The Community of the Lord Needs a Leader

God told Moses that he could not enter the Promised Land because of his sin of striking the rock for water instead of speaking to it as God commanded him. So when the time came, God gave Moses directions about how his life would end after seeing the land of Canaan from the mountaintop. Immediately, Moses made a request from the Lord. (Numbers 27:17) He asked God to give them someone to guide them wherever they would go and to lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord would not be like sheep without a shepherd. Every group and especially every church needs a good leader, and Moses knew that from experience, so he made a wise request which God granted by sending Joshua to take his place. I believe every congregation has the same needs today.

There are different ways to lead a group of people. When it comes to leading a church, the imagery that is often used is of a shepherd leading the sheep. Sheep are not able to find their own food, so the shepherd makes sure that he leads them to the pastures with plenty to eat. A good pastor will do the same thing for his church by feeding them God's Word often. A church needs guidance because there are many paths to take, but there is only one right way for each church to go. The pastor must be able to see where God is leading, so he can guide them in that way. Then, there will be battles against Satan and his forces that must be fought and won.  The good pastor will bravely lead his people because he is not afraid of anything. He knows that by God's power they will overcome anything Satan throws at them. The worst thing that can happen is for the people to be like sheep without a shepherd, so that they are starving, and they are easy prey for any predators that  the enemy sends against them.  Please, pray and make the same request that Moses made to the Lord, so God's church can move forward in love and power.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Numbers 28-30.