FAITH CAPSULE: Regardless of your challenge do not suspend praising and rejoicing before God.

Psalm 9

Jesus identified Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6) He is the way, He is the truth and He is the life. The word of God in John 1:1-3 identified, “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.” The word confirmed that Jesus is the Word of God. Do you receive and believe Him? Those that receive and believe Him must abide in Him. Jesus buttressed, “…If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
The bible documented that Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the Word of God
To abide in Him is the only way to know the truth.
To know the truth is to fully engage the truth.
To fully engage the truth is to truthfully follow the truth.
To fully follow the truth shall make man free.
A failure to abide in the Word (the truth) shall not make man free.
A man praising God without rejoicing is the lack of understanding, the evidence of failure to abide in the truth (word)
Praising God with rejoicing is the truths that shall make man free (evidence of abiding in the truth). The word testified the importance of praising and rejoicing as one together. Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.”
Psalm 98:4, “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.”
Luke 19:37, “…the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen…”
The above scriptural verses buttressed that it is lack of understanding by not abiding in the truth to be praising God without rejoicing.
Is it your challenge that is denying praising God and not rejoicing God? You cannot praise Him without rejoicing, likewise you cannot rejoice without praising Him. Regardless of your challenge do not suspend praising and rejoicing before God.
If man will receive and believe all that is written in the pages of scripture for our learning, all the miracles that were testified will not escape man. Try God and see that He alone is faithful; truth to His word of deliverance and preservation in life. With abiding in the truth with understanding, praising and rejoicing will make you to walk on high places.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be abiding in the truth and open up your understanding.

FAITH CAPSULE: If you will continue to  trust and hope in Him, praising and rejoicing He will make you to walk on high places.

Habakkuk 3

It is not enough to praise God without rejoicing. Is it your challenge that is denying praising God and not rejoicing? You cannot praise Him without rejoicing, likewise you cannot rejoice without praising Him. Regardless of your challenge do not suspend praising and rejoicing before God. Imagine the word of Habakkuk 3:17, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls.” This does not sound good and it is not a situation that anyone wants to experience. The Habakkuk 3:17 situation can be liken to a place in the depth of a valley where there seems to be no way out. The situation seems like no end in sight as to when the time of rising and climbing out of the depth of valley. Also, there is no one that wants to plant a tree without blossom; neither not to harvest fruit where the vines should be bringing forth fruit as the crown of labor. When a hard laborer seems to be producing a result that matches that of a lazy laborer there must be trouble. When all that needs to be a better result begins to be cut off, then hard laborer should know that situation is wrong that could be beyond comprehension.
Habakkuk does have a word for a man in time of challenging situation like that of hard laborer’s experience, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:18) It is important to know that joy and rejoicing are the only ways to keep in the way of God because it positions one in the presence of God.
Jesus was in the midst of the family of Lazarus during the time of their mourning for Lazarus’ passing. As they were lifting their voices in wailing, crying, and gnashing of teeth, the Bible recorded that, “… Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father I thank You that you have heard Me.” (John 11:41) Try thanking Him with a heart full of joy in the face of adversity or challenges, and then wait to see if God will act on your behalf or not. If man will receive and believe all that the Lord has put down in the pages of scripture for our learning, all the miracles that were testified will not escape man. Try God and see that He alone is faithful and true to His word of deliverance and life. If you will continue to  trust and hope in Him, praising and rejoicing He will make you to walk on high places.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to be doing right in all His ways.

FAITH CAPSULE: In the New Year, are you resetting God given time in God’s presence?

Matthew 6

God is in his undeniable position to give out time to each and all of his children. It is a clear understands that God is in the position to give time more abundantly or to take it away without any regret. Very few makes it habit to constantly spend God’s given time before God while many takes God given time away from the presence God.
However, when challenges knock on man’s door, it is always much easier for ones that spend most of their time in the presence of God that gets God’s attention.
Do you have time to seek God?
Is there your year resolution to reset time in His presence?
Interestingly, God is the only One who can take away or add time that is given to every man.
God controls time, but man only control the clock. God’s timing cannot be manipulated like man’s clock.
Jesus commanded, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”(Matthew 6:33-34) Despite the command of Jesus, many are still very much into spending most or all of their time outside of God. It is glaring that reasonable excuse will not excuse any man when the time of accountability is up before the One and only God whose time is in His hand. Adam had what should be considered as the most reasonable excuse when he answered unto God for violating the command not to eat from a forbidden tree. God asked Adam, “…have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”(Genesis 3:11) Adam responded, “The woman who You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”(Genesis 3:12) Excuse will not work before God because He does not ask for what we cannot do. Adam’s reasonable excuse failed before God and the consequences of transgressing God’s command passed onto Adam and all future generations.
Living a stable life in a challenging world is centered in the wisdom and knowledge acquired in the Word of God. It is written in the Book of Isaiah 33:6, “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times and the strength of salvation…” With wisdom and knowledge in place, no matter how challenges become more challenging, stability will reign. In addition to gaining stability through wisdom and understanding, salvation will not be stagnant, but will undoubtedly gain strength as stated in the word of God.
Attend to God by giving to Him reasonable time in His presence and He will acknowledge you.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to spend more time in the presence of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is our shield.

Psalm 94

Truth is the year 2016. Jesus spoke the truth to those who believes (not just the Jews), “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
Engaging truth is the entire vessel to get to expected end of the year.
Prayer remains as the undeniable key of vessel.
Truthfully will you engage prayer and be watching in the journey of 2016?
Prayer Points
To God, express your appreciation to provoke your expectation.
Life should not only be about what you expect from the Lord but also how you express your appreciation to the Lord. By grace, the hand of the Lord has been keeping through days, weeks, months and year after years.
The hand of God upon you is not because of merit but mercy.
Living life is not a right but a privilege bestowed upon us by God.
Why not turn from expectation to expression of your appreciation?
Are you consciously aware that God expects our appreciation?
When there is a failure to appreciate it becomes an evidence of foolishness. Foolishness is like saying there is none to appreciate.
Psalm94:8-11, “Understand, you senseless among the people; and you fools, when will you be wise?
He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge?
The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.”
Prayer: Ask God to direct your heart into appreciation of His hand upon life He has given you.
God is our shield. Consciously, consistently call Him your shield in your prayer and meditation.
Psalm 3:3 stated, “But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.”
In this wicked of world, for deliverance and preservation, God should be called our shield. What you ask in His name is what you get from Him.
Genesis 15:1 stated, “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
Psalm 18:35 stated, “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.” Indeed God is our shield, our salvation.
Prayer: In the coming days, weeks, months and years. It is worth to commit our head into His hand for Him to be lifting up our head from where 10s, 100s, 1,000s are falling down in this wicked of world.
As our shield, we are going to ask Him to help us not give self to afraid which often revolves to fear.
God is a faithful and He shall answer when we ask, seek and knock.

Prayer for today: Give God glory and ask for the grace of strength on the prayer of alters to God in Jesus name.

FAITH CAPSULE: Your prophecy shall come to pass if your prophet is speaking from God.

Matthew 2

Have you heard personal word of God in the course year that is running out?
Is there manifestation of what you have heard?
Isaiah 55:10-11 recorded the word of God with distinct clarity that requires no translation, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. ” Whatever word of God in your direction in the course of year shall accomplish and prosper in the thing for which He sent you. It is not the time of complaining but be complementing the hand of God in all area of your living life.
The word of God cannot be more true than the prophecy of the Messiah’s birth in Isaiah 9:1-2, “…By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” The prophecy that came from God through Isaiah was spoken years before the birth of Jesus. King Herod fashioned against the prophecy but could not prevail. Just as Jesus’ birth was prophesied is exactly how it came to be. Joseph, after his time expired in Egypt, headed back home to Israel in an attempt to settle at home but his situation took a different turn in direction for God’s prophecy and not for Joseph’s plan, “…When he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22-23) Joseph turned towards the direction of the word of prophecy that was released before the birth of Jesus and that made Jesus came to be of the city of Nazareth in the region of Galilee.
Have you heard personal prophecy word of God in the course year that is yet to manifest?
Take note that the prophecy concerning your life will come to pass if your prophet is speaking from God.
God alone is our glory and the One who lifts up our head not a man. Word of good God shall be manifested.
As the year runs out, offer sacrifices of joy and sing praises to the Lord.

Prayer for today: Ask God that His Word that is blessing and favor shall come to pass to the glory of God over your life.