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I am so glad to welcome you to this week’s edition of leaderview. I hope your week has been great? I am sure you remember we have been on the trip to Genesis, a series that we have called the Leadership Trip to Genesis. The series began almost a year ago and the Lord has been helping us. Today we are looking at Genesis chapter 28 and we are learning a crucial lesson for effectiveness in Leadership. You see, many people have said it that we literally learn from others. We copy people, either directly or indirectly. What we see happen to others, we attempt, we desire and crave to make it happen in our lives. Life is about imitations, it is about learning from others, learning from examples; and today, we are going to learn from an example. We are going to see how an entity, a leader was distinguished from other leaders through the qualities of his life.
Listen To Podcast: THE INDISPENSABLE QUALITIES OF BLESSED LEADERS
So, today, we are looking at The Indispensable Qualities of Blessed Leaders. In a nutshell, we are considering the fruits that blessed leaders produced. Now when you consider trees, say apple tree for instance; I am sure the first thing that identifies it from every other trees in the vineyard, is the fruit they bear. And so, the Bible even says by their fruits, you shall know them. Now, men must understand that as fruits distinguishes trees, that is how qualities distinguishes men. A leader is distinguished from other leaders by the kind of qualities his life produces. So, the question we are asking today is what kind of qualities are you producing as a leader? And how far as those qualities distinguishes you from the rest? Have you been identified as a leader that is blessed by God through your qualities or have you been identified as a leader that is under a curse?
Irrespective of the side that you fall today, I want you to learn from the man called Jacob and how he became a blessed leader, and the product of his blessedness as a leader. Let us quickly go to Genesis 28 from verse 1. The Bible says:
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and [a]charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
Now, before we get to “you shall not”, there is something that the Scriptures revealed to us. The first thing that the Bible talked about was that Isaac called Jacob. Jacob, I am sure you know, was the second son of Isaac. Isaac gave birth to Esau and Jacob as twins, and some weeks ago we saw how one despised his birthright and how generational leadership was transferred to Jacob instead of Esau, due to the attitude, the discipline and the disposition to things that has to do with birthright and leadership. So, at this point, in Genesis 28. the Bible says Isaac called Jacob, and haven called him, the Bible says he blessed him. So, we don’t just know Jacob as a son of Isaac who was called, we come to understand that he was the son of Isaac who was blessed. So, he was not just a son, he was a blessed son. He was not just a man given the mantle of trans-generational leadership, he was one who was given mantle with blessing. He received the blessing.
Now, I have come to realise from that verse one of Genesis 28 that we read, four distinct qualities of a blessed leader. Isaac blessed Jacob, we saw that last week in chapter 27 that we considered on this program. Now we are considering here Isaac calling Jacob, I consider this to be something that is very symbolic. Before this moment, in the latter part of chapter 27, the Bible showed us how Esau became very angry with Jacob for receiving the blessing that he thought was for him. And so, because he was angry, he wanted to kill Jacob. You see, some people have said that it is not pressure that brings out the worst in people, it is not as if pressure necessarily brings out the worst in people, pressure only brings out whatever that is in you. So, if you have the best in you, pressure will bring it out. And if it is the worst that is in you, pressure will push out as well.
Now, when Esau was under pressure, it brought out the worst in him, as he wanted to kill Jacob. So, some things that he has been doing before by virtue of vocation, discipline and disposition to life; actually produced in him a fruit of a murderer. Don’t forget that Jesus said when a man looks at a woman lustfully, it is as good as committing the act of adultery already. As soon as it comes to your heart, an act that comes to your heart will eventually be executed by you. So, God does not wait until you do it, He judges you at the point of your heart. So, Bible says man looks at the outward appearance, but God considers the heart. Now, for Esau, he had the heart to kill his brother, the heart of a murderer.
Unlike Esau, Jacob had a different heart, and based on that, the father blessed him. And haven received the blessing from the father, the father charged him. And so, when you see a leader who is blessed, you could also see a leader who is charged. Until you have certain commands that your life is driven by, you cannot get into the position of command. So, for you to be in charge, you must have a charge. And so, Isaac called him, and he was blessed. Haven been blessed, he was charged. And haven been charged; a word was given to him. And the Bible says, Isaac said: “You shall not take” a wife. The question is, what is the relevance of a wife to a leader who is blessed?
You see the blessedness, I think the Bible even says it in Proverbs that a man who has found a wife has found a good thing and obtains favour from the Lord. Now it is another way of saying a man who has found a wife is a man who is blessed by God. So, if a man wants to show his blessings, he would prove it in the choice of his wife. So, when other people who are making choices of whom to marry according to their own lustful desires, then it means the blessing is not strong upon them. Because you will know a man who is blessed by the decisions he is making to guard his blessings.
The Bible says in Proverbs again to guard your heart with all diligence because out of it flows the issues of life. Now if life is flowing out of your heart, it is wisdom enough to guard that heart. Now, if your life is a blessed life, I think it is a wise decision for you to make further decisions to guard your blessing. You don’t want to move from blessing to curses, you must therefore guard your heart. Let us read Genesis 27:46 so that we can see how a man’s decision of who to marry can be a thing of joy or a thing of sadness. “And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Now, let us see something else. I want us to examine the decision of Esau in Genesis 28 from verse 6.
Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. 8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Now, those wives he had are actually the daughters of Canaan. So, he didn’t just marry from the daughters of Canaan, he also went ahead to marry the daughter of Ishmael. If you notice this, you would see a man whose trajectory in marriage is like a man making a decision descending downwards. He was not progressing in his choice based on whom to marry, he did not attempt at any time to please his parent in the choice of whom to marry. So, and that really revealed to us that the man Isaac was not really blessed. You see, when you are blessed, you make decision to protect your blessing. A blessed leader is not a leader that does anything that comes his way.
Apostle said in 1 Corinthians 10:23 that “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” So, that tells me that a leader does not just do all things. The fact that you have the capacity and the means to do does not mean that you should. The question you must ask is: Does this help my leadership? Does this safeguard my blessing? Does this secure my placement on the plan of God in the earth? If it does not, run away from it. That is why the Bible says flee all appearances of evil. Now, for Jacob, he made certain decisions. I am sure you know that it is one thing for you to be called, it is another thing for you to respond towards the call. So, he was called and he responded to the call.
He was blessed, he was charged and he received the word. Now, another word that I saw coming to me, was invitation. He was invited. He was initiated, and he did not refuse. The second thing we noted was that he was blessed. Another word for that is that he received an approval from his father. He received authority and endowment from his father. And the next thing is that he received a charge; he was charged. He received a mandate, a command, he received an instruction. And the last thing is that, he received the word and the Bible says and his father said to him. So, that word defined the scope of his life and leadership. He didn’t just do whatever he could when it comes to marrying, he knew that a woman who is a wrong woman could destroy his destiny and he careful not to make a choice anyhow. He did only the things that were helpful.
Now, his father did not just speak to him in Genesis chapter 28, the Bible actually showed us that he actually responded. In fact, Esau noted that Jacob obeyed his parents. And that is very symbolic. If you must remain blessed, one the qualities that must be visible in your life is obedience to the commands that you receive. Obedience to the instructions that were given. Don’t take the word of God as one of those things, as an opinion, take it as a command that your life must be guided with and if you can do that, your blessings will be secured. It is not enough for a man to be blessed, a man must remain blessed.
It is not enough for a man to have anything, a man must retain that which he has received. Jacob was blessed, and then he retained the blessing. I pray that God would help us in Jesus’ name. There is something I want us to note, perhaps you are wondering; what is the essence of this my blessing, how does it benefit anyone? Let us what the Bible says in Genesis chapter 28 verse 13-14. The Bible says:
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
You see, the Bible says wisdom is justified by her fruits. Now, when you are blessed, it would be evident in the kind of fruits that you are bearing. Are you responding to your call? Are you being charged? Are you blessed? And the last one, are you having any word that the Lord has given to you? You see, one of the issues that we have today, all around us is, very few people could claim that there is a word God gave to them before they become leader. If you can have a word from God, then we can have a basis to run and the scope on how you run. God said to Jacob, that in your seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. That is to show that when a leader is blessed, the blessing does not just becomes exclusive to him or her, the blessing goes to other people all around him.
Through you, others receive blessing. This is the will of God for every leader who is blessed by God. God does not just want you alone to be blessed. He said to Abraham, I will bless you, and you will become a blessing to others. In fact, He said to him, anyone who blesses you is blessed, and anyone who curses you is cursed. That is to show to us that blessing on a leader is expected to be contagious and it is expected to have a multiplier effect on a generation, on a nation, on an organization or any group that has such leadership. I pray that the word that God has brought our way this afternoon is going to enrich our hearts and justify us and not stand against us in the long run in Jesus’ name.
It is important that you understand that there is more about being a blessing, than you just being a leader. Don’t just be a leader, but be a blessed leader! A blessed leader is the one who has received the blessing and therefore has capacity to transfer same to his or her people. God bless you for this moment that we have shared together, my name remains Gboyega Adedeji and you have been watching Leaderview™. Don’t forget we have been on the series: The Leadership Trip to Genesis™ and today we examined Genesis 28. I believe you have seen something, a quality that was demonstrated by Jacob that shows us that blessed leaders are not just people who are just leaders. Idle people, fruitless people.
They have fruit, they have qualities. You can know them by these qualities. Are they called? Are they charged? Are they blessed? Do we have any word that they are running with? Don’t just run with leaders, make sure you know a word that he or she is running with. A leader who has no charge is the leader you should be afraid of. A leader who is not blessed is one you should also stay away from. And don’t forget, a man or a woman who is not called does not deserve your followership.
Thank you and God bless you.
Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
