Devotional

[00:00:00] Glad for the opportunity to be with you this evening and to worship together. I'm just amazed at the potential for influence in many, many different communities across our land that is here sitting here tonight. And those are some of the thoughts that I'd like to look at as we ponder what God would have us to do with what we've heard. I trust that we can use some of what we gained to help us to be better servants in our communities. [00:00:38] Turn with me to Luke chapter 7. I'd like to read verses 2 through 10 and just pick out a few thoughts from that. Luke chapter 7, beginning in verse 2. And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying that he was worthy for whom he should do this. [00:01:16] For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them, and when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof. Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee but say in a word and my servant shall be healed For I also am a man set under authority having under me soldiers and I say unto one go and he goeth and to another come and he cometh [00:01:52] And to my servant do this and he doeth it When Jesus heard these words or these things he marveled at him and turned him about and said unto the people that followed him I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. One of the greatest responsibilities that we have as leaders is to influence people. [00:02:24] In fact, it's been said that leadership is influence. And I think God has called each of us that have been called to ministry To inspire enthusiasm in the hearts of the people that are under us To call them to service You know, we can't do everything that God wants needs done But somehow God has put us in positions where we influence others to also do His work You know, God wants us to develop within the hearts of our people a desire to cultivate meaningful relationships. [00:03:08] To develop a desire for growth and a better understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Also to challenge an aspiration to excellence. to be all that we can be for God's kingdom because we have a limited amount of time here. You know, too often we're caught up with the desire to impress people rather than to influence them. And there's a difference. That's not impressing them isn't necessarily influencing them. [00:03:40] God calls us to be an influence. And I think the setting here, the centurion that sent Jewish elders to Jesus requesting healing for his servant He seems to have been a man that had influenced people Note that he cared, note the care that was evident for those that were under him He cared about this servant that was sick He had the respect obviously of the Jewish people [00:04:12] The elders, and that seems quite unusual, especially considering the animosity that was between Jews and Romans. In spite of a position of authority over others, his humility shows through. That means, I think he knew who he was. He said, I am a man, he didn't say of authority, he said, I am a man under authority. [00:04:47] Notice his focus. And brethren, let us never forget that we are also under authority. That's an important aspect to remember as we deal with people and as we seek to influence them, is to remember that we are under an authority and God has put us under an authority. And when we focus on the authority that is over us, then it puts us in a position to influence people, to make a difference in their lives. [00:05:21] The most important thing, I think, is that you remember that your relationship with God defines the scope of your influence. How you relate to God and when other people can't see you, your relationship with God is what is crucial. The rest of your life flows out of that. You know, when you attempt to impress people rather than influence them [00:05:55] with your gifts and your abilities, and I know all of you have gifts and abilities, but let's remember that God wants us to use them to honor Him. When we try to impress people, then the focus often begins with and ends with me. And the effort that goes into the impression that is being tried to make is often a selfish thing. [00:06:27] But God wants us to honor Him. Another thing that happens when we try to impress people is we are controlled by feelings that are unreliable and subject to change. Just to give you a little illustration of how easily our feelings can change from one thing to another. And this is something that happened in my life a number of years ago. [00:06:59] The example took place 14 years ago when I was ordained. Our five-year-old son was sitting with other family members back in the crowd somewhere. And when he realized that the lot was in the book that Dad had chosen, it was, his response was, yay, my dad won. And we laugh at it because, well, it was his perspective. And you know how often we, sometimes in our efforts to impress people, why we focus on what we have to bring to it or how it blesses us or what a difference it makes to us. [00:07:40] But less than six months later and numerous preacher meetings that took me away from home He seriously one day asked his mom, when is this deacon thing going to stop? And so, you know, he flipped to the other side And so let's not rely on our feelings Those are not very dependable The third thing is God is deprived of an opportunity to receive glory when I try to impress people [00:08:10] Because the focus is beginning with and ending with me And then of course the rewards at best when we try to impress people are limited, they're hollow and unfulfilling Jesus said when you do your alms before men to be seen of them, that's the extent of the reward you get So let's influence people because those types of impact on lives last much longer. [00:08:41] They have the potential to last into eternity. Long-lasting positive influence is the result of God's work in your personal life. It means you're taking seriously your relationship with the Lord. You deal with the issues that come up in your life. The bitterness that you may struggle with, the unforgiveness, just whatever the issues are that you struggle with, it's learning to deal with those on a personal level. And then that equips us, it's out of that that we make a difference to other people. [00:09:19] You know, God works in us first, and then he works through us. But I'm glad that he doesn't wait until we've got it all together, but he uses us even in spite of our weakness, in spite of our imperfections, but there are certain requirements that are necessary and that's, we need to be aware of our own weakness and we need to be honest with it. I think your people will probably not expect you to be perfect, but they do hope that you're honest, both with yourself and with them. [00:09:54] The potential for our life to impact and influence others positively becomes a reality when it is God that is working in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. See, we're very limited when what we try to accomplish is done in our own strength because there's limits to our abilities. But when we tap into God's strength, there's no limit to what God can do when men are available to allow God to use them. [00:10:34] I like the illustration that was given earlier about a tool, a hammer, I think Brother Eli alluded to this forenoon, a hammer in God's hand. Someone gave me a note at my ordination and said that you're just, in the same way that a hammer cannot drive in a nail by itself, neither can you do God's work by yourself. And I've never forgotten that. His strength and grace is without limit. So let's tap into that. [00:11:05] I challenge you this evening to let God give you grace to reject the impulse to impress people because it's fleeting. And may God bless you as you embrace his call to influence those he has placed in your care. God bless you.