Spiritual Intelligence Leadership

DAY 304 Only God can satisfy your deepest hunger “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Saint Augustine, Confessions). There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy upon men: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them; this is vanity; it is a sore affliction. If a man begets a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but he does not enjoy life’s good things, and also has no burial, I say that an untimely birth is better off than he. For it comes into vanity and goes into darkness, and in darkness its name is covered; moreover it has not seen the sun or known anything; yet it finds rest rather than he. Even though he should live a thousand years twice told, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place? All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 6:1–9)

OCTOBER 30 Watch with me, angels, watch with me today. Let all God’s holy Thoughts surround me, and be still with me while Heaven’s Son is born. Let earthly sounds be quiet, and the sights to which I am accustomed disappear. Let Christ be welcomed where He is at home. And let Him hear the sounds He understands, and see but sights that show His Father’s Love. Let Him no longer be a stranger here, for He is born again in me today. Robert Holden It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time. — Winston Churchill

DAY 297 Knowing God is more precious than any treasure The greatest, most precious treasure of all is well within your grasp. You have only to lay hold of it in faith. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:44–46)

OCTOBER 23 The Holy Spirit speaks through me today Robert Holden Worry rolls off the imperturable mind like water off a duck’s back. Norman Vincent Peale There is no end to the adventures that we can have, if only we seek them with our eyes open. — Jawaharlal Nehru

DAY 296 Pray to God daily that you might be saved Prayer each day keeps the devil away. If you want to go to heaven, pray, pray, pray. Say also: “Deliver us, O God of our salvation, and gather and save us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. (1 Chronicles 16:35) Arise, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! For thou dost smite all my enemies on the cheek, thou dost break the teeth of the wicked. For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in Sheol who can give thee praise? (Psalms 3:7, 6:5) And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power.” (Luke 23:42)

OCTOBER 22 Let God help you try. Experts are made by this procedure. The Holy Spirit looks through me today.

Humility, not pride, is a basic characteristic of leadership. Being humble means recognizing the truth about ourselves. It helps us to acknowledge our weaknesses and own selfish tendencies. This chapter reminds us that self-knowledge is the key to wisdom. It warns us of the dangers of cutting off intellectual knowledge from a virtuous life and a pure conscience. True self-understanding, it tells us, acknowledges one’s utter dependency on the Providence. With that knowledge, everything else falls gently into place.