God use the Negative as a Positive

By Venessa Holtzhausen

Gen 47:1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, My father and my brethren and their sheep and their cows and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

According to Rabbi Hirsch, ‘this is a crucial test of Joseph’s character. For the Viceroy of Egypt to acknowledge as his won brothers the Canaanite shepherds, who had given him every reason for repudiating them, called for highest loyalty and devotion.’

A true leader of God, will be a tested leader. His or her character must be blameless, not lead to gain, but lead to build. Not paying evil for evil, but repaying good for evil. That is why I always say, that God will take his leaders first thing to the desert, break them down and rebuild them with His character. Our own human nature is a stumbling block in the work of the Lord. If we did not dealt with it, it will ruin us and God’s people.

God’s leaders must use discipline wisely and firmly to help the Church grow ‘in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.’ Otherwise, the Church will lose her ability to act as salt and light for a fallen world. We can all than God that He has given us clear instruction in the Bible on how to deal with sinning Church members and leaders.

As God restores New Testament leadership, which the Church so desperately needs, we must keep our hearts open and changeable. God will have to change our thinking as well as our hearts as He bring His people back to scriptural patterns and priorities. Today, God is telling His leaders to allow His Spirit to prepare their inner attitudes and motivations and thoughts for a great moving of His Spirit in the future. Through His own tests and trials, God will prepare the vessels that He desires to use in specific functions. He wil require His leaders to obey the Word, and be living examples of it, rather than just studying or hearing it.

Remember that the issue in preparing Church leadership is ot the ability of the leaders, but the ability of the One who prepares them. If you are called by God to a governmental ministry, you can have confidence in the outcome of the process. Avoid digressions. Cooperate with the dealings of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. If you do these things, you will experience the full release of your gifts and ministry, and you will help bring other believers into the same release.

The goal of anointed servanthood, of preparing the Bride for her wedding day, lies before us. Let all of God’s people cooperate with Him as He continues the making of a leader in each one of us.

True Godly leaders are not in ministry for themselves or building a Tower of Babel (their own kingdom), but they advance the Kingdom which has no denomination name, only Jesus Christ.

Amen!