Good-life Daily Devotional

   By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi     “Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight.”  James 1:20. “Don’t be in a hurry to go to court you might go down before your neighbours in shameful defeat.” Prov. 25:8 LB.        The near success syndrome is the habit of failing at the edge of breakthrough and this is often as a result of the absence of finishing power born of out of deep-seated anger.  Anger could be described as a strong feeling of displeasure and usually of opposition toward someone or something.It is often brought about by real or imagined injury, rage, fury, wrath. Anger is a broad term that applies to various levels of emotion that may or may not be shown and if not controlled ,it results in temper, which is ‘the tendency to be easily angered.      God’s word warns us against yielding to anger and wrath. The inability to control the temper has placed many persons in very embarrassing situations. Spouses have abandoned marriages only to regret such actions because of

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi   " In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards. For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains. They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord , and their children, too, will be blessed." Isaiah 65:21‭-‬23 NLT Bible      The labour of the righteous is blessed of the Lord despite the disappointments we may encounter along the way . The world believes truth is not rewarding therefore , compromise in one's righteous stands is more desirable and celebrated . The world rewards those who disregard the truth of God's word and as such believers tend to be discouraged . We should not , pay day is coming .      Regardless of the outcome , the lord would want us to know that he will e

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Matt 6:22 KJV “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” Matt 6:19-24        The word ‘single’ is the Greek word ‘ Haplous’ which means: folded together , clear . It is used figuratively to mean a healthy eye which by the context of the narrative means to be generous. The text centers on the risk of materialism (seeking possessions). Unfortunately, it has always been used by preachers to mean being focused on a task, Christians were discouraged from developing multitask capabilities for fear of being labeled as not being focused . Before you would have finished reading this message you must have changed focus several times from one item to another.       The theology of being focused has caused more harm than good among God’s people. Preachers who are gifted in certain areas of life (business, arts etc.) have to abandon these potentially rewarding ventures in a bid to appear focused before th

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi 2 Chronicles 18:4-5 AMP "And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Inquire first, I pray you, for the word of the Lord today. So King [Ahab] of Israel gathered together the prophets, 400 men, and said to them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up, for God will deliver it into the king's hand."         Ahab, the king of Israel ,was at war with Samaria and he sought to make an alliance with Jehoshaphat  ;king of  Judah whom the lord had shown extraordinary favour by given him victory over his enemies.  Jehoshaphat had a tradition of always seeking God’s counsel before embarking on major projects as commanded by the Lord ( Matthew 6:33).              Ahab on the other hand  had no passion for God's word and no personal relationship with God,  he was rich , arrogant, presumptuous and was willing to buy his way through any situation.  He only sought God through intermediaries only when he was in need

  Rev Michael Benson Ajayi    Matt 20:12 KJV ” Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day”.         Many persons are of the notion that God has favorites among His children upon whom He has bequeathed special gifting or grace than others, thus making these persons the standard for the measurement of success.This theology opens the door for the systematic indoctrination and manipulation of God’s people by so-called “super apostles" ( 2Cor.11:5) like the apostle Peter: the first general overseer of the church of Christ ;he was for a moment friendly with the non- Jewish Christians who were traditionally considered as unclean and outcasts by the religious Jews. In the absence of his fellow Jews, Peter ate freely with these non -Jews but whenever he was amongst his tribesmen he treated these non- Jews as outcasts and inferior to the chagrin of apostle Paul who was quick to reprimand him for his hy

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Deuteronomy 8:18NKJV "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."     Apostle Paul declares in Romans.1:16"..the gospel is the power of God to salvation for all that believe." The word 'salvation' is the Greek word 'soteria' which means to be rescued, saving,healthy. God wants you to be emotionally, physically and financially healthy       The power to prosper and be in good health is contained in God's word and meditating on the scriptures daily breaks the stronghold of poverty which exists in the human mind  (Joshua1:8, 2Cor.10:4-5). Poverty is the lack of creativity . The most prosperous nations are the most creative. The anointing for prosperity stimulates the ability for creativity in God's people.          It is God's plan for you to prosper in every way (3John2:1). The scr

. Michael Benson Ajayi 2 Kings 7:2 NKJV “ So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing  be? And he said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it."    The nation of Samaria was going through a terrible economic recession with people resorting to cannibalism to escape hunger and when they cried to the lord He sent a prophet (a symbol of divine authority) Elisha to the rescue and by the leading of the Holy Spirit he made this declaration in 2 Kings 7:1 NKJV “… Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord:'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.'" it meant the most expensive food item will be affordable to the poorest persons in the land within 24hours.This was an impossible task by man ’s ability but with God all things are possible.    

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi John 15:5 KJV “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”       God wants us to live a fruitful life, it is not His will for anyone to be barren or suffer loss therefore no form of unfruitfulness should be attributed to Him. God’s word gives us the key to fruitfulness: like tree branches ,we have been engrafted into Jesus Christ who is the source of life from where we draw virtue and nutrients by faith. If the tree (Jesus Christ) cannot be barren then the branches cannot be unfruitful.            The word  ‘abideth’ is the Greek word ‘meno’ which means to stay in a given place or state in expectancy .This is faith in action:it is the total reliance on God. It is a demonstration of our loyalty to Him and an acknowledgment of His trustworthiness.  This is our title- deed to whatever we desire of Him according to his will            Jesus always attributed mirac

  Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi  "After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face. I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that! But whatever they dare to boast about—I’m talking like a fool again—I dare to boast about it, too."  2 Corinthians 11:19‭-‬21 NLT Bible       "Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy. So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless. So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. Fo

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi              John 6:53 KJV  “ Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. ” John 6:63, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."         Over 60% of Jesus' followers walked out on Him because He said that our spirit, not our flesh, is where our life comes from. This is the meaning of the holy communion. The disciples described it as hard sayings because it was contrary to what  religion teaches.             They had a carnal approach in their pursuit of  God's righteousness. It involved ritualistic animal sacrifices and cleansing which they have been practicing for forty-two generations (Matt 1:17) ;it was  over a thousand years of going through the motions. They failed to understand that longevity does not   translate to authenticity. An error doe

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi     Matt 15:13-14  “ And he replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ”         The scriptures describes the exodus of the Jews from Egypt in Exodus 12:38 KJV  “ And a mixed multitude  went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. ”  The word  ‘ mixed ’  is the Hebrew word `ereb ’  which means Arabia or the mongrel race. God loved them even when they did not know him and he had no covenant with them and their influence on the Israelites marred their journey to the promise land. They were predominantly idol worshipers and Israel soon got caught up in the act of idol worshiping.               The same scenario played out on the day of Pentecost in Acts 1:6 the Apostle Peter described the crowd that were gathered as  ‘ Men ’  and  ‘ Brethren ’ . The church has persons with a personal agenda. There are those who profess Christ openly but are not  committed to Him in anyway (Matthews15:8). They hav

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi. 1 Cor 9:18-21 NLT “Under this circumstance, what is my pay? It is the special joy I get from preaching the Good News without expense to anyone, never demanding my rights. And this has a real advantage: I am not bound to obey anyone just because he pays my salary; yet I have freely and happily become a servant of any and all so that I can win them to Christ. When I am with the Jews I seem as one of them so that they will listen to the Gospel and I can win them to Christ. When I am with Gentiles who follow Jewish customs and ceremonies I don't argue, even though I don't agree, because I want to help them.  When with the heathen I agree with them as much as I can, except of course that I must always do what is right as a Christian. And so, by agreeing, I can win their confidence and help them too.”       Here the Apostle Paul shows what it takes to be an effective disciple of Christ: adaptation and respect for individual rights and liberties without co

  By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi.  1 Cor 3:3-4 KJV “… for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?        Tolerance is a willingness to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own. : the ability to accept, experience, or survive something harmful or unpleasant. In the Bible patience, long-suffering, forbearance are closely linked to tolerance with others.         There are over a hundred thousand tribes and cultures around the world ; each struggling for survival and seeking prominence , therefore, it is no wonder that there seem to be divisions among God’s people as a result of the variance  in traditional values. It is for that reason that Jesus instituted the law of sacrificial love for one’s neighbor even as He loved us: it is the only law to be followed by all believers of Jesus Christ.  Customs and traditions of men a

  By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Dan 6:18 NIV “ Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep. ”          Daniel was among the captives taken to Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C where he served in the government for about sixty years ; he served in four administrations with four kings and was the envy of all. In their jealousy his coworkers  mounted a campaign of calumny against him and though they searched for a flaw in his character, they could not come up with any damnable evidence .Daniel was conscientious in his duty and was adjudged wise, faithful and meticulous.             Through daily prayers and meditation on God ’ s Word he lived a disciplined life. We are admonished to render service not for accolades but as a duty towards God. The scriptures says in Ephesians 6:5-7 AMP  “ Servants , be obedient to those who are your physical masters, having respect for them and eage

    Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  Prov. 18:22 “Whosoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favour of the Lord”          Marriage is God's plan for a godly family .  The Christian family is a microcosm of God's family with the husband representing the heavenly Father , the wife :Christ and the children :the body of believers. God's family is a homogeneous indivisible entity.   God places much premium on the family because it is how nations are formed. Stability in a nation starts with stable families: the result of a godly man being married to a godly woman. Sad families produce bitter citizens and an unstable country therefore, nation building and stability begins at the family level.          A godly woman is gracious and honorable (Proverbs. 11:16)  honours elders ,this is usually the first thing you' will notice about a godly woman ,  she recognizes the blessing in greetings and salutations (Luke 1:41)       She makes her husband proud ,. Proverbs 12:4 NLT say