FAITH CAPSULE: Nehemiah feared God and was not self-centered.

Nehemiah 1

Indeed, life should not be only about self but considerate of the people around oneself.

God testified concerning David: “I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:22)

One with the character after the heart of God is not with self-motives, that is, not self-centered, but rooted in the Fear of God.

One who keeps God before self is bound not to be self-centered.

Nehemiah demonstrated what it means not to be selfish and experience the lift of God over His life.

Nehemiah was an ordinary cupbearer to the king in the Persian palace. 

He got to where he was because he was a captive. 

One thing was clear about Nehemiah: he was concerned for the welfare of Jerusalem and its inhabitants at heart. 

Nehemiah was a cupbearer who desired a better life for his brethren. 

Nehemiah was not self-centered. Who are you? As a cupbearer, he wanted a change for others but not to be a liar or manipulator in the name of God. God saw the heart of Nehemiah, and He acknowledged him. God invested in the life of Nehemiah as a vessel to reconstruct the broken wall of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 1:3-4 was the report that burdened Nehemiah, “And they said to me, ‘The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.’ So it was, when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” 

Nehemiah poured out his heart in prayer on behalf of his people and his homeland. 

He asked for nothing for himself, but petitioned for his people to have a better life.

Nehemiah feared God.

The heart of Nehemiah was in line with what God looks for. 

Who are you in the eyes of God, who is traveling over the earth, searching for a heart that lines up with His glory? 

Jeremiah 17:9 confirms: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” 

God alone knows every heart, and He will not overlook both the good and evil of the heart.

All should not be of selfish motives.

All should center their hearts on all that will glorify God, and God will not limit such to excel for His glory. 

Nehemiah was not self-centered but set himself for his people, and God deposited in him what it takes to bring glory to the name of God. Nehemiah, as a cupbearer, turned the issue of his nation around. 

Life is not to be about self, but to the glory of God in all life endeavors.

Prayer for today: Ask to be enabled not to live life as a selfish one.

FAITH CAPSULE: Fear can deny walking in the way of God.

Psalm 23

Fear is a derailleur, and fear does not respect anyone it visits.
Do you fear God?
How possible is it to fear God when one does not know Him?
Knowing to fear is in the Word of God.
Know the word of God to know His way.
Keeping to the ways of God is keeping to His word.
A failure to keep His word is rooted in fear.
Deuteronomy 8:6 states, “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.” 
One whose way is relevant to the world, the word of God becomes irrelevant to such.
Anyone whose way is the same as the world, such shall be away from God.
Are your ways relevant to the world? 
PRAYER
Ask that God enable you to walk in His way all the days He has given you.
Pray that the fear of derailment shall not have a place in your life.
One relevant to the world can be evidence of the lack of fear of God.
Fear God in the heart, not in the mouth.
Ask God to enable you to live in His fear, rooted in the heart.
Psalm 128:1 admonishes, “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.”
Ask that the fear of God become your garment.
2 Samuel 22:22 states, “For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not wickedly departed from my God.”
Ask that you will fear God to depart from every wicked way of life.
God is a good God.
God waits to act for those who wait on Him.
Fear no other but God, to be waiting on Him.
Waiting on God is the way of God.
Ask that waiting on God to be our way shall be established over you.
Isaiah 40:31 states, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
David testifies, not running in the place of walking, because he waits on God.
Psalm 23:4 records testimony of David, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Ask that you will know to wait on God, not walk where you need to run, and not run where you need to walk as a way of life.
Ask that you will gain boldness, not fear of evil, in every decision before you. 
Psalm 27:14 states, “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
Ask that in your waiting on God, the courage of God to be strengthened and not be weakened shall answer for you continually.

FAITH CAPSULE: Be against fear to gain faith, not to fail.

Luke 5:1-11

God does have a calling for all.
Answering the calling of God demands submission to God.
It takes understanding to answer the calling of God.
With understanding, there will be fear in place to answer the calling of God.
To arrive at the center of divine assignment demands following in the calling of God, not answering as a fan of God.
Are you a fan, or do you have a fear of God?
A fan has limited commitment to God, unlike a follower of God who seeks God diligently.
At a point in time, four fishermen forsook all and followed Jesus. 
In life, serving God demands the fear of God to forsake all. 
What is holding you down not follow in serving God?  
Allow the fear of God to overtake your life and not be a victim of the cunning device of the devil.
The cunning device of the devil is an enticement to destroy anyone who falls in it. 
As strong as Samson was, his disobedience to the word of God made him a victim of the cunning enticement of the enemy. 
Samson fell for enticement from Delilah. 
Judges 16:5 records, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies…”  
Disobedient will position one against the deliverance of God.
Samson disobeyed the word of God, and the power that answers for obedience to the word of God for deliverance could not answered in the life of disobedient Samson.
Let the fear of God occupy you to gain the boldness and the character not to give yourself to a cunning device that denies arrival to the calling of God.
The fear of challenges, not the fear of God, is bound to discourage or deny answering to the calling of God.
Fear of challenges could not derail the achievement of the fishermen.
Four professional fishermen at the right time failed to catch fish. 
The four fishermen could not give up until daybreak, yet they caught nothing. 
As they were washing their nets and ready to pack for the day with nothing to show for as professional fishermen, Jesus showed up, “Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.” (Luke 5:3) 
Despite a lack of success with catching fish through night hours, their kindness was intact as they allowed the stranger (Jesus) to use their vessel without any refusal.
When faith is in place, fear will sink.
After Jesus finished teaching the multitude, He turned to the fishermen and gave them a word in Luke 5:4, “…Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 
Know that, in times of disappointment, the word of God will answer as a terminating force to turn disappointment into an appointed time.
Activate the reason not to give to fear.

Prayer for today: Ask that the word of God shall locate you to deny fear that is not of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Fear God so that your faith will rise.

Jeremiah 32

From Genesis to Revelation, the word of God identifies what it is to fear God.
Abraham feared God and did not hold Himself against the command of God. (Genesis 22:12)
Joseph encouraged his brothers to live in the fear of God and have life. (Genesis 42:18)
With fear of God, it is possible not to sin against God. (Exodus 20:20)
Lord God fights for those who fear Him. (Deuteronomy 3:22)
The word records, “But the Lord your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.” (2 Kings 17:39)
One who understands the fear of the Lord shall find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:5)
Fear none but God, and God will be with you. (Isaiah 41:10)
The word of God informs that the mercy of God is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. (Luke 1:50)
Perfecting holiness is in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)
Submission to one another counts before God, but without the fear of God, it is not possible. (Ephesians 5:21)
Those who fear God praise God. (Revelation 19:5)
From Genesis to Revelations, having a fear of God is repeatedly emphasized.
The prayer point, to near God, needs to upgrade such a prayer point by asking for the fear of God.
Praying to be occupied by the fear of God should be a custom way of asking for His fear, not to live a life of waste.
Failure not to fear God is bound to fear the wicked of the world.
To fear the world enables fear to rise while faith will sink.
Make it a prayer point, asking for the fear of God.
God said to ask, and He promised, saying, “Then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.”
Fear God so that your faith will rise, to live by faith, not to be a victim of the wicked world.
The Acclaimed believer who does not fear God is bound to become locked down.
Do you fear God, or do you fear the unknown?
Regardless of whether you are in your Christian group or not, becoming a victim of fearing the unknown will not excuse you from becoming a victim of not fearing God.
Do not become a victim of fear.
Live a life to see in the word of God.
The lack of fear of God denied acclaimed believers, and they could not see the word of God that promised abundance by Jesus. (John 10:10)
Jesus came to give life to all, to die on the cross, and to rise (resurrected).
Jesus repeatedly told disciples about His resurrection, but after He died and rose, fear locked them. (John 20:19)
On the third day, those who sought Jesus at the tomb were overwhelmed with fear as a voice located them saying, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)
The fear of the unknown is bound not to rise in faith.

Prayer for today: Ask God to give you one heart and one way that you fear Him forever.