Who Ya Wit?
So funny story...God gave me this topic made 3-4 weeks ago, and I had no idea where I was really going with this. And boom it fell on me (and I apologize ahead of time--this is going to be long)
The funny thing about all of this is I've read this text a million times it seems like, and every single time, I pull something different from it. So this time, I realized that what is in your leader is in you. It's a domino effect.
At this moment in time in the text, Moses is dead. This is the same Moses that was saved from the hand of death when his mother placed him in the basket on the Nile River. This is the same Moses who was born Hebrew and raised Egyptian. This is the same Moses that killed an Egyptian to save a Hebrew man, but God allowed him to stand up and say "Thou shall not kill." This the same Moses that was hand chosen by God to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses was one of the greats. If you ask me, he is one of the only people that did not actually walk with Jesus but was able to perform miracles due to the presence of God. He was great.
I can't imagine what it would've been like for anyone who actually saw Moses. To see him elevate higher and higher in God must have been something incredible. To see the power of God show up through him---wow. I'm not gonna lie if I saw somebody split the Red Sea, if I heard someone prophesy some of the crazy things that happened during the plagues, if somebody would've told me a burning but not burnt bush told them they had to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, for one I would've looked at them a little bit crazy. Secondly, I would've been shook when those things manifested.
But to witness the power of God through one person and that person turns around and tells you to come with them---I KNOW YOU LYING! God told Moses to pick Joshua in Numbers 27.
The Bible never talks about Joshua's reaction. I would've had an internal panic if that was me. Yes, internal. Why do you need me? What is it about me that you find worthy to even walk with you? What is so special about me that I have to be here? All of these questions would've been going through my head. Ask me how I know. Back in February, I heard God tell me to relocate because I was going into training. The Sunday after I did so, I walked into service and my apostle said "Briana is back and she will be armor bearing and singing on the praise team." First of all, I was caught so off guard, I didn't know what to say. But once I settled down, I said "Wait a minute. Why me? I just got here. Somebody should've been doing this before I got here."
It really started to bother me because I never saw myself as anything greater than what I am right now in this moment. Just let me dance. That's all I ever wanted. I can remember one day back in maybe October or November, I was at an event my aunt/apostle was hosting and my play cousin called, and of course I answered the phone. We started having a conversation and somehow we got on the topic of me being my aunt's armor bearer and I told him I didn't know why she chose me. My cousin began to say, "She's preparing you for where you are going in ministry. That's why you have to see everything she's doing. What you see her do, she'll do." I was shook. I couldn't even say anything back.
I was still uneasy about what I was training for so I had a conversation with my aunt a couple of days after and she simply said, "You do know that Chris (my cousin) is very prophetic, right?" All I could do is sit there and look crazy.
A couple weeks later, I got cornered by an apostle while I was serving as armor bearer for my aunt and the other minister at the church. The apostle was mid conversation with my aunt and her overseer. He turned to me and said "Are you in ministry?" I confidently said "I armor bear and sing on the praise team." He laughed and said "That's not what I asked you. I asked you are you in ministry." I started to get nervous so I turned to my aunt and the other minister who was sitting to my left. My aunt said "Get her. She preach and don't even know it. She got a whole YouTube channel and preach on there." So the apostle started to talk to me about the things he had witnessed during services he did.
My aunt's overseer just laughed and laughed and tried to bring him back to their conversation. So the apostle said "Apostle Edwards (my aunt) I'm coming to your church in February when I come back to the area." My aunt invited him down and invited him to speak when he comes. He said "Okay but I'm tagging her (me) in." Keep in mind I'm still standing there with my eyes big as day trying to comprehend what just happened. My aunt says "Absolutely. We'll have her in place and in a collar." WAIT A MINUTE!
During watch night, my mom's youngest sister came to service with her fiancee. I had heard about him and that he was a prophet so I chose to keep my distance from him. In the midst of serving my uncle in ministry, my aunt's fiancee says "You know you're a preacher?" My uncle started laughing and said "I've been telling her that since I've met her." All I wanted to do was give my uncle his plate. I wasn't trying to hear none of that. Yall know that this man talked to me until 4 in the morning that night and then started it all up again the next day.
Even after encounter after encounter, I still wondered why me? After reading this text, I realized it wasn't me or anything that I did. It was because of who I was connected to. It was because of who I was following my whole life.
The Israelites had been in Egypt for 430 years so I know Joshua was aware of who Moses was. They were connected! Moses was leading them, and Joshua followed.
Here's the thing with leaders. Leaders never just lead--they prepare the next generation. Because when you're connected you go through similar things. You have similar struggles. They understand your walk. Death was the prerequisite for both Moses and Joshua. Moses killed someone for the sake of his purpose even though he didn't know his purpose at that time. It was the death of that man that made Moses run to a place where God could talk to him 1 on 1 and reveal his purpose to him. It was Moses's death that pushed Joshua into his purpose.
I looked at my own apostle, and I see so much of her in me, physically and spiritually. Listen...me and my aunt look just alike. Nine times out of ten if you ever saw us together, you would think she was my mama. Most people do unless they know our family. But even in the spirit, when God called her she laughed and laughed and denied it well not deny but gave excuses. The exact same thing I did (yes, did. I've accepted that it is what it is. I don't have to like it but I'll do it nonetheless). There's so many things that she's preached that I had already written about. Why? Because we are connected.
Don't count it lightly when your leaders call on you. Even if it is to do something that you think is beneath you. For example, I go to a deliverance ministry. Sometimes, when people are delivered, the throw up or spit something up. We have to put whatever they did that on, whether it be clothes, paper towels, whatever in a separate bag from the rest of the trash and it has to go out immediately after service. Not everybody can touch it, but if my apostle tells me to take it out, I'm taking it out because I know that she has entrusted me with that.
Now what's interesting is In Exodus 18, Moses had a conversation with his father-in-law Jethro, and Jethro told him he had to have a team.
In ministry, you have to understand that there is 1 goal. I don't care if you're an apostle, minister, evangelist, teacher, prophet, whatever your title is. The one goal is to build the kingdom of God. So it's not that I'm mouthy and my leader is mouthy. It's about God! Your spirit has to be right for the leader to even appoint you. What is in them will show up in you. Be careful who you follow. I've witnessed people going crazy and losing their mind all because of the person they were connected to. But what's in the head will go through the rest of the body.
But your leader is preparing you not that you're going to necessarily take their place, but that when they can't be there, they expect you to properly represent them and the God in them. When I am released to preach, I have so many people I have to properly represent. First and foremost, I have to represent God correctly. He is my ultimate connection. Nothing will ever separate me from His love. I have to represent my coverings properly. I have to represent my family properly. I am responsible for being the best representation possible. Why? Because we are all connected,
Even this morning on my way to work, I was thinking as I always do. In that moment, I realized that the people I was connected to. I don't just mean in ministry. I'm talking about best friends. People that I spent a lot of time with and talking to. They meant me no good for the simple fact that they were not pushing me into my destiny. I don't want to forfeit my destiny just to have friends by my side stabbing me in the back. What kind of sense does that make?
I don't know about y'all, but I have different levels of friends. I have friends that I talk to all the time and then I have friends that I talk to every so often. It's not that I love them any more or less. I just prioritize that relationship for whatever reason. What I found was some of the worst people that I could've been connected to were the same ones who I spent way too much time with. But when I woke up and got connected to God for real and not just on Sundays and Wednesdays, God started showing me things. Why? Because we are connected.
When you're connected to God, you start to value His words more. When He speaks, you listen. Because I am connected to Him, I was privy to things that people didn't even know that I knew about. They didn't know that God showed me the conversation that was had immediately. When those friends fell off, I didn't blink. I didn't cry. I didn't lose a minute of sleep. I didn't lose a thing. In fact, I gained. My connection went from Virgin Mobile to Verizon. But it's all about who you're connected to? So who are you connected to?
Joshua 1:1-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
The Lord’s Charge to Joshua
1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea[a] in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
The funny thing about all of this is I've read this text a million times it seems like, and every single time, I pull something different from it. So this time, I realized that what is in your leader is in you. It's a domino effect.
At this moment in time in the text, Moses is dead. This is the same Moses that was saved from the hand of death when his mother placed him in the basket on the Nile River. This is the same Moses who was born Hebrew and raised Egyptian. This is the same Moses that killed an Egyptian to save a Hebrew man, but God allowed him to stand up and say "Thou shall not kill." This the same Moses that was hand chosen by God to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses was one of the greats. If you ask me, he is one of the only people that did not actually walk with Jesus but was able to perform miracles due to the presence of God. He was great.
I can't imagine what it would've been like for anyone who actually saw Moses. To see him elevate higher and higher in God must have been something incredible. To see the power of God show up through him---wow. I'm not gonna lie if I saw somebody split the Red Sea, if I heard someone prophesy some of the crazy things that happened during the plagues, if somebody would've told me a burning but not burnt bush told them they had to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, for one I would've looked at them a little bit crazy. Secondly, I would've been shook when those things manifested.
But to witness the power of God through one person and that person turns around and tells you to come with them---I KNOW YOU LYING! God told Moses to pick Joshua in Numbers 27.
Numbers 27:12-23 New Living Translation (NLT)
Joshua Chosen to Lead Israel
12 One day the Lord said to Moses, “Climb one of the mountains east of the river,[a] and look out over the land I have given the people of Israel. 13 After you have seen it, you will die like your brother, Aaron, 14 for you both rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin. When the people of Israel rebelled, you failed to demonstrate my holiness to them at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribah at Kadesh[b] in the wilderness of Zin.)
15 Then Moses said to the Lord, 16 “O Lord, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. 17 Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
18 The Lord replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. 19 Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. 20 Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him. 21 When direction from the Lord is needed, Joshua will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will use the Urim—one of the sacred lots cast before the Lord—to determine his will. This is how Joshua and the rest of the community of Israel will determine everything they should do.”
22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded. He presented Joshua to Eleazar the priest and the whole community. 23 Moses laid his hands on him and commissioned him to lead the people, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
The Bible never talks about Joshua's reaction. I would've had an internal panic if that was me. Yes, internal. Why do you need me? What is it about me that you find worthy to even walk with you? What is so special about me that I have to be here? All of these questions would've been going through my head. Ask me how I know. Back in February, I heard God tell me to relocate because I was going into training. The Sunday after I did so, I walked into service and my apostle said "Briana is back and she will be armor bearing and singing on the praise team." First of all, I was caught so off guard, I didn't know what to say. But once I settled down, I said "Wait a minute. Why me? I just got here. Somebody should've been doing this before I got here."
It really started to bother me because I never saw myself as anything greater than what I am right now in this moment. Just let me dance. That's all I ever wanted. I can remember one day back in maybe October or November, I was at an event my aunt/apostle was hosting and my play cousin called, and of course I answered the phone. We started having a conversation and somehow we got on the topic of me being my aunt's armor bearer and I told him I didn't know why she chose me. My cousin began to say, "She's preparing you for where you are going in ministry. That's why you have to see everything she's doing. What you see her do, she'll do." I was shook. I couldn't even say anything back.
I was still uneasy about what I was training for so I had a conversation with my aunt a couple of days after and she simply said, "You do know that Chris (my cousin) is very prophetic, right?" All I could do is sit there and look crazy.
A couple weeks later, I got cornered by an apostle while I was serving as armor bearer for my aunt and the other minister at the church. The apostle was mid conversation with my aunt and her overseer. He turned to me and said "Are you in ministry?" I confidently said "I armor bear and sing on the praise team." He laughed and said "That's not what I asked you. I asked you are you in ministry." I started to get nervous so I turned to my aunt and the other minister who was sitting to my left. My aunt said "Get her. She preach and don't even know it. She got a whole YouTube channel and preach on there." So the apostle started to talk to me about the things he had witnessed during services he did.
My aunt's overseer just laughed and laughed and tried to bring him back to their conversation. So the apostle said "Apostle Edwards (my aunt) I'm coming to your church in February when I come back to the area." My aunt invited him down and invited him to speak when he comes. He said "Okay but I'm tagging her (me) in." Keep in mind I'm still standing there with my eyes big as day trying to comprehend what just happened. My aunt says "Absolutely. We'll have her in place and in a collar." WAIT A MINUTE!
During watch night, my mom's youngest sister came to service with her fiancee. I had heard about him and that he was a prophet so I chose to keep my distance from him. In the midst of serving my uncle in ministry, my aunt's fiancee says "You know you're a preacher?" My uncle started laughing and said "I've been telling her that since I've met her." All I wanted to do was give my uncle his plate. I wasn't trying to hear none of that. Yall know that this man talked to me until 4 in the morning that night and then started it all up again the next day.
Even after encounter after encounter, I still wondered why me? After reading this text, I realized it wasn't me or anything that I did. It was because of who I was connected to. It was because of who I was following my whole life.
The Israelites had been in Egypt for 430 years so I know Joshua was aware of who Moses was. They were connected! Moses was leading them, and Joshua followed.
Here's the thing with leaders. Leaders never just lead--they prepare the next generation. Because when you're connected you go through similar things. You have similar struggles. They understand your walk. Death was the prerequisite for both Moses and Joshua. Moses killed someone for the sake of his purpose even though he didn't know his purpose at that time. It was the death of that man that made Moses run to a place where God could talk to him 1 on 1 and reveal his purpose to him. It was Moses's death that pushed Joshua into his purpose.
I looked at my own apostle, and I see so much of her in me, physically and spiritually. Listen...me and my aunt look just alike. Nine times out of ten if you ever saw us together, you would think she was my mama. Most people do unless they know our family. But even in the spirit, when God called her she laughed and laughed and denied it well not deny but gave excuses. The exact same thing I did (yes, did. I've accepted that it is what it is. I don't have to like it but I'll do it nonetheless). There's so many things that she's preached that I had already written about. Why? Because we are connected.
Don't count it lightly when your leaders call on you. Even if it is to do something that you think is beneath you. For example, I go to a deliverance ministry. Sometimes, when people are delivered, the throw up or spit something up. We have to put whatever they did that on, whether it be clothes, paper towels, whatever in a separate bag from the rest of the trash and it has to go out immediately after service. Not everybody can touch it, but if my apostle tells me to take it out, I'm taking it out because I know that she has entrusted me with that.
Hebrews 13:17 New Living Translation (NLT)
17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
Even before Moses actually picked Joshua, Moses was already preparing Joshua back in Exodus 17 when was first mentioned. In the first mention of him, Moses was telling him what God will do for them. He had him write Yahweh-Nissi on a scroll. Now what's interesting is In Exodus 18, Moses had a conversation with his father-in-law Jethro, and Jethro told him he had to have a team.
Exodus 18:13-26 New Living Translation (NLT)
Jethro’s Wise Advice
13 The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening.
14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?”
15 Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. 16 When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.”
17 “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. 18 “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself. 19 Now listen to me, and let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing their disputes to him. 20 Teach them God’s decrees, and give them his instructions. Show them how to conduct their lives. 21 But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. 22 They should always be available to solve the people’s common disputes, but have them bring the major cases to you. Let the leaders decide the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you. 23 If you follow this advice, and if God commands you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.”
24 Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed his suggestions. 25 He chose capable men from all over Israel and appointed them as leaders over the people. He put them in charge of groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. 26 These men were always available to solve the people’s common disputes. They brought the major cases to Moses, but they took care of the smaller matters themselves.
In ministry, you have to understand that there is 1 goal. I don't care if you're an apostle, minister, evangelist, teacher, prophet, whatever your title is. The one goal is to build the kingdom of God. So it's not that I'm mouthy and my leader is mouthy. It's about God! Your spirit has to be right for the leader to even appoint you. What is in them will show up in you. Be careful who you follow. I've witnessed people going crazy and losing their mind all because of the person they were connected to. But what's in the head will go through the rest of the body.
But your leader is preparing you not that you're going to necessarily take their place, but that when they can't be there, they expect you to properly represent them and the God in them. When I am released to preach, I have so many people I have to properly represent. First and foremost, I have to represent God correctly. He is my ultimate connection. Nothing will ever separate me from His love. I have to represent my coverings properly. I have to represent my family properly. I am responsible for being the best representation possible. Why? Because we are all connected,
Even this morning on my way to work, I was thinking as I always do. In that moment, I realized that the people I was connected to. I don't just mean in ministry. I'm talking about best friends. People that I spent a lot of time with and talking to. They meant me no good for the simple fact that they were not pushing me into my destiny. I don't want to forfeit my destiny just to have friends by my side stabbing me in the back. What kind of sense does that make?
I don't know about y'all, but I have different levels of friends. I have friends that I talk to all the time and then I have friends that I talk to every so often. It's not that I love them any more or less. I just prioritize that relationship for whatever reason. What I found was some of the worst people that I could've been connected to were the same ones who I spent way too much time with. But when I woke up and got connected to God for real and not just on Sundays and Wednesdays, God started showing me things. Why? Because we are connected.
When you're connected to God, you start to value His words more. When He speaks, you listen. Because I am connected to Him, I was privy to things that people didn't even know that I knew about. They didn't know that God showed me the conversation that was had immediately. When those friends fell off, I didn't blink. I didn't cry. I didn't lose a minute of sleep. I didn't lose a thing. In fact, I gained. My connection went from Virgin Mobile to Verizon. But it's all about who you're connected to? So who are you connected to?
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