The Effective Leader Understands Authority

An effective leader understands authority. He or she knows how to submit to it and operate in it. Authority is a powerful thing both in the spirit realm and in the natural realm. Jesus said "all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." The authority in the spirit realm is now vested in us, the Body of Christ.

In the natural realm we have authority in our families and in our workplace. It is both spiritual and physical. It is clear from Romans 13 that civil authority is authorized by God. Effective leaders must exercise the civil and spiritual authority given them. In the local church we have pastors who have been given authority by God for these churches. The pastor delegates authority to other leaders in the church to accomplish the purpose and mission of that church.

Leaders who try to exercise authority not delegated to them, or gain authority not willingly given to them, lose their effectiveness for God’s purposes. Conversely, if the pastor does not operate in his or her God-given authority, effectiveness is diminished. Effective leaders know how to use authority and submit to it.

Whining Limits a Leader's Effectiveness

Whining demonstrates immaturity.

Effective leaders spend little time whining or complaining. Such behavior is not a quality character trait for anyone in business or ministry. You won’t find a single instance in the four gospels where Jesus whined or complained about His circumstances or the people He was leading--not even about Judas!

He confronted. He spoke truth. He provided solutions. He corrected. He encouraged. He prayed. Whining and complaining limits the effectiveness of leadership by demonstrating powerlessness and demanding that someone else must deal with a problem. It reveals a heart that lacks accountability. It is immature behavior rather than mature behavior for a Christian.

Jesus was the first born among many brothers and it is to His leadership qualities that every effective leader should aspire. Jesus was not a whiner and neither are effective leaders.

Leave a Legacy of Success by Developing Your Successor

Develop your successor.

A leader’s legacy are the leaders he or she develops along the way. Ministries and businesses often revolve around one or two key leaders who are effective while in their position. However, when they move on to another ministry, another church, or another business, their area of responsibility often falls into shambles because they did not equip and develop other leaders to rise into that position after their departure. They did not think of the future, only of the present.

In a church it may be the sound technician who never trained others to be his successor. In business it may be the supervisory accountant who knew everything about the finances, but never trained others to attain the same level of knowledge. In ministry it may be the worship leader who never developed her successor.

Just as Barnabas developed Paul, so we must develop others. Part of our legacy as leaders is bringing others up to their God-designed level competence, commitment, and accomplishment. Leave a legacy of success by developing leaders to succeed when you hand over the baton.

Step 7: Look Intently into the Perfect Law of Freedom

To look intently is to focus, to stare into,
to keep your spiritual eyes riveted on Jesus in every circumstance.

Look intently into the perfect law of freedom. This is the the 7th and final step to overcoming double-mindedness. James 1:25 says “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” What law? The law of Christ, the law of grace, the law of righteousness and peace by faith in Jesus Christ.

He nailed the imperfect law of performance to the cross. He birthed the perfect law of freedom to live an abundant life of grace and peace through Him. He is the perfect law. But you must look INTENTLY into it. To look intently is to focus, to stare into, to keep your spiritual eyes riveted on Jesus in every circumstance. Continue to do so intently. Jesus said in John 15 that must we remain in the Him, the vine, in order to bear fruit. Looking into His perfect law keeps you tapped into the vine and produces the fruit of freedom.

You have been set free from double-minded thinking. Jesus has set you free, so don’t allow yourself to be bound up in that area of your life. He who the Son sets free is free indeed. Continue to be steadfast in your focus. Do it and continue to look at Jesus.

This concludes our series on getting free from double-minded thinking. Send me an email if this has blessed you in any way. Praise His Holy Name!
James 1:25 says “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” What law? The law of Christ, the law of grace, the law of righteousness and peace by faith in Jesus Christ. He nailed the imperfect law of performance to the cross. He birthed the perfect law of freedom to live an abundant life of grace and peace through Him. He is the perfect law. But you must look INTENTLY into it. To look intently is to focus, to stare into, to keep your spiritual eyes riveted on Jesus in every circumstance. Continue to do so intently. Jesus said in John 15 that must we remain in the Him, the vine, in order to bear fruit. Looking into His perfect law keeps you tapped into the vine and produces the fruit of freedom.

You have been set free from double-minded thinking. Jesus has set you free so don’t allow yourself to be bound up in that area of your life. He who the ‘son sets free is free indeed. Continue to Be steadfast in your focus Do it and continue to look at Jesus.

This concludes our series on getting free from double-minded thinking. Send me an email to hwittmier@msn.com if this has blessed you in any way. Praise His Holy Name!

Step 6: Defeat the Opposition

The devil wants you mired in the mud of double-mindedness.

Defeat the opposition. This is the 6th step in “Seven Steps to Freedom” from double-minded thinking. The devil and his demons want you frozen in double-mindedness. They know as long as you are unstable and wavering, you are ineffective as a leader. They’ll do all they can to hold on to their ground in your mind and in your heart. They’ll want you to worry, to second guess His voice, to get mired back in the mud of double thinking.

Put on the armor of God and defeat the opposition daily (Eph. 6). Declare that the cross of Christ stands between you and the demonic. Declare the finished work of the cross to your decision for clarity. Demand that Satan be bound away from your thinking and from the situation. Wash your mind with the clarity of scriptures that speak to your situation and your new found focus. In so doing you are establishing a spiritual boundary between you and the demonic forces that have lost their ground.

Do not give back the ground you have gained!!! It’s your new territory of freedom. It’s the land of the living! It’s yours not his! You are walking in the inheritance of stability and truth, no longer caught between two opinions but walking in His opinion of you, of your life, of your decision to clearly walk it out His way.

Step 5: Don't Worry About the Outcome

I burned emotional calories wondering why he didn't answer the radio.
God could see the outcome even when I couldn't.

Don’t worry about the outcome. This is the 5th step in “Seven Steps to Freedom” from double-minded thinking. You can be free from double-minded thinking! Yes, “if the Son sets free, you will be free indeed”(John 8:36)! Here is next step in the seven steps to freedom in being focused in our thinking: Don’t worry about the outcome of your choice.

Fear is the number one contributor to hesitating, wavering, and vacillating to making clear decisions for God’s kingdom. Fear is afraid that God will not really bring you through. Fear doesn't really trust God for the outcome and therefore causes worry.

Perfect love casts out fear; however, many people really do not experience the Father’s perfect love. They know of it. Have heard it preached. But have not experienced it. Hence, they live in varying levels of fear that binds them to double-minded thinking.

Worry is a choice. A few years ago I was hunting elk with Karl, one of my sons-in-law. We were in a remote area of the mountains and decided to hunt separately for a few hours and meet back at camp. We each had hand-held radios that could communicate up to 12 miles so we knew we could stay in contact if necessary. I got back to camp well before sundown and patiently awaited Karl. After an hour of waiting I started to think about why Karl was not yet back in camp. My mind started to think upon bad possibilities. I tried to contact him by radio but to no avail. I calmed myself and reminded myself that fear of a bad outcome was not spiritually mature--I had to remind myself as a leader that I should not feel fear in this situation.

It was almost dark and still no Karl. My mind was racing with all the possible bad outcomes for Karl, my daughter, my granddaughters. What had happened to him and why did he not respond to my radio call? I had to repeatedly remind myself who was in charge of protecting Karl--not me--not my outdoor skills--but my heavenly Father. I was an emotional mess on the inside even as I tried to squash the negative thoughts of a bad outcome. A little while after dark Karl comes walking into camp ready to eat a hot meal on a cold fall evening. I breathed a sigh of relief and calmly asked him why he didn’t answer my radio calls. He said he turned the radio off and taken a nap. I had burned a lot of emotional calories worrying about an outcome that was not up to me to decide.

The Word says to think upon those things that are pure and holy (Phil. 4:8.9). Run your thoughts through the cross. Do they make it past the cross to holiness and purity of the truth God has birthed in your spirit? Do they line up with the written word of God that He will provide and protect you (and your family)? Think upon those things and choose love over fear, peace over worry. Trust Him for the outcome!! The choice is yours. The outcome is God’s.

Step 4: Listen to God's Choice for You

Spend time hearing his voice. It will cut out the ambiguity.

Hear God’s voice for His choice. This is the 4th step in “Seven Steps to Freedom” from double-minded thinking. “Listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life. . . ” (Deut. 30:20). When you hear from the Father, your choice becomes clear. It may not be an easy choice, but it becomes a clear choice.

In earlier blogs I listed several ways we hear the voice of the Father. He may speak to you very clearly, but you must be willing to hear. When you hear, you must not harden your heart (Heb. 3:7). Many believers are only willing to hear what they want to hear. When you’ve heard His voice, you can now act upon what you’ve heard. You can cease to be double-minded in this area of your life. You can take that step of faith to do or be whatever He has revealed.

But. . .there will be second thoughts and opposition to that step of faith. My next post will help you through the opposition.

Step 3: Seek First His Kingdom

Seek Him and His kingdom purposes in your situation and you will receive the harvest of His will.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. This is the 3rd step to keep us from being a two-souled believer in our Seven Steps to Freedom series. Matthew 6:33 tells us that in all things we must first seek His kingdom.

How do you live for His purposes first? Ask yourself: What is the Lord’s desire? If you’re seeking Him and His kingdom first--really first--you will seldom find yourself stuck in the two-souled mindset. You’ll seldom find yourself wavering over what is best to reflect His will for a situation. No matter how often you live in the double-minded domain, this step works every time you’re faced with ambiguity in following Him.

Righteousness is the ‘rightness’ of God: right position spiritually and right attitude emotionally. Living from this position will always produce a righteous harvest. At least 4 times in the new testament (2 Cor. 9:10; Phil 1:11; Heb 12:11; James 3:18) the Word speaks of a harvest or fruit of righteousness. Seek Him and His kingdom purposes in your situation and you will receive the harvest of His will.

Seek Him, His will, His heart, His mind for the situation. Find a place in your heart where you are completely focused on Him rather than on an outcome. Declare with your mouth AND your heart that you will put him first even if bad things happen. Thank Him for a harvest of righteousness.

Step 2: See God's Pattern of Provision

Boosting your faith by watching God work in others' lives will help you in your time of need.

See God’s pattern of provision! This is the second step in our Seven Steps to Freedom series.

We have dozens of faith boosting miracles in the Bible. The Father provided quail and manna in the desert, turned bitter water to sweet, used ravens to feed Elijah and caused the widow’s jars of flour and oil to never go empty (1 Kings 17). The Father provides for those who are His. Jesus used the illustration of our Father taking care of nature; birds of the air and grass of the fields (Matt. 6:25-31). Birds don’t worry about or fear for their next meal. They just eat. Grass and flowers don’t worry about how they appear. They just grow and show! You might say "well that’s fine for species that don’t think, but I have a mind. I know what bad things could happen if I make a wrong choice." Ask Jesus why he used this example. . .he must have thought it applied to you!

Fear is a root cause of double-minded thinking. We fear the outcome because we can’t see the outcome. Seeing God’s provision for others increases faith for God’s outcome. Be encouraged by the Father’s legacy of providing when people choose to embrace His way. See the Father’s pattern of provision as a source of increasing your faith.