FAITH CAPSULE: The most important reason for His calling is to follow Him.

Matthew 4:12-25
 
The purpose of His calling is to make us a fisher of men. Jesus called us to follow Him. He did not call us to fold up on Him and be a container or assembly where clean fish are being renewed and transferred from one assembly to another. At the time Jesus began His ministry it was with a call for people to repent because the Kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 4:17). It is written in Matthew 4:18-19, “And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.’” The same calling that Jesus had placed upon the first, second, and third disciples is the same calling He is placing upon disciples today. Have you been called? Have you been following Him or have you been folding up on Him? If you can give an account of how many fish you have been enabled by the grace of God, to catch, then yes, you must have been following Him. However, if you cannot account for a single fish by His grace, you must have been folding up on Him. The most important reason for His calling is to follow Him. God is a God of order. In Him there is orderliness and His order are to be carried out in the order of His expectation. Once, Hezekiah, the King of Judah, was in order with the command of God. Later, he placed himself out of order and became sick and near to death. As a result he consulted Isaiah. In the book of 2 Kings 20:1, it is written, “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to Him, ‘Thus says the LORD: set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live’” The point here is that, to be out of His calling is to be out of order. Also, to be out of order is to set up a date with death. God’s order is not limited to any particular area of life. Have you in anyway taken your steps out of His order, or you are just in the middle of it? It is never too late for one to turn back from one’s ways into His ways. Hezekiah saw the glimpse of death but he turned it around when he returned into the order of God.
Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to follow Him fully.

FAITH CAPSULE: Be very careful how you handle God’s blessings in life.

Exodus 32
 
The children of Israel did not get out of the bondage of over 400 years empty handed; they left with the favor of God. Exodus 3:21-22, “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you will not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and your daughters, so you shall plunder the Egyptians.” Coming out of bondage, you have been blessed and highly favored. You are having an all-round breakthrough of your life because God allows it. Maintain God’s favor; be consistent in your focus on God. Do not attempt to step over where He placed you. Do not look back and be anxious for nothing. Let not the enemy convert your blessing of favor to a lesson of failure. The children of Israel became unreasonable anxious. It is written, “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him’. And Aaron said to them, ‘Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’” (Exodus 32:1-2) The gold of favor was the flavor for the enemy as he entered into their camp for their destruction. Their gold became the instrument for making gods. As their blessing was converted into gods, they learned a lesson of their life. Be very careful how you handle God’s blessings in life to avoid having the devil turn around your blessing into a curse or a lesson of failure.
His hand is His visitation for salvation. Exodus 3:20, “So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in its midst; and after he will let you go.” God is ready to move you forward. Your laying wait is becoming a lying in waste. Ask Him today for the extension of His hand–the outstretch hand of God; the one that is mighty in deed and strong in deliverance. Have you been so long in bondage? In your journey of life, is your zone or stage beginning to feel like a comfort zone to you? If yes, you are absolutely in a state of conformity to this world. Wake up and cry out for your deliverance.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God to help you so that the enemy will not switch your God’s favor into a lesson of failure.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is not possible to know His name and not know Him.

Exodus 3
 
God is God and that is why He alone is God. Amen and Amen!
God is the One and only ever sufficient. He is the only provider and He never runs out of mercy except if you run out of His mercy.
Have you been wandering what is His Name or has anyone been curious about whom your God is? Just like He identified Himself to the Israelites, when it was time for Him to deliver them from the bondage of over four hundred years, today know your God. The only place to be delivered is in the knowledge of God. Knowing about God is not enough to bring forth deliverance. The children of Israel needed to know their God as a result, God sent Moses,“I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This isMy name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’” (Exodus 3:14-15) It is not possible to know His name and not know Him. The name is forever and not of the past. His name is a strong tower. Proverbs 18:10 describes the name of God, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”
He is God that remembers with favor and He visits with salvation. When the cry of the children of Israel came up to God, He remembered them. Are you keeping quiet without hope for the way out of your bondage? The Israelites could not keep quiet when need called for crying out. It is written in Exodus 2: 23-25, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledge them.”  When we call at the name of the Lord, the Lord will hear. God that never forgets His own will remember and He will visit with salvation. He will look from His Mercy seat and He will acknowledge. The Israelites were favored and salvation came forth. Crying is not an evidence of weakness. Cry to God and he will remember you with favor and visit you with salvation.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to remember you with favor and visit you with salvation.

FAITH CAPSULE: Concentration is meditation while meditation is the focus on the thoughts of the Bible.

Joshua 1
 
The Psalmist testifies, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.” (Psalm 119:99) With meditation operating understanding that is not of this world is sure to be manifested in one’s life. King David stated in Psalm 64:1, “Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.” It is evident that meditation is also a prayer avenue for a believer that understands the need to be constantly connected with God.
What does meditation mean to you? Meditation means to mumble or to speak to oneself. Meditation is what God commanded Joshua to do day and night with His law. What God says to him also speaks to us. Imagine speaking the word of God that you study to yourself- morning, afternoon and night time? What do you say to yourself? God meant His word when He gave it to Joshua three times in one chapter, stating, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)Meditating is what God says will give way to observing the word. With clear observation of the word, not doing the word will be impossible. To do the word is to enter into a prosperous way. God’s prescribed prosperous way will lead one to having good success. There is success and there is good success. Good success will last and not fail because it is God success. However, success is ordinary and it does not have a life of eternal. Remember, all that glitters is not gold, so is the truth that not all success is good. As a believer, enter into the word through focusing. Meditation is focusing the mind of scripture. Focus is the secret of failure impossibility; focus is the central point of attention. Focus is what will produce a clear necessary image unto distance from any point. In using a camera to take a picture, when there is no focus there will be no good picture. In word, when there is no meditation there will be no good picture (manifestation of what the word is supposed to be). Want a prosperous and good success as commanded by the word of God? Be consistently conscious of the truth that concentration is meditation while meditation is the focus on the thoughts of the Bible. Remember, the word of God is God.If you desire to be constantly connected to God, God will not leave you. Devote to meditation and God will deposit all the grace to be meditating in you.

Prayer for today:Ask God for the grace to be constant and consistent ion meditating His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Whenever there is a misplacement of priority, one can be replaced from the ground of protection.

Genesis 3, Luke 19:45-48
 
It is written, “Do you not know that you are the templeofGod and that the Spirit ofGod dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) For real, as a believer, do you not know that you are the temple (House) of God? What we claim to know and not do is the evidence of lack of knowledge or ignorance. If one truly knows, one will do exactly what is known. There is no excuse for disobedience but only consequence. Adam gave the best excuse before God and it failed to count before God. Adam did not ask God for a partner when God made him a partner. God’s partner for Adam (Eve) made Adam to violate God’s command. God wanted to know why Adam violated His command when Adam responded, “…the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I hate.” (Genesis 3:12) Adam’s excuse was not enough to stop God from unleashing the consequence of Adam’s disobedience.
As regard to the temple of God (you) the bible states the consequence of not knowing to take care of the temple of God, “If anyone defiles the templeofGod, God will destroy him. For the templeofGod is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Corinthians 3:17)Are you defiling the temple of God in you? It is important for every believer to know how to keep the temple in line with God’s way. Violating the temple can never have areasonable excuse before God.
Jesus, by His word and action clearly demonstrated the intolerance against not keeping the temple the way it should. Once, He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it. (Luke 19:45) In every area of life’s priority, there is a place for everything. Whenever there is a misplacement of priority one would be replaced from the ground of protection.
The people that were driven out by Jesus violated God by turning His temple to a business center where marketing of goods thrives. Among the identities of church today are the same as that of business center which are: lying, deception, and manipulation. Without any doubt, the place of seeking after God and the place of seeking after money does not complement each other.
Jesus declared how His temple (house) was violated, “My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves” (Luke 19:46) Are you violating His temple or you are elevating His temple? Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived.
It is about time for acclaimed believer to pay attention to what takes place in their temple and not violate God in the temple which He has given to all.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God for the grace not to be a failure in all He has ordained for you to be.