How to Be Like Jesus Lessons on Following in His Footsteps

from Chapter 13 Jesus showed us how one leader can change the world. He began with a bold vision that he put up in lights for all to seea shining vision of God's kingdom on Earth. Then he chose twelve people and entrusted his vision to them. He built close, tightly bonded relationships with them and mentored them. He trained them, coached them and delegated his authority to them to minister in his name. Jesus knew they would fail and make mistakes, but he unleashed them and transferred increasing amounts of responsibility to their shoulders. He knew he could not to do it all, especially in view of the short time he had left. Se he poured his life into them and multiplied himself through them. Jesus fed a crowd in northern Israel to demonstrate to his disciples what his ministry was all about: spiritual bread for hungry souls. The feeding of the five thousand was not as some would suppose, just a flashy display of miraculous power. It was symbolic of what Jesus had come to do for the nation of Israel. The second feeding of four thousand people took that same message of living bread beyond the borders of Israel and into the world at large. As a leader, Jesus walked on water. You may think How can I lead like Jesus? I can swim, but I can't walk on water! It's a mistake, however, to think that the point of this miracle was just to show off the power of Jesus. The theme of that event was faith. Jesus did something unthinkable, then he called Peter out of the boat and commanded him to do the unthinkable as well. If you are a leader, there are things you do every day that your followers probably consider impossible to imitate: You envision the future, think creatively, initiate action, take charge, motivate, inspire, mentor, empower, communicate, manage conflict, remain calm under pressure, handle multiple tasks, exude confidence, demonstrate management skills, demonstrate sales skills and more. To the people around you, the leadership abilities that are natural to you look like "walking on water" to them. Your job as a leader is to call people out of the safety of the boat and urge them to take a step of faith. Get them out on the water and tell them to start walking! Jesus, the ultimate leader, taught his disciples that if they would dare the unthinkable, they could achieve the impossibleas long as they kept their eyes on him. Peter didn't sink until he took his eyes off Jesus and started looking at his circumstances. As long as he kept looking to Jesus, there was no limit to what he could do. So it is with you and me. Above all, Jesus tried to prepare his followers for the fact that he would not always be there holding their hands. Jesus knew that the goal of leadership is not to produce childlike dependents, but mature, confident, dependable disciples. So Jesus did amazing things in their presence, then he told his followers that they would achieve even greater things. He wanted his followers to understand that,Williams, Pat is the author of 'How to Be Like Jesus Lessons on Following in His Footsteps' with ISBN 9780757300691 and ISBN 0757300693.