FAITH CAPSULE: Man takes distance from Jesus, but Jesus remains closer to man.

Genesis 37

Have you been forsaken where you are looking forward to being embraced? It can be emotional exhausting or exceedingly discouraging when man encounters disengagement in the place where is to be embraced. Among the best way to describe forsaken experience is in the story of Joseph and his brothers. Israel (Jacob) called on his son Joseph to go and see if it is well with his brothers and the flocks. Jacob expected Joseph to go and return with word, but Joseph walked into unexpected journey which led to divine assignment for his life.
Bible recorded brothers of Joseph response at the approach of Joseph to them, “Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:18-20)
Joseph went forward to his brothers in peace while the brothers responded with bitterness and wicked agenda. Imagine the brothers and Joseph, all raised under the same roof with same training from the same father. They all played, ate, drank and worked together yet they conspired against their younger brother because of his dream.
Jesus came for man with demonstration of unfailing love. Jesus came with agenda to give life abundantly to all man. At His time, man conspired against Him, today man still conspires against Him. Word of God is true as documented in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Despite wicked ways of man, the birth of Jesus is a top-notch celebration at every month of December by man. At celebration of Jesus’ birth, man is full of self-agenda with lack of understand to receive and believe in Jesus as Lord and savior. What is holding man back from living life for God in the name of Jesus? Certainly, God does not sleep nor slumber. God watches over every agenda of man under heaven. Man takes distance from Jesus, but Jesus remains closer to man waiting to act for man that will make the choice to wait on Him.
The brothers of Jesus were desperately wicked and when he got to his brothers, “…they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. 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)
Are you responding to Jesus just like the brothers of Joseph’s response to Joseph? The story of Joseph is the evidence that God watched over Joseph and He is still watching today. Seek God, give life to Jesus in your celebration.

Prayer for the day: Ask for Jesus’ abundance life for man to answer in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: The kind of love that counts before God is not seasonal celebration of the birth of Jesus.

1 John 4

The kind of love that counts before God is the kind of love that qualifies man not to miss heaven. Is it the magnitude of seasonal celebration of the birth of Jesus that testifies man’s love for God? To fear God is to love God, living by His word continually is the kind of love that counts before God but not seasonal celebration of the birth of Jesus. Claiming the love for God is obeying His commandments. Apostle Paul pointed out the purpose of God’s commandment, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk.” (1Timothy 1:5-6) Apostle Paul was talking about love that counts before God, the kind of love that is worthy to provoke God’s attention to acknowledge one for good.
Love of man under heaven is a love manufactured by man to attain self-interest not God centered love. Man’s love is not the kind of love which counts before God. Under heaven, love manufactured by man is not a pure heart love which rampant and lack of good conscience love. Love manufactured by man is not rooted in faith. Imagine husband, wife, children, extended family, neighbors and all are running around shopping for gift in celebration of Jesus without existence of God’s love among each other. Without God’s love all are not living life for God’s glory? The word of God stated, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1John 4:20) Does that sound like you?
Man is a mess as agent of wickedness deceiving loving among self. God is true in His testimony about man under heaven as stated in Genesis 6:5-7, “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. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” There is no evil in celebrating the birth of Jesus. However, man is celebrating with lack of understanding and it relegates before God but not elevate man for the glory of God. Celebrating Jesus should be a non-stop as long there is breath of life. God cannot be deceived and that is the reason God why man should seek Him diligently. Seek God with understanding by loving Him without condition. It is written, “1 John 4:8, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is Love.”  Celebrate Christ reality not celebrating religion.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of understanding and not become a victim of ignorant.

FAITH CAPSULE: Get out of story celebration, get into Christ reality.

John 10

The coming of Jesus is being named, “The Greatest Story that was told.” Indeed, majority inside and outside of church, the acclaimed believers of Jesus only know about Jesus’ story and not know Jesus. Celebration of Jesus as story is clouding man to only know about and not know Jesus’ as source of living life abundantly. Jesus stated the reason of His coming, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (John 10:10-11)
Is celebrating of Jesus’ story limiting you from knowing Jesus? To know Jesus is to be occupied by the reason of Jesus’ coming. What is causing you to have doubt instead of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? With doubt fear will eventually come to place. Where there is fear or when fear is rising, faith will sink. Lack of understanding the coming of Jesus is the evidence of knowing about. Get to know Jesus to deny doubt from living life abundantly as stated by Jesus.
Imagine John the Baptist’s doubt in Jesus. It is written, “And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2-3) John the Baptist was in prison of SELF-DOUBT. John was not sure of knowing Jesus but questioned as a certified one that only know about Jesus. It was John that baptized Jesus but did not know Jesus but knew about Jesus. It is written, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him” (Matthew 3:13) John the Baptist bears witness of Jesus, “…Behold The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’ (John 1:29-30) John also exalted Jesus when he stated that, “He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from Heaven is above all.” (John 3:31) John the Baptist knew about Jesus, when he was in the prison of his life, he doubted Jesus. Remember, you have heard about Jesus and if you will hold on to all that you have known you will depart from doubt. Jesus’ responded to John’s doubt, speaks to all with doubts, “…Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Mathew 11:4-6) Get out of story celebration, get into Christ reality to declare Jesus is Lord over your challenge.

Prayer for today: Ask for grace of God to bring you out of the prison of doubt.

FAITH CAPSULE: God’s gift for man is to inherit eternal life.

John 4:1-42

God’s gift for man is to inherit eternal life. Gift of God to man is an indescribable gift! Unfortunately, many are yet to receive or believe fully to accept indescribable gift of God by unwrapping the gift of God to embrace God’s indescribable gift for man. Sincerely, it is serious to know indescribable gift of God for man instead of knowing about. It is crucial for man to be meditating day and night that God wants man to inherit eternal life and not be amiss of eternal life. Jesus alone is the indescribable gift of God. Jesus revealed Himself as the gift of God when a Samaritan woman had an encounter with Jesus. It is written, “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) God the giver of all good expects man to give back to Him in appreciation. We are to give back to God an unconditional love for His gift because He is a jealous God.
To fear God is to love God by doing good all through under heaven. Claiming to love God is to always obey His commandments. Apostle Paul pointed out that the purpose of God’s commandment is to love God. He stated, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk.” (1Timothy 1:5-6) Paul was talking about love that counts before God. Love before God is love that is worthy to provoke God’s attention to acknowledge obedient ones for His good.
From today, begin to ask self a question as, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life.” It is crucial question to be holding man, provoking man for doing good at best and not at less before God. Living a righteous life is a command from the word of God it is doing good at our best before God. Jesus was speaking, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20) It is clear in the documentation of the bible that the scribes and Pharisees were versed in the word but not living life according to God’s word. Are you an acclaimed believer of God that is full of the word of God in the head but far from God in the mind? Evidently mind that is not full of God’s word is far from God living disobediently before God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be living life not to miss eternal life.

FAITH CAPSULE: In this time and season, re-assess self-priority before God.

Luke 10:25-37

Focus on time and season we are living not just focusing on this season of Christmas. In this season, what are the questions that are being generated within your heart? Man, that is mindful of the things God does have a need to re-assess own’s priority before God. It is important not to narrow your question to what you are giving or what you are receiving in this Christmas season. However, in this Christmas season, question yourself: What shall I do to inherit eternal life? Throughout the whole bible, the question is repeatedly asked and answered directly and indirectly. There is only one answer and the answer is to Love God. Deuteronomy 6:5 stated it, Luke 10:27 emphasized it, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, ‘and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Do you love the way of God or the way of the world? (Waiting to be given before giving is a way of loving in the way of the world)
Jesus pointed out in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) about what it means to love in the way of God. To love in the way of God is to know and to do good when and where doing good demands it. James 4:17 buttressed, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” It is true through the bible that with sin no shall see God. Evidently, ignoring not to do what is good when the chance to do good present itself is a sin. In the parable, when chance presented itself to the Levite to do good he passed it bye. Luke 10:31, “Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” Giving out in love where there is a need for love is a reasonable sacrifice that is acceptable before God. God is God that no man can deceive by telling lies and manipulating others pretending to love others. God love us so much that He gave to us His beloved son, in whom He is well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)
What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
What you are giving is the determinant of what it takes to inherit eternal life.
God wants us to give Love in full. It is the will of God for us to love. Without the fear of God there is no way to love as commanded by God. The book of Ecclesiastes 12:13 admonishes us stating, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is man’s all.”

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God to love as it pleases before God.