​Have you ever wondered what makes a good Christian leader?  Or how God shapes and makes those men and women useful servants for His kingdom? 
 
I know I have.  Now that I’m serving in ministry and feel called to leadership in worship and discipleship, I have often pondered and contemplated how God chooses and prepares His servants.  Throughout Biblical and Church history there have been many amazing and mighty men and women of God.  A short list would include giants like Moses, David, Joseph, Mary, Paul, James, Peter, Billy Graham, John Wesley, and Hudson Taylor just to name a few.
 
But what set these people apart?  Why did God choose them?  And how did they grow into their roles of leadership?  What journey did God take them on to shape and mold them into the leaders of His choosing?

We make many assumptions. Too often we assume that as Christians, we don’t experience the same problems unbelievers face. It’s easy to think that once we are redeemed from our sins we don’t have as great a need of God’s grace as others do. We know that those who don’t trust Jesus for forgiveness have been blinded and hardened against the truth (John 12:40, Ephesians 4:18). However, when Jesus stilled the storm in Mark 6, the disciples were surprised at Jesus’ power because “their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:52).  This begs the question, “Can Christians have hard hearts as well as unbelievers?” Hebrews 3:14 indicates we certainly have the potential, so I don’t think we can remove ourselves from this dangerous category.  Instead we should know what it means to be hard-hearted, what we can do to prevent it, and how we can be restored if we have sinned by having a hard heart.

​Walls can do many things.  They can give support, become a solid place to prop things up against or hang things on.  They can enclose a space and provide protection for all that’s within.  But walls can also conceal and hide things, create a divide, or give a false sense of privacy.  And the last example is the type of wall God is talking about in Ezekiel 43:7-8:

Every year on this day, we spend time looking back over the previous 365(6) days and making resolutions for the coming year.  So as we start the year of our Lord 2017, let’s begin by analyzing what God has done in our lives last year and asking ourselves these questions.

​As we move from the season of gratefulness and Thanksgiving, and into that of gifts, giving, and receiving, we must be careful that we do not slip into a hunger and desire for things, dissatisfaction for what we have and what God has given us, and a need to possess more.  I’ve always thought it rather paradoxical that immediately after our celebration and declaration of thanksgiving to God for what He’s done for us and given us, we turn to and start thinking about what we’ve got to have and will not be happy without.  So as we transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, I believe that the Apostle Paul has a timely message for us.     

Another view on this concept of the Lord being our glory and our honor —and one that is more relative to our era—is that He is our renown, our fame, and our identity.  Our culture tells us to promote ourselves, pursue notoriety and popularity, and make our name known.   However, David, the most famous and well-known man in Israel during his day, declared that the Lord was his glory.  It wasn’t his wealth, fame, accomplishments, abilities, victories, wives, children, or popularity; David’s glory was the Lord.

​We live in a world consumed with glory, fame, success, and human accolade.  Celebrities, movie stars, and royalty are raised to a god-like pedestal and revered with much awe and respect.  While most of us are not world-famous or blue bloods, we do seek to make a name for ourselves, become successful, and expand our sphere of influence.  So this verse from Psalm 3 is a timely message for us: 

​In Romans 10, Paul quotes Isaiah when he wrote,  “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”