The Heart of a King
THE HEART OF A KING
–THE LEADERSHIP MANTLE OF THE JOSEPH-DANIEL CALLING —
by
Morris E. Ruddick
Excerpt from
HEART OF A KING
In extraordinary times, knowing-what-to-do takes something more. That something more is what distinguishes true leadership. If we can just get the door sufficiently open to get a glimmer from God, it will be enough. It will be that something more that makes a difference. The following chapters are a collection of “glimmers” that I’ve drawn from my time of prayer, of seeking the Lord for answers to the times.
This book targets a select audience of men and women of God called to be the movers and shakers for the times upon us. Much like Joseph and Daniel, their destinies come with a high cost. Likewise, the pathway is narrow. The calling is one that follows the description of Jesus’ followers in Acts 17 of “turning the world upside down.”
This volume is a sequel to my two previous books about this calling. Reading “The Joseph-Daniel Calling” and “God’s Economy, Israel and the Nations” is strongly recommended before savoring the “glimmers” contained in this book.
The defining dimension to this calling is the heart of a king. With the need to grasp the setting and face the realities, what follows provides a glimpse into what incorporates the heart of a king in God’s kingdom. The heart of a king is not patterned after the ways of the world. There are realities to the calling and the cost it upholds. There are realities to the times.
The Keys of Release
Having recently arrived back from an agenda in Southeast Asia, spiritually I was depleted and spent. A key part of our effort targets lands of persecution. We had been on the go, almost non-stop for over four months; encountering a vast array of spiritual hurdles and challenges, along with almost 60,000 miles traveled during that time frame. So with our return, all I wanted to do was veg out and recover. Yet hardly out of jet lag, I received an unexpected and incredibly difficult intercessory assignment.
As I embraced this mission, in the spirit I found myself being led into a deep, dark place with the keys to unlock shackles and lead out ones who had been immobilized in their quests to reach their high-callings. Night after night the Lord showed me ones I have been acquainted with, who bear high callings, who spiritually had been stymied along their pathways. Not due to any fault of their own, in one way or another, each had faced seemingly insurmountable barriers or become casualties in the spiritual battles raging.
One example was my dear friend David Works. In December of 2007, the Works family became victims of a tragedy-beyond-words that took place in their church parking lot. Attacked by a deranged young man firing an assault rifle, two of his teenage daughters were killed and David seriously wounded. (http://www.GoneInAHeartbeat.com)
Understandably following this tragic event, David and his family had found a safe place in their coming to terms with its impact. However, having known and spent years praying with David prior to this tragedy, I knew this safe place lacked the vision of his calling as a modern-day Joseph. So I recently challenged him on reclaiming his significant calling.
David began doing just that. Then midway through my intense prayer initiative, David dropped by with some news. The day prior was the second anniversary of the tragedy. His church had held a special memorial service. What David eagerly shared was a newspaper article about the memorial service. In big headline print were the words: “Our Dream is Coming Back.” Indeed, his dream and high calling are coming back.
There were other friends and associates the Lord showed me to target during this unusual time of prayer; who spiritually experienced set-backs from the mark of the high calling on their lives. In each case, they have been leaders. In each case, they were at a critical threshold in terms of embracing a new and key dimension to their callings. Some bore the callings to release still others; such as the leaders we’ve worked with in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The Realities of the Spiritual Environment
As I progressed through these extremely intense encounters in prayer, I became keenly aware of the environment those being released would be reentering.
The best way I can describe this spiritual atmosphere is that it is filled with danger, duplicity and intrigue; not unlike the era during 16th century England in the years following Henry VIII’s death, when there was a vicious and deadly quest for power from within the Tudor Court. It was a time when the lust for power capitalized on and perverted otherwise genuine leadership efforts. It was a time when it took great courage to put your hand to the plow and keep it there.
Similarly, in today’s spiritual atmosphere, in keeping with the unusual developments underway in global seats of power; I became very conscious of a jockeying for power taking place within circles of believers. The generation now assuming their mantles face a toxic spiritual setting perhaps summed up best by a book title I recently came across: “Hemlock at Vespers.”
The Courage to Come Forth
Like the understandable response of my friend David, there is a safe place, which is sometimes needed to regroup and heal. However, while it may be safe from certain levels of the dangers, it also maintains the enticements and protective machinations of the soul response, hindering what had begun in the Spirit as the pathway of the high calling.
The issue involves looking back rather than forward; of being immobilized from facing the realities and embracing the high calling. The message of this book is for those reaching for the mark, whose aim is nothing short of completing in the Spirit what was begun in the Spirit.
The Heart of a King
There indeed is a great battle taking place within the Body today. It reflects a transfer of the mantle between generations. With that transfer is a struggle reflecting the fine line between the good and the perfect will of God; between the soul and the spirit; the measures defining kingdom success; and the venturing forth from the safe places into the places of risk that carry the potential of impacting eternity. It is a calling of leadership for those with a heart of a king.
What’s key in the parallel of the Tudor Court power-struggle to today’s spiritual turbulence was what followed, when England became united under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth I. Then came a time when Philip II of Spain, saw his empire as the worldly arm of the Roman Catholic Church. Seeing himself as the sword to undo the Reformation and reunite Europe in a single faith, Philip became obsessed with conquering England. Henry VIII had led England out of the church. Now his daughter Elizabeth was defending her father’s reformation. Philip, honing his blade in 1581, was at their shores with his ‘invincible Armada.’
England’s greatest weapon, however, was the selfless leadership of its queen. Now in her mid-fifties, she had ruled England for thirty years and was skilled in the use of power. She knew how to use the crown, and, in that hour of national peril, how to mobilize her people. Unlike the divisions created by the ambitions of unworthy aspirants to the power of the throne during the interim after her father’s death, Elizabeth united her people to stand against the Spanish invasion.
While the Armada was still off England, dramatically riding up on a white horse, Queen Elizabeth, known among the people as “Good Queen Bess,” reviewed the army and addressed them with these stirring words:
“Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects; and therefore I am come amongst you, resolved, in the midst of the heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you, to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonor shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.” (Source: Winston Churchill, “Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples,” Barnes & Noble, 1995)
Good Queen Bess’ words exude the true heart of a king. Indeed, let tyrants fear, along with the misguided and the lawless interlopers whose human efforts impede the true work of the Spirit. A line has been crossed. The stakes are far higher than in the days of Elizabeth. The clash of all ages is before us. These are times of monumental change.
These are times that cry out for true leadership in the Body; the type that unites and mobilizes. It comes from a calling not to be treated lightly or with presumption. It is a leadership of sacrifice, but one that is not reckless. The goal of the high calling involves lethal realities and demands a wisdom that avoids the entrapments and diversions.
Those bearing this mantle have been prepared by God. They are unwilling to acquiesce to the safe places that fall short; or be seduced by the rule of power or the rule of profit that lures those called by His Name into the intrigues and games played by the world.
They are a remnant whose calling is directly from God; not presumption, ambition or any other quest emerging from the heart of man. It is a calling that excludes the pretenders, wannabes, interlopers and tyrants. The heart and identity defining this remnant is inexorably tied to God.
These are the ones with the leadership mantle of Joseph and Daniel, who are facing the realities, paying the cost and faithfully stewarding their callings of bringing forth God’s Kingdom. These are the ones who will themselves receive the keys to release His Kingdom in their domains. These are the ones with the heart of a King. These are the ones for whom this book has been written.
GLIMMERS
…of Kingdom insights for the times
In extraordinary times, there are no ordinary answers
…and sacrifice will mark the pathway
When freedom flounders; truth stabilizes
When tyranny undermines; liberty unmasks
When self-interest entices; commitment perseveres
When disorder advances; wisdom redirects
When fear invades; courage takes its stand
When destiny calls; true leaders arise.
Excerpt Chapter
THE NEW THING
“Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 Amplified
The time it takes a generation to get it together with what God is doing, too often results in the “new thing” already becoming outmoded. However, times of dramatic change bring another dynamic into play. The tempo is accelerated. Cycles become more prominent and erratic. People adapt more quickly.
The rules have changed. Old models are falling short. Challenging times demand something more. The spiritual dynamics that Joseph the patriarch employed in the world of his day to turn crisis into opportunity, represent a parallel for the times at hand.
As the rules change, defining opportunity means operating beyond the ordinary. It means avoiding the status quo, the trendy and the herd-instinct that panics. It means restoring foundations proven to bridge turmoil. The enduring foundations are adrift. Historically, virtue and God-centeredness formed the basis for our liberty. Slippage from these fundamentals has opened the gates to disorder and the unexpected.
Yet despite the disorder, God is not only ahead of the power curve, He is re-establishing age-old foundations. These restored foundations will release a new thing. This “new thing” will be hidden to those whose bearings are outside the basis that God outlined for society. The new thing will reflect the principles Joseph employed to avert disaster. It will employ Kingdom principles Jesus imparted that will navigate a narrow pathway through reversals and turbulence the world will see.
The shift to the new will be at a strategic level. It will not be based on past patterns of “success” defined by the world’s standards.
Joseph’s role with Pharaoh was not only prophetic in nature. It redefined the way things had been done. For centuries the Church has operated on the premise of the spiritual being the spiritual and the natural being the natural, without the two intersecting. While faith clearly changes things, our operational precepts and alignments have been such that they have yet to bring the level of societal change that we refer to as transformation. The foundation for the new thing must move deeper. It involves influence.
Within the spiritual arena influence is defined by spiritual or God-centered criteria. Within the natural or “secular” arena, influence is defined by success that most generally is based on wealth or extraordinary shrewdness.
The Process of Change
This foundation has got to change. It is the deception that subtly decries “we have to be like everyone else to be heard.”
By understanding where we are heading, we can better discern the pathway defining how we need to be proceeding. Isaiah 60 describes the shift of all ages. Israel and God’s chosen people, the Jews, are the pivot point. The change outlined in Isaiah 60 will result in “the wealth of the seas” being turned to Israel.
“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising… Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.” Isa 60: 3, 5
The influence that has operated through the Jewish people over the ages will come full circle. Isaiah 60 indicates that the best or “the glory” of the nations will swing to Israel. Those resisting will perish. The rage and persecution from the nations described in Psalm 1 will pass and God’s chosen people will enter their inheritance — amid the nations of this world.
“Although you have been despised and hated, I will make you the joy of all generations. You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts.” Isa 60: 15, 16
God’s people, as a people, will no longer be guided by “being like everyone else” or be molded by pathways defined by the world.
The Pathway to the New Thing
The pathway toward the Isaiah 60 shift will embrace the “new thing.” The new thing will encompass a shift in dominion and influence. It will move God’s people toward “being the head, rather than the tail.” (Deut 28:13) The standard that has defined influence and authority for the world will revert to the standard that the Jewish people have so tangibly brought to the world over the centuries.
As advisors to kings and merchants, the Jewish people have redefined civilization and the standards for the legal, moral, economic and governmental systems of the world.
While the premises for the change brought about by the Jews has been based on foundations found in the Jewish Torah, the world including the Church today, largely has failed to recognize the dynamics that have been the catalysts effecting that change. The Jewish people have the model. In practice, they are walking Torahs. Even among those considered as “non-observing” or the non-religious, righteous Jews apply with balance the key dynamics needed for the pathway ahead.
These dynamics are at the core of what Jesus referred to as “the Kingdom.” These elements, with the pattern unchanged today, are why the Jewish community has been the brunt of the rage and hate of the world over the ages. The reason is that they not only have the answer, they operate according to the answer. It is an answer that spiritually goes against the grain. Against all odds they have and are achieving a dimension of influence and dominion that is far beyond the ordinary.
Once we as the Church, as God’s spliced-in people, grasp this pathway, we too will wield the influence and dominion that have been evident over the centuries in the impact made by this extremely small, yet remarkable segment of the world’s population. As we embrace these dynamics in traversing this path toward the Isaiah 60 shift, the Church will experience even more of the brunt of hate that has for so long followed the Jewish people.
Entering the Narrow Path
One of the first premises to traveling this pathway is that we are not like everyone else. The standard is not being nice people with high moral ethics who can achieve. That might be the by-product. The standard is the identity we embrace and uphold as being God’s people.
As God’s people then, we need to operate as a people. We need to reflect the unity that has long defined the Jewish community.
That unity will only manifest by fully embracing God’s gift of community. Within pop Christian culture today, a strategy tied to influencing culture has been resurrected from the Charismatic renewal of the early 70s. It is a good, yet somewhat flawed strategy. It is now being referred to as the Seven Mountains of Influence. It incorporates believers penetrating and bringing influence to the spheres of religion, government, business, education, media, the arts and family.
A key area in which this paradigm falls short is that it either equates or replaces “community” with family. Community will incorporate family, but community is too pivotal a dynamic to be redefined by one of its components. This is in no way to detract from the significance of family. However, family outside the community dimension designed by God will face unnecessary hurdles. Likewise, biblical community is watered down by relabeling it simply as “the social” area.
Defining the New-Old Thing
Community is one of the three keys to understanding the dynamic that has operated so uniquely through the Jewish people. The primary key is being God-centered. The final key is operating according to the “entrepreneurial” principle of increase that bleeds into business, technology, government, education, arts and the media. All three are meant to operate together, in balance.
So it is that God-centered community that brings increase is the foundation for influence and dominion. It is God-centered community that brings increase that is the pathway for the “new thing.”
Joseph, as God’s chosen, understood God-centered community that brought increase. Joseph was described by the non-believers around him as being successful in all that he did because God was with him. So it will be for the new generation of Josephs who are embedded in the infrastructures of the world’s system. They will redefine and employ opportunity according to this “new,” yet very old standard.
Jesus’ central purpose was restoration. Restoring this three-fold dynamic to God’s original intentions was key. He went to everyday Jewish people and demonstrated how the principles of God’s Kingdom rule operated. He explained in parables the people could understand, about the basic principles that incorporated the God-centered community model that brought increase. This is the model established by Abraham.
Jesus came at a time in history when the rule and authority were in the hands of the Romans. The religious hierarchy operated with a misguided influence defined by zeal for their own comfort zones that aligned them with the Roman conquerors. Jesus sternly rejected the elitism, exclusiveness and privilege that were operating within their ranks.
“Jesus said to them, surely tax collectors and harlots will enter the kingdom of God before you. Therefore, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people bearing the fruits of it. Woe to you, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Matt 21: 28-44; 23:13-14
Today, when we define success by the worldly standards of wealth, power and cleverness, we short-circuit the model established by Abraham. When all we strive for is excellence according to the world’s standards, whether in business, government, education, the arts, the media or family; we fail in bringing the societal change that Jesus’ Kingdom message intended.
The Model for the New Thing
The model is God-centered community that brings increase. The foundation of “increase” is the entrepreneurial. God’s DNA is to create, innovate, build and bring increase. Those elements are at the heart of entrepreneurship which, when God is at the center, brings purpose and balance to community.
Community. The world doesn’t understand community in the unique way that the Jewish people do. The Church as a rule has only grasped community in part. God-centered community takes care of its own. Those who wield the greatest influence are the community’s greatest benefactors. Community is the pathway, the overflow of which spills blessing and positive change into the realm of society around it. God-defined community will attract rather than have to convince. Community will also create discord and backlash from those aligned to the status quo.
God-Centered. Jesus defined the operating principles according to the paradoxes that drive God’s Kingdom rule. True life comes by dying to self. We lead by serving. We gain by giving. Order comes from change. Wisdom comes from simplicity. In short, success is defined by humility and service. These are the practical mind-sets required as the community standard for God’s rule and authority to prevail. They define and are the source of the incredible societal impact the Jewish people have had across the years.
Increase. Increase as God intended is to benefit the community. When the modern free-enterprise system began in America, it was God-centered and community-oriented. It had its foundations in the Jewish model. Yet over time, it has become increasingly perverted. God is no longer at the center; and community no longer reflects God’s rule; but rather a watered-down hijacking based on what was at issue with the Tower of Babel.
So it is that we have entered a time of cyclic turbulence. Yet, there is a pathway defined by God that will result in societal transformation. It is a pathway that will yield opportunity and increase, despite impossible odds of adversity.
Defining Opportunity in Times of Change
Defining opportunity in times of economic turmoil demands the avoidance of old mind-sets and practices, especially religious ones. Times of uncertainty must move beyond the fervor and contagion of the crowd. Piercing the veil calls for stepping outside the box of decisions that base the success of future opportunity on patterns and models of the past. The status quo will and must be challenged. Within the Christian sector, the model for the “new thing,” must be based on wisdom and revelation from on high, as Pharaoh recognized it in Joseph.
“Can we find such a one as this; a man in whom is the Spirit of God? Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are.” Genesis 41: 38-39
The new Joseph generation will know what to do in order to bring purposeful change. They will challenge rather than maintain the status quo as they turn adversity into opportunity. They will apply the new model that brings forth an alignment that releases the supernatural; and does not equate the supernatural with magic or the weird. AND they will penetrate the arenas that wield the authority and resources needed through the modern-day Pharaohs they collaborate with.
Throughout history, God’s people have been at the forefront of resetting the default button in times of crisis and transition. The world is bearing the fruits of trying to operate without the One who created it all. We can no longer afford to be like everyone else. The time has come to embrace the “new-old thing” and restore the model of God-centered community that brings increase.
“Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” Mal 3:18
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
SECTION I: THE SETTING AND CHALLENGE
1. THE NEW THING
2. THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS
3. OPPORTUNITY ENABLERS
4. SPIRITUAL CLUTTER
5. DISCERNING THE KINGDOM
6. THE MATURITY MANTLE
7. THE COST OF THE PATHWAY
SECTION II: ADDRESSING THE REALITIES
8. THE SNARE IN SUCCESS
9. SPIRITUAL INTOXICATION
10. THE WEALTH TRANSFER DYNAMIC
11. HIGH CALLING REALITIES
12. THE THRONE OF DESTRUCTION
13. THE SWIRL
14. WHEN INIQUITY STOPS ITS MOUTH
SECTION III: DEFINING THE ISSUES
15. WITHOUT PRETENSE
16. THE MOLD
17. HONOR FALLEN SHORT
18. HONOR AND INTEGRITY
19. PRIORITY AND OPPORTUNITY
20. PIERCING THE VEIL
21. PREVAILING
SECTION IV: EMBRACING THE MANDATE
22. THE MANTLE OF POWER
23. THIS IS THE GENERATION
24. THE CORPORATE COMMUNITY
25. THE MOST HUMBLE
26. THE DIVIDING ASUNDER
27. THE LEADERSHIP MEASURE
28. THE HEART OF A KING
