Good-life Daily Devotional

John 10:34 "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"         Man exists in a finite (measurable) realm while God exist in the infinite (immeasurable) realm, this makes it difficult for the finite mind to have a firm grasp of the infinite. If God created the universe (including the knowledge of science, space and time) at a particular time, it is only logical to say that He must have existed before the existence of space , time and scientific knowledge. He is bigger than the boundless universe. And He created everything for a purpose to fulfill an ultimate goal.   Rev 4:11 TLB ….” for you have created all things. They were created and called into being by your act of will." They were created according to the law of “systems”.          A system is  a set of detailed methods, procedures and routines created to carry out a specific activity and perform a duty, or solve a problem. I...

      Acts 10:22 KJV” And   they said , Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was   warned   from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.”     There is a thin line between the practice of man-made religion and true worship in the church of Christ. Except when analyzed under a scriptural microscope, one may not know the difference. There are two types of error , one that is deliberate and born out of ignorance and the other not deliberate, sincere and born out of a lack of proper guidance. Cornelius’ error falls into the second category. Both errors are easily hidden under a religious camouflage in our churches.      Cornelius could have easily passed for what we may refer to as a faithful- brother- in- the –lord, considering his visible qualities. He was a successful military carrier office...

        You cannot get the best out of any relationship except there is an irrevocable degree of commitment from all parties concerned whether in business or a marriage setting. The amount of joy, peace and stability we experience is directly proportional to the decree of our commitment to Christ. God desires to have one-of-a-kind intimate relationship founded on trust and understanding with you and He will not play second fiddle with anyone. We regularly reevaluate our relationships with people on the bases  of opportunity cost and when a person isn’t making meaningful contributions to our lives we relegate them to the background, the reason being that every relationship will cost us something to maintain. Likewise is the pursuit of a wholesome relationship with God (luke 9:62). Our faithfulness to God determines our commitment to our partners. God detests a partial commitment; its either one is in or out. (Rev.3:15-16)      ...

Luke 12:42 NLT” And the Lord replied, "A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them”.       Whenever the owner of an estate writes a will, an administrator is appointed to manage or distribute his wealth according to the owner’s desire, he cannot act outside the dictate of the will .      Traders in the money market have the liberty to trade which ever way they deem fit but remain accountable to the funds owners. Likewise an  estate administrator is expected to be faithful as the scriptures says 1 Cor 4:2-3 NLT ”Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful                    We are stewards of God’s resources ( talents, wealth, abilities, spiritual gifts) and He expects us to be accountable to Him .   1 Cor 4:1-2 ...

Luke 12:48TLB "But anyone who is not aware that he is doing wrong will be punished only lightly. Much is required from those to whom much is given, for their responsibility is greater ”            One of the questions we often contend with is that of the fate of our ancestors and those who did not have the opportunity of receiving the gospel before their death, does it imply they are to be neglected in the execution of God ’ s judgment.  Will it be fair for these groups of persons to be sent to  hell for not believing in Jesus Christ even when they never heard the gospel and  what about those persons in the outermost parts of the earth who may never hear the gospel preached to them , what becomes of them? .        The above scripture teaches about the principle of equity in the administration of divine justice. It speaks of the varying degrees of God's judgment in propor...

Prov 3:13 “Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding”.       Wisdom is simply making right choices. It entails being at the right place at the right time with the right people doing the right thing. The end result of wisdom is the fulfillment of one’s expectations and happiness. Wisdom is a divine virtue emanating from a personal intercourse with the spirit of God. Wisdom is supreme . It is the binding force of joyful relationships and guarantees sustainability in businesses and communities that is why the scriptures says    Prov 4:7” Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding”.      Most individuals neglect the indispensability of wisdom in their relationships and set out to build their marriages, relationships on other virtues such as love .We may feel good for a while but soon pay the price for neglecting wisdom. One of the ironies ...

Mathew 20:24-28"And  when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the  two brethren. But Jesus called them  unto him, and said,  Ye know  that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and  they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not  be so among you : but whosoever will be great among you, let him be  your minister;  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be  your servant:  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered  unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."       The word dominion as used here is the Greek word 'katakurieuo'  which means to lord against, i.e. control, subjugate, overcome. It was first mentioned in Genesis 1:26&28 where the first human Adam was given dominion over God’s creation. It never included humans as there were none other than Adam and one cannot exercise dominion over oneself.  Th...

Luke 13:16” This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn't it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?"      It is false theology to say God sometimes uses evil such as sicknesses ,poverty and diseases to teach His people valuable lessons. This obviously portrays Him as an evil task master and it runs contrary to His nature as benevolent and all-good. The bible says in Exo.15:26 “..i am the Lord that heals you.” It does not say ‘I am the Lord that makes you sick’ Sicknesses are the work of Satan - not the work of God. Satan had bound (not blessed) this woman, a daughter of Abraham by her permission for eighteen years. Satan capitalizes on the ignorance of men to afflict them .This woman did not know that a good health was part of her inheritance.   God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea4:6);.          We cannot teach on the grace for well-being in th...

  Matt 18:6 NIV” But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe 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 ...

Mark 12:25 "For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.        Heaven is a spiritual and tangible reality just as real as the invisible but yet tangible internet superhighway or the human consciousness are and is often described (through the idea of an elevation) as "the sky; heaven as the abode of God"; by implication, a state of "happiness; power; an eternity."           The bible describes the condition of people there in Rev 21:4 AMP ” God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.” No more deceits, heartbreaks, emotional garbage, it is totally beyond human description  because " eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart o...

Matthew 22:23 "The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,”        When a corn seed is planted, it goes into a process of complete decay and something amazing happens: out of the decayed material emerges a new crop according to its genetic code. The genetic code did not die with the other parts of the seed. If it did something else would have emerged.  This is one of the many mysteries of life on earth and it gives us a clue of what happens at death.Resurrection means "to come alive again."         Life is a cycle. Dan 12:2 TLB "And many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” . Human beings consist of three parts - a spirit, a soul, and a body (1 Th.5:23). The body is mortal while the spirit and soul are immortal. It is just like a mobile phone which consists of three par...

  Matt 22:12 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. NIV         By Jewish tradition, the father of the bride looked forward to his daughter’s wedding as it was an opportunity to show off his wealth and this involved making exotic  clothing for the guests, he never left anything to chance.  This made both poor and rich appear indistinguishable to observers, therefore,  a refusal to wear the clothes provided  was seen as a deliberate attempt to humiliate the families of both bride and groom especially if such guests were brought from the highway as in this parable . That's the concept behind what Nigerians refer to as Asoebi       The etymology of the human clothing is traceable to the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve  traded the divine clothing of God’s righteousness for that of rebellion born out of selfishness. Lik...

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Matt 22:19-21Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius,  and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"  "Caesar's," they replied.Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."          The religious extremists of Jesus’ time thought of many ways by which they could truncate His ministry and in one instance they hatched the idea of setting a cultural trap by asking this very dishonest question . The inscription on the coin was Ceaser’s  claim to divinity and as emperor. Ceaser desired to be worshiped.On the contrary , Jews are God’s chosen people who were being oppressed by a Roman army which was financed through the paying of taxes. Therefore, the paying of taxes by a Jew of which Jesus was by genealogy was indirectly financing the oppression of God’s people thus, compromising the Jew’s claim to holiness. The refusal to pay ...

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Matt 21:32” For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”         The religious Jews of Jesus’ time were self opinionated and struggled with self righteousness mainly due to their genealogical links with Abraham and the fact that the ten commandments was given by God to the Jews through Moses. They imagined nobody had the authority to instruct them in matters about God therefore, the religious leaders rejected Jesus’ authority.                 Jesus through the above parable revealed God's rejection of the Jews in response to their rejection of His Son and that it was those who do the will of God who are actually the ones invested with God's authority to represent Him on earth. These leaders were known for disobeying the laws of Moses and were ...

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Mark 11:22-23 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. NIV        To better understand what it means to believe, just imagine meeting a friend whom you have not seen for ten years and he invites you to a circus show where he works as a stunt man. He pleads with you to be his assistant in a stunt that involves shooting an apple placed on a person’s head with a high caliber pistol while blindfolded. He requests that you place the apple on your head while promising that you won get shot.   If you believe him, you will gladly place the apple on your head. The same is with God, if you are not willing to put your life on the line for Him, then you don’t believe in God. To doubt God is equal to calling Him a liar and untrustworthy. .     ...

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Mark 11:20-21 “In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.  Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" NIV         The disciples were surprised to see how quick it took for the tree to wither. The previous day Jesus Christ had sought for food from the tree but found none and he placed a curse on the tree and by morning it withered.  The tree began to die from the roots up. It died instantly just as Jesus said, and it was a process that was not visible from the roots until the next morning.         This is typical of the process involving the manifestation of the miraculous when we pray. A similar situation was played out when Jesus prayed for the healing of the boy in Mark 9:26-27NIV” The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead."  But Jesus...

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new." 2Corinthians 5.17 Bible     The very moment you receive Jesus Christ as lord and saviour ,your old life and identity abruptly comes to an end and now everything is new in Christ. Everything from your old life (failures, heartbreaks, curses, hopelessness, rejection, slavery etc) has ended and all things have become new. It is likened to what happens when a woman gets married and changes her surname. She undergoes a radical transformation in status.    The bible isn't talking about our natural life but our spiritual (the human rational soul -by implication- vital principle or mental disposition) life. It is like changing a mobile phone SIM card and software from an inefficient to a super efficient phone network, though the phone remains the same but there is an internal transformation leading to an increase ...

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Memory verse Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel .." Simple steps on how to sell yourself to your audience as a preacher of the gospel.      Ask questions in every discussion as a way of showing interest in your audience (Prov. 18:13.) People easily show interest in us when we are interested in them .     Learn to be a good listener , it tells your audience you have respect for them amd gives you a better insight of the topic on ground (Jam 1:19) . People easily pay attention to us when they observe how much resect we've shown them by listening to their point of view.    Allow them to express themselves freely without restrictions ,when we allow people speak their heart freely it gives us an oppotunity to really know their state of mind. It gives us the oppotunity to identify the weaknesses in their belief system ,this is important in building an argument against wrong theology and philosophies (Prov. 20:5, Mat...

 By Rev . Michael Benson Ajayi        Mathew 4:19  Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men           Jesus gave “the Great Commission” to all Christians. We are called to reconcile men back to God. The  scriptures  says in  2 Cor 5:18-19 TLB  "All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him". We were saved on purpose to fulfill a divine purpose . Jesus said in   Mark 16:15 TLB " And then he told them, "You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.    Acts 1.8 NLT says  " But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection." ...

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi Gal 3:28” There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”        Jewish preference in the administration of the daily sacrifices in the temple as prescribed in the laws of Moses made non-Jews appear inferior to the Jews. It was a crime for a non-Jew to enter Jewish  designated areas in the temple, it carried the death penalty.        Jesus changed all this during His earthly ministry as seen in His meeting with the Canaanite woman in Matt.15:22 and gentles in John 12:21 .Jesus accommodated people of all nations and culture    .               His death, resurrection and eventual universal  rule   broke dow n the middle wall of partition between the religious and the non religious people of the world. The physical wall of partition was indicative of the division in the temple in Je...

By   Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Luke 16:19-31"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried....."        There is life after death as portrayed in this narrative by Jesus Christ of a real event . It is easy to logically deduce this if we consider the fact that  i f today is yesterday’s future then it means tomorrow is today’s future and so on through eternity. It is the activities within a time frame that defines the period of an event for example; a wedding anniversary date is defined by the wedding that took place on that date. It therefore follows that for every existing time frame there must be an event, even eternity. Based on this logic, there must be an afterlife since time has no end or else there won’t be eternity.            There is no transition period or dimension  where souls are kept frozen for a futuristic resurrection of our b...

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi Luke 18:21    "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. NIV         The young man’s claims about keeping the commandments where obviously  untrue and yet Jesus did not condemn him for it.    No human being can keep the 613 commandments of Moses. Those folks who derive joy from intimidating others with their piety while claiming to keep the commandments have simply devised an ingenious way to conceal lies and deceit under the cloak of organized religion but not for long  Eccl 7:20”There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” this includes Revs,bishops,primates,archbishops,deacons,imams,gurus,pastors, daddy G.Os etc.       Jesus tested the young religious businessman on the area of priorities: God is to be put above all in our lives at all time s . Ex 20:3 NIV , and also on covetousness, the law says "Thou shall not covet..." (Ex....

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound"; Isa 61:1NKJV"          The best time to build human character is during c hildhood. humans are very  impressionable at this point of our lives due to less responsibilities. Through cognitive recognition we develop the skills of choice making, however , this is however hampered if a child grows up in an abusive environment. Such children grow up to become adults with a lot of distrust used as survival skills from past hurts and see hurting others as a normal way of life.  Hurting people are adapted to pain, such persons are blind to true love.     The gospel of Jesus Christ gives peace to the hurting and heals them wherever they hurt;and by remov...