“With a pillar of cloud You led them by day, and with a pillar of fire by night to light for them the way in which they were to go.”
NEHEMIAH 9:12
God wants you to experience his presence day by day and night by night. In the past, God was faithful to reveal himself to his people and clarify his way and will for their lives. God led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. While God manifested his presence to them by cloud and by fire, he manifests his presence to us through the Holy Spirit. God is with us always. Look for him today.
DECLARE THIS TODAY
I will experience God’s presence day by day and night by night this year.
Did you look for God today? His cloud? His fire? As a leader, you need to experience God’s presence. You must always know God’s will and direction for you and the people God has entrusted you to lead. Whether you are a leader in business, government, finance, law, education, sports, health care, the military, or ministry, you always need to know God is with you. Your greatest asset in leadership is to experience God’s presence day by day and night by night. With God, nothing is impossible.
God, I want to experience your presence day by day and night by night this year. Show me your way. Amen.
The LORD said to me, “What do you see, Amos?”
AMOS 7:8
What do you see for the future in this first week of the year? Having vision is seeing something before you see it. Leaders see their goals with their spiritual eyes before they ever see the vision come to fruition with their physical eyes. God revealed to Amos the future and shared his role with him. In the same way, God is asking each of us today,What are you seeing right now for your life and future this year? Keep your eyes and heart open, and God will reveal it to you.
DECLARE THIS TODAY
I will see what God sees for my life and leadership this year.
Sometimes what God wants us to see for life and leadership is more than evident. He is not hiding our future from us or playing spiritual games with us. Yet sometimes we struggle to see what God wants us to see. Therefore, we need to talk to God about our life and leadership. Simultaneously, we also need to open the Bible each day to read it and hear what God is saying to us in his Word. When we do this, his path for our life often becomes clearer. Additionally, connecting with a local church so we have a spiritual family is a significant asset. Our church family will pray for us to see what God wants us to see and may even act as messengers of God’s guidance.
Lord, I want to see what you want me to see in my life and future. Amen.
They said, “Let’s arise and build.”
NEHEMIAH 2:18
Leadership is hard, and today’s leaders have an extraordinary challenge before them. Leading has always been difficult, but it seems the challenge is extraordinary today due to the amplification of public opinion. Instant communication ignites public opinion both negatively and positively.
When Nehemiah declared Jerusalem was devastated and its security was at significant risk, he called for everyone to unite and rebuild Jerusalem for God’s glory. His clear and compelling vision led the people to respond by saying, “Let’s arise and build.” What moved the people to make this decision? Nehemiah, a great leader who rallied people to a better future.
DECLARE THIS TODAY
I will become a leader who rallies others to a better future.
When God begins to reveal his future to a leader, that leader needs to share with the people what God has put in their heart to say and to do. With transparency, the leaders should speak about the greatness of God as they share the vision with others. Why is this important? The people need assurance that there is nothing our God cannot do. Yet due diligence is essential and should always precede the verbal communication of the vision. This takes time. Therefore, the “spirit of hurry” is not an attribute nor an asset to the Spirit of God. He is the only one who rallies people to the future God has for them.
Our Father, empower me to lead others to a better future. Amen.
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and