Floodgates of Heaven Devotions: Leadership

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LEADERSHIP: Live without honor, Die without honor!

Today’s Reading: 2 Chron. 21-22, John 14

Today’s Reflection: 2 Chronicles 21:3b-4a …but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram; because he was the firstborn. Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword…

We see here the causes and effects of both the misappropriation and the abuse of power. First, to the misappropriation; King Jehoram was given the kingdom simply because he was the firstborn. Although that was the traditional way to do things, it was not the wisest choice, for obvious reasons.

The point I wish to make here before moving on is simply this; leadership should be entrusted to the most qualified individual, regardless of their social standing, birth order, family lineage, etc.

Too many times people get the position out of traditional expectations, and not out of honest, hard-earned, tried and proven credentials and capabilities. The results can be devastating when one is in power in position only, and not in personal or professional strength to function properly in that position.

Now, let’s move on to the abuses of power. We see several character flaws in this king unqualified and unfit to rule. First, we see his pride. To him, it was more important to stay in power at any cost, than it was to use that power for the benefit of his citizens.

This leads to his second flaw we see; selfishness. To him, it was all about his power and his control. He could not think about anyone else’s concerns but his own.

We know this, because once pride and selfishness took over, his third major character flaw shown through; namely, hatred. How else could you explain his murdering all of his own brethren? It must have come from pure hatred for their existence, as he only saw them as a potential threat to his throne, and not as the assets they could have become, had he had love in his heart for his own.

And finally, we see his fourth major character flaw; fear. He was captivated by it. It was so bad, that it caused him all of the blind spots that led to his lack of discretion, and ultimately his destruction.

So, we learn that each of the following causes of his abuse of power yielded each their own respective effects: Prided yielded a great fall, fear yielded failure, hatred yielded murder, and selfishness yielded dishonor.

Lesson? If you abuse your powers to demand respect, ultimately you will die a dishonorable death.

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 155 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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Christ INSISTS on washing your feet!

Today’s Reading: 2 Chron. 17-18, John 13:1-20

Today’s Reflection: John 13:8-9 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

I’m just blown away at the thought of the Master and Creator of the universe humbling Himself to such a low degree that He would do the basest job of a servant boy, and wash the feet of those who SHOULD be washing HIS!

Yet, here we see the one who made man of the dust of the ground, now in human flesh, dwelling among sinners such as us, washing the same feet that He created with his own hands.

What kind of plan is this for a King? What kind of plan is this for Divine Royalty? Yet, He does it! But why? What is His purpose? Dear friend, if you’ll read on to verse 15, you’ll find the answer.

Jesus said, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

In short, Jesus is teaching His disciples the necessity of servanthood leadership, but He’s doing so by example. In just a little while, when we read on, we’ll see just how far Jesus takes this servanthood leadership role. We will see just how serious He is about it!

As a matter of fact, I’ll go ahead and tell you; the cross was His ultimate price for becoming a servant to us. That’s right! It cost Him His life! And He did so willingly! THAT’S how He redeems us; He takes OUR place, and serves HIMSELF as a ransom for our sins.

What a Savior! And no wonder He told Peter that if He couldn’t wash his feet, that he had “no part” with him. That word “part” means “a part due or assigned to one.” In other words, Jesus was to serve, while Peter was to accept. There were no other options.

And while people were trying to crown Him with the golden crown of a King, Jesus first insisted on the thorny crown of a servant. The gold would come, but not until after the thorns, as He must SERVE, and we must ACCEPT His service, lest we have no part with Him.

Peter even attempted to keep the crucifixion from happening, and when he pulled out his sword to fight for Jesus’ life, Jesus rebuked him and told him to put up his sword!

This way of the cross; this way of servanthood leadership, MUST be done, else nothing else matters. Now, it’s OUR turn. Will WE follow Jesus’ example, or are we too good to serve?

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 153 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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Christ: The Greatest Leader in History!

Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 24-25, John 5:1-24

Today’s Reflection: John 5:13b …for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

Jesus was 100% mission-minded. This means that He was not distracted nor attracted by things or to things that are common pitfalls for men who seek influence today.

For example, in some passages we read of where He was preaching, teaching, and feeding crowds of thousands and possibly even tens of thousands of people, and yet in other passages such as this one, we see Him deliberately avoiding the crowds altogether.

Isn’t this fascinating? One would think that every crowd would be addressed at every chance to spread His message, but Jesus wasn’t focused on pleasing or appeasing crowds, but only pleasing His Father in Heaven. This meant that each day He fulfilled God’s Will for that specific day and that specific circumstance.

Not every task or mission required a speaking engagement to thousands of people. In fact, many of Christ’s greatest works and most lasting impacts were made with individuals and small groups of disciples who would later shake the world with His message!

There were numerous occasions where Christ had ample opportunity to speak to large audiences, and walked away from such opportunities, because He knew where His focus was most well spent and where it had the most impact. If you think about it, and study it out in the Gospels, the closer Christ got to Calvary, the smaller the crowds became.

In essence, you could say that Christ preferred the cross over crowds, because He knew that if He didn’t finish the work of the cross, that He would not be able to help the crowds. This shows us His awesome leadership style; Christ did what had to be done at the expense of a large but temporary following, so that later on countless millions if not billions would accept His message and follow Him completely and relentlessly!

His cross was the price He had to pay in order to give the crowds what they needed, and not just what they wanted.

Even so, if we are to truly lead, we must see beyond the fickle demands of a waning crowd to their truest need, and if required, temporarily part ways with their approval, so that in the end we can offer them what they truly need!

Our cross will also be the price we must pay in order to achieve the greatest influence possible on behalf of others.

Our desire with Floodgates of Heaven Devotions is to help make disciples of Christ one by one. We invite you to join us in the journey of exploring God's Word together as we study out truths that are sure to draw us closer to Christ and help us become more effective in following and serving Him!

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Floodgates of Heaven
Volume 2
Entry 136 of 365

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copyright © by Gary D. Caudill

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Why it's SO important to STAND YOUR GROUND!!!...

Today’s Reading: Josh. 4-6, Luke 1:1-20

Today’s Reflection: Josh. 4:3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

“…the place where the priests’ feet stood firm…” When God tells you where to stand, all other ground is shifting sand. But some would argue that a river was in their way! Oh, but was it? No, but it would appear that, standing in the river’s way, were God’s men!

When you are planted where you're supposed to be in the Kingdom of God, all other elements around you must yield in sync to your placement. It is amazing to me that these priests, in obedience to The Lord’s command, stepped down into the water, and as a result, the river dried up under their feet to give them firm footing.

Never doubt where God leads you. Many times He will lead you right up into the most unnatural, unpredictable, unprecedented situations, but all He needs is obedience on your part, and He will take care of the rest.

Oh man of God, have you stood in your place against all odds until you have become weary with standing? Never forget that God does His greatest works when men are stilled in His presence. Having done all, STAND!

You might not be able to do anything else, but stand in your place. The rivers of adversity will just have to dry up until God is ready to pull you back up out of the river bed.

If you will continue to be faithful to stand, the rocks will cry out and testify as a memorial of God’s great deliverance in your passing from the wilderness to the Promised Land.

Future generations will see the stones of memorial and ask what they mean, and then the stories will be told of the legacy of faith you were instrumental in passing down, all because you were simply willing to stand your ground as God instructed you to.

Never underestimate the impact your stand will make. Against all opinions, stand. Against all slander, stand. Against all fatigue, stand. Against all lies, stand. Against all attacks, stand. Against all the powers of hell, stand.

Against every foe, every dart, every disappointment, every loss, every mistake, every sin, stand! Stand against all odds, for when God stands with you, no thing and no one can stand against you!

This will be your legacy. Only one question will matter in the end; were you standing in your place? Others may look at your place and call it cursed, or call it impossible, or any number of things, but when God tells you to stand there, it becomes a firm foundation.

Only God can take a slippery place, and make it firm. STAND THEREFORE!

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Floodgates of Heaven, Volume 2, Entry 79 of 365

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Can God use YOUR spirit?

Day 62 (Category: Leadership)

Today’s Reading: Num. 26-28 & Mark 8

Today’s Reflection: Numbers 27:18 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;

It was time for Moses to begin the process of preparing the next leader of Israel to take his place. He asked The Lord to set a man over the congregation who, in essence, would be a shepherd to the house of Israel, leading them in and out, going before them as he leads. As Moses spoke with The Lord about this, he identified Him as “the God of the spirits of all flesh," knowing that only God would know what man among them had the right spirit with which to lead. It was important to have someone that was approved of God, and not someone that just appeared outwardly to be good leadership material according to men’s standards. So, God responded to Moses’ prayer in verse eighteen with these words, “Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit…” When asked who had the right SPIRIT…or one might say, the right HEART with which to lead, God already had a man in mind, whom He had already been preparing against this day. It is important now to note that when God looks for a leader, the only thing He is looking for is someone “in whom is the spirit,"; that is, someone who possesses the kind of spirit that is subject to and sensitive to the Spirit of God. Consider, for example, the prayer of King David (who, by the way, was a man after God’s own heart) in Psalm 51:10, who said, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” It was this kind of attitude David had that made him “King material," and it was this same kind of attitude that made Joshua the kind of leadership material good enough to follow in the footsteps of Moses. The word spirit literally means wind, breath, & mind. It carries with it the idea of possessing life in the soul and guidance in the mind by the very breath or Spirit of God. This brings to mind when The Lord formed Adam of the dust of the ground, and when he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, he became a living soul. That said, our text would imply that Joshua’s spirit wasn’t just a troubled and famished spirit isolated from God’s presence and guidance, but rather that he was, as close as an Old Testament saint could be, filled with (or at least guided by) the Spirit of God for the purpose for which he was placed on this planet. Now, today’s question is this: Do you have the kind of spirit that God would select and use for His glory? Or, is your spirit all fouled up and out of sorts with God’s purpose for your life? Surrender!

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To lead by example is not the best way to lead; it’s the only way to lead. Read more...

Day 31 (Category: Leadership)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 25-26, Matt. 20:17-34

Today’s Reflection: Matt. 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

In God’s kingdom, the way up is down! This is perhaps one of the most important principles a Christian can learn in his walk with Christ. Many today want a title without any toil. What God is teaching us is this; in order to become great, one must work for it! In other words, you will be recognized as great only when you behave as such. We must then learn that there is nothing greater than to serve our fellow man. If we think that being at the top means we won’t have to do the “menial” tasks, we are dead wrong! To the contrary, the only way to get to the top is to serve! A true leader will always have a servant’s heart because that’s what put him in a position of leadership to start with. The moment we think we’re too important to do the small stuff is the moment we forfeit our right to lead. This does not mean that a leader won’t delegate responsibilities in order to focus on what he or she may be more effective at doing, but at the same time, a true leader is always willing to do what it takes, even when there is no one else to delegate responsibilities to. To lead by example is not the best way to lead; it’s the only way to lead. Anything else is just a title without credentials. One who has a title without any credentials may say, “Let me tell you how to do it!” while one who has the credentials will say, “Let me SHOW you how to do it!” I’ve seen many people who have titles that couldn’t lead, and I’ve seen many leaders who didn’t have, need, or even want a title. They simply served, and grew in wisdom and favor with God and man as a result! Servanthood leadership has the least appeal to the natural man, but the most reward to offer! We must be willing to “do the dirty work” if we are to “dine with kings”! We cannot bypass the rough and rocky road to successful leadership and positions of influence. If we are to lead and influence, it should be because we have been diligent, not in talking about, but in doing, God’s work. In essence, God is saying to us, “If you really want to be a leader, then you must first pay your dues!” What about you? Do you hesitate to pay the price for greatness? Had you rather get there some other way? If so, you may get the title, but you’ll never have the character to keep you there very long. Let’s go serve!
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The greatest leaders are the greatest followers! ~ Read more....

Day 27 (Category: Leadership)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 16-18, Matt. 18:1-20

Today’s Reflection: Ex. 18:24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

This is truly one of the most beautiful pictures in the Bible of authentic leadership. Up to this point in Moses’ ministry, he had seen God accomplish great and mighty things through his willingness to obey. The Red Sea experience alone set Moses up as one of the greatest leaders in history because of his obedience, his courage, his faith, and most importantly, his close relationship with God. On that note, I want you to think about how great he must have become in the eyes of most of the people of the land. Now, with that in mind, as I read this text, to me, Moses is the biggest character in the story. One would think that a leader of this caliber needs no advice, but only gives it. However, that is not the case at all! As a matter of fact, in Numbers 12:3, the Bible describes Moses as “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth”. The word meek can be described as “depressed in mind or circumstance, needy, humble, lowly, or poor”. In other words, I believe it could be said that Moses was an Old Testament example of a New Testament commandment found in Romans 12:3, which says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Simply put, Moses knew his place! He wasn’t too good or too great to remember where he came from, or to learn a few more lessons from others along the way. Furthermore, consider who it was that he received advice from; it was Jethro, Moses’ father in law, who also was a man of God that Moses spent some 40 years in the wilderness serving under and learning by. He had obviously gained Moses’ respect, and no doubt influenced Moses in his leadership capabilities. As a matter of fact, it is probably safe to say that Jethro had just as big an impact on preparing Moses for his ministry as anyone else in his life, and so it is to this reality that we now know why, when Jethro spoke, Moses listened. Let us all learn a humbling lesson from Moses that, no matter how high up we may go in leadership, we should always remember the lessons we learned along the way, as well as who it was that taught them to us!

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When God gets ready to do a thing, the thing will get done! ~ Read more....

Day 24 (Category: Leadership)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 9-11, Matt. 15:21-39

Today’s Reflection: Ex. 11:3 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

When God decides to shift things around, He simply shines His light on people and places that otherwise would have never been noticed. For 400 years, the people of Israel were in Egyptian bondage, looked at by the servants of Pharaoh as nothing but slaves, that is, until now! Now God begins to shine His light on His people once again, and all of a sudden, things are beginning to look different! Before, they were seen as just slaves; now, they are gaining respect even from those who have them in chains of bondage. Why? Because of God’s favor! This passage illustrates for us how that God is always full of surprises, completely able to pull up mighty leadership out from the middle of nowhere, to make world-wide, eternal impact! Know assuredly that God has people. Don’t you worry, for “all the old men of God” are not dead and gone. Some have left us, no doubt, but God is always rising up men out of places and circumstances we would least expect, to bring about an Earth-quaking, Heaven-shaking revival in the midst of the darkness. For Moses, this defining moment was life-changing, as people’s perspective of him changed by God’s own shaping. This truth shows us that when God gets ready to rise up new leadership, the place, the timing, and the people will be just right, because God orchestrated it all! Isn't it amazing that when Moses needed to look great in the sight of the people, God caused it to be so? So then, when we are faced with a God-given task, are we to panic over a lack of support from people? Not at all, because when God really gets in it, He will provide you with everything you need, and everybody you need, to get the job done. You may be reading this right now, and needing God’s favor and people’s respect and support in a ministry decision you are having to make; pray that God will do for you and yours exactly what He did for Moses and his people in our text. Oh, that God would rain His favor upon His people in this hour, even as we begin to gain respect from those to whom we are called to be lights in this dark cold world!

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