FAITH CAPSULE: Waiting on God for direction should always be a priority. 

1 Kings 19

In times of challenging situations, direction from God will deliver one in a challenge.
Regardless of title or position inside or outside the church, waiting on God is the key to an overcomer. 
Elijah was a prophet in the hand of God but could not wait on God when the challenging situation became his portion. 
With the execution of the prophets of Baal by Elijah at Brook Kishon, Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, the king of Israel, was to execute Elijah. 
Elijah, a prophet of God, could not wait on God for direction to approach the challenge by Jezebel. 
Elijah, a prophet of God, could not wait on God for direction to approach the challenge by Jezebel. 
Elijah reacted to the threat against his life, “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” (1 Kings 19:4) Elijah desired to die when he failed to wait and seek God for direction. Elijah had no peace but was in fear by asking for his death before God. Elijah resolved to run away from his challenging situation. 
Are you allowing the challenging situation to take over your direction? 
Waiting on God for direction should always be a priority for children of God. 
In times of challenging situations, the direction of God for deliverance does not fail. Isaiah 40:31 buttresses, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” 
Is your challenging situation causing you to run in the place of walking? Are you responding by walking but not running? 
One with weariness or fainting in a challenging situation is not evidence of waiting on God. 
The testimony of David is evidence of one that waits on God in the face of a challenging situation. 
In the testimony of David, it is clear that waiting on God made David walk and not run in the valley; David did not ask for death but went further regardless of his challenging situation. 
Elijah, a prophet, could not walk but ran and asked for his death before God.
Without a doubt, trusting God is waiting on God.
Fear is a weapon of the devil to dis-stabilize one to arrive on the journey of life. 
In a challenging situation, God is not a God that will rush out of His salvation plan. 
God is not a sleeping God that will not attend to His children that wait on Him. 
The title or position inside or outside of the church demands waiting on God as a priority. 
Understand and know waiting on God cannot fail. 
Failure is inevitable in the life of not waiting on God.

Prayer for today: Ask for enablement to wait on God for direction, not to become a vessel of failure.

FAITH CAPSULE: Waiting on God alone should be the way of life.  

Esther 8

In this wicked world, stop looking to man but wait on God alone.
Waiting on God should never cease in the life of those who know the hand of God. 
Waiting on God is evidence of having faith in God. 
Faith in God that catapult (propels) waiting on God is the word of God.
Make it a way of life to hear the word of God, the source of faith. (Romans 10:17) 
Are you counting outside of God?
Waiting on God alone should be the way of life.  
Waiting on God is not a waste and never leads to failure. 
Waiting on God is like holding the key that opens the door of prayer. Waiting demands patience that will make one pray and not lose heart. 
An example of waiting with expectation is in the Parable of the Persistent Widow by Jesus. 
Luke 18:2-5 records, “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward, he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”  
In the parable of Jesus, the widow could not cease because she waited through and received her expectation.
Are you waiting with the expectation of manifestation by trusting in the word of God?
The word of God has never failed, and it shall not return void to God.
Word of God encourages against our wicked ones stating, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.” (Psalm 37:7) 
“For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” (Psalm 37:9)
Do you have the faith to wait by resting in the Lord God, knowing that the schemes of the wicked shall pass and the evildoers shall fail? 
The wicked schemes of Haman to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus could not stand in the face of waiting on God Mordecai and Esther. (Esther 8)
God is a caring God.
God waits to act for those who wait on Him. 
Isaiah 30:18 buttresses, “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore, He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” 
In this world of wickedness, stop looking to no one but keep looking to God by waiting for God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the grace of waiting only on God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Trusting God is personal, not transferable.

1 Samuel 23

In your challenging situation, expect change by trusting and hoping for the intervention of God. 
The peace that surpasses all understanding is the evidence of trusting in God. Isaiah 26:3-4 buttress, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind stayed on You because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.” 
Studying the word of God and meditating on the word of God shall cause one to know the trusting of God. 
Who do you trust? 
Trust in the name of God is more than enough to deliver in all challenging situations. 
The word states, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7)
David, with his small band of warriors, trusted God to deliver the inhabitants of Keilah from the hands of the Philistines. 
1 Samuel 23:2 records, “Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.” 
David trusted God to inquire about his move. 
The men of David responded, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah, how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” (1 Samuel 23:3) 
The men of David could not trust God because they were afraid of where they were coming from. 
The trust of David was not enough for his men to trust God.
Trusting God is personal, not transferable.
Trusting God belongs to one that knows God for His testimonies. 
David trusted God to dispel his fear of not being like his men.
In your challenging situation, it is trust in God to experience the visitation of God for victory.
In times of challenges, seek God for confirmation; He is a God with deliverance in His confirmation. 
David trusted God to confirm from God when “…inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” (1 Samuel 23:4) Trust in God will quell fear and eliminate doubt. 
David trusted God and disallowed the doubt and fear of his small band of warriors not to deny his agenda. 
One that hears from God with an answer for challenging situations. 
With your trust in the Lord for your agenda, let the world around you say no; but you will say yes. 
With trust in God, there was deliverance for David and his men over the armies of the Philistines.
Victory belongs to having trust in God. 
In a challenging situation, trust God and know the word of God that states: “The LORD redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.” (Proverbs 34:22) 
“Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” (Psalm 62:8)
Trust in God always.

Prayer for today: Ask for the mercy of God to activate trust in you, not to have fear for the enemy.

FAITH CAPSULE: Are you hallowing God or deceiving your world?

Numbers 20:1-13

Are you hallowing His name?
Jesus taught prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.” (Matthew 6:9) 
Hallowing God is blessing, respecting, sanctifying, and revering the name of God. 
God deserves the honor.
Proverbs 18:10 identifies God, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” What is limiting the understanding of the name of God in your life? 
Moses wanted to know what to call God before delivering the message of God to Pharaoh as God identified His name. 
Exodus 3:13-14 records, “Then Moses said to God, “Indeed when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
All should know and always remember that the word of God is not a waste when He states He is a jealous God. 
A jealous God demands attention in every means to call on Him or to answer His calling.
Are you hallowing His name?
As great as Moses was in the hand of God, the sin that deprived him of stepping on the Promised Land was his failure to hallow the name of God. 
When God commanded Moses to speak to the rock for water to quench the thirst of the Israelites, Moses went and struck the rock. (Numbers 20:7-9) 
The act of Moses dishallowed God, and it counted against Moses as disobedient before God. 
God responds to Moses, “…Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:12)
A failure to hallow God is evidence of a lack of belief; it is also rebellious to God. Numbers 27:14 records, “For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes…”
Trespassing against God also counted as dishallowing God, as Moses did, “because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 32:51)
As a result of the truth that Moses did not hallow God, the word counted unbelief, rebellion, and trespassing against Moses. 
Know to hallow God in all seeking Him.
“The Lord of Hosts, Him you shall hallow; let Him be your fear.” (Isaiah 8:13) 
In your walk, let God know your fear; praying before Him demands hallow Him.

Prayer for today: Ask that you enable yourself not to be a failure before God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Recognize your sin before God to gain His forgiveness.  

Luke 7:36-50

To experience the forgiveness of sin before God comes with a condition.
The Bible records some conditions that provoke the forgiveness of God for sin.
Listed conditions for forgiveness are: confessing, repenting, having faith, and love demonstration.
Confession provokes forgiveness:
Confession of sin before God will gain the forgiveness of God.
1 John 1:9 records, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Psalm 32:5 testifies that confession is a way of receiving forgiveness before God stating, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” 
Recognize your sin before God to gain His forgiveness. 
Repentance provokes forgiveness:
Repentance must come from the depth of the heart. 
To repent and not repeat sin is a choice not to be held down as a sinner but to gain forgiveness from God.
Repentance of sin that provokes forgiveness states:
“Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 5:31)
“Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” (Acts 8:22)
Repent, and God will forgive!
Having faith provokes forgiveness:
God alone sees faith that is genuinely rooted in the heart and acts. 
With faith demonstrated in the sight of God, the forgiveness of God shall answer for the sinner.
The healing of the story of the roof-tearing faith by a paralyzed man was the result of his forgiveness. 
Luke 5:18-20 documents, “Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 
Jesus saw his faith, the Forgiveness of Jesus for the sinner, provoked healing.
Love demonstration provokes forgiveness: 
A sinful woman gains forgiveness from Jesus. 
With love, she approached Jesus with an alabaster flask of fragrant oil; she wept; washed His feet with her tears; wiped them with the hair of her head; she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 
She loved the Lord, but she was the sinful woman of the city. 
The forgiveness of the woman by Jesus provoked questions from the people. 
Jesus talked to Simon, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:47-48) 
The conversation between Jesus with Simon confirms that love demonstrated before God provokes forgiveness. 
Let us have a heart of receiving forgiveness from God.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace not to be a victim of unforgiving.