The #1 difference between Habakkuk and his peeps was attitude.This is also the #1 quality that you will see in someone spiritually mature vs. younger in their faith. Habakkuk grew in his faith as he developed his intimacy with the Lord.He once felt frustrated and annoyed, with maturity he felt trust and peace. He once felt confused, he then had understanding.He once felt fearful, he then had faith in the future God had planned.The only thing that changed his perspective…time with God in prayer and His Word.This brings spiritual maturity. Without it we will be tempted to live driven by our emotions vs. character.
This week I have been reading through Habakkuk. From his example I continue to learn the the #1 job of a leader is not being a “doer.” As a prophet his job was to feed and guide his peeps but this was not his first priority. His #1 job was his own personal walk with God. I imagine to live that out he had to turn down several other ministries that he could have been involved in. He probably had to turn down time with people to guard his walk with God. Maybe he referred some counseling requests to others. I wonder if folks got ticked off at him because he did not do everything they thought a spiritual leader should? Maybe he went to bed before midnight so that he could get up while it was still dark to pray. Do you think he turned down watching much TV so that he could live out his priorities? I imagine the choices he made caused others to question what he was doing at times.
In the New Testament, we learn that Peter gave himself to the Word of God and Prayer. This is the #1 job of a spiritual leader.
I love Habakkuk. God called him to lead in troubled times. His name means to embrace. In the beginning of his ministry he struggled with God and the decisions He made, He felt that the Lord was not answering his prayers fast enough and was kind of ticked off about it. Have you ever felt that? This prophet questioned how God could be so tolerant of such a sinful and immoral Judah. Then when Habakkuk learns God is going to use a nation more wicked to discipline and correct Judah he freaks out. God, Do you really know what you are doing here? Through it all Habakkuk learns to trust and in the end of this book has developed a deep intimacy with God.
Are you or have you ever been in a situation where God does not seem to make sense? Maybe you feel the need to be rescued. Maybe you wonder why someone seems to be getting away with wicked behavior. Maybe you have circumstances where have been in a deep trial for a long time and just don’t understand why there is no help on the horizon. You may question what in the heck God is doing. Or why he does not seem to be doing anything. And life goes on. Through it all may we learn to trust the Lord and develop a greater intimacy with Him as Habakkuk did. Can I challenge you to read the book of Habakkuk? It’s filled with so many great life lessons.
Can I share some good news with those of you who haven’t found your God-ordained passion or dream,big audacious goal or one God idea or life mission? Here it is: God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go. So that takes the pressure off of us. But there are some necessary prerequisites to knowing where God wants you. Here they are…
#1 Prerequisite – A Relationship With Jesus
Many of my readers have already accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and acknowledged Him as Lord.But if you have not made this important decision, most of what you read on this blog will have little meaning for you. Spiritual matters can only be understood by those who have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them (see 1 Cor. 2:14).
If you don’t know for certain that you are a Christian or have doubts, now is the time to settle the matter and accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord.Ask God to speak to you as you read the following Scriptures.
·Romans 3:23 All have sinned.
·Romans 6:23 Eternal life is a free gift of God.
·Romans 5:8 Because of His love for you, Jesus paid the death penalty for your sins.
·Romans 10:9-10 Confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead.
·Romans 10:13 Ask God to save you and He will.
To place your faith in Jesus and receive His gift of eternal life, you must —
·Recognize you are a sinner who needs a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
·Confess (agree with God about) your sins.
·Repent of your sins (turn from sin to God).
·Ask Jesus to save you by His grace.
·Turn over the rule of your life to Jesus, letting Him be your Lord.
If you need help, call on a pastor or a Christian friend for help.If you have just made this important decision, tell someone the good news of what God has done in your life. Email me at dseeley@winfluence.orgwith your address and I will mail you a free Bible. Then find a church that teaches the Bible and will help you grow in your relationship with Jesus.
#2Prerequisite – A Daily Time with God.
Can you imagine going on a trip across country without a map, GPS or road signs?Even with a good sense of direction it would be very difficult to reach your desired destination.Can you imagine going on a flight with a pilot who flew his plane by intuition?You could expect to crash. Same with life. If you don’t spend regular time with God in His word you will struggle with knowing where He wants you or what He wants you to do.You may often think God is distant or lack intimacy with Him.Scripture tells us Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. You can enjoy intimacy with the Lord.
To know God and what He wants to say to you personally you must prayerfully read His word.I hear people say that they spend daily time with God because they pray all the time…shower, car, while listening to music, on the subway, bus and at the office. This is good but to know God and what he has to say to you the Bible is a necessary part. And not just a devotional book or a book written about God or even a Bible study book that someone has written.A devotion or a quiet time is spending time with the Lord in prayer and His word. Not just praying in your car on the way to work.If you are in a Bible study ask the leader to personally teach you how to have a quiet time.
Until we know how to have a quiet time we will continue to make decisions based on our emotions vs. what God wants us to do and also be dependent on others for our spiritual growth. Even prayer regarding a decision will be influenced by our emotions vs. the Holy Spirit. A few years ago a pastor friend went to visit the wife of another pastor who was in the hospital with terminal cancer.He casually asked her How has the Lord been speaking to you through His Word?Long story short…the woman said she prayed all the time but admitted she had no idea how to have a devotion, no one had really ever taught her, nor had she ever heard anyone speak like this.Our friend spent time teaching her how this can be done and had a quiet time with her.At her funeral the husband went over and said to our friend…Thanks for what you did to help my wife spiritually. She said her last 6 months were the best she had ever had with God. The husband shared this to encourage and thank the co-worker but our friend felt very sad that this woman in her 60’s, married to a pastor, did not know who to have a quiet time and hear God speak through His word. When we know how to have a quiet time we will know how to recognize the Lord speaking to us and our spiritual growth will come from this daily fellowship with God.
#3 Prerequisite – Short Accounts With God and Others
The Bible is very clear that if there is sin in our heart against God or another person God will not answer our prayer (Psalm 66:18, Romans 12:18, Matt. 5:23-24).I had a friend who once said that spiritual maturity is not someone who never blows it but someone who is quick to confess and deal thoroughly with sin.Immaturity is one who attempts to justify or excuse sin.
Pride and a calloused heart will hinder us from keeping short accounts with God and others.I believe if we are in fellowship with a Holy God we will be convicted on a regular basis of sin. If it has been a while since you felt convicted by the Holy Spirit check your heart to see if it has grown calloused.
As you follow Jesus one day at a time, He will keep you in the center of God’s will.The Holy Spirit will be your personal teacher and the Scriptures your source of authority.
A dishwasher made me think of the #1 Question You Should Always Ask Before Coming To A Conclusion. Out of every blog I have ever posted I believe this could be one of the most beneficial in everyday life if you apply it.I was taught this lesson from a godly mentor and it has served me well. This is so important because Christians are often critical and judgmental of people, situations and churches. This is usually due to dysfunctional baggage that we carry.The undeserving grace that we have received from God is not always given to others and a consequence is broken relationships.Not just between me and the person but to many others as our criticism is shared with others. Proverbs tells us that God hates this.
Last week we had a new whirlpool dishwasher installed. I was very happy and excited to say the least.I couldn’t wait to put the dishes in after dinner instead of washing them by hand. It was filled to the max and I turned it on. Wow. The sales person at Lowes sure wasn’t kidding about how quiet it would be. It barely made any sound at all. At the end of the cycle I open the door and realized all the dishes were still dirty. I called Lowes and they schedule someone to come take a look at it. Bad news.The motor did not work. They scheduled us for another dishwasher to be delivered the following day.Dishwasher #2 came out.I was happy and excited. After dinner I loaded it up. It was also quiet but Lowes said the new dishwashers are. After the cycle I open the door. The dishes are still dirty. No way. This is weird. After two that don’t work I begin to question if I really want a whirlpool.I’m thinking maybe I want something else. Then Todd reminds me of all the time he spent researching dishwashers with Consumer Report. He reminded me of the reputation that Whirlpool has and about a million other facts that I didn’t even know existed about a dishwasher. He then reminded me about Lowes and the high reputation they have. They will stand behind any product. He also reminded me about the refrigerator we purchased a few years ago and when the installer made a small rip in the flooring they sent someone out immediately to repair it. Todd reminded me to look at the reputation of Whirlpool and Lowes and also our experience with them.
This dishwasher experience reminded me of the #1question to ask before making a conclusion.The question to ask before coming to a conclusion is IS THIS A PATTERN?Told you it was simple. Yet we often don’t ask this because of emotion, anger, hurt or just the baggage we carry.This is not a godly response.It is spiritual immaturity.
Last summer there was a bogus article on the front page of my local newspaper about some friends of ours. We know these folks. We have broken bread with them, spent hours praying with them and spent time in their home and they in ours. They know the Lord and have the highest integrity. Yet this article blasted everything we knew about them. I imagine many who read this assumed it was true. We never did for a second. We know them. We called them the next day to see how they were doing and yes we did ask them about the article. We gave them the opportunity to explain and we took them at their word. A business competition started the inquiry and fed the press lies due to their anger of losing so much business to them. Our friends had to spend a small fortune on an attorney but they were proven innocent and the other party guilty. Yet a godly man had his reputation ripped in the news. We were disappointed that the newspaper did not post the conclusion of the story.
I share these stories to remind us the importance of the #1 Question To Ask Before Coming to a Conclusion….Is it a pattern? What is the reputation? What has your experience been?Not your experience with other people or churches in your past but with this one? I have seen many friendships broken, churches split and people hurt due to not asking this simple question. Is it a pattern?
By the way, Lowes said as far as they knew that this experience had never happened before.Ever.And to make up for our trouble they gave us a huge Whirlpool upgrade at no extra cost. What a blessing.
After all these years I am still learning to let go. Spent many years as a control freak. Can anyone out there relate to me? The most difficult venue for this lesson is with my children. When they were very young and another child was unkind to them my first response was to get in the other child’s face and say STOP IT. And sometimes if the behavior was a pattern I made the decision to decline those play dates. Today my oldest son is 13 and I am learning to let him handle his own affairs though I am still tempted to fix anything that causes him pain. This is difficult for me. Is it for you?
Being in full time ministry Todd, the boys and I visit various churches from time to time. Recently we visited a church Matthew had looked forward to attending because of a close childhood friend going there. My son is very shy but values friendship and is very loyal. New places, new groups, new people are not easy for him. He found comfort that morning knowing he would know at least one person. Living in NYC the past 3 years have been a sacrifice for my children. Leaving behind the security of family, home, close friends, good school and community was not taken lightly by us. But a decision we believe the Lord has honored. To my dismay when he and his father came to greet us he never even gave eye contact to Matthew or said hi. The friend is an extrovert and very outgoing. It was obvious to me that Matthew was hurt but I said nothing. I assumed when the service was over they would connect. After the service the boy walked over with his mom who greeted me and Matthew but again would not even look at Matthew who was standing right next to me and less than 2 feet away from him. My son was devastated and embarrassed. Good grief. What is this all about? These kids have been friends since preschool. I wanted to fix it. I wanted to tell his mom who I knew would attempt to fix it. She is a wonderful person. But I let it go. I did not want to let it go but I did. I am not good at this. My heart hurt for my son who is still just a little boy to me. I want to protect him from pain. Most people outside of our family have no idea what he has been through the last 3 years.
Is this behavior the norm for middle school kids? If it is then it reveals the need for youth ministries that disciple kids and not just provide social events.
The pastor gave an excellent message and worship was dynamic. But my son does not want to go back.
Yesterday at the post office a staff person asked me the spiritual differences I saw in people while working in different parts of the country. My experience is that The Main Thing was missing the majority of the time in areas of greatest spiritual need. The main thing being discipleship within the church and of course without. Regardless of age, how long a person had been a Christian or if a person was a leader in the church or even on staff at a church, discipleship is missing. Discipleship does not happen from the pulpit or in a class room. Nor does it happen from reading a book, seeing videos or attending a conference. And without discipleship we lose vibrant Christianity. I find it both sad and appalling that we use church attendance, church volunteer work, teaching doctrine, or even worship and think that people don’t really need New Testament discipleship. We rip people off if we communicate discipleship is just for new believers and allow our consumer culture of the contemporary church to water down the radical nature of following Jesus.
What I have found most encouraging in NYC other than people coming to Christ is when people have been saved for many years, or leaders, or a pastors wife or a staff member of a church will have the courage, humility and hunger to say they have never been discipled but desperately desire it. This is the opposite of pride. And pride keeps many from the abundant life Jesus desires for us.
If you feel a fire burning in your soul when it comes to discipelship, you know what I mean.
Many years ago I heard a seminary prof teach on the Holy Spirit and he shared one of the fastest ways to quench the Holy Spirit. I leaned over in my desk, pencil in hand ready to take notes so that I would not make that mistake in my own life…my jaw dropped to the floor as he said one of the fastest ways to quench the Holy Spirit in your life is to….complain or be critical. OUCH! I was expecting something as least on what I thought was the same level as adultery. But complain? Gosh. Knew I was guilty of that. Probably more often than I wanted to think about. From that moment on I began to take a mental note of when I did complain and attempted to quickly confess it. As someone who was preparing for ministry at that time, and today in ministry, the Holy Spirit is a basic for spiritual leadership. I love to grow and am always reading all I can get my hands on regarding leadership development but a person can know that stuff and still quench God’s power. I don’t want to be that kind of Christian. I want to live and minister with power! Recently the Lord reminded me that a follower of Christ and especially a leader must not forget the basics of the Christian life. No matter how long we have been born again we do forget the basics. That is why discipleship is so critical.
Recently we have been cleaning and repairing a home we rented for a few years. Before leasing the home was just a few years old and in excellent condition. Without going into many details (and complaining) I’ll just say that the tenant did much damage and did not clean, vacuum or mop once. Hard to believe I know but trust me. He shared a reason for this. His wife was out of the country. As I am cleaning one of the bathroom floors for the 4th time (not kidding) on my hands and knees trying to get the crud and smell off the floor of the toilet area Todd walked in to see how it was going. My response was one of complaint…I am too old to be on my hands and knees for the 4th time trying to clean this stuff (actually I said crap but stuff sounds better). Cleaning up after you and the boys is one thing….cleaning up after a Muslim man and his friends is a whole different matter. Was my response due to lack of sleep and fatigue and back pain or did this reveal something deeper in my heart? Nevertheless I was complaining. A few seconds later the Holy Spirit clearly (you know when it is God speaking to you) spoke to me and said “I died for that Muslim man and his friends.” Okay Lord, thanks for giving me the right perspective. Please forgive my complaining spirit. A better attitude would be one of gratitude that we have such a beautiful home to clean.
What about you? Is there anything you have complained about or been critical about recently?
On my last post I wrote about the Bigger and Better game and how a little thing can become a big thing. I’ve been thinking about that and had some thoughts I wanted to share. Many years ago when I was a single staff with The Navigators I had the privilege of having breakfast with Lorne Sanny who at that time served as president of the organization. Mr. Sanny was a godly ole grandfather type man with incredible wisdom. We talked about many things that morning in Myrtle Beach, SC but something significant happened in that 2 hour breakfast that was a defining moment for me. Toward the end of our meeting we spent just a couple minutes discussing ministry funding and he asked me if I was in debt. I immediately replied no and we went on to another subject. No sooner were the words out of my mouth that the Holy Spirit convicted me of my lie. The truth was I was in debt. I had a credit card that I did usually pay off monthly but the truth was I did have a debt at that moment. Mr. Sanny left to go the meeting room where he was the keynote speaker that morning and I sat in my chair debating the Lord on whether or not it was a real lie since it was a monthly card. After doing everything I could to justify my lie I confessed it to the Lord. Immediately the Holy Spirit convicted my heart that I should confess to Mr. Sanny asap. I was horrified. Oh, good grief. Why bother the man? He is so busy and in such demand at an event like this, etc. etc. There was a sense of urgency in my heart that I must do this so I hurried to the conference room, pulled him aside and confessed that I had lied to him about the debt. Mr Sanny responded…You did the right thing by quickly responding to the Holy Spirit. Always keep short accounts with the Lord. It is so important to respond to what may seem like a little thing before they turn into a big thing. Because it is usually the little things that will trip us up. His response to this situation impacted me more than anything else at the entire conference. Actually it was a life changing moment for me. Mr. Sanny spoke from Psalm 119:176 that morning and challenged those of us in Christian leadership to pray that we would not wander away from the Lord. The truth of the matter is a large number of us don’t finish the race well because we fall way from God. How does this happen? When we allow a little thing to grow into a BIG thing. Is there any “little thing” in your life that you need to deal with today? Any big thing? The longer we delay the larger it will grow until it eventually has control over us.
What is it that makes power so tempting? Could it be because power is easier than love? Jesus asked “Do you love me?” The disciple said “Can we sit at your right and left hand in the kingdom?” (Matthew 20:21) Since Satan in the Garden of Eden said, “The day you eat of this tree your eyes will be open and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil” (Genesis 3:5), we have been tempted to choose power over love. Jesus chose love over earthly power. What do you choose?
Have people ever expected you to be a superman or superwoman, doing spectacular things in the name of ministry? The model marriage, model children, model walk with the Lord to start out with. Followed by ministry in the church, the community, and maybe on a national level. What about career success? Sometimes as a leader we can fall into this temptation and then we can’t stop talking about what WE are doing in these areas. And when new opportunities come to be spectacular we can’t wait to share. When we receive glory from people we can also give glory to people. As I read about Jesus in the Bible I see that our purpose is to show Him off. And glorify Him in all that we do. The bottom line is anything worthy of praise is because of Him. Even my love is tainted and He enables me to love. I don’t even love God on my own…We love because he first loved us. Every person that I lead to Christ…No one comes to Christ unless he first draw them. When I am tempted to be spectacular I pray I will remember Isaiah 42:8 “I am God. That’s my name. I don’t franchise my glory.” Have you ever seen this in your own life or another?
At the beginning of last year I taught a community Bible study called Enjoying Intimacy With God. My objective each week was to teach how we can know and experience God’s presence daily. This can be a challenge when God’s presence is often a hidden presence, one that needs to be discovered. The loud, boisterous noises of the world make us deaf to the soft, gentle and loving voice of God. A Christian leader is called to help people hear that voice on their own. Sometimes a leader is tempted to slip in to the role of adviser vs. teaching a person to listen and hear the voice of God. The latter takes longer but is our responsibility. The joy is seeing a person learn this is one of the greatest I have ever known.
Yesterday I shared how I have been reflecting on servant leadership. When I experience this Biblical principle in action it catches me off guard. Could that be because it is a contrast of what we often see lived out? Last week Todd called a couple of pastor friends to see if they might know of some available folks in their church who could help unload a huge truck. On the day that the truck arrived we were very surprised that the two pastors (Rev. David Tubbs of Good Shepherd & Rev. Barry Dunn of Master’s Way) Todd called showed up. It is a rare occasion that I am ever speechless but I was on that day. Not only were other volunteers brought but the leaders came themselves. Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers.
Henri Nouwen said Jesus has a different vision of maturity. It is the ability and willingness to be led where you would rather not go. After Peter had been commissioned to be a leader Jesus confronts him with the hard truth that the servant leader is the leader who sometimes will be led to unknown, undesirable, and painful places. Biblical leadership is not about power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which Jesus is glorified. This is not a psychologically weak or passive leadership but a leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favor of love. I believe this is true spiriltual leadership. Powerlessness and humility in the spiritual life is not referring to people who are wimps and have no spine and let everyone make decisions for them. This is referring to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him wherever he guides them, trusting that in him we will find the life we are told to seek after.
I’ve often wondered what it is about Grand Central that I love so much. I wondered if it was how “grand” the terminal is, the wide variety of good food, the excellent coffee or Junior’s which was voted best cheesecake in NYC. Yesterday as I was running through the terminal to catch a train it hit me. I love all the mass of people that are going after their dreams. I love the determination of people who have vision and goals. I like people with passion and focus. Met a man yesterday from the Caribbean who recently moved to NYC. I asked him What do you love most about NYC? He replied that he came here to live out his dream. When I asked him how that was going he said Great. He was hired to apprentice for his dream job under the owner of his dream company. I’m happy for him. He took a risk and moved to a huge city with a dream and determination. He decided it would be better to risk and fail than never to try at all. This man represents what I see when I am in Grand Central. What dream is planted deep in your heart? If someone could help you achieve it would you go after it?
Genuine regard for people is not something that can be faked. People can not only sense your true sincerity, but they can only be fooled for so long before your actions will expose you. Manipulation means causing others to act for a perceived benefit, though temporary, for the manipulator. The ultimate cost of manipulative tactics is an eventual decline in morale, growth and productivity. If a pastor leads this way it is only a matter of time before the church will begin to decline. Most pastors do not lead by manipulation but unfortunately Todd and I have seen it in churches we have been consultants for. It is seen where there is no real accountability for the pastor who really views the church as belonging to him vs. the people. Usually a church with this DNA is family run and controlled by a charismatic leader who is fearful of losing what he feels rightfully belongs to him. He may have a board who “votes” on issues but he manipulates the folks who vote. If they rock the boat of his desires they are quickly replace with another. A pastor like this is often strong at attracting people but the back door is wide open where people are constantly leaving. In desperation to grow he may hire consultants but the bottom line is that unless there is repentance and change his “empire” is going to crumble.
Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Psalm 127:1
As adults, we can profoundly influence the direction of children by the words we say to them. With our words, we have the ability to mold and shape the future of anyone over whom we have influence. And each of us has influence over people. Last weekend my family watched an excellent movie called Gifted Hands, the story of Ben Carson. Ben was in middle school and classmates and even teachers communicated that he was dumb and a loser. He believed them and the result was report cards with D’s and F’s. He believed the words he heard and his self image plummeted. He was an angry kid. Most of us know that hurt is the root of anger. Negative words will destroy a person quicker than you can imagine. You cannot speak negatively about someone and expect them to reach their potential. The scripture reminds us that with our words we can bless people or we can curse them. The mother of Ben Carson saw the impact of his environment and relocated him. She began to speak words of truth to her son. Today Ben is considered the best pediatric neurosurgeon in the world. The power of words.
There are few books that I read a second time but Leadership Gold is one of them. At the beginning of the year I think about my personal growth and development and write down a plan for the year. This book is on my list for 2009 even though I read it last year when it first came out. As I read LG a second time I will write down discussion questions to use with people I am coaching. I have also added this book to my Deborah’s Women curriculum. This is a group of growing leaders that I mentor for 12 months. We meet once a month as a group and on occasion one-to-one. Emerging leaders will love the foundation that Leadership Gold provides. Experienced leaders will love gleaning from a leader who has trained more than 2 million leaders worldwide. I love learning from a leadership expert who loves Jesus.
I believe it was Mark Twain who once said The only person who likes to change is a wet baby. It does seem to be human nature to resist change that we are not convinced will be better. The greater our need or circumstances, the more open we are to change. President Obama ran on the slogan Change We Can Believe In. The current financial situation helped this idea resonate with the people. People want this to change. But what about when things are good but can be better? In this case people usually cling to great and miss the greater. Why do people resist change?
1. Fear of the unknown. People feel more secure with the familiar.
2. Lack of exposure to success.
3. People are usually satisfied with the status quo.
4. People assume that the implementation of a change will require an additional commitment of time in an already jam packed schedule.
5. Fear that needs will not be met with the change.
6. Concern over compromise. They fear adopting a change will involve giving up something they feel is important.
7. Insufficient information concerning the change.
8. Negative past experiences with change.
9. Lack of confidence.
10. Spiritual apathy.
11. Fear of failure.
12. Concern that the change will result in a new set of problems.
When we resist change we limit the wonderful that God wants to do. Jeremiah 29:11-14 is a great passage of Scripture to use when praying about change.
All change may not advance personal growth and development but without change there can be no progress at all. How have you changed…lately? In the last week? Or the last month? The last year? Can you be very specific? Or is your answer vague?
![Grand Central Station [007493]](http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/8801.jpg)
