Walk with God

We began the week asking how we can empower people to walk together with God.  In other words, what is God's definition of a leader?  We also said that leadership is about walking with God and then empowering one more.  Finally, we said God had a plan and a process for accomplishing this in our lives.  Let's take a look at that process now.

Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12 NLT)

First of all, God provides leaders who are called to equip you to do His work.  Another translation would call this "works of service."  In other words, leaders should be encouraging us to work in the ministries of the church.  These works of service will build up the body of Christ.

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. (Ephesians 4:13-14 NLT)

As we work and learn from these leaders, we will become more and more mature.  We will also grow in unity with God and one another.  We won't be knocked off course so easily because we will be stronger in our faith.  Even liars or those who are deceived within the church won't pull us away from God because we are walking consistently together with God.

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-- to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:68-75 NIV)

All of this is possible because of the righteousness and the Holy Spirit given to us as a gift from Jesus.  Jesus rescues us from the hand of our enemies.  Jesus enables us to serve him without fear.  Jesus empowers us to walk before him in righteousness and holiness all of our days.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. (Ephesians 4:17-18 NIV)

The first step in empowering people, then, is to be empowered ourselves.  We begin by getting empowered and equipped so we can live righteous and holy.  Once you have empowered yourself, you are ready to empower one more.

So how about you?  Are you empowered and equipped?  Are you living righteous and holy?  Are you ready to empower one more?