Saturday, October 25, 2008

Leadership Lessons From Saul - part 2

There are leaders and then there are anointed leaders.

In 1 Samuel 10 the prophet of God points to a catalytic event in Saul's life as an up and coming leader. In a private ceremony, Samuel anointed Saul with oil and told him that he had been chosen by the Lord to lead Israel. Wow! Before sending Saul on his way, Samuel gives him a prophetic word and through this word Saul is told that when he would arrive in Gibeah, he would meet a group of prophets and the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him in POWER and he would begin to prophesy with them (something I'm fairly sure Saul had never done before) and in that moment, he would be CHANGED into a different person. Wow!

In verse 1 Saul is anointed with oil to signify that he has been chosen by God to lead. But in verse 6 he is anointed with the Holy Spirit and this makes all the difference. With this anointing would come power and a transformed life. Here's the thing...yes, Saul was a head taller than anyone else in Israel BUT he was not capable, in the natural, of succeeding in this role, apart from the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

This is why Jesus, after giving his disciples the all-important mission of reaching the world with the gospel, tells them to return to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. This gift would come a power that would allow them to do things that they would not otherwise be able to do.

Even Jesus experienced this anointing. Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that as soon as Jesus was baptized, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came upon Him. In His own words Jesus would later say that this anointing empowered Him to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, heal the blind, release the oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

There's a supernatural element to leadership that I think we often overlook. Sure, the world is full of great leaders but it's the leaders who are anointed with the Holy Spirit that are positioned to make the greatest impact for the Kingdom of God. They have been empowered; they have been changed. In fact, they're of a different breed; a supernatural breed.

There are leaders and then there are anointed leaders.

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