Leadership lessons from Joshua

The Leaders heart

Num 11:26-29

²⁶ However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."

²⁸ Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!"

²⁹ But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!"

If you had to ask, “What is the most important quality a leader could have in the Kingdom of God?” the first response you should hear is ‘a pure heart before God.’ In this Scripture, we are given major insight into the heart of this future leader. We see in Numbers 11 God is granting Moses’ request to appoint seventy elders to help him with the burden of leading the people of Israel. God commands Moses to have the seventy elders stand around the tabernacle. And, as God descended upon it in the cloud, He would put His Spirit, which rested upon Moses, onto the seventy. Moses obeyed God and as the Spirit that rested upon Moses was placed upon the seventy, they began to prophesy. However, two of the seventy did not leave the camp and go to the tabernacle; Eldad and Medad. Yet, just as the Spirit had fallen upon the Elders around the Tabernacle so too did the Spirit of the Lord fall upon Eldad and Medad in the midst of the camp. A young man, whose name is not mentioned, thought the phenomena need to be reported to Joshua immediately. Upon hearing that Eldad and Medad where prophesying Joshua tells Moses to stop them. Interestingly, Moses keenly realizes the motivation of Joshua’s request—Jealousy. Jealousy is an emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something. Moses In vs. 29 reveals Joshua heart. Moses said, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" What was Joshua jealous of? He was jealous that he was losing the exclusivity that he perceived he had with God. And, this insecurity is a killer to any leader, but especially so for the Kingdom leader. The last half of Moses’ response to Joshua’s request clarifies the issue. Moses says, “I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" Moses was saying God’s heart is for everyone to enjoy a personal intimate relationship with Him. This point is highlighted even further when you understand what the meaning of two Elders names who prophesied outside the camps were. Eldad means Love of God and Medad means Object of love. What God was teaching Joshua was that the people who are inside the camp, the “average people”, were loved just as much by Him as “the leaders” who were around the tabernacle representing the nation. Point: the condition of the Kingdom leader’s heart directly affects the establishment of God’s kingdom upon the earth.

John 4 devotional

John 4: 7-8

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

Application: Have you ever been rejected? It hurts doesn’t it! Every one of us has been rejected. If you are human, you can not avoid it. Sooner or later you will be rejected. But, as you grow in your faith, the one thing you must master is how you react to rejection. You see if you let the pain of rejection influence your decision making, you will eventually lose hope in your dreams and God’s ability. This scenario was vividly played out with the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well. Two observations in this text give us insight to her situation; (1) she was a lonely outcast and (2) she had lost hope. Let me explain what led me to these observations. (1) She was lonely. In John 4:6 it said that while Jesus sat by the well a Samaritan woman came to draw water, “It was about the sixth hour.” The ancient Jewish way of telling time was much different than the way we tell time. For us, we might interpret the 6^th hour to mean 6:00, but for the ancient Jew the 6^th hour represented 12:00 noon. Therefore, this woman was out in the hottest part of the day at the well. She was planning on drawing water from it, and then she would have to carry a full bucket of water back to her house. All by herself I might add!! Normally in those days, if a woman had to get water from a well, she would do it earlier in the day to avoid the heat. Additionally, she would not be alone while getting the water because that was very dangerous. Friends, she was truly alone. (2) She had lost hope. In John 4: 7 – 8 Jesus tells her to go and get her husband. She responded by saying, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” Why does this statement suggest she had lost hope? Well, because she was a Samaritan. What does that mean? Well, Samaritans were Jewish descendants with a Babylonian blood line. Pure Jewish people did not consider Samaritans to be ‘real’ Jewish people. However, because Samaritans were half Jewish they were responsible for keeping all of the Old Testament laws. If you look at the whole of Chapter 4 you see she is very knowledgeable regarding the Jewish law. Now look at this Samaritan woman again. You see it is the Law that gives her away. Which Law you might ask? Women were not allowed to divorce men. You see in the Jewish faith, only men were allowed to ask for a divorce, not a woman! Think about what that means for this woman. She had been divorced 5 times by 5 different men. And, THEY ALL DIVORCED HER! What do you think about her now? She was not a harlot; she was just hopeless. This woman obviously wanted to be married or she would not have married 5 different men. What is even sadder is that after the 5^th husband, she gave up on God and His ways! Why do I say that? Because Jesus said that she was living with a man who WAS NOT HER HUSBAND. By this point she is hopeless; she is probably thinking I will take anybody who will accept me, even if I have to be in sin to do it! But, here is where you see the heart of God through Jesus’ actions. Christ offered her what she always wanted but never got and that is acceptance, which equals, satisfaction. Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” Let me translate. Jesus is saying, “You have always longed for acceptance and you thought that being accepted by people would bring you satisfaction, but the only way you will be satisfied is if you find acceptance in God. And, you have that. God loves you for who you are not because of what you do. God loves you because you are you! Friends if you feel like you just do not fit in, if you wonder why you keep getting rejected, well, the answer is easy. You are being rejected by a world you don’t fit in to be accepted by Christ who you do. Did you get that! Christ loves you for who you are, not what you do.

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize this verse.

2. How do you handle being rejected?

3. Write down how you feel when you are rejected.

4. Pray and ask God to help you realize who you are in Him.

Leadership lessons from Joshua

Ex 32: 17 - 18

¹⁷ When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "There is the sound of war in the camp."

¹⁸ Moses replied:
"It is not the sound of victory,
it is not the sound of defeat;
it is the sound of singing that I hear."

One of the greatest skills a leader must have is the gift of discernment. In this stage of Joshua’s development we could easily focus on the leaders need to understand the holiness of God. However, this particular verse highlights a different aspect of this young leader’s maturation process. This particular scripture focuses on discernment; the leader’s ability to contextualize what is not evident to the average person. This is a skill Joshua would need to develop in order to overcome the variety of challenges he would face once he entered the Promised Land. In vs. 18 the verb singing is transliterated from the word anah in Hebrew which means to be to be occupied or to be afflicted with. So literally Moses responded to Joshua saying “it is the sound of being oppressed I hear.” (or it is the sound of sinning I hear) Because we have the vantage point of hindsight we can see where Moses gained his perspective of the noise he heard in the camp. God told him…what the Israelites were doing. Conversing with God heightens ones ability to discern correctly. This was a skill this young leader never developed to its fullest potential, and it ended up becoming a hindrance to his success once he became the leader of Israel. In Joshua 9, we see that the Gibeonites ended up deceiving Joshua and luring him to make a convent with them. The root of Joshua’s lack of discernment is made evident here as well. Joshua did not consult God before he made covenant with the Gibeonites. Point: As a Spiritual leader you will often have to make correct decisions with incomplete information; therefore, it is paramount the leader is seeking God’s wisdom first before making any Kingdom decision. Is the church teaching its leaders how to make vital decisions; especially under pressure?

John 3 devotional

John 3: 7-8

Do not marvel that I said to you. ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is every one who is born of the Sprit.

Application: I want to encourage you this week to trust God no matter what you see. Why did I say that? Because God is working on your behalf even if you cannot see it? This point was emphasized by Jesus in a conversation at night with the Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nicodemus, not wanting to be seen by his peers, came to Jesus at night talking to Him. In his conversation with Jesus he is shown to be drawn by the Spirit to the promised Messiah. Why do I say ‘shown?’ Well let’s look at the Scripture? We know that Nicodemus’ knew Jesus was the Messiah! How do we know? Because in chapter 3: 2 he confesses about Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Nicodemus’ actions force you to ask this question …My man Nick, if you know Jesus is from God why are you afraid to be seen with him public? The beauty of God is that He is patient, and like God we should try to be the same. It takes time to grow in God. It takes perseverance and dedication. If you look at Nicodemus throughout the rest of the Book of John something very interesting happens to him. By the end of the book of John, we see a different man. We see a change in his actions. It’s almost like he is a totally different person by the end of the book. Remember in Chapter 3 he comes to Jesus at night; not wanting to be seen by other Pharisees lest he be persecuted, in Chapter 7:50 we see him challenging the judgment of the Pharisees concerning Christ; in this instance he has not openly sided with Christ, but you can see a holy boldness bubbling up from within him, and finally in Chapter 19:39 we see him risking being captured by the Jews when he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus for his burial. Even though it did not happen overnight nor did it end up the way we might have expected Nicodemus experienced the greatest gift of all—he was born again by God’s Spirit. Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus in chapter 3 Do not marvel that I said to you. ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is every one who is born of the Sprit. Nicodemus did not see the Holy Spirit come down from heaven and instantly transform his life. But, what he and we can see is that something happened in Nicodemus that changed his heart about God. What is the point? It is not always obvious when the Holy Spirit is moving in your behalf; however, be patient, the results of his influence can always be seen through your life.

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize this verse.

2. Think of one time when you know you started acting differently after accepting Christ as your savior.

3. Write down the major difference in your life since you where saved.

The foundation of a Kingdom leaders call

Exodus 33: 11

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

There is a debate in leadership circles whether leaders are born or whether they are made. The overwhelming evidence shows that in the Kingdom of God leaders are simply called. However, this does not mean that natural giftings and development are not a part of the process. As we continue in the study of Joshua we will end up seeing a variety of flaws and weaknesses that could make us question God’s choice. But, there is one unmistakable quality in Joshua’s life we can not deny. Joshua loved God’s presence. And, this is an invaluable quality for a Kingdom leader. Why? Because the Leader of God’s people must be faithful to God, and it’s difficult to stay faithful to someone in whom you don’t enjoy being around. Thus, Joshua possessed the one quality that is foundational for a sound Spiritual leader. If you look in vs. 11, there is a powerful statement written about Joshua, “[he] did not leave the tent.” The reference here is to the Tabernacle of meeting. At the Tabernacle of meeting, when Moses would enter the tabernacle, a pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord would talk to Moses ‘face to face.’ The pillar of cloud represented the manifest presence of God. The interesting thing about the Scripture is that it specifically mentions in (vs. 11) as Moses would leave the tabernacle and return to the camp that “his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not.” Joshua loved to stay in God’s presence. Joshua loved spending time alone with God.

Point: Intimacy with God is a prerequisite for leadership in God’s Kingdom.

Advice: When looking for future leaders the church should focus on developing their relationship with God first. The importance of their relationship with God should be consistently reiterated our primary focus in their leadership development. We should not discount the value of their competency; nonetheless, their walk with the Lord should be the church’s primary focus. Leaders are both born and made, but the foremost goal in their development is that they understand they are called to a relationship with God first.

Called to lead, but not by name! Leadership lessons from Joshua

Exodus 24:1-2, 13-14

¹ Then he said to Moses, "Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance, ² but Moses alone is to approach the LORD; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him."

¹³ Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. ¹⁴ He said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them."

As we continue to look at leadership lessons from the life of Joshua we begin to see how much God’s ways are different than our own. The Israelites, at Sinai, are about to “confirm the covenant” with God. Here we see that God calls by name those He wants to venture into His manifest presence to “confirm the covenant.” What a powerful moment in history; surely God would choose all of those who would play a prominent role in the shaping of this special nation.

Let’s look at who is on this list. (vs. 1) We see Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, but where is Joshua? Where is the future leader of Israel? Where is the name of the man who would lead God’s people into the Promised Land? Now, it’s easy to speculate why his name was not called. It’s probably even easier to speculate how he felt when he did not hear it called. One could even sympathize if Joshua was offended. It would be even logical to imagine Joshua responding to Moses saying, “No, I will not go into God’s presence because He did not ask me to go.” Or, better yet Joshua could have said to himself, “Man, God is not even thinking about me!” Yet, that was not the kind of heart Joshua had. Even though he was not called by name, God still allowed Him into His presence, which is evidence Joshua was not the type of person who sought recognition.

Point: It is the responsibility of all who feel like they are called into leadership to guard their hearts in every situation even when he or she is not being recognized; God is in control of the process not man. The bible exhorts us to humble ourselves and He will exalt you in due time.

Leadership lessons from Joshua

Exodus 17

It is interesting how promotion happens in the Kingdom of God. Outside the Kingdom of God promotion usually happens in a variety of ways: an individual is promoted because he or she is in the family, a person is so successful they are put into a leadership position, someone is a good “fit” for an organization, or lastly because a relationship between the successor and the succeeded will result in benefits for the one who is succeeded, (i.e. a CEO gives up the reigns of leadership to a successor who will ensure the CEO and his or her family is taken care of after the leadership transition.) However, in God’s nation we see something completely different. We see that even in leadership succession, trusting Him is essential. In Joshua 1:1, after, Moses’ death we see God not only promoting Joshua but spreading his fame among the nations. Interestingly, it looks like God had his eye on Joshua for a while. Look at Exodus 17:8 – 17; roughly twenty years before God promoted Joshua, here in Exodus we see the first mention of the soon to be leader of Israel during the battle against the Amalekites. In vs. 9 we see Moses commanding Joshua to “Choose…some men and go out, fight with Amalek.” The Scriptures don’t say exactly why Joshua was chosen to lead this military campaign against the Amalekites, but after God supernaturally gave the Israelites the victory (vs. 11) we see the Lord say something very peculiar to Moses regarding the young leader: in vs. 14 “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of JOSHUA, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” The point, true promotion in the Kingdom comes from God not from man. And, the question is: “Can we trust God to raise-up godly leaders?”

John 2 devotional

John 2: 11

This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Application: Have you ever had the thought your issues were so small God could not possibly care about them? Or, you may have even asked, does God care about me at all? Well my friend fortunately the answer is a resounding yes; God does care about you!!!! That is why He sent Jesus to show you how much He does care and not only does he care about your soul, he also cares about your “little issues as well.” The story when Jesus turned water into wine is a great example of how much he does care about our “little issues.” Jesus was invited to go to a wedding of a friend of his mother. During the wedding a most disgraceful thing happened. They ran out of wine! Today, that is almost like getting kicked out of a church on the day of your wedding because you wrote a bad check to pay for the space! How embarrassing. Well, Jesus’ momma would have none of that she went right over to Jesus and asked him to help them. What was Jesus response? “Ma’am, what does your concern have to do with Me?” Jesus often did this. He was not being rude to His mom. What he was doing was letting his disciples who were sitting around Him know that this was not His issue but his mom’s. Now his disciples, who had never seen Him perform a miracle, must have been thinking ‘Man, this young couple is going to be so embraced there is no hope for them, what a shame!’ However, Jesus had other plans, once he established this issue was the couples and His mothers, He was able to reveal the heart of God. How did he do that? By giving this poor couple, who could not even afford enough wine for their wedding party, a finical blessing that lifted them from poverty to plenty. LOOK at verse 6 again! It says there were six water pots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons of water. Think about it twenty or thirty gallons is about the size a baptismal pool. And, there were six of them! So on the last day of a week of celebrating a wedding Jesus turns six baptismals full of water into six giant wine bottles!!!! Did you think they sold any of it? Why did Jesus do it? Because he did care about their issues, and do you know what he cares about yours as well. Jesus’ actions showed the heart of God by blessing in abundance the friend of his mother. My friend, Jesus cares about the mundane needs of everyone’s life, even yours! God cares about the small details in your life; God cares about you!

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize this verse.

2. Think of one time when God actually helped you out in a small matter.

3. Write down when you knew God actually answered one of your prayers.

The Way of Love

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.

Love doesn't strut,

Doesn't have a swelled head,

Doesn't force itself on others,

Isn't always "me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

The point...you can be God himself but without love you would have nothing. Not my words they are His. vs 1 - 7

For the believer we need to focus on growing in our love because it is the one quality we will utilize for all eternity. 8 - 13

The World is now truly yours!

John 1 devotional
John 1: 10 – 12
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name.
Do you ever wonder why you don’t fit in with the crowd? Or, why the harder and harder you try to be like other people the harder and harder it is to stay happy? The reason for that weird feeling is that you are different. You don’t fit in with the crowd. And, that is the truth my friend. You may be asking, “Why don’t I fit in with the crowd?” Well, God has placed something in your heart that will not allow you to settle for anything less than the absolute truth. Now, when most people are confronted with that truth, they turn the other direction because they don’t like what the truth says about them. But, you are different; because you have made the choice to accept the truth as it is and you did not run from it, God has blessed you. As a result of your choice, God has given you the greatest treasure any man or woman could ever receive—eternal life. Eternal life comes from accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. Jesus Christ is the truth and since you have accepted him as your Lord and Savior and have been filled with His Holy Spirit, you have just begun a journey without ending: a journey that will lead you to an understanding of who God is, whom you are, and why you were born? John 1: 12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Because you have put your trust in Jesus you now have become God’s baby. As a result of being God’s child, you now can receive the benefits of having God’s last name. The World is now truly yours!

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington