While we known that the body of Jesus Christ is His Church, which He purchased by His precious blood, it is important to know that God does not do things haphazardly; He does things in an orderly manner and ensures order in His church. The church is not a social gathering where you do what you like, neither is it a place where you join anytime or anyhow. To begin with, you cannot even join the church of God, you can only be born into it by God’s Spirit. This means that, if truly you are born of the Spirit, you cannot retract from the body of Jesus Christ. However, because there is the possibility of having your name out of the book of life, it is imperative that you hold your faith with reverence and submission to God’s will. And that is the reason for this topic; ‘Leadership‘. The church of God is not a disorganised body, (and God will never leave it without a leader), seeing it is the kingdom of God. I plead with you to read through with awe to learn from God.
Text: Psalms 23:1-6, John 1:18, Exodus 33:20, Numbers 27:15-22, Deuteronomy 31:2-3, Exodus 2:1-6, Exodus 3:1-6, 2Samuel 7:1-17, 1Kings 17:1, 1Kings 21:17-25.
David once talked about God leading him beside the still waters, for His name sake. The still water is the church of God where he could hear the word of God and it’s still the same till date. Just like to David, God is more than a Creator, more than a Redeemer, or a Savior to a true child of God; God is a Shepherd, and Shepherd means a Leader.
Some other points to note are:
– God being invisible always gives a physical leader to His people, through whom He will lead them.
– God is unique in His leadership, because God’s leadership is different from man’s.
– A true leader sent by God, leads God’s people by the word of God, nothing more! And such leaders are a Guide.
Take note of those points because they’ll help you thrive in knowing His paradigms. God would always hide Himself in human flesh to lead His people. Before God would start a church for Himself, He will first prepare a leader. In order to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, Moses had to be born.
No leader, no church! That’s God’s way. God does not have sheep without a Shepherd, otherwise, they are no sheep, (goats don’t have leaders). And because God is the ultimate determinant here, He will choose a leader by himself, and not what you want.
There were about 2 million people that came out of Egypt, but when God was to choose a leader for Himself to lead His people, He chose Joshua – in who is the spirit. Of course there is no one without a spirit, but this verse only explained to us that God would build and train a man, before He would entrust His people to him to lead. God can train you for 10 years before He will entrust some responsibilities to you, because He knows everyone. You cannot deceive Him, He knows what you can do. So be careful of your motive. Because God will train everyone that He is going to use, thereafter, he will test you. And if you fail, He will drop you because He doesn’t manage.
There’s a need to iterate that humility and patience are vital in the training process of God, because man has a tendency of wanting to do things in a hurry. Meanwhile, a leader that God is breeding must also be under leadership. In the case of Joshua, although God chose Him, He was to be submissive, patient and humble and remain under Moses for Moses to put his honour upon him (Numbers 27:20). If you can’t be obedient, you can’t be in the body of Jesus Christ. True sheep don’t have the capacity to lead themselves, they need a leader. And you must be dependable for God to use you.
If you want to be blessed where God has placed you, here’s a solemn plea – respect your pastor! Every true man of God is representing God, and being annoyed with them directly means that you’re annoyed with God. Don’t let any carnal thing you have make you “flex muscles” before men of God. Success is not measured by how much you’re able to acquire on earth, all of those things don’t give you future. In this kingdom of God, you measure success by your growth in Spirit and in Faith. Likewise, if you don’t train your children in the way of God, they have no future, regardless of what level of education they get.
Let me throw you some questions: who is your mentor? Who do you consult when you’re about to take any step? Do you follow God’s leadership or you only invite Him in the middle of your own way?
A true follower will not despise his leader in whatever he wants to do. You don’t consult your God given leader when you’re done with whatever you want to do. Man is fond of going without God and calling Him in the middle of the way when trouble comes. It’s idolatry, and God hates it, (Ezekiel 14:1-5).
King David had a good intention to build God a house, but being a true follower, he consulted the prophet about his plans and God was pleased to give him directives. If David had carried out his plan without consulting God; though a good intention, it would have been unacceptable by God, and thus, would have been in vain. More so, consider that David, though a king, was still given a leader. His leader was the prophet Nathan, whom David consulted, and subsequently brought the word of God back to the king as regards his intention.
In 1Kings 17, we also saw that King Ahab had Elijah as his leader, likewise for Jezebel, but she rejected God’s leader, and was going about her own will. Her end result was terrible, her flesh was fed to dogs – if you reject God’s leadership, your success will not last! What was the success of king Ahab? Nothing!
Brothers and sisters, they that are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Make sure you follow the leadership of God. You have no future without Jesus Christ.
Shalom!