Archive for the 'Leadership' Category
4 Actions in Your Walk With God in 2014
Since 1990, I have read through the Bible annually. This past week as I began my reading in 2014, I once again was so challenged with the words recorded in both Genesis 5:22 and 24:
Enoch walked with God
In fact, his communion with God was so great that Hebrews 11:5 says he did not experience death, the Lord just took him and no one found him. God was very pleased with Enoch.
Will these words be said about you?
It is very convicting to think about this question: Will these words be said about me? Will people ever say or write about me, and most importantly, could God ever say about me: Ronnie walked with God.
4 actions you can take that will help your walk with God in 2014
I confess to you that I am not an authority on this subject, nor do I have a corner on all the truth about it. What I do know is this: For many years, these four actions have helped me to develop my walk and fellowship with God.
I hope they will encourage you in your walk in 2014.
Action #1: Read the Bible through in 2014
We cannot expect to develop any kind of walk with God without reading His Word daily and thoroughly. What God says to us is more important than what we say to God. This is His roadmap for our lives. Read it. Follow it.
This year, I am starting in Genesis and as soon as I finish Genesis, I believe God wants me to read the book of Revelation. When I finish reading a book, I check it on my Table of Contents. Each year, I read through a different Bible, and at times, a different translation. This year, I am reading through the Holman Christian Standard Bible again, which is the version I preach from weekly.
Action #2: Develop an ongoing, ever-changing prayer list to pray through daily
I use my iPad to develop this list. In fact, on January 1, I began to develop a brand new list and am still formulating it. It continues to grow. If you would like to see a few thoughts on this, please go back to this post I wrote several months ago.
The older I get, the more I realize that one of my greatest roles is interceding in prayer for others. I take this seriously and I am very committed to it. It helps me stay on task not only for my family, my ministry, and myself, but also for others.
Action #3: Journal a 1-page prayer to close your daily time with God
Since 1990, I have journaled a 1-page prayer to God daily. I do this at the close of my time with God. This 1-page prayer (sometimes longer), chronicles various things on my heart that particular day and is where I share my deepest burdens with God, sometimes in a way I do not know how to articulate. It also serves as a time I write down what and how God is speaking to me. There is just something powerful for me about writing that prayer. It is my “giving it to God” moment daily.
Action #4: Draw aside for a day, a few days, or a season of fasting and prayer
I have practiced fasting since my collegiate years. It has deepened and grown continually, especially since 1995, when I experienced my first 40-day season of fasting. It is not about the length of days, but the condition of your heart. I have written two books on this subject and one booklet. Obviously, each goes into greater detail than I am able to here.
Each Christ-follower needs to experience at some level, at points in their spiritual journey, a day, a few days, or a season of fasting and prayer. It will help you focus and lift your spiritual life like nothing else. Fasting can change your life.
Finally…walk with God in 2014!
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Consistency in the Life of a Pastor
People want leaders who are consistent. Have you ever been in a situation where you had to follow someone who does not lead consistently? You know, someone who is up and down, has emotions all over the map, and their responses are impulsive. Let’s set the record straight.
Consistency is adhering to the same principles. Consistency is acting or behaving in the same way. Firmness, coherence, and regularity should never be undervalued. When a Pastor-Leader adheres consistently to the same principles, lives with regularity, and thinks coherently, he is able to add tremendous value to people and the church or organization he serves.
How consistent are you? How consistent is your leadership?
People desire pastors to be consistent. Are you consistent? Do you lead with a commitment to regularity, sameness, firmness, and always live by the same principles you preach to others? These are serious questions that each of us must answer honestly. Let’s face it: Jesus Christ lived a consistent life. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Consistency is one way we can strive to be like Jesus.
When you lead consistently
When a Pastor leads consistently…
- Your people will trust you. It is much easier to trust and place confidence in a pastor who leads consistently. People become endeared to a leader they can count on. There is enough uneasiness in the world already; people want to have a pastor they can trust. Consistency leads to trust.
- Your people will respect you. Pastors should not have a personal goal to be liked by everyone; however, a pastor needs to have a goal to be respected. A leader will be admired and receive high respect when he leads consistently.
- Your people will follow you. It is much easier to follow a leader who is clear and consistent than it is to follow a leader who is inconsistent. If people cannot count on some “sameness” in your life, they will be less likely to follow you. I have observed this for years: Staff members in my fellowship that have tested well through the storms and difficult circumstances of life and have lived consistently, never have a problem with people following them.
A few final words…
I know many pastors who do not live consistently and do not lead with consistency in their lives. It is not a matter of the heart as much as a matter of priorities. If we want people to trust us, respect us, and follow us, we must live and lead with consistency.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.