FAITH CAPSULE: God is a good God who will answer and attend to all who cry out to Him.

1 Samuel 10:17-27

We serve a good; caring; gracious and merciful God. He is a God with good purpose; a God with plans to save and preserve His children. Out of the act of His goodness and mercy, He promised His children a new heart. His promise states, “…then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good;” (Jeremiah 32:39-41) It takes a good gracious God to have a good plan and purpose for His rebellious children. He was God in the Old Testament, He is God in the New Testament and He will continue to be God in Future Testament. He is worth of all our thanks giving and praise!
Peter asked Lord Jesus about the issue of forgiveness stating, “…Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”” (Matthew 18:21) Jesus, out of His goodness and mercy responded to Peter, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:22) Surely, God made room for His children not to miss heaven. Imagine, 7×70 times of going back to ask for forgiveness. God is definitely worthy of a reasonable sacrifice of thanks giving on a regular basis.
Rebellious act (sin) is not enough to separate His children who cry out to Him with the heart of repentance. The Israelites consistently rebel against God and get into agonizing challenge which causes them to always cry out to God. God, in His goodness and mercy always give heed to their cry.
It was a rebellious act when they asked God for a king. (1 Samuel 12:17) During Samuels address at Saul’s coronation, Samuel points out the goodness of God as he reminded the Israelites about their cry out which provoked the goodness of God. It is written, “When Jacob had gone into Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord, then the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.” (1Samuel 12:8)
Crying out to God is not a sign of weakness but to get God’s attention. Is your challenge rooted in sin? A cry out unto God just like the Israelites is a way of getting God to attend to you. God is a good God who will answer and attend to all who cry out to Him. Psalm 86:5 testifies, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” Turn to God, call upon Him by crying out to Him and He will not disregard your call.

Prayer for today: Ask for His goodness and mercy in every direction of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: One who knows to think knows to give thanks.

Psalm 136

When you acknowledge, you show or express appreciation. Dictionary describes appreciation as the act of estimating the qualities of things and giving them their proper value. Appreciation is an act of giving thanks.
Giving thanks is a sacrifice. Hebrews 13:15 states, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” Sacrifice is an offering to God. Jealous God desires and deserves a reasonable sacrifice in every area of worshiping God. The book of Romans 12:1 admonish us, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Sacrifice to God must be a reasonable sacrifice. To sacrifice means to give up something of value. Sacrifice is costly and it is not convenient if we are to give a reasonable one.
Giving thanks and praising God is easy when life is full of happiness with no challenges. However, when challenges shows up and manifestation in any area of living life is not what we are getting, giving thanks and praising God can be very difficult. The writer of Hebrew specifically requested from us to continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.  What is holding you or stopping you to continually give thanks and praise on a regular basis rather than to continually give thanks and praise on annual basis? Is discouragement a factor that is causing you to hold back a regular thanks giving and praise to God?
Giving thanks and praising God for the grace of God is enough reason to keep on thanking God at every breath. Psalm 150:6 do not ask for too much when it states, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” One who knows to think knows to give thanks. The ones who know to keep heart with all diligence are the ones who do not stop to regard the works of God. However, those who do not “…regard the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them and not build them up.” (Psalm 28:5) Regard the works of God by giving Him thanks and praise. There is no limitation giving thanks and praising the Almighty God. He can be praised in the day and in the night. Apostle Paul states, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6) Giving thanks and praising God covers a multitude of ground in our relationship with God. Make giving thanks and praise worship your every moment song and God will not fail to acknowledge you.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to sing a new song of thanks giving for His glory.

FAITH CAPSULE: Thanking and praising God gets heaven’s attention.

Psalm 92

Thanking and praising God is not a thinking engagement. You do not think thanks you give thanks. Also, it should be an every moment engagement. Giving thanks and praising God cannot be separated both goes together. Psalm 92:1 confirms, “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High” When understanding backs up conviction, it delivers an undeniable miracle. When thanking and praising God is without understanding it becomes empty emotion. Thank and praise God with understanding because the Bible declares, “For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.” (Psalm 47:7)
Thanking and praising God is an act of declaring His goodness at all time. The Psalmist buttress, “To declare Your loving kindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night.” (Psalm 92:2) How to thank and praise Him is not relegated to a particular guideline. However, Psalm 92:3 does mention it to be: “On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound.” The Psalmist went further by declaring why we should thank and praise Him stating, “For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. O LORD, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep.” (Psalm 92:4-5) God is worthy of thanks giving and praise worship by declaring His work as the Psalmist did. Evidently, volumes and pages of book will never be enough to identify what thanking and praising God has done or could bring forth. Thanking and praising God gets heaven’s attention because God inhabits the praises of His people.
We do not only give thanks for what God has done or what He is doing but we also give thanks for what He can do or what we expect Him to do. Are you expecting God to move concerning your confronting situation? Regardless of the magnitude of your situation, believe and give thanks to God before manifestation of your expectation. Jesus believed that God was going to bring Lazarus back to life and as a result, Jesus did not wait for Lazarus to rise before He thanked God for Lazarus’ rising from dead. It is written, “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.’” (John 11:41) Your Lazarus will rise.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of giving a reasonable sacrifice of thanks giving.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is faithful to make a way not to fall outside of His way.

Numbers 25

Joining any other god besides the One and true God of gods is renouncing the Almighty God who is above every other god. It is an evidence of despising God to join oneself to a god that does not have life. The Israelites in the course of their journey, while stopping over at Acacia Grove, “…was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.” (Numbers 25:3)  The issue was that the children of Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor. They assigned themselves unto another God and that meant the commandment of God was no longer relevant to them; they began to go after a god that they could touch rather than to remain committed to the God with deliverance touch. Baal of Peor was the god worshiped in Moab and that made the children of Israel committed to harlotry, sacrificing other gods and bowing down to gods outside of the God with outstretch hand for their deliverance. What or who have you joined yourself to? Have you entered a life that is gradually taking you outside of the way of the One and only true God?

It is written, ““Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” (Numbers 25:4) It is true that every time we step outside of His word of command and return to Him for forgiveness, there is always forgiveness in place but consequence is certain. However, it is never worth it to spend time away from His word in the world. Joining to another god is jumping into pain because consequences will always come with long lasting pain. Consequence is the reason to remain constant and consistence by not joining any other God outside of the living God of creation. The joining to Baal of Peor was a serious sin with painful consequence which took many lives. The Bible recorded, “And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.” (Numbers 25:9) It was the consequence that brought out the zealousness in Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest. He turned back the wrath of God from the children of Israel when he went after the man of Israel who was still in the act of sin with a Midianite woman. There was no need to suffer such a magnitude of pain. However, it testifies that joining another god is a devastating act of sin which God does not tolerate. Disconnect from other god, stay focus on God; do not go outside of Him. He is faithful to make a way not to fall outside of His way.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to remain focus and not join any other god consciously or unconsciously.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is worth to trust in Him and rest from rust.

1Samuel 23

“The Psalmist stated clearly, those who know the name of God would put their trust in Him. (Psalm 9:10)Do you know about the name of God or you know His name? It is how you know Him that will determine how much trust you will place on Him. The psalmist statement testifies that the source of trust is in knowing the name of God. In life, until you understand and know the source of information that comes your way, your transformation is in total and complete delay. Consider this as a serious detriment to your breakthrough in life. Information from God is the transformation unto God’s side. Whenever there is a transformation unto His side nothing formed against you will prosper. You will rest and put all your trust in His awesome power of deliverance.
Do you know His name or you only know about His name?
Proverb 18:10 describe the name of God for our understanding stating, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Have you been putting your trust in His name? Trust is not a thought and it should not be about thought; it should be a knowing that comes from an understanding that God’s name is a strong tower. How many of His name do you know or how often do you call on different names of God.

Abraham trusted in the name of God when he responded to Isaac’s demand for the lamb for offering by stating, “…My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering…”(Genesis 22:8) Do you know Him as God of provision? When we call Him by His name He is faithful to provide. The problem behind your situation is that, you are rusting from your situation with no solution because you have not trusted Him. As a believer, it is worth to trust in Him and rest from rust.
The source of trusting God is to know Him and not just know about Him. David’s life was in danger in the hands of King Saul as he was chased from mountain to valley and to the wilderness by Saul and his men in attempt to kill David. In every step of his escape, he constantly inquired from God’s lead and direction. David demonstrated what it means to trust in the name of God. It is written in 1Samuel 23:14, Saul sought him (David) every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. David put his entire move in the trust of God. It is worth to be able to examine one’s conscience and determine if one have actually been consciously and consistently putting trust in Him. His name is Mighty God; the all sufficient God and He is perfect to perform.

Prayer for today: Whatever is causing man not trust in the name of the Lord God let it not become my portion in Jesus name.