The Oscar Ajoku Blog: Daily Vitamin Devotional

  DAILY VITAMIN - Never Compromise "The Lord has said in strongest terms: Do not under any circumstances go along with the plans of Judah to surrender to Syria and Israel." (Isaiah 8:11 TLB) A lot of people do things they never intended nor anticipated they would all because of pressure. Be it parental pressure or peer pressure. You never thought you'd date a man or woman who readily lives against the principles of the Word of God, but because your friends or parents keep telling you about what you might miss out on refusing such a gorgeous person, you surrender. Well, guess what? God is saying don't you do that. Your colleagues at school or work tease you about how lame you are for still being a virgin, and you believe them and thus go on an adventure of sexual experience. All because of pressure. Our theme scripture cautions the people of God never to go along with the plans of the nonbelievers to displease God. Verse 12 says though they might call you a cat or what

  DAILY VITAMIN - Trust God, Not Your Ideas "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!" (Proverbs 3:5-7 MSG) A lot of us try to convince God to hurriedly help with great ideas we believe will well work out His plans best. But guess what? Before they were your ideas, they were first His. So there's no way your ways can outdo His. You have to trust that He has a perfect plan for you. If scripture says eyes have not seen it, ears have not heard it, nor minds imagined it (1 Cor 2:9), then what makes you think your plans for a great future can outshine His? you see, with God all you need to actualize the vision He placed in your heart concerning your life is trust. All you need is a heart that t

 DAILY VITAMIN - The Only Thing Strong enough To Limit God "So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:19) The Bible tells us that nothing is impossible with God, but there is something that can make things impossible for God in the life of a man, and that singular trait is called unbelief. Unbelief has many tentacles and forms-of which one can find doubt, fear and indifference.  These virtues can ruin the intentions of God for a life if harboured by it. The Bible tells us even when He dwelt among us, He couldn't do much because of unbelief (Matt 13:58). So, it didn't where God stayed, as long as unbelief dwells in the heart of a man, He is limited to act in such a life. Of Israel, it is said that again and again they turned away and tempted God, and limited Him from giving them His blessings (Psalm 78:41). That's why the first thing God asks of a man is to free himself of unbelief. The man with the lunatic son, when he saw his miracle

 DAILY VITAMIN - God Can Raise Up Anybody "and lifts the poor from the dirt and the hungry from the garbage dump, 8 and sets them among princes!" (Psalm 113:7-8 TLB) For men to help you toward a higher position, they ask for certain qualifications. A business degree, a professional and social proficiency certificate etc., but when God wants to lift a man up, He needs no permission nor secular qualification, just that you have a heart for Him. Our theme verse says He lifts the poor from nothing and even take hungry men from the dumpster and make them princes. And He is still in the business of doing that today. He did it with Jephthah an outcast. Scripture says He took David from the sheepfold (Psalm 78:70). He took Moses from being a vagabond to being a saviour and Joseph from a prisoner to a governor. He didn't ask them for any certificate, just a proof of their love for Him. Remember that His eyes go out through the world to lift the man whose heart is given to Him (2 C

 DAILY VITAMIN - God Doesn't Do Things Halfway "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it?" (Numbers 23:19) A lot of us question God's faithfulness because of our fear of the unknown. Because of the fear of not being sure. But guess what? God is sure. The scripture says when we are out of faith, God is yet faithful (2 Tim 2:13). Yet we are scared He will back out just before before he completes the miracle like Hezekiah was. In Isaiah 37 after he had seen the enemy king besiege his capital, Hezekiah cried out, "This is a day of trouble and frustration and blasphemy; it is a serious time, as when a woman is in heavy labour trying to give birth, and the child does not come" (v. 3 TLB). He had received God's plentiful promise of peace but as soon as his biggest act of devotion was over, an enemy came (see 2 Chro 32:1). Like a roaring lion, he came boasting threats and Hezekiah

 DAILY VITAMIN - Understanding Your Rights And Duties "Then Samuel told the people again what the rights and duties of a king were..." (1 Samuel 10:25 TLB) Every leader has a right - a right to be honoured; but he or she also has duties - duties to serve. However, a lot of leaders cling to their rights and forfeit their duties. We see this every day in dictators and selfish CEOs. Nevertheless, God calls us to uphold both. Remember, He says we are kings and priests on the earth (Rev 5:10); and as much as we have the right of dominion and the Kingdom life here, we are also expected to exert ourselves in certain duties. For starters, a general duty is to fear God wholesomely (Eccl 12:13); and then there are more personal duties God gives us individually. Purpose is about discovering these duties and using the strength obtained from our rights to fulfill them. Consider Jesus. He told Pilate that He had come to witness for truth. He also told His disciples He had come to minister

  DAILY VITAMIN - God Will Help You "The Lord is fair in everything he does and full of kindness. He is close to all who call on him sincerely. He fulfills the desires of those who reverence and trust him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them." (Psalm 145:17-19 TLB) Whenever people ask you what gives you the audacity to think or believe God will help in that dire situation of yours, remind them of this theme scripture. It says God is fair in all He does, such that there are principles set down to obtain certain things regardless of who we are or where we are from; however it then assured us that He is kind. And as a result, when we call on Him sincerely at such times, He is close to aid us; fulfilling all of our desires if we reverence and trust Him. Then it says for such persons, He will help them in their times of need. Remember that He is a very present help at such a time (Psalm 46:10), with His eyes running to and fro the earth ready to act on our behalf (2 Chr

 DAILY VITAMIN - Trust God Without Conditions "If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself." (Proverbs 3:4-5 TLB) The scripture admonishes us to trust God. With a part of our heart? No; with all of our heart. That is, without reservations or conditions. And how do we do this? By choosing to believe Him in the absence of signs. In the old days, Gideon asked for a sign in order to believe, and God accepted; but when men asked Jesus for a sign, He refused them, saying they had enough in history to believe already. Now, God stopped using signs to make men believe Him after a man chose to believe Him without them. Ahaz. God told him to ask for a sign to prove His Word will come true, but Ahaz refused (Isaiah 7:11-12). In other words, Ahaz was saying 'I believe your word LORD. That's enough for me'. However, God would still give them an eternal sign in Christ (v.

  DAILY VITAMIN - God's Word Is Not Ordinary "For whatever God says to us is full of living power: it is sharper than the sharpest dagger, cutting swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires with all their parts, exposing us for what we really are." (Hebrews 4:12 TLB) The world we are told was created through the Word (Hebrews 11:3). In fact, everything God made, He did through the Word. Angels and the very universe; all were made from the Word. And God says He is as much His Word.  Now, if the Word which became flesh to redeem all did all these, what makes you think it can't do what God intend to do in your life. Isaiah 55:11 says "so also is my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It shall accomplish all I want it to and prosper everywhere I send it." (TLB). It can. As our theme verse says, it can cross borders to do anything. The Word can injure the heart of the sinful and heal the heart of the broken. It is that powerful in all w

 DAILY VITAMIN - When Sin Becomes A Choice "Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God’s favor and mercy." (Romans 6:14 TLB) The Bible says that those in sin are blinded by the devil (2 Cor 4:3-4). If so, then the question becomes: Why do Christians still willfully sin? And the answer is because they are making the choice to.  John said that the born-again man cannot sin (1 John 3:9); and Paul tells us that is because the power of sin has been broken in our lives. He wrote "Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don’t have to? For sin’s power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered." (Romans 6:2-3 TLB). And in verse 6, he explains better. "Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with him; that part of you that loves to sin was crushed and f

  DAILY VITAMIN - Receive Wisdom (1) "If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it." (James 1:5 TLB) The scripture tells us that silver has a depot, and that gold has a place people can have access to it; yet it says there is a path that no one knows. The fowl don't know it, the depths don't have it, and in spite of the number of brilliant men that have died thus far death still hasn't had its hand on it. It says the content of this path makes the greatest gems insignificant because it is surpassing in value, price and glory. And then tells us that God knows the path, because He is the path. He is the place where wisdom can be found (Job 28). Job 12:13 says "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his" (NIV). Little wonder the theme scripture tells us to ask it of Him, because it comes from Him

  DAILY VITAMIN  - Jesus Knows All You're Going Through "Because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted, He is able to help and provide immediate assistance to those who are being tempted and exposed to suffering." (Hebrews 2:18 AMP) Who else will you trust in times of need than He who has been in that same situation at some point? That is why Jesus is our perfect advocate. He knows how we feel, because He has also felt it. The scripture says He is constantly touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15); and why is this so? Because it is He "who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity." (Hebrews 5:2).  And why should we trust Him? Because though He "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). That is, it didn't surmount Him. He overcame it all. And so in Him we can find the strength to overcome it

 DAILY VITAMIN - You Will Rise Again “I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with abundant compassion." (Isaiah 54:7 CSB) What can be said to a man that is extremely jaded to help him? You may be feeling down and out based on your present experiences, but God has something for you this morning, and I'm sure it changes your approach towards life forever. In Isaiah 54, God speaking to the fellow who believes his life is over because of the series of bad breaks he is having says, "Sing..." Isn't that amusing? Not if you read on to see why He is telling them to. He said "Enlarge the place of thy tent...for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left..." (v.2-3). He is literally telling us that an increase is on its way. He's making room for more. You may have thought you were done for, but God is about to give you double consolation (Isaiah 61:7). He said though it seemed like He forsook you for a moment, but He is abou

DAILY VITAMIN - Receive Strength "He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless." (Isaiah 40:29 NLT) You may be feeling jaded and weak in your spirit. You feel like giving up on God. Perhaps you're even starting to believe that there is no more hope for you; well, I have good news for you. God wants to strengthen you. He will and He can. The Bible says He gives power to the faint and might to them without strength. So it means God knows some of us might grow faint in times of adversity; and He says it is because we are depleted in spiritual strength (Proverbs 24:10). And this exempts nobody; for He says that even the young ones that are meant to be filled with might and vigour will grow weak too (Isaiah 40:30).  But thank God for His unspeakable gift; He didn't leave us without a witness. He showed us how to receive strength afresh. He says that as we wait upon the LORD, our strength shall be renewed, and we shall be renewed, and we shall soar so high as th

  DAILY VITAMIN - Maximizing Trials "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds," (James 1:2 NIV) Both apostles James and Paul admonished us to take advantage of every trial. Just as we read in our theme verse, Paul reiterated the same to the Roman church. He said "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient." (Romans 5:3 TLB). He said it is because this will help us learn to be patient. And patience grooms spiritual strength and mental endurance in us which will grow our hope and faith in God (v.4). So, the thing the devil wanted to use to bring you down is what God uses to build us up. Little wonder why He lets us pass through some tribulations. Consider the case of David and Joseph. It is paramount for the building of character essential for what is to come. " for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it