Heralds Digest

   ““ And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ “Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.” Ezekiel 16 : 6 , 9 NKJV Even in the Old Testament dispensation, the beast blood was preferred to the birth blood from any sinner. Despite the fact that you cannot atone for your sins and live to enjoy the atonement, a temporary cleansing by the blood of a blemish-free beast is needed to appeal for every sinner’s unrighteousness. And while “ And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood ” summarizes the ceaseless frustration of the human atonement plan in the Old Testament, the New Testament now offers ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live! ’ to all who come to God by faith in the atonement or the breakthrough blood by Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the struggle for relevance and righteousness through...

  ““ My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.” Ezekiel 13 : 9 NKJV The association of liars and conspirators often grows in whims and caprices, but ideally this type of association is seriously a perfect reflection of isolation. Lies and diplomacy create a fake fellowship of backbiters, betrayals, and backstabbers, irrespective of whether in reference to club crowds, citizen crowds and church crowds. The truth remains the fact that no one can lie about his association with God and escape a deep isolation from the assembly of His people. Therefore, a fruitful fellowship at home or the family fellowship, in the church or the church fellowship, and on the street or the public fellowship start with the restoration of a friendly fellowship with God. Knowing...

  “ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. ” Hebrews 7 : 24 - 25 NKJV Steadfastness or sustainability has become a significant metric of any successfully delivered project because of the reality of limited resources. Nothing lasts forever. Even in relationships with God and concerning matters relating to His promises, people are readily bothered about the sustainability of salvation, provision, protection, and preservation, even after an evident taste of the power of God. Whereas, the believer’s faith is expected to be in the unchangeable priesthood of Jesus Christ; and never in the sustainability of salvation, provision, protection, and preservation. Faith in the latter can falter, when challenged by the reality of adversity, calamity and the challenges of life. But when a believer’s faith is fixed on the uncha...

  “ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. ” Hebrews 6 : 15 - 16 NKJV The principle of swearing by the greater controls family relationships, political affiliations, state’s foreign affairs, etc. And when people choose to play politics in matters of economic instability, social insecurity, and human welfare, instead of tackling the menaces headlong, alignment along swearing by the greater is often the major consideration. Unfortunately, at some point in any concerned life, the considered greater in our world is often limited in their scope, size, and specification of authority. And like Abraham, those who considered God as the greatest’ greater do not run from pillar to pole, in search of a limited man. God is greater than the greatest, higher than the highest, mightier than the mightiest, bigger than the biggest, and wiser than the wisest. And by simply...

  “ For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. ” Hebrews 6 : 10 NKJV Without prejudice to the activities of fake pastors and ministers, the word work or the act of speaking the words of God is huge with a slip to discouragement than encouragement. Depending on the disposition of the audiences (either at home in the school of parenting, or in the church to the seminary of preaching), some folks can simply turn out to be professional listeners with almost zero reflection on character  transformation. How can a minister stay committed to the word works in an apparent wasteful world? Speak the words of God alone, and never mess up with the words of men. When the scripture says “ For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoug...

  “ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him ” Hebrews 5 : 8 - 9 NKJV Even though “ Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God .’ ( Hebrews 10 : 7 )” implies absolute submission of the Son to the Father’s will on the plan of redemption, “ He learned obedience by the things which He suffered ” still suggests obedience to this plan of redemption as a great price of suffering and endurance. Little wonder He declared Himself elsewhere as the Truth. In these days of relativism and political correctness, Christians must continually endure the pain to learn, unlearn, relearn, and unlearn the entire philosophy of the Truth through trials and persecution. Just as He spoke truth to Peter, Pilate and the Pharisees, we are called to be natured and nurtured by truth. Otherwise, we will continue to breed and encourage c...

“ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ” Hebrews 4 : 11 - 12 NKJV The last verse in the Book of Judges “ In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes ( Judges 21 : 25 )” corroborated the dilemma in human decision-making principles. While superiority of argument in our courts of law has been bane of the system of injustices, high-handedness, and oppression, even the seemingly acquainted in human eyes of justice has often lived the rest of his life without real rest. The true Judge and the Giver of true rest in all of human affairs is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Anyone who opts to live by doing what is right in his own eyes has chosen to ab...