Read 2 Samuel 24:16-17 16 When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the LORD was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the LORD was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”
I have a friend who heads a Christian organization that has gone through some very difficult times lately. Some of his staff made some poor decisions that led to the crisis that they are experiencing. But my friend refuses to place the blame on anyone except himself. I deeply respect him because, as the leader, he owns up to the responsibility of that position.
Leadership is not about status and position. It’s all about responsibility. Everybody wants to be in charge until there is a mess to be cleaned up. We might say, “Hey, I want the job. Why? I’ll get invitation to do this; my name will be mentioned here. I’m the one touted as being most significant to the running of this whole thing.” Everyone wants the job until there is a major mess to be cleaned up. Then all of a sudden no matter who caused the mess we point to the leader and say, “He’s the guy who is in charge.” Rightly so because in a very practical sense it comes down to this - a leader’s mettle is that person’s ability to take the heat.
That’s why I’m drawn to 2 Samuel 24:17. David was a true leader. David blew it. He made a mistake. He did something wrong and the people were paying for it. David stepped in and said, “I’m not looking for someone to take the heat. I did it. I’m responsible.” Those are refreshing words these days. Nobody wants to own the responsibility but we all want to take the credit. For good or bad what a leader does affects the well-being of his followers. We have to be willing to accept the blessings and the burdens. In other words we need to take responsibility and to own what belongs to that position. That’s why a person should never be given a position of leadership until there has been proven character.
Don’t allow others to pay for what you have done. You have been placed in leadership because you are responsible. Take the responsibility.
-Crawford W. Loritts-
Responding - Do I take responsibility for my mistakes or do I let others take the fall?
Following - Leadership is not about status and position but it’s all about resposibility.
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Read 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Spiritual battles are being waged in the believers’ lives but few are prepared to deal with them. Obstacles are keeping us from having more intimacy with God, but we are in the dark about how to recognize and conquer these spiritual strongholds.
What’s a stronghold? It’s anything that exalts itself in our minds, pretending to be bigger or more powerful than God. It steals our focus and makes us feel overpowered and controlled. Whether a stronghold is an addiction or despair over a loss, it’s something that consumes so much of our emotional and mental energy that abundant life is strangled - our callings remain unfulfilled and our lives are virtually ineffective. These are our enemy’s precise goals.
Where is the battlefield? In any warfare waged by the enemy against the individual believer, the primary battlefield is the mind. The goal of our warfare as stated in 2 Corinthians 10:5 is to steal back our thought life and take it captive to Christ instead. The enemy’s chief target is the mind, because the most effective way to influence behavior is to influence thinking. Our minds are the control centers of our beings. The enemy knows that nothing is bigger or more powerful than God. That’s why everything that “exalts itself” in our thought life is called a pretension. Satan is a pretender. He can only pretend because he lost all the rights to presume authority over the believer’s life when Christ “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:15). Unfortunately, Satan is good at convincing us to believe his pretensions.
But we can be sure of this: Nothing is bigger or more powerful than God! The weapons described in 2 Corinthians have divine power to help us take our thoughts captive to Christ - help us to downsize anything that has a hold on us until we have, in effect, commanded it to bend to the authority of Christ. Spirit-led prayer and God’s Word are our most effective weapons to demolish spiritual strongholds.
-Beth Moore-
Responding - What spiritual battle is being waged in my soul? With what spiritual strongholds have I battled in the past?
Following - Protect your mind: Pray and read the Word.
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Read Matthew 16:13-17 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
Ever feel like you’re up against a situation that you can’t deal with and there’s no one to help? From kindergarten through eighth grade I attended a small Christian school. My dad was a well-known pastor in the area which meant that I was the big man on campus. I had it made - at least until the day I graduated from that school and entered a nearby public high school. There, nobody knew me or my dad, and nobody cared. Suddenly I wasn’t a big shot anymore. What’s worse, I became victim to a guy named Ronnie who decided to prove his emerging manhood on me. Whenever I passed him in the hall, he would shove and taunt me. I was traumatized. Every day at school I was filled with anxiety and fear because of Ronnie. I needed somebody to help me. I pleaded with friends who knew Ronnie to ask him to stop, but they never did. I was all alone in my problem, and I needed a champion.
In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people were up against the oppressive regime of Rome, where they lived with the shame of being an oft-despised minority under the burden of hefty taxes. They desperately needed someone to champion their cause. Could it be that Jesus was the long-awaited deliverer? Peter came up with the right answer when he declared Jesus as “the Christ” - the “Messiah” who would deliver them from the oppression they had endured for so long. Against the backdrop of Caesar-worship and rampant peganism in Caesarea Philippi, the disciples pinned their hopes on Jesus.
What Peter didn’t know was that Jesus would be their champion on a far more significant level than Rome’s oppression. He came to conquer the source of our problems, not the symptoms. He opposed Satan, engaged in battle on an old rugged cross with blood-stained timbers, to bring ultimate defeat to the enemy of our souls.
That’s the kind of champion we really need. Next time you find yourself up against the wall of despair - whether it’s a relationship that has hit the rocks or a career that has taken a nosedive - claim Jesus as your champion. You may be cast down, but you are never forsaken.
-Joe Stowell-
Responding - How would I answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?”
Following - Claim Jesus as the champion of your soul.
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Read Ephesians 6:1-20 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” — which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Early one morning, I was trying to get some extra sleep, but the light peeking through the blinds was just too bright. It became impossible to ignore, so I got up, tried to adjust the blinds and return to my slumber. It was futile. I was already awake. Instead of going back to bed, I threw open the blinds and let the sunlight flood the room.
While camping with my family one day, I thought back to that radiant light and its contrast to a dark world. It had been too late to secure a spot at the state park, so we ended up at a private campground. The other campers seemed pleasant and friendly in the light of day, but as night grew darker we quickly discovered that we had pitched our tent in the middle of a party zone. The drinking, drugs, and foul language continued well pass midnight. We called security several times, with no success. Unable to pack up in the dark, we decided to stay until morning. With dawn approaching, those who had been loud and bold in the darkness retreated to their tents.
The next morning as we packed, I was tired and angry. But I was uncertain about the object of my anger. I hadn’t even seen the faces of those who had offended me. The trip seemed to be a disaster, but God used that foiled weekend to show me a scriptural truth: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). My heart was moved, acknowledging that the only remedy for a dark world is the light of Jesus. It would have been pointless for me to show anger or bitterness to those who had caused us to lose sleep. Their behavior had been prompted by the evil one who had spiritual darkened their hearts and eyes. So, instead of asking why people behaved so wrongly, my question became: How am I reflecting God’s light to them?
We can try to adjust the blinds or retreat to our tents, but hopefully, light will seep through - not allowing us to rest in our complacency. Let’s rise, throw open the blinds, and permit His rays to shine in every corner of our lives. And may we courageously reflect that light to a lost world.
-Rebecca Faulkner-
Responding - Do I reflect God’s light at my workplace / school?
Following - Be bold to resist evil.
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Read 1 Peter 2:15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
We are natural-born rebels. We also have a built-in resistance to submission. Submission has a terrible reputation these days, so it’s hard to get even sincere people to consider it seriously. But when properly understood and applied, submission replaces the pain and strife of our natural rebellion and increases our joy.
Blessing and favor come to the person who lives in submission. Why? God’s will is “that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people” (1 Peter 2:15). Are you in a situation where you’re being unfairly treated? Do right and silence the ignorance of foolish men. That word silence actually means to muzzle. Do you know some people who should be muzzled? God is all for putting a muzzle on them but you have to know to get that done. It’s by doing right, trusting God, waiting upon Him, and living a life of biblical submission.
The choice between submission and rebellion affects every part of life. Think about this list of contrasts:
Protection — Danger
Submission — Rebellion
Humility — Pride
Love (”You before me”) — My rights
Waiting on God — Acting on my own
Trust and obey — Doubt and disobey
Submission to authority is like living under an umbrella. When we choose to submit, we put ourselves under God’s protection. That’s a wonderful place to live your life. Some bad things may be coming down, but submission is a covering. It’s your place of protection. The promises of God do not extend to you when you choose to live as a rebel. However, when you choose to live under the umbrella of God’s protection by submitting to His plan and doing what is right, all the promises and blessings of God are yours in abundance.
-James MacDonald-
Responding - Do I naturally tend to resist submitting? Why? What areas of my life could come under protection if I would just submit to God?
Following - Submission is your place of protection.
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