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In The Spirit Of Leadership
© Copyright 2013 Varn Brown
Published by Inner Court Publishing
In the Spirit of Leadership. All rights reserved. No
part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion
of brief quotations in a review.
ISBN 978-0-9797701-4-2
Published in the United States of America
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the
Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright © 1983 by the B.B.
Kirkbridge Bible Company, Inc. and The Zondervan Corporation, Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Verses marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, ©
1971 by Tyndale House Publishers.
Verses marked AMP are taken from The Amplified Bible, © 1965 by
Zondervan Publishing House. Verses marked KJV are taken from the King
James Version Bible, © 2000 by The Zondervan Corporation.
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CHAPTER TWO
Captain Abishai And
The Spirit Of Obedience
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. —
Hebrew 13:17
K
ing David at a cave called Adullam thirsted for water and said, “Oh that I had a drink of water from the well
at Bethlehem at the gate,” and within earshot, there were three of the mighty men; Abishai was the chief
of them.
They went to the well risking their life going through the enemy camp. They drew from the well and brought the
water back to David. David said, “How could I drink this water when you went at the risk of your life, far from me
to do so.”
David poured the water out as a drink offering before the Lord and such were the exploits of Abishai. Abishai,
the brother of Joab, son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three.
He raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed. So he became as famous as the three. —II Samuel
23:18
Abishai was an obedient servant; now the question is, are you one of them? Are you choosing to become one of
them, an obedient servant? In this chapter, we discuss Captain Abishai. His obedient spirit excites me when it comes
to serving. For I know if its service done right, you will see the beautiful harvest of the fruit of good labor.
I believe every great leader can get excited about this chapter because every leader needs an Abishai with an
obedient spirit in service to them. In one of the stories, when he is with his leader David, they are about to make
contact with the enemy which is King Saul who is trying to kill him.
They are in a cave and Abishai says to David, “There’s your enemy lying there; let me kill him for you; for God
has given him into your hands.” David said to Abishai, “No don’t touch him; for who can touch God’s anointed and
be guiltless,” so he stayed his hand.
Now you see, if Abishai would’ve been disobedient he would have argued with his leader about the decision he
just made. They both would have been caught and killed in the cave by Saul. There would be no King David. See my
point; obedience is very important.
Pattern Your Leadership
Obedience is a part of the foundation that the Lord starts in our lives. That’s why we must obey our authorities from
child hood with our parents to school with teachers to the college professor and further. The Lord has
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given us life to prepare us for great service. When we are serving our leaders, it is very important that we
stay the course of faithful service.
In II Samuel 21:15 The Philistines were at war against the Israelites and King David waxed faint.
Ishbienob, which was a giant, the weight of his spearhead was three hundred shekels of brass. He girded
himself with a new sword and thought to slay David. But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, overcame him, smote
the Philistine and killed him.
The same Goliath spirit that came against Israel, tried to kill David in his weariness. But the enemy
didn’t realize that the sonship factor was in operation in Gods kingdom and the spirit of might on King
David’s team. Abishai, the obedient spiritual son, was in place to kill the giant.
This is why it is very important as leaders to raise up spiritual sons, daughters, servant leaders and the
mighty men and women in God’s kingdom for the generations to come.
Lessons Worth Learning
First of all, these are servant leader principles. As servant leaders, we must serve and lead by what we say
and do. Obedience should be a foundational part of the character of a servant leader; it should put him in
a place of being in true character toward his leader.
1. Be attentive to your leader's needs: This is very important to be able to anticipate your leader’s
needs by the Spirit, in most cases the leader won’t even have to ask for assistance. You will already
know of the need, even in the process of doing it.
2. Be able to fight with your leader in the battle: You must be a servant of obedience and of war with
the Bible in one hand and the spiritual sword in the other for spiritual warfare.
3. Be a finisher: It is very important that a task is always carried out, till the matter is completed.
Abishai had to completely destroy the Goliath spirit because if he hadn’t the enemy would have
tried again. When orders are given, we must carry them out and always be a finisher.
Every leader needs mighty men and women around them that will have a heart to hear their leader’s voice
ask for something even when they may or may not realize they are asking. I call it the knowing factor, being
able to anticipate your leader’s needs by knowing them in faithful service toward them.
In, II Samuel 23:14 David was then in a hold and the garrison of the Philistine was then in Bethlehem and David
longed and said, “Oh that one would give me a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate.
And three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistine and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that
was at the gate.
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In anticipating your leader’s needs, you should be able to.
1. Have an attentive spirit and ear toward your leader: I proved that if you would attend to your
leader close enough, serve faithfully and pay attention to the Holy Spirit, you will be successful in
faithful service toward your leader.
2. Carrying out a request without being asked: It is ok to be asked to do something; but it is more
expedient that you can anticipate their needs. I believe it is another level of service when you can
operate in that way.
3. Be prepared to resist the enemy to complete the task: I’ve noticed most times I have received an
assignment from my leader, the enemy is there to hinder me or attack to slow me down. You must
be vigilant and be prepared to get the victory in the battle. Don’t forget that we are in a war against
the evil one and in many cases his target.
4. Fulfill the desire of your leader to completion: In starting an assignment for your leader, it is
important to finish, as it is to start. Be a finisher; never stop on something but see it through. Carry
a task to the end and bring your leader success.
Obedience Cultivated
Are you submitted to the Father's will or are you doing your own thing? To submit means to yield to the
control or power of another, give in. In this case, give in to God’s will.
Speaking of 'are you a submitted son or daughter', in one of my blog articles I spoke about Jesus’ story,
'the prodigal son.' As you may remember, one of the sons was obedient and stayed submitted to his father's
will and the other son left in rebellion and squandered his inheritance. In this chapter, I am speaking about
the (obedient one) submitted servant leader of God, even though, I pray this word will influence you both.
I started with the definition of the word 'submit' because I want to create a picture in our mind of the
action that it requires, a bit of sacrifice from our part. Think about it this way; it will make it a little easier
to make the decision of being a submitted son or daughter or staying the submitted one:
Jesus was a submitted son, I can hear him say, “I can do nothing unless I see my Father do it.” This is
always the confession of an obedient son or daughter. Therefore, the question is, 'which are you, the
obedient or the rebellious one, you know the fruit will always tell. On that note, we serve in a kingdom of
sowing and reaping fruit. God plants the seed and expects a harvest. He gave us His only begotten Son.
Through his burial and resurrection, he gave us eternal life unto salvation.
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In the same manner, as long as we are here on this earth, there will be seed time and harvest.
Whatever we plant or sow, we will reap in this life and the one to come. So the question becomes, what
type of seeds are you planting and what kind of fruit are you bearing in God’s kingdom?
The reason I'm asking this question is because if we plant good seed, we will reap a good harvest.
So, when I say plant good seed, I not only mean speaking the Word but doing the Word as well. It will
bring forth good fruit and fruit that will remain.
There is a refiner’s fire that our Heavenly Father will judge our works and fruit. When they are
tried in his righteous fire according to the word of God only the work sown in righteousness will come out
as pure gold.
If our works are of selfish gain and motivated by pride or of any manner of the flesh, it will be
burned up in this righteous fire. But if we hold fast to the words of Christ, it will instruct us in the ways of
righteousness and the straight path.
This is very important because everyone will bear fruit but the question is what type of fruit are you
bearing? It is also important that we find out while we're on this side of the kingdom of God.
Because once we are there (on the other side) it will be to late. We should check our fruit spiritually
and give ourselves an inspection and see how the fruit in our life is fairing. Meaning we should check to see
if our fruit will last in God’s kingdom or will it be burned away as dross.
We should check our posture spiritually, our stance, our conversation, our work, our laziness, our
lack of effort, our motive and our intentions. I know we are limited on this side of Heaven but we are
responsible for our souls and our fruit and what we do with it on this side.
I do my best to look at myself through the Word of God and through the Holy Spirit with Jesus
eyes, often. I think we should all do the same. Do you know that there will be rewards for the righteous
before the throne of God? Yes, when our works are tried in the holy fire of God they will be tried in the
flames of judgment and whatever comes out will be as pure gold. It will be our reward throughout eternity.
So this is my warning to you (and to myself), don’t be left fruitless; don’t be ashamed at the
judgment of God; don’t be embarrassed at the lack of obedience. Choose to be a good fruit bearer today for
the kingdom of God.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall
not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalms 1:3
When we serve the Lord in obedience there are rewards and blessings that come with it. The Lord covers
you, protects you and rebukes the devourer for you. He keeps you empowered for his service.
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We must not forget that He is always in charge; so we submit to his will and his blessing. His blessing
multiplies us, informs us and gives us longevity and long life. So with this small but important information
I decide and choose afresh to be the son of obedience. What about you; what is your decision of obedience?
Practical Life
Abishai and David were in the cave when Abishai said to him, "Let me pen King Saul to the ground; it will
only take me once." Nevertheless, David stayed his hand and said, "How can you touch God’s anointed and
be guiltless?" I thought this; if that had been Joab with King David instead of Abishai they both would’ve
been killed. Because Joab would have argued with David on whether he should obey him or not, see my
point. It is better to be like Abishai; hear your instructions and carry them out to completion.
QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT
1. Are you an obedient servant to your leader or do you argue with them contesting at every turn?
2. Do you carry out your leader’s commands to completion? If not, how can you become known as a
finisher on your team, more and more?
3. If the enemy withstands you, do you keep standing to gain the victory and fulfill God's purpose or
do you usually run or quit before the finish? If so, what will you do differently to stand?
Now Available!
Armorbearer Training Series Book IV: In The Spirit of Leadership – Inspiring Lessons For God's
Mighty Men & Women
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Are you an armorbearer in training or responsible for training
a group of servant leaders or armorbearers? Rev. Brown's
book In the Spirit of Leadership – Inspiring Lessons For God's
Mighty Men & Women will help. In his usual contagious
teaching style, he visits the biblically famous King David and
his explosive mighty men.
In a study of the character of these men, you will discover
afresh King David the Leader of the Mighty, General Joab
and the spirit of disobedience, Captain Abishai, the obedient,
the exploits of The Thirty and more...Read sample Chapter
Two: Captain Abishai and The Spirit Obedience Click here
to purchase today!
Other Books – Armorbearer Training Series
•
In The Spirit Of Armorbearing (original book)
•
In The Spirit Of Armorbearing Small Group Study Edition
•
In The Spirit of Armorbearing Devotional
Visit Minister Brown and Rev. Brown at the Shield Shop to get whole series http://theshieldshop.com
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