By Gary Roberts
Robertson School of Government
So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. Mark 10: 42-44, NLT
As students studying for an MA in Government at Regent University, we are striving to develop and enhance our leadership skills. From a Christian worldview perspective, when we seek leadership skills first, we are placing the proverbial “cart before the horse.” Jesus set the standards for both leadership and followership by his complete obedience to the will of the Father. Jesus spent the first 30 years of his live obeying his parents, being an excellent carpenter, and serving the Lord in a humble fashion. Jesus was an effective leader because He practiced servanthood first! From conception to ascension, Jesus’ every word and action promoted the mission that the Father anointed Jesus to complete, the redemptive work of the cross.
Thus, we cannot learn to lead like Jesus until we learn to serve like Jesus. An excellent book on this subject is Jesus on Leadership by C. Gene Wilkes (1998, Tyndale Publishers). Christian servant leadership is birthed by servant followership in which employees develop the essential character traits (the fruits of the spirit) that enable leaders to use their gifts and skills in a humble, responsible, mature and unselfish manner. Servant followership entails such key attributes as enduring trials and tribulations patiently, learning from mistakes, teachability, obedience to authority, accepting responsibility for solving problems, exercising initiative, and helping coworkers and clients even when inconvenient or contrary to personal interests. Servant followers understand their strengths and weaknesses and select jobs based upon their gifting and passions thereby reducing stress on themselves and others.
Servant followership entails committing every aspect of our work to Godly excellence irrespective of the obstacles and situation (working for God, not man). Even when we work for unjust earthly masters, God is pleased when we endure suffering for righteous conduct. God is the only performance evaluator that matters. The Lord rewards those who pursue and practice Godly excellence and integrity at work with present and future spiritual and temporal blessings, and is the instrument for judgment and accountability for our earthly employers (vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord). These ideal standards of conduct entails a life long progressive sanctification of dying to the self that are never fully realized until we are face to face with the Lord. It is a high and lofty standard, in essence, another element of working out our salvation with fear and trembling daily. When we practice servant followership, we become that candle in the dark shining the light, hope and love of Christ into the dark recesses of our workplaces. I have listed below some of the key attributes of servant followership. Pray every day for God’s strength to serve with humility and obey the Gospel.
Twenty-five Key Attributes of Servant Followers
1. Obey the first ten commandants, to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Our adherence to these principles is the foundation for a personal relationship with Jesus and a necessary precondition for placing Jesus at the center of our lives. This entails the purposeful and enthusiastic adherence to Christian Spiritual disciplines (prayer, reading the scriptures, Christian fellowship) that enable us to develop and manifest the necessary character traits for workplace servanthood (love, humility, forgiveness, patience, perseverance, etc.)
2. The practice of 360-degree forgiveness (self, God, and others).
3. Serve just and unjust masters with excellence as modeled by David with Saul.
4. Asserting leadership when the situation warrants our intervention
5. The healthy pursuit of excellence (realistic standards of performance, accepting the inevitability of mistakes and embracing the value of trial and error in the learning process)
6. Practice initiative and creativity: Take responsibility for solving performance problems and exert the required effort (working beyond the job description and normal work requirements) when necessary.
7. Reliable and conscientious work performance in all situations
8. Honor your employer by avoiding a critical or cynical spirit by providing honest and constructive feedback in appropriate settings
9. Pray for your leaders, subordinates, peers, and customers
10. Practice gratitude for past, present and future blessings
11. Commit to the success of your supervisor and co-workers
12. Take joy in the success of others while being sorrowful over failures, even the “tough love” and “sandpaper” people that we dislike or who are at enmity with us.
13. Do not compare oneself to others. The goal is to learn from others, not to become someone else.
14. Humility: recognize our limits and be teachable, and seek out corrective feedback
15. Truth telling, provide honest feedback (voice) to protect the integrity of mission achievement, protect interests of other key stakeholders, and love your boss by providing input to avoid mistakes
16. Practice of personal transparency on weaknesses
17. Reject the temptation to externalize blame for problems and assume personal responsibility for creating and solving them
18. Be patient and faithful in trials and tribulations and communicate hope and optimism while avoiding complaining, grumbling and fault finding. Be willing to “pay your dues” and wait patiently for the Lord to promote and honor you.
19. Learn to live in the present to promote patience and perseverance
20. Unconditional altruism: help fellow employees in need (mentor and coach new employees, support and assist coworkers) even when inconvenienced or disadvantaged
21. Practice courtesy, tact and politeness to all
22. Practice active listening in which we listen with the heart as well as the mind. Listen more than we speak.
23. Supporting coworkers through encouragement and holding them accountable (tough love)
24. When in a position of bargaining strength relative to your employer, do not make excessive or unreasonable demands that take advantage of an employer’s vulnerable situation
25. Be uncompromisingly conscientious and honest in using organizational resources (money, time, equipment, supplies, etc.)
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Unconditional Love
By Gary Roberts
Robertson School of Government
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4: 19-21 NIV
Do you possess an inborn need to receive love? Most of us would answer that rather basic question with a resounding “yes.” However, as with many issues in the Kingdom of God, the conventional answers fail to receive endorsement by careful review of scripture. An excellent book on the subject is by Edward T. Welch “When People Are Big and God is Small.” The thesis of the book is that when we need people more than we love them, it creates the idolatry of codependency and the fear of man. Modern psychology and many Christian psychologists embrace the “loving cup” view of human nature that states “wounded and broken” we become if God and others fail to fill our vessels with love, support, and encouragement. Is this image correct?
Welch makes a convincing argument otherwise. First, we must grasp our creation in God’s image. God loves purely and perfectly not because of His need to fulfill an unmet desire, but because “God is love” and love is His foundational and immutable attribute. God first loved us unconditionally because that is His nature (Seamands, 2004). The trinity embodies this wonderful but mysterious principle. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a perfect “love triangle,” they give and receive love in a completely self-sustaining and fulfilling relationship. Each member of the trinity grants unconditional love to the other, and in turn, receives unconditional love. This reflects the other great mystery of the universe as God is the “uncaused cause,” setting in motion all other forms of existence and being. As human beings created in the image of God, Adam was given Eve so he could be an image bearer of God and love Eve unreservedly, just as Adam was originally created by God for love and fellowship.
When Adam and Eve sinned, the foundational relationship element of unconditional love was corrupted and reduced to the self-serving and idolatrous love, which ultimately enslaves. We can never achieve Christ likeness by employing the humanistic psychology approach of placing our needs at the center. God calls us to imitate Him by loving others first without conditions. As created beings, we cannot manifest the perfect self-contained love manifested in the Trinity, but the Body of Christ, the church, is the God-given means to develop our ability to grant and receive love. We cannot practice unconditional love without Christ as Lord and the body of Christ to teach and model these behaviors. Our sin nature continually redirects our attention to meeting self-needs and desires through the many forms of counterfeit love. This is why the family is “ground zero” in terms of spiritual warfare. If our parents and families fail to model and practice Christ-like unconditional love, Satan instills spiritual, physical, and emotional wounds that lead us to medicate our pain with love counterfeits further accentuating the power of sin over our lives. We become needy, fearful, and develop a warped sense of self-esteem.
However, the solution the world offers is to convince us that the problem is not our sinfulness, but the fact that others are not meeting our needs or we are the victims of circumstances and outside forces. What is the solution? The first step is to admit our brokenness and our own inability and that of others to cure what ails us. We must take responsibility for the sin, forgive those who hurt us, and ask for forgiveness for our sin and the dysfunctional means that we use to cover our pain and shame. God will meet our legitimate needs (not all our desires), and He will give us the love and security so we can love Him and others without condition. This is clearly an ongoing, long-term process imperfectly completed in this life, but the more “we learn to need others less and love them more” as Welch states, we grow in freedom.
These lessons are important for the workplace as well. Just like Jesus, our calling is to work with excellence, serve others, and love them unconditionally. Even if others treat us unfairly, our self-esteem and identity does not depend upon the attitudes, actions, and support of others. They can no longer manipulate our reactions. We are hurt, but the arrows and stones do not break us. We receive deep comfort from Christ for the wounds, and are able to move forward. As servant leaders, we love and encourage others and hold them accountable. We hope that others will model the Golden Rule and return the love, accountability, and encouragement. When this occurs, the workplace is blessed. When others fail us, we reject anger and bitterness, pray for our brothers and sisters, practice forgiveness, and move forward. We then achieve an amazing level of freedom and love as we exhibit the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To God be the Glory!
Seamands, D. A. (2004). Healing for damaged emotions. Paris, Ontario: Cook Communications Ministries.
Welch, E. T. (1997). When people are big and God is small. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing.
Robertson School of Government
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4: 19-21 NIV
Do you possess an inborn need to receive love? Most of us would answer that rather basic question with a resounding “yes.” However, as with many issues in the Kingdom of God, the conventional answers fail to receive endorsement by careful review of scripture. An excellent book on the subject is by Edward T. Welch “When People Are Big and God is Small.” The thesis of the book is that when we need people more than we love them, it creates the idolatry of codependency and the fear of man. Modern psychology and many Christian psychologists embrace the “loving cup” view of human nature that states “wounded and broken” we become if God and others fail to fill our vessels with love, support, and encouragement. Is this image correct?
Welch makes a convincing argument otherwise. First, we must grasp our creation in God’s image. God loves purely and perfectly not because of His need to fulfill an unmet desire, but because “God is love” and love is His foundational and immutable attribute. God first loved us unconditionally because that is His nature (Seamands, 2004). The trinity embodies this wonderful but mysterious principle. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in a perfect “love triangle,” they give and receive love in a completely self-sustaining and fulfilling relationship. Each member of the trinity grants unconditional love to the other, and in turn, receives unconditional love. This reflects the other great mystery of the universe as God is the “uncaused cause,” setting in motion all other forms of existence and being. As human beings created in the image of God, Adam was given Eve so he could be an image bearer of God and love Eve unreservedly, just as Adam was originally created by God for love and fellowship.
When Adam and Eve sinned, the foundational relationship element of unconditional love was corrupted and reduced to the self-serving and idolatrous love, which ultimately enslaves. We can never achieve Christ likeness by employing the humanistic psychology approach of placing our needs at the center. God calls us to imitate Him by loving others first without conditions. As created beings, we cannot manifest the perfect self-contained love manifested in the Trinity, but the Body of Christ, the church, is the God-given means to develop our ability to grant and receive love. We cannot practice unconditional love without Christ as Lord and the body of Christ to teach and model these behaviors. Our sin nature continually redirects our attention to meeting self-needs and desires through the many forms of counterfeit love. This is why the family is “ground zero” in terms of spiritual warfare. If our parents and families fail to model and practice Christ-like unconditional love, Satan instills spiritual, physical, and emotional wounds that lead us to medicate our pain with love counterfeits further accentuating the power of sin over our lives. We become needy, fearful, and develop a warped sense of self-esteem.
However, the solution the world offers is to convince us that the problem is not our sinfulness, but the fact that others are not meeting our needs or we are the victims of circumstances and outside forces. What is the solution? The first step is to admit our brokenness and our own inability and that of others to cure what ails us. We must take responsibility for the sin, forgive those who hurt us, and ask for forgiveness for our sin and the dysfunctional means that we use to cover our pain and shame. God will meet our legitimate needs (not all our desires), and He will give us the love and security so we can love Him and others without condition. This is clearly an ongoing, long-term process imperfectly completed in this life, but the more “we learn to need others less and love them more” as Welch states, we grow in freedom.
These lessons are important for the workplace as well. Just like Jesus, our calling is to work with excellence, serve others, and love them unconditionally. Even if others treat us unfairly, our self-esteem and identity does not depend upon the attitudes, actions, and support of others. They can no longer manipulate our reactions. We are hurt, but the arrows and stones do not break us. We receive deep comfort from Christ for the wounds, and are able to move forward. As servant leaders, we love and encourage others and hold them accountable. We hope that others will model the Golden Rule and return the love, accountability, and encouragement. When this occurs, the workplace is blessed. When others fail us, we reject anger and bitterness, pray for our brothers and sisters, practice forgiveness, and move forward. We then achieve an amazing level of freedom and love as we exhibit the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To God be the Glory!
Seamands, D. A. (2004). Healing for damaged emotions. Paris, Ontario: Cook Communications Ministries.
Welch, E. T. (1997). When people are big and God is small. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The Mantle of Servant Leadership
By Gary Roberts
Robertson School of Government
Luke 12:47-49 (King James Version)
47And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 49I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Christ commands us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus demonstrated His love of the father by obeying him in all stages of his life, as a child, as an inquisitive youth, his early adulthood spent as a carpenter, and throughout his ministry from the testing in the wilderness, the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane, to his humiliation, separation and death on the cross. Because of his obedience, Jesus transformed defeat to eternal victory through the resurrection redeeming us from sin. Servant leadership is a high calling, as it requires dying to the self and promoting the interests of others over our own. If we love God, we will not only be hearers of the word, but doers as well. When we die to the self in the workplace, it produces a pleasant fruit that releases the presence and power of Christ to change lives. The MA program embraces servant leadership not as a utilitarian management tool that benefits the bottom line, but as an internalized value and character orientation that promotes golden rule love irrespective of the external consequences. We should issue a disclaimer regarding servant leadership. Knowledge of servant leadership principles absent their application leads to character growth stagnation. Knowledge of servant leadership principles and a superficial application generates hypocrisy ship wrecking the faith of others producing a bitter fruit of self-condemnation. To whom much is given, much is required. Let us all pledge as instructors and students to a relentless commitment to loving and leading others as Christ demonstrated, encouraging on a regular basis, teaching and counseling others, listening with open hearts and minds, investing our precious time in relationships, and providing accountability and loving discipline. To God be the glory!
Robertson School of Government
Luke 12:47-49 (King James Version)
47And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 49I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Christ commands us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus demonstrated His love of the father by obeying him in all stages of his life, as a child, as an inquisitive youth, his early adulthood spent as a carpenter, and throughout his ministry from the testing in the wilderness, the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane, to his humiliation, separation and death on the cross. Because of his obedience, Jesus transformed defeat to eternal victory through the resurrection redeeming us from sin. Servant leadership is a high calling, as it requires dying to the self and promoting the interests of others over our own. If we love God, we will not only be hearers of the word, but doers as well. When we die to the self in the workplace, it produces a pleasant fruit that releases the presence and power of Christ to change lives. The MA program embraces servant leadership not as a utilitarian management tool that benefits the bottom line, but as an internalized value and character orientation that promotes golden rule love irrespective of the external consequences. We should issue a disclaimer regarding servant leadership. Knowledge of servant leadership principles absent their application leads to character growth stagnation. Knowledge of servant leadership principles and a superficial application generates hypocrisy ship wrecking the faith of others producing a bitter fruit of self-condemnation. To whom much is given, much is required. Let us all pledge as instructors and students to a relentless commitment to loving and leading others as Christ demonstrated, encouraging on a regular basis, teaching and counseling others, listening with open hearts and minds, investing our precious time in relationships, and providing accountability and loving discipline. To God be the glory!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Facing the Giants
By Gary Roberts
Robertson School of Government
Deuteronomy 1:27-29 (New Living Translation) You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’ “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them!
Where are the giants in your life that impede the expansion of your physical, spiritual and emotional territory? I was greatly blessed by the film “Facing the Giants” about a losing football coach who used biblical principles to bring revival in himself thereby providing the spark for a Holy Ghost firestorm that ignited his family, the football program, the school, and an entire community. One of the “fear-busting” principles he employed was to redefine what “victory” entails. In order to attack the giants, the first step is to identify the enemy. The real adversary was not an absence of talent as God leverages whatever gifts and abilities we are given to achieve His will and goals, nor was it a low level of motivation as they all wanted desperately to win, the root cause was their belief that losing made them “losers” thereby agreeing with the “Gospel” of the secular worldview that accomplishments (the wins and losses of life) are the foundation of our identity.
This “vain imagination” belief created giants of fear that grew more powerful with each loss generating enslaving self-fulfilling prophecies of discouragement yoking the players and coaches with a slow growing cancer of negative self-image. The coach discovered the Kingdom principle that Godly victory is not achieved through a winning record, but the slow cultivation of Christ-like character as we endure and grow through trials and tribulations. He redefined the definition of team success by adopting the principle that we are stewards of our God-given gifts and abilities and that we honor and worship the Lord by giving our best efforts in pursuit of team goals regardless of the circumstances and the ultimate outcomes. The outcome of our efforts is God’s responsibility, not ours. We plant and reap, but only God gives the increase. “Winning” is realizing the collective potential of the team as each member dedicates himself to developing his God-given talents to support the communal efforts of the squad (the body of Christ).
Winning occurs when we exert every ounce of our energy in a God-honoring fashion playing by the letter and spirit of the rules of the game. As the coach stated, when we win we give God the glory, and when we lose we still praise Him. Atheists and agnostics ridicule the notion of prayer before football games, but they miss the essential Kingdom principle that in God’s economy He uses all circumstances to shape our character. Winning challenges us as we are tempted to worship our “greatness”, while losing tempts us to yield to despair and hopelessness (curse God and die) denying the power and providence of God to yield good fruit through all circumstances. Hence God concurrently uses winning and losing in a football the game to realize His unique purpose for each individual player and coach. God is the master efficiency expert who created this wonderfully complex and intricate universe, and He is well able to use winning and losing to reveal the hidden motives of the human heart and promote self-knowledge, learning and discovery. The coach discovered that great power occurs when we truly embrace Romans 8:28 that all things work out for the best for those who love God and are called according to His purposes. Let us all agree to “face the giants” in our lives recognizing that victory occurs by obeying and praising God in all circumstances. If we follow these principles, we can truly embrace the Apostle Paul’s’ joyous observation that we are more than conquerors through Christ who strengthens us.
Robertson School of Government
Deuteronomy 1:27-29 (New Living Translation) You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’ “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them!
Where are the giants in your life that impede the expansion of your physical, spiritual and emotional territory? I was greatly blessed by the film “Facing the Giants” about a losing football coach who used biblical principles to bring revival in himself thereby providing the spark for a Holy Ghost firestorm that ignited his family, the football program, the school, and an entire community. One of the “fear-busting” principles he employed was to redefine what “victory” entails. In order to attack the giants, the first step is to identify the enemy. The real adversary was not an absence of talent as God leverages whatever gifts and abilities we are given to achieve His will and goals, nor was it a low level of motivation as they all wanted desperately to win, the root cause was their belief that losing made them “losers” thereby agreeing with the “Gospel” of the secular worldview that accomplishments (the wins and losses of life) are the foundation of our identity.
This “vain imagination” belief created giants of fear that grew more powerful with each loss generating enslaving self-fulfilling prophecies of discouragement yoking the players and coaches with a slow growing cancer of negative self-image. The coach discovered the Kingdom principle that Godly victory is not achieved through a winning record, but the slow cultivation of Christ-like character as we endure and grow through trials and tribulations. He redefined the definition of team success by adopting the principle that we are stewards of our God-given gifts and abilities and that we honor and worship the Lord by giving our best efforts in pursuit of team goals regardless of the circumstances and the ultimate outcomes. The outcome of our efforts is God’s responsibility, not ours. We plant and reap, but only God gives the increase. “Winning” is realizing the collective potential of the team as each member dedicates himself to developing his God-given talents to support the communal efforts of the squad (the body of Christ).
Winning occurs when we exert every ounce of our energy in a God-honoring fashion playing by the letter and spirit of the rules of the game. As the coach stated, when we win we give God the glory, and when we lose we still praise Him. Atheists and agnostics ridicule the notion of prayer before football games, but they miss the essential Kingdom principle that in God’s economy He uses all circumstances to shape our character. Winning challenges us as we are tempted to worship our “greatness”, while losing tempts us to yield to despair and hopelessness (curse God and die) denying the power and providence of God to yield good fruit through all circumstances. Hence God concurrently uses winning and losing in a football the game to realize His unique purpose for each individual player and coach. God is the master efficiency expert who created this wonderfully complex and intricate universe, and He is well able to use winning and losing to reveal the hidden motives of the human heart and promote self-knowledge, learning and discovery. The coach discovered that great power occurs when we truly embrace Romans 8:28 that all things work out for the best for those who love God and are called according to His purposes. Let us all agree to “face the giants” in our lives recognizing that victory occurs by obeying and praising God in all circumstances. If we follow these principles, we can truly embrace the Apostle Paul’s’ joyous observation that we are more than conquerors through Christ who strengthens us.
Monday, December 19, 2011
A Great Blessing of Thanksgiving: God’s Divine Attributes
By Gary Roberts
Robertson School of Government
2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
As we reflect on the blessings of Thanksgiving, I urge you to meditate and be thankful for God’s attributes. One of the greatest gifts of God is the comfort He provides as we trek through the “worldly sorrow” emotions that burden our souls. When we are lost in the wilderness of pain, sorrow, self-pity, depression, and fear, His healing rain provides sweet relief. When we seek the Lord with an earnest desire, we find a gentle voice that eases the pain with His tender touch. Below are eight principles of divine comfort that are water on the lips of a man parched in the desert.
Principle 1): Eternal Love: God did, does and will always love you and I unconditionally. If you doubt this, remember that Jesus sacrificed the most for us when we were at our worst! He first loved us while we were sinners mired in our unsaved state of condemnation.
Principle 2): Unconditional Forgiveness: What a joy to realize that we are blessed with 360 degree eternal forgiveness! Jesus forgives all my sins, past present and future. The blood of Jesus protects and cleanses us and quiets the voices of fear, guilt, condemnation, shame, and doubt emanating from our flesh and the demonic realm. Jesus is tearing down the walls and identifying all the sources of unforgiveness. Take comfort, as Jesus is our advocate, lawyer, and redeemer!
Principle 3): Amazing Grace: Grace is God’s love in action. It involves all elements of the trinity, and is most fully developed in the New Testament redemptive covenant of complete forgiveness of sins. Remember that grace covers every failure, sin and weakness. Grace is the foundation for abundant living. Ponder the formula that ongoing weakness + God’s grace = Abundant Life. Embracing grace is one of the most powerful forms of belief and faith. It is a sin of pride to reject God’s grace. We must humbly accept this great gift and apply it liberally to our wounds, sins, temptations and weaknesses. The Holy Spirit is the comforter, teacher counselor, and provider of grace. God’s grace is always with us and we must build our homes upon its rock solid foundation. Grace softens and purifies the motives of our heart freeing us from the bondage of legalism and a spirit of works. When we desire to earn a reward from God, it is very easy for Satan to transform our motives into a “works spirit” that becomes a cruel taskmaster given the need to perform and accomplish instead of simply being in relationship. Grace meets us where we are at, and we do not need to be “cleaned up” as the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) clearly illustrates when the father runs towards the distantly viewed son and then joyously hugs and embraces his pathetically downtrodden and sin-stained child.
Principle 4): God is Patient: God is never frustrated or angered in human emotional terms. He is patient whether I obey or not, act or not, agree or not, and this takes away the burden of legalistically having to please God. We don’t have to change all at once, only God can provide instantaneous transformation, and in most cases it is contrary to His will to “zap” us given that we need gradual transformation to build character, faith, patience and empathy. These attributes are the foundation of a ministry of healing that God creates with our tears and scars. The comfort we are given, we give to others. Don’t despise the day of small beginnings and remember that the Lord will not let us be tempted and tested beyond our ability to bear.
Principle 5): God is Responsible for the Increase: God, not our efforts or talent, is responsible for the fruit, the healing and the change, both within us and with others. This reduces the pressure to “perform” and reinforces the power of Godly excellence which entails embracing obedience, humility and character growth. This assurance enables us to love others and ourselves in the appropriate fashion, with the combination of support/encouragement and necessary “tough love” accountability. We must always ask for the Lord’s power and guidance to base our motives on agape love which helps guard our heart from guilt, condemnation and manipulation.
Principle 6): God Will not Test Beyond Our Ability to Endure: Romans 8:28 clearly states that all things work out for the best for those who love God. This means that in all circumstances, the Lord will not test or tempt beyond our ability to bear the burden. This provides powerful reassurance that irrespective of how large and powerful the Goliaths and strongholds that we face, God’s power to protect is always greater! Another key element is to reject any form of comparison with others regarding the size or nature of our problems. God does not use a comparative standard in terms of the objective size or strength of our enemies or judge us on a relative standard of strength and courage. He is equally pleased with the “timid and fearful” who learns to trust God and face their fears of a mouse as He is with the brave warrior who is facing lions. Never despise the day of small beginnings!
Principle 7): Godly discipline is always for our benefit. God uses trials to discipline us, and His discipline bears pleasant fruit when we humble ourselves and surrender our will. Every thought has the power of life and death, and Satan attempts to influence our thinking to plant seeds of doubt, unbelief and fear that impede God’s purpose. How do you hear the voice of Jesus? Even in those bible passages in which He voice anger and frustration, it was always done with a spirit of love as evidenced by His actions. He always forgave and moved on, He was patient with reoccurring failure, he never abandoned or rejected even when His beloved disciples fled, and He returned love and peace for failure and sin.
Principle 8): God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness: This is one of the most comforting but humbling lessons. Christians are victors and victorious, but this triumph is based upon a radically different definition of success and excellence than the secular world and culture utilizes. Victory and success in God’s eyes entails: 1) loving Him unconditionally, 2) obedience to His commands and will, 3) recognizing, confessing, repenting and renouncing our sins, 4) learning from our mistakes and failures, 5) learning to love, and 6) forgive and offer grace to others and ourselves. It is not an outcome based perspective. It is when we are weak and in a failed state that we most clearly recognize that our strength, victory and power comes from God. An attitude of humble strength acknowledges that all of our talents, gifts and abilities, all of our successes and accomplishments, our ability to focus, work hard and persist, all are gifts from God, hence we cannot boast. When we are successful, pride insidiously infects our ability to assign the appropriate locus of responsibility to God and redirects it to our character and “worthiness.” Failure is very effective at penetrating the defenses and placing us back on the correct path.
I pray that you will dedicate yourself being hearers and doers of the word, and that these principles will be a source of Godly blessing and encouragement.
Robertson School of Government
2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
As we reflect on the blessings of Thanksgiving, I urge you to meditate and be thankful for God’s attributes. One of the greatest gifts of God is the comfort He provides as we trek through the “worldly sorrow” emotions that burden our souls. When we are lost in the wilderness of pain, sorrow, self-pity, depression, and fear, His healing rain provides sweet relief. When we seek the Lord with an earnest desire, we find a gentle voice that eases the pain with His tender touch. Below are eight principles of divine comfort that are water on the lips of a man parched in the desert.
Principle 1): Eternal Love: God did, does and will always love you and I unconditionally. If you doubt this, remember that Jesus sacrificed the most for us when we were at our worst! He first loved us while we were sinners mired in our unsaved state of condemnation.
Principle 2): Unconditional Forgiveness: What a joy to realize that we are blessed with 360 degree eternal forgiveness! Jesus forgives all my sins, past present and future. The blood of Jesus protects and cleanses us and quiets the voices of fear, guilt, condemnation, shame, and doubt emanating from our flesh and the demonic realm. Jesus is tearing down the walls and identifying all the sources of unforgiveness. Take comfort, as Jesus is our advocate, lawyer, and redeemer!
Principle 3): Amazing Grace: Grace is God’s love in action. It involves all elements of the trinity, and is most fully developed in the New Testament redemptive covenant of complete forgiveness of sins. Remember that grace covers every failure, sin and weakness. Grace is the foundation for abundant living. Ponder the formula that ongoing weakness + God’s grace = Abundant Life. Embracing grace is one of the most powerful forms of belief and faith. It is a sin of pride to reject God’s grace. We must humbly accept this great gift and apply it liberally to our wounds, sins, temptations and weaknesses. The Holy Spirit is the comforter, teacher counselor, and provider of grace. God’s grace is always with us and we must build our homes upon its rock solid foundation. Grace softens and purifies the motives of our heart freeing us from the bondage of legalism and a spirit of works. When we desire to earn a reward from God, it is very easy for Satan to transform our motives into a “works spirit” that becomes a cruel taskmaster given the need to perform and accomplish instead of simply being in relationship. Grace meets us where we are at, and we do not need to be “cleaned up” as the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) clearly illustrates when the father runs towards the distantly viewed son and then joyously hugs and embraces his pathetically downtrodden and sin-stained child.
Principle 4): God is Patient: God is never frustrated or angered in human emotional terms. He is patient whether I obey or not, act or not, agree or not, and this takes away the burden of legalistically having to please God. We don’t have to change all at once, only God can provide instantaneous transformation, and in most cases it is contrary to His will to “zap” us given that we need gradual transformation to build character, faith, patience and empathy. These attributes are the foundation of a ministry of healing that God creates with our tears and scars. The comfort we are given, we give to others. Don’t despise the day of small beginnings and remember that the Lord will not let us be tempted and tested beyond our ability to bear.
Principle 5): God is Responsible for the Increase: God, not our efforts or talent, is responsible for the fruit, the healing and the change, both within us and with others. This reduces the pressure to “perform” and reinforces the power of Godly excellence which entails embracing obedience, humility and character growth. This assurance enables us to love others and ourselves in the appropriate fashion, with the combination of support/encouragement and necessary “tough love” accountability. We must always ask for the Lord’s power and guidance to base our motives on agape love which helps guard our heart from guilt, condemnation and manipulation.
Principle 6): God Will not Test Beyond Our Ability to Endure: Romans 8:28 clearly states that all things work out for the best for those who love God. This means that in all circumstances, the Lord will not test or tempt beyond our ability to bear the burden. This provides powerful reassurance that irrespective of how large and powerful the Goliaths and strongholds that we face, God’s power to protect is always greater! Another key element is to reject any form of comparison with others regarding the size or nature of our problems. God does not use a comparative standard in terms of the objective size or strength of our enemies or judge us on a relative standard of strength and courage. He is equally pleased with the “timid and fearful” who learns to trust God and face their fears of a mouse as He is with the brave warrior who is facing lions. Never despise the day of small beginnings!
Principle 7): Godly discipline is always for our benefit. God uses trials to discipline us, and His discipline bears pleasant fruit when we humble ourselves and surrender our will. Every thought has the power of life and death, and Satan attempts to influence our thinking to plant seeds of doubt, unbelief and fear that impede God’s purpose. How do you hear the voice of Jesus? Even in those bible passages in which He voice anger and frustration, it was always done with a spirit of love as evidenced by His actions. He always forgave and moved on, He was patient with reoccurring failure, he never abandoned or rejected even when His beloved disciples fled, and He returned love and peace for failure and sin.
Principle 8): God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness: This is one of the most comforting but humbling lessons. Christians are victors and victorious, but this triumph is based upon a radically different definition of success and excellence than the secular world and culture utilizes. Victory and success in God’s eyes entails: 1) loving Him unconditionally, 2) obedience to His commands and will, 3) recognizing, confessing, repenting and renouncing our sins, 4) learning from our mistakes and failures, 5) learning to love, and 6) forgive and offer grace to others and ourselves. It is not an outcome based perspective. It is when we are weak and in a failed state that we most clearly recognize that our strength, victory and power comes from God. An attitude of humble strength acknowledges that all of our talents, gifts and abilities, all of our successes and accomplishments, our ability to focus, work hard and persist, all are gifts from God, hence we cannot boast. When we are successful, pride insidiously infects our ability to assign the appropriate locus of responsibility to God and redirects it to our character and “worthiness.” Failure is very effective at penetrating the defenses and placing us back on the correct path.
I pray that you will dedicate yourself being hearers and doers of the word, and that these principles will be a source of Godly blessing and encouragement.
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