Leadership in Joshua

By ROBERT FIGUEROA

"Rise up, O child of God!
The Church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up, and make her great!"

The characteristics of a true leader can be found in Joshua, the leader of a volunteer army. The name Joshua means: savior or deliverer, it has the same meaning as our Lord Jesus Christ. Joshua was a leader for the new generation of Israel. He led them into the promise land of Canaan. A rooted leader always has his beginning. For Joshua his beginning was founded in the wilderness with Moses. Moses taught him to lead, to obey and to always have faith in God. There are some qualities that we find in Joshua that we can learn from. Being a man or women of God we too can follow the footsteps of this wonderful leader. As we take a look at the life of Joshua, the leader of the children of God, let us open our eyes and take mental notes on how God wants us to be man and women of Godly discipline when it comes to leadership.

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Joshua Was A Mighty Man In Battle
Joshua was strong and courageous. He defeated the enemy several times by the power of the sword which he carried with him. A leader of such great valor could easily become prideful especially since the Joshua generation loved this leader. Yet, we notice the truth, that he was by far a man of his own ambitions, but totally submitted to a higher power. He led the army into the presence of God. These statements best clarifies the type of man Joshua was. ?Tradition is where God has been, but revelation is where God is.? That’s the understanding that he had. ?I know I’m a leader but I need to know what God wants for me and His children.? Tradition is what killed the forefathers of Israel. But this generation will go over to the promise land. With this responsibility Joshua had to know exactly what God wanted at a certain time and moment. Revelation is what Joshua needed for he could not tell the future, but he could speak the words of the LORD.

He Understood Prayer
His examples were Aaron the high priest and Hur his assistant, holding up the arms of Moses his lord. The back bone for any work done for God is prayer. By the power of prayer Joshua could command the power of God to manifest. His life was revolutionized on the way up the mountain with the seventy other elders of Israel. Moses and Joshua went up higher into the mountain. God called them to a physical higher calling, upon walking up, the ground became as sapphire stone, a bit of heaven on earth. As Moses went higher and Joshua stayed behind by himself he saw a vision of Jehovah in the distance. His emotions and spirit were ignited; he had a vision, of seeing the LORD face to face just like Moses. On the eve of the battle of Jericho, Joshua finally met God the commander of the army of the LORD. As a great leader we need to pray for a growing revelation of God’s vastness and for the grace to believe what you read in scripture and see in the Spirit.

He Had Devotion And Awe Oh how Joshua loved to be in the presence of the LORD. While Moses was talking face to face with God, Joshua was in the Holy Place, with his vision in mind and never wanting to leave the presence of God. He stood in the tabernacle and did not depart even when Moses had already left. A leader needs to have devotion, worship, and reverence for the LORD. ?True Spiritual leadership is born from devotion and demands to be closeted with God?, Joshua did not want to leave God’s presence!

Magnanimity, was one area in Joshua’s life that needed fine-tuning. There were from the seventy elders of Israel two men that the Spirit rested upon. They stayed and started prophesying in the camp; when Joshua heard about this he said, "Moses my Lord forbid them!?, and Moses responded, ?Are you, zealous for my sake?? The Spirit of God is for all, but Joshua needed to learn that there could be more than one leader appointed by God. Through the making of a Spiritual leader you first must be a five, or a four, or a three to become a number one. ?True spiritual leadership knows nothing of a self promoting spirit?.

Faith Is The Driving Force Of A Spiritual Leader
This is what Joshua and Caleb portrayed to Moses. While the majority said it was not possible the two faithful said ?They are our bread!? When the LORD speaks to a leader many times there will be opposition. Despite the criticism of the Church, we as leaders need to stay focused on what God wants for His children. Peer pressure can break a leader who is not careful with the words of the LORD. ?Spiritual leaders do not necessarily go along with the majorities opinion?.

Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand upon him. A Spirit filled Christian is who God wants in a leadership position. ?As we walk and serve in the Spirit, the Spirit will ordain us to specific tasks in the Church, and these will be tasks of leadership at all levels, be it waiting tables or heralding the Gospel?.

Expendability
Moses was the greatest leader Israel ever had. He was far greater than Joshua. The reality of leadership is that God really does not need our leadership skills or talents. We can become a great leader when we realize that we can be replaced. We are not the best of the best but more importantly we all can share the work of the LORD. When our time comes to turn over the keys we need to do it with confidence in the next leader. We need to be able to be replaced.

?Leaders are like a fish in a bowl?, you can see the next step and everything they are going to do. Church, we need Spiritual discipline in our lives, in order for God to call us to be the leaders He wants us to be. Amen!

Rober Figueroa is co-executive producer of Inspired Christian.org and attends the Apostolic Church in East Palo Alto, California. Have a comment for Robert? Send email right now!

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