FAITH CAPSULE: Until you are empty of self, God cannot fill you.

Exodus 2 Moses came to the ground of calling for his divine assignment after he became empty of exuberant palace life. He lived forty years in the palace of Pharaoh. The time of his departure from Pharaoh’s palace was the time he became empty of himself. His departure was not planned for; his departure was without warning. Moses’s untimely departure from the palace was the result of the goodness of heart towards one of his brethren. He could not stand the Egyptian beating his brethren when he killed the Egyptian. The outcome of his act led him to run for his life. Moses left the palace; he left all and became empty. He moved from grace to grass; from palace to the desert. Have you been relocated when not expected or planned for? Have you lost your ground of comfort? Moses was relocated; Moses lost his comfort and became empty. It can be concluded that, until you are empty of self, God cannot fill you for His divine assignment in your life.

There was no documentation of Moses complaining after he left the palace for a desert. However, there a documentation which testifies that Moses was contented about where he found himself. It is written, “Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.”(Exodus 2:21) Every giant in the hand of God demonstrated at some point in life what it takes for God to notice them and set them up for a noticeable exploit. For Moses, contentment can be considered as a character which lined him up for a noticeable assignment for God.
How do we explain Moses’ situation? After Moses has lived in one of the most celebrated palace (the palace of Pharaoh for forty years), he ended up in Midian. Moses refused to get carried away by the exuberant palace life and could not ignore his brethren’s suffering. Moses was content to live in the desert, with Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. There was no evidence that Moses demonstrated bitterness or complaint with his new family in the land but he remained contented. While was lived in Midian for forty years, he was not aware of being in training to become a shepherd before God called him out on Mount Horeb.

What is it about contentment? It is written in 1Timothy 6:6-7, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” Moses came out of a palace into a no place with contentment and it testifies a demonstration of faith. Contempt can be considered as living by faith. In Numbers 12:7-8 God testifies, “Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house…”  Let faith rise, empty yourself and allow God to fill you. Be contented in all areas of living life.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of contentment in all areas of living life.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is true that what a man sows he will surely reap.

Genesis 27

In your new beginning allow the newness of God’s grace to reign in your life. In the past year, whatever it is that does not represent God; that which does not glorify God, disallow it from having a place in your life as you engage the journey of a new beginning. It is true that what a man sows he will surely reap. God is a perfect Manager and He perfects in managing each and every of His creation by virtue of allowing His creation to reap from what they sow. In life, it is impossible to sow the seed of deception and expect to reap the fruit of reception. Any man who sows the seed of lie will reap the fruit of being deceived.

What you sow you will reap. Esau, the first son of Isaac gave his parents grief of mind when he sows the seed of disobedience. Esau married outside of his father’s preference. It is written, “When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.”(Genesis 26:34-35) Esau’s act of disobedience activated a grief of mind to his parents. At a very old age when it was time for Isaac to bless his children, Esau was in line to take the best part of the blessings. Regardless of Esau’s act of disobedience his father still considered him to be the one receiving the best of the blessings. Isaac called on Esau and spoke to him, “Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”(Genesis 27:3-4) There is no procedure neither is there any mishap that can obliterate or erase for one not to reap from what was sown and this was also the case for Esau. Esau could not reap right where he sow wrongly when his mother re-assigned His chance to reap the blessing from his father to Jacob his brother. Jacob took the position of Esau’s blessing. There was no documentation of a conscious and purposeful act by Rebekah to punish Esau for his disobedience act. The point is nothing passes outside of God seeing; man shall reap from whatever man sows.
Esau sowed the seed of grief to his parents and there was no way out for him but to reap the fruit of grief. Watch the kind of seeds you sow because when reaping time starts, prayer will not help to deny you from the pain of what you sow.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God that you will not make a wrong by sowing a seed of grief in your new beginning.

FAITH CAPSULE: Those who wait on Him must know to walk in line of His word.

1 Samuel 1

At every waiting on God man must walk before God. Walking before God is walking in His command. The Lord spoke to the Israelites through Moses, “You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 18:4) Walking in the word of God makes waiting on Him for His visitation undeniable. Those who wait on Him must to know walk in line of His word. David testified in Psalm 40: 1-2, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth- praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD.” Waiting on God can be very challenging when it takes longer than expected to experience His hand. God is never in a hurry or in a rush, but He will do what His word says He will do. His words are perfect and proven. Wait patiently for God and He will visit you, He acts for those that wait for Him.
It is written in Isaiah 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him.” God is waiting to act if you will walk before Him your waiting will not waste.

With grace to wait patiently, no pit in hell will keep us grounded. Passing through the trial of waiting will no doubt put a new song in our mouth just like Hannah. Hannah going to Shiloh every year despite her barrenness was an example of waiting for God patiently. She walked before God by ignoring all provocation directed to her by Peninnah. It is written, “And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.” (1 Samuel 1:6-7) God is exceedingly a good God and He does not fail to honor the consistency in His word. It does not matter how long you have been waiting if you will walk before Him in your waiting He will visit you. It is important to always remember the word of the Psalmist, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2) Help from God is true to deliver when waiting is engaged by walking before Him.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of waiting on God without any iota of doubt.

FAITH CAPSULE: Praising and thanking Him shall cause you to have a favorable lifting.

Psalm 145

What He says to one speaks to all. God spoke to the children of Israel, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord…” (Jeremiah 29:11-14) God wants peace for us; He wants a hopeful future for us; He wants our attention by communicating with us; He wants us to seek Him constantly. Out of His goodness and mercy He sent His son so that His entire plan for us shall be manifested.
It is written, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

The point here is that God invested so much in us while but we extends so little to Him. After many years of privilege life which the Lord God bestows on upon you, how much have you extended to Him?
It is written, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2) In this season of a new beginning, begin to think of living a life to glorify God. Allow your expectation to change from material gain to walking in the ways of God. Deuteronomy 5:33 states, “You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.” Walking in all the ways of God’s command is seeking God first. Seeking God will no doubt fulfill every of your desire in a New Year. Jesus buttress when He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:33-34) A better way to seek God is in praising Him to glorify Him and thanking Him to magnify Him. Let your New Year be in constant thanks giving. Make it a year to thanking Him for all things and thanking Him in all things so that you may experience favorable uplifting.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of engaging non-stop thanksgiving.

FAITH CAPSULE: January to December is a journey of life.

Numbers 20:1-13

Living life from January to December is a journey of life. To be alive through the year is the mercy of God and not merit of man.
The beginning of every journey is important and how journey comes to an end is the summary of the whole course of the journey. The journey of life does not run straight. It has peaks and gorges. There are always twists and turns before getting to one’s expected end. Are you experiencing twist and turns? God is faithful to the core and His word is true to perfect. It is written, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) As the year rolls out, trust God to convert every twist and turns to triumph. God is the only God that converts frustration to celebration. As the new journey is about to unfold God’s favor shall become your portion.

As a new journey is about to unfold there will be a need for one to become fully engaged with the living word of God which is able to instruct, guide and lead one to an expected end. Moses as great as he was in the hand of God could only see the Promised Land at distance but could not step on the Promised Land. Moses despised the word of God when he struck where he was commanded to speak. It is written, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^“Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.” (Numbers 20:7-11) It is crucial for one be focus and not fail; to depend and not despise the word of God. To despise the word is to be destroyed.
Moses, by virtue of his entire exploit by the hand of God upon his life was not allowed to get to the end of the journey that he so strongly desired. As you cross over in your journey, allow the word of God to be your garment. As you engage a new journey ask God to remove any force or agent of derailment that is set to deny you from getting to expected end.

Prayer for today: Ask God to remove any hindrance that would deny you from getting to your expected end.