Daily Devotional With Murphy Eyenike

In Matthew chapter 8, we see people continue to seek out Jesus especially for their healing; "Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Matthew 8:1‭-‬2 NLT. However, at the end of the chapter, we see a different crowd who demanded that...

In today's devotional, we consider the concluding part of Jesus' sermon on the mount. Again today, Jesus addresses broad topics like; the criteria for passing judgement, effective prayer, the Golden rule of how to treat others, how to judge character, etc. “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard...

In today's devotional, Jesus' teaching challenges the people to re-evaluate their motives in areas like; giving, fasting, praying, money and possessions. About giving, Jesus says to address the motive for giving, it must be focused on providing for the need of others, it is not to draw attention to yourself. Your giving should be done privately. "But when you give to someone in need, don’t let you...

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;" Matthew 5:33‭-‬34 NIV. "You have heard it said, but I say", what powerful words. In today's devotional, we read Matthew chapter 5 and here, Jesus start confronting the belief...

Matthew chapters 2 through 4 tells us about the magis who visited Jesus and gave him and his parent gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We then read about king Herod's brutal attempt to kill Jesus and the flight to and from Egypt. At every point, we noted that Jesus through his parents at this time was fulfilling several prophecies made 100s of years before. In chapter 3, we see the start of Jo...

In today's devotional, we begin a new study, we will be reading through New testament. We will take a pulse when reading both the book of Hebrews and Revelation by reading the books of Leviticus and Daniel respectively. We read the first chapter of Matthew today which is the first book of the New testament. I explained that Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience which impacts his style of writing...

In today's devotional, we continue our study of the canon of scriptures with a reminder of what the canons are and why God gave them to us. I discussed the 2 general perspectives to viewing the subject; the liberal and orthodox view. God gave us his canons so that we can easily determine what writings were inspired by the Holy Spirit and which were not. The canon, the standard of what His word is...

The first time I heard the word Canonization, I thought it referred to something used in warfare. This confusion is common, however, canonization means something entirely different. The word "canonization" is from the Greek word Kanon which simply refers to a straight rod like a measuring ruler or a standard of measurement. Canonization therefore refers to the rule or process God used in determini...

In today's devotional, we continued our discussion on some of the challenges faced during the transmission of the New testament text to us and how some errors were possibly included. I pointed out the second block of text apart from the 2 examples from yesterday; John 7:53-8:11 and John 5:4, it's Mark 16:9-20. Again here, a footnote is included that says the earliest manuscripts do not have these...

In today's devotional, we discussed the challenges faced during the transmission of the New testament text to us and how some errors were possibly included. I gave an example of such an error; John 7:53-8:11 (the story of the woman caught in adultery) and how some versions note that that scripture is not included in the earliest manuscripts of the New testament.

In today's devotional, I concluded our study on the doctrine of inspiration by stating 4 cardinal reasons why we can be certain the Bible is the inspired word of God; the presence of a law giver. Here a stated that the consistency of our laws implies there is a law giver. Secondly, I spoke about the unity of the writers of the Bible writing within the space of about 1600 years and never contradict...

In the next one week, we will undertake a short study on the doctrine of inspiration, canonization and transmission. The goal is to give all of us a better grasp and understanding of the Bible as the word of God. Today, we start with inspiration; what do we mean when we say the word of God is inspired? 2 scriptures immediately come to mind to explain this concept; 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 1:20-21. All...

*"God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near."* Revelation 1:3 NLT. Understanding and applying the truths of the book of Revelations has been a challenge throughout church history. In entire periods spanning several decades, church elders elected to simply ignore it as they were re...

In this letter, Jude warns us about false teachers and that believers must rally, build each other up by praying for one another and building each others faith. Like in the days of the apostles, we are living in the final days of the church, Jude warns us to beware of false teachers whose mission is to upturn the faith of many; "Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the s...

In this short epistle, the apostle John speaks about the importances of the examples of 3 men; Gaius, Diotrephes and Demetrius. While Gaius and Demetrius was positive; worthy of emulation, Diotrephes was negative. The lesson I take from 3 John is how our examples can leave a mark, we must ensure they are positive. "Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Re...

Second John is written to guide Christians on how to be hospitable to travelling teachers and to be careful of false teachers who were taking advantage of the needs of churches for the scripture. "I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has co...

The apostle John shares with us in this epistle, some of the most profound truths every Christian must know. The purpose of 1 John is so that we would know; we would know the father and Jesus Christ his Son. Secondly, John was writing at a time when the teachings of gnoticism had taken hold of the church. I gave a definition in the introduction. And so John says; our lives must reflect that we are...

In his second epistle, knowing that he was soon to be executed, the apostle Paul leaves this message for the church and both warns and encourages them of false teachers and the need to hold on to the teaching that Christ will come back again. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough; we are living in the last days and Peter in this second letter written just before he was crucified warns us about h...

This epistle, the first that the apostle Peter write was sent to believers scattered throughout Asia. The letter is situated during the emperor Nero's reign and as such was written as an encouragement to those facing persecution to turn their gaze heaven-ward. The truth is, Christians today might not be facing the same kind of persecution but the message holds true, our inheritance is in heaven, w...

The book of James is a book written to admonish believers on how they should live day to day. It addresses a broad array of topics and regular issues all believers face daily. Now while the letter itself was addressed and intended probably for Jewish believers that had scattered from Jerusalem (remember James was the leader of the church at Jerusalem), so James intended to reach them, the admoniti...

Though the writer of the book of Hebrews is not clear, the message is precise and clear; Christ's sacrifice for us is the fulfilment of the promise God made to save mankind. The book of Hebrews though addressed to a Jewish audience who were facing persecution now that they were Christians and so they were considering reverting back to Judaism. The message was simple; Jesus is greater than every pr...

The epistle to Philemon is the shortest of Paul's letters, it was addressed directly to Philemon, a lady referred to as Apphia and Archippus. The theme of the letter is forgiveness. Paul wrote to Philemon asked him to forgive a slave named Onesimus who had abused his master and ran away from home. "So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has wronged you in an...

The epistle to Titus again is a very personal letter to someone the apostle Paul calls a son. He gives him several advise and steps on how to lead the church he is pastoring and the criteria for appointing church leaders. "I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faith...

2 Timothy is officially Paul's last epistle. Paul, who was incarcerated for the second by the emperor Nero and with his execution date likely set, he writes this passionate letter to a son in the faith; Timothy. Paul wanted to pass on the touch for leading the church to Timothy and so writes down in these 4 chapters as many advises Timothy needs to fulfill his calling. "This is why I remind you to...

1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus are often grouped as pastoral epistles because they were written to 2 associates of Paul; Timothy and Titus who had been given the responsibility of pastoring churches Paul had previously instituted. 1 Timothy is an encouragement to a son who was pastoring in the most difficult of circumstances and in one of the biggest cities of their time. Paul's advise is simple;...