Heralds Digest

  “ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ” Jude 1 : 20 - 21 NKJV The major cause of backsliding from the pilgrim’s pathway is believers’ lack of discernment in the devil’s game of desperate distraction. While the devil is vehemently ramping up resources to distract believers with frivolity, fun, and fraudulent exchanges, carnal souls will readily go on with their celebration of material gains, diplomatic manipulation, public administration, etc. Unfortunately, the moment the hearts of believers can no longer discern the presence of God and the leading by His spirit, whatever remains are mere religious gymnasiums. Whereas, the devil should never beat true believers into the game of desperate devotion to God, through the daily quality devotion to the study and meditation in the holy writ, consistent praying in the spirit, an...

  “ ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ Zechariah 4 : 7 NKJV Without a conscious acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God’s place in the race of life, a wrong perception of “ Who are you, O great mountain? ” will surely keep everyone in perpetual darkness, dread, and despondency. Whereas, as A.W. Tozer wrote, ‘God is love and God is sovereign. His love disposes Him to desire our everlasting welfare, and His sovereignty enables Him to secure it.’ There is always no doubt in the greatness of every believer’s Goliath in life, and the ability of this great mountain to intimidate anyone who would not see beyond self and the great mountain. But through Zechariah’s prophecy on Zerubbabel, the scriptures say “ And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” It implies that anyone who can bring forth the capstone of faith will see God in every rac...

  “ Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him. He who pampers his servant from childhood Will have him as a son in the end .” Proverbs 29 : 20 - 21 NKJV It is important to note that the scriptural admonition to “ Train up a child in the way he should go ” is a child-need based training, compared to the usual parent-need based training. With reference to the difference between the status of a son and a servant, it is easier to see why a child-need training is the assumed inheritance of sons; while parent-need training naturally belongs to servants. Therefore, when the scriptural reference here says “ He who pampers his servant from childhood Will have him as a son in the end ”, it suggests that everyone who gets a child-need based training responds better with great satisfaction at the end. Invariably, true love respects the needs and feelings of people within every believer’s sphere of influence. Anyone that is treated with obvious acknowledg...

  “ He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son .” I John 5 : 10 - 11 NKJV From someone’s affirmation that ‘The two greatest days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why’, the purpose in the second day cannot be primary if the pursuit in the first day is not principal. While no one has the self-knowledge of the day of his natural birth, spiritual birth demands everyone’s conviction of his inner depravity and the relevance of eternal life. It implies that since these affirmed greatest two days in life can converge in the day we are ‘born again’, it becomes easy to know that finding eternal life is the primary purpose in life. “ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You hav...

  “ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. ” I John 4 : 17 - 19 NKJV Those whose fingers have been burnt on the altar of love do always have rights to express their devotion to feminism, secession, radicalism, etc. Unfortunately, all escape routes from true love do readily keep hostage their holders in a perpetual state of fear, with torments and anxiety. Without prejudice to the unfortunate fatality experienced in the seemingly palace of love, pure love actually starts with the knowledge of God. When we truly love God, loving what He loves will demand a fearless free-fall. Even when the free-fall involves the sacrifice of ugly passages through the valley of the shadow of death, it will always end in praise...

  “ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight .” I John 3 : 21 - 22 NKJV Confidence can reflect either the condemned version or the confirmed version, depending on the basis of its reliance. While the condemned version of confidence is self-reliant, the confirmed version is God-reliant. It is true that the pursuit of excellence in our competitive world demands a possession of confidence, it is nonetheless better to have no confidence at all, than being possessed by a condemned confidence. Unfortunately, self-centredness and the love of excellence for the wrong reasons have driven many people into the chain of unrighteousness and the preaching of the gospel of material prosperity at the expense of spiritual dependency. And when the scriptures say “ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God “, it...

  “ When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; But the righteous will see their fall. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law .” Proverbs 29 : 16 , 18 NKJV Someone did rightly say ‘Vision without action is merely a dream; action without vision is a nightmare; but vision combined with action can change the world ’. Unfortunately, with increasing multiplicity of wickedness in our world, sensible people are mostly concerned about the plight of their personal status. Therefore, the tsunami of wickedness goes on like wildfires with devastating ravages on souls in any society and system. Notwithstanding, the word of God remains a reliable refuge for the righteous. Anyone who delights in the word of God has found a formidable sandbag against the most vicious tsunami of wickedness, evil, and unrighteousness. And when the heavenly revelation declares “ But the righteous will see their fall”, it   is necessary to un...