Luke 15:7 “I tell you that in the same way there will be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The heavens must have been rejoicing Sunday night. We kicked off our Drama Rama this Sunday and we had a great response. The most powerful part was the alter call and seeing many turn their lives over to Christ! I’m looking forward to the weeks to come and seeing many more won to Christ.
Excellent Leaders lead by Encouraging Others
Leaders who encourage are always looking for the good in those who lead you, lead along side you, and those who you lead. The best way to lead people is to build upon their strengths instead of constantly focusing on their weaknesses.
Encourage people to succeed in their jobs, families, and in their ministry/calling. Bottom line is, encourage people to succeed in the plan that God has for their lives.
At times as leaders we need encouragement and that’s when we need to look to the Holy Spirit as our source and encourage ourselves in the Lord. Remind yourself of how good God has been to you and all He has brought you through already.
The best is yet to come as long as we continue to strive for God’s Excellence.
Excellent Leaders Lead by Examining Self and Others
How can I improve the ministry? Improve me? How can I improve my walk with the Lord? 2 Co. 13:5 “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you.” I encourage you to examine your passion. If it is at a low, get it back by being around people who are passionate about the things of God. Are you in the right place in the body? Ask yourself, am I wrongly positioned? Discover it. The more fruitful you are the more likely you are in the right position. You are skillful. You are gaining skills as you grow. Are you examining yourself? For example, like regular checkups with a doctor, we need a full checkup. What does our heart beat for? Do a pulse check. Where are we at with God? With others? How are your followers doing? Do you see sadness in your people? Check on their spiritual pulse before there is a breakdown! Be proactive rather than reactive!
• Envisioning has a lot to do with examination. You have to see it before it happens. You have to be determined to be a leader who leads with an idea to improve and get stronger. We would like to see leaders who are strong, solid and stable. Whoever you are, be all who God made you to be and be the best you there is!
• Apostle Paul believed in transforming ministry. He mentored up coming leaders. Emerging leaders tend to rise in the opinion of others when they are seen co-ministering with a respected leader. What younger leaders or believers are you sponsoring by co-ministering with him/her?
• Leaders can have a long term impact by going deep in their ministry to develop a few personal relationships in such a way as to impart values and methods. Who are you developing?
• A leader must not seek to bring attention to himself/herself through ministry but must seek to exalt Christ as Lord. A leader must see leadership as focused on serving followers on Jesus’ behalf.
As we have regular check ups we can keep ourselves on track and those we are leading.
Excellent leaders lead with enthusiasm. Webster states great, supernatural inspiration or possession. Two ingredients come to mind- joy of the Lord & passion.
Why did Paul have to remind Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God that is in you”
(2 Timothy 1:6). Whether it is trials, opposition or an attack of the enemy, things will try to steal your enthusiasm or joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
Things that will steal our joy:
1) Sin- see Ps. 51- God is faithful to restore our joy. Rescue yourself by confessing your sins and surrendering completely to Him.
2) Situations- such as hardships or even the loss of a loved one. Hold onto your joy no matter how hard or difficult things may become.
3) Satan- he comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). If you desire to excel in your leadership expect opposition from Satan. He will come against you, but we have power in Christ over the enemy (Luke 10:19).
4) Stagnation- recently we had a stench in our kitchen which we thought was maybe a rotten potato. After much cleaning and searching, we found a small tray of stagnant water in the Arrowhead dispenser. It had caused the whole kitchen to stink! When we become stagnant, we to can start to stink. Stagnated people criticize and become stumbling blocks, lifeless, negative and unproductive. If we are coasting, we are going down hill. Keeping your passion for God and souls is a way to fight against stagnation.
Passion to grow spiritually.
Our convictions are directly tied to our passion.
Two ingredients to conviction are passion and commitment.
The more you value your ministry and the things of God, and the work you are involved with, the more passion will come out of you. You care about making things right. We care about the excellence of our church. Don’t do things mediocre. Even in transition, we don’t have all the stuff we need, but we are blessed. Its just the season, we still shoot for the highest quality for everything that we do.
Don’t develop a small mentality, keep thinking big!
Commitment: passion effects our emotions
Commitment is an intentional investment to make sure the vision is realized. Have a strong vision. Passion carries you through; the conviction holds it all together.
Enthusiasm is contagious- Catch it and spread it!
To be a leader that is able to Envision you must first be envisioned, first by God and by your leaders.
Proverbs 29:18
“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed. – The Message
To be envisioned you must have an open and teachable spirit. God speaks to those who seek after Him.
I believe as we seek after God and understand the vision that God has given our ministry, He will show you how you can play a part in the big picture. As you personally catch the vision and run with that vision you will in turn be able to inspire and envision others with your leadership.
To be able to effectively lead others you have to be able to see what they don’t see yet. To be at least a few steps ahead. “People are more eager to get on board when they know the destination”. –P. Sonny Arguinzoni Sr. “Internalizing the Vision”
We need constant evaluation. (2 Corinthians 13:5) For us to evaluate our progression of the vision we need to test ourselves. The vision gives us a ruler which to measure.
We are a part of a powerful vision. On the whole, it’s bigger than us. But together we can strive in the might of the Spirit to accomplish what God has set before us.
