Under the Influence!

Luke 4:1 – “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,”

Today, we are influenced by many things. When someone is stopped by the police and that individual has been drinking, we say they are under the influence of the alcohol. When people are flying high and acting out of character, we say that they are under the influence of a drug, or a demon.

Unfortunately, we can be under the influence of so much more! Influence is the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc. of others. Every where you look and everywhere you go, someone is trying to influence you.

Whether that influence is for good or for evil; or whether that influence is direct or indirect, make no mistake, we are affected by the people and things around us. Other powerful influences on mankind include the music we listen to, the movies and shows we watch, the books we read. For example, when a young man wants to propose to his love, he sets the mood with music, flowers, and a meal to influence her decision positively. When in the store, different types of music is played to influence your spending. When you read the word of God your faith in Him grows. When you are in a church service, soft quiet music is played to put you in a reverential mood, and so forth and so on.

But in our verse for today, Jesus is influenced by the Spirit of God and led to a destination. Luke wrote that Jesus was so full of the Holy Ghost that He led Jesus from Jordan and to the wilderness (Luke 4). The devil thought He had Jesus over a barrel. After all, He had been fasting for quite some time. But the Spirit of God led Him to fast and led Him to the wilderness to meet up with the devil, when the devil thought he was setting up the meeting. And because He was led of the Spirit, He whipped up on the devil with the Word of God!

Jesus’ victory was assured because of the leading of the Holy Spirit. We can learn a very important lesson from this verse: If God leads us to a place or in a situation, our victory is guaranteed! And if He doesn’t lead us, and we find ourselves in a tough spot, we can turn to Him for direction to come out victorious! Hallelujah!

Let’s return to the definition of the word influence and put the Holy Ghost in strategic places. When the Holy Spirit’s influence is upon your life, He is a compelling force on your behavior, your actions, your opinions, your words, and even your thoughts. His influence produces the desired effects upon every area of your life that you can name. He governs where you go, or don’t go; what you do or don’t do, what you say or don’t say, because you are under the influence. People worry about how to obey God’s rules. I like to say if we trust His leading, the rules will be taken care of! He will never lead us astray!

Under the influence of the Holy Spirit we are able to live by faith as the word declares. Under the influence we are able to forgive others! Under the influence we can live a life free of sin! Under the influence we can operate in the supernatural. Under the influence we can do what God says we can do, we can have what He says we can have, and we can be all that He calls us to be! Under the influence!

Don’t settle for a cheap imitation of influence when you can be influenced by the Spirit of God! Make up your mind today that His influence will have the greatest impact on your life, on your behavior, on your conversation, on your walk. The word tells us that those who are led by His Spirit are the children of God! Looking for proof that you belong to the Lord? Well, are you under His influence? Wonderful Jesus!!