The Making Of A Leader

THE MAKING OF A LEADER

Study Text: 1 Kings 6:7.

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

- God takes time to prepare a man before He presents them for use. The stones in the above text were pre-finished, cut into shapes and sizes to fit into specific positions in the temple.

- We are the stones that God will like to work upon outside the temple before bringing us to the temple site. The nature of use is a function of the readiness.

- 2 Tim 2:20-21: But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

If a man therefore purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

- No one was brought to the temple site for trial and error. No one was forced to fit in by the use of any iron tool, but every one should have submitted himself to the preparation of the almighty God before he appeared in the seen.

- Today there is so much competition, rivalry, self-promotion and slf-placement in the church. This is because the church today is filled with men and women who escaped the preparation by God to fit the specific calling on their lives.

- We shall be looking into the life of Joshua as a case study. He is a sure example of a man that God thoroughly prepared before hand before releasing him into His service.

- Josh 24:29-31: And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.

- Joshua is a role model for both people who are leading and people who might one day serve as leaders.

- There are certain qualities we can see in the life of Joshua that showed his thorough preparation by God before being involve in the service of God. Every one that want to go far with God and that want to remain relevant in the kingdom assignment must labor to see these qualities grow in their lives.

1. Humility

-Joshua was a man of humility. He served under Moses for forty years with great humilty. Ex 33:9-11: And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.

- Any one that will become a great leader must be humble enough to serve other people. As a leader, Joshua was still willing to serve one greater than himself.

Josh 5:13-15: And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

- Great leaders will not allow their positions to make them proud; they are humble to serve once a gain. If you are going to be great, you must develop the grace of humility and continue steadfastly in manifesting that grace. The Bible says God will resist a proud man and give more grace to the humble.

2. Faith and Trust in God