FAITH CAPSULE: Delay is not denial

Ezra 4, 5

The word of God is consistently true to perform and perfect that which concerns every one that walks in line with His word. Also, when God opens a door of breakthrough, no demon can shut or deny it. Apostle Paul testifies, “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Corinthians 16:9) Yes, adversaries, the agents of the evil one will always attempt to shut the great and effective door but failure belongs to the adversaries. Once, King Cyrus, a pagan king woke up and issued a decree allowing the Israelites to return to their home from the captivity of Babylon. The move of King Cyrus was a great and effective open door for the children of Israel. The king was moving in line with prophecy from 140 years before his reign. (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). The children of Israel left to rebuild as it was decreed. The adversaries moved against the children of Israel’s rebuilding process in their home land. The adversaries attempted an indirect way of resisting the building process. The Bible recorded, “Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” (Ezra 4:1-3) This deceptive effort that could allow the adversaries failed, but the adversaries found another means to cause the rebuilding process to cease for two years. During the two years of disruption, “Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. (Ezra 5:1) The children of Israel listened to the prophets of God and they were able to succeed in completing and dedicating the temple. It is written, “So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished…” (Ezra 6:14) When God opens the door, the adversaries can only delay but can never succeed in denying the purpose of the open door. Live by the word of God as stated, “Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.” (2 Chronicles 20:20)

Prayer for today: Ask for the word of God to locate you and establish you for God’s glory.

FAITH CAPSULE The power of agreement is inhabited in coming together.  

Acts 12:1-19

When the people began to build the tower of Babel together in one language it is evident that they were in agreement. God responded to their construction stating, “…Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” (Genesis 11:6) God’s response testifies that there is power in coming together in one language (agreement). Jesus also testifies to the power of agreement, “…if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:19-20) The power of agreement is inhabited in coming together in one language. In prayer, the language of true togetherness is in the name of Jesus. Coming together and agreeing in prayer is power to manifestation. Once, Peter was facing death like that of James, the brother of John that was killed by King Herod. There was no way out for Peter to escape the hand of Herod. It is written, “And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.”(Acts 12:6)  Peter’s deliverance came through when, “…prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” (Acts 12:5) The church’s coming together constantly in agreement delivered Peter. Man shut the door on Peter, but prayer opened the door. Acts 12:7, “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by Him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, ‘Arise quickly!’ And his chains fell off his hands.” With no way of escape, Peter fell asleep. When the angel brought deliverance, it was like a dream. During his walk with the angel through the gates of the prison, Peter was not himself. Have you given up your hope for sleep? The angel led Peter through the Iron Gate for deliverance from the hand of Herod. Acts 12:11, And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord had sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” Peter was able to escape and went to his brethren whom he found in prayer. Acts 12:12, “So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” Peter‘s escape was a miracle of God through the power of coming together in agreement.

Prayer for today: Ask God to send forth your deliverance from all that represents King Herod in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: There are so many who want to be sent out, but few want to follow.

Matthew 8:18-27 Mark 6:7-13

Before a call to send, there should be a call to follow. Here is Jesus’ response to some among the multitude that wanted follow with mouth and not with heart, “Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:19-22) There are so many who want to be sent out, but few want to follow. When you fail in following Him, you will not pass into His call to be sent. In the days of Jesus, many went to Him, but very few actually followed Him. Today there are so many self proclaimed Pastors, Bishops, Evangelists, Apostles, and Gospel Singers who have not taken time to follow Him fully, but who want to turn back the clock and be sent. In following Him there will be exposure to dealing with winds and waves of this world. In following there are lessons to learn before leading His sheep. In following Him there is power to gain before getting into His divine assignment. Many have gone out in His name without power but with a program. There is a great contrast between power and a program. In power, there is no enemy under heaven who can trick you into thinking that you are doing the work of the Father. However, with a program, you are empty and He is not backing you up, because He did not send you. In the beginning, the program might seem right and rosy because of skill or earthly wisdom. In time, the error will be revealed to you. Billy Graham once said, “If the Holy Spirit is taken out of the church, 95% of the church activity will continue without feeling of what is missing.” Have you been following? Are you called to be sent? Mark 6:7, “And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirit.”   Matthew 10:1, “And when He had called His disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” Think twice before you get yourself into a position to be sent. There is a price for responsibility.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s instruction, teaching and guidance before you make a move.

FAITH CAPSULE: Pride is personal ride to self destruction. 

Daniel 6:10-24,

Making up excuse in the face of wrong doing is attempting to get away from submitting to one another or to the law of the land. Evidently, making up excuse is a branch from pride. Pride is the opposite of humility. Pride is not of God and it leads to untimely death. Pride is personal ride to self destruction. Many in the scripture that resumed pride resulted into untimely death. Adam gave excuse in the face of his disobedient and died spiritually. Adam ate fromthe tree of knowledge of good and evil despite God’s command not to eat (Genesis 2:16-18) Adam became sinned. Adam did not ask for forgiveness when God confronted his doing but he reduced himself by giving excuse (excuse is an agent of pride) Adam’s response states that, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12) Being a believer or a self proclaimed born again is not an excuse for doing wrong against the law of the land or against the authority that is over you. Daniel, a man with a purposed heart serving the Lord God Almighty, did not abuse the power of God in his life. Daniel did not use his God-given power to disregard or wrong the king or the law of the land. Despite his submission to authority, he would not compromise his faith. He took his stand in his faith while still showing respect to the king. As a believer, we should not use that as an excuse to disregard the authority which governs the land. We should be viewed by others as an example that testifies that we are in the Lord. When Daniel refused to compromise his stand in the Lord, he was sentenced to death by being thrown into the lions’ den. Are you in the lions’ den as you read this? You can rest assured that if you have respected authority, and have consistently maintained your stand in the Lord, victory is certain. While in the lions’ den, the king called out to Daniel wanting to know Daniel’s situation. Daniel responded to the king, “My God sent His angel and shut the lion’s mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” (Daniel 6:22) Daniel allowed God to act on his behalf for deliverance because he allowed himself to submit to the law of the land. It is written, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme.” (1Peter 2:13)  You can be submissive and not compromise. Your faith should not be an excuse for insubordination.

Prayer for today: Ask God to uphold you from making up flimsy excuse that takes away and not give life.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is time to advance disregard multitude and put behind celebration.

1 Samuel 18:5-16

Is it a new day, a new week, a new month in a new year for you? It is time to advance in the calling of the Lord. In the process of making advance, disallow the multitudes and put behind celebration from holding you back. In making advance, let the past be in the past. Lot’s wife could not let the past be in the past she disregarded the command of God that states, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” (Genesis 19:17) Lot’s wife did the opposite when she looked back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis19:26) Whatever Lot’s wife was looking for in her past represents a multitude. The multitude in her life caused her to become a pillar of salt and not escape as ordained for her by God.Unlike Lot’s wife, David was able to put behind him celebration from holding him back. David’s victory over Goliath was still in celebration. David had advanced himself in the calling of the Lord. The celebration of a great deliverance from the hand of Goliath encouraged the children of Israel. But, while all these things were going on, David’s victory and advancement were not enough for the enemy to give him a break. No matter how great the victory, the devil will show up with a new trick. David, after having killed Goliath, entered into another dilemma the very next day, which would make him into the man that God wanted him to be. 1 Samuel 18:10, “And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the spear, for he said, ‘I will pin David to the wall! But David escaped his presence twice.’” The women had not yet stopped singing about the victory of David over Goliath, when another challenge stood against David. You may wonder why your situation is taking a course the way it is. Study the Word of God and you will discover that the greater the challenge, the greater the exploit to the glory of God. In all your victory celebration, pay attention to the enemy’s deliberation. It will come, but God will eliminate it all on your behalf for Hs name to be glorified. Do not be carried away with the victory at hand, but keep watching and praying. It is time to advance disregard multitude and put behind celebration.

Prayer for today: Ask for the mercy of God to be upon you just as you hope in Him.