Shepherd Daily Devotional

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Joshua 6:1-2

To succeed in any given project, you need to have the eye of a visionary. A visionary person sees what others can’t see. The person who has a vision looks into the future with the eye of an eagle. That is, like the eagle, a visionary person can clearly see from a distance. Long before their dreams materialize, visionaries are able to see the end before it happens. The ability to see and predict the future is what inspires every leader. It is also what gives the leader, confidence and a sense of purpose. When a leader is aware of the outcome of his actions, he would be willing to dare all odds and ignore the urge to quit while he confronts whatever challenges that might come his way.

Unfortunately, most times, the future of a project can only be seen by the one who is at the front. Since the leader of any project is usually the one who knows the outcome, others may not have the same conviction the leader has. Because they can’t see what he sees, they may likely give up on the project when things get tough along the way. I experienced this when I started my first project. Because I was the only one who saw the outcome, others abandoned the project when things got tough. If I had known, I would have spent more time trying to make them see what I had seen.

Anyone leader who wants to succeed in any project must know how to share his vision with his partners or teammates. If you don’t share the vision with others, know that you would be heading towards your goal alone. It is for this reason that every organization does team visioning. The idea of team visioning didn’t originate in our modern world. It is a divine principle, initiated by God. When you carefully study the Bible, you would realize that there was no time that God called anyone for an assignment without, first of all, sharing His vision with that person.  In fact, the entire Bible expresses a vision that God has been trying to share with His team members, since the earth was created.

As the One who often initiates an idea, God usually takes His time to make His people see what He sees. In other words, before doing anything, God begins by giving His people a clear picture of the outcome. When He was about to destroy Jericho, God said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and it’s fighting men”. As at that time, Jericho had not been destroyed. But God spoke as if He had already done what He was about to do. In doing so, Joshua was able to see what God saw. Joshua saw the victory before it actually happened. When you share your vision in that manner, you would be able to instill trust and confidence in the minds of your team members.

Prayer: Lord, may I share my vision in the same way that you do. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Joshua 6:1-2

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Mark 4:22

I once worked in an organization where I was in charge of the mails that got into the office. Each morning, I would pick up a pile of envelops from our mailbox and open each envelope that was sealed by the sender. Recently, as I was studying my Bible, I stumbled on a message that Christ shared with his disciples. While He was teaching, Jesus said, “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought to the open”.  This message immediately reminded me of the sealed envelopes I used to open in my office. It occurred to me that what Christ said was exactly what the senders of the mails I received did.

You see, the senders of the mails hide their message inside an envelope and like Jesus said, the hidden message is meant to be disclosed. Whatever they concealed inside the envelope is not intended to remain hidden, but similar to what Jesus said, it is to be brought to the open. Now Jesus was in fact speaking to His disciples about the messages He had been putting inside of them. Jesus had begun that teaching by saying, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?”

Jesus wanted His followers to understand the importance of making use of the messages He was depositing in them. He wanted them to know that it was their job to bring out the messages He had hidden in their hearts. Just as the sender of the message in an envelope expects the receiver to uncover the hidden message and make use of the information in it, Jesus expects His followers to unravel and make use of the messages He had hidden in their hearts. This message was not only for the disciples but for every person who follows Christ. Today, we are the disciples that Jesus is speaking to.

Whatever messages you have received from God, Jesus expects you to use it. The message that God has hidden in you is His word. What are you doing with the knowledge that He has placed in you? Are you using it to impact others? What God has hidden inside of you can also be the natural skill He has endowed you with. Inside every person; inside every Christian, is a hidden gift that God has deposited for the benefit of others. Because the gift is given to you, you are the only one who can unseal it. God is expecting you to bring out that hidden gift in you. He wants you to make use of that gift so He can multiply it. If you don’t make use of the gift that He has already deposited in you, He may take it away. For Jesus said, “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gift you placed inside of me. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Mark 4:2-25

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – I John 5:14

Prayer is one of the most powerful weapons that any Christian can have against the enemy. Among other benefits, prayer can solve problems that money cannot. If you disagree, please visit any hospital and ask some of the doctors and nurses. Doctors have had many situations where they had to give up on their patients, not because they didn’t have enough money but for the reason that such patients had ailments that seemed incurable. But after someone prayed for the same patients, they miraculously got healed.

Another reason, why I find prayer very vital is because it is the one way through which we can build our relationship with God. I got to know more about God and turned my life around, through prayers. While prayer has a lot of advantages, it is also important to note that not every prayer is effective. You and I know that we have said certain prayers that God didn’t answer. It is hard to admit, but the truth is, there are prayers that God doesn’t answer. There are many reasons why some of our prayers turn out to be ineffective. Let me deal with one of them.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus tells us to begin our prayers by aligning God’s will with ours. So, He advised us to say, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This very prayer reflects the influence that the will of God has over the wishes of men. Often, when we don’t pray according to God’s will for our lives, our prayers fail to yield the desired result. But you might want to ask; “how do I know God’s will?” Knowing God’s will or plan can be a difficult task, especially if you haven’t discovered your purpose in life. When you know what God wants you to do, you will likely pray according to His will.

Shortly before God called me to teach His word, I was asking Him to bless me in other areas I thought were relevant to my life and career. To my wonder, God didn’t answer any of those prayers. Instead, He kept on showing me visions of what He wanted me to do. But the moment I understood the visions and began to pray according to His plans for me, my prayers were answered. However, even at that, there were times I prayed for things I felt were essential to my divine assignment but God didn’t respond as at the time I thought He would. It was through this experience that I understood why John said, “If we ask anything according to His will, He listens to and hears us” (1 John 5:14). Praying according to God’s will is one of the best ways to pray. But then again, if you haven’t discovered your purpose, you might as well as ask Him to reveal it to you. That kind of prayer often gets answered.

Prayer: Lord, teach me how to pray.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: 1 John 5:14; Matthew 6:9-13

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Isaiah 43:1-2

Challenges can be very scary. You could find yourself in the middle of a crisis that is life-threatening. You may be on a sick bed, trying to survive from a terminal illness. Or you could be in the hospital, trying to take care of a loved one while your work or business is going under. You might be overwhelmed by financial problems that have to do with debts. Challenges may come at you in form of a house rent you can’t pay. You could be surrounded by bills like school fees, office rents and medical bills at the same time. Your challenge could be a court case that might make you lose money or go to jail. Whatever your challenges might be, I know that it can be scary.

However, sometimes, it is the not the problems in our lives that hurts us the most, what eventually cripples us is the fear of the unknown. I remember when my mum was sick and I had to abandon everything I was doing to take care of her, my health also begun to fail as my blood pressure became so high. My doctor warned me that I was going to have a struck if I didn’t work on myself. I discovered that what made me hypertensive overnight was the fear of losing my mother. I couldn’t stop worrying because her condition wasn’t improving despite the medication, and the prayers my siblings and I were saying on her behalf. So I know what fear can do to anyone in times of crisis.

From experience, I have learned that “fear” is one of the greatest weapon of the enemy. When challenges hit you, the devil often comes along with “fear” and tries to place it in your heart. He uses “fear” as a weapon to cripple you, making you lose your ability to withstand the crisis. To overcome any challenge, you must first of all, eliminate the fear that the enemy has placed in your heart. Unfortunately, you cannot treat fear in the hospital. Fear isn’t something you can eliminate with the doctor’s prescription.

To overcome fear, you’ve got to get a prescription from God.  I discovered this as I was going through my own challenges. As I was taking care of my mother, struggling to stay strong, I found comfort in God’s word. When the medication I got from the doctor didn’t work, I began to study the Bible. I found out that God’s way of helping us fight challenges often begins with a charge to overcome our fears.  In Isaiah 43, God said to His people, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you.” Then He said, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” One remarkable thing about God is that He may not always prevent challenges from hitting us. But when challenges come our way, He rescues us.

Prayer: Lord, help me overcome my fears. Amen. Prayer:

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Isaiah 43:1-2

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – John 20:29-31

Too often, we want to be celebrated the moment we start pursing our dreams. While we are still in the labor room, trying to give birth to the idea that God had placed inside of us, we start asking people to support our dreams because we believe we have an idea or project that will be great. We compel people to sponsor an idea they haven’t seen with their own eyes. Well, you may have a great project in mind; you may have an idea that could make you and others rich, but if the idea is still in your head, people aren’t going to support you as you would expect them to do because, in general, people are more interested in what you have done than in what you intend to do.

Several years ago, when I told people I wanted to start a non-governmental organization, I didn’t get enough support from family and friends. I remember it was only my mother who gave me a few bucks to cover my transportation on the first day. So I didn’t have any other choice than to start without capital. Within the first few months, my volunteers abandoned my project when they didn’t see any meaningful results. At that time, the ideas I had about the project was inside my head and I couldn’t convince others that it was profitable. Later, when my project was selected and honored with an award, people began to show interest in the project. I was surprised when one of the persons who initially didn’t show much interest in the project suddenly asked me; “Ben, how do I support your project?”

People prefer to support an idea that has been tested. This is a universal principle. What you intend to do isn’t what people want to hear. Your achievements are the things that draw people to you. We saw that happened when Saul was made king. At first, there were some Israelites who didn’t embrace the idea of having Saul as king because they didn’t know what he could do. In other words, they saw him as an idea that hadn’t been tested. So they despised him.

But Saul was wise. He didn’t try to convince them. Instead, he kept silent and waited for an opportunity. Soon afterwards, his people were threatened by Nahash the Ammonite. Saul seized the occasion to prove himself. After leading a successful war against the enemies, the people discovered what he could do. That is, he became an idea that had been tested. So they decided to support him by reaffirming his kingship. The same thing happened to Jesus when He told His disciples He would die and then come back to life. They didn’t believe him. But when it happened, Thomas held His hands and said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

Prayer: Lord, enable me to prove my critics wrong by my achievements. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: 1 Samuel 11: 1-15; John 20:28-31

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

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Psalm 78:70-73

When you study how God chose leaders in the Old Testament, you would notice He often picked shepherds to lead His people. When God decided to make an everlasting covenant with man, He chose Abraham, a shepherd. The Bible also tells us that Isaac, Jacob and Joseph whom God gave leadership roles were all shepherds. Isn’t amazing that God didn’t use Moses when he was an Egyptian prince until he was shepherding his father-in-law’s sheep? It is also interesting that when God chose David, he was only a shepherd boy. The Bible says that “from tending the sheep, he brought him to be the shepherd of His people”.

I was astonished when I discovered that the first people to spread the word about Jesus were not His disciples but some local shepherds whom the angel of the Lord had appeared to (Luke 2:17-18). But why is shepherding important to God?  Shepherding is important to God because He sees himself as a Shepherd. David figured this out when He said “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Peter re-emphasizes this point when he called Jesus, the Chief Shepherd. Since Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, then, we are all shepherds. For He can only be the “Chief” if there are other shepherds. Because God shepherds us, He wants us to shepherd others.

Another reason why shepherding is important to God is because it is the ideal way to lead others. The act of shepherding suggests service to others. Therefore, shepherds are servant leaders.  The prophets; Jeremiah and Ezekiel, compared the leaders of their time to shepherds who were failing in their duties because they weren’t serving the people. Ezekiel, specifically said, “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves!” Contrary to what was expected of them, as shepherds, the leaders were exploiting their own people. So how do shepherds serve others?

When David calls the Lord his “Shepherd”, he went on and explained that, the shepherd leads the sheep to areas they can prosper; he protects the sheep from evil and comforts them with his word. God associates Himself with shepherding because it reminds Him of how He serves and leads us. In the gospel of John, Jesus compared Himself to a good shepherd. Like the good shepherd, He lays down His life for His sheep. This is an important lesson to those who desire to lead others. As a leader, can you lay down your life for others? Laying down your life for others does not have to be on a physical cross. It could be in the way you commit your life to serving others with your gifts.

Prayer: The Lord is my Shepherd. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Psalm 78:70-73; Psalm 23;

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

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.