THE CHILDREN’S BREAD
– Weekly devotional –
6th. February 2023
SCRIPTURE
“‘He answered, “In a vision, I saw Israelite soldiers walking around in the hills like sheep without a shepherd to guide them. The LORD said, ‘This army has no leader. They should go home and not fight.'”
1 Kings 22:17, Contemporary English Version.
Child of God, in as much as the Bible portion, which I am using as a reference, if explained in context would mean, that their king was dead. Nonetheless, let us call to mind, that even before He died, he had lost his mind, and was not the kind of leader, that the children of God, should have followed till the bitter end, since he rebelled against God Almighty, and refused to follow the truth as it relates to the word of God concerning him and the battle he engaged in, thus, it is still fit for this week’s devotional.
Finding a good or godly leader in our time is almost like finding the most precious gem; It is very rear! That being the case, all the more grateful to God Almighty, we ought to be should HE bless us with one. A good leader is a person of integrity. They are people, who have the well-being of those, whom they are leading in their hearts. They make decisions, that are in alignment with their core values, one of which is being Just! He is a leader who loves what God loves, and who also hates what HE hates because he is a person, who is after God’s heart, and not after his own reputation, pocket and belly. That notwithstanding, it does not mean that as a good leader, he would not get to make mistakes every now and again, nor does it mean, that she would be flawless as no man is flawless! Nonetheless, He is a person, who is able to discern when he has gone off course, and is always able to know when to retract his steps, repent, apologize if there is a need for it, and also call a spade a spade concerning whatever it is, that needs to be done for a godly course.
Child of God, I tell you the truth, that it is a blessing to have a good, compassionate and honest leader in a home, the church, in any company, and nation. This is always confirmed, whenever power changes hands in any place, be it in the family, church, community, city, or nation as you would begin to see the good in people manifesting to weaken, expose or destroy the works of darkness or evil in places. While on the other hand, as it relates to power changing hands to evil leaders, what we may begin to witness to some extent in the natural world is, that the evil which has been hiding in people, would begin to gain platforms to express and manifest themselves, in order to empower satanic presence in places. Let us remember the case of the Israelites, when they were enslaved in Egypt, and how the Pharaoh, that did not know Joseph came into power, which implies, that this particular Pharoah or Egyptian leader, neither had any form of respect for the accomplishments of Joseph for Egypt, nor did he have love for his people because of him. The bible records how he began to strategize on how to make them suffer all the more as he only had his eyes on himself, and on those whom he regarded as his own people.
The bible tells us that when the blind leads the blind, they will all fall into the ditch, thus, a Godly leader is one who is not blind, but can see! He is not deaf, but can hear. He is not heartless, but is compassionate. He is not arrogant, neither is he a scoundrel, nor a wolf. Think about how true the above sentence is as the Pharaoh, who later came to power with a heart of wickedness against those who were already disadvantaged in his land, caused his whole nation a great loss, and humiliation, such, that will never be erased till the end of the age! He destroyed the same economy, that they so much took pride in. He caused the death of so many of his own people. He caused their enemies to use them as a proverb; He brought shame to Egypt!
Now, child of God, a Pharaoh is not only a foolish, angry, hateful, vengeful, and relentless evil leader of a nation, who is only against those within his nation, who he considers as foreign, but also anyone, who is an evil leader in a home, family, community, church, company, state, or nation, exhibiting the same evil traits as the once evil leader of Egypt, even against those, who are considered as his own people!
Child of God, some time ago, some colleagues and I, were having a cordial conversation at work, during lunch time with our boss, and as it is in every discussion, a topic led to another. To cut long story short, through this discussion, I was able to understand how he sees life and those who work under him, which made me conclude, that he should be a good human being, faithful husband, father, and a leader. Why do I assume that He is a faithful husband? It is because he never fails to casually mention his wife in every conversation he has with us, which is what every married man should always do. From the perspective of a child of God, just for learning purposes, I have been observing him long enough to be able to conclude that since he has been consistent with that particular character, and this is evident as not once to my hearing, or even as a rumor has anyone, said anything bad about him, although, rumors are not always evidence of guilt, and the lack of it also not evidence of innocence. On the contrary, everyone truly likes, and respects him- Everyone! This does not mean that in other areas of his life, that he would be equally as good, but it says a lot about his heart, and who he is; Someone, who need not be ashamed of himself as a leader of a company that is thriving. What he has are very important virtues, which every decent human being must have, regardless of your religion, tradition, culture, gender, tribe, race, and social status- Compassion and integrity!
It is never the will of God Almighty for His children to follow the leading of a foolish leader because the consequences would always be very disastrous for His children, who are in most cases, dependent on their leader, believing that he is there to help lead them into victory over Satan and his cohorts as opposed to leading them into visible and invisible destruction. Too many people are under the leadership of thieves, robbers, slave-masters/ mistresses, unjust leaders, competitive, jealous, wicked, and godless leaders, consequently, are constantly being led astray.
Many people find themselves under the leadership of those who cannot tell right from wrong, yet, because of ungodly traditions, culture, religion, etc., they are taught to sit under them, and become more foolish, otherwise, risk being called rebellious, disrespectful, and un-submissive!
When-ever there is godly leadership in a place, people get lifted out of sorrow, and the atmosphere would always have another touch; There is joy un-explainable within that space, even in a case where the conditions are not very favorable, but wherever you have an ungodly leadership, even if the conditions are perfect, and things seems to be flourishing, you are bound to see people in permanent agony, unhappy, hateful, harassed, oppressed, enslaved, envious, bitter, etc., this is nonetheless true, even if they do not express it, or you do not seem to feel or see it!
A GOOD LEADER LIVES BY EXAMPLE: Your life must be an example for others to emulate, and not otherwise. If your leader is a certified thief, child of God, I tell you the truth, it is only a matter of time, till you become a glorified thief! The only thing, that would save you from ending up like that while you remain under, or with such a leader, is either, if you have truly found favor in the sight of God Almighty, Who is the only good Shepherd, thus, HIS divine intervention, like in the case of Esther. Another way you are able to escape such a disastrous ending if you are saved, but do not have the Esther-anointing, or where you are not yet saved, is if you pull the Vashti-stunt, and zap before that set day comes, when the mantle and baton of the next glorified thief and robber would be handed over to you- Selah.
HUMILITY: A good leader must be in the position to OPENLY admit his error, to ask for forgiveness, and to commit himself to being better, and doing better. On the contrary, an evil leader, will rather seek for a way to further deceive people, by trying to go into deeper deception in his efforts to cover up his wrong, thereby, instead of him living from grace to grace, he ends up living from deception to deeper deception, regardless of who, and what he purports to represent before people, thus, darkness rules within him, around him, and through him- May God Almighty, help us all in the most merciful name of Jesus Christ, amen!!!
CONSIDERATE & COMPASSIONATE: A good leader is one, who puts everyone, that is under his leadership into consideration before making any critical and lives’-changing decision, as a result, he cannot be a racist, tribalist, anti-Semitic, hate you because of your religion, or even because of your sexual orientation, etc. Now, having said that, it does not mean, that he should not have stronger emotional bonds with his own people, his own religion, or his core- convictions, BUT he is required to be fair/ JUST in his dealings with all those who he is leading, or who are under his authority.
PRAYER
Father God Almighty, help me to be Your faithful steward; A just and godly leader, to always guide Your Children into victory for Your glory and our good.
Holy and mighty Father, protect and bless me, while You use me to lead them to the right part.
Thank You good and perfect Father, in the most compassionate name of our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Child of God, be happy and stay blessed
Jesus loves you!
Sister Susan!