Author: admin

God does not beat around the bush! He never says things in half measures or doublespeak. God’s words are pure. Mark Twain once commented that many people struggled with passages in Scripture they did not understand. He confessed that he had difficulty with the passages that he did understand. Those preaching and teaching God’s word may not always be pure, but the words of God being preached are always without blemish.

Because God’s words are true, and pure, they bring great comfort and protection to those who believe and follow them. When we hide our life in God’s word, we have God as our shield to ensure His word proves true in our circumstances. Despite thousands of years, no one has found God’s word to be false, when they accepted it and obeyed it. Instead, doing things God’s way has provided enormous comfort and strength.

When you live your life on your terms, you are the one who must serve as a guarantor that your life principles are trustworthy. However, when you base your life on God’s word, then He is responsible for ensuring that His word proves true in your life. God has an impeccable track record when people have trusted His word. Your life will be safe when you embrace God’s word for your life as well.

There are many things in life for which we could be fearful. Crime, violence, disease, terrorism, heights, flying in airplanes, public speaking, spiders and snakes! While you might have some real struggles in overcoming your fear of snakes or heights, God is prepared to assist you in freeing yourself from being intimidated by people.

Many people habitually come on strong toward others. They huff and they bluff and they threaten and make loud, menacing pronouncements that are designed to intimidate those who are listening. Yet as with everything, God’s people quietly take what others say to God for His evaluation. Not only is God unimpressed with peoples’ threats; He actually laughs at them (Psalm 2:4).

Tragically, much of God’s work on earth is hindered because His people are afraid to obey what He told them. People excuse their lack of witnessing to others or public testimony for Christ because they feel uncomfortable doing so. Some refuse to take a stand for righteousness out of inordinate concern for how others will respond. Others refuse to obey God’s leading for fear of opposition or misunderstanding. As a result, God’s people allow their fears to prevent them from obeying God and experiencing spiritual victory.

When we focus on what people are saying, we can easily become intimidated. When, however, we place the threat of others in light of God’s powerful presence, we clearly see that we have nothing to fear.

Anger has the power to destroy even the strongest people. It causes us to set our reason aside and say and do things that harm us as well as others. Anger divides people and causes deep wounds. It leads us to disregard the consequences of our words or actions in our burning desire to satisfy our wrath. Allowing anger to remain in our life is playing with fire. Harm is inevitable.

Some people are addicted to anger. They have been upset for so long they would not know how to live any other way. Because they assume their anger is justified, they do not seek a remedy. Because they feel angry, they justify the pain and suffering their harsh words and acts cause others.

If you are a person who gets angry, then you are an angry person. If this is your case, stop justifying your temper. Take your anger to Christ and persist with Him until He sets you free (Colossians 3:8). Your life is too brief and precious to squander it harming others because of your wrath. Anger poisons your soul. You may believe it is justified, due to what others have done to you, but its stultifying effects on your soul will rob you of the joy and laughter that could have been yours. Take your anger to the cross today, and leave it with Christ. You can be set free today.

There are many ways to treat those you lead. You might speak to them dismissively, as if they are beneath you. You could attempt to squeeze every ounce of labor and effort out of them to further your purposes. You may simply relate to them with sublime disregard, as if they had no more humanity than your car or dishwasher. Or, you may be a demanding and demeaning taskmaster who is generous with insults and parsimonious with gratitude.

The manner in which you treat others has enormous implications for how others work with you. People may be in your employ, but that does not necessitate that they give you their best effort. There may be grumbling in the ranks. You may suffer a high turnover of employees and volunteers. Your reputation may be tarnished in the community.

However, when you treat those who work with you well, you draw out others’ best efforts. People will be loyal and more willing to go the extra mile. Over a lifetime of treating others with respect and generosity, there will be many who are grateful they had the opportunity to work with you.

How well do you treat those who work with you? Would you want a boss like yourself? What adjustments might you need to make so your treatment of those who work with you honors Christ?

This is perhaps one of the most misquoted verses among leaders! It has traditionally been translated, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” That seems perfectly fine to most leaders. Leaders are all about developing a vision for their organization, then ‘selling’ their vision and encouraging their people to ‘buy in’ to it. Those who don’t support the leader’s vision are eventually ushered out the door for not supporting the leader.

But that is not what this verse is saying. It claims that without revelation, the people have no sense of direction. People can drum up a vision. They must receive a revelation. Revelation occurs when God discloses what His agenda is. Without a word from God, people do what is right in their own eyes. The key to spiritual leadership is receiving a word from God.

Some leaders are so busy developing their own goals and objectives and constructing their next Power Point presentation that they have scant time to hear what God is saying. Unfortunately, God is not obligated to make our plans succeed, regardless of how noble their aim may be. God is unimpressed when we initiate efforts in His name. God is concerned with achieving His purposes, His way.

Have you received a fresh revelation of God’s will lately? Have you been listening?

Emotions can be powerful forces. They can drive us to undertake heroic deeds and they can also lead us to make fools of ourselves. Once our feelings are engaged, they are difficult to control. Emotions can consume us. They can derail our rational thinking. They can cause us to justify all manner of sinful and hurtful behavior. They can blind us to facts about our situation we do not want to see. Our feelings can also compel us to say things that hurt people and which later cause us deep regret.

Wise people understand the danger of being driven by emotions. They know it is better to do what is right, than what they feel like doing. So they control their passions. They do not let them get out of control. If needed, they step back momentarily, or pause before speaking, or wait until another day before deciding, but they refuse to allow their feelings to dictate their actions.

Just because you think something does not mean you should say it! Just because something is true, does not mean it should be uttered publicly. If your emotions have been aroused in the passion of the moment, step back, get them back in your control, think carefully about your potential words and actions, then proceed. That is the pathway to a life without regret.

Righteous leaders are a blessing to those they lead. Those who are godly function with the knowledge they are accountable to God for their actions, and not just their constituency. They act with integrity, not merely out of political expediency. Their behavior reflects the natural values of their character. They treat others with dignity, not to curry favor but because they genuinely care about other people.

What makes righteous leaders so attractive, above all else, is God’s hand of blessing upon them. God honors those who honor Him. It is exceedingly attractive to be a part of an organization or endeavor that God is blessing!

Conversely, wicked leaders inevitably bring heartache. They can appear winsome and appealing for a time, but eventually the truth comes out. Wise people will seek to work with righteous leaders. More than party affiliation or campaign promises or offers of increased prosperity, we ought to be persuaded to follow those who demonstrate a righteous character. How important is character to you in the leaders to whom you are giving your allegiance?

Being faithful for an hour or perhaps for a day is not too difficult. But being faithful day in and day out requires herculean effort and profound trust in God. The world functions in a manner that discourages faithfulness. It is filled with temptations to forfeit our integrity for instant gain. It revels in those who have discarded their faithfulness but who are apparently enjoying worldly success nonetheless. To live a faithful life each day is clearly to swim against the worldly current. But it is worth it.

The only way to consistently live a faithful life is to live by faith in Christ, daily. We can’t do it on our own. Our will power is insufficient to always keep us on the narrow path. We must also desire the higher reward of God’s fellowship and pleasure if we are to forego the worldly enticements that cry out for our attention. Only people who have allowed God to develop their character can withstand the barrage of temptations that regularly assault them.

That is why God delights in blessing those who are faithful. No good deed or godly effort is ever overlooked by God. Every act of faith has its heavenly reward. God’s blessings do not always look like the world’s pleasures, nor do they always come as quickly as the world’s alleged gains, but they will come, and they will last. Don’t allow yourself to yield to the temptation to take shortcuts to success. Remain faithful. Keep doing the right thing. Let God be the one who rewards you in His own way and in His own good time.

Our world is filled with secrets. Leaders have misdeeds carefully hidden away from public view. Many weave elaborate lies to prevent people from discovering what they have done. Every time the media heralds a new scandal society is shocked by another fallen leader who tried to camouflage his sins. Scripture is clear. Our sins will be found out. It is far better to confess them and to renounce them than to deny them and try to hide them.

Some people squander years of their life covering their lies and living in fear of being exposed. They may be leaders but they are living in bondage. It is far better to heed Scripture’s advice and immediately confess and renounce our sins. Lying about or hiding our transgressions only compounds the problem. It piles one sin on top of another until they collapse on our head.

While confession can appear to be too painful and awkward to endure, it is actually the road to freedom. It takes us out of darkness and back into the light. It removes the burden of deception and lies. It sets us free from the fear of being exposed. It is the pathway to life. If you have been burdened by sin in your life, choose the path to freedom and confess and forsake your sin, today.

God is absolutely just. He hates sin and He loves righteousness. God promises that ultimately, every sin, every crime, every evil deed will be fully accounted for. For those who have trusted in the salvation provided by Christ’s death on the cross, the penalty for their sins will be paid for them. For those who rejected Christ’s free gift of salvation, they will pay for every sin they ever committed, themselves. Every wrong will be righted. Every evil deed, whether paid for on earth or not, will ultimately be paid in full in eternity. That is due to the righteous nature of God.

For those who are children of God, we should have His same zeal for justice. We cannot sit back and allow injustice to trample on the oppressed and weak. We should not remain silent while the wicked take advantage of others or when evil people make a mockery of what is right and good.

Evil people do not understand justice. To them, it is merely an issue of the survival of the fittest. If you can get away with it, it must be OK. They shrug their shoulders at injustice and assume that’s the way the world works. But the righteous knows differently. They recognize evil when they witness it. They know what God despises, regardless of whether the world declares it to be acceptable. In the unjust world that we presently live in, is God giving you the wisdom to live your life in a way that it makes a difference?