FAITH CAPSULE: Confrontation comes with the attempt to deny confirmation.

1 Samuel 10, 2Timothy 4

In every confirmation, there is always a confrontation. Confrontation comes with the attempt to deny confirmation. Confrontation could be in the form of affliction. However, the main goal of the confronter is to deny confirmation. Remember, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) With understanding of the word of God, deliverance from every form affliction will not fail. When God choose Saul as the first King of Israel, the enemy took a stand of confrontation. God has confirmed you for advancement in a certain area of your life and you are set to go. Know that God will see you through. Confrontation will come, but your continuation will not cease because God has called you. Did He not call you? God anointed Saul to become a commander over His people. God directed Samuel as it is written in, “Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: ‘Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over His inheritance?’”( 1 Samuel 10:1) Man did not call Saul, nor did man anoint him, but it was God Himself. Confrontation will show up as discouragement or hindrance but every one that is confirmed and set for God’s assignment should operate with the understanding that, God that gives calling shall not fail nor slumber. One typically expects a confirmation to mean smooth sailing with no confrontation. 1 Samuel 10:27, “But some rebels said, ‘How can this man save us?’ So they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.’” Does that sound like your situation? Is your confrontation coming from inside your family or from your closest friends? The word of God declared the secret of Saul’s continuation in the face of confrontation as peace. Taking to the word of God is true to deliver. It is written, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) Deny anxiousness, engage in prayer and supplication. Also, thank God for the confirmation and not question God then the peace of God will not cease from seeing you through every confirmed assignment. Paul the apostle, despite the confirmation of his calling, confrontation could not derail him. Paul suffered from all kinds of confrontation ranging from prison time, beatings and sickness. Paul persevered, endured afflictions but at the end of his journey he stated, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)   

Prayer for today: Ask for the word of God to have its place in your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: When God delivers you from your past, let the past be past.

Numbers 32:8-15

While the children of Israel were in bondage of over four hundred years, they reacted in pain and hard life by lifting up their voice in crying to the Lord. As a result of their crying, the goodness and mercy of God was stirred when God responded, “And the LORD said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.” God did not plan to have them stranded in the wilderness when He delivered them out of over four hundred years of bondage. God’s plan was to lead them out of bondage through the hand of Moses to a better land — a land flowing with milk and honey. God brought them out, but they would not leave Egypt behind. The word testifies, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.”(Psalm 106:6-7) With great wonder God brought them out of bondage. The children of Israel saw all the wondrous act of God that granted their deliverance. Evidently, the children of Israel lack understand of God’s wonders and failed to remember but rebelled. Are you paying attention to all the wonders of God or worrying about what you see? Lack of understanding causes failure to remember. They would not follow God fully; they failed to let go of the life they lived in Egypt. When God delivers you from your past, let the past be past. As a result of their lack of understanding, it is written, “Surely, none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.”(Numbers 32:11-12)  It is possible for you to be in a rightful mind when you are among thousands of people who are not. Though a multitude may stand in wrongful agreement, and you are the only one in dissent, know that you are not alone in righteousness. Know Him in whom you believe. Stand on His word for direction and do not compromise your faith. Ignore the dictates of your heart and you will not be surprised that you are the only one standing on His ground.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to take a rightful stand when the situation demands it.

FAITH CAPSULE: See a great sight and be set up for greatness in the journey of life.

Exodus 3

The difference between living a life of fulfillment by serving God and not living a life of fulfillment is in turning aside when and where it matters. The Bible was talking about Moses when it stated, “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.”(Exodus 3:2-3) Moses needed to be able to see a great sight for him to be set up for greatness in his journey of life. God ordained Moses for greatness and for his greatness to come to manifestation, there was a need for him to turn aside. Remember, Moses was living in the greatest palace of his time (for forty years) when an accidental murder chased him out of the palace and out of the Land of Egypt. For Moses to become what God called him to be, for him to see the great sight, he had to leave the palace for the desert and change from prince to shepherd. When he was led to lead the flock to where there was no distraction (the back of the desert at Horeb, the mountain of God) he saw the flame of fire from the midst of the bush while the bush was not consumed. As stated in the verse above, Moses only looked and behold he did not turn aside to see the great sight. Indeed many are looking, many are beholding but many are not turning aside to see the great sight that sets man to fulfill his calling to greatness for the glory of God. Evidently, there was a need for Moses to turn aside in order to be able to see the great sight. Moses was on time at the right ground with the right training (forty years as desert shepherd) but could have missed the calling by failing to turn aside. Moses had all that is needed to move him into his divine direction but God waited on him to turn aside, “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 3:4) It does not matter what one’s achievement or experience in life, a life that does not answer to divine assignment is not a life of fulfillment. Where do you need to turn aside? God is not a slave master but a saving master. God will wait for you to turn aside to see that which will lead to the fulfillment of His calling in your life. Pay attention to where you need to turn aside.

Prayer for today: Let me not miss taking the step to Your glorious call for my life.    

FAITH CAPSULE: It is faith that pleases God and moves God to please us.

2 Kings 20:1-11, Daniel 6

The truth that Jesus knows what we want before we ask is not an excuse for us not to ask. When we ask we are putting faith to action and that is what God is waiting for. God wants us to show forth our faith. It is faith that pleases God and moves God to please us. It is written, “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.” (Hebrews 11:6) It is important to also know that, “…For the LORD is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:3) The weight of our actions that moves the hand of God is what determines the magnitude of our miracle. Getting into prayer is going to action. Those who are waiting for challenges before going in to prayer and those who make praying unto God their custom cannot be experiencing the same level of breakthrough in the face of a break down. The Bible talks about how Daniel refused to bow to a golden image that prompted the attempt to break him down in the den of hungry lions, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.’ (Daniel 6:10) In the case of Daniel, having the custom of prayer can be compared to taking vitamins. Vitamins will build our systems up so that sickness will not have its way. Daniel did not call on prayer partners when trouble showed up, because prayer was his custom (vitamin). Hezekiah, a man who knew what prayer could do did not hesitate to get on his knees and pray for deliverance from untimely death. In his commitment to God, convenience sets in and pride shows forth. With pride, untimely termination becomes evident. After having defeated Sennacherib, Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up. (2 Chronicles 32:25) Knowing that pride before God is like a death sentence, Hezekiah became sick and near death. By virtue of his conviction that God answers prayer, even his sickness could not prevent him from praying and getting results. It is written, “Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight…” (2 Kings 20:2-3) God heard the prayer of Hezekiah and added fifteen years. Prayer can be inconvenient but it is crucial and it demands commitment. Deny hindrances from taking away your prayer time before the prayer-answering God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to make prayer a custom.

FAITH CAPSULE: When God says yes it is good; when God says no it is good.

2 Samuel 18, 19:1-20

Prayer is communicating with God. In prayer we ask, we seek and knock. It is a command given by Jesus when He stated, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”(Matthew 7:7) It is not a suggestion to pray, it is a task that must be performed. Jesus was so sure about the effect of obeying when He declared, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:8-12) Anyone who asks (prays) obviously knows about the fact that there is a prayer-answering God. Unfortunately, knowing about is not enough, but when there is a knowing there will be the understanding of not giving up in asking but to be persistent. With not just a knowing about prayer, there will understanding that the word of God never fails and He will do what He says He will do. The God who never lies testifies to the efficacy of 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) God commanded: you ask and it shall be given. Are you asking or are you whining? The word of Hezekiah demonstrates that prayer is like a labor room where undeniable proofs are being given birth to. When Sennacherib staged an offensive against Hezekiah by boasting against God through his servant Rabshakeh, Hezekiah confessed, “…This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.” (2 Kings 19:3) The strength to push for birth to come forth is prayer; this is clear in Hezekiah’s reaction. Hezekiah went into prayer. He prayed before the Lord God and God answered his prayer. God sent Isaiah to go and say to Hezekiah, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.” (2 Kings 19:20) Prayer demands strength that comes from God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for strength to persevere in prayer.