The Oscar Ajoku Blog: Daily Vitamin Devotional

  DAILY VITAMIN - The Word Blesses Doers "...blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." (Luke 11:28) The Bible says that we should be doers of the word, and not hearers alone (James 1:22). Do you know why? Because as our theme scripture says, the blessing of the word comes only from abiding in it. James tells us that when we don't abide by it, but only hear, we can be likened to a fellow who stares at a reflection of his smudged face in a mirror but does nothing about cleaning himself up (v. 23-24). He sees the stain but retains it, leaving the same way he came.  The thing is, the Word shows you where you lack, but if you let it, it can help you fill up the void. And that comes from doing what it says. It's like a manual. A manual is useless to you unless you practice what's written in it. For instance, you may have an appliance work on a lower capacity except you are doing exactly what the manufacturer says is needed to raise a notch higher. In the

DAILY VITAMIN - Love Yourself "...I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." (Psalm 139:14) Why do we think loving oneself is wrong? Why do we act like it's a sin? Self-love isn't wrong; what's wrong is if you are all you love. Infact, God expects us to love ourselves. Jesus tells us the greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbours as you love yourself. Not more than you love yourself, but as much as you love yourself. The truth is if you don't love yourself, you can't love anyone else. Love is reflective. You can only give what you have within. This is evidential in how God can love us unconditionally; and that is because He is love personified. So, He doesn't struggle to give it because He is it. In the same way, if you don't see yourself as worth much, you'd never think anyone is worth anything too. Thus, we are urged to love ourselves. To see ourselves how God sees us--as fearfully and wonderfully made. You might not be mo

  DAILY VITAMIN - Spare A Penny "Every man according as he purposed in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7) Two truths are certain in life: 1. Not everyone will be rich. 2. Regardless of how bad your present state may be, there are those who are in much more far worse. So, in other words, there will always be poor people in this world, or in some cases poorer people. Jesus assured us of that; and your testimonies are actually someone else's prayer requests. For this reason, we are told that God blesses us with some level of wealth for two things: to enjoy, and also to help others (1 Timothy 6:17-18). Paul describes it better in his letter to the church in Corinth. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always have all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work...For the administration of this service not only supplies the want of the saints, but is abun

  DAILY VITAMIN - Only A Call Away "As many as call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) God is never far away from us. The Bible says His eyes are always watching us (2 Chronicles 16:9). So even in your deepest lows, God is still very near to you. You may feel alone, depressed, dejected, abandoned, but believe me you're not. God feels everything you are feeling at this moment. He knows where it hurts; and at all times His desire is to see that burden broken from off you. His desire is to see you smile again.  So please you're not alone. Remember that. When in need, do well to ask the Lord for help. Listen to what HE says regarding that: "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them." (Isaiah 41:17). Then He went ahead and said He will cause rivers to open in high places and fountains in low places (v. 18); that's favour

  DAILY VITAMIN - Your Joy Cometh "...in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." (Psalm 30:5) After every storm comes the peace. It doesn't matter how long it may have lasted, after its final display of fury, peace is ushered in from the horizon. Let's take a case study of Noah's ark. The rains lasted for forty days, the flood for almost a hundred and fifty days; but at the end the sun shone bright again. This is why I can tell you that your sun will shine again. The opening scripture tells us that your weeping may have lasted for days, nights, years, but when your time comes that weeping will cease. Your marriage may have been heading downhill, your finances may have been downtrodden, but in His favour life will breathed into them again. The dying marriage will receive life, and the dying earning power will be revived. You will find joy again. God will make sure of that. All you need to do is delight yourself in Him. The

  DAILY VITAMIN - A Change of Story Is Possible "And at that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, says the Lord." (Zephaniah 3:20) In Christ, we all get a clean slate. Not just in terms of our sins, but regarding our entire life. When the scripture said all things are new (2 Corinthians 5:17), it meant all things. A total transformation. As such, if you were an outcast, now you are chosen; special. And you have to believe it, because that's God's Word concerning you. The theme scripture says God will do it. It might not look like such now, but believe Him He will. Didn't He do the same in the lives of David, Moses, Joseph, Jabez, Daniel, Gideon, the apostles? Taking men who were considered as not good enough and making them the pillars of a great cause. Then who is Oscar(replace with your name) that He cannot do it wi

  DAILY VITAMIN - Be Assured, God Will Do It "The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty; He will save..." (Zephaniah 3:17) The first thing I need you to understand today is that you have a God who has the power to do everything He wills to--even those we count as too impossible. And that is good news, for us. The scripture above shows that.  In other words, it depicts that as far as God abides in and with us, there is nothing that He cannot do for us in line with His will, because that power is always extant. Which as a result means that if He has promised to do a thing for you, He will do it; and nothing and no one would stop it. Consider the story of Nehemiah. A man whom God constantly placed the burden of the restoration of Jerusalem in his heart. He had no natural influence over the possibility and eventual achievement of that; a mere steward in the palace of a Gentile king. But because God does all He proposes to, Nehemiah found favour before Xerxes and received al

  DAILY VITAMIN - God Will Make A Way “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19) The song says God is a Waymaker. A simple word that shows that there’s nothing He can’t do. Jeremiah 32:27 says nothing is too difficult for Him. Matthew 19:26 says nothing shall be impossible for Him to do. And both are true. But unless you believe this, you might never experience its reality. That’s what was said to King Ahaz in Isaiah 7:9.  Every establishment is set in place by beliefs; in the same vein, to see a side of God, you’ve got to believe that that side of His is ever extant. Notice what was said to Mary: “Blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). So if you want performance, you got to pay with faith. And even a mustard seed kind of faith can move great mountains. So have a little faith to