FAITH CAPSULE: Understand and seek for His eyes and His hand.

Ezra 8

It is written, “Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? (Psalm 94:8-9) Whatever you do not understand will not work for you. It is for fools not to understand it that the one who gives ear, eye does have eye to see and ear to hear. When understanding is in place, one will have a place before Him. The word testifies, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…” (2Chrnicles 16:9) Those who are loyal to Him are the ones who rely on God. Do you consciously rely on Him to show forth on your behalf in every area of life? If you will begin to walk right before Him, He will not look over you in time of challenges. The word of God that never fails promised, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.” (Psalm 34:15)

Just as the eye of God will keep you in every area of living life, the hand of God will keep you going with favor. The testimony of the psalmist points out that it is the fear of God that provokes His eye to be upon His children. (Psalm 33:18)
Are you consciously seeking His good? It is clear that provoking the hand of God to be upon us is for those who seek His good. Ezra testifies, “…The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”(Ezra 8:22)  We must seek God to serve God and He will always make good for those who desires to serve Him.

When it was time for God to bring the Israelites out of bondage, God said to Moses, “But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed.” (Exodus 3:19-21) When God brought them out with His hand upon them, they did not go empty handed. By favor of the hand of God, they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 3:22) The same hand that brought Ezra and the children of Israel out of captivity favored them by meeting all of their needs in their journey. Understand and seek for His eyes and His hand in the course of your journey.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of understanding.

FAITH CAPSULE: Are you having a wrong assumption towards a colleague?

Numbers 16

Have you been called but you are not sure if struggle will strike you out of God’s calling upon your life? God cannot fail and He shall never fail. It does not matter who the opposition is; where the opposition is coming from or how long the opposition has been in place to delay you. One thing is certain and that is the word of God which states, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24) God is backing you up because He called you.
It was clear that Moses was not operating on his own power when Korah and his colleague attempted to frustrate the calling upon Moses. It is written, “Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;  and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.” (Numbers 16:1-2) Korah and his colleague had a wrong assumption about the leadership of Moses. At every wrong assumption or perception there will be the danger of going down wrongly. Wrong assumption is rooted in jealousy or pride. Wrong assumption can also be the evidence of insecurity or self-centeredness. Are you having a wrong assumption towards a colleague or there is a wrong assumption in place against you?

Surprisingly, Korah and his colleague were men of renowned not just ordinary people. There were two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation and representatives of congregation which took part in the uprising against Moses. As they rose against him the hand of God was in place for him because he did not call himself; it was God who called him. If you are called of God, the enemy will stir rebellious opposition against you and you shall surely overcome because God called you.
Numbers 16:3 documents it, “They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” It was a rebellious gathering against Moses which was also an indirect gathering against God. Korah and his colleague experienced the wrath of God by Moses’ hand. It is written, “Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with all their goods.”(Numbers 16:31-32) Korah and his colleague were buried before death.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from the spirit of rebellion.

FAITH CAPSULE: A net crashing breakthrough was the result of obedience to launching deep.

Luke 5:1-11, John 9:1-12

The ability to launch deep is demonstrating a violent faith. Launching deep is disregarding what is apparent in the physical by giving full regard to the word of God. Launching deep is making a statement that there is no back up plans in faith.

The bible recorded about professional fishermen who had gone fishing all night and had nothing to show at the morning hour. After having gone all night with no fish to show, they were set to call it a day by washing their nets. As they engaged washing their nets, Jesus showed up by the Lake of Gennesaret.  At that time, Jesus was a stranger to the professional fisher men. Jesus was never a fisherman but He had the deep at hand. The bible makes us to realize, “In His hand are the deep places of the earth…” (Psalm 95:4) It will take only the deep to call on the deep for the deep to unfold what it takes to terminate struggle.

When the word of God which is deep sounds in man’s direction, only the ones that are able to hear and obey without any doubt or reservation shall be rewarded. The deep word sounded in direction of the professional fishermen when Jesus gave word to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) After having received the word, Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:5) It was clear that no fish was available but regardless of Simon professionalism the word of His command is superior. Obedience was in place against disobedience, “And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.” (Luke 5:6-7) A net crashing breakthrough was the result of obedience to launching deep.

Jesus, during one of His passing by, He restored a blind man’s sight in a questionable way to His detractors when, “…He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.” (John 9:6-7) The point here is that, the blind man did not question the word of God when he took off and went to wash. The fact that the blind man did not know Jesus at the time of direction was not an excuse for him to question or doubt the word of God. Deny doubt, engage your deep and struggle shall be terminated.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from every spirit of doubt.

FAITH CAPSULE: God selected a place at the back of desert to call Moses.

Exodus 3

Mount Sinai is another name for Horeb which means desolate.  Desolate is defined as: devoid of inhabitants; rendered unfit for habitation. A desolate place became the holy ground, mountain of God where Moses ended up before he could answer the calling of God. Will you pray that God will bring you to your Horeb? Think of it before you pray it. It is not a popular prayer because of the challenges that you will encounter before getting to Horeb. If indeed you are sold out to Him, if indeed you are sincere with your confession such as “I surrender unto Jesus on to thee I give it all” ask God to take you to your Horeb, a ground of encounter, a ground of sacrifice, a ground of entering into a journey of no turning to self, but turning aside unto God’s calling. Think of it, there is nothing to live for but God. The challenges of living for God are huge and it can be painful and exhausting. However, He is faithful and if He calls you He will back you up when you chose not to back out.

Imagine, of all places on earth it was Horeb, a place at the back of desert that God selected to call Moses’ attention. At his arrival to Horeb, “…the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.” Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” (Exodus 3:2-3)  God was waiting for him to turn aside. Have you turned but not yet turned aside? It is possible not a have a full turn to God when there is so much not to let go. It takes only a turning aside for God to call you. God responded to Moses’ turning aside, “So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:4) God actually waited for him to turn aside before He called him.

Moses was empty by the time he journeyed from Pharaohs palace to plain ground Midian. His turning aside on Horeb testifies to the fact that, until a man his empty, man cannot be full of God. In your life God will convert all that is lifeless to life-full. Moses did not get his calling in comfort. Moses could not turn aside to God until he got to a place of no distraction. If you sincerely want to go for God, ask Him to take you to your Horeb, the Mountain of God for you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to take over your days and moment that you live for Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Every wrong decision is a decision against God.

Genesis 19

In the journey of life, every wrong decision made is a decision against God. Whatever is wrong is not God. God cannot be wrong especially when we seek counsel in the living word of God. Making a wrong decision is the evidence of moving away from God’s direction. Making a decision outside of God is despising the word of God. Proverbs 13:13 warned us, “He who despises the word will be destroyed, But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.” It takes a lack of fear of God to actually despise His word. Destruction is what becomes of one who despises the word of God.

Disobedience to the word is equal to despising the word and positioning self for destruction. After God had decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the sinful nature of the land, He sent warning to Lot and his wife. “…Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:17) How could it have been better said? An escape from self-destruction demands setting off sight from the past. The command was obviously too difficult for Lot’s wife to obey because she decided to despise the Word of God. The Bible records that Lot’s wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26) What is in your past that cannot be forgotten and has caused you not to move forward when God commanded you to move? Looking back comes in different ways. For example, the inability to forgive, forget and move forward is an evidence of looking back when God repeatedly command us to forgive. Also, when God moves you forward to a different ground for your deliverance purpose and you allow complaint to occupy you, it becomes a failure to letting go of the past.

The Israelites could not let go their past as they resolved to complaint which is the evidence of not allowing the past be in the past. At a point their complaining turned to negative confession before God. God responded in Numbers 14:28, “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.’” (Numbers 14:28) When God says move forward then it is time to move In obedience. It does not worth to decide against God’s command. Lot’s wife decided against God’s command by looking back and she became destroyed.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s mercy to keep you out of making wrong decision in the journey of a new beginning. Pray that every decision in the past which is affecting your life negatively should be reversed to positive in Jesus name.