FAITH CAPSULE: Jesus is not a magician, but He is a miracle working God.

Mark 3:1-5

Jeremiah 10:12 declared, “He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.” (Jeremiah 10:12)He is the only God and His ways are higher than our ways. Waiting to see Jesus move the same way He moved in your neighbor’s miracle will take forever in you receiving your healing breakthrough. Jesus does not move by man’s calculation, but by His compassion. Who can calculate how or what His move is going to be? At the time of His healing the man with leprosy, “…Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing: be cleansed.’”(Mark 1:41) It was Jesus who stretched out to heal the man with leprosy. The same Jesus approached a man with a withered hand and commanded him to stretch out his hand in Mark 3:5, “And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as a whole as the other.”Jesus is not a magician, but He is a miracle working God. In miracles, you do not know how your expectation is going to be manifested. Miracle is an extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers. Why not take a step forward in faith for your own miracle? Before the man with the withered hand encountered his miracle, there was a need for him to step forward. Mark 3:3-4, “And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Step forward…”The man took a step of faith and all that could deny his miracle were silent. What are the issues that are holding you from stepping forward when you need to step forward in your breakthrough miracle? Are you calculating how your miracle is going to happen? Jesus is not a mathematician or a magician, but He will move on your behalf if you will take a step of faith. Taking note of how He did your neighbor’s miracle will not help you because to the leper He stretched out His hand. The same Jesus requested the man with withered hand to stretch his hand. With understanding in the word and work of His hand, gain the knowledge that He will not fail you. The man with the withered hand stepped forward; he did not wait for Jesus to stretch unto Him. Your miracle will come in Jesus name.

Prayer for today: Hear my prayer and let my cry come up to You. Do not hide your face from me.

FAITH CAPSULE: Whatever God meant to be right and for good, the devil meant to be wrong and evil.

Genesis 1, 2

God created heaven and earth by His word. Genesis 1:3-4 recorded, “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters…” God spoke to many of His creation, but when it came to the creation of man, the Bible records, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) Man was hand made by God but not by spoken word of God. Just as man was created differently so were greater light and lesser light. Genesis 1:16-17 stated, “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.” God, our creator, knew exactly what He was doing after the creation of man. He recognized the need for His special hand made (Adam) and He put him to sleep, “…He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman…” (Genesis 2:21-22) The purpose of making a woman out of Adam was to create a comparable helper. Knowing the devil for who he is, whatever God meant for good, the devil meant it for evil. God’s plan for both man and woman (comparable helper) to function successfully was in a transparent relationship. It is written, “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25) Helping each other evidently became hurting each other when Eve ate from the fruit which God had warned against eating. With transparent relationship, Eve would not have eaten against God’s command before telling Adam. Eve violated the command of God for a comparable helper.Is your relationship with your comparable helper transparent? When you begin to eat where your comparable helper does not know about you have allowed the enemy to have a place in your relationship. The absence of transparency between you and your comparable helper is the evidence that nakedness is absent. Deny the evil one from sowing the seed of asunder into your relationship with your comparable helper. The perfect God knows what is good for your relationship. Beware of the fact that lack of transparency might last but it will not take your relationship far enough in your life journey. Changes are never too late if you will acknowledge your violation of God’s command.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, I ask this day for your word to have its place in my marriage.

FAITH CAPSULE: Pride is nothing but a personal ride into self destruction.

Jeremiah 13

“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing.”” (Jeremiah 13: 8-10) It was a time God was speaking to the children of Israel through Jeremiah. God was speaking to Jeremiah about those who have pride and how he could deal with the situation. When God speaks to one He speaks to all. God has not changed. He is the same yesterday and forever. He alone is the Unchanging changer. In His word to Jeremiah, God had no plans for those with pride but to pass them unto destruction if they refused to humble themselves. In His word, it can be pointed out that the other name for the one who has pride is the evil one. The important point in the word of God through Jeremiah is what causes a man to fall into category of those who have pride. The word that Jeremiah received stated that, evil people (those who have pride) refuse to hear the words of God. They are in a position to hear but they choose not to hear the words of God. Just as it was then so it is today. Manifestly, not to hear the Word of God will cause a man to follow the dictates of his heart. However, following the dictates of one’s heart is following the way that seems right to man. The book of Proverbs makes us to realize, “There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Pride is nothing but a personal ride into self destruction. Are you one of those that have been taking a deliberate step out of the Word of God? It is good to examine our self and see if there is any unconscious step out of the word of God. Ask God for forgiveness. He is a good God and ready to forgive. Undoubtedly, God is abundant in mercy to all those who call upon Him. Among many destruction inhabited in pride is, to end up in shame and take ride into captivity. Deny yourself from taking a ride into captivity but ride on in humility and you shall get to the expected end.

Prayer for today: Restore me O Lord; cause your face to shine on me that I shall live.

FAITH CAPSULE: Your enemy will pester and press but you should persist to prevail.

Judges 16

In the days of Samson compared to now, the world today is under the same attacks of the wicked one who constantly looks for someone to devour as he seeks to steal, to kill and to destroy. The Word of God warned, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2Timothy 2:4) Have you been enlisted as an army of God? Samson can be considered as an enlisted soldier for God. Samson was enticed as he entangled himself with Delilah. Samson’s entanglement with Delilah’s enticement exposed him to eventual termination from life. By his entanglement with Delilah, the lords of the Philistines were able to locate him in the secret of place of the Most High God. The Bible stated, “And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and find out where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to afflict him; and every one of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.” So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and with what you may be bound to afflict you.”(Judges 16:5-6) The lords of the Philistines used Delilah to entice Samson for the revelation of his God given strength. In the process of seeking the information, persistency was the weapon of the enemy. We have to be constantly aware that the enemy is stubborn in his attempt to bring us down. After three failed attempts, it was recorded that, “…she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.” (Judges 16:16-17) Take note, your enemy will pester and press but you should persist to prevail. Samson succumbs to pestering and pressure of the enemy and became a captive of enticement. Before his death, he recovered his strength but not his sight. Samson recovered his strength but could not remain under the covering of the secret of God for his life. Engage yourself in the Lord, disallow enticement and understand that the enemy will persist in his attempt to destroy you.

Prayer for today: O Lord my God, Let those who seek to destroy my life, go into the lower parts of the earth.

FAITH PRESCRIPTION: You cannot seek God in His word and not have encounter with Him.

Judges 2:6-23

It is impossible to love God and not be obedient to His word. You can claim that you love God, but in reality you don’t really love Him. Knowing to love God that is, having a personal relationship with God goes beyond the knowledge gained through a preacher. Preaching to people is not an indication of reaching the people. A believer can be preached to and not be reached. To know and love God personally goes beyond going to church service. To read The Bible one or two times per week is not enough. When we read the Word of God, we will find out how close Jesus is to us. If you a have a child in school and you ask someone to pick the child up without informing the school authorities, they will not release the child until they get a written word or consent from the parents. Just as how your word speaks for you, so does God’s Word speak for Him. God’s Word is alive and active. Look at what happened to the children of Israel after Joshua had died: “Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:8-10) How can we know the Lord if we do not spend time in His written word? The Bible mentions that the later generation of the children of Israel did not know God or the work of His hand. They failed to seek and know the word that would have given them life. As a result, “…the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals.” (Judges 2:11)They did not just serve the Baals or other false gods; they were lost in evil deeds because they had neglected the word of God. You cannot seek God and not have an encounter with Him. Also, it is the amount of time that you spend in His word that will determine how much you desire God to carry you in your daily walks. Sunday service alone is not enough to feed or satisfy your soul. Whatever it is that is preventing you from spending time in the word of God, ask God to deliver you from it for His glory and He will do it. He is a faithful God and He will give you the desires of your heart. When you know Him, you will love and be obedient to Him.

Prayer for today: Deliver me O Lord from every agent of distraction.