FAITH CAPSULE: Those who fear God will seek Him without doubt but with the whole heart.
 
Psalm 37

Psalm 119:2 states, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.” For a believer that wants to make a head way in the journey of life, keeping the testimonies of God is exceedingly important. What God has done in the life of His servant or what He has done that are visible in our surrounding are the kinds of testimonies that is worthy of keeping. It is written, “…we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.” (Psalm 75:1) Keeping the testimony that the wondrous works of God is the evidence of His presence is enough for a true believer to constantly walk in the fear of God. Ones that fear God will seek Him without doubt but with the whole heart.
In David, one can learn that clinging to testimonies of God will not put a believer to shame. David testifies, “I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed.”(Psalm 37:25-26) King David, a man referred to as “one that is after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22)knew exactly what he was talking about. King David was not arousing any man’s emotion neither was he attempting to please man, but rather lived to lift the name of God. The truth behind King David’s statement is that indeed it was pleasing to God because it was a statement that demonstrates faith in the highest order. Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him…” King David was so sure of his God and he testified about his lifetime experience of not having seen a righteous one ever forsaken. Who is it or who are those that David referred to as never been forsaken? King David was referring to the righteous one. Who is righteous? 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Have you accepted Christ indeed and in truth? It is one thing to claim to have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and not be living the Word of God. When a believer begins to live indeed and in truth, he becomes righteous in Christ Jesus. Are you true to the Word of God? His word is His is testimony, keep to the word of His testimony, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)David experienced it and confessed it. Pay attention to testimonies of God and live according to the Word of God, your testimony will be like that of David. God is faithful!  

Prayer for today: Ask for the hand of God to be your help.

FAITH CAPSULE: The word and the hand of God are mighty and cannot be denied in any area of life.

Exodus 3

In the word of God and the hand of God, there is deliverance and preservation over the life of His children for His glory. When it was time for God to bring the Israelites out of the bondage of over four hundred years; it was His word and His hand that went to action. God gave Moses His word, “So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12) After giving Moses His word, He also stated, “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.” (Exodus 3:20) Are you on any ground that is representing Egypt in your life? The way out of your Egypt is to ask God for the same word and hand that answered for the Israelites to answer for your own breakthrough deliverance. The word and the hand of God are mighty and cannot be denied in any area of life.
When the Lord called Jeremiah, it was through the operation of His hand in combination with His word. Jeremiah 1:9-10, “Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: ‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.’” The word of God was there to be activated for Jeremiah to answer and live for the fulfillment of his calling. Without the touching of God, he would not have been able to see. The Lord put forth His hand to call his attention to what had been deposited in him. Jeremiah truly saw that day and his life was never the same.
Isaiah also testified in Isaiah 6:6-7, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.’” Isaiah could not hear until he had been touched. As a result of the touch that came into the life of Isaiah, his life became a flaming torch for God assignment over his life. The word of God, back by His hand made, Jeremiah and Isaiah to do exploits to the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the word and the hand of God to sound and locate you for His name to be glorified in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: If you will take to the Word of God and allow faith to rise in you, fear will sink.

Hebrews 11

When God says fear not, He meant for us not to entertain fear, but to rather exercise faith. What is it that you are fearful of? At the sense of any danger, the children of Israel in their wilderness journey without hesitation always resolved to complaints and negative confessions. In the face of any challenge, we can stand if we will always remember that God does not lie. It is written in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”Evidently, every Word of God is true to perform that which it was sent to do. To every wise one, it is worth it to take the Word and hold on to it in faith. Holding on to the Word in faith is working the Word to make the Word work for us. Faith is to know that God is near to us more than we can imagine. The Psalmist stated in Psalm 75:1, “…Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.”Interestingly, we are surrounded by all kinds of wondrous works of God yet holding to His promises can be challenging when it should not be so. The Word of God created the wondrous works of God. By this understanding, it is clear that when we have the word of creation then the Creator is near to us. Why not take the Word into your life and operate in faith? Faith demands that you wait and know that God will not forget you neither shall He fail to back you up when you wait in faith. Isaiah 64:4 testifies, “For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.” A powerful testimony is a provoking testimony for whoever allows God testimonies to have a place inside of their life. In Heaven and on earth, there is none who acts for the ones that wait for God but God. What is clouding your life and causing your inability to wait in faith? God is real and He is willing to act on behalf of the ones who wait for Him. Faith is all that pleases Him. Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him…” If you will take to the Word of God and allow faith to rise in you, fear will sink. Proverbs 29:25,”The fear of a man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.”

Prayer for today: Ask that the faith which delivers good testimony become your portion.

FAITH CAPSULE: The mind of Christ Jesus is none other than love.
 
Philippians 2

It is written, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5) What kind of mind was in Jesus Christ? The mind of Christ Jesus is none other than love. He came in love, with love and to love. He is the love of God for us. The Bible states, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)Love cannot be determined by only what you give because man can give without love, but no one can love without giving. Jesus’ love is the love that comes to give. Jesus’ love is unconditional love, the indication of love that is genuine. The mind of Christ is love and when love becomes our inside, we are set for great exploits. With Jesus, God’s presence was always there just as He testifies, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone…” (John 8:29) Just like Jesus’ mind, when loving all men becomes our mind, God’s presence will not depart from us in every area of life. The kind of love that operates as the mind of Christ Jesus is that of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” The love of Jesus is not the kind that you operate today and not tomorrow. His love is with compassion and it is always constant and consistent. In the mind of Jesus, there is no burden, no yoke and that is why He encouraged in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” A loving heart will not experience yoke or burden. To love cannot be separated from being humble. The evidence of lack of humility in the life of a man is a demonstration of lack of love. It is clearly stated in Philippians 2:8, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” It took a genuine unconditional love; a love that does not complain to lay down His life. Without humility love cannot become of any mind.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to have the mind of Christ Jesus.

FAITH CAPSULE: A manifestation of divine care is all that it takes to navigate the journey of life successfully.

Esther 2

In the story of Esther, we see the providence of God at work. Esther found favor with everyone she encountered. The Bible recorded that Hadassah, that is Esther, had no father and was brought up by Mordecai who had been carried away from Jerusalem. It is written, “Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.” (Esther 2:7) Esther, despite the fact that her biological father and mother were not there, believed that the providence of God could not be denied to work for her. God is a creative God whose understanding is unsearchable. It is only God that is powerful enough to change the story of a prisoner to a prime minister. He alone changed the story of gate-man to a great man. The greatness and magnitude of His operation is unsearchable. There is no situation that is enough to reduce the hand of God from taking one to where He destined for one to be. Mordecai was destined to rise but rising was not written anywhere on him because he was a gate-man. It was at the gate, where there was no sign or evidence of rising up, that he disrupted a plot against King Ahasuerus. By virtue of Mordecai’s disruption of the plot against the king, he had his name written in the chronicles of the king. Mordecai eventually became the second in command to King Ahasuerus.
Queen Vashti’s disobedience to King Ahasuerus called for a search for a new queen. After the dethronement of Queen Vashti, door was made opened for Esther to be enthroned. It was recorded about Esther, “…And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.”(Esther 2:15-17) The point here is if God did not reduce one; one should never reduce self regardless of situation or position one is occupying. Mordecai and Esther had no god-father, but they had the providence of Father God at work as they found favor. Look up to the Father God and He will make a way at the least expected ground.

Prayer for today: Ask for the providence of God to go to work on your behalf in every area of life.