Heralds Digest

  ” But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. “ Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ When Dinah the daughter of Jacob desired aimlessly to explore the land of Shechem, and then got defiled in the process, her ambition became the destructive delights of the people of Shechem. Even the whole land of Shechem wasn’t spared, as the destructive consequences led to the emigration of the Israelites from Shechem to Bethel. Likewise, we are all created for something higher and bigger than what we mostly would put in focus as a clear perspective. Unfortunately, no one can uncover the essence of his existence until a fruitful engagement with the Creator is pursued. We are easily distracted by the pursuit of higher living standards, esteemed social influences, and professional accomplishments, until the souls begi...

  ” For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly ;“ ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The reason why many people are skeptical about the rewards for following the path of righteousness is the deceptive dividends for cutting corners, the fun with worldly riches, and the fancy of fraudulent advancements. Smart intelligence and worldly wisdom play a significant role in almost all of today’s pursuit of political relevance, business development, and career advancement. Unfortunately, like Jacob of old adopted these shortcuts to supplant his brother Esau, our world and even many kingdom citizens have been bought over by the temporary rewards from this worldly wisdom. Thankfully, Jacob settled his score with God at Peniel and thereafter restituted his ways with Esau. It is important to note that there is no lasting and peaceful reward in unrighteousness and worldly wisdom. Ev...

  ” But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath .”“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In our text today, the Lord’s guiltless were the hungry disciples that plucked the heads of grain for food on the Sabbath day. The emphasis here is that the love of the Lord is always driven by the needs of the people. All have sinned and readily condemned on the basis of justice; but the penalty for the sin of all is fully paid by the love of the Lord, based on His guiltless guts. Likewise, the redeemed of the Lord are called to possess the guiltless guts in their relationships with all people, irrespective of the offenses. By the true understanding of the depth of the love of the Lord and His sacrifice for our redemption, it is possible to practice our lives and affairs with the guiltless guts. Rather than looking for judgment in our relationships, a sincere desire for mercy wit...

  ” All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls .“ Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭27‬-‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The primary essence of life is knowing and understanding the sovereignty of God; while the secondary essence of life is accepting and appropriating the responsibility of man. Unfortunately, it is always easier for the natural man to concentrate on the secondary essence; while the primary essence is either put on hold or completely ignored. Consequently, we chase the riotous rest with the attendant troubles and frustration in our relationship with people and interactions with work. Even when it appears a temporary rest is served by seeking the ‘other things’ ahead of ...

  ” And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force .“ Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The use of force is never strange to the kingdom of this world. It is the application of pressure on a specific target area with the aim of driving a desired movement or translation. Unlike the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of this world uses and coordinates its elements, ideas, and intentions by fistful force, including the use of human intelligence, deception, and manipulation. For example, Jacob successfully supplanted Esau by the use of his intelligence, ungodly collaboration, and deceit. And he got the desirable blessing with the fistful force because God allowed or permitted the passage. But when the scripture declared ” And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force ”, it recommends the use of faith instead of fist; but this is still on the same pri...

  ” Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies .“ Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬-‭31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ In defining FEAR (false evidence appearing real), someone said it is simply overestimating the danger while underestimating the ability to cope. Whereas, the scripture says this fruitless fear is simply the filling of life with personal fancies against the fear of the Lord. Fruitful fear is the fear of God and the beginning of wisdom. The flow of these personal fancies in life includes confidence in our own religion, ideology, habits, vocation, lifestyle, principle, etc, demanding good counseling sessions from the Lord. And whenever we overestimate any threat to any of these fancies, it is natural for anyone to respond with fruitless fear. But when we become open to the revelation of God’s majesty, love, holine...

  ” Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. “” Genesis‬ ‭24‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ While the context of success here is marital, the principle can be generalized for all sides of success in life. Unlike the mindset of pinning the primary determinant on human perspiration, inspiration from God is revealed as the primary source of success in life. Even when Eliezer the servant of Abraham was still praying for divine intervention at the well in Nahor, Rebekah had already appeared with the perfect positioning along with the contents of the prayer. It implies that successful events in life are exactly the orchestration of divine appointments. Focussed men are merely moved in line with divine revelations to uncover divine manifestations. Little wonder the biblical reference on success to Joshua decla...