Heralds Digest

  ““ Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, “Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant. ”” Proverbs 9 : 16 - 17 NKJV The difference between sweat and sweet appears to be the replacement of pain with pace without hardworking. Unfortunately, the moment sweat is removed from sweet, the leftover is simple shrewdness. Further on Christ’s exhortation to the disciples on the subject of steadfastness and stewardship in Luke 16, he referenced the commendation of a shrewd steward for his use of deception and smartness to achieve a short-lived sweetness within the camp of darkness. Whereas, in the real sense and as the scriptural digest for the day put it more succinctly, shrewd stewardship is practiced by those who are simple and lack the basic understanding of the dignity in integrity and uprightness. Actually, stolen water and secret bread are really not sweet and pleasant; but a surrendered slavery and futil...

  “ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” Psalms 45 : 6 - 7 NKJV The life and ministry of Jesus CHRIST on earth leave no doubt about the fact that righteousness is the realm of His kingdom. Reflecting on His parables of the lost sheep, lost silver, and lost son, believers are encouraged to also love righteousness and hate wickedness like the Master and our loving Shepherd. No sacrifice is too great for anyone who does believe that a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of God’s kingdom. So, when the psalmist exclaimed “ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever“ , he probably referenced the Old Testament demonstration of God’s principle of inclusion and exclusion in the royal realm. God’s fairness was demonstrated by His justice in the attribution of retribution to wickedness and ...

  “ Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”” Luke 14 : 15 NKJV Everyone knows that there is no such thing as an inconvenient invitation. Inconveniences are mere excuses used to discharge ‘inconsequential’ invitations. And like all excuses provided in Christ’s parables on the Master’s special invitation to the kingdom of God, people scorn and ignore the Lord’s invitation through life’s challenges, opportunities and relationships because these invitations or apparent discomforts are considered inconsequential, unintelligent, and somehow insulting. Unfortunately, life’s major purposes and destinies are ignored for the pursuits of mundane stuff because of their temporal offers of pleasures, recognition, and carnal satisfaction or rotten bread in the kingdom of this world. Little wonder Jesus is acknowledging all respondents to His ‘inconsequential’ invitation with “ Blessed i...

  “ Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me. But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us. In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah” Psalms 44 : 5 - 8 NKJV The battle for control is a predominant optic of interest in almost all human relationships, including friendship, marriage, workmanship, and business partnerships. It is almost the overriding agenda of all movements, including feminism, human rights, animal rights, gender equality, political parties, etc, whereas in the end the superiority of one right oppresses or suppresses the right of the other. Notwithstanding, human beings often struggle to admit the reality of their shallow swags, in comparison with the sovereignty of God’s swag and purposes for their existence. In the confrontations of David with the shallow swags of king Saul and a...

  “ So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God .” Deuteronomy 13 : 17 - 18 NKJV The strategic master plan of our archenemy in the world remains the deception of the simple through the offer of rest routes to life’s achievements and advancement. Unfortunately, rest routes are simply the routes of the rest; they are not the same as the rest route from the Lord. God’s offering to those who come to Him is rest for their souls; and not the routes of the rest against the promised rest for their souls. When Achan on his route to the promised rest from the Lord was accosted by the accursed things, he immediately sacrificed the rest route for the rest routes ...

  “ Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle. Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.” Psalms 43 : 3 - 4 NKJV The holy hill of the Lord is not just a go to place for praise; it is designed as a dwelling place of worshippers with clean hands and pure hearts. And if the psalmist in the Old Testament desires the Lord’s light and truth in preparation for the holy hill, we in the New Testament context as being built up as the Lord’s holy hill need no lesser preparation for the revelation of light and truth through our daily engagements. Unfortunately, the building site of the Lord’s holy hill will always require uncomfortable pulling down of dilapidated structures that cannot support the glory of God. And in God’s workshop and furnace crucibles, His surrendered vessels are moulded, chiseled, and formed patiently until the best pieces for ...

  ““ And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. ” Luke 12 : 29 - 31 NKJV If we truly believe that God knows all about what seems to keep us always awake with worry, we can actually trust Him to handle the worrying absolutely on our behalf. This understanding is every believer’s worry-free warrant to arrest all ‘where is your God? ’ situations and circumstances in life. For example,  God had already prepared the worry-free warrant ahead of Israel’s encounter with the great and tall children of the Anakims with “ Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you (Deuteron...