Heralds Digest

  “ And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. ” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Like the multitude of followers in the days of Christ’s earthly ministry, the multitude of religious enthusiasts in our days are fractured followers. Moving from one mountain to another, people are plagued with societal challenges, economic instability, political manipulation, health problems, and social insecurity. However, unlike the response of Jesus with His own multitude, many ministers of the gospel today can hardly see beyond the people’s gorgeous regalia, numerical strength, and political force, with a mere and possible need of physical healing. And while His disciples were tired of accommodating them, Jesus got them seated for ministrations on their physical and spiritual needs. Likewise, people today are not just maimed physically; good looking people are surrounded by deep-seated emotional and spiritual distraught that only ...

  “ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty ”. Matthew‬ ‭13:23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If the difference between hearers and doers of the words of God is limited to the seed (word), the sole responsibility of every believer will be reduced to finding the right assembly. Unfortunately, even in holy and righteous assemblies, there are lots of unfruitful believers and ready fields for wicked manipulation by the enemy of righteousness. And if Jesus could focus on this singular concern in His own assembly of seekers of sermons, believers in all of God’s assemblies should be more concerned about the imperative of good ground (or humble heart) for fruitfulness in life and ministry. As long as we are in this world, the heart of everyone is open to the good in God’s presence and the ugly in the society, social media, strange occurrences, etc. Without a deliberate and conscious ...

  “ At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. ” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Seekers of earthly fortune, fame, and favour know the preciousness of networking with the shakers in politics, privileges and position of authority. Even unbelievers and backsliders will spare nothing (sometimes, the most painfully precious) in sacrifice for the connection with the demands from these shakers. But in Christ’s consideration, the privileges with these shakers or the wise and prudent of this world are inconsequential. His own version of pleasant privileges are reserved for and revealed only to babes, in style, conduct and passion. Unfortunately, and like the later experience of John the Baptist, when babes have become exposed or enlightened by the realities in life, they are tempted to start considering trading the Source of living water for cisterns that canno...

  “ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest .”” Matthew‬ ‭9:37-38‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ There is no doubt in every labourer’s concern about the harvest from the field of life and ministry. Most times, we struggle with varying degrees of confusion, especially when our harvest does not appear to align with the Lord’s harvest. Whereas, the perception of the Lord about the state of the harvest during His earthly ministry could be quite revealing to today’s disciples. Even after a series of apparent fruitfulness on the field, Christ was concerned about the need for compassion in labourers (rather than confusion about the state of the harvest). When the labourers’ life and ministry are solely motivated by their passion for the unconverted souls, the Lord of harvest will fully become the Lord of the labourers. Unfortunately, there are many labourers on the field whose lords ar...

  “ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house .”” Matthew‬ ‭9:5-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Human desires for divine encounter depend mostly on the physical or material needs for restoration. Those who are physically challenged are often concerned about physical restoration; while the same expectation goes for the other aspects of the challenges of life, like economic, material, emotions, health concerns, etc. Whereas, without the restoration into the original status for continual fellowship with God, there is no true rest in all other types of restoration. That was why Jesus openly threw out the invitation to all, saying “ Come unto Me, and I will give you rest ”. And when He perceived the expectations of the team of the paralytic and his bearers, He said “ Your sins are forgiven you ” before “ Aris...

  “ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. ” Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If the progression between today’s tour and tomorrow’s troubles in life is limited to planning, there will be no such thing as worrying. Whereas, everyone knows that worrying starts where planning stops. This reality of life is simply a revelation of either our faith in God; or our fellowship with all that the scriptures simply called mammons (people, riches, position, life’s privileges, etc). We plan when we use mammons; but we worry when mammons use us. Therefore, Jesus says ‘do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things ’. Worrying  about tomorrow’s troubles is a serious distraction from our supposed Guide in today’s tour. If Jesus is our only Guide in the life’s journey, and He is always involved in the planning, life’s focus should be on doing His Will and not worrying about the consequenc...

  “ For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. ” Matthew‬ ‭6:14-15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ There is no doubt in the fact that access into the presence of the Lord requires clean hands and a pure heart. Even when grace has cleared the mess in the seeker’s hands and the trespasses in his heart, the heart is still sometimes not released to freely access the throne of our Heavenly Father for a consistent fellowship. Fruitful fellowship with God requires more than the physical and emotional presence; the heart is judged to be absent when it is knowingly distracted by a wounded fellowship with fellow men. If grace seeks to attend to the wounds imposed by our daily  interactions with the world, our hearts cannot afford to be distracted by the offences against fellow men. This offense overload is simply unnecessary, grossly unacceptable, and quietly unreasonable...