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.

FAITH CAPSULE: You cannot afford to continue taking counsels and dictates from evil heart.

Jeremiah 7

The way forward is in the word of God and the way backward is in the world of man. Which way are you going? Are you going by the dictates of your heart or by the living word of the living God? The way of the world is the way which seems right to man not the way of God. Proverbs 14:12 makes us to realize that, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” The way that seems right to man comes from the dictates of the evil heart. There is no forward going in the way that seems right to man. The way that seems right is a wrong way; the way that seems right will always die a premature death.

As a child of the most high God, have you thought about the reason why you have been going backward instead of forward? It is a possibility that you have been following the dictates of your heart. God was speaking to Jeremiah about the disobedience of the Israelites in Jeremiah 7:21-24, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.  For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.  But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’  Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.”  God called it evil heart. Whatever is evil is wicked.

The word of God is true and alive. Take to the word of God and it will see you through in the journey of life. You cannot afford to continue taking counsels and dictates from evil heart as mentioned by God. Evil heart or wicked heart only leads to a wrong way. The word God says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Why should a God fearing person want to keep going back to evil heart for counsels and dictates? It will lead to wrong way. Take all of your counsels to the Lord in prayer; He alone is the living God. Avoid the wrong way and take on to the right way. As you continue the journey of life, allow God to guide and lead you through.

Prayer for today: Ask God to instruct, lead and guide you in the journey of life. Ask for the grace not to fail, fall or falter.

FAITH CAPSULE: To be purposeful for the Lord is not an avenue of escape from tribulation.

Daniel 1:8-16, 6:16-21

Among definitions of purpose is, “the reason for which something exists or is done…” Going by this definition, it is worth to agree that, without purpose of heart, continuing with the Lord might be impossible for any acclaimed believer.  After the persecution of Stephen, those who scattered traveled as far as Antioch. The bible recorded that the hand of the Lord was with them and great number believed and turned to the Lord. Then the news came to the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. (Acts 11:19-22)

At Barnabas arrival he was glad with what he saw on ground. The bible documents it, “When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.  For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.” (Acts 11:23-24)

Barnabas encouraged them with purpose of heart. It takes purpose of heart to continue with the Lord. Purpose of heart, that is, it takes understanding for man to know going after (serving, seeking) God is the reason of man’s existence. Without the full understanding that our existences if for us to serve God the tendency to lose focus and become derailed in the race of life is imminent.

However, to be purposeful for the Lord is not an avenue of escape from tribulation or challenges of this world but can possibly be an invitation for the enemy to attempt the life of the purposed ones. Through the pages of the bible, it is evident that most of all that were identified in the scripture that purposed for the Lord were also purposed by the devil for destruction. In the book of Daniel 1:8, “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies nor with wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that might he not defile himself” With the kind of step taken by Daniel, tribulation could not excuse him but he lived life from one tribulation to another tribulation. Above all, he was never a victim of any tribulation but always come out victorious. Being purposeful does not deliver him from tribulation but only made a way for Daniel to prevail during the times of his tribulation. Are you having a purpose heart for the Lord while tribulation is banging on you? Be encouraged, God is on your side and He will see you through. Remember, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) You are His and He will never forsake any one that purposes for Him.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be purposeful to him all through life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not allow outsiders inside and neither should you inhabit any outsider.

Luke 8: 49-56

Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is our all in all. He came to make us if we choose to follow Him. He lived an exemplary life for us to see that with Him, in Him and through Him, all things are possible. Jesus is our Advocate, our representative before the Father. All things that do not represent you, that are not the things of God, that are outside of your beliefs are outsiders to you and they should all be considered and treated as outsiders. Do not allow outsiders inside and neither should you inhabit any outsider. Let the outsiders be on the outside and by denying outsiders, doubt will die, mockery will be denied and above all, ridicule will not locate you. Jesus, with all the power in Him, in His attempt to bring forth Jairus’ daughter back from death to life, made some moves before He did.

The first thing that Jesus did was to encourage the family not to be afraid but believe with a positive statement saying, “it is well.”
Secondly, He told them that their daughter had only went to sleep and not unto death so that they should stop weeping. The first and second moves were to address the family from the inside because when the inside was settled, then the outside could be dealt with by being put out on the outside. Jesus did not address the outside until He had taken care of the inside. While Jesus was taking care of the inside, the outside was in operation. Luke 8: 53, “And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.”  The outsiders ridiculed Jesus thinking it would be impossible for Him to raise Jairus’ daughter back to life. Ridicule is from the outside; it is an agent of discouragement. As an agent of discouragement, ridicule will bring forth discouragement to stop exercising faith, which would cause the loss of faith. Jesus did not hesitate; He needed to settle the outside since the inside had been addressed. The Bible records in Luke 8:54-55, “…He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise,’ Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat.” Jesus did not allow the surrounding people or the outsiders to deny the miracle for Jairus’ daughter. Just as Jesus put all agents of mockery and ridicule out in the case of Jairus’ daughter, so He will do on your behalf. This New Year, all that belongs unto you will return to you and your testimony will glorify God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to uphold you in His way so that your faith will not fail. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Knowing the name of Jesus is not enough if the one who claims to know Him is not known in Him.

Psalm 116

We serve the God that answers. He is the same yesterday and forever. David said, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:4) David was not entertaining with words but he was gaining entrance into the court of God. David was gaining entrance into the presence of God through praise because it is praise that grants access into His court. Psalm 100:4, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.” Thanksgiving will get you to the gate and praise will get you into the court. David wanted to get to the court when He declared praise worship for His salvation from his enemies. Praise that is driven by joy, not just mouthful praise, but praise from the heart is what will get you to His court.

How do you call Him? He has so many names no other god shares because He alone is the great God. Which of His name will you call? It is the name of God that you call that will answer for you. If you call on Him as a God of provision, He will answer to you; and if you call on Him as God of salvation, He will not deny Himself. The question is do you know Him?  It is written, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(Romans 10:13)  The word says whosoever calls, and whosoever could mean anyone.

Many respond to situations by screaming “Oh my God”, and sometimes you hear people say “Oh Jez”, but it is not an indication or demonstration of knowing Him. Many people know about His name and some actually know His name. Knowing the name of Jesus is not enough if the one who claims to know Him is not known in Him. To be known in Him is to be living the Word of God daily. It may sound impossible or challenging to be living the word of God, but it is possible to live the word. If the word of God were not livable, God would not have the expectation for us to live by His word. Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7) It is not enough to be fluent in His word if there is no abiding in His word. When you abide in Him you will be known in Him. The grace of God is sufficient, and it will make it possible to live the word of God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be consistent in calling on Him alone.