Heralds Digest

  “It is time for You to act, O Lord, For they have regarded Your law as void. Therefore I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.” Psalms 119 : 126 - 128 NKJV There is no doubt in the fact that the oppressive outbursts of wicked men in the world create repressive responses from those who are expected to trust in the promises of God. When promises are deferred, hopes fade. Whereas, the hearts and souls of the righteous get refreshed by every demonstration of the prevailing precepts of the Lord. Therefore, faith in the prevailing precepts is always the anchor for believers’ souls. It gets boosted by our regular digest of the words of God and daily dialogue in the secret place. Unfortunately, those who have subtly joined ranks with wicked souls and oppressors in battle against the righteous do readily undermine the potency of the prevailing precepts. Unlike these ...

  “ This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. ” Titus 3 : 8 NKJV Just by being created in the image of God, goodness was part of the natural attributes of man until the heart became depraved with callousness and corruption. Actually, goodness keeps the heart of man healthy like medicine. And like John Wesley once articulated on the subject matter, “ Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can ”. Without mincing words, life ceases to have relevance the moment it can no longer do good to anyone. Like John Bunyan who wrote ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ from the prison in Bedford Gaol, Apostle Paul wrote the greatest part of the epistles from incarceration with an undisputed message of goodness t...

  “ Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard Is a proverb in the mouth of fools. The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages .” Proverbs 26 : 9 - 10 NKJV People generally agree that everyone has a trace of madness, but with varying degrees of management skills. While the scriptures do not disagree with this fact, it unveils the root in human reverence or disrespect on the relevance of the great God in life’s daily engagements. It is normal for fools to dance naked in the public. Abnormality arises only when the mindful respond disproportionately to the naked dance in public. For example, “ Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him (verse 4)” and “ Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes (verse 5)” support a mindful response, which can ignorantly snowball into an accident of mindless madness. Therefore, the only recipe against mindless madness in life is the believer...

  “ For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— ” Titus 1 : 5 NKJV Like someone said to me recently, “ excuses are excuses, performance is performance ”. Experts in fault-finding and disorderliness spotting have no supply shortage categorization in all nations, economies, and systems of the world. And in Crete, disorderliness appears to be a decent phenomenon. Like ordinary citizens of Crete, talks about ordinary orderliness are cheap; but only time and talent devotion to turn disorderliness to orderliness could make the difference. Therefore,  Apostle Paul appears to have said to Titus “ let’s cutoff the excuses…about the disorderliness to ordinary orderliness..can you make it happen?” . The face of ordinary orderliness in life is always one ordinary individual out of nowhere, but fully surrendered into the hands of an extraordinary God with supernatural capabilities. An...

  “ Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way .”  Psalms 119 : 97 , 104 NKJV One of the drawbacks of liberal mindsets is the freedom to explore personal will, popular principles and private dedication. Unfortunately, the pursuit of knowing and doing the will of God is becoming old—-fashioned in the light of empirical evidence. Notwithstanding, the scriptural exigency for believers to ‘Take heed to thyself ’ is ever relevant to wayfaring pilgrims. And to sincerely love the prescribed precepts of the Lord, believers must consistently learn how to (1) Meditatively study of the word of God - 1 Timothy 4:16; (2) Dedicate oneself to God for a reasonable service - Romans 12:1-2; and (3) Devote oneself to the welfare of others - Acts 20:28.  Since the prescribed precepts would not make the promiscuous practices in our world go away, it takes only a personal devotion for anyone to love ...

  “ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. ” II Timothy 3 : 16 - 17 NKJV When the psalmist says elsewhere that “ It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes ( Psalms 119 : 71 )”, he echoes the factual revelation that the BIBLE is aimed at serving as everyone’s basic instructions before leaving earth. It is instructive to underscore the reason why God recommends meditation on His precepts as the proven prerequisite for true prosperity in life. And here Apostle Paul expounded to Timothy that besides its serving as the basic instructions for righteousness, the entire holy writ provides both reproof and correction in believers’ daily engagements or disengagement for righteousness. When we breathe in the inspired words of the Lord during our quiet time, we breathe them out...

  “ Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth .” II Timothy 2 : 14 - 15 NKJV The first responsibility of a worthy ambassador is self-recognition as a stranger in the current state of residence; and as a soldier of a foreign state. Unfortunately, this responsibility gets easily messed up by the pressure of accommodation in the current state of residence and the pursuit of approval from worldly assessors. Therefore, in Apostle Paul’s parting charge to Timothy, believers are reminded of the primary focus on God as their approver in this solemn responsibility of all ambassadors. Without prejudice to the inexhaustible list, approved ambassadors must be strong in grace to (1) love their enemies, (2) endure unfair hardness, (3) avoid quarrel and envy, (4) stand firmly on the tru...