Heralds Digest

  “Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭62‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Given that the major derivative of waiting is time, silent wait for God is often synonymous to stupid wait in the sight of man. If anything, absolute waiting for God requires no use of human intelligence, particularly when the Spirit of God is leading the way. Even when the waiting demands patience in tribulations, purpose through training, and purity during temptation, waiting for God has no equal when it comes to final salvation and full satisfaction. For example, Ruth’s waiting for God by following Naomi to Bethlehem defiled human intelligence, compared with the decision of Orpah who returned to Moab under sensible reconsideration. At the end, it turned out that Ruth had the wise wait. Unfortunately, the adjective ‘wise’ here has nothing to do with the wisdom of man; but it has everything to do...

  “Better is the one who is slighted but has a servant, Than he who honors himself but lacks bread” Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ All servants are meant to provide service, but not all services are provided by servants. Irrespective of the status and privileges in life, a good service spirit attracts servants and sustains the service lines at all times. It implies that the most important ingredient of a good service is the building or empowerment of servants. Unfortunately, in our greedy and unrighteous world with tremendous conflict of interest, empowerment of servants requires enlightenment by the Spirit. And going by the scriptural wisdom “ Better is the one who is slighted but has a servant ”, a good service spirit is always focused on cultivating the servant potentials in people and associates. While the call for a good service spirit is tall and risky, partnership with the Holy Spirit makes a ministry for the promotion of righteousness and reconciliation out of every believer’s ...

  “Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalms‬ ‭61‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Speaking of attention during praying sessions, believers’ attentions are easily distracted by the numerous challenges and mountains of difficulty than focused on God. Most times, we prefer to complain while caressing these challenges rather than engage in the spiritual battle. Unfortunately, the devil knows how best to take advantage of believers’ ignorance and romance with the fake rocks in their lives. But after being driven to the end of the earth by the challenges of life, the psalmist suddenly realized the ignorance of running away from the real Rock that is higher than his fake rocks - Jesus Christ. “ When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I”. Whenever believers truly turn to this Rock in earnest prayers, the pains and pangs from all the fake rocks are lif...

  “Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies” Psalms‬ ‭60‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When the scriptures say “ For the help of man is useless” , this kind of help must be the unholy help or help that causes trouble. Unfortunately, life in most homes, workplaces, and in our social circles is full of ego-centric help, carefully orchestrated to promote the helper’s personal ambition against the divine agenda. Little wonders, a system or fellowship can be filled with numerous sacrifices of crisis-promoting ‘helps’ , while members are not free from oppression, servitudes, and self-centred manipulation. Oh that members of the family of God at home, workplaces, and our society will cry out like the psalmist “ Give us [holy] help from trouble, For the [unholy] help of man is useless” . Invariably, holy help is strictly the rendering of human hands, talents, time, and treasures as instruments of service...

  “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...