FAITH CAPSULE: Which of your need is leading you to becoming a victim of devil’s enticement?

2 Samuel 11
If one’s focus is not properly fixed on God (Word of God), the enemy’s enticement will tie one down for destruction. It does not matter how strong you are standing in the Lord, the enemy will knock on your door with the purpose of knocking you down. The enemy knocked on King David’s door but he was too careless to give devil’s enticement all the room to occupy. He knocked on Adam and Eve’s door and all Eve saw was good in evil and the enemy achieved his goal. He knocked on Jesus’s door but Jesus was too full or word and denies devil a space to occupy Him.
Samson, as strong as he was, was enticed, and was brought down from where God placed him. It is written, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and everyone of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’” (Judges 16:5) Samson was a miracle child born with special instructions from heaven. As regard to Samson, the Bible documents in Judges 13:5, “For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” The man, Samson, ended up blind, because he could not be obedient according to the word of God. Enticement produced a hole in his strength. The hole in Samson’s strength caused his power to become deflated from what God had pumped into him before he was born.
Which of your need is leading you to becoming a victim of devil’s enticement? Did the word not promised that, my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus? (Philippians 4:19) Do you believe? Then take to Paul’s admonition as stated in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  Abstain from seeing the wicked world; take to the word of God. Today, open your mouth wide and begin to give Him thanks for all He has done; that entire He is doing and all that He will do. Give thanks and do not get enticed. God will answer our prayer today, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s hand of deliverance in every area of life where you have become a victim of enticement.

FAITH CAPSULE: Give your life to Jesus; take the stand to be His representative.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Jesus declared, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus is not saying that He will come to give life abundantly…He came already to give life abundantly. The truth that He came already to give life abundantly does not mean that every man will live life abundantly. Knowing about the truth of the word is not enough to live abundantly. It is true that every one that knows the truth will line their life living the truth of His word. However, the ones that line their life living the word of God are the ones that are representing Jesus. God’s plan is for all to be representing Him by living life as His representative but very few are living to demonstrate as His representative. Man can deceive man but it is absolutely, undoubtedly impossible for God to be deceived by man.
How are you representing Him? Are you representing Him in your daily life as much as you should be? Is it by self-introduction that you can be identified as a Christian, or by the way you are living your life? Representing Jesus is not by going to church on a regular basis. There are many that make church their home but yet, they’re far from church. Representing Jesus is not by being conversant quoting the word of God. If you have given your life to Him, you have taken a stand to be His representative everywhere you go. For anyone that claims to be His representative, before any self-introduction by virtue of one’s communication and lifestyle, it should be clear that one is a true ambassador of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Does that statement represent you? Just a reminder, Christ should be the center of our life, not a particular social setting, not our work, or anything else. Are you standing out for Him or sitting out? When it becomes evident that the only way you can be identified as a believer outside the church is through self-introduction, something is wrong. Will you make a choice to be Christ ambassador by reconciliation to Him? 2 Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” Every requirement in the Word of God is possible to carry out. If it were not so, man would not be obligated to live by His word.

Prayer for today: Ask God to help you so you can live your life for God’s glory.

FAITH CAPSULE: Enemy’s enticement will tie one down for destruction.

Judges 13:1-7, 16

Enticement and temptation means the same. One of the weapons of the enemy’s most deadly weapon is “enticement.” To be enticed is to be lured away from the point of focus. Eve supposed to focus on not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as commanded by God. When the serpent showed up on her ground, she was cunningly enticed and lost her focus. The moment she lost her focus, she saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6) Eve was enticed; she lost focus of God’s command. The enemy is the master of deception and he has been around long before man. He attempted Jesus but failed because He was full of God’s word. Be assured that if he could attempt Jesus, we are no exception for him to attempt. Thank God for the word of deliverance.
If one’s focus is not properly fixed on God (Word of God), the enemy’s enticement will tie one down for destruction. It does not matter how strong you are standing in the Lord, the enemy will knock on your door with the purpose of knocking you down. The enemy knocked on Adam and Eve’s door and achieved his goal. He knocked on Jesus’s door but failed. Samson, as strong as he was, was enticed, and was brought down from where God placed him. It is written, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, ‘Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and everyone of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.’”(Judges 16:5) Samson was a miracle child born with special instructions from heaven. As regard to Samson, the Bible documents in Judges 13:5, “For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” The man, Samson, ended up blind, because he could not be obedient according to the Word of God. Enticement produced a hole in his strength. The hole in Samson’s strength caused his power to become deflated from what God had pumped into him before he was born. God will answer our prayer today, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer for today:Today, ask for God’s hand of deliverance in every area of life where you have become a victim of enticement.

FAITH CAPSULE: Look up to God and His agent who will come your way from the Way. 

Psalm 121, Acts 3: 1-11
 
In the face of every challenging issue it really does not matter where we are or how long it has been but it does matter who we are looking up to. When challenges rise like stormy water, when one begins to be tossed by the waves, it becomes absolutely necessary not to look up to man but God. Man will fail but God never fail. To whom are you looking up to? Just as it is important to look up to God in challenging times, it is worthy to make looking up to God in time of no challenges become our custom. Looking up to God is giving God all the attention that will provoke God to attend to us.The Psalmist says, “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.”(Psalm 121:1-2)The promise of deliverance and preservation in lifting up eyes to God is worth enough to not wait till challenges come before making looking up to God a custom.
The Bible says that Abraham looked up to Him and he was helped. The man lame from his mother’s womb, also took no exception in looking up and receiving. The lame man begging for alms at the gate of the Temple which is called Beautiful, spotted Peter and John and lifted up his eyes for the purpose of looking. All he could do was to look and fixate his eyes on them. Fixation the evidence of expectation will provoke manifestation. Acts 3:4testifies about John and Peter’s reaction to the blind man from his mother’s womb, “And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, Look at us.” The lame man looked as it was required of him. In the next verse, it is written, “So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.” In your waiting for provision from God, have you been looking? God perhaps will not come down from heaven, but He has many agents that He can bring to your attention. When he sends you an agent will you be able to look up to receive? It is in where you are and how you are looking that will bring forth a way into your miracle of provision. When you look, let there be a fixation. Fix your heart on Jesus the Healing healer and your eyes will be able to see God’s agent at work. Attention will bring forth expectation to receive. Trust God and do not stop looking for His agent who will come your way from the Way.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to trust on God with all your heart, and to never lean on man.

FAITH CAPSULE: Compromising can be complicating enough to terminate man in the journey of life.

Daniel 6:1-28
 
Right from the time Daniel became a captive he did not compromise his faith. A young man in captivity does have every reason to despise the word of his God that could not stop him from becoming a captive. Daniel knew his God enough to remain focus and the Bible testifies, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank…” (Daniel 1:8) Daniel remained focus and refused to compromise his faith in the face of challenge. Compromising can be complicating enough to terminate man in the journey of life. Reasons for compromising one’s faith is without ceasing in this world of wickedness. For Daniel, reasons to compromise did not cease but Daniel stood his ground without compromising his faith.
It is written in Daniel 6:1, “When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his window open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. With a plan to entrap Daniel into denying his God and compromising his faith, a law was enacted by his enemies. Daniel knew what the consequences of defying the law would be, but responded by doing what pleased his God. He went and gave God his customary attention, which was to pray three times a day. There was no compromise in what he had been doing before or after the law was changed to trap him. Something similar to this may be happening to you consciously or unconsciously. Compromising our faith or standing in the Lord is the report that the devil wants to take to God concerning us. The Bible says, “When Daniel knew”. When he knew, he did not run away, he did not panic; he did not try to persuade anyone, he did not try to solve anything by himself, and he did not go back to the lawmakers to argue with them. When he knew, he went home to settle with God on his knees. Take your stand on whatever ground you find yourself when your faith is being challenged; take it before God in prayer and you will be surprised how He settles you. Evidently, Daniel knew his God and he took his ground against compromising. The word declares,“Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” (Daniel 11:32)
Now you know like Daniel how to proceed when the enemy tries to get you to compromise your faith.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God for the grace to remain focus and never to compromise your faith in Him.