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?

Have you thought much about how you’re influenced? We all react in some way to the news we watch, the books we read and the friends we keep. How we are being influenced matters and as you read the following account you’ll see that how we’re influenced can be a matter of life and death.

In Numbers 13: 3 we read:

Moses sends out the 12 spies

“He sent out twelve men, all tribal leaders of Israel, from their camp in the wilderness of Paran.”

They report back…

“But the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified.”

The spies disagree on how to frame it…

Caleb says: “We can certainly conquer it!”

However, the other men said “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” 

The people choose to listen to the bad report

“Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 

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We are all influenced by something. There are many people on TV, radio and news with bad reports, and no solutions. What I am saying is: the more we listen to what God has to say, the more peace and confidence we’ll have despite our circumstances.

The twelve spies all saw the same things. Ten spies cast fear and doubts among the people, the other two, Joshua and Caleb, had a different attitude.

God promised these Israelites that they’d conquer the land, but only 2 out of the 12 believed and had faith. I’ve heard there are over 7,000 promises in the Bible, but how can we know (much less remember) what God has promised us if we don’t read His Word regularly?

²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11: 28-29

I won’t promise that your worldly circumstances will improve if you read the Word, but what I can say is the more you allow God to influence your life and the more you listen to Him, the less you’ll be concerned about your circumstances… and you can take that to the bank! 🙂

Have you ever been asked by God to do something out of your comfort zone? Have you ever thought that the Lord might want you to do something but didn’t have the courage? Maybe you don’t think that God still talks to people. Maybe you never think about it.

I believe that God still talks to us, He just uses different ways. I think He can use people, the Word, circumstances and an occasional whisper from the Holy Spirit. Consider this verse:

“The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Acts 8: 29

How do you think Philip heard the Holy Spirit? I don’t think it was audibly, but a gentle “nudge” that led him to strike up the conversation with the Ethiopian eunuch.

Read these verses from Mark 11:

¹ … Jesus sent two of them on ahead. ² “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”

⁴ The two disciples left and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside the front door. ⁵ As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it. ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it, and he sat on it.

This is about as strange as Jesus telling Peter to take the first fish he catches, take the money from its mouth to pay the temple tax. (Matt. 17:27)

I wonder how the two disciples felt as they were walking up to the tied donkey with bystanders hanging out nearby. Do you think they were just a bit nervous or out of their comfort zone? Maybe after three years of seeing strange things and learning that every day was a new adventure with their fearless Leader they had no qualms about it. I don’t know.

What’s great about this is that I’ve learned that Jesus gave clear instructions and told them what to say in case they were confronted. When they did what they were told and said what they were told to say, they were successful.

Knowing that God never changes…

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13: 8

we can be certain that when He gives us something to do, He will most certainly tell us what to say when we are confronted and we will be successful as well, just as this passage reads.

I hope this message blesses your day. 🙂