FAITH CAPSULE: We have a role to play to have our challenges roll away.

John 11:17-44

The word of God is not for decoration but for declaration. When the word is consciously engaged it will fully deliver as declared. Among the way of engaging the word is meditating continuously as commanded by God. God did not suggest to Joshua the need for meditation but He strongly emphasized it with a command when he stated to Joshua, “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. For then you will make your way a prosperous, and then you will have a good success.” (Joshua 1:8) One that truly meditates the word of God will be able to observe and do as the word commands. Without doubt, one that is doing as commanded by the word will always have the word work for him/her in the face of challenges.
Jeremiah knew God called him and he must have been meditating on the word of God that called him. It was the word in the heart of Jeremiah that delivered him during one of his challenges. Jeremiah was able to stand and not fall for his challenge when he remembered and he spoke “But the LORD is with me as a mighty awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 20:11) The word of God is the way out of the challenges of the wicked world.

As a believer, we have a role to play to make the word of God work for us in the face of challenges. When we constantly remember what He has spoken concerning our challenge in the pages of scripture, standing our ground in His word will keep us up and not fall for our challenges just like Jeremiah did. We cannot forget what God says concerning our challenge and expect His word to carry us through. When God commanded meditation, He gave us a role to play for our deliverance.
When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus which was a cave, and a stone lay against it, He commanded, “Take away the stone.” (John 11:39)Jesus could have commanded the stone to roll but He did not. We have a role to play to have our challenges roll away. God is a good God He sent the word already for our healing and deliverance from destruction. (Psalm 107:20) Are you still waiting for God to engage your role while your role is set before you? Engage your role by meditating on the word and your world of challenges shall be rolled away.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace and mercy to be constant and consistent engaging the word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: As a believer, dwelling in doubt is sinking from faith.

Matthew 11

It was John that baptized Jesus. It is written, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him” (Matthew 3:13) John the Baptist bears witness of Jesus, “…Behold The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’ (John 1:29-30) John also exalted Jesus when he stated that, “He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.” (John 3:31) Despite all that John the Baptist knew about Jesus, when he was in the prison of his life, he doubted Jesus. John wanted to know what he already knew. Remember you have heard it all and you have seen it all; if you will hold on to all that you have known you will depart from doubt and not dwell in it.

As a believer, dwelling in doubt is sinking from faith. Doubt is destructive to stand in faith. Also, the ability to be able to hear, see and turn away from doubt can is what every believer needs to hold to in the journey of life. Having heard and seen so much of the power that is in the name of the Jesus, are you still in doubt? John the Baptist doubted Jesus. The Bible recorded, “And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2-3) Was it the prison life that caused John to doubt? Is there any representative of prison in your life that is causing doubt of what Jesus can do?

Jesus’ response to John’s doubt speaks to all believers. Jesus stated, “…Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Mathew 11:4-6) Where there is doubt faith has a tendency not to stand. Hebrew 11:6, “…But without faith it is impossible to please Him…” Do not allow your present situation to dictate to you what your God can do or what he cannot do. At all time, when doubt shows like a wave, speak positive and not negative. Remember, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) Disappoint your doubt; speak what is right, do not speak negative.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to delivered from every form of doubt

FAITH CAPSULE: It is iniquity not to regard His work or consider the operation of His hands.

Psalm 106:13-33

The word declared in Psalm 103:2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.” Blessing His name all the time and in all things is the evidence that one remembers Him. Forgetting what God has done or what He can do is enough to lead man into taking a route of sin. The children of Israel, after coming out of the bondage of Egypt, forgot what the Lord did for them and the word of God stated, “They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert.” (Psalm 106:13-14) The Israelites, overlooked; failed to recall; unable to remember; unable to call to mind what the Lord did for their salvation from the bondage of over four hundred years. When there is a failure for man not to remember where man is coming from, man is set to become lost and not get to where man is going.
As a result of the truth that the Israelites could not remember the works of God, failure not to wait for the wonderful counsel of God took charge over their life. By virtue of their testimony, it is evident that a failure not to wait is a passage to become wasted in the journey of life. The Israelites were not only become wasted but lusted exceedingly.

Are you one that claims not to have forgotten the works of God? Are you disregarding the works of His hand? It is written, “The harp and the strings, the tambourine and the flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” (Isaiah 5:12-13) When there is no regard for failing to do the work of God as commanded by God, there will be no regret in doing what does not glorify His Name. Also, not to have attention for what God has done will deny one from responding to what God is doing or what He can do.
It is iniquity not to regard His work or consider the operation of His hands because He is a Jealous God. As regard to the works that God have done and the ones that He is doing, giving Him all the attention will keep us in Him and not hide us away from Him. Job made us to realize it that, there is no hiding place for iniquity. (Job 34:22)  It is impossible to hide from Him. Take a step forward in regarding His work and considering the operation of His hand.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace that constantly set mind to remember and to always regard to the works of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Run with continuity and deny every form of distraction.

2 Timothy 4

It is written, “Blessed are those who keep justice, and he who does righteousness at all times! Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation.” (Psalm 106:3-4) It can be concluded that, to be remembered by God and to be visited by God is undoubtedly God’s blessing. As indicated in the above scriptural quotation, keeping justice and doing righteousness at all times (not at our convenient times) will trigger the blessing to be remembered and to be visited with God’s salvation. The requirement for righteousness at all times buttress the notion that: consistency; persistency; continuity are the rule of race. The apostle Paul in his illustration of what it takes to faithfully complete the Christian life journey (which is like running a race) stated, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day…” (2 Timothy 4:7-8) To run a race and be able to get a prize (blessing) is to continue in running according to the rule and not give up.

To run a race with continuity, consistency and persistency demands for one to deny every form of distraction such as sin. Often times when sin comes into play, getting back into race can be challenging. One should always keep in mind that God is a good God that He is ready to forgive. (Psalm 86:5) In His forgiveness there is the privilege to get back and continue in the race. It is always good to keep in mind that forgiveness from God is not a liberty to continue sinning and shining living in sin. Apostle Paul elaborated further on not to continue in sin despite the forgiveness in place when he stated, “…Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it…?”(Romans 6:1-2) Understand the need to stay focused in your race and also allow God to bless you when you are able to continue in keeping justice and doing righteousness at all times. Have you fallen short in your race? It is time to get back in the race by asking for forgiveness from a good God that is ready to forgive. Throughout the Bible, there are documentations of those that fell and not able to continue because of lack of understanding to ask for forgiveness. Also, there are documentations of those that fell for sin and by virtue of understanding, they regained continuity by asking for forgiveness and were able to complete the race. Run with understanding and be blessed.

Prayer for today: Ask God for grace and strengthen to run according to His rule.

FAITH CAPSULE: Tribulation is not excused from believers.

Psalm 105

Living life today is centered in challenges which man does not order for.
Challenges are everywhere, challenges come in different fashions and they are of different magnitude. Challenges often lead to all kinds of instability. Challenges are tribulations which do not exclude believers.
Jesus makes us to realize that tribulation is not excused from believers. Meaning tribulation will come but it will not count on us if we have Him. John 16:33 buttressed, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” He permits everything, He sees every challenge and He is in position to allow or disallow all that happens under heaven. However, in Him we are positioned to be excluded from evil. (Psalm 105:14-15)

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 the fear of the Lord is His treasure” With wisdom and knowledge in place, no matter how challenges become challenging, stability will reign. In addition to gaining stability through wisdom and understanding, salvation will be strengthened.

Wisdom is the word of God. Also it can be described as instruction from God. 1 Corinthians 1:30, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption”
Understanding is in giving attention through listening. Proverbs 4:1 buttress stating “…give attention to know understanding.” John 8:43 made it clear in the word of Jesus that, listening is the key to gaining understanding.
Knowledge (that is having a knowing edge) is the ability to apply the wisdom gained through listening.
The instruction of God which is needed to live a fulfilled life truly demands the ability to listen with conscious attention. Having been able to listen and gain understanding through attention, applying the instruction identifies one as knowledgeable or wise one.

Wisdom, understanding and knowledge cannot be separated as they all complement each other. There is none born with wisdom, but it is obtainable here on the face of earth.
James 1:5 testifies a way of finding wisdom when it stated, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” God is the One who gives all good things and it is a good thing for man to be filled with wisdom. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7)
Spend time in the word and you will be strengthened in the world of challenges.

Prayer for today: Ask for His grace not to expire over the life He has given you.