Perfect Victory

 

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

 

By Ben Dankaka

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.

How to Change the World

 

To change the world, serve people with your gift.

 

By Ben Dankaka

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.

How to Create

You need knowledge in order to create anything.

 

By Ben Dankaka 

One of the principles of success is creativity. Hardly is there any career leader who doesn’t depend on creativity. Creativity is not only required in the arts but in every business. Even if you are into retailing, you will need to be creative. Former richest man in America, Sam Walton, and founder of Wal-Mart Stores used a creative business formula that most retailers ignore. He bought a wide variety of products in bulk across his network of stores so he could pass savings on to his customers. As a result, people flocked to his stores.

That Hidden Message

Unseal the hidden message in you.

 By Ben Dankaka

Jesus said, “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought to the open”. What Christ said is exactly what the senders of the mails do. The senders of 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 about the messages He had been depositing in the minds His disciples.

Stay on Track

Realize that not every solution is appropriate.

 

By Ben Dankaka

While evangelizing, Paul and Silas were arrested. However, a miracle happened as they were in prison. The normal thing to do was to rush out of the prison cell, assuming it was God’s will. Instead, they ignored the freedom but, took advantage of the opportunity to gain new converts. In the end, their patience paid off as they were released by the magistrates, the next day. One interesting thing about this story is the way they stayed faithful to their cause in the middle of a crisis.

Good versus Right

To select the right thing from a group of choices that equally seem to be good isn’t an easy thing to do.

 

By Ben Dankaka

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. For instance, when David got the chance to kill Saul; his associate suggested they should kill Saul. That seemed like a good thing because Saul had been trying to kill David. But David realized that the right thing to do was not to lay a hand on Saul because he was God’s anointed. But

Set the RIGHT Goal

 

Many people fail in life, not because they didn’t set goals but for the reason that they set the wrong goals.

By Ben Dankaka 

Over the years, I have learned that achieving goals do not guarantee success. There are times you may set goals and then succeed in realizing them, but just as you are about to celebrate, you may suddenly discover the goals shouldn’t have been set in the first place. The scripture says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Many people fail in life, not because they didn’t set goals but for the reason that they set the wrong goals. So they spend their entire lives pursuing the wrong. They never realize their mistakes until they get to the end.

The Sweetest Revenge

 

Focus on dealing with the problem and allow God to deal with the enemy.

 

By Ben Dankaka 

There’s a saying that "revenge is a dish best served cold". This statement implies that revenge is more fulfilling when it’s carried out at an unexpected time. This is true but to take revenge against your enemy is wrong, and the Bible condemns it.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul warns us “not to take revenge”, but “leave room for God’s wrath” (Romans 12:19). That is, we are expected to leave vengeance for God because whoever troubles us is actually fighting God, not us. Therefore, those who take revenge against their enemies are guilty of fighting God’s battles. Allow God to deal with the enemy.

Move on!

Commit to focusing on what you can change, rather than what has already happened.

 

By Ben Dankaka

As Peter shared his testimonies with the Church, He said, “Tell James and the brothers about this,” and then he left for another place. The scriptures didn’t tell us where he headed to, but we know that Peter moved on. In other words, Peter didn’t remain at the place where he was persecuted. That is, he didn’t even to hold on to his past troubles and successes. Peter didn’t even spend a single night in the city. Obviously, the main thing on Peter’s mind was how to further his work of spreading the gospel of the Kingdom. So he quickly moved out of the city.

Your Story Matters

 

You may not know who’s going to be inspired by the challenges you are going through.

By Ben Dankaka 

On the night that Peter was rescued by God’s angel, he went to Mary’s house and met the people who had been praying for him. The moment the angel left him, Peter thought of the people that were concerned about his troubles. As their leader, Peter knew that his arrest must have instigated fear in the hearts of the brethren. Obviously, he knew they had been praying for him. Now that he had been miraculously recused, He went to them because he wanted the Church to know that God had answered their prayers.

Just Follow

God is never late.

By Ben Dankaka 

On the night that Peter that was rescued by God’s angel, he was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with chains, and there were other armed men who stood guard at the entrance. In other words, Peter was heavily guarded by armed men. Think of the scenario as what we now call, “maximum security”. Ordinarily, there was no way; Peter could have escaped by his own effort. As at that moment, Peter wasn’t thinking of freedom.  So when the angel suddenly struck Peter on the side and woke him up, Peter was dazed, momentarily. He thought he was seeing a vision.

All of a sudden!

God responds in different ways.

By Ben Dankaka 

Prayer doesn’t work like a clock. While you can easily predict the hands of a clock, you cannot easily predict how or when a prayer will be answered. You can glance at a clock and know the exact minutes it will take the hands of the clock to reach the next hour. But you can’t say a prayer and then predict the exact way it will be answered. Answers to prayers are unpredictable because God responds in different ways. You might have had incidences where God answered your requests almost immediately after you prayed. But then again, there must have been times, your prayers were delayed.

The Master Key

 

Ask God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

 

By Ben Dankaka

Shortly after King Herod had James, the brother of John killed; he proceeded and arrested Peter. Herod had decided to kill Peter because he figured it would make the Jews happy. This became a big problem to the Church. If Peter who was the leader of the disciples was executed, then there was going to be a big crack in the Church. And the Church knew they couldn’t physically confront King Herod who had power and authority. So they decided to do the only thing they could do. While Peter was kept in prison, “the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

Sudden Trouble

No one goes through a crisis without growing.

 

By Ben Dankaka 

We don’t have to always blame ourselves for every crisis that shows up in our lives. For instance, a fire incident or the sudden death of a colleague or business partner can bring about a crisis. You may also find yourself in a financial crisis because of an economic recession. You are not the reason why your country is in recession, but somehow you are affected by it. Therefore, crises are problems that come into our lives unexpectedly. Crises are uninvited troubles. There are times that troubles would meet you even while you were minding your own business.

While crises can be painful, they also have some benefits. Crisis comes to shake up certain things in our lives. No one goes through a crisis without growing. The crisis you are going through will move you from where you’ve been to the place you ought to be. See that crisis as an opportunity to reinvent yourself. The crisis has come to wake you up. Above all, it will bring you closer to God. David said, “It was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your decrees” (Psalm 119:71). Like David, you will be grateful in the end.

 

Prayer: Dear Jesus, give me the strength to stay strong. Amen.

 

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Psalm 119

 

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

 

 

 

Empowering Others

To empower others, teach them!

By Ben Dankaka

One day, Jesus took his disciples to a solitary place so they could break away from the crowd. They boarded a boat and quietly left. But before they got to their destination, the crowd recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and even got to the solitary place ahead of them. When Jesus saw the large crowd, he pitied them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus had compassion on them because He realized they were in need of leaders. In other words, Jesus realized there was a shortage of leadership. How did Jesus tackle the problem?