FAITH CAPSULE: Pride is exceedingly destructive.

2 Kings 5

Naaman was a remarkable figure and was filled with praises which described his character and his ability. All of Naaman’s great remarks were in the eyes of his master and not in the eyes of God. It is written, “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.” (2kings 5:1) Just like Naaman, are you a man of great remarks in the eyes of your pastor or your boss at work? How do you fare in the eyes of God? What you are in the eyes of God is that which matters. At the time he came to Elisha he did not know God and his great exploits were only limited to man. Despite all, there was a “but” in Naaman’s life and his but was leprosy. Naaman needed a cleansing that would get him to know about God. What is the “but” in your life that needs the kind of cleansing that will cause you to know God and not just know about God?
The “but” in Naaman’s life that needed to be cleansed was leprosy on the outside and pride in the inside. The pride in the inside was exceedingly destructive. More than the “but” that is visible in Naaman’s life. Pride is the opposite of humility; pride kills; pride does not give life and pride goes before destruction. At the juncture of Naaman’s healing, “… Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’” (2 Kings 5:10-11) The pride inside Naaman almost denied him his healing when he became furious and left in rage.
Pride has many branches such as, anger, rage, malice, bitterness and all could operate as a silent killer. Silently, Naaman could have walked away because of his pride and died as a leper. As God would have it in Naaman’s life, he was persuaded by his servants to go back and act according to the word of the prophet. Naaman responded and went and got cleansed in the Jordan River “And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel… “(2 Kings 5:15). The leprosy of Naaman gave up because obedience entered him and Naaman testified to knowing God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from whatever is representing leprosy inside and outside of your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Entertaining fear is blessing’s terminating route.

Matthew 14: 22-33, 1 Kings 17:1-16

Entertaining fear is terminating one’s own blessing. Have you consciously or unconsciously allowed fear to come between you and your miracle deliverance or miracle provision?
Once, at late hour of the day, in the middle of the water, storm took over the journey of life of the disciples. They were on a journey to the other side when the storm took over. While they were been tossed around by the wave, Jesus showed up to rescue them. It is written, “Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.” (Matthew 14:25-26) Peter must have requested for deliverance out of fear when he asked Jesus to command him to walk on the water. Jesus responded to Peter’s request by commanding him to come. The Bible records, “…and when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:29-30) Peter, in his obedience to walk on water, took his eyes away from Jesus and he gave it to the troubling storm. Fear took over Peter while faith was discharged. Peter simply entertained fear and his deliverance was set for termination until Jesus intervened.

During a season of famine across the land, the Zarephath woman was set for miraculous provision when God sent Elijah to her as a route for her miracle. The Zarephath woman was approached by Elijah and he requested, “…Please bring me a little water in a cup that I may drink.’ And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, ‘Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’” (1 Kings 17:10-11) Evidently, the woman of Zarephath only had just enough for herself and her son to eat because it was a time of famine in the whole land. In her sincerity and honesty, she responded to Elijah’s demand stating that she only had enough for herself and son to eat and die; meaning that after they ate, there would be nothing coming forth. Elijah responded to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’”(1 Kings 17:13-14) The encouraging word of Elijah denies fear from denying the Zarephath woman of her God ordained miraculous provision.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to help you increase in giving love offering when it matters.

FAITH CAPSULE: Bondage in man’s life is a bundle of pain.
Exodus 5

To be living in the state of being subjected to some external power or control is same as to be in slavery or involuntary servitude. It is called bondage. Bondage is what the Israelites lived in when they were in Egypt. Among other kinds of bondage are spiritual bondage, financial bondage, and emotional bondage. Are you experiencing any kind of bondage? Are you in any situation you do not like and it seems to be having dominion over your life? Bondage in man’s life is a bundle of pain. It is not a pleasant condition but a condition that wants to remain permanent in the life of its victim. The Israelites were in bondage for over four hundred years.
When it was close to the time of freedom, it then seemed like they had just started in bondage. When it was close for them to begin to move to where God had planned for them, affliction was intensified. After the Lord God had given the mandate to Moses for the deliverance of the Israelites, it was then that the situation became more painful with no gain in sight. Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh as the Lord directed, Exodus 5:3, “So they said, ‘The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.’”  The message of God did not settle well with Pharaoh because Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. Pharaoh responded to Moses, “Then the king of Egypt said to them, ‘Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.’” (Exodus 5:4)

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and the eye of his heart was blind. He failed to recognize God and the moves of God. Pharaoh intensified the pain of labor on the Israelites stating in Exodus 5:9, “Let more work be laid on the men that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.” The message of deliverance through Moses provoked more labor. It is written, “And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, ‘Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.’” (Exodus 5:13) Taskmasters in your life are not excluded from bringing more pain, but they are a process to your gain. Your long awaited breakthrough is at hand but the enemy has intensified a way to break you down before it arrives. Is it getting tougher or more challenging where you expect your breakthrough? Be encouraged; do not allow a break down in your daily journey. Confess your breakthrough always and be rest assured that your miracle is at hand in Jesus name.

Prayer for today: Give thanks for victory and breakthrough that you are set to receive by His grace.

FAITH CAPSULE: Give regard to the testimonies of the Lord.

1 Samuel 17

God is not evil and there is no iota of wickedness in Him. He is a loving and merciful God; His thoughts and plans toward His children are good. God confirms His good thoughts for us when he said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Therefore, whatever is good comes from God. Knowing that God is good to His children, one would wonder why then His children often end up in captivity. God is not the author of evil but, His children often authorize evil to have his place by the kind of choice His children engage in living life. The word of God points out what could be the reason why the evil of captivity of destruction usually strikes by stating, “…But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.” (Isaiah 5:12-13)The work of God’s hand is His testimony. His testimony is His word. By His word He created all that is and all that will be. Disregarding the work of His hand can be compared to clay not regarding its porter. Also, to disregard the works of His hand is to ignore His testimonies.

King David was able to engage the testimonies of God when he stood to challenge Goliath. The Bible documents David’s testimonies, “But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.  Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.”  Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1Samuel 17:34-37) How often do you give regard to the testimonies of God when forces of captivity show up on you? David gave regard to the testimonies of God to provoke the hand of God for deliverance of the whole land from captivity.
God is a good God, attend to God by giving Him regards and He will not fail to identify you for your deliverance from captivity.

Prayer for today: Ask God to put His fear in you so that you will not depart from Him all the days of your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: What you are seeing is not what God is seeing.

1 Samuel 16

The same God yesterday, today and tomorrow will not overlook the wickedness of today. The bottom line of it all is what Jesus talked about in Matthew 13:30: “Let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
All are growing together; all will not stop to grow together until the appointed time for separating ones that need to be separated. What do you represent in the life of growth? Are you wheat or tare? Both wheat and tare are benefiting from God’s supplies (rain, sunshine) which are the source for growth. However, the growth of those who represent wheat and tares is not the evidence of their righteousness before God. Oftentimes, there is no clear distinction identifying tares from wheat. Also, it cannot and it should never be a surprise to see tares growing better than wheat. In life, growth is possible in every area but not all growth can be measured as God’s blessing.
As an acclaimed believer, which one do you represent wheat or tares? It does not matter how man sees you but it matters how God sees you. Brethren can be deceived; your pastor can be made to embrace lies; but God cannot be fooled.

God sent Samuel to go and anoint David as king. While Samuel was about to make a choice among the sons of Jesse, in the absence of David, God warned Samuel against making a choice from what he saw, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) What you are seeing is not what God is seeing. If Samuel a prophet of God narrowly escapes making wrong choice by seeing wrongly, it is worthy to ask God to open our eyes of understanding.
Going by what is seen is what makes man to become vulnerable of becoming a victim of deception. Both inside and outside of the church, man must not go by what they see but by what God is showing. By virtue of what you see, do not commit yourself unto man. Jesus, our Lord and savior could not commit Himself to any man because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. (John 2:24) There is no distinction identifying tares from wheat and it makes it important we do not go by what we see.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of understanding and to know to see right in the journey of life.