FAITH CAPSULE: When God calls you, He will back you up.

Acts 9:1-22

The Bible recorded how Saul (before he became Paul the apostle) was breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord before he encountered his calling from the Lord. Saul was set to go for his destructive act against the disciples at the synagogues of Damascus, with permission from the high priest (Acts 9:1-2). It is written, “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?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:3-6) Paul the apostle received his calling trembling and astonished. Jesus backed him with direction to go in his calling and his story was changed for great.
When God calls you, He will back you up. God is always looking for someone whose heart is ready to receive His calling. Are you looking forward to His calling in your life? Wait on the Lord, His calling is coming. In God’s calling, there is a growing process. Every growing process is the time of training for where His calling will send you. When God calls you and are able to answer, He will establish you. Before He establishes you, stay focused and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. In your training, give Him all the attention; do not force anything that He did not deposit in you. Do not fake it, and do not fight a war that is not yours. You have been doing the work of the Lord for quite a while and it seems that he is not going to establish you. It is the level of your focus that will bring forth His hand to establish you. It is written concerning Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:20, “And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD.” Man did not announce Samuel’s establishment, it was God’s divine schedule that announced Samuel. When God establishes you, there will be no campaign, business card or advertisement. Be patient in the Lord, let Him see you through your training and He will establish you in what He called you for. So many could not wait and fell before they went very far in where they were going. Do not allow failure to have its way.

Prayer for today: Over your life, ask for the same grace that prevented Peter’s faith from failing.

FAITH CAPSULE: Persistence demonstrates faith and God is pleased when there is faith.  

1 Samuel 1

In spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement, and mockery you continue to have hope in God for your breakthrough. In spite of delay, abandonment from the love ones your trust does not waver. Does any of the above describe your situation? If yes, you are not alone God indeed is with you. It seems so very long that you have been waiting with no answer. Know that as long as you remain persistent; you insist on God’s visitation by waiting, God will visit you. God’s word promises in Isaiah 64:4, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him.” It is worthy to rest and have assurance that God will act on behalf of those who wait. Keep the testimony of Hannah, seek God and you shall see His act manifested in your favor.
Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah and all of Peninnah’s sons and daughters went to Shiloh every year to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of hosts. Every year they went and nothing changed in the story of Hannah. She was barren going and coming. There was no indication of complaining or fighting with anyone in or outside of her family. Hannah was the neediest and probably the quietest. Hannah kept on going with her family and most probably with no excuse. She was barren but she trusted God for intervention, and she was persistent. You may be wondering what happened in your case. Does it seem that you have been totally forgotten? Being persistent is what you need to be in order to get what you want from God. Being persistent means you call on God without doubting, and you do it constantly and consistently. Persistence demonstrates that you have faith and God is not pleased when there is no faith. The situation with Hannah was that God had closed her womb. Elkanah gave his best to make up for Hannah when he resolved to giving “…Hannah a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the LORD had closed her womb.” (1 Samuel 1:5) Persistence often provokes the hand of God to open a closed door. In Hannah’s persistence, the Lord remembered Hannah, “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 1:20) The Lord blessed Hannah more than she expected. Know today that God is God. Let no man seal up the close door that is already upon you with negative confessions. Go the way of persistence and understanding that God can choose to open or close the door. He alone is God.

Prayer for today: Ask God not to withhold His tender mercy from you. Ask for His loving kindness to preserve you continually.   

FAITH CAPSULE:Fear will sink you while faith will raise you.

Matthew 14:22-33

Challenges comes, challenges goes. Most times it comes without any warning signal and it is not always welcome. Challenges in the journey of life can be likened to storm that rages on the sea. Challenges can be painful but at the end it becomes gainful by virtue of learning experience it delivers. Once, the disciples’ experience in the middle of sea brings forth lesson of how to react in the face of confronting challenge.
The Bible recorded how Jesus made His disciples to go into the middle of sea at evening hour and with Him not going with them. While in the middle of the sea, they were tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. (Matthew 14:24) Jesus must have known what was going to happen before sending them because He knows all things. Despite the challenge at sea, Jesus made His way to the disciples by walking on the boisterous wind. 
Fear will sink you while faith will raise you. Faith and not fear is what you need to confront every area of storm that is raging towards you. Have faith by knowing that the one that walks on storm is the one that speaks to calm storm. Peter saw Jesus walking on water in the midst of a storm that had him and the other disciples gripped in fear. Matthew 14:28, “And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to You on the water.’”  Jesus responded to Peter’s request by asking him to come. Peter attempted to walk like Jesus. He had been with the Lord long enough; he saw miracles all along the way; he knew that faith, not fear, brought forth miracles. Despite all that Peter knew about Jesus, he failed to walk the walk and would have drowned if not for the outstretched hand of the Lord. Matthew 14:30, “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ As a believer, talking the word; quoting the word; hearing and not doing as spoken is not enough to deliver. Living by the word of God is the only way to walk in every storm. Also, leaving the word out of your walk does not lead to the expected end. Get into the word of God and faith will get hold of you because the word of God is the source of faith. Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” One can hear the word in your daily reading or by listening to ministers which God has placed in your life. Get into the word and out of the world.

Prayer for today: Ask God to keep you away from every agent of faith failure.

FAITH CAPSULE: What is the state of your heart in seeking and serving God?

1 Samuel 3

The word of God describes Samuel, “So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.  And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord.Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 3: 19-21)
Samuel’s state of heart was God focused and that was why none of his words fell down. What is the state of your heart in seeking and serving God?
God is not interested in how you run around or how you appear to man on the ground of worship. Clearly, the word of God points it in the pages of Bible about how He is only interested in the state of our heart as we seek and serve Him.
Here are some Scriptural verses that buttress seeking God with all our heart and not by our look and appearance: 
Deuteronomy 4:29, “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
1 Chronicles 28:9, “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”
2 Chronicles 15:12, “Then they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul.” 
Psalm 119:2, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!”
Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
God is not difficult to be found but the heart of man is desperately wicked and that makes it difficult for man’s heart to seek God.
In your service unto God, are you running in act without the heart for God? It is important to know that the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed. (1 Samuel 2:3) Brethren can mistake you; pastors can misrepresent you but God is perfect to identify all. Also are you a pastor whose heart does not line up with God as it is supposed to? The congregation might be looking at your outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
Peace, joy, deliverance, victory, salvation, breakthrough are among the blessings that identifies with God. It shall be impossible to seek Him with all our heart and soul and not be identified with His identity. Seek God with all your heart and all your soul.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace to live fully in obedience to His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Waiting with persistence is an evidence of faith.

Isaiah 64:1-5, Luke 18:1-8

Waiting demands to be persistent in praying. Jesus spoke of the parable of the persistent widow that was persistent in her attempt to get justice from her adversary, from a judge who does not fear God. The widow, because of her persistent was able to get the unjust judge’s response. Jesus was pointing out how we should always wait (pray) and not lose heart. He concluded the parable pointing out that if the unjust judge could answer to the persistent woman, “shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7-8) The lesson in the parable is that waiting to receive should be with persistence and to be persistent is also the evidence of faith. 
As an acclaimed believer, is there any area of life where you are waiting and trusting God for a miracle? If not, there will be a time coming when you will have a need to wait on Him with patience. A persistent patience is what it takes to wait on God. It is one thing to know there is a need for patience in waiting, it is another to actually experience waiting on God for manifestation of expectation. You that have a need for waiting, trust God and He will deliver; He is also the God of the eleventh hour. That is, He will show up when it seems that there is no way out so that you can appreciate Him enough to glorify and elevate His Holy name at the top of your heart. God knows that we have a need to bring before Him, and He will wait for us to take it to Him. Presenting our need to God is demonstrating that we recognize and we serve a living God. It is written in Isaiah 30:18, “Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for Him.” What do you expect of a jealous God? The answer is, give Him unfailing attention. He gets our attention when we wait because where there is jealousy, there will be love. He is a loving God. Wait on Him, do not give up. Have patience and He will attend to your need at the best possible hour. The Prophet Isaiah testifies that He is God who acts for those that wait on Him. (Isaiah 64:4). Be patient in your waiting. He will not fail; He will act on your behalf.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deposit in your life all that it takes for man to be patient and persistent waiting on Him.