Faith Capsule: Be a living one to God alone, answering as cleansed from inside.

Matthew 23

Understanding is living for God.
One of the main areas is that without understanding, one cannot live for God.
Understand that God sees from the inside more than the outside.
When it was time for Jesus to clean the temple from inside, the Bible records, “Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Luke 19:45-46)
To clean the temple was, and is, from the inside.
God does not look from outside, but looks from inside.
As a temple of God, how clean is your inside?
All should know that what is present on the outside is not as important to God as what is inside.
Pharisees, meaning separated ones, believed that religious rituals and separation from sinners were the way to please God.
Matters such as the laws of tithing and ritual purity were important to the Pharisees, but not what is carried inside.
Jesus referred to them as hypocrites. He said in Matthew 23:25, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.”
As a temple of God, there is a need to take a close look from the inside to know if you are a Pharisee of the modern day.
Is it your desire to shine on the outside while the inside is dull and not the Lord?
Are you a modern-day Pharisee?
Pharisees offer more for the outside, more than is requested in ways of living life.
Jesus went into the temple to clean; nothing on the outside could impress Him enough to start cleaning from the inside.
God cleaned the inside.
Today, no title carried from inside to outside shall be enough to impress Jesus.
As a believer, do not be deceived by your title.
God is only interested in how one is living life for His glory.
One who lives to the glory of God from the inside is bound to live right on the outside.
A clean temple from inside to outside answers to the expectation of God.
God is a God of knowledge.
God pays attention to the character of all.
1 Samuel states, “For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.”
God sees all.
He is not a pretender who acts, sees, and identifies ways of life that count before Him.
Are you a pretender or a modern Pharisee?
God is not deceived, but be a vessel that is cleansed from the inside.
Jesus cleaned the temple and was able to teach and get the attention of the people in the temple.
Make yourself available for Jesus to clean you.

Prayer for today: Ask God to cleanse you to live for Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not be a believer of the mouth, but live for God by His word.

1 Colossians 1

All are to live for God.
It is not by accident that God purposely creates all to live, to exist for His glory. Revelation 4:11 states, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
Without understanding, it is not possible to live for God.
The importance of having understanding is why Jesus asked and answered rhetorically in John 8:43, “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.”
Understanding is crucial to walking worth, to finding God.
Apostle Paul for all to understand.
It is the level of understanding one possesses that will determine how one walks worthy to the glory of God.
The understanding to walk worthy is not by accident, but through prayer; it is possible.
Apostle Paul prayed for all to understand praying, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (1 Colossians 1:9-10)
To pray with understanding is to prevail.
Acts 6:4 speaks to all, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
PRAYING THE WORD OF GOD:
Ask for the strength of God not to cease in prayer.
Ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
Pray that understanding to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, become established in your life.
Pray to walk worthy to be qualified as partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Claiming to live for God but lacking understanding is the character of one who is unable to see in the word of God.
Know that the word seen is received to become one who sees in the word, the character of having understanding.
The word of God is perfect for one who sees in the word.
Psalm 119:130 records “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.”
A heart that received the word is the evidence of a heart that sees in the word.
One who sees in the word of God shall live according to the word of God, the character of an understanding believer.
What is needed to gain understanding is hearing the word of God consistently (hearing the word of God repeatedly)
The consequence of hearing repeatedly is also to see the word (gain sight of what is said)
To hear consistently is to observe (see).
One who sees in the word of God is bound to be strong and courageous, the character of one who excels for the glory of God.
AMEN!

FAITH CAPSULE: With understanding, be encouraged, avoid discouragement.

Luke 5:1-11

It is worth keeping in mind that God answers prayers.
In waiting for the expectation that is yet to be at hand, thank God for it.
Seek God, acknowledging Him that you thank Him that He has heard you, and He always hears you.
Jesus demonstrated the meaning of the prayer of faith.
At the grave of Lazarus, the prayer of Jesus to bring Lazarus states, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Lazarus was still in the grave when Jesus prayed faithfully, thanking God for Lazarus, and he rose from the grave.
God is an answering prayer, but the world is limited in its understanding of how to gain from prayer to God.
What prompts discouragement is disappointment.
While waiting, do not be disappointed with the lack of understanding of your delay; be encouraged, avoid discouragement.
To arrive at the center of divine assignment, let unfailing faith become a way of life.
Four professional fishermen failed to catch fish. 
The four fishermen could not give up until daybreak, yet they caught nothing. 
As they were washing their nets and ready to pack for the day with nothing to show for as professional fishermen, Jesus showed up, “Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.” (Luke 5:3) 
Despite a lack of success in catching fish, their faith allowed the stranger (Jesus) to use their vessel without any refusal.
After Jesus finished teaching the multitude, He turned to the fishermen and gave them a word, His word as stated in Luke 5:4, “…Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 
Always take note that, in times of disappointment, the word of God will answer as a terminating force to turn disappointment into an appointed time. 
With the question of faith, not of doubt, Simon responded to Jesus, “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless, at Your word, I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:5) 
In times of disappointment, do not be discouraged. 
Are you toiling with no result to show?
It does not matter how long you have been toiling with nothing to show, but it is possible to encounter an unfailing God who does not fail for a breakthrough.
Give it all for Jesus, and He shall settle you. 

Prayer for today: Ask that the word of God locate you with direction for your breakthrough.

FAITH CAPSULE: The character of living for God is giving to God.

Daniel 1

Giving back to God is always better than asking from God.
God is always a good God.
God is a caring Father.
God is a long-suffering God.
In the place of giving is the position to receive from Him.
Praising God is taking a position of giving to God.
Think of what to give back to God in the place of always asking from God.
Seeking God with a customized approach will draw God.
The character of living for God is giving to God.
Daniel lives a life of seeking God with a custom approach that delivered him from the wicked law not to terminate his life.
Daniel was a young captive when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem.
In the early days of Daniel as the captive, the King requested young men in whom there was no blemish, but who were good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge, and quick to understand, who could serve in the palace. (Daniel 1:4)
Daniel and others were to be treated with the daily provision of the delicacies and the wine of the King for three years of training to serve the King.
Daniel, who lived for God, did not accept anything outside God.
The book of Daniel 1:8 records, “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.”
The response of David is of one who seeks God but not man.
Daniel sowed for God to gain deliverance for his life.   
Daniel had a custom of seeking God since his early days.
In a way, activate a practice of giving back to God.
Daniel gave himself to God and did not become a victim of wickedness.
The custom of seeking God is like a seed that should not die but remain alive before God.
The custom of Daniel was his seed, sown before God since his early days.
The life of Daniel demonstrates what it means to plant and reap from the seed of deliverance in times of troubling challenges. 
Daniel 6:10 points to all about the seed of deliverance of Daniel, “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” 
The custom of Daniel was the seed sown that delivered him in the time of challenge.
When having a custom of seeking God who acts for those who wait on Him, it is not possible to become a victim of the wicked world.
Sow the seed of seeking God continually and be counted as having a custom approach to God without failing.

Prayer for today: Ask God to take charge of your life to seek Him alone.

FAITH CAPSULE: No matter what your challenges are, the blessing of God is always present.

Genesis 37

Prayerfully, meditate on Psalm 34:15, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.”
With God, to be broken is to be blessed.
In life, to become broken comes before experiencing the blessing of God.
Abraham experienced brokenness when he answered God, who sent him out of his comfort zone, his family.
Out of the brokenness in Abraham, the revealed blessing of God.
Are you facing challenges that persist or refuse to cease?
With an understanding of God, one will know that God will give the strength to rest on Him for divine intervention.
Understand and know that Psalm 34:19 speaks to you, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Joseph answered the calling of God, but not with the idea of the blessings of God that would become manifested in his life.
No matter what your challenges are, the blessing of God is always present.
At age 17, Joseph went to Jacob (his father), who was unknowingly the architect of the route to the assignment.
Jacob said, “…Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks and bring back word to me.” So, he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.” (Genesis 37:14) 
Joseph answered the calling of his father, which was not outside of God.
The book of Psalm 105:17-22 confirms the calling of Joseph as it states, “He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.” They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons. “Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him. The king sent and released him; the ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom.”  
Genesis 37:2  records the brokenness of Joseph.
Joseph experienced a painful broken relationship, not seeing his beloved father Jacob for over 30 years. (Genesis 41:46) 
Joseph, the beloved of Jacob (his father), unknowingly answered the call as a prized slave who became blessed as prime minister. 
Regardless of where you are today, do you know if you are answering God with pain resulting in the blessing of God?
Joseph became a slave; he could no longer move at his own will.
Joseph came under the authority that he could not control. 
The calling of God will lead the called one into an unknown journey to learn to wait on God.
Jesus was broken and answered as the blessing of God to become the blessing of all.
Philippians 2:8 testifies of Jesus, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
God blesses the broken one before Him.

Prayer for today: Ask that the strength of God shall have a place in you to answer the calling of God.