The Oscar Ajoku Blog: Daily Vitamin Devotional

  DAILY VITAMIN - What The Devil Wants from You  "The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy." (John 10:10 TLB) Satan has a sole plan for mankind, whih is to wreck the plan of God for them. Therefore, what is God's plan for man? To reveal His glory through them. The mandate of the chosen Christ is  the mandate of all men (Isaiah 60:1-3). Recall Jesus said that as the Father sent Him, He sends us (John 17:18); while John explains better by saying as He is even now in glory so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). And His Spirit upon us is the guarantee for this (Isaiah 61). So what is the devil's MO? Jesus said it is to steal, kill and to destroy. Note, that this doesn't always involve a loss of life, because spiritually speaking living is different from breathing. The cessation of breath isn't the definition of death. Adam breathed but in God's eyes was dead alongside all men till Jesus restored us to life. Death is actually the loss of purpose an

  DAILY VITAMIN - What God Wants from You   "You are the world's light--a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see." (Matthew 5:14 TLB) There is a way God sees you--and that is simply as He sees Himself. In John 8:12, Jesus called Himself the light of the world as He also alled us as seen in the theme scripture. So you are light. We all are. When God saw the earth covered in darkness, He ushered in light by His Spirit, but it didn't end there. He perfeted the process by sending man. Man is the light of God on the earth to annihilate every darkness. That's what you are and what I am. However, no one buys a new lamp only to have it buried underneath a bed. So, we as lamps of the divinity have a singular responsibility to shine. This Isaiah emphasized in Chapter 60 of his book. In verse 1, he tells us we got light enshrined in us because God's glory is upon us. Then in verse 2, he tells why God gave us light. He said darkness ravages the earth and iron

  DAILY VITAMIN - Receive His Forgiveness "So overflowing is his kindness towards us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son, by whom we are saved." (Ephesians 1:7 TLB) When Jesus died for us, He did two distinct things for us. First, He redeemed us. This involved the cleansing of all our past sins; making us whole and anew in the sight of God. He gave us a clean slate as new creations, with an identity free of darkness and full of the light of God. Second, He made available the forgiveness of sins. Remember the propitiation through faith in His blood declared His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past (Romans 3:25), but He also says that if any man yet sins, we have an advocate with the Father... (1 John 2:1). So now even when we fall short, we can still receive forgiveness of sins free of guilt. Yes, His blood was the price and it's been paid for. He made provision for our weakest moments. Thus, if you ever fall short, never be afraid

  DAILY VITAMIN - There Is Deliverance In The Lord "But Jerusalem will become a refuge, a way of escape. Israel will reoccupy the land." (Obadiah 17 TLB) Do you feel oppressed or distressed? Know that there is help in God. The Bible says in Mount Zion, deliverance comes. Mount Zion here presents us with a picture of God's constant presence. Remember, He dwells there (Psalm 48:2). And we are told that there He breaks the bow of the oppressor (Psalm 76:2-3). Yes, in His presence, every root of affliction is cut off. So, what do we do in times of trouble? We take refuge in the Lord. He doesn't just save us from impending dangers, He liberates us from already existing ones (Psalm 34:17-22). Recall that He said even lawful captives will be delivered (Isa 49:25). So it doesn't matter how you got there in the first place, you just need to return to the Lord with all sincerity and camp with Him; and as you continually spend time with Him, the chains begin to come off on i

  DAILY VITAMIN - Walking In Holiness "For God has not called us to be dirty-minded and full of lust, but to be holy and clean." (1 Thess 4:7 TLB) John tells us that he that believes in Jesus as the Son of God is born of God (1 John 5:1); and we know that such a man cannot sin (1 John 3:9), but the question is why? It is true that the day we got saved, the Spirit of Christ came into us, and because the first fruit (Jesus) is holy, we the lumps became holy entities. However, the why is really because such a man born of God yields himself genuinely to God. The Bible calls him a servant of righteousness (Romans 6:18); and he does righteousness as proof of his rebirth (1 John 2:29). 1 John 5:18 says that whosoever is born of God sins not, but keeps himself, and the wicked one touches him not. The words "keeps himself" is a call to responsibility toward holiness; similar to what Paul said in Romans 6:19. So while we have been reborn in holiness, we must appropriate this

  DAILY VITAMIN - Stand Strong In The Lord "O Lord, you alone are my hope; I've trusted you from childhood." (Psalm 71:5 TLB) A lot of us admire how David's life turned out, and many times even desire we could be him; but if we knew what we had to go through, we wouldn't envy him one bit. He faced a lot of challenges, but he overcame them all by staying strong in the Lord. Remember what he said in Psalm 42:5: "My soul don't be depressed; hope in God." However, in Psalm 71, which is one of the easiest prayers you can engage in when at your lowest to get back on your feet, we see how he dealt with hardships: he talked with God until his faith was resurgent. First, he asked to be free from the confusion depression brings (v.1); and made a decision to trust God in spite of how things appeared (v.14), and at the end admitted that God had made him a wonder (v.7) because He had increased him on every side (v.20-21). And now I'm asking you to do the same

  DAILY VITAMIN - One Decision Away By Faith "For salvation that comes from trusting Christ--which is what we preach--is already within easy reach of each of us; in fact, it is as near as our own hearts and mouths. For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord, and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:8-9 TLB)   Some centuries ago, there was a young eloquent teacher named Apollos who admonished people after the doctrine of John the Baptist; that is, preaching repentance as the prerequisite for salvation (Acts 18:24-25). He would go ahead from town to town telling people to return back to God or face His wrath as the old prophets did. But even with this, no matter how hard the people tried to desire God more they couldn't, because though they had the zeal, they lacked the life and knowledge that made it possible. Something Apollos would learn afterward; that repentance isn't the pivo

   DAILY VITAMIN - Show Yourself Approved "In fact, in everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God." (2 Cor 6:4 TLB) The scripture tells us that the grace of God shouldn't be in vain in our lives, but to be used toward edification for the glory of God (v.1); such that regardless of what we may have to go through, we might remain strong for the Lord. And we are told this we can do by: 1. Pureness; for to him of a pure mind all things are pure (Titus 1:15), and he that comes to you with a pure conscience always will find God (Heb 10:21-23, 1 Peter 4:16) 2. Knowledge; for only by the knowledge of His will can we walk worthy of God unto all pleasing (Col 1:9-11), and they that know their God well will be strong and full of exploits for Him (Dan 11:32). 3. Long suffering; for those who are reproached for His Name has the Spirit of God laid His glory, and by committing themselves to Him have their souls kept (1 Peter 4:14,19). 4. Kindness; for he that is k

 DAILY VITAMIN - The Gift Is For All "For he longs for all to be saved and understand this truth" (1 Timothy 2:4 TLB) Everything Jesus did, He did for all and with all in mind. In other words, Jesus didn't die for the Christians alone; on the contrary He died for the whole world, but those who receive this gift of salvation become Christians (Christ-like) (John 3:16). The Bible says that it is for everybody the Lord calls (Acts 2:39), and our theme verse tells us that left to God He would have all called and saved. Consider what the Psalmist wrote: "HE received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." (Psalm 68:18). He didn't leave anyone out of this package; all are eligible. Little wonder, John tells us that He was the sacrifice not only for our sins but for all as well (1 John 2:2). However, though all are eligible, only those who receive this gracious gift can access it (John 1:12). That's why even thoug