Man of Caution

            Have you ever put up a fence in order to avoid making mistakes? There are going to be times when preachers need to put up barriers to avoid mistakes. Cautions will arise and damage the preacher if he does not build a fence around his life. There are three cautions the preacher must notice in his ministry.

            The first caution is the gold. Money can be a caution for the preacher if he stares caring about the green he is receiving rather than the souls he is adding to the church. Instead of pursuing for the gold, pursue godliness with contentment of the money in your wallet or bank account. Preachers must be men of caution when the root of all evil comes knocking at the door wanting to take them away from the faith (1 Tim. 6:10).

            The second caution is the girls. Preachers need to be on the lookout for women who might destroy their ministry. Delilah tricked Samson by using his strength against him (Judges 16:17; 20-21).  Women will use your strength against you if your strength is not in the Lord. Preachers must be men of caution when dealing with women who want to deceive them.

            The third caution is the glory. Most preachers have an ego of wanting to be widely known in the brotherhood. They want fame and glory to be the best gospel preacher. Preachers need to have an altar ego of giving glory to God. Humility is the key factor of receiving the glory he deserves (Proverbs 29:23). Preachers must be men of caution of receiving glory for the pleasure of their ministry.

            Preachers have targets on their backs. People are looking for ways to destroy the life and ministry of a preacher. I want you to create a list of what you struggle with on a regular basis. Once you examine your list, I want you to put up barriers around your struggles. Men of caution need to protect their ministry and life.

 

Man of Encouragement

            Do you know what Vitamin E does for your body? Vitamin E helps keep the immune system strong against viruses and bacteria. It also uses cells uses to interact with each other. Vitamin E should be an important aspect in the Christian life to encouraging one another. There are three body parts of encouragement we need to have if we want to become a man of encouragement.

            The first body part of encouragement is an encouraging heart. Barnabas heard there would be people coming from the persecution of Stephen into the church. Barnabas would use his heart to encourage the brethren in Antioch to remain true to the Lord (Acts 11:23). Men of encouragement need to use their heart to encourage those who have gone through difficult times.

            The second body part of encouragement is an encouraging mouth. The brethren wanted a word of exhortation. After the apostles were done preaching, they were begging to hear more and were encouraged to continue in the grace of God (Acts 13:42-43). Men of encouragement need to use their mouth to encourage one another from his word.  

            The third body part of encouragement is an encouraging backbone. Paul was having a hard time proving himself as a changed man. Barnabas had an encouraging backbone to prove to the apostles that Paul was a New Testament Christian (Acts 9:27-29). Men of encouragement need to use their backbone for others and for themselves to prove they are changed individuals for the sake of Christ.

            God uses vitamin E to encourage us when we need to be strong and when we need to interact with one another. Why can we not do it? I want you to pick one person for a month and tell them something encouraging every day. Men of encouragement must have an encouraging heart, mouth and backbone in order to have vitamin E in their Christian walk. 

         Man of Integrity

Have you ever done something you knew was not the right thing? Integrity is not only the way one thinks but the way one acts. In the movie Courageous, four men and their families are standing around ready to sign a resolution to be better leaders in their homes. Later in the movie, one man was caught stealing drugs from his own work environment. He was not a man of integrity publicly or privately when he signed that document. We as Christians must become a man of integrity in order for us to be true to ourselves and others around us. There are two observations of integrity that can be observed from the book of Daniel.   

        The first observation from the book of Daniel is a public integrity. Daniel 3 describes a situation between king Nebuchadnezzar and the three friends of bowing down and worshipping a golden image. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had a public integrity of proclaim who they were going to worship as their God. Their integrity was seen by two choices, dying or living of bowing down to the golden image. Our integrity will be proven through the choices we make in the public.

            The second observation from the book of Daniel is a private integrity. He was an excellent example of a man who had lived an honest life. The commissioners and satraps spied on him, talked to others about him, and watched him. They just had to find some kind of dirt on him so he would be lacking in integrity. However, there was nothing they could find on Daniel because he was living an honest life. Our private integrity will be proven through the honest lives we live.

            Paul tells us we must watch our life and sound doctrine closely (1 Tim 4:16). This means we need to pay attention to what we do in both our private and public life. The two cannot be coherent with each other.  I want you to write down everything you do every day, privately and publicly, and examine how integrity is being proven in your life. Let me just remind you, it is never too late to start doing the right thing.  We need to live it, commit to it, and start doing the right thing, not only for you but mainly for God. 

A Man of Obedience

Many people do many different things whether it is a favor or if it is out of obedience.  For example, parents always ask their children if they have cleaned their room or if they have completed their homework.  Usually our children will say, “No but I will do it later,” or “No not yet, I am doing something.”  When we give those kinds of answers to our parents, we are really saying, “I do not want to do what you are asking me to do.”  We simply do it out of a favor instead out of obedience.  Now the question is, what is the difference between doing it out of a favor and doing it out of obedience?   When we do things out of a favor, we have a mindset of not really wanting to do what is asked of us.  But when we do it out of obedience, we have a mindset of willing to obey no matter what.  This is how our relationship is with God.  We read the bible daily and we understand what God is telling us to do, but yet we are not willing to obey on what He says.  This is when we do it out of a favor by doing what makes us “feel” good in our relationship with God so we can also feel better about ourselves.  In our relationship with God, we need to start doing what He says out of obedience. 

 In Psalm 81:15 it says, “Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him, and their time of punishment would be forever.”  If you truly want to obey God, then you cannot “pretend” to do what He says in your life.  However, if you do make the choice of not obeying God, then you will suffer the consequence of receiving eternal punishment.  I know this might sound pretty weird for a second but we should be more like dogs.  Dogs are the number one most obedient animals on this earth.  When someone trains a dog how to do certain things, the trainer is really teaching the dog how to obey certain commands.  Just like how a dog is obedient to its trainer, we need to be obedient to Our God!  If God says to do something even though we are not comfortable of doing, we need to have trust in Him in order for us to become a man of obedience.  When we have this trust or this faith in Him, then we will start doing what He wants us to do.  Although, we see a particular man in the bible by the name of Moses who disobeyed God only one time when he was with the Israelites leading them to the promise land.  God commanded Moses to uphold His holiness among the Israelites but he had failed to do this commandment.  Therefore God told Moses that he would only see the land from a distance but not allowed to enter the promise land.  His lack of obedience led to consequences to his own actions. We must take a lesson from Moses that if we sometimes intend to have a lack of obedience towards God, therefore our actions will lead to serious consequences in our lives. 

 Now you may be thinking to yourself that I want to make the decision of obeying God out of obedience but then this leads to another question, what are you willing to do to become a slave of obedience?  Are you willing to give up everything you have in order for you to be obedient towards God?  In Matthew 19:16-26, we see a story which Jesus tells about The Rich Young Man who is not willing to give up everything he owns in order to obey Jesus by receiving an entry into the kingdom of heaven.  He was too busy caught up with materialistic things and not focusing on heavenly things.  We do not know if he gave up his possessions or not during the story.  However, some say he didn’t give up what he owned because he went away weeping.  This would make the man disobedient towards God through his actions by not giving up his possessions.  We must learn and analyze the example of Moses and many other people in the bible when they did not obey God and they had received a consequence because of their own choices they made during their own times.  We need to keep making wise choices towards our own obedience in our daily walk with God in order for us to enter through the kingdom of heaven.  We must become like an obedient dog through the training of God so that we can be called “A Man of Obedience.” This is the kind of man God expects us to be as a leader in our lives. 

New Series of 2012

I have constantly prayed and thought about what kind of topics should I express to the readers of this blog called Leaders for Today, Tomorrow, and Forever.  This upcoming week on September 23, I will be starting a new series by answering the question, "What kind of man does Christ expect me to be as a leader?"  There are many answers to this question that we can discuss to one another but some of the topics I will be discussing to the readers of this blog will include A Man of Obedience, A Man of Faithfulness, A Man of Truth, A Man of Belief, A Man ready for Battle, and so many other topics that I will be discussing while answering the question to the best of my ability.  I encourage you who are readers of this blog to keep reading and see what God's Holy Word has en stored by answering the question, "What kind of man does Christ expect me to be as a leader?"  However, I also encourage the readers of this blog to share these articles to those who may not know of this blog and to those who may not know who Jesus Christ claimed to be in this world.  As you read these blogs, I pray and I hope you grow spiritual in your walk with Our Heavenly Father by being a follower of His Son, Jesus Christ.  May the Lord bless you and keep you in all that you do so that we can accomplish to do the Father's will. 

Retaliation or Forgiveness?

On Wednesday nights since the beginning of September 21, 2011 a show would appear on television that would pick up as one of the greatest drama shows of all time.  This show would be called Revenge where a young girl will seek at nothing to take revenge on those who framed her father for murdering people.  One by one she would either kill or run them out of town to narrow down the top prospect.  As the days and weeks went by of her vengeance, she would soon come to realize that this was getting out of hand and she needed to stop before someone she cared about would get hurt.  Emily knew she was a leader in her own ways of taking revenge, but she had no idea that she was unaware of being the kind of a leader that would not strike back at nothing.  Just like in this example, anybody will do something to you that you did not deserve in the first place.  They will always keeping pestering you or bullying you around until you strike back.  The people who keeping bothering you are looking how your going to respond their actions.  Do you remember what Jesus said If this kind of situation would occur in your life?  In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus talks about retaliation in verses 38 through 40.  It says, "You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right check, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also."  Let's break down these three verses.  In verse 38 in the bible, the phrase is italicize because the term was used in the Old Testament.  So what did this phrase mean in the Old Testament?  It meant that anybody who bulled or bothered someone, the person who was being pestered would retaliate because of what he or she was doing to them.  There was no law for anyone not to seek revenge on someone at all.  It was legal or permitted.  But then all of sudden,  Jesus comes to this earth and has brought us this new law to live under by His standards.  He says in verse 39, do not resist or take vengeance on a person who does evil on you. 


In Romans chapter 12, explains a lot more If you get into this kind of situation.  In verse 14, it says, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."  So what did Paul mean when he said this?  Paul was a man who persecuted the church and followers of Christ back in his day.  When he became a disciple and apostle of Christ, he is telling us this very thing because he did the exact same thing and he wants us to learn from his example.  In verse 17 through 19, Paul simplifies the whole point of retaliation.  It says, "Never pay back evil to anyone.  Respect what is right in the sight of all men.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.  Before you think about taking revenge on someone, remember to "leave" room for God to repay vengeance on them.  We get so got up on what he or she did to us and we just take it into our own hands.  The next time your about to take vengeance on someone, remember that "The Battle Belongs to the Lord."  Remember that this is the Lord's fight and leave it in hands of God.  Another common verse in this subject matter is found in Matthew 5:10.  It says, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  You will be persecuted or bullied for doing what is right no matter what.  In Matthew 5:40, says if anyone slaps you on your right check, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.  So keep turning your check to them.  This is the right thing to do in this kind of situation your dealing with in your life.  Your no better than the person who is taking vengeance on you.  So keep giving your coat to them.  To finish up this thought for today, the last verse in Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Do not retaliate of their evil actions towards you but fight their actions with forgiveness!  Your probably asking yourselves, what do you mean by that?  I mean when they do evil towards you, pray for them and ask for forgiveness on their behalf.


Did not Jesus do the same thing when he was on the cross?  When he was hanging there, he looked up towards the heavens and said, "Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing."  He was right!  We were hanging and killing the Son of God who died but also saved us from our sins.  He was asking for forgiveness for what we were doing to Him.  This is how we are suppose to act when someone is either bullying us or bothering us instead of retaliating to their actions.  Jesus did not retaliate when we did not know what we were doing.  We should take Jesus' example and not retaliate on the people who do not know what they are doing.  It will come to them in their own lives when they think of the person who they bullied in their life and realized that they should not have done that at all.  So instead of retaliating back, forgive them at all costs no matter what they do!  So I will leave the question up to you.  You can either choose to retaliate or forgive the person that is doing evil towards you.  Choose your decision carefully!  I will end with this, in Luke 6:36, it says "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."  If your Heavenly Father can be so forgiving of all yours sins that you have committed in your life, can you not forgive someone If they did evil towards you?  I encourage you to make the decision to forgive and not retaliate to seek vengeance on someone.  Be a forgivable leader to those who have sinned against you so that you may lead from the inside out. 

A Honest Men of God

It is so hard to tell the truth or even to hear the truth from someone.  Somtimes we do not usually get the truth.  We usually hear a lie to cover up something that someone has done in order for them not to know.  When we hear a lie from our best friends or from our families, it makes you wonder a couple things.  It makes you think you do not have trust from this person or they are ashmad to tell you the truth because of how your going to react to his or her lie.  My question is, why do we have to tell lies to one another when the bible says that we must become honest men of God.  Jesus defines the perfect example on how to be a honest men of God.  First, let us look at how Jesus told the truth.  He told the truth to his disciples throughout his three years of ministry.  He taught them everything that they needed to know in order for them to begin the church and to be able to change the world through the teachings of Jesus.  He took it a step further by telling them illustrations or parables in order for them to better understand what Jesus was trying to get to the moral of the story.  Unlike Jesus, humans today can not tell the truth to one another.  Sometimes our minds will play tricks on ourselves thinking we can tell lies.  For instance, when someone would ask a question where were you when you got home, we usually tell them a lie because we do not want them to know where we truly were.  Then they would ask more and more questions about where you were, and you still had to keep telling lies in order to cover the before lies you just told them.  Eventually, you would end up in a hole full of lies.  In Proverbs 12:22 it says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight."  We need to know now that lying to one another not only hurts the person who your lying too, but also to God.  God wants a honest men to live faithfully according to His purpose.  Jesus told the truth to men in order for us to listen to what he had to say.


 We must be able to listen to the truth after hearing from the truth. Before they heard Jesus tell the truth about the last days on this earth, He told his disciples what he was going to build, a place where His people can come together every first day of the week in unity to worship the Father.  This very same place back then and called today, is the church.  Jesus said to Peter in Matthew chapter 16, starting in verse 18, "...upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven..."  When his disciples saw Jesus suffer in pain before they hanged him on the cross, dying on the cross, and rising three days after His crucifixion; his disciples knew they had listened to the truth the whole time when they finally saw the truth at hand.  After when Jesus left this earth and ascended into heaven, the twelve disciples became the twelve apostles. They had listen to Jesus speak the truth for three years and watching it all come true.  Now it was the time for the twelve apostles to speak the truth about Jesus the Son of Living God, telling each and every individual that a man came here to die on a cross for your sins so that you may have eternal life.  We need to listen on what God has to say on every subject matter in able for us to tell the truth everyday.  Read his words, learn from them, teach them, and bring it to life when you speak the truth and nothing but the truth.


After when Jesus told the truth and the disciples listen to the truth, they were finally ready to speak the truth.  On the day of Pentecost, Peter standing from the twelve (vs. 14), preached the first gospel sermon in front of three thousand people.  In verse 37, they were pierced to the heart because of what Peter had preached to them about a man named Jesus who died on a cross for your sins and telling them you crucified Him.  The people new that they had to be speaking the truth and not lies, because they were eyewitness 50 days ago.  In 2 Peter 1:16 says, "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty."  Do you know what this verse is saying?  They did not make up a story about a man coming to earth being a savior to mankind.  All of His disciples were eyewitness of what Jesus did by telling them the truth about everything they needed to know, they followed him everywhere he went to listen to the truth day and night, and they were finally ready to speak the truth to the world because of what Jesus said to them before his last days on earth (Matt 28:18-20).  


In conclusion, we need to get a better understanding of not being able to tell a lie to our friends or even our parents. Remember the story in Acts chapter 5 about Ananias?  He had sold a piece of his property but he kept some of the money for himself.  He brought some of it back to lay it down by Peter's feet but he asked him in verse 3, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?  And after it was sold, was it not under your control?  Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart?"  Listen careful to these next words what Peter told him, "You have not lied to men but to God."  Before we are fixing to tell a lie to someone about a situation or whatever the case may be, remember what Peter said to Ananias.  He lied not only to Peter, but lied to God!  As Christians, we can not lie to Our God!  Before Joseph was about to lay in bed with Potiphar's wife, he said to himself, "How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?"  We must ask ourselves this question every single time we are about to tell a lie but also to other sinful actions we are about to commit in our lives.  I like to leave a challenge for you after when you have read this blog.  In movie Liar Liar, a man would lie every single day to get out of every situation.  Whether it was at work or at his home, he would lie no matter what the problem was at that time. Until, his little boy wished that his dad could not tell a lie for one day at his birthday party.  The little boy's wish came true and his father could not tell a single lie that day.  My question for you is, Can you go one day without telling a lie?  This is the challenge I have for you today.  How can men of God lie to one another.  Let us be honest men of God so that we may be able to lead from the inside out.