Heralds Digest

  ” Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. For they intended evil against You; They devised a plot which they are not able to perform. “ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭21‬:‭8‬, ‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If there is always an absolute foreknowledge of the limits of human plots, there will be a decorum with the planning of their schemes and the seriousness they often attract. Particularly, when the enemies are reigning with their wicked schemes, the hands of the righteous are often tied; and the promises of the Lord are mostly considered as delayed, or sometimes denied. But the psalmist, drawing from personal experience, claims the right hands of the Lord will find the enemies. For examples, the planned plots of Pharaoh against the Israelites were aborted at the Red Sea by the right hands of the Lord. Needless to count the myriads of other planned plots against the righteous, like the plots of Haman, Ahithophel, Judas, and Herod. It implies that only the counsel of the Lo...

  ” So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.“ ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭13‬:‭18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The wilderness way in life is always not a fashionable way, because it is difficult, stressful, and long. Notwithstanding, it was God’s choice for the Israelites for its offer of fellowship opportunities. And something great always happens whenever the people of God give all distractions away to gather in fellowship with God. For the Israelites, in the first place, the adopted wilderness way offered a burial ground for the Egyptians in the Red Sea. Likewise, when believers take the, albeit difficult, stressful, and long, wilderness exposure with grace, they open up the opportunities for the manifestation of God’s glory and the declaration of His majesty over all the crafty manipulation of the enemies. And speaking of the privilege of procession in orderly ranks, the wilderness way provides the power of ...

  ” Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. “ Exodus‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Like the symbolic redemption of the Israelites from the land of Egypt, believers in Christ are both bought and brought from the land of captivity. Oftentimes, we are distracted by the unpleasant experiences along the brought passages that we completely forgot the entire sacrifice in the bought component. Whereas, the bought component in the believer's redemption story is fully paid for by Christ's sacrifice of His own blood. It is the mark of Christ on us that completely defiles the import of all negative activities in the wilderness of life. When Apostle Paul said ” From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭17‬), it was probably a stern reference to the sacrifice of Christ before all distra...

  ” 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,...