"Now is the time to be made new by every revelation that's been given to you. And to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ-within as your new life and live in union with Him!"
Ephesians 4:24
Influence. The word comes from the latin origin meaning inflow.
Your mind was created to take in a flow of information, and that inflow leaves impressions on your heart. You are a reflection of who influences you.
Have you heard the phrase, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” ?Our thoughts are a direct result of who we choose to hear, and what we choose to see.
And we know that our thoughts are our future.
A man or woman who sets their focus on Jesus will begin to think like Jesus and their future will be Jesus.
The closer you get to the Words of Life spoken by Jesus, the more influence He has on your heart and mind. This inflow causes faith to grow. And the power of faith is the greatest force in the universe. The God-kind of faith IS the power of God.
This power is available to every believer.
When the first followers of Jesus sat under His teaching day and night, a supernatural authority rose up in them. These were not men who were familiar with being kings. They were not familiar with executing authority. They were simple workers. But something happened to their thoughts when they sat under the love of Jesus and His teaching.
Jesus said to them, "Whoever listens to your message is actually listening to Me...and not only me but the One who sent Me."
When the seventy missionaries returned to Jesus, they were ecstatic with joy, telling Him, "Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we commanded them in Your name!
Jesus replied, " Now you understand that I have imparted to you all My authority to trample over (Satan's) kingdom...Absolutely nothing will be able to harm you as you walk in this authority."
When Jesus was alone with the Twelve, He said to them, "You are very privileged to see and hear all these things. Many kings and prophets of old longed to see these days of miracles that you have been favored to see."
Luke 10:16,17,19,23
And now YOU are privileged to be in the Presence of Jesus everyday. This happened when you chose to believe.
There was, in that electric moment, an inflow of truth: Jesus Christ took your punishment for sin-disobedience. You were placed in right-standing before God Almighty wearing the righteousness of Jesus. He broke the strong cords of death for you and opened the door to eternal life.
His words came alive in you. You became alive in His words.
His Holy Presence came to live with you.
Believer, where is your heart right now? Like a vessel that can sit under any spout you choose. Everyday your heart is being filled...influenced.
He has invited you to sit with Him. As His follower, you can sit under the world's voice or under His voice. You are free to go in and go out whenever you wish.
Are you choosing to watch the Anointed One from afar?
The crowds were in the tens of thousands that came to hear Jesus. They liked the miracles...it was even fashionable to be a part of the big crowds.
Or are you closer? Maybe you are one of the seventy who regularly followed Him. They listened intently until it was time to return to their other daily habits.
Or are you even closer? Are you one of the twelve? These were the ones that left every voice of the world and came so close that the only voice they heard was Jesus.
"Jesus said to His twelve, 'And you- do you also want to leave?' Peter spoke up and said, 'But Lord, where would we go? No one but You gives us the revelation of eternal life. We're fully convinced that You are the Anointed One, the Son of the Living God, and we believe in You.' " John 6:67
There is something available to you when you sit under His words. It is holiness.
This is not religion's idea of holiness; an outward "swishing" of the robe of a holy life.
When you get this close to Jesus, you come in contact with pure, unpolluted holiness.
This holiness is the conduit to the mountain-moving, disease-healing, evil-crushing POWER OF GOD.
The more you have Jesus in you, the more His words shape your thoughts, the more of His holiness is within you.
"Jesus knew at once that someone had touched Him for He felt the POWER that always surged around Him had passed through Him for someone to be healed."
The Holy Spirit is the power of God that surrounded Jesus. That power flowed through Jesus because He was holy. He fulfilled the law of Moses and did not let sin have any part of Him. The power flowed easily, without hesitation, like electricity through a conduit.
"For it is not from man that we draw our life but from God as we are being joined to Jesus, the Anointed One. And now He is our God-given wisdom, our virtue, our holiness, and our redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30
Jesus is your holiness.
When Jesus is within you, and His Word is in your heart, you are under the influence of holiness.
Healing power, faith power, authority over darkness, the power of virtue, is obtained through Jesus Christ and in no other way.
Spending time under the promises of God, quietly listening in prayer, will change you.
Jesus said, "The prince of the world has nothing in me."
Can a Christian be under the prince of this world's influence? Yes. A Christian can have anything they want.
Can a Christian follow Jesus on the outer circle, equally influenced by media and the bible? Yes.
Can a Christian be in a position to be under the influence of Jesus in everything? Yes!
When you are under the influence of Jesus, you are under the influence of the power that was around Him and flowed through Him.
This is an influence that will expand your authority...
"And these miracles and signs will accompany those who believe: They will drive out demons in My Name. They will speak in tongues. They will be supernaturally protected from snakes and from drinking anything poisonous. And they will lay hands on the sick and heal them." Mark 16:18
This is an influence that will expand your peace...
"Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell Him every detail of your life, then God's wonderful peace that transcends human understanding will make the answers know to you through Jesus Christ." Philippians 4:6-7
This is an influence that will expand your joy...
"May the God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust Him. And may the POWER of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His superabundance until you radiate with hope." Romans 15:13
When you position yourself under the influence of Jesus, the Holy Spirit's power will flow to every area of your life.