Take Note of Your Influence

“4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians 2:4-6(ESV)

by Alexandra Copeland

2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us that we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ! How wonderfully extraordinary is this?! We, you, me, and everyone else who has given their lives to Christ and made him Lord, have the distinct honor and esteemed pleasure to represent all that he stood and lived for. When you consider that Jesus Christ was the living Word of God, you can’t help but comprehend that being his ambassador is a tall order for sure. It is a call to action that requires us to put aside our own personal agendas for the sake of moving his forward. Not only is this the coolest thing ever, but it is the answer to all our questions and the very thing that gives our lives juice for peak performance from now until eternity.

Many individuals, Christian or not, have a really hard time believing and trusting this. They look at the complexities of our times and the condition of the world, and they can’t imagine that the stuff that God has given us is as powerful and awesome as it is. Well, the proof is in the pudding. The more you begin to live a life of faith, the more you see an up-close and personal demonstration of the power of God. You then see how He works through, in, and with you to accomplish some pretty amazing deeds in the earth.

In order to live a life of faith, our own doubts and fears must take a back seat to our trust in the Father. We can’t be persuaded by conditions and how things appear; for we walk by faith and not by sight. We have to think of the manner of our responses as a switch that allows us to flip off fear and flip on faith. We flip off the darkness and flip on the light. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:2 (ESV), “1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air,” Whewww! We were in pretty rough shape! We were dead. Our minds were filled with dead and dark thoughts, and our hearts were that way as well; all because we were spiritually cut off from God, the Source of all light. The switch was definitely off during those days, but this all changed when our blessed Lord and Savior came on the scene.

Ephesians 2:4-6 (ESV), tells us, “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Glory to God! This is powerful and rich, isn’t it? Jesus Christ plugged us into God, and made it possible for us to be quickened by the spirit. He turned the generator on inside our souls and God then downloaded His power, love, and strength into us! God zapped us into love consciousness and we became new creatures in Christ!

Do you know what this means? This means that everything you do and everyone you touch can be effected by the love of Christ that is operating on the inside of you. That’s because God has made you an influencer!

Listen, if you’ve got some mountain size challenges going on in your own life, yet you can smile at a person you’ve never met before and tell them to have a blessed and terrific day, you’ve got the right kind of ambassador attitude. Christ doesn’t want us faking it. He wants us to know that we don’t have to fake it. We can smile in the midst of adversity, not because we’re putting on some type of front, but because we know beyond knowing that God isn’t going to fail us.

This is the kind of faith that is contagious, and when others sense this about you, there’s no question that you’ve moved into the position of an influencer. Our precious Lord and Savior always knew that it was just that simple. It’s a matter of you making the fully conscious and free-will choice to flip the switch and turn on the love and light within you.

John said in John 21:25(NLT), “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” This is because Jesus Christ walked around with the power switch always in the “on” position. He is the living Word of God and when he was on this earth God’s love oozed from his every pore. The woman with the issue of blood for twelve years merely had to touch the hem of his garment in Matthew 9:20 and she was made whole. It’s extremely easy to see how he changed the entire world through God’s love.

As ambassadors of Christ, we are capable of the same extraordinary exploits, for the Master said himself in John 14:12 (NLT), “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” That’s pretty amazing, and it must be so, because if it wasn’t Jesus would not have said it. Through the spirit of Christ that indwells us, we are capable of so much more than we could ever imagine.

Again, God didn’t make all of this too complicated. It’s not difficult at all, we just have to trust His Word. We also must believe that we are the people that He says we are. We’re power-packed with His love, and through it we can accomplish infinitely more than we ever dreamed possible. Heavenly Father has been rooting for us to comprehend this on a very deep level. When you believe that God has empowered you through His love, you’ll talk and do things differently. You just won’t say and participate in negativity because you understand your ambassadorship. If you’re wondering where God is taking you, this is it. He’s bringing you to a place of highest privilege, where you know who you are as an influencer for Christ, and everything about you conveys it. ■

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Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.