We have all read the story of good old Mary and Martha! I have heard it preached SO MANY TIMES. Every time the point was always about spending time in the presence of the King… well I recently read this scripture and God took me down a different path in regards to understanding Luke 10:38-42 and applying it to my daily life.

Look at this scripture from the viewpoint of being a neighbor hosting some folks for a delightful, friendly meal.

^“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42

I would consider sisters Mary and Martha “neighbors” to Jesus. They weren’t family, but they were still in a relationship that opened the door to host Jesus at their home for a meal. Sounds like they fall in the neighbor category to me.

Let’s define neighbor. Neighbor – those who live in your community, co-workers, those we see often at church, the gym, the kids sports game, and ANYONE ELSE you can think of! Jesus’ definition of “neighbor” included strangers beat up and left for dead on the side of the road… so that pretty much sums up that EVERYONE God brings across our paths in a day can be included in the neighbor category.

When it comes to reaching out to my neighbors I can very easily make them into a to-do list! Can I get an amen from anyone? I have, on more than one occasion, sat down and made a list of “neighbors” that I need to check off my list by spending time with them! EEK! Making people a to-do list isn’t exactly an authentic way to create meaningful relationships with them. Anyone else guilty here?

Martha was guilty! She and Mary invite Jesus and his fellas over for a meal and we see two very different mindsets of how to engage with our neighbors! Martha, busy getting the checklist done so the people in her home feel valued and have a good experience. Mary, sitting with Jesus and authentically engaging in conversation with him. Hmmmm, which one of these women sound like you when it comes to your neighbors? I must confess I am so much MARTHA that it hurts. It hurts because I know WHY my default is to act more like her… it is easier! It is easier to be busy with tasks and hope that it makes others feel welcome and loved, rather than face to face, awkward conversation that requires you to listen, learn, grow and love!

Think about your habits when it comes to interacting with those people who are in your neighbor sphere of influence. People at work, do you slow down and really care about how they are? What about people at church? And those folks you wave to every day when you grab your mail, that’s if you even look around to make eye contact. These are the people God put in our lives so that we could influence them to know him. Hard to do when we make them a to-do list.

 Our Challenge: To authentically engage with the people who surround our worlds every single day, our neighbors. Be the AWKWARD NEIGHBOR! Get over our comfortable little bubble, step out of it and enter into the life of someone waiting to hear about the hope of the world. This means letting down our guards and allowing others into our world too. Their life is worth it.  Eternity is worth it. Jesus is worth it.

2 Timothy 1:3-7 “I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 

In 2 Timothy Paul is writing a letter to Timothy. In vs. 5 he brings up a very important part of Timothy’s story that I want us to hang out on for a moment…

“ I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”

These 2 women are not accidentally mentioned. They are brought into the letter because their faith influenced Timothy in such a way that he too decided to walk in it. A grandmother and a mom influenced someone that spread the Gospel alongside of Paul on his second and third missionary journey and ultimately went on to Pastor the church in Ephesus. Timothy was influenced by the faith of his family, and every single one of us has family that we can influence through our own faith.

I want to remind us who family is… Our family are blood relatives and those friends that are family by choice. (A dear friend of mind would call this “FRAMILY”.)

My family consists of:

1. People I didn’t pick to be in my life, I was born into those relationships.
2. People I chose. I am married and I picked my handsome husband and then we chose to have 2 amazing daughters.
3. People God places. I have those around me that FEEL more like family than friends. They are the close ones that we do life with daily and on the deepest levels. They are the ones that can see your house dirty and the piles of laundry you hide from others.

Your family probably looks similar to mine and because of this, we share one common fact about family… it is the hardest place to intentionally influence with the Gospel. Especially with those stubborn ones around us who outright want to have nothing to do with Jesus. However, the truth is, it is the one place that God has undoubtedly placed you to have the BIGGEST influence.

Are you daily aware of the influence you’re having over your family? The way you spend your time when they are near? Or how about how you spend your time when they are out of site. Are you intentionally leaning into the Holy Spirit and listening to how he would use you in the lives of those closest to you? Or are you on autopilot going throughout your daily routine and choosing not to be interrupted by what God may ask of you?

What family members in your life are the hardest to be salt and light too for you, and why do you think this is?

I have a small wooden sign that hangs in my home that says “365 new days, 365 new chances”. Every time I look at that statement it reminds me that I have not failed in any of my attempts in life because today I get to try again. Take a minute and think through if there is something that you could change in your daily routine that would allow more space for you to be intentional with those closest to you regarding influencing them with the Gospel. Make a decision to step in that direction and don’t look back… but if you do, tomorrow is a new day to remember that your INFLUENCE matters to those closest to you. Be salt. Be light. Be God’s unwavering love to those he has placed directly in front of you.

{This is the first entry of what will be multiple entries dancing around the topic of INFLUENCE. Stay tuned for more over the coming weeks.}

Matthew 5:13-16 tells us “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” 

We find more about who we are called to be in I Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 

And one of my favorites, 2 Corinthians 5:20 that says “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Each of these scriptures shows us the potential influencer we can be.

Influence oozes into and out of every part of our lives, daily, minute by minute. I find so often I live most of my life in the mindset that I have nothing to offer those around me yet the truth is that I do. I can offer my influence.

Influence is that weird unseen power that every person has.

INFLUENCE – the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone

Not one person on the face of the earth is exempt from being affected and affecting others through the power of influence, including you. Let’s do a fun little exercise. Think about the first few hours of your day today. Maybe you woke up, made your bed, drank coffee, showered, got dressed, spent time with Jesus, woke others up, prepared breakfast, walked a dog, scrolled Instagram….

What did you do this morning? Think through how you were influenced in making every one of those decisions. How did you pick your coffee, your creamer, even your mug? Did you read or hear about what coffee others say is good and so you tried it, which led you to buy it, brew it and enjoy it today? What about the products you used in the shower, your make-up, and your clothes? Even how you spend time with Jesus is influenced by what we have learned from others regarding “quiet times” and I am sure you were intentional in the tools you used based on someone influencing you to use those tools! We are SO influenced in everything we do!

Now, think about whom you influenced in the process of what you did this morning. Often women set the tone of environments. So what tone did you set in the places you were? Have you ever been with someone that was in a bad mood and it got all on you? Were you that person today? Or were you joyful, humming praise to God under your breath and smiling at every person you saw? And I bet you didn’t stop to think about the people who would look at your outfit today and either decide if they don’t like it or if they will try to find jeans just like the ones you wore (don’t tell me you have never looked at another woman and thought, “I wonder where she got that?”). If you walked your dog this morning you made his day amazing! The list is never-ending to the unseen power of influence.

So what does the Bible say about us as followers of Christ and our influence? It says that we are salt, light, a royal priesthood and ambassadors of Christ! So who are we supposed to be that influence to? There are 3 spheres, or groups of people, that each one of us has in our lives with potential to influence significantly.

1. Our Family. Blood relatives and those friends that are family by choice.
2. Our Neighbor. Co-workers, neighbors, and those we see often at church, the gym, the kids sports game, etc…
3. Our World. The people we run into around our city that we don’t have a relationship with, those that live in other places that we only hear about in the news, a great sermon or a book we are reading.

Think about how many points of contact you have with others throughout your average day. As you ponder the numerous faces your path crosses in a 24 hours period, read the following words…

The slightest breeze that ever blew
Some slender grass has wavered,
The smallest life I ever knew
Some other life has flavored.

We cannot live our lives alone
For other lives we touch
Are either strengthened by our own,
Or weakened just as much. –Author Unknown

When you think of yourself do you see yourself as salt, light, a royal priesthood and ambassadors of Christ like the scriptures you read above call you?

 Ask God in your own words to see yourself and your role in the earth the way he created it to be. You are an INFLUENCER. 

“Why so downcast oh my soul, put your hope in God.”

Anyone remember that little diddy?  It was a song found on some christian tape I had, yes I said “tape”, I am old(er). Following the advice of that song is easier said than done. In theory, it should be simple because God is so easy to hope in. The hard part of it is not HIM, the hard part is US!

Every single day I am faced with discouragement. Sometimes it’s the simple, dumb discouragement that doesn’t take long to overcome, just a clear mind and a little space to think. Other times it is the kind of discouragement that leaves me feeling like I have been kicked in the gut with no life line to heal my wounds. These are the moments that I have some choosing to do. Stay on the ground curled up in a little wounded ball, lick my wounds and complain about how bad I hurt OR call on God to fill me with His strength to rise, His healing for my wounds and His power to use my pain. Here’s the thing, laying on the floor seems like such a valid option. WHY?  Because we are human, I am human. I want people to see my pain and remind me that I am justified in feeling all of it! I want people to come lay on the floor with me and tell me that I have every right to feel the way I do. Discouraged.

Discouraged – Having lost confidence or enthusiasm; disheartened.

I have this very human side of me that when I loose confidence or enthusiasm and become disheartened I want people to feel it with me and tell me it is ok that I am human! Here’s the problem with that… if I stay there too long, I begin to really believe it. I begin to let it become who I am. I become a victim of discouragement. And from that place, I have very little to offer because all I can see is my own dreadful need to stand, walk and be whole. So what do I do? I call out to the God who can save me from my discouragement, even if it’s a whisper from the heap on the floor and I can barely muster the words on my breath. I call out. You see, no matter how far down we feel like we have fallen, or how hard we feel like we have hit the ground, or how long we have stayed there, God is who he says he is. He will answer when we call and for that I am thankful. I am thankful for the times it’s so easy to put my hope in him and I am thankful for the times when I have chosen to crumple into a ball on the floor and he hears me anyway.

Discouragement sucks. It just does. On any level, no matter how simple or how deep it runs. But we have a God who is unchanging, so faithful and loves us deeper than we can dream of. So when discouragement comes creeping around the corner like a hairy spider that wants to bite the life out of you (and it will), wether something little or something that leaves you feeling defeated, remember the old school song “why so downcast oh my soul, put your hope in God” and know that you are just a breath away from him rescuing you. He is our hope.

Here are some reminders of how to cling to our HOPE in times of discouragement: 

• PRAY. Instead of dwelling on your feelings, dwell on the creator of the universe. Call out to him, be honest with him, ask him for his help.
  • Pray Scriptures like this one if you can’t find the words to speak…
    • Psalm 33:20-22 (EX

      ²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
          he is our help and our shield.
      ²¹ For our heart is glad in him,
          because we trust in his holy name.
      ²² Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
          even as we hope in you.

• READ. Open your Bible and read! His word is a lamp unto your feet in the middle of the darkest places. Let his words of truth sink deep into your soul, it will not return void. You are valuable to God and so loved, be reminded! He will never leave you or forsake you. Start with…
  • Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

    ¹⁰ fear not, for I am with you;
        be not dismayed, for I am your God;
    I will strengthen you, I will help you,
        I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

  • Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

    ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

• WORSHIP. Put your attention and affection on the Lord. Sing your little heart out even if you don’t feel like it. Every word of adoration for God that you sing welcomes Him into your moment of life. He inhabits the praises of His people. He dwells there and fills us with His presence and where His presence is, discouragement can not linger.
• SHARE. Everyone has those one or two people in our lives that we can pour our guts out to. People we trust with the most beautiful parts of who we are and the most wretched parts of who we are. Share with someone you trust, someone who will remind you that God is your hope.
• SERVE. We each were created with the need to help rescue others. It is part of God’s DNA in us to live a life on mission for His glory. Choose to look at someone else’s needs instead of your own and find ways to help them.
  • Great places to serve
    • A Neighbor in Need
    • Church and/or it’s Local Partners in your City
    • Local Shelter or Soup Kitchen
    • Co-Worker in Crisis

Today.  Today I woke up, just like you, to the news that someone opened fire on a concert in Vegas.  58 lives taken and over 500 more wounded.  Heavy hearted I began to sort through my own emotions regarding what happened… and true to form my mind began to wonder through all the hard things that continue to hit our nation.  My wondering led me down the road of knowing that somewhere in the chaos God has a redemptive plan.

I think about the day that Jesus was betrayed by a friend, taken away by soldiers hurling lies at him, put before the people to be judged and ultimately found guilty for nothing at all.  He died.  Imagine that day.  Imagine being a friend of Jesus and experiencing that day.  Imagine believing he was the son of God… but he died.  The hope of the world, hanging there naked and dead.  And those who knew him, the feeling of hopelessness setting in as the crowds around Jesus’s tortured body yelled with excitement and anger.  No hope.  It was dead.  All seemed lost, chaotic, unreal and I bet those friends felt equally lost, confused, unsure and hopeless.

BUT GOD…  God took one of the hardest, darkest moments in the history of the world and turned it into the most redeeming moment we have ever known.  His son died so we could have life.  What seemed like loss was actually our gain.  What seemed like chaos was actually God’s plan.  What seemed unreal became the most real thing that could ever happen for mankind.  God wasn’t just bringing hope, he was bringing us the answer to everything!

I have to trust that when God says he is the same yesterday, today and forever that means TODAY there is hope, hope that our nation finds the answer, finds JESUS.  Today in the midst of chaos I trust there is a plan.  Today in the midst of such horrible loss God will bring gain.  I have to trust that God will take all of the hard, dark moments that continue to happen and he will redeem them.  My heart has been crying out for revival in the US.  A revival that brings this nation face to face with a God that loves us, face to face with a God that sent his son to die for our sins, face to face with a God that has redeemed us.  We need revival.  We need a nation that is brought to a place of desperation to realize that we need something more… we need God.  He is GOOD NEWS in a sea of horrible news.

Pain is real, but so is hope. 

History shows that every great move of God that has taken place comes in the midst of some of the hardest, darkest times the world has ever experienced.  Revival comes when people get desperate enough to realize they can’t do this life without God.  Revival comes when people realize that they have replaced the Lordship of Christ with all kinds of idols, sin, comfort and luke-warm living… and they begin to repent.  They begin to fall on their face and ask God to make them like him.  To have less of them and more of him.  They begin to long to be holy as God is holy to show the world that he is good and he is the way.  They begin to fall in love with the people around them and get desperate for them to know the answer, to know the one true God!

2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

I am taking my turn right now.

I am a sinner.  I daily choose my own preferences over following the spirit of God, from one minute to the next.  I am guilty.  I am guilty of putting my comfort above the voice of God.  The opposite of love is not hate, the opposite of love is selfishness.  When it comes down to it I can sum up my sin in one sentence.  I have chosen selfishness over love.  It manifests in all kinds of ways, but the root of all of it is that I so often choose me over loving.  Today I repent.  Today I beg God to make me more like him.  Today I ask God to purify my heart and show me my wicked ways so that I can surrender them and be changed.  Today I ask God all over again to use my life to show him to the world.  There is more I can do, there is more I can say, there is more of him to be made known.

This is hope guys, simple people surrendering daily to God and his plan.  In pain.  In chaos.  In loss…. there is hope, there is an answer to everything.

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches and glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Colossians 1:27

Christ in us is the hope of God’s glory being made known to the people around us and across the earth.  Let’s refuse to spend any amount of our live’s on being selfish when there are so many people that still haven’t even heard the name of Jesus.  Let’s recognize that we are conduits of God’s hope.  Let’s humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our selfishness.  Let’s embrace the fact that the moment we surrendered our lives to Jesus… his spirit in us became the hope of the world knowing him.  This is what hope looks like.  You have the answer, it is Christ in you.