FAITH CAPSULE: Who are you to be judging others?
 
Matthew 23

The book of Ecclesiastes 8:11 stated, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11) Does it always get your attention why evil ones prevail in their evil act? One thing is certain, God alone is the righteous and perfect judge and that makes it the more reason why we should strongly avoid taking a position of judging others. Who are you to judge?
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 went further by stating, “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” Going by these two verses, it is always better for every individual to strongly attend to self rather than be a judge of the evil ones. God alone is in charge and we are to attend to ourselves and not be a self-appointed judge.
Jesus said it all in Matthew 7:1-5, “Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”Every believer has a need to take a close look at self to know how much of the spirit of Pharisees inhabits in them. Are you one of those who want to shine on the outside while the inside is dull and cannot be presented before the Lord? Are you a modern day Pharisees that will offer more than what is requested for the outside while the inside is not being attended to? By virtue of the days we are living, every believer does have a need for serious self-examination. Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived. It is possible to go from one fellowship to another fellowship, presenting self on the outside as holy and neat while having a neglected inside that is not right before God. It does not matter how long you have been getting away with your hypocrisy. Just think of the fact that God does not and will not overlook sin. It is evil for any believer to think that inside can be neglected while the outside is being upgraded.

Prayer for today: Ask for His deliverance and His loving-kindness to continually preserve you.

Faithful Capsule: A failure to engage the promise of God is an act of disobedience.

Numbers 32

Crying to God is communicating with God. It is written, “…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.” (Exodus 2:23-25) The crying of the Israelites brought God down from His throne to deliver them from bondage.
It is written, “So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, …” (Exodus 3:8) Among the children of Israel, it was a different case for the children of Gad and the children of Reuben when they decided to settle at the east of Jordan. God promised much but they wanted less. The Bible recorded that they had a very great multitude of livestock and that prompted a request for a settlement in the region that is good for livestock.
The children of Gad and of Reuben approached Moses to state their desire, “…the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.’ Therefore they said, ‘If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.’” (Numbers 32:4-5) It is clear that where there is livestock milk will flow, but not honey. God promised a land of milk and honey, but they resolved themselves to just milk. The land of milk was conveniently enough for them. It is good to be convenient, but when commitment in one’s convenient is slack one will consciously or unconsciously despise the word of God. A failure to engage the promise of God is an act of disobedience. God’s plan and promise was to take them to a land that flows with milk and honey, but getting to the land that flows with only milk got them out of God’s plan. Moses questioned their decision, “Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? (Numbers 32:7) Are you operating the mind of the children of Gad and Reuben engaging God’s plan and promise for your life? Deny convenience from clouding your commitment. God is a good God. It does not matter how we see things unfold itself, God has a better plan than we can always see. Get committed in your walk in the Lord and the grace to go conveniently shall come to place.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to remain committed in every step you take in line with His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Where there is no revelation transformation ceases; stagnation reigns, eventual termination prevails.

Genesis 18

The book of Proverbs 13:19 clearly states, “…it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.” The bible identifies the fool, in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.” In a country where many claim there is no God, experiencing or hearing about evil occurrences shall know no bounds because it becomes an abomination for the fools not to execute evil occurrences. However, where there is many who truly live for God, revelation from God to counter evil occurrences shall not cease.
Without doubt, where there is no revelation transformation ceases; stagnation reigns, eventual termination prevails. It was revelation which came to Abraham that brought deliverance and preservation for Lot by taking him out of wicked city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham was referred to as a friend of God just as Jesus called the ones He appointed friends in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” All of us qualify to be His friends when living by His word becomes our lifestyle. Abraham qualified to be the friend of God because, “Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (James 2:23) By virtue of Abraham’s relationship with God, he was positioned where he could hear and see whenever God showed up or spoke to him.
Jesus promised that nothing will be hidden from His friends. God also declared, “…shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing…” (Genesis 18:17) Evidently, becoming a friend of God makes one a candidate for receiving revelation from God when it matters. God who is always true to His word, could not hide but revealed to Abraham when it was time for Him to strike Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin (Genesis 18:1-3). The world of today is no better than the world of Sodom and Gomorrah and that will make it impossible for God who is the same forever not to treat the world of today differently from the way He treated Sodom and Gomorrah.
Despite the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the distance of man to God is most likely the same or worse than that of Sodom and Gomorrah days. Today, there are more title-holders such as Prophets, Apostles, Doctor, Reverend, Bishop and huge numbers of acclaimed believers in the wicked world, but yet revelation eludes them all. Be righteous and position yourself for God’s revelation.

Prayer for today: Ask God to direct your heart into the fear of His name.

FAITH CAPSULE: With the fear of God in your life, His eye will always be upon you.

Ezra 5

It is written, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” (Psalm 33:18-19) Ones that sincerely fear God should constantly live life with understanding that they are covered from any form of evil occurrence. It is clear that provoking the eye of God to be upon us is directly rooted in fearing Him. To fear God is to love Him; to love God is to serve Him. How much of His fear do you have in you? No one should live the fear of God by mouth, but by living the word obeying God’s Word. Fearing God will not happen by determination, but by the Spirit of God. Determination failed Peter after promising not to deny Jesus three times before the cock crowed. Peter eventually went ahead to deny Jesus three times.
It is written, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” (Jeremiah 32:38-40) God is the one who will put His fear in our heart. Do you desire His fear? Ask for it and He will deposit His fear in your life. With the fear of God in your life, His eye will always be upon you.
When the children of Israel began to face stiff opposition, their rebuilding project of the temple ceased. However, it did not take forever before construction resumed. Adversaries attempted to terminate the effort to rebuild but could not prevail. The children of Israel could not be denied because the eye of God was upon them. The Word of God testifies to the reason why the children of Israel could not be interrupted stating, “But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they could not make them cease till a report could go to Darius…” (Ezra 5:5) When the eye of God is upon you, then you become unstoppable to any force under heaven.
Today, it really matters to hear and understand it that the conclusion of the whole matter is to fear God and keep His commandments. (Ecclesiastes 12:13) With His fear comes His covering to deliver and to preserve man from every form of destruction.  

Prayer for today: Ask God for His fear to reign and rule your life.

Faith Capsule: To be contentious could be a track for complaining to gather its speed.

Exodus 17:1-7

After having been privileged to see a New Year, what else do you expect from the Lord that is not yet at hand? The one that cause you to see another year is more than worthy to be trusted for performing and bringing to manifestation all of your expectation. If you have prayed; if you are still praying, trust that the Lord that performs in prayer will perfect in thanksgiving. To think of thanking God is different from to think and give Him thanks. In this New Year, as one with reasonable prayer account before God begin to render more of thanksgiving to God that you may provoke Him to perfect your expectation. Do you complain more than compliment God? Where is your complaint coming from? Being contentious can lead to complaining. To be contentious could be a track for complaining to gather its speed. In the journey of life, the spirit of complaining will not give life, but rather absolute death. In the midst of unforeseen situations, who should man complain to? What is it that can justify complaint over what one cannot control? The spirit of complaining is nothing but a negative approach unto God who is in control of Heaven and earth. Complaining can also be a way of pointing a finger in the face of the One who holds our time in His hand.
When circumstances beyond control takes its place in man’s life, complaining is not an option to dwell on. If you have arrived at a junction where you consider there is nothing in place that is worth thanking God for, why don’t you turn onto thanking God for the past and for what He has already done? It is not time for complaining. As one with a heart of appreciation and gratitude, resist complaint and persist in thanksgiving.The children of Israel who were delivered from Egypt were the greatest victim of complaint. Complaining did not take their life away in bondage, but it took it after they were out of bondage. Complaint will not announce itself before it establishes itself inside the life of its victim. It is written, Exodus 17:2-3, “Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water, that we may drink.’ So Moses said to them, ‘Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?’ And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, ‘Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’” It is evident that they started with contention before taking it to the level of complaining. It is worth to be commending Him and not complaining to Him. Keep on praising Him and He will keep on raising you.

Prayer for today: Ask God for His goodness and mercy to deliver you from every spirit of complaint.