The Oscar Ajoku Blog: Daily Vitamin Devotional

  DAILY VITAMIN - What Faith Is (2) "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." (Philippians 4:6) Faith is thanksgiving. In the same story of the ten lepers we discussed in the last devotion, we can also see that only one returned to give Jesus thanks and glory to God. And on seeing this, Jesus said "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well" (Luke 17:19 TLB). But why was his faith referenced again? It was because his faith was complete as well as his healing when he returned with thanksgiving to God. Let's consider what the Bible says of Abraham; it says he staggered not through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God (Romans 4:20). Giving glory to God was the proof of his faith. Remember the centurion whose chief servant was ill, he wouldn't let Jesus stress Himself by walking the distance, but instead chose to praise His authority to perform and

  DAILY VITAMIN - What Faith Is (1) "... His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”" (John 2:5 NIV) From the theme scripture, we can see that faith is simply about obedience--doing what the LORD says, when He says and how He says; because obeying God is the most practical form of faith. All through scripture He proved this to be true. When the disciples requested for an increase in faith, He assured them that it was never about the size of their faith, but its application (Luke 17:5-6); because only the application of faith can truly increase faith. And we do this obeying His Word. Just an hour or so as they walked towards Jerusalem, He gave them a live-in example. Ten lepers came to Jesus seeking to be cleansed, and in response told them to go to the priest, telling him that they had been healed. First thing you should note is that at this point He hadn't healed them, nor touched them, and neither had He prayed over them. Secondly, going to the priest l

 DAILY VITAMIN -  Happiness Is Your Responsibility "Let the peace of heart that comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. And always be thankful." (Colossians 3:15 TLB) You'd notice it said that enjoying the peace of heart that comes from Christ is not only our privilege (heritage) as members of His body, but it is also our responsibility. That means you are in control of your own happiness. A tree might be abundantly fertilized, but only it can decide the state of the fruit it would bring forth afterwards. In the same way, the Holy Spirit has filled your life with the fruit of peace and joy, but now only you can choose what you will permit to be expressed. Only you can choose which feeling you will let overwhelm you; and in the scripture we are taught how we can maintain this happy feeling in Christ. First, He tells us to be guided by love. As long as you respond to people's hat

  DAILY VITAMIN - You Are Loaded And Needed " I can do all this through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13 NIV) The Bible says in Christ's words that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed (small and unnoticed) which eventually all the birds come to shelter in, and like yeast (supposedly insignificant) which creates the most significant impact in the dough (Luke 13:18-21). Now if Jesus said that the Kingdom though despised and rejected by many is as mighty a solution to all who encounter it, how much more are the children of the Kingdom--those in whom the Kingdom resides--to those who come across them? Note, when I say children of the Kingdom, I'm referring to you and I who now belong to the family of God through Christ. It depicts that we are indeed fully loaded and needed. Now we  can understand why He calls us salts of the earth and lights of the world (Matt 5:13-16). They truly do need us to find their ways. He said they would be like hens who can

 DAILY VITAMIN - God Can Do Anything, Anytime, Anywhere "For with God nothing shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37) I found from scriptures that a lot of people didn't have faith to be healed, but Jesus seeing their need to be healed healed them. An example is the sickly handicapped man at the pool of Bethesda. He had stayed there in misery for 38 years. That's a long time-longer than my current history in life. Anyway, when Jesus would approach him about his desire to be whole again, he gave no vote of confidence that it could be possible. Yet in spite of his unbelief, Jesus healed him and sent him home perfectly (see John 5). Another example is the woman with a malformed vertebrae. The Bible said she had gone to the synagogue, and Jesus on seeing her spoke words of healing to her, touched her and made her whole; which resulted in her giving thanks to God. In the past we assumed that since she was in 'church', possibly she was expecting to be healed. Well, the sc

 DAILY VITAMIN - Your Devotion Can Benefit Others "...and the entire world will be blessed because of you.” (Genesis 12:3 TLB) What we do as Christians matter a lot. In fact, it is like a ripple that has an effect on every other part of the ocean. In our theme scripture, we see God assuring Abraham that many a person will also be blessed because of his devotion to Him. And that's still how it works till date. Our prayers, praise and fellowship with God indirectly benefits someone around us. In Exodus, we are told that the Egyptians who stayed with the Jews didn't suffer any of the plagues sent to destroy Egypt. We also see the same thing in the Philippian prison they kept Paul and Silas. They did the praying and the singing on their own, but God shattered the chains of all the prisoners (Acts 16:25-26). And they went ahead to confirm it when they told the jailor that if he believed in Jesus, he would be saved, and his entire household (v.31). But how come? Because the ripp

  DAILY VITAMIN - Praising God Through The Pain "Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossom left nor fruit; though the olive crops all fail, and the fields lie barren; even if the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be happy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18 TLB) Philippians 3:1 says "Whatever happens, dear friends, be glad in the Lord." Most times we don't understand the extremity of some of the things we find in scripture. For instance, when we read things like "And Abraham staggered not through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." (Romans 4:20), a lot of us assume " Well, anybody could have done that!" Well, guess what? It can be done, but anybody can. It takes a man who trusts God beyond the face of circumstances to be able to praise Him through the pain. Do you know how it feels to be barren? Unless you are or have

  DAILY VITAMIN - Attack The Enemy "until someone stronger and better armed attacks and overcomes him and strips him of his weapons and carries off his belongings" (Luke 11:22 TLB) The Bible says we wrestle against spiritual forces of darkness in this world (Eph 6:12); so when I speak of the enemy, I speak of those ones, and not your human counterparts. Our God is not a passive being; and that's why every time He destroyed enemy camps in scripture, He swept through them. Isaiah paints a great picture of this. He says 'When the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of God will lift up a standard against them (Isaiah 59:19). A flood isn't passive. It attacks its target, and swallows it up. That's exactly how light conquers darkness. It doesn't wait for it to be attacked first; it attacks until all darkness fades away. For instance, go into a dark room now and switch on the bulbs. You will find that the light that permeates from that luminary drives the dark

  DAILY VITAMIN - Never Get Tired Of Praying "And so it is with prayer—keep on asking and you will keep on getting; keep on looking and you will keep on finding; knock and the door will be opened." (Luke 11:9 TLB) Your prayers are never in vain. The scripture says that even while we are yet speaking, He has heard us, and before we even ask a thing, He has answered us (Isaiah 65:24); yet He still tells us to ask. And He says as many as call upon Him, He will save. Remember, he never ignore the prayer of those in need (Psalm 102:17). In our theme scripture, Jesus had given an analogy about how we must continue persistently in prayer, because most times that is all we need to receive the manifestation of what we seek--continuity and persistence in prayer. The fact that a thing hasn't showed up doesn't mean it won't.  By prayer, we can facilitate its arrival speedily. Yes, by consistent prayers, we can. Let's consider some examples. Take Daniel for instance; he kn

 DAILY VITAMIN - In Christ We Trust "Everyone who trusts in him is freed from all guilt and declared righteous [justified]—something the Jewish law could never do” (Acts 13:38–39 TLB) Our theme scripture assures us that forgiveness of sin can be found in Christ, and as many as trust in Him have been set free forever from the shackles of sin and death. This is Good News indeed. This proves many things, but today we'll discuss just two. First, it proves that you have entirely no reason to be afraid of the future anymore. Those who are not saved may assume that uncertainty is the only thing in life, but not you. Your future is certain. For starters, you know you have a place in God already. You know that having trusted in Him, old things are things are passed away, and all things are new. And if that isn't certainty enough, then I don't know what else is. Second, it proves that the message we spread in the Name of Jesus is entirely truth, and must never be ceased to be d

 DAILY VITAMIN - Your Roses Will Bloom Again "For the needy shall not alway be forgotten, nor the expectation of the poor perish for ever" (Psalm 9:18) The scripture assures us that a time of rejoicing awaits us yet on this earth. It says that though weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). What that means in agreement with what our theme verse says is that it is not over for you even when others think or say it is. Consider Joseph. He was sold into slavery with the expectation to bury his glory, but even there in captivity God hearkened to him, and elevated him to a high place. In the same way, your boss may have dismissed you unjustly leaving you without a means to pay the bills, but don't fret. He might have changed his mind about you, but God won't, and He will take care of you. It may seem like your petals are falling off, but very soon He will light upon you and they will bloom again. Psalm 9:9 says "All who are oppressed may

  DAILY VITAMIN - Look And Live "For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live" (Amos 5:4) The hymn writer said "I have a message from the Lord...a message unto you I bring." And in that little message of his, he tells us that if we look to Jesus, we'd live; with an illustrative imagery as that which happened in the wilderness where the serpent-bitten Jews beheld the Nehushtan. In the same way, even today, if we'd look unto Him, He'd cause us to live. You see, God has never been as merciful as He is today, because His lovingkindness and faithfulness toward us are newer with each morning (Lamentation 3:37). So, no matter what your troubles are, look to Him and He'd cause you to live. 2021 was a challenging year for me. The devil came hard; he tried to take my life twice, but on both occasions God proved the stronger. I had a terrible episode of pneumonia; so bad that I could almost feel what it felt like to die. Imme

 DAILY VITAMIN - After Here, Where Next? "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrew 9:27) More than a year ago to this date, on the 20th of October 2020, Nigeria witnessed one of its worst moments in recent history, where some unarmed protesters were gunned down. One of the most painful part was that they were just fine young men and women; some with good jobs and others from good families who only wanted a better society. That night I had been on leave from work, and was just some kilometers from the site; but when we heard what happened, and saw how people grieved, it hurt because a lot of other angry young fellows began to believe death as an irrelevant thing. But is it? A life lost pains God (Ezekiel 18:23); that's to tell us that death isn't just nothing. However, we can live above death, but that comes only to those who are saved in Christ. Because to these, death becomes only a passage to true life--regardless of where an

 DAILY VITAMIN - Walking In His Shoes "...because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17) Jesus said "As my Father sent me, so I am sending you" (John 20:21). In these simple words, Jesus was indulging us to continue in His office; to keep moving from where He presumably stopped on the earth. The only thing is that He'd be the One working in us, through us and with us (Mark 16:20).  And what is Christ's office? The Way to salvation. So with the help of His Holy Spirit, we also guide others into salvation as He did, but now in His name. And we do this by preaching the Word in and out of season, doing the will of God at all times, and representing the Kingdom in all places, until men are drawn unto God. Remember, we are diplomats for Christ on the earth (2 Cor 5:20). Thus, when people see us, they should literally see Jesus. The Bartimaeuses of this world should find hope when they see Jesus in us. The Zacchaeuses of this world should surrender all t

  DAILY VITAMIN - You Shall Prevail "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54:17) The scripture says "...Because you have been strong with God, you shall prevail with men" (Genesis 32:28 TLB). That wasn't a prayer, it is a principle. God was giving Jacob the reason why He was going to bless him as promised. He was setting the conditions for divine upliftment. The Bible says a man who trusts and reverence the LORD in spite of circumstances shall have prosperity and happiness (Psalm 128:1-2 TLB). Our wisdom doesn't impress God (Job 33:24). No, it really doesn't. Only our decision does. The devil is said to be wise in his own way, as well as many of earth's sages; so wisdom isn't the way to God's heart. But those who do what God wants and devise w

  DAILY VITAMIN - Abraham's Blessings Are Yours "So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family, and you will be given what God has promised." (Gal 3:29 CEV) I remember how growing up we would sing that song every day both at church and sometimes in school. "Abraham's blessings are mine," we would sing. And thank God we did, because it wasn't just a song, it is our truth.  The Bible says that "...all who trust in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received." (Gal 3:8-9 TLB). No exemptions. All of us in Christ. Well, you might want to say "but how come? I'm racially a minority; or I'm from a poor family. How could I possibly be blessed that greatly?" The scripture says that all in union with Christ have been enveloped by Him (Gal 3:27); hence the life in all of us have no colour nor social status (v.28). There's no black nor white; poor nor rich; just Christ's. And as a result, everything God g