FAITH CAPSULE: know that He is true to His word, live life according to His command.

Haggai 2

God spoke to Joshua after the he took over from Moses, “…I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5) The word that sounded to Joshua speaks to all that walks in line with the word of God. However, when there is lack of understanding that God is with you, the power of Him being there for you will not be activated. It is written in Hosea 4:6 that the lack of knowledge is what destroyed the people of God. It is important to constantly keep in mind that He is with us just as we walk in line with His word. God is always available for His children and the Psalmist described Him, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)
The completion of the latter temple was nothing to be compared with the one that was built by Solomon. All those who lived to witness both temples do have enough reason to develop a sense of discouragement. However, there was a reason for them to be encouraged and move forward and not dwell on the past but to continue in their work for the Lord. The reason not to be discouraged was God’s word of encouragement through Haggai in Haggai 2:4, “Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the LORD; and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work; for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts”. Are you experiencing any form of discouragement?
Take to the living Word of God that was and that will always be. The word of God speaks encouragement and power in place of discouragement. It is time to disallow the past from counting you out but continue to count on Him that is abundantly able to accept us from where we stand in Him. God’s words through Haggai, “I am with you” (Exodus 3:12) was the same that was spoken to encourage Moses in the assignment for bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt. God has not ceased from backing His children up with His word. Hebrews 13:5 identifies what it takes to have the word answer on our behalf, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” To be living according to His command and to know that He is true to His word is encouraging. With our knowing, “…we can boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6) Know that the Lord is with you. Be encouraged by the Word of God today and He will see you through.

 Prayer for today: Ask Him to help you not to depart from His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: One that is taking wrong chances can change one’s life to worse experience.

2 Samuel 11

To be at the right place at the right time will always produce a positive result. In other words, being at the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time can be exceedingly destructive without the Word of God o help. To be at the wrong place at the wrong time is evidently the cheapest way to self-destruction. The right place at the right time is the only right with no iota of wrong having its way. King David, as greatly as he was used by God, got caught up in the right place at the wrong time. As a result, he failed to stand in the command of God. The Bible recorded, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle…” (2 Samuel 11:1) While David was suppose to be at the battlefield like other kings he, “…Arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.” (2 Samuel 11:2) King David’s standing at the right place at the wrong time caused an outstanding mark of pain on him that endured all the days of his life. To King David, it was the mark of adultery that had a great negative impact on his life journey.

As an acclaimed believer, are you conscious of your present location? Avoid taking chances that can change your life for a worse experience. God cannot be hidden from and His presence will always locate you. As an acclaimed believer, where are you standing? Just as we pay attention to where we are standing giving attention to what we stand for is also important. What do you stand for? Where you are standing or what you are standing for can usher you into an unending journey of pain or an unending journey of great gains. In King David’s wrong standing, he entered into an indirect killing of Uriah when he ordered Uriah’s killing at the battlefield. King David, “…wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, ’Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.’” (2 Samuel 11:14-15) David creating a set up for the destruction of Uriah was an attempt to cover up his adultery that brought forth an unexpected seed. David’s adultery brought to life a child that he did not expect. King David’s standing was not acceptable to God because he violated the command of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s divine guidance through every walk of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Presence of God is a shelter at all time.

Psalm 27

What the heart desires often come forth in life. King David stated, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4) What do you desire? Dwelling in the house of God is taking a shelter against the time of trouble. David went further to identify what is inhabited in dwelling in the house (presence) of God stating, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. (Psalm 27:5) Manifestly, dwelling in the presence of God will hide one and set one high away from trouble.
As one that believes in the name of the Almighty God, it is important to consider if you have only been entering into His presence and not dwelling. It is written, “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.” (Jeremiah 7:1-3) It is not enough to be coming and going to the presence of God but to dwell. He who comes to God must believe that He is. Have you been coming long enough and nothing has changed in your spiritual life? There is a need to begin to come and seek Him diligently and make His presence become your dwelling place. Your level of belief is what will determine how you seek Him. Seek Him diligently and He will reward you because He is a faithful God. It is possible to come to Him and not believe.

In the days of Jesus Christ, many came to see Him; some came to ridicule Him. Some did not go to Him because they did not believe. So many go to church on Sunday or on any given day, but are not able to identify in themselves if they actually believe in Him. Likewise in Jesus’ time, many went to Him, but did not seek Him. When you come with belief, you will not doubt Him but seek Him diligently. It is not enough to come to Him but to come and seek Him. Seeking Him is settling and dwelling in His presence. Just like David, desirer dwelling and God will deposit all that it takes to dwell in His presence.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to continually to dwell in His presence.

FAITH CAPSULE: The inability to deny self is to deny Jesus.

Numbers 14

Jesus repeatedly tells His disciples and the multitudes, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:38) “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35)
Following Jesus is self-denial. The inability to deny self leads to the impossibility to follow Him fully. Coming to Christ is carrying the cross. Carrying the cross is following Him fully and it is a daily activity, not only a Sunday activity.

In following Him
In following there is no excuse; there is no distraction. When one follows Him, there has to be consistency. Consistency will build up to commitment, and then continuity will have its place. When one follows Him, there should be no reason to walk how others walk; one does not have to see like others see; one does not have to hear what they hear. Indeed, following Him fully by carrying the cross is not convenient but it is a commitment that calls for keeping one’s focus on the leading Master.
In following Him fully, there is a route of escape that delivers from dying a cheap death. When the general population is dying a cheap death, one will definitely be driving away from cheap death. It is amazing how He led some through the Red Sea in the face of their enemy. He led them through but they could not get through to their promised land because they failed to follow Him fully. Obedience should be in full compliance. Whenever obedience is short of full compliance, it becomes disobedience and hinders one from following fully. Thousands of the children of Israel followed Him but only two (Caleb and Joshua) were able to follow Him fully. Half-obedience is worse than no obedience. Half-obedience makes correction difficult. Half-obedience makes hypocrites out of those who come to the Lord, and do not follow him fully. The children of Israel, because they were not following Him fully, became trapped and died in the wilderness. God declared in Numbers14:24, “But my servant Caleb, because he has a different sprit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.”

Prayer for today: Ask God to deposit in your life the spirit that makes man to follow Him fully.

FAITH CAPSULE: Avoid route not to wait and become wasted.

Luke 15:11-32

As a child of the Most High God, lack is not meant to be your portion. To be in lack where provision is available is a direct result of the inability to wait for God’s hand to move. The Apostle Paul testified to the provision of God when he stated, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19). Why not wait? In the parable of the lost son, it was clearly demonstrated that the prodigal son entered into a state of want because he could not wait for his appointed time. The prodigal son interrupted God’s timing for his life by turning the clock forward. 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 the rush where there is so much to receive in the place of waiting? Have you entered into self-designed rush lately? The inability not to wait is a direct route to become wasted. The prodigal son got his portion of goods (his inheritance) from his father and journeyed to a far country where he 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 and to guide in every walk of life for those that receive it.
Evidently in life, any type of abundance set for man and received at a wrong time will lavishly be exhausted and could not be appreciated as compared to the ones 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. Jesus went further stating in the parable, “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 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)
At every time one walks out of God’s timing, one ends up in wrong timing. Wait on God and you will never step into mistakes. It is absolutely true that none ever complained of falling or stepping into grievous mistake while waiting on God. At what point should we stop waiting on the Lord? At no point and there is no point to ever stop waiting on Him.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of waiting on for God’s time.