FAITH CAPSULE:It is your heart that God wants to meet before He commits into your hand great feats.

Daniel 1, Acts 5:1-11

It is written, “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? (Acts 5:1-3) Ananias and Sapphira died a cheap and untimely dearth. It is important that you give your heart a procedure that will remove every thought that is not right, that is negative and that is not fruitful to the glory of God. The thinking that you carry out in your heart is what will determine your future on the face of the earth. The word confirms this in the book of Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” It is clear that in all that you keep with diligence, your heart should be number one. Keep your heart meticulously clean or wickedness will reap through it. The testimony of Daniel’s life of exploit was rooted in the operation of his heart. It is written, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8) Daniel’s operation of the heart made all the difference in his life when he purposed in his heart to do his all for the glory of the Lord. God established him like no any other one through the pages of the scripture. What is lurking inside your heart? That which you harbor in your heart will make all the difference in your life. Will you be singled out as a giant in the hand of the Lord or will you forsake your calling to adhere to the world? It is your heart that God wants to meet before He commits into your hand great feats. 2Chronicles16:9, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” What His eyes are looking for throughout the earth is not what your eyes or any eye can see. His eyes look for the heart that is loyal to Him. In your heart think or meditate on what glorifies God then great exploitation will be yours.

Prayer for today: Ask God to put His fear in your heart that you may dwell in His secret place and abide under His shadow.

FAITH CAPSULE: You can only follow who you believe.

Mark 8:31-34, Luke 4:31-37

So many came to Jesus, but very few followed Him. The price is too costly to follow because to follow Jesus is to forsake all. Christianity today is convenience, not commitment from the heart. The most glaring identity of Christians, the self-acclaimed born again today is: lying, manipulation and deception. Among the believers, the sign does not follow any more because their lifestyles do not reflect the one that is following the Master.Born again Christians are very use to the Word of God, but they no longer let the Word use them. Billy Graham once said that, if the Holy Spirit is taken out of the church, 95% of church activities would be going on without any noticeable change. God, however, in His infinite mercy, continues to be patient with His children. The Bible talked about Jesus in Luke 4:32, “And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.” Today, most of His acclaimed follower’s word is not backed with power. Sick come into church and they leave to go back home still sick. Do you wonder what is going on with the Word of God? The Word of God is still the same and it has not change, it is the world that is changing from the Word. If you do not work for the Word, the Word will not work for you. Jesus’ disciples once asked Him, John 6:28, “What shall we do, that we may work the work of God?” Have you ever figured out what has to be done to work the work? John 6:29, “Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” When there is no trust, there will be no obedience to the Word. Without obedience, faith is absent and belief does not have a place to reside.
You can only follow who you believe.
Following
Following Jesus is self denial. If you can not deny yourself it is impossible to follow Him. Mark 8:34, “When He had called the people to Himself with His disciples also, He said to them ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let Him deny Himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’” Following Jesus is a daily activity, not only a Sunday activity.
In following Him
In your following there is no excuse; there is no distraction. When you follow Him, there have to be consistency. Consistency will build up to commitment, and then continuity will have its place. When you follow Him, you do not have to walk how others walk, you do not have to see like they see, and you do not have to hear what they hear. Keep focus on the leading Master. Some went to Him voluntarily and ended up with excuses. He called some, but they could not handle the weight of the cross.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to follow Him fully.

FAITH CAPSULE: Negative sound will hinder God’s promise.

Deuteronomy 1:19-46

God is faithful and true to His Word. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God who made this statement will not build you up and pull you down. The children of Israel were delivered from a bondage which appeared would last from eternity to eternity. The deliverance was enough confirmation for the children of Israel to know that God is a Mighty Deliverer. On their way to Canaan, the Red Sea could not hold them down; pharaoh failed in his attempt to re-enslave them. God was at hand carrying and providing for every call they made. God wanted to carry out His promise.
At a certain stage of their journey, Moses said to them “Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your father has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged (Deuteronomy 1:21) Sadly, the children of Israel had a different mind set of getting to their Promised Land. They did not take to heart the word of Moses, the mouthpiece of God. They were close to the land, but they were not looking up to the land. They must have been looking down away from the land. When God makes a promise and you are not looking up to that promise, you will miss out of His promise. Has He promised you something and you are looking down? Instead of going by God’s direction through Moses, they called on Moses and said, “Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.” (Deuteronomy1:22)
This was not God’s plan. God’s plan was to take them to their promise land. Has He brought you far enough and now you are taking things in your own hands? There is no right time to take over from God when He is leading. Their plan pleased Moses; so he took twelve of them to go and spy the land (Deuteronomy 1:23). Most of the spies came back with a negative report which generated complaints and all kinds of negativity. It is written, “And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was very angry, and took oath, saying, surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers.” (Deteurenomy1:34-35) In a journey that they over came hindrances, it was the sound of their mouth that hindered them from God’s promise.

Prayer for today: Ask God not to withhold His tender mercy from you.

FAITH CAPSULE: Fearing God should not be only of the mouth.

Genesis 19:1-29

“The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction: he will not be visited with evil.” (Proverbs 19:23) Evil visited Lot’s wife when she failed to abide in satisfaction while taking to her route of escape from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is written, “So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:17) Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26) The word of God is true and it never fails. The fear of the Lord is all that is needed in the life of a believer to posses all possession that is in place for every believer. The fear of the Lord is what makes the difference between a believer and a non-believer. The fear of the Lord is what demarcates the foolish ones from the wise ones. It cannot be better said more than how the Psalmist put it in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God” They are corrupt, they have done more abominable work, There is none who does good.” The ones that do not fear Him have it originated from their heart and it is evidential in their lifestyles of corruption, abominations and lack of any good as the Psalmist has said. Fearing God should not be only of the mouth but of a consistent conduct in life style. Have you repeatedly confessed the fear of God with no integrity to back it up? Integrity is what counts before God noise making does not carry weight neither is good intention. It is possible to have good intention and not fear God. The race of life is not only about being good but about being righteous through the blood of Jesus. Job feared God and God testifies concerning Job, “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” (Job 2:3) Just as God cannot overlook sin, so He will not overlook sincere and consistent obedience by any of His children. 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him…” God will not over look every operation of the heart of man. Job operated in the fear God and he experienced undeniable proofs of God’s hand with miracle that cannot be denied because God will not deny Himself.

Prayer for today: Ask God to put His fear in your heart. (Jeremiah 32:40)

FAITH CAPSULE:God expects one to operate in an order that complements His word.

2 Kings 20; Acts 9:1-9

Order is the disposition of things following one after another, as in space or time.God is a God of order. When God gives His order it becomes an authoritative direction or instruction; command; mandate. God expects the life of His creation to be in order. There is no one whom God has called that does not have an order of how to respond to His calling. Each and every God’s assignment is backed with God’s order. Has the Lord entrusted you for His assignment? Yes, He must have entrusted you with an assignment and each of His assignments have their order in the pages of His word. It does not matter how minor it may look, believe that God expects one to operate in an order that complements His word. In any area of one’s life where order is expected, be it in one’s house, marriage or assigned journey, God will lead one, and there will be no place to fail for the one that walks in God’s order.
When Apostle Paul was on his way to Damascus, he heard the calling of the Lord and he received order. Acts 9: 6, “So he, trembling and astonished, said “Lord, what do You want me to do? Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’” For Apostle Paul, what must be done was inhabited inside of God’s order that guided him in the assigned journey of his life.
Where there is no order, there is disorder. Where there is disorder, death displays itself.Once King Hezekiah violated God’s order and his life was set to be terminated. Hezekiah became sick because of his disorder in line of God’s assignment. 2 Kings 20:1-2, “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him, ‘thus says the Lord: set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’” Hezekiah yielded to the word of God by setting his house in order and his life was restored unto to him.
The journey of life demands walking in God’s orderliness. When God brought the children of Israel out of bondage of over four hundred years, they journeyed in order. Exodus 13:18, “So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.” Orderliness is vital in the journey of life and it is to occupy every area of life. Are you having orderliness in all areas of God’s calling for your life? The way out of bondage, captivity or sudden and untimely death is walking in order of the word of God. Walk in God’s order and He will ordain you for His glory.

Prayer for today: Ask God to turn to you and have mercy.