Heralds Digest

  “ Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass .” Psalms 37 : 3 - 5 NKJV It is instructive to note that Psalms 37 is devoted to the subject of fear. When the scriptures later admonish “Do not fret—it only causes harm”, we can tell how fear is like the venom of the fiery serpents that bite the children of Israel in the wilderness. And like the Lord recommended the ever-sufficient ‘look and live’ solution to the venom in the Old Testament, the psalmist’s admonition to trust and delight in the Lord is ever potent today. Looking aside, behind, and around can only make every believer’s online and offline experiences energy-sapping, discouraging and depressing. But only those who delight in waiting upon the Lord as a sustainable strategy of navigating the challenges of each day can be sur...

  “ For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You, And Your righteousness to the upright in heart .” Psalms 36 : 9 - 10 NKJV When Joshua and Caleb defended their faith in the lighthouse with “ If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey’  (Numbers 14 : 8 )”, it was evident that they could see differently from their other 10 colleagues. Without faith in the lively lighthouse, human reasoning on all the issues of life will be strictly governed by empirical evidences, political sagacity, administrative prowess and financial muscles. Unfortunately, fear and intimidation are often greatly exaggerated by this human focus on his artificial lighthouse. For example, the other spies said “ The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great statu...

  “ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”” Luke 4 : 3 - 4 NKJV The temptation of Jesus Christ on the need for vicious validation shows that the devil’s principle of temptation is always the same: an invitation to validate…” what God has already said or declared ”. Empirical validation is a natural phenomenon for human theory, prognosis, and assertions, without which all actions are referred to as voyages into self-destruction or self-defeat. But the words of God are settled or already validated in heaven. Every attempt or temptation to validate the clear revelation from the Lord is, in the words of Jesus, “ It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God’ ” (Luke 4 : 12 ), a temptation. And while Chapter 3 just recorded overwhelming declaration in the presence of the Trinity and the public “ You are My be...

  “ And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison .” Luke 3 : 18 - 20 NKJV The difference between purity and polishing is not politeness, but truth. Unfortunately, polishing or political correctness is almost the acceptable standard for decorum in our world’s systems, societies, establishment and institutions today, as also in the days of John the Baptist. While the mandate John received was straightforward, leaving no allowance for politeness, “ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3 : 3 )”, the politics of king Herod can only tolerate polite preaching. Obviously, pure preaching attracts much more than truth; and this is the major concern of pseudo Christianity in our days. Oppression, persec...

  “ So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? ”” Luke 2 : 48 - 49 NKJV Without prejudice to the sincerity of care in the question “ Son, why have You done this to us? “, the response from the Boy Jesus with another question “ Why did you seek Me? “opens up the difference between the common principle of selfish search in human endeavour and the burden in a desirable solemn search. For example, mothers are naturally obsessed with an instinct to possess their children and often struggle with the true reality that these children are the heritage of the Lord. While Mary was expected to be more informed that Jesus is the Son of God than Joseph, “ Son, why have You done this to us? ” was a polite way of refusing the obvious. Likewise, the human search in all pursuits throug...

  “ For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel .”” Luke 2 : 30 - 32 NKJV Those who support the use of sensible salvation for the service of humanity have always devoted their lives, talents, and intelligence as political activists, human rights advocates, literary icons, etc. Devotion to this common sense has always been the dividing line between the developed economies and the underdeveloped. Simeon, no doubt by the scriptural reference of his being a just and devout man, and waiting for the Consolation of Israel, must have contributed his quota of sensible salvation to the civil service of the nation of Israel. Yet, the Holy Spirit wanted him to witness the superiority of the sacred salvation over sensible salvation before his passing. Unfortunately, not many people today, even among the followers of Christ, do admit to the limitations of sensible ...

  “ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them .” Luke 2 : 18 , 20 NKJV The singular purpose of the shepherds’ engagement by the angels is the spreading of the good news, i.e., the blessings of God on the people through the birth of Jesus Christ in the city of David. Like these shepherds, in the Old Testament, the priests were engaged to bring divine blessing upon the congregation of God’s people as: “ The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace ( Numbers 6 : 24 - 26 )”. Even today, the Lord is constantly waiting for avail-able (and not necessarily able) shepherds in our homes, workplaces, institutions, and social media to separate themselves for the business of sharing the good news of His bles...