FAITH CAPSULE: What does Praising and thanking God mean to you? 

1 Chronicles 16

Praising and thanking God is a calling on God.
David, identified by God as a man after the heart of God, was an ardent praise worshiper of God. (1 Samuel 13:14)
Learning from David is a way of knowing that praising God gets the attention of God. 
In the word of David, praising and giving thanks to God is a way of calling on God. 
David declared, “I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised so shall I be saved from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:3) 
David identified praising and thanking God as calling on God to deliver him from his enemies. 
Praising and thanking God is an assured way of calling and provoking the attention of God.
As a believer, it is not enough to know about calling on God through praising and thanking Him but to consciously have a knowing, engaging praising and thanking God as a way of life. 
Praising and thanking God is also calling on God to appreciate Him. 
After David finally settled the ark from being moved around, he called on God to thank God. 
The book of 1 Chronicles 16:8 records the statement of David, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!” 
Calling on God is to make Him known. 
God wants attention round the clock, the testimony to the truth, thanking God for His doing calls on His name to appreciate Him and declare Him to the world for what He has done. 
Do not only give thanks for what God has done or what He is doing but also give Him thanks for what He can do or what is expected from Him to do. 
Are you expecting God to move concerning your confronting situation? 
The magnitude of your situation will get the attention of God if one will not stop giving thanks to God before the manifestation of your expectation. 
Also, thanking and praising God is making the declaration of God. 
Declares God with experience to be decorated by God.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed Nego declared God and decorated with deliverance from a fiery burning furnace. (Daniel 3:16-17)
Jesus declared God by praising and thanking God as Lazarus rose from four days in the grave. 
John 11:41-43 documents, “Jesus lifted His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 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.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”   
One praising and thanking God should always be to provoke God, to decorate such for His glory.
Praising and thanking God cannot be separated. 
That is, praising God is thanking God, and thanking God is praising God.

Prayer for today: Ask that praising and thanking God shall continually be your way of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: The attempts of Saul to harass the disciples caused Heaven to arrest him. 

Acts 9

In the time of Saul, he was a celebrated murderer of the New Testament that eventually answered as Apostle Paul.
The Apostle Paul, a former murderer of the followers of Christ, wrote most of the New Testament. 
He passionately went after the followers of Christ to persecute them until the Spirit of God arrested him. 
The book of Acts 9:1-2 documents, “Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” 
A man that was full of threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, a man with permission from the high priest to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found anyone following Jesus, whether man or woman, he might bring them, bound to Jerusalem, lost his sight, not able to see at his entering into Damascus. 
The attempt of Saul to harass the disciples caused Heaven to arrest him with a new name Paul.
Saul was a-minded persecutor of the followers of Christ on the way or out of the way. 
Saul would go outside his area looking for followers of Christ to persecute. 
The mission of Saul to Damascus to carry out his business encountered the power that converted him from a persecutor to a propagator of the business of the kingdom of God. 
By the power of God, no one under Heaven is above the redirection for His divine agenda. 
God alone reverses the irreversible. 
Saul, on his journey to carry out persecution, “… He came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.” (Acts 9:3) 
The sudden light in the direction of Saul was an encounter with Jesus.
For Saul, there was no choice but trembled before God. 
Saul did not only tremble but requested from the Lord what to do for the Lord. 
Above all, he lost his eyesight. 
The Bible records the encounter with Saul, “Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.” (Acts 9:8-9) 
Saul gained a new sight and moved forward to serve God. 
Saul answered to a new name (Paul) after gaining a sight to see and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. 
God is still in the business of touching life.
Ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do.”
God that answers will position you in the center of your divine assignment.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to answer fully in every area of His calling for your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Questioning the authority (Jesus) where He gets His power is an absolute lack of knowledge.

Matthew 8:1-13, Matthew 21:1-17

Jesus is Lord! 
Honor belongs to Him; glory belongs to Him. 
Above all, authority (power) belongs to Him.
Psalm 62:11 records, “God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.” 
It is safe to say that authority is undeniable power. 
All authority is with Jesus. 
Jesus confirmed that all authority is with Him. 
Matthew 28:18 states that after His resurrection, He appeared to His disciples and said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” 
All authority is power. 
The power that belongs to Jesus is the power over all creation; it is the power to heal and to deliver; it is the power in His word and the authority which no man can deny.
The authority to cleanse all that is due for cleaning so that God may reign and rule in life belongs to Jesus.
The Bible records how He went to clean the temple at a point in His ministry. 
Jesus overturned the tables of the money.
He drove the changers and all buying and selling.
Jesus cleaned the temple by driving out all the irrelevancies, and He left. Matthew 21:23 states, “Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?’”
The priests and the elders realized there was an authority in place that was not deniable from delivering His agenda.
Jesus Christ is with authority. 
However, to be questioning authority (Jesus) where He gets His authority from is an absolute lack of knowledge.
Are you questioning His authority? 
While Jesus was here on the earth, the chief priests constantly questioned His authority. 
The Bible testifies that “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:29) 
The teaching of Jesus was with authority, and the majority are yet to recognize Him.
Today so many are still questioning His authority. 
Inside and outside of the Church, His authority is constantly questioned. Are you questioning His authority too? 
The word of God says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) 
Are you seeking God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength? 
A failure not to love God with all heart, soul, and with all strength is evidence of questioning His authority.
The word of God is not a talk active, but the testimony of His demonstration yesterday, today, and tomorrow evidence of power.
The authority is with power that is not questionable.

Prayer for today: Ask God that His authority will reign and rule your life all the days He has given you.

FAITH CAPSULE: The purpose of the heart of Daniel for God enabled him to do exploits in life to the glory of God.

Daniel 1

Here are some scriptural verses of what the Bible says about the heart:
Psalm 44:21, “…God knows the secret of the heart.”
“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.” (Proverbs 20:27)
Ecclesiastes 8:11 states, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
The Bible identifies the fool in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God…” 
What is it about your heart?
The Bible records, “As in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man.” (Proverbs 27:19)
It was a heart that revealed Nehemiah to God.
One thing about Nehemiah is that there was a genuine concern for the welfare of Jerusalem and its inhabitants at heart. 
Nehemiah, a cupbearer with a big heart, desired a better life for his brethren. 
If a cupbearer could provoke a change, all having life should be able to do the same. 
God saw the heart of Nehemiah, and He acknowledged him. 
God invested in him as a vessel for reconstructing the broken wall of Jerusalem. 
The report of what was going on in Jerusalem caused a burden in the heart of Nehemiah, and he began to intercede on behalf of the land and his people. 
Nehemiah 1:3-4 records, “And they said to me, ‘The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.’ So it was, when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” 
Nehemiah poured out his heart in prayer on behalf of his people and his homeland. 
He asked for nothing to do with himself but petitioned for things for a better life for his people. 
God is a God whose eyes travel to and fro throughout the earth to show Himself strong. (2 Chronicle 16:9) 
The heart of Nehemiah was in line with what God was looking for. 
Is your heart self-centered?
Daniel 1:8 states, “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 purposed in his heart for God and did great exploit because of his heart activity. (Daniel 11:32)  
The heart of Daniel set him up for great exploits in life.

Prayer for today: Ask for a heart that is right before God all days of your life. 

FAITH CAPSULE: To be concerned is from the heart, but to care is by action.

Luke 10:25-37

God is good, and whatever is good is of God. 
Is it in you to know to do good when a need calls for doing good? 
Jesus identified what it means to be a good one in the parable of the Good Samaritan. 
In the parable, a stranger from Samaritan saw another stranger from Jerusalem who fell among the thieves, was wounded, and stripped off his clothing. 
The Samaritan could not walk away from doing good like others before him did not do good but walked away, not engaging the stranger from Jerusalem.
The Samaritan spent his resources to do good for the stranger from Jerusalem as he received proper medical attention. 
Jesus, the compassionate savior, referred to the doing good of the Samaritan: “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.” (Luke 10:33) 
Doing good is having compassion. 
Compassion is the heart of Jesus. 
It is good to be doing good as a way of life. 
James 4:17 encourages, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”  
Knowing to do good as a way of life cannot be emphasized enough. 
Think about this: if knowing to do good and not do it is a sin, then knowing to do good and doing it must be a blessing. 
Galatians 5:22 states doing good is among the fruit of the spirit, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” 
Many scriptural passages emphasize the importance of doing good. Romans 12:9, “…Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:15, “See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.” 
2 Thessalonians 3:13, “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.” 
Hebrews 13:16, “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
As an acclaimed believer, become one that consciously allows your concern for doing good to be alive. 
Let your caring to do what is good be activated. 
Show concern for doing good and be care active. 
To be concerned is from the heart, but to care is by action. 
Are you doing good where doing good calls for need? 
Go ahead and act with care, knowing fully well that what you are doing is in the name of God and for the glory of God. 
One that cares for the needy and giving care is evidence of doing good that counts before God.
To be concerned for others with all care is doing good and heaven acknowledgeable, provoking the blessing of God. 
Gain the understanding that doing good glorifies God.

Prayer for today: Ask to be enabled to do good and not ignore when need to do good calls for it.