FAITH CAPSULE: Knowledge is the deliverance key.

2Kings 6:1-23

Just as challenges exists and persists in the world of unbelievers so it is in the word of believers. Believers are not immune to experiencing challenges but they can be un-moveable in the face of challenges. Word of God admonishes, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) Knowing to memorize and be quoting the scripture is far enough to bringing forth the required deliverance in the face of challenge. Proverbs 11:9 states clearly, “…but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.” Deliverance from afflicting challenges of the righteous is rightly in the knowledge of the word of deliverance. The word of God is true to perform and perfect. As a believer, are you spending time to engage the word of God that is knowledge to deliver.
Are you thinking of what you should do in response to all the confrontations that are before you? There is a sure and certain answer to what should be done. As a believer, it is not wrong to ask, “What should I do?” However, it is worthy to be cautious in your asking because there is no room for complaint against God. It does not matter how many strong believers or giants in the Lord are surrounding you, asking from God, “What should I do?” is exercising faith in God. The servant of Elisha had seen great miracles done by the hand of his master, a giant in the Lord. Despite all testimonies through Elisha, when confronting challenge came the servant resolved to asking, “What shall we do” The book 2 Kings 6:15 records, “And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’”
There is always an answer to confronting challenges. The same answer that was offered by Elisha to his servant is the only answer for any believer that is seeking knowledge for deliverance. Do you care to know the answer? Elisha answered by stating what need to be done in 2 Kings 6:16, “So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’” As a believer, it is a challenge to confront issues without fear. The Word of God wants us to bury fear so that faith may rise. Elisha said it, and Paul the Apostle encouraged it when he said, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanks giving, let your requests be made know to God; and peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6).” If you will open your spiritual eyes, you will know that you are more than a conqueror. Rejoice in the Lord always!

Prayer for today: Ask God to open your eyes to see and know you are there always. John is the baptizer and a follower of Jesus

FAITH CAPSULE: Claiming to love God comes down to obeying the commands of God.

1 John 3: 7-21

The will of God for us is to fear Him. When we fear Him we become full of Him. Ecclesiastes 12:13 admonished us stating, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is man’s all.” Evidently to know to fear God is to know and be consistent obeying his commandments. Obeying the command of God demands full obedience and not half obedience. One that fully obey God is one that is full of the fear of God. To be full of His fear is to be full of His love. God is love and love is also the presence of God.
To fear God is to love God. Claiming to love God also comes down to obeying the commands of God. Apostle Paul points it out that the purpose of God’s command is to love God. He stated, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk.” (1Timothy 1:5-6) Paul was not talking about love that flows from the tips of lips. Paul was talking about a standard love that counts before and kind of love that is worthy to provoke God’s attention to acknowledge one for good.
To love (fear) God is to constantly dwell in His presence (His presence is His word) and not depart from Him. God spoke, “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. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’” (Jeremiah 32:38-41) In the above word of God, it is clear that the fear of God is what qualifies man as God’s people and not the assumption of others; it is not one’s title inside or outside of the church. Going by the word of God as written above, anyone that fears God undeniably takes a position to experience the goodness of God. It is also a joyous thing to God when we dwell in His fear. Without doubt, for anyone that is doing what makes God to rejoice over him/her, the strength of God shall never be a thing of lack in the life of such person. Why not do it right by fearing God and allow the joy of the Lord be your strength?

Prayer for today:Direct my heart into Your love O Lord and into the patience of Christ.

FAITH CAPSULE: Know and understand to look up to God for help in the face of challenges.

Joshua 5:13-15, Psalm 121

As an acclaimed believer, a delay experiencing manifestation in any area of expectation is not enough reason to stop looking or lifting up eyes to the Lord for help. Not been able to lay hands on expectation during the journey of a year should not divert one’s attention from lifting up eyes to God that is perfect to deliver.
The Psalmist testifies in Psalm 121:1-4, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” An acclaimed believer that is conversant with Psalm 121 should obviously know about looking or lifting up eyes to gain from the One that is above. Before Abraham knew what God had in place as an acceptable replacement for Isaac becoming the sacrificial lamb, he looked up with expectation. It is written “Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there was a ram caught in the ticket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.” (Genesis 22:13)
Looking up for help is essential. If you are one that is not used to looking up for help in time of need, reaching your breakthrough will be a thing of challenging difficulty.After Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the Jordan, it was another confronting challenge from the wall of Jericho that they encountered. The wall stood as a hindrance getting to their Promised Land. Joshua did not just know about God, he knew God and he approached the wall as one who knows his God. Joshua did what one that knows God will do in the face of challenge. It is written in Joshua 5:13-14, “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, ‘Are You for us or for our adversaries? So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come…’”  When Joshua looked in the right place, he found the right help at the right time. Are you looking in the right place for the right help? Truly, the testimony of the Lord is sure making the wise simple (Psalm 19:7) It is wisdom to take to His testimonies. Take to the testimonies of God and allow looking up to God for your help become your lifestyle. Help from men will not go far enough.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the understanding to know and seek Him when need calls for it.

FAITH CAPSULE: You owe Him all your focus.

Exodus 14
 
Coming out of dangerous challenges into another dangerous challenge is not too much for God to extend deliverance. Actually, as regard to dangerous challenge or afflictions, the word of God cautions, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out them all.” (Psalm 34:19) The children of Israel were not an exemption to the truth of how affliction comes and goes by God’s delivering power. The children of Israel, fresh from over four hundred years of bondage, entered into another juncture of affliction; into a giant obstacle that was huge enough to have them terminated. You can imagine them coming out of that bondage with miracles and favor bestowed upon them by their Egyptian masters, through the hand of God. It should be expected that nothing would cause them to be moved by fear. The moment they realized a new danger (the Red Sea) in front, and their former masters (Pharaoh and his horsemen) chasing from behind, and there was no turning left or right, they became afraid. The children of Israel instantly forgot to remember what God had done to get them to where they were in their journey. Where you are at this point of your journey does not matter, but He that brought you to where you are is the One that matters. You owe Him all your focus. If He chooses to terminate your journey or to see you through it, no devil under heaven can stop Him.
In the case of the Israelites at the Red Sea, Moses said to them in Exodus 14:13, “And Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today, for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.” The Lord said it, and the Lord did it. What He said to them He is speaking to you. Do you see any that represents the Egyptians coming up behind you, chasing you? Engage Moses response to the children of Israel: 1. Do not be afraid, 2. Stand still, 3. See your salvation (even though it is not at hand, but believe it is there), 4. When you begin to see it, you have provoked His hand, 5. He will do it. Do you believe? If you will hold your peace by engaging Moses word to the Israelites, you will encounter same deliverance like that of the Israelites. Trust God that your own stubborn Pharaoh too will be permanently terminated. God is enough to fight your battle.

Prayer for today: Ask God to terminate all the forces that represents Pharaoh and his men in your life just as He did at the Red Sea for the Israelites.

FAITH CAPSULE: When one becomes empty, one will end up wasted.

1 Samuel 12

Through Samuel, the Israelites asked God for a king over them and it was granted them. After having been granted, Samuel admonished them stating, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.” (1 Samuel 12:20-21) The Scriptural passage clearly indicates that emptiness belongs to anyone that turns aside from God. Know it that the word of God is God (God is His word). Psalmist makes it clear in Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” In the world that is full of darkness, not being full with Light (word for God) is like announcing oneself to the evil one about one’s availability to become his victim.
Anyone that is empty will always have empty talk because one cannot give out what one does not carry in the inside. Are you having an empty talk lately? Is your talk not producing results of a child of the Living God? God does not listen to empty talk. Job buttress in Job 35:13, “Surely God does not listen to empty talk, nor will the Almighty regard it.”
Can you afford to be empty?
When one becomes empty, one will end up wasted because wickedness will come in and dwell in one that is empty. When you first turned your life to God, He gave you deliverance. With God’s deliverance, you are to be filled up by His Word. Now you are back to being empty because you have turned aside. What happens to being empty is mentioned by Jesus in Matthew12: 43-45, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Does what Jesus say here relate to you? It is never too late to turn back unto Him. If you have turned aside from Him, go back and find out at which junction you have turned aside. Remember, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) He is a merciful God. He will not forsake you if you do not forsake Him. Turn to God. Allow His word to upgrade your emptiness to powerfulness.

Prayer for today: Whatever it is that causes man to turn aside from you, let it not have a place in me in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.