Hi friends,
Previously I posted a message about being influenced, you remember, about the 12 spies Moses sent out (Numbers 13 & 14)? Since then a close friend gave me the following verse:
This is the Lord responding to Jeremiah after he was complaining a bit.
Jeremiah 15:19
19 This is how the Lord responds:
“If you return to me, I will restore you
so you can continue to serve me.
If you speak good words rather than worthless ones,
you will be my spokesman.
You must influence them;
do not let them influence you!
This and other ideas led me to expand on the reality of how we are influenced daily and how it affects us.
This is a verse that I think is most applicable to our being influenced by the world we live in:
Romans 12:2
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
This is cool, don’t we all want to know what God’s will is for us?
The problem is that there are very few sources in the media and in our surroundings that echo biblical beliefs and ideas.
More and more movies instill fear, many popular talk radio shows provoke anger, fear and all kinds of wasted emotion. Much of what is watched on primetime TV is violent and very sexual. It is very easy to get desensitized without even realizing it, it’s happened to me and I’m still fighting against it.
Don’t get me wrong, watching secular shows or being in tune with politics doesn’t always hurt, but when we immerse ourselves in it (the world), at least using more time than we spend with God, His people and His Word, then we become a part of it. How much you watch TV/movies and what you watch is between you and God and not for me to judge. This is between you and the Holy Spirit and you should it up with Him. I know for myself I have gone through seasons where I had to withdraw from certain shows because I was affected too much by them.
1 John 2: 15
15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
We need to realize that God has set us apart:
Exod. 33:16
16 How will anyone know that you look favorably on me—on me and on your people—if you don’t go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth.”
Ask yourself this question: Do people see God’s presence in your life?