The Oscar Ajoku Blog: Daily Vitamin Devotional

DAILY VITAMIN - Live While You Still Can "Vanity upon vanity; all is vanity" (Eccl 1:2) Is everything truly meaningless? Maybe; maybe not. But definitely not the rare moments that made you smile even when nothing around could dare you to. Those aren't vain. Those are the stuff of dreams. And even Solomon knew that sometimes these are the only things we can truly get out of a life that appears gruesome that makes it worth it all. So I'll tell you this: We spend our entire lives trying to understand what life is really all about. We are told a lot of things from the day we are born, at school, and with each new person we meet but at the end of it all realize that these definitions don't just cut it. There's still an emptiness that oftentimes stays, because we've only been seeing a crescent, and never the whole. We've never been full. We've played a part, but never lived because somehow we always feel that way. Like a fish on land. So still the asking...

- Getting Found By God "You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him." (Hebrews 11:6 TLB) We talk a lot about finding God, but never about being found by God. And this is because it always begs the question of "why do I have to worry about that when God is omniscient and all-seeing?" Well, it is important that I tell you about this today, because being found by God is more than just about He knowing your geographical location per time. Even an ordinary GPS can do that. Rather it's more of Him recognizing how aligned you are to His ways. In the above scripture, we are told that we cannot please God without faith. In verse 1 of the same chapter, the writer tells us what faith is: an evidence, a substance that legitimizes belief as occurrence and in response actualizes it. But then you'd notice that we are also told that it ...

    DAILY VITAMIN  - Who Are You Trying To Please? "With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." (Ephesians 6:7) If I may ask, why are you a Christian? Really I want to know, because I've figured a lot of people don't even know why they are what they are. A lot presume they are Christians because it's the only way to not get judged by their family members who are predominantly Christians. For some, it's because they don't want to go to hell. But as nice as that sounds, it's wrong. Being a Christian is beyond just pleasing people or avoiding hell. These come with the actions we take as Christians, at least the latter surely will.  Anyway, being Christian is first about knowing God. Knowing Christ Himself. Peter says all the virtues and glory of this life comes from that knowledge (2 Peter 1:3). Paul showed that this was all that mattered when he said "That I may know Him..." (Philippians 3:10). So the aim of being Christian i...

DAILY VITAMIN - Overcoming Worry "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14:1) The remedy to worry is faith.  Trusting that everything will be as God said it would be. If you notice you'd see that I never referred to how you feel, because your feelings will betray you. The reason why you worry in the first place is because of your feelings. Your natural response to all the stimuli affecting you right now. You're sad because you feel everything is choking you. And you're happy when you feel you are beginning to sense relief. It's all about your feelings. But now, I'm talking about something that goes beyond feelings. Something that is constant regardless of what happens around you. And that's faith. The scripture calls faith the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). It's like a promissory note that assures you that your bill will be paid no matter what you order. Faith i...

  DAILY VITAMIN - God Is Able  "...for God is able to graff them in again" (Romans 11:23) In our theme scripture, Paul was speaking about the Jesus and how they had fallen out of grace because of their unbelief. However, he added that despite this God was able to bring them in again into the fold. Jesus spoke about the same in parables. Using the prodigal son, the lost coin and the lost sheep, He showed how God never gives up entirely on anyone, because as Paul wrote His desire is to have all men saved (1 Tim 2:4). This is why I'm here to share a piece of good news with you. You see that husband or wife of yours that seems to be chaos walking. A disaster, a drunk or a loose personality etc, God is able to graff them in again and give them a new lease of life. That child of yours that goes around with the thugs of society, God is able to make something out of him or her. Jesus said He didn't come for the righteous but for sinners; for compassionate out of touch with th...

  DAILY VITAMIN - You Are Blessed "Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3) Your headedness status was settled long ago. It's in past tense. "...who has blessed us..." It's not something He's planning to do, or something your cries and prayers will make Him do. It's a plan He's already prepared for us who will come be in Christ. Verse 5 says this is because He had already predestined us to be HIS children even before we were born. So God's agenda to change your story today isn't anything new. In fact, it's old news; settled long before you came into this world. Little wonder Isaiah said eyes have not seen what the Lord has prepared for those who love and wait for Him (Isaiah 64:4). Those who are the called according to His purpose. Because as Paul would write, those He predestined He called, and those He called He justified and g...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Going After The Lord With All Your Heart "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) If there's one secret formula to success with God, it is having a heart that is sold out to Him. God personally pointed this out when He bragged about Job - a man whom He had blessed in every way - as a man perfect in his ways. The same thing Hanani said to Asa: "the eyes of the LORD goes to and fro...on behalf of them whose heart are perfect toward Him." (2 Chro 16:9). When your heart is completely given to God such that you go wherever He goes and desist from whatever He does as well, you guarantee yourself a place that many men seek to have. A place of absolute of peace and favour with God and man. This was Jesus' secret - going about the Father's business till it became His personal business. Is that how you see your walk with God too? As a necessity for living? If yes, then congratulations...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - You Have Power In Your Tongue "Thou shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways." (Job 22:28) Every believer has a regenerated spirit; meaning a living and active spirit. A spirit that's in constant sync with God. So therefore, His abilities are oftentimes transmitted to these believers through their spirit man. That's why David said "Not unto us" (Psalm 115:1). We are beacons of these great abilities but He is the source. As David also put it, in His light we have light (Psalm 36:9). And one of these abilities we possess is the unction to make things happen.  The scripture tells us that God calls the dead alive and by His words they live (Roman's 4:17). In the same way, He has given us the liberty to make things happen. In Matthew 18, Jesus said whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what we loose here shall be loosed over there too (v. 18). What this mean...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - What Does It Mean To Fear God? "O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him." (Psalm 34:9) What does it mean to fear God? Does it mean we ought to always shudder at the sound of His Name like the Israelites in the wilderness? If that's what God wanted, Jesus would never have taught us to call Him Father. We are His children; and children do not fear their parents; at least not in the way you think unless you were assaulted as a kid. In a father-child relationship, that fear is translated to reverence, honour and love. So a child do not get scared before the father, but respects, honours and loves him for his role in their lives as biological creator and physical protector, provider and guide.  Similarly, the fear of the Lord is to honour God, to respect Him and to love Him. What this means is that we put Him first. We think of Him first. We consider His word first. And we seek His way first in everything we do. To fear Him...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Destined For Glory "...and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Roman's 8:30) Prior to that verse, Paul was trying to explain how things always work together for the good of those who are the called according to His purpose. Well, guess what? You are the called. I am. Jesus said no one can come to Him except the Father draws him or her (John 6:44). A process Peter describes as being called forth  out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9). So as many of us who are now saved were called out of darkness to His marvelous light; and so our theme scripture applies to us. Therefore, know that God has a life of glory packaged for you. A life of possibilities and change of story experiences. It may look like that's not possible judging from your present situation, but it isn't, believe me.  Let me tell you a story: There was a time I was out of a job for more than a year. I had no money, and each day my worries grew...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Faith Trumps Over Fear  "They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abides forever" (Psalm 125:1) There is only one proven way to overcome fear, and that is by putting a greater confidence in an entity you believe is superior to whatever scares you. For instance, consider a poor man who is jobless, broke and without a contingency, he's going to be scared to his bones whenever the mortgage payment is due. However, he stops being afraid of not being able to make payment the moment he gets notified he's won the lottery. He may not have the money in the bank just yet, but knowing the sum.won can swallow whatever challenges might be posed against him gives him the audacity to sleep with both eyes closed.  Nevertheless, there is a source of confidence more reliable than the lottery, and things even wealth can't fully surmount. There are fears even the rich suffer; but there is a solution that overcomes all fear, a...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Always Remember That God Will Take Care Of You "For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall." (Isaiah 25:4) During a typhoon or a hurricane, people evacuate cities because there's a tendency that even the bulkiest infrastructure might be pulled down by the intensity of the storm. That's how the enemy attacks, intensely and fiercely, but in all of this, Isaiah says He stays as a strength we need to pull through the storm. He did it then, and even now He will. A songwriter says God can do it again. He has done it before. You may not know how, you may not know when but He will do it again. In other words, there's nothing you desire of God right now that He hasn't given proofs to show He can do it. The testimonies He gave you in time past is the evidence of the ones He can give you in time to...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Live As You Were Called "But ye are a chosen generation, royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9) Our theme scripture refers to every born again individual as a holy person. As such there is a certain kind of life expected of us as believers. There are things we can't and shouldn't do anymore.  You see, Christ didn't come to make us not guilty despite the things we do. No. He came to proclaim us not guilty and so that we might never do these things again. That's why you will always hear me say, we can't do the things sinners do and not expect to end up where sinners end up. The difference between the born again person and the sinner is where they stand. Sinners stand in the light, sinners in the dark. If you find yourself living still in the dark, then you're not really born again.  Paul agrees with me. H...

 DAILY VITAMIN  - As You Say It, You See It "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee..." (Job 22:28) If you knew how much power you have as a believer, you'd never belittle yourself. The scripture tells us that the same power that created the world and raised Jesus from the grave dwells richly in you. Do you know what that means? Simple. You possess the power of a world maker and a world changer within you. In other words, you can shape and reshape your world to your taste. The external world might be in chaos but your immediate world would be a haven of peace. That's how Isaiah puts it (Isaiah 60:1-3). And He also reveals how it is possible. Isaiah 61 says this is because the Spirit of the Lord is upon thee. He (the Spirit) gives spiritual credence and power to our every word. So when we talk, we aren't just talking, we are shaping possibilities. Little wonder why Paul advised us to focus only on positive thoughts (Philippians 4:8). ...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Staying Guaranteed of Rewards (2) "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth." (Deut 28:1) 3. Trust In The Lord : The Bible says no one who trusts in the Lord shall ever be put to shame (Psalm 34:22). Trusting God is the greatest proof of faith. It reflects where God stands to you in the grand schemes of things. It says that you know He is all He says He is and will bank your everything on that truth. And no man who makes God bigger than all things in his heart can ever be crowded out into obscurity. Because God will always make a place for him or her at the apex of the pyramid of honour. Proverbs 3:5-6 says that when we trust in Him, He will constantly direct us. To where? To places where rewards can be harvested. In Psalm 37, David called this position one ...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Staying Guaranteed of Rewards (1) "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:58) There is a way that guarantees you of rewards with God. If there weren't, the Father wouldn't have said of Christ "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased with". There was a reason Jesus so pleased the Father, and that reason was in His quality of service; which is also the simplest way to set yourself up for rewards (see John 12:26). Moreover, God is always eager to reward His people. But as seen in scripture, there are certain things required of us to ensure such rewards never elude us. In a single chapter of the Book of Proverbs Solomon shows us how. And in this two-part devotion, we'll be looking at what they are. 1. Honour God's Word : "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Why God Blessed You "Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them." (1 Timothy 6:18 TLB) In Jesus' words, we are made to be lights. And to live as light is to add value to the lives of those around us. Look at the sun for instance. Freely sustaining plants and animals alike. Well, we are the sun of the world as Jesus was. He sustained and still sustains. Which is what He did while on earth. He met not only the spiritual needs of people, but their primary need as well. He fed the hungry if He met them in their hunger, comforted the mourning. He was everything they needed Him to be in order to fully express the love of God. Now the same is required of us. We were blessed to be blessings to many. This is what God meant when He declared we shall lend to nations and not borrow (Deuteronomy 28:11-12). The surplus blessing...

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Let The Spirit Be Your Guide "And if you leave God's paths and go astray, you will hear a Voice behind you say, "No, this is the way; walk here." (Isaiah 30:21 TLB) If there's one thing I've chosen to do, it is never to be hypocritical. And to tell you I'm some perfect chap every minute of the day would be hypocritical because I'm not. In fact, the only reason I'm still here is because God won't let me go. He lovingly comes back to pick me up when I fall. And fall I do very often, at least within the realm of my mind, doubting and all the sorts. But He never lets me go. The Holy Spirit whispers to bring me back to the right path, and when I stubbornly won't listen He roars and drags me out of my spiritual Egypt as scripture says He does (Hosea 11:10-11, Isaiah 11:15-16). And that's why I'm still here. Not of my doing nor making but His, and that's why like David we say "Not unto me, not unto me, but unto...

  DAILY VITAMIN - Make It Count "...for this purpose came I into the world..." (John 18:37) These words of Jesus resonate with the very idea that we were not brought into this world by mistake. The idea of designation and predestination. In other words, there was a purpose that engendered your being born. There's something God has prepared you for. Like any good old product, there's a need that must be met, a demand that must be supplied.  Every producer produces against an already established need. Leaving nothing to chance; if not profit wouldn't be highly assured. So they run their feasibility studies to ensure an advantageous purpose can be ascertained before such a product is put out. Even big corporations like Coca Cola know that we might need a gulp of sugar after an exhausting day, so a drink to enhance glucose availability in the body system was designed and has been meeting that need for centuries, guaranteeing generational profits. In the same way, God ...