FAITH CAPSULE: Get to know the presence of God.

Jonah 1

The Word of God is God.
John 1:1 testifies, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Word of God is His presence. 
Genesis 15: 1 states, “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
The word of God went to Abram, evidence that the living word moves.
The presence of God visited Samuel by His word to rebuke the disobedient of Saul, saying, “Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments…” (1 Samuel 15:10-11)
The word of God located Jonah saying, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” (Jonah 1:1-2)
The word of God is to be engaged as the presence of God, not to disobey.
Jonah disobeyed the presence (word) of God by walking in rebellion against God. 
Just like Jonah, man has been rebellious in response to the word of God. Glaringly, disobedience is the evidence of not knowing God but knowing about God. 
It is rebellious for anyone to walk away from God, the word of direction.
It was the mercy of God that preserved Jonah with a chance to obey God later.
God in His mercy gave Jonah a second chance to obey His word. Jonah 3:1-3 states, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” So, Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord…”   
Jonah obediently responded to the word (presence) of God. 
The word of God is His presence and is always with direction, deliverance, and preservation for one that will give self to the word (presence) of God. Disobedient to the word of God is rebellious to the presence of God. 
God is near to man, but with sin, man is far away from God. 
Deuteronomy 30:14 records, “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and your heart, that you may do it.” 
Are you one that is near to God by your mouth but far from God in your heart? 
Jesus said it all in Matthew 15:8, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Man quoting the word of God but not carrying the word of God in the heart to obey God is the evidence of being far from God.
What is your testimony about your distance from God?
In this wicked world, make it your way of life to be near to God by obeying the word of God consistently.

Prayer for today: Ask to be enabled to live life by the word of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Consider the story of Jephthah.

Judges 11

In life, knowingly or unknowingly, an ugly and painful faulty foundation is possible to have a place in the life of one.
God is the only unchanging changer that will reverse any irreversible situation from ugly to beautiful.
The desire to experience from an ugly faulty foundation to a good and beautiful foundation by God shall be the portion of such.
The stretch out, the hand of God, is always in place to turn around a faulty foundation that man does not plan or demand as a way of life. 
What about your life? 
Are you experiencing a negative situation that is rooted in your faulty foundation?
Consider the story of Jephthah:
In the story of Jephthah, the Gileadite, he gained the title: A mighty man of valor despite the truth that he was a non-entity, one that was a son of a harlot.
As a son of a harlot, he got chased out of his father’s house. 
The faulty foundation of Jephthah (as a son of a harlot) was not his plan in his life. 
The faulty foundation of Jephthah was outside of his control; Jephthah was paying for what he did not bargain in life. 
Are you experiencing any analogous situation like that of Jephthah? 
The painful situation of Jephthah demanded a divine intervention to turn around his story. 
Without a doubt, his situation called for redemption. 
With God is redemption for Jephthah. 
In your situation, know and wait on God to experience how the Lord will change your story. 
God is the only God who waits to act for those who wait on Him. (Isaiah 64:4)
At the appointed time of God to turn the story of Jephthah for good, the Israelites needed a commander to confront enemies. 
The elders of Gilead had to go and seek Jephthah for help. Judges 11:6 record, “Then they said to Jephthah, ‘Come and be our commander that we may fight against the people of Ammon.’”
The story of Jephthah is the testimony of God that redeems where there is evidence of condemned.
By the doing of God, Jephthah, son of a harlot, became the needy one as a commander for his people.
Jephthah responded to the calling by his people in Judges 11:7, “So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 
The same God that set Jephthah to come from being rejected because of a faulty foundation, to rise for the glory of God shall not look away from you.
God, in His deliverance, His redemption plan, shall speedily locate you for good.
Jephthah accepted the assignment for his people and delivered victory for the children of Israel. 
Jephthah did not just end up as a commander, but he became the head for his people.
God that changed the story of Jephthah for good shall also change yours for good. 

Prayer for today: Ask that any faulty foundation in your life shall experience the visitation of God. 

FAITH CAPSULE: Who do you wait or look up to in times of challenge?

John 11:1-44

The word of God does not fail if all will live life by His word.
Challenges shall always succumb to the one with engagement to the word of God.
Isaiah 40:31 encourages, “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.”
Who do you wait or look up to in times of challenge?
Waiting on God is looking up to God with attention to experience His divine intervention.  
Waiting or looking up to God is seeking God to look down with response. Psalm 14:2 testifies, “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.” Wait, look up to God that response with unfailing attention. 
Waiting and looking up to God is an action, a demonstration of faith that pleases God and will always act towards action before Him.
Isaiah 64:4 records how God responses to one that wait on Him, “For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.”
Jesus demonstrated what it is like to wait or look up to God for divine attention of God in the place of challenge, the situation of impossibility.
Lazarus was dead before the arrival of Jesus at his cave.
Stone was rolled, against Lazarus, the confirmation of his death.
For Lazarus, he was dead.
Above all, there was no medical practitioner recorded to be on the ground for Lazarus. 
Jesus, the Commanding commander, gave a command for the stone to be removed. 
The Bible records: “So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” (John 11:41-44) 
Among the actions of Jesus for Lazarus to come back to life was that Jesus looked up for divine intervention.
Jesus set up an example for all to know and always look up whenever all hope is lost. 
Also, Jesus looked up and gave thanks. 
Jesus did not wait or look to man; He did not wait or look up to complain, but He looked up to give thanks for the expectation that was yet at hand. In your challenging situation, who are you waiting for or looking to gain your deliverance?
Are you a true believer or an unbelieving believer? 
A true believer should not wait or look outside of God. 
From today, get to know, to expect manifestation from the Almighty God; Omnipotent and Omnipresent God.

Prayer for today: Ask that God shall visit you with His salvation.

FAITH CAPSULE: Confusion is not of God, belongs to disobeying God.

1 Kings 3 

Confusion is not of God but the evidence of the lack of understanding. 
In life, gain the understanding to make the right choice by doing according to the word of God.
Today, know to avoid confusion, give self to the direction of God that is the right choice to experience the deliverance and preservation from God.
Proverbs 2:11 admonishes, “Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you.”
Are you making the right choice before making your move?
God instructed all for the earth to fill, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) 
Instead, giving to the word of God to multiply and fill, the choice to build a unified culture, to construct a tower the symbol and seal of common identity took place.
God wanted them to fill the earth, but they wanted to build a city for themselves. (Genesis 11:4) 
The move to Shinar was a turn away from the direction of God, a direct opposition to multiply and fill the earth. 
Building Babel was a wrong choice against the direction of God not taking a place to be preserved. 
The people then were lack of understanding as confusion took charge over their life activities. 
Man’s choice against God’s direction is always a wicked execution that never escapes God’s attention. For the people at the construction of Babel, God visited their disobedient to scatter them and confuse their language. (Genesis 11:8)
Are you applying discretion for your preservation and exercising understanding to keep you?
Having the understanding to avoid confusion is crucial.
King Solomon demonstrated the importance to have understanding, not becoming a victim of confusion.
The Bible documents about Solomon:
After Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings to the Lord, the Lord appeared to him. 1 Kings 3:5 records, “At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”  Solomon could think of nothing better but responded to God, “… give to Your servant an understanding heart…” (1 Kings 3:9) 
The request for understanding by Solomon pleases God. 1 Kings 3:10, “The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.” 
God added to Solomon wisdom for understanding. 
Wisdom compliments understanding, the combination of both shall give a knowing edge over confronting challenges of the world.
Proverbs 4:7 admonishes, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”
The word of God is direction, the way that will keep one in the journey of life. 
Today, make the choice that preserves one; gain an understanding that will keep living life for the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable making the right choice and applying understanding from God.