FAITH CAPSULE: To awake in the place of praying shuts out temptation. 

Luke 22 

Every engagement with Satan is temptation enablement.  
The day the serpent engaged Eve, she became a victim of eating the fruit in the middle of the garden.
The temptation to submit against the commandment of God overtook Eve.
Eve became disobedient to the command of God and fell for sin when she ate against the command of God.
Judas Iscariot engaged Satan. 
One that engages with the devil will open for the devil to gain entrance.
Luke 22:3-6 records, “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.” 
Always, with temptation, disobedience takes its place. 
Disobeying God is the evidence of betraying God.
Temptation is the key that opens the door to all kinds of sin. 
Jesus emphasized that prayer is a way to lock out temptation. 
Luke 22:39-40 records, “Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  
While He was praying, the disciples were sleeping. 
To sleep at the prayer hour is the avenue for the temptation to have a place.
Jesus was praying earnestly, but the disciples were sleeping with sorrow as He approached them and said, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray lest you enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:46) 
Jesus must have seen what would happen when He came to speak to the disciples about being awake. 
The bible recorded, “While He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”(Luke 22:47-48)  
Satan gained entrance into Judas, one that sold out his Lord and Savior cheaply. 
By your way of life, is there any way you have been selling Jesus out consciously or unconsciously? 
When Jesus woke His disciples up from sleeping, instead of praying, they entered a situation that caused all of them to scatter in an attempt to save their lives.
Peter attempted to strike instead of him to allow Jesus to speak to the situation.  
Peter turned to strike by cutting off the ear of the servant high priest. 
The action of Peter prompted Jesus to speak to the situation. 
Evidently, with temptation in the place of prayer, one will end up denying and selling Jesus out. 
Engage unceasing prayer to disallow temptation.

Prayer for today: Ask for the strength to be awake on the prayer altar.

FAITH CAPSULE: Know yourself in the calling assignment for your life. 

Exodus 4

God introduced Moses to Moses so that Moses could know what was in his hand.
Do you know yourself in the Lord? 
Know yourself in the Lord to know what the Lord has deposited in you. 
How you know yourself in the Lord will determine how far you will go in the calling of God.
Do you know yourself in the Lord? 
Psalm 49:20 states, “A man who is in honor yet does not understand is like the beasts that perish.” 
Not knowing self in the Lord will not know how to engage the calling assignment. 
Above all, knowing what the Lord has put in your hand. 
Do you know what is in your hand? 
When God was about to raise a giant among the giants that glorified His name, the excuse of not knowing self was an agent of disruption for Moses. 
In the calling of Moses, every attempt of God to get him on assignment encountered several reasonable excuses. 
Moses did not know what the Lord had for him to realize what the Lord deposited in His hand for the calling assignment for his life.
God will not call for an assignment without empowering the called.
At the time He called Moses, Moses did not know himself. 
God introduced Moses to Moses so that Moses could know what was in his hand. 
Exodus 4:2-4 records, “So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from it. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand),”  
A rod of God in hand is the power of God at hand. 
Moses could not have missed the assignment if the Lord had not shown him what He had deposited in him. 
In your calling, know this day that God has put a fitting rod in your hand for the assignment.  
Among all the disciples who walked with Jesus while He was on the face of the earth, none contributed to the assignment of the Kingdom of God like the apostle Paul. 
Apostle Paul did not walk with Jesus on the face of the earth he knew himself in the Lord more than any of the disciples. 
Paul testified, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10) 
Know yourself and take off in the direction of your calling.

Prayer for today: Ask God to open the understanding that will enable you to know yourself in the calling assignment for your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Can you see that God is in everything?  

Genesis 37

There is no age limit to serving before God.
Whenever it is the time for God to replace one from a location to His divine time, God will not go by His time, not by anyone.
In the calling of God, there is no age limit. 
When it was the time to call Abraham out into the center of his divine schedule, God called Abraham, “…Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:4) 
Abraham passed the retirement age before God called him into the divine schedule at seventy-five. 
Who would have thought of a journey of such magnitude for an aged man like Abraham? 
Moses was out of the palace, and after years (forty) when he received the calling of His divine assignment. 
God did not call him like He called Abraham, but he found himself in a situation that chased him out of the palace of Pharao into his divine schedule. 
Moses accidentally killed an Egyptian in his attempt to defend one of his Hebrew brethren. 
Pharaoh heard about Moses deed, “When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.” (Exodus 2:15) 
At age forty, the challenge of Moses forced him to run unknowingly in the direction of the planning of God for his life. 
Can you see that God is in everything? 
Joseph had a very positive dream, but the manifestation demands a process in place. 
The process can be unacceptably challenging and exceedingly difficult to endure. 
At the young age of seventeen, Joseph unknowingly began his placement journey to bring his dream to manifestation. 
The journey to the manifestation of the dream can be challenging and uncomfortable. 
The starting point of the journey of a dream is often unknown to the dreamer. 
Joseph did not plan to enter the journey of his life when he went to check on his brother as directed by his father. “Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem. Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?” (Genesis 37:14-15) 
From wandering into entering the pit, Joseph began a journey to the center of his divine schedule. 
Regardless of your age or where you are, do not struggle with yourself; God is on top to oversee the affairs of all.
Consciously or unconsciously, are you already on your journey to the center of your divine assignment, the calling of God?

Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you in every step and not miss His calling over your life.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do not hear the word of God once in a while.

Mathew 11

Jesus is Lord, and there is nothing He cannot do. 
What is it that is causing you to have doubt instead of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? 
With doubt, fear will eventually come to place. 
Where there is fear or when fear is rising, faith will sink. 
The Bible identifies the source of faith, “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) 
Do not hear the word of God once in a while.
Engage in hearing and hearing by the word of God, and allow faith to rise so that fear will sink and doubt will have no place in you. 
Deny your present situation and location from operating as an agent that causes you to doubt.
John the Baptist doubted Jesus. 
The Bible records, “And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2-3) 
Is there any representative of prison in your life causing doubt about what Jesus can do? 
John the Baptist, while spending time in prison, doubted Jesus. 
It was John who baptized Jesus. 
Matthew 3:13 records, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him”  
John the Baptist bears witness of Jesus, “…Behold The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.”’ (John 1:29-30) 
John also exalted Jesus when he stated, “He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from Heaven is above all.” (John 3:31) 
Despite all that John the Baptist knew about Jesus when he was in the prison of his life, he doubted Jesus. 
The doubt of John made him want to know what he already knew about Jesus and his doubt about who Jesus was.
Remember, you have heard and seen it all; if you hold on to all you know, you will depart from doubt and not dwell in it. 
Jesus responded to the doubt of John, and His word addressed doubts, “…Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Mathew 11:4-6) 
Where there is doubt, faith tends to drown.
Hebrew 11:6 records, “…But without faith, it is impossible to please Him…” 
With faith, declare to your situation that Jesus is Lord and there is nothing He cannot do. 

Prayer for today: Ask that you be enabled to focus on God so that your faith will not fail.

FAITH CAPSULE: Knowing Him prompts one to know self.   

Matthew 16: 13-20, Mark 10:46-52

What people say He is matters not, but who do you say He is? 
In Matthew 16:13-16, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  
Who do you say He is? 
It does not matter what people say He is, but it does count for you to know who He is to you. 
Who do you say He is? 
Knowing Him will determine how you will call Him.
Knowing who He is to you will determine how you identify and relate with Him.
The Psalmist knows his God, “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” (Psalm 91:2)
In Matthew 9:27, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” Matthew 15:22 recorded, “A woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! …” 
Knowing who He is will determine how you call on Him.
Blind Bartimaeus, a roadside beggar, heard that Jesus was passing his way when he cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” and Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.” (Mark 10:48-49) 
When the blind Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus, the people who attempted to keep him quiet were in vain. 
Challenges will try to keep one quiet while knowing Him shall also be strengthened to gain salvation. 
One who knows who He is shall gain uncommon attention, attention that will cause Him to stand still for such to access Him.
On one occasion, Peter opened up for Jesus to teach the disciples about the church. 
In the teaching was an opening to knowing self.
Peter stated, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:17-18)
Peter learned to know the assignment of the rock.
The Bible identifies His church will be built, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail.. 1 Corinthians 3:16) 
Ephesians 2:20 confirmed Christ as the cornerstone, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” 
Knowing who the people He is shall provoke knowing self.
Allow the word to enter so that you may become His building.

Prayer for today: Ask for the word of God to take over your life.