When Leaders Lead
3/29/2009
1. When Leaders Lead they rise to the challenge.
Life is filled with challenges. The servant Moses had passed
on. Who would now be his successor? Who would bring to fruition the promise
that God had made to Abraham, in terms of His people entering in and possessing
the
Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. The Word of the Lord came to Joshua, Moses’ “assistant”. He was close to Moses. He knew Moses. He served Moses. Some people don’t want to serve. They want to be served. Joshua served Moses. He served in the trenches before he was given a platform.
No need to try to promote yourself. God is fully capable of taking notice of you, like He did with David. He was chosen and anointed to be King of Israel out of all his brothers. Like He also did with Joseph, who was left for dead and then eventually elevated him to second in command before Pharaoh. God sees you, takes of notice of you, calls you and can advance you. He can move you along from coach to first class at His pace if He so wishes.
Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. Suddenly Joshua had a challenge on his hands! Life is filled with challenges.
We read in verse 1. “After the death of Moses the servant of the
Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the Son of Nun, Moses’
assistant, saying, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise….”
“…arise…” in its original language is the word (quwm). It means to rise, to rise up, to lift up, to rear up, to rouse up, to stir up. To stir up what?
Joshua had to stir himself up spiritually and emotionally in the Lord! He now had a big job to do, a significant undertaking with tremendous responsibilities. He had to rouse himself up, to provoke himself, to awaken himself, to wake up to the challenge and to press into the Lord for all of what He would need in the Lord.
God calls us to growth. If we’re going to grow, we must rise up in the Lord and deal with the stretching!
What challenges are
you currently facing?
Will you rise up or crumble? Will you rise up or deflate? Will you answer the call or simply ignore it? Will you step up or shrink back, hide and run?
Challenges affect people in different ways. Some rise to it, some shrink back from it. Some ignore it. How do you respond to challenges?
Leaders, I want to encourage you to rise to the challenge because the Lord is with you!
God wants to help us rise up
We may be afraid but He wants us to face our fears. (Psalm 37:4) We may be afraid but He calls us to be “…strong and courageous!” (Joshua 1:9) We may be afraid but He promises to be with us and not forsake us. He is with us through the financial, emotional and relational challenges. He is with us in the crisis, the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows and the disappointments and victories.
Leaders rise to the challenge! Are you a leader? Do you want to be?
God’s calling you to go higher in Him!
2. When Leaders Lead they lead
the way.
It’s been stated many times that you can’t lead where you aren’t willing to go. You see, if I’m calling people to pray and fast and I’m not doing it myself then I’m probably not going to see a whole lot of fruit there, right?
Even Jesus had trouble in this area, getting His guys to pray. Just a thought.
“Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping….
I think they thought they were in
Hey, greeters greet, ushers ush, elders eld, deacons deac and leaders lead! They lead the way!
We read in verse 10. “Joshua then commanded the leaders of
Israel, …”
It doesn’t seem to me that Joshua was a weak, spineless leader. No, it says that he commanded his leaders. Leaders must be led. They want and expect strong decisive leadership.
The word “…commanded…” in it’s original language means to enjoin, to direct, to instruct, to tell, to bid, to charge his with the Lord’s leading. Joshua was a strong leader.
Becoming
a better leader.
We can all become better leaders. Dad’s, mom’s, business people, let’s not settle for mediocrity. Let’s not compromise our God given potential. It starts by reading and studying your Bible. It starts by becoming a student of the Word. It starts by tightening up our relationship with Christ.
It starts by praying, spending time with God, meeting with others in small groups, connecting in accountability groups.
Let’s become better leaders where God has us. He has us in
the marketplace, in the office place, in our social gatherings. Like Joshua
let’s rise to the level of leadership God is calling us to. Let’s be leaders
that lead the way! Let’s lead our wives, lead our families, lead our
communities, lead the nations for the
Abraham led the way, Moses led the way, Joshua
led the way. The greatest leader of all time (Jesus) is the way! (John
14:6)
Let’s point the way and lead the way by example!
3. When leaders lead they communicate
clearly.
.Listen to what Joshua says in verse 11. He is addressing
his leaders. “Go through the camp and tell the people to get their
provisions ready. In three days we will cross the
It was short and concise and to the point. He didn’t go into a laborious dissertation, a thesis, a long drawn out discourse or exposition. No, Joshua simply communicated clearly.
Much can be
accomplished with clear communication (Genesis
11:6 Amplified)
When leaders lead they communicate clearly. He directed his leaders on what to do. He instructed his leaders on what to say to the people.
What was Joshua
doing?
He was leading through clear communication. If you want to lead you have to communicate. It’s something that can be learned, that can be improved. Husbands if you want to lead your wives you have to learn to talk. Men can sometimes have a tendency to hold it all in.
Now, women on the other hand can communicate. They’re anointed in this area! Some marriages suffer because the husband won’t talk, and other marriages suffer because the wife won’t be quiet for a bit. So, at the end of the day, some won’t open and some won’t close! So there you have it. There has to be balance.
Business people if you want to lead your employees you have to talk. You have to have clear communication. I want to get better at this. It takes intentionality, work and persistence. I’m a decent communicator but I’ve a long way to go, I’ve got to get better.
Pastors, leaders, we must get better at clear communication! Jesus was a great communicator, even when He was silent. What kind of a communicator are you?
What was Joshua
communicating?
4. When Leaders Lead they lay
out the plan and vision.
Joshua unfolded the plan and communicated the plan. He also cast the vision! It was God’s vision for His people. He communicated where they were going and how they were going to get there.
When leaders lead they have a plan. They’re confident in the Lord and in the plan He’s given them. They’re resolute about the plan. They stick with the plan.
Leaders call people
to the plan and vision.
God has a plan and purpose for your life! God is calling you to that plan, purpose and destiny. Do you have a plan for your life, family and business? Yes, I know that your life is in the hands of the Lord, but do you have a plan. We all heard it said, “If you fail to plan then you plan to fail”. Who are you, what are you about and what are you for? These are all significant questions that we all must discover, and walk out.
Jesus has a mission,
a purpose and a plan.
.Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to save that
which was lost.” (Math 18:11)
Jesus also said, “For this purpose the Son of God was
manifest, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1
In
“Can two people walk together without agreeing on a direction?”(Amos
3:3)
When leaders lead they lay out the plan and vision. Leaders affirm and reinforce the plan and vision. In order for the plan and vision to be carried out there must be agreement, unity and support.
Summary
When Leaders Lead
they…..