Heralds Digest

  “ No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.” Luke 11 : 33 NKJV One of the highlights of the last few days’ event in the beautiful Palm Springs Desert was a dinner night by a colourful Oasis Pool. Our table was rounded by different sets of lamp-stand designed to give both light and heat for the warmth and radiant comfort of guests. Unfortunately, one of the lamp-stands beside my seat found it hard to retain its light, in spite of the server or lighter’s occasional struggle to light the lamp that kept going off to the frustration of everyone. It just shows what great efforts can be invested to painstakingly stamp out darkness out of any system. Therefore, when Jesus used the illustration “ No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket “, it literally means no one who succeeds to lit a lamp will intentionally cover up its radiance and illumination against...

  “ For whoever finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the Lord; But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.” ” Proverbs 8 : 35 - 36 NKJV When the scriptures say elsewhere “ He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord (Proverbs 18 : 22 )” in the light of today’s scriptural digest, it implies finding favour is actually finding God. Unfortunately, many believers today still miss the golden opportunity bestowed by finding the perfect will of God in marriage or any inevitable junction of decision making in life. Whereas, finding favour is strictly about finding fellowship opportunities with God, acknowledging the actions of God, valuing the visions revealed by God, observing obedience through God’s instructions, understanding the entire umpire of God and the revelation of God’s righteousness. Actually, finding favour is designed by God to assist humanity in finding faith through the circumstances and the challenge...

  “ So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven .” Luke 11 : 2 NKJV While the principle of prayer was established by the Lord’s Prayer, the major concerns of the disciples before asking the Lord for guidance on how to pray outlined the fundamentals of worry and anxiety in life. The disciples were worried about how to make things right in their relationships with God, especially through prayer. Even today, many believers still approach the prayer corridors and exit the corridors with their worries. Whereas, the first priority of approaching the presence of the Lord is to establish the understanding of God’s will on all matters in our lives. Once the will of God on all matters (ambitions, relationships, assignments, engagements, etc) are established, worries immediately disappear; because we only need to thereafter listen to what we need to ask Him. How worry-free is it to liv...

  “ And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. ”” Luke 9 : 61 - 62 NKJV In the three different accounts on the subject of followership, Jesus emphasized the common challenge to followership as the lack of wholesomeness or fullness. It doesn’t matter how the call to follow Jesus was initiated (i.e., whether we asked or He called), anyone who must follow the Lord must follow fully without any reservation. Full followership requires faith, understanding, loyalty and love ; and that is why every other consideration thereafter is consistently and deliberately sidelined to secure God’s approval. With faith , followers must do ‘Forsaking All, I Trust Him’ against all callers; with understanding , followers must unlearn all other realities to relearn and retain the promises of God; with loyalty , followers...

  “ And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village .” Luke 9 : 54 - 56 NKJV When Jesus responded to James and John’s emotional outburst “ You do not know what manner of spirit you are of”, it suggests life’s daily struggle in shaping our attitudes and characters. Earlier in the week, these folks had been privileged with Peter to witness the transfiguration of Jesus Christ; and had received heavenly exhortation to pay attention only to every revelation from the Lord. Unfortunately, at this point, they were definitely confused and couldn’t differentiate between the serving of the spirit inspiration from Elijah and Jesus Christ. Little wonder why many believers can quote th...

  “ But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people. ”” Luke 9 : 13 NKJV Anyone in an oppressive relationship, strained marriage, and a depressed project environment can relate with the mindsets of the disciples and the challenges of feeding the multitude in the wilderness. But then, Jesus said to them “ You give them something to eat .” It was the feeling of getting spent, wasted, and about getting tossed…’ when the day began to wear away’ , yet the system is asking for more self sacrifice. They said, “ We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people ”; and we probably would do no better, with credit cards, loans, and promissory notes. From the benefit of hindsight, we know that with Jesus, the disciples’ self sacrifice of the five loaves and two fish was sufficient for the surplus supply to feed the over five thousan...

  “ Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Luke 9 : 1 - 2 NKJV There is no doubt that social media and advances in technologies today have made preaching out of all bloggers, online surfers, and almost all visitors. The only discouraging challenge is that those who engage the internet for the business of the kingdom of the devil are more busy than those who are enlisted for the business of the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, majority of the believers in the gospel of salvation from sin and satanic oppression are more engaged in the business of marketing hygiene, dieting, sports, cryptocurrency, stocks, and personal image profiling than the kingdom of God. And the most ugly and self-defeating lie about this distraction is the assertion that a devotion to peace preaching is irrelevant to our social, career, business, and political life pro...