FAITH CAPSULE: Every way of seeking God demands commitment.

2 Samuel 24

Worshipping God is rooted in the fear of God. To fear God is to love God; to love God is to adore Him and he that adores God will reverence Him. Any man that truly loves God will devote to serving God. Ones who truly serve God carries no iota of worrying and that is why worship is opposite of worry. Jesus admonishes us, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:25-27) Is worrying your passion? Worry does not have a place in worship because what worry does is to replace God with needs or concern instead of placing needs and concerns before God. Obviously, any soul that is occupied with worrying can never engage in true worship.
Worshipping God can be likened to a tree whose branches are: obedient to the commands of God, praise, praying, fasting, and giving offering. Branches of worship are the ways of seeking God. Every way of seeking God demands commitment. Commitment is not convenient and it can always be inconvenient.  It is the cost of inconvenience that counts to make worship become a sacrifice before God. The pain of cost is the gain that comes when God commits to the cause of worship. In the story of David’s census which provoked the anger of God against Israel, we see what it means to give a costly sacrifice in worship unto God. David conducted census against the will of God and the census caused God to send down plague. The consequence of the census demanded a sacrifice which made Araunah to offer David a free threshing floor to build an altar to the Lord that the plague could be withdrawn. David rejected the free offer stating, “…No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.” (2 Samuel 24:24) Is your sacrificial offering (worship) reasonable enough to be accepted by God? The story about David’s censor gives the picture about what it means to give a costly sacrifice to provoke a priceless response from God. Worship is costly. The pain of the cost is the gain that comes with God’s commitment to the course of worship.

Prayer for today: Ask God to direct you into a reasonable sacrifice.

FAITH CAPSULE: Until a man becomes self-less there is no way of becoming Christ-full.

Luke 18:18-30

It is written, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) Jesus makes us to realize it that His words are spirit. (John 6:63) Worshiping God is not limited by time or location and he who abides in the word (spirit) actually engages in worshiping at all times. Worshiping in the spirit is disengaging all that is not of the spirit. More important is the truth that worshipping God is not to be bound in the four square of a building as long as one is bound in the spirit of God.
Worshiping God in truth is worshiping God through Jesus Christ the son of God. Jesus declared, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Are you claiming worshipping God without accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Worshipping without Jesus is wasting away and it is not coming to the father.
Worshiping God is sacrifice and it demands emptying the self to become Christ full. Until a man becomes self-less there is no way of becoming Christ-full. This is to say that anyone who is sold out for the things of the world will not buy into all which the word of God commands him to do. Once upon a time, a young rich ruler perceived himself to be full of serving God by keeping all the commandments of God, Jesus spoke to him reminding him of the commands of God by stating, do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother.The young ruler responded “All these things I have kept from my youth.” (Luke 18:19-21) He claimed being religious by obeying the commandments, Jesus’ responded in Luke 18:22, “So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Jesus was pointing out the need to be self-less by following Him fully (worshiping God). Walking in any way that does not lead to following Christ fully will be short of worship. The Bible recorded the young rich man’s reaction for the need to come out of religion and be sold out to following Jesus, “But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.” (Luke 18:23)Indeed, as evident in the young rich man, to follow (worship) Christ demands not placing cost on anything we have but to giving it up to follow wholly.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to give your all to worship Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Is your love getting cold by virtue of what you see and what surrounds you?

Matthew 24:1-13

Jesus stated, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13) Indeed and in truth, cold love is constantly growing on the face of earth. The increase of lawlessness is the cause of cold love. However, lawlessness has its root when the word of God is not in place. The word of God is all that prevents lawlessness from having a place. It is not difficult for one to measure and determine one’s temperature of love. One who does not spend time in the word of God will not keep the word of God which prevents a cold temperature of love. Spending time studying the word of God is the antidote which keeps man from catching cold love. Have you as a believer been drifting from your time of studying the word of God?
The time we are now living is a time which the deceiver has taken a strong stand against the children of God. Lawlessness is increasing while love is growing colder. Love is a ticket to Heaven and when there is no ticket, there will be no access into heaven. All that the Lord has put in place for His children to endure has been turned around by the enemy to cause man to miss salvation. The same evil one who was in the old is the same that is today. He confirmed his movement schedule to God, “…As going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” (Job 2:2) Going by the schedule of the evil one, there is a serious need to be keeping the testimonies of His mouth. Testimonies of God are the works of God. The work of God is the evidence of His word. Keeping His testimonies will cause one to seek Him. It is written, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!” (Psalm 119:2) One that seeks God with whole heart will have no heart for cold love. Cold love is the work of the wicked one. The one which goes to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it is the wicked who waits to destroy man. The psalmist testifies, “The wicked wait for me to destroy me, but I will consider Your testimonies.”(Psalm 119:95) Be considerate by keeping His testimonies and not allow cold love. The grace to endure is available in the word of God for one care who to receive the word. Every believer does have a need for the grace to endure because only the ones who endure to the end shall be saved. Allow the Word to be your way of life.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the fire nature of His to keep burning in you so you will never run cold. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Doing good can be very challenging but its blessing often leads to unimaginably great reward.

Genesis 24

It is not good enough to know about doing good. It only becomes good to know and to do good when situation demands doing good. If doing good is a source of getting blessed then knowing to do good and not do could possibly generate a curse. Abraham, in his attempt to get Isaac a wife commanded his oldest servant “…Please, put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” (Genesis 24:2-4) The servant obeyed Abraham’s command and went to Abraham’s country. He prayed, “…O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”(Genesis 24:12-14) Just as the oldest servant finished praying to God, Rebekah showed up and the servant approached Rebekah asking her for a drink.
Out of the goodness of Rebekah’s heart, she responded to Abraham’s servant stating, “…Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.” (Genesis 24:18-20) Rebekah’s delivery of good beyond the request of the servant was a demonstration of an abundance of a good heart. Rebekah gave beyond the imagination of the servant and that left the servant in a wondering position, “And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.” (Genesis 24:21) Rebekah’s act of doing good was out of a good heart and it was beyond the imagination of the servant. It was the good act out of her heart that linked her to a family with generational blessing from God. Give no excuse not to do good.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace which enables man to do good when situation calls for doing good.

FAITH CAPSULE: Many can see, but are yet spiritually blinded.

Mark 10:46-52

Bartimaeus was at the right location at the right time to connect with his healing and he disallowed any force to deny him his well deserved healing. To be positioned where Jesus is passing by is undoubtedly a well deserved blessing. Today, so many Bartimaeus’ are actually positioned in the right place at the right time, but cannot connect with their healing. The Bible recorded about Jesus, “As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ’Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 11:46-47) Clearly, Bartimaeus’ healing began at the point where he was able to hear about Jesus. His physical blindness could not interfere with his hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Many had eyes and ears but could not see Jesus passing by neither could they hear about Jesus. Bartimaeus, a blind man, heard about Jesus and called out. Forces around him could not deny him his miracle despite the physical loss of his sight. The major force that could have denied Bartimaeus was the multitude. Bartimaeus understood well enough that the name of Jesus was all that he needed. As a result of his understanding, the multitude’s attempt to discourage him and shut him up failed and could not prevail.
In the location at which you can receive your deliverance, are you paying attention to forces of discouragement and hindrance or are you paying attention to your understanding about your Lord and Savior? The Bible recorded how the multitude (force of hindrance) attempted to deny Bartimaeus. “Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, ’Son of David, have mercy on me!’”(Mark 10:48) Bartimaeus could care less and cried out even more. He denied giving attention to the multitude. Bartimaeus’ cry caused Jesus to respond and give him attention. With Jesus’ attention, the same crowd that attempted to silence Bartimaeus also responded saying, “…Be of good cheer. Rise He is calling you.” (Mark 11:49) It is not enough to know about whom you believe but to actually know Him and be known in Him is what will put His mark on your life. The cry of Bartimaeus, “Jesus, Son of David” was the one that represented knowing Jesus. Bartimaeus was blind in the physical but he did have spiritual insight. Many can see, but are yet spiritually blinded. What about you?  

Prayer for today: Jesus, son of David, have mercy. Cause the eyes of my heart to be opened.