The Art of Leadership By Dag Heward-Mills
Jesus was sensitive! There is no denying the fact that Jesus was an amazing leader. More than two thousand years ago, He led a few simple disciples to become people whose lives we continue to contemplate.
And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
Mark 5:30-32
Jesus could sense the anointing when it was present. He also knew when the anointing had gone out of Him. The anointing is the power of the Holy Spirit working through you. I used to hear people say, ‘Can you ‘feel the presence of God?’ I did not know what they meant. I never knew whether I was feeling the presence of God or not. ‘What exactly is the presence of God?’ I thought. One day, I was ministering in Europe and had no intention of having a miracle service. I suddenly felt the presence of God and knew that miracles were taking place. When I called out for testimonies, many amazing miracles had taken place.
From that day, I knew that ‘sensing’ the anointing was real. Perhaps you have never sensed the presence of God. Tune yourself, and make yourself ready to sense the anointing. Learn to be sensitive at all times. Even when you are chatting with people, you may sense the presence of God. Sometimes, when talking to an individual I may sense the power of God. Don’t be dull and dry! Be sensitive! You can become sensitive to the anointing! Jesus was wise as a serpent. He sensed the wickedness of his interviewers. Are you as wise as a serpent? Are your senses exercised to discern both good and evil? Be wise as a serpent and begin to notice the wickedness in apparently friendly people.
Jesus was master at operating by the senses. He sensed many things. Jesus Christ sensed the wickedness of the people around Him. Never think that everybody loves you. Some people have wicked intentions. There are many wicked people who pretend to be interested in you! They may even seek to interview you, supposedly, to find out more about the bible. These people who were interviewing Jesus were actually asking theological questions. But they hated Jesus Christ and were only interested in finding fault with Him.
Tell us therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus Perceived Their Wickedness, And Said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.
Matthew 22:17-21
Snakes are marvellous creatures that live and move on the ground without the privilege of standing up to see what is happening around them. Yet, without the privilege of seeing what we see and hearing what we hear, and communicating like we do, they are able to live, eat, drink and avoid danger. They flourish where no other animal flourishes and they succeed where no other animal succeeds. Like any professional assassin, a viper comes equipped with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry and extremely sensitive detection equipment.
The eyes of snakes are particularly good at detecting movement. Their eyes have special sound detectors. Rather than hearing sounds as we do, snakes pick up vibrations from the skin around their jaws.
Pit vipers are named after their specialized thermo receptors. These are heat-sensitive organs, located on either side of the head that look like small pits. These pits contain membranes sensitive to infrared radiation and allow the snakes to locate their prey based on temperature differences with their environment.
A snake’s tongue is also used to sense its surroundings. Snakes smell by using their forked tongues to collect airborne particles. The fork in the tongue gives the snake a sort of, ‘directional sense of smell.’
Snakes have no ears or movable eyelids. They do not hear airborne sound waves, but can perceive low-frequency vibrations transmitted from the ground to the bones of their skulls.
No wonder Jesus commends that we be wise as serpents! Serpents have wisdom that we ought to be able to glean to be just as successful. A leader who succeeds is a survivor. May you be a survivor! May you be sensitive enough to pick up what you need to survive and be a great success!
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