Lion Level Leadership

Hallelujah, God. Thank you, Jesus. Well, hello everyone. God bless you, Bruce.

Welcome, man. Thank you for being here. Um, need you guys to do me a favor as you're coming in live or by replay. I need you to please do me a favor and share this. Uh, this is going to be an excellent teaching. I have been, uh, literally on a hiatus, uh, because I have been laying before God. And I'm the kind of guy, the kind of preacher where I don't want to say anything that God has not ordained for me to say. And so as we move into And I'm gonna pray, and then we're gonna jump right into this teaching as we move into— guys, um, hallelujah!

This—

praise God! Next year, this is going to be a phenomenal, phenomenal year. Glory to God! And, uh, I'm super excited about what God's gonna do. But one of the things the Lord began to speak to me and share, he says, son, you need to share with my people that it is imperative that one, they tap into the leadership spirit, which is him, because ultimately leadership begins with God, and that they emerge as leaders, individual leaders of themselves, and then finding their perspective, place, and purpose, and actually leading. The world is in trouble, guys. And the world needs leadership.

So we're going to pray.

Praise God. Hallelujah. And, um, I'm going to trust God today that his power is going to meet us. Glory to God.

And, um, again, I need everybody coming in, whether live or by replay.

I know this is an odd time to come in, 4:30 in the afternoon, so I know a lot of people are going to catch this replay. Uh, those of you on YouTube on Periscope, wherever you're watching, Instagram. We're certainly grateful for all of you. Please like, share, comment, let us know that you're here. If you're listening to the Apostles' Table podcast, thank you so much for making our podcast what it is. Thank you for sharing it. We're super excited again about the year to come, all of the content we've been creating, all of the things that the Lord has been saying to literally empower power and propel the body of Christ forward.

So let's pray.

Ah, Seba!

Uh, let's pray. God have mercy.

I feel the anointing of God. Father, in Jesus' name, thank you, Lord, for another day, for this is the day that you have made, and God, we rejoice and we are glad in it. Thank you for another opportunity to share your word and to teach, God. Thank you for prophetic instruction that comes from heaven. I thank you for every leader, God, even those leaders that don't even realize they are leaders, that will watch this live or by replay. And I pray, God, that they will take the revelation that's being disseminated today and they will make application.

And I give you praise and glory for it.

Now, God, we yield ourselves as your teacher, as your servant, to the light, the illumination, and the intelligence of the Holy Spirit. And we give you praise and glory and honor in Jesus' name. Amen. And thanks be to God.

Hallelujah.

Glory to God. And again I say welcome.

I need you guys to do me a favor, please like and share.

Glory to the name of God. Let somebody else know and get in on this blessing. Hallelujah. For I'm telling you, the blessing of the Lord makes rich and adds no sorrow. And the Bible says we are blessed to be a blessing. So just don't take this for yourself. I need you to do me a kind favor and share. Glory to God.

Hallelujah.

Share, share, share. Share, share. Praise God. All right, so I'm gonna jump right into the heart of this today because I believe that there is a word from the Lord and that we have something to say today. And, um, I want to make sure that we get all of it out as much as we can in the time allotted. I'm not going to be long. Glory to the name of God. But I am going to give you of what thus sayeth the Lord.

Amen.

So today we're talking— thank you for everybody that's joining. We see the numbers going up. God bless your hearts, everybody that's here. Thank you everybody that's liking, sharing, and commenting. Please like, share, and comment. Stay with me today. I promise you, uh, this is going to be a tremendous blessing.

Glory! Oh yeah, mandolo!

Thank you, God.

So we're talking today about lion-level leadership.

The first time I ever taught this, listen, I taught it, uh, a few months ago, last month actually, in Jackson, Mississippi at my son's church, Apostle Brandon Cornelius at Revival Center. I had a private session with a group of leaders and this is what the Lord gave me to share with them.

And so as I was praying yesterday, the Lord says you need to share this with the public because there was only about, I guess, 20 or so of us there that day. But this revelation needs to be disseminated, uh, worldwide. And so I want to make sure, glory to God, that we get this word out, praise God, and that people will be able to hear what thus saith the Lord. And guys, as you're coming in, please like, comment, share. I need you to talk below, let me know you're here, and say hi.

But let's jump into this, you know. So lion-level leadership, what are you talking about, Michael Lyris Woods?

Michael Lyris Woods, what are you speaking of when you talk about lion-level leadership? Well, I'm glad you asked. Hallelujah. Lion-level leadership, first of all, I want you to understand something, is not God's plan for some people. It's God's plan for all people. And unfortunately, many never reach this plateau of leadership for the mere fact that they will not accept the reality that it is completely necessary to be a lion-level leader— watch this— to follow a lion. You gotta have a lion in your life that pulls lion-level leadership out of you, okay? And unfortunately, guys, many will never reach this plateau of leadership because they failed to accept the reality of the necessity again to follow a lion. They're following cubs, they're following sheep, they're following dogs and cats. And let me tell you something, you cannot follow a sheep and expect to become a lion. It's not going to happen because the reality is, guys, lions produce lions. I'm gonna say it again: lions produce lions. So in order to bring forth that lion in you— and I want to tell every person under the sound of my voice, there's a lion in you, okay? I'm gonna say it again: there's a lion in you, right? Because You are made in the image of God. Hallelujah. So God commands us to be fruitful, to multiply, and to produce after our own kind. That's in Genesis 1:28. Now, the multiplicity of lions is rare and really is almost non-existent. The bottom line is many people are spending time trying to be influencers and take position of leadership with titles, and the world really needs lions. We don't need a lot of influencers who are— influencers who are popular, have a huge following, uh, have a lot of people celebrating what they're doing, but they have no power. I'm going to say this, and I'm gonna say it loudly today: the world needs lions, period, point blank, end of story. The world needs lions. I am, um, absolutely, really, guys, fascinated with this species of animal. Um, a lion is just amazing to watch. I mean, I go places, I visit places where lions are, whether it's a zoo, whether I'm going somewhere where I can take a safari and actually see lions, man. Let me tell you something, lions just simply fascinate me, right? And, uh, I am so interested in how they function, how they move, what they do, right? Uh, I need you to recognize, praise God, that lion-level leadership, man, is not something that's optional. I need you to be clear, it's absolutely and categorically, guys, necessary.

I'm gonna say that again, it's not optional, but it's absolutely and categorically necessary.

Okay, so here's some facts, man, uh, about Lions, right? First of all, Lion is not really the smartest animal in the jungle, okay? He's not the strongest, uh, he's not the largest, and he's not even the fastest, okay? But here's a reality, man. While he's not the strongest, the fastest, or the brightest, but he is the leader of all animals. He is the most revered and feared of all animals. And what sets him apart from the rest of the animal kingdom— hear me— is first of all the lion's perception of himself, okay? The lion has an amazing perception of himself that literally sets him apart from every other animal. It defies the facts that he's not the strongest, that he's not the smartest, that he's not the largest, right? It defies the facts. And I just need you to grab this today, man. Um, reality on everything I love. You gotta have an internal perception of yourself. Watch this, that aligns itself with God's image of you. And can I say this to you today, uh, human to human? Uh, brother to brother, brother to sister, God views you as a lion. He views you in his image. Watch this. Jesus, according to Genesis 49, verses 8 through 10— and somebody can type that in the comments if you want, you can read it later— the Bible says that Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. So if Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, then we should be Modeling ourselves after a lion. We are from the tribe of Judah. Glory to God. We are from that tribe of worship and praise. We are from that lion's roar. Glory to God. And we are an extension in the earth of that roar, and our perception of ourself has to shift to the fact that we are the head and not the tail. I'm gonna say that again. Our perception of ourself has to shift to the fact that we are the head and not the tail. I'm talking to somebody today. You are the head. You're not the bottom of your class.

You're not a second-class citizen.

You don't get to say, I'm Black, So I don't get the benefits of what God has to offer? No, because God lives in you. Glory be to God. You are the head, hear me, and you're not the tail. Glory to God. So you gotta get a perception of yourself, an internal perspective that defies people's opinion and even facts that may exist about your physical makeup. Facts that may exist about your health, facts that may exist— because watch this, all facts are not true—

about your upbringing and your bank account.

You got to get a perception of who you are, the state you really are in, based on who you belong to. Are y'all hearing me today? Shima inama. Are y'all hearing me? Glory to God. So that's the first thing. Secondly, his perception of his environment— the lion's perception of his environment. Hear me, guys, it defies the facts that he's not the strongest, the smartest, or the largest. Because guess what? When a lion sees an elephant, he doesn't see someone that can defeat him. Although the elephant is bigger and the hippopotamus stronger, he sees lunch. His perception of the elephant: more meat to eat. Hallelujah! Glory to God! His perception of the hippopotamus is: this is more for me to eat and get full off of and feed my family. His perception is: I'm greater than everything in my world. Can I tell you something? Because Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and Jesus Christ lives in you, you got a right to perceive that you are the head, okay? Deuteronomy 28, and not the tail. You are above and not beneath. You gotta perceive that you are the head, that you're called to dominate in your fear of influence. Oh my God. So first, again, his perception of himself denies the facts about him. His perception of his environment defies the facts about him. We're talking about the lion. I'm going somewhere. I gotta lay this backdrop though.

Glory to God.

Now, 3, just some lion facts. His perception instills fear and reverence all around him because a lion moves— if you're watching lion move, he moves with such confidence. Glory to God. He moves with such authority that everything around him fears. Glory to God. Everything around him, hallelujah, reverences His— oh my God— presence. And this is what you need the world to understand and know about you, that everything in you— oh my God— was instilled by your King, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is the King of Kings. The lion is the king of the jungle.

I want to tell you something: there's a king in you.

Hallelujah! Goliaths to defeat, visions to decree. There's a king in you. Hallelujah! And it's your time, ladies and gentlemen. So here's what I want you to understand. When you look at a lion, I want you to realize that is who you are. Some of you been operating under the perception that you are sheep. I taught a series, and please go back and watch that series I taught last month on sheep. It's on YouTube. Um, the only person you should perceive yourself as sheep to is God, because the Lord is your shepherd and you shall not want, because he's your shepherd. So you enter into a sheep-shepherd relationship. God becomes your leader, but only— watch this— to lead you into becoming a lion. See, the sheep relationship and the shepherd— the Good Shepherd is there to lead you into lion-type leadership and living. It's not a compliment when someone calls you a sheep. Matter of fact, let me help you, let me help you, let me help you. The sheep is the dumbest species of animal that exists. I'm gonna say that again. The sheep is the dumbest species of animal that exists. Now look at those sheep in that picture. Those sheep are just sitting there, just dumbfounded. Are you hearing me? These sheep— oh my God— have no idea what's going on. Oh my God. And I need you to recognize, praise God, that these sheep are the dumbest species. They're confused, they're all over the place because they have no leader among them. Listen, can I tell you something? A flock of sheep that's led by lion will defeat— hear me— a flock of lions that's led by a sheep. I'm gonna say that again. A flock of sheep Led by lion. Look at the picture. Look how sharp and tenacious that sheep looks. Listen, it's all in who's leading you. Listen, if there's a group of sheep and a lion is leading them, and you got a group of lions being led by sheep, I'm going with the sheep in the fight because the leadership of the lion is gonna pull every ounce of potential out of that sheep. And cause them to become a lion-level leader and warrior. Listen, you got to grab this, and that was said by Alexander the Great.

A flock of sheep led by a lion can defeat, defeat a pack of lions led by sheep all day long.

You got to grab this today, guys. Are you hearing me? You got to grab this today. God wants you to become a lion-level leader, not a sheep, not someone just following every trend, following what everybody else do. You gotta become a leader. You gotta become a leader. You gotta emerge. And listen, if you're not following a lion, you will never emerge as a sheep. You gotta have someone with a roar. And many people in this hour The biggest issue they have, they are not following someone with a roar, someone that can lead them. So what does it take?

I got a few minutes, I'm not going to finish this today, guys, to become a lion.

How do— part of our motto at Rhoda Church is to, watch this, take followers, transform them into leaders. And transform those leaders into agents of dominion or agents of change. Rada means dominion. How do we do that? How do we move from being a person that's not just talking, that doesn't just have a Facebook Live and you have no fruit, that has some documents on paper but you have no fruit, you have no power, you're not changing anything, you're not dominating anything? Matter of fact, you're yet dependent on everything around you to exist. Ah, God, how do you become a lion?

I need you to listen today.

How do you emerge as a lion and really make a difference? There's so many gifted people who can preach, who can teach, who can prophesy, who have no power, who are not lions. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. Oh my God, I'm gonna say it again. There's so many people who can preach, teach, go through the calisthenics and the motions, but they are not lions. So how do I become a lion? I'm glad you asked. It first starts with understanding divine leadership. All leadership— and I got my PowerPoint up so you can see it because I want you to get this, right? I want you to get this. All leadership begins with God. And I said it already, Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. And so you gotta have— watch this— a real relationship with God. I'm not talking about you're religious and you go through the motions of prayer, you go through the motions of worship and church, uh, work, and you go to church and you got a title again and you wear the collar and you got certificates, but you really don't know the Lord. The fruit in your life would indicate whether you know him or not. The Bible says in Daniel Glory to the name of God. Chapter 11, it says that the people that do know their God— if you know him, the Bible said, first of all, you will be strong. Hallelujah! So knowing God brings strength. People who operate in weakness and are weaklings and cannot stand up against the enemy, cannot stand up against their carnality— hear me— cannot— oh my God— stand up against rumors and and, and the obstacles and challenges of life. Hear me, they don't know God. They may be religious, but they don't know God. Because Daniel said the people that do know their God will be strong. Then also it says they will do exploits. The word exploits means heroic deeds or mighty acts. Now, heroic deeds suggests that when you know God You're willing to die for your assignment. Heroes are willing to die to save another, are willing to die to finish their course. So if you can do exploits when you know God, you're willing to sacrifice everything to complete.

Lord, help us today because there's so many that don't know you.

Popular on social media, popular on Facebook. Oh my God. But do not know who you are. Oh my God, Jesus, help us, help us today. Let me just put the whole PowerPoint up so you can see. I want you to get this, I want you to get this. Secondly, hear me, Hebrews 11:6 says this: But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must first believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So one, here, you— in order to bring pleasure to God, you got to have faith in him, because some of the things God is going to ask of you that bring pleasure goes against your carnal will, goes against your carnal plans. Goes against your carnal desires. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my— I got 5 minutes, I got to get out of here, and I'mma— I'll finish this tomorrow. But the reality is you got to have some divine leadership, and you got to have faith to bring pleasure. Here's why a lot of people are not bringing pleasure to God: because one, they don't have faith, and because they don't have faith in God— hear me— They have faith in themselves. Oh my God, oh my God, they have faith in themselves. Hear me, hear me, hear me, guys. They have faith in themselves, and so they're not pleasing God, and they operate in what I call the performance mode. The performance mode. People are performing. Performing for others, performing to make themselves feel good. Watch this, performing to please their followers, performing to please the masses. I refuse to do that. You know, if I wanted to have, oh my God, thousands of people watching every time I came on, and thousands of people liking my posts and following me, I could, you know, even though we got multiple thousands on Instagram, Facebook, all platforms, thank God for it. but I'm not going to compromise the truth. I'm going to operate in what pleases God concerning my life. I'm gonna operate in what pleases God concerning my life. Without faith, it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God— hear me— must first believe that he is. You got to believe that God's real. You You know, I know for a fact there's so many people doing this that don't even believe God is real. They don't believe he is, because if you believed he was in control, you let him be in control of everything. Hallelujah! If you understood the magnitude of his power— my God, whoa— you let him be in control. And the Bible says too, here he is a rewarder. This is divine leadership. See, when you under the auspices of divine leadership, now you got a right to expect something because now he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. I love this because the word seek is zeteio in Greek, which means to pursue hard after God with uninterrupted focus. But then he put in front of it an adverb that said diligently. Watch this. The word diligently in Greek means honorably pursue him without being distracted, with uninterrupted focus, with a bulldog-type tenacity. Oh my God, here. Oh my God, are y'all here? Oh Jesus, oh Jesus. He said he rewards. So what does he reward you with? His presence, his power, his authority. He superimposes the heavens on your life because you pursue him, his way, his order, his understanding of how things should be done. You will never be a line-level leader until you understand divine leadership, and it starts with him and knowing him. Let's go to Proverbs 3:5. 6 and 7. The Bible says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. The word heart in Hebrew is leb, not 6 inches below the collarbone here, but leb— hear me— means the center of your intelligence, the center of your passions. It's your soul, your psuche life, your psychological existence. So the Lord says, trust the Lord with your ability to be smart As smart as you are, put your intelligence inside of God and let God give you supernatural— eh, whoa, I feel Jesus, y'all— give you supernatural intelligence to do what he want. Because that's what lions do, they listen to the voice of the head lion, the lion in chief. Glory to God. He says, trust him with all your heart, all of it. You don't get to think about— give him your mind, your whole psychological existence. Give it to God. Your passions, your desires, your will, your mind, your emotions. He says, trust me with them. See, some of you are caught in webs of deception because you're trusting everybody else with your heart. You're trusting everybody else with your thoughts, your mind, your will, your emotion, your soul, man. Your psychological, your life. And God says, trust the Lord with all of it. Give it all to God. And then he says, and lean not to your own understanding. See, many of you are leaning on how culturally you understand things. Hallelujah. But he says, in all your ways Acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Acknowledge— ack— knowledge— ack—

AC—

knowledge with AC, which means to open up or become acquiescent.

Open yourself up to his knowledge in everything you do.

And the Bible says he will be faithful and he will administer direction to your past. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. When you've done this, guys— I gotta quit, I gotta quit, I gotta quit, I gotta quit— you have, hear me, tapped into, listen, subjective leadership. You've tapped in to God's way of doing things. You've tapped into God's ability. God says, I need you to embrace divine. That's the first step. It's, it's 4 more of these I got to give you so you can become a lion-level leader. I'll, I'll continue tomorrow. I probably don't even finish tomorrow, but I need you guys to understand that God loves you, and he loves you so much that he wants you to embrace divine leadership and become a lion-level leader so that you can be a blessing to the world. Listen, guys, I'm done. I got— my time is gone. My time is gone.

My time is gone, but the Lord said to tell you, as we move into 2022, I have actually recorded and I'm going to post it probably tomorrow morning or later this evening. The word of the Lord for 2022 is a 10-minute word. I'm not going to give you that whole word now. Now. But many of you, as you move into 2022, hear me. I heard the Lord say, you got to position yourself like never before in the knowing. You can no longer afford to be religious. You got to know God's voice, because when you know his voice, a stranger you will not follow. There's a lot of strange things that will emerge in the coming year that will appear like God, that will mask itself as God. But I heard the Lord say, you got to tap into a deeper level of knowing so that you can flow forward in the things of God. Listen, I need every person listening to me today to trust the Lord with a $20.22 seed. Listen, do not tarry, do not tarry. Get that seed in the ground now. Sow into your lion-level leader. Sow forward into what you're gonna become in 2022.

Listen, there's a lion-level leader in you. Get that seed in the ground.

You can do it by Cash App, it's on the screen, or on our website at rodderchurch.com. Do it quickly.

I hear—

oh my God, I hear God in this place. God says, as you sow, there is—

oh my gosh—

supernatural financial, supernatural provision that's accumulating in the heavens. So move, be obedient, be obedient, don't play with this. Be obedient. And you need something to happen for you now. Get that $20.22 in the ground. $20.22, get in the ground now and watch God bless you. Listen, I love you guys with the love of the Lord and ain't nothing you could do about it. But my time is up. Listen, join me tomorrow.

My plans is to come on at 12 noon tomorrow and I'm gonna enter into this some more.

I know we won't finish, but God wants you to be a lion-level leader. Y'all be blessed. Heaven smile upon you is my prayer. And remember, hallelujah, no weapon formed against you can prosper. Hallelujah.