FAITH CAPSULE: See well; see through faith that your miracle is at hand.

Exodus 14, Jeremiah 1:1-12

When God speaks, His word stands. God’s words are active words which will not fail to deliver just as they are spoken. God testifies, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11). When God declared that He has put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth, all that Jeremiah needed to do to be able to operate the Word was to be able to see what was not there as being there. God told him in Jeremiah 1:10, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and To destroy and to throw down, and To build and to plant.” What God said to Jeremiah was God’s representative of God. In order for the Word of God to come to be, Jeremiah would have to see what is not in place as being in place. God wants His children to exercise a creative faith by seeing what is not in place as being in place. The children of Israel, on their way out of over four hundred years of bondage, needed to breakthrough a confronting roadblock (Red Sea) in order to get to their Promised Land. The children of Israel allowed fear to rise and faith to sink. As a result of their state of mind, Moses resulted to a word of encouragement when he stated in Exodus 14:13, “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.’” God gave His Word to the children of Israel through Moses. The Word was with power and it will only work on condition. The condition that makes the Word to work and bring forth result is in the ability to see. Can anyone who is unstable and clouded with fear be able to see? With faith and no fear, man will be able to see deliverance and preservation inside the living Word of the living God. Fear, distraction, inconsistency and lack of commitment in serving the Lord are among the forces that will always deny a believer from standing still. Wherever you have been told that there is no way, say no to fear, stand still and begin to see a way in the Word of God. God has never gone to sleep and He will not fall asleep concerning your situation. Take to Moses’ advice in Exodus 14:14, “The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” See well; see through faith that your miracle is at hand.

Prayer for today: Open the eyes of my heart O Lord my God.

Faith Capsule: A failure to give God all the attention could be an avenue unto self-destruction.

Isaiah 45

Paying close attention to the first half of the Ten Commandments actually reveal how much attention God demands from His creation. God stated, “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”(Exodus 20:3-8) This portion of the commandments is about giving a jealous God all the attention that is due to Him. Indeed, a jealous God demands full attention. A failure to give God all the attention could be an avenue unto self-destruction. God is God that cannot survive where there is no attention given to Him. As a creation in the hand of God, what stops you from giving unto God consistent attention? God jealously yearns for our attention and He communicates this all through the pages of the Bible. He spoke in Isaiah 45:4-7 about His desire for us to know Him as the one and only Lord; to know that there is none besides Him. Every attribute of a jealous one is inhabited in God. Therefore, every way of giving Him attention is worth giving it. In His commandment, He did not ask for too much or for what we cannot do to give Him due attention. He is a good God who cares for His children and He expects His children to care for Him by constantly and diligently seeking Him. Are you giving Him attention only by mouth? Attending to Him just by mouth is not enough, but serving Him indeed and in truth is all that it takes to give and get His attention. Get a clear understanding in the Word, especially in the season we are now living because it is dangerous and risky not to be giving God His due attention. God spoke in Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” Is that not scary enough to make you want to be on the Lord’s side? Isaiah 45:9, “Woe to him who strive with his Maker…” Denying Him His due attention is striving with Him.

Prayer for today: Lord I ask that You deliver me from every kind of spirit that takes away man’s attention from Your holy name.

Faith Capsule: To falter in the Word that orders your step is to fall down into disorder.

Genesis 19

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand.” (Psalm37:23) God is good and it is good to obey the Word of God. To whom the Word orders his step and to whom is able to obey, it is good. However, to who is ordered by the Word of God and does not obey, it is bad. Also, obedience to the order in the Word of God is not a guarantee not to fall because the Word states “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” However, there is a difference in falling. Anyone who falls and does not get up will fail and be counted out while the one who falls and gets up shall not be utterly cast down. Have you faltered in response to the Word that orders your step? To falter in the Word that orders your step is to fall down into disorder. Disorder is not a way of life, but rather is a way of death. Hezekiah was once sick unto death because of disorder in his house. It is written, “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, ‘thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’” (2 Kings 20:1) Hezekiah realized death and was able to get life back when he repented and asked for mercy before God. The wife of Lot faltered into disorder and she could not have her life back. Lot’s wife was a given specific order about how to preserve her life in 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) The steps of Lot and his wife were ordered by the angel that brought them out of the destruction to escape and have life. Lot’s wife could not line up with the order and she entered into disorder that evidently took her life away. Lot’s wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26) God had a good plan for her escape when He brought them out of Sodom and Gomorrah, but she resulted to disobedience by looking back. Obey the Word of the good God. Take steps of a good man and delight the good God.

Prayer for today: Teach me in Your way O Lord and lead me in a smooth path. Let me not be a failure. 

Faith Capsule: We have the clock in control; He has time in His hand to control.

Genesis 41

Joseph’s dream stated, “There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.” (Genesis 37:7) Joseph’s dream was not well received when it was revealed to his brother. After his first dream, he spoke to his brother and father, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” (Genesis 37:9) The father and brothers rebuked him for his dream. Joseph’s dream connotes greatness above his brothers, but it did not communicate the steps to get to such greatness. His dream was his divine assignment, but the steps to get there were not unfolded. God, the Creative Creator, had the master plan and details of how Joseph would get to the center of his divine assignment. Do you have a dream or any vision that is yet unfolded? God is not a rusher neither can any of the creation of His hand force His hand to move ahead of His plan. Detail plans of dreams or vision are always in the hand of God and can only be unfolded in phases. In the case of Joseph, it is clear that he learned humbleness by the things he suffered as the phases of journey were gradually unfolded. Indeed, responsibility is the price of greatness and Joseph learned it all in the phases of his journey to greatness. God, the Creative Creator, has His way of unfolding the phases that are couple with challenges to make us and not to break us. In your journey to the center of your divine assignment, let your heart be for God so you will arrive at the final destination. With a heart for God from your inside, He will show you on the outside what He wants you to be for His name to be glorified. Joseph navigated every phase with the fear of God by virtue of how he responded to confronting challenges. Joseph’s dream finally came to be when Pharaoh declared, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:44) Our times are in the hand of God. We have the clock in control; He has time in His hand to control. Joseph’s dream at age seventeen came to be at age thirty.Who can be like God? He alone is the Creative Creator. Are you waiting for the manifestation of your dream or vision? As you get into phases in your journey, do not take any way that seems right to you, but only take the way of God.

Prayer for today: In You O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is not talkative, but when He talks it has to be activated for the result to be accomplished.

Joshua 1:1-9

Spending time on the Word of God is spending time to listen to the voice God speak to you. The Bible makes us to realize that, “if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2) God was speaking to the children of Israel on their way to the Promised Land. What God said to one speaks to all. It is good to listen to the Word of God, but it is not enough when there is no obedience to what His Word says to you. Doing what the Word says is obedience. Without observing what the Word says, the chance of doing what the Word says is not possible. God said it in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” The Word of God in His book of law demands meditation day and night before it becomes a thing of observation. Until the Word of God becomes what you constantly and consistently observe, doing accordingly to it is not going to be possible. Clearly the message is not only about memorizing, but also meditating. There is no better way it can be emphasized more than when God repeatedly warned Joshua about the need to observe the Word in Joshua chapter one. God is not talkative, but when He talks it has to be activated for the result to be accomplished. The children of Israel needed to be able to observe in order to obey during their journey through the wilderness. The Bible pointed out that not one person was feeble among them because of the cloud of glory that guided them. According to Numbers 9:15-23, the cloud moved from day to day for them because they were able to observe and do. When the cloud moved, they moved and they did not attempt to move ahead of the cloud. It was not just about getting results, but to get results according to the word of direction that makes the way to prosper and have good success; not just success. There has to be meditation day and night to be able to observe and do according to the Word. Get serious with your time in the Word and good success, which is God’s success (not just success), will get to you.

Prayer for today: My Father and my God, instruct me, teach and guide me with Your eye and let me know the way I should go.