FAITH CAPSULE: The source of fear is the absence of faith and the source of faith is the Word of God.

Exodus 14

“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) Believers often fail to take the abundant life that Jesus brought because of the lack of understanding that it requires to take the abundant life. Faith is all that is required to take all that Jesus brought while fear is all that it takes not take the abundant life that Jesus brought. Fear is the opposite of faith. In the absence of faith is fear and faith is the only antidote of fear. The source of fear is the absence of faith and the source of faith is the Word of God. Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”The apostle Paul laid emphasis on the hearing of the Word because without the Word, there will be no faith. Are you spending enough time on the Word of God? The time spent on studying and meditating on the Word of God is what will make the difference. When meditating on the Word is in place, then imitating the Word will be eliminating fear. Faith in God and the Word of His grace will terminate every representative of fear. Hebrews 11:6, “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.” There is a need to come to the One who brought abundant life and the only link to Him is through His Word. When faith is lacking, there is no way to please Him and coming to Him will not be possible. There are ways of operating or living in conscious or unconscious fear but the bottom line is the realization of fear in the life of one that inhabits fear. When a believer realizes the issue of fear and desirers for it to be terminated, God will enable deliverance. When there is a desire, God will deposit all that it takes for fear to loose its grip. At the approach of the Red Sea by the children of Israel, fear also approached the children of Israel but Moses took a step of faith, “And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:13-14) The same Word that sounded to the children of Israel is speaking to you today. Do not be afraid.

Prayer for today: Bestow upon me O Lord, the grace to be faithful and not fear-full.

FAITH CAPSULE: When are you going to start asking rather than making noise?

1 Samuel 1:1-24, Luke 18:35-43

When Bartimaeus the blind man received information that the Healer was passing by he cried out for help, “And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”(Luke 18:38-39) The blind man knew what he wanted, but did not ask for what he wanted instead he was making noise, asking for mercy, assuming that Jesus knew what the problem was. Jesus knows our problem but He wants us to ask for what we want. Have you been asking or you have only been making noise? Luke 11:9, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” There is a difference in asking and assuming that Jesus knows. Asking is a demonstration of faith. After Bartimaeus’ noise making of asking for mercy, Jesus decided to remind him to ask, “Saying, what do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” (Luke 18:41) When are you going to start asking rather than making noise? Hannah could have died barren, until she asked for a son from God; she was under the comfort of her husband. Elikanah was giving Hannah a special treatment to make her comfortable with her barren situation. In one miracle trip, she received her breakthrough when Peninnah, the second wife of her husband provoked her. 1 Samuel 1: 10-11, “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” Hannah’s bitterness of heart provoked her to ask for what she wanted. All the while, she was going to Shiloh and nothing was happening. But the day she actually asked, her story was rewritten from barren woman to mother of Samuel. Hannah testified that she asked for Samuel from the Lord. 1 Samuel 1:20 “So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel,saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.” What do you want from Him? Bartimaeus asked, Hannah asked, and now it is your turn to ask.

Prayer for today: Ask God to surround you with songs of deliverance.

FAITH CAPSULE: Half knowledge could be more dangerous than having no knowledge.

Mark 8:22-26

To be full in the knowledge of His word and having wisdom with spiritual understanding is what it takes to walk worthy of His calling. It is written in John 8:12, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”Indeed and in truth Jesus is the Light of the world that no darkness will ever be able to comprehend. Jesus is also identified as the word of God that came to us. John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” A blind man in Bethsaida encountered Jesus, the Light and the Word of God. The blind was brought to Jesus while Jesus came to Bethsaida. The blind man that was brought needed sight to see Jesus, the Light that was in his presence. The blind man had light, but there was no sight for him to see the Light, the Living Word of God. How long have you been carrying the Word of God without sight to actually see through the word? In attempt to give the blind man another sight, Jesus led him out of the town away from every kind of distraction. Having been led away from distraction the agent of discouragement, Jesus spit on his eyes yet he could not see. How often have you been out of distraction unto separation and yet nothing happened? The blind man was blindly blinded. Jesus spit on the blind man of Bethsaida’s eye yet there was no clarity of sight. An eye without clear sight is like half knowledge in the word of God. Half knowledge could be more dangerous than having no knowledge. After Jesus has spat on the blind man of Bethsaida’s eye, the blind man could not see clearly. Instead, he could only see men walking like trees. Jesus knew that the blind man of Bethsaida needed to see clearly, so He could not release him on his own as a result there was an extension of Jesus’ hand for the blind man of Bethsaida, “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made Him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” (Mark 8:25) The blind man of Bethsaida eventually gained the sight that enabled him to see the light. There should be no pretending of having sight where there is no sight to see the light. Attending to prayer for an extension of God’s hand in our life in every area of physical or spiritual blindness is what is best. Jesus moved the blind man of Bethsaida out of town to his healing ground before he could gain sight for light.

Prayer for today: Ask God to move you to your healing ground of deliverance.

FAITH CAPSULE: There are some delays that are meant for God to measure our faithfulness.

Exodus 32:1-14

Whenever there is a failure to ignore delay there will be doubt in place. “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”(Exodus32:1) The children of Israel knew quite well by virtue of their exposure to different miracles through Moses that God could not have abandoned them, yet they gave into an unnecessary worry that did not have a basis. As a result of Moses’ delay from coming down from the mountain, an unholy gathering took over from where there was supposed to be holy gathering. When the children of Israel began to see delay they began to look for another god. There are some places you have started, but delay has made it look like you are wasting out. The fact is, when you wait on God you can never be wasted. Also, there are some delays that are meant for God to measure our faithfulness. Some delays are not of failure, but to actually make a way of getting to the expected end. When Moses’ delay became glaring in the sight of the children of Israel, they began to seek for a god to take over from God that cannot be substituted, a God that will not accept any compromise. A failure not to ignore delay can turn man quickly out of the way of God’s command. Are you experiencing any kind of delay? Your delay will turn unto deliverance in the name of Jesus. Why should there be any worrying when that He said He would be with us. Philippians 4:6-7, “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.” Determination cannot hold off anxiousness that is generated from delay but the grace of God, by the Spirit of God, you can scale into not being anxious. A state of unexpected delay will definitely generate concern and there will be every reason to be anxious, but the word of God reveals here the antidote for anxiousness. Take all to God in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, and the peace of God will take over you. Instead of you seeing delay, see it as “deliverance on the way” God is in control of all and He will not delay any longer in Jesus Name.

Prayer for today: O Lord my Father, cause me to be focus on You in every step of my life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Uncommon move will provoke uncommon testimony.

Luke 7:36-39, 8:41-48

“And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.”(Luke 7:37-38) A woman who was a sinner in the city knew what to do to get what she desired of the Lord. She wanted to deliver uncommon service to Jesus. In approaching Jesus, she took an uncommon route; a route that perplexed all agents of denial and she could not be denied. She took the back route to avoid the multitude. The Bible said she stood at Jesus’ feet behind Him. If this woman had attempted to stand before Jesus in her attempt to deliver her service, she probably would have been denied from getting to Jesus’ feet. It was an uncommon move that provoked an uncommon testimony. The woman’s service became a service that could not be left out without being mentioned in the pages of the Bible today. Her service became an uncommon testimony. In your service to Him, make an uncommon move and deny every force of distraction that denies provoking uncommon testimony. Just like the woman with the alabaster oil, the woman with the issue of blood also made an uncommon move when she provoked an uncommon miracle that became an uncommon testimony. “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.” (Luke 8:43-44) Disease of twelve years took a back way approach to be terminated. The woman with the issue of blood did not have to come shouting or causing a scene before Jesus saw her. The woman with the issue of blood, just like the woman with the alabaster oil, did not do what every one did when they received their breakthrough. They both came from behind and approached Jesus where there was no distraction or frustration and where there was no way for attention seeking. They made a move that was purposeful in order for their purpose to be fulfilled. It was not an attention seeking approach but it turned out to be an uncommon approach that provoked uncommon testimony. God will give you an uncommon testimony as you serve or seek Him in Jesus Name.
 
Prayer for today: Teach me and instruct me; cause Your eye to guide me O Lord.