FAITH CAPSULE: To keep your destiny in shape and not miss God’s promise for your life, it is important that your thinking and spoken word are right before God.

Joshua 1

What are you thinking?
Engagement of Jesus with a paralytic man teaches the need to pay attention to how we think.
A paralytic man was brought to Jesus for healing. The bible documented it that when Jesus saw the faith of those who brought the paralytic man, Jesus declared that his sins were forgiven. Just as Jesus made His declaration, some of the scribes said within them, “This man blasphemes!” (Matthew 9:3) It was not an outspoken statement but a statement in their inside; it was their thought. Jesus heard them despite the fact that it was in the in the heart…the bible recorded Jesus’ response to their thinking, “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “why do you think evil in your hearts?” (Matthew 9:4) What are you thinking? As a creation that cannot hide from the Creator, are you shaping your destiny by thinking what is right and not evil? As a believer, who trusts in God, in the face of challenges are you thinking positive instead of negative? God sees and hears our thought clearly. In your thinking, let Him know that nothing is impossible and He shall be provoked to move on your behalf for a positive result. Our thoughts are not hidden from God and that’s why we should abstain from thinking anything evil but good at all time. The bible warned in Zechariah 8:17 “Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor…”

Before God, thinking negative is same as thinking evil and God hates evil. Whatever we think is the evidence of how we keep our heart. This is the reason why the bible warned us in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. The Bible pointed out for us, know it that as a man thinks in his heart so he is (Proverbs 23:7) Think right and it becomes right for you.

KEEP YOUR HEART AND AVOID NEGATIVE THINKING
Among the ways of keep the heart is documented in Joshua 1:8, God spoke to Joshua after the death of Moses, “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.” The word of God that is power will not depart from your mouth only when it becomes what you think (meditate) day and night. Meditate on His word day and night so that the word you meditate will flow out of your mouth. Occupy your thoughts with the word of God and your ways shall be prosperous with good success.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to constantly meditate on His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: The word of God calls for trusting Him with all heart-not with all mouth.

Psalm 62

Trusting God provokes waiting on God. It is written, “…Who acts for the one that waits for Him.” (Isaiah 64:4) “…But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) There is so much to gain in waiting on God.

How can you trust Him who you do not fear or how can you wait on Him who you do not trust? Truly, it is wisdom to know to fear God. The word of God could not have said it better when it says, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom…” (Psalm 11:10) It is wisdom to know that the one that created heaven and earth is real and true. It is wisdom to know that there is nothing God cannot do. It is wisdom to know He cannot fail and all His word will come to pass. Proverbs 3:5-6 pointed out how we Him stating, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

The word of God calls for trusting Him with all heart-not with all mouth. God goes by what transpires in the heart. Trusting the Lord with all your heart should not be testing God with all your heart. To be testing God in the heart is to be testing Him by act of disobedience. Testing Him in the heart is rooted in doubting what He can do or undo. Among the promises of trusting God is stated in Isaiah 57:13, “…He who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land and shall inherit My holy mountain.” Absolutely there is nothing worth more than trusting God and finding out His truthfulness. A heart that knows to trust God will know to wait on Him at all times in all situations.

God expects us to wait on Him because it is a demonstration of faith. All that the word is asking for is to seek Him. Seeking God is rooted in the fear of the Lord. So many testimonies through the pages of the bible demonstrated the need for outright trust and waiting on God as the only way out to receive from God. King David testified in Psalm 62:1-2, “Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” It is worth to know the word of God and to be known in the word of God which makes the difference in the journey of life.

Prayer for today: Ask God to put His fear in your heart so that you will not depart from His presence.

FAITH CAPSULE: A change that you need is a change that will meet your need.

1 Chronicles 4:1-12

It is recorded in I Chronicles 4:9, “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” How else can the Bible describe a man better than being referred to as honorable? Throughout the Bible very few individuals were singled out with great identification like that of Jabez. Job was referred to as, “…blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1) Also, Samuel noted David in 1 Samuel 13:14, “…The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart…” King David was a man after God’s heart. Jabez had every reason to make it in life but then there was a need for a change somewhere in his life. Jabez was an honorable man living a degenerated life; not living up to his potential and what the Lord had called him to be. Jabez recognized the meaning of his name as what needed to change. The Bible recorded, “And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. ” (1 Chronicles 4:10) God is the only Unchanging changer.

Jabez (meaning sorrow) called on God and specifically requested for what could be his blessings as one that is identified honorable by the word of God. Jabez prayed a specific and direct prayer. Jabez wanted to be blessed, he did not pray “bless me Lord” but he specified the kind of blessing that he wanted. An honorable man deserves a large territory and he asked for the blessing of a large territory. Above that, he prayed for the hand of God to be with him just in case the evil one went after him. He called on God to have himself changed from being a vessel of pain to a vessel of gain. What area of your life needs to be changed for you to enter into what the Lord has called you to be? All it took for change to have its way in the life of Jabez was the ability to ask, and he did not ask a miss. Jesus encouraged us in Luke 11:9, “…Ask and it will be given to you: seek, and you will find; Knock and it will be opened to you.” Is it your name that needs to be changed for changes to be able to locate you? It is never too late and when the wind of change blows from the Lord nothing can stand against you.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace for every irreversible to be reversed in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Inability to hear by not listening can be a major denial in answering to God.

Mark 10:17-31

God has called many, but the problem of not answering is the demonstration of not being able to listen. Many times, sounds in the distance or around can be passing through and not register to the hearer. Evidently, the hearer is not listening because of lack of attention. The problem of inability to hear by not listening can be a major denial in answering to God when He calls or when He gives direction. Remember the rich young ruler? A case of not answering is encased in the story of the rich young ruler.

The rich young ruler had a lot of wealth and he wanted to follow Jesus. Having inquired from Jesus the steps that needed to be taken in order to follow Him, Jesus responded, “…One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 10:21)  The rich young man heard the calling, but could not answer. Answering God’s calling is not in following the crowd around Him. Answering God is in keeping His commands. Keeping the commands of God is not possible until a believer starts living it. The rich young ruler claimed to have kept the commandments from youth, but the commands could not make him give up all his wealth and take up the cross. It is one thing to claim to be a believer and it is another to be-living (believe) in the command of God. Jesus pointed out to him the need to do the following: sell all, give to the poor to build up treasure in heaven, taking up his cross, and following Jesus. “But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:22) The rich young man could not answer God’s calling. It takes the grace of God to answer when God calls.

Are you struggling with His calling? Man has never been in control of time but rather God is and that is why answering the command is now. In every struggle to answer, there is a need to pray for His intervention in breaking whatever is denying answering his calling.
The rich young ruler wanted to know Jesus but did not want to make Him known. Some know about Him and some know Him. It is not enough to know about Jesus until one begins to make Him known. Making Jesus known is very costly because it requires a great deal of love and sacrifice. The kind of love and sacrifice that Abraham demonstrated is the kind that makes Him known in His awesomeness. He made the faithfulness of the Lord God Almighty known when he was able to answer the call to use His one and only son for a sacrificial offering.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from whatever is denying man to answer God’s calling.

FAITH CAPSULE: Rely on God and you shall prevail.

2 Chronicles 13

Rely on God and He will not reject you. Deep in the heart of man there is nothing hidden from God. As many as there are millions of hearts, God alone sees all the hearts on earth. 2 Chronicles 16:9 testifies, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him…” On earth, there is no heart that is able to hide away from God because it is the heart by which God sees man. A loyal heart is a faithful heart and it is the heart that relies on God.

Once, Abijah the king of Judah was confronted by Jeroboam the king of Israel. In this confrontation, Jeroboam was set in battle with eight hundred thousand men of war against Abijah’s four hundred thousand men of war. Jeroboam, by number, he had no need to rely on God but self. However, Abijah had no number to fight on his behalf but the hand of God. Abijah testified to Jeroboam, “Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” (2 Chronicles 13:12) Despite Abijah’s warning Jeroboam took to war hoping his reliance on man’s strength would prevail against Abijah’s reliance on God. “But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.” (2 Chronicles 13:13-14)

Are you being ambushed by your challenge just as Abijah and Judah were ambushed? If that sounds like you, it is time to cry out to the Lord; it is time to sound a trumpet of praise which represents alarming call to heaven. God sees the heart and He will not fail to spot out the ones that rely on Him. As a result of Abijah’s reliance on God, “Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD God of their fathers.” (2 Chronicles 13:18) A heart that relies on God will be a loyal heart to God.Rely on Him and you will prevail.

Prayer for today:Ask God to take over your heart and deliver you from the spirit which causes man to rely on self.