FAITH CAPSULE: To fear God will live for God.

Psalm 34

From the depths of your heart, do you fear God?
Are you one who fears God for real, or fear God by the tips of your mouth?
Do you fear God as it is supposed to be?
Claiming to fear God is not the same as living in the fear of God, acknowledging His awesomeness
Engaging in Christian-rooted activities or answering to titles is not evidence of one who fears God.
A life that does not fear God is a life of waste.
Knowing God is not the same as knowing about God.
How can one who hardly spends time on the word of God know God to fear Him?
The word of God is God; not knowing God in His word is why there is no fear of God.
One can claim to know God and not fear God, to live by His word.
One with the character of telling lies, deceiving, and manipulating others does not fear God.
I heard the testimony of a Bishop who called for fasting in his congregation.
On a day of fasting, the bishop drove some members back to their location after a day of fasting and prayer.
As he passed a pancake restaurant, he unconsciously commented on the good taste of the pancake he had before coming to prayer.
Imagine blatant lies by a Bishop that called for fasting in the congregation?
Telling lies is against the word of God, the character of one with the word near in the mouth but far from the mind.
It is an act of wickedness not to have the fear of God.
Jeremiah identified the wicked.
Jeremiah 12:1-2 records, “Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their mind.”
Does that sound like you?
Are you carrying the word in the mouth but not in the mind?
The identity of WICKEDNESS is associated with the character of no fear of God.
The majority of believers will bluntly declare that there is no wickedness in them.
All should take time out to search themselves of wickedness before God.
David, a man after God’s own heart, states this: “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.” (Psalm 139:23-24)
Are you living for God, that is, walking worthily to the glory of God?
Without the fear of God for His awesomeness, one will not walk worthy before God.
All God wants all to do is doable; otherwise, it will not count against not fearing Him, to walk worthy before Him.

Prayer for today:  Pray that the fear to walk worthy before God shall be your portion.

FAITH CAPSULE: Let one who sees know to receive.

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 to win over Jericho. 
Jericho posed as an enemy to deny the Israelites access 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.”  
Let it be a way of life, seeing in the word of God, not to become a victim of lack.
Joshua was moved by what he saw in the Word of God with direction against the enemy (the challenge of the Jericho wall).
The Bible records the action of the word,  “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, and he saw that Jercho fell.
Jacob was running away from his brother (Esau), and he needed boldness and character 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 that carries 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 make one a winner for the glory of God.
God is power.
God delivered the Israelites and is still in the business of deliverance and preservation.
Hear to see to claim what is spoken to one, in the word of God.

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

FAITH CAPSULE: Just a word of God is enough to terminate the struggle.

Psalm 119:41-56

One who the word of God gains entrance will experience termination of challenges.
The word of God is a live wire.
Live life by the word of God to be full of His presence. God is light (1John 1:5), andPsalm 119:130 records, “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” 
Give yourself to meditate on the word of God.
Meditate on the word of God: 
FIRST
Acts 20:32 records, “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up…” The word of God builds up the obedient ones.
Noah received and believed the word of God to build an ark as his vehicle against a flood of destruction in a region that hardly rains. Genesis 6:22 testifies to the obedience of Noah,“Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.”
Do the word of God to build you up against the wickedness of the world. Ask for the word of God to be established in you.
SECOND Responsibility is the price for greatness, the life of commitment to the word of God.
One with a commitment to the word of God will have the word of God in the heart, not just in the mouth.
Seek God with all heart, with all soul, with all strength.  Deuteronomy 4:29 records the consequence for seeking God, “…you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 
The responsibility of commitment to the word of God will not be discouraged by the surrounding world.
Prayerfully be committed to His word.
THIRDPsalm 107:20 records, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”  Prayerfully engageJeremiah 23:29 as it records the assurance of God for all, “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Ask that whatever it is, that is not of God, clouding your destiny, be burned off by the fire of the word of God.
Ask that whatever is set in place as a hindrance against your life, that you know and do not know, be broken by the hammer nature of the word of God. 
FOURTH One that is full of this WORLD cannot be hungry for the word of God. It is possible to fast from food, but fasting from the word of God will lead one far from God to become a victim of the wicked world. Feed on the word of God to build you up. 
Apostle Paul admonishes, “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.” (Acts 20:32)

Prayer for today: Ask that God enable you to give yourself to His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Know why and how to live for God.

Genesis 39

How is it possible to gain a knowing edge in life when there is a lack of understanding?
All must live life for God, the creator of all.
Do you know why to live for God?
Lack of understanding of living for God will lead to not knowing why to live for God.
Knowing about God is not the same as knowing why to live for Him.
Revelation 4:11 records the reason to live for God:“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
Without doubt, God created all to live life for His glory, honour, and power.
The Bible makes it clear that it is the will of God for all to exist (to live) for Him.
Are you living for God or living for yourself?
With understanding, one will know why to live for God.
Living for God is serving God as a way of life.
To serve God demands that one seek Him diligently.
One who seeks Him diligently will find Him.
Deuteronomy 4:29 informs all, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Getting answered about why to live for God demands seeking Him diligently, not just seeking Him.
Pray to be enabled to live for God.
Gain an understanding of why living for God is important, then know how to live for God.
How can one live for God?
The pages of the Bible are the documentation for learning how to live for God and excel for His glory.
The wickedness of the brothers of Joseph sold him as a slave.
The fear of God demonstrated how one could not be a victim of brothers who sold him into slavery.
Joseph lived for God in how he continually served God
The life of Daniel demonstrates how to live life for God.
How Daniel lived for God was rooted in not living a wasteful life.
Daniel and his friends were exiles and captive servants.
They were forcibly taken from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to serve the royal court.
Despite the challenges, Daniel walked worthily before God.
Daniel demonstrated how to live for God in Daniel 1:8, “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. Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.” 
The record about Joseph or Daniel records how not to live outside of God.
Joseph and Daniel feared God.
To fear God will prompt how to live for God.
Daniel focused on God.
He did not defile himself before, but made it a way of living for God.
The life of Daniel is a document of how to live for God.

Prayer for today: Pray that seeking God becomes your way of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do you have trust but not hope?

Numbers 13

During the wilderness journey, the children of Israel could not trust and hope to see in the word of God to take them to the Promised Land. 
They trusted God to bring them out of the bondage of over four hundred years, but had no hope of arriving at the plans and promise of God.
At the entrance to Canaan, God asked Moses to send men to spy on Canaan. (Numbers 13)Moses sent out spies to the land of Canaan. 
The spies returned with a report stating: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” (Numbers 13:27-29)
The spies reported with trust, mentioning the goodness of the land.
However, the report had no hope rooted in fear. Numbers 13:31-33 states, “But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants), and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” 
The report of the spy was without trust and hope
Through the Bible, learn, know to trust, and have hope in God for His deliverance.
The lack of trust and hope prompted fear.
Except for Joshua and Caleb, the Israelites complained and confessed negatively before God.
God responded to the negative confession of the Israelites: Numbers 14:28-30, “As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.”
Know and understand that God is not careless to deliver in His plans and promises when there is no full attention to the conditions to receive from Him. 
Give full attention to the word of God that provokes the blessing of God for those who trust in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord. (Jeremiah 17:7)

Prayer for today: Ask to be trusting and to have hope in God.