learning lessons from the "generals"

So I've just finished God's Generals by Roberts Liardon - an interesting read. I've heard about the book for a while now, but have never taken the opportunity to read it...until now. The book contains spiritual biographies of John Alexander Dowie, Maria Woodworth-Etter, Evan Roberts, Charles Parham, William J Seymour, John G Lake, Aimee Semple McPherson, Smith Wigglesworth, William Branham, Jack Coe, A.A.Allen and Kathryn Kuhlman.

Some of these names were familiar to me, but I didn't necessarily know too much of their story. I was both encouraged and challenged by the accounts contained within the book.

The book finishes with some really good points about what does it take to pursue God's call and 'succeed'

1. Stay in your Call - don't try and fulfill someone else's call or their idea of what is best for you. Don't let the criticism of others push you into a corner. Too often we can latch on to the negative words people speak about us and allow them room to take root in our hearts - NO MORE!

2. Build an immunity to the things that affect you negatively - in other words, Guard your heart. If we let God lead us with HIS word, we can stand firm against the negative things in our life. Let's face it, we all know that storms WILL come, so its not a case of sticking our head in the sand and hoping we can ignore it - its about building our lives in such a way that when the storm comes, we can stand firm (like the wise builder).

3. Be daily filled with the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was empowered by the Spirit of God. The things he did, he did because of the Spirit's presence and his surrender to the Spirit's leading.

4. Don't try and stand alone - We need to surround ourselves with people who know us, and the call of God on our lives. We might be tempted to surround ourselves with "yes" people who will stroke our ego, but if we truly want to 'succeed' in all that God is calling us to, we need people who will be prepared to speak truthfully in love and journey with us.

5. Don't search scripture to use as retaliation against our accusers- anyone who is making significant impact for the kingdom is going to come up against resistance and people who want to tear us down. We need to keep a soft spirit towards them, not allowing any seeds of bitterness or resentment to take root in our lives. Let God be our defender. Let him be the one who promotes and protects.

One thing that struck me about all of these people is that they were in some ways 'ordinary' like me. They were hungry for more of God and it was this hunger that drove them to their knees to seek God. Another thing was that all of them made mistakes; some learnt from them and repented, others allowed pride to take over and ultimately cost them their ministry.

Definitely food for thought...