Heralds Digest

  “ There the wicked cease from troubling, And there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor .” Job 3 : 17 - 18 NKJV Without justification to the misconception of rest by advocates of suicide and euthanasia for pain and suffering management, Job actually contemplated the superiority and eternal perspective of rest to awakened the 7 days dumbness of his miserable friends. From the knowledge of hindsight, Job later realized that this real rest is found in a solemn fellowship with God; even before the onset of eternity. Just as today is designed to serve the weekly rest from the weeklong stress and pain, a sweet fellowship with God on a daily basis offers believers a consistent taste of real rest from anxiety, provocation, confusion, agitation, troubling of the wicked and weariness from the oppressors. Therefore, with the right perspective in focus, real pain and suffering in life actually facilitates the sweetness of tru...

  “ Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart ” Psalms 15 : 1 - 2 NKJV One of the greatest challenges against the truth is the misconceptions about the true gathering. Speakers of the truth are often called to adopt the forfeiture of the gathering of wealth, affluence, and the pleasures of this world; as the requirement for them to dwell in God’s holy hill and abide in His tabernacle. Notwithstanding, the misconception of the truth by those who prefer the physical gathering to abiding in God’s holy hill is the temporariness of these fake gatherings. For example, even after death, Jacob’s legacy on the power of transparent truth attracted ‘great gathering’ of Canaanites and the Egyptians; needless to underscore the triumph of his eternal joy and peace with God. Even when John the Baptist felt disappointed by his incarceration for speaking the truth, Jesus had this to ...

  “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding ” Proverbs 3 : 5 NKJV The reasons why trust in artificial intelligence (AI) is growing greater than confidence in human beings are not far-fetched. Even in a brotherly family and among brethren in the household of faith, people can hardly go to bed with their eyes closed on trust. Unfortunately, advances in AI-driven technologies, machine learning, and service robots have not also vacated the growing concerns over insecurity in cyberspace, social manipulations, and autonomous weapons through the breach of AI algorithms, etc. The truth remains that while God ordained advances in knowledge, science, and intelligence, absolute trust in God cannot be substituted by trust in either man or machines. When believers absolutely trust in God in their relationship with man and machines, they become a blessing to the system by leaning on the understanding of God about the system. For example, instead of relyin...

  “ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven .”” Matthew 16 : 19 NKJV Had those privileged with the keys of the kingdom of this world understand the treasure in the keys of the kingdom of heaven, no one will ever joke with divine revelation. Unfortunately, most inheritors of the keys of the kingdom of heaven often beg and scramble before the inheritors of the keys of the kingdom of this world because of faithlessness. Faith is not about commanding, binding, and loosing everything and everyone on earth; it is about declaring the revelation of heaven on earth. Before Jesus told Peter “ And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven… ”, He had already remarked “ Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven ” (Matthew 16 : 17). For example, by unveiling the inheritance in faith free...

  “ Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” Matthew 15 : 28 NKJV While reflecting on the discouraging experience of the Syrophoenician woman with Jesus as a typical picture of the challenges of life, it becomes easier to understand that fight in life produces either faith or faint . And as succinctly captured by Joni Eareckson Tada, “ Perspective is everything when you are experiencing the challenges of life ”. When the wrong perspective takes over the heart, “ How long, O Lord? ” reflects fainting in frustration. But with the right perspective of Joni in her series of calamities and quadriplegic paralysis, like with the discouraging experience of the Syrophoenician woman, Jesus will be saying at the end “ O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire” . Obviously, the intention and thought of God for all true believers in every fight is faith, not fain...

  “ The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever .” Psalms 12 : 6 - 7 NKJV While we live in the days of advances in dishonest honour, the motivation for dishonesty has been prevalent from generation to generation after the fall of man. Unfortunately, lies and deceits have never ever provided a lasting coverage for everyone caught by this ungodly motivation. For example, Joseph’s brothers finally busted out after almost 13 years of their dishonesty “ We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us” (Genesis 42 : 21 ). Whereas, truly “ The words of the Lord are pure words “ as regards the dreams of Joseph. Although this preserved precept was vigorously restricted, vilified, and laced with uncomfortable afflictions, ‘Like silver ...

  “ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat .”” Matthew 14 : 16 NKJV Since life is definitely a statement of responsibility, the best legacy to be handed down by any parent, partner, superior, or leader is the teaching of children, subordinates, and disciples how to take responsibility. But, like it happened to the disciples of Jesus, everyone freaks out in front of multitudes with humongous needs beyond the capabilities of servers. Matters often get worse in a system when someone who seems to lack the capacity to support tells his partner “ They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat ”. That was exactly what Jesus did, but the disciples were only surprised and not necessarily frustrated. Likewise, the right responsibility in our challenging world is not necessarily what we are confident to confront. A purpose-driven life is focussed on the pursuit of what God specifically created the life to undertake. Unlike any pare...