Heralds Digest

  ” And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, A young man devoid of understanding, Passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house“ Proverbs‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ It is instructive that the scripture connects unfaithful undertaking to unfruitful understanding,, i.e., every understanding devoid of the fear of God: ” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever ” (Psalms‬ ‭111‬:‭10‬). It implies that faithfulness in our relationship with one another is pivoted on our faithfulness to God. And in the words of Mother Teresa, I am not called to be successful but to be faithful. Unfortunately, the world comprising its existing standards for institutional, societal, and political excellence do readily celebrate success at the expense of faithfulness. Even among our religious circles today, unsuccessful adventurers are easily branded as being devoid of unders...

  ” The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. “ (Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭16‬-‭18‬) When the relatives of John and Elizabeth expressed their concerns internally concerning the baby John the Baptist, saying ‘What kind of child will this be? ’, they were merely confirming his divine purpose as a forerunner of Jesus Christ. They had witnessed how his conception had led to spirit baptism upon Elizabeth; his delivery and christening ceremony had led to the opening up of the tongue of Zachariah; and the release of the Holy Ghost upon Zachariah to prophesy the plan of God. Previously, there had been the barriers of spiritual darkness, and the absence of the presence of God in the land for over 400 years. Even in our contemporary days, our society is often clouded...

  ” Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord. ”“ ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭42‬, ‭45‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The confirmatory visit of Elisabeth by Mary provides a vivid example of the blessedness of every encounter with Jesus. Even while He was still in the womb of Mary, the encounter of Elisabeth created unspeakable joy and the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Little wonder at another and later episode of the disciples’ encounter with heaven’s blessedness, Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “ I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight” ‭‭(Luke‬ ‭10‬:‭21‬). That is the reason why irrespective of every believer’s physical encounters and the challenges of life, spiritual encounters and i...

  ” No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy ” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭33‬:‭16‬, ‭18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ If the mercy of God is always mightier than the mightiest man, the question “ what is the essence for the pursuit of excellence in career, business, and political endeavours? ” begs the answer. Even though God favours just those who fear Him, rather than a mighty man; He is the Architect of excellence. God delights in walking a lowly man through the ladder of breakthrough and success to become a mighty man. Unfortunately, the greatest temptation comes when a divinely-made mighty man delights in his own might rather than the mercy of God. No doubt, the psalmist had witnessed many examples of these unfortunate twists to the mighty mercy of God. There has never been a time when any man has found sincere mercy in the might of man; it has always been the service of might...

  ” And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years .“ Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The experience of Zachariah with the Angel teaches that unbelief usually grows in the channel of believer’s needs and the challenges of life. John and Elizabeth have no problem at all along their channel of consecration: ” And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless ”. Although they were defined by their childlessness, believers are not expected to restrict the performance of God along their childless channel. Just as John’s childless channel brought the touch of correction with its prevailing challenges and chaos, our childless channel in life is not designed to take anyone away from his channel of consecration. Sincerely, childless channel demands consistent feeding on the promise...

  ” And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. “ ‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ Believers have often heard that the end of the world strongly depends on the preaching of the gospel. “ Go into all the world ” and “ preach the gospel to every creature ” are the two mutually dependent and inseparable commands from the Lord to all believers. Unfortunately, hypocritical believers have often learned how to interpret these commands in isolation. Whereas, all the world includes the entire scope of human residence, recreation, reverence, and reactivity; and the preaching of the gospel must be the central and inevitable parts of believer’s activities with everyone within the wholesome space. For example, apart from the preaching of the gospel message during our indoor and outdoor evangelistic outreaches, believers inherently preach the gospel through their lifestyles of holiness, righteousness, truth, honesty, love, compassion, humility and obedience to t...

  ” I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. “ Psalms‬ ‭32‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ The major challenge with the subject of divine guidance is the dearth of physical metrics to gauge reliability. People are readily attracted to what the eyes can see and their mental sensitivity can qualify as good. Unfortunately, right from the fall of man, the devil has been using this deceitfulness or gullible guidance to drive humanity, “ like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle” . Whereas, those who have found grace and freedom from the clutches of sin are blessed with discernment or gracious guidance. Grace removes the deceitfulness of physical attraction, mundane prosperity, and social distractions; and instructs the righteous consistently ...