FAITH CAPSULE: Do not hold back your love from God.

Deuteronomy 6, Numbers 25


To fear of God is the reason of God’s commandment. Deuteronomy 6:1-3, “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the LORD your God…” Fearing God is to love Him. Encased in loving God is obedience to all His commands. Failure to obey God is a failure to fear Him and not to love Him. God expects us to love Him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) God is the Master creator and He does not demand from us what cannot be done in all of His word.
The book of 1Timothy also points it out that love (fear of God) is the purpose of the command. It is written, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.” (1Timothy 1:5) God’s standard is set in His word which does not return back to Him void and we are to live in compliance to His standard. Ones that keep their heart with all diligence will no doubt love with pure heart. Loving with pure heart is the only access to His presence just as stated by Jesus, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
An acclaimed faithful without good conscience is fault-full and falls short as expected by God’s standard. Paul the apostle acknowledges the importance of faith with good conscience when he testified before the council, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” (Acts 23:1) As an acclaimed faithful, one must avoid becoming fault-full by consciously engaging faithfulness with good conscience.
Loving from sincere faith is to be living with passion for the name of God like Phinehas the son of Eleazar who turned back the wrath of God from the children of Israel. The Israelites, while under God’s judgment for their harlotry in Moab, one of the children of Israel came with a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the entire congregation who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Phinehas reacted when he rose from among the congregation; he took a javelin and went after the man of Israel and killed him and the woman. God acknowledge Phineas’ zeal (Passion) and the plague stopped among the Israelites. (Numbers 25:6-11) Love is sincere; sincere faith is without reservation for God’s glory. True love for God is to fear God Know the purpose of God’s command; do not hold back your love from God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to enable your heart to retain His words; that you may keep His commands and live.

FAITH CAPSULE: The angels of the Lord will always camp around those who fear Him.

Daniel 6:16-24

It is written, “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-12) Angels of God does not attend to man by accident except God charge His angel to attend. Psalmist testifies of what it takes for God to charge His angels by stating, “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those that fear Him, and delivers them.”(Psalm 34:7)
What can be a better blessing than to fear the name of the Most High God?Do you fear God? Indeed, if you fear God, invincible and impenetrable hedges which no force of evil can penetrate will surround you. Daniel feared God and nothing formed against him prospered. Daniel was sentenced to death by a lion’s mouth. While he was in the den of lions, an undeniable miracle prevailed because of his fear for His Lord God. After spending all night in the den of hungry lions, he responded to his adversary, “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” (Daniel 6:22) The same God that shut the mouths of hungry lions all night is still in position to do the same to those who fear Him.
The same God sent horses and chariots of fire to surround Elisha and his servant as a measure of protection against the forces of Syrian in their attempt to terminate Elisha’s life before God’s appointed time for Elisha (2 Kings 6:17). The same God also built an invincible hedge which Satan found impenetrable around Job. The same God is still building His protection around all those who fear His name. Just like Daniel, can you be found innocent before Him? Can it be that you have done no wrong to anyone in a place of authority over you? Daniel was found innocent, guiltless, and blameless before God and he did not wrong the authority over him. As a result, the canopy of protection over his life could not fail. Indeed, Daniel, Elisha, and Job had the angels of the Lord encamped around them because they did not camp outside of obeying God’s command.
There is no better way for the book of Ecclesiastes to complete than stating, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) Allow the fear of God to rule and reign your life. Live in the fear of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the fear of God to have a consistent place in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE:  Avoid places that can reposition your life for the worse.

2 Samuel 11

To be at the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time can be destructive. Being at the right place at the right time is the only right way. It does not matter one’s title or position taking a cautious step is required not to be at the wrong place at the right time. King David, as great as he was in God’s hand, being at the right place in the wrong time set him back. He was once on the roof of the king’s house at the wrong time. It was a time to be at battle. It is written, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle…” (2 Samuel 11:1) David was supposed to be out on the battle field when he “arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.” (2 Samuel 11:2) For King David, taking a stand at the right place was at the wrong time and it caused an outstanding mark of pain on him all the days of his life. To King David, it was the mark of adultery that had negative impact on his life journey. As a believer, where are you standing? Are you conscious of your present location? Avoid places that can reposition your life for the worse. Where you are standing can usher you into an unending journey of pain.
King David made a wrong stand when he ordered Uriah’s killing at the battle field. It is written, King David “…Wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, ‘Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die’” (2 Samuel 11:14-15) David setup Uriah’s death in order to cover up his adultery that brought forth unexpected seed.  David’s adultery brought to life a child that he did not expect. King David’s standing was not acceptable to God because he violated the command of God. Later on King David repented and was forgiven. God is a forgiving God but His word declares in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” God will forgive sin, but the consequences will remain. Being at the right place at the wrong time was disastrous for King David. What we can learn from this story is that every attempt to cover up an evil act will uncover you beyond what you can handle.

Prayer for today: Ask God to instruct you, teach you and guide you with His eye.

FAITH CAPSULE: Moses’ move from palace to a place-less can be likened to a move from grace to grass.

Exodus 2

Moses, at the time of his departure from his comfort zone was not with expectation or any kind of preparation. It was due to accidental killing of an Egyptian. Jacob left his comfort zone with the intention of temporary avoidance of his brother’s fury towards him. It happened when he deceptively received his brother’s blessing from their father. Rebekah (Mother of Jacob) instructed him, “Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away.” (Genesis 27:43-44) For Jacob, a few days journey went like forever. Joseph was only on an errand to check his brothers as directed by his father. Joseph’s errand took him through wilderness journey. In his journey, he went from slave to prisoner; prisoner to prime minister. Obviously, all of the above men engaged indiscernible God’s hand in the journey of their life. Are you engaging any journey that is beyond your expectation? It is worthy to know that nothing passes through God. Also God alone is in the position to allow or disallow any situation that passes before Him.
Paul the apostle was on his way to persecute believers in Damascus. Paul had a letter of permission, “…To the synagogues, of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:2) It was a comfortable assignment for Paul until the time when, “…Light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”” (Acts 9:3-4) Paul’s journey of self-desire turned to God’s avenue where Paul was called to become a vessel for his divine assignment. In every journey, when it is time for God to change your status, no situation or man can deny God. Moses’ move from palace to a place-less can be likened to a move from grace to grass. During the process of his transition he was contented and there was no record of complaint, “…Moses was content to live with the man…” (Exodus 2:21) After all of all in Moses’ life, God appeared to him, “And 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.” (Exodus 3:2) Moses’ departure from comfort got him to a ground where, he turned aside to see the great sight. (Exodus 3:3) God is God and He will move according to His way and not man’s way.

Prayer for today: Ask God to lead you and guide you to the center of your divine assignment.

FAITH CAPSULE: The word of God does not discriminate but it will work for those who work the works of God.

John 6:22-34
 
The word of God you do not know will not work for you. However, the only way to know is by gaining understanding. Proverbs 4:7, “…In all your getting, get understanding.” Gain the understanding that the word of God is the Spirit of God. Jesus confirmed in His word, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) The Word that He has spoken is still speaking to us and it is life not letter. It is written, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) Indeed the word of God is Spirit and it is life. When God spoke, it brought forth life where there was no life.
The same word of God is still the same Spirit of God and life giver. The word of God does not discriminate, but it will work for only those that work the works of God. In life, nothing works when you do not work it. A car will not work if you fail to work for it by putting it to work. What does it take to work the works of God? Disciples of Jesus asked Jesus, “…What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28) Jesus had all the answer when He responded, “…This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:29) To work the works of God is to be living (believe) the word of God and not just to be quoting the word. In the Word of God, all that speaks to one is speaking to all. God told Joshua, “…I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5) The word that He spoke to Joshua demanded a work on Joshua’s part as stated in Joshua 1:7, “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.” Operating the word of God in part and not in full can be liken to going to the market without having penny at hand to spend while at the market. God is true to His word, God has never failed and His word will not fail. In working the work, the word of God will work for us in every area of life.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace that the word of God should reign and rule your life.