FAITH CAPSULE: With the Word of God, your pain will be converted to good gain.

Mark 5:1-20

The word is the master of all creating creators. When it sounds it can never be denied. Blind hears and receive sight; deaf hears and gain hearing; the lost listen and regain direction. The Word is power to make every knee bow. John 1:1-5 describes the word, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
The Bible described a mad man “who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.” (Mark 5:3-5) it is justifiable for him to be called the father of all mad. There is no any other case of madness in the Scriptures that measure up to his madness. Evidently, he was not bound-able since he could pull chains apart. The mad man’s case presented untouchable challenges. Do you have a case that is exceedingly untouchable and very complicated with no hope at sight? The Word sounded in direction of the mad man stating, “…Come out of the man, unclean spirit!”(Mark 5:8) At the sound of the word, the mad man regained his right mind. Jesus the living Word of God will speak to your situation; He will not let you be wasted in your journey of life. He will cause all of your torment to be reversed for good. With the Word of God, your pain will be converted to good gain.
Does your case present a no way out situation like that of the mad man? The same Jesus is nearer to you than you can imagine. Today, begin to worship Him. Stop looking at your situation through natural eyes and begin to look up to Jesus. He is the living Word of God and He will speak to your situation if you will listen to receive His word of deliverance. The Word that has been sounding in your direction through the pages of Bible is the Word of God. The Word of God is God and God is His Word. What is it that is tormenting your life? The Word of God is the way of living life abundantly. When you begin to listen to the Word of God, you will undoubtedly walk away from the way of death.

Prayer for today: Ask for the word to sound in your direction.

FAITH CAPSULE: Heart which relies on God will be loyal to Him and it is the evidence of the fear of God.

2 Chronicles 13
 
It is written, ““…You shall act in the fear of LORD, faithfully and with a loyal heart” (2 Chronicles 19:9) Joseph feared God to rely on God when he refused to commit a grave sin with the wife of his master. David a man after Gods own heart feared; trusted his God and became bold against an unimaginable confrontation when he went out against Goliath. Paul and Silas could not seek any other avenue for their escape from prison but to worship God in praise and prayer. Obedience, trusting and worshiping are the evidence of the fear of God. Heart which fears God is a loyal heart to God. 2 Chronicles 16:9 testifies, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him…” A loyal heart is a faithful heart which fears and relies on God.
Jeroboam the king of Israel confronted Abijah the king of Judah for war. Jeroboam was set in battle with eight hundred thousand men of war against Abijah’s four hundred thousand men of war. Jeroboam, by virtue of the strength and depth in his men of war, had no need to rely on God but self while Abijah relied on God. Abijah warned Jeroboam, “Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!” (2 Chronicles 13:12) Despite the warning, Jeroboam chose to go forward relying on man’s strength to prevail against Abijah’s reliance on God. It is written, “But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets.” (2 Chronicles 13:13-14) Abijah took three steps to attain his victory: The people cried out to the Lord; the priests sounded trumpets which represented alarming call to heaven and the men of Judah gave a shout. Abijah trusted God, “Thus the children of Israel were subdued at that time; and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the LORD God of their fathers.” (2 Chronicles 13:18). God sees the heart and He will not fail to spot out the ones that rely on Him. A heart that relies on God will be loyal to Him and it is the evidence of the fear of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to take over your heart and cause you not to have any reason to rely on any other God.

Faith Capsule: Always know what you are asking for before opening of mouth or heart in prayer

2 Samuel 22:26-51

As a believer, it is important to take every word of God for truth. The word warned, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) When your mind set is loaded with the living word of God through meditation negative communication should have no place in you. Know and make it your habit to constantly avoid communicating negative. Should we keep silent to avoid communicating negative? Absolutely! We should not keep quiet especially when we know that He has delivered us from bondage of sin. The word that encourages the children of Israel when they came out of the bondage of Egypt encourages us when God stated, “I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” (Psalm 81:10) Also, in keeping silent we might be silencing our request from God. Are you one who makes mention of the Lord? Here is what Isaiah 62:6-7 says to all, “…you who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes…” This is talking about a need to be persistent in what we ask for. Jesus buttresses the need to be persistent when He admonished all to be persistent in our asking in His Parable of the Persistent Widow. (Luke 18:1-8)
Knowledge is precious and it increases strength. Know for sure that God’s word will not return void to Him just as He promised in Isaiah 55:11. The Psalmist also testifies that He is God who magnifies His word above His entire name (Psalm 138:2).
Having the name of God in our mouth will be complimented by having been carrying His word in the heart and not just the head. When the word is in the heart, there will be what it takes to remind Him in our asking. Having the word in the heart will also give the cause to remind God about His faithfulness to others and it enables us to contend with Him, stating our case because He is not a partial God. (Isaiah 43:26)
He alone is God. He cannot be intimidated and He will do what He pleases to do. Know God in His word and the world will know that you are in Him. God is not a man that He should lie. Ask for the goodness of God according to His mercy.

Prayer for today: Ask that your tongue shall constantly be under the power of the Holy Spirit to direct and keep you away from negative communication.  

Faith Capsule: God answers before we call on Him.

2 Samuel 22:1-25

Are you still calling on Him? It is not too late in the year to give up. Keep up with Him in your expectation and know it that He hears you.
What a mighty, gracious and merciful God we serve! God was speaking in the book of Isaiah, “It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24) God is true indeed. King David testifies to the truth when he stated, “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” (2 Samuel 22:4) David’s kind of praise is a celebrated praise; a boastful full praise. By virtue of his kind of praise, he was sure that his call had been answered by God who answers before we call on Him. David’s approach is evidence to the truth that God is not only worthy of our contemplative praise (thoughtful or meditative praise). David was rendering a boastful praise knowing that God had done it before asking. A boastful praise is rooted in understanding of God’s character of answering prayer before we call; boastful praise is celebrating what He has done or what He will do.
God also mentioned that “while we speak, He will hear us”. Indeed He heard the children of Israel speaking (not praying) in the face of challenging needs during their journey through the wilderness. It was rebellious speeches rooted in complaints. God responded by stating, “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.” (Numbers 14:28) Unfortunately for the Israelites it was negative speech; it was rebellious speech whereby they were rejecting God for His mercy that brought them out of bondage of over four hundred years.
It is very important to always know what we are asking for before opening our mouth or our heart in prayer and speech. There is no safer place in speaking than speaking positive at all times regardless of the negative before us. The same word of God declares to us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) Often time we have no idea who is before us whenever we speak out positive or negative. As a result, the word of God also warns, “Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands?” (Ecclesiastes 5:6) It is worth not saying negative than saying it and claiming mistake for excuse. Before God there is no excuse that counts.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of understanding as you journey through life.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is more than trustworthy to wait on Him.

Psalm 62

It is written, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7) Despising God’s instruction is the evidence of no fear of God. Ones who take to God’s instruction know to fear Him and will dwell safely, and will be secure without fear of evil. (Proverbs 1:33) Trusting God comes from knowing Him by constantly following His instruction. God is more than trustworthy to wait on Him. Do you trust God? Can you trust Him enough for your deliverance?
The word of God could not have said it better when it says, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom…” (Psalm 11:10) It is wisdom to know that the one that created heaven and earth is real and true. It is wisdom to know that there is nothing He cannot do. It is wisdom to know He cannot fail and all His word will come to pass. How do you trust in the Lord? “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) Trust in Him with all heart-not just by acting to impress others. Trusting Him just by the word of the mouth is not enough to provoke the hand of God because God goes by what transpires in the heart. Do you truly trust with your heart or test Him in your heart? Testing and not trusting is a way of doubting God.
The word of God promised,”…He who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land and shall inherit My holy mountain.” (Isaiah 57:13) Absolutely there is nothing worth more than trusting God and finding out His truthfulness. A heart that knows to truly trust God waits on Him at all times in all situations. God expects us to wait on Him because it is a demonstration of faith and faith is what pleases God. The book of Isaiah 40:31 testifies, “…But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” There is no failure in trusting to wait on God. With the fear of God every other thing shall fall into the right place. All that the word is asking from us is to fear Him. King David also testified in Psalm 62:1-2, “Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” In trusting God there is salvation and God will not fail to defend the ones that truly trust Him. Do you truly trust God?

Prayer for today:Ask for the grace to love and trust God in every area of life.