FAITH CAPSULE: How are you progressing in following Christ in your walk in life?

Luke 22: 31-71

The challenges that are encased in following Jesus in the past; in the present and the future are going to remain the same. Following Jesus is flowing where trouble often presents itself. However, none that follows Him indeed and in truth ends up in regret. Determination will fail but the desire to truly follow Him will deposit in man what it takes to follow Him. How are you progressing in following Christ in your walk in life? Following Him when all is going well is not a good indication of your walk. Following Jesus when life becomes more challenging and when things are not going your way is a true sign that your faith is strong. Peter walked with Jesus, ate with Him and prayed with Him. Peter truly determined to follow Jesus. Jesus must have known the sincerity of Peter’s heart in follow when Jesus and Peter engaged conversation: “And the Lord said “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.But I have prayed for you; that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”  But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:31-33) Peter’s determination could not hold but the prayer of Jesus prevailed on behalf of Peter. However, when a great challenge came up in the course of peter’s following of Christ, determination failed as mentioned above. It is written, “Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.” (Luke 22:54-55) Are you keeping your distance from Him? Are you taking a seat among His opposition? Peter kept his distance when trouble caught up with Christ. In his distance he also gained comfort by sitting with those who opposed Jesus. He did not just take any seat; it was a warm seat by the fire. It is very easy for man to keep distance from the Lord when challenges confront man. However, keeping distance will not ease man’s challenges. Keeping distance will cause man to become a denier of the Lord as savior. Peter, in his distance, denied the Lord. Luke 22:56-57, “And a certain servant girl saw him as he sat by the fire looked intently at him and said, ‘this man was with Him’ But he denied Him, saying, woman I do not know.’’’ Keep on following Jesus regardless of challenges.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to constantly remain focus in your entire walk in Him.

Faith Capsule: The outstretch hand of God is what makes a way where there is no way.

Exodus 14

When God called on Moses for the deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage of over four hundred years, God gave His word that never return back void stating, “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.” (Exodus 3:19-20) With God, there is mighty hand and there is outstretch hand. It can be agreed that the mighty hand of God brought forth miracles and wonders that are familiar to man while the outstretch hand brings forth unimaginable miracles and wonders that have never been seen in the history of creation. Indeed, Pharaoh and his team experienced the outstretch hand of God by virtue of unimaginable miracles and wonders which led to the Israelites departure from bondage. The Israelites were not excluded from witnessing the manifestation of God’s outstretch hand during their departure from bondage.
It was the outstretch hand of God that made a way for the Israelites through the Red Sea. The children of Israel, after having witnessed the outstretch hand of God in Egypt and on their way of deliverance out of four hundred years of bondage, they could not hold on to the testimonies of their deliverance. When they approached the Red Sea, the Egyptian army with all the chariots of Egypt went after them attempting to take them from God’s hand. The children of Israel lost hope and entered into complaining. The Israelites complained to Moses in Exodus 14:12, “Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.’” Are you complaining or complementing God for all he has done and all which He is doing?   At the time they were complaining, they could only see a dead end. The children of Israel lost hope, their faith sank and fear took the place of faith. Have you been in a situation where all man-made help has failed and continues to fail you? Know that what you are going through is not beyond God. He will make a way for you if you can hold on to His outstretch hand. With Christ in your life there will be a way out for you. He that made the way through the Red Sea is alive, and is still making a way for those who hope in Him. Now is not the time to keep eyes away from the One with an outstretch hand.

Prayer for today: Ask for the outstretch hand of God to locate you for your breakthrough deliverance.

FAITH CAPSULE: Make the difference in the journey of life; allow the word to reign and rule your life.

Deuteronomy 30

The living word of God is life and it will cause those who engage it faithfully to live life abundantly. Jesus stated, “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) What will make us or unmake us as we journey through life is the word of God. The word of God will make all the difference in man’s life. Anyone that hears the word and able to do what the word says will live life abundantly. Also, anyone that hears the word and not able to do what the word says will be short in the life that Jesus brought. Jesus did not say “I am coming to give life.” What Jesus said was, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus the living word of God came already and it is left for us to abide and dwell in the living word of God.
To every man, the word is not far but it is within reach and in place for it to be engaged. Deuteronomy 30:14 buttresses the truth that the word is near by stating, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” There is neither any way nor any excuse that will stand for us not do what God requires of us in His word. Are you a believer that is living by the word of God or outside of the word of God? Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived. God does have a set standard for those that are living the word and those that are not living the word. It is written, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.”(Deuteronomy 30:15-16)  Put into practice the word of God; have life and not death. The Word that He gave to them, He gave to us. The word of God is His commandment. All that it takes to make a difference is to live by His word and if it were not doable, He would not have asked us to live by His word. Make the difference in your journey by allowing the word to rule in your heart, and His promises will reign in your life.

Prayer for today: Ask for the word of God to have its place in your life. Pray against whatever it is that is denying hearing and doing the word of God in the life of man.

FAITH CAPSULE: A church that does not make prayer a constant offering cannot prevail.

Acts 12:1-19

It is written, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also…” (Acts 12:1-3) Herod the King did not seize Peter for decoration but he seized him with the intention to kill him just as he killed James. The church must have been prayerfully asleep when James was killed by Herod the King. The death of James prompted the church to act on behalf of Peter. The Bible states, “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” (Acts 12:5) A church that does not make prayer a constant offering cannot prevail. Just as the church was prayerfully asleep, Peter was also prayerfully and physically asleep instead of praying and praising God like Paul and Silas did for their self-deliverance from prison and untimely death. Peter’s destiny was set to be terminated by the hand of Herod the King because there was no visible way of escape.
Acts 12:6-7, “And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by Him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands.” Man shut the door on Peter, but only heaven could open it. With no way of escape, Peter fell asleep but prayer of the church prevailed on his behalf. When the angel brought deliverance, it was like a dream. During his walk with the angel through the gates of the prison, Peter was not himself because he was asleep instead of in prayer. Have you given up your hope for sleep? God has never failed and your deliverance will be certain in Jesus’ name. The angel led Peter through the Iron Gate for deliverance from the hand of Herod. It is written, “And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord had sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people. So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” (Acts 12:11-12)  Peter escaped and went to his brethren whom he found in prayer. Peter’s escape was a miracle rooted in prayer.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be constant and consistent in your prayer life.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is true that wisdom, knowledge and understanding cannot be separated.

Proverbs 2

“When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked…” (Proverbs 2:10-14) Going by the words of proverbs, one cannot claim having wisdom and lack knowledge, neither can anyone claim knowledge without understanding. Wisdom, knowledge and understanding cannot be separated. What you do not know will not work for you. Also, whatever it is that fail to work for you can work against you. Can you imagine a man with a loaded gun in his pocket being chased around by one with an ordinary table-knife? Such imagination is a case of any acclaimed believer that operates lack of knowledge. The word states in Psalm 49:20, “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand is like beasts that perish.” The word of the psalmist also identifies one with power and begin chased around by a powerless one. It is a case of lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Clearly, the people of God, the ones that claims to know God are the ones being referred to as those that are destroyed because they lack knowledge. Do you lack knowledge? Knowledge is not scarce but, man has made himself scarce from finding knowledge. Knowledge is available for anyone who cares to find it. Essentially, the lack of knowledge is evidence of the lack of understanding of the fear of God. Proverbs 2:5, “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Seek the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God and the fear of the Lord will not elude you. Based upon all the evil and wickedness that takes place in our world today, we can clearly see that people no longer have the fear of God dwelling on the inside of them. It is a testimony to the fact that knowledge is not common and it is hardly implemented in the face of confronting challenges.
Do you handle the pressing challenges of your life with knowledge? God testifies that He knows His goodness towards us when He spoke, “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) Regardless of how difficult and challenging your situation is, what you know about the promises of God across the pages of the Bible will give you the knowing edge in the face of confronting evil challenges of the world.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be filled with knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God.