Engaging fired up leaders who know who they are in Christ and are ready for the challenges of leading with integrity in society today and in the future. This is done by understanding and discussing Biblical Insight into Leadership principles and practices. There has only been one perfect role model for leadership. That only role model has been Jesus Christ.
I enjoy incorporating worship music into my blog posts. Some people enjoy listening while they read and others listen at the end.
We need to thank God each day for the blessings that He has provided. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
We are often so tempted to shift the focus from God to ourselves. And so many people have decided to make this change in focus. People choose to do this because they fear that He may not come through or that His blessing is not fast enough or enough. And it’s a punch to the ego to say that our success or blessing is from someone like God. We need to say to God that we trust His timing for our lives and we have faith.
God has called you into relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ in order for you to be caught up in His purposes in the world. Recently the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America used the phrase “God’s work – our hands” to explain this. God wants us to be in alignment with His will to do the work that He would have us do.
Psalm 106:3 (NIV) says: Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.
and
Psalm 41:1 (NIV) adds: Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
When we are in alignment with God great things can and do happen in the course of our lives. When you focus on being a blessing to others, God makes sure that you are always blessed in abundance and He then multiplies the blessings you offer others! When we are living in God’s will he can multiply our offering to serve more people and expand the Kingdom of God.
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV) explains: And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
When we keep our focus on God He pours down blessings from an open heaven. Blessings fall down upon us like rain from heaven when our focus is right. God wants to do things through me, I just need to believe and follow Him. I have faith that God will surround all of His creation with blessings. A faithful and focused man shall abound with blessings.
Turn on the news today and there is almost always a story of
someone who was willing to give up everything important to them for a quick
gain. We each may even know someone
personally that is willing to give it all up for the appearance of success. It’s easy to give in to the world’s
definition of success and fame. You
might be willing to sacrifice something small… maybe just a couple of dollars. You think that is okay. It’s worth the risk. You justify it to yourself. But the lure of fame and success can become
as addictive as a drug. You can get
wrapped into the cycle.
Remember…
Colossians 3:2 (NIV)
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Matthew 16:26 (NIV)
26What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world,
yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
We may see instant gratification in a sense of gaining
worldly success… but over the long haul, over time this is met with an overall
sense of emptiness. We are being asked
to consider what temptations would allow us to lose our life. Verse 26 is asking each of us to reflect on
our priorities and how we make decisions on those priorities.
As secular ideas, devoid of a focus on Jesus Christ, of what
is meant by diversity and social justice continue to shape the dialog I fear
that we will never achieve true social justice of all people. We allow secular ideas and feelings to shape
the debate rather than turning to Scripture for insight. The secular plans are tricks by the enemy that will keep divisions among people. We fail to remember that God knows better than
we do. We forget that creation still
continues and that He has a plan. But
when we turn from God and His plans we fail to achieve the plan he has set in
motion in creation. We must allow God to
continue to develop us to be the person (people) He needs for us to do what is
in His will for the future. We need to
learn how to trust God. Christ calls us to have unity AND diversity in one
body.
1 Corinthians 12: 12-31(NIV)
12Just as a body,
though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with
Christ. 13For we were all baptized by
one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and
we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14Even
so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15Now if the foot
should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would
not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not
belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where
would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense
of smell be? 18But in fact God has
placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would
the body be? 20As it is, there are
many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot
say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I
don’t need you!” 22On the contrary,
those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less
honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are
treated with special modesty, 24while
our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body
together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in
the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part
suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27Now you are the
body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second
prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of
guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work
miracles? 30Do all have gifts of
healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 31Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
We are all given different gifts from God to perform His
work and live in His will. God’s plan is
that we have, embrace, respect, and celebrate the diversity of humanity.
Romans 12: 6-8 (NIV)
6We have different
gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying,
then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give
encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it
diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
The message He came to share is that ALL people can come to
Him. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIV). Jesus continued that His message is for all
by saying, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
(NIV). His message was not these and not
those, some who do this and not those who do that. His message was that ALL shall be in the Body
of Christ.
We have a mess in our society because we have not obeyed God
and so many continue to choose to turn away from God and His word. So many people continue to try to strip God
from every aspect of our society. Even
today a friend had posted on Facebook a story of an elementary school on Long
Island who in order to sing “Silent Night” the school winter concert needed to “politically
correct” the lyrics of the song.
What? How do we make Jesus
politically correct? The song is based on the birth of Jesus Christ. This social mess is a continued growth out of
entitlement, irresponsibility, lack of accountability, and feelings of being
offended.
As believers in Christ and the Word we do not show to the
world anything about Jesus if we lower ourselves to hateful speech and rhetoric
when it comes to the differences found in humanity and disrespecting His
creation. We are all made in His image
and if we believe God is perfect then we must respect each member of His
creation. Jesus told us to love one
another. It is therefore sinful to hate
others who do measure up to our own interpretation of what is right. We have been told that to hate another is to
have murdered them in our heart. God
takes it very personally when you mistreat another person or people.
On the flip side of the dialog is the area of self-pity and
playing the victim. Self-pity is the
most worthless emotion. Self-pity is
akin to idolatry. So many who continue
to feel sorry for themselves miss so much about God’s unconditional love and
build bitterness for other people rather than relationships. Stop blaming others, stop feeling sorry for
yourself. Stop being offended. Start looking for open doors. Start looking for opportunities.
Joy can only be found in Him. Joy cannot be found in things of the world. Trying to use the things of the world in
place of His love will fall short of the goal.
We will accomplish more when we celebrate the diversity of God’s
creation. Each person in creation’s
story has a role to play in the Body of Christ.
Each member is equally important to completing God’s will… but not
identical. All are necessary. We are not capable of improving God’s plan. It is not for us to ever judge the value or
worth of a fellow person. We have to
live in His will and abide by His plan for us and for all. We cannot have social justice apart from the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember that
you are a chosen child of God. Know who you are in Christ.
In prayer:
Most merciful God, pour out on us Your one and unifying Holy
Spirit. You made all of us in Your
perfect image and redeemed us through Your only son, Jesus Christ. Lead us from self-pity to hope, from fear to
trust. We ask for Your Spirit to move
throughout our communities and nation that it may move every heart. We ask that every barrier dividing humanity
is made to crumble and hatred cease. We
declare Lord that with divisions healed that we will leave in peace, unity, and
justice. Strengthen the resolve of all
who seek equality and justice for all. We
come to You Lord seeking freedom from the bondage of inequality, oppression,
and hatred. We recognize that in
creation you created a wonderful diversity of people, cultures, and
language. Free us from prejudice and
fear. Those who feel that Your message
is not for them, move Your Spirit through the lives so that each person will
come to know You and that through You all people have a part to play in
creation’s story. We pray this through
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now
and forever. Amen.
Stay Focused on God when it gets tough: Psalm 119:143 (NIV)
"Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands give me
delight."
Leaders who are effective walk by the power of the Holy
Spirit. They recognize that we all are
prone to failure or stress when we try to rely on our own strength and not that
given to us through faith in Jesus Christ and empowerment from the Spirit. Leaders can come away from 1 Peter knowing
firmly that they are not alone in sacrifice and suffering. Leadership can be a thankless job.
1 Peter 1: 13-16 (NIV) is a call to Holy living and leadership.
13Therefore, with
minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought
to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had
when you lived in ignorance. 15But
just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I
am holy.”
God is telling us through this passage to keep focus on Him
and be self-disciplined. We know of
Peter’s life that this was a lesson from God that Peter learned the hard
way. God continued to work with Peter to
transform him from a hard, impetuous person to a humble and thoughtful
leader. Peter reminds Christians of the
time, just as today, to guard the mind. Verse
14 continues to challenge us not to return to old ways and patterns. It’s easy when not focused to have thoughts
that distract us or strip our joy. When the mind wanders so too does the man. Today, I struggled with feelings of anger and
stress from a job loss almost three years ago.
I felt it bubbling to the surface once again and I could feel the anger
reforming. I spent the day trying to
focus on God and the blessings that he has brought into our lives. Finally leaders must seek holiness. To do this we all must follow Christ as the
example of the only true and perfect leader.
Christ is the ultimate mentor for all leaders.
A leader’s identity is found in Christ not in structure or
position. When I lost my job several
years back I felt as if a huge part of who I was was ripped away from me. I have spent the last three years working,
reading, and meditating on God’s Word to become a leader, a man, God would have
me to be. God challenges leaders to be
holy and humble in the message of 1 Peter.
When we humble ourselves we are open to receive God’s power.
“We live in an age of distraction.” I heard this on a recent Joyce Meyer’s show “Enjoying
Everyday Life” and it resonated with me.
So much so that I used my cell phone to email it to myself so that I
would remember to meditate on it. I
spent some time today meditating on this phrase. All of these distractions and noise can
interfere with our relationship with Jesus Christ, resulting in turning away
from God. The distractions become enticing, alluring, seemingly offering joy
and comfort. They can become the very bonds that keep us from focusing on God and our relationship with Jesus Christ.
You cannot even drive around town or down the highway
without an endless barrage of advertising and messages. These messages tell us that we need (we must
have) the newest, the latest, the best, the tastiest, the sexiest. And it is not just advertising. Once considered a novelty, 24 hour news
channels are now the norm. We are
connected constantly to our phones, email, Facebook, texts, and here I am
typing my next blog post. Our attention
is pulled in so many different directions.
It has been said that this is the age of multitasking. But brain research and study shows that
multitasking is far from a practical approach.
The human brain is designed to focus on one thing at a time.
On a side note, New Life Church in Farmville, Virginia just
wrapped up its annual Christmas musical program. It was actually a good thing that cell phones
interfered with the wireless microphone system during the performance. So audience members were asked and instructed
to turn off their phones. And for 90
minutes I was disconnected from the world outside. And it was nice to focus only on the action
on the stage and the story of the prodigal son.
The Bible says in 1 Kings 11: 1-43 (http://bible.com/111/1ki.11.1-43.niv)
that distraction is the enemy of
direction and focus. As leaders (and believers
who follow Jesus Christ) we need to be aware of the distractions that get in
the way of fulfilling God’s call on our lives and fulfilling God’s will on
earth. The temptations the tempted and
enticed Solomon continue to attack every leader. Leaders who may have once been revered and
respected can lose that respect when they become distracted.
John Maxwell points out 6 things Solomon experienced when he
lost his focus and lived life his way.
The distractions themselves pushed him away from his call to lead and be
a light to the nations. Next God raised
up several adversaries to try to drive Solomon back to his call. Solomon became self-absorbed and consumed by
his needs rather than his call from God.
God withdrew His anointing and Solomon experienced the loss of God’s
presence. With the loss of the presence
of God, Solomon continued his own pursuit of pleasure and become more and more
obsessed with these experiences. Finally Solomon grew empty after following his
own pursuits instead of those from God.
When we become satisfied with false joys we can quickly begin a downward
spiral. Being distracted causes us to
lose focus. Once focus is lost we begin
looking into the wrong things, false joy, and we look to fulfill the pleasures
of the flesh instead of the will of God.
Luke 4: 18-29 offers an example of how Christ was not
distracted from his mission and anointing.
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the
blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20Then he rolled
up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone
in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21He
began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22All
spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his
lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
23Jesus said to them, “Surely
you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell
me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”
24 “Truly I tell
you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25I assure you that there were many
widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half
years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in
Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27And
there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet
not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28All the people
in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow
of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.
(NIV)
This scripture section opens (Luke 4: 18-19) with Jesus
reading from Isaiah 61: 1 – 2. Jesus
would not be distracted by the fact that His listeners did not want to hear
what He had to say. Jesus is rejected in
his hometown. For so many people rejection
by others can be a powerful distraction.
However Jesus did not allow rejection to become a distraction. Jesus remained fixed on his focus and move on
to the next town to continue His work.
Unlike Solomon Jesus would not allow anything to distract him and drain
his anointing to do the work for which He was set to accomplish.
We need to follow the lead of the Jesus and not allow
anything to distract us from what is important. First and foremost we must keep
our focus firmly upon God. Next if you
are married is your spouse. Then your
kids when given to you. And then your
vocation/career. We need to keep the
right perspective. There are definitely times when I know that my priorities and focus were not in this alignment. I know that I am not where I always need to be, but I can thank God that I am not where I used to be. When we allow
distractions to change the order our focus is at risk of being lost. And God who is loving and just will place
adversaries or other challenges to have us return to Him.
Keep watch of subtle distractions
that can enter your life and destroy your joy.
Only God has what will satisfy. We must keep our focus on Him. Through keeping our focus on Him we will receive His promises.
If you have turned away from God and do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ I encourage you to turn to God and run back to God and put your focus on He who is the Redeemer. Prayer of Confession and Forgiveness. The Bible says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Repent (turn away from distractions and to God), Believe, and be Saved. Repeat this Prayer: Most merciful God, I confess that I am captive to sin and cannot free myself. I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart; I have not loved my neighbors as myself. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Forgive me, renew me, and lead me, so that I may delight in your will and walk in Your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
I encourage you to find a local Church family, let go of the distractions, and begin to follow Jesus Christ through a personal relationship with Him. Ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit to enter your heart.
May God Bless You, and keep you, and make His face shine upon you.
