Heralds Digest

  “ He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, And the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise. ” Proverbs 11:29-30 ­NKJV Life is a battlefield. We win some, we lose some; but not all wins are wise. There are several wins on the basis of wickedness, deception, injustices, and unrighteousness. Even the soul of the winner here is sacrificed on the altar of trophies or wind (using the language of the scriptures). Every engagement in life, competition for mastery, and struggle for position, prosperity, or popularity that demands the act or aid of unrighteousness is really not wisdom. It is simply the troubling of one’s own house. Unfortunately, only a fool does that knowingly or unknowingly. Whereas, a wise win is focussed on winning a soul and not any material substance. Sometimes, this wise move demands the sacrifice of the winner’s rights in pursuits of peace, purity, and the presence of God at...

  “But Simon Peter answered Him, “ Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God .”” ­John ­6:68-69 ­NKJV The main challenge before bread and butter Christians is the seemingly several alternatives to access Christ’s conquest. Therefore, when Simon Peter asked “ Lord, to whom shall we go ?“, he appeared stranded on the singularity of the access to Christ. Yes, between Christ’s calling and Christ’s conquest in every pilgrim’s pathway is the coming conquest. Unlike Christ’s conquests, the coming conquest is every believer’s responsibility. When we walk through the wilderness and desert, fight through the beasts and vices, and endure several threats and the storms of life, we receive grace to grow in faith, inspiration for the discerning of the Spirit, and appetite for valuable Christian virtues. This is the indispensable path for anyone to “ come to believe and know that You are...

  ” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. ”“ John 6:­28-29, 40 NKJV If it is true that we can follow Jesus with a wrong motive, how can we categorize those who decide not to follow Jesus at all? Notwithstanding, those who had followed Jesus for the satisfaction of their belly’s needs have rightly responded with “ What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? ” And Jesus had apparently responded “ Believe in God’s will, way, and works ”. Unfortunately, the satisfaction of our personal needs has always driven our engagement in life, especially by losing taste in the sufficiency of God to meet our personal needs. And the enemy has been very smart, by using this spirit of covetousness ...

  ” The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth. ”“ Psalms ­58:­10-11 NKJV There is so much confusion about the rewards of the righteous, especially considering the bountifulness of beauties surrounding the workers of wickedness. Unfortunately, it is almost generally a norm that righteousness, in its true colour and shades, has no significant reward. Whereas, the scriptures “ Surely there is a reward for the righteous “. The question is “what or where is the reward?”. Those who look after the righteous’ reward through the len of earthly remuneration, physical property, and political position will surely look disdainfully in despair, disappointment, and discouragement. Perhaps, this discouraging reality has driven many so-called believers into the dens of deceivers and demonic manipulations. Notwithstanding, the r...

  ” Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you and your son, and your grandson also; for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.” But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you .”“ Judges 8:22-23 NKJV When Gideon rejected the offer to rule over Israel, he must have been guided by the danger of being entrusted with an absolute power. It is always important to be sensitive to the difference between reign and rule. Reigning is synonymous to leadership, while ruling is tantamount to lordship. Unfortunately, not many people are conscious of the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Even Gideon, after the express declaration of his motive against lordship over Israel, he subscribed into a snare through his trust in a golden ornament or ephod: ” Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon ...

  ”  ” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? ”“ Judges 6:14 NKJV When Norman Vincent Peale’s ‘The Power of Positive Thinking ’ gave 10 rules for “ overcoming inadequacy attitudes and learning to practice faith ”, he must have been inspired by the Lord’s admonition to Gideon “ Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? ”. Peale’s 10 rules appeared to play a significant role among the strategies adopted by Gideon in his conquest against the Midianites,  including (1) Picture yourself succeeding; (2) Think a positive thought to drown out a negative thought; (3) Minimize obstacles; (4) Do not attempt to copy others; (5) Repeat “ If God be for us, who can be against us? ” ten times every day; (6) Work with a counselor; (7) Repeat “ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me ” ten times every ...

  ” Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. “ John ­5:14-15 NKJV Faith in God has always been scarce because of a believer's misunderstanding of the activities of facts. The 38-year impotent man had held onto the facts of healing through the help of random personalities at the pool of Bethesda for years, because the facts had established the procedures for healing. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to meet up with these procedures, until his encounter with Jesus. And like facts have no definite identification of the source of help, everyone who relates with God is tempted to keep a suspicious hope in the possibility of deliverance through the exercise of faith. Whereas, Jesus is never a random Deliverer. His deliverance is definite, and those who put their trust in God cannot be put to shame. Faith in God does...