Heralds Digest

  “ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. “The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. ” Hosea 4 : 6 - 7 NKJV While peculiarity is measured in human perspective by the yardstick of material prosperity, God’s peculiar people are called by their purity. “ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light ( I Peter 2 : 9 )”. Unfortunately, and like in the days of Hosea, many of the so-called people of God, pastors and priests today willfully scorn the knowledge of the divine perspective on peculiarity. But like Joshua was called to (1) observe the law of God, (2) conserve the law of God, and get (3) preserved by the la...

  ““ I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ ” And of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.” The Lord will record, When He registers the peoples: “This one was born there.” Selah”  Psalms 87 : 4 - 6 NKJV Literally, the difference between the spelling of ‘there’ and ‘here’ is ‘T’ depicting transition, translation, and transformation. Symbolically, ‘there’ represents Babylon, Philstia, Tyre, and Ethiopia; while ‘here’ refers to Zion, the city of God. And just like the transition, translation and transformation of Rahab from Babylon, Philstia, Tyre, and Ethiopia to Rachel in Zion is unmistaken, ‘This one was born there ’ is expected to be every believer’s testimony of Christ creation. When everyone is truly in Christ, the new creation speaks volume in all his appearances, and engagements, testifying where, w...

  “ Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth .” Proverbs 17 : 24 NKJV When the scriptures say “ Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding “, it should be clear that worldly understanding is not in the pack. Worldly wisdom deals in upfront understanding at the expense of upright understanding. Those who trade with this understanding will fondly say “ the ends justify the means ”. Unfortunately, the scriptures call the merchants of worldly wisdom fools: “ But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth” . Whereas, upright understanding delights in the laws of the Lord and lives according to His commandment, showing, testifying and waiting on the means to justify the ends. Obviously, it takes the understanding of the principle of uprightness, purity, righteousness, integrity, goodness, humility, and truth to enjoy the best of heaven’s rewards; and remain undistracted by earthly remuneration.

  “ Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give Your strength to Your servant, And save the son of Your maidservant. Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me .” Psalms 86 : 16 - 17 NKJV The apparent evidence of human existence and relevance is simply the show of mighty moves. Unfortunately, the contest for mighty moves often leads to the contempt of messy manipulations and human oppression. When king Saul was very small in his own eyes, he was pulled out to the limelight by the mighty moves of God. But after his elevation and privileged exercise of authority over the people, he was moved to resist the mighty moves of God in the life of David. Generally, life’s experiences present the David challenge of dealing with either the minion moves of King Saul or the mighty moves of God. Graciously, David turned to God in prayer “ Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed ”...

  “ Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the Lord God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph .” Amos 5 : 14 - 15 NKJV If the capacity to seek good without GOD has been resident in man, the combined peace accords by the committee of nations would have addressed the sources of instability and insecurity in the world. Whereas, our families have witnessed different accounts of disobedience and rebellion from children; and suffered devastating accounts of infidelity and the threat of feminism among parents. Workplaces and corporate institutions that are designed for productivity, social development, and training are plagued by dishonesty and disorderliness, despite the huge investment against vices. Even within the households of faith, integrity, truth, love, and righteousness are becoming scarce commodities. The scriptural truth is that ...

  ““ You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. ” Amos 3 : 2 , 7 NKJV Those who believe in creation are usually aware of holiness and dominion as the original responsibility for the entire human existence. But after the fall of man, this responsibility has been shifted only to the redeemed of the Lord. Like the children of Israel in the Old Testament, the redeemed of the Lord have access to divine revelation, the understanding of the counsels of God, and the privilege of an intimacy relationship and fellowship with God. Therefore, when the scriptures proclaimed God’s verdict on the basis of “ You only have I known of all the families of the earth “, it underscores the right responsibility of believers in our corrupt, compromising, and confused world. Therefore, every believer’s responsibility is not limited to the knowledg...

  “ Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And cast off all pity; His anger tore perpetually, And he kept his wrath forever.” Amos 1 : 11 NKJV One of the greatest poison in human relationships is the lack of forgiving spirit and the holding on to past wrong doings. Unfortunately, forward movement is always impossible with backward looking. And while Jacob wrestled with God at Jabbok to obtain forgiveness for his past wrong doings and get turned to Israel, Esau kept the poison of the wrong doings to the generations of his children’s children and remained Edom. Little wonder while the children of Israel were on their way to the promised land, Edom was busy chasing shadows to cook up the wrath of God. Obviously, the only right wrath is the hating of sin to release the love of God upon sinners and backsliders. And since we all need soft heart and hard feet for the unlim...