Faith Capsule: Do not misplace focus on God to deny fear of the confronting challenges.

Exodus 14

One that cannot see deliverance in the word of God denies self from gaining the intervention of God.
To become worried and troubled in the face of challenge is the evidence of not looking up to the help of God. 
When keeping eyes on confronting challenges, one will misplace focus on God. 
Are you beholding your challenge or looking up to God?
The looking away from God by the Israelites challenges records in  
Exodus 14:10-12, “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? 
For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” 
Does that sound like you? 
The Israelites knew fully well that God would not fail to deliver them, but they gave themselves into fear.
The Israelites could not lift their eyes to God for help but gave themselves to negative confession.
The solution to challenges demands focusing on God by keeping His proven word, His word that is perfect to perform. 
Despite all the powerful teachings of Jesus against fear and worrying, the disciples locked themselves up in fear of the Jews.
John 20:19 records, “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  While the disciples were locked up in a state of fear, Jesus showed up and declared peace.
Jesus, the Word of God, is the Prince of peace. 
One that will look up to Jesus as Lord and Savior, Jesus is always around to uphold such.     
Faith in Jesus will cause peace to reign.  
Jesus spoke peace into the life of His disciple to see the mark of crucifixion. 
John 20:20 states, “When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”  Seeing the mark opened up the disciples to come out of fear. 
Begin to see the marks of crucifixion and believe that marks were registered on Jesus for all to have life abundantly. 
When faith is activated, fear will not have a place.
The challenges of the word will not have a place in one with faith in God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be bold and have a character in His word in the face of world challenges. 

FAITH CAPSULE: The focus will keep one from being distracted.

Genesis 19:12-26, Daniel 1

Having a clean heart and a steadfast spirit is walking in the Lord. 
A clean heart and steadfast spirit are evidence of maintaining focus on the things of God. 
Maintaining focus is crucial to making an advance and answering the calling of God. 
The focus will keep one from being distracted.
A failure to maintain focus shall experience derail not to arrive at the assignment of God.
Distraction can be a lane for destruction. 
In this wicked world, maintain focus and not be distracted to experience destruction.
When the young Daniel was in captivity maintaining focus on God as he purposed for his heart not to defile God. 
The king ordered a daily provision of his delicacies and wine with three years of training for Daniel and his friends. 
All sounds good for a young captive but declined all to give to God.
To Daniel, King’s provision was considered anti-focus. 
Daniel refused anti-focus but chose to maintain focus. Daniel 1:8 records, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”  
Daniel remained focused on God, and he made advances everywhere he turned. 
Daniel focused with a purposeful heart for God.
Daniel allowed God to reign in his life when he refused to defile his body (the temple of God). 
Above all, Daniel was steadfast not to contradict his journey but advanced to the glory of God. 
The wife of Lot focused on the past. She could not let the past be in the past but disregarded the command of God. 
Genesis 19:17 states, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”  
The wife of Lot did the opposite when she looked back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis19:26) 
Looking back against the command of God, the wife of Lot gave herself to the past.
The wife of Lot became a pillar of salt and did not escape as ordained for her by God.
No one will go forward in life by focusing on the past. 
One looking back sets sight on the past and will not be able to see what is ahead. 
The case of the wife of Lot is that of a shifted focus. 
Lot maintained focus by looking forward to where the Lord was taking him and his family. 
Daniel could not allow any distraction because he maintained focus. 
With focus, advance in your calling for God.
Allow God to become glorified in your life.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God to gain and maintain the presence of God in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: What kind of a believer are you?

Ecclesiastes 8

Are you searching for yourself to know if you are a believer or an unbelieving believer?
An unbelieving believer is conversant in the word of God, carrying the word in the head but not in the heart.
An unbelieving believer is constant in the gathering before God but not with the character of a believer.
One telling minute lie or telling a big-time lie is not different before God.
A liar is a deceiver or a manipulator that does not have a place before God, not a believer but an unbelieving believer. 
God hears and sees all.
All can hide from man, but nothing can hide from God.
2 Chronicles 16:9 points out, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
God sees all and will not oversee the sins of all. 
Before God, King David could not hide his sin against Uriah.
God responded to the sin of David through Prophet Nathan, “For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.” (2 Samuel 12:12)
What kind of a believer are you?
Sin and sinning consciously or unconsciously is wickedness before God.
Wickedness is evil.
Are you an unbelieving believer, claiming as a believer, with no experience of the consequence of sin and sinning before God?
God does not oversee sin and sinning.
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 records how God reacts to evil, “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. 12 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. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.”
To be a believer is evidence of the fear of God.
Let the fear of God occupy your heart.
Anyone with one eye sets on God and a second eye on man will not see God, not gain His attention. It also means that one cannot look up to heaven with one eye and set the second eye on the world is not possible to gain from above.
Be a believer that allows the heart to become occupied by the fear of God.
With desire, not just determination, God shall deposit desire to become one.  
With the desire to fear God, ask for the word of God to be established in your life.
The word of God states, “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 32:39-40)

Prayer for today: Ask to be a believer that fears God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Maintaining life with God is evident to knowing that God is near.

2 Kings 6

What does it take to gain and maintain being near to God?
The pages of the Bible identify what it takes to gain and maintain self in the near of God.
Acts 6:4, “but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Acts 20:32, “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
Jude 20, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
According to the word of God, seek God diligently by: 
Giving self continually, not casually, to the word of God.
Give yourself to be built up and to be occupied by the presence of God.
Give yourself to be a prayerful believer.
Give self to the word of God to become a faithful believer.
Be near to God.
God is always near for all that will walk in His word.
Elisha knows what it means to be near God and demonstrated to his servant that God is near.
Once, while Elisha and his servant were in the face of a challenge, Elisha knew they were near to God, but his servant knew not the nearness of God.
The servant of Elisha was not aware of the presence of God for their deliverance because he knew not the nearness of God.
2Kings 6:1-18 records the praying of Elisha for his servant to see the nearness of God: 
“So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 2Kings 6:16-18
A believer of God that is living life by the word of God will know that God is near at all times, knowing His intervention will not fail. 
Living in the consciousness of the care of God is the evidence of faith, the expression of expectation for the divine protection of God. 
Do you know that God is near for you?
In the near to God is the protection of God for one that draws near to God. 
Elisha walks in line with God to know his nearness to God and could see that the forces are waiting for his command before they could intervene on his behalf. 
Elisha and his servant were protected and could not become a victim of his enemies.
Maintaining life with God is evident in the case of Elisha.

Prayer for today: Ask God to live life in the consciousness of the nearness of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Your testimony is your confession before God. 

Numbers 14

As a believer, let your testimonies be positive to provoke an answer with positives for you as an overcome.
King David is the evidence of one with positive testimony before God to experience mighty deliverance when he overcame Goliath. In his attempt to go and fight Goliath, King Saul attempted to discourage David when he said, “…You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” (1 Samuel 17:33) David refused the word of Saul, and could not be discouraged from going to confront Goliath but responded with the testimony of his experience in the past. David said to King Saul, “…Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.” (1 Samuel 17:34-35) 
With the testimony of God, David went to war against Goliath against the discouragement of Saul.
David dwelt on the testimony of God over his life, “The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:37) 
By the word of testimony, David overcame the challenge of giant Goliath.  
As a believer, before God, avoid confessing negative testimonies to provoke a negative answer.
For the Israelites, negative confession was the testimony that provoked failure to arrive at the promise of God. 
The children of Israel experienced a great miracle when they were coming out of their bondage of over four hundred years to walk through the Red Sea on dry land. However, their negative testimonies denied them from arriving at the Promised Land. 
The negative response of the Israelites was the negative report of the spy that went to spy on the Promised Land. The negative of the Israelites states before God, “…If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, ‘Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.’” (Numbers 14: 2-4) 
Are you testifying of negative confession in the face of your challenge?
The testimony of the Israelites was a negative confession, and God sent Moses, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.’” (Numbers 14:28) 
Negative confession terminated twenty years above from the Promised Land, except for Joshua and Caleb. 
Your testimony is your confession before God. 
Watch your word as Proverbs 18:21 warns, “Death and life are in the power of tongue…” 
God hears all. 
Let positive confession, not negative be your way of communication.

Prayer for today:  Ask for the mercy of God in the place of your negative confession.