The Oscar Ajoku Blog: Daily Vitamin Devotional

  DAILY VITAMIN - Help Someone In Need "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely ye received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8) The emphasis of those words is to instill in us the need to show empathy at all times. Jesus tells us we have received freely of Him--everything we have was given to us richly to enjoy by God (1 Tim 6:17), and thus commands us to do the same unto others. The Bible says Jesus lived His life doing good (Acts 10:38). That is, there was never a time He met a need He was capable of resolving that He didn't. Little wonder He says that when a hungry friend comes to you at night, don't tell him to return at dawn nor pray, He says give him what he seeks. And it is still exactly what He says to us this day; and anything less a displeasure to Him. In Mark 3:5, the scripture states that Jesus was deeply disturbed by the people's indifference to human need. And it is just how He feels toward it today; remember He is the sa

 DAILY VITAMIN - Partners In The Gospel "Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth." (3 John 8 ESV) We all have a role to play in the Kingdom expansion agenda of the Lord, which is the spreading of the knowledge of God to all the world. Now, while a lot of us may not be able to get to the fields to preach the gospel, we can support those who do. That's what John writes about in our theme scripture. We can be partners in the Lord's work by supporting the affairs of those propagating it. It can be something as simple as purchasing a better sound system for that evangelical team, or fueling the vehicle of a missionary group, or simply offering prayers in their behalf. All we have to do is support the agenda. The Bible spoke of women who supported Jesus' ministry while He was on earth. We also see Lydia who greatly supported the church in Philippi. And there are yet many others. Everyday people donate to the Bible Soc

 DAILY VITAMIN - Influencing Situations "But they could think of nothing, for he was a hero to the people—they hung on every word he said." (Luke 19:48 TLB) Our theme scripture tells Jesus was the people's hero, and that they clung to every word He spoke-- and how we thank God those words led to their salvation. That's power; and it is exactly what God wants of us. It is why we are called light and salt- influencing everything and everyone around us to the glory of His Name. However, even today there are people with such level of influence, but most of these people aren't doing it in a positive way; and that's why the difference between a good society and a bad one is the difference in the number of people who influence situations positively and those who do so negatively. But nonetheless God has called you to be a positive influencer. That's why He calls you a light- to disperse the darkness in your society and making known the light of God. And by studyi

  DAILY VITAMIN - Put Your Confidence In The Lord "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? ... The Lord is with me; he is my helper." (Psalm 118:6-7 NIV) The scripture says it is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in men (Psalm 118:8 TLB). It doesn't matter how many men they are, it is better to stick with God. And we are told why. In Psalm 18, it says "The Lord is my fort where I can enter and be safe; no one can follow me in and slay me..." (v.2 TLB). Now you understand why it is said that woe to the man who trusts men and not God (Jeremiah 17:5), right? Paul writing tells us to boast ourselves only in the Lord, and in all He will do for us (1 Cor 1:31), and not in what we assume we can or anyone else (see Jeremiah 9:23-24). Remember the rich fool Jesus spoke of? He had a name, but Jesus gave us only the reference of a fool for him because his confidence was in everything but God. Only fools don't believe eno

  DAILY VITAMIN - Remind God Of His Promise "Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified." (Isaiah 43:26) We are told to put God to remembrance. In fact, another translation used the sentence "Remind Me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be vindicated " to describe the intensity of the matter before the Lord. But my question to you is 'do you think God ever forgets?'  The Bible says He doesn't sleep nor slumber, and all the worlds are in His hand. Furthermore, we know He is all-knowing, and that makes forgetting impossible. Then why are we told to do that in our theme scripture? In Exodus 6. the Bible says "...now I have heard the groanings of the people of Israel, in slavery now to the Egyptians, and I remember my promise." (v.5 TLB); but sincerely was it their cries that made God remember? Maybe it didn't make God remember, but it did move Him to act. Remember,

 DAILY VITAMIN - God's Word Proves True "What a God he is! How perfect in every way! All his promises prove true. He is a shield for everyone who hides behind him." (Psalm 18:30 TLB) Reading Moses' story sort of reminds me of myself, and I'm very sure if you look deeply you'd realize that it does also of yourself. God had appeared to Moses on the fields of Horeb, and told him about how He would use him to deliver Israel out of Egypt through multiple signs.  Fortunately, when Moses marched into Egypt and met the Hebrew council of elders, he performed signs among them that convinced them his words were true, and much more convinced him that all God had said was happening already. However, unfortunately when he presented his case to Pharaoh, the king mocked him, kicked him out and increased his severity against Israel. Moses was shocked, and questioned God's Word; but God assured him of the unfailing pedigree of His Word and in time it proved true.  Also, whe

  DAILY VITAMIN - God Gives Up On No One "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) Yeah, that's right! God hasn't given up on you, or on that relative of yours that strayed away. In fact, the scripture says He's always around such to rescue them again. It doesn't matter what their past may have been, God's forgiveness is endless. What He focuses on is today--your decision today; and that is clearly emphasized. The scripture says "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15). So today-the present-is what is essential to God. You may have been a prostitute yesterday, or a drug dealer, a thief, or an assassin, if you will decide to turn to Jesus today, you will become as new as newborn child to God. He says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, all

  DAILY VITAMIN - What Faith Is (3) "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5 NIV) Faith is an action. Not a thought nor some magical response; it simply means acting on the premise of God's personality and the authenticity of His Word. In other words, being an action, what it then means is that faith can be noticed. It can be seen. Jesus asked the people if He would find faith on the earth on His return (Luke 18:8). As such, it then means that faith can't be hidden. In our theme scripture, we see four men showing what faith truly is. The Bible says they tried reaching Jesus but when they couldn't due to the crowd, they climbed the house where He was, and dug right into where He sat. And this they did because they believed...  Jesus must have noticed the dust peeling off from the roof as it collapsed to reveal these four men carrying the sick fellow on a stretcher. And I can just imagine Jesus smiling as they ca

  DAILY VITAMIN - Your Future Is Bright "But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day." (Proverbs 4:18) The Bible says the path of the righteous shines brighter and brighter till his very last day. That's wonderful! But it's not too much of a surprise because we know why it is so. The scripture says the steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord (Psalm 18:24). In other words, you can't be led by God and end in confusion, because He is no author of confusion. It must end in celebrations. It may not look as such now, but trust God. Trust the process. The present appearances may stand contrary to this truth, but believe God it will not fail. David was in a similar situation where the appearance of his condition berated the very idea of an upliftment from God, but encouraged himself, saying "Why are you so discouraged O my soul? Trust in God!" (Psalm 43:15). Another place said "...Don't

  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