Heralds Digest

  “ The people asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. ” Psalms 105 : 40 NKJV Welcome to September, the month of supernatural satisfaction. Oh, this revelation was original to the people of Israel, the redeemed of the Lord from Egypt while they wandered in the wilderness; but they didn’t count it as a sustainable source of satisfaction. Even today, believers are still wired with a sense of self sufficiency - in our intelligence, administrative skills, social influences, and political sagacity. Unfortunately, the best of human provision and proficiency is not sustainable because of the laws of limitation and depreciation. Whereas, the Lord God is every believer’s Sun and Shield…“ The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly” ( Psalms 84 : 11 ). And to walk upright is simply being interpreted here as “ The people asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven ”. Therefo...

  “ Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it .” Proverbs 22 : 6 NKJV Just as a parent is the principal in a parent-child relationship, life’s projects and teams are executed with similar relationship setup. While the smart age in our present world is blessed with smart kids and mentees, the scriptural principle of progressive training and mentorship has been lost. Unfortunately, both the trainer and the trainees do not know the training curriculum in our current confused world. Whereas, “ Train up a child in the way he should go ” suggests the trainer’s understanding of ‘ where each specific trainee should go !’. And while these trainees (including children in our homes, students in our schools, and interns in our workplaces, etc) are getting smarter with their aggressive exposure to social media and peer pressure, the principals in homes, institutions, and workplaces are getting more and more confused about ascertaining who takes r...

  “ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me .”” Isaiah 6 : 8 NKJV While it is simply bad for any man to be used against God’s purpose and plan, it is not good enough for anyone to be used without the alignment of his personal will with the will of God. There is a significant difference in the following terms: (1) being used by God; (2) being used for God; and (3) being useful to God. To be used by God appears to imply the use of a utensil against its freewill. For example, Jonah was used by God to preach to the city of Nineveh against his self will. God is sovereign, and His purposes and plans are superior to man’s intentions and preferences. Therefore, anyone can be used by God, especially against the will of the utensil. For the part of being used for God, this is a pitiable release of services by the utensil, without being mindful of the perfect will of God. For example, the services of Isaiah b...

  “ We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses ” II Corinthians 6 : 3 - 4 NKJV Fruitfulness in ministry is the product of fellowship with the people and God, but the risk in a mixed ministry is always phenomenal. The church and all assemblies for believers’ social impacts are not expected to be a cathedral for saints. In fact, they are specially designed to be the congregation of saints with the afflicted, oppressed, inspired, intoxicated, abused, misused, disused, etc. If those who claimed to be the light of the world cannot shine out for those who are in darkness to see, then there is something wrong with the light luminance. Therefore, the major problem in ministry is not so much about the challenges with mixed ministry or the social decadence in our world; but rather the compromise with mixed ministers of the gospel. When Apostle Pau...

“ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. ” II Corinthians 5:20-21 NKJV In one of Louis S. Zamperini (January 26, 1917 – July 2, 2014)’s biographical films, Unbroken (2014), the agenda of every Ambassador of a country or sovereign was sufficiently demonstrated. As an American World War II veteran, and an Olympic distance runner, Louis’ unbroken spirit and resilience against torture by Japanese military personnel—specifically including Mutsuhiro Watanabe in the different prisoners of war camps demonstrated his allegiance to the U.S. And his belief in forgiveness and conversion as a Christian evangelist later led him back to Japan in pursuit of reconciliation with the prison guard Mutsuhiro “The Bird” Watanabe (who was later included in a list of the forty most wanted war criminals in Japa...

  “ He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? ” Micah 6 : 8 NKJV When someone says “ the two greatest days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why? ”, his first referenced day would probably be the physical birth day. Meanwhile, some spiritually-focused person will prefer to reference the day the soul is redeemed into the family of God; and delivered from carnality. And although the second referenced day has no competition, not many people navigate life with a sense of divine purpose. While a self-centred life is focussed on the attainment of personal pride, prosperity, position, and privileges for the consumption of personal pleasure and prestige, God has outlined through prophet Micah here the principles for a purpose-driven personality - which are (1) doing justly to others; (2) extending love and mercy to others; and (3) walking humbly with God on...

  “ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day .” II Corinthians 4 : 7 , 16 NKJV More than ever before (no thanks to the advancement of social media and digital technologies), our culture emphasizes the importance of the outwards and the seen. Whereas, actually, the inward and the unseen (i.e., our thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) determine and control the outward behaviours. And since most human dispositions are ruled by the outward manifestations, externalities, and socio-economic indices, it is not far-fetched the realities of emotional instabilities, human social disturbances, disaffection, distrust and disunity among brethren, fear and anxiety, etc. Unfortunately, it is not possible for anyone to build his castle of treasures on the outwards and the seen; and expect its structural integrity ...