Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Influence

Tuesday, August 30, 2011


Today as I was checking my Facebook, I realized that I have over 500 friends. I thought that seemed like a lot and checked and but for a few, I know the people are my "friends." I don't say this to brag about some arbitrary number of friends I have for social networking, but I was taken aback. I didn't know that I had connections with that many people. It made me realize that my sphere of influence is a lot greater than I thought. Again, not an arrogant thought, but a challenge that I have some sort of influence at some level (no matter how minute) on that many people. One of the definitions of influence from Webster is an "emanation of spiritual or moral force." Another definition is "the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways." We have an influence on all people that we come in contact with. 


Maybe what's important here is not how many people we influence, but the fact that we have the capacity to influence people (as a moral force) to or for Christ. If our words and actions have a negative effect, whether directly or indirectly, we deter the cause of Christ and negatively sway people away from Him. If we are careful and purposeful in our words and actions, we have the power to sway people toward Jesus. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me (John 12:32). 


Just think - if all of us Christians, used our "influence" to "cause an positive effect" on all the people in our lives, we would literally turn the world upside down. That's what the twelve disciples did. They used the influence, the power, that Jesus placed in them and spread the Good News around the world. We have this same power, this same capacity in us. We can affect people around us in so many ways, directly and indirectly. It's a sobering thought to know that we can sway someone to or away from Jesus. 


Maybe what's important here is not how many people we influence, but the fact that we have the capacity to influence people (as a moral force) to or for Christ. If our words and actions have a negative effect, whether directly or indirectly, we deter the cause of Christ and negatively sway people away from Him. If we are careful and purposeful in our words and actions, we have the power to sway people toward Jesus. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me (John 12:32). 

Monday, August 29, 2011

Rain

Sunday, August 28 
On Sunday morning, as we were singing about Holy Spirit raining (reining) down on us, I felt the Lord speak to me again. (Oh how I love it when He speaks to me, especially when I feel I don't deserve it.) He so often speaks me to through vivid images. I saw three distinct images - one of rain in the desert (dry, cracked land), one of lush green grass with bountiful flowers and trees, and one of a supersaturated flooded landscape where trees and cars and mud are being washing away. He told me that each time, each season of our lives, God rains on us (For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. -Matthew 5:45). His rain is always available for every season we experience, but He must REIGN in our lives for us to receive the effects of His rain.


In the desert seasons of our lives, we can be far away from Him or simply thirsty for more of Him. In the desert season, He rains on us to refresh us to soften the dry, caked areas of our hearts and our lives. When we feel lost and alone and separated from Him, He is there pouring out His love, cooling the heat of our personal deserts. It is here that His rain sustains (to supply with sustenance- to nourish) us when we are thirsty. 


In the abundant season of our lives, we can be so full of Him that we feel we just can't stand anymore and are overflowing to minister to others. Or, we can be so full of life and the world that we just maintain (to keep in an existing condition or to continue to persevere in). In the abundant season, He rains on us, watering our gardens, keeping our fruit alive and fresh. When we humbly receive His blessings and the produce of His harvest, we thrive. It is here that His rain maintains (to preserve from failure or decline) us when we are content and full and reaping the harvest, but if we allow it, we can become comfortable and maintain the status quo.


In the flooded season of our lives, when we feel that we have it all together and pride creeps in, or when we become so overwhelmed with life, it is here that He floods us with His rain, washing away the excess in our lives. Here is where He cleanses us and disciplines us and removes the impurities and distractions of our lives so we can be closer to Him and He can use us. It is here that His rain changes (to make radically different) us. It is in the season that our lives experience upheaval. 


Sometimes I feel like I experience different seasons (in different aspects of my life) all at the same time. It is challenging and comforting to know that God sends rain in every season for our own good.