FAITH CAPSULE: It is not time to think thanks but to give God thanks.

Luke 1:26-56

It is not an ordinary grace but a great grace to be alive. It is mercy but not of merit to have been through twelve months of the year. It is indeed a privilege not of right to be standing. At the time King Saul was after David to kill him, David pointed out in his conversation with Jonathan, “…but there is a step between me and death.” (1 Samuel 20:3) From January to December you have taken uncountable number of steps by great grace not by great act. It is time for man to begin to count blessings instead of counting one’s need. It is time to come out of every area of worry and begin to engage a reasonable worship.
Is there any need for worrying in your life? Worry can possibly take the place of worship in the life of acclaimed believer in Christ Jesus. At every time a believer is not positioned at the feet of Jesus where the word of deliverance and preservation is in place, believer will fall from worship to worry. Distraction is an agent of disruption. One that is distracted is disrupted and will not hear what it takes to engage worship instead of worry. Martha was worried while she was having the Unchanging changer in her house. She was worried because of so much distraction. It is written, “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” (Luke 190:38-40)

Are you worried? Is it too hard not to worry? It is important to know, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) Your worrying is an evidence of your attempt to carry your yoke and your burden by yourself. Hear the word of Jesus, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) The word of God is simple enough for you to let Jesus take charge of your yoke and your burden. It is not the time to think giving thanks but to give God hearty thanks for the grace of life.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be consistent in praising and giving thanks.

FAITH CAPSULE: Mediate on the word to work and walk in line for His glory.

Matthew 7

Jesus stated in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”  Getting work done in His name for His name without walking in His ways will get no one to be recognized by Jesus when it matters the most.
Who are you? Can you honestly question and answer to yourself who you are?Jesus once asked His disciples, saying to them “who do men say that I am” (Mark 8:27) It is not that it matters to Jesus who the people say He was or He is today. However, it is glaring by virtue of His walk, where He sat and what He stood for, He is the King of kings; the Lord of lords.

Does your life reflect Christ? Are you a bible which people can read? Is the word of God rooted in you? Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived. It is possible for man to be well decorated before man but naked and empty before God. Forget about your titles, it is how you engage God’s task for you that matters before God.
In life, your walk, where you sit and what you stand will answer to the question about who you are.

It is written, “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.” (Psalm 1:1)
Once the psalmist attempted to protest his innocence by stating, “Vindicate me, O Lord, For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth. I have not sat with idolatrous mortals, Nor will I go in with hypocrites.” (Psalm 26:1-4)

It is the walk we walk that identifies us before God because it is what defines who we are. It is important for us to know it that the walk we walk also marks us for God’s blessing. It is written, “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.” (Psalm 1:1) The only way to redirect our walk before God is to constantly and consistently engage ourselves in the word of God by meditating His word. The word admonished us that there is delight in the law when meditating in the word is in place day and night. (Psalm 1:2) Mediate on the word to work and walk in line for His glory.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace not to miss His way where it matters.

FAITH CAPSULE: Loving our neighbor perfects loving God.

1 John 4

The gift of God to man is unconditional love. Jesus is a sacrificial gift which God sent so we do not miss eternal life. In return for His love, we are to love Him just as He loves us. The kind of love He wants from us is identified in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A young lawyer approached Jesus asking for what to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what was written in the law and he responded, “…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) The lawyer prompted Jesus to tell the parable when he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Jesus identified who is neighbor is in the parable. A certain man that fell in the hands of thieves lost everything to thieves and was left helplessly wounded. A priest and a Levite that supposed to know better about compassion crossed to other side of the wounded man but a certain Samaritan (a supposedly unbeliever) showed compassion where the religious leader could not. Jesus answered the lawyer’s question of what needs to be done not to miss eternal life by asking the lawyer to go and do just as the Good Samaritan did.

The Good Samaritan is a measure of the gift we should be giving back to God who gave us the best gift in His begotten son. A yearly glamorous celebration of the gift of God to us is far from enough as a measure of our giving back to God if loving our neighbor is out of place in how we live life.
1 John 4:7-11 admonished us, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
The picture of loving others is clear in the parable of the Good Samaritan: Loving our neighbor perfects loving God. Celebrate Jesus the gift of God by giving yourself to living life by having compassion for neighbors.

Prayer for today: Ask God to open your understanding; to know to do right and never to miss the chance of living as a vessel of blessings to others.

FAITH CAPSULE: Living a sacrificial life of service is the entire gift we owe Him.

Acts 1

The word of God is perfect and consistent to perform. In the bible, many prophesied about the coming of Jesus and the prophecy came to manifestation. It was angel that announced the arrival of Jesus. While shepherds were watching over their flock by night, angel of the Lord appeared to them stating, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12) Angel of the Lord announced Jesus’ arrival. Just as His arrival was announced by angels, angel also gave the hint of how He will return. After Jesus gave His last instruction to the disciples, His disciples stood and watched while He was taken up. As they were looking up, “…two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:10-11) Indeed, Jesus, the gift of God came to us and He is coming back. He will come back not as He came. He is not coming back silently but He is coming back in a way by which all that exists under heaven will see Him coming down. Jesus is coming back to judge and to deliver eternal life to those who receives and believes in Him.

After having celebrated Him, are you ready for His return? He came as promised and He will definitely return as promised. Going to church is not enough and it will not deliver the ticket to make it to eternal life. Jesus’ coming is a sacrifice. Living a sacrificial life of service is the entire gift we owe Him.
Jesus declared, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) How can you not hear His knock? Jesus, the Anointed One, is here to heal every broken heart but the brokenhearted are not opening door for Jesus to enter. Jesus will not force Himself to enter no man’s broken heart. The Spirit of God in Jesus, is a gentle Spirit; not a forceful spirit. The captives remain captive because they have yet to capitalize in on the privilege of grace that came for their freedom. The birth of Jesus made salvation which no man can monopolize available.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God that your faith will not fail.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is about time for you to prepare your inn for His coming back.

Luke 2: 1-21

At the time of the Lord’s birth, there was no room at the inn for the Lord to be delivered.
At the time of His birth, people did not understand that Christ was about to be born into the world.
At the time of His birth, no hospital was alerted.
At the time of His birth, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.
It is written, “So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:6-7) Jesus the King of kings was born in a manger.

The Eternal Shepherd of all shepherds could have declared the inn to be open-up for His arrival while He was still in the womb. He came silently, and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The inn was filled up when Joseph and Mary got to the inn. The inn which matters to Him is our inn. It does not matter the kind of gift that occupies your inn waiting to be delivered, if you do not have a place for Him in your inn it becomes a meaning less gift. He spoke in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Jesus came to have a place in our inn so that we overcome and be granted a seat with Him on His throne.” To deny Him access into our inn is the evidence of having been filled with self. He who is full of self is one with lying, deception, manipulation and all sorts of selfish behavior that should never be identified with acclaimed believers.

Jesus is knocking at the door of your inn. Will you grant Him a full access and have yourself engaged the privileges of having Jesus in your inn? When the knock came at the door of the inn, the imminent birth of the Lord was met with a lock-out. Many are filled with things that will deprive them of eternal life and when the trumpet sounds. Some are filled with desires that will not bring salvation. The opportunity for the inn to become the most well-known inn in all of creation came knocking, but it was too full to be used for the Lord’s birth. What are you filled with? Giving gifts without a place for the Lord in your inn is same as lying, deceiving and manipulating. As time and the seasons continue to reveal things to you, you should begin to make arrangements to be ready for what is coming. It is about time for you to prepare your inn for His coming back.

Prayer for today: Ask God to help you that your faith will come alive.