FAITH CAPSULE: God is worthy to be feared.

Genesis 19

Command of God is His word. God’s command is His direction to have the fear for Him. God is worthy to be feared. Deuteronomy 6:1-3, is written for us to know “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the LORD your God…” God’s command is to teach us to fear Him. To fear God is to love God. In the command of God is our teacher to know and fear God. A thoughtful student of the word of God must get the understanding to fear God according to His word. Failure to obey God is not to fear Him.
God expects us to love Him just as it is recorded in His word, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) Sin and sinning is rooted in disobedience. Without doubt, not knowing to fear God breeds sin. Sin simply came to be under heaven when eating from one tree out of varieties of trees in the Garden of Eden. In failure, not to fear God started when Adam and Eve ate against God’s command. It is written, “…the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) Adam and Eve engaged a blatant act of disobedience which does not have any reasonable excuse before God but consequence.
Since the time of Adam and Eve, man continues to sin. God simply wants us to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. Abraham loved the Lord God and obeyed as was commanded by God. It takes loving God with all heart to rise and depart to a strange land and not hold back just like Abraham. At age seventy-five, leaving behind family and comfort environment is the evidence of the fear of God and obedience to God’s command. Abraham obeyed the word (command) of God.
Disobedience to God’s command by the wife of Lot was the lack of her fear for God. Do you know to obey God’s command? Knowing God’s command is knowing to fear God? At the time of destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his wife were commanded not to look back on the track from destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot’s wife looked back against God’s command. Genesis 19:26 recorded Lot’s wife lack for the fear of God, “But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” Learn in God’s word and not look back as commanded in God’s command.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be clothed by His fear in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Remain focus only on God that is fully in charge.

Psalm 37

Remain focus only on God to maintain His presence that is fully in charge. The wicked one is the evil one but God alone oversees all that exists under heaven and earth. Are you fretful of evildoers or are you envious of the workers of iniquity? The Psalmist warned, “Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.” (Psalm 37:1) When a man is not resting in the promise of God, man will be fretful of the evildoers. One that does not trust in God maintains self in troubles and not rest in the Lord. Does that speak to your life? Also, those who are envious of the workers of iniquity demonstrate that they are no longer focusing on God that meets need for man. A failure not to wait on God will cause man to waste. One that does not rest on God will rust away.
Acclaimed believer of God must know and not be fretful of the truth that wicked ones are here to stay until the Lord is ready to take them away. The same Psalm 37 gave the prescription of what it takes to ignore the wicked ones by stating, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” (Psalm 37:3) Let the Lord take care of His business concerning the wicked. There is nothing that gets past the Lord. The Lord God sees all things and He knows all things that are going on.
The book of Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 admonished, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.  Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.  But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” You should maintain self by focus on God alone and not focus on the wicked one. When man does not focus on self, man will never be able to focus on God in this wicked world. Focus on God, fear God for your own and not fret because of wicked ones, the evil doers.
God alone knows when to deal with those who make the choice not to come out of wickedness.
Jeremiah questioned, “…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.” (Jeremiah 12:1-2) God does not sleep nor slumber and it is important that we focus on God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God to deliver you from the path of wicked ones.

FAITH CAPSULE: Obviously, where His word becomes rare, widespread of His revelation will cease.

1 Samuel 3

It is written, ““…the word of Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.”  
Today are you taking time to be studying the word of God? Today are you getting to know the word of God but not knowing about the word of God? knowing about the word of God is not the same as knowing the word of God. Knowing about the word of God is not enough to get His revelation in His word. Knowing the word of God is certain to receive His revelation. Many are quoting and singing the word of God but they do not know the word of God. Many sleeps in the church, self-claimed ministers but not God ordained ministers of the word of God are not evidence of the word of God. Self-claimed ministers inside and outside of the church are full of lying, deception and manipulation. Self-claimed ministers are giving false revelations in the name of God whose word are rare to them.
Think of it, how can one that does not receive God’s revelation will be evident of God’s revelation?
Without doubt, the evidence of God in the life of man is the revelation of the word of God.
At a point in time in Shiloh when Eli was the priest, we are made to understand that, “…the word of Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” (1 Samuel 3:1) The word of God is His presence; God’s communication is His revelation and where there is no revelation, transformation ceases. The journey of life without transformation will lead to termination.
It is only the one who has the understanding for the need of God’s revelation that will consciously seek after His revelation. How is your revelation experience? Revelation from God will bring forth deliverance and salvation will reign. The situation of no revelation in Shiloh called for the return of God. The Lord’s return is His appearance and it took the coming to life of Samuel for revelation to come back to Shiloh. It is written, “Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD (1 Samuel 3:21). God, who appeared again in Shiloh, will also appear again to visit you if you have lost contact with Him. Are you staying away from the word of God but spending time in the wicked world? God is the same yesterday and today. Obviously, where His word becomes rare, widespread of His revelation will cease. He is a faithful God! Call on Him and state your request to Him. The Psalmist wanted to be remembered and to be visited by God. (Psalm 106:5) Undoubtedly, when God remembers or visits, one will be enabled to see the benefit of His chosen ones. Give yourself continually to the word of God and His revelation will not rare from you.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace over your life giving yourself continually to the word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Challenges do not stop from following Christ followers.

Jeremiah 1

Confessing and believing Christ Jesus as Lord and savior is not without challenges. Confessing and believing Christ Jesus is not an immune from challenges in this wicked world. Jesus our Lord and savior, through His time on the face of earth was in confronting challenges continually. His truth was threatening, His truth is threatening and His truth will forever be threatening. So, as an acclaimed follower of Jesus, why do you not expect challenges? Are you truly propagating the word of God or prosecuting the word of God? It is certain that as one that is propagating the word of God challenges is not far from you. However, as a true acclaimed believer it is certain that you shall surely be delivered. (Psalm 34:19) As a matter of fact, it should never be understatement that, challenges do not stop from following Christ followers. Believing God and answering to His calling will draw the enemy’s attention. However, the challenges of the world today are not enough to tag life as difficult. As a believer that knows Jesus as Lord and savior, confessing that living life is difficult is a wrong and a negative confession.
Propagating the word of God with truthful heart is following Jesus truly. The word of God pointed out the consequences of following Him and what will answer for true followers as stated, “Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:32-33) As a follower of Christ, expect to be scattered but know to remain in Him and His peace shall be your portion. Tribulation (challenging forces) will come to His followers but becoming an overcomer is certain.
As a true follower of Jesus, know it and believe it is a great privilege of God that He has called you just like He called Jeremiah. God spoke to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) It was God that called Jeremiah not man. Being called by God is not an evidence to be free from encountering challenges but an assurance that challenges shall not prevail and the called shall overcome. Despite the truth that Jeremiah was called by God, God spoke to him that “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.”” (Jeremiah 1:19) Among challenges is the enemy’s fight against man. However, God promised that He shall never forsake the called in time of challenging confrontation.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God to keep you in following Him without failure.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not be careless but be careful to move only in the word of God.

Jonah 1

The word of God is His command. God’s command is His way. Proverbs 19:16 admonished, “He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of his ways will die.”  In the command of God, His way will guide man to arrive at expected end without failure or destruction. Are you keeping His commands that sounds in your life for self-deliverance and to shape a man’s destiny in this wicked world? Is it your ways that you are keeping instead of His ways? It is important not to look over the word of God as His command in every step of life.
Jonah made choice to place his way over the way of God by disobeying God’s command. Jonah 1:1-3 recorded, “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. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet of God (2 Kings 14:25) could not make the choice for God’s command but made the choice of his way. Jonah’s careless response to the word of God caused him to be stumbled and took a position of self-destruction. Regardless of any challenging situation, Jonah’s business was to obey as commanded by God alone.
It was God Himself who called Moses out to go and lead the children of Israel out of the bondage that lasted over four hundred years. Moses was careless not to be careful to the word of God. He reacted to the rebellious act of the children of Israel towards God. Moses took it upon himself to strike the rock instead of speaking to the rock for water. Before God, no excuse will excuse man from answering to God’s command. There was no excuse for Moses before God when he took to his word. God responded to Moses, “…Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12)
Do not be careless to God but be concerned and not be corrupted in responding to God’s command. Disallow your concern; allow His command for you to become established in His command. Regardless of your stand before God, remain careful and not be like Prophet Jonah and Moses a great man of God who were careless but not careful to move in the word of God. At all step of your life consistently attend to God and God will give you unshakable attention.

Prayer for today: Ask God for grace to be walking in His way all the days of God’s given life to you.