Heralds Digest

  “Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You”” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭66‬:‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Throughout the ages, the reverence of the power and privileges of man has always attracted stupid submission; and not just the necessary loyalty and respect. For example, the children of Israel preferred stupid submission to Pharaoh until the awesomeness of God’s power was displayed by Moses. Then, the children of Israel were able to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground. Also, there were many Jews in Babylon who fell into stupid submission to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden images until Shadrach, Messach, and Abednego singled themselves out. Then, Nebuchadnezzar was able to know God, who can deliver His children from the burning fiery furnace. The common denominator here is that stupid submission embraced submission to the enemies of God; and a rejection of the awesomeness of His works and manifestation. Whereas, all believers must exerc...

  “Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭65‬:‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Given that the general understanding of prayer is securing answers to personal needs, most people with sufficient access to the basic needs of life have developed little or no interest in prayer. Some would readily attribute prayer sessions to a reflection of idleness. Whereas, the meeting of personal needs is secondary to the privilege of an intimate fellowship with God. More than asking God to meet needs, prayer is simply meeting God personally. Anyone can call upon God; but not everyone is privileged to meet God. Therefore, the scriptures say “ Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts ”. We may have myriads of problems and the challenges of life that potentially drive us into the presence of God; but the moment we are privileged to me...

  “The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment. The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭12‬:‭19‬, ‭27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Deceit and diligence have more attractive combinations in our broken world. Even the scriptures acknowledge their temporal establishment “ The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment” . But how long does it take for the truthful lip to start attracting dividends? It depends on the righteous’ decent delight in diligence, no matter how long it takes. Unfortunately, laziness is not just the absence of hard work or novel initiative; it is the deficient sustenance of diligence in hard work or godly inspiration. Having caught a vision for excellence in life is not always enough; a decent delight in diligence is required to stick to the vision, despite the challenges of life and opposition against its manifestations. Therefore,...

  “All men shall fear, And shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭64‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The best of men’s works, good or bad, are limited in scope and significance. But while the attention on human activities lasts, some men may be carried away by negative callings into godlessness and unrighteousness. For example, human advances and technological innovations are being used today to promote all forms of satanic agenda and wicked activities. And some so-called believers in Christ are getting carried away with deceitfulness of unrighteousness. Notwithstanding, those who trust in the Lord and keep their garment of righteousness will wait for the manifestation of God’s wonderful works. This is because His works are unlimited in scope and significance. For all eyes, wise or wicked, shall see the glory of God’s wonderful works. Most times, the ...

  “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭63‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The difference between helping hands and hurting hands is not necessarily the help or hurt. It is the distinction between God and the adversaries. Beyond the physical hurt inflicted by the adversaries, the emotional hurts can be immensely overwhelming that the afflicted souls can hardly remember the promises of God. For example, even when Hannah was surrounded by a show of affection from her husband, the hurt imposed by her adversary reduced all the shows of love to nothing, until she found the source of true helping hands. Little wonder, the eventual help from God was named Samuel, saying ‘Because I asked for him from the Lord ’ (1 Samuel 1:20). Unfortunately, life’s hurt gets more painful and depressing when believers keep hoping for the medium of their helping hands in man. Whereas, the psal...

  “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 ...