Devotional - Week of the 21st of April 2025 – Are we leadership material ? (it applies to everyone more than you think)
MONDAY
Passage: Judges 11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, but he was the son of a harlot and Gilead begot Jephthah. 2 Gilead’s wife bore sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out, and said to him, “You shall have no inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman.” 3 Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless men banded together with Jephthah and went out raiding with him. 4 It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. 5 And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 6 Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.” 7 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” 8 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” 9 So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the Lord delivers them to me, shall I be your head?” 10 And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.”
Commentary: In this passage we see how the people of Gilead ate humble pie and asked Jephthah to be their leader. Why did they do that ? Because they were desperate and could not handle the situation they were in and Jephthah had the guts and leadership qualities (he was a mighty man of valour (verse 1)). Now, Jephthah was the son of a harlot (verse 1), so he did not have a noble birth (that is an understatement). Moreover, his brothers had driven him out, so that he would not have an inheritance with them and he lived as an outcast. However, his leadership qualities were such that they were able to make up for his lack of pedigree and status and he rose to the top and became their leader. He had to conquer the people of Ammon first, however, and that was the hard bit that nobody else could handle. He did fight the Ammonites and won (the account is not in this passage) and he did become the leader of Gilead. Jephthah had the faith and the leadership qualities that enabled him to become a great leader, even though the odds were against him. God is looking for people, who will be leaders. Not everyone is called to be the leader of a nation or a community, but many of us are called to be leaders at other levels, namely in our families (a father, a mother), friends’ circle, work (a teacher, a boss), etc. and it is expected of us to show good leadership qualities.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we are the leaders that You have called us to be at whatever level we are in and we rise to the occasion and show good leadership qualities, thank You.
TUESDAY
Passage: Judges 12:1 Then the men of Ephraim gathered together, crossed over toward Zaphon, and said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the people of Ammon and did not call us to go with you ? We will burn your house down on you with fire!” 2 And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. 3 So when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the people of Ammon and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me ?” 4 Now Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead and fought against Ephraim. And the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the Manassites.” 5 The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite ?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they would say to him, “Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!” And he would say, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites. 7 And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried among the cities of Gilead.
Commentary: God was not done with Jephthah just yet. The men of the tribe of Ephraim were annoyed that Jephthah had not called them to fight the Ammonites (presumably, because they did not participate in the spoils of the battle) and the disagreement had to be resolved on the battlefield. On the battlefield Jephthah won and the Ephraimites were routed. The result ? God recompensed Jephthah’s faith in the battle against the Ammonites and he went from being the leader of Gilead, which was not even a tribe, to becoming the leader of all Israel (verse 7). Being a leader is not easy and few have the calibre and courage to lead, but they are also the ones who also get the spoils and the glory and the others don’t. Jephthah went from being an outcast and the son of a harlot to becoming the leader of all Israel. He had the courage and the valour and the faith and passed his two tests, i.e. the two difficult battles he fought. He would never have become the leader of all Israel without proving himself twice on the battlefield. He did well, let us do likewise. Let us be the leaders that God has called us to be in our families, work, friends circle, etc., there is a reward for all those, who live up to that responsibility, overcome the hurdles and show the necessary valour.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we are the leaders that You have called us to be, we pass all the hurdles in our path and achieve all that You have set for us to achieve, thank You.
WEDNESDAY
Passage: Ezekiel 22:29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. 30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
Commentary: Do you want to stand in the gap ? God is looking for such people, people who will stand in the gap between Himself and others, so that He does not pour out His indignation on them. God is looking for saviours and heroes, in a sense, and if He finds no saviours and heroes in a particular situation, then everybody will suffer God’s indignation. Saviours and heroes are pretty precious, when you think of them. They might save a nation, a community, a family. In this particular passage, no saviours or heroes were found and the people of Israel were consumed with God’s wrath. We will rise to the occasion and be the saviours and heroes that God has called us to be for others, so that others don’t perish because of us.
Prayer: Lord, I pray that we are the saviours and heroes for others that You have called us to be and please help do so, thank You.
THURSDAY
Passages: Matthew 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Commentary: The multitudes were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. This is the result of having no leadership, no shepherding: weary and scattered multitudes. This is not what God wants in general, nor in the church. God has appointed leaders in society, in the family and also in the church, in the latter case, so that we all grow in Christ and we are not tossed to and fro, the Ephesians passage makes that clear. I pray that we all have the right leadership in our lives, i.e. in our societies, governments, families, work, church, so that we are not weary and scattered and in the case of the church that we are not tossed to and fro. I pray too that if we are called to be leaders, be it in a spiritual or temporal capacity or both, that we are the leaders that God wants us to be and others benefit greatly from our leadership.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we all have the right leaders in our lives, be it in the family, church, work or in society and we pray too that we are the leaders that You have called us to be in the areas where we operate, thank You.
FRIDAY
Passage: Judges 2:11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the Lord; they did not do so. 18 And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way.
Commentary: Good leaders are in short supply, we just need to look at the political scene to confirm this. Good leaders were used by God to deliver Israel out of the hand of their enemies and so they did during their tenure in power. These good leaders, called Judges, were men who stood in the gap for others (see Wednesday’s Devotional). A good leader in God’s hand can save a nation, as they did. This principle applies at a lower level too and at such a level a good leader can also save a smaller community, a church, a family. A good leader will not only save his nation, community, church, family, etc., but he will also bring them back onto the right path and lead them on the right path. That is what a good leader ought to do: be the saviour and the shepherd of the community that he has under him. We need such leaders. This does not apply just in politics, as I said. A good leader in a family, for example, will keep a family or a marriage from falling apart and everyone will agree that this requires good leadership and skill. There are other levels of leadership that we may have at work and elsewhere. We will step up to the leading roles that God has given us and be the saviours and the good shepherds of those He has given us to look after.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we step up to the leading roles that You have given us and we are the saviours and the good shepherds of those You have given us to look after, thank You.
SATURDAY
Passage: 2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.
Commentary: Yes, let us not lose the things we have worked for in our church, personal lives, families, work, God given projects, etc., so that we receive a full reward, instead of a partial reward or even no reward at all ! It pays to keep the good things that we have and not let them go to waste or “down the drain” as the expression goes. Again I stress that this requires time and effort and commitment. We will do just that and get the full reward !
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we do not lose the good things that we have worked for and please help us to do, so that we also get the full reward, thank You.
P.S: we are promised a reward by God, it is not that our work is in vain, it is not.
SUNDAY
Passages: Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Revelation 2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Commentary: I want to concentrate on the last part of verse 2 and verse 3. We are to bear with one another in love and keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This applies to the fellowship and in some cases also to the family. This is not easy to do when we have relationships that span years and even more so when they span decades. Relationships that last require hard work. We can’t do this alone, let us not kid ourselves, we need God’s help, and we need to do our bit too, obviously, and invest in these relationships. Bearing with one another in love does not sound very romantic or exciting, but it is better than to lose what we have, which is what the enemy wants. Keeping our God given relationships requires time, effort and dedication, but the end result is worth it. Broken relationships are painful and bad and are to be avoided and besides anyone can make a mess out of things. Ideally all relationships would be exciting and in the case of our Lord we are told to always be on first love terms with Him (the Revelation passage) and never lose that. We will therefore make sure we will keep our God given relationships and not lose them and we will aim to always be on first love terms with our Lord.
Prayer: Lord, we pray that we always bear one another in love, always keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in our fellowship and families. We pray too that we are always on first love terms with You. Please help us do all the above, we pray, thank You.