Joyce Meyer - A Leader in the Making: Essentials to Being a Leader After Gods Own Heart

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Amplified Bible (AMP). The Amplified Bible, Old Testament, copyright 1965, 1987 by The Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament, copyright 1954, 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MESSAGE are taken from The Message: New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (MESSAGE) by Eugene H. Peterson. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson. NavPress, P.O. Box 35001, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80935. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (TEV) are from the Today's English VersionSecond Edition 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations are italicized. The author has emphasized some words within the Scripture quotations. These words are not emphasized in the original Bible versions.

FaithWords Edition

Copyright 2001 by Joyce Meyer

Life In The Word, Inc.

P.O. Box 655

Fenton, Missouri 63026

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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First eBook Edition: November 2008

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ISBN: 978-0-446-55129-8

Contents

S ome people who become leaders have natural leadership qualities. Other people who don't have those qualities become excellent leaders through training. But even natural leaders don't come ready-made; we all need a little work.

God called me into the ministry many years ago, but I didn't jump out of bed one morning ready to assume a leadership position and rise to the top by the next week. Oh, I thought I was ready, but I wasn't. The problem was that the fruit of the Spirit wasn't visible in my lifethe fruit wasn't evident in my character. There was no stability, faithfulness, patience, joy, love, kindness, gentleness nor meekness. And there was zero humility. I was full of meconcerned with my own wants, acting any way I wanted to act. If I had been in a leadership position at that time, instead of bringing the best out of people as a leader should do, I would have made me and everyone around me miserable. Yet God called me to be a leader. I used to wonder sometimes why He doesn't call people who are fixed up and ready to lead. I believe the reason is that He can't find anyone like that.

It is amazing how many gifted people there are who are just sitting on the sidelines of life doing nothing. You may be one of them. I can tell you that whether God uses you or not is dependent upon much more than just the gift or talent He has given you. It has everything to do with characterwith maturity, with the fruit of the Spirit, with how we behave and with our heart attitude.

In this study when I refer to the heart of a person, I'm referring to the approach a person has toward God, people and circumstances. We can almost exchange the word heart with the word attitude. I believe that God uses people who are not always the most talented, but who have the best heart attitude, a right heart toward Him.

Many people try to lead, but they have never gone through the training process. They haven't matured or developed their character, and they have the wrong heart attitude. I don't believe that those kinds of people will ever become the leaders God wants them to be. To become strong leaders, there are things we need to experience while keeping a right heart attitude.

Why would we ever want to go through what it takes to develop the potential that God has given us? One reason is that we will never be fulfilled unless we develop that potential.

Some people who want to reach their potential don't know where to begin. Other people know where to begin but don't know how to move from there to the place where they are supposed to finish. If you fit either of those categories, you will learn from this book how to reach your goals and fulfill God's good plans for you. And you will learn what it takes to develop the qualities of a leader.

Before writing this book, I read the book The Making of a Leader by Frank Damazio and found the information so helpful, especially in the areas of heart conditions, character development, preparing for leadership, tests of leadership and leadership qualities, that I was inspired to expand upon some of it in this teaching. I believe his book will greatly benefit you. I highly recommend it and have included it in the recommended reading list at the end of this book.

Even though the teaching in this book is directed toward leaders and people who want to become leaders, it contains practical direction for everyday living that anyone who wants to experience all that God has for them can apply. Even if you think you don't want to be in leadership, God may have a different idea in mind. You never know what God has planned for you in the future. He may have more in store for you than you think! After all, most of us want to lead something, even if it is only the dog! We have a natural desire to be in charge.

A leader is not necessarily someone who has a large ministry or is in a position that influences thousands of people's lives. A leader is someone who is on top of things in his or her realm of influence. In this book I share what God has taught me over the years as He has guided me from my impatient beginnings in my first realm of influence, that of ministering to a few people in our home Bible study over a period of time, to the much larger realm today of ministering to thousands of people through our Life In The Word conferences and ministry outreaches. My husband, Dave, and I are doing what we are called to do. And in developing the gifts God has given us, we are fulfilling our potential. I am seeing my dreams and visions fulfilled. I don't believe this is something that God has in store for just a handful of people. I believe it is His will for all people to fulfill their potential.

GOD WANTS DO TO MORE WITH YOUR LIFE THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE.

God wants to do more with your life than you could ever imagine. As you read this book, I encourage you to be sure to keep your mind and heart completely open to hearing what He wants to tell you.

PREPARATION FOR LEADERSHIP

DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL:
NOBODY STARTS AT THE FINISH LINE, PART 1

T hat person is a born leader.

We hear this statement often.

Are leaders born or are they made?

It is true that some people do seem to be born with an abundance of leadership gifts and qualities. But it is also true that some of the best leaders in the kingdom of God are those whom the world would probably disregard as even qualifying for leadership. All that these type of people need is someone to recognize their potential and help them develop it. Often they turn out to be some of the most precious and effective people in leadership.

Whether you are a born leader or you have to work at becoming one, my purpose in writing this book is to help you recognize your potential as a leader and show you how to develop it.