Leadership: What does God look for in a leader? (86-4) ~ Barry Werner

What does God look for in a leader? (86-4)

September 10th, 2009 in 1 Samuel, Character, Leader Qualifications, Old Testament, Personal Development |leave a response

When choosing a leader, God’s selection criteria is different than society’s selection criteria. Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

The selection of David to be Israel’s king illustrates how God often disregards human customs and traditions to accomplish His purposes. Even the prophet Samuel was fooled. When Samuel looked at Jesse’s oldest son Eliab, he naturally assumed that God must have chosen this noble and sturdy young man to be the Lord’s anointed leader. But the Lord makes it clear in this passage that the people He chooses to do the great things for Him are called on the basis of inward character, not on the basis of outward impressiveness.

So, what does God look for in a leader that even David’s own father and Samuel the prophet of God did not see. Verse 7 says “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” Leadership potential cannot be measured by inches or pounds or degrees or background. Whatever else qualifies people for leadership, no one is qualified for greatness – by God’s standard – until their heart is ready.

David began his leadership journey as low man on the totem pole. He did what was asked of him with a great attitude even though his brothers looked down on him. David’s life illustrates that faithfulness in small things often results in much larger assignments and greater responsibility down the road. David loved the Lord and lived his life as a man after God’s own heart.

The leader’s prayer and focus of effort must center here. Skills, intelligence and hard work are all a part of the package. But God reminds us that, in the final analysis, one thing makes the difference. God looks at the leader’s heart.

How do you evaluate your “heart” progress? Does your heart really desire to live by Biblical standards? Do you have someone that will tell you the truth and hold you accountable to live by Biblical standards?

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Tags: Faithfulness, Heart

« What would it take for you to disobey God? (86-3)

What are you looking for in young leaders? (86-5)

The two options on trust ~ Bob Hoekstra

More on Jeremiah Contrasting the Two Options on Trust

 

Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in manand makes flesh his strength…strong>Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out itsroots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but her 
leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year ofdrought, nor will cease from yielding fruit." (Jeremiah 17:5a,7-8)

Again, we consider Jeremiah contrasting the two options on trust. As we noted, there are only two choices: man or God. When man is the object of our hope, the result is the curse of spiritual barrenness."Cursed is the man who trusts in man." Contrariwise, when God is the object of our dependence, the result is great blessing. "Blessed is theman who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD."

 
The spiritual blessing that comes from trusting in the Lord is likened to a tree that is growing by the continual flow of a river. "For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters." The riverside is the ideal location for developing a flourishing tree. Trusting in the Lord is the only setting in which a flourishing spiritual life can be developed. A tree that is located by the river sends out its roots to take in more and more life-giving water: "which spreads out its roots by the river." The Christian who is hoping in the Lord finds the life his inner man cherishes, and he reaches out for more of that life for which he yearns.


When the heat of drought comes, it is a dreadful threat to plant life (unless the plant is located beside a sufficient river). When the heat of battle or impossible circumstances arise, they can pose a fearful threat to human beings. Even a child of God is tempted to be anxious. However, if the Lord is our hope, we "will not fear when heat comes…and will not be anxious in the year of drought." Instead, we will continue in growth and spiritual fruitfulness. "Her leaf will be green, and will not…cease from yielding fruit."
What radically different results come from trusting in God (instead ofhoping in man). We receive spiritual blessing (instead of a cursing). Our spiritual life is like a luxuriant tree beside a river (instead of like a shrub in the desert). We experience the grace resources of God(instead of the flesh resources of man).

Dear God, I praise You for the abundant grace that flows from You into my heart every time I trust in You. It is blessing beyond measure. Nothing else could ever keep me from fear and anxiety. Nothing less could ever bring growth and fruitfulness in the midst of threatening circumstances. You are my hope day by day, Amen.

The only way to keep from ~ Jon Courson

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.
	Colossians 2:4-5
In the days of the Roman Empire, a certain wealthy senator became estranged from his son. When he died unexpectedly, his will was opened. ‘Because my son does not appreciate what I’ve done, I leave all of my worldly possessions to my loyal slave, Marcellus,’ the will read. ‘However, because I am a man of grace, I bequeath to my son one of my possessions of his choosing.’ ‘Sorry,’ said the testator to the son. ‘You can only take one of your dad’s possessions. Which will it be?’ ‘I take Marcellus,’ said the son. Brilliant!  That’s the idea. When you take Jesus Christ, you get all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you open your heart to Him, you find everything you need. It’s all in Him. Why is this understanding so important? - because it is the only way to keep from being sucked into ‘enticing words’, cults and other dead-end pursuits of pseudo-spirituality.  That’s what was happening in Colossae. People were coming on the scene saying, ‘Hey, what Paul is preaching is fine, but there’s much more.’ ‘No,’ Paul says, ‘Be steadfast in your faith in Christ. All of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Him.’

Why are we always drawn to that which is forbidden? ~ Greg Laurie

Why are we always drawn to that which is forbidden?

All we need is for someone to say, "Whatever you do, don't look there," and we will look there. We hear, "Whatever you do, don't go in there," and we will go in there.

Try saying to a child, "Stay out of that room," or "Don't touch that," and that child will immediately begin to push the limits and try to see how much he or she can get away with. It is human nature.

Perhaps in our warped way of thinking, we assume that God says no to us because He is trying to keep us from something that would be enjoyable. We think, Why wouldn't God let me do that? If God really loved me, He would let me do anything I wanted to.

But that reasoning is simply not true. Because God loves you, He puts up barriers and warns us, "Stay away from this. Don't do that."

The Bible tells us, "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11 NKJV). So a good thing to remember is that if God tells you not to do something, then that something is not a good thing.

In a sense, God issues warning labels, and there was one clearly attached to a particular tree in the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve had been placed in a veritable paradise. Talk about having a great job. Adam's job was to be in the Garden and to appreciate and discover all that God had created. He was to spend time in the presence of the Lord each and every day as the Lord came walking through the Garden during the cool of the day.

There was only one restriction God placed on Adam and Eve. Of all the trees in the Garden—and there must have been thousands—there was only one tree they could not eat from.

And yet, in Genesis 3, we find Adam and Eve hanging out at the only tree God told them to stay away from. Adam and Eve deliberately ignored the warning God gave them.

The devil is clever. He will try to make bad look good and good look bad. And he does a pretty effective job of it. No doubt he was trying to attract Adam and Eve to this tree to get them to eat of its fruit.

We notice three specific strategies he used to get Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.

One, he questioned God's Word. He did not deny that God had spoken; he simply questioned whether God had really said what Eve thought He had said. He wanted her to think that perhaps she had misunderstood God's command. And today, the devil still twists the truth to try and alienate people from God.

Two, he questioned God's love. He wanted Eve to think that God was holding something back from her when, in reality, God himself had placed those restrictions for Adam's and her own good to keep them from sinning.

Three, he substituted his own lie. He questioned God's Word, he questioned God's love, and then he substituted his own lie. He led them to believe that they would become like gods if they ate the fruit of the three. He was saying, "Eve, check it out. You will be a goddess. Imagine. You will know good and evil. God is trying to hold something back from you. Go ahead and do it."

Here we see a primary principle of spiritual attack: the devil works from without to within, which is the very opposite of God's method. God begins His work in a person's heart, and the changes then affect his or her outer lifestyle. But the devil will always to try to come from the outside to gain a foothold on the inside.

That strategy was successful with Adam and Eve, and their eyes were opened to the wickedness of sin, the deceitfulness of the devil, and the weakness of their own nature. They were exposed to all of the wicked depravity of the world.

Far too often, we know more about this wicked world than we should, and we know far less of the Word of God, which we desperately need. As the apostle Paul said, "I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil" (Romans 16:19 NKJV).

It all starts with paying attention to God's warning labels. Are you ignoring any today?

Receiving God's love, I realized that I was in desperate need myself ~ Joyce Meyer

But God shows and clearly proves His [own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us.
—Romans 5:8
 
Paul prayed in Ephesians 3 that the people would experience the love of God for themselves. The Bible says that He loves us. But how many of God's children still lack a revelation concerning God's love? I remember when I began Joyce Meyer Ministries. The first week I was to conduct a meeting, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to teach and He responded, "Tell My people that I love them."

"They know that," I said. "I want to teach them something really powerful, not a Sunday School lesson out of John 3:16." The Lord said to me, "Very few of my people really know how much I love them. If they did, they would act differently." As I began to study the subject of receiving God's love, I realized that I was in desperate need myself. The Lord led me in my study to 1 John 4:16, which states that we should be conscious of God's love. That means it should be something we are actively aware of.

I had an unconscious, vague sort of understanding that God loved me, but the love of God is meant to be a powerful force in our lives, one that will take us through even the most difficult trials into victory.  

Where God personally renames a person ~ Bob Coy

Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:

"As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations." -Genesis 17:3-5 (NKJV)

There are only a few examples in Scripture where God personally renames a person, and this is one of them. In that day and culture, people's names were indicative of who they were, and so when God changes people's names it always represents a deeper change that encompasses their character and nature.



The name "Abram" literally means "high father," which speaks of the honor of a father. At this point in his life, Abram had one son, Ishmael, through his servant Hagar. At ninety-nine years of age, he was probably settled and content with just the honor of being a father to Ishmael-but God had much bigger plans.


Abram was a noble moniker, but God changed his name to "Abraham," which means "father of many." As wonderful as it was to be a "high father," the Lord went above and beyond this and gave him a new nature in which the joys of his prior nature would be marvelously multiplied.



This reveals a precious aspect of the way God operates in the lives of those who surrender to Him. When the Lord takes a life over, He always exceeds the expectation and imagination of that person. We all come to the Lord with a limited view of who He is and of what He is capable of accomplishing in us.



How many of us can honestly say that we anticipated and expected Him to do all that He has done? The truth is that we are being constantly amazed by the One who is constantly replacing who we were with something infinitely better.



Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us . . . . (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV)

Discuss, Dig, Decide

Discuss with your group how the Lord has exceeded your expectations. Share an example of how you have seen Ephesians 3:20 to be true in your life.

Dig into Genesis Chapter 17. What is the significance of Abraham’s name change? How does the change represent God’s greater plan and concern for Abraham’s life? How does this account remind you of what God can do in and through one individual life?

Decide with your group to pour out an unexpected blessing on someone who has suffered in a season of hopelessness. Get together with your friends and come up with a way to show this person the reality of God being able to do abundantly beyond what we could ask or think!

Thinking we do not need the Lord ~ Charles Stanley

Judges 6:1-6

One of the greatest challengers to God's rule in our lives is money. When we experience a great season of financial blessing, it becomes easy to feel self-sufficient, thinking we do not need the Lord for our success. In those times, God may have to get our attention in a most painful way.


We see this in today's passage. The people had become unruly and turned away from God. Therefore, He got their attention by touching them where He knew they'd feel it: in their pocketbooks. Specifically, He allowed hostile nations to completely ruin Israel's livelihood?their crops?for seven years. This aggression all but destroyed their way of life.

What was the result? Judges 6:6 reveals, "The sons of Israel cried to the Lord." That is, they turned back to Him and did whatever was necessary for their relationship with God to be restored. And what instigated this repentance? It was the Lord's direct manipulation and interruption of their finances.


Over the years, I've talked with many people who have gone through a similar experience. God granted them great success, but then they turned away from Him. So He removed the obstacle: their money. And more often than not, the result was a renewed passion for knowing God.


Remember, our Lord is a jealous God (Ex. 20:5-7). He will not allow even His own blessings to draw you away from Him. Prayerfully consider your priorities today. Ask God to reign supreme over your finances, and request the wisdom to manage your money under His direction.

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