Heralds Digest

  “ Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God .” II Corinthians 7 : 1 NKJV Every believer as the vineyard of the Lord is planted with great expectations of fruits, including love, kindness, and mercy. And in the absence of the polluting pressures from peers and partners, everyone promises to be full of performance. However, wishes are never horses and there are no provisions for beggars in our world. The pleasant plants of the Lord are made of pushers and not beggars. These are those who have backbones to withstand and pushback the polluting influences in their ecosystem. Meanwhile, genuine conversion and salvation by the grace of God comes with a measure of the spirit of God, for every believer’s comfort from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Unfortunately, many so-called believers do abuse the grace of God by their romance with the polluting influences from the so...

  “ Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!” Psalms 105 : 3 - 4 NKJV There is no doubt that the psalmist’s call to “ Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore! ” is directed to hard-to-find sincere seekers. In our competitive world and ever-advancing performance standards in business, academics, entertainment, and social lifestyles, it is becoming more and more difficult for anyone to seek and serve God without bowing down to the idols of performance. Notwithstanding, the secret of seeking God sincerely remains the emphasis on “ Glory in His holy name“. We cannot revere the glory in our personal pleasure, prosperity, promotion, and preservation, and escape the temptation to bow down to the gods of these performance standards. Whereas, when a sincere seeker glory only in God’s holy name, the beauty of His holiness becomes attracted to the gatekeepers of this world’s performanc...

  “ He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6 : 8 NKJV By reflecting on the fact that grace is the release of something good that someone else doesn’t deserve, while mercy is the withholding of something bad that someone else does deserve, it is easy to underscore why life’s purpose is built on mercy measures. God knows that what can be assigned as ‘good for man ’ is mercy measures and not grace measures, because man cannot give what he desperately needs himself. When we walk humbly and daily with the Lord in pursuit of His grace, it is only natural that this purposeful lifestyle creates an atmosphere of mercy within our social ecosystem. Unfortunately, merciless men are those who are readily distracted from living in pursuit of the indispensable grace of God in relationship with their fellow brethren. Whereas, the mercy measures are simply the evidence of a life where ...

  “ Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.” II Corinthians 4 : 1 NKJV By the tenet of “ But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, And of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin ( Micah 3 : 8)”, the courage in the ministry of Prophet Micah safely compared to the confidence in the ministry of Apostle Paul. No doubt, when the mercy ministries committed to believers are readily confronted by the effrontery of manipulation from the pit of hell, there is every tendency to get disconnected and lose heart. Unfortunately in our digital age and advanced social networking, fabrication of evidence is rife, recording of video and audio messages is now subject to high-tech forensic validation, and there are more prophets, preachers, and pastors that are full of the spirit of lies rather than the spirit of the Lord. Notwithstanding, believers need to be reminded that we do not have manipula...

  “ Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, “Take me away, for I am severely wounded. ”” II Chronicles 35 : 22 - 23 NKJV Just as spirit service is motivated by the pleasing of the Spirit or spirit shine, self service is motivated by the pleasing of self or self shine. It is somehow pathetic how king Josiah ended his good service to the Lord with a side focus on pride or self shine. He was fixated on his self perception of Necho the king of Egypt as the enemy of God without paying attention to the spirit behind the words of caution from Necho. Obviously, whenever we wear our accomplishments on the sleeves of any service to humanity, it is most definitely that we are only motivated by the drive to enhance these accomplishments. Unfortunately,...

  “ Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. ” II Corinthians 3 : 5 - 6 NKJV Without the overriding influence of God in any human system, the common denominator of all system strategies is deception. The system deception strategy (SDS) is the singular dividend of the natural depravity of the heart of man, until the influence of the grace of God steps in. Little wonder that the highest backdrops of human intelligence in administrations, social intelligence in security services, and natural psychology in relationships cannot deliver a reliable peace, comfort, and stability in our homes, institutions, and societies. Surely, “ not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. ” Whereas with God, the spirit deliverance service...

  “ Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.” II Chronicles 31 : 20 - 21 NKJV All-round and all-season prosperity is absolutely impossible without the ‘good and right and true before the Lord his God’ certification of a believer's works and services. As demonstrated in the principle of prosperity to Joshua, king Hezekiah did create a system of meditation in the laws of the Lord and a consistent, wholehearted observance of His counsel. Unfortunately, believers today have invented several prosperity pathways that are paved with cheating, compromises and corruption. Like Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, those who have plied on these corrupt pathways can attest to their remuneration of restiveness and ultimate retribution from the Lord. Even when the exce...