Coaching: Stay close to Jesus
I overworked one spring to the point of exhaustion. I didn’t faithfully keep my day off, didn’t take care of my body, and eventually caught bronchitis. Yet I had a commitment to do a small group seminar in Greece during this same time period. While in Greece, I did my best to teach and consult each day, but I barely had enough strength to keep going. And each night I suffered long hours of wheezing and coughing. Has something similar happened to you?
I’ve learned the hard way that I need to pace myself to succeed over time. 
Coaching is helping a leader stay focused and balanced in life. If you’re going to help someone else, you first need to help yourself.
And the first place to help yourself is by receive coaching from the King of Kings. As He enriches you, you can pour out what you receive to others. Romans 15:5 says, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” As the God of endurance and encouragement fills your heart, you can then effectively minister to others.
I’m convinced that the most important book I’ve ever written is called An Appointment with the King. I believe in Appointment with the King so much because it focuses on how to have a daily quiet time with God, getting know His person, His Word, and His presence. In the quiet time, we worship the King of Kings, listen to His voice, and receive direction for our day. I’m convinced that the most important discipline of the Christian life is spending daily quality time in His presence.
Comments?
Joel
Dexter Bersonda said,
May 3, 2007 @ 11:55 pm
Hi Joel,
Hello again from the Philippines. I found out to my great joy that Appointment With the King was being printed here locally. I immediately bought a dozen copies and distributed to our small group leaders. It’s one of the books with the greatest impact in our church. A lot of us have been serving for some time without tapping to the ultimate power source. The Appointment With the King and your other books have made us realize as a church to refocus ourselves in prayer. We’ve now started putting more time on prayer in our own cell groups and conducting corporate prayer activities. We believe that God will do give us the endurance and encouragement to continue in this ministry.
Dexter
Pastor Kev said,
May 9, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
Joel,
I have not experienced the blessing of reading your book but have been really blessed lately by a renewal in my commitment to listen to Dad’s voice. There have been several sources that the Lord has used to get my attention in this area. One was a book by Terry Teykl entitled, “The Presence Based Church”. A second source was the passage that Terry utilizes as a foundation for much of what he shares…and that is the passage of Martha and Mary. Mary did the “one thing necessary,” which was to sit at His feet, and listen to His words. Finally, I’m leading our church through the journey of a DVD course entitled, “How to Hear God’s Voice,” by Mark Virkler. This course is phenomenal and it has been so refreshing to retake the course (I took the video course back in 1993).
It is so powerful to simply set everything, every agenda aside and just sit at Dad’s feet and listen to the words from His mouth (”My sheep will hear My voice”). I encourage anyone interested in the course to visit www.cwgministries.org
Blessings,
Pastor Kev
Iain said,
April 11, 2008 @ 4:20 am
I have found the Mark Virkler communion with God material very helpful.