Who is influencing you? Part 1

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! 🙂