Heralds Digest

  ” And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him .“ Luke ­22:41-43 NKJV Salvation from stagnation, failures, and disappointment in life is not mostly by the outward movement of physical structure, material resources, and the manipulation of our sleeping strength or self will. There can be evidence of these movements without true motion. The surrendering of Jesus Christ to the power of darkness was earlier perceived by His sleeping disciples as weakness. But the salvation of the world from the bondage of sin and satanic manipulations through this sacrifice of Jesus is the true motion. Even the strong-willed and self-sufficient Peter ended up denying Jesus thrice, until Jesus looked upon him with His saving strength. Likewise, when we look unto Jesus and He looks upon us in...

  ”“ Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me .”“ Psalms 50:5, 15 ­NKJV While God’s saints are bought and brought into a covenant relationship with Him by the sacrifice of Christ, the redeemed of the Lord are called to gather by a lifestyle of personal, holy, and acceptable sacrifice unto God. The first gathering is the redemption of sinners from sin slavery into the Lord’s marvelous light; while the second gathering is the collection of saints. “ Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice “ implies the possibility of saints leaving for themselves; or simply not offering acceptable sacrifice before the Lord. Saints gathering is a glory gathering; it is the total sacrifice of self for the propagation of the glory of God. Of course, those who are dedicated to saints’ gathering are usually not perturbed by the  c...

  ” This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go .”“ Joshua ­1:­8-­9 NKJV Sometimes, people struggle with the sense of success aspirations through a daily study of words of the Lord day and night. It is because the scriptures are the reliable source of wise words; outside lies discouragements or weigh words. Unfortunately, we are aptly surrounded by a system of people, methods, and policies breathing out weigh words. When one is getting excited with pockets of inspiration and encouraging incidents, the enemy or his agents understand how to serve a dosage of weigh words, just sufficient to cause destabilization and disorientation. Therefore, e...

  ” Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places.” “ Deuteronomy 33:1, 29 NKJV While it is true that the grave gate ends man’s activities on earth, it also provides a taste of eternal satisfaction or otherwise awaiting the departed soul. No doubt, ignorance of, or unbelief on, the power of the grave gate is responsible for reckless lifestyles of many people on earth. And by carelessness, the ignorance of the power of the grave gate in unbelievers can easily rob doubt on those who do believe in the power of the grave gate. Even though Moses almost slipped on carelessness, the story from his grave gate revealed the superiority of the power of grace gate over the power of the grave gate. And by his introduction at the grave ...

  ” Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:“ ”But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Why do you test Me?“ Luke 20:21, 23 NKJV If knowing is synonymous to doing, the philosophers in our world would have been idolized as gods. But like the Teacher of the law who was used to craftily indict Jesus, knowing is very far from doing. Jesus disapproved of discretionary doings of God’s words and commandments; and would have nothing to do with hypocritical disposition. Even today, an honest heart should be deeply burdened by the words of public leaders, pastors, and regulators who have the in-depth knowledge of administration and the interpretation of the rules of law, procedures, and regulations; but their charisma is mostly defiled by their characters.  Whereas, human charisma is easily brushed up by facts and knowledge; our character is sharpened by an a...

” But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. “ ­Luke 19:33-35 NKJV There is always too much wastefulness and hopelessness in the world, especially when a man loses his usefulness. Oftentimes, what we are desperate to do and achieve in our world are really outside our job description; and they are irrelevant to the divine purpose for our existence. Imagine the ultimate relevance of the tied up colt, waiting for when “ The Lord has need of him. ” Like many other free colts, we are readily tempted to want to do and compete with what other people around us are doing. Whereas, we are each made for something special and unique. If we can always endure being tied up a little bit to discover what we are made for in our world, that may be what our noble need to accomplish. Little wonder, the s...

  ” So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight .”“ Luke 18:40¬41 NKJV Sometimes, life and its challenges can wear a settled lifestyle, especially when everyone in the society has accommodated the lifestyle as normal. The blind Bartimaeus’ lifestyle was a typical example of societal misnomer. Other misnomers can include lameness, wretchedness, wickedness and unrighteousness. Like many people in our days, Zacchaeus was a very good companion of the blind Bartimaeus with a sin scar. While many would keep wearing the scars on their sleeves, Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus took a bright break when life presented the opportunity of meeting Jesus. Even when the society painted a blind break against the desperation of the blind Bartimaeus, he refused to be silenced. Even today, it is never too late for anyone to take a bright break away from his life...