FAITH CAPSULE: Coming together in agreement is the key to making your fellowship a power ground.

Mark 6:7-12, Hebrews 10:19-25

When sons of men joined together in unity to build a city and tower, the Lord responded by saying, “…indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” (Genesis 11:6) When Jesus called the twelve disciples to Himself, He sent them out two by two. (Mark 6:7) Jesus’ decision to send the disciples out two by two was not an accident it was a purposeful decision. The sons of men coming together to build a city and tower was rooted in their agreement power. In the book of Matthew, Jesus actually identified the importance of togetherness in operating the business of the kingdom when He stated, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) Evidently, gathering or fellowshipping together in agreement, in the name of God, is a power source. When gathering together among the believers is established, it becomes a dangerous ground for the enemy to play with. However, when the gatherings of believers fail to generate the kind of power the enemy cannot resist, it becomes evident that they are not in agreement. How is the power of God manifesting itself in your gathering? Are you an agent of disagreement or agreement in your fellowship? The word of God is true and it cannot be broken. Coming together in agreement is the key to making your fellowship a power ground. Jesus did not say “wherever two or three are gathered,” He said “wherever two or three are gathered together in His name.” Evidently, when there is an unwavering unity among believers, it becomes inaccessible for the enemy to toy with. What kind of gathering are you involved with? If your gathering is infested with envy, strife, and divisions, you are headed for danger because the enemy will make your gathering his camp. It is written, “For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3)  Carnality has no boundary as much as it applies to an individual, so it does apply to any gathering where division reigns. Carnality is a sure agent for the enemy. Fellowship among believers is not always the problem, but believers that carry “self” into the gathering are the ones operating as agents of the enemy. Believers have work to do for gathering to become a powerful ground where the enemy cannot violate. Coming together with a true heart will make gathering together a power base.

Prayer for today: Ask for deliverance from every spirit that contradicts the move of God in your gathering.

FAITH CAPSULE: When our focus on God is shifted or altered, self will enter.

Genesis 11:1-9

The confusion of languages at Babel was the evidence of what prevails when sons of men converge to build outside of God. God alone is the Building Builder. Before the attempt to build, the whole earth had one language, “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.” (Genesis 11:2) A plain land is a land with no hindrance and is easier to develop. The plain land made it easy for them to loose focus of the fact that the land was not there by accident. The general condition of the land without any confronting challenge probably arouse their plan outside of God as they went in agreement and said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)  This kind of proposal is evidence to the fact that there was a shift of focus in their journey. When our focus on God is shifted or altered, self will enter. Are you on a ground that is set for your blessing? Do not lose focus nor take your attention away from Him. Those people who built the tower of Babel assumed responsibility and forgot that the land and its fullness belong to God. They wanted to use what He has blessed them with, to go and investigate His workshop (heaven). Obviously, God does not tolerate self because self operates in opposite to God’s way. Self is self centered, arrogant, pride, and selfish. Focusing on self and not God is an avenue to self destruction. God knows the end from the beginning. He alone is the creator and power belongs unto Him. God saw where the people were coming from, and He knew where they were going with the kind of project they embarked on. The people took the blessing of plain land for granted in their attempt to build outside of God. Anytime you begin to build outside of God, He will come down on you. God came down on the sons of men when He responded to the attempt to build without Him, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.” (Genesis 11:7-8)  Do you still want to continue building outside of God, or will you learn from His word? Take self out of your building project, readjust your focus, set on God and God will settle you. Let the word of God build you.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to consistently remain focus on Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: The Word will break every barrier.

1 Kings 18:1-19

In the beginning God created all things by speaking the word. God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) Nothing was created outside of the word of God. In the book of John, the Bible recorded, “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) The Word of God is power. The above information is not a story but was written to sustain our faith that the Word of God is power; it has neither limitation nor barrier. The Word of God cannot be stopped by any force under heaven. The Word is already here for you if you will pay the price to have it become your indwelling. The price for the Word is your commitment to the Word of God, and the Word will be committed to you. The Word will break every barrier that is stopping man from possessing possessions. Nowhere was Elijah mentioned in the Bible until he appeared to King Ahab. In the name of God, he commanded rain to cease for years and it was honored in heaven. After his declaration he began to run from place to place. Elijah could no longer show himself to King Ahab. There was no rain in the land and Elijah could not be located anywhere. Elijah could not present himself at the ground where the power of God was demonstrated through him. 1 Kings 18:1, “And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year saying, ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain to the earth.’” When the Word of the Lord came to Elijah, Elijah broke away from hiding, and he had the liberty and freedom to present himself where he would not have been able to. The Word will break every barrier that is stopping you from presenting yourself where you choose to. 1 Kings18:2, “So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab and there was a severe famine in Samaria.” The Word that sounded for Elijah was power, and no man could deny the move of the power of God. Psalmist recorded, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” (Psalms 107:20) Apostle Paul stated,“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32) Do you believe? 

Prayer for today: Ask God for the word that delivered Elijah from hiding to sound in your direction to deliver and establish your freedom on grounds that have kept you in hiding.

FAITH CAPSULE: The way of God is the way of life.

Genesis 2:15-25, 3:1-10

Disobedience is taking to a way that seems right to a believer instead of taking to the word of God. The Bible makes it clear, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) The way of God is the way of life. The way of God is in the command of God. Also, obeying the command of God is allowing the leadership of God to have its way in the life of a believer. The word He has given us demands a careful observation and not a mouthful presentation. It is careful observation of the word that will enable us to do according to His word. Every step that is taken away from doing the word of God is an outright disobedience. What the devil wants to do is confused the understanding of the promised blessing of God before complicating the life of the disobedient one. Disobedience will cause man to be naked that is it will take away God’s covering. When covering is lost, one will be found living in fear. When God made Adam, He gave him a command regarding what he should eat and what he should not eat, Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” When Eve came into his life, the serpent came into play. The serpent came cunningly and persuaded Eve to eat the fruit that was commanded by God not to eat. Eve then convinced Adam to eat from the tree as well, Genesis 3:7, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed the leaves together and made themselves coverings.”Disobedience stripped them of God’s covering and they began to make coverings for themselves. When a child of God enters into blatant disobedience, it will lead to exposure to the enemy. As a child of God, you cannot afford to go against God’s command as Adam and Eve did, because it will lead to nakedness. When nakedness has taken its place, fear will have its reign. God called Adam in “Then the LORD God called back on Adam and said to him, Where are you? So he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”(Genesis 3:9-10) Is there an area of your life in which you have engaged in consistent acts of disobedience? You are warned; let it go before it becomes an issue of nakedness and fear. Fear is not of God, it is of the devil.

Prayer for today: Ask today for His grace to keep you from every ways of being disobedient to His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: In God’s direction, there is provision for preservation.

1 Kings 17:1-6, 19:1-9

Trusting to wait on God has to be consistent. In the face of impending danger, it can be painful to wait on God. The word of God encourages, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) In this blessing of waiting, it is clear that a wingless man that trust God enough to wait on God will mount up with wings to fly even when the ground does not permit running or walking. When Elijah ignited trouble in the land by calling for rain to cease, God gave Elijah direction, ““Get away from here and turn eastward and hide by the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” (1 Kings 17:3-4) In God’s direction, there was provision for preservation and Elijah could not suffer from the lack of rain. The same Elijah that was told by God to hide when there was a need for him to hide ran when fear located him. Elijah ran when God did not ask him to run. After the manifestation of God’s power through him on Mount Carmel, he executed the prophets of Baal. The execution of the prophets does not settle well with Jezebel the wife of King Ahab. Jezebel vowed to kill Elijah. The Bible recoded, ““And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!’” (1 Kings 19:3-4) Can you imagine such a mighty man of God running without God? The first time that he needed to move God gave him direction. When there was more need for him to wait and get direction he did not wait. Not waiting on God will cause any servant of God to run where the journey only calls for walking. Elijah was running under the direction of fear. To be moved by fear and not by faith will cause one to be exhausted; frustrated and lack. Remember what the Lord has done for you in the past. God has brought you this far and He will not forsake you. 1 Kings 19:9, “And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” 

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of waiting on Him consistently and not selectively.