Isaiah 46:4

I hope this verse encourages you as much as it encouraged me this past week.

⁴ I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.

I will carry you along and save you.

- Isaiah 46:4 NLT

something to think about.

"Don't focus on the door God is closing in your life; focus on the door He's opening."

Leadership?

Does God ever put words on your heart? Do you find yourself constantly thinking of this one word, trying to define it? biblically, literally, and by yourself?


I've been given a few chances this week to define this word: LEADERSHIP
to myself, my parents, friends, and in the case of church.

There are so many different opinions on LEADERSHIP, but what is it exactly?

well, literally:

–noun

1.

the position or function of a leader: He managed to maintain his leadership of the party despite heavy opposition.

2.

ability to lead: She displayed leadership potential.

3.

an act or instance of leading; guidance; direction: They prospered under his leadership.

4.

the leaders of a group: The union leadership agreed to arbitrate.


and other's opinions:

Leadership is great men and women with certain preferred traits influencing followers to do what the leaders wish in order to achieve group/organizational goals that reflect excellence defined as some kind of higher level effectiveness. - Joseph Rost Leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations--the wants and needs, the apirations and expections--of both leaders and followers. - James MacGregor Burns (urbandictionary.com :P)

And biblically:

²⁵ But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. ²⁶ But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. ²⁸ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” -Matthew 20:25-28 NLT

But me? I think leadership isn't for everyone.Its a great quality and its a great one to possess. But dont try to make yourself a leader if thats not you're spiritual gift. Although, its something that you may not know you have. Leadership is a trait that can often be mistaken for egotistical and confidence, possibly even being naive. Its definitely something that one cannot give a direct definition or a "how to" guide on it, its not that easy. I view being a leader as something with great responsibility and challenges, and battles. Its not easy. I can honestly say, leadership is about prayer, people and Christ.

here are a few quotes I really agree with

• Peter F. Drucker
  Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people"—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.
• Lao Tzu
  A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him....But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "We did it ourselves.
• Lance Secretan, Industry Week, 10/12/98
  Leadership is not so much about technique and methods as it is about opening the heart. Leadership is about inspiration—of oneself and of others. Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine.

This is a song that speaks about leading and leadership. God has just put this song on my heart this week as I'm going through the word "LEADERSHIP"
Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

A leader's attitude should be not only about helping others, but looking for the better of others. Not looking just towards that month's goals and expectations, but to the big picture. Leaders need to look out for what is best for the people they will be LEADING. Many leaders think that they can just be leaders because they said so. But that way of leading will go no where. You must be prepared to take the responsibility and face the challenges that God will throw at you!

All I Need-Shawn McDonald

As I sit here and think
About all that You’ve done
About how You gave me Your one and only Son
And I’m trying to fathom
All that You are, but so far, Lord
You’re so beyond me

I fall down in reverence
And I fall down in fear
And I’m asking You, Lord, won’t You please draw near
Won’t You open my eyes
So that I can see
The way that You are working in me

All I need is Your love
To come and fill this heart of mine
My heart is a desert that has gone dry
And I need Your love to carry me bye, bye, bye, bye, bye
To carry me bye, bye, bye, bye, bye
To carry me bye

And I lay down my life
And I put it before You
All that I am is in Your hands
And I’m not going to question, why You’re so faithful
Why that You give me the blessing that You have
Let the glory be known, let the glory be shown
Lift You up unto the throne
You are my God, You are my King
To You I give, I give You everything
All that I need is Your love, my God


You're love Lord, is ALL I need. Nothing else. Only Your unfailing love can help me and guide me. Everything else will fail Lord, but you are unchanging.

--Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed...

This song was such a blessing to me.
A dear friend played it on our mission trip to Watts, Los Angeles.
And at the time, I was having such a hard time with everything.
This song really gave me a heads up that God's love is ALL I NEED.
Nothing else will ever be enough, only God's love can completely satisfy and humble us.

Praise God (:

40 days of Prayer and Focus.

Just some thoughts right now:

-I say 40 days of Prayer, and you say well, praying is easy. But I'm going to be focusing on the prayer, and the meaning of prayer. I want to focus on actually speaking to God.
Prayer:
–noun
1.a devout petition to God.
seriously, with all that I am. I am devoted to God and learning more about Him.

God has been teaching me so very much lately. Its crazy to see how He's so evident in my life. I can see how He's working in so many lives and He's constantly teaching me and my friends different things.
This past month He's really been teaching me to:

• Love people. Not just my friends youthgroup, but love everyone. I really struggle with this sometimes because, let's face it... its hard to love everyone. There are times though, when I just hear God telling me, "Emily, you NEED to show this person love."
  
• spend more time with Him. And really focus on what He wants for my life.
  
• accept what is given to us and be thankful. God gives and gives and gives. And for me to not be happy with what is given to me, its unacceptable!I'm so blessed. I have a job, great friends, loving family, a car. So many different blessings that I often take for granted.
  

- I'm currently fasting from Facebook with my close friend Taylor. We're fasting and focusing on God for one month. October 29th. so far, it is the best thing for my relationship with God. Its only been a few days and I can already tell what God wants me to work on. I'm spending so much more time with my family, (in between balancing school, church, and my job.) I often become so wrapped up in my other activities that I dont spend enough time with my family. So I'm so thankful that when I am home, I'm not wasting time on Facebook or on the compuer. God is so great. I'm also building a better relationship with my parents. We have so many opprotunities to not only spend time together, but to talk about God... something that has always lacked in our relationship. Its so cool being able to share what God is doing in eachother's lives. The other day my dad and I had a conversation about what God is doing in his life. It was so amazing to see what my dad is going through, and how its affecting our family and the business. I was so blessed by that conversation. Alongside building better relationships with my parents, my relationships with friends are also growing stronger. I'm able to really build a Christ centered life because my friends and I can all openly share what God is doing and how He is working in our lives. We can all help eachother by simply asking, "How much time have you spend with God today?" and it keeps us accoutable. (: I love it.



Tonight, my friend texted me, telling me to look up a few verses in Luke.
and so I did...


Luke 5:27-28--After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, ²⁸and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

would you drop everything to follow Jesus? I mean everything...? Would you get up, drop everything, risk everything, FEAR NOTHING, have complete faith in God, trust in Christ to follow Him?

just a thought. Its really crazy to think about how Levi got up, no questions asked and followed Jesus. He had it made, yet he still gave up everything: his job, possessions, etc. to follow Jesus. Its incredible. Would you get up, leave everything, and follow Him?



one last thought:

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Attitudes

Last summer I went on my first mission trip to Watts. The overall theme of the trip was to be exposed to different cultures and religions. I have recently been given the opportunity to serve again this summer, with The Grove High School Ministry. I was accepted on the team, and boy do we have a great team this year. Everyone brings something different to the team. Different backgrounds, opinions, thoughts, personalities. God is definitely going to use us on that trip. We had a meeting earlier today, and Tyler (the leader) was talking about how attitude is everything. He said 10% is circumstance but the other 90% is the way you REACT to the circumstance. Its something that we can apply to every day situations. Whether with your parents, siblings, or friends. I have a hard time understanding other people's thought process, and sometimes put them down for that. I'm going to try to keep the "10%-90% saying" in mind as I take this next week on. (: But keep the Exposure 2010 Team in your prayers and the people of Watts!



+Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should not only look to you own interests, but also to the interests of others. -Philippians 2:3-4

well, here I go.

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking and reflecting. I've grown up a lot in the past couple of months. God has taught me a lot this school year. I'm not sure where He wants me to go, or what He wants me to do with my life, but I do know I want to spread His kingdom further. I want to be sure that everything I do is what God wants, not me and my selfish desires. I won't be able to know what He has planned for me until I make Him my complete main focus in life. These thoughts have just been on my heart lately, (: