FAITH CAPSULE: A believer or unbeliever that harbors hatred hinders their progress.

Isaiah 12, John 4:1-45

Do you hate? Hatred makes one a failure in every area of life. A believer or unbeliever that harbors hatred hinders their progress. The word of Proverbs 10:18 stated, “Whoever hides hatred has lying lips…” It can also be concluded that anyone with lying lips hides hatred. Do you lie? Jesus, the Truth could not hide hatred or lie in every step of His ministry. As a result of His truthfulness, He decided to go through Samaria on His way from Judea to Galilee. Going through Samaria is often forbidden by the Jew because of hatred for the Samarians. He came in love and could not walk outside of love. Are you a believer with hatred in you or the influence of hatred is causing you to side track from the way of assignment? It was in the hate polluted route that Jesus was able to plant one of the most effective testimonies of salvation. Jesus bypassed hatred to allow the revelation of living water to come to life and become more distinct. In this route of hatred He encountered a Samaritan woman and He asked for water to drink. Jesus’ request was a set-up to introduce the living water to the Samaritan woman. Jesus knew quite well that she does not have what it takes to draw living water for Him to drink. In this route, Jesus made it known to the Samaria woman, “…Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14) The Samaritan woman, having received Jesus’ message with joy, left her water pot and went and testifies. Indeed, the well of salvation is deep and every one does have a need to be able to draw for the living water. The Samaritan woman, through her encounter with Jesus, gained salvation, strength and song of salvation. By virtue of her gain, the Bible recorded, “The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him.” (John 4:28-30) Hatred could not derail nor deny Jesus from the business of the kingdom. Are you on the right track of your calling but trapped as a result of hatred? Without a doubt, hatred is what will make the well too deep to be drawn from. However, with salvation, strength and song of salvation the kind of joy that enables one to draw from the deep well becomes undeniable.

Prayer for today: Ask God for deliverance from every spirit of hatred.

FAITH CAPSULE: All that makes the word to work is when you do the word.

Luke 5:1-16

The word of God is power to create and to deliver. It is written, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” (Psalm 107:20) The word that comes out of His mouth is still answering just like it was at the beginning. God testifies to His word, “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.”(Isaiah 55:11) The word of God has to be constantly operated and not just to be quoted or interpreted. Also the word of God is not for decoration but declaration when any situation or confrontation demands. Apostle Paul could not keep to himself alone but recommended the word as the only Building builder when he stated, “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.”(Acts 20:32)
OPERATING THE WORD: Deuteronomy 30:14, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.” All that makes the word to work is when you do the word; the word will do for you exceedingly and abundantly. Are you doing the word? Doing the word is to believe the word. Believing the word of God is behaving the word. Receive the word of God, believe it and behave it then you are set for exploit because the word of God will do for you in this world. God encourages us through Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from 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. (Joshua 1:8). The book of Law, which is the word of God and not of any man, is the will of God for us to have life. Until, we are able to live by every word of God, the world of wickedness continues in its exploits. Simon and his fellow fishermen, after overnight toiling with no single catch had an encounter with the word of God. The word of God sounded in their direction stating, “…launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4) At the sound of His word, a catch settled all night toiling with abundance.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace of His word to sound in your direction and the grace to receive and live by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. With His word you are bound to have a year, month, week, of celebration.

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

John 1:1-18, 10: 1-10

The will of God in Christ Jesus for us is to live and have life abundantly. 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 also an Unchanging changer. God is referred to and He has demonstrated many times, He is still demonstrating as a Longsuffering God and that testifies to the fact 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 you cannot concur with His concern you have condemned yourself unto losing life. God wants us to live as the year, month, week, and days rolls on He does want us to have life and to have it more abundantly. Jesus clearly stated when He declared to us, “…I have come that they many have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) How are you living in order to have the life that He has come to give? It does matter that we live according to the will of the Lord of Host, the Ancient of days, the only God that inhabits eternity. To live according to His will is to fear Him. Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, in response to the Satan during the time of wilderness temptations, “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, not only the word that we chose to live but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Do you wonder why the word of God is so important to live? The word of God is the power of God and also is the power from God that is enough to navigate in the journey of life. The power that is 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 but by the same word of His mouth that has been given to us. Why not take the word and embrace it with constant and consistent mediation then wait to see the result?

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to turn fully to His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: That thing which robs you of prayer time is a sleep. 

Judges 16

Watching and focusing cannot be separated. Watching or focusing is the secret of failure impossibility. Watching or focusing can also be identified as the central point of attention. Jesus knew exactly what He was talking about when He emphasized the need for Prayer and watching. In life, everything we do demands watching. In watching, sleeping does not have a place. Whenever sleeping occupies a place in our watching it is no longer a thing of watching. Prayer demands watching, fasting demands watching, working demands watching every avenue to enter breakthrough and maintain breakthrough demands watching. In living life and living abundantly to the fulfillment of destiny, watching has to be constantly in place. The case of Samson demands that watching instead of sleeping will give life and not untimely death. Time and time again Samson could not be brought down by forces of the wicked. Judges14:5-6 testifies to the kind of power in Samson when it states, “So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Now to his surprise, a young lion came roaring against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand…” (Judges 114:5-6). The spirit of God never stopped to locate and deliver him from trouble. Samson was a mighty man of God. He was above all who attempted to take his life because the hand of God was upon him, keeping him awake and alive. Despite all that God blessed him with in his life, he did himself in by revealing to Delilah that which was to be kept secret. Samson did not see the warning signs when he started to have a relationship with Delilah, whose name means “lustful”. Lust and temptation are birds of the same feather. All that it took for Samson to die before his time was to enter into a sleep that would bring forth temptation. Samson could not watch and guide what the Lord deposited in his life. Indeed, he entered into sleep after revealing the source of the power that God had bestowed upon him. After he was lulled to sleep, Deborah said to him, “…The Philistines are upon you, Samson! So he awoke from the 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.” (Judges 16:20) A soothing sleep delivered Samson into the hand of his enemy. What kind of sleep are you sleeping? That thing which robs you of prayer time is a sleep. Samson’s lulled sleep was his self exile from the presence of God. It is time for you to become alive in your prayer time.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deal with you bountifully that you may keep His word and live.

FAITH CAPSULE: Your frequent falling into temptation is directly rooted in too much sleep.

Luke 22:39-46

Sleeping and prayer does not correlate. Every believer that is not consistent in prayer should be considered as a sleeper. When a believer, who is at a place and time of prayer, cannot stay awake to pray, it can be regarded as “sorrowful sleeping.” Jesus demanded from His disciples at the Garden of Gethsemane, to stay up and pray. What He said to them still speaks now to us as believers. Luke 22: 39-40, “Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, ‘Pray that you may not enter into temptation.’” Are you a prayer-less or prayer-full believer? If you are indeed a prayer-less believer, you have allowed temptation to become your constant companion. Jesus wants to know why you sleep in place of prayer. While He was busy in prayer, His disciples were busy in sleeping. Jesus responded to the disciples by saying to them, “…Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46) There is a place for prayer and it is not a place to sleep. One of the places of prayer, as Jesus has said, is where two or three gather together in His name. Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Watch out for sorrow sleeping, because it can terminate a miracle. Sorrow sleeping will substitute the blessings of the sleeper with temptation. Your frequent falling into temptation is directly rooted in too much sleep. That is, your time is limited in the Word, and a limited time in the word will result in powerless prayer. Luke 22:45, “When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found then sleeping from sorrow.” So many activities in the church and among believers but achieving for the Lord are what counts. With prayer, much is achievable but with sleep nothing is achievable. Prayer not sleeping is all that makes the difference and all that prevails in a Christian journey. It is possible for one to be awake and active but sleeping in sorrow because one’s prayer life is not where it should be. Paying attention to the world around us is enough to tell the time we are living. Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Awake, you who sleep andknow that the days are evil challenges and trouble cover every ground. The first book of Thessalonians talks about sleep when it stated, “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.” (1 Thessalonians 5:6)

Prayer for today: Ask God to keep you that your faith will not fail.