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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Nehemiah 13:11
So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts.
Existentialism is nothing new.
In Nehemiah, we have one of the best examples of a leader in the whole of Scripture. We are also given more detail about his ways and acts of leadership than those of any other and that is what makes this book a tremendous manual for all would-be leaders of integrity. The principles he displays are as relevant today as they were then. Indeed they are timeless. If you wish to be a great leader of people, or even a great manager, make sure you spend time in this book, learning from the expert.
I will list a few of the obvious issues but these are not exhaustive nor have I the time to expand on them. They are here to whet your appetite for further study.
1) Nehemiah had a heart for the things of God.
2) He sought God and received a specific vision.
3) He spent hours and days in prayer and fasting.
4) He owned the vision and made it a priority.
5) He identified with the people.
6) He interceded from a position of personal acceptance of responsibility - their sin and rebellion, confessed it and repented.
7) He sought God for a strategy.
8) He received reports, analysed the information and then constructed a detailed plan.
9) He set goals on a timeline.
10) He approached those who could help (the king and his governors).
11) He managed the project legally in every aspect, which gave him authority and peace.
12) He amassed a huge team with adequate resources.
13) He treated the project like a military campaign.
14) When he arrived in Jerusalem - he looked at the size of the task for himself - he inspected the walls personally.
15) He used a careful ‘need-to-know’ basis for the dissemination of information regarding his vision.
16) He broke the job down into ‘bite-sized pieces’ that everyone could ‘own’ for himself or herself.
17) He constantly encouraged.
18) He constantly prayed.
19) He dealt with all forms of opposition without a hint of procrastination.
20) He rebuked his team when they were wrong.
21) He didn’t ask his team to do anything he wasn’t prepared to do himself.
22) He visited his team ‘in the field’.
23) He cared for his workers’ welfare and stood up for them - even to the extent of rebuking their less-than-sympathetic supervisors.
24) He didn’t ‘lord’ it over the people.
25) He didn’t ‘protect’ himself.
26) He didn’t enforce his wellbeing - in that he never received his full ‘salary’, knowing that it would be a burden on the people.
27) He didn’t live like a ‘king’ but like the rest of the people.
28) He modelled leadership to the people.
29) He gave the people self-respect, work, hope and a future.
30) He won the respect and goodwill of the people.
31) He turned the people back to God and then kept them on the ‘straight and narrow’ way.
He didn’t just read it and believe it - HE LIVED IT.
Tell me, are there any issues here you can learn from or need to address?
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