FAITH CAPSULE: Trust is like a character; Hope (confidence) is like boldness. 

Acts 16

The boldness and character of Paul and Silas were trust and hope in the truth of God, to live life for the glory of God.
When Paul commanded a spirit out of a girl, it affected the profit of the masters to the girl.
Paul and Silas were seized and dragged to jail. (Acts 16:19)
While at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. As they sang, a great earthquake broke the prison foundations.
Doors opened, and chains loosed. 
Paul and Silas did not flee but waited and spoke a word that gave salvation to the hearers and led a family to baptism. 
With trust comes a character, while with hope comes boldness.
Paul and Silas demonstrated knowing the truth to become free from prison.
Without a doubt, the word of God is the truth. 
Indeed, the truth, the way, and life are not separable.
Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? 
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:5-6)
Jesus is the word of God. 
Do you know the truth?
Are you abiding by the word? 
To abide in the word is to know the truth. 
Knowing the truth is the key, but knowing about completes not. 
Just like Paul and Silas, abide in the word, the evidence that you know the truth, to be free. (John 8:31-32)
In the wicked world, get to know the truth about trust and hope in the Lord and be free.
Let trust and hope in the Lord be complete in you, the position to be blessed by God.
Jeremiah 17:7 buttresses, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord.”
Are you claiming trust without hope?
Claiming trust in the Lord is not complete without having hope in Him. 
Do you trust and not hope? 
Trust is like a character hope is like confidence. 
Many trusts God (they are active in church) and could hope the boldness to stand claim to God. 
Trust is like a character; Hope (confidence) is like boldness. 
Do you have trust and hope? 
Having boldness and character is rooted in one that has trust and hope. 
Boldness and character make one free and with a mark as the winner.
Saul trusted God and waited for seven days, as commanded by Samuel. However, when all his people were scattered, he lost hope and had no confidence in the word of God by the prophet Samuel. 
Saul trusted to wait but had no hope to stand, wait through for God, and could not be free but lost. (1 Samuel 13)  
As an acclaimed believer, with trust and hope, one is bound to live life free.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to grow in trust and hope in His word.

FAITH CAPSULE: All situations demand to wait on God. 

1 Samuel 13  

Samuel instructed King Saul to wait for lawful sacrifice before going to war against the Philistines, but he could not wait.
As the Philistines gathered together to fight the Israelites, King Saul could not wait for seven days, as instructed by Samuel.
1 Samuel 13:9 records, “So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.” 
King Saul tragically disobeyed the Law of Moses (Leviticus 1) as instructed by Samuel.
Is waiting on God to address your confrontation impossible for you?
Get to know the truth, waiting in obedience to instruction rooted in the word of God to culminate expectations. 
Samuel arrived at the disobedience of Saul and asked, “What have you done?” 
Saul answered, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.” (1 Samuel 13:11-12)
It is always foolish to disobey the command of God.
Waiting for God is giving attention to a jealous God. 
Psalmist admonishes, “Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed…” (Psalm 25:3)
A believer must understand waiting on God to endure a period of waiting without a doubt.
Waiting on God can be a delay but never a waste of time. 
In a time of waiting, among what to exercise as a believer must engage are:
Be of good courage; rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him; do not fret; keep His way; let your soul wait silently.
The above truth about waiting is identifiable in the scriptural verses listed below:
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! (Psalm 27:14)
Psalm 37:7, “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 37:9, “For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth.”
Psalm 37:34, “Wait on the Lord, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.”
Psalm 40:1, “I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry.”
Psalm 62:1, “Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.”
Psalm 62:5, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.”
Hosea 12:6, “… wait on your God continually.”
All situations waiting on God are resolve-able to the glory of God.
God is true to answer when waiting on Him patiently by abiding in His word obediently. 

Prayer for today: Ask to be enabled with the strength waiting on Him.

FAITH CAPSULE: Are you serving God in your way or in His ordered way to serve Him?

Exodus 3, Colossians 3:1:17

Are you seeking God in your way?
Seeking God is serving God.
Are you an acclaimed believer of God but serving God with a lack of understanding?
Serving God demands seeking God and setting your mind on things where God is above.
When an acclaimed believer lacks understanding, such shall be limited to experiencing the power of God in life.
Are you a believer of God living life by the word of God or one living life as if one living time of the Egypt of Pharaoh, not living according to the word of God?
As an acclaimed believer, there should be evidence of living outside of Egypt during the time of Pharaoh. 
God wanted the Israelites out of Egypt of Pharaoh when He spoke to Moses, “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12) 
God also sent Moses to Pharaoh, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So, I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me…” (Exodus 4:22-23)
God is jealous that He wants nothing but for all to be free and serve Him.
What does it mean to serve God? 
To serve God demands all seek Him diligently and set their mind on things where God is above.
The book of Colossians 3:1-2 clearly states, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Seeking God will come with the challenges of this world.
Among the reasons not to seek God diligently are:
-One that is yet to be dead in their trespasses will not rise to serve God.
-Inability to put off the body of the sins of the flesh.
-Setting the mind on worldly things more than things above will not serve God diligently.
There is no excuse to take the mind off the things of God, to avoid missing the presence of God.
Are you willing to serve God indeed and in truth?
Have you separated yourself from worldly things you once walked with as a way of life? 
The word requires all to put to death members on the earth, such as fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 
The members on earth will bring the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. (Colossians 3:6-7)
Word also points directly for all to put off: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of our mouth, do not lie to one another. (Colossians 3:8-10)
Be renewed in knowledge according to the word of God. 
Serve God diligently to experience the power of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you to serve Him, and seek Him diligently.

FAITH CAPSULE: One with contentment is with the heart of thanksgiving.

Exodus 2

Gratitude is the feeling of being grateful or thankful. 
Gratitude is the identity of one with contentment.
Are you grateful or thankful to God in your situation? 
A mouthful of thanksgiving is not the same as a heart full of thanksgiving. 
With contentment is to know satisfaction giving heart-full thanks to God. Without a doubt, regardless of the situation, giving thanks to God knows the fear of God. 
The book of Proverbs buttresses, “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.” (Proverbs 19:23)
Contentment and satisfaction are the evidence of fear of God that should fuel a heart full of thanksgiving to God.
Do you know why you are thankful to God? 
Is your thanksgiving meaningful?
God cannot be deceived, in all character but let your thanksgiving be heart-full thanksgiving always.  
One with contentment is with the heart of thanksgiving.
The contentment of Moses influenced the character that positioned him to be noticeable for assignment for God. 
The Bible records, “Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.” (Exodus 2:21) 
Moses, having lived in the palace of Pharaoh for forty years, ended up in Midian, a strange land. 
Moses refused to get carried away by the exuberant palace life and could not ignore the suffering of his brethren.
Moses, by his act of support for one of his brethren, became a murderer. He had to flee from the palace because of the attempt of Pharaoh to persecute him. 
Moses was content to live in the desert with Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, a strange land. 
There was no evidence or demonstration of bitterness or complaint with his new family in the land. 
The contentment of Moses is what made him become an agent in the hand of God for the assignment for his life.
To be content is to be a provoker of the move of the hand of God for a favor, guidance, deliverance, preservation, and many more blessings of God. 
1 Timothy 6:6-7 buttresses, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” 
For Moses, coming out of a palace and into a strange land with a testimony of being content, he undoubtedly gained the attention of Heaven. 
The contentment of Moses speaks a great deal of his character. 
His action demonstrated that he brought nothing to this world, and no material wealth could have kept him from doing what was right when to do right is demanded. 
Moses had faith, and God was pleased to use him for noticeable assignments. 

Prayer for today: Ask God that giving thanks in all things and for all things shall become your way of life.

FAITH MAIL: Give self to continual complementing before God that has never failed.

Exodus 16

Are you complaining more or complimenting God for what He has done or all His doing in your life?
Acts of the complaint do not have a place before God.
Complaining can be a quick turnaround from complementing for victory in place of a setback.
Does that speak to you?
Regardless of an unexpected challenge, always remember that there is nothing impossible for God to turn around for good. 
Give self to continual complementing before God that has never failed.
God destroyed the Egyptians on behalf of the Israelites at the entrance of the Red Sea. 
Moses and the children of Israel declared a new song to praise God. 
The Israelites states in their praise, “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.” (Exodus 15:6) 
Indeed, the right hand of God is still with power, as it was then.
The right hand of God has not changed to lift His children. 
However, after crossing the Red Sea, the hand of God that saw them through the Red Sea was more than enough to be encouraged and not complain. 
The Israelites were discouraged and complained to be a turnaround from victory and deliverance, looking back instead of looking forward. 
Have you been complaining more or complimenting God for His mercy? 
Complaining became a pattern of engaging challenges by the Israelites. At Marah, the Israelites could not turn to God with compliments, but the complaint became their way before God. 
Exodus 15:23-24 records, “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”  
The complaint of the Israelites against Moses was an indirect complaint toward God.
The Israelites could not count on the blessing of God that brought them out of the bondage of over four hundred years.
If you can count the blessings of God over your life, there should be no place for complaining about where you are in your journey. 
Despite the complaint, God gave them water through Moses. 
After the Marah Episode was the drama of crying for what they left behind in Egypt. 
There was no realization to them that getting to the Promised Land demands living behind the past in an attempt to claim the Promised Land. 
The Israelites complained about meat when God answered their need. 
God attending to the Israelites should have been enough not to generate any more complaints about the lack of their journey, yet again they complained about water. 
Exodus 17:3 records, “And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”  
Complaining was the confession of death.
Death answered with none seeing the Promised Land.
Give yourself complimenting God for all He has done, all He is doing, and all He will do in your life.

Prayer for today: Ask by giving a compliment to God in all things.