Heralds Digest

  “ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again .”” I Kings 18 : 37 NKJV The primary objective of all provoked proclaimers of the gospel is the turning of halted hearts to holy hearts. This is because the slightest displeasure or discouragement in life can halt any heart’s relationship with the Holy God. For example, when Elijah’s heart himself became halted, he ran away from Jezebel and turned to God for a suicide mission, rather than seeking God for sustenance. But here, Elijah’s humbleness was focussed on turning the halted hearts of Ahab and the people of Israel from the worship of Baals to the worship of God. It implies that halted hearts do not have any proven benefits in support of their patronage of idols or man-made gods, including materialism, socialism, and populism. Their actions and dispositions are merely a reflection of faithlessness, a statement of unbelief, and a declarati...

  “ Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.” Acts 17 : 18 NKJV The preaching of the gospel has always been strange news to sinners, backsliders, and the unrighteous systems of this world. Those who must dare to preach the gospel must be provoked by passion for souls and obedience to the mandate. Like Paul and his coworkers before the citizens of Athens in the New Testament, Elijah in the Old Testament was provoked by the need to preach the gospel to Ahab and the backslided people of Israel. Therefore, the three common lifestyles of provoked proclaimers include (1) being treated as strange fellows and babblers; (2) being threatened by exhaustion and depletion of the basic things of life; and (3) being blessed by consistent heavenly resources at the time of needs. Unfortunately, those who are...

  “ But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed .” Acts 16 : 25 - 26 NKJV If only men can understand the potency of prayer, there will be little or no longer attention to the politics of power. In the days of God’s power at the early church and behind the prison doors, the politics of power riveted the prisoners to their invisible chains and stocks, despite the fact that the potent prayer had resulted in the incredible “ so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed ”. And while reality of the potent prayer almost led the prison jailers to commit suicide, the prisoners were merely listening to the prayers of Paul and Silas…completely blinded to the potency of prayer. Pr...

  “ Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. ” Psalms 78 : 3 - 4 NKJV Manifestation of works is the evidence of active living; and a reflection of the supporting supernatural influence towards the living. We cannot sit on the fence: we will either show the wonderful works of God or manifest the wicked works of the devil. Whereas, the wonderful works can be easily rendered by the testimonies of God’s healing from sicknesses, the supernatural deliverances from the satanic setups, and divine guidance through our different stages of confusions in life. Unfortunately, when we cover up these beautiful experiences and pretend as though these manifestations are the reflections of our personal skills and creativity, we will succeed in bringing up new generations of people that are alienated from the grace of Go...

  “ but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. ” Acts 15 : 40 - 41 NKJV Friendships and relationships have always suffered shipwrecks when the original purpose goes out of focus. Many painful treatises have been documented on the end of an encouraging ministerial friendship between Paul and Barnabas. Unfortunately, at the end, contention and disagreement resulted in “ but Paul chose Silas and departed “…leaving one undoubted focus in perspective, which is the grace of God. Isn’t this grace of God what originally attracted Barnabas to the friendship and relationship at the church in Antioch? (Acts 11:23). And apparently Silas also became riveted to the same friendship and relationship at Antioch by the grace of God. It remains clear that only the grace of God can sustain focus in all relationships, be it purposeful marriage, principled ministry, and project methodologies...

  “ So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith .” Acts 15 : 8 - 9 NKJV When someone says the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart, it definitely implies that the heart household is the most important preoccupation of man on earth. Solomon, in all his wisdom and heavenly endowment, messed up this assignment in his old age and he lost out completely “ For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David ( I Kings 11 : 4 )”. And “ So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice (I Kings 11 : 9 )”. The list of other gods that do mess up other people’s heart households includes money, position, and privileges. Even today, some have always boast...

  “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.” Proverbs 15 : 13 - 14 NKJV The major difference between hedging and hunting is the use of intelligence in the former, compared to the probable reliance on faith in the latter. Hedging makes use of the head, while hunting depends on the heart. And unlike the use of head hedging in our competitive world, heart hunting is inspired by divine revelation and spiritual discernment on every subject matter. Those who will use the heart hunting in life must have faith in God, without which they are inadvertently subjected to the whims and caprices of men and the system of this world. Unfortunately, the best of worldly intelligence for the feeding of head hedge is summarized by the scriptures as foolishness. Whereas, a merry and wise heart is redeemed from the corrupt world to seek the knowledge ...