FAITH CAPSULE:  Are you fighting a battle yet looking to human wisdom to sustain you?

 Judges 7

Jerubbaal (Gideon) was set for war against the Midianites when God spoke to him, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.” (Judges 7:1-3) In the physical, there is a need for strong numeric strength to emerge victorious in battle. However, God’s instruction to Jerubbaal was to reduce number of his army. Jerubbaal gave self to God’s instruction  and number was reduced to more than half, from twenty-two thousand to ten thousand.
The God of battle who does not share His glory with man called on Jerubbaal after he had cut down the number of his army saying, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there…” (Judges 7:4) Imagine Jerubbaal communicating with friends about how God has been reducing the number, without doubt friends would have wondered and even considered Jerubbaal as foolish, spiritually insane, overzealous and unrealistic. Jerubbaal led the people to the water as directed by God with the intention to have the number reduced again. At the water, God spoke again, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise, everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.”  And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.” (Judges 7: 5-6). In going against the Midianites, one that considers assigning men that lapped from water over ones that got on their knees to drink water would have been considered foolish.
At all times, regardless of how foolish it sounds, God’s preference should always prevail over our best reference. The number of men to go to battle against the Midianites was eventually cut down to three hundred men from thirty-two thousand; this is foolishness by human reasoning. To man, it is suicidal to go to war after ending up with such a small number. Thirty thousand seems to be the right way and not the foolish way. Always remember the word of Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” Jerubbaal did not take the path that seems right, he simply obeyed God’s word without complain nor doubt and went with three hundred. Are you fighting a battle yet looking to human wisdom to sustain you? It does not matter how tough challenges present itself, focusing on God is enough to be victorious.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be constantly obedient to God’s word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Direction with focus for every journey of life is certain to arrive at expected end.

Genesis 11:27-32, 12:1-9

Living life is like a journey of life. Receiving direction for every journey of life and having focus is crucial to arrive at expected end of journey. Receiving direction without focus is set to become a victim of distraction, delay, derailment, discouragement or encountering untimely termination of life journey. In reality, journey of life must be cooperated with focus meaning to make journey as a center of activity or attention. Without doubt, it is focus that will give clear vision of life journey to arrival at expected end. Having direction is being loaded with potential. A failure not to arrive the end of journey is having potential and not manifesting the potentiality with focus to arrive at the end of journey.
To learn in the written word of God will mark man not to become a victim in the journey of life. Terah, the father of Abraham’s documentation is for man to learn from and not become a victim of failure which does not arrive at expected journey of life.
Genesis 11:31-32 recorded, “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.” Terah the father of Abraham left for Canaan land ever before God called Abraham for journey to Canaan land. Terah’s journey to Canaan could be Terah’s ambition to move to Canaan. However, ambition can be reason while vision is God’s plan Ambition is also determination but determination without spiritual connectivity is always reason for failure in journey of life. Peter was example with determination not to deny Jesus three times but he denied Jesus three times. It was Jesus’ prayer for Peter not to fail that delivered Peter from his failure determination statement. Jesus’ prayer answered for Peter as his spiritual connectivity.
When Terah engaged his journey to Canaan, there was no record of his plan to dwell in Haran but ended up dwelling in Haran by not getting to Canaan.
It is questioning why Terah started journey to Canaan and ended up in Haran. Could it have been that the comfort in Haran got Terah stagnated to end his journey? Have you engaged any journey or giving up assignment uncompleted? Speculating about Terah is possible to be ambition with distraction the evidence of the lack of focus. It is time to begin to pay attention to God’s direction with focus which is certain to see man through to the center of God’s divine agenda for man’s journey of life.
Imagine, Terah lived for two hundred and fifty years. With so many years on his side he could not get through to his expected journey of life. Gain and retain focus to maintain expectation for arrival at the journey of life.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you in getting to your expected end in the journey of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is in absolute control of man’s life.

Genesis 37

God is in absolute control of man’s life and nothing is able to hide from Him. Joseph journeyed from pain to gain which was empty pit to prime minister. Joseph started journey of pain when his father sent him out to check out the wellness of his brothers. However, when his brothers spotted him at far they conspired against him to kill him. In the place of killing Joseph, Reuben suggested placing Joseph in empty pit. Joseph’s journey from pain to gain was written for our learning to be encouraged in God’s absolute control. It is written, “So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.” (Genesis 37:23-24) God was in position with absolute control when Joseph journeyed from empty pit into chain as slave; from slavery to prison and later promotion from prison to the position of prime minister of his foreign land of Egypt.
From pain to gain was the story of Job. Bible described him, “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. ² And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. ³ Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.” (Job 1:1-3) Job was right before God but wrong enough before Satan to ask for his life. Job was not beyond deliverance and protection of God from his pain in the hand of Satan. However, it was painful for Job when he lost everything to Satan but was gainful when God restored him back with abundance. It is written, “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10)
Moses was raised in the palace of Pharaoh where abundance was in place. In his effort to run from Pharaoh’s reach after killing an Egyptian on behalf of his Hebrew brother, he ended up in desert (at Midian).  God saw Moses’ through his adversary but he was unknowingly in training as shepherd for God’s people. Where you are going, you do not know. Today, you only know about where you are now. Are you paying attention to God?
Character was in place in the life of Moses. It is written, “Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.” (Exodus 2:21) 1Timothy 6:6 buttressed the importance of contentment, “Now godliness and contentment is great gain.” With contentment, Moses was in place to engage the calling upon his life.

Prayer for today: Ask God to add with you all it takes not to miss God’s calling over your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Stop snubbing God in your way of living life which God has given you!

Jonah 1

There is no better way to describe iniquity before God and not waiting on God as snubbing God. Are you one that iniquity and not waiting on God speaks to you?
SNUBBING GOD IS INIQUITY BEFORE God. Job made us to realize it that, there is no hiding place for iniquity as stated in Job 34:22, “There is no darkness nor shadow of death Where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” It is impossible to hide from God when man engages iniquity.
Jonah was an example that snubbed God and could not hide from God. When God calls one, it is important for one to rest in God’s direction knowing that God does not call anyone to hide away from Him. To hide from God’s calling is snubbing God just like Jonah did. To hide from God is turning back to God by walking away from the presence of God.
Despite Jonah’s hearing from the presence of God could not stop him from snubbing God. It is written, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…” (Jonah 1:1-3) In snubbing God, Jonah was substituted into fish as recorded in Jonah 1:17, “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Before God, there is no where workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
SNUBBING GOD IS A FAILURE NOT TO BE WAITING ON GOD: Not waiting on God is snubbing God. One that does not remember God do not wait on God. The Israelites could not remember the works of God; Israelites could not wait for the wonderful counsel of God to take charge over their life. It is written, “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert.” (Psalm 106:13-14)
Ones that does not remember God does not give regard to consider the works of God. It is written, “The harp and the strings, the tambourine and the flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore, my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” (Isaiah 5:12-13) When there is no regard to the word of God there will be no regret for not doing God’s word. The Israelites snubbed God to become substituted from God’s Promised Land to wilderness Journey of forty years where twenty years above were terminated. (Numbers 14:29)

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace not to be a victim of walking against the word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Snubbing the word of God is snubbing one’s glorious destiny.

1 Samuel 13

Looking unto Jesus is focusing on Jesus by not to snubbing Jesus for what He has done and what He is doing for man’s salvation. Hebrews 12:2 said it all, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” It is a choice to gain and maintain focus on Jesus by not snubbing Him.
Works of God are created by His word. Seeing God’s works is like hearing from God yet man is not focusing on God but snubbing God. Psalm 75:1 testified, “…For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.” Paying attention to God’s creation wondrous works by His word is focusing on God to hear Him, not snubbing directions in God’s word. Focusing on God by not snubbing God’s word is engaging a glorious destiny. Apparently, disengaging God’s word is snubbing God for self-destruction. Snubbing the word of God is snubbing one’s glorious destiny.
Among experiences of snubbing God for glorious destiny are written for our learning through the pages of bible.
SNUBBING GOD WILL SUBSTITUTE MAN BEFORE GOD: Snubbing God’s word is to become substituted from God’s ordained position for one’s life. Eli snubbed God when he failed to restrain his children that were despising direction of God. Sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord. (1 Samuel 2:12-17) Eli’s snubbing of God was revealed as stated, “Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³ For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴ And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” (1 Samuel 3:11-14) Before God there is no excuse for snubbing God directly or indirectly. Under heaven, nothing goes pass God without Him seeing all. Eli did not train his sons to restraint them from violating God. Eli snubbed God and was substituted with Samuel by God.
King Saul repeatedly violated God’s directions and God substituted him with David as king. Saul’s unlawful sacrifice by engaging burnt offering snubbed God. (1Samuel 13:1-15) Through Samuel, God directed King Saul to utterly destroy and attack the Amalekites but he was unwilling to utterly destroy Amalekites against the word of God. Eventually, King Saul snubbed God’s word and God substituted him with David as king.

Prayer for today: Ask God for His grace not to snub His word in all your walks.