What Lies Within You

 Get up and activate the greatness within you.

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us, and what lies before us are but tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

When Emerson made that remark he was possibly talking about our ability to triumph in the midst of challenges. Though we are often surrounded by challenges, within us, lays the power to prevail over every negative situation. 

We all were created by God and equipped with the ability to do great things. I am certain of this because you were created in God’s image. God is great, and since He put His Spirit inside of you, then you are automatically fortified for greatness. Activate the greatness within you (Genesis 1:26-28; 1 John 4:4).

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Stay Focused

 

To fulfill any leadership task, stay focused on the big picture.

 

One day, John and his brother, James tried to call fire down from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village because the people would not receive them (Luke 9:51). But Christ rebuked the two disciples.

No doubt, John and James were overzealous apostles. From the that incident, you would notice that Jesus was a leader who avoided distractions. Why should He worry about the rude Samaritans when their antagonism wouldn’t stop Him from traveling through another village?

As at the time that Jesus wanted to pass through the Samaritan village, He had already made up His mind to go to Jerusalem because it was time “for him to be taken up to heaven”. Today, focused on the big picture.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Premature Celebrity

 

Stay close to God.

 

After David killed Goliath, news about him spread. Then, some women popped up with a praise song that placed him above his master, Saul. Because of that song, David had to leave his country.

But the negative impact of the women’s song extended to other kingdoms. When David sought refuge in king Achish’s kingdom, his servants reminded him that he was dealing with a man whom they sang about (1 Samuel 18: 6-9; 1 Samuel 21:10-15; 2 Samuel 22:47-49).

There are times you might achieve something remarkable. And the praises you get will create enemies who feel threatened. So, they would try to stop you. If you ever find yourself in this kind of state, go to God for help.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Stay on course

 

Unless if God tells you to quit, stay there.

 

After winning the prayer contest against the prophets of Baal, Elijah inspired a revival. When the Israelites saw how God responded to Elijah’s sacrifice they immediately repented.

But just as Elijah was about to celebrate his victory, he found himself, once again in the wilderness, when he received a death threat from Jezebel. While he was on exile, Elijah became depressed and even prayed that God would take his own life. (1 Kings 18:38-46; 19:1-9)

Perhaps, you’ve found yourself in a similar situation. You’ve spent your energy on a cause. But instead of recognition, you’ve been rejected and misunderstood. Unless if God tells you to quit, stay there. Oftentimes, God wants us to confront challenges, not to run from it.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

God's Will

Pray according to God’s will.

 

One of the most powerful prayers in the Bible is the one by Elijah when he challenged the prophets of Baal. The prophets had begun the challenge by praying to their god. But their prayer didn’t yield any result.

When it got to Elijah’s turn, he prayed for a few minutes. Yet, God responded almost immediately.

One big difference between the two prayers is that while Elijah’s request was brief, straight to the point, and almost like a conversation, the Baal prophets prayed for too long, shouting, dancing and even slashing themselves with swords (1 Kings 18:1-39).

What we can learn from that story is that praying according to God’s will saves a lot of time and effort.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Bad Timing!

 

God prioritizes our prayer requests according to our needs.

 

Oftentimes, we fail to realize that God prioritizes our prayer requests according to His perfect plan. And that is often determined by time. That is, He responds to our requests at the time we need them.

Recall that in the book of Genesis, we are told that the earth had no shrub, “for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground” (Genesis 2:5). In other words, because there was no man to till the earth, God didn’t send down rain at a certain time.

Timing is therefore important to God. It could be that the only thing wrong with your prayer is bad timing.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

The Sweetest Revenge

 

Allow God to deal with the enemy.

 

There’s a saying that "revenge is a dish best served cold". This implies that revenge is more fulfilling when it’s carried out at an unexpected time.

I strongly disagree because the Bible condemns it (Romans 12:19).

Recall what happened in the case between Peter and Herod. When Herod tried to kill Peter, God stepped in and rescued Peter by Himself because Herod was actually fighting God, not Peter. By not fighting back, Peter left room for God’s wrath as Herod was eventually struck down with a blow by an angel (Acts 12:17-24). Allow God to deal with the enemy.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Move on!

 

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

 

When Peter told the brethren how the Lord had saved him, He said to them, “Tell James and the brothers about this,” and then he left for another place. That is, Peter didn’t hold on to his past. He moved on (Acts 12:1-17).

Clearly, the main thing on Peter’s mind was how to further his work of spreading the gospel. And not on dwelling on the bitter experiences. He moved out of the city, leaving his past behind.

One reason why many people fail to overcome the crises in their lives is because they often go through life feeling bitter and frustrated, even after they’ve been liberated.

To fully recover from a crisis, do what Peter did. Move on!

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Testify!

 

You may not know who’s going to be inspired by your testimony.

 

On the night that Peter was rescued by the angel, he went to the house where people had gathered to pray for him. He was eager to meet those who stood by him.

Peter didn’t think of rushing home to celebrate alone. Instead, the first thing on his mind was to share his testimony (Acts 12:25).

Too often, we fail to share our testimony after we’ve had our miracle. When we are facing challenges, we talk to people and ask them to pray for us. But when God eventually answers our prayers, we forget to return to those who prayed for us. What we fail to realize is that testimonies are important because they serve as proofs to God’s faithfulness.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Just Follow!

 

Why worry over something that is beyond your control?

 

On the night that Peter that was rescued by the angel of the Lord, he was heavily guarded by armed men. Ordinarily, there was no way Peter could have escaped by his own effort. So, he simply slept.

Probably, he had resolved to make the best use of that moment by having a good sleep.  So, when the angel suddenly struck Peter on the side and woke him up, Peter was dazed. He thought it was a vision.  But he followed the angel out of the prison, even though “he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening” (Acts 12:1-11).

When God responds to your prayers, act like Peter; and just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Suddenly!

Prayer works!

 

Prayer doesn’t always work like a clock. While you can easily predict the hands of a clock, you can’t predict how or when a prayer will be answered.

After Peter was jailed by Herod, the Church prayed for him. The Bible didn’t mention how long it took God to answer their prayer. But we are told that on the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, an angel suddenly appeared and rescued him (Acts 12:1-7).

The miracle happened at the eleventh hour! My prayer for you is that God will suddenly respond to your prayer in an unexpected way.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

Use the Key

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

 

Shortly after Herod had James, the brother of John killed; he proceeded and arrested Peter, thinking it would please the Jews. Since the Church knew they couldn’t physically confront Herod because of his power and influence, they resorted to prayers (Acts 12:1-5)

I don’t know the sort of crisis you are facing. But if you are at a point where you feel helpless; then do what the disciples did by handing over the matter to God.

Like the disciples did, pray earnestly and ask God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. And if you’ve lost the strength to pray for yourself, then ask someone to pray for you.

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

The Master Key

If we ask anything according to His will, He listens.

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 pray according to Heaven’s will. This means that when we don’t pray according to God’s will, we may not get what we are asking for.

Years ago, I asked God to show me how to revive my business. Instead, He showed me something different. At first, I thought it was the devil, playing with my mind. But it wasn’t so, because after a while I realized it was God redirecting steps.

Here’s the key: When you know what God wants you to do, you will likely pray according to His will (1 John 5:14).

 

Written by Ben Dankaka

How to Create

 

It takes knowledge to create anything.

True leaders depend on creativity. And it doesn’t matter the field, creativity is required in every line of work. You may not be creative in your current work, but there’s a place you can be creative. And that place is oftentimes in your area of gifting.

The Bible tells us, God made the heavens and earth by His understanding. That is, by His knowledge, God created the heavens and the earth (Psalm 136)

So, He didn’t just create the heavens and the earth with His word alone. To create the earth, God had to use His understanding. Do what God did. Use your knowledge and understanding to create something that can impact our world.

 

 Written by Ben Dankaka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Becoming Powerful

Whatever you can overcome, God will let you handle it.

 

All humans want to feel powerful. But in our quest to feel powerful, we end up dominating others. But it doesn’t have to be that way.  The Bible tells us that, “God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding” (Jeremiah 10:12; Proverbs 3:19).

Notice that when God created the earth, He neither exploited anyone nor asked anyone to do the work for Him. He created the earth by Himself, with His wisdom and understanding.

If you want real power, you have to do what God did. Whether you want to create a product or business, it will require your wisdom and understanding.

Written by Ben Dankaka