FAITH CAPSULE: Gain understanding of the Word of God.

Psalm 34

To understand the Word of God is to live life for God, not to live a life of waste.
Understanding will enable one to have a knowing edge, not fall where the world falls.
Get to know that the Word of God is God. 
John 1:1 confirms that the Word of God is God, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. “
Understand God in His Word.
Indeed, one with no understanding of the Word of God cannot observe to see God in His Word to fear God, to live life in obedience to God.
The evidence of the lack of understanding of God is that they do not hear the Word of God.
John 8:47, “He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” 
Search yourself to know if you are of God.
Do you understand God to seek Him?
Psalmist buttresses: “The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:2-3)
To fear God is rooted in studying Him to understand and know His Word, the key to all that matters in living life.
One with understanding, knowledge, and wisdom should have a place in one who lives for God.
Firstly, “…But knowledge is easy to him who understands.” (Proverbs 14:6) One with the understanding of God will always have a knowing edge over challenges, and a peace that surpasses all understanding becomes the identity.
Secondly, “Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding…” (Proverbs 14:33) 
Wisdom is the instruction of God.
1Corinthians 1:30 states, “But of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God…” 
The wisdom of God in the heart of such is Jesus in the life of such. Meditate on the Word of God day and night to remain in the presence of God.
David had his heart for God, and that qualifies him to teach the fear of God. Psalm 34:11 records “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
David knows what it is to have an ear to hear and fear God, which kept him in his challenges.
DO YOU FEAR GOD?
Psalm 34:13-14 identifies four points in one who fears God: 
1. Keep your tongue from evil,
2. Keep your lips from speaking deceit, 
3. Depart from evil and do good,
4. Seek peace and pursue it. 
In this wicked world, one should meditate on what it means to fear God. In the journey of life, Abraham served God because he feared God. Hebrews 11:8 testifies, “By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
Just like Abraham, fear God, give yourself to obey His Word, and strive to retain the presence of God.

Prayer for today: Pray that listening to gain the understanding to seek God becomes your portion.

FAITH CAPSULE: What one knows and understands will determine how far one goes with God.

Deuteronomy 10

What one claims to know and not understand is the evidence of knowing about.
Many who claim to know God do not understand what God wants.
What is it that God wants?
What God said to one speaks to all.
What God requires from the Israelites speaks to all.
Deuteronomy 10:12 record: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” 
All that God requires is rooted in having the fear of God.
One who fears God walks in His ways, loves, and serves God diligently.
Do you fear God? 
No one is born with the fear of God.
Determination is not enough to fear God, but one who desires to fear God shall experience God, who deposits all it takes to fear Him.
Jeremiah records the prayer to ask for the fear of God.
Jeremiah 32:38-40 records “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.”
Fear God to be able to live for God.
Without doubt, when there is no fear of God, it is not possible to walk in His ways, love and serve Him diligently.
To fear God is evidence of obedience to His word. 
1 Samuel 12:14 admonishes, “If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God.”
Have the desire that the fear of God will reign and rule your life. 
One who fears God is bound to have faith.
Do you have faith? 
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) Without faith, it is not possible to fear or love God.
Fear God, not just have faith, but be a faith-full believer.
Claiming to know about faith does not make one faithful.
Get to know God to understand as a faithful one. 
Pray with a desire to be what God calls all to be when He made all.
What does God want from all?  Psalm 139:14 of David testifies, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”
One who fears God walks in His ways, loves, and serves God diligently.
Today, come out of self-deception and pay attention by listening to the word of God.
Live life for the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God in His mercy to enable you to fear Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Giving thanks to God is not just thinking thanks before God.

Daniel 6:1-10, Luke 17:11-19

A mindful thanksgiving is not the same as mouthful thanksgiving before God.
Giving thanks to God in the right way counts before God.
Doing right in the wrong way provokes wrong in answer.
God awaits thanks before Him.
Giving thanks to God is not just thinking thanks before God.
God owes no one, but all owes God.
Giving thanks to God will draw His attention.
God, in the doing of His goodness, awaits a return to receive thanks.It is a way of life returning to God in appreciation for His doing.
Thanksgiving to God should not be limited to uttering words but giving thanks for having a life that pleases God.
Thanksgiving, God is worshiping God.
Worshipping God is seeking God diligently.
Giving thanks to God or praising God must be with understanding.
Psalm 47:7 admonishes all, “For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding.”
With thanksgiving and praising God, worship God with the understanding that is reasonable and acceptable before God.
The Bible records how thanksgiving is the way to move forward and not become a victim of the wickedness of this world.
For example, Daniel, with his thanksgiving before God, escaped and did not die by the evil agenda of wicked ones that placed him in the den of Lions. Daniel 6:10 records, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”
Daniel gave thanks to God for escaping sudden death.
Thanksgiving before God gave Jonah an escape from sudden death. Jonah disobeyed God when he found himself in the belly of a fish.
The Bible records of Jonah, “But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” (Jonah 2:9) Jonah engaged in thanks before God to gain deliverance from the belly of a fish.
Are you giving thanks to God with understanding?
When Jesus healed ten lepers, only one returned to give thanks to Jesus for his healing. The response of Jesus to the only one testifies to the truth that God waits for the return for thanksgiving.
The word records, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 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 17:15-19)
Thanksgiving before God should be rooted in the mind, not just in the head.

Prayer for today: Ask that a heart of thanksgiving become your way of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Gain Him in the word, not in the world.

1Corinthians 1

Jesus is the Word, the wisdom from God.
One who gives self to the Word of God will gain the wisdom of God.
Give oneself to the Word by spending time in the Word of God.
Are you spending time in the Word of God, not with the Word of the world?
Spending time with the world in the place of spending time with the Word of God is a tendency to waste in life.
One who gains an understanding of God’s wisdom shall have a discerning edge (knowledge) in the challenging world.
When there is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the Word of God, failure in life becomes inevitable. 
The Word of God is for all to hear, receive, and believe to experience victory over the challenges of the wicked world. 
Jesus is the wisdom, the Word of God, the instruction for all.
1Corinthians 1:30 communicates to all, “But of Him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God…”
Give yourself to the wisdom from God!
The Word of God heals and delivers man from destruction. (Psalms 107:20)
The Word of God gives life abundantly to one who will receive and believe in God. 
Unfortunately, many are without the ability to understand the Word of God, due to worldly living and unending chores, some of which include:
· Being too busy, having no time to study the Word of God.
· Preferring to take care of the activities of this world before giving  self to the things of God.
· Having a dislike for the Word of God that is the truth to accept.
. Living a worldly life is taking the Word of God as foolishness 
Will you consider the Word of God as the evidence of His wonders?
Strive to understand that the Word of God is the key to retaining the presence of God. 
Once in the Word of God, with Moses, it becomes clear that the Word of God is the presence of God. (God’s way is in His Word; God’s Word is His presence. (Exodus 33:13-14) 
With wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the Word of God, one will gain a clear and unfailing direction in the journey of life. 
Will you come out of all that is keeping you away from the Word of God, the wonder of God?
What a wonderful God we serve!
A wonderful God made man wonderfully with honor. 
One with the lack of knowledge and understanding of God’s wonder will set oneself to perish.
The Psalmist said, “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.” (Psalm 49:20)
The one who knows and understands the wonder of God will know what it means to have been made with honor by God.
Keep yourself in the Word of God to gain wisdom.
Live for God, having the edge in areas of challenge.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to gain wisdom, to live life for His glory.

FAITH CAPSULE: God wants all to exist for Him.

Ecclesiastes 8

To exist for God is to live for God.
It is the will of God for His creation to live for God. (Revelation 4:11)
To live for God is to seek God diligently.
Seeking God diligently is following God in His way, living life to please God and be counted for His reward.
Why is it that a creation would not live for the Creator?
Among the ways live, seek, and follow God are:
BEING WATCHFUL, BE AWAKE SPIRITUALLY BEFORE GOD
Live life with awareness of the presence of God, to follow God continually and consistently.
The wicked one, the devourer, does not sleep but with an agenda to derail anyone from living for God.
Seek but do not sleep in the place of seeking God diligently.
The parable of Jesus is an everyday truth with a spiritual application; it is an earthly truth with a heavenly meaning, in His parable of sleeping in the place of serving God. Matthew 13:25-30 records, “…but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” 
The above parable of Jesus reveals that sleeping will displace following God. One displaced from following God is an opening for the wicked to gain entrance.
Every time one is sleeping before God, it will position one to be FAR from GOD, who is not FAR to all.
Sleeping before God cannot possibly follow God, living for God.
DO NOT BE WICKED
Living for God is living right before God.
Know that wickedness is continual, but one must avoid walking outside of God. One who is walking outside of God will walk in line with the evil activities of the wicked world.
God will judge the wicked world at His appointed time. 
Ecclesiastes 8:11-12 warned, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.” Seeking God diligently will follow God continually, not to be counted with the wicked world at the appointed time of the judgment of God.
Like a seed, sow yourself in God by seeking God diligently.
Follow God to be standing in God.
Seeking God diligently is following God by His word to please God and be rewarded by God.

Prayer for today: Ask God that your step be rooted in His word, to follow Him all the days of life He has given you.