Heralds Digest

  “ The One who gives salvation to kings, Who delivers David His servant From the deadly sword. Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, Whose mouth speaks lying words, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood —” Psalms 144 : 10 - 11 NKJV Had king David not exposed to wilderness experience and foreigners’ falsehood in his earthly kingship, he would have been stranded by the limit of earthly salvation to kings. However, real life experiences taught David that God is “ The One who gives salvation to kings “; and He is the only source of faultless freedom to believers today. When He promised those who come to Him freedom or rest, it is important to underscore that His freedom or rest is faultless, full, and free from fraudulent practices. While an experience of delay is often required to perfect the restoration of all stolen property and inheritance into their rightful positions, the offer of faultless freedom from the Lord is a gift from the omnipotent, omnisc...

  “ Stretch out Your hand from above; Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, From the hand of foreigners, Whose mouth speaks lying words, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood .” Psalms 144 : 7 - 8 NKJV If only the heart is made to recognize the right status of its associates, especially in the light of the sovereignty of its creator, there would be no account of fear and intimidation from any camp of the enemies. The acknowledgment of the superiority and sovereignty of God actually enables believers to trust wholeheartedly in the promises and provisions of the Creator of heaven and the earth. Unfortunately, the activities of great waters at home, business, and workplaces often threatened every believer's submission and consecration. Sometimes, we are made to worship and bow down to these foreigners, especially in the assemblies of God’s people and the commonwealth of believers. Notwithstanding, the scriptures maintained that these foreigners are full of falseh...

  “ Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You. ” Psalms 143 : 8   NKJV When Peter plunged into the wide ocean as a walkway, it was certain he wasn’t using his brain. And when he suddenly does on transit, it was too late for him to trace his steps backward; and he was left with no other option but to cry out apparently like the psalmist “ Help me…for I lift up my soul ONLY to You ”. With sensible consideration of the economy, security, and empirical facts, a wise walkway is constructed simply on the basis of consultation with people, principals, and principalities in the society, system, and institutional setups. And always by the conflict of interests of these setups against the divine counsels, the recommended wise walkways in our world are often open to disobedience to the winsome walkway. Obviously, the winsome walkway is not usually the popular walkway, but it ...

  “ But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ” Revelation 5 : 5 - 6 NKJV The revelation of Jesus Christ as both the Lion and the Lamb presents the fundamental principle of peacemaking to believers. As rightly submitted in Nicky Gumbel’s devotional on Revelation 5, “ doing hard things requires us to be lion-like - i.e., bold, steely and courageous. Doing things the right way means being like a lamb - i.e., gentle, meek and submissive ”. Christ was bold, steely and courageous by His confrontations with sin and sinners; and He was gentle, meek and submissive to the consequences of these confrontatio...

  ““You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”” Revelation 4 : 11 NKJV The major reason why the redemption story is remarkable is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only One source of the world’s all-time salvation. All other lords may only boast of their power to steal by their schemes, kill for their kingdoms, and destroy towards eternal damnation; but they lack the power to reverse the destinies marked for darkness and destruction into the marvellous light of life. For example, only the power of God could switch the story of Mordecai and the perishing Jews in Shushan from death to glory and promotion overnight; while the enemy Haman got the gallows he had prepared for the execution of Mordecai. Therefore, whenever believers are ever enraptured by the power of God’s remarkable redemption, they get the singspiration to declare “ You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and pow...

  “ Let the righteous strike me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; It shall be as excellent oil; Let my head not refuse it. For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked. ” Psalms 141 : 5 NKJV Ordinarily, no one embraces rebukes at the expense of wages, despite the package with the colouration of wickedness. For example, Mordecai’s rebuke of Esther’s coldness at the palace would have gone down the drain, but for the later consideration of the divine purpose in times of the challenges of life. And unlike Haman embraced the wicked wages through promotion and privileges for wrath, righteous rebukes always advance sober reflection, divine inspiration, and scriptural revelations. For “ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness ( II Timothy 3 : 16 )”, and only those who embrace the strikes and rebukes in their quiet times get the kindness of the Lord. Unfortunately,...

  ““ And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. ” Revelation 3 : 1 - 2 NKJV Knowing and living are two complimentary components making the essence of life. We die the moment we stop knowing. Funny enough, in the wake of advances in knowledge and artificial intelligence, the challenge with knowing is getting more and more interesting by the days. Unfortunately, the more we are able to grab with our human mind and brain, the less it seems we are actually living. There are so many coverups of the real emptiness within the best of human knowledge, affluence, and accumulation. Then comes the revelation from He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “ I know your works, that you have a n...