Heralds Digest

  ” Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand .“ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭20‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ narrative by Solomon Northup, where a black man (Northup) who despite being born free in New York State was tricked, kidnapped, and sold into slavery, simplified the horror and deceitfulness in the slavery strength. Compared with the 400 years of slavery for the Israelites in Egypt, the slavery strength of Pharaoh had a long stand battle with the saving strength of the Lord before freedom could be possible. Unfortunately, until a believer comes to the knowledge of the saving strength of the Lord’s right hand, he cannot possibly stand up before the slavery strength. Prior to this experience, and like Peter denied the Lord thrice, believers will readily fall into the deceitfulness of human intimidation, material deprivation, and wicked manipulation. Whereas, the potency of the believer's saving streng...

  ” You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments .“ ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭7‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The fundamental of God’s philosophy for human living is the heart’s openness to the word of God:  ‘ Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God ’ (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬). Therefore, anyone who does not live by the wise words will be susceptible to hardened hearts like king Pharaoh. But the only medicine for hardened hearts is the wise words. According to Psalms 19:7-10, these words from the Lord have all the ingredients to make any humble heart wise and enlightened. Unfortunately, human exposure to the material th...

  ” For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble .“ Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬-‭19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If the wicked way can readily be offered the bread of wickedness and the wine of violence, it implies that smart ways are not necessarily the wise ways. In the enemy’s deceptive plan, man is easily driven by a long throat, loose appetite, and lofty lifestyle. Once the carrots are dangled, the carnal man is no longer sensitive to what makes him stumble. Unfortunately, even the redeemed of the Lord are readily deceived and distracted from the wise ways; by following the path of 1. Forgetfulness; 2. Self-confidence; 3. Lustfulness; 4. Dryness; 5. Envy and Position-seeking; 6. Idolatry; and 7. Disobedience. Whereas, the path of the just is like the shining sun because it attracts the wise ways with a de...

  ” Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her. ”“ Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ It is important to note how the useful undertaking of an unknown woman became a household reference, because of her useful understanding of the determinate counsel of God. Compared to the undertaking of a known and privileged Judas Iscariot, both undertakings were useful; but the useful undertaking of Judas doesn’t emanate from a useful understanding of the determinate counsel of God: ” The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born “ (Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭24‬). Likewise, none of human undertakings in the world (good, ugly, bad, wicked, friendly, hostile, etc) are useless in the economy of God’s determinate counsel; but only those who are inspired by useful understanding of God’s purposes,...

  ” Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. “ Job‬ ‭42‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The major lesson from the experience of Job, especially his repentance from blaming God for the supposed uselessness of his suffering, is that our usefulness can be found only in God. Conversely, human uselessness is discovered only outside the presence and prevalence of God. Therefore, it is absolutely a useless understanding to give room for complaints and complacency in the wake of human disappointment with unpleasant circumstances in life. When the scriptures say ” And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬), the literal interpretation of ‘all things ’ is s...

  ” Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?“ Job‬ ‭38‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ ” Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind ” connotes a delayed answer; and an apparent reference to acceptable agnosticism. Afterall, the scriptures elsewhere say that the ‘revealed things ’ belong to us; while the ‘secret things’ belong to God. But the major challenge is always how to handle the waiting period, especially when surrounded by myriads of ‘darkened counsels’? Obviously, God rebuked Job for his unwise wait; while Job had queried God’s delayed strategy. Likewise, life is filled with the combination of ‘revealed things ’ and ‘secret things’ ; and believers must be prepared to be satisfied living with these realities. Therefore, a wise wait will satisfactorily explore the ‘revealed things’ with faithful obedience and fruitful courage, without struggling with or presumptuously asserting knowledge of the ‘secret t...

” He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live. Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding .“ ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The fundamental difference between the latent and sensible heat, with respect to the change of state and phase of a physical body, will never cease to amaze my study of heat transfer. While the latent heat gain by a body influences its change of phase without a change in temperature, the sensible heat gain only influences a change in temperature without a change in phase. Philosophically, many people can be drawn to the influences that are powered by sensible heat because they can easily measure a change in the body’s state with temperature differences. Whereas, true transformation and a change i...