FAITH CAPSULE: Take to looking up to God instead of looking up to man.

Psalm 34

God is a gracious merciful God. Who do you remember to look up to? Psalm 20:7 stated, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” Lifting up our eyes to God is a demonstration of having full confidence to trust in Him. Our confidence should be in God. To fear God and have faith is what pleases God. Lifting up our eyes is giving a jealous God the attention that it takes for Him to attend to us. The Psalmist stated, “Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us.” (Psalm 123:1-2) Emphasis for the request for mercy by the Psalmist is evidence of the reason for his dependency on God. Without doubt, constant and consistency in the word of God leads to way of loving God and obeying God’s commandment. Exodus 20:6, “…but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” It is clear that obtaining His mercy is in obeying His command. Every time we seek the face of God we are waiting on Him with the expectation that there is no any other one to depend on but Him.
It is written, Isaiah 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.” God will act when we seek Him. Have you been looking to man to act on your behalf? God that is clothe with majesty and honor is the only God that is worthy to be looked up to. When we put our confidence in God it is saying that He is embracing us in the palm of His hands. The Psalmist must have been looking up to Him with understanding that God will look upon him when he stated, “Look upon me and be merciful to me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name.” (Psalm 119:132) Do you love the name of God or your love for man to help? To love God it is clear to God and He shall visit you. Look up to God by obtaining the mercy of God. Looking up to God is maintaining our deliverance from every form of shame. Psalm 34:5, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.” It is never too late to turn around looking up to God instead of looking to man.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace not to hide His face from you in the day of your going and coming.

FAITH CAPSULE: Insist and resist the enemy against open door.

Mark 5

Seeking the face of God for breakthrough over concerning challenge demands from man to insist and resist. The enemy is stubborn to deny man’s breakthrough. God is a good God that opens door for man while the enemy takes a position to shut down man’s open door. Testimony of Apostle Paul is an evidence that enemy does not have respect for no man in his business to deny open doors of breakthrough. Paul stated, “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” (1 Corinthians 16:9) Do you know if your open door of breakthrough is the enemy’s attempt to deny? As a believer, there is a need to insist and resist the enemy before God.
Jairus insist and resist the enemy for his daughter’s open door of healing from untimely death when he came to Jesus. The bible recorded, “…And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, ‘My daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.’” (Mark 5:22-23) Demonstration of the ruler of the synagogue before Jesus was an evidence of his insist and resist getting the attention of Jesus.
Jairus as one of the ruler of the synagogue, pride could have been the agent of the enemy to shut open door of deliverance for Jairus’ daughter in the hand of sudden death. However, Jairus put aside his religious title that could not measure to the task of delivering his daughter. Jairus did three things to have open door answered for his daughter’s deliverance.
First, he met Jesus at the right location, which was the crossing point. Your crossing point could be at the ground of fellow-shipping. Often times, many have missed their crossing point because of title (pride). Jairus disallowed his title to deny his miracle healing for his daughter. In life, it does not matter how long it takes manifestation of expectation, insist and resist on your God’s visitation.
Secondly, Jairus saw Jesus and he took a step of faith. Jairus’ stepping out of multitude caused him to have a direct contact with Jesus. Jesus knows all things and Jairus’ need was not strange to Jesus. His stepping out and seeing Jesus was a renunciation of being a part of the multitude with pride. Just like Jairus, allow Jesus to see you in your need and not just a multitude.
Thirdly, Jairus fell at His feet. He laid it all unto Jesus. Imagine Jairus begging earnestly for the life of his daughter saying, “Here I am, a poor religious leader, have mercy on my dying daughter.” Jairus at the feet of Jesus made his request without giving attention to his title. Pride could not shut open door for Jairus’ daughter healing.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s hand to answer against agent that shuts open door.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is important to know that enemy is in the business to disrupt man’s preparation.

Joshua 1

The process of journey is what will prepare man for God’s provision. In the journey of man the enemy is always on track to deny man’s expected end. The enemy is stubborn not to give up wicked agenda. Devil is the master of wickedness and was stubbornly wicked in his attempt of Jesus. Jesus’ process of journey was prayed for forty days. At the time of coming out of His forty days of fast, the devil repeatedly tempted Jesus but failed. The book of Luke 4:13 recorded, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” The devil promised not to give up but will always seek an opportune time. Have you accepted Jesus? Accepting Christ is not an indication that man is free from sin. In the journey of life, sin will not go away as long as the devil is around.
The Israelites had the backing of God and the promise of God for the milk and honey land but sin was a warning not to derail the Israelites journey. God warned against failure for the enemy, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God.  According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”(Leviticus 18:1-5) God sees the future. God pointed out He was bringing the children of Israel out of bondage (Egypt) a land of sin as he was taking them to Canaan the land of opportunity. The coming out of the land of sin and going into the land where sin exists depicts the journey of every believer. However, the journey from Egypt to Canaan is the process and preparation for provision. The process of journey is what will prepare every man for God’s provision. It is important to know that enemy is in the business to disrupt man’s preparation for the possession of God’s promise.
Adapting to meditating the word of God as stated in Joshua 1 is the way of observing the word of God and not be a victim of the devil. Jesus our example responded to the devil by the word of God as it is written in the bible. Jesus repeatedly shut down the enemy’s temptation of the devil through the word of God. Meditate the word of God and be able to observe and do the word.

Prayer for today: Ask God for His word to be established in your heart.

FAITH CAPSULE: Heart that does not allow the Word of God shall settle for darkness world.

Psalm 95

Every word of God’s destination is not for stopover in the mouth or in the head. The word of God’s destination is for the heart. Proverbs 4:4 buttressed, “He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live.” When word enters the heart it answers in every way of life by terminating activity of darkness. With understanding, word is true to terminate darkness as the Psalmist testified, “The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130) Above all, the word of God should be settled in the heart in the world of darkness. John 1:1-5 stated the importance of the word of God in the darkness of this world, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.””
Heart that does not allow the Word of God to settle in the heart shall for wicked and darkness world.
For example, the Israelites’ journey was disrupted; heart was hardened because the word was misplaced from their heart. Psalm 95:7-9 stated, “Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.” Many are hearing Him with their ear and not with their heart. In life, not hearing from Him could be a result of the hardness of heart and the act of rebellion. The children of Israel heard Him with their ear but, not with their heart and that caused them to be a rebellious generation. Evidently, not being able to hear God with the heart, the Israelites turned rebellious and tested God. Despite all that the word of God accomplished the children of Israel failed to see because the word did not enter into their heart.
For forty years the Israelites could not allowed the entrance of the word in the heart. Psalm 95:10 concluded, “…it is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.” Just like the Israelites, many are not allowing the entrance of word in the heart for direction in the darkness of the world. A failure to allow word is causing hearts to go astray. The work of God is the Word of God; hear, see and settle in Him.

Prayer for the day: Ask for the grace of open heart for the word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Today, know it that lifted up heart opens up door for hardened spirit of pride.

Daniel 5

God does not have plans for those with pride but to pass them unto destruction. God addressed pride through Jeremiah, “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.”” (Jeremiah 13:8-10) In this wicked world, pride has taken a prominent position. The word of God pointed out that pride is evil. With pride, man refuses not to hear God. Man is position to hear but makes the choice not to hear the words of God. Many are lifted by God but pride of the heart becomes the agent of man’s destruction.
Uzziah was an example of pride destruction. When he was sixteen years old he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem because God lifted him. Uzziah did right in the sight of God. He sought God as God made him prosper. Later as King, “…he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” (2 Chronicles 26:16) Have you been lifted up by God but now you are lifting up your heart and become hardened? Uzziah as king is wrong to burn incense to God as priest. Uzziah became angry in response to Priest Azariah’s opposition for his wrong doing. In the process of his angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on Uzziah’s forehead. God lifted Uzziah, pride of the heart lifted Uzziah to destruction. It is written, “King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord…” (2 Chronicles 26:21)
Among ways not to become a victim of pride is to keep heart with all diligence. (Proverbs 4:23) King Uzziah was a victim of hardened heart. Nebuchadnezzar was also a great king until he became a victim of pride through his hardened heart. Daniel 5:20-21 recorded, “But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.  Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.”

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace not to live life as a victim of pride.