February 28, 2010

Influence: February 25, 2010

February 25. TODAYS WORD FOR THURSDAY FEBRUARY 25, 2010

INFLUENCE

DEFINITION:

Power to control or affect others by authority; persuasive; example; a person or thing that exerts power.

SCRIPTURE:

“I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” Romans 1:8

As Solomon grew older, his wives turned his heart after other gods. I Kings 11:4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Think of all of the influences that affect your life today. The peer pressure on adults as well as on children is enormous. This peer pressure is normally negative influences. The world we live in today is basically evil and most people do what they think is best for themselves with no concern about anyone else and least of all whether it is the right thing.

There are also the influences of television commercials and television programs, the newspapers and magazines, the internet and even talk radio and television news programs. Most of the influence is negative but there are some influences that are positive. As believers we need to be alert to see the difference between the good and the bad.

Do you succumb to these negative influences in your life? If you do you are a follower and not a leader. If you are a follower you will react favorably to almost every influence that comes to you in life without thinking. If someone says to you jump, you will respond by asking how far?

In the Old Testament we have the recorded history of Israel from its beginning, when God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, right through to its destruction. The decline of Israel was caused by evil influences of those who did not love God and the Israelites never learned.

God planned that Israel would be a nation led by God through the guidance and God-given authority of the priests, the judges and the prophets. The decline of Israel began with the death of the high-priest Eli. Then Eli’s sons, the new priests, turned evil, choosing not to follow Eli’s Godly example. With the decline of the influence of the priesthood, the nation of Israel became susceptible to the influence of the pagan nations surrounding them.

The Israelites rejected God’s leadership and decided they wanted a king to lead them. They went to Samuel and asked him to “appoint a king to lead them such as all the other nations around them have.” Samuel warned them that they were rejecting God and would come to regret it. And the day would come when they would cry out for relief from the rule of their king.

Saul was a good and successful king in the beginning but later he disobeyed God. After Saul came David who was Israel’s most Godly king. Then Came Solomon and he started out well until he made the mistake of marrying women from foreign nations. In I Kings 11 we are told that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines and that his wives led him astray. In verse 4 we read that his wives turned his heart after other gods.

Solomon allowed pagan influences to corrupt him and it accelerated the decline of Israel. Then after Solomon died, Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Both kingdoms fell more and more under the influence of the ungodly nations and eventually were conquered and were taken as exiles to foreign nations.

There are also many positive influences on people’s lives today. It is our responsibility as believers to take advantage of these positive influences and build on them.

The apostle Paul was a positive influence on the lives of those who became believers in the first century. From Paul’s letters to the churches in Philippi, Thessalonica and Corinth, we find that they were being influenced by others teaching false doctrine. In his letters, Paul confronted these issues and corrected them and then exhorted them not to allow false teachings to influence them.

Paul encourages them to be strong in their commitment to Christ so that they would be a positive influence in a corrupt world. Paul in I Corinthians tells that church to “IMITATE ME, JUST AS I IMITATE CHRIST.” When we imitate Christ in our lives we will have a positive influence on each person that our lives touch daily.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in John 1:12.

But as many as received Him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

PRAYER:

Help me today to be an influence for good on someone’s life. May people who are with me today see You through me. Help me to glorify Your name and be a shining light to a world that is living in darkness.

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