Devotion.al

Tag: leader

  • Handing It Off Well

    Numbers 27:12-22, Deuteronomy 31:1-23, Proverbs 15:18–29

    A relay requires timing and teamwork. As the baton carrier approaches the next runner, that runner must start running. The two must match stride and pace so that the baton can be handed-off smoothly. Rarely will a relay team just start off, even if all are excellent runners. As a team, they have to know each ‘ style, pace, and rhythm to allow for the smooth transfer. Joshua had first been a warrior. Eventually, he became Moses’ assistant and was usually with him. He supported and defended Moses. He grew from a follower to a . Once the wilderness journey was over, it was time for Moses to relinquish authority. Though Joshua was a ready and available choice, that does not mean he was the right choice. Joshua may have even been Moses’ choice. Moses, however, asked God to select the leader that would succeed Moses.

    When we look to hand off a project or dream that we have spent time, heart, energy, pouring our lives into it, we want to make sure it lives on. We can often find ourselves choosing a person that at the time of succession is the right person, but in the , is the wrong person. Our emotions and connections can guide us in choosing the wrong person. When it comes to spiritual and other things of importance, turning outside of ourselves is never or weak. In fact, when it comes to truly important things, relying on ourselves is foolish and a sign of insecurity ().

    Moses knew that while he was unable to continue to lead these people, they still needed a leader. As God was the one who called him in the desert to save the people of Israel, it makes perfect sense for him to look to God for the next leader. There is always a risk, however, leaving it to God. You may not get your way. Moses was probably relieved that Joshua was chosen. Joshua had years of experience walking with Moses, and now the baton could be passed well from one leader to the next. Moses commissioned Joshua as God commanded. It is here that the runners are running , with one handing off the baton. Yet, they are still together, going in the same direction, at the same pace.
    After more formation of the with rules and practices are delivered, Moses begins his final farewell. All of Deuteronomy is a long good-bye.

    Joshua is once again brought before the community for the transition of leadership. The first was the commission. Joshua may have spent many years with Moses as his aide (perhaps even thinking about leadership). Then Joshua became the designated successor. When that occurred, Joshua had to learn to become the leader he would be. No longer could he hide (so to speak) behind Moses’ robes as an aide (not that Joshua seems to have been the type). The reality of what was going to happen hit. Now, this time his in front was going from commissioned leader to actual leader. Moses was now the emeritus (honorary) leader, and Joshua the true leader of the Israelites.

    Moses tells Joshua to “be strong and courageous.” This is part of a reminder to Joshua to continue to be what he was when he was young, especially now that he (Joshua) is responsible. The final verse (23) has God commissioning Joshua. Again, God is doing the assigning. Also, God, too, tells Joshua to “be strong and courageous.” Go, Joshua, take the mantle of your mentor and lead my people into the Promised Land.

    1) Often who follows us is as important as what we gave them to carry. What are you handing off to those who follow? Who are you deliberately teaching/leading to follow?

    2) Joshua is effectively commissioned 3 times. Why is it important to see each of these 3 times as foundational to transition, change, and growth?

    3) Have you ever seen a relay go badly? In a race, that can rarely be recovered. doesn’t work that way (usually). How can we prepare for a bad relay, and what can we do to help it not happen?

    FD) Big life changes can be hard and scary. This change was big for Joshua, and probably scary. What does “be strong and courageous” mean to you?

  • Be Being Prepared

    Psalm 54, Acts 20:16–32

    Be gracious. How many times did you hear someone say, “If I were God…,” or have you said that yourself? Most of the time, those four words do not result in a gracious response. In fact, they are usually the introduction to something vengeful or self-righteous.

    Sometimes we do hear a gracious response after those four words, but then how often is our response to that grace…grace-filled. It’s sad, but often grace is not the initial human response.

    Despite our own orientation to grace-less-ness, we still look to God for grace-full-ness. Why is it that we expect more out God’s response than we deliver on our own?

    Deep down, beyond our conscious thoughts, we have an understanding that grace should be the way of things. As we all know, and as the psalmist states, we are among people whose “…teeth are spears and arrows, whose are sharp swords…” Sadly, we are often those same people to .

    Even sadder, sometimes we are that way to those we hold closest in our hearts. The psalmist takes a …and then…PRAISE GOD! God is faithful! Trusting that God is faithful often allows us to be grace-filled, even when highly distraught or distressed, as Paul was on his way to Jerusalem.

    As Paul gives his farewell address to those he loves personally and deeply, he summarizes his time in Ephesus. There are some things we should be taking from Paul’s address. First, he sought to be humble. We know that Paul was smart.

    Often smart people as though they are better than others, just because of their intelligence. Paul made the case that wasn’t this way with him. He did not shy away from telling what needed to be told (profitable). It also tells us that others said many things that were not “profitable” to the Ephesians. This was one of Paul’s deep concerns.

    He warned the Ephesian elders to be aware of those that would tear the innocent apart and lead them astray. He is telling them to grow up. They will no longer be able to rely on Paul to be the , but they are now responsible. Paul reminded them of the tears he shed as he spoke the , not just of God’s grace and kingdom, but that people will come (who might even be friends) that will try to destroy the of the Ephesians.

    He is doing those last minute reminders. He believes that this journey to Jerusalem will be the of his journey, and wants them to be prepared both for grief and to wear the mantle of leadership.

    • 1) In his address to the Ephesians, Paul mentions the “…the gospel of God’s grace…” Why is that especially important for Paul as he looks to the end of his journey?
    • 2) When we look at the psalmist’s words about the “” of humanity, how can the gospel of God’s grace respond?
    • 3) Paul’s history with Ephesians, and his effectiveness with them was built over years. What does that tell about the legacy of faith?
    • FD) Why does Paul use the imagery of for the people of the church and wolves for the people outside of the faith (not necessarily outside of the church)?

  • Great Expectations

    Psalm 55:1–7; Luke 2:21–38; 2 Corinthians 11:18–30

    Families are often quick to share their expectations of a newborn (or coming) baby. The pressure can be on pretty quickly. The parents, too, have expectations of their children. They are often called “dreams” or “maybe someday.” As much as this can put pressure on the child, it can also put as much (or even more) pressure on the parents. Children are, through no fault of their own, the extension and of their parents. Social media puts pressure on both, for the child to be a star performer, and the parent to be the parent of the star.

    Pressure can take on many forms, but there are only 2 types: inside and outside. In the Psalm, we can almost feel the stress and strain that David is under. Many scholars think that this was written while Absalom was in the midst of the overthrow of David (2 Samuel 15–19). That being the case, it makes sense that David is feeling betrayed, and feels very much under pressure. He’s supposed to be the leader of the country and leader of his family, and now he is neither.

    In the days of , the firstborn son would receive the majority of the family property, take over the occupation of their , lead the family, and strengthen the family legacy. There was no expectation that the son would occupation (more like pressure to retain the occupation of their father). Joseph and Mary would have this cultural expectation of their son. Yet, on top of it, there is this awareness that this son is not normal, and something unusual is foretold to happen with them. In of the Law and tradition, they go to the Temple to have Jesus circumcised. If they had any expectation of this being just a normal thing, the words of Simeon and Anna remind them that all is not normal with Jesus.

    We can only imagine the interesting dynamic this created in the immediate family, but also the extended family. The extended family would have the expectation that Jesus would be the leader of his immediate family and follow in his father’s trade, and repeatedly reinforce that expectation. Joseph and Mary would have to be both soft and firm toward the extended family. They probably also lived with an underlying tension that the earthly expectation of Jesus was not the heavenly expectation they had been repeatedly told.

    Based on the gap in Scripture regarding Jesus’ , we are pretty certain that Jesus did follow his father’s, Joseph, trade prior to commencing his ministry. For the family, this would have put off the inevitable, yet it was still coming. The longer Jesus did everyday things, it would be understandable for Mary and Jesus’ siblings to anxiously await for Jesus to up and leave. If we re-read the , it is quite understandable for the family to be concerned that their entire legacy would be lost, as the powerful don’t like to be taken down. With the example of the Roman around them, they could have been very afraid that Jesus’ call would negatively affect them, if not cause them to die.

    In his letter to the Corinthians, mentions all the troubles he has gone through as he has traveled. There are natural, criminal, and cultural troubles. Then are troubles of hunger and clothing. While it seems to be almost a tag-on of troubles, we read about Paul’s “pressure” regarding the church. Other than following Jesus, Paul’s biggest concern, his biggest pressure, is regarding the churches. He loves them. He is concerned about and for them. While this phrase seems to be just tossed in there, Paul’s shows up in the 13 books of the New Testament that he wrote, THIRTEEN! His heart is for the churches and the people he loves that are in them. He feels responsible for them as leader, shepherd, teacher…and parent.

    Jesus came to earth as one of us. He took responsibility for us. As an infant, there wouldn’t be any pressure purposely put on him, but it would still be there.

    1. What puts the most “pressure” on you? Job performance? Child performance? Financial success? Material success?
    2. When you are under a high amount of pressure, what is your normal response? Do you “just deal” with the pressure? Do you work through to resolve the pressure? Do you surrender it?
    3. Jesus bore the “weight” of the world, yet said that his burden was light. How do you think that works?
    4. [KD] Did someone ever tell you that you had to do something that you felt you should not do? What did that feel like? What did you do?

  • Guilty and Free

    Psalm 103, 1 Samuel 4:1-22, Isaiah 43:14-25

    Imagine being someplace you’ve never been and driving down the road only looking at the rear-view mirror. Your peripheral would catch some of the more dangerous things, but you would miss a lot. All too often we go through life this way. You may not have escaped your past, but you cannot embrace the without looking forward.

    Much of life is common among people. We live and die. We and hurt. We fail and succeed. We have regrets and we have .

    For many people, this year has been very hard: huge changes; life-changing events; lives lost; lives gained; big mistakes; new jobs; of jobs; moving; being forced to . There are many that are looking to this year, and so very to start the new one, yet many will be filled with , unsure of what will come.

    In 1 Samuel, we read of a very bad time. The Ark of the , a Godly object—that many staked their identity and security on—was lost to a powerful enemy. Their leader (judge) and his sons have died. All seemed lost. The Israelites were fearfully looking toward the future.

    By the time of Isaiah, the people were again looking to the future with fear. There had just been a declaration of guilt (Isaiah 42) and failure. The so-called People of God had been reminded of their failure to fulfill their role. The judge of the universe had declared their guilt. Just as many are fearfully looking to the new year, so, too, were the People of God fearful of what came after their conviction.

    “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to the things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming…” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

    1) Be deeply honest with yourself. What do you fear in regards to the coming year?

    2) One can fear what is coming and still trust God. It is the type of fear that is the key. How can fear be good or bad?

    3/KD) What is the one thing you are most worried will happen next year? What is the one thing you are most looking forward to next year?

  • Wait For It

    Wait For It

    Micah 5:2-4; Psalm 96; Luke 2:1-20

    The beauty and of God’s comes alive when it comes to Jesus. Much of the prophecy that surrounds Jesus is in the middle of prophetic statements that on their own may have seemed insignificant. However, when so many words and phrases, seemingly disconnected, are fulfilled by the coming, life and death of one person, one cannot help but take notice.

    We think of Bethlehem as significant. For Christians, it is. For the Jews, it was a backwater. Yet, God set it down in his word as the origin point of the great leader of Israel. From a perspective, it seems that God is rewriting what was written. The reality is that mankind cannot comprehend the depth of God. Only as scripture was revealed through Christ could people have a “duh” moment.

    On Christmas Eve, there is a old song being sung, but with a new meaning. to God in the Highest!

    God came down. God came down here. God , might, glory, , and became a baby born where animals lived. Just as Bethlehem was looked down upon, where Jesus was born was looked down upon, as an outcast. There was no room for them.

    In our Western culture, too many people are concerned about dates of such and such event. The date? That is a point in time. Perhaps we ought to look to those not of Western culture where the event (the ), not the time (or date), takes precedence. GOD CAME DOWN! God came down where God promised! The world has become concerned about time and date, for then we can be distracted from the event.

    On this day, can you and just wait? Are you able to not look at your watch (or phone)?

    The Jews waited centuries for their Messiah. The event, the , of the Messiah was what they waited for. Expectation. Advent and especially Christmas Eve are all about expectation. Expecting the Messiah.

    1) Are you actually expecting the Messiah? Have you replaced expectation of the Messiah with expectation for gifts or food?

    2) With the first Christmas in the past, why is important to wait expectantly for Christmas now?

    3) If the Messiah were to come tomorrow, would you be looking for him?

    KD) Why did God decide to start life as a baby? What does that say about God?

  • The Family Story

    The Family Story

    Psalm 25:1-10, Nehemiah 9:26-31, Luke 21:20-24

    “All the Lord’s ways show faithful and to those who keep his covenant and decrees.” (Psalm 25:10)

    “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you. They flung your law behind their backs and killed your prophets who warned them.” (Nehemiah 9:26)

    “…Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24)

    It not a new thing that people God and then turn their backs on God later.
    Nehemiah recalls that people were inconsistent, following a Godly-ish , then falling away, falling to and oppression, then being restored. Could Nehemiah be wondering if the Israelites—finally returning home from Babylonian captivity—will last in their , or if they will fall away…again. Throughout the bible there is an optimism that God is gracious and compassionate, and as bad as things get, God is still there.

    God also never intended the story to be just about the Israelites. Through Jesus, the whole world (the Gentiles) has the opportunity to be part of God’s family and part of God’s redemptive story. So much of the story of God is about God seeking to restore right between him and his people, including us today.

    1) Christmas is culturally a family time of celebration. Who are some people who don’t have family around, that you could invite to be part of your family this Christmas season? Or, do you need a family, just for a short time this season? Do we need framily?

    2) God’s story is and family. Is there a family relationship that needs to be restored? Is there a friendship than needs restoration?

    3/KD) We are called to be like Christ. How can we show , especially during Advent, what a redeemed life and a life with family (or framily) looks like?