FAITH CAPSULE: Understand how to hear the word of God.

Jeremiah 1

The word of God speaks to all.
Anyone with the mind to give to the word of God shall live life to excel for the glory of God.
Acts 20:32 speaks to all with no exemption, “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.” 
The same word that brought forth creation will build those who receive and believe in God in His word.
John 6:63 documents, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
It is worth remembering that the same word that creates everything is there to give more than all can imagine.
Why not give yourself to the word of God as a way of life?
For example, meditating on the word of God will build one for the glory of God.
It is one thing to memorize the word; another to know it and meditate on the word.
Knowing the word is not just to know about it.
Know the word to meditate on it.
Meditation will cause one to observe and do what the word requires.
Engage in meditation constantly to be built for the glory of God.
The word of God is powerful and can never deny itself nor fail, but man can fail to engage the word as a builder.
The work that will build one is to be living for God. 
With curiosity, the disciples asked Jesus, “…What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28)
Jesus responded, “…This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:29)
Do not compromise the word of God, but with a desire, the word will build you.
Just as there is no substitute for food for man to grow physically, so there is no substitute for the word to grow spiritually. Jeremiah 15:16 testifies that the word is as food. The Bible records, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart…”  
Are you feeding on the word of God? 
With understanding, feed on the word of God, to become built for God.
Know to give ear and mind to the entrance of the word of God. 
Jeremiah 13:15 admonishes, “Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken.”  The Lord has spoken; be a believer, play your part, and receive His word that will build you up for the glory of God.
Understand to know to be hearing the word of God constantly for you to be built up for the glory of God.
Become a built-up one as a living testimony before God, do exploits, to the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Look up to God to enable you to be built by His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: Wickedness is an ungodly sin. 

Matthew 15

A hypocrite is an identity of the wicked ones.
Wickedness is defined as evil by nature and, in practice, highly offensive or obnoxious. 
Wickedness is an ungodly sin. 
It is the wickedness on earth that provoked the hand of God to destroy man on earth during the time of Noah. 
Genesis 6:5 records the testimony of God about the wicked on earth, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” 
Since the time of the testimony of God, the wickedness on earth has been continual.
Today, wickedness knows no bounds.
It reigns inside and outside of the church.
Within a group of believers, if there is a question about who is wicked, hardly would any accept giving to wickedness.
As an acclaimed believer, have you ever considered or seen yourself as one who engages in wickedness? 
Jeremiah 12:2, Jeremiah speaks before God, “Righteous are You, O Lord when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?You have planted them, yes they have taken root; they grow, yes they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their mind.” 
The word of Jeremiah points out that the wicked are those who speak the word of God but do not carry it in their mind.
Many are with a mouthful of the word of God but only mindful of self, not of God.
It is wickedness to be deceitful.
The wicked ones grow and prosper, and nothing over their forehead identifies them. Are you an acclaimed believer, deceiving believers, and outside of believers?
The wicked are conversant in speaking the word of God while the word of God is absent or far from the mind. 
A hypocrite is an identity of the wicked ones.
The word of Jesus also refers to the wicked ones as hypocrites. Matthew 15:7-9 states,“Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” 
Yes or no, if you consider yourself a hypocrite? 
A hypocrite is a pretender. 
A hypocrite is one whose walk and talk do not match. 
A hypocrite is also a person who knows about the word but does not practice it. 
If what you possess is not what you profess, you have failed in doing what you say, and you are a son of the wicked; in vain, you worship Him.
There is a need to serve God in deed and truth, not live life as a wicked one. 

Prayer for today: Lord, enable me not to live life as wicked.

FAITH CAPSULE: The sin of Jonah swallowed him.

Jonah 1, 2

To obey the word of God is to gain the presence of God.
Obedience to the word of God is doing according to the word of God.
The word of God is God.
Doing according to the word of God is doing what God wants all to do. 
Doing what God wants all to do is walking with Him. 
The character of one who looks up to God continually is obedience to God.
It is easy to claim walking with God when you are not.
One not walking with God is being far from God.
Jonah, a prophet of God, looked away from the word of God; he disobeyed God and walked away from God. 
Jonah walked away from the presence of God.
To walk away from God (to be disobedient to His word) is stepping into self-destruction.
Jonah 1:1-3 records, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
Jonah, because of his sin of disobedience and his distance from God, positioned him to settle in an undesired life.
Jonah disobeyed God. It was a sin before God, and his sin made him become a tenant inside a GREAT FISH. The sin of Jonah SWALLOWED him.
The bible identifies the prayer for deliverance by Jonah.
HE CRIED OUT TO GOD BECAUSE OF HIS AFFLICTION (and God answered him)
HE REPENTED AND PROMISED TO LOOK BACK TO GOD (to turn to God as he was asked to do)  
HE MADE A VOW TO SACRIFICE TO GOD.(JONAH 2:9, “But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”) He vowed to give a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
Giving thanks before the manifestation of expectation is a sacrificial thanks.
Psalm 50:14-15 records,“Offer to God thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
It is wise to pray for the mercy of God to enable one not to be far from Him.
Prayer for today:
Ask that God will give heed to the cries of your heart (God gave heed to the cries of Jonah for salvation from destruction.
Ask that God will enable you to be looking up to Him continually and not look away from His word.
Ask that whatever makes a man look away from His word of deliverance and preservation shall not have a place in your life.
Ask by thanking God for His deliverance from the consequence of your disobedience. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Let your concentration be for God.

Matthew 6

One with concentration on God gives regard to God.
Give regard to God as a way of life.
Are you giving regard to God?
Psalm 28:5 warns, “Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them and not build them up.”
One with understanding will know giving regard to God as a way of life.
Do not disregard God, the God whom all supposedly live for.
Isaiah 5:12 records, “…But they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider the operation of His hands.”  
Does the word speak to you? 
One who disregards the word of God does not regard God and will rebel against God consciously or unconsciously because of a lack of understanding, evidence of not knowing God.
One that does not give regard to God is as one that is laden (loaded, burdened) with iniquity (sin, evildoers).
One that disregards God has forsaken God, to provoke God and such become backward. Avoid backwardness so it is not to be your portion.
Your confession matters for your deliverance.
With understanding, give regard to God, knowing and confessing positively.
Understanding is the ability to listen carefully and be in charge of what comes out of the mouth.
Truly understanding is a wellspring of life to one who has it. 
(Proverbs 16:22)
Are you considering the importance of listening ability and not live as a potential fool?
Bible warns, “A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.” (Proverbs 18:7)
Evidently, by the word of God, the mouth can indeed lead to destruction, but understanding can lead the mouth not to experience destruction.
Gain understanding not to be a fool!
DO NOT DISREGARD GOD
Isaiah 5:12 warns, “…But they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider the operation of His hands.”  
Does the word speak to you? 
One who disregards the word of God does not regard God and will rebel against God consciously or unconsciously, which is evidence of not knowing God and not considering God.
One that does not give regard to God is as one that is laden (loaded, burdened) with iniquity (sin, evildoers). One that disregards God has forsaken God, to provoke God and such become backward.
Avoid backwardness to be your portion.
With understanding, know to gather together before God.
Are you gathering but not together? 
Matthew 18:19-20 records the word of Jesus, “…For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”  Believers gather by the mouth but are far from each other in the heart.
Not together in the heart but calling together in the name of God is deceiving the world as if they are together.
Many husbands, wives, and children live together, but they are not together.
Does the word speak with truth in your ear?
Unfailingly, failure answers to not gathering together. 
The power of agreement is in coming together for the glory of God, not for self-glorification. Give regard to the word of God! 

Prayer for today: Ask that God enable you to live by His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: With understanding, serve God to live life to the glory of God.

Exodus 7

All should understand that all is created to serve God.
He is a jealous God, and the antidote for jealousy is attention.
All should give attention to God by serving Him diligently, without continually staying away from Him.
God said in Exodus 7:16, “And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear!” Exodus 8:1, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” ‘ ” 
Understand that serving God is to be seeking God; one who seeks God will be seeing Him in His word. 
Among ways of serving God are: Living life to please Him; being separated from sin; and praying to God continually.
With understanding, one serves God by living life to please Him, not to be pleasing the world.
Enoch pleased God as Hebrews 11:5-6 records,“By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 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. Serving God is seeking God.” 
Please God to reap the reward of pleasing God. 
Proverbs 16:7 records, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. 
Understand, strive to be separated from sin because, with sin, no man can see God. 
3 John 1:11, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.” Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Sin is not of God, not serving God.
Serving God is seeking God in prayer continually to maintain constant communication with God.
Daniel had a life that made prayer his custom since his early days. (Daniel 6:10) 
When Daniel was in the den of lions, King Darius, who did not know God, called out to Daniel as Daniel 6:20 records,“And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
Daniel served God prayerfully, praying continually before God, and no evil could touch his life. Serve God to live life to the glory of God.
Be honest to yourself before God by Living life to please Him; to be separated from sin; to be praying to God continually.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to know and live a life of seeking Him diligently.