The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Influencers"
"We bear the presence of God wherever go as His living, breathing temples. Our earnest prayer and desire must be that others will see Him through us, and be influenced by Him."
We hear much about "influencers" in our day, that is, people who seek to motivate others on social media outlets. Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have long known about such things.
"As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good to all men" (Galatians 6:10).
For good or will, other people influence us, and we influence other people. Our calling involves influencing others with the Lord Jesus. While the "good" we do takes countless forms, the heart of all involves leaving a legacy of Christ with those we encounter. Be it by our countenance, demeanor, attitude, words, or deeds, the Holy Spirit moves upon the face of hearts through us, even as He so long "moved upon the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). As we present ourselves to our Heavenly Father for His glory and will - "Here am I, send me" - we "shine as lights in the world," influencing others to look to Christ as their hope in the present and forevermore (Isaiah 6:8; Philippians 2:15).
Of course, we are not perfect in our influence. Believers can misrepresent God and His truth. Consider the Corinthians. What they did and how they did it spoke not of Christ, but of their flesh. "Ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" (I Corinthians 3:3). Internally and externally, the Corinthians believers influenced their world in a manner that led away, rather than unto the Lord Jesus (although it must be noted that Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians indicates they repented of their failures - II Corinthians 7:11). The sad possibility exists for all Christians that rather than "shine as lights," we can enshroud with darkness. What we do, along with why and how we do it, must glimmer with the grace of the Spirit, again, in countenance, demeanor, attitude, words, and deeds. "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31).
We bear the presence of God wherever go as His living, breathing temples. Our earnest prayer and desire must be that others will see Him through us, and be influenced by Him. This may involve a verbal witness, or it may mean that Christ has been seen in us by how we presented ourselves (or rather, how we presented Him). Either way, our Heavenly Father commissions us to the privileged responsibility of serving as influencers for the glory of the Lord Jesus. We exist for this holy and wondrous calling, as His influence of grace and truth upon us becomes the same upon others through us.
"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light."
(Ephesians 5:8)
Weekly Memory Verse
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
(Ephesians 5:8)
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