FAITH CAPSULE: Be one who is thankful to God as a way of life.

Psalm 119:1-48

To be standing from the beginning of the year until this moment is a great privilege of God.
To be alive at this time of the year is not to complain but to give thanks to God.
Are you complaining or complimenting God for His goodness and mercy?
One who counts the blessings of God from January to December is short of counting.
The blessings of God every day, week, month, and year are uncountable.
In this particular season of the year, there is no time for complaining before God. 
Are you looking around enough?
Give more thanks to God more than ever. 
Acts of complaining are evidence of a rebellious spirit.
The children of Israel, due to their never-ending complaining against gracious God, provoked a painful response from God over their lives. Numbers 14:22-23 records, “Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.”
Activate to see more of what God has done.
A failure to see is an act not to give regard to the doing of God.
Complaining will give rise to a rebellious heart.
Remember, God has brought you this far, but will not accommodate the spirit of complaining before Him.
Just like the Israelites, make sure that the spirit of complaining will not have a place in your life against God.
Great and mighty testimonies of God are everywhere. 
Be one who is thankful to God as a way of life.
The testimonies of God are more than enough to lead and take believers into the promises of God. 
The Israelites did not get to the promise of God.
The Psalmist praised God with the whole heart!” (Psalm 119:2), 
Also testifies, “Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.” (Psalm 119:24), 
“I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.” (Psalm 119:46)
The testimonies of God are worthy of mediation. 
Do you have testimonies to lift to God in thanksgiving instead of complaining before God?
Giving oneself to testifying the goodness of God is seeking God faithfully to please God. 
Hebrews 11:6 buttresses, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Thanksgiving is the right to engage, not complain.
In the place of complaining, the journey of eleven days turned out to be a journey of forty years. 
Are you thanking God to gain and retain the hand of God over your life?
Do not deceive yourself; be thankful to God. 

Prayer for today: Ask that the heart of thanksgiving be your portion, not a place for complaints.

FAITH CAPSULE: The hand of God is abiding to bring you thus far.

Ezra 7

The hand of God is abiding for one with the desire to dwell in the hand of God.
Allow fear of God and make satisfaction your abiding position.
What is your desire before God?
What one desires before God is what God will deposit in such.
In this challenging world of wickedness, why not desire the hand of God?
The Psalmist testifies to the hand of God, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16)
Prayerfully, ask that God enable your life with His hand.
In the hand of God, the perfect creator has all in His hand for all that His creation will desire.
Imagine, anyone with satisfaction is bound to live life by the word of God.
With satisfaction, one will not run outside of God.
Satisfaction is the key to waiting on God.
Satisfaction is the character of one who moves only by the word of God.
Yes, satisfaction is the hand of God, an allowance in the hand of God for those who live life for God.
Fear God from the depth of the heart, not of the mouth.
If the fear of God is your portion, evidently, satisfaction becomes your abiding place. 
Proverbs 19:23 states, “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” 
The right hand of God is all that everyone needs to ask. 
Also, in the hand of God is deliverance and preservation that brings satisfaction in life.
It was with His mighty and outstretched hand that He brought the children of Israel out of the bondage of over four hundred years.
God spoke when the Israelites were in the hand of Pharaoh of Egypt, “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that, he will let you go.” (Exodus 3:20)
“And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:5)
The hand of God is power, and no force under heaven can deny the hand of God. 
Indeed, through Moses as a vessel, the hand of God delivered mighty deliverance for the Israelites. 
Ezra testified to the hand of God as the agent of being granted every request during their quest to rebuild Jerusalem (Ezra 7:6) 
Ezra testifies to the hand of God as gracious (good) when they were able to get to Jerusalem. (Ezra 7:9) 
Ezra 7:28 records, “…So I was encouraged, as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me…”  
Ezra could not help but testify again, “And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.”(Ezra 8:31)
What would one do without the hand of God in life?

Prayer for today: Ask for the hand of God to reign and rule over your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: God owes no one, but all His creation owes Him.

Jeremiah 1:5

So far, what is your desire to return to God for His goodness and mercy upholding you?
Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, it is the grace of God to be alive.
To be alive is evidence of the goodness and mercy of God, keeping you thus far.
What is your desire before God?
God owes no one, but all His creation owes Him.
All owe to live for the glory of God.
One with no understanding will not desire or strive to live for the glory of God.
The will of God for all is to live for His glory.
Revelation 4:11 clearly identifies the will of God for all, stating, “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.”
For the goodness and mercy of God in place for you, what is it that you are doing in return to God for His goodness and mercy?
Life belongs to God, who gives life to all.
God, who gives life, knows all before anyone is born to life.
Jeremiah 1:5 records, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born…” 
God knows all more than anyone knows about oneself.
Knowing that God knows all, more than oneself, testifies to the reason not to give oneself to worrying.
Jesus warns against worrying, knowing that God is in control.
Matthew 6:25-27 records the warning against worrying, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature?”
What can anyone do to deny God in oneself?
Why are you worrying, knowing that you did not create yourself, but to live for God who created you?
Know to thank God for the past years, thank Him for the present year, and thank Him for the coming years.
God is true.
God is the way.
God oversees the affairs of all the heavens and hearts.2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this, you have done foolishly; therefore, from now on, you shall have wars.”
Living a foolish life shall not be your portion.
It is what one desires that God deposits.
Look forward to the coming year for God to enable you to live life for Him.

Prayer for today: Pray that you will live for the glory of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Jesus is the gift of God for all. 

John 4:1-38

In your life journey, avoid the world that accompanies you so as not to become derailed.
You are not everybody.
Before God, everyone will answer to themselves before God.
The majority do not understand celebrating the birth of Jesus.
The celebration of the birth of Jesus is more of a commercial time, with limited understanding and not knowing God.
Know that Jesus is the gift of God.
Jesus, at one time, asked a Woman of Samaria for water.
The Woman was reluctant to give Jesus.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10)
The answer of Jesus testifies that Jesus is the gift of God.
Without any doubt, Jesus is the gift of God, for all, but the majority do not recognize the gift of God.
Jesus is the gift of God for all His creation. 
One who embraces the gift of God will know how to unwrap the gift.
Do you know the gift of God that is in your possession?
A failure to accept the Lord Jesus as the gift of God for all will result in not knowing the love of God.
God gave a gift to the world, but the worldly way of life is missing the gift of God.
God sent His gift that is rooted in His love, stating, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) 
You are a big celebrant of the birth of Jesus, but you are far from living life by the word of God.
Are you a true believer and not to mistake the gift of God for a commercial celebration?   
One who is not mindful of God and the works of His hands is bound to be exposed to the spirit of forgetfulness.
Paying attention to the works of God is giving the jealous God His due exaltation. 
It is a blessing to be giving attention to God.
Know and understand that the way assumed as right only leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12) 
The book of Psalm 106:13-14 records the forgetfulness of the Israelites, “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert.” 
Not waiting on God will lead to wasting away like the children of Israel who died in the wilderness and did not get to the Promised Land.
The lust of the past prevented them from remembering the acts of God that brought them out of bondage. 
God was leading the Israelites to a better future, but the failure to engage the gift denied the Israelites the promise of God.
Know how to unwrap the gift of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for understanding and not to be a victim of ignorance.

FAITH CAPSULE: Celebrate Jesus to demonstrate existing for God.

Matthew 2

In any area of life, lack of understanding is the key to not having a knowing edge to live for the glory of God.
In life, the level of understanding one possesses is the determinant of how far one goes with God.
If the word of God demands to praise with understanding, without doubt, all ways of serving God demand understanding.
Psalm 47:7 records, “For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding.”
What is your understanding of celebrating the birth of Jesus?
With understanding, are you celebrating the birth of Jesus?
Answering as a believer, celebrating the birth of Jesus is the right thing to do.
However, doing right in the wrong way does not get right before God.
As a believer, are you celebrating the birth of Jesus with understanding?
One who celebrates the birth of Jesus with understanding will gain the knowing edge to live right before God.
In celebrating the birth of Jesus, it is crucial to know that the celebration of Jesus should be an ever-present moment, not just a particular time of the year.
How are you celebrating the birth of Jesus?
Year after year, the majority celebrate the birth of Jesus but do not learn to gain the importance of living life for God.
Jesus demonstrated the importance of not missing heaven.
From the birth of Jesus, the evidence of a humble life was glaring, which believers should know how to adapt to.
Jesus, Lord Savior, was born in a manger.
A manager of all locations was where Jesus was born.
A manger is a trough or open box in a stable designed to hold feed or fodder for livestock. 
Jesus was born in a manger!
Does that speak to you?
Jesus was born in a manger, so all are born in a better place.
For one who accepts Him and claims the life He brought for all.
Are you short of understanding the birth of Jesus, celebrating carelessly like the world?
The purpose of Jesus is for all to live life abundantly.
Jesus speaks to all, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Celebrating Jesus, without understanding and not knowing the purpose of His coming, is to live a life of waste.
Celebrate Jesus to demonstrate existing for God.
Live love as one who celebrates the love of God in Jesus.
Jesus came to offer the love of God.
1 John 4:9 buttresses, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” 
Jesus is the love of God for all. 
1 John 5:1 states, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.” 
Give Jesus a gift by accepting His love and abiding in Him.
What is it that you have to offer Jesus as you celebrate Him? 

Prayer for today: Pray for understanding the celebration of Jesus.