Faith Capsule: Restrain from your way, and let the Lord have His way. 

John 8

Condemning an act is arriving at judgment. 
One taking the position of a judge is against the word of God.
Are you quick to arrive at a judgment of the doing of others?
Jesus specifically warned in Matthew 7:1-2, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” 
What qualifies your judging of others?
Nothing qualifies anyone to be a judge. 
Are you a non-sinner and quick to point out one as a sinner, taking a position as a judge?
The Bible declared it in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 
God alone is the perfect One to judge because He alone is holy and sinless. 
God alone cannot misjudge when He judges. 
One arriving at the judgment by looking into the shortcomings while yet to take the step to look closely into the self is not of God.
Jesus said, “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’ and look, a plank is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3-4)
As a believer, one should be careful not to arrive at condemning others. 
No one is perfect but God.
Forgiving others should be a knowledgeable way of approaching the world of sin and iniquity. 
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, and they wanted to know why she should be excused not to be stoned for her sin. 
Have you been greatly offended and want to know why your offender should let go without your judgment? 
Jesus speaks to all as spoken to the scribes and the Pharisees, “So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7) 
To let go and let God take over can be very challenging when looking for an instant judgment that fits any offense against one. 
The fact that none is perfect is enough to hold back rather than carrying out judgment. 
John 8:9 records the response to the woman caught in the act of adultery, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”  
It is the way of God for all not to judge. 
Restrain from your way, and let the Lord have His way. 

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from conscious or unconscious ways that you have taken outside the word of God.

Faith Capsule: The fear of God will give life in the place of death. 

Genesis 22:1-14

Do you fear God by the word of your mouth?
Do you fear God by the way you are living life? 
Many claim to fear God, but the majority do not demonstrate the fear of God by the way of living life.
To fear God is all that matters. 
One who does not fear Him will fail before Him. 
Ecclesiastes 12:13 states, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is man’s all.” 
Do you know if you fear Him? 
God treasures it when there is fear for Him.
Isaiah 33:6 buttresses, “…The fear of the Lord is His treasure.” 
God treasures when fear for Him is evident in the life of His creation.
Those who receive the word will know to fear Him. 
All should give themselves to the word of God that will enable having the fear of God.
It is written in many pages of the Bible what the fear of God adds up to in the life of a believer.  
Proverbs 9:10 states, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” 
Those who operate the wisdom of God are bound for great things, and good things are ahead of them. 
Do you fear God?
When wisdom in the fear of God is evident, knowing the Holy One shall become revealed. 
Proverbs 19:23 states, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” 
The fear of God will give life in the place of death. 
With the fear of God, satisfaction takes the place of dissatisfaction.
The fear of God will become a position for one who fears Him, not accessible by evil. 
The fear of God in the lives of one will add unique testimonies to such. 
Abraham lived in the fear of God and could not withhold from his attempt to use Isaac for sacrifice as commanded by God. 
Abraham heard the word when he was about to sacrifice Isaac, “And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Genesis 22:12) 
The fear of God is not compromiseable. 
Do you fear God, or do you think you fear Him? 
Isiah 55:10 states, “Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. 
It matters to fear God. 
Fear God by living for His glory!

Prayer for today: Ask for the fear of God to overtake you in every area of living life. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Unfailing direction is for deliverance, not to fail.

Luke 5:1-11

There is no excuse not to give yourself to the word of God for His unfailing direction.
Tune to Him in your toiling, and He will turn to you.
Peter and his fellow professional fishermen toiled all night with nothing to show for their toiling. 
All-night toiling can be very exhausting when there is nothing to show for the toiling. 
Toiling is hard and continuous work, exhausting labor or effort. 
Peter and his fellow fishermen must have experienced an all-night hard and continuous work with nothing to show when Jesus came in their direction. 
The fishermen were empty-handed as they cleaned up on that morning. In the process of cleaning, the living Word of God sounded in their direction and said, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) 
Despite the pain and exhaustion of having toiled all night with nothing to show for all night, the fishermen responded to Jesus “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.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.” (Luke 5:5-6) 
The fishermen experienced a turnaround because they did not disregard the word of the Master. 
The living word of God that sounded in the direction of the fishermen turned around their destiny and led them to the center of their divine assignment. 
Despite a lack of productivity in their toiling all night, they did not disregard the command of Jesus. 
Is your situation dictating how you respond to words that sound in your direction? 
The fishermen listened and did as commanded. 
Toiling is to move or travel with difficulty, weariness, or pain.
In the life journey, unproductive with an ending pain of nothing to show for is possible.
What is it that is engaging the center stage of your life journey? 
Does it look like you are stagnated or moving is like going in a circle? 
As an acclaimed believer, does your situation sound like one experiencing pain from stagnation? 
Know and do not shut down every accessible route that opens to the living word of God. 
Allow the word to gain entrance and deny discouragement from having a place in your journey. Discouragement should not be allowed in times of toiling, but giving regard to the word of God. 
The fishermen could not disregard the word of God. 
Psalm 32:8 admonishes, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” 
What is the Lord saying to you in a journey that seems moving, in a circle, with no sign of the expected end? 
Tune to Him in your toiling, and He will not ignore you. 

Prayer for today: Ask to encounter a word with the direction of not to fail but to experience a breakthrough.

Faith Capsule: To fear the Lord is to love Him and to love Him is to live. 

Psalm 91

It is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High God that qualifies one to abide.
The Bible records what God saw about His creation and what God said in reaction to His creation, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6) 
It is a wicked world! Imagine God was sorry that He made man. 
Jeremiah 17:9 buttresses, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” 
Lying, deception, and manipulation has taken over the place of the fear of God in the heart of many. 
The majority are with a lack of fear of God. 
Under heaven, there is no place to hide from the wickedness of this world but to dwell and abide in the secret place of the Most High God. 
Psalmist admonishes all in Psalm 91: 1-2, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” 
Dwelling is to make the secret place of the Most High God a permanent place to live, not a place to come and go out.
It is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High God that qualifies one to abide in the secret place of the Most High God. 
Is the secret place of the Most High God a dwelling place you desire?
Where is the secret place of the Most High? 
Psalm 25:14 identifies, “The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” 
It is the fear of God that will unlock the door to the secret place of the Lord. 
Psalm 33:18, “The eye of the LORD is on those that fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.” 
To be under the watchful eye of God that is not visible to the naked eye is to be in a secret place. 
Psalms 25 and 33 say that the fear of the Lord is what it takes to dwell in the secret place of the Lord. 
What does it mean to fear God? 
To fear the Lord is to love the Lord. 
Deuteronomy 30:6, “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” 
To fear the Lord is to love Him and to love Him is to live. 
Those who dwell in the fear of God are in His secret place.    

Prayer for today: Ask God to put His fear in your heart for you not to depart Him but to dwell in Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Knowing to observe the word of God will fear God.

Deuteronomy 6

Do you fear God?
The fear of God is His treasure. 
One that will give self to wisdom and knowledge in the word of God will fear God. 
Isaiah 33:6 states, “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times and the strength of salvation; The fear of the Lord is His treasure.”
Will you fear God?
One with the fear of God will serve Him diligently.
To fear God in the mouth is not the same as to fear God from the depth of the heart.
Deuteronomy 6:2 speaks to all, “…that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged…”
To fear God for His awesomeness deserves giving self to serving God in all areas of life. 
At the time of birth, no man was born with the knowledge of the fear of God.
Among ways of knowing to fear God is to OBSERVE the word of God all the days of life. 
Deuteronomy 6:24 buttresses, “And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.”
Deuteronomy 28:58, “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD.”
2 Kings 17:37, “And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; you shall not fear other gods.”
To OBSERVES the word of God will live life with the fear of God.
All should have the desire to fear God.
Observing the word of God with determination without prayer will not be enough to fear God.
Determination will not work, but the desire to grow in the fear of God will work.
To fear God is crucial if one will take it to God by asking for His intervention for one to fear Him. 
God in His word declares His desires for all man, ” They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 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. 40 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.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40)
What stops you from giving yourself to know, to live life in the fear of God?
Prayerfully, desire for the fear of God over your life to live life for the glory of God.
Fear God!

Prayer for today: Ask God for His hand upon your life to live in the fear of His name.