This morning I listened to one of my favorite podcast, "Influence - Breathe In, Breathe Out" in the "Chasing Daylight" series by Erwin McManus. In it he talks about how we Breathe In God, God then changes our character so that we can exhale, and Breathe out God onto the lives of others. This allows us to become people of influence, not of force. We don't force anything on anybody, we influence them in The Light of Christ!I want you to think about people of influence, good or bad. I promise you this, there is a common denominator with every person who has influence and it is this: They take a stand for what they believe in. Someone can be the greatest person and have amazing qualities, but if they live in "Character Neutral" and do not stand for anything, always "riding the fence" but never choosing a side, I promise you that they
will have absolutely no influence on anyone's life.
Here is a challenge for you, and challenges are good right? We rise to our best when challenged, so take this one with me.....as part of your 30 day challenge (see post on October 21, 2007 by Christian) think about people you can be a Christ-like influence on. Ask yourself, where do I frequent? Who am I around everyday? How can I influence them. You might be the person God sends to give someone hope who is hanging on by a thread. You might be the person who God sends to someone who is searching for purpose and meaning and trying to understand who God is or if Jesus cares....even if you never know the influence you have on someone until Eternity, always have the mindset of being a Christ-like influence....it might be only saying "hey" to someone, you never know, nothing is too small....
You know, sometimes all we do is inhale God, always breathing in. Think though, if all we did was breathe in, we would never blow off any carbon dioxide and it would be life threatening.
It's like the Dead Sea, the water is nothing you would want to drink or even swim in, it is basically dead water because it does not have any channels in which to flow out of, it just stays within its boundaries.
We must not only Breathe in The Life of God, but we must also Exhale and influence others with The Spirit of Christ!
