FAITH CAPSULE: Make the difference in the journey of life; allow the word to reign and rule your life.

Deuteronomy 30

The living word of God is life and it will cause those who engage it faithfully to live life abundantly. Jesus stated, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) What will make us or unmake us as we journey through life is the word of God. The word of God will make all the difference in man’s life. Anyone that hears the word and able to do what the word says will live life abundantly. Also, anyone that hears the word and not able to do what the word says will be short in the life that Jesus brought. Jesus did not say “I am coming to give life.” What Jesus said was, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus the living word of God came already and it is left for us to abide and dwell in the living word of God.
To every man, the word is not far but it is within reach and in place for it to be engaged. Deuteronomy 30:14 buttresses the truth that the word is near by stating, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” There is neither any way nor any excuse that will stand for us not do what God requires of us in His word. Are you a believer that is living by the word of God or outside of the word of God? Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived. God does have a set standard for those that are living the word and those that are not living the word. It is written, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.”(Deuteronomy 30:15-16)  Put into practice the word of God; have life and not death. The Word that He gave to them, He gave to us. The word of God is His commandment. All that it takes to make a difference is to live by His word and if it were not doable, He would not have asked us to live by His word. Make the difference in your journey by allowing the word to rule in your heart, and His promises will reign in your life.

Prayer for today: Ask for the word of God to have its place in your life. Pray against whatever it is that is denying hearing and doing the word of God in the life of man.

FAITH CAPSULE: A church that does not make prayer a constant offering cannot prevail.

Acts 12:1-19

It is written, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also…” (Acts 12:1-3) Herod the King did not seize Peter for decoration but he seized him with the intention to kill him just as he killed James. The church must have been prayerfully asleep when James was killed by Herod the King. The death of James prompted the church to act on behalf of Peter. The Bible states, “Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” (Acts 12:5) A church that does not make prayer a constant offering cannot prevail. Just as the church was prayerfully asleep, Peter was also prayerfully and physically asleep instead of praying and praising God like Paul and Silas did for their self-deliverance from prison and untimely death. Peter’s destiny was set to be terminated by the hand of Herod the King because there was no visible way of escape.
Acts 12:6-7, “And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by Him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands.” Man shut the door on Peter, but only heaven could open it. With no way of escape, Peter fell asleep but prayer of the church prevailed on his behalf. When the angel brought deliverance, it was like a dream. During his walk with the angel through the gates of the prison, Peter was not himself because he was asleep instead of in prayer. Have you given up your hope for sleep? God has never failed and your deliverance will be certain in Jesus’ name. The angel led Peter through the Iron Gate for deliverance from the hand of Herod. It is written, “And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord had sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people. So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” (Acts 12:11-12)  Peter escaped and went to his brethren whom he found in prayer. Peter’s escape was a miracle rooted in prayer.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be constant and consistent in your prayer life.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is true that wisdom, knowledge and understanding cannot be separated.

Proverbs 2

“When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked…” (Proverbs 2:10-14) Going by the words of proverbs, one cannot claim having wisdom and lack knowledge, neither can anyone claim knowledge without understanding. Wisdom, knowledge and understanding cannot be separated. What you do not know will not work for you. Also, whatever it is that fail to work for you can work against you. Can you imagine a man with a loaded gun in his pocket being chased around by one with an ordinary table-knife? Such imagination is a case of any acclaimed believer that operates lack of knowledge. The word states in Psalm 49:20, “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand is like beasts that perish.” The word of the psalmist also identifies one with power and begin chased around by a powerless one. It is a case of lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Clearly, the people of God, the ones that claims to know God are the ones being referred to as those that are destroyed because they lack knowledge. Do you lack knowledge? Knowledge is not scarce but, man has made himself scarce from finding knowledge. Knowledge is available for anyone who cares to find it. Essentially, the lack of knowledge is evidence of the lack of understanding of the fear of God. Proverbs 2:5, “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Seek the knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God and the fear of the Lord will not elude you. Based upon all the evil and wickedness that takes place in our world today, we can clearly see that people no longer have the fear of God dwelling on the inside of them. It is a testimony to the fact that knowledge is not common and it is hardly implemented in the face of confronting challenges.
Do you handle the pressing challenges of your life with knowledge? God testifies that He knows His goodness towards us when He spoke, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Regardless of how difficult and challenging your situation is, what you know about the promises of God across the pages of the Bible will give you the knowing edge in the face of confronting evil challenges of the world.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be filled with knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Failure not to hear, see and turn to His word is a passage to stagnation in life.

EXODUS 3

Attending to the word of God that sounds in our direction is always subject to the ability to hear what the word is saying and not allow what He is saying depart from our eyes. The book of Proverbs states it perfectly right when it states, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.” (Proverbs 4:20-21) The word that we receive and believe determines what we are able to hear with our ears and see (receive) with our eyes.
Ears and eyes are not accidental; and not for decoration. God gave them for a purpose and if the purpose fails, God’s direction will also fail to establish itself in one’s life. Many have ears and eyes but they do not serve the intended purpose for their lives to be constantly transformed. Since the function of ears and eyes is to hear and see, He expects us to hear and see. As a child of God, you can’t afford not to hear when He speaks. When He shows up, you can’t afford not to see and turn. Every failure not to hear or see and turn to His word of direction will cause man to miss in the appointed time of God.
Moses could not miss in the appointed time of God for his divine assignment on earth because he was able to see and took the position to hear what God packaged for his life. It is written, “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.  Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:2-4) When Moses saw with his eyes and was able to turn and hear with his ears. Moses turned and answered to God’s calling for his life. There is nothing that will cause man to miss engaging with divine assignment like a failure to hear when God is speaking direction into one’s life; when God is showing a turning point in one’s life. A dull heart is the heart that lacks understanding. It is the evidence of heavy ears and shut eyes. That is, ears that do not hear and eyes that cannot see. (Isaiah 6:10) Remember, faith comes by hearing; what you see is what you receive.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the gift of a sharp mind that will constantly enable you to hear and see when God is speaking.

FAITH CAPSULE: The evidence of knowing God is serving Him fully with understanding.  

Mark 10:17-31

Running around in the name of God; engaging religious program without the knowledge of God is the ignorance of the highest order. To many, serving in the house of God is a tradition and not a transition to having a genuine relationship with God. Also, to some, going to house of worship is like going to a social gathering. In truth, ignorance is what makes destitute of a believer. Do you know the God that you serve or you only know about Him?
The Bible records about a rich young ruler in Mark 10:17, “Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’” Just as the rich young ruler was running after Jesus and knelt before Him with readiness of heart to live by His word, so also many are running back and forth to religious programs or churches without the understanding of God. For the rich young ruler to run after Jesus, he must have known about Him but not knowing Him. Does the story of the rich young ruler sounds like you? The rich young ruler knew all that he needed to know about religion from the commandments of his youth. You also have the same knowledge because you were born in a Christian home. The evidence of knowing God is serving Him fully with understanding. Jesus made the rich young ruler to get the understanding of all that it takes to serve Him, “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross and follow Me.’” (Mark 10:21) Jesus is saying to you and all that runs after Him; all that only know about Him without knowing Him, all that He requires is the need to give all unto Him. Giving all to Jesus is dropping off baggage of delay that will not allow us to properly carry the cross. The weight of your own self is too heavy to add to the weight of the cross. The choice has to be made. Are you willing to give up all about self and give in to all about Jesus? The rich young ruler ran after Jesus but yet, he was not ready to fully engage with all that it requires to know Jesus. It is written concerning the rich young ruler, “But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:22) Playing religion has to give way to Jesus reality, or it will kill and destroy.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of understanding that it takes to seek God.