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Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to this week’s edition of Leaderview. I believe that you have been blessed with the series that we began some weeks ago; The Leadership Trip to Genesis. I believe you have been learning some things and your leadership has been growing. I am so excited about that. Today we are going to continue in that series, and we will be examining something that is very crucial to our effectiveness in leadership. We will be examining Perfect Leadership in an Imperfect World; and I want us to begin from Genesis Chapter 6, very quickly we will learn some lessons there, alongside looking at other Scriptures to gain more light and become better as leaders. Let us quickly go to Genesis chapter 6. The Bible says:
1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
I am sure some of us have read these Scripture quite a number of times, but our focus is not on these three verses. Now one of the things that we saw is that the Bible says, as men were increasing on the earth, it got to a point that sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, and they chose for themselves wives as they felt okay. And let us quickly go to verse 5, so that we can see the consequences of that event. Verse 5, the Bible says:
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Now there was a time in the history of mankind that the entire earth was filled with creatures, men and women and beast that were perpetuating evil and so corrupt, that God could not behold their iniquity and corruption. They became a source of concern to God. I don’t know if that incidence that took place then is looking like what is happening in your country or city right now. Have you looked round your city or where you live and discover that there is no one that is thinking straight or thinking right?
I want us to also look at the words ‘man’, based on our understanding from the book of Genesis chapter one, about what man and who man is. In Genesis 1:26, God said let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over. And He now gave a three dimensional sphere of dominion He was talking about that man should have. Dominion in the air, dominion on the ground and dominion over everything. So, man had dominion and the essence of the dominion was that man could replicate the will of God on the earth, man could please God and ensure that the earth continually remain pleasing to God, the one who created the earth.
And so, for man to function like that, the spirit of man was released into man. The Bible says God made man in His own image and according to His likeness. So, the image and the likeness of God was the requirement for the making of man. So, was a the creature that carried the Spirit of God all around the space and places he went to. As a vessel and bearer of the Spirit of God, man became qualified to enforce the will of God, in the places that he finds Himself. Now one of the things that God noted in Genesis 6:3 is that God said His Spirit will not strive with man forever because man is flesh.
Don’t forget this incidence that man is indeed flesh came after the fall of man. Because man fell from Grace, the nature of God, the capacity that was inherent in God, which was made available to man; was removed. And if I would say, the last part of it; God Himself, the entire essence of God that was in man; God said He couldn’t allow that essence of Himself to continue to strive with man. Because the intent of his earth is evil continually. Now you would understand that what God created from the beginning was not just the flesh, what God created was a leading vessel; God created man, who could enforce, who could rule and who could reign on His behalf.
Listen to Podcast: Perfect Leadership In An Imperfect World
So, man began as a leader. Man became a leader because the Spirit of God was on him. And so, when the Spirit of God couldn’t remain in man, then man could not as well sustain his leadership. In verse eight that we just read, in spite of the corruption and evil every where the Bible says God found a man called Noah, and he was pleasing to Him. Let us see verse 9 of that Genesis 6 quickly. The Bible says:
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
Now, it appears to me, even though a generation could be corrupt and be full of evil; it is possible for a man to stand out and be identified with the will of God. In a corrupt generation, corrupt society or even a corrupt organization; it is possible for a man to stand for God. Now when you stand for God, do you stand as a nonentity or you stand as an entity? When you stand for God really, you simply stand for Him as an entity that cannot be messed around with by anyone or authority or persons. You stand for God and you establish your authority on the earth. So, it is important that we understand, that even when the crowd is missing it; when the entire nation is missing it, it is possible for you not to miss it.
It is possible for you stand out from the crowd of your family and that of your nation. Your leadership, whether it will go beyond here and now; is going to be dependent on how true you are to your God. Bible says let the Lord be true and every man a liar. Now what do you think becomes of liars and those that have been identified by God as evil and corrupt people? See what God said in that Genesis 6:7. It says: “So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth,.”
Now it is possible for God to raise you up as a leader. It is possible for God to place you in positions of responsibility and authority in your generation. But if you refuse to be identified with His will, and stand with Him; if you choose to stand with the rest, rather than stand with God; you will be destroyed and go into extinction with the rest. Do you know quite a lot of people have risen up in generations, and they became great men and women? But you and I cannot remember them today. The reason is because they have been wiped out from history. I want us to quickly go to the book of Daniel 2; so that we can understand that it is possible for a man who emerges as a leader; due to the degree of his compromise and level of corruption and evil, to be wiped off the history of mankind. We will read a few verses from the book of Daniel 2.
The Bible says:
6 However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.”
9 if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.”
This is a generation, where the King, Nebuchadnezzar; had a dream, but he could not remember what the dream was and the interpretation as well. So, he was troubled and then called unto all the wise men in his kingdom to make known to him, what the dream and the interpretation is. The wise men simply responded to the King that no man can tell you the interpretation of the dream sir. You are not even telling us what the dream was all about in the first place, how can we come up with an interpretation? But the king said to them that he knows that they have all agreed to speak lying and corrupt words.
Is it that this matter happened at that time and not peculiar to people in this generation, no! It is happening now. Many people are lying to people in power, they are speaking corrupt words to them, many people are deceiving them so that they will continue to manipulate and deceive the people. But Nebuchadnezzar was a wise king, he was able to detect their lies and hypocrisy concerning his dreams and the interpretations thereof. Eventually Daniel was contacted, he prayed to God and he was given an answer concerning the matter.
See a portion of that dream in Daniel 2 from verse 34. The Bible says:
34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Now one of the things that you must understand is that the iron, the clay, the silver and the bronze represents kingdoms, they represent authorities, they represent government and powers. The Bible says they were all crushed together. Now if you jump to verse 44 of that same chapter, you will understand proper what this verse was talking about. Verse 44 says:
44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Now you must understand that it is one thing to be a leader, it is another thing for you to sustain your leadership. These kingdoms, because of their corruption and evil; the God of heaven decided to set up a kingdom and scattered these kingdoms, to the point that their histories are nowhere to be found. Don’t you know that it is also possible for you, even though you are an emerging leader from a community; for your history to wiped out from that community? However, it is also possible for you, because of your tendencies to do the right thing; and do the will of God, to remain in leadership for a long time.
I want us to see something in 2 Chronicles 16:9. The Bible says:
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”
The eyes of the Lord is running to and fro throughout the whole earth. The Bible says in Daniel 4:17, that it is God that rules in the affairs of men. He rules in the kingdoms of men, and He does it through you and I. However, it requires that we become loyal to Him. The Bible says His eyes is running to and fro the earth, looking for those who are loyal to Him, people that He would show Himself strong in their behalf. God is able to show Himself strong in your leadership. God is able to help you and use you as well. But you must be loyal to God, you must seek to do His will.
The Bible says in that Genesis 6 that we read that Noah found favour in the eyes of God. Noah was loyal to God completely, every other person loyalty was with something else, but Noah chose to stay with God completely, to the extent that he walked continually with Him. Whom are you walking with? Who are you siding with at such a time as this? Is the darkness around you overwhelming you to the point that you chose to love darkness more than light? Are you so much used to corruption in your office that you have finally concluded that it is better to join them if you cannot beat them? It is important that you understand these things.
You can be the perfect leader in an imperfect world. You can be that perfect leader in an imperfect society. It is important you understand that the key to becoming perfect in an imperfect setting, is to walk with the perfect God. You must chose God at such a time as this. You must partner and walk with Him. When others are following money, following ambition and following their ego, you must choose God and follow Him. That is the way you can remain when others have been destroyed.
This is the word that has been laid in my heart for you, very short, but I believe that when you meditate on it; you will be to glean more things and then learn some more lessons. It is important that you understand that God is counting on you. You can just decide right now to stand with God, be among those who are not falling away. Hundred people might be in a room, Ninety of them may be corrupt. Decide to be among the ten who are not corrupt. It could appear like the darkness is so big and terrifying, but don’t forget that one with God is a majority. If you choose God now, you become the majority.
You will be preserved by God and the leadership that will be emerging in this new dispensation is going to be entrusted to you. You see, God is set to wipe off the old men, the old generation and leaders, the old politicians, corrupting and lying to the people. It is important that if you join them now, you will be wipe off with them. God is raising a new generation of leaders in Nigeria, replacing the old with the new. If you join the old, you will be wipe off with them. You could be one of the new people, can God trust you? Can God count you worthy in an unworthy world? Can God entrust you with power in a power-drunk and driven society?
It is important you settle this matter with God. It is important you realize that if you choose God, it could appear that you are lonely, but you are the majority. In time, you will realize that when all others are going, you are standing. That is the word, remain blessed, meditate on them, trade and profit with it, make sure you transact with these words; and I see your leadership getting better.
God bless you.
Source: [CentreNDL]
