FAITH CAPSULE: Sowing good is rooted in compassionate heart.

Luke 10:25-37

It is worthy to ask self, what have I done for Jesus lately? What have you been giving back to Jesus? The main reason why Jesus was given to us is for us to inherit eternal life. Every step taken to inherit eternal life is exactly what we are doing or giving back to Jesus. In life, giving is sowing, sowing is serving. When there is no understanding in place to give, it is better than to have the understanding to give and not give.
The bible recorded about a certain lawyer asking Jesus what need to be done and gain eternal life. Jesus redirected the lawyer’s question to the book of law. The lawyer answered, “…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) Evidently, the lawyer was conversant with book of the law but could not convey the message of the book of law to how he lives life. Does that sound like you? Are you one that does not miss church activities but yet missing out in all that counts before God? The certain lawyer could not keep quiet and accept his lack of knowledge but wanting to justify himself asked Jesus, “…who is my neighbor” (Luke 10:29) Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The parable clearly connotes the mind of God concerning sowing good which is rooted in having a compassionate heart. It takes one with compassion to walk into the chance of doing good and actually do what is good. Jesus stated how a certain man fell among thieves who stripped him of his belongings and left him behind half dead. Jesus stated how a priest and a Levite walked by chance to the wounded man but only looked and passed on the other side. Knowing to do good and not do good does not count. James 4:17 warned, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” The Priest and the Levite had the chance to do good but missed out. Their title was not enough to motivate them in doing what is right before God.
Jesus pointed out in the parable how a certain Samaritan (supposedly a bad one) came to the spot, saw and had compassion.
Evidently, a compassionate heart is a good heart. Compassion is Jesus’ character, compassion is exactly what Jesus gave and it is all Jesus is expecting from us. One who constantly demonstrates compassion is one with pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith. 1 Timothy 1:5 buttress, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.”  Engage the word of God with understanding and do exactly as the word demands. Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived. Give back to Jesus by sowing that which counts for good.

Prayer for today: Ask God to impact you and be a compassionate believer.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not be at fault with anyone so God can fault your enemy and establish you.

Daniel 6:1-24

The word of God pointed out, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) Evidently, affliction does not have limitation. When affliction comes your way, the step you have been taking in your walk in the Lord is what will deliver you from the way of affliction. A prescribed way of deliverance was evident in the life of Daniel during his affliction, ‘Daniel was faultless before man.’ Daniel was not just making noise about what he believes but he was behaving is believe. When you become faultless before your enemy, nothing formed against you will prosper. There is no giving in, but you have to be faithful to become faultless as was the case with Daniel. The notion of a captive who arose to become governor did not fare well among the free people of the land. There was no way for the freemen to bring Daniel down without being in conflict with the law of God. It is written, “So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:4-5) They did find a way, however, to get Daniel in trouble by having King Darius sign a decree against anyone who petitioned any god or man.

It was brought before the king that Daniel had disobeyed the law.  The consequence for his disobedience was to be executed. King Darius, knowing Daniel and his standing in the Lord, endured great struggle as he was compelled to abide by his own law. Against his own will King Darius gave the order to put Daniel in the lions’ den while hoping that God would deliver him out of it. Daniel 6:15, “Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, ‘Know, O King, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king established may be changed.’” Is your case similar to that of Daniel? As long as you are serving the Living God continually as did Daniel, God will consistently see you through even though it looks like there is no way out. Daniel was thrown into the den of lions but not a single scratch was recorded. God is a God of the eleventh hour. It is never too late for God to intervene. Do not be at fault with anyone so God can fault your enemy and establish you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to remember you just as He saw Daniel through his difficulty while he was in a foreign land.

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.