Some of us are "natural leaders" and some are "natural followers or subordinates". However, all of us have been given leadership in some area. Parents have the God-given responsibility to lead their children. Even if you are not an owner or manager at work, you might have some people or tasks that you are assigned to take the lead.
Solomon was the King of Israel. Proverbs is his book of "leadership wisdom". In Proverbs, he is teaching young, potential religious and political leaders the wisdom that God gave him as king.
An up-and-coming young man asked an experienced executive, "What is the secret of your success?"
"Two words, young man -- GOOD DECISIONS."
"But, sir how do I learn to make good decisions?"
"Two words, young man -- BAD DECISIONS."
The principles in Proverbs regarding leaders apply to many areas of our life - home, church, government, and work. The attitudes and wisdom that made a good King in 1000 B.C. also make a good 21st century leader.
Characteristics of a good leader - #1 Wisdom
Proverbs 8:15 - By me (wisdom) kings reign and rulers make laws that are just.
Proverbs 20:8 - When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes.
All leaders must have God's wisdom. Jesus himself was filled with God's wisdom and grace (Luke 2:40). Wisdom is different than mere knowledge. The wise leader can see farther than others. His spiritual discernment is what sets him apart as God's leader. The church today is in dire need of wise leaders.
Characteristics of a good leader - #2 Integrity
Proverbs 16:12 - Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.
Proverbs 29:4 - By justice a king gives country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.
Personal integrity is demonstrated by who we are and what we do when no one is looking.
In recent years, the Enron corporate scandal left millions of Americans feeling very disturbed. But there is one person within that infamous scandal that represents honesty and courage.
Christian radio host Chuck Colson tells the true story of former Enron Vice President Sherron Watkins. Colson said, "While the whole Enron collapse seems to tarnish the reputation of nearly all of Enron's senior management, there is one notable exception. Her name is Sherron Watkins."
When Watkins, an Enron vice president, learned about the questionable accounting practices and the lies that followed, she was initially afraid to confront senior management.
But after talking with a friend, her mother, her pastor and the people in her Bible study group, she drafted a six-page memo to Enron CEO Kenneth Lay.
In it she expressed her concern that the company "will implode in a wave of accounting scandals." She went further calling Enron a "crooked company" with profits that were "nothing but an elaborate hoax."
Watkins was expected to be fired and was surprised when she wasn’t. But finally, Colson added, here's her real Christian witness: "Watkins not only had the courage to risk her job, she - unlike other Enron executives - refused to use her insider knowledge for personal gain. Despite seeing the company falling apart, Watkins never sold her stock."
Choosing between your relationship with Jesus and your 401(k) is a matter of integrity!
Characteristics of a good leader - #3 Love
Proverbs 20:28 - Love and faithfulness keeps a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.
How we love is more important than what we know or achieve. The Pharisees in Jesus' day were religious but unloving. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Characteristics of a good leader - #4 Seeks Good Advisors
Proverbs 11:14 - For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisors make victory sure.
Proverbs 25:4,5 - Remove the dross from silver and out comes material for the silversmith; remove the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness.
Every effective leader needs and seeks advice. The ability to listen to the advice of others is the mark of a great leader.
In 1990, General Norman Schwarzkopf was Commander in Chief of U.S. Forces in Operation Desert Shield, undertaken to prevent Iraq from moving against Saudi Arabia. During the days of the war, he assembled 765,000 troops from twenty-eight countries, hundreds of ships and thousands of planes and tanks.
General Schwarzkopf called General Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, every evening on the telephone to discuss the events of the day. One day a news reporter asked, "Why?" Schwartzkoff answered, "He was the only person in the world who knew what I was trying to do. He listened to my ideas, helped me form strategies and exposed my errors in judgment – daily."
Every great leader needs a trusted advisor like that.
Characteristics of a good leader - #5 Self Control
Proverbs 28:15 - Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over helpless people.
The leader who cannot control himself will not be able to command the respect of those he leads.
Characteristics of a good leader - #6 Awareness of his Influence
Proverbs 29:2 - When the righteous thrive, people rejoice; when the wicked rule, people groan.
In almost every era, no country has been able to rise above its leaders. For better or worse, people become like those they follow.
Characteristics of a good leader - #7 Compassion
Proverbs 29:14 - If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will always be secure.
Jesus is the ultimate model of taking time for the poor, the outcasts, and children. He was naturally drawn to the weak that needed an advocate. That is why James teaches us that pure religion is to look after orphans and widows in their distress.
Mary Clarke grew up in Beverly Hills during World War II. She was a teenage beauty, loved Hollywood and liked dancing with young soldiers. Mary dreamed of being rich and married with children. It all came true, but twenty-five years later her marriage ended in a painful divorce. With her marriage over and her children grown, she began her second life by helping the less fortunate.
In 1977, convinced she had found God's true purpose for her life, Mary Clarke became Sister Antonia and made La Mesa Prison, near Tijuana, Mexico, her permanent home. Since 1977, Sister Antonia has lived by choice in a ten-foot concrete cell at La Mesa. With no hot water and surrounded by murderers, thieves and drug lords, she attends to their needs around the clock. She raises bail money, finds antibiotics, distributes eyeglasses and false teeth, counsels the suicidal and washes bodies for burial. "I live on the premises," she explains, "in case someone is stabbed in the middle of the night."
Once during a raging prison riot, Sister Antonia, a 5’2” woman wearing a nun’s habit, calmly strolled into the battle, ignoring the bullets and flying bottles and ordered everyone to stop. Amazingly, they did. A former inmate said, "No one else in the world could have done that. She has changed thousands of people’s lives."
"Love," says Sister Antonia is what she offers everyone. "I’m hard on crime, but not the criminal." Sister Antonia truly understands the power of compassion.
Characteristics of a good leader - #8 No Need for Public Approval
Proverbs 29:25 - Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.
The greatest freedom is having nothing to prove and no one to impress. Good leaders are more concerned about pleasing God than their popularity with others. The desire for honor among men makes trusting God almost impossible. The leader who has his eyes on receiving the praise of men is not focused on pleasing God.
Characteristics of a good leader - #9 Moderation
Proverbs 31:4-5 - It is not for kings to drink wine; not for rulers to crave beer; lest they drink and forget what the law decrees and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
I've seen leaders who were such heavy drinkers that eventually, due to their lack of self control, lost their positions.
Characteristics of a good leader - #10 Submission to God
Proverbs 21:1 - A king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a water course wherever he pleases.
Hebrews 10:5 - When Christ entered the world he said, Here I am O Lord, I have come to do your will.
This is the most important characteristic of a good leader. When a man or woman is submissive to God and his Holy Spirit, God will direct the person into the ways he can glorify Him the best.
"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Balance
Believers make God their God because they hear the good news and come to understand that God is a good, all-knowing, all-powerful, benevolent God and He is offering to save them and take care of them. Then teachers come along and say things like “We should just worship God and forget about always getting something.” or “We think too much about what God can do for us instead of just being obedient and take what comes.”
These statements come from two factors: One, it’s true that too many Christians are centered up on their own interests instead of Jesus’ interest and two; these statements sound so humble and pious.
True Christians may need to be reminded that they belong to Christ and that they need to be about the Father’s business, but the teacher has taken piety too far in saying that the Christian should not look for God, their Father, to take good care of them and help them and bless them, because the Bible teaches what God expects of the believer and goes right on to teach what the believer can expect from God.
In the Biblical balance the believer is to live for God, but God created man to gratify His joy in giving. You can’t out give the giver; in fact God would not be happy with children who acted like servants. He is happy with children, who are eager to serve, but He is not looking for a Master/servant relationship with people, He wants a Father/child relationship with people.
So what should the teacher have said to make the point that Christians have a much broader area of concern than their own interests? Well, remember, I’m referring to believers who heard the good news and want God in their life. I am not referring to the group who just wants to go to heaven when they die and get their own way while here. The second group can’t be persuaded to live for God because that is not the deal they made. Most of the selfish Christians fall into the second group, but it is possible for some in the first group to get sidetracked. They need teachers who teach the whole message in the balance that only the Bible has. So the teacher teaches man’s part and God’s part, both of them already rightly worded in the Bible--teach the Bible--all of it.
This is important to know because if you give people the “we should” messages without giving them the reasons we should and the way to carry out the “we shoulds”, you’ll not get Godly results, you’ll get insincerity, loveless love, and religion; for the joy of the relationship with the Godhead is in the mutual benefits. The life of the believer and the church is in a Father/child relationship with God.
"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"
These statements come from two factors: One, it’s true that too many Christians are centered up on their own interests instead of Jesus’ interest and two; these statements sound so humble and pious.
True Christians may need to be reminded that they belong to Christ and that they need to be about the Father’s business, but the teacher has taken piety too far in saying that the Christian should not look for God, their Father, to take good care of them and help them and bless them, because the Bible teaches what God expects of the believer and goes right on to teach what the believer can expect from God.
In the Biblical balance the believer is to live for God, but God created man to gratify His joy in giving. You can’t out give the giver; in fact God would not be happy with children who acted like servants. He is happy with children, who are eager to serve, but He is not looking for a Master/servant relationship with people, He wants a Father/child relationship with people.
So what should the teacher have said to make the point that Christians have a much broader area of concern than their own interests? Well, remember, I’m referring to believers who heard the good news and want God in their life. I am not referring to the group who just wants to go to heaven when they die and get their own way while here. The second group can’t be persuaded to live for God because that is not the deal they made. Most of the selfish Christians fall into the second group, but it is possible for some in the first group to get sidetracked. They need teachers who teach the whole message in the balance that only the Bible has. So the teacher teaches man’s part and God’s part, both of them already rightly worded in the Bible--teach the Bible--all of it.
This is important to know because if you give people the “we should” messages without giving them the reasons we should and the way to carry out the “we shoulds”, you’ll not get Godly results, you’ll get insincerity, loveless love, and religion; for the joy of the relationship with the Godhead is in the mutual benefits. The life of the believer and the church is in a Father/child relationship with God.
"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Satan
Some people believe satan knows our thoughts and desires and our past. Some don’t think about it, they just act as if he knows them. I don’t believe the devil knows me at all. He does know how to use the desires of the flesh against us. He does know have to see that temptations are put in people’s paths.
His territory is disobedience to the laws of love. Whether one chooses to disobey deliberately or out of ignorance, he knows that operating outside of the laws of love places the person and often those who are in relationship with the person in a vulnerable position. That’s just where he and his cohorts want you.
1Cor: 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Jas: 1:12-17: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15: Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16: Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
They entice you, they persuade you, they incite you, they deceive you, and they bully you into making wrong choices that lead to more harm and suffering. Those who fall victim to wicked spirits mess things up for themselves and their loved ones.
The devil and his cohorts are in rebellion against God who is love. Evil spirits are spirits that chose to follow the liar, deceiver, accuser, traducer, serpent, dragon, leviathan. Evil means harm. Wicked means disobedient. All motives, attitudes, and actions not inspired by love--active or passive--are inspired by harmful spirits that have rebelled against love to do their own thing and be their own god and hopefully your god as well.
God is omnipresent--He is everywhere, the devil is not. God is omnificent.--endless power to create. The devil does not have power to create, he has power to pervert. All perversion is a result of a lie. He has to take what God already created and pervert it. He is the author of all perversion. All hate and harm is a perversion of love. All things that are harmful or who do hurt are perverted from their original intent. Mosquitoes were not created by God; they are a perversion of an insect that He created. Everything He created was to do good. Mosquitoes, gnats, fleas, etc. true names and callings will be revealed when Jesus reigns.
Satan is the father of lies. He thought up and believed the first lie and has been using lies to get what he wants ever since. That’s what he did in the garden of Eden to God when he suggested that God’s motives were not pure. That’s what he still does--slander people’s character and motives.
Lucifer was the bright and morning star until he believed the lie he thought up that he could be God. Lucifer means bright and morning star--he was the brightest shining overseer and now he is darkest darkness. He was God’s representative and overseer of the earth and now he is His enemy and is doomed for eternity. Lucifer beamed out love and now he emanates hate. He himself is a perversion of what God created.
He is the prince of the power of the air--he persuades people to do their own thing instead of righteousness as God has said to do.
He is the god of this world. That means that since the world will not or does not hear or listen to God they must necessarily be vulnerable to the lies and perverted truths of the enemy. He has power over the world because they are like their father. The people of the world want to do their own thing and be their own god. They want to believe the lie.
You have probably heard it said that we (mankind) are spirits. That is not true. We are spirit-being which means we have a spirit and are controlled by it just as the wheel within the wheel in Ezekiel. A person will either be greatly influenced by God or by the liar. Whoever you obey is your father. You will obey--listen to--either God or you will listen to the liar.
Never fear, the incorruptible one is the bright and Morningstar and will shine, love, and reign forever--the Lord Jesus Christ.
One last thing, the devil does not have super-natural power all he can do is pervert the powers that be and he does that through man’s tongue. He has to get mankind to speak against or curse God, their fellow man, and the universe in order to pervert the weather, the animals, and humans.
Prov:15:4: A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
Prov:18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Prov:26:28: A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
AND REMEMBER THIS: the devil is not almost as powerful as God. He is no threat to God whatsoever. He is a threat to those who do not worship God. To God he is no more than an annoying flea. Actually, God is in complete control and is using that fool to teach the world who He is.
There, I’ve laid the enemy bare before you. Hide and abide in Jesus and you will be safe.
"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"
His territory is disobedience to the laws of love. Whether one chooses to disobey deliberately or out of ignorance, he knows that operating outside of the laws of love places the person and often those who are in relationship with the person in a vulnerable position. That’s just where he and his cohorts want you.
1Cor: 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Jas: 1:12-17: Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15: Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16: Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
They entice you, they persuade you, they incite you, they deceive you, and they bully you into making wrong choices that lead to more harm and suffering. Those who fall victim to wicked spirits mess things up for themselves and their loved ones.
The devil and his cohorts are in rebellion against God who is love. Evil spirits are spirits that chose to follow the liar, deceiver, accuser, traducer, serpent, dragon, leviathan. Evil means harm. Wicked means disobedient. All motives, attitudes, and actions not inspired by love--active or passive--are inspired by harmful spirits that have rebelled against love to do their own thing and be their own god and hopefully your god as well.
God is omnipresent--He is everywhere, the devil is not. God is omnificent.--endless power to create. The devil does not have power to create, he has power to pervert. All perversion is a result of a lie. He has to take what God already created and pervert it. He is the author of all perversion. All hate and harm is a perversion of love. All things that are harmful or who do hurt are perverted from their original intent. Mosquitoes were not created by God; they are a perversion of an insect that He created. Everything He created was to do good. Mosquitoes, gnats, fleas, etc. true names and callings will be revealed when Jesus reigns.
Satan is the father of lies. He thought up and believed the first lie and has been using lies to get what he wants ever since. That’s what he did in the garden of Eden to God when he suggested that God’s motives were not pure. That’s what he still does--slander people’s character and motives.
Lucifer was the bright and morning star until he believed the lie he thought up that he could be God. Lucifer means bright and morning star--he was the brightest shining overseer and now he is darkest darkness. He was God’s representative and overseer of the earth and now he is His enemy and is doomed for eternity. Lucifer beamed out love and now he emanates hate. He himself is a perversion of what God created.
He is the prince of the power of the air--he persuades people to do their own thing instead of righteousness as God has said to do.
He is the god of this world. That means that since the world will not or does not hear or listen to God they must necessarily be vulnerable to the lies and perverted truths of the enemy. He has power over the world because they are like their father. The people of the world want to do their own thing and be their own god. They want to believe the lie.
You have probably heard it said that we (mankind) are spirits. That is not true. We are spirit-being which means we have a spirit and are controlled by it just as the wheel within the wheel in Ezekiel. A person will either be greatly influenced by God or by the liar. Whoever you obey is your father. You will obey--listen to--either God or you will listen to the liar.
Never fear, the incorruptible one is the bright and Morningstar and will shine, love, and reign forever--the Lord Jesus Christ.
One last thing, the devil does not have super-natural power all he can do is pervert the powers that be and he does that through man’s tongue. He has to get mankind to speak against or curse God, their fellow man, and the universe in order to pervert the weather, the animals, and humans.
Prov:15:4: A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
Prov:18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Prov:26:28: A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
AND REMEMBER THIS: the devil is not almost as powerful as God. He is no threat to God whatsoever. He is a threat to those who do not worship God. To God he is no more than an annoying flea. Actually, God is in complete control and is using that fool to teach the world who He is.
There, I’ve laid the enemy bare before you. Hide and abide in Jesus and you will be safe.
"If life has knocked you down, I prophesy that you will Rise & Walk"
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