Heralds Digest

  “This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭118:24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Without the right perspective on control in life, the end of story relating to mess is always anguish and pain. Unfortunately, the incitement  of mess in a promising career, business, family and ministerial life is always one of the best-selling stories. Even when someone attempts to get the mess stories behind, reporters are often quick to tag every present event with the negative issues in the past. Whereas, the psalmist‘s proposition here is always the right perspective. The sovereign God has never ever lost control in all of life’s messy situations and circumstances. The mess in a believer’s life is inconsequential, compared to the pool of God’s mercy and providence for every new day. When we focus on someone or something else as the agent of our mess, we lose focus on God’s mercy and providence. But like the psalmist, those who truly believe that God is the Lord over our l...

  “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭117:1-2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ One of the smartest ways of avoiding the reliability challenges in human relationships is simply the refusal to make promises; or the making of promises with sufficient ‘fine print’ and disclaimer. For example, marriage covenants are being replaced or interpreted with common-law contracts; full-time employment is given way to time-bound job contracts, etc. When circumstances change and performance wavers along the way, people are willing to walk away without too much encumbrances. But ‘Praise the Lord’ , God’s promises and truth on believers’ protection, preservation, prosperity, and promotion are not time-bound. The truth of the Lord endures forever. Unfortunately, the major challenge is the time-bound behaviour or reliability of God’s testifiers. It is easier for believers to cook ...

  “I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭116:1-2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Without undermining the pain inflicted by the challenges of life, the anguish from family, workplace and relational difficulties, the privileges of a sweet fellowship with the Lord when believers take these challenges to the Lord are great. Although the primary intentions of the enemies of progress in life are discouragement, destruction, and even the death of glorious dreams, believers can be amazed to find that greater achievement is not in the disappearance of these agents of death; but in the unending sweet fellowship with the Prince of life. Little wonder the psalmist said “ I love the Lord ”, not because He made my problems disappeared; but “ because He has heard My voice and my supplications” . When we truly love the Lord and find delight in accessing His presence because of the joy of fe...

  “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...