Good-life Daily Devotional

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)’ .  This verse of scripture demonstrates 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 s...

  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 the death of some  things in our lives is necessary for improvement in life. The corn of wheat is typical of the gifts (knowledge, experience, talents, skills, material resources) we have received from 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. Serving God comes with great losses and pain .     ...

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’  and it 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 sentence to a life of penury and perpetual misery based on what they have observed in the lives 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 ...

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 the relationship between 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 r...

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi    “… And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he  also is a son of Abraham … . ”  Luke 19:2-9              In Mark 10 : 17-21 Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and give to the poor, the reason being that he had more value for material wealth than for God. His life was centred on making money instead of on God . You will notice nothing was spoken of his family because such a life results in failed families . Money had become this man's god. Such persons easily take offense whenever money is mentioned for the purpose of benevolence and missionary work.        Zacchaeus was very rich and was despised by the poor , probably because he was a tax collector, an occupation that attracts more foes than friends . It is also common to see the rich being relegated to the background i...

By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi Mark 10:49 NIV “Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you."               The world’s belief system runs contrary to God’s principles of faith and thrives on rebellion and oppression. It celebrates those who make a mockery of the sacred and vilifies defenders of the Christian faith. God's kind of Faith is volitional, intellectual and emotional ; expressed through positive emotional outbursts like the blind man in Mark 10:43-48.The world considers this offensive.            The life of  faith in Christ is laterally inverted and diametrically opposed to the popular worldview (Eph2:2)It is like running against the crowd in a marathon race. A lot of people have missed out on their purpose and the reward of a fulfilled life by trying to please the crowd: such ...

   By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi    Matt 20:23“And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.”      The Greek word for the phrase ‘ye  shall drink’  is “pino”  it means to “imbibe” Merriam -Webster's dictionary defines  it as :  to receive into the mind and retain as moral principles, assimilate or take into solution like a sponge absorbs moisture _      As Christ’s disciples, we will indeed be plunged into the same sufferings that He experienced.          Suffering is part of the Christian life, it is caused by(1) God (trials) (2)Self: as a consequence of disobedience and(3) Satan(temptation). Regardless of its origin sufferings end up working out f...