Recognized

And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

Acts 4:29-31 NLT

Confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees, Peter and John had been thrown into prison for preaching the resurrection of the dead through Jesus Christ. How dare these ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures (vs 13) preach and teach and heal people with such boldness! A man who had been lame for 40 years - healed and whole, walking and talking and praising God. 

No special training - but they'd been with Jesus. (verse 13). And now they were filled with the Holy Spirit - bold and courageous, doing what Jesus did - preaching repentance and healing those who needed healing. Just like Jesus. 

Who are we hanging around? What rubs off on us from the people we hang with? Who are we spending our time with? Those influences are affecting the lives of those God has given us! Is it thus sayeth the Lord - or thus sayeth our current, favorite TV character? Think about it. Would we be recognized as having spent time with Jesus?

Prayer:

Father, 

          Forgive us for praying to get out of situations instead of trusting You for the strength and courage in the middle of it. Holy Spirit, rise up within us to give us boldness to speak Your Word wherever we find ourselves. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Under the Influence

Note: I'm traveling this week and have just recovered Internet access to resume the Promise for Today. 
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What I want to talk about now is the various ways God’s Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn’t know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It’s different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say “Jesus be damned!” Nor would anyone be inclined to say “Jesus is Master!” without the insight of the Holy Spirit.
1st Corinthians 12:1-3 The Message

In my travels this week, I saw a billboard for the anti-drug campaign, "Be Under Your Own Influence." I thought it was new, but it's actually more than a decade old, and considered to be quite successful in its' appeal to teens who are trying to establish their identity in the world. 

I'm glad it's indicating success as an anti-drug campaign - I really am - but I can't help thinking how my life operates when I am under my own influence... 

While I was packing for this trip, I heard my adult daughter in another part of the house exclaim in exasperation, "Oh, forevermore!!" It made me laugh because I knew exactly where that expression came from. When I worked in St. Louis, I had the privilege of working with Shelia Moran who became a lifelong friend of the heart. "Oh, forevermore!" was and still is Shelia's way of expressing disbelief at the absurd, idiotic and asinine in life's adventures. In our more than a decade of friendship, I, too, now use that same expression. It's a great illustration of the impact we have on those in our sphere of influence.

So WHAT are we allowing to influence our lives? WHO are we allowing to influence us? WHERE and HOW are we spending our time... and WHY? Whether we recognize it or not, we have a sphere of influence - our families, our friends, our co-workers. Whatever influences us will definitely and directly influence them. It's our responsibility to be under the proper influence.

Prayer:

Father,
          Open our eyes to see where the changes need to be made in our lives, so that we are influencing this world to see You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen