FAITH CAPSULE:God performs in prayer and perfect in thanks giving.

Luke 17:11-19

The Bible talks about giving thanks always for all things, “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20) Are you giving thanks for all things or only things that you get the way you want it to be? Are you getting what you want and turning back to the giver without thanksgiving? Could it be that you are forgetting to give thanks where it is appropriate? Are you one that will wait to get what you want before giving thanks? The book of Romans states, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”(Romans 8:28) When there is love for God, there will be understand to thank God for all things. The one that thank God for all things will have all things work together for good. God always expecting our thanksgiving and this is evident in the documentation of Jesus and ten lepers that were healed. When ten lepers were healed, “…one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God.” (Luke 17:15) One lepers return to give thanks with a loud voice prompted Jesus’ response, “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:18-19) Only God knows how long the returned leper has been trusting God for his healing before Jesus spoke healing into his life. The important point here is that he was able to go back and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Also, he was not thinking thanksgiving in his heart but gave thanks with a loud voice. Jesus’ response testifies to the fact that He was waiting for the lepers to return for thanksgiving. Just as He waited for the leper to return for thanks giving, so He is waiting for us to return and give thanks. Return and do not wait till the year is out. Give thanks for all year long prayer request manifestation. Have you been trusting God for any miracle that is yet in your hand? Provoke the hand of God by thanking Him expressively for the prayers that are not yet manifested. God performs in prayer and perfect in thanks giving. One leper went back for thanksgiving and Jesus added perfection to his healing deliverance. Consider this month your month of thanks giving and your coming month will become your month of manifestation. Thanking God before prayer manifestation is exercising faith to provoke God’s hand on your behalf.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be constant and consistent in giving thanks for all things.

FAITH CAPSULE: Let it penetrate deep in your heart that in seeking and serving Him, you have to follow Him.

John 1:35-51

Whatever one is missing as a believer can only be found in seeking and serving our Lord and Savior. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) Is God first in your seeking and serving Him? Each and every acclaimed believer is overwhelmed with different purpose and different agenda. Some seek and serve for financial gain while some seek and serve Him in attempt to get answer to their confronting issues. In your seeking and serving Him, time has always been what you are using as a determinant. In seeking and serving God you are the kind with constant and consistent consideration of how, when, where or what you can deliver in your service to the Lord. If one will consider today that time which is being used as a guard post is not in control of man but God that gives it, one will begin to give all to God. Let it be registered in you today that seeking and serving God is not a convenient engagement but a commitment. Commitment is a sacrifice and only God and not man can determine and accept what He considers to be a reasonable sacrifice. If you have not denied yourself, your seeking and serving God is conceit; your seeking and serving Him is not recorded in heaven; Jesus will declare later that He did not know you. Have you actually denied yourself for the Lord’s service? As an acclaimed believer, it is not only when you see believers around you that you should be acting unselfish. Also, it is not only in the presence of fellow believers that acting to be holy should be in place. You know it is not true and it is false humility. Man can be deceived but God will see through the heart and He cannot be deceived, “For the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him all actions are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:3) Let it penetrate deep in your heart that in seeking and serving Him, you have to follow Him. John 12:26, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me: and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” Ignorance is not an excuse. Ignorance will only make a destitute out of a believer; it will ridicule your journey if you fail to master what it takes to follow the Master.

Prayer for today: In your asking, ask God for the grace to seek and serve Him indeed and in truth.

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.