FAITH CAPSULE: With the fear of God, one takes a place under a banner that is impenetrable to the wicked.

Psalm 74
 
It is written, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) Giving is love; love is giving. The love of God is available for all who desire it and accept it. Jesus, the love of God, came unconditionally and makes Himself available without any condition. His statement in John 10:10 buttress the testimony of God, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” It is not possible for a true acclaimed believer to confess with their mouth and believe in the heart and not be one that conducts themselves according to the Word. However, not behaving what is confessed with the mouth and believed in the heart is the evidence of not being a believer. God gave His love and His love declared Himself. Have you received and believed the Love of God; the gift to have life abundantly? For anyone who receives and believes the Love of God is granted access to living life abundantly. God does not lie and His Word does not return back to Him without fulfilling its purpose. Romans 10:9 identifies what it takes to have the Word of God manifest in the life of an acclaimed receiver of the love of God, “
Truly, believing (behaving) the Word of God is having the fear of God in one’s life. With the fear of God, one takes a place under a banner that is impenetrable to the wicked. The Bible testifies the banner of God, “You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth.” (Psalm 60:4) Are you one who fears God in your walks of life?
Ones who receive and believe in the living Word of God have allowed Jesus to take a stand as a banner over every affair of their life. Isaiah 11:10 testifies about Jesus, the root of Jesse stating, “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.” The banner set by God is to protect, heal and deliver us from all of our afflictions.
Are you one who is denying Him from being a covering upon your life? Allow His banner to be your covering and His signs over your life shall be evidence and the adversary shall be denied.
 
Prayer for today: Ask that every banner that is not of God upon your life be terminated.

FAITH CAPSULE: Nothing happens by accident but all is preparing you for where He is taking you.

Exodus 2:11-22
 
Every situation that happens to man on the face of earth are not hidden from God. God knew what He was going to do with Moses life when he was born at God’s appointed time. Moses was born when Pharaoh commanded that every Hebrew son should be casted in the river. As Go will have it, river that was supposed to be route of death for the new born Moses became his route to gaining life in the hand of Pharaoh’s daughter. Above all, he was also raised in the palace where the law to kill all male was enacted. What a mighty God we serve!
Moses escaped death as an infant, but later turned out to be a murderer that had to run from the palace where he was raised. He ran from Pharaoh’s reach after killing an Egyptian, and ended up in Midian. Nothing happens by accident. God spoke to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;before you were born I sanctified you;I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)The word of God to Jeremiah is true for all. In the life of Moses, all that happened prepared him for where he was going. In order for Moses to become a shepherd in the hand of God, he had to be trained as a shepherd. You do not know where you will wind up; you only know where you are now. While Moses was living in the palace, he could not have imagined becoming a shepherd. Nevertheless, he ended up becoming a shepherd in the hand of God. To be used by God is a great achievement that cannot be compared to or traded for anything. You know in whom you believe, and that enough is an encouragement for you to stand firm in whatever condition or situation you may encounter. If Moses had missed his training, he probably would have been out of place to be called by God, thus he would have missed his divine schedule for his life. When he was received by the priest of Midian, he did not let pride or anger get in the way of what God planned for Him. Character was in place in the life of Moses, Exodus 2:21, “Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.” Contentment is what made the difference in the life of Moses. Living in a palace to living in a tent could never have been an easy transition, but Moses was content. The word is true as stated in 1Timothy 6:6, “Now godliness and contentment is great gain.” With contentment, Moses was in place and not out of place for fulfilling the calling for his life.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to endue you with the spirit of contentment.

FAITH CAPSULE: The way of God is the word of God and it is also the presence of God.

Exodus 33:12-23, Numbers 20
 
It is written, “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation isYour people.”And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”” (Exodus 33:12-14) In the above communication between Moses and God, it is clear that the way of God is the word of God and it is also the presence of God.
In His ways, there is direction and there is also living grace to live to the fulfillment of divine schedule. In His acts, there is power confirmation; there is deliverance and there is total victory. Psalm 103:7, “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” It is absolutely impossible to follow the ways of the Lord and not arrive at a final destination. Likewise, one cannot see His acts and not tremble at the awesomeness of His power. Moses knew the way because he was riding on a plan laid-out and directed by the Lord. The children of Israel were privileged to see His actions; they saw the move of God’s power so many times during the days in the wilderness. They saw the Red Sea open up to them to provide dry land as a passage. They saw how the firstborn of all the Egyptian masters died while their firstborns were safe. Despite all that they witnessed, those Israelites who left Egypt and whose age was twenty and above never arrived at their expected end. Caleb and Joshua were the only ones that did not fail to keep their faith in His acts which gave them direction. Moses, a giant in the hand of the Lord, violated the Word of God when he struck the rock twice where He was commanded to speak to the rock. (Numbers 20: 10-12) Moses could not get to the expected end because walking in His ways requires total obedience in all areas of life. Moses saw the Land of Promise, but could not set foot on the land. Are you paying attention to the Word of God? It has never changed and it will remain the same. The Word of God is the “unchanging changer”. His ways and His acts are all that we need to get to where we are going in life. Will you commit your way to His ways and trust in Him? Psalm 37:5,” Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.” He is faithful.
 
Prayer for today:Ask Him for the grace to keep you going in His ways. Ask Him to keep you meditating and focusing on the actions of His hand.

FAITH CAPSULE:For the blind of this world, the word that heals might sound ridiculous but it will always cause ridiculing to cease.

John 9:1-23
 
A man who was blind from his mother’s womb was at a position of begging, stagnation, deprivation and mockery when the passing by of Jesus brought him out of his blindness. Many are experiencing Jesus’ passing by but cannot receive their deliverance because of situation that has kept them in bondage for so many years. Are you in the right location to receive deliverance but yet nothing is happening?Any inability to receive is not because Jesus has ceased to pass by, but because you have failed to enter into His commandment. Most times, His commandment sounds foolish but the word makes us to realize that, “…the foolishnessofGod is wiser than men, and the weakness ofGod is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25) Behaving the word most times makes one to look stupid, but the bottom line is that, there are direction, deliverance and breakthrough in obeying the commands of God when we behave His word.When Jesus saw the man that was blind from birth, He approached him. He spat on the ground and mixing His saliva with the dirt, made clay and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay (John 9:6). After this, Jesus committed the blind man unto doing his own part when gave command that was to fully deliver the blind man from long time blindness. Jesus commanded the blind man, “…Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.”(John 9:7) This blind man was unlike the Syrian army commander, Naaman, whom Elisha sent to wash at the Jordan. Naaman was reluctant and furious for having to go to such a low standard river. He delayed his going and his miracle was delayed. The blind man, however, did not question Jesus. He went and washed and he gained sight. The blind man, because of his obedience to the word of God gained motion and stagnation ceased in his life. The blind saw where he had not seen since birth. Above all, his neighbors questioned his healing. The blind man responded stating, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.” (John 9:11)For the blind of this world, direction to healing might sound ridiculous but it will always cause ridiculing tocease and direction to become clear. The secret of the blind man’s miracle was submission to Jesus’ command by obeying His command. Regardless of how His command sounds in your direction remember that the foolishness of His God is wiser than men.
 
Prayer for today:Ask the Lord for the grace of obedience that is needed to receive sight for breakthrough.

FAITH CAPSULE: Daniel made Himself fully available to be used by rejecting the world.

Daniel 2:24-49
 
God’s willingness to use man for His attainment is stronger than man’s desire to be used by God. Man is too busy for the Lord while the Lord is busy searching for man. Are you available to serve God? It is written, , “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.’” (2 Chronicles 16:9) Hanani was letting King Asa know how God operated when he relayed the above message to him. Indeed nothing can stop the eyes of the Lord from running throughout the whole earth without ceasing. The same God then is still the same God today and forever. It is a testimony to how God is willing to use us. Daniel made Himself fully available to be used by rejecting the world. Daniel 1:8, “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; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel gave his all to God. The Lord God, whose eyes run to and fro, spotted Daniel and showed Himself strong on his behalf. Daniel, a slave, came to a position where his captors began to fall prostrate before him. Daniel 2:46, “Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.” Daniel’s availability for God is an example of Jesus’s demand that states, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:33-34) Seeking God is working the works of God. Working the works of God is the evidence of believing God for His word that never fails. Seek God; work His works and He shall visit you with salvation and remember you with favor. Ignore your challenges and remain focus on God with all your heart; God will see your heart, and your challenges will fall at your feet. What a wonderful and awesome God we serve? For King Nebuchadnezzar to have eventually fell on his face and prostrated to Daniel testifies to what can become of any force that militates against those who makes themselves available to God.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God that your challenges will fall prostrate in Jesus’ name.