Shepherd Daily Devotional

Written By Ben Dankaka

Doing God’s will also means doing what God called you to do.

To understand God’s will, follow the teachings of Christ. Jesus approached the subject of doing God’s will in two different ways: First, Jesus taught that doing God’s will is about hearing His words and putting it into practice. Chapters five, six and seven of the book of Matthew captures the main teachings of Christ. In those chapters, Jesus spoke on a wide range of subjects. After His sermon, Jesus instructed us to do the will of the Father in heaven. Then He added, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Therefore, doing God’s will has to do with following the teachings of Christ.

On another occasion, Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” When Jesus made that statement He wasn’t speaking of God’s will in the context of doing what the Bible teaches. He was referring to His divine assignment of bringing eternal life. And so, doing God’s will also means doing what God called you to do. Spend time, meditating on God’s will.

Prayer: Dear Lord, reveal your purpose for me. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 7:21-24; John 6: 38-39

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Knowing what the Bible teaches doesn’t make you a doer of God’s will.

Not many people know what it means to do God’s will. Generally, God’s will simply means, what God expects from us. But to discover what God requires of us, we need to study the Bible. The will of God is, therefore, not found in ANY other book. So one of the reasons why many people do not know God’s will is because they do not read the Bible. At the same time, one can read the Bible and yet fail to do God’s will. Knowing what the Bible teaches doesn’t make you a doer of God’s will.

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” This means, a person may know who God is, and not do God’s will. In other words, many would not make heaven NOT because they didn’t know Jesus, but for the reason that they didn’t do what He wanted them to do. It is like a lawyer who went to a law school but never practiced law. Doing God’s will isn’t about knowing the Bible; it is about doing what it says.

Prayer: Dear Lord, May I not only be a listener, but a doer of your word. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 7:21-24; Matthew 12:50

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Putting God first is the key to success in every endeavor.

Just as God ejected the mighty kingdoms and gave their lands to Israel, He also ejected the Israelites from their land after they followed the evil ways of other nations. Know that God isn’t partial. He didn’t eject other nations and gave their lands to Israel because He wanted to please the Israelites. One time, Moses to the Israelites said, “It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations….” The word, “wickedness” in the context of that statement implies idolatry.

God is unhappy with anyone who dishonors Him. When you idolize or worship anything or anyone other than God, your relationship with Him is broken. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you are saved or not, if you don’t put God first in everything you do, God isn’t going to be pleased with you. Even if He has already blessed you in so many ways, God will break up His relationship with you the moment you put anyone above Him. As a leader, recognize that putting God first is the key to success in every endeavor.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I want to serve you forever. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Deuteronomy 9:5-6; Exodus 20:1-5; Mark 12:28

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Never lead with the mentality that the buck ends with you.

The Scriptures say that God struck down great kings and gave their land to his servant, Israel. Why would God take what belongs to a person and give it to another person? The Bible teaches that the reason why God expelled other nations and gave their kingdoms to the Israelites was because of their abominable ways. Because they served idols and defiled their lands through evil practices, God displaced them. As leaders, it is important for us to recognize that God is the “Boss of all bosses.” Never lead with the mentality that the buck ends with you.

You may be in charge of lives and properties; but always bear in mind that you are accountable to God. God is not only in charge of heaven, He is in control of the earth. No matter how powerful you are, try not to do anything that affects God’s authority. Solomon was wise, rich and powerful. But when he forsook God and followed other gods, God tore his kingdom and gave a large chunk to his subordinate, Jeroboam. When Jeroboam also abandoned God, God retrieved the throne from his family. Because God owns everything, every leader must honor Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, be my Master. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Psalm 136; Leviticus 18:24-25; Psalm 24:1; 1 Kings 14:7-10

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

If you are trying to win your own battles without God, you might end up with scars.

Life can overwhelm us with challenges that may seem impossible to overcome. But while you can overcome certain challenges with will power, some of our problems cannot be solved by human effort. One day Jesus was confronted by a man possessed by a demon. As soon as the evil spirit recognized Jesus, it shrieked. To shut the demon, Jesus commanded it to come out of the man. Interestingly, even though the evil spirit flung the man, it came out without injuring him. In other words, the man was delivered without wounds.

The demons and some of the problems in your life aren’t going to give up because you want them to. They won’t go because you are smart and intelligent. Imagine what would have happened if the man with the evil spirit had tried to discharge the demon by his will power. For sure, the demon wouldn’t have surrendered without a good fight. But thank God, when Jesus came, the man was delivered without a scratch. If you are trying to win your own battles without God, you might end up with scars. But then if you want to win your battles without injuries ask Jesus to help you out.

Prayer: Dear Lord, fight my battles. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Luke 4:33-35       

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

To become a person of influence, serve people with your gift.

Jesus often had crowds following Him wherever He went. One time, He withdrew with his disciples to a lake. Then a large crowd from Galilee and from many other regions followed Him. These people weren’t invited. They decided to follow Jesus “when they heard all he was doing” (Mark 3:8). That is, if they had not heard what He was doing, they wouldn’t have bothered to follow Him. Most likely, Jesus wasn’t followed by crowds until He launched His ministry. Prior to that time, the Bible didn’t give any account of crowds following Jesus. But when He began to preach and perform mighty miracles, the crowds showed up.

If Jesus hadn’t served others with His gifts the people wouldn’t have noticed Him. To become a person of influence, serve people with your gifts. If you want to have a lot of followers, become a person of value. Social media and all other media platforms can give you an opportunity to pull crowds, but if you really want to get people’s attention and possibly gain a lot of followers, become a person of value. People don’t just follow others because they like them. They follow those who are valuable.

Prayer: Dear Lord, teach me how to be a person of value. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Luke 5:38-42; Mark 3:7-8

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Matthew 19:21

To become an effective leader, you must be determined to serve. How you serve will determine how effective you will be. The more you serve, the bigger your impact. The principle of leadership works in the same way as the principle of giving. Jesus said, “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Similarly, in leadership, your output or effectiveness is measured by the size of your service. The amount of service you offer will determine the size of your impact. If you serve a little, you will make little impact. If you serve more, you will make more impact.

Think of the rich young man. When he informed Jesus he was already keeping God’s commandments, Jesus told him to sell all his possessions, give it to the poor and then follow Him. What Jesus wanted the young man to do was to commit his entire life serving God. If the rich man could keep God’s laws while engaged in his private business, imagine what he could have achieved if he had committed his whole life. But the guy decided to limit his service to God. Leadership is like that. You can stretch your impact by the amount of your service. Nelson Mandela could have decided to restrict his service to his law firm. Mother Teresa could have decided to serve only in the nunnery. Martin Luther King Jnr could have said, “Let me just serve God on the pulpit.” But instead, they all increased the size of their service. Jesus, the greatest leader of all time, wants you to do the same thing He did. Increase the size of your service.

Prayer: Dear Lord, increase the size of service to you. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 19:16-30; Luke 6:38

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Matthew 18:4

You can’t function effectively in any position of leadership if you are not willing to serve others. Think of all the great leaders you know. Each of them is known for serving others. Whether they are religious leaders, political, business or career leaders, every one of them is known for offering a service to others. Jesus, whom I consider as the greatest leader of all time said, “I did not come to be served but to serve the world.” If you are not thinking of serving others, you would never become an effective leader. To become an effective leader, you must, first of all, be someone’s servant. If Joseph, Moses, David and Solomon, Daniel and Paul didn’t serve others, we wouldn’t have noticed them in the Bible. A leader or a king is literally a servant. It is by serving others that a leader earns the respect of his followers. If you are not serving others with something valuable, why should people follow you?

Jesus criticized the Pharisees because they were unwilling to serve. He was angry with them because they tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves were not willing to lift a finger. The Pharisees expected the people to serve God and do the right thing. But they themselves were unwilling to serve others and God. In God’s kingdom, we become effective through service. But you can’t serve if you are not humble. Humility is the determining factor. Jesus said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” When the disciples wanted to know how a person can be great Jesus told them to humble themselves like children. If you truly desire to be an effective leader, humble yourself so you can be able to serve others.

Prayer: Dear Lord, give me a humble spirit. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 18:1-5; Matthew 23:11-12

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Mark 6:34

On one occasion, Jesus took his disciples to a solitary place because they needed some rest. The apostles had just concluded one of their assignments. After reporting to Jesus, all they had done, many more people kept coming to them and the disciples could not even create time to eat. To rescue the disciples, Jesus decided to take them to a quiet place where they could have some time-out. They boarded a boat and quietly left. But before they got to their destination, the same people that they were running away from recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and even got to the solitary place ahead of Jesus and the disciples. When Jesus landed and saw the large crowd, he pitied them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. In other words, Jesus had compassion on them because He realized they needed to be guided. At that instant, Jesus realized there was a shortage of leadership.

How did Jesus tackle the problem? According to the scriptures, as soon as Jesus realized that the people were like sheep without a shepherd, “he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34). Notice that Jesus didn’t address the leadership problem by sharing money to the crowd. He didn’t try to empower them by sharing bags of foodstuffs or by giving them material possessions. Also, Jesus didn’t try to solve the problem by blaming anyone. He didn’t ask them to go home and find “shepherds”. Instead, Jesus immediately began to teach them. Why did Jesus teach the people at that moment? Of all things, Jesus concluded that imparting knowledge was the best way to empower the people. Although they needed some fish, Jesus decided that teaching the people how to fish was more important. To empower others, teach them!

Prayer: Dear Jesus, teach me how to empower others. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Mark 6:30-34

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Mark 6:54

We all tend to feel special whenever people easily recognize us at a public place, especially in a ceremony. We feel honored and respected when we don’t have to introduce ourselves in public. To be recognizable means you are famous or popular. It also means you are that person who stands out in a crowd because others think you are unique and exceptional. There’s hardly any leader who isn’t easily recognized. The moment you become a leader, whether in your field of endeavor or in an organization, you will be recognizable. It’s all most impossible to be a leader and not be recognizable. But being recognizable doesn’t necessarily mean you are making impact in society. While you can be recognizable for the right reasons, you can also be noticeable for the wrong reasons. So the important thing is not whether you are recognizable or not, but why you are recognizable.  

One time, Jesus and His disciples traveled to a place, named, Gennesaret. Before He could settle, the people saw Him. And the moment they recognized Jesus, they ran throughout the whole region and carried the sick people on mats so He could heal them of their illnesses (Mark 7:55). Think about that for a moment. As soon as the people recognized Jesus, the next thing that crossed their minds was, “The healer is in town, let’s bring together the sick!” In other words, the moment they recognized Jesus, they were reminded of his work. What went through their minds after they recognized Jesus was the work for which he was known for. In the same way, that the people were reminded of the miraculous works of Christ the moment they recognized Him, the people around you are likely going to think of your antecedents whenever they see or recognize you.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, I want to be recognized for the right reasons. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Mark 7:55-56

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