1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian 5 - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst | Page 4

power. Compare that, if you will, to the person who does not lead from the “position of
power”, but leads from more of a personal power base, where people respect and follow
him not because he holds the position, but because he is the person who he is. To the
leaders out there, listen carefully, people will respond better to your leadership when they
know you genuinely love them as opposed to leading them only to use them. David was a
leader with “personal power”. And even when he didn’t have the “position of power”, he
was still seen by the majority of people to be the source of authority and vision and purpose.
Power hungry people will, at some stage, become disenchanted in their journey to find
power. There will always be somebody more powerful than you and the sooner you are
happy about that, the better. When we realise that the ultimate power and authority is with
God Himself, we are on our way to a stable mind set and balanced emotions. God promises
power to those who acknowledge their weakness, but to those who flaunt their pathetic
human power, God promises to bring them low. Read the Bible and you will see this truth
over and over again.
Prayer Thought: The whole theme of the Beatitudes is one of acknowledged weakness. The
paradox that goes with this weakness is the fact that in fact it is our strength because God says
he will give strength to the weak and power to those who acknowledge their inability to live
out the Christian life in their own strength. Ponder on this truth today.

Tuesday
Reading: 2 Samuel 15 v 14 – 25
Yesterday we spoke of the corrupted value of hunger for positional power. Running close
behind this insatiable desire is the hunger for POPULARITY
A great biblical example of this would be seen in the life of David’s son Absalom. Absalom
with all of his good looks and charm used all of his gifts in a perverse way. He spent all of his
time at the city gates badmouthing the policies of his father David. He promised that when
he became king he would do things differently and that all of the things he would change
and do would be so beneficial to the people. As is true with the nat