FAITH CAPSULE: A failure not to settle in the word of God, will cause the heart to go astray

Psalm 95

Have you heard from God lately? Could it be that you have heard but, did not realize that it was God speaking to you. Psalm 95:7-9, “Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,as in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.” Many are hearing Him with their ear and not with their heart. The fact that you are not hearing from Him could be a result of the hardness of heart and the act of rebellion. The children of Israel heard Him with their ear but, not with their heart and that caused them to be a rebellious generation. Evidently, not being able to hear God with the heart and becoming rebellious will lead to testing God for who He is. Despite all that the word of God accomplished the children of Israel failed to see because the word did not enter into their heart. An understanding of the relativity between the word of God and work of God will give knowledge that the Lord God is closer to us more than we think.
Word: In Genesis 1 and 2, the Bible helps us to realize that at the time of creation, God spoke and all that was created became His creation by His spoken word. The book of John states that the same Word in the beginning of creation was God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) By this testimony, it is clear that the Word of God is God.
Work: The work of God is the word of God.Based from the statements above, it is safe to conclude that the work of God is the word of God. It is also safe to say the Word of God is God.
Psalm 75:2 stated, “For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near.”
Romans 10:8 quoted from Deuteronomy 30:14, “…the word is near in your mouth and in your heart…”
For forty years the Israelites could not hear and see in order to be at rest in their journey as promised by God. Psalm 95:10 concluded, “…it is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.” Just like the Israelites, many could not settle in the word because of their failure to hear and see the word. A failure not to settle, will cause the heart to go astray and a heart astray is a heart without rest. The work of God is the Word of God; hear, see and settle in Him.

Prayer for the day: Open the eyes and ears of my heart that I may see you O Lord.

FAITH CAPSULE: Accepting Christ is not an indication that sin is no longer on the way.

Leviticus 18

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘I am the LORD your God. According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.”(Leviticus 18:1-5) When God speaks He means what He says because He sees the future. God pointed out He was bringing the children of Israel out of the house of bondage (Egypt) a land of sin. He further mentioned that where he was taking them to was (Canaan) the land of opportunity. The coming out of the land of sin and going into the land where sin exists depicts the journey of every believer. Every believer that accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior came out of sin and in a journey to Canaan land where sin exists. Accepting Christ is not an indication that you are free from sin. In the journey of life, sin will not go away as long as the devil is around. However, the journey from Egypt to Canaan is the process and preparation for provision. The process of journey is what will prepare every one for God’s provision. The enemy will not stop parading sin because he looks for whom he may devour. The enemy is stubborn and will not give up in his attempt to win some for a sinful journey that will not give life. The encounter of Jesus with the devil after Jesus’ forty days fasting was evident to the fact that the devil is stubborn. By virtue of the devil’s stubbornness, he failed three times tempting Jesus. Despite his failure, the bible recorded, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13) The devil will never give up but will always seek an opportune time. Take note that God will not send His people without backing them up with what it takes to get through. God gave the pass code to the Canaan land in His command when He requested for observing His word. To observe and keep His word is all that it will take to get into the Promised Land. Observing the word of God is obeying Him. With obedience, no devil will topple you from where He is taking you to. 

Prayer for today: O Lord my God and my father, circumcise my heart with Your fear so that I may live.

FAITH CAPSULE: Wisdom without understanding is incomplete.

Mark 10:46-52

Wisdom is important to have and it is inhabited in instruction. The Bible states that wisdom is the principal thing to get. As important as wisdom could be, the function ability of wisdom clearly rest on getting understanding. Wisdom without understanding is incomplete. This cannot be emphasized more than in the word of Proverbs 4:7 which states, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” By virtue of the word in the book of Proverbs, it can be concluded that wisdom is instruction while understanding is attention. The instructions that we have in the word of God requires attention and without attention there will be no attainment. Understanding is what gives a knowing edge over the challenges of the world. The word of God declared in Psalm 47:7, “…sing praises with understanding.” If singing praise to God demands understanding, then thanking God, calling on God and every area of seeking and worshiping Him also demands understanding. In calling the name of God, the magnitude for the reason of understanding can be identified in the story of Bartimaeus the blind man. Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was a road side beggar by profession because of his blindness. As God would have it for him, when Jesus was coming out of Jericho with his disciples, He was with a company of great multitude. The Bible recorded, “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47) Bartimaeus, despite his blindness, clearly had the understanding of the name he was calling when he did not only call on Jesus but called Jesus, Son of David. The multitudes tried to silence Bartimaeus but, he persevered and because of his perseverance he received his sight. The Bible said many warned him to be quiet but, he cried out all the more. Bartimaeus’ understanding of the name gave him the conviction that brought forth manifestation. In life, it takes someone that understands and knows your full name to call you by your full name. Do you know the names to call on God and gain His full attention? When Jesus heard His full name being called the Bible said, “Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.” Many of the multitudes with full sight were thronging without understanding to call Jesus to a stand still. In your praise worship, in your thanksgiving, call on Him by His name that is not common to the multitude and you will also get his attention.

Prayer for today: Jesus, Son of David, I ask for your divine intervention in every area of my stagnation to be converted to motion. Cause every pain to be converted into gain.

FAITH CAPSULE: Your challenges cannot be too much for you not to love God.

Genesis 39

What is it that is compromising your love for God? He is the Almighty God, all purposeful God, and undeniable God. He is more glorious and excellent than mountains of prey. God deserves all of our love and not a partial love. To love Him is to fear Him. When you sincerely love God, the enemy cannot do anything to overcome you. At the age of seventeen, Joseph, who was dearly loved by his father more than anyone else was lost from home in line of obeying his father. In the course of being lost, his brothers attempted his life but God delivered him from the pit of death. Instead of gaining his route back home, he gained entrance into slavery. Joseph’s story is comparable to moving from frying pan to fire at a point in his journey to grace. While in slavery there was no father, mother, brothers and friends to relate with. Heaven smiled on him as favor answered on his behalf before his master. While enjoying his new comfort zone, his master’s wife fell in love with him. Suddenly the ways seemed right for Joseph to take over his master’s wife in the absence of his master (Potiphar). What could be better than a way that seems right? The Word of God does not lie when it says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Have your challenges move you into a way that seems right? Pay attention to Joseph’s story and you will learn that the only right way is the way of God. Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph so, “…she spoke to him day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or be with her.”(Genesis 39:10) After Joseph ran, Potiphar’s wife plotted against him because he did not follow through with her advances. By running away, Joseph did not solve the problem. His reaction gave the implication that he was guilty of the accusations, even though they were false. As a result of his reaction, the master’s wife gave a false accusation that Joseph tried to rape her. The only reason why Joseph refused to follow the wrong path was because of his love for God. During Potiphar’s wife’s pressure, he responded to his master’s wife, “…how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God.” (Genesis 39:10) To love God is to fear God and to please Him before every challenging situation. When you love Him, He will love you and your enemies attempt will fail while you gain favor from Him. Your challenges cannot be too much for you not to love God. God was with Joseph and He made him successful and prosperous.

Prayer for today: O Lord, put Your fear in me that I will not depart from You.

FAITH CAPSULE: “…not to operate in the knowledge of God will not excuse a man from the consequences of lack of knowledge of God.”

Daniel 1

Ignorant, meaning to lack knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact is what makes destitute of a believer. Isaiah made us to realize that the people of God went into captivity because they lacked knowledge. One will wonder if the knowledge was not there for them to take, use and avoid captivity. Isaiah mentioned, “…but they do not regard the work of the Lord, nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge.” (Isaiah 5:12-13) Indeed, ignorant or lack of knowledge is nothing but a destroyer to those that lack knowledge. In this world of confronting challenges, having the knowledge of God is the only way out to having edge over all challenges. Also, not having the knowledge of God will not excuse a man from consequences of not having the knowledge of God. It is knowledge to know to love God while it is ignorant to only know about loving God or not loving God at all. God commands that we love Him with all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our strength. Many assume that loving God equals going to church on Sunday, attending mid-week services and working hard in the church. Indeed, it is good to be active in the church activities as mentioned above but, it does not define loving God. Loving God is a sacrifice, a costly sacrifice whereby a price has to be paid. Sacrifice unto God is not cheap. It is a proven mark of love for God in every moment of its engagement. Sacrifice to God is worship. Worshiping God is seeking. Seeking God demands all of our heart, soul, and strength. In loving God, no situation or condition should be enough to cause distraction. Our God who is jealous demands all our love and He will not settle for partial love. Daniel was among the giants of God that demonstrated his love for God and reap from his love for God. Daniel denied the comfort of the king’s delicacy, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” (Daniel 1:8) Daniel could not compromise his love for the one that created him. God responded instantly to Daniel’s love, “Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.” (Daniel 1:9) For Daniel, it was great exploit through all his days. When God loves you, enemies attempt will increase but failure becomes enemies’ attempts.

Prayer for today: O Lord, circumcise my heart to love You with all my heart with all my soul.