FAITH CAPSULE: When you are no longer standing still, you are not far from falling down.

Exodus 14:10-31

The word of God encourages, “Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered…” (Psalm 68:1) What are the challenges that are troubling in your life? If one will let God, challenges will let go. In the face of every confronting challenge, the more you take away your battle from God, the more you give way to defeat. Why not try God? We know that we have never seen or heard of God losing a battle on behalf of His children. We also know assuredly that any battle that is lost is the result of not letting God arises and do our behalf. Calling on the name of God in face of any confronting challenge is defeat impossibility. The Bible describes the name of God, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10) The righteous, the ones that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior do have tower that is strong enough to deliver. When trouble comes your way and you begin to lose your rest, it is an indication that you are taking your battle away from God. When you lose your rest you fail in being able to stand still. When you are no longer standing still, you are not far from falling down. Many have fallen, many are falling and many are in the process of falling regarding battles of life and challenging issues such as finances, health, and marriage because they have decided not to let God fight the fight. The children of Israel, after the bondage of over four hundred years came out of Egypt with favorable recovery. The Israelites had just experienced what God can do when He fights on behalf of His children, but in difficulty after difficulty they could not stand or let God take control. With Pharaoh behind them at the crossing of the Red Sea, they turn their back to faith and hold on in fear. With fear complain and negative confession came to place. Moses operating under God’s direction responded to the children of Israel, ““And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight your battle and you shall hold your peace.’”(Exodus 14:13-14)  Does it sound like this verse is addressing you? Step out of fear so that you can stand in faith. In your stand, you will then be able to see victory that is yet there as being there then it will become accomplished. Let God arise on your behalf and the enemy will be permanently and eternally terminated by being scattered.

Prayer for today: Ask that the mercy of God will not expire over your life as the year runs out.

FAITH CAPSULE: There are direction, deliverance and breakthrough in His commandment.

John 9:1-23

The book of Isaiah chapter 9 was talking about the government of the promised Son of God when it stated in, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shinned.”(Isaiah 9:3)  Jesus is the light of the world and the only reason for the season. He declared in, “…I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”(John 8:12) He came two thousand years ago and ever since then He has been here. The same Jesus continues to pass by for those that make the choice of accepting Him as Lord and Savior. A man who was blind from his mother’s womb was at his usual position of begging and being mocked when Jesus’ passing by brought him out of his blindness. Many times Jesus has passed by you and He is still passing by, but you cannot receive your deliverance because of the thing that has kept you bound for years. Your inability to receive is not because Jesus has ceased to pass by, but because you have failed to enter into His commandment. Most times, His commandment sounds foolish to you. It may make you look stupid, but the bottom line is there are direction, deliverance and breakthrough in His commandment. Jesus saw the blind man from birth. He approached him. He spat on the ground and mixing His saliva with the dirt, made clay and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay (John 9:6). Jesus commanded the blind man stating, “And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”(John 9:7) This blind man was unlike the Syrian army commander, Naaman, whom Elisha sent to wash at the Jordan. Naaman was reluctant and furious for having to go to such a low standard river. He delayed his going and his miracle was delayed. The blind man, however, did not question Jesus. He went and washed and he gained sight. Stagnation ceased in his life and he saw where he had not seen since birth. His neighbors questioned his healing. Ridicule ceased and above all, direction became clear because there was sight in place. The secret of the blind man’s miracle was submission to Jesus’ command that gave healing. Jesus is the light of all men. Be wise in your wisdom and know that, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.”(1 Corinthians 1:27)

Prayer for today:The Lord will give the grace for obedience that is needed to receive sight for breakthrough.

FAITH CAPSULE:  What you hear is what you see and what you see determines what you believe and become.

Exodus 3, Matthew 13:1-23

The word of God states, “He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?” (Psalm 94:9) Ears and eyes are not accidental; and not for decoration. God gave them for a purpose and if the purpose fails, God’s direction will also fail to establish itself in one’s life. In life every avenue of transformation takes a lead from what we hear, see and believe. Many have ears and eyes but they do not serve the intended purpose for their lives to be constantly transformed. As a child of God, one can’t afford not to hear when God speaks. When He shows up, you can’t afford not to see and turn. When one fails to hear or see and turn one will miss appointed time. Moses needed to put his ears to work and see before hearing from God. The Bible recorded, “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. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:2-4) The account of Moses demonstrated that his ability to see and turn aside was what moved God to call him out for divine assignment in life. Think of it; time is crucial and missing in the timing of God can lead to life termination. When the privilege of time is missed by failure to hear and see, it will take the grace of God that reverses the irreversible to make up for time missed. All the privileges that you have missed in the past years cannot be given back by turning back the clock except by the grace of God that reverses the irreversible. There is nothing that will cause one to miss a valuable privilege more than a failure to hear when God is speaking direction into one’s life; when God is showing a turning point. In Matthew 13:15, Jesus quoted Isaiah 6:9 “for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” Remember, faith comes by hearing; what you hear is what you see and what you see determines what you believe.
 

Prayer for today: Ask God for the gift of a sharp mind that will constantly enable you to hear and see when there is a need.

FAITH CAPSULE: The Word of God is the “unchanging changer.

Psalm 37:1-6, 103:1-10

Moses asked from God, “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” (Exodus 33:13) He wanted direction by asking for the way of God. God’s responded back to Moses, “And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14) Obviously Gods response to Moses’ request for the way of God indicates that Gods presence is God’s way. The way of God is the word of God and the word of God is His presence. In His way, there is direction and grace to live to the fulfillment of divine schedule. In His acts, there is power confirmation; there is deliverance and there is total victory. Psalm 103:7, “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” It is absolutely impossible to follow the ways of the Lord and not arrive at a final destination. Likewise, one cannot see His acts and not tremble at the awesomeness of His power. The acts of God are the product of His word and His word inhabits His way. The children of Israel were privileged to see His actions; they saw the move of God’s power so many times during the days in the wilderness. They saw the Red Sea open up to them to provide dry land as a passage. They saw how the firstborn of all the Egyptian masters died while their firstborns were safe. Despite all that they witnessed, those Israelites who left Egypt and whose age was twenty and above never arrived at their expected end. Caleb and Joshua were the only ones that did not fail to keep their faith in His acts which gave them direction. During the year, if you have seen the wonder work of His hand rest and be assured that you have seen His way. Moses, a giant in the hand of the Lord, could not get to the expected end because he failed to fully obey God. When he was commanded by God to speak to a rock for water provision he struck the rock twice (Numbers 20:11-12) Moses saw the Land of Promise, but could not set foot on the land. Are you paying attention to the Word of God? It has never changed and it will remain the same. The Word of God is the “unchanging changer. Commit to the word of God and it will lead you in the way of God. Will you commit your way to His ways and trust in Him?

Prayer for today: Ask Him for the grace to keep you going in His ways.

FAITH CAPSULE: When you become faultless before your enemy, nothing formed against you will prosper.

Daniel 6:1-24

The word of God pointed out, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) Evidently, affliction does not have limitation. When affliction comes your way, the way you have been taking in your walk in the Lord is what will deliver you from the way of affliction. A prescribed way of deliverance was evident in the life of Daniel during his affliction, ‘Daniel was faultless before man.’ Daniel was not just making noise about what he believes but he was behaving is believe. When you become faultless before your enemy, nothing formed against you will prosper. There is no giving in, but you have to be faithful to become faultless as was the case with Daniel. The notion of a captive who arose to become governor did not fare well among the free people of the land. There was no way for the free men to bring Daniel down without being in conflict with the law of God. It is written, “So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:4-5) They did find a way, however, to get Daniel in trouble by having King Darius sign a decree against anyone who petitioned any god or man. It was brought before the king that Daniel had disobeyed the law. The consequence for his disobedience was to be executed. King Darius, knowing Daniel and his standing in the Lord, endured great struggle as he was compelled to abide by his own law. Against his own will King Darius gave the order to put Daniel in the lions’ den while hoping that God would deliver him out of it. Daniel 6:15, “Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, ‘Know, O King, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king established may be changed.’” Is your case similar to that of Daniel? As long as you are serving the Living God continually as did Daniel, God will consistently see you through even though it looks like there is no way out. Daniel was thrown into the den of lions but not a single scratch was recorded. God is a God of the eleventh hour. It is never too late for God to intervene.

Prayer for today: Ask God to remember you just as He saw Daniel through his difficulty while he was in a foreign land. Also, ask God to dispense mercy on your behalf. Do not be at fault with anyone so God can fault your enemy and established you.