My friend, let me encourage you with two words: Don’t quit. If God has called you to your position of leadership, He will also train you to be successful. I really believe the principles I share in my book will help you, and I hope you will pick up a copy soon.
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.
Faultless
To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)
I would rather turn to the blessings of which Jude speaks. He seems to ascribe in this doxology three blessings, at least, to the power of the Lord Jesus. The first is the ability to keep you from stumbling, and for this, I am sure, the highest praise is due when you consider for a moment the dangerous way. In some respects, the path to heaven is very safe. It is so as God made it. But in other respects, there is no road as dangerous as the road to eternal life. It is beset with difficulties. … One false step (and how easy it is to take that if divine grace is absent), and down we go! …
Only Christ has the power to take us into heaven. … Christ preserves His people though they have offended God and daily provoke His justice. And He does more, for He presents them to the King of kings in the high court of heaven itself! …
We proceed to notice the condition in which the saints are to be when presented—they are to be faultless—for our Lord never stops short of perfection in His work of love. … Our Savior will carry His people through this life, safe from falling, and He will present them, how?—faultless! … The righteousness of Jesus Christ will make the saint who wears it so fair that he will be positively faultless! Yes, perfect in the sight of God!
From Christians Kept In Time And Glorified In Eternity
Reading these stirring words from Charles Spurgeon, I cannot help but recall the equally stirring lyrics of this Edward Mote hymn:
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My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart (Proverbs 3:1).
A better translation of this verse would be like this: My son, keep on not forgetting my teaching, but keep on keeping my commands in your heart.
Or, as Jesus said it, “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17).
Always workING.
It’s a continuous action. We don’t make a one-time commitment and then coast through the rest of our life. To help us with this, in the third chapter of Proverbs, Solomon shows us God’s blessings on an “ING” lifestyle. That is, the blessings on the right kinds of “ING.”
If I am keepING God’s commands, He is prolongING my life and bringING me peace (vv. 1, 2).
If I am bindING love and faithfulness to my heart, I am winnING favor and a good name (vv. 3, 4).
If I am trustING God and leanING on His wisdom, He is directING me onto the best paths (vv. 5, 6).
If I am fearING God and shunnING evil, He is bringING health to me (vv. 7, 8).
If I am honorING God with my firstfruits, He is continually fillING me to overflowing (vv. 9, 10).
If I am not despisING God’s discipline, I am findING wisdom and gainING understanding (vv. 11-18).
If I am preservING sound judgment and discretion, I am walkING in safety, sleepING sweetly, and experiencING no fear (vv. 19-26).
If I am not withholdING good from those in need, not plottING harm against others, not accusING nor envyING my neighbor, then God is blessING my home, showING me favor, and making sure I am inheritING honor (vv. 27-35).
The apostle Paul reminds us, “So let’s not get tired of doING what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up” (Galatians 6:9).
most people don’t think this leadership killer impacts them [0:30]
we share our personal experiences of leaders placing “me” in front of “we” [2:06]
here’s what this killer does to our teammates [2:58]
sharing is better than taking—this is a key part of an abundance mindset [3:53]
discontentment and low self-esteem lead to feelings of greed [5:14]
what squashes greed? what is our leadership builder? [5:20]
discontentment is the path of least resistance, so we have to choose to be contented leaders [6:43]
Greg shares a contentment lesson he learned while on a missions trip [9:11]
how the senior leader should address discontentment or greed in other team members [10:56]
leaders are the thermostat for their team [13:20]
where does work fit into the overall scheme of life? [14:14]
Greg gives us a leadership challenge to help us win the battle against greed [15:40]
Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.
On September 28, 2021, you can purchase the print version and the audiobook. But if you don’t want to wait any longer, the Kindle version is available now—just click here.
As I wrote in the Preface to Shepherd Leadership, “My prayer is that this book liberates you! I want to see all of us get back to the simple shepherding style of leadership that the Bible has portrayed for us, so that our ministries are healthy, energized, effective, sheep-producing, and God-glorifying.”
If you pick up a copy, I’d love for you to post a review on Amazon for me. Thank you!
My blog now has over 5300 posts (and growing!), and I wanted to find a way to make these posts more accessible to busy people. So this blog is now a podcast so you can listen while you’re on the go!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
My cousin Dick Brogden wrote in his book Missionary God, Missionary Bible, “Since good news must often indeed rectify bad news, the gospel message is both warning and invitation.” This is so appropriate when reading the prophet Zephaniah: He wanted to share some really, really good news, but first, he must make us confront the really bad news.
Zephaniah prophesied near the end of Judah’s decline toward exile. He saw the great revival in King Josiah’s day, and then watched his fellow Israelites once again turn their backs on God. If Jeremiah spoke to faithless Israelites, and Habakkuk spoke to faithful Israelites, then Zephaniah spoke to fake Israelites—those who appeared to be religious, but whose hearts were not actually devoted to God.
This whole book looks backward in history and forward to soon-to-be-fulfilled prophecy. Most of the time when God speaks, He is asking us to look forward to what is unavoidably coming. Zephaniah then takes God’s words as a call for us to apply them to our lives today.
In the first chapter, God’s forward-look is a warning of the judgment that most assuredly is coming. Built into His warning are two backward looks to the law of Deuteronomy (vv. 13 and 15 look back to Deuteronomy 28:29-30).
Zephaniah uses this warning as a wake-up call for us, telling us to “seek the Lord” and “seek righteousness, seek humility” before the day of God’s judgment comes (2:1-3).
The fact that God’s judgment would fall on godless people shouldn’t surprise anyone (2:4-15), but when Zephaniah says, “Woe to the city of oppressors” (3:1), he’s talking to the people of Judah! Zephaniah addresses his warning to the fake Israelites, the hypocritical people—those claiming God’s name but not God’s nature.
The apostle Paul sounds a similar warning to New Testament Christians:
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.’ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test Christ,as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (1 Corinthians 10:6-14)
The really bad news is ALL of us have sinned and we have ALL fallen short of God’s righteous standard. As a result, ALL of us would stand guilty before God on Judgment Day.
But the really, really good news is that Jesus allowed our penalty to fall on Him instead! So if we put our faith in Jesus, God’s judgment will be appeased in Christ instead of on us!
Christians, then, take the name of Jesus Christ, but we need to make sure we also take His nature.Fake—hypocritical—Christians are those who are “Christian” in name only.
I like the way Eugene Peterson paraphrased part of the 1 Corinthians passage above—These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence. (The Message)
As we read those words, “So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall,” I’d like to suggest four action steps:
Hear the Word of God to YOU—not your neighbor—but you personally.
After you hear the Word, examine yourself to see if you are truly living in God’s nature and not just using His name.
Respond like King Josiah did when he heard God’s Word: He made a public commitment “to follow the Lord and keep His commands, statutes and decrees with ALL his heart and ALL his soul” (2 Kings 23:3).
Stay diligent—Hebrews 2:1 tells us, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Don’t delay—the Day of the Lord is closer today than it’s ever been before! Pay attention to the really bad news that Judgment Day is coming, but then make certain you are standing in the nature of Jesus Christ on that day so that God’s judgment will pass over you.
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.
Secure Forever
Our first parent, Adam, lived in the midst of happiness and peace in the garden. Unlike ourselves he had no depravity, no bias toward evil. God made him upright. He was perfectly pure, and it was in his own will whether he should sin or not. The balance hung evenly in his hands.
But have you forgotten how on that sad day he took of the forbidden fruit and ate and thereby cursed himself and all of us! … When you recollect the paradise he left, the happiness and peace that have forever passed away through his sin, do you not hear the voice that says to you, as a depraved and fallen creature, ‘Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall’ (1 Corinthians 10:12)? Conscious of your own weakness as compared with your parent Adam, you are ready to cry out, ‘O my God, how can I stand where Adam falls?’
But here comes the joyous thought that Christ, who has begun with you, will never cease till He has perfected you! Can you help singing with Jude, ‘Now to Him who is able to keep us from stumbling’?”
From Christians Kept In Time And Glorified In Eternity
When the devil says, “Your most recent sin made your salvation iffy,” you remind him what God says: “The strong love of My Son will hold you secure forever!”
To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Craig T. Owens 