Tag: Present

Choose the Right God

Yes, that is correct. One must choose the right God. There are a lot of gods out there that we tend to lean to, but there is only one God. James MacDonald indicates, “When someone tells you he believes in God, as him to clarify which God he believes in.” This will allow them the opportunity to not only give you there belief, but also give them a chance to reflect for themselves which God they choose.

MacDonald, in the study I am doing, gives 4 “fake gods” that we tend to believe in. The gruff God, the game God, the guessing God, and the genie God. Each of them we attribute to God Himself and as such are skewed by who God really is.

The gruff God is the one that is always irritable and in a bad mood. I will say that I am currently in a season of being this way personally, but God is not gruff. He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil and is merciful.

“35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” – Luke 6:35-36 (ESV)

The game God is the one that is playing games with you. He is hiding from you. It may seem as thought He is this way, leading you a certain way only to bring you hardship on you way. But God is not here to trick you. He is here to lead you in the righteous way through teaching and experiencing.

“16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

Then there is the guessing God. This is the God that would seem to change with the wind and keep you off balance, not knowing which way to go. But God does not change and there are no variations of Him. He is the same today as yesterday and will be the same tomorrow.

“6For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” – Malachi 3:6 (ESV)

“17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:17 (ESV)

The genie God is the one who we take out when we need Him. We find ourselves with a need of some kind and take Him out so that He will grant us a wish and then put Him away for next time. The thing is that God is with us always and provides for our needs and He is there when we need Him most, likely doing all of the heavy lifting for us. See the end of the poem by disputed authors “Footprints in the Sand” to see where God is.

“The Lord replied, ‘The times when you have seen only one set

of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.’” – disputed authorship

I choose God. Not a conditional God. I choose God with the greatest of all descriptors, Love. God is love and that is the only God I need, and frankly the only God that matters.

“8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” – 1 John 4:8-9 (ESV)

Which God do you choose? Are you even aware that we may find ourselves believing in a fake God? What if you were to believe in the kind, merciful, teaching, unchanging, always present, loving God?

Communicate the Vision, How and What

In my continued study of leadership, and right now spiritual leadership, I have found as noted that the role of the spiritual leader is to communicate the revelation of God. Remembering that vision of the spiritual leader is not his own, but that which is received from the LORD as pertains to His agenda. The next thing to think of is how and what exactly to communicate.

Let’s start with how. In short, communicating the vision, rather revelation of the LORD should be done continually. Think of the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind”. Whereas I am not sure who said it originally, it is very fitting as relates to the vision of any organization, including the church. Too often, a vision is created, stated, and placed on the wall somewhere. For a brief time, there is a laser on the vision (really just because it is new) and then it fades and becomes another forgotten trend of the moment. Those that have staying power and are remembered and worked are those that are mentioned continually. At The Bridge Fellowship (our church), the vision is stated at every service and any time the work of the church is mentioned.

Now, what is it that is communicated. Well, to start with, the words should be stated. It is important for the people to know the words as they do have meaning. And then, once the words are stated, the history, present, and future should be related to the words.

Start with what has been accomplished in the past. Communicate stories of what the organization has done relating to the vision. Pronounce to the organization the wins of yesterday to get us to today. Next, speak of what is being accomplished today. When it comes to the vision and the organization, what is being done right now to live out and work toward that which is found in the vision. And then, show what the future would look like as the vision continues to be accomplished. What does tomorrow’s success present as wins.

Communication of the vision of God is our role, and now we see that there is a method to that communication and not just that it is announced. How and what to communicate present the vision in a way that it is shown to be alive and will remain alive when we are working toward it for the benefit of the Lord. Remember the new definition of spiritual leadership from Henry and Richard Blackaby:

“Spiritual leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda.”

We get there by receiving God’s vision and communicating that vision continually and through stories of the past, present, and future.

How and what are you communicating the vision the LORD has revealed? Are you mentioning it once and then expecting it to find root and grow? What if you were continually speaking the vision and calling our the wins of the past, present, and future to demonstrate how it is alive?