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Isaiah 50:4 (MSG) –  The Master,  God,  has given me a well-taught tongue.  So I know how to encourage tired people.  He wakes me up in the morning,  wakes me up,  opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders.   The Father teaches us:  How to speak  (KJV),  and what to speak  (“a word”  KJV),  and when to speak  (“in season”  KJV),  and to whom to speak  (“to him who is weary”  KJV).  God wants to use…

John 14: 10 (NIV) –  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father,  and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you are not just my own.  Rather,  it is the Father,  living in me,  who is doing his work.   The words that Jesus taught originated in the Father.  Jesus taught with knowledge on par with the theologians of His day as well as with superiority  (John 7:46;  Luke 2:47;  Luke 4:16-22).  It was…

Matthew 11:25 (NIV) –  At that time Jesus said,  “I praise you,  Father,  Lord of heaven and earth,  because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,  and revealed them to little children.  Those who were  “wise and learned”  (proud of heart and conceited of mind) were unable to grasp the truths that Jesus taught.  It is the  “little children”  with open,  honest,  and humble hearts who readily hear God’s Word.  The disciples saw supernatural things that others…

Isaiah 30:18 (NLT) –  Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;  He rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him!   “God waits for us to wait for Him and guarantees His response.  The waiting period of God’s workshop during which He employs a diversity of means to do within us a work of grace takes time.  Look at the patience of Job.”  We want great…

Exodus 24:12-16 (NIV)  Focus verse 116b –  For six days,  the cloud covered the mountain,  and on the seventh day,  the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.   “God took Moses through a long waiting period before He spoke His first word.  Physical considerations were subordinated to the higher laws of the Spirit.  This is tribulation to the body that works patience.  To hurry God is to find fault with Him.”  Supernatural changes take place in our souls…

John 2:27 (NIV) –  As for you,  the anointing you received from Him remains in you,  and you do not need anyone to teach you… remain in Him.  The anointing of the Holy Spirit enables us instinctively to differentiate between truth and error.  This verse is not a proof text for eliminating study and getting all weird with your faith.  Rather,  it calls us to pay attention to the nuanced leadings of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.  He…

Mark 1:35-37 (NIV) –   Very early in the morning,  while it was still dark,  Jesus got up,  left the house and went off to a solitary place,  where He prayed.  Simon and his companions went to look for Him,  and when they found Him,  they exclaimed:  Everyone is looking for you!”  Sometimes people don’t understand the reality that God’s leaders must get away to be alone with God (Ex. 32:1;  Ex. 24:12-16).  We live in a world driven by…

Mark 3:14 (KJV) –  And he  (Jesus)  ordained twelve,  that they should be with Him,  and that He might send them forth to preach…  Our primary calling in life is to be  “with Him.”  That means we are  “separated from our normal associations and pursuits and dedicated to our personal association with Christ in fellowship and submission to His Lordship.”  This means more than just showing up for worship on Sundays.  This means living with Jesus in the center of…

Mark 4:11 (NIV) –  (Jesus)  told  (the disciples),  “The secret of the Kingdom of God has been given to you”…  God’s Word gives us a divine perspective that the Holy Spirit unpacks and applies to real,  everyday situations.  It is quite remarkable that God would want us to know the  “mysteries of the Kingdom” (KJV)  in order that we can live in sync with the heart and mind of God and reveal Jesus to people through our often-flawed life.  There…

Mark 3:14 (NLT) –   He appointed twelve—designated them apostles—that they might be with him…  Those called to ministry have a highest priority of being with Jesus,  “separated from their normal associations and pursuits and dedicated to their personal association with Him in fellowship and submission to His Lordship.”  Being with Jesus precedes going out for Him.

I Corinthians 12:12-27 (NIV) –  Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. (v. 14)  (focus verse 14) Every member of the Body of Christ has a God-appointed place with a God-appointed function for a God-appointed purpose. No one member can regard the function of any other member as unnecessary. The Body is built up by that which every joint supplies—the contribution of each member (Eph. 4:16). “God brings into play the function of each…

Mark 1:17 (NIV) –   “Come follow me,” Jesus said…  Consider the diversity of circumstances in which God called people:  while being a fugitive from justice  (Ex. 3:1-12);  while plowing in a field  (I Kings 19:19-21);  while following the flock  (Amos 7:14-15);  while fishing and mending nets  (Mark 2:16-20);  while serving the Roman empire as a tax collector  (Mark 2:13-14);  while traveling to Damascus for the purpose of persecuting God’s people  (Acts 9:1-9).  Saul was on his way to arrest…

Acts 16:10 (NIV) –  After Paul had seen the vision,  we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia,  concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  “God uses a variety of ways in calling a person,  not the least of them being an inner awareness or an intuitive knowledge,  a deep assurance with or without any other complementary means.”  Even these days it can come as an audible voice  (Acts 9:1-6),  or by a prophetic…

Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV) –  Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,  before you were born I set you apart;  I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.  God calls both men and women into ministry with resolve,  “not withstanding the risks involved in choosing a necessarily faulty instrument,  God determines the choice of the individual.”  God separates the person apart from others  “in effect passing others by and setting them apart.”  And God communicates His call…

John 15:16 (NIV) –  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last… The term  “apostle”  means:  “one sent forth”  (Luke 10:1).  Jesus did not send out His twelve disciples without preparing them through specific methods and means—principles that He continues to use today to prepare those He has chosen for Christ-centered ministries.  Some go without being called and without a message from God;  they are self-sent  (II Sam.…

Joshua 1:9 – (NLT) Do not be afraid or discouraged.  For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  Confront your fears with the truth of God’s presence. Our core fear is that we can’t handle something—we’re not enough.  God doesn’t expect us to handle anything on our own.  He says,  “I’ve got this.”  Our ability is His strength.  His constant presence is the greater truth that confronts our ultimate fear.  Focus on God’s abilities,  not your inabilities.

Galatians 6:4b (MSG)  Don’t compare yourself with others.   Comparison triggers the fear that you don’t measure up and you are not enough.  “It robs us of seeing the value in our influence and keeps us on a perpetual quest to be better than others”  (Jenni Catron,  Clout).  What drives your motivation to do great things—God-given vision,  or the need to impress people?  These are two very different motivations.  In the Lord’s final conversation with Peter,  Peter asked,  “What about…

Proverbs 27:4 – (NLT)  Anger is cruel,  and wrath is like a flood,  but jealousy is even more dangerous.  Illustrations of jealousy are replete in scripture:  Cain killed his brother,  Jacob robbed Esau of his birthright,  Rachel and Leah lived at odds with each other,  Saul put out a death warrant on David’s life—“in each of these stories jealousy took root and ruined their relationships.  Jealousy becomes more sophisticated as we mature,  and its root system is strengthened with every…

Philippians 2:3 – (NIV)  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,  but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (MSG)  Don’t push your way to the front;  don’t sweet-talk your way to the top.  Put yourself aside,  and help others get ahead.   “Carrying this out in real life requires an inbred core devoid of pretention and arrogance.  It does not allow for posturing or a show of self-importance.  When those kinds of selfish traits are present,  problems and…

John 15:4 (MSG) –  “Live in me.  Make your home in me just as I do in you…”   In his book,  The Furious Longing of God,  Brennan Manning says,  “The outstretched arms of Jesus exclude no one,  neither the drunk in the doorway,  the panhandler on the street,  gays and lesbians in their isolation,  the most selfish and ungrateful in their cocoons,  the most unjust of employers and the most overweening of snobs.  The love of Christ embraces all…

Matthew 7:26 (MSG) –  (Jesus teaching)  “But if you just use my words in the Bible studies and don’t work them into your life,  you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.”  In his book,  Abba’s Child,  Brennan Manning says,  “The Christian commitment is not an abstraction.  It is a concrete,  visible,  courageous,  and formidable way of being in the world forged by daily choices consistent with inner truth.  A commitment that is not…

Exodus 20:8 – (NIV) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  “The Sabbath is a way of defying slavery.  Slaves,  by definition,  cannot stop working.  Sabbath is living in such as way that we are no longer slaves.  The Israelites had spent 300 years or so assimilating into the dominant cultural value system of Egypt.  Generations had succumbed to never ceasing from work.  It was normal to work all the time.  The bustling and ever-increasing economy of Egypt demanded…

Proverbs 3:13 (NIV) Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,  the man who gains understanding.  Are we listening for the Lord’s direction and clarification?  “One of the striking characteristics seen in effective leaders is their drive to learn from all kinds of sources.”  Effective leaders maintain a learning/listening posture throughout life.  “The Bible is the leadership anchor.  A Christian leader bases values,  methodology,  motivation,  and goals on what God has revealed in Scripture.”  (Clinton,  The Making of a Leader).  God…

Acts 10:28b – (NLT) …But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.  At the Global Leadership Summit 2019,  Danielle Strickland described five stages of transition:  1) Settled  (feels good);  2) Unsettled  (stressful disruption);  3) Chaos  (you’ve left what you know but aren’t to the new place yet—it is scary,  yet exciting);  4) Arrival at the new place  (but doesn’t feel like home);  and 5) the new normal  (finally).  The journey from…

Hebrews 3:15-19 – (MSG) For who were the people who turned a deaf ear?  Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt?… Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness?  They never got there because they never listened,  never believed.   “People in recovery circles use some very helpful phrases to describe the kind of behavior that keeps us from experiencing freedom  (or for settling for external freedom while still experiencing…

John 3:30 (KJV) – He must increase,  but I must decrease.   Our great heroes of the faith lived through some kind of desert experience—an emptying place.  The devil is ok with us leaving Egypt as long as we bring all of Egypt’s values and systems with us.  He lets us be a Christian as long as we live like everyone else,  full of ourselves.  Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus emptied Himself in order to embrace His calling to…

Luke 22:31-32a (NIV) – “Simon,  Simon,  Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you… “ “Quality leadership does not come easily.  It requires time,  experience,  and repeated instances of maturity processing.”  Such was the experience of the disciples as they followed Jesus.  There was much to learn.  They thought that proximity to Jesus was enough.  But  “Mature ministry flows from a mature character,  formed in the graduate school of life…a leader whose ministry skills…

Nehemiah 8:5-6 – (NIV)  Ezra opened the book… and all;  the people lifted their hands and responded,  “Amen!  Amen!”  Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.  Notice the people’s attitudes toward the Word of God as it was read to them.  They were attentive  (v. 3);  reverent  (v. 5);  worshipful  (v. 6);  contrite  (v. 9);  and joyful  (v. 12).  When we have the same regard for God’s Word,  our lives will be restored…

Nehemiah 6:14-16 (NIV)  So the wall was completed… When all our enemies heard about this,  all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.  When the wall was finished,  even their enemies recognized the hand of God upon them.  Yet,  Nehemiah had not finished his task.  The second section of the book  (chapters 8-10)  focuses on the people inside those walls and how the…

Nehemiah 4:6 – (NIV)  So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height,  for the people worked with all their heart.  Nehemiah’s remarkable leadership skills included:  discretion  (2:12),  for he did not make a premature disclosure of his plans;  wisdom  (2:13-17)  for he appraised the situation before taking action;  resoluteness and fearlessness  (2:19-20),  due to his faith in God’s oversight;  and leadership skills and organization ability  (3:1-32).  Notice how the people worked wholeheartedly.  It was not…

Nehemiah 2:10b – …they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.   Resistance came immediately through Sanballat and Tobiah.  But under Nehemiah’s leadership God’s people learned to overcome the mockery  (2:20),  conspiracy  (4:9),  and threats of physical attack  (4:17).  We should not be surprised by hostility when we begin obeying God.  We have an enemy who is determined to resist us.  He will try to bait us into compromise and bring confusion. …

Nehemiah 1:4 (NIV) –  When I heard these things,  I sat down and wept.  For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.   Ezra had achieved the rebuilding of the temple and the restoration of Jerusalem’s worship,  but the city remained unprotected against enemy invasions.  Nehemiah’s compassion helped qualify him for his remarkable leadership roll of rebuilding the city walls and gates.  Without heart-felt compassion that drives us to our knees in intercessory prayer, …

Exodus 3:3 – So Moses thought,  “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” God would prepare Moses for his leadership role:  first,  by a revelation of Himself  (3:1-10),  and second,  by a revelation of His ways  (3:11-4:17).  God’s ways are usually outside the circle of our everyday thought patterns  (Isaiah 55:9)  and are discerned only as we seek for Holy Spirit insight and understanding  (I Cor. 2:14).  Moses was occupied with mundane…

Exodus 2:15 – When Pharaoh heard of this,  he tried to kill Moses,  but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian,  where he sat down by a well.  Why did God take Moses into the desert of Midian?  It was a consequence of his rashness—to save Moses from the wrath of Pharaoh.  Also it was to  “drain him of all self-sufficiency so he would learn dependency on the sufficiency of God.  God was preparing Moses in obscurity…

Acts 7:25 (MSG) – (Moses) thought his brothers would be glad he was on their side, & even see him as an instrument of God to deliver them.  But they didn’t see it that way. Moses failed because  “his attempt to deliver God’s people was carried out in the self-effort of the impetuosity of the flesh and not in reliance upon God.  All the knowledge and wisdom acquired in Egypt’s institutes of learning was not adequate to equip Moses for…

Hebrews 11:24-26 – …(Moses)  regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt…(focus verse 26).    In spite of the fact that Moses was obliged to Pharaoh’s daughter by gratitude and self-interest,  he chose to identify with the Children of Israel.  He chose to share in the afflictions of his people over the pleasures of Egypt.  He chose the eternal reward of a son of Abraham to the temporary advantage of a son…

Exodus 2:15-17 – …Moses got up and came to their rescue…(focus verse 17).  Moses did not allow preoccupation with his own problems to keep him from helping others with theirs.  In the school of divine providence as a stranger in a strange land,  God taught Moses understanding and compassion for the heart of a stranger.  He would be better qualified to lead God’s  “strangers”  (the Children of Israel)  out of a  “strange land”  (Egypt)  and into the home promised for…

Exodus 2:11 – One day after Moses had grown up,  he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.  He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew,  one of his own people. Moses was a full forty years old when the afflictions of his people aroused him to action (Acts 7:23).  His attempt at bringing justice turned bloody and very quickly Moses became a fugitive in Midian.  Moses did not realize it,  but God’s…

Ruth 4:18-22  –  Outcast  What’s particularly amazing about Ruth is that God chose a woman to play an integral role in the Davidic and Messianic line.  God uses both men and women to accomplish His purposes.  And He often uses broken people,  the outcasts,  and imperfect people (like you and me) that others overlook to bring about His promises.  God entrusts us to carry out His promises,  and Ruth foreshadows how Jesus did the same thing for us.  Ruth is…

Ruth 4:1-17  –  Redemption  God fulfills His promises.  He brings to fruition what He said He would do.  Our responsibility is to submit to Him in trust,  no matter what the cost,  because we know He will keep His promises.  But God’s ways are counter-intuitive to our ways.  We know how the story ends for Ruth and Boaz (and Naomi);  but is there something perplexing or painful in your life that has an unknown ending?  God cares about the details…