FAITH CAPSULE: Serving God demands seeking God and setting mind on things where God is above.

Colossians 3

In life, the lack of understanding to be serving God is limiting the manifestation God’s power among the majority of acclaimed Christian.
As an acclaimed Christian, there should be an evidence of living out of Egypt of today. God wanted the Israelites out of Egypt when He spoke to Moses, “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12) God also sent Moses to Pharaoh stating, “ Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.  So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me…” (Exodus 4:22-23)
God is a jealous that wants nothing from us but to free and serve Him.
What does it means to serve God?
Serving God demands no carnality that is evidence among today of acclaimed Christians.
To serve God demands from believers to seek God and set mind on things where God is above.
The book of Colossians 3:1-2 clearly stated, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
To be an acclaimed Christian that seeks and set on things above are what makes a true server of God. In truthful God, when serving God is indeed, power of God becomes evidence in the server of God.
The challenges that reduce acclaimed Christian are:
-Majority acclaimed Christians are yet to be dead in their trespasses which deny rising with Christ.
-Majority acclaimed Christians are struggling to put off the body of the sins of the flesh.
-Majority acclaimed Christians have set mind on so much of the earth things more than things above.
The word makes it clear that if we serve God by seeking and setting mind on above things we shall be a candidate not to miss to appear with Him in glory.
Are you willing to serve God indeed and in truth?
Have you separated yourself from what you once walked when you lived in them on the earth?
The word requires us to put to death our members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. The members on earth will bring the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience which we have once walked. (Colossians 3:6-7)
Word also pointed directly to us what we should put off: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of our mouth, do not lie to one another. (Colossians 3:8-10)
As a serving Christian, put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the word of God.
Be a serving God Christians to experience the power of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of understanding to serve God.

FAITH CAPSULE: A mouth-full thanks giving is not the same with a heart-full thanks giving.

Exodus 2

Gratitude is feeling of being grateful or thankful. Gratitude is the identity of one with contentment.
Are you grateful or thankful to God in your situation?
A mouth-full thanks giving is not the same with a heart-full thanks giving. With contentment is to know satisfaction and be able to give heart-full thanks to God. Without doubt, regardless of situation, giving thanks to God knows the fear of God. The book of Proverbs buttressed, “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” (Proverbs 19:23)
Contentment, satisfaction is the evidence of fear of God that should always fuel heart-full thanks giving to God.
Do you know why you are thankful to God?
Are your thanks giving meaningful?
God cannot be deceived in all our character but let your thanks giving be a heart-full thanks giving at always.
For Moses, contentment can be considered as a major or main character in him that lined him up for a noticeable assignment for God. The bible recorded, “Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.” (Exodus 2:21) Moses, having lived in the palace of Pharaoh for forty years, ended up in Midian, a strange land. Moses refused to get carried away by the exuberant palace life and could not ignore his brethren’s suffering. In his act of support for one of his brethren, he became a murder and had to flee from the palace because of Pharaoh’s attempt to persecute him. Moses was content to live in the desert, with Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; a strange land. There was no evidence or demonstration of bitterness or complaint with his new family in the land. Moses’ contentment is a considerable point that made him and he became agent in the hand of God for God’s assignment.
To be content is to be a provoker of the move of God’s hand for favor, guidance, deliverance, preservation and many more of God’s blessings. 1Timothy 6:6-7 buttressed, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” For Moses to have come out of a palace and into a strange land with a testimony of being content had to have undoubtedly gained Heaven’s attention. Moses contentment speaks a great deal of his character. His action demonstrated that he brought nothing to this world and no material wealth could have kept him away from doing what was right when doing right demanded it. Moses had faith and God was pleased to use him for a great and noticeable assignment.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be giving thanks in all things and for all things.

FAITH CAPSULE: Be joyful and be thankful in the Lord.

Job 1   

Rejoicing in the Lord is the evidence of one that knows to give thanks in all things for all things. Ephesians 5:20 stated, “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Do you know to give thanks enough to be accessible the presence of God? Be thankful and be joyful in the Lord.

It is written, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)  Psalm 9:2, “I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to your name, O most High.” Psalm 16:11, “In Your presence is fullness of joy…” Proverbs 8:30, “…I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.” The scriptural verses testified that without joy God is not is accessible. Apostle Paul stated well, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) Apostle Paul’s call for joy was expressed with simplicity, emphasis and with a shout!
In every meeting with God, all His children must go before the Him with joy. By this virtue, coming before God is celebrating in joy with evidence of thankful heart.
Let it be clear that the evil one never shy away from where there is joy in his agenda to convert joy to sadness. Also let it be aware that our calling is to maintain our joy regardless of challenges. As regard to Job, the book of Job 1:6-7 recorded, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 1:6-7) Satan’s interruption was and is always with bad intention. He is empowered to go to and fro looking for one to devour. Satan initiated pain for Job where the sons of God are gathering in His presence. It is written in Job 1:11-12, “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”” Can you imagine how the wicked one, at his coming out of the place of joy delivered every form of affliction on Job.
In between and through it all, Job did not complain nor did he condemn God. Job cried to God and he eventually received more blessings after his time of testing, than when he first started to enjoy the blessings of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of rejoicing in the Lord and to know giving thanks in all things for all things.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not to stifle your cry unto God when you find the agent of bondage right behind you.

Exodus 14, Luke 4:1-13

Satan tempted Jesus at a time when He was filled with the Holy Spirit; at a time He waited in fasting. Satan is brutal in his attempt to bring man down. He tempted Jesus with every temptation. The Bible recorded, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13) The point here is that Satan is persistently stubborn in his attempt to bring man down. Satan will always return or wait for chance to present itself in his attempt to strike.
Pharaoh operated as a vessel, an agent of Satan in his attempt to deny God’s timing of freedom for the children of Israel from the bondage of over four hundred years.
Despite all the miracles and the demonstration of God’s hand before the eyes of Pharaoh and his people, he would not release the children of Israel to a permanent freedom. Pharaoh let the children of Israel go because of the heaviness of God’s hand upon their lives and their land. After releasing the Israelites, the Egyptians turned around and began to pursue them.
After all the years that God had brought you out of all that represented Egypt, Egypt has not taken a step back behind you; Egypt is still pursuing you just as it pursued the children of Israel. The agent of Egypt (house of bondage) is closely behind you in an attempt to terminate the calling and divine schedule of God in your life. For the children of Israel, Pharaoh pursued them. He would not let go; he wanted to take them back as slaves. Are you in that situation? Do not to stifle your cry unto God when you find the agent of bondage right behind you. The children of Israel cried, and God heard. Joshua 24:6-7, “So they cried out to the Lord; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time.” All year long, the agenda of the wicked remains persistent attempting to bring you down just like Pharaoh did against the children of Israel.
If you will remain persistent in lifting your voice in your cry to God, God will act on your behalf. God will put darkness between you and all that Egypt represents; the bondage of spiritual stagnation, sickness, financial hardship, and marriage problems, which are keeping you from total freedom. The sea will come upon them not only to get them wet, but to cover them so that Egypt will not rise again concerning all that touches you. It is not the time to give up but a time to remain persistently focus on God for total deliverance.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to remain persistent focusing on God.

FAITH CAPSULE: With wisdom and knowledge comes increase in grace and peace.

2 Peter 1

The Bible records that after God had created sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind and every winged bird according to its kind, “…God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”” (Genesis 1:22-23) God pronounced the first blessing and it was a blessing of multiplication. Clearly, God is the God of multiplication. He is the God that desires to see progress in the work of His hand. Also, He is not a stagnant God; He is a God of increase. Evidently increasing must be His character. Simon Peter’s greeting in the book of 2Peter 1:2 states, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter1:2) Peter must have been praying with understanding that was rooted in the fact that multiplication is a significant part of God. The prayer of Peter points to the truth that grace and peace also needs to be multiplied in us in the knowledge of God and of Jesus. With the increase of knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord and Savior in us, there will be multiplication of grace and peace. Without the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord and Savior, one is bound to be stagnant and not increase in grace and peace. In these days of wearing challenges that keeps man from gaining the knowledge of God there is obvious need for wisdom and knowledge to increase in one’s life.

The importance of wisdom and knowledge: Isaiah 33:6 states, “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the LORD is His treasure.” Spending time in the living word of God is gaining increase in the wisdom and knowledge which is the source of stability in the unstable times we are in the world. With stability comes increase of grace and peace of God. It is worth to desire gaining or finding the knowledge of God that brings forth increase in grace and peace in these days of challenges where all kinds of wickedness reign.
The Word of God also points out, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” (Proverb 9:10) The Word of God is the wisdom that we need to incline our ear to. When we begin to increase in the hearing and hearing of the Word of God, understanding the fear of God will undoubtedly increase and it will lead to gaining the knowledge of God. With wisdom and knowledge comes increase in grace and peace.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the increase in grace and peace. Also pray for His Word to have its place in your life.