FAITH CAPSULE: God alone is the Building Builder that builds to perfection.

Ezra 4:1-5, Job 1:1

Outstanding building project is not without outstanding challenges. When God is set to build you up for His glory, uncommon challenges will come your way during the building process. Job was referred to as the richest man in the land. He was not just rich financially, but he was also rich spiritually. The Bible says, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1) Job’s entire spiritual and financial blessing was not an indication that he could not experience challenging affliction. When challenges come, they will not be announced to but will rather impose themselves in your life. There were no warning signs for Job to prepare himself or his family before the challenges showed up. When God wants to build you for a great assignment or for His glory challenges will come with discouragement; trouble will show up and frustration will reign. God made a way for His house to be built in Jerusalem when He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.” (Ezra 1:2) In this kind of building project which was called for by God, there should have been expectation for a hitch free construction, but it was not so. Opposition is an agent of frustrating challenge which always moves to bring down what needs to be built or rebuilt. Ezra and the Jews who volunteered to go and build the house of the Lord did not escape the opposition which was set against the project of God.
It is written, “Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezra 4:4-5) The pattern of oppositions in bringing challenges to every building construction is consistent in: discouragement, trouble, and frustration. One should continue to count on God for any challenge at all times. He is building or rebuilding you and you should pay attention for correction. Pay attention for the purpose of what you will be attending to and taking care of after you have been built. You will become a beautiful building; a building of God and a building that is not common. You will be a building which will always bring glory to His name. God alone is the Building Builder that builds to perfection for His name to be glorified.

Prayer for today: Ask God to see you through in all your oppositional challenges in Jesus name.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is not enough to trust God in the beginning and not trust Him through to the end.

1 Kings 12

Jeroboam received word of God to become king. It is written, “…For the turn of events was from the LORD, that He might fulfill His word, which the LORD had spoken by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” (1 Kings 12:15) The word of God never goes back to Him void; it always performs that which it is sent to do. God said He was going to make Jeroboam a king, but it was left for Jeroboam to receive the word sent by God and meditate on it to manifest for the glory of God. Have you heard from Him lately? Can you confirm if God has spoken or if He is speaking through the pages of the Bible or a minister of His Word? If it can be confirmed that the word is for you, hold on to His word and rest in Him until He brings it to pass. Just as he gave His word of promise to make Jeroboam king, Jeroboam eventually became the king. However, having become king, he failed to remind himself that the word of God which located him to become a king was enough to back him up. Jeroboam doubted the word of God.
Jeroboam behaved like a spring which could not remember its source. Anytime a spring forgets its source, that spring is set to be dried up and not to flow again. This was the situation of Jeroboam when he began to doubt if the Kingdom would return to the house of David after God had given it to him. 1 Kings 12:25-27, “Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, ‘Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.’” Doubt is not of God. Doubt is an agent of fear and it does not have any good to offer. It is not enough to trust God in the beginning and not trust Him through to the end. God who has spoken to you and He will bring it to perfection if you only will rest in His promises. Jeroboam doubted and could not rest in God and as a result, he began building idols and led the people unto other gods. God is not a failure and never can be. Remember the works of His hand; rely on His word to carry you through.

Prayer for today: Ask Him for the grace to maintain focus on His word of promise.

FAITH CAPSULE: Engage the word of God; allow faith to come into your soul.

2Kings 4:8-37

The Bible describes faith, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.” (Hebrew 11:1-2) How do you describe faith? Your description of faith is encased in how you apply faith. To effectively apply faith, one must get the full understanding of the source of faith that is where faith comes from. The bible also described the source of faith stating, “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Engage the word of God; allow faith to come into your soul. The word of God is the answer to every pressing need in life. Do not consider this for a later adoption to your pending situation or pressing need. Now and not later, go ahead, engage word, gain and apply faith knowing that God is still in the business of honoring His Word. Faith is heart-activated and mouth-operated. Faith is a God pleaser and it will provoke God to move on your behalf. Faith will move the hand of God if indeed it is activated and operated the way it should be. God cannot be deceived when there is failure to activate and operate faith. God knows our heart and He knows when faith is activated more than we know it and that is why Hannah said in her prophetic prayer in 1 Samuel 2:3, “…For the LORD is the God of Knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.”
What is your action concerning you pending situation? How are you going to activate faith to bring you out of your dilemma? The only and better choice is to lay it on God and watch while you wait to see how God will move in on your behalf. Also, know to only confess positive to your situation. Begin to see victory in the place of defeat; begin to see breakthrough in the face of hindrances and also begin to see life in the place of death. Allow your faith to announce your wellness; disallow your surrounding from what will determine the outcome of your situations.
The bible talked about a Shunammite woman who engaged positive confession in the face of death of her only son. With her “heart-activated and mouth-operated faith” she allowed her faith to announce her wellness when it was not well for her and she disallowed her surrounding from what will determine the outcome of her situations. Indeed her son’s life was restored back to life. The same miracles are everywhere faith is having its reign because of God’s rule and reign over all His creation.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the Spirit of faith to have its reign in your life and for His name to be glorified.

FAITH CAPSULE: At any moment man steps out of God’s word the evil of the word steps in to man.

Judges 15, 16

As long as Samson continued to work in the word of God as the source of his strength, the presence of God was constantly present in all of his moves. When Sampson decided to dwell outside of the word of God, the secret of his strength, the presence of God departed him. Judges 16:4-5, “Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’” Sampson fell for enticement.
Enticement is a “make look good” weapon of the wicked one to ensnare man to come out of God’s word of command. At any moment man steps out of God’s word the evil of the word steps in to man. It was the same enticement the serpent engaged to lure Eve out of the command in the word of God. It is written, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6) The woman, after having listened to the serpent’s direction of attention to the fruit of the tree, she yielded and ate the fruit.
In the case of Samson, Delilah was the agent of the wicked one who caused Samson to lose the presence of the Lord through the vice of enticement. Is there any enticement that is meant to derail you in your calling? Enticement will lead to pestering; pestering will develop to being pressed in every side to the point of giving self to the wicked one’s agenda. The bible recorded in Judges 16:16, “And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death.” Avoid listening to any word of enticement; ignore and pay no attention by looking into any enticement. The enticement of the evil world will bring out the living word out of you and God in you will forsake you just like it happened to Samson. After having lured Samson to revealing his secret, she said to him, “…the Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.” The Lord departed Samson.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace not to be vulnerable to any grave of enticement.

FAITH CAPSULE: A failure to hide when situation demands to hide is an evidence of ignorance.  

Judges 13, 14

There is a time for everything under heaven. The book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 states it better, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”  To a man who is wise, there will always be a time or season to hide or not to hide considerable secret or information which pertains to living life abundantly. A failure to hide when situation demands to hide is not an evidence of lack of spirituality but an evidence of ignorance. It is written, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; the simple pass on and are punished.” (Proverbs 27:12) The verse buttress the fact often times, one that knows to exercise good judgment will hide and not be exposed to evil while ones who claims to be a believer of the word exposes him/herself to unnecessary danger. Are you ignorant of the need to hide yourself where situations demands to hide?
God gave Samson an uncommon strength that no man could violate if he had not violated himself. Samson could not remain in hiding by keeping the secret of his strength and as a result, he became a victim of himself. Samson’s secret was the Word of God which was delivered to his parent before he was born. An angel of the Lord visited Samson’s parent and gave instructions in Judges 13:14, “She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.” While Samson was walking in the commandment of God that was given before his birth, he was untouchable and undefeatable. He was able to keep the word of God and God was with Him.
Keeping the word of God day and night is the evidence of meditating on the word consciously or unconsciously. God promised Joshua in the book of Joshua 1:5-8, “…as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.  Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night…” For God to be with us and not forsake us demands from us to constantly carry word of God in us day and night by obeying Him. Always remember, the word of God is God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of understanding to keep you in all ways.