FAITH CAPSULE: Serve God with commitment not at owns convenience.

Exodus 3:13-22

God called on Moses to go as a messenger of deliverance to the children of Israel. The command to bring them out is for them to come out of bondage and serve God. Exodus 3:18 stated, “Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’” Serving God is a sacrifice. It is sacrifice to serve God. All through the encounters of Moses with Pharaoh was a striking message of letting the people go and serve (sacrifice) God. By the hand of God through Moses the children of Israel were brought out of bondage of over four hundred years. Like the children of Israel, believers today have been brought out of the bondage of sin and iniquities by the blood of Jesus Christ. Each and every believer is to live a life of serving God that is serving God reasonably. The grace of salvation is to enable believers to be consistent in walking with God.

God is a God with good plans for His children who will serve Him in all of their walks. As a believer, you have not been redeemed to serve or sacrifice to the god of this world. The children of Israel eventually gained freedom from the house of bondage (Egypt), but they entered into self-bondage in their journey. They failed in their service and could not pass unto the promise of God. How are you living a life of sacrifice? It is not enough that you have come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. You also need to begin to live a life of sacrifice, serving the Lord God. Serving God should always be with commitment not at man’s own convenience.

In serving God, a high standard of a reasonable service should be in place. Those who serve Him reasonably seek Him diligently because seeking Him diligently is the evidence of a faithful believer. God attends to those who seek Him diligently with reward. Hebrews 11:6 buttress, “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.” As a believer, turn yourself right unto God with reasonable sacrifices that cost you and He will return unto you with a priceless blessing.

Prayer for today: Ask the Lord God, the enabler of man to enable you answering to a reasonable service.

FAITH CAPSULE: Doing what is good wrongly in the name of God is an error.

2 Samuel 6

Error is a deviation from accuracy as in mistake, as in action or speech. Error is the condition of believing what is not true. Error is a moral offense; wrongdoing; sin. It is an error to violate the word of God and it can be a conscious or unconscious error before God. Error is despising the word of God. The bible makes us to realize it that, “He who despises the word will be destroyed…” (Proverbs 13:13)
Have you in any way violated or currently violating the word of God? (I pray that the grace of God will open your eyes to avoid or come out of conscious or unconscious error.) Before God, there is no excuse for error.
Before God, Adam and Eve committed error by believing the serpent enough to eat against God’s command not to eat from particular tree in the Garden of Eden. They both violated the word of God by their error (a wrongdoing).

When God showed up (just as He will show up on all man) both Adam and Eve attempted to justify their action before God by stating, “Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12-13) Their excuses were not enough as they were judged by God. The error committed by Adam and Eve eposes man to numerous pains today.

Doing what is good wrongly (that is engaging the heart with a wrong act) in the name of God is an error with no reasonable excuse to be delivered from destruction. Uzzah engaged his heart with a good act which led to his destruction.

During the transfer of the Ark of God from the house of Abinadab, Uzzah and Ahio drove the cart. In the process of driving the cart Uzzah, out of a good heart committed an act for his life terminating error. Bible recorded his error, “And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷ Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.’ (Genesis 6:6-7)
The bible called Uzzah’s act of a good heart an error. Uzzah despised the word of God as stated in Numbers 4:15, “And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go, then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die.” Despising the word of God is positioning self for destruction.

Prayer point: Ask for grace not to engage a life terminating error.

FAITH CAPSULE: Your frequent falling into temptation is directly rooted in too much sleep.

Luke 22:39-46

Sleeping and prayer does not correlate. Every believer that is not consistent in prayer should be considered as a sleeper. When a believer, who is at a place and time of prayer, cannot stay awake to pray, it can be regarded as “sorrowful sleeping.” Jesus demanded from His disciples at the Garden of Gethsemane, to stay up and pray. What He said to them still speaks now to us as believers. Luke 22: 39-40, “Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’” Are you a prayer-less or prayer-full believer? If you are indeed a prayer-less believer, you have allowed temptation to become your constant companion. Jesus wants to know why you sleep in place of prayer. While He was busy in prayer, His disciples were busy in sleeping. Jesus responded to the disciples by saying to them, “…Why do you sleep? Rise and pray lest you enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46) There is a place for prayer and it is not a place to sleep. One of the places of prayer, as Jesus has said, is where two or three gather together in His name. Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Watch out for sorrow sleeping, because it can terminate a miracle.

Sorrow sleeping will substitute the blessings of the sleeper with temptation. Your frequent falling into temptation is directly rooted in too much sleep. That is, your time is limited in the Word, and a limited time in the word will result in powerless prayer. Luke 22:45, “When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found then sleeping from sorrow.” So many activities in the church and among believers but achieving for the Lord are what counts. With prayer, much is achievable but with sleep nothing is achievable. Prayer not sleeping is all that makes the difference and all that prevails in a Christian journey. It is possible for one to be awake and active but sleeping in sorrow because one’s prayer life is not where it should be. Paying attention to the world around us is enough to tell the time we are living. Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Awake, you who sleep and know that the days are evil challenges and trouble cover every ground. The first book of Thessalonians talks about sleep when it stated, “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:6)

Prayer for today: Ask God to keep you that your faith will not fail.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is the only consistent God that delivers miracle.

Acts 12: 1-25

Miracle can be described as, God waiting to make move when every breakthrough possibility appears to be mired. (Mired is to be in a disadvantage or difficult condition). Is there any prescription of no way concerning your challenge? Are you in a position that shows no way out to a breakthrough? God is the only consistent deliver of those who wait on Hm. In waiting on Him counting on the works of His hand is enough to give rest. Imagine Daniel in the den of lions without any wrongdoing; Joseph in the pity of emptiness without any crime. Is your challenge worst than that of Daniel or Joseph? Daniel was sentenced into the den of hungry lions, instead un-attending lions received him, “…So Daniel was taken out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him because he believed in his God.” (Daniel 6:23)

Among many other miracles that were recorded, is the miracle of Peter. Peter was set for death in the hand of King Herod who had earlier killed James the brother of John and with all indications. Peter was supposed to be his next victim. Acts 12:3-5 recorded, “And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. ” Peter was asleep when death came knocking on his door.

Miracles happens not because one in need of miracle knows how to make it happened. God knows what He wants to do for His name to be glorified. In the case of Peter, Peter did nothing to bring forth miracle it was the prayer of brethren that provoked God’s miraculous hand for Peter’s miracle. It is written, “And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” (Acts 12:6-8)” Peter walked into his miracle deliverance. Miracles could be prayer provoked or grace in place. Miracle is not luck it is God making a way where there is no way.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace which enables man to wait on Him patiently.