ojaysjoel blog

I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings. Psalm 40:1‭-‬2 AMPC Devotion: The verses above is the testimony of the psalmist about what earnest prayer can do in the life of a child of God. No wonder the bible says pray without ceasing 1Thessalonians 5:17. There are some problems that will not just go with short time prayers but will only yield after long suffering in prayers and fasting. If you are in such situation do not relent continue in earnest prayer till something happens. In Act 12:5, the church prayed untill Peter was miraculously brought out of the prison by Angel. Dear reader do you have prayer request? Send it to us and you will have testimony in Jesus name. Hallelujah. -JO.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. Psalms 68:5 NIV Devotion: Do you have a dear father ...... a beautiful song by Jimmy Cliff in the 60s.  In the physical most people have a Father, some have a dear Father but I had a lovely, dear Father who was ready to lay down his life for his son.   I remember my father was a lovely family man, he loved us and sent each of us to school even from his meagre resources. He made neat and smart uniform ( he was a tailor) for us, bought all books and gave money for lunch daily. He would sit with us and told us life changing stories. He was a prayer warrior and prayed for each child by name daily. The day I left home for Russia he cried like a baby. On the night of my marriage he was around and suddenly a snake appeared from nowhere. My dad killed it with bare legs. He stepped on its head not minding what could happen. He was such a good dad. RIP my dad.   Now I have another Father, He is the Fathe...

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7 Devotion: In this computer age I hear people say "garbage in garbage out" meaning you receive what input you fed into the computer. It is same in real life what you put into the soil is what you reap from the soil.  I have not read or heard of a man who reap yams from pineapple farm it's not possible. As parent let's know that whatever training we give our children will make them who they will be in future.  Students should know that the result they receive at the end of the semester is the result of their input into the semester. If you study hard you get good result; if you did not read you get poor grades or fail. Salvation is free but to maintain it to the end requires hard work in living right and maintaining holiness so that Holy Spirit can live within us to guide us to the end. That is why Jesus says in Matthew 11:12 "and from the days of John the Bapt...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5‭-‬6 NIV Devotion: Natural human being have tendency to believe in their ability and knowledge to do things. Many times they  are able to get things done but no always.   But you and I as children of God are encouraged to submit  our plan to God  in prayers and supplication with thanksgiving then everything will be made smooth, easy and help will come from every angle.   I remember that I got a job without sweat recently even though I had struggled to get same job for a year. All I did was to fast and pray for 3 days and contacts just facilitate the employment. The person who had always rejected my application gladly accepted it because I submitted to God.    Please know that submission to God is not suspension of brain, you still have to do your part, in the example above -  submissi...

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV Devotion: The word CHARITY translated to mean LOVE in some versions of the bible means much more. According to Merriam Webster's dictionary Charity means generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering, it also means  benevolent   goodwill   toward  or  love  of  humanity.  It is therefore save to conclude that charity is greater than faith and hope. An act of charity towards the needy gives him or her hope and boost his or her faith in Christ.      An illustration is this: a Christian living among unbelievers can easily spread the gospel of Christ by his humaness, benevolent act, love (Charity). A story is told of a conversion to Christianity;  because a believer did not ask the unbeliever to pay for the windshield of his car broken by the son of the unbeliever. The unbeliever saw it as an act of...

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57. Devotion: There is victory for the children of God either in the physical or in the spiritual. We the children of God are winners but we must not relent, we must persist in the struggle till victory is achieved.   Even when something happens in the struggle, when your mind says it’s never going to work out, but in your heart, you know what God promised is on the way. Your mind says, “You’re wasting your time; there’s no use believing.” But you just keep on keeping on, doing the right thing, trusting God, thanking Him that’s it’s on the way. That’s sustaining faith. Don’t expect everything to be easy, victory is certain.   Don’t expect everyone to be for you. If it hasn’t happened yet, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. The victory is on the other side of the opposition. It takes staying power, it takes a made-up mind, it takes someone that’s not moved by the circumsta...

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24 NIV Devotion: Razor blades blade are very thin, smooth stainless sharp objects used to dissect tissues or simply cut small objects. While a hammer is a heavy metal used to break or force objects into another, make a new object of and old piece of Rusty metal. Some tongues when used without wisdom of God, are like razor blades used to tear the heart of people, inflict deep, difficult to heal wound in the heart. This causes lasting resentment and leads to poor relationship. Yet some others are like a very heavy hammer designed to break hearts. It's used to say the truth but in a manner to disgrace, to deride or to cause a change into desired shape. The receiver needs wisdom to sift the truth from the pieces apply it and shine. The razor tongue can totally destroy while the blunt hammer tongue if gently used can correct. In Proverbs 15:4 the bible says "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life:...