FAITH CAPSULE: Deny man’s positioned large rock to see the Eternal Rock of ages.

Mark 16

The plan and the purpose of Pilate and his cohorts was to permanently seal off the hope of man; to interrupt; and shattered the existence of the Gospel message which brought hope and the way of salvation for man. All the persecutors of Jesus, starting from Pilate to the soldiers that led Him away through to the Calvary misrepresent their plan and purpose. Those men ignorantly filled up the lamp with oil. The lamp that was filled up has been generating the light that is now burning. It is an unquenchable light till Jesus comes back. It is the light of life which no darkness can comprehend. Jesus is alive today, tomorrow and forever! No tomb can hold Him down neither is there any rock that is large enough to deny Him from taking charge as purposed by God the father of all creation. Absolutely there is no ignorance like that of a creation attempting to deny the plans of its creator. The Almighty creator wants to reach us but Pilate and his cohorts wants to breach His plans. Have you been struggling to reach unto Him? You have given your life to the Lord, but you are not experiencing any relationship with the Lord.
Could it be that there is a large rock that is in place as a representative of hindrance between your walk with Lord? On the day of Jesus’ resurrection, some wanted to see His body. It is written, “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, ‘Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?’ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large.” (Mark 16:1-3) Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome wanted to see the body of Jesus but they were concerned about a large rock hindering them.  In your attempt and true desire to seek and to know Jesus, hindrances and large rocks will give up and your desire shall never be denied. The Bible recorded that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome deny large rock from hindering their attempt to see Jesus when, “they looked up” They looked up and they saw that the stone (large rock) had been rolled away. A large rock which man’s strength or determination cannot move is always move-able in looking up to Jesus.

Prayer for today: Ask for His tender mercies and truth to continually guide you.

FAITH CAPSULE: Today, there is more Pilate inside and outside of the church.
 
MARK 15:15-41
The book of Mark 15:1 recorded, “Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.” (Mark 15:1) At what hour of the day do you start to bind Jesus? The chief priests and company started in the morning hour. It is written, “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”(Mark 15:15) Any man’s attempt that is made to satisfy man instead of the truth of God, man is positioned to miss the mark of glorifying God. How often have you been missing the mark? How often do you scourge Jesus like those that crucify Him in His days on earth did? Can you be honest with yourself? The Bible says, “…For the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by him actions are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:3) Consciously or unconsciously, have you been scourging the Lord just as Pilate did? What is it that is causing man not to satisfy the truth and glorify the Lord? Thousands of years ago, Pilate wanted to satisfy man. He wanted to make them feel good so he decided to give the Lord Jesus up for persecution and crucifixion. Today, there is more Pilate inside and outside of the church. Many acclaimed Christians cannot identify with the name of Jesus outside of their church building. Carrying the Bible from home to work or from work to home can be challenging to hold onto in the presence of the man.
Jesus came to give it all on the cross of Calvary and He gave it more abundantly that we may have life. (John 10:10) He gave it all for us and we are to take it all and stop giving Him up in the face of the wicked world. After Jesus was release by Pilate to the soldiers that led away till the hour of crucifixion, mockery was placed upon Him, Mark 15:16-20, “Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.” Jesus paid it all for us on the cross so that we will not have to pay it all over again.

Prayer for today: Ask God to endue you with grace and all that it takes not to gratify crowds and not to scourge Jesus in every area of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Mix the word of God with faith and get the result of an overcomer.

Mark 5:21-43

Jesus, throughout His ministry on the face of earth He was constantly passing or crossing from one end to another end. Just as He was doing then, He is doing more especially now that He is everywhere at every time through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Omnipresent and Omnipotent God. In all of His passing or crossing, He always makes Himself available to give life more abundantly. Can you check if you are in position or location whereby He will not pass you by? One’s position or location at His passing directly determines how one receives from Him. As a believer, position yourself in the word of God which commands, ““Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened top you.” (Matthew 7:7) At one of Jesus’ passing and crossing point, a religious man; one of the rulers of the synagogue; named Jairus; whose daughter was at a point of death; was in location at Jesus’ crossing. It is written, “And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.’” (Mark 5:22-23) At a location where great multitude gathered to Jesus, Jairus did not come as a spectator but he was there as one with expectation; he was on a mission to get and to receive more abundantly from Jesus.
Receiving more abundantly demands to ask, seek, and knock and Jairus engaged it all. Jairus came and asked but not to please the crowd. Every coming to Jesus for solutions to situations is evidently a coming to seek Him. Jairus did exactly this when he came to the face of Jesus. The Bible says Jairus saw Him. Seeing Him is the result of seeking Him. Knocking is banging on Him with petition for intervention. Jairus came to ask, he saw Jesus because he sought Him and then he knocked his petition on Jesus by falling at His feet. The best place to knock on Jesus is at the feet where He does not turn away from man. Whenever He takes a move to the right, left, front or back, He responds to those that petitions at His feet. If you will mix the word of God with faith, it will produce the result that will separate you from the world. The word of God is true, powerful and brings about deliverance. Take to the word of God and the world will fail from taking away all that belongs to you. Jesus is still the Lord.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be consistent in engaging the living word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Doubtless expectation brings forth undeniable manifestation.

Acts 3:1-11

With expectation for manifestation Elijah took his stand and prayed for rain to cease. Rain ceased to fall for three and a half years. Elijah declared before King Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” (1 Kings 17:1) Elijah was full of expectation by his declaration that there would be no rain except at his word. Indeed and in truth, God honored Himself in the declaration of Elijah that stated “as the Lord lives”. However, when it was time for rain to fall, the same Elijah prayed again with expectation and there was manifestation as the rainfall. The persistency in the prayer for rain to fall was demonstrated when Elijah’s servant was going back and forth (as commanded by Elijah) to check on the cloud of rain. It is written, “Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’” (1 Kings 18:44) With persistency, rain fell because the man of God operated with a doubtless expectation that brought forth undeniable manifestation. The same God in the Old Testament and the New Testament is still in the business of answering prayer. Are you seriously expecting Him to do His miracle in your situation or you are only reacting with emotion on the ground of miracle? There have to be a conscious and deliberate expectation to come out of deliberate exploitation of the wicked one.
A certain lame man, satisfied with small alms, condemned to the gate of the temple, had an expectation before his story was changed for good. The Bible recorded that this certain lame man at the juncture of his miracle; saw Peter and John on their way going into the temple but without expectation for healing he asked for alms as usual. Whatever is being asked for is the evidence of one’s level of faith and it is directly relevant to limitation in what is received. The certain lame man was redirected from just receiving alms, “…Look at us.” (Acts 3:4) When you ask without looking up, you have locked out of your miracle while opened to just alms. As a result of the redirection of his attention, “…he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.” (Acts 3:5) Asking without looking up to God is asking with no attention for expectation. The certain lame turned around to look in his asking by giving attention, expecting to receive. Choose the precepts of God; practice His precepts and you will prevail in the world of challenges.

Prayer for today:Ask for the hand of God to become your help if you have chosen His precepts.

FAITH CAPSULE: God remembers with favor and visit with salvation.

1Samuel 1

Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation, That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance. (Psalm 106:4) God remembers with favor and visit with salvation. God never forget to attend to His children and when a call is placed on us, He always remembers. It is written, “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”(Exodus2:23-25) It was the cry of the children of Israel that caused God to remember them in the bondage of over four hundred years.
Despite the fact that God closed the womb of Hannah (1 Samuel 1:5), she did not stop going to Shiloh with her husband, to worship God every year. However, the shame of not having a child haunted her until she took her cry to God in a way she never did. Having made a vow in her request for an open womb, she continued praying before the Lord. While Hannah was praying, “…Eli watched her mouth. Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!” (1 Samuel 1:12-14) The prayer of Hannah was mistaken for drunkenness because of the heaviness of her heart. Despite your faithfulness unto God, do you have any challenge that haunts you and remains persistent for years and will not go? Just like the children of Israel and Hannah, you have a need for aggressive means to get heaven’s attention. The children of Israel groaned and cried while Hannah vowed and prayed. After Hannah had poured out her heart, “…Elkanah knew her Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” (1 Samuel 1:19-20) When your asking begins to take an uncommon dimension, God who never forgets will remember you. Ask God like you mean it and He will visit you with favor.

Prayer for today: Ask God to remember me, O Lord, with favor and visit me with salvation.