You Are a Leader, Act Like One!

I was in a leaders class last night at my church and my friend who lead the class was talking about "fear" and how detrimental it can be in our walk with the Lord. There was a story that came up out of the Old Testament that piqued my interest and I thought I would write about this morning. It's found in the Book of Numbers, and is the story of Moses sending the twelve spies into the promised land to see what all it held for them.

You remember the story, the twelve went into the land and saw everything there, and came back and told Moses, Aaron and all the congregation of people what it was like. They told of all the greatness of the country, of how it truly was a place that flowed with milk and honey, but in the same breath they began also to talk about how the people and the cities were. They said things like, we saw giants there, and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were to them as well.

It was at this point that Caleb interrupted and called for everyone to be quiet. He said, "Let us go up and take the land now! We can do it!" (Numbers 13:30) But the damage was done. The people had already heard the evil report and believed it. I'm sure you know the rest of the story, how it took the Children of Israel forty years walking around in the desert and waiting, until they finally were able to go into the land and possess it.

The thing that I found really interesting and the point that I'm really wanting to bring out this morning is who the twelve spies were. In Numbers 13:1-2 MSG it says, God spoke to Moses: "Send men to scout out the country of Canaan that I am giving to the People of Israel. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each one a tried-and-true leader in the the tribe." These twelve men were not just guys pulled at random from the tribes, they were tried-and true leaders. These were men who had proven themselves to be able to lead, and they held sway over people in their tribes.

Now you may be saying, but Dave I'm not a leader, I'm just a follower. Well to that I say, that's not entirely true. Each and every one of us has a sphere of influence, a group of people that we hold sway over. It could be at work, among friends, or maybe you as a parent to your children, we all lead somewhere in this life. And with that influence, we are leading others even if only by example. It has been said that all of us have people who are watching us, to see how we respond to the circumstances of life, and that is true, we all do. It is those people that we are leading, even if they don't know it.

These stories in the Bible are given for our example of what to do, and what not to do. Those ten leaders, those tried-and-true men who were appointed to go in and spy out the land by Moses used their influence and in doing so, kept the Children of Israel out of the inheritance that was promised to them by God. What about us, are our actions causing others to not experience all that God has for them? How do we handle the situations of life? What are our actions saying to those who are watching us, those that we are leading by our own actions and words? When you look at it this way, it kind of makes you re-think your actions and what you are saying doesn't it?

So what kind of leader have you been? Have you led like the ten spies who brought back an evil report, or are you like Joshua and Caleb? This is an answer that only you and the Lord will know, I would encourage you to take some time today and ask the Father about this. And if you find, like I often have, that you are leading like the ten spies, then make a correction, change your words and see your world change too. Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!

How Do You Handle Being Confronted?

I received an email this morning telling me that I had hurt someone's feelings, (The writer did say it was unintentional 0n my part.) and that I should go and make amends. My first reaction (Not always the best thing to go off of either.) was to bow up and say out loud, "Who does he think he is telling me what to do? I haven't even heard from him in over a year!"

I've walked this road with the Father long enough to know better than to dismiss what is inside my heart when these types of things arise. So I will talk with Him about this further and see where I need to go with this information. Just because this has come up, and may even be true, does not mean that it is in fact from God, but could very well be a distraction from the enemy. This is why we need to take time to discern what exactly is going on. One thing that I've always gone by is the notion of following after peace. If something brings peace to my heart, then it is from God, if it brings turmoil and confusion, then it is from the enemy.

You see, while the information that I received from this friend today may in fact be true from his point of view, (He has only heard one side of the story and is now confronting me and telling me to fix it.) I will have to judge whether or not this is something that I need to respond to, or to let go. If I've learned anything about the enemy it is this, he loves to meddle in the affairs of men. He can't do anything to men and women unless they give him permission to do so, and just as God uses people, the devil uses people as well.

That is where I've made a lot of mistakes in my past, in just flying off the handle when some confrontation comes. Instead of taking time to talk to the Father about it, I just rush off to handle it, which usually causes it turns out bad. I am learning, and as a disciple of Christ I think it is our job to continue on learning at the feet of the Master. We never truly arrive at that point in our Christian walk where we become the "super" disciple that needs no more instruction. On the contrary, we are following the Lord daily, or at least we should be, seeking Him to mold us into His image.

So how do you handle being confronted with situations? Running to your flesh, or to the Father God? I heard a man talking about emotional responses one time say, if your emotions run high, your intelligence will in turn be low. But if you can keep your emotional level low, then your intelligence will be high. I think that is why the enemy tries so hard to get us emotionally worked up all the time. He knows that if we are operating at a high emotional level, then we will make mistakes because we have circumvented our intelligence.

Let's get 'em up folks, and go whip something for the Kingdom today!

What Do You Know?

Romans 8:28 starts off by saying, "And we know...". This phrase is full of hope to me because it says that there is actually the ability to have certainty in my life even when things really don't seem to look like it.

Paul wrote this letter (The Book of Romans) to the Roman church fifty-seven years after Jesus was raised from the dead, and Paul was also finishing his third missionary journey at this point. So I'm pretty sure that what he was writing about he had lived out in personal experiences following the Lord. Remember, Paul was beaten, stoned and left for dead on numerous occasions, so we can believe that he had a little bit of knowledge about what he was writing.

While thinking about those three little words, the thought came to me, "What do you know?", which got me to thinking, there is a lot of stuff rattling around in my head at any given time, but it's the stuff that I know that actually helps me to overcome in this life. For instance, I know that Jesus loves me, but do I walk in that daily? Not if I'm whining about how hard things are, because He is the One who said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." So if I find myself whining, then I'm not really operating out of what I know am I?

It's not just what you know that will put you over in this life. It's what you know, and do. In John 5:39 - 40, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees (The guys who were the "play by the rules" police) and He tells them that they are searching the Scriptures looking for eternal life, but all the Scriptures pointed to Jesus and they wouldn't believe Him. So you see, it's not just what you know, but also what you do with what you know. And for me, that is the hardest part, the doing.

One thing though that I love about God, and I try and emulate daily is that He never asks anyone to do anything that they do not have the ability to do. This tells me that I can take "what I know" and turn it into "what I do", and in so doing that I will become the disciple that He is looking for. Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom of God today!

A Clash of Two Sterotypes

Last night I had the opportunity to almost see the collision of two worlds. I was in the shopping center parking lot, sitting in my truck waiting on my bride to pick me up so we could go and enjoy a nice dinner with friends, when out of nowhere this beat up Ford pickup with really loud exhaust pipes slams on its brakes and slides sideways to avoid hitting this pimped out Blazer.

That's innocent enough, and even though the redneck guy shouldn't have been driving as fast as he was, that is typical on a Saturday night. The guy driving the Blazer just stops his vehicle and

refuses to move forward, which causes the redneck to squeal his tires a bit in response. This is when I thought the conflict would really begin. Throwing open his door, the driver of the Blazer leans out and hollers something at the guy in the pickup, and the redneck

yells back. After about thirty seconds the Blazer guy shut his door

and drove off, and the pickup driver pulled across the parking lot and parked next to his buddy's car.

So I pay attention to the two guys as they get out of their vehicles, and the guy driving the Blazer turns out to be one of those wanna be gangster types. You know, a white momma's boy all decked out in the latest hip hoppers outfit, baggy pants, shirt too big and hat cocked to the side. You know the type, the guy that if push came to shove would probably fall apart if someone actually confronted him. The guy in the pickup gets out and sure enough, sleeveless button up plaid shirt, jeans tucked into his boots and a Mohawk in desperate need of a trim.

What I witnessed last night was the epitome of stereotypes in a clash that wouldn't have been really between titans, but more like young men who had yet to grow up. Little boys in young men's bodies who would have been better off just parting ways, chalking it up to something minor instead of getting all worked up about an almost vehicle mishap.

Life really is interesting if you pay attention to it. Get 'em up folks, let's go whip something for the Kingdom of God!

Who Among Us Haven't Had This Happen?

This past week I was taken on a journey that I had not been on before. It turned out to actually be an attack from the enemy, but it was disguised in a way that I'd not seen before.

This past Wednesday was the one year anniversary of the death of my youngest son Noah, and so naturally I was a little on the melancholy side of life that day. But we made it through it, and I figured that the following day would be easier. Boy was I ever wrong about that one.

The following day, my oldest son Micah was leaving for the Philippines to do mission work. What this boils down to for me, is that I got to be up and leaving my house a little bit before 4:00 AM to take him to meet the rest of the team and then drive them to the airport. (I'm not complaining, I'd do this every day if need be.) After returning home at 6:30 AM I read my Bible, drank a little bit more coffee and then went back to bed for an hour of sleep before getting ready for work.

Once I made it to work, I was bombarded with things seeking my attention. I had several refunds, a couple of rude remarks from people in the store and really couldn't wait until lunch so that I could leave and have a few minutes to myself. Well lunch time came and I went home to eat. (Something that I do often) As I was sitting in my recliner after my meal, I fell fast asleep, and was awakened by my wife and daughter coming into the house. (About 2 hours after lunch.)

That night was quiet around the house, I spent some time on the porch reading, Cheryl in her recliner watching/snoozing during American Idol and April in her room sleeping/working on homework. We all went to bed early with little to no conversation at all.

The next morning as I was showering, I was dealing with this heaviness and melancholy in my soul again, when these two words came up from my heart; "hope deferred". Proverbs 13;12 starts with those two words and says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life." Those two words rolled around in my heart for most of the morning, and then about noon it hit me! I knew what the Lord was showing me.

For the past several weeks, I have been hearing a lot of bad news; one friend I have is divorcing his wife because of substance abuse and her lack of getting help, another friend's marriage is failing due to infidelity on his spouse's part, and I've got one friend who is facing a terminal illness. Couple all of that together with the anniversary of Noah's death and the remorse and guilt that were trying to pile on top of me, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

It was then that I saw how my hope was being deferred. The enemy was using these things that my friends are going through to steal/erode my hope in God and His Word. The enemy had launched an attack on me from the side, and I didn't realize it for what it was. You see, had he come directly at me, I would have seen it for the attack that it was and made my stand against him, but because it came from the side it took me a couple of days to see it.

The good news is that I now see it, and I am able to stand against the attack he has brought to me. God never promises us that we won't be attacked, He does promise however He will give us a way out of the attack (test or temptations) 1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message. Now that I know the attack for what it is, I can stand on God's Word and see my way safely out of it.

One other note here, don't say, "Well I read the Bible everyday, and I pray, so that will never happen to me." Don't bank on that. I read the Bible daily, and pray a lot, and still the enemy found a way to get me off of my game, if even for just a couple of days. There are no guarantees that you will not come under attack, on the contrary, if you are doing what God's Word says, you will more than likely have a target on your back. The enemy comes against us all, we have to stand against him and his schemes, daily.

Better days are on the horizon, I can see it! Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!

Does Time Heal All Wounds, & Should It?

It is an interesting thing that the passage of time will do to you. I was thinking of one of the riddles from J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Hobbit this morning. For those of you who haven't read the book, the first of two movies will be released next year, and there is a part of the story where Biblo and Gollum have a contest of riddles. Here it is:

This thing all things devours,

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers.

Gnaws iron, bites steel,

Grinds hard stones to meal,

Slays king, ruins town,

And beats high mountain down!

Of course, the answer is time.

But honestly, what does time do? Nothing really, other than give us an opportunity to mark the passage of it. It has been a year since my youngest son took his own life, and that passage of time has not helped to alleviate the pain and loss

that I feel. I miss his laugh, his deep voice and the way that he could make me laugh, even when he was getting in trouble for some mischief he was involved in. I miss his spirit more than anything, the way that he was so full of life and purpose, and time has not changed that one bit.

I don't think that time can ever fully erase the memories I have of my son, and even though painful, I don't want them to be erased either. Yes, I must admit that I tear up when I

remember something, or see something that reminds me of him, but that is not a bad thing at all. I am beginning to wonder if that truly is a wound meant to be healed. It seems as if it needs to be healed because of the stigma that goes along with suicide, but would we think it needed as much healing if he had died of natural causes, would we walk a different road of grief then?

The truth of the matter is that my son is with Jesus and I will see him again, and I guess that brings a level of comfort. But what about now? What about today? I truly didn't know what to expect at the one year anniversary of Noah's death, but it seems that time, while steadily moving forward, has not wiped away the pain, hurt and sadness. Crap! That's not good at all! I had hoped that the passage of time would do something more than it has.

Okay, so maybe not one of my best posts, and even a little raw as my emotions are in flux today, but that is how I am feeling, and I think if people have learned anything about me through my writings it is that I share who I am; the good, bad and the ugly...so get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom of God today!

God Loves Who You Are, Not What You Do

I experienced something last night and it got me to thinking this morning. I was out with friends, and ran into someone who I had not seen in several months. We all made the required pleasantries and then this person made a statement about working with an atheist, but that in the end he managed to get him saved. It was at that moment that I thought, "Dude, God loves who you are, not what you do."

Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that we shouldn't spread the Gospel and bring people to Jesus. Because after all that is the whole point of why Jesus died on the cross, so don't stop reading here and get mad at me, go ahead and finish reading so you'll see the point that I'm actually making.

Often in life we identify more with what we do than with who we are; like Paul is an accountant, Sandy is a teacher, or Joe is shop worker. The really sad part is that "what" we do only takes about forty - sixty hours out of our week, the other 1o8 to 128 hours of that time we sleep, spend time with family and friends and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Look at Romans 12:2 in the J.B. Phillips translation:

"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands

and moves towards the goal of true maturity."

What is the goal of true maturity? To become better at your job? I don't really think that's it, I mean there may be a part of that which comes into play, but ultimately I think God is more about who we are not what we do. The problem that I have come to find (And yes, even in myself personally.) is that I got so identified with what I was doing for a living that I actually lost the sense of who I was as a person. I am David Felts, not Dave the shoe guy.

We tend to hold on to the "what" we are more than the "who" we are because it is easier to define ourselves when we can see some kind of results. I own a shoe store, so when business is good, then if I am identified with the shoe store, I am doing good. But if the store starts to do bad, then I am bad. It's a catch-22 that can lead you down a path you really don't want to be on.

Here's the thing, when everything is said and done, and I stand before Jesus and the Father God the relationships that I've developed will be the only thing that I can bring with me. Now I can make and develop relationships within my business and I actually try to do that, and that is a good thing. I just don't need my job to be my identification.

This begs the question then, if we should not identify ourselves personally with what we do, what then should we identify with? The answer comes in the form of a little booklet that I read so many years ago by Kenneth E. Hagin called "In Him". Inside this little booklet you will find all of the Scriptures that tell you who you are in Christ, and what you have and can do in Christ. It gives you the tools to renew your mind to the truth of God's Word about who you really are. And that is definitely worth looking into I believe.

So click on the link, pay the $1.50 and get this little booklet and began an in depth study of the Word to find out who you are, what you can do and what is yours in Christ, you'll be glad you did. Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!