FAITH CAPSULE: Will you allow Him to build you up for His glory?

Ezekiel 2
 
The word of God is power and it communicates power. The communicating power in the word of God is the vehicle for transformation for those that are able to receive and believe in the word of God. The word of God cannot be compromised. Compromising the word of God is despising the word of God. To despise the word of God is to be destroyed. Jesus said, “… I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) As a temple of God, until you are built up by Him, you will not be able to contain what He purposed for your life to carry for His glory. Will you allow Him to build you up for His glory? Jesus made an emphatic statement that He will build His church and nothing shall prevail against it. Do not prevent yourself from being built but invest yourself in the word that will build you. The Apostle Paul was speaking in the book of Acts 20:32, “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” Jesus, the word of God is the One that builds one and give life abundantly. How can the word build you? The word of God will have to enter into you for you to be built. Psalm 119:130, “The entrance of your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple” Before Jeremiah could become what the Lord wanted him to be, he was built up by the word of God that sounded in his direction. It is written concerning Jeremiah in the book of Jeremiah 1:5, “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.” The same word that identified and called Jeremiah out informed him what he was before he was born. The word of God caused him to begin to see from where he could not see. The word of God prepared him and positioned him into the center of his divine assignment. It was the word that deposited in him the boldness that built him for God’s divine agenda for his life when He said to Jeremiah, “’Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:8). Just like Jeremiah, Ezekiel also encountered the word. “And He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.’ 2 Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.” (Ezekiel 2:1-2) No man hears God indeed and doubts Him. Having doubt is the evidence for not been built by the word. Allow the word of God to build you.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to be more receptive when His word sounds in your direction.

FAITH CAPSULE: Is He calling you in certain areas of life that you are yet to follow fully?

Luke 5:1-11
 
When He called Peter to follow it was after He had directed him to launch into the deep. It happened that after Peter’s fishing all night with no fish to account for. Jesus said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) Knowing fully that it was the same place they toiled all night without catching any fish, Peter and his fellow fishermen could not bypass Jesus’ command but reluctantly launched into deep. The Bible recorded that they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. After having caught so much, Peter and his fellow fishermen had a reasonable ground to go into full scale fishing. The word stated, “So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.” Peter and his team of fishermen teamed up and followed Jesusby disallowing so much catch to keep them from following Jesus. Decision to follow Jesus came after Peter and his fellow fishermen were position to make reasonable wealth from their net breaking exploit. Nevertheless, they made the outright decision material wealth and went following Jesus. To you wealth has come, your net is catching so much beyond your imagination. Just as you are thinking that you have enough not to follow Him, it is obvious that now is the time you give up that interest of yours and follow Him. It is written, “After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me’. So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.” (Luke 5: 27-28) 
Following Jesus, demands leaving all and rising to follow Him fully. No baggage of Egypt will be accepted in following Him. There is no record that any one followed fully and ended in shame or regret. No one follows Him and fail. A Full-fledge tax collector did not have to wait to be called twice in following Him. He rose at the calling and followed Him with no excuse.
Is He calling you in certain areas of life that you are yet to follow fully? Your excuse for not following is so silent that you can hardly hear yourself giving excuse. Also, it could be that your excuse is so legitimate and everyone can reason with you. Everyone does not count and it should not hold you back because His power, peace surpasses all understanding.
It is time for you to rewrite your road map with a compass that reads North: JesusSouth: JesusWest: JesusEast: Jesus.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of God that denies all that causes man to delay, derail or be distracted from hearing and answering fully to His calling.

FAITH CAPSULE:The way for the journey of life is to follow Him.

Matthew 8: 18-26
 
So many want to be near Jesus but they do not want to stand for Him.
So many want to see Him but they do not want to seek Him.
So many want to come to Him but they do not want to take what He offers.
Numerous times, multitudes followed; many claims to be following Him but most ended not following through with Him.
Despite all, He remains faithful. What a good God we serve!
The Lord is the God and is consistent despite our inconsistency.
God remains faithful despite our failure.
He alone is the merciful God and never runs out of mercy.
The grace of life is not by merit but by mercy.
He alone is the mighty God and He never runs out of mercy or might.
The way for the journey of life is to follow Him. It is very crucial to follow Him because no one knows the way except the ones that follow Jesus.
Our final destination is to get to our Father who art in heaven. Jesus Himself emphasized in John14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Absolutely no one gets to the Father except through Jesus, the Son.
No one has been identified to have followed Him at loss.
When all ways are blockedthere is a way to follow if you will deny all for Jesus. Isaiah 43:16 recorded that He made a way through the sea. When we follow He that makes a way through the sea, we can be rest assured that our case is settled and our ways are set for His glory.
When He called His disciples, He called them to follow. He knew what He would do. He did not at anywhere or anytime called any to serve without following Him. Has He called you to follow?
It is wonderful to serve God but not enough without following Him. Are you following Him wherever He goes or are you following Him wherever you want or choose? He is calling you today to re-identify how you have been following Him. Following Jesus is a costly adventure with no excuse that is reasonable not to follow. At one time a disciple gave a reasonable excuse to delay or deny following Jesus, “Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” (Matthew 8:21) Jesus’ responded to the disciples excuse by stating, “…follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8: 22) Clearly, in answering to His call there is no ground for delay. Are you one that is considering following Him truly? Following Jesus should not be only by the word of mouth. Let the dead bury dead; you are a child of the living God. Follow Him and no just flow with the crowd!
 
Prayer for today:Ask for the grace to live for God fully.

FAITH CAPSULE:A failure to build on the word of God will cause any other building to fail.

Joshua 1 
 
The word of God that’s released is what will build every believer who cares to hear and obey. Believers that want to be built up have to be continual and unfailing in obeying the word of God. Meditation is what makes obeying and doing what the word commands. Joshua 1:8, “This book of law shall not depart your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”With meditation, one will be in position to be able to observe and do according to the word. A failure to build on the word of God will cause any other building to fail. When Noah received the commanding word of God, he moved forward to build up on the word and was able to stand against the flood of destruction. What are you doing with the word of His grace that is sounding in your direction? What are you doing with word of God which is able to build you? Are you entering into the word of God by letting the word into your life? If you will allow the word to gain entrance in your life, it will give you your inheritance among those that are sanctified. Being among the sanctified is to be among those that are separated to the Commanding commander; the only One that reverses the irreversible. The process of building can be challenging and sometimes intimidating. It’s unimaginable the type of mockery that Noah endured when building an ark in a region where there’s hardly any rainfall. As a believer that has entered into the word of God, behaving the word of God will not have its way without mockery, intimidation or persecution by the world that does not know God. During the process of building, Noah was calling attention to the people to build up, but they were busy in attending to build up in the world. Just as it was in the time of Noah so it is today. Regardless of any kind of mockery, intimidation or persecution, you should not be ashamed of the gospel. Apostle Paul, having been through all kinds of trials, knew what it would be involved when he declared in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” The Word of God is God and His word is life. If you will receive the word you will have the right to become the children of God (John 1:12). It is absolutely impossible to hear the word of His grace and continue to doubt Him.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of obedience to reign and rule your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Despising the word of God destroys in the world.

Genesis 6
 
An act of complaint is an act to rebel. When there is rebellion in place it becomes a rejection of the word of God. To reject the word of God is also an act of disobedience, and this can be compared to setting a date with death. The anointed first king of Israel, King Saul, rejected the command of God, and God rejected him. The act of King Saul was accounted to him as rebellion. It is an act of rebellion to hear from God and not do as commanded. Rebellion does have its root in complaint. The children of Israel, during the journey through the wilderness, were constantly complaining before it was accounted to them as rebellion. During the investigation of the Promised Land, the spy came back with a negative report. Based on the report given, the children of Israel lifted up their voice of complaint against Moses and Aaron. At that juncture, Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb identified rebellion in the complaint of the Israelites. The rebellious act prompted their response with a positive report and they both attempted to disregard the negative report by saying “Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us.” (Numbers 14:9) Do you believe that the Lord is with you? Why then allow fear? Whenever fear is allowed, one is set in the way of destruction. Noah received a command from God to build an ark that was to serve as a vehicle against flood of destruction. Noah moved without doubt or question. Noah built an ark in the most unlikely area — he built an ark where it hardly rains in a period of a year. In his obedience, the word testified, “Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.” (Genesis 6:22) Are you as a believer finding it difficult to obey according to all and not according to your convenience? In the Old Testament time, Noah received the command to build against destruction that was eminent. Also in the New Testament a command to build has been released through the mouth of the Apostle Paul. In Acts 20:32, “So now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and give your inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Believers are to be built up by the word of God against destruction just as Noah built for himself and his household an ark by the command of the word of God.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God to deliver you from the spirit that causes disobedient in man’s life.