Heralds Digest

  “ Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ” ‭‭John‬ ‭16:32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In the demonstration of an unalloyed focus on God for support and breakthrough in divine assignment, Jesus alerted His disciples of the inevitable offering of their scattering services. Even the overconfident Peter couldn’t see his denial of relationships with Jesus coming until the deeds were completely done. Notwithstanding, the salient takeaway in the offering of the disciples’ scattering services is that there is always a time when the disciples needed to move on ‘each to his own ’ interests, leaving Jesus to focus on the primary agenda of God on earth - the suffering for the sin of the whole world, death and resurrection from the grave for human justification. Every time personal interests deviate from divine interest among parties at home, and in all of life’s projects, there is...

  “ Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy .” ‭‭John‬ ‭16:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In human governance and economy, everyone understands the difference between an unstable or developing system and a fully developed system. It is always preferable for anyone to have a sorrowful state in a stable system than enjoying a sweet state in a stumbling system. Likewise in God’s economy, the world system is a stumbling system; but the redeemed of the Lord are encouraged to accommodate its sorrowful state for the joy of their translations into a stable system. When Jesus told the sorrowful disciples “ Most assuredly….your sorrow will be turned into joy ”, He accommodates our sorrowful state in His stable system. Unfortunately, believers are often tempted to play along the stumbling system of the world with the card of dishonesty and deception in order to escape persecution and diverse unfavo...

  “ 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 Like the lifestyle of approaching fast-food restaurants for meals, the world is filled with huge sources for junk joy with limited satisfaction. For example, the joy of job satisfaction and career progression, the joy of a successful marriage proposal, the joy of child bearing, the joy of financial breakthrough and business proposition, etc. These joys are merely junk, temporal and not designed to bring full satisfaction, compared to the Jesus joy which needs to remain in us to regulate our relationship with the junk joy. Only Jesus' joy offers the life’s needed (1) justification from all condemnations; (2) excellence in our indescribable creativity; (3) satisfaction during the inevitable crisis; (4) understanding of the incorrigible cross; and (5) sweetness from the inexplicable curse. Little wonder, a man blessed with the abundance of the junk joy in life...

  “ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples .” John‬ ‭15:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If God is glorified by a believer's fruitfulness, it implies that fruitlessness is strictly the product of our unfaithfulness. Therefore, the context in Jesus’ exhortation emphasizes faithfulness in the believer's fellowship with God. Fruitfulness is merely the effect and not the cause - the main cause is always our faithfulness in relationships with the Father. While fruitfulness can be the explicit assessment of our follower-ship, faithfulness remains the implicit assessment of our relationship with God. That probably informed the reason why Jesus said “ so you will be My disciples ”…when “ My Father is glorified ”. In whatever we do or say in fellowship with family and friends, it is not enough to just be driven by fruit bearing. When we simply focus on the pursuit of the glory of God, fruits will naturally follow our faithfulness.

  “ 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 The simple difference between the recommended love in the new commandment by Jesus Christ is the love…’ as I (Jesus) have loved you ’. Compared to the familiar love as we loved ourselves, this is love with a life tag. But when Peter responded to the challenge by saying “ I will lay down my life for your sake ”, Jesus countered his sincere submission with an undesirable reality. Peter would have to later deny knowing the suffering Jesus, because his self-centred love at the moment only appealed to a Super Jesus. Even today, nobody can commit a life love to someone else without a real encounter with the Cross. In life love, love as we loved ourselves does not exist because self, its passion, and pride are crucified on the Cross. It is love with a sacrifice of life on the altar of service to God and the pursuits of His Will, as we relate with p...

  “ 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 The evidence of sweet fellowship and affection among good partners is often expressed with the depth of pain at the time of parting or departure. The Bible says ‘when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father’ , He expressed His affection to the disciples with a special service of washing the disciples’ feet. Even within the sound and bounds of His betrayal and the pain of Crucifixion, it was an expression of boundless love…” having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end ”. Likewise, partners’ love, consecration, and fellowship in all relationships are challenged by the reality of disappointment and disagreements. There would always be reasonable excuses for partners in struggling relationsh...

  “ If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. ” ‭‭John‬ ‭12:26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Undoubtedly, the yardstick of services include loyalty, love, and dedication. But in a fast-paced world with motivation for multitasking, it is sometimes difficult for anyone to judge the metrics of loyalty, love, and dedication by their covers. For example, Judah Iscariot’s services to Jesus would pass the carnal yardstick by these metrics; but the Lord knew well ahead of the outward manifestation of his true character that he was a thief and had been secretly following the devil. Likewise, the Jews would boast of their loyalty, love, and dedication to the laws of the Lord; but they couldn’t respect the opinions of followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were prepared to kill Lazarus to checkmate the growing conversion of people from Judaism to follow the leading of the Spirit. Therefore, Jesus said to those who were c...