FAITH CAPSULE: There is no other way out to the expected end but only through trusting in God.

Numbers 14
 
The people who went to spy the land with Caleb and Joshua failed to trust from the heart. Caleb testified, “Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God.” (Joshua 14:8) Trust will not only deliver needs, but it will also bring preservation. Because Caleb was able to trust in his heart, it became possible for him to wait and not waste in the promises of God. Word of God is perfect to perform. Proverbs 3:5-6 says it all stating, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” Joshua was kept by God based on the level of his trust in what God can do. It is written, “And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the LORD spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.” (Joshua 14:10) Caleb was able to testify to the grace of preservation because he trusted in God. There is no other way out to the expected end but only through trusting in God. Until trusting God graduates from your mouth to the heart, you are only operating in your own understanding. “…But he who put his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain.” (Isaiah 57:13) Caleb trusted God and he was able to possess his Promised Land When it was time for Caleb to inherit and possess all that the Lord had promised him, he was as strong as he was when the promise was made mention by God. After forty years, Caleb was so sure of his strength that he testified, “As yet I am strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both going out and coming in.” (Joshua 14:11) After forty years, nothing was on ground to rob Caleb of the Lord’s promise of blessing, neither was there any reason for him to receive what the Lord had for him in pain or grief. The word of God is true and His promises always come without sorrow. Has the Lord promised, but no fruition? He is a faithful God and He will never fail to deliver unless there is a failure in your receiving department. Play your part and God will do His part. Trust in the Lord.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace not to fall apart in the journey of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Trust is easier said than done among the believers and even non-believers.

Numbers 13
 
A Journey will take a course of route and a process of time, but those that trust the Lord through it all will have no regret at the end of their journey. Everyone under heaven is in a journey from the time they take their first breath. It is a journey that can be compared to that of the children of Israel coming out of bondage of over four hundred years. It is a journey that is full of ups and downs; a journey that giants and Goliaths are set to upset every footing that is to be taken or that has been taken. God promised to take the children of Israel to the Promised Land but it will have to take a process of time. That process has to be consciously and consistently rested on trusting God. Trust is easier said than done among the believers and even non-believers. Trusting God is not to rush, but rather to rest on the promises of God that never fails. Trusting God in the absence of abundance can be challenging, and trusting God when time is absolutely not on our side can be exhausting. Trusting on God for a way where there is no pathway can be exceedingly stressful. However, in the journey of life and through the wilderness of life, the only way out to the expected end is rooted in trusting God to show up at every juncture where there is no sign for survival. Caleb and Joshua were the only survivors among the thousands of Israelites that left Egypt for God’s Promised Land. Both Caleb and Joshua were able to survive because the different spirit in them saw hope where there was no hope. They remembered what the Lord had done and that provoked in them what the Lord was and is capable of doing. As a result of their conviction, they took an odd stand among their brethren who failed to see hope in the word of God. Purpose in your heart today that it will not matter if you are the only one who takes a stand, even among thousands, on the promises of God to bring to manifestation the Word of His mouth. Caleb stated in Joshua 14:7, “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart.” In these words of Caleb, it cannot be confused that trust is heart-activated and mouth-driven. If trust is not rooted in the heart, it will not stand no matter how loud or consistent the word is voiced out.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for heart to constantly hold onto trusting God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Submit all to God, He will subdue all on your behalf.

1 Samuel 4:1-12  
 
It is possible to have God in your camp and you being camped out unto defeat.
1Samuel 4: 1-2, the Bible mentioned how the children of Israel suffered defeat in the hands of the Philistines. In that battle, about four thousand men of the army were recorded dead. The Bible recorded the response of the Israelites elders,“Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:3) Indeed, the arrival of the ark in their camp was same as having God in their camp. With the arrival of the ark of the covenant of the Lord into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook. (1 Samuel 4:5)The reaction of the arrival of the ark in the Israelites cam does not settle well with the Philistines because they were afraid. In their fear they acknowledge in their word by stating “God has come to the camp”. Nevertheless, the battle went on while Israel was defeated and great slaughter was recorded for Israel and the ark of God was captured. One will wonder how that could be when they were having God in their camp. With God in your camp, have you been facing defeat? If yes, there is a need that you check your distance from God. It could be that you are consciously or unconsciously far from Him by virtue of carelessness. He has sent His word that He will never leave us nor forsake us. In that particular battle that you are on the verge of losing, God is in your camp but you are out of camp away from Him.
The children of Israel had God in their camp but they have turned away from God. In the face of challenge they need a quick fix where they have not been fixing themselves right with God and His statutes.
It is written, “Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreth, and served the Lord only.”(1 Samuel 7:3-4)The children of Israel returned to the Lord God. 1 Samuel 7-13 documented how the Philistines were confused, pursued, and subdued. Above all, they restored all that the Philistines took away. Our battle is not lost, victory is not too late the requirement is to return and submit all to God, He will subdue all on our behalf.
 
Prayer for today:Ask for God’s grace to return you in full submission to God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Employ the truth, deploy lying; be a winner.

2 Chronicles 18
 
As long as there is breath of life in man journey of life continues and man does not cease from journey. Every step in the journey of life engages different battle.
How you fight your battle will determine the outcome of the battle. The battle that man engages comes up every day and the weapon to engage everyday war is walking in nothing but absolute. When truth is absolutely true, victory becomes absolute and undeniable. The case of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah and Ahab, king of Israel in the book of 2Chronicles 18 is a clear evidence to the need for absolute truth that is the truth that cannot be diluted. Ahab the king of Israel approached Jehoshaphat the king of Judah to join force with him in a battle against Syria. Jehoshaphat agreed to the request of Ahab the king of Israel. After having agreed, Ahab decided on how he was going to prosecute the battle by saying to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.”   Ahab disguised himself and went into battle. Jehoshaphat fought the battle without disguising himself. The battle on that day became intensified for Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat in his truthfulness called on God and he prevailed. When battle intensified on Ahab, disguising could not prevail. Disguising, deception, or lying prevails only for a period but the truth will always prevail regardless of how long it takes the truth to come to light. The bible recorded it in 2Chronicles 19:1 that Jehoshaphat returned safely to his house in Jerusalem while Ahab died and could not return.
Is there any battle that persists in your life? Does it appear that you are losing? Are you fighting the Jehoshaphat way or the Ahab way? There is a need for fighting our battle on a ground of truth that is on a regular basis without diluting the truth. Exchange your entire weapon for truth. Truth is the only way. Try it today and reap the fruit of a winner.
Withdraw from disguising or deceit; draw unto the truth. In 2Timothy 3:16-17 it is written that scripture is an inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The word of God is not mere story telling they are sent by God to profit us when we apply it. The word is all that is needed to be equipped with our day to day battle. Employ the truth, deploy lying; be a winner.
 
Prayer for today:Ask for the word of God to reign and rule in every area of your life.  

FAITH CAPSULE: It is one thing to know and memorize the word, it is another to know to memorize and meditate.

Jeremiah 1, John 1:1-18
 
Before all that was built, Jesus was there in the beginning and He is there forever. Jesus is the Master builder. The same word that brought forth creation is still the same word that is building up those who receive and believe in Him. The word of God is spirit and it gives life. John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” It is worth to remember that the same word that created everything is there to give more than we can imagine. It is one thing to know and memorize the word, it is another to know to memorize and meditate. Knowing the word and not knowing to memorize and meditate is empty; it generates no power. Meditation will cause one to observe and do what the word requires, and there’s simply no substitute for meditating the word. The word of God is power and the word can never deny itself nor fail, but man can fail to have the word work on their behalf. The work of God is in the word of God. The disciples once asked Jesus, “…What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28) Jesus responded, “…This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:29) The word of God cannot be compromised if you desire for the word to build you. Just as there is no substitute for food in order for man to grow physically, so there is no substitute for the word to grow spiritually. Jeremiah confirmed that the word is food when he testified, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart…” (Jeremiah 15: 16) As a believer, how often do you feed on the word of God? Waiting for Sunday or once in a while reading the word will amount to nothing. What is it that you are giving your ear to? What you give your ear to is what will build you up because whatever you receive will become of you. It is written, “Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken.” (Jeremiah 13:15) The Lord has spoken, as a believer, play your part and receive his word that will build you up for His kingdom glory. Job, after experiencing God’s move in His word, he testifies, “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.” (Job 41:5) Take the hearing of His word to be your greatest priority and you will have reasons in this world to testify that you have seen God move by His word.  
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the ear that hears.