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
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