Faith Capsule: Insist, persist, and resist all that hinders receiving from Him. 

Matthew 7

What God says He will do is a done deal.
The done deal by God is for anyone who knows to engage His word faithfully. 
God is the Creative creator that does not lie in His word. 
Psalmist testifies:
Psalm 18:30, “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”  
Proverbs 30:8 states, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.” 
The book of Hebrews 12:4 buttresses, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 
God was so sure about how His word was authentic. 
Isaiah 55:11 records, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 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.  
The scriptural verses above record the evidence not to fail to trust and hope in God.
The question is: Why is it difficult to abstain from giving self to the world instead of the word of God? 
Are you facing any challenges denying trust and hope in God?
Knowing to ask, seek, and knock for the presence of God is undeniable by God.
The book of Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.   For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” 
Have you been asking or assuming? 
There is a difference between asking and assuming that Jesus knows. Asking is a demonstration of faith. Bartimaeus cried out to gain the attention of Jesus despite the thronging crowd but did not ask what exactly he wanted from Jesus. 
Jesus knows all but wants all to ask. 
Have you been asking in the place of making noise? 
Jesus prompted the blind Bartimaeus to ask when He questioned him, “So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Luke 18:40-41) 
What do you want Jesus to do for you? 
Insist, persist, and resist all that hinders receiving from Him. 

Prayer for today: Ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Run the race of accomplishment before God.

1 John 2:1-6

Going to church every Sunday, going from prayer meeting to prayer meeting to Bible study, is not a ticket to heaven. 
In living life, how have you been following Him? 
Think within yourself how you have been following Him. 
One following Christ is not the evidence of following through the rules of running the track. 
One can be on the right track and be trapped.
Life is a journey.
To be living life can be compared to running a race on a race track. 
Running on a race track must keep up with the rules not to violate.
Every acclaimed believer on the race track of life who fails to follow the rules of running a race on the track of life is trapped. 
1 Corinthians 9:24 records, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” The ones who run to receive the prize are the ones who get to the expected end. 
Running the race of life is about knowing to follow Christ, author and the finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
What does it take to follow Him? 
Following Him is in knowing Him. 
It takes knowing Him and not knowing about Him to follow Him. 
Knowing the Lord is not in determination or in the strength of how one follows Him. 
Following Him is not in changing or running from one church to another. 
Knowing to follow Him is in consistent obedience to His word. 
The book of 1 John 2:3-4 expressly states what it means to follow Him, “Now by this, we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this, we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.’” 
If one has been keeping His commandments, one must be clean from all walks of life that do not represent Him. 
Those engaging in lies, deception, and manipulation are the ones with the marks of this world. 
Run the race of life according to the rules of running the race. 
God is able.
God can carry one through the race. 
Do you desire to run through and not miss the mark? 
Ask God to enable you to run the race of accomplishment before Him.
God will make you just as the potter makes and remakes his clay.  

Prayer for today: Ask God to redirect you continually so that you may run the race of life and not miss getting to the expected end. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Faith is acting out before God to gain His attention.

Mark 2:1-12

God is a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24 confirms, “For the Lord, your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” 
Know that the antidote for jealousy is attention.
Are you giving God the kind of attention enough to provoke the hand of God over your life? 
How is your action communicating your desire to gain the attention of God?
A wise statement, “Action speaks louder than a voice.”
The story of Hannah testifies to the truth that action speaks louder than voice.
Hannah was barren because the Lord closed her womb. (2 Samuel 1:5) During one of her trips to Shiloh, her action caught the attention of Eli. The Bible records, “And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.” (1 Samuel 1:12-13)  
The action of Hannah called for the attention of Eli.
Eli responded with prayer for Hannah by calling on God on her behalf to open up her womb. 
Are you looking up to God for an open door?
Matthew 7:7-8 speaks to all, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” 
Action speaks before God to gain the attention of God.
2 Samuel 2:3 confirms, “For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him, actions are weighed.”
Gaining the attention of God is not in how loud to communicate in prayer. (This is saying it is wrong to pray out loud) 
Calling on God is encased in how the heart connects with God. 
Hannah spoke in her heart, and God heard the cry. 
Are you speaking from the mouth to impress?
Action is seeable, the evidence of having faith. 
Faith is acting out the word of God, and God will hear.
Once, Jesus reacted to the action of a paralytic man who came to Jesus tearing through the roof for healing. 
Mark 2:5 records, “When Jesus saw their faith; He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5). Jesus saw the faith. Undeniably, faith is what is seeable because faith is an action. 
The response of Jesus to the faith of the paralytic man is called action. The action is a faith demonstration that testifies that God sees faith.
Keep the testimonies in the word of God. 
Keeping the testimonies of God will add to the blessings of God. 
The psalmist admonishes, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!” (Psalm 119:2) One that keeps His testimony will know to be persistent by giving God all the attention. 
Give God all your attention for God to attend to you.

Prayer for today: Ask to be enabled to live life by His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Your walk will identify you before God.

Psalm 1

Your walk will identify you to determine the mark for your blessing before God. 
Psalm 1:1 records, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” 
Mark it when a believer begins to seek counsel from one who is not a believer.
Begin to redirect the walk before God is to continuously engage selves in the word of God by meditating on His word. 
The word admonishes all that there is delight in the law when meditating in the word is in place day and night. (Psalm 1:2)   
Life is a journey.
What surrounds you will determine what you get out of life. 
The word you meditate on in your life journey will enable you to the expected end. 
Whose word do you believe in? 
Do you believe the word of God or man? 
The word of God is a sure counsel that leads one from walking, sitting, or standing for the name of God to become glorified.  
When the counsel of God begins to cause delight in life, it becomes evident that the word of God is meaningful to navigate in a journey.
Meditate on the word of God day and night. 
Meditating on the word of God is the avenue not to walk outside the word of God.
Man is like a vehicle driven by meditation on the word of God.
Without steering, stagnation exists, and there is no transportation; where there is no transportation, the transformation ceases. 
The Psalmist identifies the blessing of walking, sitting, and standing in line with God “He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3)
Live life for the glory of God by paying attention to how you walk, sit, and stand in His counsel, and He shall attend to you with blessing. 
Are you working but not walking in line with God?
An acclaimed worker for God whose walk (where he sits and stands) is not backed by walking in the way of God is bound to miss the blessing of God. 
One doing the work of God is God-enabled.
God can use anyone or anything to get work done, but walking His way is in obeying His commandments. 
The way of God calls for more serious attention to avoid missing heaven. Heaven is not accessible by work alone but also by how we walk. 
There are many working wonders in the name of Jesus, but walking outside of His ways by going astray in their hearts. 
Many are working in the gathering of believers but not walking with God.

Prayer for today: Ask that the hand of God shall enable you to work and walk in His way.

FAITH CAPSULE: Desire to gain entrance to the dwelling of God and not be a passer-by of His dwelling place.

Psalm 91, Isaiah 57:15-21

God is Holy.
1 Samuel 2:2 testifies, “No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.”
He that is holy must also dwell in a Holy place.
None that is not holy shall not see God to have a place in Him.
God spoke in the book of Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’” 
There is no better than having a desire to dwell in a place of the Lord God. 
He mentioned by Himself in the book of Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’” 
The high place belongs to the High and Lofty One, and it is also the place of believers with a contrite (repentant) and humble (one whose shoulders are not rising above the head) spirit.
Psalm 34:18 confirms that “the LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit”.
To dwell in His place is to be near to Him.  
God gives promises that do not fail and will never fail to remember His children. 
As a believer, have the desire to gain entrance to the dwelling of God and not be a passer-by of His dwelling place. 
If one desires to enter and begin to dwell in His secret place, abiding under His shadow will not elude such. 
A dwelling place is also in the word of God that is secret for anyone that does not seek God in His word.
Psalm 91:1 states, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” 
Indeed, and in truth, there is no place where a believer should desire to abide under the shadow that does not expire, that is continuously constant and consistent. 
It is a shadow that covers one from every form of evil agenda. 
It is a shadow that answers for deliverance and preservation.
To abide demands a step into His dwelling place. 
The word of God reveals His secret. 
His word is not a secret to those who embrace studying and obeying. Engage and embrace His word to have a place and dwell in the high and holy place. 

Prayer for today: Ask that God will enable you to be constant and consistent in studying the word of God.