Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #4 Jesus was Constantly Celebrating

He turned water to wine. He He was constantly invited to dinner parties at peoples homes. When crowds gathered, Jesus was adamant that nobody leave with an empty stomach. Many of his parables/illustrations centered around parties and celebrations. The night before He was crucified, He invited His guys to gather to sing songs and dine. When He returned after His resurrection, He threw a big fish-fry on the beach... Jesus was all about celebrating!

Jesus understood His purpose and recognized His blessings.

It is so easy as leaders to get caught up in all the negative that surrounds us, to let the pressure of our positions steal our joy. Jesus would probably tell us to lighten up.

As leaders we have to constantly celebrate our wins, always seeing the small things that deserve big celebrations!

Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #3 Jesus Stayed in Constant Contact with the Father

We all answer to someone! As leaders (especially spiritual leaders) we all answer to The Father for how we use our gift of leadership.

As a matter of fact, our problems begin as leaders when we fail to submit to The Father who has total authority over us.

Jesus knew who His boss was and He was quick to communicate with Him regularly. It is as if Jesus had a window straight to The Father that he could open at any time and speak directly to The Father.

As leaders there are a few things we need to do to keep in constant contact regularly...

#1 - Seek to please God first.
Don't let the temptation of people pleasing, or worse, self pleasing to come before God pleasing.

#2 - Pray.
Jesus was God! Yet time and time again he went to The Father in prayer asking for guidance. If Jesus needed prayer time with The Father... well... it goes without saying that we probably do to!

#3 - Listen.
Open up your ears, eyes and most importantly your heart and hear what God is saying to you. God has many ways of showing us what His will is for our lives and our leadership. If we are seeking Him we will have no trouble hearing Him. If you are seeking an answer but God seems to be silent... then wait! God will reveal His will to you in His Time. Stay in The Word, Pray, and listen!

Make sure your leadership is ruled by windows and not mirrors.

Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #2 Jesus Said "Thank You"

⁴¹ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” -John 11:41-42

Think about the above verse... Just before Jesus commands Lazarus to rise from death, Jesus stops and thanks The Father for hearing Him. This is just one verse out of many where we see the thankful heart of Jesus, but it is important to see that Jesus was a thankful man.

Gratitude is a key element to the success of leaders. How can we truly lead without being grateful? Grateful to those who follow our leadership, grateful to those who challenge our leadership and make us sharper, grateful to God who places us in positions of leadership.

Before I ask something of someone I am privy to lead, I pray that I have first conveyed to them and to God how thankful I am that God has put them in my life.

I pray that I can follow the example of Jesus and be a grateful leader that is full of thankfulness and gratitude.

Pastor Nathan

Lessons on Leadership from Jesus - #1 Do hard things

As a leader, it is so easy to just take the easy route. Just like anything else, we want to follow the path of least resistance. This is something that I have to fight against every day.

But when I look at the example Jesus left me as a leader, I see something very different...

He did the hard things!

Jesus was focused to the point of tunnel vision on accomplishing His mission in this world. I, for one, am glad that Jesus didn't base His ministry on opinion polls and popularity contests.

Doing the hard things simply means that we don't let things like public opinion, a little sweat, or a little extra effort keep us from doing what our gut, spirit, and instinct (God's leading) is telling us to do.

I love that Jesus was willing to stand alone to accomplish His Fathers will. He "set His face towards Jerusalem" knowing His death would be the consequence.

We as leaders must have more than vision and communications skills... we must also have resolve!

Jesus did the hard things!

Are you willing to do the hard things? Even if it means standing alone?