FAITH CAPSULE: Ability to remember the greatness of God will deliver one from the fear of the enemy.

1 Samuel 17: 1-44

Inability to keep the greatness of God in your life will expose you to the fear of your enemy. For forty days, morning and night armies of the living God (children of Israel) suffered assault from the Philistines as they gathered for battle. The bible referred to the leader of this assault as the champion, the Philistine of Gath, named Goliath. While they wait to engage each other in battle, the Philistine said to the children of Israel, “…I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”(1 Samuel 17:10) Goliath’s verbal abuse and emotional shots at the Israelites did not settle well with Israelites as they were overwhelmed by being afraid. 1Samuel 17:11 recorded, “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistines; they were dismayed and greatly afraid.” To be afraid and be greatly dismayed of an unbeliever is to have forgotten God’s testimonies.
Is there any reason for the fear of an unbeliever in your life?
Can you examine the situation in your life that has kept you so low in fear and being afraid that you cannot remember who your God is? For forty days!! The armies of the living God were crawling before armies that do not have a living God. So sad! Does this sound like your case? As a believer, have you failed to remember who you are serving? When a believer fails to remember, such believer will not be able to identify him/herself in God. 1Samuel 17:24 recorded, “Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.” Fleeing will not solve your case until you identify yourself in God and allow Him to fight your challenge. Yes, everything in the physical is pointing you out as looser of your challenge. All you need to do is identify yourself.
David a young man; not a listed army; saw and heard the man that was defying the armies of the living God. He decided to stand up to Goliath. David took up the challenging fear of Goliath for the people of Israelites because he remembered his testimony of God by stating, “Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:36) By being able to remember the greatness of his God, he was able to identify himself in God. His identity was his claim that, the same God will deliver him from the hand of Goliath. Psalmist stated, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” Obviously, David was a keeper of God’s testimonies and he successfully sought God with the whole heart as he engaged and brought down the giant that was defying the name of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be keeping to God’s testimonies that is able to keep you from shame in the hand of the enemy.

FAITH CAPSULE: Think about your way of serving God and not be a failure.

2 Samuel 6

God’s will for man is to serve Him indeed and in truth. We are to serve Him with all heart, with all soul and with all strength. A good intention to serve Him and not able to serve Him right does not count but sometimes costly. It was costly for Uzzah when he faithfully served wrongly and lost his life. Uzzah was in the right place serving in moving the ark of God. In his attempt to stop the ark from stumbling, he put out his hand to stop the ark. Uzzah’s act of serving was against the word of God that forbids any from touching the ark. The Bible recorded, “Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6:7) Uzzah, in the position to serve failed to follow with his heart; he violated God’s command and was terminated.
At the time children of Israel were coming out of bondage of over four hundred years, God required them to serve Him; however, their service was incomplete. The Israelites failed to serve God with their whole heart when in their heart they failed to exercise faith in the face of confronting challenge. The Israelites confessed negative instead of positive and the Lord responded through Moses, “Say to them, ‘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.” (Numbers 14:28-30)  A failure not to serve with the whole heart is the evidence of not following Him fully. As a result of not following fully, all that left Egypt above age twenty failed to complete the journey. They were trapped in the wilderness because their service failed and they were terminated. A failure to serve God right will lead to failure in the journey of life. The Israelites failed in their serving God and were terminated in the wilderness.
Serving God and not following Him fully is not enough to carry one through. Not to mention all, many are committed server but not follower of Christ. They are the prayer intercessor, choir leader, usher, Sunday school teacher, deacon, and elder. In their service to God, they have missed the engine that is transporting the vehicle of their service. Are you a committed server but far from God with your heart? Think about your way of serving God to do it right and not be a failure.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to serve Him right and not be a failure.

FAITH CAPSULE: So, why not see (believe) in the truth of the word of God and wait?

Luke 15:11-31

Philippians 4:19 recorded, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” So, can you not see in the word and wait for the word of God that does not return to Him void? Seeing is believing. If you can see and wait on God for His time and not for your clock, there shall be manifestation of the word of God as stated. Man lies but God does not lie. So, why not see (believe) in the truth of the word of God and wait? The choice of not to wait on the word of God is to become wasted.
In the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32), it was clearly demonstrated that the prodigal son entered a state of want because he could not wait for his appointed time. The prodigal son intervened in God’s timing for his life by twisting the clock. A Clock is not registered in heaven; God operates not by man’s clock but by His appointed time. The parable mentioned that the prodigal son was the younger of two sons who could not wait for the portion of goods that falls to him.
Why your rush where there is so much to receive in the place of waiting on God? Have you entered into self-designed rush lately? Not to be able to wait on the word of God is to abide in waste. The prodigal son got his portion; he journeyed to a far country, and wasted his inheritance. Jesus’ parable is not a play write-up; it is in place for our learning and correction. The word of God is to serve as instruction to guide in every walk of life. Evidently in life, any type of abundance set for man that’s given at the wrong time will lavishly be exhausted and could not be appreciated as compared to what is received while going through the pain of waiting.
The prodigal son did not wait. As a result, he was bound to end up wasted. The prodigal son ended up where he was not called to be because his timing in the journey of life was interrupted by his inability to wait for God’s time. It is written concerning the prodigal son, “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land and he began to be in want.” (Luke 15: 13-14) Anyone that walks out of God’s timing because of unbelief to wait on God shall be wasted in journey of life.  Wait on God and you will never step into mistakes. It is true that none ever complained of falling or stepping into grievous mistake while waiting on God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of seeing in His word to wait on Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: When fear rises, faith sinks.

Matthew 8:18-27

Storm is not a fun fair and when it strikes it can possibly cause stagnation or destruction. Are you experiencing of perceiving storm challenges? With Jesus on board, any storm that rises will rest and not sink man. Have you accepted Jesus into your life? Often, stormy challenges are meant to build up man in the face of world challenges.
Jesus Christ, in all His teachings and demonstrations, prepared His disciples for future endeavor in the face of wicked world. Twice in the book of Matthew, Jesus was behind and ahead of His disciples through storm which led them into the middle of storm. The Bible documented the first storm, “Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. (Matthew 8:23-24) In their first encounter with storm, the disciples followed Him into a boat. Knowing Jesus for who He is, what will happen was not hidden from Him. Surely, He knew there was going to be storm before He went to sleep. Despite the presence of Jesus in the boat, the fear from the storm stormed the life of the disciples.
The fact that the disciples witnessed several miracles performed by Jesus, they could not hold on to faith when storm struck their vessel. Matthew 8:25 recorded, “Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’” Jesus’ presence is always a salvation and He has never ceased from doing miracles. He was the same yesterday and today. When fear rises, faith sinks. The storm took over as the disciples caved in to fear. Is there any raging storm that is building fear in your life? What can you do besides to hope and trust in Him, especially if you have followed Him to where He is leading you to? When the disciples went and woke up Jesus, He responded in Matthew 8:26, “But He said to them, ’Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” It does not matter when or where storm take its charge in your journey of life, know from this encounter of the disciples that Jesus is there to discharge your storm. The experience of the storm demonstrated to us that Jesus will never sleep over when we need His delivering presence. Remember, Jesus neither sleeps nor slumbers through any storm of life. Let faith rise and the storm will eventually rest.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to stand and not fail in the face of challenging storm of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: He will remember you with favor and visit you with salvation if you will trust and hope in Him.

Genesis 7

God will not overlook or miss every demonstration of our fear for His name. Speaking about and meditating on the word of God will cause God to have a book of remembrance opened on our behalf. Who on earth would not want to be remembered by God?
God that does not sleep does not forget or fail to remember His children. God is a mindful God; a caring father that will always remember to attend His children. David identified the character of God when he questioned, “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:4)  God’s remembrance is God’s visitation. When God remembrance His children, He is set to visit. The Psalmist wanted to be remembered as stated in Psalm 106:4 “Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation.” It was God’s remembrance of Noah that directed Noah into the vessel of salvation which saved him and his family from the water of destruction. While Noah and his family were in the ark for forty days, God also remembered Noah in the ark of salvation. God remembered Noah and sent His wind, and the water of destruction subsided and Noah entered into his land of deliverance.
The children of Israel, having been in bondage for over four hundred years, entered their deliverance when God remembered them, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” (Exodus 2:23-24) God remembered the children of Israel and God acknowledged them. With God’s acknowledgement, nothing could stop the Israelites from coming out of bondage; Pharaoh the king of Egypt could not stop the Israelites from setting out for their journey to the Promised Land. For the children of Israel, God’s acknowledgement was bondage termination.
Another example is Hannah in the book of Samuel. Hannah never excused herself from going to Shiloh despite her bareness. Hannah kept on going and she did not yield herself to the mockery of bareness. God remembered her and visited her, “…Elkhanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her.” God’s remembrance of Hannah delivered her from mockery into miracle. Without any doubt, God is a good God and there is no evil in all of His doing.
Going by the testimonies of God which remembers and visits, it is evident that your glorious vision or dream that is centered on God will come to manifestation. God is in control of time and He has made everything beautiful in its time. Today, be restful in the name of God. He will remember you with favor and visit you with salvation if you will trust and hope in Him.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God to be mindful of His goodness.