One of a Kind

Daily Reading:  Job 1:1 – 8

And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, 

that there is none like him in the earth 

                                    Job 1:8

        The Lord asked Satan to consider His servant Job. While we may find it odd that God would put Job in Satan’s crosshairs, have you ever paused to consider Job? Scripture describes him as perfect and upright. Those alone are high praise from an inspired book. These are God’s words not man’s words.  Perfect speaks of his purity and wholesomeness. He was a man of moral integrity. Upright expresses rightness or correctness that is pleasing.  This man lived his life with integrity, that others might follow. 

        Job was more than perfect and upright.  Those attributes were obviously the result of a man that feared God.  Job held the Lord in highest regard.  It was not lip-service, but genuine reverence.  Because of reverence, Job was turned off and withdrawn from evil.

        Job was a physically blessed man. He had many children, servants, and riches.   Despite all that he had, or perhaps because of all that he had, he never lost sight of God.  Job 1:5 shows Job’s great compassion and concern for the spiritual wellbeing of his children. He did not pass this responsibility to his servants or even to his wife. This was his responsibility alone, and he took it personally. Job continually offered burnt offerings for each of them. This is time well invested, because unbeknownst to Job, their lives were about to be cut short.

        Are you personally invested in the spiritual wellbeing of your children?  If you are not, why not?  if you do not have children yet, that invest in your own spiritual wellbeing so if God blesses you with children, you are equipped to invest in them...to lead them...to love them.  

        Job was one of a kind in his generation of the earth.  That does not mean God could not say of you, “there is none like him in the earth” in this generation.  

We All are the Lord’s

Daily Reading:  Romans 14:1 – 14

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

                        Romans 14:12

Across Christianity, there is a spectrum of beliefs genuinely held by sincere brothers in Christ.  Often those beliefs are in error and are the result of confusion due to a failure to see and apply the truth of II Timothy 2:15. A failure to rightly divide can lead to a lot of problems.  In those instances, we have a duty to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) so that those in error might, “Come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:4).      

With that duty also comes great responsibility.  This is a responsibility that is often ignored among believers; even among believers who claim to understand the grace of God.  Our duty to be right overrides our responsibility to be loving, gracious, and accepting of a brother in Christ who holds a different conviction.  Among the Roman believers, there were apparent differences regarding what could be eaten and what days were important.  These differences had the potential to divide brothers in Christ.  Some were walking in liberty, while others were clearly allowing aspects of the law to limit their liberty.  If we are to lead others into that liberty, we must avoid driving out brothers.  

To avoid condemning those with different beliefs, while at the same time speaking the truth in love, we must apply the key truth of Romans 14:8 to our life and to our view of their life.  We ALL are the Lord’s!  

Obviously then, leading others does not require creating perfect duplicates of yourself unless you are insecure or prideful.  God can and truly does work through our differences, even doctrinally, for His honor and glory.  In fact, is it possible that God can work though a humble servant with some doctrinal problems more that a prideful person who has all his doctrine “perfect” by someone’s standards?

Leadership Lesson from the Biblical Historical Account of Christmas

 

Daily Reading:  Matthew 1:18 – 25

“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily”

                                                                                                 Matthew 1:19

               We live in an unjust world.  In fact, many of the calls for “justice” today are not seeking biblical justice but a broken redefined idea of it that promotes the opposite. Sadly, those values will only lead to more hurt, suffering, and pain in an already broken world. When a man is just by God’s standards, he will stand out in a culture fraught with injustice.  Joseph, the husband of Mary, was such a man.

Living like Joseph does not just happen.  It is a choice. In reality, to be considered a just man requires consistency in our choices. While we can be sure Joseph’s genealogy and upbringing had an impact on his preparation and training to live as a just man, ultimately, the choices Joseph made every day were all that mattered in earning that recognition by God in His word. 

It would be fascinating to know the decisions Joseph made through the years leading up to the birth of Christ.  What difficult decisions had he made that Scripture would describe his as a just man? How had those decisions steeled him for the difficult yet just decision he would make to not stone Mary. Joseph’s decision to not have Mary stoned to death would go against what was culturally acceptable. It was the just thing to do, but make no mistake, his decision was consistent with his character.

God knew the decision Joseph would make before He made it because God is omniscient.  Will men know with a level of certainty the decisions you will make because of your character?  When others see you, what do they know of your character based on the choices you make every day in your life?  What do they know of your character based on the decisions you make between cultural norms and what is right?  We, like Joseph, are known by our character. Every decision you make is a reflection of your character.  Choose wisely!  Choose Biblically!

Leadership Lesson from the Biblical Historical Account of Christmas

 

Daily Reading:  Luke 1:67 - 80

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

                                                                                            Luke 1:80

               John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus and was used by God to prepare the way of the Lord just as prophecy proclaimed.  What a blessing and what a responsibility.  His birth was announced by the angel Gabriel. He was called the prophet of the Highest. The people believed the Lord was with him (Luke 1:66). He even baptized Jesus (Matthew 3:13 – 17).

               What should catch you attention is that John had no formal training. In fact, John’s upbringing is encapsulated in one verse where we learn that his childhood was spent in the deserts.  He did not spend his time in the Temple or even running in the shadow of the Temple around the streets of Jerusalem.  He did not spend his time at the feet of some recognized expert in the law of Moses– a professional teacher.  Many boys in later years would sit at the feet of Gamaliel like Saul of Tarsus who later became the Apostle Paul, but John did not have that privilege. According to Luke 1:80, John grew physically, spiritually, and emotionally, and continued to grow strong in spirit while maturing in the desert until God was ready to use him in a mighty way.

               We live in a day where we are enamored with the professional and the expert. There is great value in learning a skill through experience, and great value in paying an expert in many cases. However, when it comes to growing spiritually, we have been led to believe a lie. The lie is that we need an expert class to understand the things of Scripture. Again, I am not saying there is no value in formal training or even that God cannot use formal training in your life. But not having formal training should not serve as an excuse to not serve the Lord. John was the forerunner of the Savior of the world with no formal training. All John ever had was his life experience in the desert and training by his father Zacharias.

               God can use your informal experiences and the direction of a godly father or father figure to equip and prepare you to do the good works He has prepared for your life. Do not ever fall prey to the idea that not having formal training somehow disqualifies you.  That is just an excuse to stop you from doing what God has already prepared you to accomplish in life!

Leadership Lesson from the Biblical Historical Account of Christmas

 

Daily Reading:  Luke 1:57 – 66

And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

                                                                                                Luke 1:64

               Every one of us has made mistakes.  We have made choices and done things that hurt others.  We have made choices and done things that have hurt ourselves.  We have tarnished our reputation and have stained our testimony more times than we care to admit.  Our lives are to be lived to, “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.” (Titus2:10), yet often we fail.

               Zacharias was a man who made a mistake.  By the world’s standards, it would be viewed as a nonexistent infraction.  He had not done something worthy of punishment under human law.  In fact, he was an honorable man who kept the law and faithfully discharged his duties as a priest. Yet for his misstep, the angel Gabriel took away Zacharias’ ability to speak for the better part of a year. Obviously, this missing of the mark (sin) was important to the Lord. His misstep was not in what he was doing but in his lack of faith in the Lord whose law he kept and whose priestly duties he performed.

               Zacharias learned from this incident.  Going forward, he would make the right choices when the opportunity presented itself.  On the eighth day after the birth of his son, the neighbors showed up to circumcise and name the child.  This was Zacharias’ opportunity to make the right choice.  Rather than give the child his name, he heeds the words of Gabriel and names him John.  His voice is restored and the first thing he does is praise God! John would go on to serve as the forerunner of Jesus Christ.  I am sure his upbringing was directly impacted by the lessons his father learned through his misstep and lack of faith.

Every man has a history.  We have all made mistakes.  I am thankful God is concerned with the character of a man and not his history.  Despite your history, what are the choices you are making now? You cannot change the past.  You often cannot undo pain you have caused.  But we can all learn from Zacharias and do the next thing right!

Leadership Lesson from the Biblical Historical Account of Christmas

 

Daily Reading:  Luke 1:26 – 38

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

                                             Luke 1:38

We can learn a great deal from Mary, especially when we hold up her response to the angel in contrast to that of her uncle Zacharias’ response.  Uncle Zacharias was a good man.  He was doing all the right things by outward appearances despite Roman rule, despite ungodly Jewish leadership, despite God’s silence, and despite not having a son for which he had prayed. He and Elizabeth walked blameless before God.  To walk blameless at that time meant they kept the Law of Moses and when they found themselves having broken God’s law they offered the proper sacrifice in the Temple so they would once again be found blameless before God.

Despite their obedience to God’s commands, Zacharias’ response demonstrates a lack of faith.  When face to face with the angel Gabriel, he asks for proof that his wife would bear a son.  He is struck dumb (unable to speak) because of his lack of faith (Luke 1:18 – 20).  What was it that led him to this lack of faith? We do not know. Maybe it was the 400 years of silence, or the wickedness of the culture, or the ungodly religious leadership, or the lack of an answer to a lifelong prayer for a son; a prayer that may have been abandoned in his old age.

Mary, on the other hand, had a very different response to Gabriel’s words.  She did not lack faith.  She did not ask for a sign or for proof.  Her faith gave her a genuine curiosity for God and His will.  She simply wanted to know how the promise was going to happen. She understood that she was the handmaid (obedient submissive servant) of the Lord and that with God nothing shall be impossible.

At any age, it can be easy to go through the motions of our faith without seeing what God is doing in our life at every moment. We can fill our time with church attendance, church activities, and even reading our Bible and praying.  Yet those worthwhile activities can become nothing more than religion.  May your faith give you a genuine hunger and curiosity for God and His will.

The Virtue of Humility

 

Daily Reading:  Philippians 2:1 – 11

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”

                        Philippians 2:5

            Humility is hands down, the least sought-after virtue of leadership.  Men will seek after boldness and decisiveness.  We will labor to become better communicators.  We will participate in activities that bolster confidence.  We shower ourselves with positions and titles and desire others to recognize our positions and call us by our titles.  We set out ambitiously to find greatness.  Yet, the greatest virtue of a man of God is humility. 

            Consider for a moment the unseen spiritual realm.  On one side, you find Satan.  In Isaiah 14:12 – 14, prideful Lucifer sought to replace God.  Over and over, we read, “I will…”.  How often do we seek to lift ourselves up.  How often do we crave others lifting us up?  How often do we put our needs, wants, and desires ahead of the very ones God has given us the privilege to serve. 

            While we often seek to lift ourselves up or love when others lift us up, Jesus Christ lowered himself.  He, God, became a servant to all mankind.  In fact, the only time Christ Jesus was ever lifted up was His act of total sacrifice on the cross.  It was through His act of total humility that we have new life in Christ offered to us. 

            If we desire Christlikeness, we must genuinely humble ourselves and become obedient to Him.  We must realize, “I am crucified with Christ.”  We must seek to be nothing so that Christ can be everything.  This is true humility!