Follow The Leader (Part 8)

"The Lord had said to Abram, 'Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing... So Abram went, as the Lord had told him." ~ Genesis 12:1-4

Often times, following God's calling requires us to leave that which is familiar or comfortable to us.

In Genesis 12, God told Abram to leave the land, people, and household with which Abram was most familiar and to go to a new, foreign, unfamiliar land.

While that command may have been a tough pill for Abram to swallow, after the command was a promise. God promised that if Abram obeyed, He would bless Abram and make his name great (in fact, he would change Abram's name entirely).

But in order to receive the promise of God, Abraham had to obey the command of God - that is, the command to leave the familiar and enter the unfamiliar.

So, the question is, how uncomfortable are you willing to be? And if the answer is not very, then are you really ready to follow God's calling on your life? You can't complain about how slow things might be moving if you're not ready, willing, and able to step out on faith when He tells you to.

God bless,
J.W.

Follow The Leader (Part 7)

"But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you." ~ Proverbs 1:24-26

Proverbs 1:24-26 details the consequences of not heeding God's call on your life. 

Oftentimes, we let fear of stepping out on faith stand in our way. 

But... truth be told, the fear of not doing what God says should scare us even more.

God bless,
J.W.

Follow The Leader (Part 6)

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him." ~ Matthew 9:9

Recently, I relocated, along with my family, across the country, to the west coast.

In the process, I'm sure there were some who might have wondered, why? Why move all the way across the country? Why uproot your entire life to move to a new foreign place?

Well, it's simple.

Like Matthew, when God calls, there should be no hesitation. When He tells you to do something, you should respond.

It's just that simple.

More to come.

God bless,
J.W.

Follow The Leader (Part 3)

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." ~ Matthew 16:24-25

Following God's direction has a prerequisite, and it's located in Matthew 16:24. 

Very simply, if we are to follow God, we are to take up our cross.

What does "take up your cross" mean?

Simply it means that we must die to our flesh, i.e. to our carnal nature, our foolish thinking, and our selfish desires. It means that life is no longer about you, but instead about Him.

Following the Leader is NOT easy. It's hard, because it requires certain things to die within us.

But the good news is that God promises that if we are willing to die in certain areas, He will give us life in other areas.

Will you take up your cross and follow Him today?

God bless,
J.W.

Follow The Leader (Part 2)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

How do we follow the leader, i.e. how do we allow God to make the decisions in our lives, and not we ourselves?

Proverbs 3:5-6 has the answer.

To follow the leader, we must:

1. Trust Him - we must believe that He knows what's best for us (Jeremiah 29:13) and is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28);
2. Lean not on our own understanding - we must not rely on our own thoughts, feelings, emotions, experiences, etc. They are fleeting, ever-changing, and unreliable;
3. Acknowledge Him - we must ask God to lead our decision-making and acknowledge that He has a better way of doing things than we do;
4. In all of our ways - we must do these three things in everything, no matter how big or how small

If we follow this 4-step process, God has promised to direct our paths.

Seems easy, right?

More to come in the days ahead.

God bless,
J.W.

Follow The Leader (Part 1)

"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children..." ~ Ephesians 5:1

Most believers' relationship with God is as follows:

We make decisions - based on our own feelings, thoughts, emotions, experiences, opinions, etc. - and characterize it as God's will. Or we make decisions and then ask God to bless it.

The Bible, however, tells us that we ought to be FOLLOWERS of God. In other words, He should be making the decisions, not us. Things should START (and end) with Him, not the other way around.

More to come in the days ahead.

God bless,
J.W.

Servanthood Series - Part II - Who's The Boss?

In order to lead, you first have to be able to learn how to follow.

There are certain things that God wants to teach you as you serve another.

So, while you may not like your boss, while you may think he or she is underqualified or incompetent, God has placed you under that person for a reason.

Accept it and figure out what God is trying to teach you.

It may just be that God is teaching you what not to do when he places you in a position of leadership.

God bless,
J.W.

"Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things." ~ Matthew 25:23