“Now when he came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people
confronted him as he was teaching, and said, by what authority are you doing these
things? And who gave you this authority?”
Featured Scripture: Matthew 21:23
Background Scripture: Matthew 21:23–27; Acts 4:1–22
In our lesson today we find Jesus in the Temple teaching and revealing God’s
true nature. Jesus’ role as the Messiah placed Him in direct conflict with a
centuries-old religious system. The Temple was God’s house, and Jesus, the Son
of God, needed no man’s permission to fulfill His calling and reveal the
promises of Scripture. He was the...read more »
In our lesson today we find Jesus in the Temple teaching and revealing God’s
true nature. Jesus’ role as the Messiah placed Him in direct conflict with a
centuries-old religious system. The Temple was God’s house, and Jesus, the Son
of God, needed no man’s permission to fulfill His calling and reveal the
promises of Scripture. He was the fulfillment of prophecy and His very presence
in the world changed eternity for us all. When we are called by God to serve
others, we can lead without the permission of others. The earthly institutions
that govern our lives are filled with structure and a hierarchy of leaders who
are protective of any new outside influences affecting the norm. Leaders of
faith who are called by God will invariably encounter resistance when it comes
our time to fulfill our own callings. Most of us must work within the structure
of organizations and congregations. But if we are called to leadership tasks of
faith, we must never wait to be granted man’s permission to begin our
journeys.
Leading without permission means we lead by seizing the moment and tackling
problems that need to be solved. It means we step forward and volunteer to
accept challenges. It means we undertake, without being asked, a humble job that
needs to be done. Others will see our example and join in. In our world today,
new leaders rise up who may be simple persons without credentials. Many are
unskilled in oration or the mechanics of politics. But people rise to leadership
because they are responding to the needs in the world around them.
New leaders may often sense ostracism or subtle rebuke from others. In every
generation the followers of Christ are challenged as to who authorized them to
lead in the name and power of Jesus. “By what authority are you doing these
things, and who gave you this authority?” Find a need and fill it. Sense a hurt
and cover it with care and love. Seek a stranger and comfort him. Find injustice
and seek to right it. Find the good in others and inspire them to action to make
our communities even better.
If you feel God’s call to a leadership task, you have all the authority and
permission you need. If you are serving others with love and humility, don’t
ever wonder if you have stepped out of line. Only God truly knows the heavenly
harvest reaped by leaders who answered the call of faith and led others without
asking the world’s permission.
Throughout generations people have combed the Holy Scriptures in search of
meaning, purpose, solace and forgiveness. Its words give us new understanding
of creation, history, prophecy and revelation: therein, we find the promise of the
soul’s salvation.
But my own burden and calling that led me to the writing of this book,
Leading
From Our Knees, revealed to me that the Holy Scriptures are also the ultimate collection
of timeless leadership precepts. From Genesis to Revelation we encounter those many
reluctant and imperfect characters that God chose to become leaders for holy tasks.
God worked His providence and purpose through each of them and bids you also as a
leader in this time to become a partner in building the Kingdom of God.
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Leading From Our Knees is a daily roadmap to guide you as you tackle the tasks of
leadership that God has given you to do. It will help you identify and understand your
own calling more clearly and help you gain confidence from the fact that whatever situation
or challenge you are going through in these days, the great saints of the faith
experienced also.
Leading From Our Knees lists for you forty-seven categories of the faith experience
with their corresponding lessons found within the book. Use this category listing as a
resource to assist you in your own special time of need.
Special occasions of the calendar-year are noted and cross-referenced by page number
so that you can find inspiration and new meaning for each of those notable dates.
Virtually every leader and supporting character of the Bible is portrayed through the
daily lessons and can be located through the character index in the back of the book.
Use this book as a teaching or study guide or as your own personal daily devotional.
Use it as a quick desk reference to help you confront and overcome the spiritual burdens
that will arise in the course of your own leadership responsibilities.
Each daily lesson has its own title and sub-title that will provoke your spiritual curiosity.
Every lesson is anchored in scripture. While the lessons were not written in
chronological scriptural order, they are listed in sequence by chapter and verse in the
book beginning with Genesis and proceeding through Revelation. This sequential placement
of the lessons allows you quick access to your favorite character, story or scripture
and gives you a chance to read a leadership lesson from all sixty-six books of the Bible.
Note that for each day’s lesson there is a written featured scripture and a referenced
background scripture for you to look up in your own Bible. By reading both the featured
scripture and background scripture for each day, you will substantially read through the
entire Bible over the course of the year.
The text of each lesson ties the scripture to an appropriate biblical precept and
leadership lesson of faith. At the bottom of each page is a suggested prayer that relates
to the day’s lesson. Allow this daily prayer to unlock the Holy Spirit’s voice within you
as you read it. Each daily devotional can be read in as little as five minutes or when
meditated upon and cross-referenced with your own bible, can be completed in about
twenty minutes.
The creation of Leading From Our Knees was God’s call to me and was written over the
course of six and a half years. Many days I felt as if God was the author, and I was merely
His scribe. As I studied and wrote, I could feel God extracting and intertwining the
lessons I learned through forty years of Christian lay-study with my own personal leadership
experiences. Insights for the lessons were drawn from my own leadership success
and failure as well as from my observation of the hundreds of diverse leaders that I have
encountered throughout my life.
I feel a kinship with so many of the characters and situations in the book. Some days
I am that fallen and repentant leader and other days I am the brave warrior equipped
with new hope and confidence. But in every circumstance I am a leader in constant need
of Christ’s daily power and special provision.
Often we are called to leadership battles for which we will never see the earthly
victory. Yet through it all we have a holy obligation to serve others. And as we serve others
faithfully, God affirmatively moves each of us into new roles of providential leadership
for Him.
We are all imperfect and fragile. We will fail and make mistakes, even as we disappoint
others and fall short of our goals. But we are capable of accomplishing so much
more than our human mind can comprehend. For the God who calls us to our task of
leadership is awesome, powerful, loving and redeeming. The Trinity of God is active in
our life today and can be found in every human event and circumstance.
It is through the actions of leaders of faith, great and small alike, that the holy work
of the heavenly purpose is unveiled. And if all that you do in your journey as a leader is
grounded in humility, devotion and pure love towards our Savior and His children; then
it will surely yield those fruits of eternal success and reward.
I give thanks and praise to God for allowing me to be part of this project. It was a
humbling and life-changing experience for me to be the vessel that brings Leading From
Our Knees to you today.
It is now my prayer and great hope that something in this work will comfort you,
inspire you and lead you towards finding God’s peace in your own life and leadership
journey. Let each of us as leaders of faith allow Christ’s love to be manifested in us so that
we can shower it upon others through our humble acts of service each day. Remember,
that as leaders of faith, we bring our sweetest praise to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
when we are obediently leading from our knees.