FAITH CAPSULE: Quit religion, engage Jesus reality.

1 Samuel 3

Do you know God or you only know about God? Many are in the church and do not know God. However, it is impossible to know the word of God and not behave the word. There is a difference in knowing about God and knowing God. Once a knowing is set in the life of a believer, living godly will become the believer’s portion. Samuel a minister at a young did not know God. Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli but did not know God. When the Lord came calling on Samuel, Samuel could not relate neither could he identify with God that was calling him. The Lord repeatedly called Samuel but Samuel had no understanding of where the callings were coming from, “Then the LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”  (Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.)” (1 Samuel 3:6-7)

At the time of Samuel’s calling there was no understanding of who God was and Samuel could not answer like the one that knows God. Knowledge is wealth and there is power to be different when knowledge is in the one with understands. Eli redirected young minister Samuel when he mistook the voice of God for the voice of Eli. Samuel only knew about God. Eli, by virtue of his knowledge of God and said to him, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.” (1 Samuel 3:9) Samuel with understanding that was acquired knew exactly what to do to begin to answer to God. The bible stated, “Now the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” Then the LORD said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.” (1 Samuel 3:10-11)

The boy Samuel understood and he knew how to answer to God. Samuel’s understand and his knowledge is what made the difference in all the days of his life. God is a God that wants to maintain constant and consistent communication with His children but the lack of knowing often denies believers. Gain understanding, know the God you serve and there shall be enablement living for His glory all the days of your life. It is not enough to know about Jesus but to know Him is all that counts. Quit religion, engage Jesus reality.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to know Him more indeed and in truth that you may live life for His glory.

FAITH CAPSULE: The challenges over your life are not evidence that He has withdrawn from seeing you through.

Genesis 37

God’s calling is like a puzzle which needs to be put together before getting a true picture. At the time of Abraham’s calling, the command to go and the blessing for going did not come with details. At his calling, God did not layout, the challenges of temptation and confrontation which were ahead of Abraham. God commanded Abraham “…Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3). God’s calling never short of His backing! Has He called you and not backed you up? The challenges and temptations that come your way in answering the calling over your life are not evidence that He has withdrawn from seeing you through.

When God calls, nothing counts except for the called to fully answer with obedience. God will call regardless of position or age of the one called. Abraham was seventy-five when he responded to God’s calling. In His calling, neither old age nor young age can limit God from calling. The calling of God can be likened to attempting to put thousands of pieces of a puzzle together for a complete picture to emerge. However, when in the process of putting the puzzle together, any missing piece of puzzle will deliver incomplete picture.

Joseph’s dream was confirmation of God’s divine agenda for his life. In the dream there was no indication of how dream was going to be. Twice he dreamt and twice he was rebuke because it was a puzzle to his family. When Joseph had the second dream, “…he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”  And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.” (Genesis 37:10-11) Joseph’s steps into the journey that he dreamt started at age seventeen and were not complete until he was thirty years of age. The journey was full of challenges and temptations. Indeed and in truth it was a puzzle that could not have become a complete picture if any of the pieces was misplaced. It is only you that knows the dream that you have had or the calling that He has placed upon your life. Focus on Him, He will see you through. Remember, the puzzle will not become a complete picture until all the pieces come together.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver and preserve you as you move in the direction of your calling.

FAITH CAPSULE: The seed of a good heart will yield the fruit of a good life.

Out of the abundance of a good heart, a good and noticeable action emerges. In life, it will be almost impossible for a good heart to yield forth evil act. Ruth was identified as a virtuous woman in a country which was not her hometown. It is written, “Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.  Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.” (Ruth 1:1-3) After the death of Elimelech, Naomi’s her two sons also died and she was left with her sons wife (Orpha and Ruth) When Naomi decided to go back to Bethlehem, her two daughter in-laws, Orpha and Ruth insisted on going back with her. Naomi persuaded Orpha and Ruth to turn back. Orpha turned back but Ruth out of her good heart, could not be persuaded to turn her back on her mother in-law.

In Bethlehem, with Naomi’s permission, Ruth went to Boaz’s field, in attempt to work.  While Ruth was working on Boaz’s field, she became noticeable to Boaz. Boaz then ordered protection for Ruth, “So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:10) Ruth was overtaken with the favor she received from Boaz whom she never met. Ruth did not realize that the seed of a good heart she sowed was about to yield the fruit of a good life. In this world, one thing is certain, it is not possible to sow good and reap bad. Boaz responded to Ruth, in Ruth 2:11-12, “And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.””  Coming out of a comfort zone to an uncomfortable zone for the sake of engaging a goodness of heart will always provoke the goodness of God to one’s favor. God will always take notice of a good act from a good heart.
Prayer for today: Ask God to renew your heart that you begin to have a good heart.

FAITH CAPSULE: Man cannot love God when man lacks His fear.

Deuteronomy 10

Psalmist declared, “O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind, Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.” (Psalm 104:1-4) The declaration of the psalmist is enough for every
man to greatly fear God for His awesomeness. Do you fear God for Who He is? God spoke to the children of Israel in Exodus 23:27, “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸ And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.” With the fear of God ahead in every journey of life, confidence will be in place to keep man’s feet from being caught. (Proverb 3:26)  Deuteronomy 10:12, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” When the fear of God goes before man, man will know to walk in all His ways. Walking in the way of God is to love the Lord God. To love the Lord God is to serve Him. Evidently, one cannot love Him when the fear of Him is not in man.

Without the love of God it is not possible to serve Him. Ones who fear God are in position to please God. Jesus said in John 8:29, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” What is holding down from having the father with you always? Is it the inability to fear Him? The more you grow in faith the more you know to fear Him and have His fear to go before you in every step of life. We are made to understand in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” If without faith it is impossible to please Him, with faith it is absolutely possible to please Him. Faith is not  what you but in the store, faith is what comes when man seeks for it.  Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” You might have heard the word sometimes ago but yet faith is not having its place for you to fear Him enough.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to fear Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Having delight is the evidence of joy.

Psalm 1
The word God is delightful in the life of those who are able to receive and believe. It is perfect to lead and guide without any accident. The psalmist buttress, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)When one begins to find time to spend in the word, the word will become ones delight. Having delight is the evidence of being joyful. With joy, accessing the presence of God becomes one’s portion. Psalm 16:11 stated, “You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The word of God is the law of God. One that sincerely believes in the word will meditate day and night in the word. Meditating day and night will undoubtedly provoke blessing from God as promised by God 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. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Among other blessings of meditation is: Ungodly counsel will no longer be one’s portion. Where there is no ungodly counsel, the counseling of God that never fails will reign over all areas of life. Godly counseling will, “…Instruct you and teach you in the way you should go…” (Psalm 32:8) With meditation as a way of life, where there is a need for one to take a stand one will not take stand in the path of sinners. Having the word of God as the source of life positions one against enemy. It is worth to engage constant meditation and have self positioned as a winner and heaven provoker. Elijah, took a stand and provoked heaven when he declared, “…As the LORD God of Israel lives, before who I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” (1 Kings 17:1) Spending more time studying the word is the avenue to revelation from God.   As a believer, engage meditation as a life priority which enables safe navigation through the wicked world. The psalmist testified what shall become of he who meditates, “He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:3) Manifestly, being delightful in the law of God cannot be separated from meditating in the word of God. It is a sure way to have good success and be prosperous.
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace for a burning desire to spend more time in the word.