Who Are You Influencing?

The thought has been on my mind this week, who are you influencing? Am I purposely making an effort to influence others in a life to Jesus? Am I so wrapped up in myself that I can’t take the time to pour into another life?

This has been the most amazing year of my life! It began broken and forlorn. Here I was a woman who had literally flushed her life down the toilet because I thought I could do it better on my own. But of course I couldn’t do it alone! I needed Jesus so desperately and he gave me the greatest gift of my life. He allowed me to be able to travel and spend time alone with him. He restored my sanity. I thought I was going crazy, panic attacks and anxiety fits. See my friends’ sin will take you further than you ever thought you would go and keep you longer than you thought you would ever stay.

I sat in church for 3 years broken and desperate for someone to reach out to me. There was one sweet lady at church Sis. Willie who saw something in me and she loved me when no one else seemed to care. It’s kind of funny how you look back and think if it hadn’t been for that one person caring about me, where would I be? How much more should we be reaching to the broken?

I am convicted that I have not been reaching as well as I should be to those who are hurting. I heard the most terrible news this week; dear friends of mine have left our church. I did reach to them but did I do enough? I don’t know and I am determined to keep on praying and reaching for them! See it really does matter who you are influencing. It may seem like it’s a lot of work and maybe you’re tired and maybe you just don’t feel like reaching. But it reminds me of the song by casting crowns, “If we are the body then why aren’t our arms reaching?”

As I traveled I met so many people who poured into my life. It was like at every stop, God had ordained the visit. I spent the summer pouring into others and being poured into by new and old friends. I felt God leading me to be an encourager. I spent the whole summer encouraging and being encouraged by some of the most wonderful people of God! What a wonderful gift! See my life was changed by the power of the spoken word. It was changed because so many people took the time to influence my life. This in turn caused a chain reaction, I too wanted to encourage and influence the lives of others. See you never know how much you can influence someone and give them courage just because you took the time to care.

When I came home, I was in a place of euphoria. I had never been so at peace before in my life. Now this is when God started shifting my focus away from myself. No longer did I need to be poured into in the same ways. Now it was my turn to help others. He began speaking to me about reaching to the lost and hurting. You see I can relate I had had a life of emotional hurts. Now because of where the Lord had brought me from and what he had delivered me from, it was now time for God to teach me how to love the lost once again. It came in the most unusual way.

God started talking to me about ministry. He began opening my eyes to the gospels and how Jesus my Lord and savior had lived his life. He did not come to the rich and the popular. He came to the weary, the broken, the hungry, and the homeless. He was reaching the ones who had no hope who lived in fear and had no where else to turn. He commanded us to go to the highways and the byways. He told us that when we took care of the least of his than we were taking care of Him. I had never been so convicted in my life! Here I was so wrapped up in me and the answer was simple. Feed my sheep!

See there is a principle in abandoning your life for the life of Christ. My life and my desires don’t matter anymore. No longer do I care about whether my life will fall into place. My life is literally in the hands of Jesus. I now am not worried or fretful about the things of this world. They are temporary and in the scheme of life they have no value. The value I have found is in reaching out to those who are hungry, those who need a mentor, and to those who are broken.

God has put a variety of people in my life. Gus who is the most God-centered person I know. His blogs and life have impacted me so deeply. God used him to open my eyes. I will be eternally grateful. You see he influenced me and by his influence God was able to change my perspective. When you truly give yourself away then you will change so many lives and even some you may not know until heaven. So even if you don’t know who you are influencing, try to live your life on purpose.

God also put a young girl Tracy in my life last year. I have been praying for this girl all year. I didn’t realize why God had put her in my life until the last few weeks. He has wanted me to influence her, encourage her, and help develop her. I have never met a young girl who was hungrier for the work of God than this young lady. Already she is excited for the work and ministry that I am working with in Friendship community.

Friendship community is what God has called me to this summer. It is a group of friends headed up by Gus and supported by his pastor Bro. Moore. It is a group of friends reaching out to those who are broken and in need in the community of Longview, TX. They are reaching to homeless camps and RV parks. There are doors being opened left and right! I am so honored that God has allowed this group to come into my life. They are influencing in love. Justin a young boy is Gus’ right hand guy. He is so on fire for the Lord. He is being mentored and used at such a young age. You see it doesn’t matter how old you are or where you have been in your life, God can use you no matter what!

There has been turmoil in the last little bit in my life. This is good for me because it has been teaching me to keep depending on the Lord. The devil isn’t happy that I have made the decision to step out on faith. He isn’t happy that I have decided to move to Longview, TX. He isn’t happy that the gospel is going to move forward. But I am happy because I know a Jesus who can move a mountain. I know a savior that no matter how far you may have fallen in your life that he can pick you up in an instant.

Saul was changed to Paul in one night on the road to Damascus. Jonah was restored when he left the belly of the whale. David was a murderer and a thief but God restored him time after time. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. If God calls you to a place then you better go!!! Do not fear the unknown. Because “IF” you go then Jesus will make a way when there seems no way. We have a covenant with God; “IF” we do it then he is faithful to sustain us. We can’t expect the miracle unless we do our part first, because God will always make a way. But we must first be willing to do what he is asking us to do!

So I implore you dear friend, please take the time to pour into another life. You never know if that child or that broken soul will be saved because you took the time to influence them. Its true pouring into someone takes time and it’s often painful but the rewards are unspeakable. Live your life on purpose! Let Jesus come through your eyes. Speak faith into someone and believe in them when no one else seems to care. I have a new friend that God has brought into my life just because I have taken the time to befriend him. I met him at a coffee shop of all places. I know God is working on him. So who are you willing to influence???

I Give Myself Away

How does one give themselves away?

It's simple really! You give away your time, resources, blood, sweat, and tears. My journey began earlier this summer as I stated in an earlier blog http://mybrokenvessel.blogspot.com/2012/07/raw-oak-tree-or varnished-deck.html but oh how the summer ended. It ended with me seeing exactly the ministry that God was preparing me for all year. No longer is my life a mystery. No longer do I wonder what God might have for me. I am sold out and ready to move into what God wants for my life.

I spent eight days exploring Longview, Tx and Shreveport, La. Yes, my friends I was impressed. Here is a group of people who have sold out to the Lord. They are helping the homeless, the needy, and the underprivileged. It brought me to my knees in conviction because too long I have sat idle doing absolutely nothing of value for the Lord. True, I have been involved in church ministry but was I really helping out my fellow neighbor? The answer is a convicting no! How long have I sat and wasted the God-given talent that Jesus has bestowed on my life? Even now I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face. How can this world be reached if I'm not reaching toward them?

I don't want to take another trip around the mountain because I am scared about what God has in my life. How many times have you and I let ministry pass us by because it wasn't convenient or because it didn't fit inside another person's perspective? I had dedicated my entire life to God in doing busy work for the church. I was so unhappy and began to become disappointed in God. Who does that? How could I when the God of all creation came down and died for my sins? Selfishness, self-centeredness and bitterness enveloped my life. I was so focused on what I was "doing" for the Lord that I forgot to put him first. You see if I was seeking him first in my life then I would have recognized that my purpose in life is to lead others to Jesus.

Leading others to Jesus is tedious, ugly, dirty, painful work. You pour your life into them with no guarantee that they will serve the Lord. That is the part we have to get over in our walk with Jesus. He wants us to seek him first and to feed his sheep. We are to reach out to the lowly, the hungry, the homeless, and the needy. When you take care of the least of his, he will take care of you. It is principle based our goal is to lead others to salvation but if you meet people's basic needs he will reward your efforts.

Who should we be supporting and reaching?

1) Missionaries who give up their whole life for the gospel. They leave their families and their country and all they know to reach the lost. God said if anyone would do this he would reward their efforts. We need to support them by giving and going.

2) We should be reaching the lost and needy right here at home. Did you know there were homeless, needy people on every corner? Did you know the least of these are who we are sent to reach? Support these efforts by donating your time and money.

I was convicted and inspired by my trip to Longview, TX. I have bought into the dreams and visions of those who are there now doing the work. My life has been forever changed by the lives of those who have sacrificed their lives to help those in need. My life is not my own to him I belong and I give myself away!

Are you willing to change and give your life to the Lord? Why are you waiting? There is no need to take another trip around the mountain!

"With A Life of Privelage Requires Much Responsbility"

       "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what
          ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body,
          what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
          body than raiment?" Matthew 6:25

My life of privilege requires much responsibility, "...For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." Luke 12:48 I am convicted with my life! I have been blessed beyond measure. I was raised in the truth of the holy ghost. I have never been without food, clothes, or shelter. I have never been abused or abandoned. I did not come from a broken family or ever wonder if I was loved. I went to a private Christian school, I was raised in the church youth group, I went to 4 years of bible school, and I have always had a good job.

In my spiritual life I have seen every miracle and yet I still have doubted the Lord. How can I doubt his glory? He who has saved me from everything?  

            "Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John 10:24-30

I to have seen blind eyes opened. I have seen people walk out of wheel chairs. I have seen people healed of cancer. I have seen people healed from MS and Lupus. I have seen a leg grow before my very eyes. I have seen every manner of miracle in my short lifetime of 32 years. I have felt the glorious presence of God my entire life!

And yet...

I have doubted whether there was even a God. I have lived in the bondage of self pity and loathing. I have lived in fear and doubt. If there is really a God then how come he hasn't done what I've wanted him to do when I wanted him to do it? No, God is not our personal servant. We are to be his servant. This past year has been the most eye opening year of my life! I was praying this summer and I asked the Lord, "Why did you leave me? Why when I was doing all these things for you; praise singing, Sunday school, choir, youth ministry, etc etc?" He said, "You were so busy doing unto me but you were not looking at me!" I was so concerned for doing unto the Lord that I forgot to be in love with the Lord. No longer can I think that doing unto God is all that I have to do! It's true the work of the Lord is important. But those are just busy things. Think of it this way----It would be like a police officer: he shows up to work in uniform, he drives the right car, he files all the right papers, but he never serves or protects. He looks and does all the right things but he never acts to help people. Or as a friend said this weekend, you are sitting in the gas station all gassed up and you never drive down the road!

Questions that I am posing to myself and to you:

1) What are you willing to give up? The bible says we are to lose our life for him and that we can't save it ourselves. We think that by doing it our way we are actually pleasing God! "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it." Luke 9:24 How do we lose our lives to the gospel? We do it by doing what he told us to do. We are to feed his sheep, the hurting, the broken, the ones no one wants to help. I sit here at this computer with tears running down my face as I am convicted once again by my life. Who have I reached out to today?

The words are so plain...

"Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry,

and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring." Isaiah 58:7-11 NLT

Then the words of Jesus...

"For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Matthew 25:35-46

2) We say that we want more of Jesus; but do we really? People are messy! And those people who are hurting, hungry, and dirty are even more messy. You can't help people with the idea that it is about you. It is never about you! You may help people and they may never turn to God but that is not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to meet their needs here on earth so that they have a chance to even know that there even is a God. How sad that we often predicate our love by what we receive in return. The lord brings in the harvest and that is not our command to worry about how many "people" actually receive the message. Yes, we want to see them saved but how can they be saved if they don't even know he exists? The only Jesus anyone may see is in you. Is he in your life? Do you share his love with others? Or are you just concerned with the social norm and the status quo. Shame on us!

3) But are we in fact conforming Jesus into our own image? Jesus is not in a box. He is not pretty, blue eyed and blonde haired. He is not excited that we come to church every week and sit on the pew. It is not serving the Lord to just be present for roll call. If we are not reaching for those who are lost and in the highways and biways then who are we? We spend so much time concerning ourselves with our outward appearance that we forget the purpose of it all. Yes, we should look our best when we come into the house of the Lord but there is a balance that we must have. It should no be what drives us. It should not be our consuming passion and it should not be what makes us who we are inside. There must be balance and all things in moderation!

4) Do we in fact conform God in our own image with little or no sacrifice and expect that we are actually worshiping him; or are we actually worshiping ourselves?

"Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:22-24

How can we worship him in spirit and in truth if we are not living the truth he has set before us? If we don't seek after the things of God and we don't follow his example then we cannot be in right spirit or in truth. It is when we lose ourselves to the gospel and take up his cross and follow his commands that are living his plan for our lives. Then we can be in right spirit and relationship with God. 

Conclusion:

Salvation Plan   1) Believe, John 3:16

                        2) Repent, Acts 2:38

                        3) Baptized in the name of Jesus, Acts 2:38

                        4) Receive the Holy Ghost evidence with speaking in tongues, Acts 2:4 & Acts 2:38

Then...

                        1) Daily continual prayer, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

                        2) Bible reading daily, Proverbs 2:1-3

                        3) Lose yourself to the Lord, Luke 9:24

                        4) Love God with your heart, mind and soul, Matthew 22:37 

                        5) Love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew 22:39

                        6) Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe and help the homeless, Isaiah 58:7-11

                        7) Set aside the weights of this world that so easily beset us, Hebrews 12:1

                        8) Give thanks in all things being content, Ephesians 5:20

                        9) Holy life set apart from the world, 1 Peter 1:15-16, John 15:19

                       10) Setting aside vanity, Ecclesiastes 6:9

When we do these these things it is then that we can be assured that we are doing what is required of us! We can enter into heaven and hear the words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." We can sit at his feet and rule beside him and forevermore be worshiping the one and only true God!