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.