Daily Word Capsule

Date - November 30th, 2021 Topic - Good God Bible Text - Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. - Psalm 34:8 The word good is a bit vague in our language. We use it to describe everything that’s average in our lives. “How was your day today?” “Good.” “How did you sleep last night?” “Good.” “How was your akara and pap?” “Good.” So when we say, “God is good,” what are we really saying? The Hebrew word that is translated “good” in this verse meant pleasant, agreeable to the senses, excellent, valuable, kind and morally correct. It was a word packed with meaning, not an empty one! God is difficult to describe. He is certainly not average. He is perfect. He is all the goodness we can imagine — and even more. Nothing about God is bad, evil or impure — everything about God is good. And not only is God good, but he wants what’s good for us. And there’s nothing average about that either. God’s idea of good may not mean easy or comfortable,

Date - November 29th, 2021 Topic - WRONG FOR WRONG IS WRONG Bible Text - Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. - 1 Thessalonians 5:15 In this section of his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul is explaining to new believers how they are supposed to treat one another. Believers are not supposed to seek revenge when wronged. Instead, we are to always strive to do what is good for one another, and for everybody else too. A desire for revenge is incompatible with the Christian life for several reasons: • Wanting and getting revenge wastes time and energy. We could be spending our time and energy helping others and serving God. • If someone wrongs us and we wrong them back, we have sinned. We have allowed someone else to lead us into sin, sin which we will be accountable for. • When we seek revenge, we do damage to the entire church. We hurt more people than just the person we are trying to hur

Date - 28th November, 2021 Topic - MAKING WORSHIP PERSONAL Bible Text - “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” - Psalm 63:4 A family-friendly church is one in which all members of the family are challenged, given opportunities for meaningful worship, and led to a closer relationship with the Lord. Worship is too important to take lightly. That goes for kids as well as adults. If you’re old enough to talk, you’re old enough to worship. And if you’re old enough to worship, you’re old enough to take it seriously. God created us to worship him. If we try to avoid worship or treat it like a chore, we’re telling God we’re not interested in him. If, on the other hand, we fully participate in worship opportunities — and even create some of our own—our relationship with God will deepen.  PRAYER Dear Father, we praise you for who you are. We praise you for what you’ve done. We praise you for what you’ve promised to do in the fu

Date - November 27th, 2021 Topic - ROOM FOR GOD’S WRATH Bible Text - Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. - Romans 12:19 One of the best parts of choosing to live for God is that it sets us free from vengefulness. Feeling vengeful takes up a lot of energy. It hurts us. Anger and scheming wear a person out and are ultimately unsatisfying. But because we follow God, we never need to seek revenge. God promises us that he will be the Judge. He will avenge. He will repay. Obviously, he will do a far better job of it than we ever could, and we get to leave it in his capable hands. Why would we want to worry about our measly revenge plots when the Lord of all creation is going to take care of all that for us? When we find it hard to forgive someone and it's heavy on us, we can remember that God will take care of it. And we must let go completely by forgiving a

Date  - November 26th, 2021 Topic - HEIRS OF GOD Bible Text - He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. - Titus 3:5 - 7 The wording of this passage may make salvation seem like a car wash. We take our dirty, sinful selves to Jesus, and he gives us the deluxe treatment, scrubbing away all our guilt and shame until we shine like new. Actually, though, salvation is more like a complete overhaul. Jesus changes us from the inside out. We become completely different people. And we have almost nothing to do with it. We can’t renew or regenerate ourselves. All we can do is ask Jesus to do it for us. He’s the only one who can. Since the gift of salvation ultimately comes from God, our Heavenly Father, that makes us his “heirs.” Salvation is our inheritance. We’re part of God’s famil

Date - November 25th, 2021 Topic - THE ONES I LOOK ON WITH FAVOR Bible Text - “Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” - Isaiah 66:2 NIV In the verse previous to this one, God calls the earth his “footstool.” This helps put things in perspective, doesn’t it? We can try to be a big deal, but our entire world is a footstool to God. If you ever catch yourself putting what you want ahead of what God wants, remember that he is the one who made you. It’s hard to be arrogant when we remember that God made us. God made it all. God does not want us to be show-offs. He wants us to be humble and to recognize that he is God. He wants us to be sorry for our sin. He wants us to respect the Bible and everything that it teaches us; he wants us to work to honor his commandments. God loves all of us, but this verse tells us, “T

Date - November 24th, 2021 Topic - THANK YOU, LORD Bible Text - Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. - Philippians 4:6 We should take advantage of every opportunity we get to say “thank you” to God in prayer. That’s good advice whether we’re feeling incredibly happy or incredibly down. If we’re happy, our joy will be multiplied by sharing our gratitude with the One who made it possible. If we’re down, we’ll feel better when we focus on the good things God is doing in our life. Too often our prayers, even during our family devotions, sound like a fast-food order: “I’d like good grades for my math test, a successful surgery for my grandmother and a way to make #100,000 before the month ends. Amen.” The problem with that approach is that it’s one-sided. Prayer should be a conversation, a way of exercising and celebrating our relationship with God. Constant asking does not make for

Date - November 23rd, 2021 Topic - RUN AWAY! FLEE! Bible Text - Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. - 2 Timothy 2:22 God doesn’t tell us to casually avoid temptation, as if it were slightly dangerous. The most dangerous thing that we can do is to take temptation lightly. We are not to play around with it. God tells us to run away from temptation, to “flee the evil desires of youth.”  This does not mean that the things we desire when we are young are evil things. However, young adults do often go through selfish and argumentative phases. These can be a normal part of growing up. Paul is telling us here that we must move past these phases. We must choose to seek God instead of ourselves and to pursue righteousness. We must work to mature in our faith. And the best way to do this is alongside other believers. There is strength in fellowship. There is strength in numbers. Be

DATE - November 22nd, 2021 TOPIC - THORNS AND THISTLES BIBLE TEXT - To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” - Genesis 3:17-19 God does not give us commandments because he wants to hide something from us. He does not give us rules to punish us or to keep us from having fun. God’s commandments are given to protect us. Not only does sin lead to eternal separation from God, but sin always has consequences in our life on earth. You may think it’s no big deal to cheat on that homework assignment. But then you don’t learn

DATE - November 21st, 2021 TOPIC - UNCHECKED EMOTION BIBLE TEXT - In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Genesis 4:3-5 You may know the story of the brothers, Cain and Abel. Shortly after this Genesis scene, Cain says to his brother, “Let’s go out to the field.” When they get there, Cain attacks and kills Abel. When God asks Cain where Abel is, Abel lies and says he does not know (see Genesis 4:8-9). Sin can have a snowball effect if we let it. And Cain’s devastating snowball began with emotions — anger and jealousy. On their own, anger and jealousy are only emotions, but emotions can lead us to sinful actions if we let them. And then sin can lead to more sin, which leads

DATE - 20th, November 2021 TOPIC - THE SERPENT BIBLE TEXT - Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” …”You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:1,4-5 Satan appears in the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve to sin. He does this by introducing doubt. He causes Eve to doubt God and her understanding of God’s Word. He also accuses God of lying, and he promises Eve a reward for her sin. Satan works in much the same way today. He does various things to cause us to doubt ourselves, to doubt the reality of God and to doubt our understanding of the Bible. He spread lies—lies that contradict God’s Word. He also promises rewards for our sins. Satan promises that sin will make us happy, that sin will allow us to

DATE - November 19th, 2021 TOPIC - RESIST THE TEMPTATION BIBLE TEXT - When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. - James 1:13 - 14 You are in a big supermarket store. You really need a new set of headphones or fancy purse. You don’t have any money. It would be so easy to just put those new headphones or fancy purse in your coat pocket while monitoring the security camera and walk out of the store. Is God tempting you to steal something? Certainly not! You desired it and your desire was watered by the devil. God does not want us to sin, and he will never tempt us to sin. We are tempted by our own desires, not by God. Remember that we have a sinful nature. Even though we have been reborn in Christ, we must continue to defeat our old sinful nature. It will keep rearing its ugly head, and with the power of Jesus,

Date - November 18th, 2021 Topic - SEED PLANTERS Bible Text - So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - 1 Corinthians 3:7 Back in the apostle Paul’s day, the church had problems with people splitting into groups to follow popular teachers. Paul was one of those teachers, and so was Apollos. Christians would take pride in saying, “I follow Paul” or “I follow Apollos.” When Paul heard what they were doing, he put a stop to it immediately (see 1 Corinthians 3:3-13). He told them that he and Apollos were just messengers. All they did was plant the seeds of the gospel in people’s minds. The Lord is the one who makes them grow, and that’s why he’s the only one people should follow. If we want to please God in the way we share our faith with others, we need to remember our role. We’re not the ones who lead people to Christ. We’re not the ones who convert people to Christianity. We’re the ones who start conversations

DATE - 17th November, 2021 TOPIC - A FRIEND LIKE YOU BIBLE TEXT - Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find? - Proverbs 20:6 Having a BFF (Best Friend Forever) sounds great, but it’s not always possible to be best friends forever. Unfortunately, friendships don’t run smoothly all the time. There are bound to be bumps in the road, conflicts, arguments and misunderstandings that can disrupt the bond of friendship between two people. The secret to a faithful, lasting friendship is to make sure that conflicts and misunderstandings don’t have a chance to take root. In Ephesians 4:26, the apostle Paul instructs us not to let the sun go down on our anger. That’s good advice. When we have a conflict with a friend, we need to talk it through as soon as possible. We cannot give grudges time to build. As Christians, we have a chance to honor God with the way we treat our friends. Proverbs 20:6 says faithful friends are hard to find. If we can be the kind

DATE - 16th, November 2021 TOPIC - More Blessed To Give BIBLE TEXT - Acts 20:35 KJV - I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. In this verse from Acts, Apostle Paul tells us concerning giving, that Jesus once said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” If you’ve ever given a gift to someone who really appreciated it, then you know what an absolute thrill you get when that person’s face lights up with joy. It is way better than the thrill you get when you unwrap your own present. The best way to celebrate is to focus on the giving part, not the getting part. If you take the time to figure out how to bless someone, you won’t believe how awesome you’ll feel. What could you give to your family members that would really be meaningful? What could you give to someone in need? You might not even have to buy anything. Maybe you cou

Date - November 15th, 2021 Topic - THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF ADVICE Bible Text - You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. - Psalm 73:24 What if you knew someone who was unbelievably wise, with the ability to give perfect advice, exactly right for each and every individual? What if this someone could see into the future and base the advice on what was truly best for you? Wouldn’t you go to great lengths to get that advice? You do know this someone. You have access to this kind of advice. God’s wisdom is beyond our understanding. He knows exactly what we need at any given time. He knows exactly which decision we should make, every time. He knows the future, and he knows what is best for us. First John 2:27 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the only teacher we need. Of course, it is always smart to ask other believers for advice, especially when it’s difficult to find the answers to our questions in the Bible. But the answers are there. In the

Date - November 14th, 2021 Topic - THE WORD MADE FLESH Bible Text - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - John 1:1 God’s written Word has been around since humans have been alive. When God spoke to his people, they wrote it down and passed it on to others. When God did something amazing, they wrote that down too. The written Word got bigger and bigger. People taught their children from its pages. They changed their lives based on what it said. They debated over which parts were most significant and put them together to form Scripture, God’s written Word. The Old Testament, God’s Word, served as mankind’s primary source for knowing God—until Jesus came and the Word became flesh.  Jesus is the Word of God. Everything he said came from God. Every miracle he performed told us something more about God. God’s Word came alive—literally. Jesus gave us new words and made us rethink old ones. The Word was fresh, exciting, unpredictable a

Date : November 13th, 2021 Topic - DON’T FALL FOR IT! Bible Text : Now the overseer is to be above reproach … not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. - 1 Timothy 3:2-3 Looking Into these verses from Timothy, Paul is describing how leaders of the church should behave: They should not become drunk, violent or quarrelsome or love money. As children of God we are all leaders representating Christ Jesus and we all need to stay away from the ways and works of the flesh. Our duty starts from home before any other place. A believer who entangles him/herself in these acts will only give out bad leadership. Many Christians struggle with this money part. The world tries to teach us that money is everything, that money makes us happy and that money makes all our problems go away. These are all lies from the enemy. Yes money is needed for transactions but it shouldn't control our lives. We can have all the money in the world and stil

DATE : November 12th, 2021 TOPIC : Your Good Works BIBLE TEXT : Matthew 5:16 TPT - So don't hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that the commendable things you do will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven." The life of a believer must be an example to the world. As an ambassador for Christ we are sent into the world to show forth the Light of God. We must be representatives of God's goodness. Jesus Christ admonishes us in Matthew 5 after the sermon on the mount, to let our light so shine before men - many out there are confused and are in the dark about Heaven and the truth of God's word. This is a wake up call to all sleeping believers, shy believers, inactive believers and psychedelic Christians. That Christ expects us to be His image to the people of the earth. We cannot shine and radiate God's glory by hiding ourselves or staying timid or confining ourselves to limitations. The

DATE : NOVEMBER 11, 2021 TOPIC : THE SIGN ON THE MULBERRY TREES  BIBLE TEXT : 2 Samuel 5:23-24 NKJV - Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, "You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. [24] And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines." It was in the time of war as battles raged over the land of Israel during the reign of King David. David was newly crowned and anointed King over all Israel, which made the Philistines angry and they came after Israel time after time. And each time, the LORD gave Israel victory over their enemies. This morning God wants us to walk and work with Him diligently and obediently as King David did. God’s ways and strategies varies with each battle, which the enemy can never understand. All He requires from us is our “Ye

DATE : NOVEMBER 10th, 2021 TOPIC : A GENTLE WORD BIBLE TEXT - A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. - Proverbs 15:1 Good morning beloved, In this proverb, Solomon teaches us that God wants us to speak to people gently, using gentle words. While harsh words stir up anger, even when that’s not our intention. Think about how you feel when someone speaks harshly to you. You probably get angry and defensive. But if that same person spoke to you with gentle words, you probably wouldn’t get angry. And you would love their company. We need to think before we speak. Sometimes we need to pray before we speak and ask God to give us the right words to say. This becomes especially difficult when someone is speaking harsh words to us. How does God want us to respond? He doesn’t want us fighting fire with fire. He wants us to answer with gentle words, which will put out the fire. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived a very peaceful life while on earth, a true definiti

DATE - November 9th, 2021 TOPIC - THE NEW GUIDE BIBLE TEXT - “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” - John 16:13 Jesus’ public ministry—the time he was baptized until the time he was crucified—lasted about three years. His disciples were with him for almost all that time. From the very beginning, Jesus made it clear to them that his time on earth was short. Sometimes they seemed to understand; other times they acted quite surprised by the news. In John 16, we read that Jesus’ time was almost up—and his disciples seemed to realize it. Naturally they were sad about losing their Teacher. They also were feeling a little lost. With Jesus gone, who would lead them? Jesus gave them their answer in verse 13. The Holy Spirit, or “Spirit of truth,” would assist them after Jesus departed. That was very good news for the disciples — and all

DATE : NOVEMBER 8th, 2021 TOPIC : SEVEN TIMES A DAY BIBLE TEXT : “Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” Luke 17:4 Think about how many times we ask God for forgiveness. Better yet, think about how many times we should ask God for forgiveness. We mess up in countless ways every day. Yet every time we turn to God with sincere repentance, he forgives us and wipes our slates clean. Of course, if we keep doing the same thing over and over again, there may be reason to doubt that we’re actually repentant. But if we make a genuine effort to change each time we repent, God will forgive us. How can we, then, deny forgiveness to people who have hurt us? Our standards can’t be higher than God’s. If he forgives us, we must forgive others. If the person keeps doing the same thing over and over to us, we might doubt whether he or she is actually repentant. We might have to put some boundaries in place

DATE - NOVEMBER 7th, 2021 TOPIC - ONE WAY  BIBLE TEXT - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” - John 11:25 People say that when you’re given something, it means less to you than if you had worked to earn it. While there’s certainly some truth to that theory, there are exceptions. For example, if your grandfather gave you a valuable family heirloom, you’d probably treasure the gift, even though you did nothing to earn it. The same goes for eternal life. The salvation that leads to eternal life is a gift. We can do nothing to earn it; all we can do is accept it. That doesn’t mean it was free, though. Our eternal life cost Jesus his earthly life. He gave himself to save us because no one else could. Our sin required a perfect sacrifice, and he’s the only perfect person who ever lived. That’s why eternal life comes through Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus is the resurrection and the life because death

DATE - 6th NOVEMBER, 2021 TOPIC - THE SOURCE OF WISDOM  BIBLE TEXT - I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. - Psalm 119:99 In the Garden of Eden, the serpent—the devil—had a specific strategy for getting Adam and Eve to sin. Look at his words to Mrs Eve Adam in Genesis 3:1: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Notice how he tries to make Mrs Eve question God’s words. And when you question God's Word, you begin to doubt God. Satan knew that whatever useful knowledge Adam and Eve possessed came from God. He knew that if he could plant doubts in their minds about God’s words, he stood a good chance of making them sin.  Yes! When you reject God's Word for Satan's tricks you've just called God a liar in that particular aspect of your life. Unfortunately, his strategy worked. In fact, it worked so well that he still uses it today amongst believers and unbelievers. For us, the Bible is the sour

DATE : NOVEMBER 4th, 2021 TOPIC : PUT OFF YOUR OLD SELF BIBLE TEXT: You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. - Ephesians 4:22 NIV When we invite Jesus into our lives, we repent of our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness. To repent means not only to be sorry but also to turn completely away from sin. To repent means to turn our backs to sin and our faces to God. The minute that we invited Jesus into our lives, we became a new creation. But this doesn’t mean that our work (or his) is done. “Putting off your old self” is a continual process. We need to continue to turn away from sin and work to put evil out of our lives completely. Sometimes this means that we need to break bad habits. Sometimes it means avoiding activities and situations that can lead us to temptation. Break away from sinful relationships and dissolve sinful imaginations. The Bible tells us that the devil prowls/roams

DATE : NOVEMBER 3rd, 2021 TOPIC : NO GUARANTEE OF TOMORROW BIBLE TEXT : Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. - James 4:13 - 14 Few people say, “I’ll see you tomorrow … unless I die before then” or “If I’m still alive this weekend, we should go see a movie.” We all make plans, whether it’s a holiday, a summer vacation, a college or university choice or a career. We naturally assume that we will live long enough for those plans to come to fruition. There’s nothing wrong with that approach. Those verses in the book of James 4 aren’t telling us that God gets mad when we make plans for the future. They are pointing out that our plans are always secondary to God’s plans for us. God must take first place and Apex priority in our lives. We can assume we

DATE : NOVEMBER 2nd, 2021 TOPIC : CONFESSION AND BELIEF  BIBLE TEXT -: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9 The apostle Paul says two things are necessary to be saved: believing that God raised Jesus from the dead and declaring that Jesus is Lord. As far as Jesus’ resurrection goes, we have eyewitness reports from the New Testament to support our belief. Over 500 people saw Jesus after he rose from the dead. They talked to him, ate with him and even touched his wounds. His resurrection is not a myth or legend. We have reason to believe God raised him from the dead. Declaring that Jesus is Lord requires a little more work on our part. In order to declare Jesus Lord, we have to understand who he is. We don’t have to pass a theology exam, but we do need to know what God’s Word says about him. He is the Son of God. He came to earth to live among us, fully God and fully huma

DATE: November 1st, 2021 TOPIC : ANSWERED PRAYERS BIBLE TEXT: I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame. When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me. Psalm 138:1 - 3 David understood that he wasn’t throwing prayers into a void. He knew God was listening to every word. He knew because God answered his prayers—just as he answers ours. Do you remember the Lord’s answers to a prayer? Do you have a record of your prayers and their answers? Sometimes it’s easy to forget about yesterday when today’s needs become pressing. As a result, we can forget God’s amazing work in our lives. That’s why a prayer journal is a great idea. A prayer journal is a place to write down our requests and how God answered them. With a journal, we can look back on