Heralds Digest

  “ Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, And teach out of Your law, That You may give him rest from the days of adversity, Until the pit is dug for the wicked. ” Psalms 94 : 12 - 13 NKJV The natural response to consistent adversity is a calculated aggression. Our world has been witnessing a series of aggression, conflicts, confrontations, and protests across different climates of economy and political landscapes of recent; and there is no assurance of rest to this inspired insurrection. But when the psalmist declares “ Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord “, it exposes the blessedness of an inspired instruction from God in the midst of this world’s inspired insurrection. This is the fundamental reason why it is absolutely impossible for anyone who is genuinely taught by the law of the Lord or inspired by His instructions to get inspired by insurrection or protests against the worldly system at the same time. Days of adversity, aggression, and agitation are liter...

  “ Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours? ”” II Chronicles 1 : 10 NKJV While God’s blessings on Solomon with wisdom and knowledge laid a solid foundation of the Jewish judicial system, it still underscores the principle of a fair or just justice system today. Corruption and injustices in the world’s legal system are major challenges across all jurisdictions, where the highest bidders can explore the vulnerability of judges and their desires for carnal compensation and unfair favouritism. It is instructive to know that conflict of interests in the outcome of any legal system can never breed justice. Therefore, Solomon wanted nothing more than what can guarantee God’s just justice is served within his monarchical system. “ Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but ...

  “ The floods have lifted up, O Lord, The floods have lifted up their voice; The floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier Than the noise of many waters, Than the mighty waves of the sea. Your testimonies are very sure; Holiness adorns Your house, O Lord, forever. ” Psalms 93 : 3 - 5 NKJV Greatness has acceptable metrics on the basis of human responses to floods or the challenges of life. The French philosopher, Blaise Pascal, spoke about three orders of greatness, including (1) the superficial ‘physical greatness’ , which is measured on the basis of riches, strength, and beauty; (2) the second and higher level of greatness is the ‘intellectual greatness ’, which is measured on the basis of genius, science, and art; and (3) the third level of greatness is in the order of holiness. And by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through the psalmist, we understand that only the third level of greatness - which is in the order of God’s gift of holiness - can withstand an...

  “ For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. ” I Corinthians 4 : 15 , 20 NKJV While the four psychological constructs of parenting include the authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved constructs, each of these categories has its proven deficiencies and disappointments; because of its absolute leverage on human contributions. Unfortunately, the social challenges, cultural disconnect, and political distortions in our society and institutions today have found their root causes in our failure with the business of parenting, career, or professional mentoring. But within the context of Christian discipleship, when Apostle Paul told the Corinthian believers “ for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” , he was confident of the superiority of his adopted scriptural parenting style over the f...

  “ The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. ” Psalms 92 : 12 - 15 NKJV In our world filled with constant insecurity, instability, and inequality, freshness is almost impossible. It is usually acceptable to accommodate mood swings, emotional disturbances, and some level of character flaws from anyone; because, they say, change is usually a constant phenomenon in life. But then, when the scriptures say “ The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon ”, it reveals the secret of not just freshness; but a floushing freshness . The fleshness that comes from a consistent and intentional plugging of the heart of man into the wealth of God’s spiritual r...

  ““ Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him .” Psalms 91 : 14 - 15 NKJV The difference between David and Solomon is synonymous to the comparison between triumphant troubles and troubling trophies. Not many people can escape the passivism in troubles and the consequences of its distraction from the reality of God’s presence. Instead of setting our love in God as the reality of dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, we are readily distracted by setting our hate on troubles and their agents. Whereas, the sincere qualification of the troubles before those who love the Lord and set their affections on Him is the dominant presence of God. Unfortunately, those who readily fall for the passivism of troubles do often choose to play down the divine promises “ I will deliver him ”, “ I will set...

  “ But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men .” I Corinthians 1 : 23 - 25 NKJV The only thing that singled out true ministers of the gospel is not the superiority of their intelligence, material possessions, and public acceptance; true ministers are known only by their possession of God’s power. More often than not, God will have to call out His ministers through the channels that guarantee the trimming of all references to these human power and wisdom. Even at that, pride does often creep in with its damnable consequences. For example, even after the divine conduct of David through the wilderness experiences to the throne for a demonstration of the pure power of God in the kingdom of Israel, the scriptures says at one point that “ Now Sa...