The Lexicon of Leadership

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There are at least three (3) things that you will not get back: time wasted, opportunities neglected and words spoken. Time, opportunities and words must be managed and maximized. Of the three, the spoken word is the most important. Your time is invested or wasted by your words. Opportunities are opened or closed by your words.

Leaders live by a different kind of lexicon. Leaders are those whom shape the conversation of a culture or generation. Leaders have the language that brings to life the boldest visions and loftiest dreams. Leaders are not simply speakers; leaders are shapers. Leaders shape the way we speak and think.

Jesus came into the world as a new lexicon. Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Jesus enters the world as a new kind of conversation. He introduces language that was either new or that now He would revolutionize. Words like “Father”, “kingdom”, “church” and “love” were introduced to us from an other-worldly dictionary. These words now have meaning that is eternal. These were not mere words, these are words that give faith a clear voice.

Jesus was never just throwing out words. Jesus warned against idle words. ” But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account therefore in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). Words are powerful. Words can shape history and define destinies. Words will be brought into account. Our  words then, are a stewardship. We are to use our words carefully and wisely.

Jesus was shaping a new spirit with a new semantic. “The words I speak, they are spirit and life” (John 6:63).  Jesus was introducing a new way of speaking about spiritual things and life. A new conversation creates a new consciousness. We eventually take on the walk of our talk. What we speak becomes what we think and what we think becomes our words.  Our words ultimately shape our world.

“That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but thou shall believe what things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). What Jesus taught about word staggers the human imagination.  To read these words not only provokes your faith, they can intimidate your faith. Can it really be true that Jesus wants me to have whatever I say?  Is that a blessing or a curse?  Can I be trusted with such power?

The power is yours, however you choose to use it. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” (Proverbs 18:21). Leaders are practicing power, like lawyers practice law and doctors practice medicine. Authentic leaders use the power of their tongues to create opportunities and correct inconsistencies for those they lead. Leaders use their words to speak life to the positives and death to the negatives.

 

 

“The Anointing Makes The Difference”

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I am not broke!  I am not a victim!  I am not confused!  I am not unhappy!  I am ANOINTED!

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).

Jesus explained his life  and mission in the terms of the Spirit. Jesus obviously viewed His life as an instrument of the Spirit. All that Jesus began to do and to teach was empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit. The “Spirit of the Lord” was Lord in the life of our Lord. Jesus was born of the Spirit, baptized in the Spirit, full of the Spirit, driven by the Spirit and anointed by the Spirit. The anointing appointed his ministry.

Jesus explained what made him extraordinary. He gave away the real “secret”. The secret is the anointing. The mystery is revealed! The anointing made all the difference in the life of Jesus and it makes all the difference with us.  We are no more effective than we are anointed. Now please think of what I just said. There are so many working for God with little or no effect. The anointing is necessary for effective ministry.

When the anointing is at work in our lives we should, as Jesus did, make positive confessions over our lives. What more positive confession can a person make than, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”? This is a powerful personal affirmation. It affirms that the Spirit is at work in you to produce positive results for those in negative situations.

The anointing can remove every negative situation and confession from our lives. When someone or something is anointed you know something good is going to happen. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and power who went about doing good…”(Acts 10:38). Good came from the life of Jesus no matter what, because He was anointed. Even the Cross turned out good because Jesus was the Anointed One.

Since we are the Body of Christ we are the representatives of the Anointed One and His anointing. According to Isaiah 10:27 the anointing removes burdens and destroys yokes. The proclamation we then must have is positive. We must proclaim and confess that our time of blessing, restoration and release has come. The anointing is positive!

The anointing can positively affect your financial situation. There is good news for your money. The anointing has come upon you to remove the burden and destroy the yoke. Therefore, confess, “I have unlimited wealth!”

The anointing can positively affect your emotional situation. There is good news for your inner hurts. The anointing has come upon you to heal your heart. Therefore, confess, “I am healed from my past!”.

The anointing can positively affect your spiritual situation. There is good news for your life. The anointing has come upon you to deliver you from the bondage of sin and death. Therefore, confess, “I am delivered from the negative!”

The anointing can positively affect your mental situation. There is good news for your thoughts. The anointing has come upon you to recover your insight and imagination. Therefore, confess, “I have a vision for the future!”

The anointing can positively affect your social situation. There is good news for people around you. The anointing has come upon you to make you a positive person. Therefore, confess, “Good things are happening all around me!”

The anointing is the difference! Acknowledge the anointing and expect positive things to happen in you and through you.

“I Might, I May, I MUST!”

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Most people seem  to live without much of a mandate. They live with an “I might” or an “I may” hanging over their lives. They seem to be moved by conditions and not convictions. This is an unfortunate waste of power and potential. Those who are living with an “I must” are powerful and living out their potential. Those moved by mandates perfect their purpose and empower others to do the same.

Jesus lived with an “I must” . “I must work the works of him that sent me..” (John 9:4). He was committed to a conviction that mandated every decision he made and every direction he took. Jesus was not moved by the conditions around him. Jesus was moved by a divine “must” and a driven mandate. This is what makes his ministry so precise and powerful. Jesus was only going to do what he had to do.

Emotions and situations did not create agendas for Jesus. Jesus was kingdom-committed and kingdom-motivated. Everything he did he did on purpose. His imperative came from a knowledge of the Father and the Father’s will for His life. Nothing could be allowed to hinder or negate what the Father had planned for His life.  This was the imperative.

What is it that you just have to do with your life?  What do you have to carry out before you leave planet Earth? That is the question that will lead you to better discover why God has created you, designed you, and now has placed you where you are. There is something you must do before you die.  Finding out what you must do is what you must do.

We need an inner imperative. We live in a world where so many are so quick to hire someone to motivate them. An inner imperative seems no longer necessary. We want to just lease out our will power to other people. We want to make other people responsible for our motivation.

I recently read of a deceased Hollywood comedian icon who sought to kick a cocaine habit by hiring a body-guard to intercept any drugs he may attempt to buy from drug dealers. This lasted for a while. Not long after this Hollywood icon fired the body-guard, thinking he was ready to live sober, he was found dead in his million dollar bungalow having overdosed on a lethal combination of  heroin and cocaine. There is no humor found in his tragedy, but there is plenty of truth. No one without can sustain motivation within.

We need something, or better said, someone within us that motivates us. Those who don’t have the money to hire motivators may just wind up waiting. They wind up waiting on some perfect person or perfect situation. We need to be stirred to action. We have life coaches, motivational speakers and a host of self-help gurus offering their systems, techniques and strategies all designed to get you to feel the need to have to do something about something or anything. None of the externals have the power of an inner imperative.

The inner imperative is a “divine drive”. It is to be “in-Spirited”.  It is sustained inspiration that comes from sacred unction. It is motivation that only the Spirit of God and the purpose of God can maintain and multiply in your life. If you will to maximize your life then check the imperatives of your life. Make sure you inner is the winner!

Hate To Be Late!

Time is one of the greatest gifts God ever gave us!  It is a medium of exchange that can obtain anything you need in life.  What you need to meet your need is more time. Given the time every need can be met.

Time is the one seed that can reproduce after any kind. That’s right!  Any kind! Whatever you want to harvest in your life will be determined by what you do with the time you have. God didn’t give you a marriage and a family. He gave you time and you sowed your time and built a marriage and a family. God doesn’t give you money. He gives you time to make or receive money. God doesn’t give us eternity. He give us time to choose eternity. God gives you time and if you sow time into the right purpose you will reap incredible returns. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose..” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

In order to better value your time I recommend the following 10 practical tips for better time investment:

1) Study how you are currently using your time. If you keep doing what you are doing with your time, will you be wiser, richer or happier a year from now?

2) Find your “prime time”.  What hours are the most effective for you to concentrate and create?

3) Plan tomorrow the night before. Do you wake up with a” things-to-do-list” waiting for you?

4) Throughout the day check out what you’re doing and make sure it’s important.

5) Act on correspondences and requests as soon as you can. Get them out-of-the-way!

6) Plan before you work and then work what you planned. Are you focused?

7) Delete what doesn’t belong to you. Junk mail and e-spam are to be thrown away and avoided.

8) Delegate what others can do better than you. Teams are for time.

9) Make your time pay and count. Seek high pay-off rewards for the time you spend with God, with people and with projects.

10) Prioritize your plans and actions. What is the most important thing now and later?