FAITH CAPSULE: Jesus is the gift of God to us from God.
John 4:1-26
Among challenges that revolves in acclaimed believer’s life is the inability to know who they are or what has been made available for them as gift from God. One that does not know what is available will not know how to engage the gift before him/her. One who does not know to give will not know how to receive.
Bible makes us to realise, “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.” (Psalm 49:20) The honor bestowed on man is a gift from God. For those that see it as gift and engage it, cue into it will always claim it for their good.
The gifts of honor are listed in Psalm 8:4-6 “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels,and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; you have put all things under his feet.”
Do you know to embrace what God has given to you when it becomes unwrapped (revealed) to you?
Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman that came to draw water. “…Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.” (John 4:7-8) The Samaritan sure has excuse not to receive since she does not know how to give when she responded to Jesus’s request.
No reasonable excuse before God.
It is written, “…the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”” (John 4:9)
Clearly, ignorance is what makes a destitute of a believer. Jesus answered to the ignorance of the Samarian woman, “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)
Jesus is the gift of God to us from God.
It is not enough to know about the gift of God but to know the gift of God. Those who fully knows the gift of God often launch into God’s gift to engage the blessings of God’s gift. Any man that accepts and launch into the gift of God takes a stand on a solid ground which cannot be shaken or violated. It is impossible to have accepted God’s gift and maintain a status of a vessel to be pitied.
Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to know and engage the fullness of His gift at all times.
All posts by Tunde Soniregun
NO TO MULTITUDE!
FAITH CAPSULE: Multitude is a great source of complaint to God instead of complimenting God.
Numbers 14:1-35
Are you advancing in the plans and promises of God for your life? In life, among the major hindrances of man arriving at the center of divine assignment is engaging multitude. A failure to disengage multitude is an engagement to failure not to arrive. The bible recorded, “Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock.” (Exodus 12:37-38) Evidently, when the children of Israel were coming out of the bondage of over hundred years, multitude accompanied them and played a major role denying them from getting through to God’s Promised Land for them.
As they progressed on journey, the effect of mixed multitude manifested negatively. It is written, “Now the mixed multitudes who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 11:4-6)
Mixed multitude was the source of intense craving for what was not important in their journey to their God Promised Land. Imagine coming out of captivity or bondage and not focusing on promises of God in life? Does that sound like you? Are you focusing on where you are heading to or looking back to the past which added nothing to you but pain? The Israelites began to count on what was in the past instead of counting the miracles that brought them out of their past. It is important to note and constantly meditate in the journey of life that whatever God performs, He is more than able to perfect it when focus on Him is maintained. The craving of the Israelites dug the grave for twenty years above (except for Joshua and Caleb) and their Promised Land became a termination.
Mixed Multitude among them was a great source of complaint to God instead of complimenting God for His grace of deliverance. God responded, “As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.” (Numbers 14:27-30) Pay attention to deny agents of multitude in your journey to breakthrough.
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to identify and deny every agents of multitude in your journey of life.
OBSERVE TO FEAR
FAITH CAPSULE: True love for God is to truthfully fear Him.
Deuteronomy 6
The word of God is the work of God. At the time of creation, God demonstrated that His word is His work when He spoke for creation to have a place. Also, the word of God is His command. God alone is the Commanding commander and there is none like Him. Among the purpose of His command is stated in Deuteronomy 6:1-3, “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the LORD your God…” God’s command is to teach us to fear Him. To fear God is to love God. For the command to teach us the fear of God observing the word is to come first. A serious student of the word of God must get the understanding that meditating the word is the key to observe and do according to the word.
Failure to obey God is not to fear Him. God expects us to love Him just as it is recorded in His word, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) Sin and sinning is rooted in disobedience. Without doubt, sin simply came to be as a result of failure not to eat of one tree out of varieties of trees in the Garden of Eden. It is written, “…the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) Adam and Eve engaged a blatant act of disobedience which does not have any reasonable excuse but consequence.
Since the time of Adam and Eve, man continues to sin. God simply wants us to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. Abraham loved the Lord God and obeyed as was commanded by God. It takes loving God with all heart to rise and depart to a strange land and not hold back. At age seventy five leaving behind a comfort environment, with no child, is the evidence of the fear of God and obedience to God’s command. Word of God testified Abraham’s fear in Genesis 22:12 “…Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Genesis 22:12) How are you serving Him with all your love? True love for God is to truthfully fear Him.
Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace that your heart will retain His word to obey.
IGNORE THE WICKED
FAITH CAPSULE: It will take the timing of God to catch up with the wicked ones.
Psalm 37
Are you fretful of evildoers or are you envious of the workers of iniquity? The Psalmist warned, “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.” (Psalm 37:1) The evidence of being fretful of the evildoers is in not resting in the promises of God as regard to the end of the wicked. One that does not trust in God troubles much and no longer rest in the Lord. Also, those who are envious of the workers of iniquity demonstrate that they are no longer resting in the Lord but rusting away. The truth of it all is, the wicked are here to stay until the Lord is ready to take them away. The same Psalm 37 gave the prescription of what it takes to ignore the wicked ones by stating, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” (Psalm 37:3) Let the Lord take care of His business concerning the wicked. There is nothing that gets past the Lord. The Lord God sees all things and He knows all things that are going on.
The book of Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 admonished, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” Fear God for your own and not fret because of the evil doers. God alone knows when to deal with those who make the choice not to come out of wickedness.
Jeremiah questioned, “…Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their mind.” (Jeremiah 12:1-2) God does not sleep nor slumber and it is important that we concentrate on pleasing Him, working the works of God rather than questioning His response to the wicked. The honest question is that, are you a wicked one? Is the word of God near in your mouth but far from your mind? There is no minor or serious wickedness. God will judge all the wicked ones. “…They shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” (Psalm 37:2) Man can be deceived, the whole world can be deceived but God cannot be deceived.
Prayer for today: Ask God to touch your heart and bring you out of every way of wickedness.
AUGUST ISSUE 2014
KEEP YOUR DESTINY IN SHAPE
To keep your destiny in shape and not miss God’s promise for your life, it is important that your thinking and spoken word are right before God.
What are you thinking?
The engagement of Jesus with a paralytic man teaches the need to pay attention to how we think.
A paralytic man was brought to Jesus for healing. The Bible documents that when Jesus saw the faith of those who brought the paralytic man, Jesus declared that his sins were forgiven. Just as Jesus made His declaration, some of the scribes said within them, “This man blasphemes!” (Matthew 9:3) It was not an outspoken statement but a statement in their inside; it was their thought. Jesus heard them despite the fact that it was in the in the heart. The Bible records Jesus’ response to their thinking. “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘why do you think evil in your hearts?’” (Matthew 9:4) What are you thinking? As a creation that cannot hide from the Creator, are you shaping your destiny by thinking what is right and not evil? As a believer who trusts in God, in the face of challenges, are you thinking positive instead of negative? God sees and hears our thought clearly. In your thinking, let Him know that nothing is impossible and He shall be provoked to move on your behalf for a positive result. Our thoughts are not hidden from God and that’s why we should abstain from thinking anything evil but rather think good at all time. The Bible warned in Zechariah 8:17 “Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor…”
Before God, thinking negative is the same as thinking evil and God hates evil. Whatever we think is the evidence of how we keep our heart. This is the reason why the Bible warned us in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. The Bible points out for us, know it that as a man thinks in his heart so he is (Proverbs 23:7) Think right and it becomes right for you.
KEEP YOUR HEART AND AVOID NEGATIVE THINKING
Among the ways to keep the heart is documented in Joshua 1:8, God spoke to Joshua after the death of Moses, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” The word of God that is power will not depart from your mouth only when it becomes what you think (meditate) on day and night. Meditate on His word day and night so that the word you meditate will flow out of your mouth. Occupy your thoughts with the word of God and your ways shall be prosperous with good success.
What are you saying?
What you say is your confession and it will find you out.
It is very important that you know and pay attention to what comes out of your mouth. When thinking right becomes of one, speaking right will become one’s portion. The Israelites could not think right enough to remember how God brought them out of the bondage of over four hundred years. They forget all the miracles before Pharaoh in Egypt. Pharaoh and his forces could not stop them; the Red Sea failed to trap them. However, the words of their mouth which they spoke to their life terminated them from getting to their Promised Land. They said, “’If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.’” (Numbers 14:2-3) Imagine those who had seen great miracles but yet could not fashion their thinking and their spoken word to be a positive one? Are you shaping your destiny right with right thinking and right communication? How you think and what you say determines how God will respond to you.
God responded to the Israelites negative confession (word). “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.” (Numbers 14:28-30)
God is a good God. Without faith we cannot please God. If without faith we displease Him, with faith we shall surely please Him. It is lack of faith for a believer to be thinking negative or to be speaking (confessing) negative in the face of impossible challenges. God promised that with Him, all things are possible. At all times and in all situations, we should know not to confess negative but rather positive. Indeed, we should constantly keep our heart with all diligence for out of our heart springs forth every issue we engage in living life.
FAITH CAPSULE:
How you think and what you say determines how God will respond to you.