Heralds Digest

  “ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11 : 30 NKJV A focus on the method of soul winning has always been a challenge and a complication. Whereas, soul winning is more about a life than a method. The challenges in a contraception called world are sufficient to dictate the handwriting of darkness, gloom, emptiness, and depression to the people on the paths of life. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for the truly righteous in our world to miss fruit bearing. And when Jesus says “ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life“, He meant that the only evidence of the righteous’ existence in any system is his courageous provision of life against death, light against darkness, love against hatred, and peace against wickedness. It implies that anyone who claims the grace of God unto righteousness, but without clear evidence of life, light, love, and peace, shouldn’t bother about the business of soul-winning. This is because his ...

  “ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6 : 63 NKJV One of the amazing feelings about Sunday is its reference as the Sun or Spirit day. Believers who would truly worship God in Spirit and in truth get the opportunity to hear the words of the Lord. Ideally, we are designed to live daily by the words of the Lord (and not merely wait until Sunday!). Unfortunately, the conflicting words from our exposing worldview and influences do readily contend with the words of the Lord in the hearts of believers, leading to our references to sapped strength and carnality. Therefore, when Jesus Christ told His disciples “ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing”, He attested to the danger of the fleshy sapped strength and its influences in the lives of believers. Imploded by the heart’s exposure to the influence of political sagacity, material prosperity, academic prowess, financial bre...

  “ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” John 6 : 27 NKJV When Jephthah told the king of the people of Ammon “ So whatever the Lord our God takes possession of before us, we will possess (Judges 11 : 24)”, he undoubtedly established the principle of labour that distinguishes between its life and loose version. It implies that while life labour is the possession of what the Son of Man gives, loose labour is the fruitless perseverance over what self or someone else promises outside the will of God. Obviously, the major challenge of life is the discernment of divine purpose and the courage to stick with this revealed purpose in the face of opposition and oppression. Jephthah, no doubt, gracefully faced his life’s opposition and oppression without distraction from home and abroad; and God delivered the king of Ammon into his hands. Unfortunat...

  “ The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”” Psalms 58 : 10 - 11 NKJV While the Old Testament saints understand God’s vengeance as the righteous’ rejoicing, God’s judgment and repudiation in the New Testament promotes repentance, reconciliation and forgiveness of sins. Since it is only those who scorn God’s window of mercy through confession of sins and the forsaking of all forms of unrighteousness that face the eternal vengeance of God, the best rewards await the righteous people of God who truly promote the heartbeat of God’s ministry of reconciliation. Unfortunately, faithless people today do readily lack the requisite courage to promote the righteous’ rewards. So their men often say, “ Surely there is no reward for the righteous; and surely the wicked are gods who judge in the earth” because they do...

  “ He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But trouble will come to him who seeks evil. He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage .” Proverbs 11 : 27 - 28 NKJV It is not difficult to understand that those who end up in the paths of evil and wickedness do not always intend to be agents in the hands of the enemy. Most people who end up the account of God’s disfavour probably aim at good while negotiating evil. For example, the pursuit of excellent home management, productive work project management, and prosperous economy in the state on tissues of lies, deception, and all forms of unrighteousness are readily defensible by carnal managers. Whereas, these carnal pursuits of excellence bring disfavour and destruction from God. True good comes only through absolute surrendering to the power of the gospel. It is only the word of God that has the power of the spirit to break the gripping yoke of sin; and set the captive hearts free from its bo...

  “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” John 5 : 30 NKJV While the Jews and religious leaders in the days of His earthly ministry were jealous of the intimate relationship between Jesus the Son of God and God the Father, a deeper understanding of grace was unveiled. Besides the grace that brings salvation from sin and all forms of unrighteousness, a god-confident grace unleashes absolute submission to service as a freehold battle axe and weapon war in the hands of the almighty God. When a man suddenly becomes oblivious of his own personal capabilities in the face of divine revelation and discovery of the purpose of God, he will no longer struggle with personal ambitions and can no longer entertain the fear of failure, as long as all engagements are insured into God’s accounts. For example, it took Gideon of old time to comprehend the god-confident grace in the rev...

  “ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ” John 5 : 6 , 15 NKJV Wellness experts are expected to be knowledgeable in the area of practice. When a medical consultant meets a sick man with the question “ Do you want to be made well?”, it is almost certain the expected sense of hope for healing and restoration. However, the expectation will naturally be different if the question is raised by a carpenter. Likewise, when Jesus asked the impotent man “ Do you want to be made well?”, the man had to vent out the frustration about his failed hope in the acknowledged wellness way. Life is filled with numerous frustrations and disappointments about the wellness way, including several changes to medication that will not take away our sickness and pains, frequent changes to project and business strategies that ...