Good-life Daily Devotional

     Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Isaiah 40: 29 "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength."           Life is a battle for survival  requiring enormous strength to pull through.The scriptures refers to it as wrestling. This is more so, because the life of the Christian runs contrary to what obtains in the world. It's like running against runners in a marathon race.            The perspective on life of the born again believer is mutually exclusive and diametrically opposed to the world's.  The world's system thrives on pride and deceit,  Romans 3:4 says every man is a liar.The world's culture is characterized by rebellion and it is powered by Satan: the prince of the power of the air.  The scriptures says in Ephesians 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this  world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that  now worketh in the children of disobedience:" The world

  Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi         Man is social in nature and loves to move in groups,  this gives a sense of self-worth, love  and security. It is for these reasons that friendship is a necessary part of our human development,  and if well harnessed, it could lead to the furtherance of the building of human and social capacity.              Friends play a major role in our spiritual development and can be a ready source of inspiration .A person's spiritual state can easily be measured through the spiritual temperature of one's closest friends, for example, persons who find it hard to forgive and are afraid of giving offerings and the Abrahamic tithes are most likely to have close friends who do likewise .         The impact  of friends on one's life  is the same as that of the chain link of a bicycle chain, therefore, a person could be said to be as strong as the weakest member  of one's cycle of close friends . Through friends we receive wisdom and strength. The scri

  By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi  Josh 14:11 KJV “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.”         Caleb was promised a portion of land as a forty-five year old soldier and it took forty years for this to materialize .At age eighty-five, he was willing and ready to engage the enemy in a battle to claim the promised land. What optimism! How long have you been waiting for the fulfillment of a promise in your life ?          Following Jesus Christ requires walking by faith and this requires being optimistic . An optimist is a person with a positive outlook on life. He or she always looks out for the good in a situation no matter how bad it may seem; the opposite is a pessimist.  Optimism is a mental attitude or perspective . A common idiom used to illustrate optimism against pessimism is a glass with water at the halfway point, where the optimist is said to see the gl

    By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi             Ephesians 4:16 AMP "For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love."         The  Christian community functions like the human body with each part adapted to specialized functions and yet working in harmony as one homogeneous entity.  The scriptures says in 1 Corinthians 12:20 AMP "And now there are [certainly] many limbs and organs, but a single body".  The Holy Spirit is the life giving source of the church of Christ; also referred to as heirs of the  kingdom of God .         John 3:5 says" ... Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."  the body of Christ is not ordinary like the human flesh, it is spir

  Rev Michael Benson Ajayi John 6:37 AMP "All whom My Father gives (entrusts) to Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, no never, reject one of them who comes to Me]."       The price for the salvation of mankind was paid through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and all that is needed to be saved from the eternal damnation of the sinner is that we receive the free gift of salvation through  faith.        The lord will never turn a sinner seeking for salvation away, the scriptures says in Romans 10:13 AMP "For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved. [Joel 2:32.]" Therefore,  today, if you hear His voice,  don't harden your heart against Him. He speaks to us everyday through the media,  dreams, .visions and our subconscious . The Holy Spirit always speaks to the sinner, the scriptures says in Hebrews 3:7-9 AMP "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi "Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the clan of Ram, became angry. He was angry because Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him. He was also angry with Job’s three friends, for they made God appear to be wrong by their inability to answer Job’s arguments. I thought, ‘Those who are older should speak, for wisdom comes with age. But there is a spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent. Sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice."Job 32:2‭-‬3‭, ‬7‭-‬9 NLT   Truth is always plain to see and objective but humans are usually not . An argument could be perfectly rational and valid but will be met and received with prejudice , misunderstanding , sentiments, ideology or misconception . This was the case with Job and his three friends  Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar . They were preaching the gospel out of context thus creating a gra

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi 1corinthians 11:1" Be ye followers of me, even as I also  am of Christ."      The Christian influence is the impression we create in the minds of those who do not have a personal relationship with Christ. We epitomize the Christ-like nature and are the embodiment ; a proof of the functionality of the scriptures. We also influence heaven through our worship of the almighty Father.            The scriptures describes the church as the light of the world ; illuminating the minds and hearts of men  to be more conscious of the consequences of human actions .This aids in making right choices in life. The church is also described as the salt of the earth (Mathew 5:13-14). We give flavour to the dreams and aspirations of men. Salt is a food seasoning that harmonizes the various tastes, preserves food and eliminates nausea. This is a summary of our impact in the lives of men. We are peacemakers and help people reconcile with God through the proclamation and

  By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi. Gen.4: 26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."       The process of the redemption of the human race began from the garden of Eden . By virtue of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the devil is well aware of his impending doom and seeks to carry as many persons as possible along with him . As a strategy, he seeks to dilute and pollute the message of the gospel and kill as many unsaved persons as possible .       God always makes sure that there's a remnant who will continue with the process of the propagation of the gospel in fulfillment of prophesies. The enemy is opposed to this and seeks to destroy the carriers of the genuine message of the kingdom. When Moses was born, an  order was given for  every male child to be killed but God spared Moses as the remnant  of an entire generation, likewise when Jesus was born the enemy ordered for the death of

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 his enemies : the Philistines , he committed his plans to God for success and got the lord's approval 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 is not  bound by any particular way of achieving a desired result. God ’ s answers t

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 . First, 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 had more value for (Gen3:4-7)  Naturally , scarcity increases value  .             Secondly, Jesus' instruction to keep his identity secret

        By Rev. Michael Benson Ajay 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], ”         Most of  the religious leaders of Jesus ’  time often used flattery to exploit their followers. They disregarded the importance of the care for the elderly ,insisting that provisions meant for them be 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. In some churches members are told to give money meant for medical care of a sick parent as 'miracle seeds' for their healing. Claiming it is more profiting to give to a church building project than care for one's sick parents. This is contrary to God's commands in Ex 20:12 AMP “ Regard (treat with honor

    Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Psalm42:5-6" Why  art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?  hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his  countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore  will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites,  from the hill Mizar."         The word 'Jordan' is a word in the Hebrew which means to descend , to go downwards, to fall , and  Hermonites means 'Peaks '  and Mizar is a word which means petty in size or number.  These three words are an expression of the three phases in human life, namely,  the peak of a person's progress , the period of a downturn or downsizing and when there is little progress. We may not be able to stop these circumstances  from taking place but we can control how we respond to them.       The Christian life is full of ups and downs by virtue of the fact that as humans our carnal nature often interfere with God's will re

!   Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi      2kings 14:5-6 "And it came to pass,  as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his hand, that he slew his  servants which had slain the king his father. But the children of the  murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the  book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying, The  fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be  put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for  his own sin."           The theology that says God places curses on children because of the sins of their parents and ancestors is unfounded . This theology is derived from a misinterpretation of Exodus 34:7 "Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. "        The context of this