FAITH CAPSULE: Pay attention to where you need to turn aside.

Exodus 3

See the sight of God and be set up for greatness in the life journey.
The difference between living a life of fulfillment by serving God and not living fulfillment is turning aside to God. 
The Bible records about Moses stating, “And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked and behold the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”(Exodus 3:2-3) 
Moses needed to see sight by God to become set up for greatness in his life to the glory of God.
God ordained Moses for greatness that demands manifestation when he turned aside to the calling for his divine assignment.
Remember, Moses was living in the palace that was great in his time (for forty years) when an accidental murder chased him out of the palace and out of the Land of Egypt. 
For Moses to become what God called him to be, to see the sight of God, he had to leave the palace for the desert and change from prince to shepherd. 
In the desert, Moses began to lead the flock to where there was no distraction (the back of the desert at Horeb, the mountain of God), where he saw the flame of fire from the midst of bush not consumed. 
As stated in the verse above, Moses only looked and did not turn aside to see the sight of God. 
Today, many are looking, many are beholding, but many are not turning aside to see the sight of God that will set one to fulfill his calling to greatness for the glory of God. 
There was a need for Moses to turn aside to be able to see the sight. 
Moses was on time at the ground where his training (forty years as a desert shepherd) was waiting for him but could have missed the calling by failing to turn aside. 
Moses had what was needed to move him in his divine direction, but God waited for him to turn aside.
Exodus 3:4 states, “So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, Here I am.”  
It does not matter what the achievement or experience is in life if one does not answer to divine assignment, a life of fulfillment. 
Where do you need to turn aside? 
God is not a slave master but a saving master. 
God will wait for you to turn aside to see that which will lead to the fulfillment of His calling in your life. 
Pay attention to where you need to turn aside.

Prayer for today: Ask that you will not miss taking the step to the glorious call by God for your life.    

FAITH CAPSULE: The conduct of a believer should be an evangelism to the world around such.

Psalm 50

Your conduct is your evangelism to the unbelievers.
The Psalmist states, “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me, And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:23) 
Conduct is a way of acting or behaving, a direct route to salvation for every acclaimed believer in the name of Jesus. 
Paul the apostle, in his sincerity, made a declaration when he stated, “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.”(2 Corinthians 1:12) 
At all times, the conduct of a believer should be what introduces one to the unknown ground. 
The confession as one for Christ should not be limited to having a church ground or carrying the Bible. 
As a believer who claims to have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, how do you act when you are in the company of believers or unbelievers? 
Do you act differently among non-believers? 
Can you identify the differences in your actions? 
Have you heard being told you are the Bible that they are reading? Christianity is not a religious act; it is a way of life. 
Conduct displayed behind closed doors should not be an embarrassment when conducted in the open. 
Year after year, month after month, day after day, one whose conduct has been “playing” religion, such is deceitful. 
Your religious “play acting” will only last for a while before the truth prevails. 
Do not be overtaken by sin because God sees all and does not overlook sin. 
1 Samuel 2:3 states, “For the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by Him, actions are weighed.”  
Every believer should weigh in the hand of God by good conduct. 
The weight of good conduct will determine how much could be assigned to carry in the assignment of God for the kingdom of heaven. 
The time for self-examination and sincerity before God is now. 
Are you a believer who knows to search yourself before God?
God will always be merciful to those who call upon Him. 
Paul said in Philippians 1:27, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” 
Your conduct is the testimony of your standing in the Lord. 
If your conduct is worthy of Christ, you will be steadfast in Him. 
Your conduct is your evangelism to the unbelievers around you who are yet to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 
As the year goes by, let the word of God echo in your heart. 

Prayer for today: Ask God to work in you both to do His will and to do it for His glory.   

 FAITH CAPSULE: Do not know about God but strive to know God.

Psalm 34

Some do not know God and do not pretend that they know God.
Some know about God, while some know God.
Those who know about God are the unbelieving believers, while those who know God live life by the word of God.
Who are you before God, who sees all?
The question is to search for who you are.
For example, David, a man after the heart of God, prayed in 
Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me And lead me in the way everlasting.”
THOSE WHO KNOW ABOUT GOD:
Those who know about God are well-versed in the word of God.
They are unbelieving believers quoting the word of God but do not live by the word of God.
They are the character of wickedness as described by Jeremiah in 12:1-2, saying that the word is in the mouth but not the heart.
Those who know about God live a choice of not fearing God.
THOSE WHO KNOW GOD:
Those who know God are not just full mouth of the word but full of the heart.
One whose heart is with the word of God lives life to the glory of God.
Do you know God?
Daniel knows the Lord to live for God.
Daniel 11:32 records, “Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”
Daniel knows God.
Those who know God shall live in the fear of God.
To fear God is in the word of God that speaks to all when He sent Moses to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 4:10, “…Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth…”
Hear, to fear God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 states, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.” 
To fear God is the key to living for God, provoking His blessing.
The Psalmist states, “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them.” (Psalm 34:7) 
In this world of wickedness, what could be better than having the untouchable force surrounding one who fears God?
King David states in Psalm 34:9, “Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
King David states in Psalm 34:9, “Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.”  
Above all needs and challenges is to fear God.
To gain the fear of God is not in determination but in asking from God.
In Matthew 7:7, Jesus tells all to ask and shall give.
In Jeremiah 32:39, God said, “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.”
Now is the time to ask for the fear of God, and God will give to us.

Prayer for today: Ask for one heart and one way, extending to your children and after them. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Is worship and sacrifice the same? 

2 Samuel 24

Worship is not just praising God, singing, or praying with devotion. 
To worship is a sacrifice. 
Looking at the Old Testament shows that God requires sacrifice from the Israelites as a form of worship pleasing to him.
Is worship and sacrifice the same?
Ritual sacrifice is no more as in the Old Testament, but today, sacrifice is a form of worship. 
Throughout the New Testament, we see sacrifice as part of the life of worship in response to who God is and what He has done for us.
Romans 1:1-2 records what sacrificing entails, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Sacrificing is labor and is not cheap.
In 2 Samuel 24 documents, that sacrifice is costly when David asked Joab to go and count the number of the Israelites against the word of God.
David sinned before God and sought for forgiveness. 
God sent Prophet Gad to tell David the three consequences which to take one, of the sin of numbering the Israelites: 
2 Samuel 24:13, “So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me. “And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
David settled for the plague of the consequences.
David pleaded for the mercy of God.
God sent Prophet Gad to David to go and erect an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah of Jebusite.
At Araunah, David offered a price, but Araunah refused to take the money offered by David.
In 2 Samuel 24:24, David reacted to Araunah, “…No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”
In 2 Samuel 24:25, “And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.”
A reasonable sacrifice, which is a costly sacrifice, will gain the attention of God.
Forgiveness, deliverance, and preservation will result in a costly sacrifice.

Prayer for today: Ask that in the mercy of God, the understanding of living sacrifice for God becomes established in your life. 

FAITH CAPSULE: The perfect Creator should be given all the attention, not ignored.

Isaiah 45

A failure to give God all the attention could position oneself for destruction.
Paying close attention to the first half of the Ten Commandments reveals how much attention God demands from His creation. 
The word of God states, “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 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 overlook a failure not to give Him attention.
As a creation in the hand of God, what stops you from giving unto God consistent attention? 
God jealously yearns for attention, and His word communicates through the pages of the Bible how jealous He is. 
He spoke in Isaiah 45:4-7 about His desire for all to know Him as the One and only Lord, to know that there is none besides Him. 
The attribute of a jealous God is to seek diligently.
Therefore, every way of giving Him attention is worth giving it. 
In His commandment, He did not ask for too much and did not ask for what is not possible.
He is a good God who cares for His children, who 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 is what it takes to give and get His attention. 
Understand and know the word, especially in the season you are living, because it is dangerous and risky not to give 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 God His due attention is striving with Him. 

Prayer for today: Ask that you become delivered from every kind of spirit that takes away one from giving attention to God.