FAITH CAPSULE: Is worship and sacrifice the same? 

2 Samuel 24

Worship is not just praising God, singing, or praying with devotion. 
To worship is a sacrifice. 
Looking at the Old Testament shows that God requires sacrifice from the Israelites as a form of worship pleasing to him.
Is worship and sacrifice the same?
Ritual sacrifice is no more as in the Old Testament, but today, sacrifice is a form of worship. 
Throughout the New Testament, we see sacrifice as part of the life of worship in response to who God is and what He has done for us.
Romans 1:1-2 records what sacrificing entails, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Sacrificing is labor and is not cheap.
In 2 Samuel 24 documents, that sacrifice is costly when David asked Joab to go and count the number of the Israelites against the word of God.
David sinned before God and sought for forgiveness. 
God sent Prophet Gad to tell David the three consequences which to take one, of the sin of numbering the Israelites: 
2 Samuel 24:13, “So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me. “And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
David settled for the plague of the consequences.
David pleaded for the mercy of God.
God sent Prophet Gad to David to go and erect an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah of Jebusite.
At Araunah, David offered a price, but Araunah refused to take the money offered by David.
In 2 Samuel 24:24, David reacted to Araunah, “…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.”
In 2 Samuel 24:25, “And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.”
A reasonable sacrifice, which is a costly sacrifice, will gain the attention of God.
Forgiveness, deliverance, and preservation will result in a costly sacrifice.

Prayer for today: Ask that in the mercy of God, the understanding of living sacrifice for God becomes established in your life. 

FAITH CAPSULE: The perfect Creator should be given all the attention, not ignored.

Isaiah 45

A failure to give God all the attention could position oneself for destruction.
Paying close attention to the first half of the Ten Commandments reveals how much attention God demands from His creation. 
The word of God states, “You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.  
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”(Exodus 20:3-8) 
This portion of the commandments is about giving a jealous God all the attention due to Him. 
Indeed, a jealous God demands full attention. 
A failure to give God all the attention could be an avenue unto self-destruction. 
God is God that cannot overlook a failure not to give Him attention.
As a creation in the hand of God, what stops you from giving unto God consistent attention? 
God jealously yearns for attention, and His word communicates through the pages of the Bible how jealous He is. 
He spoke in Isaiah 45:4-7 about His desire for all to know Him as the One and only Lord, to know that there is none besides Him. 
The attribute of a jealous God is to seek diligently.
Therefore, every way of giving Him attention is worth giving it. 
In His commandment, He did not ask for too much and did not ask for what is not possible.
He is a good God who cares for His children, who expects His children to care for Him by constantly and diligently seeking Him. 
Are you giving Him attention only by mouth? 
Attending to Him just by mouth is not enough, but serving Him is what it takes to give and get His attention. 
Understand and know the word, especially in the season you are living, because it is dangerous and risky not to give God His due attention. 
God spoke in Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.” 
Is that not scary enough to make you want to be on the Lord’s side? Isaiah 45:9, “Woe to him who strive with his Maker…” 
Denying God His due attention is striving with Him. 

Prayer for today: Ask that you become delivered from every kind of spirit that takes away one from giving attention to God.

FAITH CAPSULE: God is not talkative, evidence of emphasizing meditation of the word of God.

Joshua 1:1-9

God is not talkative, but engaging His word will provoke manifestation.
Spending time on the word of God is listening to the voice of God that speaks to you. 
The Bible makes all realize, “If you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2) 
God was speaking to the children of Israel on their way to the Promised Land. 
What God said to one speaks to all. 
It is good to listen to the word of God, but it is not enough when there is no obedience to what His word says to you. 
Doing what the word says is obedience. 
A failure to observe the word will not do according to what God says.
Joshua 1:8 states, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.” 
The word of God demands meditating day and night before it becomes a thing of observation. 
The message is not about memorizing but also meditating. 
There is no better way to understand and live by the word of God than meditating on the word of God day and night.
God is not talkative, evidence of emphasizing meditation of the word of God.
Joshua must have heard it clearly from God to be meditating on the word of God to excel for the glory of God.
The children of Israel needed to observe the word of God to obey during their journey through the wilderness. 
The Bible pointed out that not one person was feeble among them because of the cloud of glory that guided them. 
According to Numbers 9:15-23, the cloud moved from day to day for them because they were able to observe and do. 
When the cloud moved, they moved, and they did not attempt to move ahead of the cloud.
It was not just about getting results, but to get results according to the word of direction that makes the way to prosper and have success, not just success. 
There has to be meditation day and night to become one observing and doing according to the word. 
All under heaven should have no excuse not to live by the word of God.
Give yourself to the word of God to experience the success of God.

Prayer for today: Ask to be enabled to give yourself to the instruction of God that will teach and guide you.

FAITH CAPSULE: Do you desire the fear of God to take over your life? 

Psalm 34

God is faithful to deliver what He promised for one who will seek Him diligently.
One seeking God with diligence is with the character of such who fears Him.
Nothing can be better than having the fear of God reigning in the life of one.
When the fear of God takes its rightful place, walking fully in the righteousness of God will make one live in heaven on earth. 
The Psalmist states, “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them.” (Psalm 34:7) 
In this world of wickedness, what could be better than having the untouchable force surrounding one who fears God?
King David states in Psalm 34:9, “Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.”  
David talked from real-life experience, not from what he had not experienced. 
Indeed, God is good with truth to His word. 
Do you have the kind of fear that it takes to live in heaven on earth? 
No one is born with the fear of God. 
God repeatedly asked for giving to His word, hearing, and learning to become one with His fear. 
Deuteronomy 31:12-13 records, “Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the LORD your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”  
Living to fear God is not limited to no one but for all. 
Also, it is not limited to a time in the history of creation. 
As an acclaimed believer in the word of God, do you have to introduce yourself as one who fears God, or does your approach to life always introduce you as one who fears God? 
Honestly, one with the fear God the fear of God needs no introduction to become identified as one who fears God.
Do you desire the fear of God to take over your life? 
One with the desire to fear God should give oneself to studying and gaining more understanding of the Lord God as documented in the pages of the Bible.
Determination to know His fear is not enough, but with desire, God will deposit His fear in you. 
He promised in Jeremiah 32:40, “…I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.” He is faithful to deliver what He promised. 
God is a good God.
Have the desire to fear God and God in His goodness and mercy, He will recognize the desire one that is before Him.

Prayer for today: Ask that you be enabled to fear God, and His fear will reign and overwhelm your life in the name of Jesus.

FAITH CAPSULE: Have fear for God not to deny His command for you.

Jonah 1, 2

Deny yourself to allow the command of God.
With no fear of God is disobedience.
Disobedience to the word of God leads to the route of self-destruction.
Disobedience is evidence of carelessness, not keeping the commandments of God and no fear of God.
Proverbs 19:16 warns, “He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of his ways will die.” (Proverbs 19:16)
Are you keeping yourself in the word of God for His direction over your life?
Jonah was in the case of disobedience to the command of God.
The book of Jonah 1:1-3 records, “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.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”
Jonah was careless not to keep to the direction of God over his life.
Fear for God. 
Jonah was supposed to obey God regardless of what seemed right, but not show fear of God.
Just like Jonah, God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of the bondage of over four hundred years. 
Moses, out of his concern for God, reacted to the rebellious act of the children of Israel towards God. 
Moses took it upon himself to strike the rock against the direction of God. God responded to the disobedient of Moses, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “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)
The same God sent Samuel to go and anoint David while Saul was still living as the King. 
Samuel was concerned about the command of God when he asked, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” (1 Samuel 16:2) 
Out of concern, Samuel could have responded by going his own way but went by the command of God.
God responded to Samuel, “…Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”1 Samuel 16:2-3) 
The concern of Samuel could not provoke him to disobey the command of God. 
Samuel fears God to act as commanded.
God alone knows the end from the beginning.
God knows all before the birth of anyone. 
Disallow your concern by allowing His command to have His place.

Prayer for today: Ask to live by obeying the word of God.