Heralds Digest

  “ For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world .” Hebrews 4 : 3 NKJV One of the dignity of labour is its access to rest and reward for services. Unfortunately, the insatiable variability of reward makes earthly rest a fluke. Whereas, God promises a real rest from worry and anxiety with absolute peace and satisfaction, which rides upon the believer's faith and confidence in the words of the Lord. But because real rest does not often come with feathers, people usually respond with unbelief and fear by mistreatment and mismanagement of laudable projects. Even in these days of economic uncertainties, social injustices and financial instability, God’s promises of real rest remain tenable before principalities and powers throughout the seasons of life. Its power is unconquerable, pleasure is unending, and presence is unquenchable. Jesus Christ i...

  “ Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, Yet Your commandments are my delights. The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me understanding, and I shall live. ” Psalms 119 : 143 - 144 NKJV For obvious reasons, not many people will readily acknowledge the rightness of trouble and anguish in life. Whereas, like the psalmist apparently submitted, the rightness of tests provides the righteousness of testimonies. The evidence of the abiding presence of God in the life and affairs of believers is fully captured when they walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  Therefore, the testimonies of God’s grace, goodness, and glory are mostly wrapped up by our seasons of trouble and anguish. Unfortunately, those who lack this gracious understanding often fall into the condemnation of sin, compromises and satanic manipulations. But, those who exalt the words of God and His commandments above the traps laced with popularity, pleasure, and prosperity are always deli...

  “ But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands .” Hebrews 2 : 6 - 7 NKJV The working of grace towards the salvation of man from the dungeon of sin is an evident manifestation of our mindful maker. Jesus Christ became the author and finisher of every believer’s faith. Likewise, when we see only Jesus through the lens of our challenges and difficulties, we will be amazed by divine contemplation towards the greater glories. For example, beyond the amazing stories of transformation of Bible characters, I have seen lives and relationships change for better by the power of God and His mindful orchestration of strenuous events and awful circumstances. If God is always mindful of the glorious destination in His workings with man, we can as well reciprocate by our unw...

  “ But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?” Hebrews 1 : 13 NKJV Monstrous makers in our world are full of magic. Whether in politics, administration, and social welfare, the activities of the shakers and makers in our institutions and societies are more tempted to advance fear, intimidation and oppression than a peaceful response to its natural design. And while the Lord assured the righteous of their call to love, power, and sound minds, and not fear, monstrous makers often desire more ride spaces than our majestic maker. Yet, just as God the father assured the Lord Jesus Christ “ Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” , Jesus has promised all His children “ please sit at my right hand” . Standing up with our natural might and intelligence against all monstrous activities with fear and anxiety is normal. However, it takes absolute faith and confidence in our majestic maker to sit unp...

  “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...