Influence your World

Every person has a certain amount of influence in their world. Christians Can Influence Their World in Five Ways.  First off this is not an exhaustive list of how we can influence the world for Christ. This is however a useful and thought provoking idea that can help us maximize our influence.


1. Pray- Seems obvious doesn't it. Every Christian prays, right? I'm not talking about the prayers that we have memorized or the prayers found in our Sunday bulletin. I'm talking about having genuine conversations with God. Conversations mean speaking and listening. If we want to influence our world we will start having blunt and honest conversations with our Father who loves us. Do you have children that are far from God and living in destructive environments. Cry out to God for their rescue. Plead with God for their return to His safety. Mean business with God because Satan means business with your loved one.


Pray for yourself. That is not being selfish. That is being smart. Pray for wisdom. Pray that God will enlighten your mind and spirit and you will know how to answer the questions that people have. The world around us is sick and tired of our  worn out church talk. Cliches like, pray about it, Jesus knows, Your child is an angel in heaven, God must have needed little...  That might be fine in church but hurting and wounded people need more than platitudes.


Ask God Almighty to fill your heart and mind with words that refresh the weary world around you.


2. Live for your appointed purpose-  God has gifted every Christian to accomplish His purposes. When each of us embraced the truth of Christ and His sacrificial death, resurrection and ascension we became new creatures quickened by His Spirit and made heirs with Christ. He empowered each of us with at least one spiritual gift. It is our responsibility to read scripture that reveals what these gifts are and then to discern our own. Once we understand our gift than that is a part of our appointed purpose in life.


I knew that I was gifted in preaching because God's presence confirmed it and other members of the body of Christ have confirmed it as well. It has however taken me longer to understand the deeper meaning of my appointed purpose. Today I know that my appointed purpose is not only behind the sacred desk, the pulpit, but behind the keyboard as well. My gift is in the communication of the message of Christ and His bringing all of creation into wholeness. The time is coming when I will no longer be able to stand and preach the beauties of Christ. But, I will have the appointed responsibility of writing and teaching those as long as I have breath.


You must find your appointed purpose and live for it and eventually die doing it.


3. Enjoy Living- I have known Christians that are allergic to fun and enjoyment. It is as if every morning they get up and eat lemons and stub their big toe on purpose. Theirs is a life of misery and endless sacrifice. Every Church has at least one person like this. My second church appointment had such a lemon eater. I came to the point of bargaining with God. I wanted to know if her mansion was done yet, and if not could the builders please hurry.


God has given us a beautiful and fantastic world to live in. Some need to open their eyes to the wonder of children playing in the park. The absolute joy of watching little children play with a puppy dog. Yes, there is evil in the world, but, there is a whole lot of love and happiness. Jesus told us that we would have abundant life and joy in this world. It is time to embrace the incoming waves from the lake and let pure clean water smack you in the face.


Find what gives you joy, discover what puts a grin on your face. Share laughter, it is contagious.


4. Open the Vault of Your Soul- When God transforms a person a treasure beyond any price is placed in the soul. It is the Love of God. God Himself witnesses to our spirit that He loves us and has accepted us into His eternal family. Such a gift must not be hidden in the heart. That truth must be allowed to have expression. The salvation of the soul should cause us to have a smile on our face and compassion in our heart. I'm not saying that everyday we walk around with some phony-bologna smile. But we can be genuine in sharing the love that God has placed in our hearts.


There are people all around us that are hurting and in need of compassion and understanding. The love of God in our hearts is the healing balm that many need. Many people that come across our path everyday have burdens that cripple them, weigh them down, put them into depression or despair. The heart filled with the love of God can be sensitive and discern when a friend needs to talk, a co-worker needs prayer, a family member struggles with their faith.
Decide to open your heart, be vulnerable, genuine, compassionate, understanding and LOVE.


5. Face your Fate- The bible is pretty plain in its message that all of us, unless the rapture comes first, are gonna die, buy the farm, push up roses, or daisies, or black eyed susies. What ever you want to call it, none of us are getting out of here alive. We are allowed a certain number of days and then it's over. What you do with your allotted minutes, hours, days, weeks, months will tell future generations a lot about you. How many years after you are gone will you just be a person that was a part of the family? Three or four generations at the most and then nobody will remember you. That is, unless you pass on to others the eternal gifts that were given to you.


I believe that the value of oral tradition is all but lost. We do not pass on the great stories of our families and heritage. What a gift it would be to families if we took the time to write about our families and our faith journey. Thousands upon thousands of families would be able to hold the precious history of saints gone and their faith in Christ. Do something that will have an impact for generations to come. Write a family book. Put together a photo album with historical facts that can be held and touched.
You, my friend, are only gonna live here once. Do something with your life.


Tedd Galloway is the author of #2Amazon best seller, A Mother's Heart Moved the Hand of God and his novel, Encounter at River's Edge.
His website is www.teddgalloway.com

Look into your Mirror

 It takes courage to take spiritual inventory. Looking in the mirror that reflects an accurate picture of how you are living in light of God's truth can be tough. God wants you to know how you are doing. Remember that He will never reject you or cast you aside. His truth is meant to help and encourage us.

After we have been brave enough to admit and confront the spiritual hindrances that keep us from displaying transformational love, we must look to the source of that love. As the issues that impede us are spiritual they must be dealt with in the spiritual realm. Confession and repentance are not welcome nor are they common practices in the life of many churches today. But, they are serious matters that must be dealt with in the manner God sets forth. The writer of Chronicles states it pretty plainly, "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." So then, it is plain that God wants to heal His people and His land, transforming society.

In this time of Covid many people are afraid. They are afraid for their life and the lives of their loved ones. Their fear can certainly lead to insecurity. We fear the unknown and what might be lurking behind the proverbial corner. The questions arise. Does God really care? Does God know what is going on? Our souls must be able to resound with, yes He knows, yes He cares.

Added to this time of illness and questioning is the madness and violence overtaking the country. Violence has led to the killing of innocent people and those who took an oath to protect us. Lies have turned to truth and foundational truth has been spit upon.

One might ask if we are reaping what we have sown. We have certainly allowed the moral fabric that held us together to be weakened and shredded. Allowing 60 million infants to be sacrificed on the altar of liberal politics and thought has certainly had an impact upon the Almighty and how favorable He looks upon us.

Repenting and seeking forgiveness is the soul cleansing priority of each follower of Christ. As we draw close to Him, He will always draw close to us. When Moses came down from the mountain after meeting with God he was transformed and glowing. People know when a follower of Christ is spending time with his God, it is evident, it shows in their actions, words, and essence. Communion with God magnetizes the one communing, drawing people, as the Holy Spirit has been leading the one in need.

Open yourself to the transforming movement of God, draw close to Him in prayer, confession, praise, and beg Him to use you as a source of transforming love. Do not fret about how God will do it, or what might happen, He will empower you to shine and He will bring people across your path that are hungry and thirsty for the real experience with God through Jesus Christ. An old chorus comes to mind, the author escapes me. "Swing wide the door of your heart to the King of Kings, bid Him enter for wonderful peace He brings. He will shelter you under His outstretched wings. Swing wide the door of your heart to the King of Kings."

Jesus told us that we would be the light of the world, a city set on a hill. It will not be our dogma, doctrine, creeds, hymns, nor our knowledge of God that will transform people. It always has been and will continue to be, followers of Christ who have a personal experience with Transforming Love.

The Unquenchable Yearn

What ever possesses a man to leave everything behind and head into the darkness of the unknown? It might be the spirit of adventure. It might be the spirit of  escape. And, it might be the spirit of freedom. That is alright if you are single. But, what if you are part of a family, that changes the consequences. The cost rises with every person you include in the venture.

The stories of people escaping from East Berlin, remember that time, always gripped my heart. Some fantastic escapes took place by men and women and entire families. Ideas from hot air balloons, zip lines, to extensive tunnels, were used by very brave men and women. The images of those who died trying to escape must have been ever before them. Yet, they kept trying to escape.

Oppression is an evil power that has given millions of people the inner desire and drive to be free. There is some God-given inner voice that whispers to the soul of mankind, "I want to be free, I need to be free, I must be the one who decides my destiny." That voice, the desire to be free, has indeed brought that very freedom to millions across the earth.

I believe it was that voice that filled the hearts of the earliest settlers in this land. Many left their homeland yearning for religious freedom. Their conscious could never give in to the dictates of a government trying to regulate the voice of God within their heart. In their desire to worship God according to their own spirit they were willing to pay a very high price. Weeks and months on the high seas is taxing to the very hardiest of men. The families that took such voyages were brave to the extreme. Yet, they would never confess to bravery.

The dream of a land of freedom brought thousands upon thousand to our shores. Almost every person in this great land would find their roots in the family tree of those brave souls. I am aware of the countless who were brought here, not of their own accord. Indentured servants and slaves by the thousands were brought here, to the land of freedom. With free men and women all around them their hearts must have yearned all the more to taste the sweetness of broken chains and writs of servitude torn in half.

Our forefathers used a couple of phrases that I want to mention. The first being this land was the, Second Israel. A land of men and women who were seeking the heart of God and desiring to build a land that would honor him. The second phrase being, A Great Experiment in Self Government. They knew that it was indeed an experiment and that many things could go wrong and some things would go wrong.

The long journey across the treacherous and deadly Atlantic did not allow for the spirit of ease, nor complacency. Our journey today, I'm afraid, is filled with both evils.