Leaders are those who lead. You are the leader of your own life. Have you ever thought this way? So, start shifting your mind because this word is for all the leaders: Leaders of your life, leaders of your family, leaders in the Body of Christ…So, let’s start it! Sometimes, everything can look perfect in the natural, the way we are leading in our affairs in life. We may not miss anything, not even a thing, but is it really God doing the leading? What are you leading, and who is leading you? Think about that. Many times, the enemy will try to reroute us and lead us because he knows our destiny in God. Why do you think satan wanted to sift Peter as a leader as wheat (Luke 22:31)? Not because he was Peter as perfect but because satan saw who Peter was from the inside. People wanted to look at him as a human but forgot to look for the One inside of him that he was following, which was the Holy Spirit. Before Peter had the Holy Spirit and the baptism of fire, he was called, anointed, appointed, and was an apostle of Jesus Christ. This was heard by all the spiritual unseen. So, we know Jesus marked him, just as satan has him as a target. Peter’s destiny was in his hands. He knew what his purpose was. The one thing that got him off on the wrong foot was that he was looking at himself. This is where most of the leaders stumble. We have to know that we can do nothing without Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Jesus loved His zeal, but He was like, “Hold your horses, Son. You will deny me three times before the sun comes up.”
Jesus knew what Peter wanted and desired, but he also saw his fragility and humanity. Jesus knew that no one could pick up their cross without the Holy Spirit. It took that encounter, that failure to reality, to be converted because he saw Christ again, and he encountered glory, and he was never the same. God is giving us clear direction so we can learn to be led by the Spirit and have the Holy Spirit as our leader, a leader to be followed. We must remember that we must do things His way! We don’t have a better way to do things. That is why He is teaching us how to hear from His Spirit. His sheep hear his voice (John 10:27). They learn His voice. They trust His voice. Even in the silence, they are craving His voice.
People get angry when they have to do and hear the same things over and over and over until they get it right, until they get it done His way. But that is part of the training.
You must do what the Spirit is telling you and how He is telling you. Don’t be mad at your teachers. Don’t be mad at having to do it all over again! Every time there is something God is doing, there is another training to take the ground. This is a school of the Holy Spirit. There is a time, a way, and a training! We have the 12 tribes in the old covenant, but every tribe has a different instruction, a different task, function, and purpose but at the end of the day, the end result was to build a nation, to have a people, to be Israel. Now it is the same, but it’s all for the kingdom of God. This is an eternal plan, and it’s the church and the kingdom of God and the restoration of mankind! They were not doing things the same way, but the purpose was only one! “What does this have to do with being a prophet or winning souls? Why do I need to do this and that?” This is what the devil makes us think and makes us self-focused, self-righteous, and selfish.
Let’s see how he pulls us away! Party one – You are the character. You got offended, had a misunderstanding, got jealous, etc. Now you start hearing Party 2 –the devil and begin to stop hearing Party 3 - the Holy Spirit – and no longer are led by Party 3 (the Holy Spirit). You are now not being led by Party 4 - the Word of God. Party 2 (the devil) uses Party 4 (the Word) to bind you and stop you. Party 3 (the Holy Spirit) uses Party 4 (The Word) to set you free. But you can’t listen to both of them. God Himself brings Party 5 – The Body OF Christ - (or a messenger from Him) to have a meeting with you to help you, and you start getting mad at them. Instead of being thankful, you begin to be even more angry at them. Then now, you are enjoying Party 6 – Pity Party. Now you are in the ditch! But those who go to this Pity Party just want people to join them. You just want everybody to understand you! Knowing Party 5 (the Body or messengers) is right. Party 6 (Pity Party) just wants some company to do it their way. We don’t do that on purpose, but this is a dangerous place because we can get others to see people and things that they were not even seeing because their hearts are not clean. Those who join this party are carnal. They have not been spiritual, matured, and are still babies. They need to be corrected, but they cannot handle strong meat. They are not spiritually discerning, and they are always bringing division. So, this is the last stop on this cycle of insanity.
The last time, they were at the edge, but now, we need to bring the rope because they are in a pit now. You then say, “God is showing me this and that…” They will answer, “Leave me alone.” Then you say, “I am just trying to follow the Holy Spirit. I have a rope,” but the other person has something against you and does not accept help. Then here comes the Body, “Hey, what are you doing? Come and grab it.”
The other has a brother with the one with the rope, “Wow, yeah, I will let you help me.” …Then they think, “Wow, you are always there for me.” And that puffs them up, thinking, “Hey, not even the leader could help this one. I am better than them.” This is a whole process that the devil uses. Six steps to the pit. This is basically what happens. This is how the devil uses his devices. This is how pride isolates and brings in witchcraft.
But if we do things how He wants us to do them, we have the victory. We will see the results if we listen to the Spirit, to the Word, and to the Body. We will overcome anything. Those directions given to us through His Word, Spirit, and Body can save us. These are the ropes! These are the edges of protection. The training is hard. Most of the time, we don’t know what we are doing, but we keep following the Spirit, the leading of the Spirit. This is what a great leader really does: follows the Holy Spirit, not the opinion of man, not what man likes and does. People take it out on the teachers, on the Body, and even on the Word. Religious people always need to know everything and always question everything. But the Holy Spirit will only explain things to do when we need to know. We want to control everything. Everybody wants to be the one to say no to everybody that tells them what to do and how to do it. No one likes submission. That is why so many are alone or feel alone, and then they say, “This must be what God wants. I tried this, that, and been here and there. There is nothing around for me. The church is so messed up.” Well, organized religion is a disaster, but there is still a Body of Christ and an ecclesiastic, real Church, a remnant… but you refuse to submit to the Holy Spirit.
God wants to put people around us that are for us and not against each other. The devil wants to get your heart contaminated towards the one God wants to partner with you to help you to be transformed into His image. When we rely on our own understanding and not on the Holy Spirit, the intentions may still be good, but it is deceiving. God wants us to rely on Him. The religious folks think like this: “Show me everything, and then I will follow you…but Jesus says, “Follow Me first, and I will show you everything.” God will explain things to us as we go. Jesus did not sit and explain everything. He kept walking, and the 12 disciples kept following Him. But He was always realizing different things at different times. They were asking, “Show us the way,”…and God was like, “Just follow me. I will tell you what I need to tell you when it is time. If you are being led by your flesh, I will have no ears for you.” Satan wins when we are being led by our sight and by our nature. The sin of man is man always wanting to be in control. The cross is to take control away from our controlling nature. This is why people say, “Ok, this is where I get off the cross.”
Jesus sometimes told the disciples that you don’t know when and how things will happen, but other times, Jesus told them everything. I may not know where I am going tomorrow, but I know what my Father is doing! When pride leads us, we always have a better way. Let’s do it this way…Let’s do it that way…You think being in control is free. No, “I am going to show you that you don’t have control. You will be totally in control.” Control over anger, over worry, over your old man. Those who want to do things their way end up in the pit. And they won’t listen to anybody. We keep trying…But God says, trust Me, follow Me…” There is no trying in the kingdom. Jesus never fails. We only start trying in religion. There is no trying to follow, trying to repent, trying to love, trying to have joy, trying not to worry. But God is so all about abiding and being who you are. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). There is no striving, just abiding, but to abide, you have to let go. Then, when it is time for you to take a step, I will guide you. Sometimes, everything looks like a mess, but God sees it as perfection. Some people led by the Spirit look like they don’t know what they are doing and where they are going. When we look at the tax collector, at Zacchaeus, we don’t see him as a leader chosen by God. Because we look at the outside. True leaders want to come to you to help you to be led by the Spirit as well. If we are in Christ, we are supposed to be led by where Christ is seated in the third heaven! He is teaching us to put our minds on things above. The greatest demonstration of his leadership was when Jesus picked up His cross in front of everybody. The Father knew Jesus would do it: He looked weak, He looked defeated, but the Father knew He was on the right path, doing exactly what He told Him to do.
Everybody thinks they have a better way of living their lives. Most of us will lead people to tradition, religion, and bondage. Things they don’t understand can only be understood by the Spirit, but they are carnal. You can have the most Christ-like leader, but if you are carnal, you will never follow him. Who can do whatever the Holy Spirit wants us to when it is the hardest thing to do? This one is the best leader. It does not matter if you do it in a calm way, with a low voice, or screaming and with fire. Because God says yes to you, we must say yes to Him. God does not just need help. He needs commitment to His cause, to Jesus, to the cross, to redemption, and to the testimonies of His beloved! We know that He is for us, not by how we feel, but by what He says.
Everybody will be leading something and someone. Everybody will have to be accountable. Everything we do, if we do it in the Spirit, the result will always be better.
We must be led by the Spirit, even with correction, as we train others. Be leaders in your own life! You will be promoted every time you are being led by Him! It is about Him! When you begin to trust Him, joy and peace will come. We cannot be double-tongued. You say one thing with one side of the mouth, and another with the other side. We all are supposed to lead one another. It is not about trying to do right; it is about following the Spirit and His ways. We are all leaders. Lead yourself into righteousness. Lead your children. Lead your house.
People who go through more pressure usually are more blessed and have more responsibility. But we keep that place of judging them. You know what? You could even do better than them, but God is like, “Who can follow my Spirit? I don’t care if they don’t do it perfectly. I don’t care if they are perfect or not. All I want is for them to follow me.” Don’t question the way I do, don’t question My ways. Just follow. I am the one who exalts and brings them low. We need to remove this religious mindset about who is the leader. If we are not good followers, we will never be good leaders! Nobody would pick any of the 12 disciples, but Jesus did. When God sets a time for a battle, it is not time to bring our ideas. Just follow His instructions. Because the leaders have to also follow His guidance. Bring your ideas when we are back from the battlefield.
“That is why I chose you; you are going to listen to me,” God says. We are always being perfected if we are always following Him. The Word has to be lit, or you won’t be able to see your path. To where are you leading yourself? Your family? A greater leader is a greater follower of the Holy Spirit. If we don’t trust anybody, we also don’t trust God. Because God has a people. Your problem is in your trust, because you trust more in you than in God himself, than in the Word, in the Body of Christ, or in the Spirit. This is a jezebel spirit. “I have been wounded”; “I always get hurt.” These are mindsets that bring a curse. We must learn to follow those who follow Christ, but you are worried about who you are following, but you are following an imperfect man who has Christ. Are you trusting in you?
You don’t have to be afraid to trust man if you are trusting in God. Stop questioning where, when, and why. Stop focusing on your carnality. Put your eyes on Him. “Who told you that you are going to perish?” The devil told you that; it was not God. God already told you what to do. He is God. He is not telling you to trust in the flesh of man but to trust in God in man. This is the only way to live out John 17. Glory!
It is impossible to trust in God without trusting God in man. If you are not in the Spirit, you cannot hear God in man anymore. The Spirit needs a five-minute conversation with someone, and the Spirit knows everything. Not because the vessel is perfect but because that vessel is connected to the Spirit. If you are following a lost leader, then you will be lost. Many do not know what the anointing is because they have been captivated by performance, charisma, and man-made models of organized religion.
A lot of things have to be burned out of us. “How long, Lord?”… If we are not following His ways and Word, you are a blind leader. Where are you leading? Are you leading yourself to a ditch? We are all pillars. God needs to give us strength because He is giving us a huge territory, but he can’t extend the tent yet because we see ourselves doing other things. We need to be stakes to hold one another. The more you have, the more weight you can hold. True leaders are made in the doing, even when they are alone; even when they make mistakes. Follow the leader, the Holy Spirit, and everything will be lighter. His yoke is easy. if it has not been easy, it is because you are carrying your own yoke. Flesh and religion can start being our leader. But when someone is being led by the Spirit of God, something starts being changed inside of them. Read 1 Timothy 3:1-9 and 1 Timothy 3:10-16.
When you are carnal and lead through your flesh, you start judging how people do this or that! They themselves always think they can do it better because of pride. They have a better way. To be a living sacrifice, meaning letting your will die daily, is more important than your leadership skills! It’s the destination that’s important! Most people would lead people back to religion, tradition, or bondage! You just don’t know it; God knows it! If we are religious, that is what we lead others to: religiosity. You are looking at the flesh and faults and this or that! But you can even submit your own self to the Holy Spirit or even to who God has chosen to lead at this point! WE are all leaders, even kids. But what do we have in front of you, a lamp or an idol? Your own dream: it takes you to the broad way. A grief: it makes you agitated. An offense: it makes you blind.
“Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” Psalm 75:5-7
You think you know better, but that is an Absalom and prideful spirit! You’re afraid to show weakness, not because you’re strong but because you’re insecure and because of your pride! You cannot even lead your family! If we are not following Christ’s ways and His Word, yes, you are a leader, but what are you leading and to where?… The Letter shows us what not to do or to say, but the Spirit gives us the power to be a good leader. But the BEST Leaders are the best followers. God is Spirit; only His Spirit can lead us every minute of every situation! God is not looking for a person who thinks they can do better than someone else. He is looking for those who can move in the Spirit! Are you that one? Do you have a humble heart of a leader? What is in your heart? Purity or iniquity?
Shane W Roessiger
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