Good-life Daily Devotional

Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi   Ps 37:4 NKJV   “ Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. ”           The word ‘ delight ’ as used here is the Hebrew word ‘ anag ‘ which means to be soft or pliable, figuratively it means to be effeminate or luxurious. It is like the interaction between a woman and a man in love with each other. An example of this in scripture is what transpired between Jesus Christ and the woman with the precious perfume in Matt 26:7-8 NKJV   “ a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. ” This was a luxurious experience for the lord; a Nazarene. Culture did not allow comb or razor to come near the hair of a Nazarene as a sign devotion to God (Number 6:5.) Therefore, having precious oil being poured on His hair locks was a beautiful experience considering the hot climate of the Middle East.         She did not stop at that, the scriptur

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Heb 11:11 KJV “Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.     Sarah had been without a child for over fifty years of marriage. It is every woman’s dream to bear children immediately after marriage. Sarah refused to give up on her faith in God despite her frustrations.    We always seek to have things go our way without necessarily considering all the variables and governing principles. The reality of life is that sometimes despite our best efforts and righteous deposition events do turn against our expectations. We may not be able to change circumstances but we can choose how we respond to them . You can either be miserable or be happy while anticipating a desirable change.   The scriptures says in Hab 3:17-19 TLB “Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossom left nor fruit; though the olive cro

Rev Michael Benson Ajayi     Matt 16:4 NKJV “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed”   In Matt 12:38 NKJV   “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." The religious and legalistic Jews sought a sign from Jesus Christ as a proof of His divinity. As simple as this may seem to the lay person, a critical look will reveal how sinister these individuals where. They are the kind of persons who discourage people from attending to the study and teaching of sound doctrines. So many preachers have fallen prey to these ungodly fellows and as a result churches have been turned to amphi theaters for the display of all manner of theatrics in a bid to satisfy these egoists thus giving Satan the advantage.             Let’s take a logical look at what these religious Jews were offering Jesus Christ through t

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi      2 Sam 5:23 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. ”                  In 2Sam.5:19, king David had obtained the best military strategists to draw up a battle plan against the Philistines , he committed his plans to God for success and got the lord's approved to engage the enemy and was victorious. However, in 2 Sam 5:23. when faced with the same challenge, he consulted God and was instructed to jettison his military strategy: God had another plan. A plan which involved using trees to fight the enemy. The scriptures say in 2 Sam 5:24 NKJV “ it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance .."   Victory is achieved as a result of responding to specific instructions and God isn ’ t bound by any particular way of achieving a desired result.   God ’ s answers to our p

 By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Matt 15:34 NKJV ” Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."              God wants us to always have more than enough resources for our needs and those around us. His blessing is upon us to multiply our resources . God's blessing makes a man rich and it adds no sorrow (Prov 10:22).   As part of our salvation experience we are given grace for the multiplication of our resources: this is a supernatural endowment that increases whatever we place in God ’ s hands for our use and for the expansion of missionary work on earth.                In Matt 15:32-37 the disciples where faced with the challenge of feeding four thousand persons and were overwhelmed when they looked at little provision they had : seven loaves of bread and a few little fish however, when these were placed in the lords hands in thanksgiving, the power for multiplication came upon those loaves and fishes

  Michael Benson Ajayi     Acts 17:22 KJV “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.”       The word ‘superstition’ as used here is a Greek word which derives its meaning from two other words: the first ‘deilos’ which means' to dread', be timid, faithless and fearful. The second is the word ‘Daimon’ which means a supernatural spirit of a bad nature:the devil. Superstition is the fear of evil spirits. In Acts 17:23 the scriptures says it is an attribute of persons without a one-of-a-kind relationship with God .It is like being married to a total stranger.   A gap in any relationship creates suspicion. The lack of a one -of-a-kind personal relationship with God elicits fear and it determines how we relate to our neighbours. Superstitious folks are suspicious of everyone (Prov 17:20) and prone to the Post Hoc fallacy also known as confusing coincidental relationships with causes.

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi   Mark 7:11 AMP “ But [as for you] you say, A man is exempt if he tells [his] father or [his] mother, What you would otherwise have gained from me [everything I have that would have been of use to you] is Corban, that is, is a gift [already given as an offering to God], ”            The religious Jews of Jesus ’ time often used flattery to exploit their followers. In one instance, they disregarded the importance of the young catering for the elderly by insisting that gifts which would have been sent for the welfare of the elderly be rather given as offerings to the temple thereby encouraging the neglect of the weak and elderly. The Pharisees profited from this act of the dishonor of one ’ s parents. This was contrary to God's commands in Ex 20:12 AMP “ Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you. ” . Those who honour their parents are rewarded

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi John 8:1 AMP ‘ She answered, No one, Lord! And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go on your way and from now on sin no more. ’                 This theatrical display of self-righteousness was probably the height of provocation by the religious folks of Jesus' time who sought to discredit Him before the public.He was seen as a threat to the Jewish religious folks  whose traditions thrived on inequity and injustice. For example, from the above scripture, nothing was said of the woman ’ s male companion; definitely adultery requires two or more sexual partners. This is typical of all man-made religion: they are often, exploitative, illogical and inhumane.                 Jesus Christ was very consistent with his mission to save the weak, the scripture says in John 3:17 Amp “ For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be ma

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Mark 8:35 KJV “ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. ”                 Deprivation is a key component in the making of a disciple of Christ .Our relationship with the physical or material world does affect our spiritual development (James4:4). The human spirit has infinite capabilities but is limited in function by reason of its attachment to the human body.         The disciple of Christ is likened to a soldier (2Tim 2:4) who for the purpose of efficiency and effectiveness in the war-front isn ’ t expected to be entangled with civilian affairs. He lives a regimented life by reason of the goals he seeks to accomplish. A soldier has to be fit to carry his weapons; likewise the Christian has to be fit emotionally , physically and psychologically to carry his cross (luke9:23)  he must have a winner's mindset .         The 'cross' is

Rev Michael Benson Ajayi   Matt 16:20 KJV “ Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ ”        It was expected that the disciples would have been encouraged to make Jesus Christ known while He was yet with them  but the contrary was the case as revealed in the above scripture. There are two major reasons behind this . Firstly, it was to fulfill the prophecy in John 1:10-11 KJV “ He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. ”             Value is a function of the cost expended in the pursuit of an ideal. We only place value on objects that cost us something to acquire. Adam was freely given wisdom in the Garden of Eden which he never truly valued rather, it was that which cost him his relationship with God that he valued more (Gen3:4-7)Jesus increased His value before men by concealing His identity.            Secondly, it was a military strategy

Rev Michael Benson Ajayi KJV Mark 14:3..6 "And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head."   ... "And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.”            The word ‘good’ as used in this text is the Greek word   ‘kalos’ and it means ‘beautiful’, valuable or virtuous (for appearance or use, and thus distinguished)’ . The Lord in this verse of scripture demonstrated the importance of aesthetics in the presentation of the message of the kingdom. The English dictionary defines beautiful as “possessing qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind:”  Beauty is attractive that is why Satan uses this attribute of creation in propagating sin . Beauty is a quality of Godliness that has been corrupted to the det

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi John 12:24 KJV ” Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”         In this parable Jesus Christ explains that there is life after death in every situation we find ourselves as believers. The corn of wheat is typical of the gifts (knowledge, experience, talents, skills, material resources) we have received of God and like the corn of wheat they have the potentials for growth embedded in them and they will remain unfruitful until planted according to the master's instructions . The power for multiplication resides in the earth and is activated the very moment the corn of wheat makes contact with the soil. The immediate outcome is usually not pleasant as the scripture says: the corn of wheat must first die.            Death isn’t what anyone would consider good but in this circumstance it is a must for there to be increase. It is the fear of thi

BY Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Matt 11:30   KJV   ” For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”           The Greek word for “burden” is the word ‘phortion’ which means “an invoice” (as part of freight), figuratively: “a task or service”: Jesus Christ is saying to the disciples that His service is light or easy. Whenever the lord gives an assignment, He foots the bills; all invoices are easily taken care of. There, are those who believe that serving God is a painful experience based on what they’ve observed in the life of some believers. But contrary to this view, the truth still remains that God’s work is easy. It is what it is: God’s work not man’s work. It becomes difficult when it becomes your work. It is like a surfer surfing the waves, the surfer simply rides the waves, it isn’t his responsibility to create waves. Most preachers teach church members to create waves and this is against biblical principles. Followers are made to undergo all manner of rigorous   rituals in a bi

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi   Luke 19:17”And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” KJV          This parable illustrates God’s principle for promotion and accountability.  Grace  is often defined as an “unmerited favour” this implies to an extent that the outcome of our decisions on earth excludes any form of impute from us. By this theology, the fellow who ran the fastest in a 100 meter Olympic  race should not necessarily be given the gold medal even if he ran according to laid down rules and regulations. This belief has led to a lot of mediocrity among God’s people and corruption in society. It gives no room for accountability, probity and transparency which are a sine qua non for  positive development in any community. God’s mercy is neither merited nor unmerited however; its acknowledgment by the recipient is what warrants its validity in a person’s life.Therefore,it is gratitude