Joshua at a Leadership Conference

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' " 16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. Joshua 1:10, 16-18

Joshua had just received a command from the Lord to take the people into the promise land. Instantly Joshua begins to prepare the people to cross the Jordan into their inheritance. Joshua begins to prepare the officers of the camp. "The officers answer "Whatever you will command we will do", and they conclude their answer to Joshua with "Only be strong and courageous". Be strong and courageous was the same word that Joshua had heard from the Lord three times and now it was coming from the people.

It's obvious that Joshua was leader worth following because even though he was a fearful leader If Joshua was speaking at a leadership conference I imagine him saying something like this.

#1 In leadership it's ok to be fearful at times. Fear let's you know you can't do things on your own. Fear requires you to require God on your journey. The main thing is not to let fear stop you from where you know you should be.

#2 "Make sure that your strengths weigh more than your weakness" It's your strengths that will keep people following. When your leading, your weakness, what you lack, what you are not capable of is never a secret to anyone else, so don't try to do things on your own, you need others with you. When you try everything by yourself you stunt the growth of your team. One was to small a number to accomplish what Joshua needed to do accomplish, and one is too small a number to accomplish the dream that God has given you.

#3 As a leader you need people who will bring you strength and when they do, show them appreciation, show them how much their presence and the words are worth. We all need strength from one another to get to where we are going.

Lord thank you for your speaking to me today through the life of Joshua. Help me to develop into the leader that you have called me to be. In Jesus Name, amen

"Keep the important things First"

...For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Deut. 16:15

God desires to bless the work of our hands in whatever we put our hands to. Not only that God wants to bless us the workers, to sustain us, to strengthen us to continue to illuminate our life with creativity, passion, purpose, to take us from "Glory to Glory" from one victory to the next.

Lately I've felt incredible pressure. Work has been tough at my job, outside of the job, and in ministry. Sometimes I get so busy, so tired, so drained physically and mentally that it seems difficult to dig in deeper, to dream bigger. I'll be honest ever since "Heroes" it's been difficult to even find joy. Sometimes when you work so hard and the results are not there it's easy to lose steam. When I looked at today's scripture I thought about that word harvest. Harvest is the result of work, it's the results of what was sown, it's the results of physical and mental strength spent, it's a result of teamwork. Everything that has been done up till this point is going towards a harvest. You don't plant something one day and get a full tree of fruit the next. There's some time involved. But God promises us that during the time between the planting and the harvest that are hands will be blessed. God will also bring complete joy. I don't know how many weeks in a row I've said to God, just get me through this weekend. That's survival mode, it's exactly what I've been preaching against, but it's exactly where I've been living.

So how do I get to the place of complete joy, although I'm tired I can also feel sustained? How do I get to the point where even though the results are not immediate I still know I'm on the right track? Last night I felt the Lord dealing with me heavily. I felt God telling me to keep the important things first. What is it that I need every single day to keep going on? Being fruitful in life, having much fruit, fruit that last is a result of my relationship with God not being busy and planning bigger and better events. I will get Anthony results in life if it's just Anthony. If my time with the Lord daily is directed towards just knowing Him and not just getting things done for Him, that's where our hands get blessed, the harvest gets blessed and we have complete joy. The flip side, if being busier doing something for God is more important than relationship with Him, than I'm heading for a meltdown. Keep the important things first, they are vital, they are necessary it's like water during the marathon.

Lord I'm tired of surviving. Forgive me for getting so busy. I know my heart has a tendency to drift and because of that I've felt weary, frustrated and discouraged at times. I don't want to live like this, "Grant your servant success today". Help me to keep the important things first, it's about my relationship with you, my family, my team. Thank you Lord for your word today and your heartbeat, I needed it. In Jesus name, amen.