Heralds Digest

  “ And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. ” Genesis 28 : 15 - 16 KJV Just as leadership expects follower-ship, leadership suggests companionship. Meanwhile, while follower-ship falters on the account of trust, leadership fails with time for sustainability constraints. For example, even while Rebekah and Isaac’s leadership on Jacob promises amazing blessings and companionship while encouraging his internship with Ladan, they both couldn’t wait for Jacob to return home after the internship. It just shows that the best of human promises of companionship, be it the affection of parenthood, appreciation of stewardship, and attraction of partnership, cannot endure the test of time. Whereas, the love and the companionship...

  “ But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, And shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Proverbs 1 : 33 KJV The existence of evil and the activities of wickedness in almost all settings of life is the reality of human lifestyles. And the normal response to this reality is fear, anxiety, and a sense of insecurity. Even in the assembly of a believer's like-precious faith, faithful disposition is readily supervised by fearful display of caution. The enemies and agents of darkness now recruit ‘saints’ on dirty duties. Those who live by the social settings of social media, cable news networks, peer groupings, and associations are bound to express their unsafe dispositions with different kinds of vices, rather than the pursuit of vision. For example, unlike Isaac who stayed safe in Gerar amidst the citizens’ hostility to earn respect, Jacob had to steal the birthright of Esau to feel safe with his divinely ordained favour and prosperity to earn disrespect. The truth is that beli...

  “ O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger .” Psalm 8 : 1 - 2 KJV In the human economy, success is measured by the metrics of political sagacity, financial capability, and physical machismo; but those who care to learn from history can attest to the unfortunate limitations of this type of success. For example, success on the basis of human strength led Pharaoh in a collision course with the God of Israel and he ended up consumed in the Red Sea with the host of his chariot-dependent strength. Whereas, by the inspiration of God, king David was made to see the divine perspective of success as simply made of a suckling’s strength. In divine economy, the suckling’s strength becomes the sovereign’s strength with believers’ knowledge of the excellency of the King of kings and the L...

  “ And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm .” Matthew 8 : 23 , 25 - 26 KJV The three different types of faith that can be manifested in life are characterized here, including ‘full faith ’, ‘little faith ’, and ‘no faith ’. While ‘little faith ’ was manifested by the disciples of Jesus Christ in their reaction to the stormy sea, and ‘no faith ’ was manifested by the citizens of Gergesene who expelled Jesus Christ from their coast in response to the storming disappearance of the swines, the ‘full faith ’ of those who brought the man with palsy to Jesus Christ in response to the storming health challenge was commended. A ‘full faith ’ is the following faith, leaving ‘little faith ’ as a fearful faith and ‘no faith ’ as the faulty faith. ...

  “ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ” Matthew 7 : 24 - 25 KJV The reason why Jesus ended the sermon on the Mount with an illustration on faithful followers is because most people followers are mere hearers and not doers. A typical example of these unfaithful followers is the lost Lot in the Old Testament. They are categorized as fake followers, fruitless followers, and faulty followers, depending on the setting and circumstances; but the common denominator is simply the fact that they lack the tenacity for committing to the commandment of the Lord. Before the lost Lot’s in-laws, he was a fake follower of the Lord (“ …But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law (Genesis 19 : 14 )”); a fruitless follower to the angels that rescued...

“(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6 : 32 - 34 KJV That our Heavenly Father is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient has been the latent truth before all believers; but we are all wired to be governed by these things that we know. The facts around our life’s circumstances, needs, and challenges are common realities before men and the enemies. And when the scriptures say “ For after all these things do the Gentiles seek ”, the disturbing realities that believers are also getting messed up by the same these things are exposed. Unfortunately, the truth according to these things hasn’t set anyone free at any time. For example, the truth ...

  “ For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect .” Matthew 5 : 46 - 48 KJV “ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God ” as one of the beatitudes in the earlier verses reveals that perfect peace is the combination of the peace of God and peace from God. A peacemaker must first be a recipient of the peace of God before becoming an embodiment of peace himself. You cannot make what you are not. So, those who are readily influenced into evil, envy, hatred, and retaliation should not pass blame on the doses of wickedness from their acclaimed evil makers. When we receive enough of peace from God, we are bound to become the peace of God; little wonder why peace making  is the heritage and identity of sons of God. Therefore, the respon...