Leaders

 

King Solomon was king over all Israel, and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king’s friend; Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. – 1 Kings 4:1-6  ESV

As wise as a leader I may think I am or as gifted as I leader I might feel lead to believe I am, nothing of real substance takes place in my life or in those I lead unless I surround myself with key individuals that will speak into those lives.

This is a list of those key people. I wonder at the word “son of.” What a great testimony to the fathers for having discipled their children to the point that they are accepted alongside them in leadership. Those key fathers were Zadok, who served with his son as a priest. Azariah was the son of Nathan – probably the son of King David, as was Zabud. Elihoreph and Ahijah were sons of Shisha and followed their father as their father was a secretary to King David.

I love Benaiah. He served and served and finally he was called upon to lead and he did so as effectively as when he served without a title. He is the example of how David discipled him and then when he was ready (when David passed away), he was given responsibility for which he was discipled to do.

What a great reminder that leaders become great leaders when they are discipled well and they in turn disciple leaders too. No matter how busy I become as I lead, I can chose to not be selfish and give my time and attention to disciple another. My challenge today.

 

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Weakness

 

Fill me with Thy gracious Spirit

 

One thing I bring daily to Jesus is my weakness. I lean on Him every day in simple faith. Weakness is a burden, they can become my chains. Carrying them alone means another day of failing. What a release when I turn them over to Jesus and let Him carry me and my burdens – He finds a way to take that weakness that I offer Him and turns it into a strength. The secret must be that He does not remove the weakness necessarily, but He will give His own power so that I may be strong. This strength I can find when I seek to be that humble, trusting disciple. 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9  ESV

I think of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane – thinking about the cup of suffering – and the Father confirming that everything was going as planned. I have been in many situations where I have asked the plan to change, to have the weakness removed, to have a miraculous provision. In my heart, I knew that the prayer was not what the Father had in mind for me.

Paul saw weakness not as a liability, but rather as a way of being totally surrendered to the Lord.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:10  ESV

And as Psalm 78 encourages me, I give ear to my Father, with submission and reverence, silent and earnest, so that I might capture the instructions given and to move forward properly understanding what He has asked of me.  

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth! – Psalm 78:1  ESV

Psalm 78 also brings me back to the ultimate parent/child relationship that expresses the power of investing in “weakness” and what that looks like. It is an expression of discipleship.

We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

So that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God. – Psalm 78:4,7-8  ESV

I need to see faith, I need to see that those who follow God will set their hope in Him. I want to make sure that no one forgets God’s work of redemption – that includes the stories in the Old Testament. This is fundamental to my faith and that is why it needs to be the same for others. These stories of weakness, given to God, make me a stronger person as I follow Him.

 

 

 

 

 

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Discovering God’s character and qualities

 

God is great and how do I discover His character and qualities? A disciple of Jesus can do that. They can introduce who God is, what He is like, and what He can do.

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. – 1 Chronicles 29:11  ESV

It would seem that if God is as great as we declare Him to be then there would be a greater call in our lives to give Him more of us and become more like Him.  I would say that we have become experts at inventing new language – ” I am not called to missions or called to be generous.”

“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. – 1 Chronicles 29:14  ESV

This verse is a reminder that all that is placed in the offering plate, in fact our very lives, are gifts from God. Anything we have to give was His first. So as I walk this life discovering who God is, He shows up in my life of uncertainty and asks me to accept my life in Christ as a life of stewardship.

It is in the discovery of who God is that allows others to see God in us. It is what makes us different from the world – our lives are shaped by God. We are promised hostility and hardships for following Jesus, so there is no surprise there. No one enjoys the pain but we know God walks with us – to bless us, keep us. We are not here for the party. We look for something better.

Paul elaborates on some of his sufferings.

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. – 2 Corinthians 11:23  ESV

Maybe the final word here is not so much about discovering, like being creative, but rather discovering by serving.

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! – Psalm 95:1  ESV

What could this new song be? Most likely it is the song of my life, it is a song that allows my life to be identified with Jesus – sharing His sentiments, His thoughts, His actions. A life for Jesus is a life for others.

 

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Dignity

 

Dignity is worth that has no substitute. Here are three perspectives I have been looking at that have challenged me.

In the kingdom of ends everything has either a price or a dignity. What has a price can be replaced by something else as its equivalent; what on the other hand is raised above all price and therefore admits of no equivalent has a dignity. – Immanuel Kant

C.S. Lewis describes this in his famous sermon “The Weight of Glory”: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. … Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat — the glorified and the glorifier, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.”

“The basis upon which Christians can speak to one another is that each knows the other as a sinner, who, with all his human dignity, is lonely and lost if he is not given help.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

If I treat all my relationships exactly the same, I would be failing in the recognition of dignity that they each possess as unique imagers of the Creator.  I am fascinated how Jesus models this kind of relationship with His disciples. I am challenged to disciple like He did – treasuring, valuing and preserving their unique personalities, giftings and identities. An honest look at how Jesus discipled reveals a profound respect for individual dignity.

I am left with this word from Titus and I leave the same for you. Titus brings this close link between deed (action or good works) and word (speech and teachings).

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,  and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. – Titus 2:7-8  ESV

 

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Pray or play

 

Tedeschi-Trucks Band-Lord Protect My Child

 

I have been researching on “play” and its role right alongside work. I wanted to see if there were similarities when it came to its value. The theme is still surrounding the idea of how we practice the presence of God in our lives, or better still, how do I bring myself into the kingdom of God and can play do that.

I ran across this book by Frank Laubach – The Game with Minutes. It was interesting and I believe that little was new to me there but I can say that I never seen it before as a game. However I was encouraged by how much prayer plays a role. 

 Pray without ceasing – 1 Thessalonians 5:17  ESV

I liked the idea of praying more than playing because when I am practicing the presence of God, I am not trying to control it. My eyes need to be on God However, I get how we can become so serious, to the point that our spiritual life becomes too controlling, more so than is healthy. I think that is the time where the element of play could/should/would come in.

As a follower of Jesus, it would seem to me that prayer is actually a training for prayer.

“By running and breathing yourselves every day, you are the fitter to run in a race; so the oftener you come into God’s presence, the greater confidence, and freedom, and enlargement it will bring.” – Thomas Manton

I look at Jesus and read or at least get a sense of implication, that He spent the night or rose early in the day to pray. As I am still figuring out play – enjoy this prayer.

O Thou, by whom we come to God, seeing Thou hast Thyself trodden the way of prayer, and didst never turn from it, teach me to remain a suppliant as long as I remain a sinner, and to wrestle in prayer so long as I have to wrestle with the powers of evil. Whatever else I may outgrow, may I never dream that I may relax my supplications. – C. H. Spurgeon

 

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