FAITH CAPSULE: A dislike for instruction is the evidence of hating knowledge.

Daniel 16    
 
When Angel of the Lord appeared to the mother of Samson he gave instructions, “…Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” (Daniel 13:3-5) As a Nazarite Samson was not to cut his hair which was the source of his power. He was set apart from birth for his divinely appointed mission, but his dislike for full compliance with instructions is evidence of disobedience. Samson was to be a Nazarite, but violated all stipulations of a Nazarite-among which was not to cut his hair. Samson because of what he liked, he did what God disliked when he revealed the secret of God upon his life to Delilah. The Bible recorded, “…he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 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 every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”” (Judges 16:4 -6) Samson’s infatuation with Delilah led him to his disobedience. What is it that is leading you to disobey God?
After Delilah had successfully shaved off Samson’s hair (which resulted in him losing his strength), she called the Philistines on him, “…So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.” (Judges 16:20-21) After Samson’s actions demonstrated his dislike for applying instruction, the Lord departed from him. There are so many back doors that are available for the enemy to come into us. However, none of it is open until sin takes residence in our lives. With sin, we become vulnerable to the enemy; our back doors become open for the enemy, thus making us vulnerable to him. The Bible makes it clear that, “Evil pursues sinners…” (Proverbs 13:21) It does not matter how diligently you seek God, do not dislike God’s instruction. A dislike for instruction is the evidence of hating knowledge.
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to keep you from disobeying God’s word.

FAITH CAPSULE: When there is no failure in hearing, faith will pass you on to fearing Him and having His fear go before you.

Proverbs 9
 
Among the ways that the Bible describes the fear of God in Proverbs 9:10 is, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” The fear of God is perfect to direct and to deliver for one that fears Him. This verse is saying with the fear of God going before us on the journey of life, the wisdom that is not of this world; wisdom from above will be leading us all the way into our victory. Also when the getting of understanding of His mighty act becomes one’s portion the boldness and character which man need to deny every force of hindrance will always come to manifestation. The promise of His fear going before the children of Israel was constantly causing confusion in the camp of their enemies. Confusion in the enemy’s camp is what was causing their enemies to have their backs turned to them. When enemies turned their back, hornets becomes the pursuant of their enemies. In the fear of God we have all that it takes to be able to compete and to complete; pursue and overtake on the journey of life. God wants us to have the fear in our going and He does not exclude any age or group from having His fear when He commanded, “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 31:12) Fearing God, the evidence of full obedience is power to ones with understanding. Truly, knowledge is easy to him who understands. (Proverbs 14:6)
As an acclaimed believer, will you take to a position where hearing and hearing becomes your way of life so that His fear will begin to go before you? God wants us to have all the blessings available but the fear of His holy name has to be in place. He promised in Jeremiah 32:40, “…I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” Having the fear of God go before us in every area of life is certainly the way of getting the full blessings of God. Gain the understanding to fear God and let wisdom rest in your heart. (Proverbs 14:33)
 
Prayer for today: Ask for the fear of God to reign, rule and overwhelm your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: To fear God is to love God; to love God is to serve God; to serve God is to fully obey God.

Exodus 23: 20-33
 
God spoke to the children of Israel in Exodus 23:27, “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.” What God says to one speaks to all. With the fear of God ahead on every journey of man’s life, confidence will be in place to keep one’s feet from being caught. (Proverb 3:26) Deuteronomy 10:12 states, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” When the fear of God goes before us, we shall know to walk in all His ways and not in our own ways.
Walking in the ways of God is to love the Lord God. To love the Lord God is to serve Him. It can be accepted that what the word is saying, one cannot love Him when there is no fear for Him. Loving God, serving God and fearing God is obeying the commands of God. Obeying God fully is what places a believer in a position of pleasing God. Jesus said in John 8:29, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
What is it that is denying man from having the father always? Is it the inability to fear Him? The more one grows in faith the more one understands and know to fear in every step one takes in the journey of life. We are made to understand in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” If without faith it is impossible to please Him, with faith it is absolutely possible to please Him. Absolutely, no one is born into the world with faith. Also it is true that no one have to look for faith in the store to have it, but it is what one have to seek for before it comes. Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Are you one that heard the word faith but yet faith does not have its place in you to fear God? What the word is saying is about hearing, hearing, hearing and hearing. It is not for a time or two but it is of consistence and continuity. When there is no failure in hearing, faith will pass you on to fearing God and having His fear go before you.
 
Prayer for today:Ask that His fear becomes your garment.

FAITH CAPSULE: Loving and forgiving is the central focus of His coming.

John 1:1-13, 3:1-21
 
It is written, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) Jesus is the grace of our Lord God for every man that chooses to believe and receive Him. John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)  Knowing about Him is different from knowing Him. Those that know Him know Him enough to receive and believe Him as their Lord and Savior. Have you received and believed in Him? It is possible to believe Him and not receive Him. Many saw and many heard about the work He did; they know about Him but they choose not to receive Him as their Lord and Savior. It is written,“…Among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.”(John 12:42) Inability to confess Him is a demonstration of not having received Him. To confess Christ is living a life that demonstrates the confession that is made about Him. Confession without belief, or belief without confession, is incomplete. Jesus is the unconditional love of God, the grace of God that came to give life abundantly to those that care to receive and believe in Him. Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,” Clearly, Jesus is the unconditional love of God and the grace that came for all. However, to enter into the unconditional love of God, there is a need for us to condition ourselves by taking the right position. Whenever there is inability to take the right position, there will be disability to enter the abundance of His grace.
The position that needs to be taken is to love and forgive. Many times in the pages of the Bible, the command to love is constantly and repeatedly emphasized. We are to love our neighbors and to know how to forgive.Clearly, loving and forgiving cannot be separated; neither can the love for God be compromised. Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” There is no any other way to enter into the fullness of His abundant grace without being fully obedient to the command to love and to forgive. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray when he stated, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12)Loving and forgiving is the central focus of His coming. He wanted us to know that without forgiving, salvation will be stagnated. How much one knows, and how long one have known Him will not count except one knows Him.

Prayer for today:Ask that the spirit that causes man not to love and forgive shall not have a place in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: For us to live, we are to live by every word of God.

Genesis 1, John 10:1-10
 
The will of God is for us to live, and He does have a guideline on how to live. His guideline is not by force but by choice. God is not an authoritarian nor a dictator but a creator. He is a creator whose word is perfect. He is the Commanding commander, Healing healer, Unchanging changer. God is referred to and He has demonstrated many times that He is a longsuffering God, and that testifies that the Almighty Creator is neither an authoritarian nor a dictator because no dictator can be identified as longsuffering. The Bible declares in John 3:16, “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.” God is concerned for us having life, but if one cannot concur with His concern one is condemned unto losing life. He wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly. Jesus clearly stated, “…I have come that they many have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Are you living in such a way to have the life that He has come to give? It matters that we live according to the will of our God, the Ancient of days, the only God that inhabits eternity. To live according to His will is to fear Him, and fearing God is living by His word.
In response to Satan’s temptation, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”(Matthew 4:4) For us to live, we are to live by every word, not the word that is most convenient nor the word that we chose to live, but by every word that comes from God.
The word of God is the power of God, and that power is enough to navigate the journey of life. The power in the word of God is the power that created the world, Jeremiah 51:15, “He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heaven by His understanding.” Remember, there was no record of Him using a bulldozer or caterpillar or hiring any contractor in creating the earth as recorded in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Why not take the word and embrace it with consistency? The word is true to perform.Isaiah 55:11 testifies, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” The word of God has to be constantly operated.
 
Prayer for today:Ask God for the grace to live by His word consistently.