When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:4

Have you ever worked under an umbrella of authority that was characterized by defective leadership? Orders were given without care for proper development. There was little instruction. There were high expectations but perhaps you were abandoned while you labored at the task.

When I was twenty-one, I was asked to orchestrate an entire musical road production. I expressed my concern that I wasn’t trained nor experienced. I was a pianist, flutist, and vocal arranger. But, having trouble saying no, I buckled under the pressure to just do it anyway. A deadline was given but no offers were made to network me with professionals who might help me through the process. I read some articles by Henry Mancini, saw a few of his scores, ordered orchestral score paper from a music house in New York City, and dove in the deep end of the pool. Six weeks later, I was standing in front of some Chicago symphony players at a studio in Chicago. Baton in hand, shaking, I heard the scores come to life. Regardless of whether or not it was successful, I was pretty traumatized by it all. The leadership style of the person who delegated the task to me was poor.

What kind of leader is Jesus? He describes himself as the shepherd who goes before his sheep. This was not the way shepherds usually did their job. They were known to drive out the sheep from the pen. They were sent out in front. Not Jesus. He goes before. He’s already checked the path for stones, tree roots, and wild beasts. He marks the way and is known to say, “Don’t step here or you’ll get hurt.” Or “Watch me; I’ll show you how to do it.” There’s security and safety for all who follow him. I have to remember that the disciples were discipled by Jesus the shepherd. They didn’t just follow, they learned. Everything he did, they did. So, when he left them, they knew what to do on their own.

You’ve shown me how to follow you, Lord. Make me a considerate leader like that. Amen

I no longer call you servants. Instead, I have called you friends. John 15:15

Many of the slaves freed after the Civil War returned to their former owners. Now knowing how to handle their freedom, they chose to continue living in slavery because the mindset of a slave was firmly embedded in their psyche. Though they had been offered a new life, fear of the unknown was too intimidating.

Through his death, Jesus made us free yet many of us have never left the familiarity of our old life to investigate the new one He offers in His far away kingdom. What could be more frightening for a poor maiden who thinks she’s deeply flawed than to look in the eyes of a prince and accept his love? Yet doing so is her ticket to the life she privately dreams of.

Jesus paid for my freedom with His life! Can you imagine his grief when I continue to think and act like one in captivity? He’s calling out, “Come out of the slave quarters. Move into the big house with me. Sit at my table. Let me serve you. Oh, by the way, I’ve put your name on the deed to my inheritance. Everything I have, I share with you.” It takes humility to accept such a gift if I know that I’m undeserving and can do nothing to earn it. I will initially squirm in my seat at the banquet table. It will take some time to dance in the reality that I’m rich. The only thing that melts my protests of worthiness and the pride of self-hatred is perfect Love.

But there is also a second deadly response. If I believe I am a pretty good person, I’ll feel entitled to the favor Jesus extends. At the announcement that I’m an heiress, I’ll flaunt my position and look down my nose at less fortunate sinners. You know the saying, “She’s a princess?” That means I’m self-centered, entitled, spoiled, and arrogant. My greatest need is to see my sinfulness first, be reminded of my need for a Savior, and then accept His love with abject humility.

If I’m afraid of intimacy, self-hatred or self-exaltation is usually the cause. Figuring out which one plagues me is the most important thing I could do on this calendar day ‘in the life’ . . .

At your loving gaze, will I be tempted to look away? Why? Show me. Amen

When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own. John 16:13

Look, one person of the Trinity is teaching us about Himself. He says that the Trinity, though three distinct parts of God, acts in perfect unity. No one who experiences the Spirit will come away feeling differently than if he experienced Jesus or His Father. What one of them feels and what each of them believes are all consistent within the person of God.

Not so with us. The Fall in the Garden fractured the internal world of humanity and we’ve been divided ever since. Because we’re fractured, we’re inconsistent and unstable and we don’t always recognize it. Without the help of the Spirit, we will fail to really know ourselves. Who we think we are is often radically different from what we portray to others. They experience our inconsistencies and it’s usually painful for them. I can say one thing but convey another. My words don’t match my face. I have chuckled at family vignettes in which a parent says to a child, “I can see that you’re angry.” He replies, “I’m not angry!” but his yelling and his cherry red face betray him.

Growing into the image of Christ is all about allowing the Spirit of God to show me where I am sinfully divided. It is giving Him permission to bring every corner of my soul into the light of His grace and then asking Him to change each part so I may also live in unity. As I come to know firsthand the beautiful ways the Trinity works together, the ways they complement each other, and as I appreciate God for always being the same, for always being stable, I will covet that for myself. I will desire for others to experience me that way.

Self-disclosure empowered by the Spirit can be painful but the rugged introspection pays off. No longer will I say one thing but do another. I will live in peace and harmony within myself and with the God who lovingly created me to bear His image, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Work in me, O Spirit, to make me unified with Your Spirit internally. Graft me into Your perfection through sanctification. Amen

Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God!” Matthew 27:39-40

The majority who saw Jesus crucified thought He was weak. If He had exerted His power by saving Himself from the cross, they might have spoken of His strength. But would we then have a Savior! His accusers’ perception of what was weak and what was strong was entirely wrong. They were living life in the moment. They were not able to see that the power was in the cross, bringing about a death most humiliating.

God has appeared feeble to me. Like those who hurled insults, I cried out, “If you are God, come down and change this.” Yet the sources of pain that caused me to demand deliverance became the very things through which the power of the cross was showcased. Where I was weak, through Christ I am strong. Where my heart bled, through Christ my scars bear the handiwork of His grace and glory. The things I thought would destroy me have, in essence, saved me. All of them were really the doorway that brought me to the end of myself and to the beginning of new life.

We cannot live in the moment, child of promise. Things are not as they appear. We cannot judge whether or not God is powerful by looking at our present circumstances and setting up a criterion by which God must prove Himself. We need only look back to see that He already did that. And we need only look ahead to see that He is a King who will rule throughout eternity. What could be more powerful than His cross, our own cross, and future glory that awaits us all!

Your plan for me is redemptive, Lord. I trust you with my life today. Amen