Author: admin

One of your greatest assignments will be to intercede on behalf of others. There are times when there is nothing you can do for those in need but go to the One who can do everything. As leaders, we are people of action. We like to “fix” things and solve problems. We know how to get things done. It can frustrate us to acknowledge that there is nothing more we can do ourselves.

Nevertheless, there is always something else we can do. We can always enter into God’s holy presence and present the needs of others to Him. While others may be discouraged or feel hopeless, our duty is to climb the sacred mount and enter into the holy of holies. There we earnestly plead with the almighty on behalf of others. Because we have often made our way to the holy place of intercession, we sojourn there once again. We plead not for ourselves but for others. We long to see God work in their lives. We seek for God to be glorified through the lives of those with whom we work.

God may accomplish much in the lives of those around us as a result of our prayers. Others may never know how things have transpired the way they have. But we will know, because we have prayed. As we intercede on behalf of others, God will share His heart for those people with us. We will begin to see what God sees and care about what His heart is concerned with. As we pray, God will invite us to join Him in His activity. We will witness God accomplishing what only He can do. It is an awesome privilege to intercede on behalf of others.

There is something compellingly seductive about being indispensable. Everyone needs us. People line up to talk to us. Our opinion carries weight. People think we are important. Nevertheless, it it is extremely poor leadership.

The leader’s role is not to do all the work but to equip others to get the job done. Leaders measure their accomplishments not by how tired they are at the end of the day but by how much others under their leadership were able to achieve. The problem is that when leaders are consumed with their own tasks, they have difficulty thinking about how to enhance the labor of others. Some people are enticed by feelings of being needed and even of being overworked. While they may complain of all the work they have to do, in reality, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

The reality is that help is usually not far away. However, as long as we plod along with our reams of tasks, we neglect those who could thrive doing the very work that is wearing us out. By refusing to invest in others, we rob them of the opportunity to rise to new heights of accomplishment. Is the problem that no one will help you, or that you have not taken the time to train and equip others? What will your legacy be? Will everyone talk about how hard you worked? Or, will they testify that they reached new heights in their own leadership because you invested in and believed in them?

God is not a doctrine to be believed but a Person to be experienced. All the head knowledge we have about God cannot take the place of those moments when we actually experience the reality of His presence in our lives.

Moses and the Israelites had heard that God was almighty. And He was. But one day God miraculously defeated their most bitter enemies. At that point, the Israelite’s knowledge of God’s provision was no longer theoretical, but experiential. They beheld God’s power with their own eyes. Their lives were spared by God’s protection.

As a result, Moses built an altar and named it, “The Lord is my banner.” It is significant that after profound encounters with God, people would build an altar to remember that encounter and the attribute of God they had experienced first hand. Over the years, altars would dot the landscape as God’s people had a series of divine experiences. Even years later the people could tell their children and grandchildren about the God they had come to know in a personal way.

What is your knowledge of God like? Is it theoretical or practical? Is it second hand or first hand? What attributes of God have you come to experience as you have walked with Him? How have you commemorated those moments where you experienced God in fresh, new ways? If you were to build an altar to God today, what would you name it?

God has no patience for those who wring their hands in fear after He has issued a clear command. Only heaven knows how many of God’s people have failed to experience victory and advance because they stood at the edge of God’s promises but were too fearful to take the final step required to receive them.

When we fret and worry and complain we reveal our ignorance of the One who has brought us to that point. When almighty God issues a command, nothing can prevent Him from accomplishing His will through our lives. No obstacle can stop us. No enemy can thwart us. No need can derail us. How we respond to God’s directives clearly reveals what we actually believe about God.

Don’t claim that you have faith in God if you are still standing on the shoreline of your Red Sea. Don’t speak of your high view of God if you are filled with worry and fear. God measures your faith in Him not by your pious words but by your advance. Are you moving forward in God’s will? Are the waters parting before you as you obey what God said? Are your enemies being miraculously defeated?

God’s people have a tendency to want God to remove every obstacle before we take one step in the direction He is sending us. Once the finances are in place, all opposition quieted, everyone in agreement, sufficient laborers recruited, then we will take our first step! We want to stand at the edge of obedience complaining to God about all that He has not yet put in place to our satisfaction! But God is not our servant. We are His. When God issues a decree, we immediately begin advancing. We assume that when we come upon a Red Sea in our path that God will deal with it in due time.

Complaining accomplishes nothing, especially when it is against God! It merely reveals our lack of faith. Have you been advancing or complaining? If you have come to a standstill, stop trying to demand that God make your life more comfortable. Time may be of the essence. Stop crying to Him and begin moving forward. Nothing can calm our hearts any more quickly than the exuberance that comes from advancing in God’s will.

Somewhere we have been mislead to think that if we will do things God’s way, our life will become easier. We have been assured that ‘The safest place in all the world is in the center of God’s will.’ That is not necessarily so. The prophet Elisha would not have had enemy armies trying to capture him if he had remained on his farm. David would not have been pursued by King Saul if he had remained in the fields with his flocks. Esther would not have faced the king’s wrath had she remained silent concerning her people’s peril. Peter, Andrew, James, and John would not have been threatened, arrested, or executed if they had remained in their fishing boats. But when these people left the comfort and security of their normal life to go on mission with God, things got dangerous!

Moses assumed that by doing what God said and delivering his divine message to Pharaoh that everything would fall neatly into place. Moses might have envisioned that people would be grateful to him for coming to deliver them. Instead, Pharaoh mocked him and the people he came to deliver accused and rejected him. Things got worse instead of better. How could this be? Wasn’t Moses following God’s will?

Of course, Jesus was following His Father’s will and it led Him to painful betrayal and a brutal cross. Nowhere does God promise easy sailing if we do what He asks. That is because we live in a sinful world. The powers of darkness hate it when God’s people obey Him. Those who walk in darkness do not appreciate it when light shows up! On top of all of that, God is an expert in maximizing His glory on earth. If He can be more glorified by you enduring hardship, expect trials to come! God does not exist to make your life comfortable. You exist to glorify God. The greatest way to honor God is to obey Him immediately, wholeheartedly, and steadfastly, no matter what the circumstance.

God does not have two standards for people: one for leaders and another for followers. Leaders are not exempt from God’s commands. Rather, they are expected to model what sincere and eager obedience to God looks like. The reason God has such a high standard for leaders, is because the leader’s example and influence has a significant impact on others. If people watch us treating God’s standards carelessly or flippantly, they will assume they can do the same thing with impunity. That is why God expects more of leaders. In fact, He judges them more harshly (James 3:1).

At times we can rationalize why we are not practicing what we are preaching to others. Our schedule is too hectic. We are tired. We intend to make up for lost time later. No one will know. We have already sacrificed enough. We do so many other things in God’s service that we can be excused for this one area of neglect . . .

The truth is that God carefully scrutinizes those He calls to lead. We might be able to fool others with our rhetoric but we do not deceive God for one minute. He knows full well what we have and have not done. He recognizes if our words match our deeds. He can spot a hypocrite a mile away.

Don’t ever think God will treat you less severely since you have done so much for Him. To whom much has been given, much is expected. Just as God raised you up to be a person of spiritual influence for good, so He will deal with you severely if you treat His calling lightly or you fail to bring glory to His name because of your behavior. If the testimony of Scripture and history reveal any truth for us to consider it is this: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

How it must vex our Creator to listen to our concerns and worries when He has already made every provision for our success! How foolish for creatures to lecture their Creator on their strengths and weaknesses! God never overestimates our capacity to serve Him. He never asks us to do something that is impossible for us to accomplish with His provision. God never overlooks important details or extraneous circumstances. He is never caught by surprise.

God knows what is at stake, however, if we do not obey Him. God understands how many people are toiling in bondage while we debate with Him about whether or not He has called the right person to do the job. God hears the cries of people desperate for deliverance while He must convince His own people to trust and obey Him.

We are God’s servants; He is not ours. God does not focus on how He can grant us a good day and make us happy. God is seeking to redeem millions of people who are presently toiling in spiritual bondage. God generally has more challenges getting His own people to respond in obedience to Him than He does having unbelievers accept Him once they have clearly heard the Gospel message. Throughout Scripture it was God’s people who were reluctant to believe Him. Despite all God had done and promised; His people still refused to trust Him.

Our problem is that we are far more afraid of people than we are of God. Because we fear what people may do or say to us, we will endlessly argue and debate with God with no thought of what our delay and unwillingness to obey will cost us, or others. When God looks at your present obedience to His commands, is He pleased and honored by your response?

How quickly we assume that God’s work depends upon us! As soon as we begin to sense what God wants us to do, we immediately begin to compile a list of all the reasons we are incapable of obeying! In few areas do God’s people feel more inadequate than when it comes to speaking in public. Public speaking terrifies people! Numerous Christians have discounted God’s call on their life because they could not imagine God calling someone to serve Him who was unskilled as a public speaker.

In actual fact, our effectiveness as God’s spokespeople lies not in our eloquence but in our message. The truth of what we declare carries far more power than does our delivery of the message. Moses need not have worried about his oratorical abilities for God was going to affirm His messenger through ten spellbinding plagues, miraculous guidance through a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, the stupendous parting of the Red Sea and destruction of the Egyptian army, and many other miraculous acts. Those listening to Moses could clearly discern that almighty God was with him!

Ultimately we do not have to convince people that God has spoken to us. God will make that evident in due time. While it never hurts to hone our speaking skills, it is far more important to be sure we have heard from the Lord. If our service for God rests solely upon our cleverness of speech, we must recognize that there will inevitably be someone who comes along who is more eloquent than us. But when we step forth and declare, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” we can be assured that nothing anyone can say can thwart or refute our message. Not everyone may accept what we have said, but neither can they ignore it. Are you relying upon your rhetoric or on your intimate, fresh walk with the living God?

In Moses’ day, if you saw a man with a shepherd’s rod, you immediately knew a great deal about him. You would know his profession. You would discern his basic skill set and experience. You might surmise his business background and contacts. You would know much about the man’s lifestyle and where he spent his time. His rod represented his life and business background.

Just as Jesus told fishermen they would become “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17), so God drew on Moses’ skills and experience in his profession when He called him into divine service. Moses had spent four decades leading sheep through a hostile wilderness. God would draw on that same experience and skill when He called Moses to lead the Israelites in the wilderness for the next four decades.

People often belittle their ability to serve God because they have not earned an advanced theological degree or they do not possess sophisticated skills in public speaking. However, God has been training us for His service throughout our lives. God has led us to develop various skills and experiences in our profession that He intends to use to build His kingdom. Our successes as well as our failures will become instruments in God’s hand. Our business skills and contacts can be leveraged for God’s purposes. Our leadership ability, marketing savvy and entrepreneurial talents can all be maximized to accomplish God’s purposes. Just as the fishing skills Peter, Andrew, James, and John possessed became an asset to their ministry as apostles, so Moses discovered that his years herding sheep had not been a wasted period of his life. Rather, what had seemed like the worst period of Moses’ life had all been used by God to prepare him for the greatest assignment of his life.

God does not distinguish between the secular and the sacred. Everything is sacred when it belongs to God! What is in your hand? What skills, experiences, knowledge, and relationships has God placed in your life that He may choose to use for His purposes? God won’t ask you to use what He has placed in someone else’s hands. He will utilize what He has placed in your hands. Never minimize what God has done in your life. In God’s perfect timing He will reveal to you His perfect plan in shaping your life the way He has and giving you the perfect set of abilities to accomplish His purposes in your day.

Credibility is one of the greatest challenges for leaders. Why should people believe what we say or do what we tell them? It matters not what our vision is if we cannot convince people of the need to go to that place. Our long range goals and most elaborate plans are meaningless if we cannot convince people to embrace them. Spiritual leaders move people on to God’s agenda. Yet one of the greatest frustrations for leaders is being unable to move people from where they are to where God wants them to be.

God may lead us to undertake tasks that seem far beyond our leadership ability. We tend to gravitate toward assignments we feel capable of accomplishing with our own skills and experience. But when we succeed in such undertakings, we are the ones who receive the glory. God is not concerned with magnifying our name, but His. When God invites us to join in His activity, we will inevitably feel inadequate for the undertaking. God tends to position us into situations where our inadequacy is magnified so we find ourselves dependent upon Him.

Not everything God leads us to do will necessarily make sense to us. It might seem ludicrous to attempt something we are woefully inexperienced at doing. It may seem foolhardy to try something when we don’t know where the money or manpower will come from. Some people have become consumed with worry as they over-analyzed and fretted about how to accomplish what God told them to do. Our responsibility is to accept God’s assignment and trust that, in giving us the task, He will also make the provision. We don’t need to devote ourselves to figuring out how to accomplish God’s will. That is His responsibility! Instead of becoming paralyzed by fear and worry at what God asked us to do, we must seize the opportunity to join God in His work and to see God use our ordinary life to accomplish something extraordinary.