FAITH CAPSULE:  What you hear is what you see and what you see determines what you believe and become.

Exodus 3, Matthew 13:1-23

The word of God states, “He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?” (Psalm 94:9) Ears and eyes are not accidental; and not for decoration. God gave them for a purpose and if the purpose fails, God’s direction will also fail to establish itself in one’s life. In life every avenue of transformation takes a lead from what we hear, see and believe. Many have ears and eyes but they do not serve the intended purpose for their lives to be constantly transformed. As a child of God, one can’t afford not to hear when God speaks. When He shows up, you can’t afford not to see and turn. When one fails to hear or see and turn one will miss appointed time. Moses needed to put his ears to work and see before hearing from God. The Bible recorded, “And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:2-4) The account of Moses demonstrated that his ability to see and turn aside was what moved God to call him out for divine assignment in life. Think of it; time is crucial and missing in the timing of God can lead to life termination. When the privilege of time is missed by failure to hear and see, it will take the grace of God that reverses the irreversible to make up for time missed. All the privileges that you have missed in the past years cannot be given back by turning back the clock except by the grace of God that reverses the irreversible. There is nothing that will cause one to miss a valuable privilege more than a failure to hear when God is speaking direction into one’s life; when God is showing a turning point. In Matthew 13:15, Jesus quoted Isaiah 6:9 “for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” Remember, faith comes by hearing; what you hear is what you see and what you see determines what you believe.
 

Prayer for today: Ask God for the gift of a sharp mind that will constantly enable you to hear and see when there is a need.

FAITH CAPSULE: The Word of God is the “unchanging changer.

Psalm 37:1-6, 103:1-10

Moses asked from God, “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 is Your people.” (Exodus 33:13) He wanted direction by asking for the way of God. God’s responded back to Moses, “And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14) Obviously Gods response to Moses’ request for the way of God indicates that Gods presence is God’s way. The way of God is the word of God and the word of God is His presence. In His way, there is direction and 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. The acts of God are the product of His word and His word inhabits His way. 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. During the year, if you have seen the wonder work of His hand rest and be assured that you have seen His way. Moses, a giant in the hand of the Lord, could not get to the expected end because he failed to fully obey God. When he was commanded by God to speak to a rock for water provision he struck the rock twice (Numbers 20:11-12) 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. Commit to the word of God and it will lead you in the way of God. Will you commit your way to His ways and trust in Him?

Prayer for today: Ask Him for the grace to keep you going in His ways.

FAITH CAPSULE: When you become faultless before your enemy, nothing formed against you will prosper.

Daniel 6:1-24

The word of God pointed out, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) Evidently, affliction does not have limitation. When affliction comes your way, the way you have been taking in your walk in the Lord is what will deliver you from the way of affliction. A prescribed way of deliverance was evident in the life of Daniel during his affliction, ‘Daniel was faultless before man.’ Daniel was not just making noise about what he believes but he was behaving is believe. When you become faultless before your enemy, nothing formed against you will prosper. There is no giving in, but you have to be faithful to become faultless as was the case with Daniel. The notion of a captive who arose to become governor did not fare well among the free people of the land. There was no way for the free men to bring Daniel down without being in conflict with the law of God. It is written, “So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:4-5) They did find a way, however, to get Daniel in trouble by having King Darius sign a decree against anyone who petitioned any god or man. It was brought before the king that Daniel had disobeyed the law. The consequence for his disobedience was to be executed. King Darius, knowing Daniel and his standing in the Lord, endured great struggle as he was compelled to abide by his own law. Against his own will King Darius gave the order to put Daniel in the lions’ den while hoping that God would deliver him out of it. Daniel 6:15, “Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, ‘Know, O King, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king established may be changed.’” Is your case similar to that of Daniel? As long as you are serving the Living God continually as did Daniel, God will consistently see you through even though it looks like there is no way out. Daniel was thrown into the den of lions but not a single scratch was recorded. God is a God of the eleventh hour. It is never too late for God to intervene.

Prayer for today: Ask God to remember you just as He saw Daniel through his difficulty while he was in a foreign land. Also, ask God to dispense mercy on your behalf. Do not be at fault with anyone so God can fault your enemy and established you.

FAITH CAPSULE: When it is said by God, consider it done and settled.

1Kings 11:26-40, 12: 25-33, John 9:1-12

Jesus, during one of His passing by, He restored a blind man’s sight in a questionable way to His detractors when, “…He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.” (John 9:6-7) The point here is that, the blind man did not question the word of God when he took off and went to wash. The fact that the blind man did not know Jesus at the time of direction was not an excuse for him to question or doubt the word of God. Doubt is dragging faith and not moving by faith. Jesus came to take over our challenges and He is the same yesterday and today. When God takes over on your behalf, do not overtake God. Jeroboam was installed by God. A prophet named Ahijah the Shilonite was sent by God to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you.”(1Kings11:31) When it is said by God, consider it done and settled. To unsettle it, set yourself out of His promise. God will never run out of mercy but man always “runs” out of His mercy. Why should an appointed officer of King Solomon be worried or attempt to overtake God in what God has said? Have you seen yourself in His promise? Relax and hope for the full manifestation of that promise. In His promise for you, do not try to rush it; do not add to it; do not take out of it and do not be threatened by anyone. God will bring it to pass. Jeroboam became king as was promised by God but when doubt began to set into Jeroboam; he wanted to build what was not being built by him. It is written, “And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David.”(Kings 12:26) God alone will bring to pass His words that build us to posses His promises.The Psalmist could not have said it better when he stated, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.( Ps. 127:1)  Doubt, sneaked into Jeroboam’s spirit. Jesus won our battle over 2000 years ago. He has given us victory but we continue to victimize ourselves. Jeroboam did not have any need for concern before his concern exposed him to failure.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deliver you from every spirit of doubt.

FAITH CAPSULE: Placing our need before God and taking a rest in hope is failure impossibility.

John 6:1-14

His provision is not bounded by what you have or do not have. His provision is not bounded by how much you need, neither is it bounded by how long you have been waiting for manifestation. Where do you find yourself at this juncture in your life? What is lacking in your life? Jesus had the multitudes following Him wherever He went — mountain, sea and valley. They followed Him because they witnessed the signs and wonders He performed. In one instance, they followed Him to a place where there was not enough food to eat or purchase. Jesus knew there was a need for food, and that there was no place to buy when He asked Philip, “…Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5). In the course of looking for food, “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?’”(John 6:8-9) How can five barley loaves and two small fish add up to feed a multitude of at least five thousand? It was only by the grace of God that such a provision was made for the numbers at hand. Do you have a bigger need compare to the need mentioned in the verse above? Jesus provided for five thousand in a place of lack. Placing our need before God and taking a rest in hope is failure impossibility. At the place of lack, Jesus gave command, “…Make the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.”(John 6:10) He backed up His command when He responded to the obedience of the people, “And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.” (John 6:11) The provoking point for heaven’s provision was obedience of the people that was backed with Jesus’ thanking God. Jesus gave thanks for the need that was yet at hand. It is written, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”(1 Thessalonians 5:18) Have you been waiting for too long? At this time of the year, begin to thank God for your expectation because it is the will of God for you. Jesus gave thanks to God and provision became adequate in the place of inadequacy. Abundance reigned in and leftovers abounded. With thanks giving unto God, obey all His command and your lack will become history.

Prayer for today: Ask God the providing provider to make a way for your need in Jesus’ name.