FAITH CAPSULE: When His calling comes, old things must be left behind.

1 Kings 19

Getting called by God and answering to His calling is commitment but not convenience. Elisha answered his calling with commitment. 1 Kings 19:19-21 recorded Elisha’s calling through Elijah, “So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. ²⁰ And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.”” Answering to His calling requires leaving all behind and giving Him all attention. When His calling comes, old things must be left behind otherwise new things will not have a place in the called one. When calling locates man, moving forward must do away with the past. God’s calling is not a calling into religion but into Jesus reality.
In His calling there is a time to be sent out. He that calls man will not send man until man is equipped with all that it takes to carry His power. The Bible recorded that, Jesus, “…called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts—but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.” (Mark 6:7-9) Apparently, the calling of a believer is to follow God’s calling fully. In His calling there is a time to be trained and ready to be sent out for the purpose of calling. Among the disciples of Jesus, none called himself, but Jesus called all.
Are you called by Jesus or you have placed a call on yourself?
His calling is a journey where commitment takes the place of convenience. Do you know your calling? If you have answered to His calling then you have a need to make yourself available to be sent out. Elisha’s calling, disciples of Jesus’ calling received order that no material should come between calling and the journey of their calling. Jesus gave power without any material because with Jesus’ power in hand all things work for His glory. Do not hold back your calling; be assured that, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to answer His calling with commitment.

FAITH CAPSULE: Recognize identities of multitude to deny multitude’s agenda of hindrance.

1 Kings 17

Multitude (crowd) is a form of devil’s agent of hindrance. Multitude will deny man not to get to where the Lord has destined for man to be. Multitude ridicules; multitude discourages; multitude denies or delay man from rising above challenging circumstances of the life’s journey. When there is a failure to recognize the activities of multitude, one is set to be stagnated in the journey of life. In life, recognize or identify representative of multitude in your life. Stand against representative of multitude by put out or move out of representative of multitude to become an overcomer.
Put out crowd (multitude)
When man recognizes representative of multitude that is attempting to deny man to see, believe and receive from God, man should put out such agent of multitude. Jesus will put out all that represents the multitude (crowd) in our life. Once, Jesus put out the crowd in an attempt to restore Jairus daughter’s life. It is written, “But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl rose.” (Matthew 9:25) Multitude is a representative of evil that denies miracle breakthrough.
Peter taking to the word of God also put out the crowd when he prayed to bring Dorcas back to life.
Dorcas was described as full of good works when she became sick and died. Peter responded the request for Dorcas challenge; Peter recognized the hindrance of multitude as recorded in Acts 9:40, “Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.”
Move out of crowd (multitude)
Elijah moved out of crowd instead of waiting to put out crowd when he prayed for dead life son of widow of Zarephath back to life. Elijah took the dead son and moved out of the crowd. Bible recorded, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.  Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.”  Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.” (1 Kings 17:19-22)
Recognize identities of multitude to deny multitude’s agenda of hindrance.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s hand for breakthrough in every hindrance.

FAITH CAPSULE: Stop snubbing God’s instruction.

Exodus 3

Snubbing the word of God is same as rejecting the word of God. The Israelites repeatedly experienced deliverance of God but yet could not give themselves to the word of God. When the Israelites could not drink the water at Marah they could not remember the word of deliverance but complained. Word of God answered them, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26) Engaging the instructions of God is enabling healing. Also, snubbing God’s instruction for one’s life is substituting one’s glorious destiny in God.
The word of God gave a clear instruction for us to keep His Spirit alive in our life when it stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”  When the Spirit of God is active in us, no activity that lines up against God can overcome us in the journey of life.
Avoid snubbing the word of God by replacing convenience with commitment which is the key to embrace the promise of God. The children of Israel were called out of bondage of over four hundred years to a land that flows with milk and honey. It was a promise but they could not avoid snubbing the word of God but repeatedly complaint. God gave His word of promise to the children of Israel stating, “So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:8) God’s promise, His command demands diligent commitment. However, the story changed when the children of Israel, the tribe of Gad and the tribe of Reuben settled for convenience and could not commit to the promise in the word of God.
We do not engage the word of God for quoting purpose but to qualify ourselves for the promises of God and not make ourselves a loser. Also, we do not engage the word of God to impress the world around us but to press further and not make ourselves vulnerable to the pressure of this wicked world. Are you one that embraces the word of God seriously by meditating on it day and night, to observe and do according to His instruction? It is important to know that the word of God is a priority for having life abundantly. God cannot be deceived.
Are you finding comfort by embracing what the Lord did not promise you?
Stop snubbing God’s instruction.

Prayer for today: Ask God not to be a vessel of disobedience.

FAITH CAPSULE: Twisting truth is blatant lie.

1 Samuel 15

Twisting truth is evil. Deuteronomy 19:19 responded to lying as evil stating “…so you shall put away the evil from among you.” Man twists truth to deceive, steal, bear witness and demonstrates inconsistency in the word of God. Twisting truth is a choice of living for the father of lies. Jesus spoke in John 8:42-47, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
Twisting truth is the evidence of not listening to truth but paying attention to lying.
Twisting truth is the evidence of accepting devil as father.
Twisting truth is doing the will of the devil.
Twisting truth does not have a stand before God. To have a stand before God positions man in the place of power of God. Elijah was in place of stand before God because there was no twisting truth in him. 1 Kings 17:1-2 recorded Elijah’s stand before God, “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” When the word of God does have a place in man it becomes possible for man to claim a stand just as Elijah took a stand and commanded rain to stop for three years and half. A man that does not twist truth stands in place of pleasing God. Twisting truth is the evidence of not believing God; twisting truth is not hearing God.
Twisting truth yields to spinning (turning) truth. Attempt for taking a place of self-defense makes man to spin the twisting truth. The problem is that when man spin often enough, man becomes convinced that lying is mostly true. Spinning truth also leads to too much talking and leads more to lying. Saul defended by spinning (turning) truth. He was commanded to destroy Agag but spare Agag. (1 Samuel 15) Twisting, spinning truth made Saul to incur a curse which rejected him from being king. Avoid twisting truth; do not make a place for spinning truth that terminated divine destiny.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God not to be a vessel of lying.

FAITH CAPSULE: Is your name affecting your world positively?

1 Samuel 1

Give a positive name to child. What have you been called to answer in life? Through the bible, many lived life by what they were named to answer. For example, Shiphrah and Puah lived their name to affect their world positively. Shiphrah means “Beautiful One” and Puah mean “Splendid One”. When Pharaoh attempted to reduce the Israelites male children at birth, he commanded midwives named Shiphrah and Puah, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” (Exodus 1:16) Beautiful and Splendid woman disappointed Pharaoh and not become agent of killer of Hebrew women’s sons.
What is it about your name that is affecting your world positively?
Hannah named her son Samuel meaning, “…because I have asked for him from the Lord.” (1Samuel 1:20) After years of barrenness, God answered her and she him named Samuel. Samuel is a name answer from God. Samuel greatly affected his world positively as a prophet from God. As a child, he was in position at a time when the word of God was rare. Samuel touched his people as the bible testified, “So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 3:19-20) The name of Samuel answered to the glory of God.
Bible recorded in Acts 4:36-37; “And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” This report was recorded for a purpose of encouragement but not reported for the purpose of storytelling. Joses did not live as a vessel of discouragement to body of believers yesterday and tomorrow.
Have you ever asked yourself, “What does my name mean?”
Search your name to seek if there is a need to change your name. Jabez’s meaning name was pain but he prayerfully made change of his name as it is written, “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”  And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.” (1 Chronicle 4:9-10) In life, ask to a name that will positively affect your generation to the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to understand and answer to a positive name for God’s glory.