What kind of spiritual leadership actually helps people change? Love Both Friend and Foe by Trusting in God and Hoping in His . Everyone should be seeking to lead others to the point where they . And, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians ).
Table of contents
- The 12 most influential spiritual books of the past 50 years - Matador Network
- 2. The Celestine Prophecy
- 25 Lessons Learned from John Maxwell
- The Marks of a Spiritual Leader
And when our faith is strong and our hope is solid, all the barriers to love, like greed and fear, will be swept away. The implication of this inner circle of leadership is that, in order to lead, you have to be out ahead of your people in Bible study and prayer. I think there will be no successful spiritual leadership without extended seasons of prayer and meditation on the Scriptures. Spiritual leaders ought to rise early in order to meet God before they meet anybody else.
They will probably want to keep a journal of insights and ideas as they read the word and pray. They will want to read books about the Bible for example, books by J. Packer and Paul Little and John Stott and dozens of other excellent evangelical authors and about prayer for example, the eight books by E. They will want to take a periodic half-day retreat with a Bible and a notebook and a hymnbook.
If you want to be a great leader of people, you have to get away from people to be with God. It was not easy for Mr. Taylor in his changeful life, to make time for prayer and Bible study, but he knew that it was vital. Well do the writers remember traveling with him month after month in northern China, by cart and wheelbarrow, with the poorest of inns at night. Often with only one large room for coolies and travelers alike, they would screen off a corner for their father and another for themselves, with curtains of some sort; and then after sleep at last had brought a measure of quiet they would hear a match struck and seek the flicker of candlelight which told that Mr.
Taylor, however weary, was pouring over the little Bible in two volumes always at hand. From two to four a. That flicker of candlelight has meant more to them than all they have read or heard on secret prayer; it meant reality, not preaching but practice. The hardest part of the missionary career, Mr.
Taylor found, is to maintain regular, prayerful Bible study. George Mueller is noteworthy for his great faith in the work of his orphanages. Then he made a discovery. He records it like this:. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord.
The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. Before this time my practice had been at least for ten years previously as a habitual thing to give myself to prayer after having dressed in the morning. Now I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, while meditating, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord.
I began, therefore, to meditate on the New Testament from the beginning early in the morning.
The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer. When thus I have been for a while making confession or intercession or supplication or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the word may lead to it; but still continually keeping before me that food for my soul as the object of my meditation.
The result of this is that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation and that my inner man almost invariably is almost sensibly nourished and strengthened and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not a happy state of heart. Now that God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is to obtain food for the inner man.
As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as everyone must allow. Now what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and here again, not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts.
By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had to pass in peace through deeper trials in various ways than I have ever had before; and after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully, in the fear of God, commend it. How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one! During this time I have read considerably more than one hundred times through the whole of the Old and New Testaments with prayer and meditation.
Everyone in the church has one or more spiritual gifts. Everyone should be involved in ministry. Everyone should be seeking to lead others to the point where they bring glory to God by the way they think and feel and act. But there are some people to whom the Lord has given qualities of personality that tend to make them more able leaders than others. Spiritual leaders have a holy discontentment with the status quo. Non-leaders have inertia that causes them to settle in and makes them very hard to move off of dead center.
Leaders have a hankering to change, to move, to reach out, to grow, and to take a group or an institution to new dimensions of ministry. They have the spirit of Paul, who said in Philippians 3: But one thing I do: The church is shot through with imperfections, lost sheep are still not in the fold, needs of every sort in the world are unmet, sin infects the saints. It is unthinkable that we should be content with things the way they are in a fallen world and an imperfect church.
Therefore, God has been pleased to put a holy restlessness into some of his people, and those people will very likely be the leaders. Spiritual leaders are optimistic not because man is good, but because God is in control. The leader must not let his discontentment become disconsolation. The foundation of his life is Romans 8: Without optimism, restlessness becomes despair. The great quality I want in my associates is one of intensity.
The leader follows the advice of Ecclesiastes 9: When Jonathan Edwards was a young man, he wrote a list of about seventy resolutions. The one that has inspired me the most goes like this: It is He and He alone. Spiritual leaders must go out alone somewhere and ponder what unutterable and stupendous things they know about God. If their life is one extended yawn, they are simply blind. Leaders must give evidence that the things of the Spirit are intensely real. They cannot do that unless they are intense themselves. By self-controlled I do not mean prim and proper and unemotional, but rather master of our drives.
If we are to lead others toward God, we cannot be led ourselves toward the world. According to Galatians 5: It is not mere willpower. It is appropriating the power of God to get mastery over our emotions and our appetites that could lead us astray or cause us to occupy our time with fruitless endeavors. In 1 Corinthians 6: Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9: They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. Spiritual leaders ruthlessly track down bad habits and break them by the power of the Spirit. They hear and follow Romans 8: One thing is for sure: No one will be a significant spiritual leader if his aim is to please others and seek their approval.
Paul said in Galatians 1: Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Carl Lundquist, former president of Bethel College and Seminary, said in his final report to the Baptist General Conference that there was hardly one of the 28 years in which he served the Conference that he was not actively opposed by many people. If criticism disables us, we will never make it as spiritual leaders. We must be able to say with Paul in 2 Corinthians 4: As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4: Leaders must be able to digest depression because they will eat plenty of it.
There will be many days when the temptation is very strong to quit because of unappreciative people. I should, however, qualify this characteristic of being thick-skinned. I do not want to give the impression that spiritual leaders are closed off to legitimate criticism. A good leader must not only be thick-skinned, but also open and humbly ready to accept and apply just criticism. No leader is perfect and Jonathan Edwards said once that he made it a spiritual discipline to look for the truth in every criticism that came his way before he discarded it.
Lazy people cannot be leaders. They work while it is day, because they know that night comes when no man can work John 9: The world is run by tired men, someone has said. A leader must learn to live with pressure. None of us accomplishes very much without deadlines, and deadlines always create a sense of pressure. A leader does not see the pressure of work as a curse but as a glory. He does not desire to fritter away his life in excess leisure.
He loves to be productive.
The 12 most influential spiritual books of the past 50 years - Matador Network
And he copes with the pressure and prevents it from becoming worrisome with promises like Matthew It is not easy to be a leader of people who can outthink you. A leader must be one who, when he sees a set of circumstances, thinks about it. He sits down with pad and pencil and doodles and writes and creates. He tests all things with his mind and holds fast to what is good 1 Thessalonians 5: He is critical in the best sense of the word; that is, not gullible or faddish or trendy.
He weighs things and considers pros and cons and always has a significant rationale for the decisions that he makes. Careful and rigorous thought is not contrary to a reliance on prayer and divine revelation. The apostle Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2: It is hard to lead others if you cannot state your thoughts clearly and forcefully. Leaders like Paul aim to persuade men, not coerce them 2 Corinthians 5: Leaders who are spiritual do not muster a following with hot air or waves or words, but rather with crisp, solid, compelling sentences. The apostle Paul aimed, like all good leaders, at clarity in what he said.
According to Colossians 4: It is astonishing and lamentable how many people today cannot speak in complete sentences. The result is that a great fog surrounds their thought. Neither they nor their listeners know exactly what they are talking about. A haze settles over the discussion and you walk away wondering what it was all about.
It is not surprising to me that some of the great leaders at Bethlehem Baptist Church have been men who are also significant teachers. According to 1 Timothy 3: What is a good teacher? I think a good teacher has at least the following characteristics. Jesus knew the hearts of men John 2: Leaders must know who is fit for what kind of work. Good leaders have good noses. They can snoop out barnacles in a hurry; that is, people who are forever listening but never learning or changing. They can detect potential when they see it in a beginner.
They can hear in a short time the echoes of pride and hypocrisy and worldliness. The spiritual leader steers a careful course between the dangers of rigid pigeonholing on the one hand and indifference on the other hand. Paul said in Colossians 4: Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
We must remember that leaders are aiming to change hearts, not just to get jobs done. Therefore, alienating people unnecessarily is self-defeating. I was shocked and pleased. Then I have had an experience where someone "forced" me to do a reading for them and the next day and part of the day after that, I can honestly say, I was spiritually void. I had no feelings of any kind. I did some research and found that this can happen.
I learned to say no and mean it. I can across your page after watching a youtube video about these tones I have been hearing since I was a child. I tried to use science to explain it, but I never believed that. Now, I look forward to them. I keep getting "the call" and am scared of being looked at by my family and yes, I need to support my kids. I do not know how to take the next step, but I receive it will be given to me in a big positive way.
Thank you for all you do, have done, and will do. You are a key. We appreciate you more than you will ever know in this life. I am glad to reinforce my thoughts through this article and I very much grateful, happy to read on this blog. Are you still around? I see that these comments are 6 years old. I am ready to speak; now, today. It is not exactly what I want to do It is what I am, who I am. I have held back. Basically I need advice on exactly where to start I know nothing of computers. Should I look for "open mics" or places hiring teachers?
I have no official credential I have listened to and sat under divers masters but what I have to give comes from the Source. If anybody gives me a chance they will not be disappointed. I just really wanted to say thank you so much. This was so unexpected, all I know is that im reading an angel number one min and then the next im here. I understand now that this was a message from my angels. Im only 17 and I have this urge to help people. I would love to teach but not only teach but learn from people too.
I want to travel the world.
2. The Celestine Prophecy
Its what I've always wanted to do and now I know that that can happen. Will show this to my mother! Joanne, I am forever grateful to you for writing this 6 years ago and posting it online. About a year ago, I began my own spiritual awakening process began and in the past 4 months or so I've awakened into an entirely new world. Nothing is the same as it was before, I feel more childlike awe and wonder in my awareness than I did as a child. Since my awakening, I realized that dedicating one's self to slave away countless hours towards a cause they don't care about just for money is no way to spend this extremely breif life.
Nonetheless, I still recognize I need money since I would rather not be homeless. And so for months and months I searched within for my calling and was getting no clear answers. Then eventually through my meditations, I realized it was perfectly okay to not know and that if I stopped searching, my calling would find me.
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So more months go by and in this past week I'm in between jobs. I got a job lined up that many of my friends and family were excited to hear I obtained. Then they were shocked to find out I ended up turning the job down because I wanted to only work part time in order to be able to place more focus on my spiritual path. The lack of support for this decision did hurt me a bit, but I'm fine with that, sometimes we just have to do what we need to regardless of what others tell us. Yesterday while I was at a coffee shop, I overheard an older women talking about her work as a spiritual teacher.
It had never occured to me this was a viable option for myself, but it totally is. Then today I come across this article. Is the Universe giving me signs? Yes, big flashing neon ones I just can't miss. After I read your article, I literally broke down crying tears of pure joy. Never in my life had I experienced what it was like to understand your life's calling. The feeling is indescribable and I know it's my soul pointing me down this path with this feeling. I feel more motivated than I ever have in my life to start my soul mission to bring light to the Universe.
I can't wait to start spreading all this love and positivity inside me like a wildfire. Not sure if you're still reading these, but reading your article was no accident and the vibration of your words resonated with so much I just have to let you know that I'm never going to forget these beautiful words you've strung together and you've made a huge impact on my life. Now my Journey begun Hi Joanne, don't even know how I landed on your blog, but you brilliantly wrote what I wanted to hear. Most likelly, you echoed what my heart was wispering to me and to many others, being that we are "ONE" behind our minds..
Actually, just came back from a familly reunion for my dear mother's birthday and was just inquiring to my sisters son, who is a 16 year old computer wiz, on how to create a blog. I'm a Spiritual seeker since I entered this world and a car hauler to make ends meet, but I have this urge to do what I really came here to do, and something inside is pushing me to do so on a full time basis. You are the proof that we are all connected even though the clouds of our mind sometimes hide the sunshine of our Soul. I came across this article looking for guidance and it has really encouraged me.
I thank you very much, Joanne! So grateful to come across this article! I have known for a little while that I need to move forward in my lightwork. I had my path shown to me. I know where I am going, just not sure how to get there. I find myself waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
I think maybe I need to make it happen.
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It made a huge difference to me when I accepted that I needed to receive as well as give. Wao I love this article, it really show me the way forwards Thanks a lot poster ,I really appreciate your help. Thank you for making me feel understood. I've been healing for free to; the least of our brethren since I've been practicing. Now I'm homeless n destitute. Having a hard time starting any business of a higher calling while being a "nobody" I know I'm more. Need help getting my foot in the door. Guess I'm asking for help instead of commenting. Hello Joanne, thank you for your article!
My soul mission is concerned with giving people a job helping others. I have enough people in my network who 'happen to be ' jobless, but I have no money to pay them with, so i am considering starting a business first. I am curious how this pans out! I have had my own business for some time! With great passion helping others, and success.
In between I was diagnosed with Cancer and faced challenges myself. Thank God I overcame the challenges I faced, although I was not able to work for along time. Now I am able to work and need financial stability. I do not know what to do at this time, with the economy and people who want help, but are not willing to pay for the help. A friend of mine took a course for 6 months to get certified as a Health Coach. She was in debt for many reasons and took out another credit card, which I will not do!
I am trying to figure out how to use my gifts, studies, etc. I even went for a "regular job," and several interviews. Unfortunately when one gets to a certain age employers do not seem to want to hire you! I live in a community that has a lot of people who are in the healing field. Each of us are different as stated in the article. I just need some insight as how to get started again.
Thank you for sharing this article. I stumbled upon this at a perfect time. I've been tuning into my spiritual self off late and am at a crossroads having just graduated from college where I feel like I HAVE to help other individuals, and specifically create more awareness on the importance of helping heal the Earth and at the same time, I need to start earning to support myself and my family. Living in India, I see a lot of pollution - land, air, noise and water, and that hurts me. I have this urge to do something and to do something big - but I really don;t know where to start.
I would love any input or guidance on how to go about making healing a career. I am planning to join a course to learn pranic healing. I have two visions, but they don't necessarily have to be separate things. I want to help other women. Specifically, because of all the pain they have caused to me and loved ones, I want to support the changes in life women go through.
I don't just mean menopause. I mean going from single to married or going from a little kid through teenager those kinds of things. My resources are practically nonexistent. I do have one thing I can use. My skills in speaking, or writing. I would also like to set up a buy sell trade shop in my hometown on the bus line where women who may not normally feel comfortable talking to each other can go and feel like it's a safe place to ask stupid questions. A place where negativity is discouraged by all.
I have a lot of stuff to write but I don't have patients to use my hand and a pen or a keyboard. It's usually easiest if I can just dictate my concerns. I need to figure out how to do a podcast or radio show I tried blogging, however, Breaking everything up into paragraphs and making it all concise and flow doesn't fit with my day-to-day life. A talk show of some sort on the radio would be what I would prefer. You have made my life more spiritual with your writings. I am being guided by angels through numbers. Thank you for telling us what the numbers mean. This was an amazing article The Universe gives us what we need at the right moments is our lives.
I need to ask you something. I am planning to start a blog for fashion beauty self growth confidence for women. I am not clear still. Thank you for that insight I have been praying today for guidance on my career path after 36 yrs a chef I need to fulfill my spiritual dream and work in the Lords love and light. I have almost finished my story of my spiritual growth and vision experiences and my desire to see my Garden of Angels project a gift from God come into being but dont know where to go your article has given me a start God bless you.
Awesome and Funny I just find this hub now. I am one who has mentored MANY over the years I am running my first workshop on June 10th - put the date as others may find this hub 4 years from now and really get a laugh like I did I have numbers following me my whole life. After my mom passed Jan I was broken. Now my perception on everyone and everything is different.
I know I have always been gifted and 'different'. I thank you for shining your light out to all us light workers. This is exactly what I needed to read to get me going. I look forward to reading more from you! It never ceases to amaze me when I receive a message at precisely the moment I feel I need it. I didn't stumble across this article I know there's no coincidence, no luck, no accidents.
We are always and forever right where we need to be. Lately, I have felt stuck, stagnated by fear and tossed ragged by the storms of indecision raging inside my mind. Only when I became quiet enough, surrendering the endless battle with Ego was I able to receive exactly the guidance I needed.
You are one of my earth Angels!! I don't want to waste any more critical time. Thank you for helping me to understand how to tune into myself and affirm my intuitive insights via numerology. Through sacredscribes I have been able to decode the messages from my angels and affirm what my gut instincts have told me.
My spiritual knowledge had increased ten fold thanks to your knowledge and beautiful blogs. Can you tell me if your sacred scribes website is still operating as from today I'm getting a message the site has been removed? Just want to say, thank you very much for the wonderful explanation, it really resonated with me I have tried advertising, giving out business cards. I get nothing and i need to get something now. How can I go about this in the context of my Catholic faith?
I am called a light worker but I did not fully understand the term. This article describes me totally. I have a great sense of "Needing to notifying. I have found your sight very helpful in translating all. Spiritual aid shouldn't be linked to money for this specific purpose. For free, because the person needs it and they are strongly called to them. It's across the board. Money may taint your abilities if not wane them all together. Joanne, I feel so much gratitude for your brave pursuit of that which beckons you to share your gifts with others, and to bear your torch for all to see.
Light workers such as yourself illuminate pathways beyond the darkness of apprehension and self doubt with such brilliance and optimism. Standing in the spotlight can be quite a frightening and vulnerable experience. To follow our own inner wisdom as it resonates with the wisdom perceived through divine Youniversal energies which we cannot see with our two eyes, only perceive with our one Thank you for your inspiration, encouragement and for the warm reminders that when we do eventually get there, we will after all find ourselves in a crowd of many other spotlights anyway: What a wonderful hub!
I too have been contemplating getting back to the spirit; even tried to meet my spiritual guide; bashwana? I think I have to go down the path a little more You really got me thinking, and a ton of other people thinking too! That's what you do, isn't it? Sending my love and prayers, and see you soon! I thought your blog was insightful. A couple things to ponder: Communal modelsotherwise known as Intentional Communities still exist and are quite functional.
Check out Damanhur in Europe and Yogaville in Virginia. Some soul contracts demand that money and energy exchange be handled very carefully. Egoic behavior is the human obstacle course. Spiritual education always preceeds the material Illusion called Maya world. I whole heartedly believe in "getting out there" and finding the correct path of prosperity and wealth thinking and action.
I just think there some big things that impede people from making it all happen the way our conscious mind wants it to. Some peopleespecially wounded healersneed healing all the way to the soul level if necessary before stepping too far into the arena as a career.
25 Lessons Learned from John Maxwell
There are countless drawbacks that prevent a lot of career expansions. Follow your intuition and the messages and signs you are receiving You will find that once you make the decision once and for all, many doors will open for you Veronica. I thank you so much for your words of encouragement and clear explanation. I quit my job one year ago next month and feel compelled to start working again due to our financial status at the present time.
Although I have a need, our Angels have been communicating to me time and time again that I should consider taking a job in anything that will expand my spirituality. I try to do this on a day to day basis, as spirituality is all the areas of your life, paid or unpaid. But now I feel I'd like to still get paid, but have a fufilling life in a spiritually based profession. What do you think? Thank you Joanne for all work you have done. U are just amazing! Im so eager to start with my lightworking when i know what universe got in pockets for me: This is one of the things that I have "battled" with more than anything.
A big part of the reason is because me following the path that's in my heart will indeed ruffle the feathers of those that I grew up with. Not because my beliefs are totally different now, but because God is teaching me a new language. It is like a divine revelation of how things ALL flow together. My dialect and language may not sound "correct" to them. This is what I think I have feared. I have been trying to find loop holes. I have been teaching, writing, supporting, coaching, etc. Thank you for the article Joanne. It was confirmation on a lot of levels. Even the part about accepting money for my services.
My brother was just told that he is a light worker. I had never heard that term before but after doing some research and reading this hub I believe that I too am a light worker. I have a life path of 6 but I'm still confused as to how I'm supposed to help people Thank you for this informative hub.. I truly enjoyed the read. Isn't it wonderful when we experience our own inner-truths, see the Light, and are able to release and let go of old restraints and constraints that hold us back from living and being our true, authentic selves.
I fully encourage you to live your passions and purpose to their utmost Darnesha Also my Pastor just thinks is all just noise, I feel so out of place when I go to church. I feel ashamed because my Pastor looks at me like, what does she know.. Well I have new fruit, new covenant and not the old. Joanne your encouraging words really impacted my life, I really didn't know which way I should go on my spiritual journey. My life has changed, now I don't want anything of the world, for dear life all I want to do is the will and works of the higher Spirit of the Universe.
Joanne this world need people to stand up and spread life into every living soul. I'm a strong voice for God, I must stand and shine light on every dark place.
I don't know my next move, God saved my life and now I live for him. Left everything, no more bondage, pain GONE! I'm free God said to me last year, today I still follow him, my life has never been the same, I ran out of myself, now I see. Outstanding hub, I've been searching for months on why i've been overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit since January 14th Everything after that, the Spirit continues to speak especially while when my stomach is empty, fasting. Its beautiful, its a place I've neven been before, its beautiful. However I'm safe there, im at peace there, also in the spirit and in truth the Spirit opens the word to me, i cannot explain it, its so amazing.
Now when i read the bible reading in the spirit, the words are not in the carnal anymore. Its no longer mysteries nor parables, Gods word unvealed. This taste God shared with me i crave for daily, i want more. I just cant get enough, when i got to church and sunday school, my Paster's sermons are past behind, thats Gods very own words.
I cannot lie, is there anyone out there hungry like me. This is good advice. I write on 3 sites, and on HP mostly to teach others to do Astrology on their own. I've been deluged with people wanting answers to problems. I do charts the old way, but just ordered software. My issue is that people ask questions on here and other sies which waste my time for hours. When they find they must pay, I never hear from them. To hand calculate it took me 7 hrs. I'm taking a break to get used to the program I ordered, and have to write realistic rules for people who want my services.
I think exchaning money is fine, but it isn't a license for the person to ask you personal questions about their lives forever and expect answers. I have actually gotten stuff like, "Sun in Pisces, Capricorn moon, what can you tell me? I'm not a full blown psychic, and although sympathetic, think that's just rude. Great, hours of free work and many more like him.
The Marks of a Spiritual Leader
I've written over 50 metaphysical hubs on here, and if they read many of them they could answer their own questions. I think tarot readings online or by phone are BS, there is no way to get the person's vibrations in the cards by shuffling. It's hard to separate the spiritual seekers from people who want something for nothing. They don't even want to do enough inner work to describe their problems. Maybe when Mercury goes direct this will change. Thanks for the hub!!