PRINCIPLES FOR EMERGING LEADERS

Exodus chapter 4






Today we are walking in: Principles For Emerging Leaders








Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.



The Torah Testifies.............................

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The prophets proclaim...............



Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.








The writings bear witness.............



2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword






Principles for Emerging Leaders
A New Approach to Life


A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot answer, and attempting a task he
cannot achieve.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., physician and author


I have written this section of the series for all those who find it especially difficult to believe they can initiate positive change in their own lives. It is for you who, even now, don’t fully accept the idea that you can be a leader in your realm of gifting and influence, and that you can become a change agent in the midst of a world in transition.


You may come from a family or a society that has told you—for whatever reason—that you will never amount to anything. Or, you may be awakening for the first time to the idea that you can take the initiative in your life rather than just let life happen to you. This may be true especially if you or your ancestors grew up under slavery, colonialism, or another form of institutional oppression, such as Communism, and you seem to have inherited a mind-set of oppression that holds you back in life.


Regardless of your background, I want to encourage you to do what you never imagined was possible: take steps toward your preferred future.


This is the time for you to take on a new mind-set and a new approach based on the positive benefits of change. I consider you an emerging leader. The changes that you initiate, and your response to the changes that are taking place in the world, will enable you to release your potential. Here, then, are principles for emerging leaders to help you to fulfill your purpose in life.


Emerging Leaders Interpret the Past with Insight


The first principle for emerging leaders is to interpret the past with insight. Often, those who doubt that they can initiate positive change are dealing with troublesome issues and attitudes stemming from their pasts. Yet we have seen that Yah can transform even the negative experiences of our lives into beneficial outcomes.


We are the products of our histories, as well as how we integrate those histories into our lives. While we don’t want to be chained to our pasts, we need to understand them in order to appreciate the present. With all the challenges that we face, we must gain a Yah-inspired vision of a positive future—not just for our lives in eternity, but also for our lives on earth now.


Consider the Past as Prelude—Not as Your Present


When Yah called Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Moses was hesitant. He said, “O Most High, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue” (Exodus 4:10). Moses felt that his past difficulties in speaking before others disqualified him for his assignment from Yah. But Yah had a different perspective regarding who Moses was—and who he could be. “The Most High said to him, ‘Who gave man his mouth?...Is it not I, the Most High? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say’” (verses 11–12).


Unfortunately, Moses held on to his interpretation of the past. He may have thought, I haven’t been able to speak well in the past; therefore, I will never be able to. He thought that his past and his present were synonymous.
Moses said, “O Most High, please send someone else to do it.” Then the Most High’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you....You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.” (verses 13–15)


Moses’ perspective prevented him from accepting what Yah desired for him. Even though Yah eventually used him tremendously in freeing the Israelites, Moses could have experienced even more freedom and fulfillment if he had believed Yah’s words immediately and trusted Yah to help him to speak without having to use his brother as a go- between.


You can think of yourself in connection with your past failures and the negative experiences you have had, or you can trust Yah to transform your life and give you a positive future. Remember Isaiah 43:18–19: Yah said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”


The Scriptures describe the deep grief Naomi experienced when her husband and adult sons died while the family was in Moab to escape a famine in Israel. With no husband or sons, Naomi and her daughters-in-law had no means of support and were in a precarious position. Naomi had been away from her hometown of Bethlehem for many years, yet she decided there was no choice but to return there to live. When she and one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth, a Moabitess, returned to Bethlehem, her former neighbors asked, “Can this be Naomi?” (Ruth 1:19). Apparently, her grief and hard life had taken a toll on both her appearance and her attitude. Naomi replied, “Don’t call me Naomi....Call me Mara” (verse 20). Naomi means “pleasant,” while mara means “bitter.” Naomi allowed bitterness to characterize her life to the extent that she identified it as her name.


Naomi’s life was transformed, however, as she recognized the hand of Yah at work in her life. Yah had brought her and Ruth to a place where they attracted the attention of Naomi’s Yahly, kind, and wealthy relative, Boaz. Naomi told Ruth that Boaz was one of their closest relatives and that he could redeem the family from their distress. She advised Ruth on how to conduct herself with Boaz. Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son named Obed. Obed means “serving” or “worshipper.” His name may reflect Ruth and Naomi’s gratitude to Yah for delivering them from their distress.


The women [of Bethlehem] said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Most High, who this day has not left you without a kinsman- redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son.” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.(Ruth 4:14–17)


If Naomi had continued to live in bitterness instead of recognizing the provision and blessing that Yah was making possible through Boaz, she might never have experienced Yah’s unfolding grace in her life. Moreover, by advising Ruth, she participated in bringing about a purpose of Yah that was much larger than the individual lives of Naomi, Ruth, or Boaz—the establishment of the family line through which David, the great king of Israel, would be born. And it was through David’s line that the promised Messiah would come.


A negative past does not cancel out the possibility of a positive future, especially when we seek to recognize Yah at work in whatever situation we might find ourselves in. As Paul wrote, “And we know that in all things Yah works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).


Yah Can Bring Good Even out of Oppression


Many people have difficulty interpreting their pasts in light of Yah’s purposes because they or their ancestors experienced institutionalized oppression, and they don’t see how any good could come out of that. Slavery and colonialism have left a mark of discouragement and unused potential on the lives of many Third World peoples. Let us briefly consider these effects.


Generally speaking, when the colonial powers spread into the New World, they gained control over various people groups that already had their own cultures. They would come to a land, settle in it, make it their own, and use the land for their profit. For example, they gained wealth by developing tropical lands that had good climates for growing tobacco, sugar, and cotton.


As the European powers exerted their influences across the globe, they took many West African people as slaves, placed them on ships, brought them to America and the West Indies, and sold them to European and other settlers to work on farms and plantations. Many of these settlers became prosperous, but their prosperity was not shared with the slaves. As a result, an entire segment of the population of these nations was excluded from the benefits of the societies they were helping to create. The legacy of this discrepancy of social and economic justice continues to trouble the countries that perpetuated slavery.


Yet, as deplorable as the institution of slavery is, I believe Yah used it for His purposes—and can still bring good out of it in the lives of the descendants of slaves. Why do I believe this? First, let us read what Paul said to an audience at Athens:


From one man [Yah] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. Yah did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.(Acts 17:26–27)


Yah ultimately decided where people groups would live and where nations would develop and be established. The Scriptures say He did this for a specific purpose: “so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.” Yah’s desire is for people to seek Him and find Him, and He places them in positions where they can come to know Him.


Next, read what Yah said through His prophet Isaiah:
This is what the Most High says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush [the dark-skinned race], and those tall Sabeans—they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, ‘Surely Yah is with you, and there is no other; there is no other Yah.’”(Isaiah 45:14)


European nations instituted the slavery of dark-skinned people in the seventeenth century, but I believe Yah permitted this to happen in order to bring them to a place where many of them could come to know Him. Remember the caravan that took Joseph to Egypt, and what Joseph told his brothers? “You intended to harm me, but Yah intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20).


Many Africans who were taken as slaves came from backgrounds of voodoo and spiritualism. I think that one of the reasons why Yah allowed slavery was so that these Africans would be removed from that dark environment of spiritualism. While slavery is contemptible, and the slave traders and slave owners had selfish motivations, many slaves who were brought to America—or their descendants—came in contact with the gospel there. They came to know the living Yah—which is true, spiritual freedom.


Emerging leaders, therefore, must learn to interpret the past with insight. If you—or your ancestors—were mistreated, you have a choice of continuing to curse that domination and cruelty. Or, you can discover the benefits that came out of it. We should continually work to eliminate oppression wherever we can. Yet I suggest that we should also look for the ways in which Yah might be using it in our lives and others’ lives to move us toward His ultimate purposes. This is what it means to interpret change. It means to recognize the bigger picture of what is happening in the midst of that change.


Moreover, note how Yahusha taught us to respond to oppression:


You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43–48)


Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.(Luke 6:35–38)


Wherever you’re planted, therefore, determine to grow there. Don’t complain, just grow. Find your purpose and move with it into the future. Don’t focus on the past, because you can’t change the past. There is a time and a season for every purpose. (See Ecclesiastes 3:1.) Leave behind any sense of oppression that has been like a heavy cloud hanging over your life and become all that you were created to be.


Emerging Leaders Invest in Others


Each season brings unique opportunities that we must make full use of whenever we can. When the seasons change, we have to recognize the signs and make the necessary transitions. King Solomon wrote,


He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.(Proverbs 10:5)


If you have been reluctant to enter into your season of change, it is time for you to start moving and gather the harvest. For example, there was a season when Yah used mainly foreign missionaries to bring His Word to Third World nations. I thank Yah for working through these missionaries. Yet those of you who were once mission fields have come to a crossroads. The season has changed. Now, Yah wants you to impact your own nation, as well as other nations, with the gospel and not just be the recipients of it. The same concept applies to all areas of life.


Unfortunately, it is often easier for people who have been oppressed or who have been told that they would never amount to anything to continue to receive from others rather than learn to give of themselves. Yet, if you merely keep on receiving, you will never become a blessing to those who need you to invest in them.


There is an important truth that says, “Success without a successor is actually failure.” If missionaries leave a country without raising up nationals to carry on the work after they’re gone, they have failed. On the other hand, the responsibility for success or failure also falls on the shoulders of these nationals. Some people don’t want to mature and take responsibility for themselves, but they cannot afford to have this attitude.


Investing in Others Requires Maturity


We can be emerging leaders only if we are willing to develop in maturity. Let’s look at the example of the Israelites, who were enslaved by the Egyptians for four hundred years. Oppressed by cruel taskmasters, the Israelites prayed to Yah, in effect, “Set us free from all our troubles, Most High.” The Scriptures say, “Yah heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So Yah looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exodus 2:24–25).


In response, the Most High called Moses and appointed him to release His people from bondage. After Yah struck the land of Egypt with a series of plagues, the pharaoh relented and let the Israelites go. Moses led them out of Egypt and into the desert, where they were vulnerable and totally dependent on Yah.


The Israelites enjoyed a period of time at Elim, “where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water” (Exodus 15:27). Then, they had to move on, and they came to a place called the “Desert of Sin” (Exodus 16:1). Sounds like a wonderful place, doesn’t it? And what a contrast to Elim! It was barren, and no food seemed available there. The Israelites lost the sense of purpose they had felt at the time of their deliverance from Egypt because they focused on only their immediate problem. They said to Moses and Aaron, “If only we had died by the Most High’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death” (Exodus 16:3).


To me, the Israelites were saying, “Moses, you have forced us to grow up! Why did you do that?” They had prayed for freedom for four hundred years, and when they finally got it, they wished they had died in slavery!


The Israelites quickly grumbled when faced with adversity. That sounds like many of us. We don’t like independence because freedom costs too much. It requires dealing with issues and problems that others have taken responsibility for previously—even if we didn’t like the way they handled them. People who have been in bondage often begin to fear freedom when it means they are required to mature.


Yah wants us to understand that we can mature under His guidance—and that maturity involves trusting Him to take care of us. Likewise, He wanted the entire nation of Israel to trust Him totally. He miraculously provided manna from heaven—a unique food that “was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31)—as well as quail. Later, He provided water from a rock after the Israelites had moved on and come to a place without a source of water. (See Exodus 16:4–17:6.) Yet, even with all that Yah had supplied for them, the


Israelites continued to doubt His goodness, power, and provision.


We can progress in deliverance and freedom only when we make a decision to grow in maturity, trusting Yah for His provision as we step out in faith and leadership.


Investing in Others Requires Taking Responsibility


Eventually, the Israelites reached Canaan, the land that Yah had promised them through Abraham and Moses. Moses sent twelve spies throughout Canaan to bring back a report about the land. Ten of the spies delivered a bad report that disheartened the people. The Israelites actually rebelled against entering their Promised Land and made plans to return to Egypt! They wanted to go backward, not forward.


That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the Most High bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”(Numbers 14:1–4)


When Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell on their faces before the community. Joshua and Caleb, who had also spied out the land but returned with a good report, tore their clothes and tried to encourage the people with these words:


The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Most High is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Most High. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Most High is with us. Do not be afraid of them.(Numbers 14:7– 9)


The Israelites were given solid counsel. Yet they not only rejected this counsel, but they also talked about killing Joshua and Caleb! (See verse 10.)


People sometimes reject clear purpose and direction from Yah if they are afraid of what might happen or don’t want to take responsibility for doing their parts. The Israelites wanted to possess the Promised Land, but only in their own way—without the requirement of taking responsibility by exercising faith during difficult circumstances. Yah forgives our irresponsibility when we sincerely ask Him to, but our disobedience to Him can still have consequences. If we don’t learn to take responsibility for our seasons now, we will suffer for our lack of faith and inactivity, and we may cause others to suffer, too.


Yah became angry at the Israelites for their contempt of Him and their lack of faith in His provision. When Moses asked Yah not to destroy the Israelites, Yah answered,


I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless...not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. (Numbers 14:20–23)


Taking on new responsibility in our lives involves stepping out in faith while trusting in Yah’s love and provision for us. If we don’t take responsibility, we will remain the same as we always have been. And if we remain the same, we will not fulfill our Yah-given purposes. This will leave us and future generations without the benefit of our initiated change—and, perhaps, without hope for the future.


Results of Remaining Merely a Receiver


What can we conclude about those who shrink back from their callings to be change agents with a vision to impact others? What happens if you remain where you are?


1. You don’t have to lead—but you’ll always be led.


2. You don’t need to make decisions—but they will be made for you.


3. You don’t have to provide for yourself—but your needs will be met on others’ terms.


4. You’ll become attached to traditions—but you won’t learn to think for yourself.


5. Your irresponsibility will have consequences— not only for yourself, but also for others.


Are you more concerned with receiving or with giving? A self-centered approach to life may be satisfying for a while, but it lacks the true fulfillment of maturity, love, and sacrifice. Paul, one of the greatest change agents the world has ever known, quoted these life-changing words of Yahusha to the elders in the city of Ephesus:


In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Most High Yahusha himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”(Acts 20:35)


Emerging leaders should work for the benefit of others rather than for personal gain. Will you enter into that blessing by giving to others? Will you take responsibility for serving your nation and ensuring a positive destiny for your children’s children?


You must go beyond deliverance from whatever type of trouble or oppression you have endured in your life. You must decide to move from deliverance to freedom, from the desert to Canaan, because freedom is your destiny— freedom to participate in Yah’s ultimate purpose of drawing human beings back to Himself.


Emerging Leaders Understand Their True Potentials


Sometimes, we hold back from moving into the stream of change that Yah is directing us toward because we doubt our own capabilities. I have seen this mind-set firsthand in my work with Third World leaders. Despite some improvements in conditions and a greater measure of freedom and independence, many Third World peoples still grapple with issues of identity and self-worth. In part, this is because some industrialized nations have reinforced —by their attitudes, policies, or legislation—the notion that Third World peoples lack the potential, intelligence, and sophistication necessary to be on an equal plane with them. This terrible misconception has limited many talented people who have not been allowed to maximize their potentials. Another part is people limiting their own potentials because of ignorance, fear, or, again, a lack of a sense of responsibility. The potential of all peoples—in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia, as well as in industrialized nations—is abundant and cannot be measured by the negative opinions of others. Neither can it be measured by a lack of wealth or a low social status.


I want to encourage you that you possess the ability to develop, produce, create, perform, and accomplish the ideas and gifts that Yah has placed within you. He created you with all the potential you need to fulfill your purpose in life.


Emerging leaders, therefore, are those who have come to understand their true identities and potentials in Yah and to develop those potentials. The opinions of others should never determine your self-worth. Neither should a false opinion of yourself determine your self-image. Your identity is not found in the prejudgments of others or even of yourself but in the Source from whom you came: Yah, your Father and Creator. Yahusha came to restore you to your rightful position in Yah and to reveal to you the awesome potential that is currently trapped inside you.


Emerging Leaders Develop Their True Potentials


The wealth of potential within all those who are living below their capabilities must be recognized, harnessed, and maximized by them. Are you willing to commit yourself to tapping into your own rich potential? Are you willing to help promote the creativity and productivity of the other citizens of your country? Are you willing to improve upon the outmoded, institutionalized systems you inherited from past generations, whether those systems are in government, business, education, or the ministry? For example, the church in the Third World should realize its potential to develop indigenous artistic works, resource management, financial autonomy, and accountability.


We must be careful not to inhibit our potentials for charting new courses for the future by being preoccupied with our pasts. We need to deposit the wealth of our potentials in this generation so that the next generation can build its future on our faithfulness to become all we can possibly be. Just as there is a potential plant or tree in every seed, there is a potential new world within your world. Remember that whatever Yah calls for, He provides for. Therefore, you must be committed not only to recognizing your potential, but also to developing it.


I believe it is the nature of Third World peoples to be hardworking, dedicated, and highly sensitive. Yet, as we have seen, many have developed a spirit of dependency and a lack of self-confidence. The debilitating system of colonization often provided a colony’s subjects with basic training for service—but not for productivity.


In essence, people were taught how to grow sugarcane but not how to make sugar; they were taught how to grow cotton but not how to make cloth. Even after they became free of colonial control, they were often left in possession of significant raw materials but no knowledge or skills to transform these materials into end products.


Because they were left with the zeal of freedom but not the ability to develop viable products in the world marketplace, many Third World nations still experience financial hardship, along with an uncertain sense of identity. Moreover, sometimes, political colonialism has been replaced with a form of economic colonialism. For example, I have noticed that Third World nations still look to industrially developed states to measure their standards of quality and excellence. This can breed a sense of disrespect and suspicion about their own products while denying the tremendous potential that lies dormant within their own creativity and talents.


Yet a fresh wind is blowing through many developing countries, stirring a sense of destiny and purpose in the hearts of people. This awakening is being felt in all arenas: political, social, economic, and spiritual. With a renewed commitment to the Creator, Third World peoples must look for their inner strengths and develop the potentials lying deep within them.


Likewise, all men, women, boys, and girls of every nation and of every race need to develop their potentials and refine their skills. We have to recognize our abilities to imagine great things—and take action to make them realities. Emerging leaders know that...


1. Followers can become leaders.


2. Learners can become teachers.


3. Former mission fields can become missionaries.


4. Receivers can become givers.


Emerging Leaders Understand True Freedom


My last point—still a vital one—is that emerging leaders must recognize the nature of true freedom.


What is true freedom?


We gain our views of freedom from a number of sources, such as conversations with family members and friends, books, television, the Internet, and other media, as well as cultural, institutional, or religious traditions. For the sake of clarity, therefore, I want to give you a working definition of freedom that I believe corresponds with the biblical perspective of freedom. First, however, let’s take a look at what freedom is not.


What Freedom Is Not


1. Freedom is not the absence of chains or other physical restraints. In fact, freedom is not the absence of restrictions in general.


2. Freedom is not “owned” by anyone. This element of true freedom is perhaps more difficult for people to comprehend than any other. We often have the mistaken idea that other people are in possession of our freedom and are withholding it from us.


3. True freedom can never be given to you. (The natural inference from the previous statement is that if other people do not possess our freedom, then others cannot bestow freedom on us, either.)


This list of what freedom is not challenges many traditional standards for evaluating freedom. For instance, if I confine you to prison and throw away the key, that does not necessarily mean I have taken away your freedom. Freedom has very little to do with one’s external environment.


When you go to someone else to receive your freedom, as if that person can grant it to you, you have just given him or her control over your existence. This has been the single greatest misconception and weakness of my brothers, according to race, who struggle with the civil rights issue. To paraphrase Paul, I have great sorrow and anguish in my heart because of the continued cultural and spiritual oppression that is imposed upon them by certain civil rights leaders. (See Romans 9:1–3.) My heart’s desire and prayer for all people is that they be delivered from the destructive belief that the government and other human sources hold the keys to their deliverance.


Under the slave trade, slaves were often made to wear chains on both their hands and feet. Those chains were psychologically transferred to their descendants by intimidation and racist propaganda. Many people continue to transfer those psychological chains to their children.


When you allow members of a particular group to bestow upon you what they think your “civil rights” or freedom should be, you greatly increase your vulnerability to bondage and exploitation in the future. Again, if you presuppose that someone has the power to extend rights to you, you have just given that someone the right to control you. Nobody should ever be given the privilege of ascribing worth to you. If you receive your value from someone else, that person can determine how much worth you have.


Many of the world’s people—in every nation, culture, socioeconomic condition, and political situation—endure lives of daily drudgery. Even in highly developed, industrialized countries where wealth and affluence are more accessible, millions of citizens experience depression, despair, anxiety, and emptiness. They realize that possessions, fame, status, and power can never replace a personal sense of purpose and significance.
Meanwhile, many people in Third World nations do not have access to the material possessions that industrialized cultures use as their standards of wealth and success. This contributes to their frustration and despair over their lives. Neither of these groups is living in true freedom.


The Source of True Freedom What is the true freedom that we need?


In defining true freedom, we must first identify its source. The real issue is not “civil rights” for all but human rights for all. Human rights are inherent in Yah’s creation of human beings, whereas civil rights are merely man’s opinion of what human beings should be and have.
According to the Word of Yah, freedom cannot be given. If we don’t understand our rights and privileges in Yah, they will be abused and, many times, lost to us. As Yah said,


My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.(Hosea 4:6)


Yahusha taught how we can experience the reality of authentic freedom. He dealt with this subject eloquently and simply. If you understand His definition of freedom, you will experience instantaneous liberty. Yahusha’ definition of freedom supersedes all other discourses on the subject. Other than the Bible, which is Yah’s Word, no book can make you free. Neither can any earthly government give you self-worth. No man-made authority can give you freedom. Yahusha declared,
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.(John 8:31–32)


True freedom is the result of understanding and receiving the truth about yourself and other people in relation to your creation in Yah and your redemption in His Son, Yahusha Hamachiach, as they are revealed in Yah’s Word. This is why people who are truly free can never be bound. Freedom is a personal discovery of the truth about Yah and about yourself from the Yah who created and redeemed you. Thus, freedom is not bestowed on us. We embrace it.


This is why the civil rights movements of the world have deteriorated into sophisticated mental and economic oppression. Freedom cannot be declared in a speech or through legislation; rather, it is personally discovered by the heart and spirit of each individual.


As an emerging leader, you can lead other people only as far as you have gone. We remain in bondage when we are ignorant of what has been provided for us through the life and death of our Most High and Savior Yahusha Hamachiach. Emerging leaders understand their own freedom in Hamachiach and therefore are able to set others free to discover and maximize their full purposes and potentials.


Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them
was superior to circumstance.
—Bruce Barton, author, U.S. Congressman, and advertising executive