Heralds Digest

  “You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion. You have given a banner to those who fear You, That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭60‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When the scriptures admonish believers to “ Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding” (Proverbs‬ ‭23‬:‭23‬), it suggests that the value of the truth is not cheap. People may casually agree that truth carries heavy weights, but most times, it is difficult to understand why it is easier to sell truth than to buy it. Selling is easy because it translates to a loss of ‘unappreciated’ value, while buying implies an accumulation of precious value. For example, building love, trust and unity in the family can take hard labour, sacrifices, and patience; whereas, it is easier to sell these priceless virtues for pleasure, greed, and material prosperity. Unfortunately, our broken world has often placed greater value on the selling of ...

  “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While advanced storage system with preservatives have been useful to retain freshness in fruits, the rottenness of harvested fruits can only be slowed down. A complete fresh fruit is only possible when the fruit is still attached to the tree. It is not a news that life and all its expectations, competition, and performances impose the degradation and rottenness to human relationships. Therefore, when the scriptures say “ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life ”, it just implies that only the righteous can keep the freshness because of his attachment to the tree of life. Little wonder, Christ told his disciples “ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me ” (John‬ ‭15‬:‭4‬). Unfortunately, outside winning souls through a daily attachment of believers to the fellowship of pra...

  “Consume them in wrath, consume them, That they may not be; And let them know that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth. Selah” Psalms‬ ‭59‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In God’s original plan, human being is synonymous to human dominion. And it is important to note that human dominion is designed for “ Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth ” (Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭28‬). Also, whenever this dominion extends to the ruling of fellow citizens, conflict of interest against the divine counsel and dominion is inevitable. For example, family altars and fellowship are destroyed in homes where the personal ambition of either the husband or the wife overrides the counsel of God. Whereas, being is expected to be just knowing ‘that God rules in Jacob To the ends of the earth’ . Rather than living to compete for God’s wrath, being in the context of life’s social activities i...

  “For look, they lie in wait for my life; The mighty gather against me, Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord. They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine. Awake to help me, and behold!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭59‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Frustration doesn’t have fans; it torments all associates without discrimination. While the experience of the psalmist depicts the righteous frustrations in the hands of the wicked, the plights of king Saul and his kill squadrons represent the frustration of the wicked in search of the righteous. And until the agents of life’s frustrations lead the righteous, like the psalmist, to the Lord, all preparations, strategies, and schemes of the righteous for escape and breakthrough in life are tantamount to fruitless frustration. Unfortunately, one of the major ambitions of the wicked is the leading of the righteous into the same frame of his fruitless frustration. Whenever the righteous lose the confidence to stand before the throne of grace, like t...

  “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭58‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While vengeance in the Old Testament context speaks of the rejoicing of the righteous over the blood of the wicked, the New Testament focuses on rejoicing over the inescapable vengeance of God our righteous Rewarder. At all times, the righteous would patiently wait on God and the fulfillment of His promises; and there would be so much abuse of privileges, opportunities, and the influences of the wicked in our world. Unfortunately, these oppressive postures of the wicked have led many unstable followers of the Cross to abandon their faith in God. But there is always no unrighteousness in our righteous Rewarder. He delights in those whose focus is on Him and His promises, rather than the seeming prosperity of the wicked. And to those ...

  “The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath. He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But trouble will come to him who seeks evil.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬, ‭27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Life is basically a compilation of desires and the seeking of career, family, material, and social prosperity. And while these are good desires, the paths are not always smooth and straightforward. Oftentimes, all paths to breakthrough in life are laced with secret convocation of evils and wickedness. Unfortunately, the primary delight of the architect of these evil and wicked paths is a derailment from the path that lead into the presence of God. Little wonder the scriptures admonished that “ The desire of the righteous is only good ”, not even career, family, material, and social prosperity. And these delightful desires are simply abhorrent to prosperity preachers in our days of mundane competition. The only good is righteousness; and any pursuit of the seeming good with ...

  “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth.” Psalms‬ ‭57‬:‭7‬, ‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ It is true that total trust demands total thanksgiving; but the prevailing perspective of praise is thanksgiving in the absence of problems and the challenges of life. A focus on problems and the challenges of life has always polluted the heart of praise and worship of the great God. It goes, ‘if God is great, awesome, and powerful, why should His children be facing challenges and difficulties in life’ ? Whereas, the pure perspective of praise is the test of believers’ steadfastness in extolling the great God, particularly in the presence of problems and the challenges of life. The psalmist was focused on God as the only subject of thanksgiving and worship; and he truly wanted the Lord to know that his praise was sincere and steadfast, irrespective of the distractive challenges of life. When...