The Daniel Fast

The Rainbow Pen!

 

Influence by Serving People

 

 

Believe me, the time is coming when you won’t worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem... But a time is coming, and it is already here! Even now the true worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the Father according to the truth. These are the ones the Father is seeking to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the Spirit to worship him according to the truth. (John 4:21-24 NLT).

 

Your serving others is worship. Leadership is service. Therefore your leading others is worshiping God. A leader is a person who knows what to do and who knows how to get those under them to do what has to be done for individual goals and the higher goals of the system that pull them together. They achieve personal and group set goals by making people do what has to be done. A situation in which everyone would be free to do whatever was right in their own eyes will be nothing less than confused. There would be no focus, no common goal or progress, and there would be complete anarchy. This is because when everyone is a leader to themselves, we all lose restraint. No society can survive long without leaders and no community can endure a vacuum of leadership. This is why it is very relevant to talk of leaders and leadership as part of influencing people. Effective leadership is rendering services and not being served. It is being humble and not ordering people around. Leading in Christ's way isn't just telling people what to do, or playing power games. Christ teaches a much different type of leadership than the kind that we are used to. It is serving the people that we lead. Making sure that they are taken care of, happy, and that they have opportunities to grow. Some disciples desired positions of authority and power in the coming Kingdom when Jesus came into his glory. The disciples argued among themselves about who was the greatest.

 

They did not know what they were asking - they were spiritually undiscerning about what was to happen. Jesus put them right. He said it was not up to him to grant this request and that these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by the Father in Heaven. Jesus had to explain to them all, that the value structures of this world are meaningless in the eyes of God. And that those who are regarded as world rulers lord it over their people, and their high officials exercise authority over the people. Not so with those who are His disciples. Instead, whoever wants to be first must be servant of all. For even Christ did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. The requirements for effective influence and leadership are different today from those of the past. Today successful leaders utilize meaning and purpose rather than physical structures and organizations. They prefer emotional and mental aptitudes to financial and technical expertise. Modern successful leaders work by collaboration rather than control of others. You need human capital, not financial capital, to effectively lead people in the 21st Century. This century leaders are engaged in developing leaders rather than developing followers or down lines. They lead through networking rather than managing by hierarchy. They succeed by emotional intelligence rather than economic competence.

 

Leadership is that process by which leaders devote themselves to influencing the people under them in order to accomplish an agenda and set-goals for their progress. You're bigger than anything that can happen to you. You're more important than any of your problems. Be a channel of divine grace to other people. Don't get caught up in how right you are. Look at everything through the eyes of perfect love, perfect choice, like Christ Jesus. It's the filter for your words, attitudes, and actions. Treat other people in a certain way, kind and gentle. Great things are accomplished when you believe that what's inside of you is superior to your circumstances. What you've outside of you counts less than what is inside you.  Reality is something you rise above. You don't always have to be right or win every argument. Your openness and flexibility will impress people and may give you an opportunity to share your beliefs and values with them. You need to communicate love. The tone and tenor of your words to the people in your life are an expression of divine love. Love people as God loves you. And know when to be tender in withholding judgment or condemnation. When you agree with something, you're fitting it into what you already think you know. You are fitting it into your consciousness or awareness! When you disagree with something, you're rejecting that which is outside of what you think you already know.

 

Your heart isn't a good judge of what is right and what is not. Your heart is really the sum of what you've gotten comfortable with in the past. So you're not going to be very comfortable most of the time, as it is the Holy Spirit's job to help you see past what you've thought and believed. That is what makes your heart of flesh or hard. The hard heart doesn't want anything new, even a good experience. You can begin acting successfully at any moment. Cultivate appropriate habits and practice them daily and consistently. You'll begin to gain actual skills in creating the world you wish to live in. Stick with the Holy Spirit to help you. This is taking 100% responsibility for your life on Earth! It’s up to you. You can do it! God gives everyone the same amount of capital or time each morning for investment or consumption. We each receive 24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86400 seconds daily. You put value on this vehicle! You decide how much of this time you’ll spend serving others and creating ideas that help people. It will be a very vital part of your lifestyle. God will surely honor you and give you a blessing. Insist on being good. Try doing some good for yourself and family, friends and humankind always. As we go forward in our responsibilities today, let's allow others to be honored. Let's do all that we can for people that look to us for guidance.  Let's work on our humility, and praise others for their efforts rather than taking all the credit. Let's follow Christ in His example of servant-leadership.