ojaysjoel blog

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, And that seek him with the whole heart. Psalm 119:2 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.119.2.KJV Devotion: The foundation of joy, true joy on earth is God because one cannot actually enjoy any form of happiness in life without Christ.(Psalm 119 : 2) God is the creator of the universe He certainly knows what is best for each one of us and will readily give us when we ask Him for it.    Following God's guidance and direction for our lives will lead to fulfilled life, which is why the writer of psalms in 119:2-3 says "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways." The word keep his testimonies here means explore, find knowledge, read the word of God. If you read the word of God you will understand the precepts of God and not go against it. Therefore you will live a fulfilled life.   To read the word of God and benefit from it you must have a relat...

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalms 27:1" Devotion : The Psalmist through a personal relationship with the LORD saw Him as his Light, Salvation, and Strength. The LORD as Light to direct him; the LORD as Salvation to rescue him; the LORD as Strength to give him divine health and fight for him.  In the New Testament Jesus Christ is our Light (John 1:4), Salvation when we confess(1John1:9) that Jesus is Christ who died on the cross so that we might be saved, and Strength. Jesus Christ as Light to make us the light of the world; Jesus Christ as Salvation to die on the cross to redeem us from the bondage of sin; Jesus Christ as Strength to send the Holy Spirit to edify us for ministry. We can experience Jesus Christ as Light, Salvation, and Strength only if we want to go the extra mile to have a very intimate relationship with Him. Are you prepared to go the extra mile?  Dear beloved, do...

"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalms 103:12" Devotion : In the Old Testament, God covered their sins with the blood of goats, sheep, and bulls (Psalms 32:1). This means that God could remember their sins by just taking the cover off. However, in the New Testament Jesus Christ died, atoning the sin of mankind with His blood; in other words, the blood of Jesus is superior to the blood of animals because it cleanses all sins and even our conscience is cleansed.  For this reason, when God forgives our sins when we ask Him, He forgives them and remembers them no more. This is what Christians are encouraged to learn from God. Due to human nature, forgetting the sins of those who have wronged us takes time, but conscious effort should be made to forget them. This where the Holy Spirit comes in - when we allow Him to help us to forgive and forget, which will be to our own advantage.  Dear beloved, how do you feel when people ...

As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 1 Peter 4:10 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/1pe.4.10.KJV Devotion: The seven to eight billion people on earth are all unique and each has unique gift bestowed upon him or her. In the passage above Apostle Peter admonishes us to use these unique gifts to help each other especially in the body of Christ.   Some of us have gift of kindness, love, giving, helping, teaching, counseling etc. We should use such gifts to assist others, to rouse them up, to lift them and bless them. Now some may not clearly know the gift they are endowed with, if you are in such situation ask God to show you. You can also know because you're naturally good at the gift your are endowed with.  Some other gifts come with life experience which is almost always unique to a person. Such life experiences can be used to teach, counsel or help others.   We receive these gif...

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31" Devotion : The Apostle Paul asked the above questions after touching on many subjects. Some of the subjects he touched on were the intercession of the Holy Spirit for us, predestination, justification, and glorification. All the things he spoke about are in our favour as believers in Christ Jesus.  He taught these subjects to encourage the believers in his era not to give up their faith even though they might be going through a lot of challenges. He said the destiny of Christians has been planned by God, we have been declared not guilty by God, and we will be glorified in the end.   Sometimes we are deceived to think that God does not care or that God hates us, because of the challenges or sufferings that come our way when we became born again. These trials are just passing for us to be glorified in the end. He who stands to the end will be saved, there is no looking back in the...

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24‭-‬26 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/num.6.24-26.KJV Devotion: Today's priestly blessing for you and me is like an insurance cover. It covers all areas of our lives but it will not just come to you unless you have a relationship with God through the highest priest Jesus Christ. As we all know insurance covers only those who subscribed otherwise you'll be on your own. To receive the blessings of the prayer give your life to Christ then you will begin to enjoy the protection of God which is in the first part of the prayer. The second part says God's face will shine upon you, that is favour, meaning God will favour you everywhere and in all your undertaking again provided you relate with God regularly in His word and prayers.  The third part says will search you out to favour you especially when you a...

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/col.3.16.KJV Devotion: Paul counseled the Colossians to who he introduced Jesus Christ, to study the word of Jesus, why? There were many unbelievers around just like today who would like to shame a Christian who does not know the word of Christ. We are to read the Bible regularly, understand it and be able to quote several verses from it; especially when we want to pray or are faced with unbelievers who would want to test us. Note the Jesus' example when devil tested him, he replied with the word of God (Luke 4: 1-13). This is achievable when we fellowship with other children of God and study the word together.  Singing spiritual songs, hymns and psalms lifts our souls and gives joy to our God. It makes God happy with us and when we make our petitions known...