Good-life Daily Devotional

By Michael Benson Ajayi  Ephesians 1:11 "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated  according to the purpose of him  who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"         This scripture says the born again christian has an inheritance from God; therefore there is no such thing as a poor person in God's kingdom . Poverty is man-made and the result of selfishness and mismanagement of resources by political leaders in connivance with the clergy (Ezekiel 22:27-29).The ignorance of God's word leads to poverty which is often shrouded in illogical religious devotions . Religion promotes waste and is against God's plan for the prosperity of His children.            The early church operated an economic system based on a commonwealth and as a result ,there was an equitable distribution of resources with zero poverty indices and peaceful coexistence among family members. Ownership and the accumulation of money by indivi

By Michael Benson Ajayi   Matt 8:8-9 NKJV   “ The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  “         God delights in hearing His word being spoken by His children . The word of God is of no effect when unspoken however, it is full of awesome potential energy when left unspoken. Potential energy is the energy due to the position of a thing and is of no use until made dynamic.  When we speak God's word from our hearts ,it is converted from potential energy to kinetic energy or energy in motion.            Until energy is in motion or dynamic,things remain static. This is what happens when we pray out the scriptures .Romans 1:16 AMP says  “  For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news) of Christ, for it is God's power working unto salvation [for deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes with a personal trust and a confident surrender and firm r

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi.  Matt 5:7 NKJV   “  Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.       The word  ‘ blessed ’  is a Greek word  makarios  ,it means to be fortunate, well off:   regardless of one ’ s outward conditions. It is a state of being well spoken of by God.            God ’ s love is unconditional but salvation is , the scriptures say in Romans 1:17 that  ‘ the Just shall live by faith ’  and that with God all things are possible (Matt19:26) ; this means access to unlimited resource and boundless opportunities are consequent upon a person working in harmony with God.  Faith in God is a must if you desire anything from Him and faith is: harmony in divine purpose . Every failure recorded in scripture was due to a  lack of faith expressing itself through love (Ga 5:6) .                God is love and full of mercy. The word of God is the word of mercy, and the scripture teaches that the ‘ sower ’  sows the word (Mk.4:14) of mercy. What thi

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi  Matthew 10:33, "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. ”            The word  ‘ deny ’  is the Greek word  ‘ arneomai ’  which means to contradict, i.e. disavow, reject, abnegate, refuse. It is a display of disloyalty against the Lord.  Our loyalty and reliability to the lord will be tested at one time or the other through very precarious conditions that would require making a choice between Christ and self. It is part of our growth process and failing a test does not   mean that we would be rejected by God .  If that was the case, Peter who was appointed the first general superintendent of the church would n o t have been forgiven after he denied Jesus three times in a row (John18:25-27). Jesus had foretold the event a few days before it occurred and prayed that the enemy ’ s plan to remove Peter from the fold would no t succeed.              The scriptures says in Luke 2

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi   Judg 11:1-3 “Now Jephthah of Gilead was a great warrior. He was the son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute. Gilead's wife also had several sons, and when these half brothers grew up, they chased Jephthah off the land. "You will not get any of our father's inheritance," they said, "for you are the son of a prostitute." So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob. Soon he had a band of worthless rebels following him.”   Stories like Jephthah are all too common with the crave for sexual liberties and the propagation of humanistic ideologies. He was termed an illegitimate child haven been born out of wedlock by a prostitute but according to God’s plan there is no such thing as an illegitimate child  .There may be illegitimate relationships but children from such relationships have equal right of existence before God.        Most gang members are product of illegitimate relationships an

Rev Michael Benson Ajayi  Matt 26:26-29 TLB “As they were eating, Jesus took a small loaf of bread and blessed it and broke it apart and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take it and eat it, for this is my body."  And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks for it and gave it to them and said, "Each one drink from it,  for this is my blood, sealing the New Covenant. It is poured out to forgive the sins of multitudes. “ John 13:1-15 TLB  “Jesus knew on the evening of Passover Day that it would be his last night on earth before returning to his Father…  So he got up from the supper table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his loins,  poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him…. You call me 'Master' and 'Lord,' and you do well to say it, for it is true.  And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet,  you ought to wash each other's feet.    I have g

  By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi   Num 14:1-4 TLB  “Then all the people began weeping aloud, and they carried on all night.  Their voices rose in a great chorus of complaint against Moses and Aaron. "We wish we had died in Egypt," they wailed, "or even here in the wilderness,  rather than be taken into this country ahead of us. Jehovah will kill us there, and our wives and little ones will become slaves. Let's get out of here and return to Egypt!"  The idea swept the camp. " Let's elect a leader to take us back to Egypt !" they shouted.”       The fear of the unknown is a major challenge that must be overcome if meaningful progress is to be made in life. It usually manifests itself whenever we are about to take major steps in life for the first time .Sometimes major steps such as marriage , relocating to a new state or country , teaching children about sex education , starting a ministry or business, job change , economic reforms in

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi John 12:26 KJV “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.”  Mal 1:6-8 TLB "A son honors his father, a servant honors his master. I am your Father and Master, yet you don't honor me, O priests, but you despise my name." "Who? Us?" you say. "When did we ever despise your name?"   "When you offer polluted sacrifices on my altar." "Polluted sacrifices? When have we ever done a thing like that?" "Every time you say, 'Don't bother bringing anything very valuable to offer to God!'  You tell the people, 'Lame animals are all right to offer on the altar of the Lord-yes, even the sick and the blind ones.' And you claim this isn't evil? Try it on your governor sometime-give him gifts like that-and see how pleased he is! …”        The word ‘honour’ used  in John12:26  is the Gree

 By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  John 16:32 NKJV "Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and  will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me."              Loneliness is a state of the human mind born out of negative emotions, it is a sense of isolation or exclusion from the company of others and a feeling of rejection and abandonment which may be real or imagined. Most times, it is imagined and is as a result of receiving and believing evil reports . Everybody goes through loneliness ; it is our response to this feeling of being left out that is of relevance.              Jesus was no stranger to abandonment but was not overcome by it.Man is gregarious by nature; always struggling with identity crisis while seeking to fit into our social group ,therefore ,it is not out of place to feel a disconnect when those physical qualities needed to properly fit into society are perceived as

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi   Matt 12:43-46 NKJV  “ ….Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation."            In this scripture Jesus gives us a picture of what happens during exorcism (deliverance) and the consequences of spiritual complacency .  Exorcism (deliverance) makes a person clean for a moment but does not make a person completely free .  Demon possession renders a person spiritually unclean and disorderly with strong destructive tendencies.                  Demons are fallen angels without physical bodies.  During Noah’s era they sought for human bodies through genetic mutation and sexual transmutation resulting in  persons  with superhuman streng

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  John 21:20 -22 "Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me".        Inferiority complex is a strong feeling of insecurity and inadequacy which influences  a person's interactions. Peter felt that his leadership position among the disciples was under threat because Jesus gave what was considered special attention to John. This was his carnal reasoning but it was contrary to God's principles . The scriptures says in James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." We have equal opportunity with God.

By Rev. Michael Benson Matt 25:21 NIV "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master’s happiness!”      The kingdom of God has a reward system for faithful stewardship. The Lord Jesus’ statement ‘share in your master’s happiness’ underscores the fact that  happiness is a reward for faithful stewardship .              The bible is replete with instances where the Lord Jesus made appraisals of people's actions , giving credit to whom it was due with the intention of bringing out the best out of them. In Mathew 15:22-28 the Canaanite woman was honoured for her understanding of the principle of grace through a manner that many would have found offensive. In it, He likened her to a pet animal - dog, a metaphor for a friend and those who were not part of the Abrahamic covenant . Her acknowledgment of His divinity and boundless grace to hum