Good-life Daily Devotional

  By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi 1 Kings 3:8-9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" NIV    The word ‘discern’ is the Hebrew word  ‘ biyn ‘  it means ; to separate mentally (or distinguish), i.e.(generally) understand: King Solomon had just taken the mantle of leadership from his father King David, he had received the best training academically and knew an academic certificate was not a guarantee for  successful living. Some of the most impoverished countries in the world have some of the highest concentration of highly educated individuals, an example is my country Nigeria with the highest concentration of tertiary degree certificate holders in Africa and yet among countries with the lowest living standards despite the abundance of human and natural resources. Same in marriages : a high educational qualification is no guarantee for a successful marriage . Marita

  By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi      Matt 7:22-23 KJV “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”       It is interesting to know that prophets and miracle workers who are often celebrated are at the risk of not making heaven along with persons who do not meet with God’s standard for salvation. There greatest undoing is the misconception of the principle of salvation by grace, where human effort is of no relevance but an absolute trust in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross.        The prophetic office is sacred and it demands very strict discipline. Elisha refused an offering from a highly-placed foreign public officer (2kings5:16) a rare occurrence among today’s prophets with their claims of working in the so-called ‘anointing for high favour’ contrary t

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi Matt 24:30 TLB “And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”               There have been so many speculations about the second coming of Christ by religious scholars especially from the world’s three major religions Judaism, Islam and Christianity. While most Jews reject Jesus Christ(Romans 9:31,10:3), they look forward to the coming of their messiah however, Muslims believe Jesus Christ is alive and is with God  “Indeed I will take you (away) and lift you up to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve…” (Quran 3:55) .They also believe in the second coming of Christ, this is written in (Quran 3:45-46)  “God gives you tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be Jesus Christ, son of Mary….who are nearest (to God).  He shall speak to the people in infa

  By  Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi  L uke 17:15-16NIV  ‘ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him —  and he was a Samaritan. ’      Thanksgiving is the highest display of worship anyone could ever give to God. It is an acknowledgement of His  trustworthiness and praiseworthiness which is the differentiating factor between Jehovah; the creator of the universe and man-made gods.    J esus takes it personal when this simple act of appreciation is ignored by believers like the ones in Luke17:11-18. Though healing is free, miracles are very effective witnessing tools they build the faith of those we share our testimonies with .            Testimonies have another benefit to the testifier; the scripture says in Luke 17:19 KJV  … .your faith hath  made thee whole … . The word Greek  ‘ sozo ’   describes the compound word  ‘ made the whole   ‘ : it means to   ‘ preserve ’ .   The fellow who testified and g

   By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi  1 Corinthians 13:9KJV " For we know in part, and we prophesy in part."         A Prophesy is a declaration of God's divine will and righteous purpose . 2Timothy 3:16-17 says, they are profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought and action), So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.  Prophets uphold the moral standards of a society.  Thus, prophesies must align with objective and logical faith in order to be valid as truth from God.        God does not contradict Himself neither does His word . Therefore , a prophet must be well grounded in God's written word to avoid misleading his or her audience. God reveals Himself through His word , 1 Samuel 3:21KJV says " And .... the Lord revealed himself to

    By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi John 11:44 "And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go."             Lazarus' death is so unique in that God's plans for the resurrection of the dead in Christ was revealed in that moment to Jesus' followers. Jesus described Himself as being the resurrection and the life to his disciples (John11:25) prior to this event,  Jesus had earlier demonstrated His ability to raise the dead in  ( luke7:11-16).  The fact that we shall be resurrected after physical death is profound and it is the core of the Christian faith.         The resurrection power of the risen and glorified Christ is already at work in the life of believers. It is evident in the various testimonies of miraculous restoration experienced by believers the world over. This is part of the benefits of the newness of life inherent in practicing the Christ-

       By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi         John 11:38-39 NKJV” Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone."        The Greek word that is translated "groaning" is the word  ‘Embrimaomai’   , it means - to snort with anger ;sigh with chagrin; to have indignation on or to blame .It also means to straightly charge or murmur against. These adverbs expressed Jesus’ state of mind as he confronted the powers that held Lazarus bound in the grave and that's the same way he feels about your situation .  Faith working by love for God is all that is needed for miracles to take place.  Attributing a misfortune to God;s punishment closes the door on faith for the miraculous. It is a demonstration of doubt . Our unbelief gives Satan the advantage over us and this was why Jesus groaned  . Misfortunes are consequent on violating universal laws. These have within them punitive power against

  By Rev  Michael Benson Ajayi John 11:11 NIV “ After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."          The lord Jesus received information from a messenger saying Lazarus -a dear friend of His- was terminally ill and a day later, the messenger returned to Bethany. Unscathed by the news, Jesus continued on His missionary work for a whole day thereafter, He departed for Bethany and on arrival His dear friend Lazarus had long died and was buried. It took four whole days from the time Jesus was informed about Lazarus’ illness to when He physically arrived at his graveside. It was intended to teach us that no matter how discouraging the circumstances might appear, situations are subject to change .God is not bound by human deadlines . Eventually Lazarus was raised from the dead and presented to his family (John 11:1-16).          The death of Lazarus was spoken of as ‘sleep’; however, the disciples ear

       By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi    Luke 14:16-17 NIV Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'           God’s will is for humanity to dwell with Him in His kingdom in perfect harmony for eternity. It is a place of celebration and rejoicing in everlasting peace and unlimited joy  . It is symbolized in the parable of the marriage feast in Luke 14:16-24 were an open ticket has been issued to all and sundry without any exception. The beauty of this invitation is that all expenses have been paid. The greatest tragedy that could ever befall a man is to reject this once in a lifetime opportunity (Hebrew 9:27). Many unfortunately for the fear of being accountable to a higher authority reject this offer while for some others; it is as a result of ignorance of the consequences of rejecting God’s offer.          The two

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi  John 11:26 NLT  “Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?"         It is the gross misconception of the scriptures that leads to many concluding that the bible contradicts itself. But when subjected to close scrutiny within the parameters of reasonable or logical faith , the contrary is the case. Most readers of the bible read it without considering that scriptures are interrelated, thus we need scripture to understand scripture and by interpreting biblical concepts with biblical concepts and reading meaning out of scriptures (exegesis) not meaning into scriptures (Eisegesis) we get a better understanding of a given text.                    The above scripture is not referring to people never experiencing physical death. There is no evidence of anyone who did not experience a transition into the realm of the spirit because they believed in God. The cases of Elijah and Moses are often cited by mystics

    By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  GOD WILL PAY BACK   Matt 18:6 NIV” But if anyone causes one of these little ones who belname in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”         God never overlooks the oppression of His children .You are very precious to Him. The defense of God’s people is part of God’s righteous qualities, 2 Thess 1:6 “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;” Anyone who troubles you is inviting divine justice .       The early church suffered so much persecution especially by the religious bigots led by Saul whose name was changed to Paul after his conversion .While on His way to persecute the Christians in Damascus the Lord Jesus said, "Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?" Acts 9:4 NLT Jesus sees the persecution of the saints as an attack on His person. He feels your pains. It may take a little while but be rest as