FAITH CAPSULE: Take to the word of God to take control over your challenge.

Jeremiah 1, Matthew 22:14

Jesus’ words are not dead but they are living. His words are power to direct and to deliver. Twice in the book of Matthew, in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard and the Parable of the wedding feast, He stated, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 20:16, Matthew 22:14) The quotation demands a serious attention by virtue of its emphasis by Jesus. Indeed and in truth, it is safe to say that today, many are answering and maintaining their calling in the center of their divine assignment while many are falling and not maintaining their calling. Having started right and later succumbing and falling in doing the work of God is not always evident to the fact that they are not called of God. Distractions in the world today are enough to deny the called but there is no enough excuse for man to derail from the Lord’s calling. Have you been called and now face tough challenges? It is good to rest in the assurance of the word that states, “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1Thesalonians 5:24)Stay on the truthfulness of God’s Word and you shall overcome.
In God’s calling, challenging times will come, but when we remain faithful we shall not fall but shall remain standing. When God called Jeremiah to the center of his divine assignment, it was with words of encouragement over challenges that were ahead for Jeremiah. God spoke to him, “Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them.” (Jeremiah 1:17) Whenever He calls you, He will back you up if you will not take to your back-up plan. Backing out of His calling will definitely lead to the falling of the called. God also warned Jeremiah stating, “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ’to deliver you.’” (Jeremiah 1:19) God will not call and fail to back His called. Failure, however, happens when the called fail to maintain faith in God. The same way God gave His assurance to Jeremiah, He also gave to Ezekiel. He spoke to Ezekiel, “You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house…” (Ezekiel 2:7-8) In your calling, take to His word to take control over challenges; abstain from despising the word of His command that you may live to the fulfillment of your destiny. In God’s calling, there is no way out to avoid challenges. The challenges in your calling will make a way out for you and not break you.

Prayer for today: Ask for His enablement in the course of my calling.

FAITH CAPSULE: Nothing goes without its reward and every act of man will activate a man’s reward.

Esther 5, 6, 7

God is good. Doing good when a situation calls for it glorifies God. When you know to do good, do not stop nor relent from doing good. Also, when doing evil becomes part of your doing, it is good to seek God for help and reverse from doing evil to doing good. Have you been doing good and it appears to you there is no reward for doing good? If God does not oversee sin, He definitely would not oversee doing good. Nothing goes without its reward and every act of man will activate a man’s reward. The few Scriptural verses below cannot emphasize enough about good: Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Doing good or bad does have its reward. Whatever a man sows, he will reap. It is not possible to sow oranges and reap mangos. Are you ignoring doing good because there is no one to acknowledge your doing? God sees it all and He will not relent from rewarding you for your deed. Mordecai spotted evil and did not relent from reporting it. It is written, “In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.” (Esther 2:21-22)
Mordecai’s good deed was not instantly rewarded, but was nevertheless recorded in his name. As time went by, a certain evil man named Haman, who had sought to destroy Mordecai, gained promotion to be the right hand man of king Ahasuerus. The night before Haman could carry out his attempt to destroy Mordecai and his people, “…the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.  And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. Then the king said, ’What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this…?’” (Esther 6:1-3) The honor and dignity that was bestowed to Mordecai gave deliverance to Mordecai and set Haman into destruction. Indeed and in truth, “A good man obtains favor from the LORD, but a man of wicked intentions He will condemn.”(Proverbs 12:2) Meditate on the Word of God, “…to him who knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace that enables man to do good constantly in the daily journey.

FAITH CAPSULE: Fear does not discriminate on who to invade.

Matthew 14:22-33

The Psalmist stated, “Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,” (Psalm 64:1-2) One that is preserved from the fear of the enemy is set to be hidden from the secret plots of the wicked and the rebellion of the workers of iniquity. However, one that abstains from meditating is bound with the challenge of not gaining the kind of preservation the psalmist is asking from God. Meditation demands consistency and constantly meditating prayer is what it takes to stop evil one that will always return at opportune time. Meditate on the prayer to be preserved as you navigate through the journey of life. If meditating is your routine, you will do well with the word of the Psalmist. The anchor in this prayer is, “preserve me from the fear of the enemy.” There is only one enemy for every creation of God and that enemy is the devil himself. Fear is the deadliest of the enemy’s weapon. When faith sinks, it is because fear was allowed to rise. Fear does not discriminate on who to invade.
Job, a man of integrity, was described by God in response to the Satan asone “that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8) Job had a high standard in the presence of God. After he had lost all that the Lord blessed him with, he confessed about fear, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.” (Job 3:25) Fear did not announce itself to Job when it was gaining its ground inside of Job. In Job’s life, fear could not destroy him but did a great damage on him. Also, it was fear that caused Peter to sink in the storm. In the challenge of stormy water, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ So He said, ’Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ’Lord, save me!’ (Matthew 14:28-30) In this narration of Peter, it is clear that when faith was in place, he was able to walk on the storm and not sink. However, when faith was out of place, fear began to make him sink despite the fact that Jesus was there with him.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace that delivers man from the faith failing agents of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: No one can cut short the course of His designed way without consequences.

Numbers 20                                    

To fear God will keep man in His way. The way of God is the will of God for a man’s life. Any man that goes in the way of God always get to God’s designed destination. What is it that could be compared with getting to where God designed for our life? In the way of God, there is no short cut. No one can cut short the course of His designed way or else one will be cut off short in the journey of life. Exodus 13:17, “Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the Philistines although that was near; for God said, ‘Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.’” If the children of Israel had gone through the short cut, they would not have only returned but they probably would have become scattered beyond the chances of coming back together. All the complaint and cry for what they missed and what they would have had was enough evidence that they certainly would have gone back to the way that seemed right to them. Are you taking to the way that seems right to you in your journey of life? It is not how long you have been taking it but rather how long will it take for the wrong way to bring you down?
Proverbs 14:12 states, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” What a warning! Whenever one takes to the way that seems right, getting through to God’s designed destination becomes absolutely impossible. The way that seems right goes through complications, frustration, intimidations and ends up in termination. It is written, “He made Known His way unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” (Psalm 103:7) Despite Him making known His ways unto Moses, Moses could not step on the Promised Land because he took to his own way of obeying God’s command. One’s title or status in the business of God is not what counts before God but what is of upmost importance is how one stands in His word. Moses failed to hallow Him; he failed to hallow God. Numbers 20:12, Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me, in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Moses had the map in his hand, but he could not navigate as required. He failed where it matters and he could not enter into the Promise Land. If Moses could fail in that course, who are you to think you are through?

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of constant and consistent obedience.

FAITH CAPSULE: What you feed on is what becomes of you.
 
John 1:1-18

Just as sweet as the name of Jesus sounds in the believers ear so is the Word of God to those who embrace the Word of God. Psalm 119:103 testifies, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Jeremiah confessed, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart…” (Jeremiah 15:16) Are you finding out that the word of God is sweet for consumption? The sweetness of the word makes it available and bitter but sweet enough to be consumable for those who will embrace it. The Bible also testifies, “But the Word is very near in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” (Deuteronomy 30:14) Anyone who is having the word in their mouth and in their heart will do the Word. Many does have the word in their mouth but fall short of having it in the heart and that makes it impossible for the Word to work the work of God in their life. Also, the ones who know to do the Word will undoubtedly know how to call on the Word of God for use whenever challenges are demanding. Psalm 107:20, He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” The same Word of God that was sent is the same that is near our mouths and we are to use it as a weapon for defense against all that the enemy brings in our direction.
It is written, “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.” (John 1:1-3) The Word of God is God.The Word has never stopped coming to us since the beginning. The Word that has been made available will only be available if our hearts have been available for the Word to reign and rule. The Word of God is true and is power. The Word will work for those who work the word by their walk in it while living in this world of wickedness. This is the same Word that God Himself testified stating, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11) What you feed on is what becomes of you. Allow the Word of God become your daily bread.

Prayer for today: Father I ask that You cause Your Word to have its place in my life.