FAITH CAPSULE: As close as the banana and plantain may look alike, one cannot sow bananas and reap plantains.

Genesis 27

God is perfectly managing each and all of His creation. No man can sow oranges and reap apple. As close as the banana and plantain may look alike, one cannot sow bananas and reap plantains. In life, what ever you sow is what you will reap. It is impossible to sow the seed of deception and expect to reap the fruit of reception. Where you are sowing seeds of lies, you will reap the fruit of being deceived. Esau, the first son of Isaac, knew well enough not to marry outside of his father’s prescribed area but nevertheless, he still went and married without Isaac’s blessing. It is written, “When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.”(Genesis 26:34-35)Esau’s move gave his parents grief of mind, which can be likened to heartache, stress, disruption, anger and maybe sleepless nights. At a very old age when it was time for Isaac to bless his children, Esau was in line to take the best part of the blessings. Despite the grief that Esau had caused his parents by marrying outside of his father’s prescribed area, he was still considered to be the one receiving the best of the blessings. Isaac called on Esau and spoke to him, “Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”(Genesis 27:3-4)There is no procedure neither is there any mishap that can obliterate or erase for one not to reap from what was sown and this was also the case for Esau. His mother intercepted Isaac’s assignment for Esau and she made Jacob to overtake the blessings of Esau. Jacob went and carried out Isaac’s assignment and entered into an assigned blessing of his brother. At the time Esau came back from his hunting, Jacob had already carried out Isaac’s request and went away without any way of Esau regaining the blessing. Esau sowed the seed of grief for his parents and there was no way out for him but to reap the fruit of grief. Jacob, however, did not get away from sowing the seed of deception. Jacob also reaped the fruit of being aggravatingly deceived in the hand of Laban, his father in-law. Watch the kind of seeds you are sowing because when reaping time starts, prayer will not help you to escape the pain of what you sow.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace that makes man to sow good and not bad.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not replace yourself from where He places you.

Esther: 1-17

As a child of God, are you in the right place engaging the right purpose of God for your life? Wherever you are or how you are will not stop God’s work on your behalf. He said in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”The word of God is speaking to us and He is aware of where we are and all that we are going through. God’s plans for us are a testimony to the fact that we should remain focus at all times. Mordecai was a Jew that was captured and carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Mordecai brought up Esther, his uncle’s daughter, after the death of Esther’s father and mother. The place for Mordecai was at the king’s gate. The Bible recorded in Esther 2:21-22, “In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai’s name.”Bigthan and Teresh were eventually terminated for the plot against King Ahasuerus and it was documented in the favor of Mordecai. One would think the report ended up just in documentation. However, the report later turned out to be an avenue for deliverance for the Jews when Haman wanted to have all Jews in the land destroyed. On the night of the day that Harman’s generated law to destroy the children of Israel was passed, the king’s lost of sleep led to the deliverance of the Jew. While the king was not able to sleep, he read the documentation that saved his life through Mordecai. Esther 6: 1-2, “That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.” The king was provoked to honor Mordecai based on the chronicle documentation of how his life was saved by Mordecai. As a result of the place and purpose in the life of Mordecai, the Jews were released and a new turn took its toll in the life of Mordecai as he went from gate to great in the hand of the King Ahasuerus. Do not replace yourself from where He places you.

Prayer for today: Ask for God’s hand to keep you from missing out in the place of God’s assignment for your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: It is never too late to cease from every work that makes man to become a potential recruit for Satan.

Acts 1:15-26

“Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.” (Acts 1:16) After thousands of years from when Judas made himself available as a guide to those who arrested Jesus, many are still operating as a guide arresting Jesus. As a claimed believer, are you the Judas of modern day? The Bible declares concerning Judas, “For he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.” (Acts1: 17) Many are numbered and have obtained a part in the ministration of the word of God, but yet they are consciously or unconsciously operating as a guide to those who are blaspheming and persecuting the Lord Jesus Christ just as Judas did. It is important to know that the eyes of the Lord are not hidden from every act of all followers and non-followers and He will bring judgment at His appointed time. Determination not to be a part of those who are arresting Jesus will fail, but asking for the grace of God will help to prevail from failing. Jesus once prayed for Simon (the man with great determination) when Satan wanted to pick on him, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:32) Satan is always looking for someone to devour, but by the prayer of Jesus, he failed in his attempt to sift Simon. The same Satan that failed in the life of Peter prevailed in the life of Judas. It is written, “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.”(Luke 22:3) Judas could not maintain his number so he lost the privilege to be counted. There is going to be a counting day; a day of accountability and it will be permanently late for any readjustment because repentance would have become expired and impossible. It does not matter how long you have been in the race or how long you have been following Jesus. Neither does it matter the kind of title you have. It matters for you to constantly spend time at His feet for a divine covering that will make it impossible for Satan to recruit you as a guide to arrest Jesus. It is never too late to cease from every work that makes man to become a potential recruit for Satan.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace that keeps man faith from failing. 

FAITH CAPSULE: As much as God inhabits the praises of His people, it will be absolutely impossible for any agent of the wicked to succeed in holding down those that know how to praise Him in the darkest hour of confrontations.

Acts 16:25-40

Deliverance during the darkest hour of the day is an indication of winning battle in the war front of the enemy. The children of Israel had been in bondage for over four hundred years without any sign of deliverance in sight. Moses did all that the Lord put in his hand to do for Pharaoh to release the children of Israel in the daytime hours, but God choose the midnight hour to be the hour of their deliverance. Exodus 12:29-31, “And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have said.” The bondage of over four hundred years ceased at the midnight hour. The God that operated in the Old Testament is the same God that operated in the New Testament. He has not changed since then and even until now; He is the Unchanging Changer. Acts 16:25-26, “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” As much as God inhabits the praises of His people, it will be absolutely impossible for any agent of the wicked to succeed in holding down those that know how to praise Him in the darkest hour of confrontations. Paul and Silas prayed and sang in one of their dark hours (midnight) and the Spirit of God came down to loose them from the chains and shackles of the wicked. As a believer, take your battle to the warfront of your enemy. Paul and Silas did by praying and singing during the midnight hour and they encountered undeniable deliverance. How is your praise worship? Is it a heart-full praise worship or mouth-full praise worship?

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of prayer and praise.

FAITH CAPSULE: With God on your side, the enemy cannot be more powerful.

Daniel 3

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, the three friends of Daniel, refused to worship gold image, they were sentenced into a fiery burning furnace. The Bible recorded, “…because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3:22-23) The three friends were bounded when they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Have you been in a familiar situation where your challenges have kept you bounded? It has become aggravating, disturbing, and stressing, and it is causing displacement in every function able area of your life. You have been relegated and provokingly stagnated where you had the ability to move up. Does any of the above describe your situation like that of the three friends of Daniel? Daniel’s friends were in much deeper situation, but in that deep, God showed up on their behalf. The three friends of Daniel fell in the fire yet they were up and not consumed by the fire. Interestingly, God did not bring them out of the burning fiery furnace, but He kept their company against any form of destruction or pain. With God’s presence the burning fiery furnace became a boarding friendly furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar saw the miracle and declared,“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (Daniel 3:25) The enemy meant it for evil, but their faith prevailed when the presence of God joined them. The King was not the only witness of God parading His visiting power concerning His children in the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There were witnesses from every level of the government, “…the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.” (Daniel 3:27)They all saw the power of God in manifestation and, “Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God!” (Daniel 3:28). The presence of God made the three friends to thrive in the face of terminating challenge. With God on your side, the enemy cannot be more powerful.

Prayer for today: The kind of testimony that answered for Daniel’s three friends will answer for you in the name of Jesus.