Without leaders the focus of individuals and teams quickly drifts or disappears. Joshua had a personal commitment to the unchanging standards God had given the people to live by, but within one generation after his death, the people abandoned the God of their fathers and worshiped the false gods of the surrounding nations. In spite of the established memorials to God’s work and the seven annual feasts, without the example and leadership and a strong central leader, the next generation was not raised in the training and instruction of the Lord. Read Judges 1 and 2.

Under the strong leadership of Joshua, Israel kept their covenant with God and completed their part of that covenant. Without a strong leader to hold them accountable, Israel’s conquest of Canaan was incomplete; God’s people disobeyed Him when they made covenants with the inhabitants of the land. Disobedience to God’s revealed word always causes regret in the long run. Read more »

Effective leaders must develop self-discipline. The first person a leader needs to lead in this area is themselves. Read Numbers 33:1-49.

Numbers 33 provides a review of the entire exodus journey from Egypt to Jordon. Why didn’t the Israelites get to the Promised Land more quickly? Not because it was such a long trip in distance, they could have made the trip across this distance in less than a year under the worst of circumstances even with small children. The real reason was that God needed to prepare the Hebrew people, teaching them how to move from a slave mentality to a free mentality where they chose to be obedient to Him from a free disciplined spirit. Read more »

Trustworthy leaders tend to find favor in the workplace and with those around them. Read Genesis 39.

Joseph came to Egypt as a teenage slave. He had no resume, no references, no track record and did not speak the language. He was purchased from the slave traders by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, a captain of the guard. One trait in Joseph’s character, trustworthiness, allowed him to find favor with his master and as a young man he was “…made overseer of his (Potiphar’s) house, and all that he had he put under his (Joseph’s) authority.” Read more »

Abraham is still held in high esteem by Jews and Gentiles alike. His name seems synonymous with respect and leadership. At least one of the reasons Abraham still enjoys this position of respect is because Abraham followed through on his commitments. Genesis 12-22 Read more »

When defining leadership, many people have used the very succinct definition by J. Oswald Sanders where he simply states “Leadership is influence.” Every leader has a sphere of influence, people to whom their influence is direct and an extended sphere of influence where their influence is transferred through the next generation. According to Genesis 6:9 God chose Noah to be an influencer of an entire world starting over because “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God.” Read Genesis 6-11.

Just a glimpse at Noah’s sphere of influence comes when we understand a few facts about Noah’s life. Read more »