For Jesus' Love 14 Leadership Traits

FOR JESUS’ LOVE 14

Leadership Traits

By

Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (September 24, 2017)

“So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” (St. John 21:15-17, King James Version [Christ’s charge to Peter]}

Greetings in the Holy Name of Jesus,

My sisters and brothers, hate is not where you want to be. I am telling you truth. There is a whole lot of shaking and washing going on. The good-intentioned systems of the world do not lead you to Christ Jesus. The highway to hell is full of good-intentions. Do you hear the ministers, those true believers that preach fire and brimstone roar out from the pulpits, trying to shake you out of your circumstance into your happen stance so that by perchance you find Jesus grounding you in truth? Do you think God made a mistake when he shakes the earth and all that dwelled on the earth? Further to that point, do you think God made a mistake when he washes the earth and all that lay upon the earth?

Accordingly, the Prophet Isaiah spoke out volumes to the people when he preached judgment upon Judah for her sins, when he said, “”And they shall go into the holes in the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth” [2:19, 21, KJV]. Yet, as a father to a child, the Prophet Isaiah spoke comfort and hope to an exiled people when he said, “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion” [52:2, KJV-exhortation to trust God]. Yet, the Prophet Haggai spoke God’s encouragement over the people challenging the people to respond wholeheartedly to the noble task of rebuilding the House of God, “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea and the dry land: and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts”

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[2:6-7, KJV]. I know a person can become discouraged in well-doing, for I am in a task of rebuilding myself and there are times, I feel discouraged and I speak to God, “This is too much for me.”

Most importantly, I tell you that’s when the God-effect becomes prevalent when God takes the helm and moves me and the task-at-hand along, in faith. I know it is God because everything fits in its place, everyone is agreeable---all for one, one for all, in agreement as the one body, otherwise who else is capable of unifying the people but God. More importantly, the Prophet Zechariah, a contemporary of Haggai spoke promises to Jerusalem, of rebuilding the temple to the people, for Christ is promised “For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD” [2:9-10, KJV]. Trust in the LORD.

In summary, God does not make mistakes. God is not a man that he can lie. In The Book Of Psalms 116: 11, KJV, “I said in my haste, All men are liars.” Apostle John spoke of Jesus when he answered the Jews---justifying his doctrine, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not” [8:44-45, KJV]. In The Epistle Of Paul To Titus, Apostle Paul in a personal letter told Titus to rebuke the Cretians when they lie for they are known to be liars, “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth” [1:12-14].