FAITH CAPSULE: There is no reasonable excuse to avoid the calling of God.

Exodus 4

When the calling of God sounds in a man’s direction, there can never be any excuse that is reasonable enough to avoid the calling of God. When it was time for Elisha to be called by God, God spoke to Elijah, “…you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.” (1 Kings 19:16) It was God that called Elisha through Elijah but Elisha had excuse not wanting to answer at God’s timing for the calling upon his life. When Elijah approached Elisha, the excuse was, “…Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” (1Kings 19:20) Elisha’s excuse took him back but could not keep him for long before turning back to answer the Lord God’s calling upon his life.

Are you holding on to any excuse against the Lord’s calling upon your life? It is time to come out of excuse and answer to God’s calling. It is important to know that God will not call you for assignment without empowering you. God wanted to introduce Moses to Moses so that Moses could know what the Lord has deposited in his hand to back him up in the calling upon his life. “So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),” (Exodus 4:2-4) A rod of God in hand is power of God in hand.

Moses could not have been able to carry the assignment if the Lord did not show to him what He had deposited in him. If you have been called, know this day that He has put a fitting rod in your hand for the assignment. Among all the disciples that walked with Jesus while He was on the face of earth, none contributed to the assignment of the Kingdom of God like the apostle Paul. Apostle Paul did not walk with Jesus on the face of earth but he knew himself in the Lord more than any of the disciples. Paul testified, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10) Know yourself and take off into the direction of your calling.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of understanding to know and answer fully to the calling upon your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Get serious with your time in the word and God’s success (good success), will get to you.

Joshua 1

The word of God is God. The book of John 1:13 said it better and made it clearer stating, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Spending time on the Word of God is spending time to listen to God. The Bible makes us to realize that, “if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2) God was speaking to the children of Israel on their way to the Promised Land. What God said to one speaks to all. It is good to listen to the Word of God, but it is not enough when there is no obedience to what His Word says to you. Doing what the Word says is obedience. Without observing what the Word says, the chance of doing what the Word says is not possible.

Just as commanded by God, observing the Word of God is obeying God. The key to obeying is in the Word of God to Joshua as stated in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” The Word of God in His book of law demands meditation day and night before it becomes a thing of observation. Until the Word of God becomes what you constantly and consistently observe, doing accordingly to it is not going to be possible. Often time believers memorize to quote the word of God instead of meditate to observe and know to do the word of God. Clearly the message is not only about memorizing, but also meditating. There is no better way it can be emphasized more than when God repeatedly warned Joshua about the need to observe the Word in the book of Joshua chapter one. God is not talkative, but when He talks it has to be activated for the result to be accomplished. There has to be meditation day and night to be able to observe and do according to the Word. Get serious with your time in the Word and good success, which is God’s success (not just success), will get to you.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to live by God’s, instruction, teaching and guidance that is laid in the ages of the bible for all who observe the word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: A prayer-less life is an open door for pain to come in.

1 Kings 19:17-21, Matthew 7:7-12,

It is written, “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.” (1 Peter 4:7) How is your prayer life? Prayer is work and it excludes no man regardless of title or position inside or outside of the church. With God, prayer can never be too much but it has to be with understanding. The Bible pointed out how Jesus often withdraws to all night prayer by Himself. A prayer-less life is an open door for pain to come in. Regardless of how long one has been getting away in life without prayer, it will only take one day for pain to gain access. Apostle Paul, a giant in the hand of God knows better to pray for himself when he stated, “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly Kingdom. To Him is glory forever and ever, Amen!”(2 Timothy 4:18) He asked for deliverance despite being in position to carry out deliverance for many. He could not hide his need for being preserved by God.

In these days when wickedness is the order of the day, a believer needs a constant prayer like Paul prayed. Will you take some time to pray this prayer if you believe that God answers prayer? Surely, the Hand of God is for deliverance and preservation. When God defends His children deliverance answered in the life of His children. When God preserves His children, surely His children are blessed by being rescued from the forces of wickedness. God does have His way of working out deliverance and preservation for His own. God told Elijah at the time he was running from Jezebel, after he had killed four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings19:18) It is only God who can keep us by divine reservation, not our determination or our strength. Anyone’s determination and strength will fail just as it failed Peter when he promised not to deny Christ. However, the faithfulness of God will not fail you. Today, take time out to sincerely ask Him for deliverance and preservation. Jesus commanded, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8) If Paul the Apostle could ask for such, it is not beyond you to add such a prayer to your prayer list.

 Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be strengthened on the prayer altar.

FAITH CAPSULE: To fear God is to love Him; to love God is to serve Him.

Ezra 5

Enemy can delay, but will never be able to deny the move of God in our life. When the children of Israel began to face stiff opposition at all levels, their rebuilding project of the temple ceased. However, it did not take forever before construction resumed. The attempt of their adversaries to terminate the effort to rebuild could not prevail forever, but only delayed for a period of time. The children of Israel could not be denied because their God was over them. Indeed and in truth, He that is above is above all and none of His will can be terminated. The Word of God testified the reason why the children of Israel could not be interrupted, “But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius…” (Ezra 5:5) When the eye of God is upon man, it makes man to become a force which no evilprevails agenda. Can you tell if the eye of God is upon you? Are you taking a conscious step that calls for God’s eye to be upon you? Gaining understanding of what it takes to have God’s eye upon you would be a help.

It is written in the Book of Psalm, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.” (Psalm 33:18-19) God does nothing by accident because He is a perfect God. It is clear that provoking His eye to be upon us is directly rooted in fearing Him. To fear God is to love Him; to love God is to serve Him. How much of His fear do you have in you? We do not fear God by mouth, but by the way we live in the word of His mouth. Fearing God will not happen by determination, but by the Spirit of God. Determination failed Peter after promising not to deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed. Peter eventually denied Jesus three times. The Word of God states, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40) God is the one who will put His fear in our heart. Do you desire His fear?

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace for His  fear to reign and rule your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Whenever fear hits the target, faith will sink in the life of its target for failure to reign.

Psalm 34

King David declared, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4) It was made known that Psalm 34 is a psalm that was written to celebrate his escape from Abimelech the King of Gath. Evidently, King David had fear at the time he was facing the challenges of Abimelech but he overcame when he sought the Lord. Are you facing any challenge that commands fear from you? One can look into how David sought the Lord to overcome his challenge. Psalm 34:1-3, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Clearly David took four steps that delivered him from the fear of his enemy.

First, David blessed the Lord at all times. Blessing the name of God with all our soul and all that is within us is a fear terminator. Blessing the Lord while referring and testifying to all He has done is a way of deliverance from the fear of the enemy. David blesses the name of the Lord at all times.
Second, praising God was not an occasionally engagement for him. David continually praised God and praising God continually is praising Him with understanding.
The third approach of David was making boast of the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24 declared what it means to boast in the Lord, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.”” Boasting in the Lord was among David’s avenue into his deliverance from the fear of his enemies.
The fourth approach of King David was magnifying the name of the Lord. King David mentioned what it takes to magnify the name of the Lord in Psalm 69:30 when he stated, “…I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.”

By virtue of all his testimonies, he was delivered from the fear of Abimelech the King of Gath. The Bible is written for our learning if we would take to the word for our use. In every confronting challenge, fear always represents the enemy’s first shot at his target. Whenever fear hits the target, faith will sink in the life of its target for failure to reign. Learn from David’s approach and overcome fear.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be bold in the word of God.