FAITH CAPSULE: Loving God is not an emotional or mouth game.

1 John 3

God’s command from the beginning speaks to all: love one another. Deuteronomy 6:5 recorded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” As in the Old Testament, Jesus also requested in the New Testament, “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.” (Luke 10:27) Loving one another is the evidence of loving God our creator which no man has seen Him. All God’s doing is what the devil stands against. It is devil’s gain to work for man not love one another.
Loving one another is the message which has been passed out to us from the BEGINNING. The devil has been standing against man from loving one another to make it possible for man not to love God. It is written, “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (1John 3:11-12)
As wrong as it is, man always claim love for God when there is no love for one another. As an acclaimed believer, not practicing righteousness is not loving other as commanded by God and it is sin before God. 1 John 3:10 buttressed, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”
Do you have the love of God?
The love of God is to love unconditionally, sacrificially and personally.
Personally: Christ is to be seen in us. 1John4:20-21, “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?  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
Unconditional love was demonstrated by Jesus for us to learn and do like Him. With His love, He died for us while we were sinners. (Romans 5:8)
Sacrificially, our demonstration of love should be of the love of God not just talking love. 1John 3:16-18, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed and in truth.” Do you love God as commanded by God? Loving God is not an emotional or mouth game. God sees all hearts under heaven. Love Him indeed and in truth.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the love of God be established in your heart.

FAITH CAPSULE: In the journey of life, how you walk will determine where you sit and what you stand for.

Romans 4

Contentment, covetousness, complaint, compromise, commitment, conscience, continuity can be identified as the seven-track pointer.  The seven-track pointer will keep man before God through the journey of life. With discipline, the journey of life with attention to embrace contentment, covetousness, complaint, compromise, commitment, conscience, continuity is certain to keep man from falling, failing or faltering from the presence of God.
With contentment man is bound to be satisfied. With covetousness which is rooted in greediness should not have a place in the life of man. Complaint can be grumbling before God instead of complimenting God for His goodness. Are you one compromising by giving self to concession in the place of taking a stand for the right doing? Commitment is engaging self to God’s word unceasingly. Man is to have conscience which is the sense of right and wrong before God. Continuity is a flow and not to be breaking on and off walking in and out of the word of God.
Are you a discipline man in the word of God? To be discipline is to live life as a true disciple of Christ. Through the pages of the bible, many with discipline to engage the seven-track pointer were able to do great exploit to the glory of God. However, some started their journey engaging the seven-track pointer but could not embrace all but faulted before God.
Among all, Abraham was distinct in his journey of life. In it all, the journey of Abraham’s faithful life was accounted to him for righteousness. (Romans 4:9) One like Daniel live life to see and survive four different rulers but was not recorded for voiding the seven-track pointer in his journey. The bible identified Daniel stating, “…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” (Daniel 11:32) Daniel knew his God as he kept in line of the seven-track pointer before God.
In life, man’s engagement to the business of God is certain to succeed. What are you giving your life to outside of God’s business? Many like Abraham and Daniel took to the business of God and they achieved success to the glory of God. In the journey of life, how you walk will determine where you sit and what you stand. God is watching to bless man that keep his walk.
Pay attention: In the journey of life, whenever contentment is missing in man’s life, covetousness sets in and feeds into complaints which become the act of rebellion. With rebellion, conscience is sealed off and compromising God’s word establishes itself. A believer that compromises is one that demonstrates lack of commitment. Lack of commitment is the evidence that there is no continuity in living life by the word of God.
With discipline adopting to the seven-track pointer, live life for the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to keep you in line of His word for His glory.

FAITH CAPSULE: Live life continuity in the word of God for the glory of God.

Genesis 39

Continuity can be described as, uninterrupted flow. Continuity demands unceasing discipline to maintain flow on a right path of living life for God’s glory. Through the pages of the Bible, those who continually focused on God excelled greatly to the glory of God. Continuity eschews inconvenience and answers with commitment meaning that those who continually seek God are committed with no excuse for inconvenience in every area of seeking after God. Continuity is what constantly connects us with God. Those who give themselves up to serving the Lord God continually remain constantly in His hand. The Psalmist testified, “But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.” (Psalm 71:14) “So shall I keep Your law continually, forever and ever.” (Psalm 119:44) Hosea 12:6 buttressed, “so you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually.” Act 6:4 laid it down for believers stating that, “we are to give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Hebrews 13:15 admonished us, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God.”
With continuity, Joseph served God faithfully by staying away from sin that could have been hidden from man but not able to be hidden from God. Joseph was under the pressure of his master’s wife who casted longing eyes on Joseph and asking him to lie with her. Bible recorded Joseph’s response to his master’s wife, “But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:8-9) Abstaining from sin that is hidden to man but not hidden from God was Joseph continuity to avoid sin and sinning before God. Joseph stated, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God.” Continuity should be a constant with consistent walking with God.
Continuity in serving God is certain to position man on the hand of God that has never fail to deliver. Seek God by serving Him continually.
In the journey of life, whenever contentment is missing in man’s life, covetousness sets in and feeds into complaints which become the act of rebellion. With rebellion, conscience is sealed off and compromising God’s word establishes itself. A believer that compromises is one that demonstrates lack of commitment. Lack of commitment is the evidence that there is no continuity in living life by the word of God. Live life continuity in the word of God for the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to live in His given life to you for only His glory.

FAITH CAPSULE: What does God’s commandment mean to you?

John 8:1-36

Commandment of God is His law to guide man. Commandments of God is the purpose (reasoning) of God for man to love. God’s law, His commandment did not change from the time of the Old Testament till today. Galatians 5:14 recorded the urgency of God’s purpose for His commandments stating, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Commandments of God is fulfilled for us to love others as God loves us.
In the book of 1Timothy 1:5-6, the word of God identified three avenues for love to be demonstrated by man before God. It is written, “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.”
Without doubt, loving from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith cannot be separated. Ones that love with pure heart strive for good conscience and they are the ones with sincere faith. It is not possible to claim faith (as many in the church do) and not have a good conscience.
Conscience is the sense of right and wrong that governs a person’s thoughts and actions. Actions of man before God demonstrates man’s faith before God. 1 Samuel 2:3 buttressed, “…For the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.” Conscience is what convicts man to turn man from what is not right. Lying, deception and manipulation are the identities of church and it is the evidence of one that lacks conscience. Also, it is the lack of conscience that causes a believer to live life in empty pride consciously or unconsciously.
Conscience is responsible for conviction in man’s life. However, pride often hinders man not to respond to conscience when conviction is in place. Conscience will convict man that is ready to disregard pride. The Pharisees brought a woman that was caught in the act of adultery to Jesus hoping for a judgment that calls for stoning her according to the Law of Moses. Jesus responded, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7) The book John 8:9 documented the reaction of the people, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one…”
Man are to strive for conscience and not become a victim of lack of love before God. Paul in his defense before Felix made it known in his statement that conscience is what we strive for. Paul stated, “This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” (Acts 24:16)
Having conscience without offence toward God and man is a good conscience.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be striving for conscience and gain to retain the presence of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Asking from God without doubt is a pointer to the center of God’s divine assignment.

Exodus 3

God’s direction is His command. In His direction there is a way where there is no way. God’s direction is certain to deliver when there is full obedience to His direction. In His direction doubt will lead to self-denial, misdirection, fear will rise, and faith will sink. God’s calling is His direction. When He calls you, he will back you up and not fail. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 buttressed, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”
So, why is it that doubt is interfering man’s journey of life when God’s direction never fails? Doubt is the center of fear provoking disobedience to God’s direction. Asking without doubting God’s command is the way not to become a victim of self-destruction. Knowing God instead of knowing about God is asking in faith for His direction regardless of any challenge. With full assurance, Jesus promised in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” Often, instead of asking as promised in the word of Jesus, man turns to fear; complaint or giving excuses to God. Does that sound like you?
When it was time for God to make a way out of bondage for the Israelites, He called Moses. Calling of God was challenging for Moses, but he repeatedly asked for God’s direction without complaint or doubt. God called Moses, “…I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10) Moses responded to God’s calling, “…Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11) Moses’ asking was not to doubt God but getting elaboration that furthered God’s direction in his life. God responded to Moses, “…I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you…” (Exodus 3:12) When God calls you, He is certain to back you up unfailingly.
In life, there is no reason to stop asking from God prayerfully in faith and not in doubt. Moses also asked prayerfully in faith as stated in Exodus 33:13 “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”  Asking from God was a pointer for Moses’ journey as commanded by God. Fear for God awesomeness is asking without doubt and honoring Him. God is not a wicked God but a good caring God. Moses asked prayerfully, and God answered him, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14) Ask Him and hold onto His answer which is set to manifest.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be asking and hearing when He speaks unfailing direction to you.