Category: Uncategorized

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Matthew 16:13

one day He asked His disciples, “Who do people say I am?” At that time, He was already well-known. His disciples and the crowd had heard Him preach the gospel. They had also seen Him perform miracles. No doubt, they were convinced that Jesus was a man of God because He did what could only be done by someone who had the anointing of God. He was not just like the kind of religious leader they were familiar with. They knew there was something different about Jesus. So when Jesus asked the question, the responses He got were, “Some say, John the Baptist, others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets”.

Notice that their responses, gave the impression that the people thought of Jesus as a prophet. But they were wrong. Interestingly, even his disciples who were close to Him didn’t know who He truly was except Peter. But as Jesus commended Peter, He quickly told them that it was God who revealed the truth to him. In other words, there was no way, Peter could have known who Jesus was if it had not been revealed to him by God. As at the time that Jesus was on earth doing the work that He was called to do, many people, including those close to Him, didn’t know who he was.

If I were to ask you the same question, “Who are you?” You would probably tell me your name, your background and what you do for a living. These things do not define who you are. If they do, the right question to Jesus’s question would have been: You are Jesus, son of Joseph, the carpenter who has now become a prophet. But all of those things do not tell us who He really was. Although, His name is Jesus, raised by a carpenter named Joseph, in actual fact, He was the Christ – the Savior of the World. Though, he performed miracles, He wasn’t just a prophet. He was Christ because that was what defined His earthly purpose. Knowing Jesus as Christ makes us recognize Him as the messiah – the redeemer of the world.

In the same way, what you are currently doing for a living may not necessarily define who you truly are even though it might give us a clue. Like in the case of Jesus, your name or your background does not define who you are. Similar to what happened to Jesus, the people around you may not know who you truly are. Your family, teachers and friends may not even know who you are. What people think about you doesn’t matter. Just as knowing who Jesus was had to be revealed by God, knowing who you truly are can only be revealed by the same God. So if you don’t know who you are, then ask God.

Prayer: Lord, reveal who I am to me. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 16:13-20

Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Lamentation 3:31-32

The hymn, “The steadfast love of the Lord” has the popular lyrics; “They are new every morning, new every morning: great is your faithfulness, O Lord”. These words were taken from chapter three of the book of Lamentation. The entire chapter captures the feelings of a man who is going through deep pain. Although the author may be referring to Jerusalem, he personifies his message, making it like the thoughts of a person who was in great affliction. The author is worried that God had driven him away and made him walk in darkness rather than light. God had continually worked against him, to an extent that he now found himself in a situation where he could no longer escape from God’s wrath. The very God that was supposed to be his helper had turned His back on him. At a point, he felt as if his God was on the side of his enemies. 

Perhaps, you’ve been through a similar situation in your walk with God. Or maybe, that is what you are currently facing. I know exactly how it feels to be in that kind of situation because I have been there. Once, I had found myself afflicted by so many problems at the same time. My problems were so many that I lost my strength and the will to fight back. While I was praying, it seemed my God had shut his doors on me. I was going through challenges in my home, business and in my health, all at once. I didn’t even know which one to face. Surprisingly, all those things were happening at a time I had just given my life to Christ. Instead of moving ahead, I found myself trapped in the middle. I couldn’t go back to my former ways and at the same time, I couldn’t move forward in my new faith. Each day, I kept asking God; “why is this happening to me?” Despite my pleas, nothing changed for a long time.

If you ever find yourself in a situation like that, never ever give up. Even if you think God has abandoned you, continue to wait on Him; believing that God knows what you are going through and that He would come through at the right moment. That was exactly what I did after I stumbled on Chapter three of the book of Lamentations. The same person who was crying out his heart to God also said; “it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” He went on to say in verse 31, “For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.” My friend, don’t be carried away by the troubles you see in your life. Though God allows trials in our lives, in the end, He will show compassion because He loves us.

Prayer: Lord, I know you are on my side. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Lamentation 3:1-32

Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Isaiah 43: 18-19

Isaiah was one of the prophets who foretold the bondage that the people of Judah would go through in Babylon. Before they were expatriated to Babylon, he had warned his people they would suffer because of their disobedience to God. But he was not only a prophet of doom. After the Babylonian exile, Isaiah also gave the people hope. God had revealed to him that their kingdom will be restored. In passing this message across, he said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past”. For the people of Judah, that was not an easy thing to do because they had gone through a lot of pain. These were people that had been banished from their kingdom and sent to Babylon as slaves. Many of them had lost their families, homes and businesses.

Also, the nations that had earlier admired them now despised and mocked them. These were bitter experiences that were unforgettable. If there was anything on their minds, it was revenge and compensation. Yet, God wanted them to forget and not dwell on the past. But God wasn’t just saying that because the punishment was over. He wanted the people to forget the past because that was the only way they could move forward. After telling the people to forget the past, God went on to say, “See, I am doing a new thing!”

When God is about to do a new thing in your life, He expects you to give up on the past. Because if you hold on to the past; you won’t see the future. God knew that if the people of Judah didn’t forget their pain, they wouldn’t be able to see the promise. If they don’t forget the past, they would carry along with them, the pain they had gone through and that would prevent them from experiencing the joy that God was about to bring into their lives.

Pain and joy are not bed fellows. They can’t be experienced at the same time. To experience the joy that God is about to bring into your life, you have to give up the pain you’ve been through. Recall what happened to the Israelites, after God saved them from Pharaoh, they were supposed to experience a new thing in their lives.  But what kept them from experiencing that joy was their consistent reference to the past. As Moses tried to lead them to the promise land, they kept on recollecting their past life. In the end, most of them couldn’t see the promise land. The truth is, if you fill your mind with thoughts about Egypt, there’s no way you are going to see Canaan. One interesting thing about life is that you can’t move forward and backward at the same time. To enjoy the present, you must forget the former ways.

Prayer: Lord, give me the grace to forget the past so I can enjoy the new thing.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Isaiah 43: 18-19

Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Proverbs 4:11-13

Have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to choose between two decisions that both appear to be good, but only one of them is right? If you’ve found yourself in such situations, you would realize that decision making is serious work. To select the right thing from a group of choices that equally seem to be good is not as easy as picking a good thing out of a cluster of bad things. A bad thing can be so glaring that you don’t have to even think or pray before knowing it’s wrong.

But when you have two options that are both good, but you have to determine which of them is right, you will be facing a challenging situation. This could happen when a young person is about to make a choice on who to marry. You could also find yourself in that kind of situation when you are about to make a business decision, or when you are trying to consider job offers from different companies. It could occur when you are about to buy or rent a house. The trouble with any of such cases is that you are often one step away from failure or success. In the end, you will either make the right decision or a wrong one.

From experience, I have learned that the difference between something that is good or right is that while a good thing can be easily detected with our senses, knowing the right thing often requires us to make use of our spiritual antennae. To know the difference between good and right, I have had to depend on God, in all situations. David was familiar with this principle. When he got the chance to kill Saul, his associate said to him, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands.” Now, that seemed like a good thing because Saul had been trying to kill David. To kill Saul or to spare his life, equally seem like a good thing to do. But David realized that the right thing to do was not to lay a hand on Saul, because he was God’s anointed.

But there are times, when the right thing may not even cross your mind or it may seem like the wrong decision and in the process, you may erroneously think that the good thing you are about to do is the only right decision. In such situations, you will surely need God’s help. When Joseph discovered that the woman he was about to marry was found to be with child, he had in mind, not to disgrace Mary but to quietly divorce her. That seemed like a good decision, but when he got a revelation from God, he changed his mind and took the right decision. So always seek God’s guidance whenever you are about to take a decision. Don’t be like the men of Babel who tried to build a tower, hoping to make a name. Their intentions looked like a good one, but it wasn’t right.

Prayer: Dear Lord, guide me as I make decisions.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: 1 Samuel 26:8; Matthew 1:18-20; Genesis 11:1-9

Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

Written Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Psalm 105:17

Joseph was a young man whom God had preordained to be a great leader.  But he was a small Jewish boy who didn’t have the right qualifications. He only knew how to take care of sheep and run errands for his father. Joseph didn’t even have the toughness of a leader because his father pampered him. To prepare him for the opportunity ahead, God had to let him go through some challenges. At first, Joseph didn’t understand what was happening in his life. His brothers sold him into slavery, then his master’s wife framed him and he was sent to jail. But while he was in prison, a situation arose which led to him, fulfilling what God had originally planned for him. When he reunited with his brothers, he didn’t curse them. Instead, he said “God sent me before you…” At that time, Joseph had realized he had been a student in God’s training camp, all along.

To be qualified for any work, you need to be trained. You can’t go to war without knowing how to fight. If you are intending to be a soldier, you must go to a military school. In fact, there’s no profession that doesn’t require training. Training is important because it is the only way we can be prepared for our future. This is the reason why we are all encouraged to go to school. School is a training camp. Just as we go to school in order to prepare ourselves for the opportunity ahead of us, God also enrolls us in His training program. But unlike our school’s training program, God’s training usually take place without our permission and most times, without our knowledge.

When God enrolls us in his own training camp, we don’t have to pay any money as we often do in our school’s training program. The price we pay for God’s training program is patience and faith. Unlike your school’s training, in God’s training camp, you may not understand what He is teaching you until He finishes the training. While your school’s training program may focus on building your professional skills, God’s program is often about building your character.

Just as you will often be tested in your school’s training, God will allow life to test you with trials and tribulations. Just as your school’s test is designed to improve your skills, in God’s training camp, the test is aimed at improving your character. It is after you have proven to your school that you can pass every test that you would be deem fit for graduation. In a similar way, God will make sure you are strong enough to pass and withstand every test before He will promote you and give you all that He wants you to have.

Prayer: Lord, give me the grace to pass the test. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Psalm 105:17; Genesis 45:7

Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.