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I want to grow as a leader, and I want to help others grow. Sharing my thoughts on leadership is intended to help us grow together into all God wants for us. I hope you enjoy my blog.

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Monday, January 25, 2010

Habits

Our thoughts are what we base our decisions on, and decisions form habits. Something we do regularily becomes a habit. The funny thing about habits, is how the bad ones are so much easier to form than the good ones. I have heard it said, that it takes 21 days to form a good habit, and 3 days to form a bad habit. So making something that is good a part of your everyday life requires a strong desire for that thing, and the discipline to put it into action everyday for at least 21 days. The great thing about a good habit is the cumulative effect. As I have been going to the gym, I find it hard to go every time. It would be so much easier to not go, and when I started, I wondered if my level of fitness would ever improve. But through time, little by little, I am seeing improvement. It is the cumulative effect that makes the difference. It cannot be done all at once or in a hurry. It takes a regular amount of time constantly. Saving money is the same principle. Saving a little regularily adds up over length of time. It is the same spiritually; being faithful in prayer, Bible reading, and spiritual exercise brings maturity, and strength, and knowledge of the ways of God. "Well done, good and faithful servant..." It is faithfulness over the long haul that brings the accumulated blessings of God.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Moving On

The children of Israel were led by a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Their existence depended on watching the cloud. Their lives were led and directed by the cloud. The cloud was the center of their camp, and the center of their lives. Nothing else was as important to them as the cloud. They moved when the cloud moved, and they stayed when the cloud rested, Ex. 40:36-38. Our lives also need to be centered on the cloud of God's presence. He promised He would lead us by His Spirit. Zech. 4:6 said it was "...not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord." We need to move when the Holy Spirit leads us, and we need to stay when the Holy Spirit says to rest. And so God will lead us into deeper places with Him. Ezek. 47 gives us a vision of a man who was led into a river, first to his ankles, then to his knees, then to his waist, and finally into the river where he could only swim. Jesus invites us to take a step closer to Him as He beckons us. He has treasures of glory, and treasures of wealth for us, but we must follow. He must be the center of our lives. We must keep our eyes on Him. Our heart must hear His still small voice, His gentle moving in our spirit. Our delight must be the meditation of His Word, that captures our attention, both day and night, Ps. 1:1-3. Today, are you moving with Him? What is He saying to your life today?

Monday, January 11, 2010

Cain and Abel

It is amazing to me to read the results of sin entering into the world in Gen. 4. How quickly we see the devastating consequences of sin manifested. Here Cain and Abel both bring an offering to the Lord. Abel's is accepted, and Cain's is not. The message to Cain is, "Sin crouches at the door, and its desire to toward you, but you should master over it." In other words, there are things in your life that you need to deal with, and if you don't, they will deal with you. Cain compared himself with his brother, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got, until he decided that the way to deal with this was to get rid of his brother. He did not stop to consider that he should deal with the things in his own life. He was angry, unhappy, envious, dishonest, lying, deflecting the truth, and shirking his own responsibility. So he eliminated his brother, and thought he had got rid of the problem. But God asked him, "Where is your brother?", to which Cain responded, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" First he lied, for he knew exactly where his brother was, and secondly, he tried to deflect the question by asking another question, as if to say, that is not my responsibility. My brother can do what he wants. Why ask me? But truth would prevail, because the Lord said, "Your brother's blood cries to me from the ground." Truth will prevail, though we decieve ourselves. This is a great story about living in truth, and dealing with the things in our lives privately with God, before those things begin to deal with us publicly. Even a half truth is the same as a whole lie, maybe worse, because a half truth gives the impression that we are telling the truth, when in fact, we are only covering our lie by telling part of the truth. This is a great leadership truth, that God desires truth in our hearts, and we need to ask for cleansing and renewing of our hearts. Psalm 51:6,10-12. Though going through cleansing is painful, the result is very very good!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Motivation

Hi. This is my first blog. I have been thinking about motivation.
After we have made decisions to follow Jesus, to put God first in our lives, we get faced with many challenges. When we have committed ourselves to following the call of God on our lives, we enter into a new level of spiritual warfare unknown to us before. The excitement of our initial decision is challenged, and possibly dampened by problems we encounter. Pro. 13:12 says "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." When hopes and dreams have been deferred, we may lose motivation that we had when we started. So what do we do then? God wants to give new motivation to us. Even the great prophet Elijah suffered a serious blow to his motivation when his life was threatened by Jezebel. He started running, this time away from the call of God, and wished that he could die. Elijah lost all motivation to pursue God's call, and was discouraged and in despair. He had given up! But God continued to speak to him, and gave him new motivation to get up and get going again. God wants to renew us and give us new motivation to get going. Paul said that we are like an athelete in training in order that we may win a prize. Having a goal, a prize to strive for, gives motivation to achieve and succeed. Looking at the goal keeps us going when we don't feel like it. What is God's will for your life? Have you fulfilled it yet? What does God want you to do? By setting our eyes on the goal, we will recieve new motivation to press forward. Recieve new motivation today, and rise up to run the race before you. Let the excitement of knowing God thrill you once again, and let motivation rise within you.