Are you building godly strongholds?

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Every thought that one receives, owns, relies on, defends and acts upon is a stronghold. The Greek word that we translate as stronghold (ochuroma) describes a castle, fortress, fastness; anything which one relies on; arguments and reasonings by which a disputant endeavours to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent.

Negative and positive strongholds

A stronghold is either negative or positive, a lie or truth. Whatever thought a person chooses to accept or receive, own or possess, rely or depend on, protect or defend and act upon is a stronghold in that person's life whether it is a lie or the truth.

Source of strongholds

Our thinking is formed by various sources of information. These include,

• Information from others (parents, friends, colleagues, media, literature, teachers, psychologists, etc.)
• Information derived from experience.
• Information derived from circumstances.
• Information from God.
• Information from Satan.

Whatever information we trust as the truth, we will accept, receive, own, rely on, defend and act on.

Deceptive assumptions

For example if a friend walks in the room and is unresponsive to you, you begin to think all sorts of things and have to choose what you think is true. If you choose to believe that the friend is upset with you, you accept that as the truth, you receive it, own it, depend on it and eventually defend it. Consequently this belief or assumption is the truth for you until disproved. However, every subsequent information or observed behaviour will be used to justify the belief and thus strengthen the stronghold. If the stronghold is further strengthened by faulty assumptions, you can become so convinced that you are right that even when the friend genuinely tries to convince you that he is not upset with you but had a headache, you still won't believe him. You have built a stronghold that you are now even defending! The initial information you received has been turned into a negative stronghold that is based on a lie - a false perception and subsequent false assumption strengthened to become a stronghold.

A battle of the mind

A battle is going on for our minds. Satan wants us to build ungodly strongholds whereas God wants us to build godly strongholds. Much of our thinking needs to be changed so that we live godly lives. That is why the apostle Paul urges believers to have their minds renewed in order to be Christ-like (Rom. 12:2).

Ungodly strongholds

Strongholds that are built on lies are ungodly fortresses that need to be torn down and replaced with the truth of God. Ungodly strongholds are exposed when we accept and receive the word of God as the truth. The writer to the Hebrews describes the word of God as "living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Heb. 4:12,13). In other words, the word of God exposes whether our thinking is in accordance with the truth or not.

Exposing lies

Ungodly thinking must be replaced by godly thinking before it becomes a stronghold that governs one's life. Paul says we must "take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ." The believer must keep his thinking in check and always identify negative thinking in the light of God's word. Failure to do so allows ungodly thinking to poison one's mind and establish itself as a fortress is one's life! That is why Peter says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith" (1  Peter 5:8,9). The lies of the enemy are presented to us as truth. Words that have been said to us by our parents, teachers, psychologists and the like are not always the truth! We must recognise that not all information presented to us is the truth! If we accept every bit of information offered to us, we are certain to build strongholds based on lies as well as on the truth. The only way to identify what is true and false is to trust the word of God as absolute truth, accept it, receive it, own it, depend on it and defend it. Only then can one expose ungodly information that is contrary to God's word.

Truth or counterfeit?

A friend of mine works for a bank and has the job of identifiying counterfeit money and training people to differentiate between true and false bank notes. He explained that in order to identify the counterfeit notes, one must study the authentic notes and know everything possible about them. Only then can one expose the counterfeit notes. Similarly the believer can only expose the lies of the enemy that are presented as truth by knowing the real truth - the word of God.

Building godly strongholds

In order to build godly strongholds so as to be Christ-like, I believe the following principles are necessary for every believer:

A desire to be Christ-like.

Unless you believe that God's will for your life is to be like Jesus, you won't work on changing the way you think. The word of God is clear that it is indeed God's will for every believer to live as Jesus did on earth and that every believer has been joined to Christ to be like Him and to do the work He did whilst on earth (see Rom. 8:29; John 14:9-12; 1 John 2:6; 1 Cor. 11:1). Christ-likeness is commanded for "it is written: 'be holy, because I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:16).

A recognition that there is the possibility of having ungodly strongholds in one's life!

It is a humbling thing to admit that not everything one has built one's life on is necessarily the truth! Opening oneself to God's correction is choosing to submit to Him and His word. God's thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8) and so God doesn't seek to improve the way we think but replace our thinking with His thoughts. We are transformed by the renewing of our thinking and not the improvement of our thinking!

A trust in God's word as absolute truth.

Unless you trust God's word as absolute truth you will struggle to submit to it and allow it to renew your thinking. God's word is not one among equals. It is absolute truth. It is an offense to the post-modern worldview that accepts everything as truth. You will be labelled as narrow-minded and as a fundamentalist. Belief in, and submission to God's word sets you apart from the world as you become the revelation of truth in the flesh (see John 17:17,18). The believer can only be holy as he or she lives God's Holy Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A renewing of the mind

A renewing of the mind will only come about as the believer accepts God's word as the truth, receives it, owns it, depends on it and defends it. The believer that truly allows God to renew his mind and build godly strongholds in his life will act accordingly. Living according to the truth is what sets us free from ungodly thinking and behaviour. Just hearing God's word will not renew our thinking. The believer must accept it, receive it, own it, rely on it, defend it and act on it before it becomes a transforming belief. Jesus says, "If you hold to my teaching...you will know the truth and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31,32). Belief without action is simply opinion or as James puts it, "Faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26).

How to build godly strongholds

Once the believer accepts the above principles s/he will be ready to receive the truth in order to break down ungodly strongholds and replace them with godly strongholds. I believe every disciple of Christ should be a student of the Word of God on a daily basis - not just to aquire knowledge about the Bible but to encounter God's transforming presence and power as s/he allows God to renew his/her thinking. God desires to reveal Himself to His children to renew them from glory to glory (see 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:16)! Christ is formed in us as we build godly strongholds. Here are some steps that have helped me live in Christ-likeness:

• Ask God to give you spiritual revelation, understanding, knowledge and wisdom before reading His word. The Holy Spirit reveals the deep things of God and will use God's word to expose and demolish ungodly strongholds (See 1 Cor. 2; John 16:14).

• Honour the word of God as absolute truth and read it with humility, allowing God to correct your thinking and build godly thinking (See 1 Thess. 2:13). Your attitude toward the word of God will determine how you receive it (see Matthew 13:1-23)!

• Read the word of God slowly and with understanding. The word of God is "living and active" and works in those who believe (Heb. 4:12; 1 Thess. 2:13). Read to gain understanding but also to receive revelation of God. Expect God to speak to you through His word.

• Pay attention to anything the Holy Spirit highlights as you read. As you read the Bible the Holy Spirit may show you something new or exciting or simply profound. When you notice something in particluar, write it down and meditate on it. God wants to impress His word on you. Let it dwell in you as you think about it, pray it and keep it in your heart.

• Take thoughts captive. When you read God's word and you realise that you think differently about God or yourself etc, confess the ungodly thought and replace it with God's truth. Reject the lie and receive the truth! For example, you may think that God doesn't love you because you believe the information your negative circumstances are shouting at you. When you read Romans 8:35-39 that tells you that "nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" you must choose to replace the ungodly thoughts with the truth. Having received the truth and replaced the lie, you must own the truth and make it yours. Then you can rely on that truth and defend it whenever the enemy tries to convince you otherwise!

• Meditate on and memorise the word of God! Reflecting on God's word is important for it to become part of you. Memorising scripture is helpful if you have spiritual understanding of the verse or verses. Simply having the scripture in your brain without understanding it is not much use. The word must move from your thinking to your heart, from your soul into your spirit.
• Act on the Truth! If you really trust God's word to be the truth you will be convinced that it is the truth. Consequently you will act on what you believe and are convinced about.When we don't act on God's word we don't really believe it is the truth. Obedience and submission to God's word are the evidence of genuine faith.

I encourage you to saturate yourself with the truth and to build godly strongholds as you accept, receive, own, rely on, defend and act on God's word. Then you will be a living epistle, set apart by the truth and living in Christ-likeness and freedom.

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Reconciled to Culture or Christ?

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sin against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 5:18-20

Jesus modelled the ministry of reconciliation

Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He entered the world in the form of a human to reach those who were separated from God in order to reconcile them to God.

Jesus not only came to provide a way for man to be reconciled to God but also modelled God's method of reaching the lost that I believe the Church in general has moved away from. Just as Jesus came to seek and save the Lost, the Church is called to go and seek and save the lost.

God's method to reach the Lost

Jesus came to seek!

God took the initiative! Jesus entered humanity's darkness (John 1:1-18; Hebrews 2:14-18). He did not wait for broken humanity to find Him. As the Light of the world, Jesus made His dwelling amongst imperfect humanity to draw mankind back into fellowship with God.

Just as the Father sent His Son into the world to reconcile man to Himself, so He sends His Body, the Church into the world to reconcile man to God. Just as Jesus came as the Light of the world, He sends the Church into darkness to be light (see Matthew 5:14).

Sadly the Church, for the most part, expects broken humanity to find its way to her meetings instead of her entering into the darkness.

Jesus came to reconcile man to God and not to a culture!

Jesus sought the Lost to reconcile man to God. He did not seek out the Lost to convert them to a christian culture! Christ's priority was to bring man back into fellowship with the Father and with other believers. The believer's christian culture (the way he responds to God with his life) becomes a barrier for the Lost when it is inauthentic, inconsistent and only reserved for church meetings. Christian culture becomes attractive and influential when it is the fruit of sincerity and an authentic relationship with God and other believers.

The moment the Christian has to adopt a form to be acceptable in the church, a cultural wall is erected that becomes a barrier to the unchurched! 

The reason many Christians are uncomfortable with inviting the Lost to their church meetings is that there is often a discrepancy between the way they are in the world and the way they are in their church meetings.

Authentic Christianity

The solution is not to force a different church culture that will be less offensive and more palatable for the Lost but to ensure that the church is authentic in her relationship with God and others, both in the church meetings as well as in the world! God is more concerned with the heart than with our christian culture (the form we choose to express our relationship with God).

When the Church strips herself of her man-made form she will be able to enter the darkness of broken humanity and be able to reconcile man to God.

The church that seeks to impose her form on broken humanity seeks to convert man to culture rather than to Christ!

Floyd McClung, in his book entitled "You see bones, I see an army," states,

"The church that does not carry a passion to reach the world isolates people behind walls of cultural irrelevance."

I believe the Church is called to be uncompromising in essence but flexible in form. That way the Church can be light in the darkness and be "all things to all men" (form) without compromising the Truth (essence).

I agree with McClung when he writes,

"The Spirit of God calls each generation to re-imagine church for their own context and culture, and to a fresh encounter with God to live the Gospel."

The Church must get rid of old wine skins - old ways of doing church and adopted christian culture, if she is to make room for new wine - revival and awakening as real believers connect with a real world with the real love of God.

The role of the Church is to enter the darkness to seek and reconcile broken humanity to its loving Creator so that believers can enjoy fellowship with God and one another (1 John 1:3)!

It is time for the Church to be revived and for the "grave clothes" to be removed so that she will "come out" (John 11:43) in newness of life to reconcile man to God. This is the ministry of reconciliation that has been entrusted to Christ's Body!

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Are you living in fullness of life?

Jesus said that He came "that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

In order to understand what He meant with fullness of life, I believe we need to go back to the creation account in Genesis.

The creation of Man

When God created Man, He created him in his image so that Man would be like God (Gen. 1:26). Being made in God's image meant that Man was originally godly.

God also created Man to do the work He purposed for man - to be fruitful and look after His creation (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:15).

Man was also created to live in fellowship with God and to walk with Him in unhindered intimacy (Gen. 2:25; 3:8-10).

God therefore created Man to be like Him, to do His work and to live in fellowship with Him.

The Fall

When Man disobeyed God, he became separated from God, causing him to no longer be like God, no longer walk in fellowship with God and no longer able to fulfill God's will for Man.

God's original plan and purpose for Man's life was interrupted. The fullness of life that God had breathed into Man to fulfill God's purpose for his existence was stolen, killed and destroyed by the enemy! Consequently Man became separated from God's life and could no longer fulfill God's original purpose for him.

God's Solution

God's solution was to restore mankind to divine life and God's purpose for Man by sending His Son. Jesus came to model fullness of life as well as to restore Man to fullness of life.

Jesus demonstrated a completely human life, filled with the life of God, the Holy Spirit. The Son of God laid aside His divine rights and self-sufficiency to demonstrate a human life in complete dependency on God (Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 3:14; Acts 10:38). Jesus always emphasised His complete dependency upon the Father to demonstrate how His followers were to live their lives (John 5:19,20; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10,31; 1 John 2:6).

Jesus, therefore lived in fullness of life - a life joined to God that revealed God's nature in true holiness and godliness (John 14:9); a life that revealed unhindered fellowship with God (John 14:11) and a life that demonstrated the work of God (John 4:34).

Man restored

As the last Adam, Christ not only came to demonstrate true humanity as God intended it but also paid the price to restore Man to God's life - fullness of life! What the enemy had stolen, killed and destroyed, Jesus returned, resurrected and rebuilt through His death, resurrection and complete victory over the enemy (Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:21,22, 45; Col. 2:9-15).

Through faith in Christ, the believer is no longer separated from God but is joined to Eternal Life - fullness of life (Eph. 4:18; 1 John 5:11,12,20). The believer is therefore given fullness of life in Christ (Eph. 1:3; 2:5; 2 Peter 1:3; 1 John 4:15).

Fullness of life

Those who are in Christ are called and empowered to live their lives in true godliness and holines as they reveal God's nature (Eph. 4:24; 1 Peter 1:15,16); live in unhindered fellowship with God (Eph. 2:18; 3:12; 1 John 1:3); and do the work of God in the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:10; John 14:12).

Those who are in Christ Jesus have been conformed to the image of God's Son so that they can live in fullness of life as God intended it for mankind (Rom. 8:29).

Glory to God for His indescribable Gift to us who believe and for fullness of life in Jesus Christ!

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Whose kingdom do you belong to?

Everyone belongs to a kingdom. The question is, "Whose kingdom do you belong to?"

A kingdom is made up of a king and that which he rules over. Those who belong to a kingdom are subject to their king and that which he commands. The kingdom each person belongs to is determined by who is king and who he obeys.

Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords even though not everything has surrendered to His rule and reign yet. In the letter to the Hebrews we read,

"In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him." Hebrews 2:8

3 Kingdoms

Every person belongs to a kingdom, whether it is a self-created kingdom, someone else's kingdom or Christ's Kingdom. A self-created kingdom has self on the throne and lives in a realm that is governed by self and does what self desires. The self-created kingdom lives according to self-created values, beliefs, and standards.

Who is king?

The moment a person responds to the offer of eternal life through Christ, the believer surrenders his life to Christ. In other words, the believer gets self off the throne and invites Christ to take His seat as King in his life. What was once ruled by self is now ruled by Christ (1 Peter 3:15). However, the believer only truly lives as a subject of Christ's Kingdom if he is living in obedience to his King!

Whose Kingdom?

Many Christians would say that Christ is King in their lives but their lives bear the fruit of their belonging to another kingdom!

Jesus confronted the religious leaders concerning this very issue in John 8. Jesus even went so far as to say that the Pharisees were of the devil because they did what the devil desires (John 8:44). The religious leaders had created a kingdom for themselves that operated according to self-created values, beliefs and standards. When Jesus exposed who was on the throne of their lives and whom they were subjecting themselves to, they took offense.

The revelation of God's Kingdom offends the self-created kingdom!

The religious leaders responded to the revelation of God's Kingdom by taking offense. They could have chosen to repent of living according to their own, self-created kingdom but they took offense and rebelled against God. They chose to disobey and live according to their own kingdom.

Daily surrender

Daily, every believer faces the choice between living according to the old, self-created kingdom or God's Kingdom. That is why Jesus tells His followers (His subjects) to take up the cross and deny themselves daily (Matthew 10:38).

When God reveals truth to the believer, the believer always has a choice to either believe and obey or disobey. Either we believe God and submit to our King's will or we disobey Him.

Excuses, excuses

Most believers would never blatantly disobey what they know to be God's will. So the only way to avoid submitting one's self to God's will or standard is to create another standard that can replace God's standard. In other words, the believer creates an excuse not to have to obey God's will. By creating another standard for himself, the believer no longer feels convicted to obey God's revealed will but rather has peace, living according to another "godly", self-created standard. The word excuse literally means free from accusation. If the believer can create a standard that does not accuse him, he can fool himself into thinking that he is still doing God's will! This is the essence of self-righteousness - living according to self-created values, beliefs and standards (see Phil. 3:7-11) to be justified before God.

Deceptive excuses

Let me give you an example of this deceptive process. The believer reads God's Word which says, "I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:44,45). Immediately the Holy Spirit brings to mind who one's enemies could possibly be. Perhaps it is a neighbour or a relative or a brother or sister in Christ. The moment the Holy Spirit puts His finger on an area in our lives that needs to be aligned with God's truth, the believer has a choice. Either he will repent by obeying God and changing his attitude toward that person and praying for him, or he will disobey God's will. No believer would say, "I am not going to do what God clearly says!" That would be blatant disobedience and sin.

The believer rather begins to reason with God by creating a new standard. The self-created standard can sound godly but it is still disobedience! The believer may think something like this: "I don't need to love that person because of all he did to me. And anyway, he doesn't accept me and love me either." This form of reasoning makes an excuse so that the believer can live with his disobedience. A self-created "godly" standard is created that seemingly justifies one's disobedience (see 1 Samuel 15)!

Just as man can replace the King with his self-created king,

so he can replace the Kingdom with his self-created kingdom!

(See Romans 1:18-32)

Still itching?

The believer who lives in disobedience by living according to a self-created standard is still living according to his self-created kingdom with self ruling on the throne. It is these people who enjoy listening to teachers who agree with their self-created standards, who reject the truth and those who preach the Kingdom! Paul warns us in his letter to Timothy where he says,

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers

to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3

God is calling His people to absolute obedience to further His Kingdom! Disobedience furthers every other kingdom but God's Kingdom! We must stop making excuses and stop living according to our self-created righteousness - our kingdom!

Ask the Lord today to search your heart and to expose any disobedience in your life. Don't allow your self to make any excuses but rather repent and obey. Self desires what is contrary to the Spirit. They are in conflict with one another (Gal. 5:16,17). Who will you obey? Who is seated on the throne? Whose kingdom do you belong to?

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Fellowship with God

"God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." 1 Cor. 1:9

What a wonderful Scripture. What an amazing invitation. God, in His everlasting love for us beckons His children into an intimate relationship with His Son. Fellowship with Jesus. Abiding in the Son of God. Dwelling in His fullness. What bliss. What wonder. Listen to the Father's call: "Come and commune with me. Let us enjoy one another's presence. Let us fellowship together." Those who fellowship with Jesus walk in communion with God. They become so saturarted with love that all they desire is to invite others to come. The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Let us commune together. Let us enjoy our union with God and one another so that our joy can be complete.

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Do you have faith?

"When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Luke 18:8

God expects His people to have faith.

The Holy Spirit says,

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6

It is man's responsibility to believe in God and in His promises. The woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years was healed because of her faith! Jesus commended her and said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you." Mark 5:34

Jesus also commended the centurion's faith and said about him,

"I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." Matthew 8:10

Faith pleases God and releases God's will on earth as it is in heaven.

How can the believer strengthen his faith?

In the account of the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus reveals how the believer can receive from God.

In response to the Samaritan woman, Jesus replies, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:10

The key to strengthening one's faith is to grow in the knowledge of God and in the knowledge of that which God freely gives. It is as the believer fixes his eyes on Jesus that his faith is strengthened and "perfected" (Heb. 12:2).

The greater the revelation of God, the greater the faith to believe for the impossible!

If the Samaritan woman had known who it was that was speaking to her and knew what He wanted to give her, she would have had the faith to ask and receive! Faith releases the glory of God - the manifestation of His presence and power.

Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" John 11:40

The believer must understand that faith is required. "If you believed.." There is a condition to the revelation of God's glory - faith!

Unless the believer grows in his knowledge of God and the will of God, his faith will not grow. For this reason the apostle Paul prays,

"We have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.." Col. 1:9,10

The believer needs spiritual revelation of God and His will!

I encourage you to spend time in God's presence and in His Word so that you grow in the knowledge of God and in the knowledge of His will. It is as we grow in our knowledge of Him and His will that we will be able to pray with faith and confidence and then see the glory of the Lord!

"When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Luke 18:8

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Are you a leader?

Divine leadership

"Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16

God leads by example. Those who are called to leadership are called to lead by example. Just before the Lord Jesus went to the cross, he washed the disciples feet to teach His followers to lead by example just as He did. Jesus said to His disciples,

"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." John 13:15

Paul's leadership

The apostle Paul understood true leadership and wrote to the Corinthian church,

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1

King David's leadership

King David also led by example. In the preparation for the building of the Temple, we read,

"And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction." 1 Chron. 29:3

Subsequently, King David asks,

"Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the Lord today?" 1 Chron. 29:5

The first to respond were the leaders of Israel because King David modelled true leadership! We read,

"Then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of the army, and the king's administrative officers all gave willingly." 1 Chron. 29:6

In response to the generosity of their leaders,

"The people rejoiced over the offerings, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord, and King David was filled with joy." 1 Chron. 29:9

Leadership in secret and in public

God calls leaders to lead by example both in secret and in public. What we are in secret is what we truly are in public.

The apostle Paul and his companions led by example to encourage the church to be like them.

He writes,

"You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord...And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." 1 Thess. 1:5-7

"You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of Gd, who calls you into his kingdom and glory." 1 Thess. 2:10-12

Leadership means modelling a devoted life to Christ and His people.

A devoted life lives for God in secret and in public. The power for leadership comes from the integrity of devotion in secret and in public. A form of godliness, an external, public appearance of leadership will never influence and produce true followers of Christ.

Imitate Christ in the secret place

I am convinced that leadership begins in the secret place as the leader seeks the face of God to imitate Him (Eph. 3:24; 5:1). Those who try to lead in public without following Christ in secret will lead from themselves and not from Christ. They will lead to please man rather than to please Christ. Paul, however says,

"If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Gal. 1:10

Leaders, imitate Christ and lead by example, in secret and in public!

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Cor. 11:1

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