Heralds Digest

  “ The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made them both. Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread. ” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭20‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In pursuit of progress in life, business, and ministry, the combination of integrity and intelligence remains a rare feat. It is always easier to climb the ladder of progress with the combination of intelligence with diplomacy and deceit. Unfortunately, this ungodly feat has always misguided the people of God into the mold of accepting the corrupt system in their world as the winning way in life. Isn’t this the same reason why the scriptures posited that the children of the world are wiser in their generation: “ So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light”? (Luke‬ ‭16‬:‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). Obviously, the pervasive progress is possible when the use of intelligence is maximi...

  “ You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. ” Psalms‬ ‭97‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬   Recently, I saw an exposure of a picture taken from a construction site. The golden rendering of the background left one wondering ‘Isn’t this site a work-in-progress, with its several messes and many rubbish of construction materials?’ . One can only imagine the beauty of the dark decor provided by the construction site of the Solomon’s temple, featuring the engagement of “ seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them ” (II Chronicles‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬). The reality is that more often than not, and most especially in the dark decor, ‘Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for...

  “ Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.” Psalms‬ ‭96‬:‭2‬, ‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When the Apostle Paul declared “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes ” in Romans 1:16, he posited that the great gospel comes only from the knowledge of a great God. It implies that the primary influence of the great God in the lives of believers is the production of the good news of salvation to everyone within their sphere of influence. Unfortunately, and like many believers in the days of Apostle Paul, people are often ashamed of the impact of the good news because they are ignorant of the influence of the great God through their prevailing circumstances. When we get overwhelmed by the influences of the pseudo gods, princ...

  “ When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest .’ ”” Psalms‬ ‭95‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When Christ invited the people to “ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ” (Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬), did anyone bother to find out the promised rest is the same as the perceived rest? In any case, there is no doubt that the generation of the children of Israel that were redeemed from Egypt got it all wrong; and God responded in His wrath ‘They shall not enter My rest ’. How different is the mindset of the redeemed of the Lord today on God’s promised rest? Praise God for the scriptural revelation of the source of misconceptions across all generations. It is always not sufficient to boast of knowing the work of God; we must equally learn how to ultimat...

  “ The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil. ”‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If satisfaction is simple as trade and barter, the poor would have had nothing to compete with the lords or those in privileged positions, with privileged prosperities, and by privileged opportunities in the world. Although satisfaction operates by a simple law, its understanding is simply complex to those whose priorities are dictated by a largely diverse conflict of interests. For example, a satisfaction in wealth, position of authority, or excellence of knowledge is complicated by the diverse fear of the users’ conflict of interests, including family members, workplace principals, diversity in product satisfaction, etc. Even when it appears the body’s accomplishment can be celebrated at one point or the other, the soul’s satisfaction is only given by the Lord. That’s the reason why only “ The fear of the Lord leads to life, And he...

    “ Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, And teach out of Your law, Unless the Lord had been my help, My soul would soon have settled in silence .” Psalms‬ ‭94‬:‭12‬, ‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In our world of social media and networking, human problems and confusions have shifted from the era of ‘limited’ help to the error of ‘multiple’ help. The issue is no longer safety in the multitude of counsellor, but rather confusion. And now that destruction is readily packaged with the wrapper of help, ‘ holy help ’ from the Lord has become the only safe haven for those who have learnt how to trust absolutely in God. Unfortunately, the pathway to the holy help is often considered as too sluggish and unattractive to follow, compared with the fast-paced help from peer pressures, impatience, and greed. And since no one has ever been satisfied with the demands of the gods of unholy help, access to holy help is guaranteed only at the throne of grace. The righteous needs a consistent grace to...

  “He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge? The Lord knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭94‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Fruitfulness and futility are mostly misconstrued in life’s giving, depending on the human focus for assistance. Those who pitched their help desks with men may have previously attempted seeking assistance from God; and returned with the mindset of ‘heaven helps those who help themselves ’. And being now aligned in a futile fellowship with men, human activities and engagements in our workplaces can boast of several dividends of oppression, corruption, discrimination, and manipulation; somehow counting on believers’ seeming futility in fellowship with God. Whereas, they always cry in silence with hopeful trust in the power of God’s grace for rest of mind and peace from the throne of grace. And unlike the temptation of futile fellowship, fruitful fellowship trusts in the Lord alone; and would never sell this t...