FAITH CAPSULE: God is not foolish but full of goodness and mercy.

1 Corinthians 1

God does not waste word. Inside the documentation of God’s word which is often mistaken for story, there is the secret to live life as an overcomer. The story of Jerubbaal reducing men of war from twenty-two thousand to three hundred as commanded by God prompts us to acknowledge the wisdom and the power of God. Often time His instruction might sound foolish but it always deliver victorious power. The book of 1 Corinthians 1:25 buttress, “…the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Are you acting wise and nurse a feeling of outsmarting God by contending with His wisdom? Contending with His wisdom is purposely engaging with own direction instead of His direction. Are you violating Him by acts of wickedness thinking God is nowhere to expose your ignorance? God is not a, fool you can trust in His word that states, ”But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

Imagine one that demonstrated being wise, committed murder and escaped being prosecuted. Is God not wise enough to have him exposed and not escape being convicted? After many years of escape, he fell sick with the signature of death written all over him and no sign of recovering from his sickness. In his “wise” mind, while on his sick bed, it was time to confess the killing he committed many years in the past. After confessing as the killer, death became farther from him and the signs of death also distanced from him. The supposed wise man was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.

God is too great to be undermined. The fact that He makes the choice not to respond according to man’s time or man’s act is not a measurable way of disregarding His wisdom and power. Be wise to understand that, “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.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13) As regard to the move of God, what is meaningless to the eyes of man, God is mindful of it.

Prayer for today: Ask God to open your understanding and fill you up with knowledge.

FAITH CAPSULE: God’s preference should always prevail over our best reference.

Judges 7

Jerubbaal (Gideon) was set for war against the Midianites when God spoke to him, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’” And twenty-two thousands of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.” (Judges 7:1-3) In the physical, there is a need for strong numeric strength to emerge victorious in battle. However, God’s instruction to Jerubbaal was to reduce number. Jerubbaal harkened to instruction and number was reduced to more than half, from twenty-two thousand to ten thousand.

The God of battle who does not share his glory with man called on Jerubbaal after he had cut down the numbers saying, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there…” (Judges 7:4) Imagine Jerubbaal communicating with friends about how God has been reducing the number, without doubt friends would have wondered and even considered Jerubbaal as foolish, spiritually insane, overzealous and unrealistic. Jerubbaal led the people to the water as directed by God with the intention to have the number reduced again. At the water, God spoke again, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.”  And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.” (Judges 7: 5-6). In going against the Midianites, one that considers assigning men that lapped from water over ones that got on their knees to drink water would have been considered foolish.

At all times, regardless of how foolish it sounds, God’s preference should always prevail over our best reference. The number of men to go to battle against the Midianites was eventually cut down to three hundred men from thirty two thousand; this is foolishness by human reasoning. To man, it is suicidal to go to war after ending up with such a small number. Thirty thousand seems to be the right way and not the foolish way. Always remember the word of Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” Jerubbaal did not take the path that seems right, he simply obeyed God’s word without complain nor doubt and went with three hundred. Are you fighting a battle yet looking to human wisdom to sustain you? It does not matter how tough our challenges presents itself, focusing on God is enough to assurance for victory (John16:33).

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be constantly obedient to His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Deny stopover in your journey; allow God to take over.

Genesis 11:31, 12:1-9

The book of Genesis 11:31-32 recorded, “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.” Abraham’s father Terah left for Canaan land ever before God called Abraham to go to Canaan. Terah started his journey to Canaan without plan to dwell in Haran but ended up dwelling in Haran and not get to Canaan. One would always wonder what is it that has caused Terah to start a journey and not get to the end of his journey. Could it have been that the comfort in Haran got Terah stagnated? Have you engaged any journey or uncompleted assignment? It is time to begin to pay attention to God for direction which will see you through to the center of God’s divine agenda for your life.

Terah lived for two hundred and fifty years. With so many years on his side he could not get through to his original destination. The reason for Terah’s stagnation was not recorded. However, every new journey demands a separation from the old. To start a journey and not complete is an incomplete encounter. It was the same Haran that God called Abraham out to go.

Whenever there is a move or a start of a new journey there is a clear indication that multitude is bound to cause distraction or denial from getting to the expected end. When God called Abraham to Canaan, it was with clear direction which was not in place for Terah his father. God instructed Abraham, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.  I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3) Abraham engaged his journey with God’s instruction. Have you engaged any journey or assignment where stagnation is beginning to manifest? Engaging God for direction is a disengagement from incomplete journey.

A journey without God’s direction will experience stopover like that of Terah. Deny stopover in your journey by allowing God’s direction to take over. Abraham did not dwell in stopover because God took over for the start of his journey. God is a faithful God and He will see you through if you are willing to go through.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you in getting to your expected end in the journey that you have embarked on.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is in absolute control either we like it or not.

Exodus 2

Moses was born at appointed time as a result death plan of Pharaoh could not have a grip upon his life. He escaped death at birth; he later turned out to be a murder that has to run from the palace where he was raised. In his effort to run from Pharaoh’s reach after killing an Egyptian on behalf of his Hebrew brother, he ended up in Midian. Nothing happens by accident.

God alone is in position to allow and disallow all that happens in the life of man. God is in absolute control either we like it or not. For example, He alone allowed Job’s challenges when Satan asked for Job. God responded to Satan, “And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” (Job 2:6-7) God could have disallowed Satan but He does have His way over Job’s life and every of His creation. In Moses’ life, all that happened prepared him for where he was going. In order for Moses to become a shepherd in the hand of God, he has to be trained as a shepherd. Where you are going, you do not know, you only know about where you are now. Are you paying attention to God? When Moses was living in the palace, he would not have imagined becoming a shepherd. Nevertheless, he ended up becoming a shepherd in the hand of God. To be used by God is a great attainment that cannot be compared or traded for anything. You know whom you believe, and that is enough to encourage you to stand firm in whatever condition or situation you encounter. If Moses missed his training, he probably would have been out of place and miss the calling upon his life. When he was received by the priest of Midian, he did not allow pride or anger to get in the way of God’s plan for his life.

Character was in place in the life of Moses. It is written, “Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.” (Exodus 2:21) Contentment is what made the difference in the life of Moses. Life from palace to tent could never have been an easy transition, but he was contented. Do you have God in your life? If you do, it is a good thing to ask Him to endue you with the spirit of contentment. 1Timothy 6:6 buttress the importance of contentment stating; “Now godliness and contentment is great gain.” With contentment, Moses was in place to engage the calling upon his life.

Prayer for today: Ask God to endue you with all that it takes not to miss your place of calling.

FAITH CAPSULE: Just as worship is an opposition to worry so is miracle to magic.

Exodus 7

Miracle is simply a wonder and God alone is the wonder working God. Miracles are of God, Miracles lasts forever and it runs deep. Just as worship is opposition to worrying so is miracle to magic. Miracle belongs to God while magic is of the evil one. Magic is a devise of the enemy. Magic glitters and it will only last for a moment. What do you trust God for that is yet to reach your hand?
Despite not being able to see in the physical you have come too far and close to your breakthrough, let not magic come into play. Magic will fail you no matter how it glitters; waiting on the miracle hand of the Almighty God is the only way of receiving from God. Pharaoh was reluctant of letting the children of Israel go and serve the Lord at the request of God through Moses, “So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the LORD commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.” (Exodus 7:10-11) The magic worked for the magicians and Pharaoh, but it could not answer or match up with the move of God’s hand in the rod which Moses carried. Any power demonstration outside of the name of God will not stand but fail. Magic will fail but miracle will prevail. Magic could not last as the rod of the magician failed to survive. It is written, “For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” (Exodus 7:12) If you will look up and hope in the Lord your miracle will come at Gods appointed time.

It is important to note that the enemy will copy but he cannot coordinate for the result to be established. Ones that look for magic are the ones with notion for quick fix to their situation. Ones with mind for magic will not identify God’s way when God is leading them through a longer but right way. It is written, “Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt so God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.”(Exodus 13:17-18) Allow the manifestation of miracle by following through the way of God and not a way which seems right. Often time, the way that seems right is of magic.

Prayer for today: Ask God to keep you from magical snares of the wicked world.