FAITH CAPSULE: Not placing trust in Him is the evidence of not knowing Him indeed and in truth.

Daniel 3

Trust is to rely and have confidence in the truth and reliability of God. It means to have hope. Who do you trust? Do you trust God or chariots? Trust in God is easier said than done. However, it is only those who know the name of God (not those who know about His name) will always put their trust Him. The Psalmist states it better, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You. You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalm 9:10) Inability of not placing trust in Him is the evidence of not knowing Him indeed and in truth. One that does not fear Him cannot possibly trust Him and without trust in Him there be no hope in place. It is how much one knows about God that will determine one’s level of trust in God.

In the face of fiery fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to serve or worship king Nebuchadnezzar’s gold image. They three brothers trusted God and were determined to stand their ground for God. King Nebuchadnezzar questioned them about who would deliver them. They were so sure of their God by their response stating, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.” (Daniel 3:16) The three brothers knew that there is no matter under heaven or above heaven that is too powerful for God not to resolve.

What is demanding the compromise of your trust?
Just like that of three brothers, is there any matter threatening to you? You can be rest assured that you have no need to answer to your matter’s question but to trust in God. The three brothers trusted God and responded to the King, “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.” (Daniel 3:17) Indeed deliverance answered for the three brothers and king Nebuchadnezzar responded to the three brother’s deliverance in Daniel 3:28, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!” Your trust in God will frustrate the hand and moves of the enemy in your life. Your trust in God will promote you and prostrate your adversary to the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to endue you with the grace which causes man to stand in trust regardless of confronting matter.

FAITH CAPSULE: Man needs to engage prayer to have a clean heart.

Psalm 19, Daniel 1

It is important that man should give heart to a procedure that will remove all which represents wickedness. Procedure to remove and clean the heart is in prayer. The Psalmist prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) Determination to have clean heart will fail but prayer will prevail. Peter determined not to deny Jesus but failed. It was Jesus’ prayer for Peter that prevailed for Peter’s eventual restoration from denying Jesus. Man needs to engage prayer to help in having a clean heart.
The thinking which man carries in the heart is what will determine man’s exploit on the face of the earth. The book of Proverb 23:7 buttress “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he ‘Eat and drink!’ he says to you but his heart is not with you.’” It is clear that man should keep heart with diligence to avoid any form of negativity. With prayer, Man should also know and understand to keep heart with diligence otherwise wickedness will reap through the heart of man.

Daniel kept his heart with diligence by purposing positives to the glory of God.  Daniel 1:8 records, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel’s operated a purposed heart and it marked him out for great exploit to the glory of God. Daniel’s heart made the difference that matters in all of his life.

Pride which is the root of all wickedness needs to be flushed out of man’s heart. It is our heart that God wants to meet before He commits great exploit into man’s hand. 2Chronicles16:9 testify, “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. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” What the eyes of God are looking for throughout the earth is not what our eyes or any eye can see. God’s eyes look for heart that is loyal to Him. For heart to become loyal it must be clean from all junks of life and be kept with all diligence. It is written, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
As you desire a clean heart, keep to heart the word of Proverbs 20:9 which states, Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?. Desire and pray for a clean heart and God will deposit what it takes to have a clean heart.

Prayer for today: Let it be known in your prayer before God, how you desire a clean heart.

FAITH CAPSULE: Can you see in the mirror of the word?

2 Kings 5

Leprosy takes a position of cloudiness over the testimony of Naaman while pride represents crowd as the agent of hindrance in his life. It is written, “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper.” (2 Kings 5:1) With all the honors in the life of Naaman there was a “but” which clouded all of his colorful accolades in life. Think of it, what is it that is reducing you from answering fully to what God has called you to be? The hindrance which clouded Naaman is the same that is clouding so many today especially among believers. The hindrance in Naaman’s life was none other than pride.

When Naaman approached Elisha for his healing the cloud in his life stood between him and the word of the prophet. The bible recorded, “Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10) Naaman was given word of healing which states “wash and clean” The power to get healed was not in the Jordan but in the word of the prophet that was released into Naaman’s life. The clouding hindrance in Naaman denied his listening ability. The word of the prophet provoked the clouding agent in Naaman to manifest. It is written, “But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’  Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.” (2 Kings 5:11-12).

Is pride a hidden identity that is clouding your destiny?
The pride in Naaman’s life manifested when:
He became furious (extreme anger)
He walked away from his ground of healing.
The spirit of “I” set in.
Rage caused him  to act with fury.
Does any of the above sound like you?When pride in Naaman’s life subsided, obedience to the word of prophet led him to be washed from the leprosy in his life.

Can you see in the mirror of the word? When you look into mirror of the word do you see yourself or you only see others? Until you begin to see yourself in the mirror of the word of God the word of God will not become your frame.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to hear and receive the healing word when it sounds in your direction.

FAITH CAPSULE: Pleasing God is living life by faith.

1kings 3: 3-15

Pleasing God is the evidence of faith in the one that please Him. The book of Hebrews 11:6 buttress, “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.” God wants to be pleased, He is a jealous God. He definitely wants to be pleased in how we engage life. Pleasing God is living life by faith. Habakkuk 4:2 states, “…the just shall live by his faith.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 also points out that we watch and stand by faith. Without doubt, when standing and watching is by faith, God is pleased. Are you conscious of how you live life? Do you pay attention to how you stand and how you watch? Are you hearing enough of word to keep you walking, watching and standing in faith?  Please God with your lifestyle; please Him in your meditation. When one goes about his/her way of living life, one must exercise faith to please God.  Let God be pleased with you beyond your wildest imagination.

King Solomon was the son of David and the third king of Israel. King Solomon is best known for his wisdom and for building the temple. He was able to please God with his speech and it provoked God to endue him with great wisdom which became his identity forever. It happened to be that Solomon went to sacrifice at Gibeon when God appeared to him. God asked Solomon, “…What shall I give you?” (2 Kings 3:5) King Solomon responded to God’s question, “Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (1 Kings 3:9) He had the business of God at heart; self was not in place as a result, Solomon asked for what it takes to carry out God’s divine plan for his life. What are you going to ask from God if He shows up in your dream? Will your request to be a God-serving purpose or self-achieving purpose? If you are an acclaimed believer, professional minister, or a minister for the Lord’s business, consider your request in these days of self-centeredness. Solomon did not hesitate to ask pleasingly and God was pleasingly provoked to bless Him beyond his imagination. It is written, “The speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing.” (1 Kings 3:10) God did not just give Solomon understanding but He added wisdom. Please Him in all areas of living life and His blessings will never run out of your life.

Prayer for today: Ask God to help you become one that constantly and consistently please Him in all ways of living life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Mixed multitude is unholy mix up.

Numbers 11

The Israelites failed to disengage multitude as they engaged there breakthrough journey and complaining became part of them. It is written, “Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.  A mixed multitude went up with them…” (Exodus 12:37-38)  For the Israelites, a mixed up multitude is unholy mix up. At the time of departure it does not seem dangerous for the Israelites to have a mixed multitude among them on their break through journey. As they progressed on journey, the effect of mixed multitude manifested negatively. It is written, “Now the mixed multitudes who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” (Numbers 11:4-6) Mixed multitude became the agent which engaged the Israelites to complain instead of compliment what God was doing.  On the long run, it was their complaint God responded to when He stated, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.  Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:  The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.  Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.” (Numbers 14:27-30)

Pharaoh and his chariots could not overtake the Israelites when it was time for their breakthrough, Red Sea could not hold back the Israelites from breaking forth. However, mixed multitude set them up for their journey termination. Are you on course for your breakthrough journey? Is there any mixed multitude among you?

Here are some warning signals that you have allowed mixed multitude on your journey:
Mix-multitude will keep reminding you of the past when you need to focus on where the Lord is taking you.
Mix-multitude will only cause you to crave for what you do not need so you will cave into complaining instead of complimenting God.
Mix-multitude will cause one to worry in the place of worship.
Mix-multitude will cause one to yield to that which is in the physical instead of the spiritual things of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from all that represents mixed multitude in your journey of life.