FAITH CAPSULE: One who does not love God cannot love.

1 Corinthians 13

With faith, there is love. To love will have faith.
It is a question that Jesus will find faith when He comes back.
Luke 18:8 records, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Search your heart if you love God.
Do you love God?
What does it mean to love God? The word of 1 John 5:3 identifies what it means to love God, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.”
Keeping the command of God is keeping His commandment, the evidence of love.
One who does not love God cannot love and does not love by the standard of God.
Do you love your neighbour like yourself?
Loving your neighbour is a sacrifice, the evidence of obedience to God.
Loving God is a sacrifice.
Sacrifice is not cheap, but it is giving unto God what is costly.
King David once stated in 2 Samuel 24:24, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”
King David was responding to Araunah, who had offered him a free land to make a sacrifice to God. The sacrifice was meant to deliver the children of Israel from death that was caused by David’s census. At that time, David’s census was against the command of God. David’s rejection of free land was a clear demonstration of what a costly sacrifice before God should be.
A costly sacrifice is a proven mark of love for God.
Sacrifice to God is worshiping God.
To be faithful to God is to worship God, and faithfulness is about loving God.
Jesus’ questioning faith is also questioning love.
He questioned, “…when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
With faith, there is love.
Is there love between children and parents, between husband and wife, between children, between neighbors, between believers?
Exchanging gifts in the name of Valentine is not a testimony of the love that Jesus wants to see when He comes.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 identifies what love should be, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…”
Worshipping God, loving God, is supposed to be a non-stop engagement when there is breath within one.
God gave a standard of acceptable love when He stated in Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”
To love God means to give Him.

Prayer for today: Ask God for the spirit to love God with heart, soul, and strength.

FAITH CAPSULE: Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are like a package.

Proverbs 2

Seek the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God.
A man with wisdom cannot lack knowledge and not be without understanding.
Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are like a package that cannot be separated.
What one does not know will not work for one.
Whatever fails to work for one can work against it.
In life, it is a lack of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that will make a man with a loaded gun in his pocket and being chased around by an ordinary one with an ordinary like a table-knife.
Are you an acclaimed believer with power, yet living as a victim of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, running away from the enemy with a table knife at hand?
The word states in Psalm 49:20, “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like beasts that perish.”
The word of the psalmist identifies one with power, yet becomes a victim of one with less power.
Hosea 4:6 informs, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Clearly, many claim to know God, but know about but do not know.
Those who know about God will lack knowledge.
Do you lack knowledge? Knowledge is not scarce, but man is scarce in finding knowledge.
Knowledge is available for anyone who cares to find it.
Today, know God with understanding.
Proverbs 2:5, “Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.”
Seek the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of God, and the fear of the Lord will not elude you.
Based upon all the evil and wickedness that takes place throughout the whole world today, one can clearly see that man no longer has the fear of God dwelling in the inside of man.
Knowledge is not common without knowledge application.
In challenges, with no knowledge, one is set for the evil of the wickedness of the world.
Do you know God? Are you one who engages the pressing challenges of your life with knowledge?
God testifies that He knows His goodness towards us when He spoke, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Regardless of how difficult and challenging your situation is, what you know about the promises of God across the pages of the Bible will give you the knowing edge in the face of confronting evil challenges of the world.
Today, take to the word of Proverbs 2:10-14, “When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked…” 

Prayer for today: Pray to be filled with knowledge, wisdom, and understanding to walk worthily to the glory of God.

FAITH CAPSULE: Gain seeing power in the word of God.

Matthew 12:1-14

See that there is power to gain insight from the word.
What one sees is what one believes to receive.
The power to heal comes with the power to believe and receive.
Once on a Sabbath day, in a synagogue, the Pharisees knew quite well that a man who had a withered hand was going to encounter Jesus’ attention when they asked Jesus, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. (Matthew 12:9)
Jesus’ answer demonstrated the importance of doing that which is good and the placement of good deeds above the law. He points out that the law should be exempt, not to deny, but to care for others.
Most importantly, He pointed out how valuable is man when He stated, “Of how much more value than is a man than a sheep?” (Matthew 12:12). Jesus the tenderhearted shepherd, the caring and compassionate master, after answering the Pharisees now turned His attention to the man with withered hand, “Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.” (Matthew 12:13).
Just a word from Jesus terminated the mark of shame and mockery and restored glory to the withered vessel.
What is it you can identify as withered in your life?
Among the words synonymous with “withered” are decay, wrinkle, shrink, dry, decline, languish, waste, etc. To be withered in any area of life is not what one can keep hidden, but what a man can be healed and be delivered from, just as the man with the withered hand got his healing and deliverance from the word of Jesus.
It was the healing power in the word of God that healed the man with a withered hand.
Jesus spoke to the man with a withered hand, “Stretch out your hand.”  The power to heal comes with the power to believe and receive.
When the healing word of Jesus found the man with withered hands, there was no doubt in his heart as he stretched out his hands as commanded by Jesus.
When there is Self-recognition and acceptance, it becomes the power behind getting delivered.
Knowing how to speak against negative challenges will bring positive manifestation.
Proverbs 18:21  admonishes, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
The power to get satisfied with good is through the mouth.
Proverbs 12:14, “A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth.”
Jesus buttresses the power of self-deliverance by stating, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34)
He went further to let all know that with a good treasure of the heart, one brings forth good things. (Matthew 12:35)

Prayer for today: Ask that making positive confessions in the face of the challenges become your way of life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Are you consciously or unconsciously stoning Jesus?

John 8

Are you a representative of stone at Jesus by your way of life?
The world attempted to stone Jesus during His time on the face of the earth; the way of life was stoning Jesus.
Once, Jesus entered the temple early in the morning.
While He was there, all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.
At that very occasion of Him in the temple, the scribes and Pharisees were also present.
The Bible recorded that Jesus experienced testing so that they might have a reason to place an accusation against Him.
At His visitation to the temple, He made a statement, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
The Pharisees responded to the statement made by Jesus, “The Pharisees therefore said to Him, ‘You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.” (John 8:13)
In your temple, which groups are present?
Which group do you represent?
Are you a believer?
Are you a scribe or a Pharisee?
The groups in the temple could not agree with Jesus but took against Him.
John 8:59 records the experience of Jesus after His words to the people at the temple, stating, “Then they took stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:59) 
Are you consciously or unconsciously stoning Jesus?
The Jews at that time picked up stones to throw at Jesus, but He hid himself and slipped away from the temple grounds.
If you have confessed Christ and your way of life does not line up with His word, it is the evidence of a stone thrower at Jesus.
Live life for the glory of God, come out of the company of stone throwers at Jesus.
After Jesus left the stone-throwing ground (temple), the Bible states, “Now Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.”(John 9:1)
He then came upon a blind man and healed him.
Which side are you on?
Jesus is the living word of God; Jesus is waiting to act on behalf of anyone who will accept Him indeed and in truth.
You have confessed Jesus, but Jesus does not have a place in your life.
As long as you continue to live a life of deception, He will pass by you.
He came to give sight to those who cannot see.
Jesus came to give life abundantly, not to destroy life for those who live for God.
He came to give hope to those who have lost hope.
Be on the receiving end, and He will not pass by you; He will visit you.
Live life for the glory of God.

Prayer for today: Ask God for His mercy to deliver you from living a life of waste.

FAITH CAPSULE: All that matters most in life is to fear God.

1 John 3 7-21

To fear God is to love God.
The will of God for all is to live for His glory. (Revelation 4:11)
To live for God is to fear Him.
To live in the fear of God is for those who observe the word of God to gain fear of God.
Deuteronomy 28:58 informs all, “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD.”
What is taking you away from living by the word of God to gain the fear of God?
One who fears God will become full of Him.
All that matters most is living for the glory of God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 admonishes all, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandment, for this is man’s all.”
Evidently, to know to fear God is to obey his commandments.
Obeying the command of God demands full obedience and not half obedience.
The character of an obedient one is living in the fear of God.
To fear God is to love Him and dwell and abide in His presence.
Do you fear God?
Do you claim to love God?
Do you obey the words of God?
Apostle Paul points out that the purpose of the command is to love God. He states, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk.” (1Timothy 1:5-6) Paul was not talking about love that flows from the tips of lips.
Love that counts before God.
Love that is worthy to provoke the attention of God to acknowledge one for good.
To love (fear) God is to constantly dwell in His presence (His presence is His word) and not depart from Him.
God spoke, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’” (Jeremiah 32:38-41)
In the above word of God, it is clear that the fear of God is what qualifies man as the people of God.
One living by the word of God undeniably takes a position to experience the goodness of God.

Prayer for today: Ask that the word of God you observe shall make you fear God.