FAITH CAPSULE: He that knows how to thank God for all things, will always have all things work together for good.

Job 1, 2

In life there is every reason to thank and to keep thanking God. Also, in life there is no reason to stop thanking God. No reason or situation under heaven, should prevent us from being thankful to God. God is a good God, he is perfect in Knowledge and excellent in power. Ask God for the grace to know how to always be thankful for all things that you encounter on your journey. The Word of God encourages in Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Word that encourages in Ephesians also gives us assurance when it says  “And we know that all things work together for good…” (Romans 8:28). It can be concluded in the above scriptural verses that those who know how to thank God for all things, will always have all things work together for good. What prevents you from thanking God? Is there a situation in your life so severe, that it hinders thanksgiving? Think of Job for a moment. Job was described as a man that feared God.  He was also described as a man with great wealth in every area of life (family and finances). The Bible mentions that he was the greatest of all the people in the East. God also testifies in Job 1:8, that there was none like his servant Job on the earth; and the he was a blameless and upright man that fears him and shuns evil.. Despite of all his accolade, Job was exposed to destruction in every area of his blessings. His properties were raided and taken away, his servants were killed, and he experienced the plague of natural disaster which caused destruction over his family and all of his properties. Even in all of this, nothing that happened to Job was above God. For example, God could have disallowed Satan’s request of causing destruction to Job, yet God allowed it. And even in the midst of utter turmoil, Job did not disallow God in his life. Job’s wife rebuked him when she stated, “…Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”(Job 2:9) Job could not deny His God when he responded to his wife stating, “…You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”” Satan orchestrated all the destruction, but Job frustrated Satan’s orchestration when he refused to curse God’s name and sin with his lips. It is very important for a believer to constantly remember that God is unlimited and only he can reverse the irreversible. After his time of testing, Job regained multiple of all that he had lost.While you trust God with all your heart, continue to thank him for all things.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, plant in me a heart of thanks giving to the glory of Your name.

FAITH CAPSULE: With Jesus all time is set to meet the plan and purpose of God.  

Luke 5:1-11

The Bible recorded, “So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.” (Luke 5:1-2)Jesus showed up despite the multitudes that were pressing Him at the Lake of Gennesaret. Multitude is an agent of delay. Multitude is a crowd that will not allow you to see Jesus when He is passing by. Despite the multitude’s pressing, Jesus was able to found a place in Simon’s vessel to sit. The multitudes at the Lake of Gennesaret were not able to stop Him from showing up concerning the lack of catch by the professional fishermen. The fishermen were washing their nets because it was time for them to go. They have toiled all night with nothing to show for their toiling. Have you been toiling for with nothing to show for your toiling? It is not time to give up, wait and watch out for Jesus and He will soon show up concerning all of your concerns. It is written, “When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”” (Luke 5: 4-5) At the time the fishermen were to be launching away from the deep, Jesus asked them to launch into the deep. It was the wrong time for launching into deep because the time of launching deep was past and it produced no result but with the Jesus there is no wrong timing. With Jesus all time is set to meet the plan and purpose of God. Has He been asking you to move when it is time to withdraw or has He been telling you to withdraw when it is time to move? If you will listen by the grace of God, your story will change for good. Despite Simon’s fishing skill he had no reason not to obey Jesus. Simon Peter and his fellow professional fishermen responded to the word that called for a catch. A word from Jesus that commanded for a catch filled up all the emptiness. Just a word caused a breakthrough that was enough for others to partake in its blessing. Just a word from Jesus is always enough to terminate struggle. The word of God produced an astonished experience in the life of the professional fisher men when they had a net breaking catch where they have toiled all night with nothing to show forth.

Prayer for today: Ask the Lord God to allow His word sound in your direction for breakthrough.

FAITH CAPSULE: Judas’ lack of satisfaction led to his lust for money.

John 12:1-7, 13:18-30

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) Wisdom is instruction, understanding is attention and knowledge is the application of wisdom. The word of God is our instruction to live life and to live it abundantly. When you have the fear of God, you will definitely abide in satisfaction. With satisfaction that is rooted in the word of God, your life will shut the door on the evil one and presence of evil will be terminated from your life. Judas could not have been more available for his divine assignment (that is to betray Jesus) if his door has been shut   towards the lack of satisfaction. Judas’s lack of satisfaction led to his lust for money. Lust for money will cause anyone to become vulnerable to evil agenda. Here is what the Bible recorded about Judas’ lust: “But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.” (John 12:4-6) Judas loves money. Do you love money? It is good to have money, but when loving money takes its place in your life sin will load it self up in your undertakings. The Bible described the love of money, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Love of money is an avenue to sin. Every sin is evil and evil pursues sinner (Proverbs 13:21) Judas love money and the operation of evil led him to betraying Jesus. Like Judas, many are betraying Jesus today because of the love of money. Giving time to seek money diligently rather than serving God diligently is no different than what Judas did.  Someone who stole five dollars versus someone who stole ten dollars will be treated the same way in the hand of the law. The point here is that Judas betrayed Jesus because of money and anyone that placed priority on seeking money than serving Jesus has entered into the class of Judas. Search your heart and see if there is any trace of betrayal in you.

Prayer for today: O Lord let me not be a vessel of betrayal all the days of my life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Zacharias and Elizabeth were late in having their breakthrough, but their miracle was not late to bring to pass the plan and purpose of God.

Luke 1: 1-17

The Bible described Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth as, “…both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.” Despite their stand in the Lord, they were barren. Zacharias and his wife were not just barren but they were also advanced in years. The hope of having a child was almost impossible in the understanding of man. After so much time praying for breakthrough, you have lost hope and accepted bareness as destiny. Does this sound like you? Bareness is not because God did not hear your prayer, neither is it an evidence of unrighteousness. However, keep on waiting on God and not be discouraged. God has not forgotten you, but He does have a plan for you. It does not matter how well advanced in years you are, God will remember you with favor at His own time. God remembered Zacharias whose name means, “Jehovah remembers” and he received his breakthrough miracle. While Zacharias was serving God in the temple of the Lord, he had an encounter with a visitation from the presence of God. Luke 1:11-13, “Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.’” The angel from God came to pass on a message of miracle unto Zacharias. The first thing mentioned to Zacharias was that his prayer has been heard and he was going to have a son. Only God knows how Zacharias had been praying for a child. The answer did not happen at Zechariah’s time, but at the Lord’s time, while Zacharias was still at the center of his assignment in the Lord’s temple. The Lord visited him and bareness ceased. Only the grace, goodness and mercy of God will make the difference. Zacharias and Elizabeth were late in having their breakthrough, but their miracle was not late to bring to pass the plan and purpose of God. They were late, yet they had the best: John the Baptist who identifies Jesus as the Messiah. It was also John who bears witness to Christ. He was also the one who baptized Jesus. Just keep on waiting on God and your testimony will be glorious.

Prayer for today: Lord I ask for your divine visitation in every area of life that marked me as barren.

FAITH CAPSULE: Indeed a worthless complaint will bring forth a death that is not worth it.

Numbers 21: 4-9, John 3:1-21

During the journey of the children of Israel to the Promised Land, they constantly engaged in complaining. The children of Israel in one of their consistent rebellious act of complaining, they positioned themselves for a deadly bite. Numbers 21:5, “And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” The case of their deadly bite was due to their complaining against the quality of bread provided for them by the Almighty God. They have complained for lack of water and bread a number of times, but this time around they were complaining against the quality of the provision of food by calling God’s provision worthless. Indeed a worthless complaint will bring forth a death that is not worth it. This type of complaining provoked the hand of God, “So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.” (Numbers 21:6) Do you complain in any way before God? It is a deadly way of approaching God for needs. In your journey, it is important to avoid taking to the way of complaints directly or indirectly. The way out of the deadly bite for the children of Israel was faith-based prescription. As a result of the deadly bite, the children of Israel cried out for deliverance, “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” (Numbers 21:8) The healing and deliverance from a deadly bite requires looking up at the hanged up serpent on the pole. Just as there was a provision for healing in looking up to the pole of the bronze serpent, so we have been provided healing and deliverance by looking up at the cross. John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” He was lifted up for our healing and deliverance only if we would look up at Him. There is no foolishness in looking up, but foolishness is achieved by taking a stand of not obeying the command of proven evidences in the infallible proofs of the name of Jesus. Remember you cannot be foolish to God’s command, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25) You must believe and look up to Jesus.

Prayer for today: Whatever it is that will cause one to complain, let it not have a place in my life.