The Challenges of Leadership
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"O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer."
(Nehemiah 1:11)
We are living in very challenging and unprecedented days in our nation. Leaders in every segment of society--political, military, business, church, and in the society at large--are being challenged like never before. There is a distrust of leadership and an intense scrutiny that I have never witnessed before. This week in my devotionals, I want to offer some advice and encouragement to help leaders lead well during these difficult times.
We will look at the life of one of the greatest leaders in history, Nehemiah, the Governor of Jerusalem who led the historic effort to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem around 450 B.C. There are so many sterling qualities of this outstanding leader, and I look forward to highlighting some of them for you to help strengthen you in your leadership abilities.
Nehemiah led from the front. He was not over or above the people who helped him rebuild the wall around Jerusalem; rather, he was right there in their midst, leading by example.
We are blessed to have so many wonderful leaders to whom we can look for guidance. The principles of great leadership do not change. Challenging times bring out both the worst and the best in leaders. It does not get any worse than on a literal battlefield where bullets are flying and bombs are exploding around you. One of many heroes during WWII was Richard Winters. He was little known until HBO aired the series, "Band of Brothers", in 2001.
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There are so many impressive facts about Dick Winters. He was the leader of Easy Company, the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The men he led dearly loved and respected him. The most impressive thing about Winters was his love for the Lord and desire to walk with God and pray even in the most horrendous of times--on the battlefield, surrounded by horror and death. Winters led from the front. He would tell his men as they prepared to assault German fortifications, "Come on, men! Let's go!"
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He did not say, "Hey guys... you go get the Germans, and I will be here waiting when you return." Clyde Hall, a private in Easy Company, said this about his leader: "Everything we had to do, he was there right with us. He wouldn't run, you know."
Tom Bowman writes about Winters: "On D-Day, Winters led an attack on a German gun battery, destroying the weapons firing at the American troops on Normandy's Utah Beach. He and his company liberated a Nazi concentration camp and later captured Hitler's mountaintop retreat. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest award for valor."
(Read more here.)
Whatever your sphere of influence as a leader, be it in your home, community, church, business, or the military, do what all great leaders do and lead from the front. Those who follow you will greatly respect you and gladly follow if you lead by taking your people with you into challenges instead of staying back in the rear.
I am praying for every leader who reads these devotionals, that God would inspire you to lead like never before.
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Help children build a lasting foundation.
Point the kids in your life to Jesus with a copy of the Bedtime Devotions with Jesus Bible.
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The Gospel > Racism, Pt. 2
Pastor Danny concludes last week's discussion of how the Gospel is unequivocally opposed to racism and the best force to defeat it. He summarizes what he learned from a recent conversation with retired African American police captain, Freddie Maxwell, as well as the helpful and important remarks delivered at a recent meeting of Christ Together Greater Austin.
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