All the Influence of My Life; John Hawkins

Why was Christ here?
I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave. John 14:30-31

Why am I here and who do I want to be here
In understanding Christian influence in secular contexts, we must answer first why we are here and who we are to be, before we answer what we are to do.

1. Blend in
2. Hide out
3. Play victim
4. Establish our boudaries
5. Honor God and Serve His Purposes

When people are holy, they are holy for the same reason: they belong to God, serve him and function with respect to his purposes.

Why are you here?

• To glorify God in all that we do (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 10:31, 1 Peter 4:10-11)
• To promote what is good, restrain what is evil and provide for our needs and the needs of others
• To help other come to faith in Christ and grow in that faith
• For my faith and character to grow (Hebrews 11:6, Romans 5:3-5)

By God's grace, 

To step forward as God's man, 

In my spheres on influence, 

To serve His purposes,

For His glory. 

He is Lord of All

No Single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: "Mine!"

He Must Have All the Influence of My Life

"And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life." 

General William Booth

Founder of the Salvation Army

The Greatness of a man's power is His Surrender

"I LOVE THE FATHER AND I WILL DO ANYTHING HE ASKS ME TO DO"

Hebrews 10-12

God’s Recruitment Strategy for Leaders

God’s Recruitment Strategy for Leaders
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Wednesday, August 24 2011

“Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.” Acts 9:8a
When God calls one of His servants into service, there is often much travail. There are many examples where God makes His presence known through circumstances that tax the individual to his very soul.
Consider Paul, who was stricken blind on the Damascus road.
Consider Peter; when he denied Jesus after the crucifixion, he was in total despair.
Consider Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into the fiery furnace.
Consider Daniel, who was thrown into the lions’ den.
Consider David, who was forced to flee his former employer for many years and lived as a fugitive.
It may seem strange to us that God uses such incredible adversity to prepare His servants for greater service, but this is God’s way. God knows that the human heart is incapable of voluntarily stepping into situations that take us beyond our comfort zone. He intentionally brings us into hard places to prove us and to drive us deeper into the soil of His grace.
In arid regions of the world, trees cannot survive unless their roots grow deeper to where the water table can be found. Once they reach the water, these trees become stronger than any tree that can be found in tropical climates. Their root systems ensure that they can withstand any storm. In the same way, God brings us into extremely difficult situations in order to prove His power and drive our spiritual roots deeper.
Friend, God may take you through times when you will question His love for you. In such times, you must cling to His coattail so that you see His purposes in it. Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him’” (Hebrews 10:36-38).

Crucify Yourself or Crucify Your Relationships

How can we be led by the truth and not our feelings?

The first is that,one way or the other, we will have to be broken. We will either be broken by a lie or by the truth. Jesus could have walked away from his sacrifice, but in doing so He would have actually ended up being alienated from His Father's will and heart. He had a choice - to resist the cross and leave the world a broken place, or else to be broken Himself so that the world might be drawn near and live.

The second is to unwittingly affirm the underlying message of the cross that even in the most evil expressions of life, God must be somewhere within reach. As we look around at the feeling-less atrocities we wonder, Where is God? And the answer comes: He is right in the middle -at the receiving end of our atrocities. When we come face to face with the cross, we have to make a choice: We either recognize the implications and bring ourselves, our passions and all that we are, to be crucified with Christ so that we might live within the sound of His voice and feel of His heart, or we walk away from the cross feeling alienated from God and others. We hear so much about coming to Christ but not enough about being crucified with him.

Something has to die, either the lie to which the feelings are subject, the truth to which those feelings must conform. Do we trust God and His truths, or do we trust our feelings and this worlds promises for the moment. Where do you go? The apostle Paul made a very simple statement to Timothy: "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." 2 Tim 1:12

Language of Obedience

Obedience builds and strengthens faith. We see this several times in the Scriptures. Moses,Ezekiel, Hosea and Jonah did not fell like doing what God had asked them to do. In fact, every heartbeat within them was impelling them do do otherwise. Yet God said they were to obey. The remedy was not to do God's will becuase they felt like doing it, but just to do it and their faith would be strengthened.

When Moses demanded proof that God has indeed called him, God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain" (Ex 3:12) The proof of God's call was after the obedience, not before.

This language of Obedience may be the most difficult of all the languages we speak, one that rises above our feelings but utters volumes of faith. There are times when a difference arises between my wife and me. I have watched her stand tall at those times, and I have seen triumph of her love vanquish any dark and petty inclination. She is never afraid to reach out and resist the ugly trap of stubbornness.We do, we obey, we yield, we submit to God, even when our natural inclination wants to drag us in the opposite direction.

Under the threat of death Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood their ground and were sure God would deliver them. "But even if he does not," they said "we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods and worship the image of gold you have set up" (Dan 3:18) I suggest that our secular society has lost its ability to feel God because it has lost its ability to obey Him.

Psalm 119:33-34

33 Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees,
that I may follow it to the end.[a]
34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.

From "Masterwork" week of July 24th, Cries of the Heart

To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain

"For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

The secret of a sound body is a sound heart, and the prayer of the Holy Ghost for us is, that we "may be in health and prosper even as our soul prospers."

We find Paul in the Epistles to the Philippians expressing a sublime and holy indifference to the question of life or death. Indeed he is in a real strait, whether he would prefer "to depart and be with Christ," or to remain still in the flesh.

The former would indeed be his sweetest preference, but the latter would be at the same time a joyful service. His only object in wanting to live is to be a blessing. "To abide in the flesh is more needful to you."

Having reached this state of heart, it is beautiful to notice how quickly he rises to the victorious faith necessary to claim perfect strength and health. Because it is more needful to you that I abide in the flesh, he adds, "I know that I shall continue with you all, for your furtherance and joy of faith." Lord, help me to-day to "count not my life dear unto myself that I may finish my course with joy and the ministry that I have received of Jesus."

You will Receive from the Lord

Phillipians 6:8 - Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord Whether he is a slave or free

Throughout the Bible, the Lord promises that he will generously reward His children for "whatever good" they do, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Faithful service yields staggering blessing.