Category Archives: Devotions

INTEGRITY

FAITH CAPSULE: Is your life of integrity before God? 

Job 1, 2:1-10

To be identified by God or live life before God as integrity is not by a walk that is not right before God. 
To answer as integrity before God is an empty mouth, a mouth full of the word of God but with no action that is rooted in the word of God. Also, a walk that does not count before God is with no integrity. 
God identified Job as one full of the word of God by his walk before God as a believer. 
Satan attempted Job, and his assault on Job was not enough to derail Job from walking in the Lord. 
Is your life of integrity before God? 
What is it that is against your walk before God?
From the first assault to the second, and throughout the whole life of Job, it was clear that Job was a man that does not deter from his stand in the Lord. 
In all challenges of Job, the consistency with no compromising was consistent, serving God.
Serving God with consistency is the evidence of integrity before God. 
The Bible describes Job as none any other character stating, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1) 
At a time of bad news, Job did not complain to God.  Job 1:20 records the response of Job, “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.” As if the first assault was not enough, Satan attacked the second time with boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. After the first assault, God had testified about Job as a man that holds fast to his integrity (Job1:3). 
The wife of Job knew that he was a man of integrity as she attempted to unplug Job stating, “…Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 1:9) Job refused not to abide by the statement of his wife in an attempt to unplug his integrity.
Living life before God as integrity is the way to regain from all adversity of the enemy.
The documentation of Job was recorded in Job 42:12-17 “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job… After this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days.”
God is faithful to one that is faithful to His name.

Prayer for God: With desire, ask to live the life of integrity before God.

WHAT ARE YOU AFTER?

FAITH CAPSULE: What you desire is what you seek after to become of you. 

Matthew 4

One that desires to live heaven on the heart will seek after the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Jesus declares it, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
The whole matter that counts and works perfectly in life is to fear God by keeping His commandments. God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
To fear God and to keep His commandments is with the desire to seek God. 
Listen to the word of God, let it settles in your heart to fear God. 1 Samuel 12:24 buttresses, “Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.” 
Does your heart sincerely desire to seek God?
God has done great things, doing more, which is the reason to have the desire for God, with heart. 
God only sees and moves by the action rooted in the heart of all. God saw Samuel with his attempt to make the brother of David as the king and spoke to him: “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) 
What do you desire? 
As an acclaimed believer, search for yourself to know if you have the desire for God.
Jesus made fishermen with the desire to follow Him. Matthew 4:19 records, “Then He said to them, “Follow me and, I will make you fishers of men.” 
Serving God is following Him. 
Following Him is a sacrifice to give up all for Him. 
To follow Him is not to be a spectator but to learn, to become a fisher of men. 
The request of Jesus from man to follow Him does not identify Him as a slave master but as a saving master. 
Matthew 19:28 states the reward for all that follows Him, “…Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  
With fear for God, serve Him fully to experience the fullness of the reward for following God.
Your work before God is rooted in your fear for God. Ecclesiastes 12:14 warns, “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” 
The works of God call to be living life by the word of God, to fear Him.
Jesus was questioned about the work for God in John 6:28-29, “Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Desire to live life before God, seek, serve unswervingly with fear for Him, He treasures.

Prayer for today: Tell God your desire to live life before Him.

WITHHOLDING FROM GOD?

FAITH CAPSULE: What are you withholding from God to disobey His command?

GENESIS 22

Giving God a reasonable sacrifice will provoke unexpected blessings from God. 
In Genesis 22:2, God spoke to Abraham, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” The word of God for Abraham is a costly command, a sacrifice, and hard to engage.
God demands a sacrifice that is challenging and can be emotionally exhausting but with no excuse to disobey. 
Obedience sacrifice is to honor God to become elevated for good. 
Are you obeying God as the Lord leads?
God asked for Isaac as an offering, but Abraham could not question the request but respond obediently before God.
Abraham rose early in the morning to obey the request of God without consultation of no man.
At the ground of the burnt offering of his only son Isaac, the obedience of Abraham, God calls as stated in Genesis 22:11-13, “But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 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.” Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.”
What are you withholding from God to disobey His command?
What is it you cannot give to God that is in a position to give back to you beyond expectation?
With understanding, know that all you have, all that you are, and all that you can be is in the hand of God. Bible documents that every reasonable obedience sacrifice provokes the attention of God in every area of life. Will you consider the kind of sacrifice that you are rendering unto God?
If your sacrifice is reasonable, God will give unexpected reasonable visitation.
The sacrificial obedience of Abraham provoked the blessing of God.
 Genesis 22:16-18 record the blessing of God over Abraham, “…By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed My voice.”  
Obeying the word of God is a sacrifice that will provoke the unexpected blessing of God.
Abraham engaged the command of God to gain and retain the uncommon blessing of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the heart of obedience to God in all your ways of life.

LEARN AGAINST SIN

FAITH CAPSULE: See in the word, know not to become a victim of enticement of the devil. 

Luke 4

Without seeing in the word of God, enticement will occupy to lead into sin. The enemy of all man is the master of deception that has been around long enough to draw one into the sin of destruction.
Jesus had the experience of the enticement but could not become a failure just as Eve did.
Luke 4:1-4 documents the failure of the devil in his enticement of Jesus: “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”  The enticement of the devil failed before Jesus. Focusing on every word of God is a key to avoid sin before God.
Today, be warned and wise to know that if Jesus experienced enticement of the enemy, no man is above cunning devil with enticement activity to lure man into sin.
King David, a man after the heart of God, could not escape but fell for sin.
Samson was blessed with strength by God but could not avoid the trap of the enticement by the devil.
Samson was a miracle child born with special instructions from God but was not an excuse to escape the device of enticement. 
The Bible documents in Judges 13:5, “For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” Samson ended up his life blinded because he could not see in the instruction of God to deliver him. 
As strong as Samson was, he became a victim of the enticement of the enemy when he failed to obey according to the Word of God. 
The enticement of the enemy brought down Samson from where God placed him. The Book of Judges 16:5 records, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’”  
Samson could not avoid himself from the cunning of the enticement of the enemy of man. 
God answers prayer today, pray and ask for the deliverance hand of God in every area of your life, not to become a victim of the enticement of the devil.

Prayer for today: Pray that you will not become a victim of evil devices.

SEE IN HIS WORD

FAITH CAPSULE: See what the Word of God speaks to you to receive what you see, to become of you.

Joshua 6

In the Word of God, there is the direction that never fails. For example, Joshua needed to behold (see) the word of God to gain boldness and character for winning over Jericho. 
Jericho posed as an enemy, with an attempt to deny the advance of the Israelites to the Promised Land. Joshua 6:1-2 records the calling of Joshua to see (to behold) in the Word of God, “Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.”  
See what the Word of God speaks to you to receive what you see, to become of you.
Joshua moved by what he saw in the word of God with direction against the enemy (the challenge of the Jericho wall). The Bible record the result of seeing and action according to the Word of God: “The wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all.” (Joshua 6:20-21)  
Joshua listened; he was able to behold (to see) direction in the word of God as he gained boldness and character to become the winner over Jericho. 
Jacob was running away from his brother (Esau), and he needed boldness and charter to succeed in his journey. God responded to the need of Jacob when He commanded him to behold (see) in His word stating, “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” (Genesis 28:15) 
Always listen to see (behold) in the word of God, to obtain the boldness and character, having trust and hope in God.
To behold (see) in the Word of God, one shall replace fear with faith that is rooted in boldness and character gained in the Word of God.
In your way of life, engage the Word of God by listening with understanding and know that it gives life to the just ones. Habakkuk 2:4 buttresses, “…the just shall live by his faith.” By the word of God, live life as one with boldness and character. 
God magnifies His word above His name. (Psalm 138:2) 
The Word of God is worthy to deliver; His word is mighty and will preserve one that beholds the word of God.
Listen to the Word of God to see as sent for your healing and deliverance. Psalm 107:20 buttresses, “He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.” 
Do you listen to God?
Listen to see in the word of God, and gain boldness and character that makes one be a winner for the glory of God.
God is power; God that delivered Israelites is still in the business of deliverance and preservation if one will take a position that one sees (behold) God in His word.

Prayer for today:  Ask God to enable you to always see in His word.