Is it true that all Great Leaders were once Great Followers, and if they were whom did they follow?

“All Great leaders were once great followers!” Wow! What a statement! Now my question to you is… is it true and if it is, whom did they follow?

My husband and I were talking about Leadership the other day and this question came up in our conversation. Now understand that the Word GREAT is the operative word here. We aren’t just talking about those who lead such as teachers, bosses, or the likes of those whom society has slated as “Leaders”, and are, in their own right, but we are talking about “GREAT LEADERS.” Such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Gandhi (etc.). Leaders whose missions have made a great impact or shift in society as a whole!

I must confess, I told my husband, that I found it hard to follow others as I have seen so many others in my life doing so effortlessly. It’s not that I think I’m better than them or that I’m just a rebel without a cause, it’s just that in my eyes there’s a fine line between following man and idolatry and I personally believe we all can unconsciously fall into the latter if we aren’t cognizant of it!

I’ve been taught through scriptures such as Psalms 146:3, Psalms 118:8-9, and others like it, not to put my trust in man, but to only put my trust in Christ, because they cannot give me salvation!

One of the most notable passages of scripture on this subject is Matthew 23, which teaches us that as humans we all have faults, and sometimes when others begin to follow us we can acquire an ego that leads us to thinking we are God, and that we have all the answers. I personally don’t think most people try to acquire this type of thinking, but it can come with the territory when others begin to put their trust in you the way they should be putting their trust in Christ!

Another confession, I have wanted to follow others for the sake of belonging and that feeling of unity and I, just as others in life, have wanted others to follow me in my beliefs and convictions, and I’ve found myself in the past judging others when they didn’t follow my thoughts and beliefs. But I find the older I get, the more I realize I don’t actually want anyone following me. First of all I’m not perfect and I don’t want anyone following me, because I do (and will continue) to fall short of God’s glory; and secondly if you follow me that means you aren’t following Christ in totality. Yes, you can look to me as an example of Christ, but I am not Christ Himself and thirdly, it’s just too tiring to have others constantly follow you, and I, (being transparent) am more of an introvert, (not in totality) loner and thinker and personally, people drain me!  

I have also found that because I can’t follow man in totality, I only call on others for a listening ear, for agreement in prayer, for accountability and for human connectivity; and viewing man in this light also helps me to love others unconditionally because I don’t see them as gods who will not fall or make mistakes, but as humans who are in need, just as I am, who also need to look to Christ for True Restoration!!!

I’ve had great men and women in my life, who’ve sown great words of wisdom, advice and examples for me to follow. I’ve never had a problem taking their advice and interweaving them into my own life, (from my grandmother, mother, father, Pastors and even iconic figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. etc.) but even with their great perils of wisdom and impeccable character, it’s just a no brainer to me that even they have areas of their lives that the Bible would categorize as sin, thus making them imperfect, human, embodying areas of fault, and in need of Christ’s redemptive blood to be righteous before God!

When I think about Great Leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Sojourner Truth, and other of their like, who did they really follow? Yes, I’m sure they probably followed the advice of their mothers and fathers and others in their circle of life, but wasn't it more of their passion, their drive, their determination, their persistence and their obedient heart to bring to life at all costs, the dream or vision that God placed in them that persuaded others to follow them?

Gal 2:20 “Christ lives in me,,,,” Colossians 2:10 “I am complete in Christ,…” and other scriptures such as these, justifies that Christ lives in me and He speaks to me the same way He speaks to everyone else who believes in Him; thus telling me that I too am capable of carrying out great dreams, capable of accomplishing extraordinary things in life and capable of leading just based on the fact that He now lives in me and He speaks to me, all I have to do is listen to His voice and obey His commands when He prompts!

Trust me when I say, I’m not against following leaders, and I definitely don’t think everyone is a leader therefore calling for the need of followers. I also know there are great institutions out there that have benefited from the Leader/follower concept, the military being one; but I also know that we must beware and vigilant of making idols and Gods of man, because the shift can be slight, and it can deceitful and deceivingly subtle. I truly believe we are to look to those who are more mature in Christ, such as Pastors, Ministers, etc. for guidance, but I am also a big believer that once we truly accept Christ in our hearts and keep our minds stayed on Him the way He commands us to do, that we too will grow in our maturity, we too will begin to discern the voice of God, we too will begin to receive revelation from God, and we too will begin to know when God is prompting us to do something or not!

So the question remains are “Great Leaders” great followers or are they just great visionaries who have the art of influence and who’ve been given extraordinary tasks of being great humanitarians who have the passion, the persistence, the determination the resilience and the obedient heart needed to fulfill those great visions,… and if they have been great followers, who besides Christ have they really followed? Remember you can always follow man to great heights in life, but never, and I say never think so highly of man that you forget that it’s Christ that gives you daily Love, Grace, Mercy and most of all Salvation; Psalms 146:3 “Put not your trust in princes, (or) in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation,”!

Love, Kisses and Teacups

Always In His Grace,

Toinette Neube

What exactly do Christians mean when they say, “People should be able to tell a difference between us and the world?”

When you hear a Christian say, “We should be different from the world!” or “People should be able to tell us apart from others.” What do you think about? Unfortunately the one thing that should come to mind first, is usually the last!

And what is that you may ask?.... Well I’ll get to that in a minute. This question has plagued me for years, what is it about me that should be different from the world, what is it that sets me apart from others? As Christians we all should know the obvious which are: I am now a child of God so this means I have a Heavenly Father and it also means that I will live forever and shall not die because of my belief in my God! These and other attributes are differences I’m sure most people can attribute to being a Christian and being set apart or different than the world. But sometimes we also have a tendency to think the differences that are talked about are things such as not going to the movies like the world, not wearing make-up like the world, not going out on a date night like the world, not having a glass of wine like the world (yes, I said it, etc.) I could go on and on! Yes, not doing most of these things can make you different and set apart from people especially seeing that most people today take part in most of these activities; but I’m here to tell you the real difference that should be noticed between Christians and the World is our “Love Walk”; this should be and IS THE DIFFERENCE that is referred to in the Bible! 

Matthew 7:6 says, “You can identify them by their fruit...” Not the way they dress, not the makeup they wear, not how many scriptures they know, not how well they entertain as a preacher, not how many times they come to church and not how many boards or church auxiliaries they are on. (and yes, I know all these things CAN have their place in our walk, but the interchangeable word here is CAN, it all depends on your personal journey)! 

John 13:35 says,” By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” How will people know we are God’s? How will people know we are set apart? How are we different from the World? “BY THIS SHALL ALL MEN KNOW THAT YE ARE MY DISCIPLES, IF YE HAVE LOVE ONE TO ANOTHER!”

As Christians we must remember to keep first things first and The Newest and now the Greatest commandment of The Bible is found in John 13:34, “"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

As you walk out this Christian journey, don’t get so caught up into the religion and or the tradition of your walk that you forget why Christ came in the first place,... because of Love, why did He died for us in the first place,... because of Love, and what really is the only thing He asks of us in life,... that we return His Love to those whose path we come across! 

Being set apart and being different means we are Holy and this in turn means we don't have room for things or thoughts that are hateful, things that are judgmental or condemning like the world, it means we love like Christ! 

One of the most quoted yet misinterpreted scripture is Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.” We interpret this scripture to mean when we desire something in life we shouldn’t try to figure out what God is doing in our lives, well even though the thought is true, we should just live daily and take no thought for tomorrow, this scripture is really talking about God’s love for the world. God doesn’t hate like the world, He doesn’t judge or condemn like the world, His thoughts of love and His way of loving is higher and greater than ours, thus meaning His thoughts and ways of giving us daily Grace, Love and Mercy are beyond comprehension to The World!!!

Love, Kisses and Teacups!

Always In His Grace,

Toinette Neube

Fear is nothing but Twisted Faith; Refuse to Fear!

There is a huge difference between people who “SUCCEED” in life and those who don’t; and that difference is how they choose to look at fear! I use the word “Succeed” lightly because success can come in various forms; it can be a house on the hill to one person while it can be becoming a Nun and taking a vow of poverty and silence to another.

Just like everything in life, fear itself starts out as a thought so this means it manifests itself in our thought life. Now working backwards we can see that fear exist because we have formed a thought, and that thought formed because of what we allowed into our mind, and our mind only catches hold of what we see, hear, smell or touch. Now once your mind has caught hold of a fear based thought it automatically goes to your brain and then starts to literally form a change in the molecular structure of your brain (Leaf, 2009) to create toxic or a fear base structure that your mind uses to react to every time you come across a situation that is associated with the thing you first feared; hence the fear, anxiety, phobia (etc.) chain in your brain, and now in your life has begun!

Okay, now that science class is over, let’s see what scripture says about it! When I became a minister, my parents gave me a plaque that had the scripture: 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of Fear but of power, love and a sound mind!” engraved on it. Now, I didn’t realize at that time how relevant that scripture would be, not only in my regular life, but also in my ministerial life. I would elaborate, but trust me, you don’t have enough time for me to share my fear journey with you; but here is the catalyst! I haven’t let it stop me! No, I’m not super woman, so fear still comes at me and even hinders me at times, but I usually step out on faith anyway and do what I know God has called me to do! How do I do this? I inundate myself with the Word of God, which reminds me daily who I am and whose I am, I surround myself with positive thoughts and people who love me and believe in me, I entertain experiences that constantly grow me or move me to the next level in life and more importantly I ALWAYS KEEP MY MIND ON CHRIST! Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” This is the one and true only way in life to stay at perfect peace in life and to turn fear into faith!

Now back to those “successful” people; it is a known fact that most people (with the exception of your overnight sensations, who unfortunately these days are a dime a dozen) become successful and stay successful because of persistence and because they do not give in to fear! As a matter of fact most of them turn the adrenaline that comes with fear into a positive attribute and not a negative one. For example it’s been said that bungee jumpers have just as much fear as people who are afraid of bungee jumping and their symptoms are the same: racing heart, sweaty palms, and flowing adrenaline, but the difference is they turn those feelings and symptoms into a positive experience that pushes them to follow through and not a negative experience that forces them to stop!  

So here is the key to “Refusing to Fear”, The sensations are real, the heart pumping, the sweaty feelings, the adrenaline flowing, but what you must do is take those sensations and restructure them into positive attributes in your thought life and you do this by constantly reading and understanding the Word of God, surrounding yourself with positive experiences, surrounding yourself with people who believe in you, and most importantly keeping your mind on Christ! Once you have restructured those thoughts in your mind, this will literally restructure your brain to look at things differently and thus change that fear into Faith! For example I once heard someone say that the fear of being bit by a barking dog is fear or another way to look at it is...“twisted faith” faith that the dog will bite you. Well you can turn that fear around and instead of having faith (which has now turned to fear) that the dog will bite you, why not have faith that the dog will not! This concept does work, how do you think people such as “The Dog Whisper” and other animal professionals work, they have faith and not fear! Word of caution, I’m not saying approach a ferocious dog and tempt Faith. I hope you get the gist of what I’m saying. I am saying faith and fear can be viewed as synonymous; it all depends on how you choose to look at the challenge! Fear is “Twisted Faith”, faith that something bad will happen instead of something good, but Faith is belief that something good will happen even though you (I) cannot see it yet!

Remember Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things;” and never forget that the love, grace and mercy of God is forever present and pursuing you, so while you are running this race of life, don’t let the pursuit be in fear, or "twisted faith", but always let the pursuit be in True Faith in God and His Love, Grace and Mercy for you!

Love, Kisses and Teacups

Always In His Grace,

Toinette Neube