A Little Help From Your Friends

The job I adored and love doing was both managing a service team in Southern California back in the days when there were only 2 cell phone service providers LA Cellular and Air Touch. I had a small group of about 8 people but I loved helping them achieve their own levels of success no matter what that was. I was fiercely protective of them like there were part of my family and even taking that a step further when I was a Corporate Training Specialist for another 5 years, I loved encouraging people to believe in themselves when they didn't.

I loved taking the time to just show them how much I cared about them both as a person and a valued employee. In fact, I keep a book of those emails and letters from those one on one encounters that show me a little about what God has challenged me to keep on doing in my life. To encourage, motivate, and cheer those people on whom God places in my path. I love watching them achieve that next level of success in their life, even if it is just managing to make it into work day after day.

Don't we all need more cheer leaders in our lives today? I'm not talking about the fake ones you tell you what you want to hear just to keep you going, but those that really take the time to listen to your struggles, to get down to where you're at, to value you for simply being in their life as well. Those are the people I'm talking about, the real legitimate ones. The ones that are leading you through life, by being at the head of the line and pulling your forward, not the ones being pulled and barking orders to move faster because they are the boss.

I LOVE working with my small business group, both in the public Facebook forum and the Private Group of about 45 people who want to take that next step with someone who will have their back. Who will motivate and believe in them. Who will take the time to ensure no one gets left behind. I am that person and I get so much joy that it motivates me more each day I can encourage someone or give them the encouragement they need to step out in faith and share what I believe God's called them to do. I believe those are the people who impact us so much, we can never forget them. I can look back and see how God's been building me up to do just that both in my employment history but also in the things I volunteer to do like reviewing books or blogging! From leading a women's group of 40 Somethings through weight loss but even more by becoming their best friend in the process. Those are the relationships I can look back on and see how wonderful God's fingerprints have been along the way.

While I may never personally meet these people, I truly care about each and every one of them. Even though my small group is more intimate and gives me greater insight into how I can help these women, to the larger group of more than 3000 followers. I thank YOU God for the life you've given me and I only hope I can bring honor and glory to YOU, to point others to YOU and to have their courage and faith to take on the world! 

What Does a True Leader Look Like?

I had the opportunity this morning to watch a comparison between former President George W. Bush and current president obama over their speeches at the Dallas memorial service and was appalled but not surprised by the comments each of them made in regards to the quality and character of the leadership they possess. If you haven't seen it, you might wish to watch it, because today we complete our study on the three things believers need to survive and thrive in this world and the final point is developing a mind to lead.

There needs to be a leadership character and quality whether in a marriage, a county, a church, a community, a kingdom, a government, or even a home that is established. Yet, it can not be accomplished without first having a thankful heart and a submissive spirit.

In having a thankful heart as a leader, we will remember where we came from. We'll remember our sacrifices and hardships. We'll be thankful at heart.

In being submissive in spirit, a leader remembers that he is here to serve others. As a husband, he serves his wife. As a father, he serves his children. As a pastor, he serves his church. As a citizen, he serves his nation. As a statesman, you serve the people. There is a difference between a politician and a statesman. A statesman says and does what is right, not what is popular or politically correct. A statesman will sacrifice himself for the greater cause and for the what is best for the people.

You need to have all three of these qualities present in order to be an effective leader since they all build upon one another. Developing a leadership mind is a practice. It is a demeanor, whereby you are looking out for those around you, to be better off then yourself. To give them the picture of Jesus, in how we speak to our spouses and children, and even co-partners in the gospel. We should ask ourselves, have we exhibited the life of Jesus and His Word, in our words and actions? We are not perfect by any means, nor does God expect us to be.

In our study, we see that Israel failed to make the Lord their leader and it's a cycle they go through, throughout the Old Testament. It takes them decades before they are willing to repent as we see through the Book of Judges. They cry out to God in repentance, to deliver them from their sin. God delivers them from their enemy. He brings a good leader to them. They prosper as a nation. In their wealth and prosperity, they forget God. They begin to reject God and accept other gods. God sends them warnings through prophets. They blow those guys off. Then He sends them the invasion of their enemies, until they are in shackles. Decades go by and then they will cry out to God again. It's the cycle of the human heart and it's the cycle of nations as well. It's pretty pathetic.

We don't have to go through the same cycle however. We can go straight, fly direct, non-stop, from having committed a sin, as a nation or as a people. We can repent now, and get restoration. This is vitally important. You can see this throughout the history of the world.

Israel began to make their own decisions and forgot God. They created their own gods and worshiped them instead.

Now we need to develop a leadership mind. Let's look at what Israel did.

Judges 10:17-18 ~ "Then the people of Ammon gathered together and encamped around Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled together and camped around Mizpah. And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, "Who is the man who will begin the fight against the people of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

We learn from others mistakes. They repented to God twice for their sins. They understood as their enemies surrounded them, they're in trouble. Some one says, "Who is the man who will deliver us?" Remember what God told Israel? "It will be a theocracy. I will be your God. You don't need rulers like those other nations. I will watch over you and take care of you." What did Israel respond with? "We want a king! All the other nations have kings, we want a king!!!" And God said, "Okay, you have rejected me, here is your king." God gave them Saul as king, and he was a mess. The people thought he was tall and handsome however and that is how Hollywood would pick a king or any of the other political parties. "He looks presidential!" What does that look like? A president is one who will bow down before God like George Washington did in the snow.

A leadership mind understands that we will never be leaders, until we are first followers. There are leaders who have titles, graduated from prestigious colleges or attend seminars but those are not leaders. King David, when he was a kid, became a leader. How? Through hardships and challenges. Saul was declared to be the leader, but he was a mess. God had groomed David all of his life to be a leader. What was his strength? He said it. "I want to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life!" You know why he said that? Because he was a follower. Only the person who is following the Lord can be a true leader.

Where are you going to take people if you're not following the Lord?

You can't take them anywhere! God says, "Let's go!" Every future leader will follow! That's why there is an inseparable relationship between a true leader and those who follow.

When you look at great generals and warriors in battle, what inspires people? When the bullets are flying? Napoleon was tenacious. He heard the gospel throughout his whole life, and understood mercy and he applied it to the man he was going to kill for betraying not only him, but the nation of France. When the man's mother pleaded to Napoleon for mercy, he gave it.

When we are followers, then we will become leaders. That's why Jesus picked 12 men. He told them to "Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men." In other words, "Come and follow me. You are going to go to college in the wilderness for about 3 1/2 years. When you are done,  you will be able to lead."

We develop a leadership mind, by being willing to follow. You have to be willing to follow the Lord. The God-factor was missing in Israel and they looked for a man instead. Jesus was willing to take on the form of a man and follow His Father.

Philippians 2:5 ~ "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 2:8-11 ~ "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Jesus was the model to follow. How did He humble Himself? Even though He was in the form of man in the flesh? Was He lower than God at the moment? No, this is where kenosis applies. It means He willingly took whatever attributes pertained to what was needed, like those who beat Him. He could have called down all the power from heaven, but He willingly took that authority and set it down. Absolute power. Jesus didn't pick it up to save Himself. Wouldn't you have? He absolutely humbled Himself and He showed us absolutely that God can be followed. That is our example!

Is that not your goal, as a believer, to be more like Him?

To develop a leadership mind, we need to be obedient to answer. When God calls, we need to respond. He is always talking, but our problem is that we are not always listening. We can tell that whenever we do something wrong, He speaks to us and tells us we need to stop. He is always talking! We need to develop an awareness and ask, "Lord, what do you want to say? " We need to be in tune like that. What is He saying to you today? Now?

If God were to stop speaking to us, as believers, it should cause us to be terrified!  We should be delighted, that God is speaking personally to us!

Finally in developing an leadership mind, we must be willing to serve. When He speaks, do it! In the crisis, what did Israel do? They called for a man, any man to lead them to victory. They never thought to call a prayer meeting, they called for a man. God's leaders are faithful to serve in God's business.

Galatians 5:13 ~ "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

Matthew 20:27-28 ~ "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

John 15:12 ~ "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

How are you serving in your community? Christians have made a bad name for themselves. The world has had it with Christians. We have the ability to show others the love of Jesus. The days are upon us to stand up for Him and be obedient to Him.

Will you be willing to follow God?

What in the world are you living for?

Is it worth it in the end?

What Does It Mean to be Qualifed?

Today while doing my study on the book of Ezekiel in the Bible, I had time to reflect on a few things. First of all I read my chapters, then take time to go back through commentaries that really explain the origins of the passages to gain a deeper insight. Sometimes you have those moments, where more than just a light bulb comes on. It feels like you've been hit with a bolt of lightning instead. This was one such case.

I wrote down a simple statement that I loved because I thought it really opened up a lot of depth in the words it implied.

Here's what I wrote: "A qualified leader is useless if the people refuse to be led."

I love it because of all the insight you can gain just from the simplicity of the truth found in it. In fact, I've had a lot of feedback where I have posted it.

For me it was in the context of what I was reading about not only in Ezekiel, but Jeremiah and Isaiah as well. All these men were called by God to be prophets to administer warnings to the people of Israel who were falling away from their Mosaic covenant with Him. They were supposed to adhere to the laws God gave them, but instead were forming alliances for their security with Babylon and Egypt for protection from their enemies.

Instead of trusting God, they were basically saying, "We got it this time God! We're good." So they pushed him aside and instead creating peace treaties with Egypt and Babylon. In order for those treaties to be valid, they had to worship some of the idols that Babylon and Egypt worshiped.

No problem right?

Well initially it seemed that way, because nothing bad was happening to them for doing it. No judgment for God. So they thought God might just be O.K. with what they were doing. In fact, they began to take additional steps and live full out idolatrous lives. Still nothing.

Even their religious leaders were basically telling people it's fine. Don't worry about it. Which compounded the problem.

So God involved these prophets as a warning that if they didn't stop what they were doing, God would have no other choice but to unleash judgment. I mean, when your child willfully disobeys, we may casually say something, but with each willful intention, we have to take drastic measure to bring them back to obedience.

That is just what was happening with God.

He even asked Ezekiel in Chapter 22: 30-31, "I looked for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord."

You would think, "Why couldn't God have used Ezekiel? After all if God was using him to preach his warnings to the people of Israel, isn't he the one?" Yes and No. Yes he was qualified, but the problem here takes us back to my quote. "A qualified leader is useless if the people refuse to be led."

Ezekiel was more than qualified, the problem was the hearts of the people. They didn't want someone to tell them playtime was over. They wanted to keep on doing what they were without any judgment coming.

Here's where I found my "Aha!" moment.

Look at the state of current country.

Once a blessed nation, founded on Godly principles despite what current government leaders have tried to rewrite in our history timelines.

We wonder why no great leader will rise up and fix things and restore this great nation again. Why would we, as a nation, want a godly person to be president or in any role in leadership for that matter?

We, as a majority, don't, because then playtime would be over. We'd have to conform the the laws of God again. We already removed the prayers from the schools, the 10 commandments from the government offices, and are trying to rewrite the laws of God to allow everything to acceptable and tolerant now. We won't elect a godly leader in any form because the people don't want to be led.

Is it any wonder why these poor leaders stay in office? Because they are the ones granting playtime to the sinners. They are giving them everything they want, just like the religious leaders in Jerusalem and Judah were. This is why things are so chaotic and we shake our heads and wonder why we can't get it right. Because people want to keep on doing what they want because no consequences have happened to them up to this point, so it must be O.K.

Makes you really take a hard look at our country today and wonder just how much of history from Israel and America are going to overlap one another. Make no mistake, God is being merciful and patient, but He won't wait forever.

If we refuse to change from our idolatrous habits, judgment will be coming. Look at what happened with 9/11. Our hedge of protection is being removed slowly, and we'd better wake up and realize just because nothing is happening doesn't mean God is lenient, He is simply hoping we turn this around.

If we want a godly leader to lead us, we need to want to be led. Until they happens, it doesn't matter how qualified a leader is, we have to be willing to follow.

So does that mean we throw our hands up in apathy as some would suggest?

The answer is NO! We can act as go-betweens in the troubles around us, "standing in the gap" to bridge chasms of indifference and oppression. We can do what we can to stem the tide of evil and tell others of the opportunity to know God through Christ. And we can intercede for others in prayer. 
I'd love to know your thoughts on this, so please share in the comments below. 

Leadership Lessons From A Dancing Guy

The quality of this video is not the best but the point isn't so much the picture but the message behind the picture. If you are having trouble viewing this, double click on the image and watch it directly from YouTube.

I love the message, while it's important to lead, there are no leaders without followers! Isn't it time to be a follower of Jesus Christ today?