadly three. Unfortunately, foolishness often enables friendliness with the all appearances of the deadly three in believer’s social, family and work relationships. And as long as we disrespect the grace of God that brings salvation or sin separation, self segregation from the deadly three will be absolutely impossible.