Renewed2win

Romans 12:1-2: …offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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How’s life? Really, take off the mask for a minute. Look in the mirror and ask yourself how your life is going. Are you all you hoped to be? Remember when you were a kid, sitting under an oak tree dreaming about all that you would be and do? I do. It was fascinating.

You were going to do and be so much. You had big plans and big dreams. What happened? For me, I know what happened. The influence of a lost and broken world began to set in. Slowly the demands and worries of life separated me from that vision. It happened to you too.

Life happened! You got caught up in this circus of a world chasing things that aren’t real. It’s a form of brainwashing and it’s the evilest form of deception. You started to believe the lies. If you just abandoned those childhood dreams… and entered the circus tent everything would be ok. So you did. After all, the “important” people were telling you this was the way ro true success. If you could just get your hands on a big stack of money, a shiny new car and a big house everything would be great.

 

So that’s what you did. You followed the path laid out before you… by the world The path that so many others took before you. It was paved and straight. There were so many people on the path, you thought for sure that it must be the right way. You started pursuing society’s version of success. You got lost, you forgot those childhood dreams. And now, you look in that mirror and you have no idea who’s staring back. It ends now.

 

Are you desperate enough to change? Do you have a soul sickness that runs so deep it’s brought you to a place of change? Maybe you can’t even look at yourself in the mirror. You can’t stand who you have become.

 

Today’s a new day. If you are reading or listening to this it’s no accident. You are being called out of this society induced coma… to rise up. To embrace your purpose!

 

To present yourself before God. To stop conforming to the pattern that has captured so many people and lulled them into a state of emotional, spiritual and physical bondage.You must be transformed! Renew your mind. Think for yourself. Seek the one who created you! 

 

He still has a plan and a purpose for your life and although dormant, that plan will come alive the moment you accept and embrace it. He’s been waiting for you to reawaken that childhood dream. To get up from your slumber. To look at what society is doing and doing the opposite.

 

Take the path less traveled. This path is unpaved but it was made specifically for you. It’s not straight, You can’t always see where you're going, but you don't need to. There are obstacles and tests along the way but with a renewed and transformed mind you will pass them all. It’s not the easy path but it's the one designed for you. This path will take you to the life that has been uniquely designed for you. True success. Are you ready?

 

Stop waiting. Take the first step. Now. What is the first step? Get alone with yourself and your creator. Let Him guide you. I don’t know what the specifics are for you.

 

Change your life. There is no looking back! Step! Go! Win!

 

Michael at R2W

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The standards required of spiritual warriors are much different than the standards of ordinary people. The common practice among Christians today is to drag yourself to church on Sunday morning and then live in turmoil the rest of the week. For the spiritual warrior, though it is different. We know that the chosen life is about much more than going to church for an hour a week and then walking out the door and forgetting about it for another week.

In 1 Corinthians 4:1–2  it says,  “So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

The bible mentions about four hundred people who were given leadership roles. The amazing thing about that, though, is only about 25 percent or 100 of them finished their lives in the will of God. Most were not obedient to His will and failed to fulfill God’s plan.

Today, we're going to focus on the ones who did it. The ones who lived successfully and committed to a lifetime of spiritual growth. If you plan to live a life like these people did then you need to use Jesus as your example. Luke said the following about Jesus:  “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52)  Like Jesus, commit to a lifetime of development and achievement.

The apostle Paul was a lifelong learner and it's no coincidence that his example was Jesus. He told the Philippians that even though he was well-educated and had the best teachers when he was young, he had not yet attained the spiritual and eternal truths that he sought. Paul’s desire to learn more was strong even at the end of life while in prison. In 2 Timothy 4:13 (NIV), he writes: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.” Just, to clarify, Paul was asking Timothy to bring him his “scrolls” which were books and “parchments” which were the Scriptures. He wanted to continue to read, learn, and stay encouraged.

During Paul’s ministry, he wrote a lot about leadership which is the role many spiritual warriors will find themselves in. Some of his writing gave instruction about what leaders should or shouldn’t do. He taught young pastors that their life should be the models for all. Paul knew that any good Christian leader is involved with spiritual warfare. Some of his writings instructed Christians:

Not to take leaders and their support for granted. 

To give leaders respect. 

To honor their God-given authority.

In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul shows what a Christian spiritual warrior should look like. Always look at the fruit of someone’s life and not just their words. It’s not a title. Paul believed if a Christian followed his advice outlined in verses 1–2, which says: “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Then they would finish their life on earth according to God’s plan. 

What can you do to insure your spiritual growth? 

Continue to learn. Many people who consider themselves good Christians have never even read their bible or maybe have read through it once. The leaders who most impact the world are lifelong learners. 

Develop a passion to improve and commitment to increase your knowledge. To increase your knowledge do all of the following:

Read great books.

Watch great videos.

Listen in church.

Read your Bible.

Christian Leadership Requires Accountability

You must develop accountability. In society leadership qualifications are not always taken seriously and it shows through the lack of trust in our elected officials.

Paul discusses accountability in 1 Corinthians 4:1. it says: “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.

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This week we are continuing our study into the characteristics God looks for when choosing people to reach the lost. You can find the last message in this series here, for a quick review.

God uses Christians who build others up

The first characteristic we’ll look at today is the ability to build others up. In John 13:3–5: "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him."  Jesus was able to build up others because He knew who He was. And He knew who He was because He was living in His full potential.

Christians who aren’t sure of their identity in Jesus will severely damage their ability to reach the lost, mainly because you can’t share what you don't have. Most times Insecure Christians eventually self-destruct. Because of their insecurities, they can’t share the victories they have because they want to keep it all to themselves. Also, they can’t share their defeats in the spiritual battles they face because of their paralyzing fear of criticism and embarrassment. I have seen this happen to those who once were closest to me.

In John 13 Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.  How could He do this? Would you wash someone else’s feet? Jesus was able to do it because He knew who He was and He understood the law of empowerment. What could you do if you truly knew who you were? Do you know who you are? Do you understand the power that resides in you?

The Law of Empowerment teaches that there is a big difference between secure and insecure Christians. Secure Christians exhibit certain characteristics that make them unique in such a self-serving world:

They focus on serving not on being served

They focus on who they are, not on their own abilities. 

They focus on making others better knowing that they get better in the process. 

They add value to others. 

Most importantly though, they share their God given authority with others understanding that they are here to freely give what God has given them.

Insecure Christians, on the other hand, focus on the complete opposite: 

They focus on their title or position. Seeking to portray an image of success. 

They seek status for the sake of self importance. 

They gain value from others by taking what they can from those around them. 

If in a position of leadership, they tend to keep the authority to themselves in an attempt to bolster their own ego.

God Uses Christians Who Depend on the Holy Spirit

 I remember many years ago, while praying one day, God revealed to me what I interpreted at the time as a leading to become a high school math teacher.  To make a long story short it was simply the catalyst to me getting into full-time ministry. It was all because I pursued His voice and began taking steps, even though I thought He was leading me somewhere else.

Ephesians 5:18–20 says: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “

Peter became one of the most courageous disciples and one of the strongest leaders in the New Testament. Before that though Peter first denied Jesus because he was fearful and lacked the moral courage to stand for the truth. What caused this radical change? Peter realized who he was and turned everything over to the Holy Spirirt.

The denying Peter was filled with self. Before Pentecost he was self-centered, selfish, self-sufficient. This caused inconsistency, instability, and denying Jesus. In Acts 2 Peter is filled with the Spirit of the resurrected Christ.

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John 1:14 New International Version: “14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”In a world that has over 4000 recognized religions, choosing which path to take towards spiritual enlightenment can be confusing. Many of these belief systems are practiced by their followers without much controversy. In fact if you made a public proclamation that you have given your life and your will over to the flying green jelly bean monster, most people would be ok with that.

Why then is there so much controversy surrounding the name of Jesus? Why do so many unbelievers get angry or frustrated at His name? I Googled Jesus today and got more than 3.5 billion results. There have been countless books written about Him.

Some people don’t believe and some people want to call Jesus a good moral teacher or a prophet who brought wisdom into the world. The truth though, is that Jesus claimed to be God and we have a decision to make about that claim. We either believe Him or we don’t believe Him. There really are no other choices.

C.S. Lewis has said the following: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

There are only two options. His revelation of Himself as God must be either true or false. There are no other choices. So what do you believe? Have you thought about it? This is the single most important decision you will ever make.

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Let’s explore the possible alternatives and decide what we believe based on the evidence. The three possibilities are that He was lying and knew He was lying; He was crazy and therefore He didn’t realize He was lying; or He is God.

The first possibility is that Jesus was lying and knew it. .

What if Jesus was a liar? If He knew he was not God then He was lying and betraying the trust of His followers. He taught others to be honest whatever the cost so lying and betraying others would mean that He was a fraud. He instructed people to trust Him as the only way to heaven and many people did but if He was lying then this would make Him a monster. If He was lying or deceiving His followers with claims or promises He couldn’t keep then He was evil.

If this was the case and Jesus was knowingly lying about who He was then He was nothing more than a complete failure. His claim led to His crucifixion, an extremely painful experience that could have been stopped at any time by admitting He was lying.

Those who say that He was a good moral teacher must explain how that could be if He was intentionally lying to people about who He was. A lying Jesus isn’t compatible with what we know about Him, the way He lived or the things He said.

If you examine the lives’ of the people who knew Him in the bible as well as the people who know Him today the results are amazing. So what happens to these people? Alcoholics become sober; cowards become courageous; the hateful learn to love; selfish people become generous; sinners learn to repent and the list goes on.

It just wouldn’t make sense for Him to be a liar. Someone who lived the perfect life that He lived,

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John 14:1-14 (ESV): I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life: 14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; [a] believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.[d] From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me[e] anything in my name, I will do it.

For non believers, the name of Jesus many times causes negative emotions. These emotions take many different forms.  It confuses them. It embarrasses them. It makes them angry. It makes them want to change the subject. It makes them want to argue. But why?

If you go to a friend and bring up the subject of god (lower case) then people are ok but when you bring up the name of Jesus people have a problem.

When Jesus started His mission here on Earth people began to realize that He was making many amazing and hard to believe statements about who He was, why He was here and what was happening. How could a simple carpenter from Nazareth be saying such things?

So what were some of these statements that He made:

He was making claims that would make Him equal to God.

He was the only way to salvation.

He was the only way to forgiveness of sins.

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Today we will begin looking at the claims Jesus made and decide if they were true. The truth isn’t about what you want to believe but what is real.I We live in a world were people believe in many different things and in many cases those things are not real.

So what about Jesus? Who did He claim to be? Are those claims true?

Let’s start at the beginning. He claimed to be God. Many different belief systems believe in a “god” or a spirit of the universe who created and is in charge of the world. Muslims, Jews, and Hindus all believe in a God that knows them personally and takes an active role in this planet's affairs.

Believing in Jesus takes it one step further. God became man through Jesus. This is what makes being a Christian far different then the other belief systems. Jesus Christ is not a first and last name. In Greek the name Jesus means “the lord saves” and Christ mean “anointed one” which points towards a King and/or a priest.

The Old Testament promised His coming and the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus Christ is God. The references throughout the scripture could only apply to God.

These are so many scriptures in both the Old and New Testament referring to Jesus and how it had to be Him. The characteristics Jesus had can only be true of God.

Jesus is self-existent. (Existing independently of any cause, as God. –Dictionary.com) John 1:2 (NIV): 2 He was with God in the beginning.

Jesus is omnipresent. (Present everywhere at the same time.

God Uses Leaders Who Trust Him

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Abraham trusted God for the things promised. He had faith. In Romans 4:19–21 it says “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.’

Hebrews 11:1-13 contains a long list of other Bible heroes who stood upon the word of God and learned to trust Him. Like men and women of faith today, they all had certain characteristics in common. Developing the following list of character traits in your own life will help you trust God while pursuing the things He has called you to. 

Vision: They see the promises of God in the distance.

Confidence: They are certain of the promises of God. 

Passion: They accept the promises of God. 

Courage: They look at God not the circumstance.

Ownership: They know that everything belongs to God. 

Dreams: They allow their God-given dreams to drive them.

Past: They make sure their future is bigger than their past. 

God Uses Leaders Who Serve Others

In a world where people are mainly concerned about their own comfort and happiness, you can learn to be different. Learn to stand out in both your attitude and actions and you will be far ahead of a self oriented society. Learn to serve. Serve just to do the right thing without worrying who’s watching.

You should strive to develop a Christ-like attitude.  Follow the example of Jesus in Philippians 2:5–8 which says: “ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” 

 Paul is telling us to develop the same attitude of service and desire for action that Jesus had. He was God but He cared more about why He was here than who He was. He made sure that He followed God’s purposes. Jesus knew that if He was able to meet people’s needs right where they were, then he would succeed in fulfilling His mission.

Humility is important for discipleship. A christian leader is not more important than anyone else but their actions are for the simple reason that other people are watching them. In order to maintain your humility, remember the following points:

No matter how much you achieve you are still human.

Appreciate your team. 

Depend on other people.

Recognize the different gifts of others.

Don’t hold people to standards unless you hold yourself to them.

God Uses Leaders Who Discover Develop and Use Their Gifts

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In 1 Timothy 4:13–16 it says: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Stronger Christian leaders rise when they first identify their gifts and discover new  opportunities to use them.  You must find your gifts for the sake of ministry and not for your own selfish ambitions. This allows you to take responsibility for your own growth. Being an example for other believers.

Knowing of your gift and learning to develop it will make you want to use it. 

When you use your gift in service, it  will grow and you will be given  a place of influence. Be aware of the influence. Do not abuse it but use it for God. Serve when needed, how needed, where needed.

You can expect results when you have been faithful in using your gifts and...

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Today we are going to continue our discussion on the traits needed to be used by God.

God Uses Leaders Who Are Completely Available to Him.

 It says in Romans 12:1–2: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. "

You are supposed to be different than worldly people. You were created for a reason. That means that you must be available to God’s call, will and plan. This is the only path to true and lasting success in this world and into eternity. 

Godly leadership is when He can use you whenever and wherever. One of the most important things to remember is that  God sees the big picture all the time even when we don't. Therefore, His plan needs total surrender all the time. You can not live with one foot in the world and one foot in God's kingdom.

Surrender to God is the way to achieve victory in this world while we're still here. It leads to spiritual growth , ministry growth and a freedom that you never could have imagined when you lived your old ways. Your attitudes, and desires will change as we continue this journey as a spiritual leader.

You will suddenly realize that God is doing for you what you could not do for yourself. You will no longer feel compelled to confirm your self-worth in a broken world because God will confirm it. You will stop struggling to gain status because you will realize that because it's all in His hands, you will have nothing to lose. You will take off that mask you have been wearing because you will have nothing to hide

God Uses Leaders Who Pray

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The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16). You need to make prayer an important part of your life. Jesus mentions three types of prayer in Matthew 7:7:

We need to ask. We gain the promise of God by faith. 

We need to seek. You will find God’s will. 

We need to knock. We pray for someone who can’t or won’t pray for themselves. 

Persist in this area through every life circumstance. You will be amazed at what happens.

God Uses Leaders Who Learn His Word

In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul says: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." and  2 Timothy 3:16–17 says that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

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God wants His people to learn His words. It's powerful! A leader who learns God’s Word doesn’t read the Bible just to know what is found where. They know that it is essential to study God’s Word and the purpose is to understand its meaning. The Holy Spirit helps and guides as you study

Studying God's word means you ask and answer questions as you are reading. Learning to ask the right questions is essential to solid understanding. Some questions you need to be ask are:

What did it mean to the original audience?

What is the universal and timeless principle we can learn now?

What should we do in response to it?

When you determine the answers to these questions you get closer to making a correct interpretation. You can also help to increase your understanding by the use of study bibles, mentors and group study. Remember that learning your bible will take a lifetime and you don’t need all the answers before you step out in faith.

God Uses Leaders Who Change Lives

The Bible says in Romans 1:14-16 :" I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

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Today we are going to discuss the traits needed to be used by God. Psalm 78:72(NIV) says: “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.”

Every leader has an obligation to make a positive difference in society but many times a leader does not rise to face the challenge. When this happens everyone loses. It is usually because they  have not prepared their hearts to serve.

Leadership skills are essential and must be learned and developed. It’s important for you to learn and develop into a leader before actually leading anyone. The first step in this process is to examine your heart with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is important because a leader with a wrong heart can be dangerous and destructive. A quick look at our society should be evidence of the damage that can be done by a leader with wrong motives.

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A heart committed to God is essential to Christian leadership but a good heart does not automatically produce an effective leader.  You can have a Christ-like heart and still not be an effective leader. I know many people in my own life who love God but are not effective leaders at their jobs or in their homes. In fact our churches are filled with these people every Sunday. There must be a desire to make a difference.

So here are the traits you must learn and develop in order to grow into the leader that God intended you to be:

You must understand your purpose.

1 Corinthians 12:4–7 (NIV): There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 

1 Corinthians 12:27 (NIV): Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 

Leaders who are used by God discover their purpose in life. I like to refer to that as your life vision. It’s the job God gave you to do while here on Earth. It’s your assignment. Think of an airplane flying from New York to LA, it is off course most of the time. This doesn’t prevent it from reaching its destination though. Throughout the flight, the pilot continues to make small adjustments and eventually they land at their destination. Think of your life the same way. You have to be constantly making small changes and adjustments in your own life to keep yourself on the course God has planned for you.

Learning to do this will help you to grow toward your maximum potential. It will help you to sow seeds that will benefit others. Remember your God-given vision is not about you at all but about those you can help. This can be a painful lesson to some who have always thought that life was just about them.

Knowing your purpose is essential to effective leadership because God works differently in everybody’s life to make His will known. Be aware that He will use both brokenness and an awareness of your own spiritual gifts:to reveal your purpose.

Many people don’t realize that God will use your biggest failures, greatest defeats, biggest pain as a way to reach other people. This will cause you to fully surrender to the love and care of Jesus. You will begin to see the world through His eyes and see others the way God sees them, allowing a burden to develop to lead the broken of the world.

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Don’t fear brokenness, it shows your relationship with God is growing. With it, you will develop urgency about needs in the lives of people. God doesn’t allow brokenness in your life to cause you harm but He knows that it is necessary in a broken world in order to develop a vision to make an eternal difference. 

Finding God’s plan for you will show you a specific need that requires personal involvement. Some clues to figuring out what it is can be found in your ministry strengths and gifts. Remember that God doesn’t make junk.

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It’s so important to develop effective leadership skills and it all begins with leading yourself. So how do you develop effective self leadership? There are 3 components. They are spiritual development which prepares you personally; strategic development which helps you plan an effective course of action; and skill development which teaches you how to interact with others.

Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV) says 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

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The first thing to consider is that leading yourself before leading others is not selfish. Think of when you are on an airplane and the flight attendant demonstrates the use of the oxygen mask. They always tell you to make sure that your mask is secure before you try to help someone else. That is because without taking care of your mask, you won’t be much use to those around you. Most people live their daily lives, trying to answer two questions:

Who's the boss?

Who can I blame?

People have trouble accepting responsibility for their actions. So what do we do? We shift the blame from ourselves to others. We don't want responsibility, because we don't like consequences so we  spend our days giving permission to other people to lead.  When it comes time to accept responsibility (or fault because someone screwed up), the blame doesn't fall on us. In other words, we sacrifice the privilege  of leading for the comfort of never having to be wrong.

All effective self  leadership requires us to be honest with ourselves. There are certain steps you can take to help develop this important life skill. You must develop in the following areas:

Ability to see truth. People who work with cash learn to recognize counterfeit money. They do this by knowing the real stuff so well that when something fake comes along they can spot it instantly. You must do this with the word of God so that when you are presented with a lie you can recognize it.

A vision. You need to develop an overall plan and purpose for where you are going in life. Doing this with the leading of the Holy Spirit will give you clear direction when the path forward is unclear. 

Confidence in your own ability. You have strong, God given, abilities. What are they? Seek the Holy Spirit, He will show you.

Ability to teach and equip others. Leadership requires that you make the lives of others better. You can only do this if you know who you are.

Desire to benefit others. You must stop being selfish. You will never learn to lead yourself until you realize that the purpose of your life is not seeking your own comfort but in being a blessing to others. 

Encouragement to others. Be a life changer. Start with your own life, Learn to encourage yourself through difficult times and it becomes much easier to help others.

Ability to change  yourself. You must remove anything from your life that controls you. This includes negative behaviors, bad habits, negative self talk. This come from willingness and prayer.

Over the next several weeks we will be looking at the story of Daniel.  Daniel is a favorite character of the Bible. He was not the leader of a nation or culture but God allowed him to climb to the highest levels of influence. He spent time with kings and governors. God gave Daniel the ability to discern important issues before the leaders of both the Babylonian and Persian empires. 

He is an example of someone with a high degree of integrity and character.  He is an example of someone who learned to take self-inventory. He worked on his spirit when needed. He knew how to lead himself, making hard choices when necessary. Because of this,

There were four big changes in Daniel’s life as the result of his captivity. When Daniel went from Jerusalem to Babylon; from prince to servant; from familiar surroundings to strange surroundings he

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was confronted with four radical changes. These four changes were major adjustment and he needed to make important decisions about them.

Daniel 1:1-16 (NIV): Daniel’s Training in Babylon. 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia[a] and put in the treasure house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.[b] 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. 6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. 8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your[c] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.” 11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. 15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. 16 So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

Change 1: He Was Given a New Home.

Daniel 1:1-3 (NIV): 1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia[a] and put in the treasure house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—

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Daniel lost his safe and secure home environment in Jerusalem. He was taken to an extremely country. His home country was theistic, meaning they had one God. His new country was a center of idol worship. Everything had changed and was unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and alien. College students and missionaries can identify with Daniel’s situation. They leave home for unfamiliar surroundings. There are community bathroom and shower facilities. They go from living in a quiet home to turmoil. Going from a familiar home to a new country is hard. It’s stressful Daniel experienced that kind of strain too.

Change 2: He Was Given a New Knowledge. 

Daniel 1:4 (NIV): 4 young men without any physical ...