Month: June 2021

Prepare yourself for the opportunity ahead.

When Jesus was 12 years old, His parents temporarily lost Him after they went to Jerusalem for a Feast. After three days, He was found in the temple, sitting among teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

Notice that Jesus wasn’t found in a farm. Instead, He was seen in a temple – at the very place where He could prepare Himself for His divine assignment.

The importance of preparation cannot be overemphasized. Abraham Lincoln said, “I will study and prepare myself, and someday my chance will come.”

Written By Ben Dankaka

He transformed fishermen to fishers of men.

You might have noticed that Jesus used the words, “follow me” while He was selecting His disciples. Why does Jesus insist we follow Him?

You see, when we give our lives to Christ, He automatically becomes our Lord. Now the word, “Lord” means Master. It also means Owner. As our Master and Owner, we are expected to follow Him. Therefore, to accept Jesus as our Lord, does not only involve a declaration of our faith in Him. True acceptance happens when we follow Jesus.

But we cannot become true followers of Christ until we stop following others, including ourselves.  Jesus wants us to “follow” Him, not because He wants to enslave us but for the reason that He wants to transform our lives.

Written by Ben Dankaka

God wants to teach you.

One day, I closed from work, feeling terribly bad. On my way home, I got some biscuits for my two kids. On reaching home, my kids immediately snatched the biscuits. But just before I relaxed, my daughter (the younger one) returned the biscuits and asked me to open it for her. I quickly did.

Meanwhile, I noticed my older child still struggling to open his own biscuits. When he suddenly realized his younger sister had begun to eat hers, he hurried back to me and cried out, “Daddy, help me!” I laughed and opened his biscuits.

Suddenly, it dawned on me that I had been acting like my son. Instead of acting like my daughter who gave me back the gift so I could help her unwrap it, I was trying to maximize my gifts without God’s help.

Many of us fail to realize that God is a teacher who wants to teach us how to make the best use of the natural gifts He has given us.

Written by Ben Dankaka

Focus on what God wants you to do.

One day, Jesus compared the attitude of the Pharisees to a situation in the marketplace where some children complained because they played a flute but the people did not dance. And when they sang a funeral song, the people also didn’t mourn (Matthew 11:1-19).

Recall that when John the Baptist showed up, he drank no wine, lived in the wilds and lived, eating locusts. Jesus on the other hand, mingled. Yet, He was also criticized.

Whether you like it or not, people are going to say negative things about you. Get over it and focus on what God has called you to do.

Written by Ben Dankaka

Focus on your gifts!

One day, Jesus embarked on a journey to the Sea, so He could have a quiet time with His disciples. But a crowd of five thousand people followed Him.

Why would such a huge crowd of people, leave their villages and follow Jesus to a deserted place? According to the scriptures, the people had followed Jesus “because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick” (John 6:2).

To be a great leader, you would have to commit yourself to doing something that is of great value to others. The thousands that followed Jesus were mainly concerned with His miracles.

What can you do that will be of great value to others?

Written by Ben Dankaka