SEPTEMBER 24 – KNOW YOUR ROLE

 You – as my maker - you know the extent of me. You made me and wrapped me in my mother’s womb. You are my God, because you alone made me uniquely. That work was wonderful – I know it still is! You know me to my core, as you alone know the secrets of who I am. And as you put me together, you knew and made me for the life you would give me to live. (Psalm 139:13-16)

                  King David loved the Lord, God. He likely had a lot of time to consider God’s plan for his life after he was told he would be king. As he watched over his sheep, he must have wondered about himself, his own character, and his very nature; wondering what would have made God choose him to be king. In that meditation, he may have come to the realization he expressed here. God created David uniquely, and He did so with the expectation that he would fulfill an important role in the history of the world.

                  Do you realize that you were created by God just as uniquely and specifically as David? Have you considered your own nature, your character, and your values, as you think of the roles God has called you to fill? Knowing yourself is important if you are to lead your people well. Not only must you articulate a vision, but you must also share the values that will be important elements of the culture of your community as you work toward that vision.

                  These values are your values. Your role is to live and teach God’s truth with those values that form your character. Know and live your role authentically.

SEPTEMBER 23 – LEARN THE STORY

 To your revealing – showing your will and desire – we have looked and waited on Lord, God. As we have struggle and suffer we wait on you. All night long my soul wants you; my spirit seeks you. Because your arrival will bring the world to right-living. (Isaiah 26:8-9)

                  Augustine said, “You (God) have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Do you now recognize this in your life; that your proper role in life is to be that part of God’s story which He made you to fulfill? Do you live in that reality, explaining life to your people in those terms, and encouraging them to find their place in God’s plan – their story?

                   Isaiah has relayed God’s promise to His people. He explained that God’s day of judgment is coming. A day when he reveals Himself to all mankind as God, making everything right and justice becomes reality on the earth. Here, he explains the emptiness that each man and woman feel when they are separated from God. Isaiah speaks of a knowing sense in each person that longs for God, and that hasn’t changed. What has changed is that Jesus’ atonement made it possible for men and women to relate to God again. God will show you your part of His story. He will make clear to you the role you are to play in that story.

                   Learn your story. Live in and teach from that place and encourage your people to join you in it.

SEPTEMBER 22 – BEING REALLY HUMAN

 And God said, “Let us make mankind, our very image and likeness, to manage all this – fish, birds, and other. And, so God did it. The Lord, God made male and female; the very image of God. He blessed them, so they would multiply, and fill the earth to accomplish the work He gave them to do. (Genesis 1:26-28)

                  Do your people understand how special they are? Do they know what it means to be fully human and the amazing life they were created to enjoy? One of the first tasks for any leader who will help their people to grow, is to help those people to see and become all God intended people to be. Without taking that step, how will they ever understand the rest of the Lord God’s truth?

                  Through this explanation of creation, God provides you with the identity and the role for you and each of your people. People are created to be a reflection; a copy; an expression of the Lord God in His world. That is each person’ s identity. Sin damaged that perfect creation. To accomplish the work of God, the identity and relationship must be restored. Each person must be recreated by the work of God’s love before that person is able to receive and accomplish the purposes of God for his or her life.

                  Help your people find the restoration of relationship with their God that will enable them to be His image in the world today. Help them learn to be authentically human.

SEPTEMBER 21-FOLLOW EVEN WHEN IT’S HARD

 Hear me when I (Jesus) tell you (Peter) this. When you were younger, before you met and began following Me, you made the plans, you prepared, and then you did life your way. As you grow to completeness in Me, you will simply stretch out your hands and reach for Me, and you will willingly go wherever I lead – even though you don’t want to go where I’ll take you. (John 21:18)

                  Peter experienced a very challenging three years with Jesus. It was marked by soaring highs and dramatic lows, as he always seemed to be one of the more serious, passionate disciples. This passage immediately follows an exchange between Jesus and Peter where Jesus allowed him to both be restored in close personal relationship, and to gain new understanding for his way forward.

                  Do you struggle against this expectation of Jesus? Do you think of great plans; big projects you can do to make up for the times you may have failed Jesus? You must understand, these desires, without the kind of complete submission Jesus describes to Peter, will lead you down the broad way of destruction. Hear Jesus tell you today, “Your work is to feed My sheep; love my people. Just stretch out your hands and let me show you the way, even if that way doesn’t make sense to you.”

                  Learn the truth of following Jesus. Understand and accept that it means you give up control. Trust the way Jesus shows you, even when you don’t understand.

SEPTEMBER 20-FOLLOW-BEING LED IS DYING

 After Jesus received the vinegar, He said, “It has been completed;” then bowed His head and released His spirit. (John 19:30)

                   How often do you say, or allow others to say about you, (or at least feel – inside) that, “you deserve ___” (some benefit or honor or recognition)? The ultimate work of Jesus was to die. Do you understand that He was saying that your work is to be the same?

                   Earlier in the book of John, Jesus is speaking with His disciples (John 12:23-27). He explained that neither He nor they could be faithful to God the Father, and His purpose for them, unless they were willing to give up any claim they have upon even their own lives. People whose expectation for their life is that they will live it as if they are already dead to what they want or need, do not feel they deserve anything beyond that death. The language was much more direct in the book of Mark (8:34). There, Jesus said explicitly that His follower must, “deny himself and take up their cross.” Your desires to get what you have earned by your good works or your faithfulness must die if you wish to follow Jesus faithfully.

                   Refuse to feel entitled and die to your selfish desires so that Jesus can use you to bring others to new life in Him.

SEPTEMBER 19-FOLLOW-DON’T SEEK CONTROL

 If I could speak eloquently in every tongue, whether of men or angels, if I don’t have love it is just noise; no meaning. If I could preach and could know and teach everything, even having all the faith to move mountains – bot not love – I am nothing. Even if I give away everything I own for the poor or give my life as a martyr, if I don’t have love, it won’t help me at all. (1Corinthians 13:1-3)

                  Chances are good that you are quite capable. Decisions may come easily; almost as second nature, and people whom you lead may look to you every time there is a difficult challenge. Having such capabilities often leads men and women to believe that they have responsibility for outcomes rather than obedience. This belief can grow stronger, even to a place where leaders determine the desired outcome for others. Then they may use coercion or deception, allowing the ends to justify the means.

                  God didn’t give you gifts of capability so that you can control the decisions others will make. He speaks through Paul’s words to make it clear that the object of His gifts to you is the benefit of another person. His desire is that you will use those gifts to show the love that you and He share for them as His people – and yours – by using them in the way His Spirit leads you. Power is God’s to exercise. Your tool is love, as He expresses that love in power through your life and all your capabilities.

                  Your gifts are wonderful creations of God. Let Him use them creatively to love others each day.

SEPTEMBER 18-FOLLOW-NEVER PLAY POLITICS

 Just as a file of iron is used to make the iron axe sharp, one person is an instrument used to sharpen the face of another. (Proverbs 27:17)

                  King Solomon also gives insight into the relationships of a healthy community of faith. He explains that people are to sharpen and improve the effectiveness of each other as they rub against and challenge each other in relationships each day. This is in sharp contrast with the way of the world. There, every interaction is framed as a self-serving, competitive battle in the arena where there must be winners and losers. In God’s economy, each day’s business can result in benefit to each person.

                   Do you view your daily interactions as battles to be won, or do you see those events and activities as opportunities to find God’s purpose and his will for each of you whom He brings together? Living with partners; doing business God’s way, means using your relative power to influence and encourage submission and obedience to the Lord and His will. It is not to be used as a political lever to be used for leverage to win the day.

                   Living with partners in community protects you from the temptation to manipulate others. Also, a broad, inclusive view of community encourages you to follow Jesus and His will for each relationship to which he leads you.