FAITH CAPSULE: With our mouth under absolute control of God, tongue will definitely be shut from causing any damage.

Exodus 4:1-17

Mouth and ear represents body parts that play a major role in how far we can go in God’s assignment. The Bible make us to understand that, “The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.” (Proverbs 15:28) The heart can receive but the mouth is in control not to let out. Ear is the channel through which we receive the word of God and believe. What man believes determines what he becomes. God knows all His creation better when He told Moses, ““Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” (Exodus 4:12) There is nothing like having God take over of our life. When Moses began to give excuse to avoid God’s assignment for him to lead the children of Israel, he told God, “I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10) It was Moses’ response that generated God’s promise to be with Moses’ mouth and to teach Moses what to say. The point here is that God can be with our mouth as he declared to be with Moses’ mouth if we ask. Tongue is described as, “A fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our member that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.”(James 3:6) With our mouth under absolute control of God, tongue will definitely be shut from causing any damage. Would it not make a world of difference if tongue is put in check by having mouth under control? If the mouth is not opened the tongue will be quiet and the ability for tongue to generate problem will be silent. Not just in the area of mouth that we should be asking God to take over but also in the area of hearing. Isaiah 50:5, “The Lord God has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.” This is evidence that the ear that is opened by God will hear not to be rebellious unto God. So many have ear opened but when God does not open them, what is being heard does not have what it takes to keep the hearer from being rebellious. Mouth and ear needs to be under a consistent check and such check can only be of God’s divine intervention. Moses could not escape God’s assignment when God promised him all that it will take for him to keep him going in God’s assignment. Can you identify yourself and see if it is your mouth or ear that is disrupting your assignment?

Prayer for today: Ask God to be with your mouth and have your ear opened to Him.  

FAITH CAPSULE: It is your understanding in the word of God that will fuel you in the journey of life.

Genesis 2: 15-24, 3

It matters and it is very important to know and be able to apply understanding that Jesus brought to us as a free gift of salvation. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, the One that gives and can also take life, the Alpha and the Omega said in His word that He has come to give life. He is not just coming; He has already come to give life and to give it more abundantly. However, if by the way of living the ones that are to take the abundant life are not receiving what has been brought to them by not making themselves available, it becomes a sorry story. Have you positioned yourself in the place of receiving abundant life that He came to give you? One thing is to have an understanding of what has been given to you and do what it takes to receive it fully. Another scene is to lack an understanding of the life He came to give and not able to receive and live abundantly but redundantly. Adam and Eve, a sorry story, had it given to them but could not retain what was given to them because they lacked understanding that was to give them an edge over the challenge of temptation. It is written in Genesis 2:15, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely; “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it you shall surely die.”” Adam and Eve lacked in what it takes to respond accordingly when God gave them the command that will preserve and keep them forever. Obeying God’s command was to give them life while disobeying God’s command was meant by the enemy to steal, kill and destroy. The serpent came and turned the word of God upside down so that Adam and Eve could fall and not receive all the provisions of God. The same serpent is the one you encounter on a daily and regular basis. How are you positioning yourself daily in the journey of life? It is only your understanding in the word of God that will be fueling you in the journey of life for protection against the one that has come to steal, kill, and destroy. With understanding, having a knowing-edge (Knowledge) over all devices of the thief will not be an issue.

Prayer for today: Ask God for His goodness and mercy and not to become a victim of the thief.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not allow your affliction lead you into settling for less.

Genesis 40, 41:1-14

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19) The Psalmist is talking about the righteous and not the wicked. Righteous ones are the ones that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior. Righteous ones are ones that operates the knowledge of God through the grace of God. As one that has submitted unto Jesus, you wonder why your situation continues to be from one affliction to another affliction. What the Psalmist is saying here is, as a believer that is having challenges, you are not alone, you are not the first and you will not be the last to be in the kind of situation that could generate doubt in your faith. However, where doubt and fear is being generated, you operate hope and faith that pleases God. In your affliction, know that you are coming out to enter your season of deliverance. Do not misplace your focus on God because He is the only one that will deliver you at His own appointed time. Joseph, at a young age, went into the pit of no water or survival, sold to slavery in Egypt, from slavery to prison for an offence that he had not committed. Despite his coming out from one affliction and entering into another affliction, there was no record of complaining or questioning God, and he overcame. In your affliction who are you calling or looking up to besides God? However, if your call is being placed onto God, be rest assured that all is well. The Bible recorded many more afflictions but all in different forms. In your affliction let your only place of expectation for help be from God. After Joseph had revealed a positive dream to the butler, he requested kindness from the butler when he stated, “But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.” (Genesis 40:14) Kindness and mercy only come from God. Is there any wrong place where you are hoping for deliverance to come? Take it all unto the Lord and He will not fail to deliver you from your affliction. The butler did not remember Joseph for two years. The butler could only remember Joseph when Pharaoh had a dream that no one could interpret. It took two years for the butler to remember; it was God’s timing, not the butler’s. After two years Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and his story was changed to good forever. Do not allow your affliction lead you into settling for less. With God all things and nothing can be impossible because God desires to deliver the righteous from affliction.

Prayer for today: Ask God to deposit His knowledge that delivers into your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Fear and doubt are agents of rebellious act.

Numbers 14

“So the LORD’s anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone.” (Numbers 32:13) Fear and doubt are agents of rebellious act. To be rebellious does nothing good but leads man to wander and die where there is life. Thank God for the blood that was shed on the Calvary. If not the blood of Jesus, many of us would probably have been gone before birth. God was displeased with the children of Israel that saw the wondrous act of His outstretch hand which brought them out of the bondage of over four hundred years. Above all, they saw how the Red Sea gave way for a passage on a dry land. Despite all the manifestation of God’s hand which they saw, they could not see their Promised Land but died wandering in the wilderness. The bible says it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrew 11:6) God was displeased for lack of faith and trust in Him. The children of Israel entered into fear and then complaint became their make-up when they failed to see the land as promised by God. As a result the Lord declared, “They shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.”(Numbers 14:23) An act of complaint is what gives ground to rebellious act. The children of Israel saw it all and it was for them to see it through but they faltered because they lack faith. The same fear, doubt and complain that got the children of Israel stranded is still denying blessings of God wherever there is lack of faith. The same deceiver has not changed and he is still in operation and his mission is to steal, kill, and destroy. Indeed, he stole what was in place for the children of Israel (Promised Land), he got them killed, and generations were destroyed. The act of rebellion is evil before God. Before the deceiver killed and destroyed, he caused their wandering when they should have been moving forward. The children of Israel wandered for forty years until all generations that did evil in the sight of the Lord died. Do you have a feeling or sense that you are wandering where you suppose to be a wonder to your world? Are you moving forward or are you stagnant in your journey of life? Thank God for the blood that was shed on the Calvary.
Prayer for today: Ask the Lord to draw you near if you have consciously or unconsciously withdrawn from Him. He is a merciful God and He will answer because the Blood of Jesus Christ is in place for salvation. Avoid wandering, move forward and enter into the promises of God for your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: The word of God that you have received but not without meditation will not serve as medication in time of need.

Psalm 64

Do you have acquaintances that are watching and waiting for your stumbling? All that have been sounding in your direction is mockery and fear is beginning to sneak into every area of your life. As a believer, hold on to your faith and you will gain heaven’s attention. Jeremiah was a man called and sent by God but yet he encountered challenges that attempted his life. During one of Jeremiah’s challenges, he was able to stand and not fall because he remembered and he spoke “But the LORD is with me as a mighty awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 20:11) The word of God is the way out of the challenges of the wicked world. Jeremiah remembered the word that can elevate him and keep him going. The word of God that you have received but not without meditation will not serve as medication in time of need. God did not suggest to Joshua the need for meditation but He strongly emphasized it with a command when he stated to Joshua that, “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 a prosperous, and then you will have a good success.” (Joshua 1:8) What can be done in times of challenges is take to the word of God and you will not only see but also walk over all areas of trap that is meant for you to stumble. You will discover in the period of time that all mockery has been converted into miracle. The word of God will not fail to perform. Are you walking in the word of God? Walk in the word of God and the world will work for you. The Psalmist called in Psalm 64:1-2, “Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from the fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity.” As a believer get into the word of God with a heart of expectation and the word will bring forth its manifestation. Remember, you have a role to play. Before Jesus called Lazarus back to life from the dead, he called for the people to play their role when He asked them to roll the stone away. Jesus could have commanded the stone to roll but He did not. Play your role by meditating on the word of God that is power to deliver and to preserve.

Prayer for today: Let Your mercy and salvation come to me according to your word O Lord.