FAITH CAPSULE: Dwelling and abiding in Him demands more than quoting the word.

Psalm 15

The word of God declares, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). Knowing this scriptural verse and quoting it is not evidence that one is actually dwelling in His secret place or abiding under His shadow. To be dwelling and abiding in Him demands more than just the word of the mouth but to be constantly living the word of God.
Living the word of God is behaving His word. The word of God demands that we should be holy 1 Peter 1:15 – “…He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” If living holy is not possible the word of God would not have demanded from us to be holy. Are you one that is living the word of God or constantly quoting the word from the head? It is not possible to be quoting the word of God from the heart and not live by the word of God.
Quoting “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” is not same as dwelling in the secret place of the Most High and abiding under His shadow. Do you live by the word or you live to quote the word? Many received the word as a story but behind the story is the secret that makes man to dwell and abide in God. 
Where is the secret place of the Most High?
Psalm 25:14 – “The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.” The commands of God and all that it takes to fear God is clearly written across the pages of the Bible. However, the lifestyles of most people who claim to be readers of the word vis-à-vis God’s commands do not compliment with the commands and all that it takes to fear God. Isaiah 45:19 states that, “God have not spoken in secret…” Truly God has not spoken in secret but most do not read about His secret and do not dwell in His secret by virtue of how they walk, stand, and sit. Without doubt, it is how we walk, stand or sit that testifies if we are dwelling and abiding in Him.
Psalm 15 clearly identifies the character of those who may dwell in the secret place of the Lord.
He who walks uprightly; he who works righteousness; he who speaks the truth in the heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue; and he who hates what God hates.
Do you desire to dwell and abide in the secret place of God? Devote to your desire and God will commit Himself by depositing in you your desire.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace that His word shall have place in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Negative confession is rooted in complaining.
 
Numbers 14

The men who had gone to spy the Promised Land came back with a bad report of the land. The report was bad and the entire congregation “…lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.  And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:1-3) Is there any way you are responding to God’s promise with a negative confession? Negative confession is rooted in complaining while complaining breeds complication. The Israelites, after having overcome life terminating challenges by the extension of God’s hand, they failed to control the word of their mouth. Bad report caused them to complicate their journey when they confessed negativity. What are your confessions in the face of confronting challenges?
Always think of God’s mercy before engaging your mouth with negative confession? God is a God that hears and sees. It is written, “He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?” (Psalm 94:9) God could not ignore the unfaithful confession of the Israelites when He responded, “Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11) Indeed and in truth He is a longsuffering and merciful God. The Children of Israel actually asked for what they got from God. They had repeatedly complained and strained with Moses in almost every step since the great miracle of crossing on a dry land in the middle of the Red Sea. Complaining became their identity. Evidently, an act of rebellion is to complain. Encased in rebellion is rejecting God. To reject God is a demonstration of unbelief. Which of these negative acts manifest in your daily life?
Besides the request to go back to Egypt, the Israelites also stated the preference to have died in the land of Egypt. God responded, “…I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29 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. (Numbers14:27-29) They all died except for Caleb and Joshua who did not complain.Complaining will complicate.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from engaging negative confession in the face of challenges.

FAITH CAPSULE: Inside or outside of the church, there will always be harassment.

Acts 12

Prayer is simply making a petition to God. Faith is belief and trust in God. Payer and faith compromise each other. Jesus demonstrated the need for prayer by constant engagement in praying. Faith is what pleases God. Isaiah 43:26 recorded the word of God, “Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; state your case, that you may be acquitted.” Word of God encourages us to approach Him in prayer. How is your prayer life? Are you a believer who always approaches God in prayer? The challenges of this world in the past and today will only respond to prayer.
Harassment, mockery, manipulation and deception are among the representatives of the evil one.  Any agent that represents the evil one has the goal and agenda to steal, kill and destroy. Any of these evil agents will always show up because they are in the business of looking for whom to devour. Any of the agents have no limitation of whom to approach but they are limited in operation where prayer prevails. Once, harassment was accessible to James, the brother of John and Peter, the disciples of Jesus. It is written, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” (Acts 12:1-2) Harassment, an agent of the evil struck in the church, against one of the disciples of Jesus. Inside or outside of the church, there will always be harassment and if you will embrace yourself in prayer and the Word of God, you will no doubt become an over-comer.
The enemy’s job is to kill, steal, and destroy and he was successful in carrying out his plan by killing James, the brother of John. The evil agent’s success in killing James prompted him to advance its mission towards Peter. Acts 12:3, “And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.” After the death of James, Peter’s death became eminent to the disciples. Acts 12:5 recorded, “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” Church woke up to prayer on behalf of Peter and the agenda of the enemy cease. In the journey of life, agents of evil demands the need for church to be constantly awake and not wait till the evil one strike. How is your prayer life? What about your prayer group? Embrace praying and giving yourself to the Word of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to be constant and consistent in prayer.

FAITH CAPSULE: Growing in aith should be a continuous process.

Acts 13:1-15

It is written, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Having faith in God; to be living by the word of God only come to man by hearing and hearing by the word. Faith does not come by accident and no man is born with faith. If faith comes to man by hearing as stated in the word of God, faith will also depart from man when there is failure to hear and hear by the word. When it comes to growing in faith, no man should boast or consider self to have arrived. Growing in faith should be a continuous process.
The level of a believer’s faith is not and should never be determined by a believer’s length of time in the church. Also, it should not be determined by title by which a believer answers to in the church. Some believers embrace the word of faith within a reasonable short period but the level of faith that is generated through them cannot be compared to some that have been in the church for years. As an acclaimed believer, are you paying attention to your growth in the word of faith? Faith is what determines what one can do or what one cannot do when it comes to engaging the challenges in the journey of life.Hearing and hearing by the word of God becomes of one through studying the word of God. Listening to teachers of the word is another source of hearing and hearing the word of God.
What is it that is turning you away from engaging the source of faith? Paul, the Apostle, in one of his journeys brought to light a possible source of being turned away from growing in faith. The bible states, “Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.” (Acts 13:6-8) Elymas, the sorcerer, was on a mission to turn away the proconsul that sought Barnabas and Saul from hearing the word that could activate his faith. Identify any representative of Elymas in your life by turning away from Elymas before he turns you away from the word of faith. Paul responded to Elymas in Acts 13: 10, “…and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?’”Clearly, any agent of deceit should be denied from assessing one’s life.

Prayer for today: Ask the Lord to terminate every representative of Elymas in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is a God of salvation and deliverance.

Acts 9:1-19

When the light of God shines no darkness prevail. John 1:5 states it better, “And the light shines in the darkness, and darkness did not comprehend it.” Are you experiencing any challenge of darkness? God is still in the business of answering prayer if you will trust and call on God. The psalmist must be praying against the challenges of darkness which calls for salvation when he prayed the same prayer point three times in Psalm 80 stating, “Restore us O God of hosts; cause your face to shine and we shall be saved!” (Psalm 80:7) Having understanding that God is light (1John 1:5) should be an energizer for praying with full expectation for His visitation to terminate the challenges of darkness. 
The book of Acts 12 recorded the need for Peter’s salvation from an untimely death while he was in the same prison that claimed the life of James. It is written, “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands.’” (Acts 12:7) When the angel took a stand concerning the darkness that overshadowed Peter, deliverance was inevitable. With God’s angel standing by him, the light which shone on his behalf terminated every activities of darkness. Are you expecting salvation on a ground with no sign for salvation to prevail? Peter was asleep when the light of his salvation visited him. As a result, the angel struck Peter on the side. It could be that all you need to be awake and embrace your deliverance is a strike on your side.
When it was time for Paul to enter into the salvation of God for his life, when it was time for Paul to relocate from pit of darkness, it was the light of God that arrested him. Saul was on a journey to Samaria against the disciples of Jesus. He was with permission to bind the disciples to Jerusalem. The Bible states, “As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.  Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:3-4) The same light of God which answered on behalf of Peter delivered the disciples when it stopped Saul from achieving his evil mission against the disciples in Samaria. Above all, it was the same light that led Saul unto salvation of Christ Jesus and gave Saul a change of name. (Saul to Paul) God is a God of salvation and deliverance. Call on Him to cause His face to shine against any cloud of darkness that is set against you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to cause His face to shine on you as you face the coming days.