Leadership of Jesus

I meet with few guys to study the leadership of Jesus and it is
fascinating. This past week we looked at how Jesus led under stress.
Leaders all always leading even when they are lost in their own
stuff. This session was power packed and I think altered the way we
will lead through stress and how we will prepare for it. One of the
key factors for leaders is to make sure the patterns of holiness are
established before the hot moment, patterns of community, prayer,
scripture, worship, giving, serving. As Jesus was about to have the
worst day of his life the scripture says he went to the Mount of
Olives as was his custom. His custom, connecting with the God of the
universe, experiencing the Father's love and re-entering the mission
are key factors for any leader. Stressful times are going to come but
our customs, our patterns can be the source of nourishment in the
middle of "it". Thanks to the guys who are taking this journey with
me, paying the price and developing the heart of a lion, after the
Lion of Judah!!!

Getting Ready

I was about 10 years old and we were at a professional baseball game!
Life was good. My dad told me to wear my ball glove (we were in the
foul ball section) and be ready. Inning after inning passed and
nothing close. I took it off. As you guessed, the next inning the
foul ball came whizzing by my seat... and went on. I wasn't ready. I
missed the chance. Jesus warns us to be ready for his coming.
Abraham Lincoln said when he lost an election, "I'll go ahead and get
ready and maybe my time will come."

When I survey the people who are most used by the Lord the pattern is
always there. They go ahead and get ready, under the radar, when no
one cares to look. Timothy becomes a key player in the New Testament,
as does Barnabas. Both have a history of getting ready. Of Timothy
the Bible says he was a disciple before Paul came to town. He was
getting ready for the ride of his life but didn't know it. Barnabas
first appears on the scene not with Paul but back among the disciples
when he sells and gives property. Back then the disciples renamed
him, son of encouragement! He was getting ready for a world wide
ministry back when he was expressing encouragement, sacrificing for
others.

Getting ready is a belief in the Lord's destiny. Getting ready is
working when it seems to be beyond possibility. Getting ready is
conducting our lives in a pattern that unknowingly opens the future.
We are all getting ready for something. At 10 I was ready to learn a
lesson, the ball only comes this way once in a while, be ready. So,
at my age I am still getting ready for a cool future in the Lord.

Comfort and Commiserating

Those two are different. In seasons of stress and pain we do need
comfort. What we don't need is commiserating. Comfort is God's care
for me. That can be expressed by Him in prayer or through another
person. Comfort is healing and says I am valuable and have worth
(often opposite of what we experienced in the pain). Commiserating
can different... and often multiplies our anguish. Although the
definitions are mostly synonymous how we understand commiserating can
exasperate the problem is the hurt is relational. Comfort is about
me. Commiserating, as I have experienced it and viewed it, is often
about the ones who did the hurt. Comfort is God's salve to move me
out of being stuck. Commiserating is often us ragging on others and
in that we stay stuck. As long as the problem, hurt, etc is about
another I am not responsible nor am I moving forward. As it has been
said, we cannot control what is done to us only our response. When I
am being comforted or comforting another the focus is on the person
and their hurt, not the ones who caused the hurt. That subtle shift
in focus is the difference in moving forward and staying stuck, in
responding to pain in holiness and ending up in gossip. Commiserating
may feel powerful but in the end it keeps us stuck. Comfort is the
path to the future.

The People You Will Need

Someone has said to pay attention to the people God brings across your
path, they are important to your future. As I look back I can see
several moments when a person intersected my life and eventually
became a key to my future in ways I could never have imagined. In the
in's and out's of life, the daily moves and travels the Lord is at
work and is forming our future. Acts 15 Silas is sent back with Paul
and Barnabas to answer a key question for the early church. Silas was
to bear witness to the word. But... eventually Silas becomes a team
member of Paul. What appears to be a momentary accompaniment (and
Paul could have questioned if that was necessary) opens the future for
both of them. Could it be that the very people who appear to be just
along for the ride hold our future? How would we respond to those God
is using to open the future for us if we realized today they would be
significant tomorrow? And on the other side, who is Lord intersecting
our lives with for their benefit? Eyes wide open my friends, the Lord
is at work!!!

The Word of Others or the Word of God?

Last night the Lord came to me in some of my concerns and anxiety. It
was not the biggest word, more like the quiet voice. Today as I
prayed the Lord told me to "give that word weight." We all get to
choose whom to listen to. We need to hear others for sure, and often
the Lord comes through them to us. The word last night was more of a
whisper and I wondered today if even it was a word until... until the
Lord confirmed it by telling me to give it weight. What does that
look like, to give the word of the Lord weight? This is what He said
to me, "Think about it more than the words of others or the worries
you have. Focus on it, bring it back to mind, mull it over. Don't
allow the enemy to steal it (Jesus words in Mark 4 of the Bible) nor
allow it to get choked by your concerns. Take it deep into your
consciousness and allow it to have power and to create in you a new
world. The word of God speaks and worlds are created, chaos is made
into something beautiful.

It is amazing when the Lord speaks. Now it is up to me to give it
weight.

Community

In a series on Paul's life at GraceRiver. This Sunday we look at two
essential relationships Paul has, Ananias and Barnabas, acceptance and
encouragement. Acceptance is more difficult than acknowledged. It is
about choosing not to focus on a person's past but on their
possibilities in Christ. That is easy when we have had no engagement
with them. But when we "have heard about them" or have had bad
experiences with them acceptance is the last thing we want to offer.
Acceptance can begin simply with a greeting, a handshake, eye
contact. It is amazing how deeply that opens the hearts of others,
how that communicates their value and importance in the eyes of the
Lord. I'm hoping to give a lot of acceptance today and be an
extension of grace!

Your History or Our History?

We are so amazingly made (fearfully and wonderfully the scripture
says). One of the choices we have to make is to not take the past
into the future lest we recreate the past all over again. Here's a
for instance. One person says to another, "My history reminds me
to... tells me that... etc. Did you catch it? That was their history,
personal history not a shared history. Shared history treats me with
a new beginning and doesn't carry the old story over to a new
relationship. And if we want a new shared history we make that
together and that requires both of us working to not allow the past to
have power over the present and the future. We've all been hurt, all
been in situations we were disappointed in. But is that the story we
want now? Really? Wondering if we could find a way to form a shared
history based on trust and giving the benefit of the doubt so that
your history and my history doesn't shape the future. Learn from the
history yes. Recreate it? I'll pass.

Joy!

Interesting word in Acts 14:17 Paul says that God has left us
witnesses, indications of His presence and love written into the world
as we know it that call us to a world beyond. Rain, food in the
seasons... and joy. JOY! Joy is a gift from the Lord and a calling
to another world where the Lord is real and reigns and where what
happens to us is not as powerful as what happens inside of us. How
amazing is that? It would seem joy is an after thought, a result of
rain and crops (good food). But... joy is a gift in and of itself.

Whenever we experience joy we taste again the Kingdom of God.
Creating joy moments for others does give them a glimpse of what it
might be like for them to have a real relationship with the God of
heaven and earth, the God who gives the food that is a part of our
joy. Anytime we experience joy it is a gift of heaven to us. So
maybe when I eat that food that is bad for me I now have something
else to say about it. It gives me joy and brings my heart back to
God. In truth every meal is like that, a moment to get ahold again of
God's gift and provision. But today when I eat the bad stuff I will
be joyful... to my Lord!