Leaders must LEARN. 

Leaders must TRUST.

Leaders must WAIT.

Leaders must RELY upon others.

Leaders must FOLLOW GOD. 

Leaders must LISTEN. 

Many leaders, earthly leaders, are detailed in the story of Rahab hiding the spies under hay in her roof, in supporting the plan for Israelites to learn the mood of the city of Jericho. There is also a connection to JESUS – to picking up His plan and following God by letting Jesus lead. First, we start with Joshua. After Moses passed away, God passed the torch to Joshua to pick up. Joshua was chosen by God, not elected by the people or having climbed up a corporate ladder. Moses laid his hands upon him at God’s command and commissioned him to lead the people. Joshua was a leader commissioned and committed for FUTURE listening to God. 

We need to be better leaders and like Joshua (and Moses) we need to LISTEN to God, we need to LEARN and follow, to wait, to trust and especially act on what we hear or feel as a gut feeling to His leading. LISTEN. Joshua sent out spies to learn about Jericho, Joshua also needed to WAIT in time and WAIT upon God. We need to be leaders who WAIT upon God. The King of Jericho was a leader too and he commanded soldiers to go after the spies. The King had to RELY upon others. We need to be leaders who RELY on others. 

The spies and Rahab traded back and forth leading each other. Rahab led the spies to safety hiding under the roof. The spies later led Rahab and her family to safety, by using the signal of a scarlet rope hanging from the window, the same one she helped them scale down the outside of the city to freedom and returning to their troops after 3 days in hiding. Rahab and the soldiers had to TRUST each other and TRUST God’s TIMING. We need to be leaders who TRUST. We will LEARN the best way to lead by LISTENING, but not of earthly noise, distractions, bantering.

Joshua did lead the taking of the city, but by telling the people about FOLLOWING God’s direction: “for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” We need to be leaders who FOLLOW.  FOLLOW GOD, “then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.“

So interesting that I have heard a preacher leader once say the scarlet color of the rope was like the blood of Jesus leading us, saving us. I agree. As we wait upon God in all things, we are carrying Jesus with us and so He will shine like our flashlight thru our dark times and unknowns, the paths we have never taken before, allowing us to step firmly. We must work at helping others see His plan and His Light in their lives – to demonstrate that we can set out scarlet ropes to the Lord for His Rescue from the Windows of our hearts. We also await the day to be saved by Jesus from the earthly world which will be destroyed and know in the meantime that we have been delivered from the sin that He has overcome. Jesus saves us from the sins of the whole city/world that we didn’t even cause, our human brokenness. 

Our Salvation comes by following the same God as Moses, Joshua, Rahab, followed. Our hearts must LEARN this following, trusting, leading by God. Others must learn this by their own being led by God, the Holy Spirit conviction within themselves. Our job as leaders is to DEMONSTRATE that we are allowing God to LEAD us. Our job as followers is to show the Way in our steps. Let us rely on the Holy Spirit today. 

AMEN !

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Joshua 2 Verses 1-7

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate. 

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15 -21

Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

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Crossing the Jordan – Chapter 3 

Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.