FAITH CAPSULE: Distance of man to God is most likely the same or worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah days.

Genesis 18:16-33

The book of Proverbs 13:19 clearly states, “…it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.” The bible identifies the fool, in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.” In a country where many claim there is no God, experiencing or hearing about evil occurrences shall know no bounds because it becomes an abomination for the fools not to execute evil occurrences. However, where there is many who truly live for God, revelation from God to counter evil occurrences shall not cease.
Without doubt, where there is no revelation transformation ceases; stagnation reigns, eventual termination prevails. It was revelation which came to Abraham that brought deliverance and preservation for Lot by taking him out of wicked city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham was referred to as a friend of God just as Jesus called the ones He appointed friends in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” All of us qualify to be His friends when living by His word becomes our lifestyle. Abraham qualified to be the friend of God because, “Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (James 2:23) By virtue of Abraham’s relationship with God, he was positioned where he could hear and see whenever God showed up or spoke to him.
Jesus promised that nothing will be hidden from His friends. God also declared, “…shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…” (Genesis 18:17) Evidently, becoming a friend of God makes one a candidate for receiving revelation from God when it matters. God who is always true to His word, could not hide but revealed to Abraham when it was time for Him to strike Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin (Genesis 18:1-3). The world of today is no better than the world of Sodom and Gomorrah and that will make it impossible for God who is the same forever not to treat the world of today differently from the way He treated Sodom and Gomorrah.
Despite the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the distance of man to God is most likely the same or worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah days. Today, there are more title-holders such as Prophets, Apostles, Doctor, Reverend, Bishop and huge numbers of acclaimed believers in the wicked world, but yet revelation eludes them all. Jesus is still in the business of revealing all things to His friends. Are you in position to answer as His friend?

Prayer for today: Ask God and seek from God the grace to walk constantly in of becoming the friend of God. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Are you seeking Him emotionally or expectantly

Acts 3:1-16

God is a jealous God and the antidote for jealousy is attention. God request our attention; God deserves our attention. The word commanded, “…seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29) King David, a man after God’s own heart, in his word to Solomon admonished, “…know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9) Seeking Him is costly; seeking Him is a sacrifice. He demands a reasonable sacrifice not a self-satisfying engagement.
Absolutely, for one who is able to seek God, nothing will become impossible. What is it that is representing impossibility in your life? What is it that has kept you stagnated all or most of your life? Understand and know that with God nothing is impossible. The only impossibility for your miracle is the possibility that you have been going to church without expectation for manifestation. In seeking God expect Him to manifest Himself. Seeking Him is focusing or fixing eyes on Him.
The Bible documents about lame man who was called to attend with expectation. “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple.” (Acts 3:1-2) The lame man was only asking for alms, he was not expecting miracle until Peter and John called his attention asking him to fix eyes on himwith John. Peter said, “Look at us.” (Acts3: 4) The lame man had condition which seems impossible because he was lame from his mother’s womb. The lame man’s situation changed when “…he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.”(Acts 3:5) It is true that where there is expectation there will be a manifestation. What are the expectations that you have? Trust God; seek Him and He will not fail. Expect Him to get you out of your stagnation. The lame man leaped for joy when he came out of his stagnation. Can you imagine a man lame from the mother’s womb receiving his healing at the name of Jesus when he attended with expectation? In seeking God, attend with expectation and the same name which worked for the lame man will also work for you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to help you to understand and know to attend and expect.

FAITH CAPSULE: Setting mind on things from above will upset forces which work against having all things work for good.

Colossians 3:1-17

Those who seek things which are above and those who set their minds on things above are ones who shall have all things added to them. It is written, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2)  
Without doubt, those who seek things which are above; those who set their mind on things above are the ones who, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:33) Have you been raised with Christ? Ones who truly accept Jesus Christ as Lord and savior are considerably ones that are raised with Christ.
As a believer, what you seek and set your mind on is what will make you up in the journey of life. The word of God is the access to heaven and access to God. The word of God is true and never fails. When you seek the kingdom of heaven first without any hidden agenda, the result will be true to God’s word. When we seek Him, it should be with all our heart and being. God did not ask for less or more and He will not accept less in our seeking Him. God does not ask for what we cannot offer, He made us and He knows what we are capable of doing for His name to be glorified. The book of Deuteronomy 4:29 documented, “…seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”  Hebrew 11:6 describes what is at stake for those seek Him diligently stating, “…He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Have you indeed and in truth given your life to Him? Are you expecting God’s reward in your seeking Him? If you are one who seek God diligently it is important to know that without expectation there shall be no manifestation.
Seek God with all your diligence and He will bring to pass all things just as promised in His word. One who sincerely desires to possess all things from above should constantly engage seeking and setting mind on the things above.
What a believer seeks or sets is where the mind is. If your mind is on the kingdom of God, you will live heaven on earth and if it is on the kingdom of this world, you will have no choice but to reap from where you seek and set. A mind that is set on God will always wait and look up to Him for all answers from above.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of seeking Him diligently.

FAITH CAPSULE: Take a step forward in faith for your own miracle.

Psalm 104

God is a creative God. It is written, “O Lord my God, You are very great: You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind.” (Psalm 104:1-3) There is none like the Sovereign God.
He is the only God and His ways are higher than our ways. Waiting to see God move the same way He moved in your neighbor’s miracle will take forever in you receiving your miracle. God does not move by man’s calculation, but by His compassion. At a time when Jesus was healing the man with leprosy, “…Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing: be cleansed.’”(Mark 1:41) The same Jesus approached a man with a withered hand and commanded him to stretch out his hand in “And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as a whole as the other.” (Mark 3:5)
Jesus is not a mathematician or a mathematics which any man can calculate as in addition and subtraction, but He will move on your behalf if you will take a step of faith. The leper received his healing when He stretched out His hand. The same Jesus requested the man with withered hand to stretch his hand. With understanding in the word and work of His hand, it is worthy to gain the knowledge that Jesus will never fail.
Jesus is not a magician, but He is a miracle working God. In miracles, you do not know how your expectation is going to be manifested. Miracle is an extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human power. It is possible for you to take a step forward in faith for your own miracle. Before the man with the withered hand encountered his miracle, there was a need for him to step forward. Mark 3:3-4, “And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Step forward…” The man took a step of faith and his mockery was converted into miracle. Jesus is true, He is the same yesterday and forever; do not hold back from engaging your miracle breakthrough. What are the issues that are holding you from stepping forward where you need to step forward into your breakthrough miracle? Are you calculating how your miracle is going to happen? Do not calculate He is a compassionate God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to give heed to your cry that your prayer may come up to Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Learn and gain understanding not to receive or confess negativity.

Numbers 13

What transpire in the heart will transfer through the mouth. Jesus buttress stating, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) Obviously, it is not possible to perceive good in the heart and profess evil with the mouth. Ones who take the word of God positively will confess positive and ones who take the word negatively will confess negative. How are you receiving the word into your heart? It is important to watch what is being communicated through the mouth. The book of proverbs admonished, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 8:21) Take every word of God as life, confess life; live and not die.
The children of Israel had problem holding to the truth and the life in the word of God by confessing negative instead of positive. God spoke to Moses, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, everyone a leader among them.” (Numbers 13:2-3) In God’s message there was no laid down condition for giving the land but only His promise to give the land. All that the children of Israel needed to do was to go and spy out the land.
A living word of direction with a simple heart of reception will result in a simple, but yet grand manifestation. Likewise, a simple direction with a stony heart of reception will bring forth a destructive manifestation. Have you received any direction from God? All His directions are simple because He that gives direction is the One who will also see you through by His grace. Spies went and checked out the land and they brought back a negative report. Giving a negative report of His promise was a demonstration of lack of faith. Spies reported negative against the promise of God stating, “…The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are great men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we are like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we are in their sight.’” (Numbers 13:32-33) All the people who received and believed negative report which contradicts the promise of God died. Learn and gain understanding not to receive or confess negativity, speak life instead of death to every challenging situation. Possess and gain entrance into His promises, see through His word and not through the word of man. What God promised to do is a done deal.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace not to become a victim of negative confession.