Spiritual Life

So, how big is the whole universe? Astronomers calculate that the edge of the observable universe is about 46.5 billion light years away. Does it make you feel small? Yes?! Though we are so small, still God can use any of us to lead others in accomplishing His great plan.

Water is essential to life, and in some areas of the world, humans must dig deep wells to keep water readily available. In the midst of organizational change, we desperately need to draw on our spiritual resources. How easily we do this may depend on our spiritual habits – our rhythms of life. How deep have we dug our spiritual wells?

There is no reality in you that will kill this evil kind of “Kryptonite fear” (and tendency to shrink back) more than an ongoing encounter with Love Himself. He is more beautiful and kind and patient and all-knowing than you can understand and it is only a closer proximity to Him that will fuel a hotter degree of “bold” in your leadership empowering you to stand and speak against the work of the devil in these days.

Everything we do in life and leadership must flow out of being in relationship with God! Doing comes from being: Being in relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is above all, and it is out of this relationship that we do.

How bad was my living nightmare? No sleep for two weeks, and being terrified of the quiet at night and the sunrise next morning – that’s how bad! Anxiety and depression hits leaders disproportionately. A leader who suffers with this affliction, especially in isolation, is a person at risk. However, biblically, this kind of weakness can lead to finding great strength in God.

I still remember the first worship service I attended more than 40 years ago. I understood very little of it, as I was not yet a believer. Over the last several decades, though, here are some things I’ve learned about worship.

God really loves me! Really, He does. When was the last time you contemplated that truth? In this article, Matthew reminds leaders that Jesus loves them always, and a strong illustration of this is when Jesus told His disciples to abide in Him. He also outlines a few practical ways to receive Jesus’ love every day, and to enjoy Him.

When the pressure is on and there is a lot to do, in the very time we need to be intimately connected to God and depending upon His Spirit, we as Christian leaders tend to cut back on quality time with God and end up “running on battery.” Sadly, what usually starts out as a temporary measure often becomes a dangerous habit. Before long, we find ourselves operating in our own strength and wisdom, and not in God’s.

Gideon’s colossal might in slaying thousands of men in war is not at odds in any way with his heart and posture of peace. Gideon was fully a man of peace and yet he was also a man of violence, aggressive strategy, confrontation and victory. Gideon would never have achieved this, never would have functioned as one of Yahweh’s Judges of Israel, had his own personal peace with God not been built first. It was this peace that made him foundationally capable of destroying the locust scum that came every year to destroy the hope of the people of God.

Many churchgoers have stopped taking responsibility for corporate worship. Instead of making a fervent cry of thanksgiving and adoration to the Lord, many Christians stand passively in the audience, observing the worship leaders performing on stage.

Three years ago, the TEF (Tangababwe Evangelical Fellowship) was closed due to resource constraints, weak leadership and lack of clear direction. During one of the workshops, the chair publicly acknowledged his failings and accepted responsibility for many of the errors that had left TEF in such a state. This set the tone for the short biblical devotion that followed. Each participant fell on their knees. Many major church leaders were openly weeping and confessing how they, as TEF, had failed to be an authentic evangelical voice. One participant remarked that, “When the Bishops repented, God showed up.”

We often think that if we get the public ministry we were called to, then we will be fruitful. But what if the real inward strength of the Spirit is gained while we are in the desert times when there is no fanfare and things don't make sense?