It has been a while since I have written a blog post. It has been a hectic summer, which is no excuse I must say to not share what wonderful things God has been revealing to me. In June my husband and I travelled to Kenya. It was a wonderful trip and a huge blessing in my life. It was my third time to Kenya, and I was able to see people I had meet last summer while there in the same area. These people I can confidently now call friends. Thank-you so much to those of you that contributed to our being able to go on the trip, and also to those of you that prayed for us while we were there.
I have been doing a lot of processing since my return from Kenya, which is one reason why I have not posted in so long. It was a different trip for me, one of almost confusion. It has been hard to discern what God was trying to teach me and show me while in Kenya and in the subsequent two months.
When I was in Kenya, one of the men who was instrumental in making the medical clinics we participated in, kept calling me Lt. Colonel. At first I laughed it off, but he kept calling me Lt. Colonel and saluting me. When I questioned him about this he told me that I carry myself like a general and that I should have been in the military. (Well, little secret I was in the military) I began to be taken aback by this, and realized that I may need to change the way I approach others. I started to seek God as to how He wanted me to change and how I could maintain being a Godly leader.
In, the time I have been back from Kenya I have taken the time to seek God concerning my mouth, and have asked Him to show me how to be a Godly leader. I have realized that God has programed me to be a leader, but that He does not want me to act like a military dictator. He wants me to lead in love and in grace. If I continue to seek Him as to how to lead others in a way that is Christlike, I think that I can find a way to not come across as a "general". Romans 12:7-9 says, "[He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching; He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives aid and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness. [Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good." (Amplified version)
Essentially, I need to embrace the gift of leadership that God has given me, but I need to not be a dictator about the way I lead. God wants those He has placed in leadership positions to be loving to others and to treat them with grace. I have realized an effective Godly leader is not one who tells everyone what to do and shouts out orders, but who suggests in love the order of business. People take instruction so much better when it is spoken in kindness and with suggestion, than when it is an order that is barked at them.
I have come to the revelation that the orders that are barked come from my flesh and not from Christ. I need to lay down myself and be transformed into the leader that God wants to mold me into. In reading Ephesians 5 I came across verses 13-15 that really explain what I am trying to say, "But when anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visible and clear; and where everything is visible and clear there is light. Therefore He says, Awake O' sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light. Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless but as wise (sensible, intelligent people)". (Amplified version) God desires me to be clear and be able to reprove the light, so that Christ's light shines out of me. I think of it like a prism....what light shines in, is reflected out. So, therefore I need to reflect Christ in all I do.
Romans 12:2 states, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]." (Amplified version) I used to look at this verse in a rather legalistic way, thinking that pretty much everything of the world was off limits. But, if you are dead to sin and alive in Christ do you really want to conform to this world? I have been asking God to make me more of Him, and less of me. And, He has been answering my prayer....opening my eyes to many things I need to change. Just like the verse says it is not what is acceptable to you, it is what is perfect in his sight.
God, does not expect us to be perfect. What He does expect is that on a daily basis we go before Him and surrender to Him and His will. He also expects that we confess our sins to Him on a daily basis, and in doing so that we "crucify" our flesh. It is not our job to be "perfect" and "sinless". What is our task is to take up our cross daily, to confess our sin regularly, and to look at ourselves through Jesus eyes and to see Him in us. In order to do so, it may require you to change. It may also require you to see some things in yourself that you may not want to see. What is your true desire? Do you want to be more like Jesus? Or do you desire to not grow and progress in your walk with God?
The choice is up to you... Walking means that you are moving forward, and that you are not staying in the same place. So, if you want to progress in your walk with God then you need to give of yourself. Eventually you will have to surrender your person to God, in order to continue to walk with Him. In, order to do so you will have to choose to no longer accept conforming to the world. If you desire to continue to grow in Christ then you will have to transform yourself to His ways, His desires, His word, and His will.
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