Circle of Influence

There are many important things that a Christian must consider in regards to living our daily lives. Among the vast array of things that bid for a high spot on our priority lists is our circle of influence. There is not much to consider that is more important than our circle of influence. We must be aware of our circle of influence. Most of the time when this is spoken of we consider the people who have influenced us, the impact that they have had in our lives and in our character development, etc. 

     But this time I would like to discuss the people that we influence. God has given each of us particular dominion, and that dominion includes those persons that we are responsible for. Those persons can be in our family, our friends, coworkers, and sometimes just persons with whom we are briefly associated. 

     These two scriptures illustrate this point. The first is the story of Jonah. With Jonah we see how his negative actions affected all of the people who were sailing on the ship with him. All of those mariners were in danger of losing their lives, because Jonah decided to run from the Lord. We must understand that when we decide to sin, that the repercussions go beyond just us. The repercussions affect those people within the sphere of our influence.   Think about how your negative actions or poor decisions have affected those persons around you.

     In the book of Acts chapter 27, we see how Paul, while on his way to prison, was on a ship that was going to crash. There's a visit from an angel of the Lord, and the angel told Paul that because of who he was, and whose he was, despite the impending danger of the ships crashing, that no one would lose their life. Now, understand that he was on the ship with a boatload of criminals. These criminals may have deserved to die during the ship's crashing. But, because of how Paul had decided to live his life, they all would benefit from his decisions. They were in his circle of influence. 

   Now, think about how people close to you have benefited because of the good choices and behaviors that you have exhibited. 

   We must try to be more selfless, and make decisions based upon not only how it will affect us, but how it will affect those who are within our circle of influence. We must consider our actions not only for us, but for those over whom we have dominion. The same way that Jesus made a decision to go to Calvary. He thought more about you and me than the pain that He Himself would endure.

– We love you, and we are praying for you. Pastor Erroyl and Sister Pinky

Father,

Thank you for reminding me that my actions affect those around me, be them good or bad. Help me to be cognizant of my actions and to be led by the Holy Spirit in every area of my life.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen

Relationships Are Hard

Relationships are difficult, to say the least; be it a spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend, coworker, and of course our relationship with God. Each has its' own challenges. Each relationship, if it is to be fruitful, has to be nurtured. Those whom we love most, seem to hurt us the most easily, and the most deeply. Sometimes even trying to get them to understand how they have hurt us is difficult.

Many people who believe in God think that He is a distant watcher of the drama that is His creation. They picture Him... He sits atop an awe-inspiring, jewel encrusted throne peering through space at the goings-on of man. Never interfering... A cosmic bystander.

But, nothing can be further from the truth, God is all about relationships. Have you ever noticed that people seem to gravitate towards and focus on the wrath of God, or the overhyped depiction of God as vengeful/jealous? Throughout the Old Testament you will come across phrases like, "They will be MY people, and I will be their God".  Those sort of statements are even made after God had been rejected and disobeyed by those who claimed to love him... for centuries! So why would He make those sort of statements? We also see the answer to the question of, "why do we see the vengeful side of God." Deuteronomy 8:5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you... and, Job 5:17 Blessed is the one whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.",

Jesus was all about relationships while here on Earth... and even He was hurt by the relationships of those close to him.  (See John 7:5 and Matthew 13:57–58). His family rejected Him. The people of His own hometown rejected Him. His reply was the equivalent of saying that the people closest to you find it harder to see the great in you than do total strangers. No doubt that His feelings were hurt by the response of those closest to Him about His ministry. The whole purpose that Jesus came to earth was to save us from sin. It was all about relationship.

Now, if Jesus himself had to endure the difficulty of relationships, then so must we. We are made in His likeness after all. So don’t be surprised that those trials come. Be patient and kind. Try to see an alternative point of view in order to make peace. Do not repeatedly bring up past failures (Theirs nor yours). Above all else have compassion on them, and love on them. Like God, relationships have to remain paramount to us.

We Love you and We’re praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl, and Sis Pinky

Sis Pinky's prayer:

Almighty Father,

We are in awe that You desire to have relationship with us despite our sins and shortcomings. Help us to desire You more than anything on this earth and to be appreciative of the love you have for us.

In the mighty name of Jesus we pray,

Amen

Trust God for the Transition

When it's time for a change, trusting in the Lord is absolutely paramount to the success of the transition. The story of Abram (Gen. 12) remains remarkable to me. God told him to go. Get out of your country and your father's house, depart from your family, and go. But, He gives Abram no direction in which to travel. Not "Go in the direction of your

grandfather's village", nor, "go to the east as far as the sun rises."  Nothing like that was given him. God simply said go, and Abram gathered his immediate family, possessions, and went... Where? Wow, that's trusting in God. 

It can be difficult for us on a daily basis to trust God with something simple. It might be hard for me to change my normal route to the grocery store. Let alone, something as big as moving my family, changing jobs, returning to school, getting married, etc. What about you? Are you facing a change? A new home, car, business, city, or relationship?

We must learn to trust God for and through transitions. And, trust that He has prepared the destination for our arrival. For Abram, everything was already in place for his descendants (Gen 12:7), but he still had to go through the transition. He had to be molded, prepared by God through experiences. And it's the same way for us as well. He prepares us while on the journey, to be ready for the destination. 

A huge part that many people miss about a journey, is the fact there are lessons to be learned while on it. There will be bumps in the roads, and we will make mistakes, as Abram did (Gen. 12:13). There may be unscheduled layovers in Egypt and Bethel before reaching the promised land of Canaan. But, guess what... Our mistakes do not cancel the promises of God. You might delay, or slow the process, but God's promises are revocable only by Him. 

God prepares us for our destination while we are on the journey to the destination, AND He prepares the destination for us and our arrival!  Trust God for the transition. 

We love you, and we are praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl and Sis. Pinky

SALT

Sis. Pinky's Prayer:

Father, let us rejoice in You knowing that You have our best interests at heart. Help us to lean and rely on You in every single aspect of our lives and to trust You as You lead and guide us.

We love and praise you and we bless your Holy Name!

Amen!

Life Interrupted

How do you respond when you are interrupted; when things are not going as planned? 

Most of us are familiar with a story called "The Woman with the Issue of Blood... It comes from all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8).  In Matthew's telling Jesus is speaking, literally in the middle of what might be considered a sermon when He's interrupted by a father seeking healing for his daughter. Jesus' reaction was to stop preaching and go to the young girl…on the way there, He's interrupted again. This time by the 'woman with the issue of blood'. How does He react.. the bible illustrates that He looked on her with compassion.

I don't know about you, but that's stepping on my toes, driving down my street, and parking in my garage. I tend to closely guard my time, and may not always respond as kindly as our Lord Jesus does. Jesus was interrupted, while already attending to an interruption.. He left one engagement to help and while on the way to the other he paused, looked on her with compassion and sent her away in peace.  

Church, believers, followers... are we looking like Jesus? Acting like Jesus? An interruption is a great way to ascertain where we are in our walk with Christ because it is unexpected; a change in the regularly scheduled program- a curve ball. 

We love you, and we are praying for you,

~Pastor Erroyl and Sis. Pinky

SALT

Sis. Pinky's Prayer:

Lord, thank you for reminding me that I am an ambassador for you. Help me to be a willing vessel and to give myself away! Forgive me when I haven't had a mind to serve and have had a selfish mindset.

We love you Jesus and thank you for loving us!

In Jesus' name,

Amen

It’s About Time

My wife's favorite color is blue, her favorite movie (God bless her) is 'Coming to America", her favorite song changes with the season of life that she's in, but she has a special affinity for "He's Able", Her favorite scripture? "I will look to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord." I could go on and on with her dress size, shoe size, (and because I'm smart) her ring size. That knowledge comes from putting in time with her; consistently. 

Can you really say that you love someone if you do not spend time with them? If other things steal your attention, focus, and commitment from the one you say you love, is that really love? Guess what? This applies for God too.

We say we love Him, but do we spend time with Him? Do we log hours watching Scandal, Real Housewives, SportsCenter, sporting events, but yet can't seem to find the 30 minutes to read the bible? Is the 20 second grace prior to eating a meal our only daily prayer? Do we check Facebook more than the bible? Be honest... You know that's a problem. 

So how then can we justify saying that we love Him? We've got to step our game up, and put in the time with Him. We must read more, pray more, praise and worship more, and LOVE more (and more consistently also).

Are there too many distractors and detractors in our lives vieing for HIS time? Are we putting time in with our Lord and Savior? Or, are we giving His time away to gods that we've made?

Jesus said that we should love God with everything that we have, are, AND above all else (Matt 22:37). Do our actions show that? Or, do we simply talk a good game?  1 John 3:18 says that we should love with ACTION and NOT with words!  Show God with your actions just how much you love Him. It's about time, that we give Him, His time.

I love you, and I am praying from you.
~Pastor Erroyl

SALT

Jesus is Real!

People want God to work like magic in their lives. It's funny how people think. Jesus is real, Jesus is NOT magic. He is not a mythical, man-created god. Most of the time, God chooses to work in your life through the experiences that you have. He chooses to show himself to you through movements within your circumstances. 

I've had people to ask me why doesn't God do miracles the "same" way He did in the days of the Bible. That is a valid question. And here's the answer... 1) He does...  Ask/Look around you'll see them. They are literally everywhere.   2) If you don't give honor to God when He does a small miracle in your life, like stretching your money til the end of the month-the next payday, why would you give him glory for something big (here's your biblical reference: read the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Luke 16:19-31). 

For some people, it wouldn't matter what miracle they saw, they have purposed in their hearts to be unconvinced, and unbelievers.

Sis Pinky's Prayer:

God, We know that You are omnipotent and sovereign. Forgive us for taking the small miracles You bless us with daily for granted. Help us to be grateful for all that You do for us.

In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen

Forgiveness: Accept it, Give It, Apply it.

When you understand that God loves you regardless of who you have become, you can forgive yourself, and begin working on who you are supposed to be. Too many times we allow our past failures to keep us in a perpetual state of failing. Or, our past successes to keep us in a perpetual state of disillusionment. Either way, we are not where God wants us to be. He loves you, despite what you've done. Forgive yourself, and turn away from the sin. 

I love you, and I am praying for you.

~Pastor Erroyl

Sis Pinky's Prayer:

I love you Jesus and thank you for taking my place on the cross. Your Word says, " whom the Son sets free is truly free indeed", so I stand in agreement with Your Word and declare that I am free! Thank you God for molding me into who You want me to be. Enable me with the ability to walk boldly in Your freedom.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen