ojaysjoel blog

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6 ESV. (Read Matt 6:3-17) Devotion: One very important teaching of Christ among the sermons on the mountain (Matt 5-7 we text), is How to Pray correctly. Everything has to be done correctly to receive answers even praying; it must not be seen as show off, noise or un-necessary babling. During prayers one must not be puffed up and self righteous like the pharisees who proclaimed himself righteous before God. You must come before God reverently. In the 1990s I was traveling in Western Nigeria and met a scene of road accident. The driver of the truck that just killed Nine persons was so calm he took his things and started praying by the roadside. Other people were busy trying to clear the road and prevent further accident. This man felt so unconcerned, self righteous (he claimed the dead driver wrongly overtook his truck). Dear read...

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 ESV. Devotion: In life, on earth all things change. Humans grow both physically and spiritually, we increase in knowledge and begin to question established facts and norms. But one thing remains constant and that is God, His son Jesus, He changes not.  Theologians as knowledge increase begin to query the bible and interpret it one way or another, and want to add to it. Church leaders try to add some rituals or something else to the word of God. But one thing is certain - Jesus remains the same, His love remains, His Faithfulness and Goodness remain constant. All you need to access His love is stay faithful to Jesus.  The world around you may change, you may be going through tough and difficult times yet Jesus changes not. If you call on him in truth and love He will answer you.  The heavens and earth may pass away the word of God as manifested in the bible from A-Z change not. The gospel is the same fo...

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1 (KJV) Devotion:The kind of shepherd you have will determine your desired destination. If you want a good destination, then follow a good shepherd. A shepherd is a person trained to tend and care for a flock, especially a flock of sheep. There are good shepherds and bad ones. The only good shepherd that God has given to humanity is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (John 10:11). In the Old Testament, God Himself was the Shepherd of Israel. But in the New Testament, He has revealed Himself to us in the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that we can see Him and appreciate Him. God is a Spirit, and we cannot see Him with our physical eyes. Beloved, in this world you are either leading or being led, there is no middle ground. Following the devil through your own imagination, knowledge, and worldly wisdom will only result in shame in the end. Choose to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly, and all your needs and wants will be ta...

It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, Because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22‭-‬23 KJV Devotion: In lamentations Jeremiah knew that only because God was merciful to Israel that other nations around did not destroy it. God has compassion for His people even though the people are sinners always doing things that irritate God. They often fall into idolatry, rebel against God, marry foreigners and disobey God's law.   Maybe you and me are in same position today, regular backslider but for how long will we take God for granted? Should we because God is compassionate continue to live in sin? No, In Romans 6:15, Paul correctly says "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid". Therefore let's return to God and live a life of total obedience. Then we'll continue to enjoy His Faithfulness and goodness towards us. May the wrath of God not be upo...

https://youtu.be/FcPTaiKCgVs Isaiah 41:10, 12  Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. Devotion: In this video clip is segment where the leopard wrestled down an Impala. But the baboons who were watching from the tree top came down and chased away the leopard. One of the baboons kept watch over the Impala till it fully recovered. It could not find its adversary (leopard) when it recovered. I pray this morning that God will send helpers to you to save you from whatever you maybe going through in Jesus name.  When saved, please share your testimony with us. Shalom. By Joel Olanrewaju.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. Mark 8:35 KJV Devotion: There are two types of death, one in the physical and the other is spiritual. All human being will die physical death meaning the flesh will perish and become soil and die the second death. But some people's soul will not die, only their flesh will die. Their soul will return to God the creator.   What makes the difference? If you live your life for yourself rather than for God ie you satisfied the lust of the flesh rather than life of total obedience; then you will die the two deaths. The second death is death of the soul in Hell fire. May you not die the second death in Jesus name.   If you do not want to die the second death you have to lose your fleshly life, the lust of the flesh, the enjoyment of things of the world without regard to your creator. In other words live a life of total obedience to God's authority...

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Hebrews 12:14" Devotion : Men have a horizontal relationship with one another and a vertical relationship with God. Christians have been encouraged to be at peace with their fellow men. Furthermore, Christians are to live in holiness with God, without which they cannot see God.   Anyone who will see God must believe that God exists ie you must accept Jesus Christ His Son as your Lord and Saviour. Then live a life of total obedience. After this  it becomes easy to establish an intimate relationship with Him, in such a way that you know Him and experience Him every day.  Peace and holiness are the vital ingredients we need to practice in order to enhance our relationship with our fellow men and God.  Take some time to meditate on peace and holiness so that you can have testimonies to share with someone. Praise the LORD! Share your thoughts here!  Adapted from KJV bible app daily dev...

In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94:19 KJV Devotion: A man got a diagnosis and suddenly started to cry, he became depressed and soon dies and another got same diagnosis but instead of depression he thanked God for His Faithfulness and goodness towards him. He rejected the diagnosis and began to pray while taking the necessary medications and treatment. Five years later the man is still alive.  What made the second man to survive? Faith in God definitely did the miracle here. It can be applied to any life situation, it keeps the body and soul together with God. Faith brings comfort and rest of mind which is the ingredient the body needs to function properly. When the body functions properly the spirit works properly thus immunity is boosted and infections disappear.  Dear reader, is anything agitating your mind, be it financial or health issues take it to God in faith and you will be comforted. Do not allow depression kill you before...

We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 KJV Devotion: We often love for a reason most of the time what we termed as love is infatuation. We see the smooth skin, bright madeup face, the front or back side and fall head over in love. This is in the physical, it does not last long because the beauty will soon fade and if it was made up beauty it will vapourise almost instantly the man discovers. This is fleshly love.   Talking about spiritual love, most people will tell you they love their "god" but when probed it's because of what it gives them - perceived security, wealth or whatever. Rarely will you find people who really love these gods unless it's priest who makes money from the gods.    Nowadays many churches, denominations spring up in our society; some of which started with solid faith in Christ and love for God but soon deviate from the Lord because of filty lucre. They start doing a lot of bad things to make money in the name of Christ. This shows i...

The message this morning is written by Kenneth Copeland be blessed by the word But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. – James 1:4 I talk a lot about faith. But there’s another force that goes along with it that’s just as important. It’s patience—the ability to stand fast on the Word of God even when your victory seems slow in coming. Patience is not automatic. It won’t go to work unless you let it go to work. So many people don’t understand that. They somehow think faith and patience will go to work for them without their help. They just let the devil tear their lives apart and then they say silly things like, “Well, I guess God sent that trial to strengthen my faith.” Don’t you ever get caught saying that! In the first place, James says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God…” (James 1:13). And in the second place, that trial isn’t going to make your faith stronger. In fact, it’ll destroy it if you’ll let it. If I ...

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9 KJV Devotion: Your mood is low, yeah? I can see you're fed up, you don't want to proceed with the plan but God says to you this morning "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest".   The cause of fear is that you probably backtracked, your faith was fake or little otherwise you should have no reason to be afraid; because you have God with unlimited resources and He is ready to assist you,  only you have to believe. You have to return to God even now and tell Him Lord forgive my unbelieve. Peter had faith and walked towards Jesus on the sea, but at time he became afraid and was about to sink. He called on Jesus and Jesus restored him. (Matt 14:30-31) Are you in the same position this morning, call on Jesus ...

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matthew 22:39 KJV Devotion: Love, this four letter word is so important that its appropriate application leads to peace on earth. Lack of love is the reason behind the evil acts going on in the world today. On the international scene it is lack of love for neighbour that causes war between nations.  Absence of love leads to mistrust, selfishness, oppression and war. In the home front lack of love leads to mistrust between husband and wife and the children and it causes turmoil. But where love reigns there's peace, joy, happiness and development. There's no oppression and war.    No sane person harms him/her self in any way, this is the reason Jesus says (bible is living word) we should love our neighbours like ourselves. If we love there will not be cheating, gossip, anger, slander and war.   Dear reader, what is your role, my role in this? We have been called to be peacemaker in the world by l...

"Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Romans 12:14" Devotion : The opening scripture has given us a key to eternal blessings. It exhorts us to bless those who persecute us; we should bless and not curse. As Christians, we have a forward and upward life: this means that we have been called only to blessings and not curses.  We are the light of the world and must show the world the right way to live a godly life. When we curse, we are not living our nature and the enemy can creep in and destroy. Some of those who persecute us have a chance of being born again; therefore, if we curse them, all those who have the chance to receive Christ will miss this chance and go to hell.  We reap what we sow; if we sow curses, we will reap curses, and if we sow blessings, we will reap blessings. Finally, our Lord Jesus Christ did not curse people - He only cursed a fig tree.     Dearly beloved, have you been persecuted before? How did you handle it? Share your c...

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life. Proverbs 22:4 ESV Devotion: Thesaurus definition of Humility is "the  absence  of any feelings of being better than others" and this is the expectation of God from us His children. When we humble ourselves before God it shows that we depend on God for support or assistance. The bible says lean not on your own understanding Proverb 3:5, now doing this is humility.  None will humble himself before another if he does not Fear the other. This other person is God in this circumstances, so our humility or humbleness shows our reverent fear of the Lord. The bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; with wisdom comes riches and honour.  I can now safely conclude that it is wisdom to Fear God and Humble myself before Him. This is wisdom and the reward for it is Riches, Honour and good Life.  Dear reader, how do you understand this, share your thoughts with us. Shalom.   By J...

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 2 Peter 1:3 ESV Devotion: It is not possible to come to Jesus unless you are called. You may try but if His Spirit the Holy Spirit is not in you you will fall by the way. Peter admonishes us to confirm our calling because when you and I were called God "granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness".  It is left for you and me to allow the spirit of God to germinate in us. We need to fertilize this by regular reading of the word of God and fellowship with children of God and God Himself in prayers. To achieve the excellence and godly life we must live a life of total obedience and become a living sacrifice to God. It is achievable by the power of the Holy Spirit.   The calling upon us is not for self aggrandisement as many people believe and are doing; but to carry out the great commission of Jesus Chri...

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19 KJV Devotion: Praise the Lord, give thanks to the Lord or bless the Lord all means the same. It is a good thing to thank a benefactor not just an ordinary one but also a saviour. A benefactor of human kind, who saved our souls from Satan, from Hell and also loads us with our daily needs. Remember there's nothing we have that was not given to us.  Human race is on planet earth without knowledge of how we come to be and we enjoy fresh air, water, good food etc from our most beneficent(compassionate) God. Therefore it is good to give thanks to God daily in our actions and acts of worship and service. We who have should provide for those who have less, in that way the goodness of God will be shared to all. To do this is to thank God daily.  Living in obedience to the authority of God is to thank him daily. Dear reader, what is your suggestion on how to thank God daily. Share ...

“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:42 (KJV) Devotion: A doctrine is simply defined as teaching; it is a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true. The doctrines of the apostles are repentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection, and eternal judgment (Hebrews 6:1). As a child of God, you should be rooted in these doctrines and be able to teach others to know them. They are the foundation of the Christian faith, and you must know them and build upon them.   Beloved, fellowshipping with believers of like faith goes a long way toward strengthening your faith, motivates you to do greater works for God, and supports those in need so they can stand. In fellowship, you learn how to pray, intercede for others, and also enhance your personal prayer life and your relationship with the Lord. Therefore, do not forsake the assembling of the saints (Hebrews 10:25). Enjoy fell...

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Proverbs 23:24 ESV Devotion: I try to understand these words of wisdom by Solomon and what I could make of it is that the parents of godly children have rest of mind because they are sure the children will not attract problem to the family.   Growing up we had a "big boy" in the neighborhood, he was a great footballer by the local standard but also a thief. He lived with a grandma. Anytime the police came to the neighborhood grandma was afraid and she hid herself because she suspected the grandson was a culprit in another case of stealing. In another word Grandma had no joy, no rest of mind.   What can we do to make sure our kids are godly - train them in the ways of God right from day one of their lives. We must have an alter in the house where we teach them the words of God and our lives must be an example to them. Remember children copy their parents' action more than words...

Put up with one another. Forgive one another if you are holding something against someone. Forgive, just as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 NIRV Devotion: The world is a complex place to live in. There multiple tribes, cultures and characteristics of different people. Even among siblings there's a difference in character; it therefore becomes difficult to live with some people.   But the bible says live peacefully or peaceably with one another. The way I understand it is this: live peaceably with other children of God even when they make you angry. It does not say live peaceably with unbelievers, antichrist or people who can kill you in the name of their gods. You have to run away from such people. You can only pray for the unbeliever to believe, you can't live with them lest they make you sin against God.  Presently in my country some people kill christians to satisfy their gods I don't think we should live peaceably with them rather we should distance ourselves fr...

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 (KJV) Devotion: Understanding is the knowledge and ability to judge a particular situation or subject. There is human understanding and divine understanding. Human understanding has many limitations; that is why the opening scripture warns us not to depend on it (Job 5:13). As a child of God, always ask God for divine understanding every day, to run your life and meet the challenges of the times and seasons.   Beloved, trusting in your own gift or abilities will simply lead to failure at some point because God wants His children to come to Him for direction so that He can take the glory (James 1:5). May you dedicate your whole heart to the Lord and seek His opinion in all matters of life. Hallelujah! Be An Overcomer!   Prayer Point: My precious Father, thank You for counseling me not to depend on my own understanding. I have taken Your counsel. Please give me understanding each da...

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9" Devotion : The Apostle Paul prayed thrice that a thorn in his flesh be taken away. The reply from the Lord Jesus was that His grace was sufficient for Paul to endure the thorn in his flesh; He went further to say that this thorn was put there to check Paul so that he would not be exalted above measure.     I don't know what you have been praying on and it seems God has not answered but remember His silence sometimes is the answer telling you His grace is sufficient for you. God did not promise to provide what you WANT but your NEED (Phil 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus), so check your prayer points. If you are truly spiritual and God needs you in a place while you want another He will not resp...

In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy. You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:25‭-‬27 NIRV Devotion: There are many parts of the body eg Head, ear, nose, arms, fingers , legs etc etc. All belong to one person and all work harmoniously for good of the body. But when a finger suffers from Whitlow the whole body suffers with it, the finger cannot be removed. Ditto when one has headache the head cannot be removed because it must be there to make a complete person. The legs cannot work against the arms or the chest against the stomach; all must unite for all to survive.     We as children of God, those who genuinely put their faith in Christ Jesus are one body with Him and must work harmoniously with Jesus. Each is like branch of a tree. There must not be division within the bod...

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV Devotion: Paul in his surjourn must have met with a lot of opposition, adversities and finally persecution and finally executed. Yet he stood firm in faith, evening preached to his persecutors. Therefore he was in the right position to counsel us to stand firm in faith.   There are areas now where people take joy in killing Christians, they even came to a church not far from where I worship to massacre people, yet to God's Glory people at re undaunted the church is opened and people attend service there.    I was afraid recently when a strange face showed up in our service, I behaved faithless but glory to God for restoration of Faith, I went back to God and sought forgiveness and asked to be strengthened just as Peter did when he denied Jesus. "Matthew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, a...

I want to know Christ better. Yes, I want to know the power that raised him from the dead. I want to join him in his sufferings. I want to become like him by sharing in his death. Then by God’s grace I will rise from the dead. Philippians 3:10‭-‬11 NIRV Devotion: For a man/woman to succeed in life one must have achievable target and diligently work towards it. This exactly is what Paul did and described in the two verses above (Philippians 3:10-11). (I chose this New International reader's Version because it is written in simple understandable English)  Paul worked assiduously 1Cor. 9:25 for the crown of glory and he achieved it 2 Timothy 4:8.   I have heard people convert to Christianity just to get a love of their life, someone told me he likes the church burial ceremony so he became a Christians so that his burial would be conducted in the church.   But you, yes you what's is your target as a christian? Mine is to live a righteous life, a life of total obedience to God...

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4 KJV. Devotion: Jesus Christ says in The Gospel according to Saint John 14 : 1 - end, that he was going to prepare a place for you and me, a mansion like no other. In a new city where there's no sorrow, no death - Rev 21:4. I imagine the place will be a beautiful place, no bandits, terrorists and the like. A place where you sleep and close your two eys, a place where's there are no thieves, witches or wizards a blessed place.   Living in Nigeria now attracts a lot of hardship, uncertainty, if you go out you're not sure of returning home, you go to church service on Sunday you're afraid terrorists may attack and kill. We live in fear.  I begin to ask myself why all these? Why can't we live peacefully, where are these problems from? Then I realize that mo...

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,  2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV Devotion: Here in this chapter 10 Paul defended his believe and teaching about Christ Jesus. There are many religions or cult groups which cannot be boldly defended or speak about. Witches and the like cannot come to the open to discuss or defend their act.  We as children of God have liberty to tell people about Christ, in fact that is what he commanded us to do in Matt 28 :19 -21.     The question I want us to examine is - are you bold like Paul to defend your believe in Christ Jesus before the people around you? I once read of a believer who went to work amongst the lumberjacks for a period. When he came back he was asked how he survived among such set of unbelievers. His answer was "they don't even know that I am a christian"    Dear reader, are you such an one who hides your Christianity before un...

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Matt 9:37‭-‬38 KJV. Devotion: The world population in 2022 is estimated to 7.96 billion persons all potentially could become children of God through Christ Jesus. Therefore the word of Jesus that the Harvest is plenteous is very correct.    Out of the 7.96 the number of christians is just 2.38 billion so there's still room for more. We also know that many are just nominal Christian, they were born into Christianity or got converted but are not truly born again. These and many more need to be brought to Christ but there are simply not enough evangelists.   In Matt 28:19 Jesus commands you and me - " Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: an...

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19" Devotion : Have you ever wondered why the Apostle Paul used the phrase "my God"? The Apostle Paul had an intimate relation with the true God, Elohim, such that he knew what God could do.  Indeed, God had been his supplier and had made him a channel through whom anyone could be blessed. He also gave the people of Philippi the secret of attracting God's blessings: ministering to the needs of the conveyers of the Gospel of Chris.  Lastly, he gave them the full assurance that their needs would be supplied by God; God is in the business of supplying needs so that He can supply our wants.  Dearly beloved, do you know the difference between needs and wants? Share your thoughts here! http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kjvstudybible.bible.kjv.bibleverses.bibleoffline

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 KJV Devotion: This reminds me of my past as Architecture student in the polytechnic. I was not comfortable with the HOD who taught us History of Architecture and Architectural design. He will come and dictate some passages from the textbook. So I decided to read and made my notes so that whenever he comes I was either correcting him or disturbing. Meanwhile I had scholarship to study medicine outside the country.   One day he asked why I was so behaving, I told I already got scholarship to study medicine. The lecturer was not angry, he just told me - my boy, medical school is not Bed of Roses.  Truly the medical school was and is not Bed of Roses, the walk with Christ is also not Bed of Roses. The path way is narrow, full of gravels, thorns and thistles. There are people who will harrass you, kill you sayi...

Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Psalm 119:114 KJV Devotion: In the time past people hid themselves in caves when there was war or invasion by stronger groups. King David was aware of this and infact did several times but also knew that God is the ultimate hiding place. Therefore he wrote the verse above. In this age of precision bombs and  electronic warfare it is unsafe to hide in caves. During spiritual attack one cannot hide in caves because it has no boundary. Spiritual attack cannot be stopped by physical barrier only by Power of the Holy Spirit.  Dear reader, when attacked where do you hide yourself? God is the ultimate hiding place, He beacons on you today. Make God your hiding place and be saved from dangers and perils of life. Be saved from the calamity that will befall the evil people, hide yourself in Jesus, give your life to him. He says come to me ... in Matt 11:28. In Jesus only is hope, let's place our hope in him. You should also kno...

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28" Devotion : If worldly people understood the Gospel, they would run for salvation. Worldly people are laboring in sin and are heavily laden by it; they need Jesus Christ to save them. The yoke of Jesus is easy because we become joint heirs with Jesus Christ when we believe in the Gospel. He then gives us a discerning heart to learn from Him. As we learn in meekness and lowness of heart, we find rest for our souls in Him.  His yoke is His righteousness, humility, assignment, and truthfulness which is easy and light to practice.  Dearly beloved, why do you think worldly people do not want to receive Christ?  Share your comments here!