I remember when a “certain person” finished a project
that he had been working on for some time.
Standing in front of his masterpiece he made this statement, “Look what I did.” The mental pointing finger of “How can he be so prideful and vain?”
popped into my head almost automatically.
It wasn’t long after that event I found myself thinking
the same way when I finished directing a play, but as a “good” Christian I
didn’t say it out loud.
Welcome new friends this week from:
See if your city/state/country made the list.
New on DFB – Fuengirola,
& Granada, Andalucia, Spain; Charlottetown, PEI & Winnipeg, MB, Canada;
Mumbai; Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan; Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India; Ivrea, Piedmont,
Italy; San Pablo City, Calabarzon, Philippines; Bahamas; Bulgaria; Lebanon;
Denmark; Libya; Argentina; Cameroon.
USA – Altoona, PA; Newton, Harding & Sussex,
NJ; North Hartsville & Pine Ridge, SC; Sunrise & Dundee, FL; Tuscaloosa,
AL; Canby, OR; Yakima, WA; McIntosh, GA.
Thank you for your continued support and sharing Believing
Our Belief on Daily Favor. (DFB -
Daily Favor Blog) Living
my life before God and man, by sharing experiences as I walk out my faith.
You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below. All are private. I would love to hear from
you and how Daily Favor has worked in your life. Contact me by leaving a message in the box at
the bottom of this week’s post.
Don't miss
out on this week's challenge (below).
Oh, that Nose, that Beautiful Nose!
Did Santa’s statement to Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer
come to your thinking when you read this sub-title? I thought it would, and so I was effectively
influential in what I set out to have my readers do. Was this an honest way to
communicate a message in order to get you to continue reading, even though it
was effective? One might go as far as
saying it was a little prideful for me to think I could influence people like
that.
My intentions weren’t really to draw your attention to a
red nose, but rather to a statement about a nose. Isn’t it something how we
can manipulate thoughts by our words? Well,
that’s what happened when someone said two words to me and it had nothing to do
with noses.
Anne of Green Gables is a big thing in our house. We love
watching the films, and my husband and I have our favorite parts about each of
the movies.
Like most couples we have
codes or phrases that make us laugh, but there are also some theatrical lines
that help us keep those prideful moments in check. One of them is from a scene with Anne Shirley
when she was having a conversation with her best friend Diana and Diana’s rich Aunt
Josephine.
The three ladies had returned to Aunt Josephine’s
house after a rather ritzy luncheon where they heard opera singer Madame
Selitsky sing “Non mi dir, bell’ idol
mio”, a song from the Mozart opera “Don
Giovanni.”
There was some chit chat about their afternoon when the
aunt asked Anne what she thought of city life and the high society crowd. Then the girls exchanged criticisms with Anne
leading the way.
Anne: Madame
Selitsky had a definite alabaster brow, Diana.
Diana: Did you
see Alice Bell there, parading around like she had an alabaster brow?
Here comes the zinger …
Anne: If I had
Alice Bell’s crooked nose, I wouldn’t … Oh no, I shouldn’t have said that. That’s uncharitable. I was comparing it to my own nose and that is
vanity. Someone complimented me on my nose long ago and I’m afraid I’ve
thought about it far too much ever since.”
Getting a compliment on a job well done is fine, and
should be rewarded, but when you’ve “thought about it far too much” that’s when
pride and vanity have overstepped their bounds in the life of a believer.
As you’ve gathered that happened to me a few weeks ago,
thus this article!
Top Influencer
It wasn’t a big deal really, or it shouldn’t have been,
but I took it seriously and “I’m afraid
I’ve thought about it far too much ever since.”
Someone had remarked online that I was a “top influencer”
and I have to say I kind of liked that.
As a matter of fact, I liked it so much that I saved it to my
email. When I was sharing the glorious
moment my loving, devoted husband willingly flagged it, totally taking
me down with the line from the movie. Busted!
To be fair I did question what and who I was influencing
(after stepping off the enormous ego cloud).
Was I really making a difference?
I was getting excited that I was about to reach one million views on my
social media sites and questioned … “why?”
Tons of people have reached that and millions more. Why were people checking out my articles or sites? Was I making a difference or was it what they
call “stumble upon it” traffic?
Effectiveness
I can’t say I’ve actually “studied” it to some depth; after all it's only one chapter. How much can there be to study? (You won’t share that confession with my Bible instructors right?)
It didn’t take me long to stop reading and focus on the
opening verses of the single chapter. At night
I read from my electronic Bible and the setting is on large. When you view the scriptures only two lines
show up at a time.
What I’ve noticed over the years is when reading like
that specific words or phrases jump off the screen. When that happens I pause
and ask the Holy Spirit what’s going on that I need to grasp in that passage.
This is what I was reading and how it looked on my electronic Bible screen.
(Philemon 1:1-7 KJV)
1 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto
Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow labourer,
2 And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier, and to
the church in thy house:
3 Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,
5 Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord
Jesus, and toward all saints;
6 That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good
thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
7 For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the
bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. (Philemon 1:1-7 KJV)
I got so excited about verse six that I spent three days
contemplating it and going over the sentence in my mind. The words that showed on my Bible screen were
“that the communication of thy faith may become effectual.”
Often the word communicate in the Bible refers to giving
financially, and we know Philemon did that. However, that’s not what Paul was
saying in this particular passage. He told Philemon that he prayed that the
“communication” or “fellowship” of his faith would become effective in the
lives of other believers by the way he showed his faith outwardly through good
works.
So, does being influential mean we have been effective? If
so, what are we or who are we “effecting” (and affecting) with our influence?
Is This Correct?
Wanting to make sure of what I believed this to mean, I
cross referenced and combined the phrases (not to change or take away from the
scriptures, but for comprehension and teaching purposes) from several lessons
and translations, including Greek. This
is how it reads in plain language:
3 Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God, making mention of you
always in my prayers, 5 Hearing of your love and faith, which you
have toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;
6 And I am praying that the communication (fellowship
sharing) of your faith may become effectual (effective; put into action) and
powerful by the acknowledging (accurate knowledge as you understand and
experience) of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
7 For we have great joy and consolation (comfort and
encouragement) in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been
refreshed by your kindness, brother Philemon. (emphasis mine)
Effective Influencer
Although this New Testament book/letter discusses
forgiveness of a master to a slave when Onesimus becomes a Christian, the Lord
was revealing something more.
What God was showing me is that He wants His children to
be effective in the way they influence others, and even shows favor to those
who actively share their faith in Him.
When we testify about what we believe and why we believe the way we do,
we are acknowledging that we have an accurate understanding of Who Christ is
and what He did for us on the cross.
If we are to become effective for Jesus, we have to have
influence over those who God puts in our path.
Not the kind of influence in the way that we force people to do things,
but in the way we influence their decision to become a Christ follower.
Rather than thinking about how influential I’ve been, I
started wondering how effective have I been in sharing my faith. When people read my articles or materials,
are they comforted, encouraged or refreshed by my loving kindness as Paul said
Philemon had been? It’s something I need
to think about every time I put “pen to paper.” (Yes, I still use a journal notebook.)
In other words, have I communicated effectively in the
way I present the gospel through the message of faith, belief and God’s favor?
When we make mention of one another in prayer do the
words “hearing of his/her love and effective faith which he/she has toward
the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints”
ever cross our lips? If not, then
perhaps we’re not top influencers after all.
This Week’s Challenge:
Communicate Effectively
In sharing his faith in Jesus, Philemon communicated
effectively. This refreshed and
encouraged his brethren in the Lord. By doing these “good works” the Lord
showed him favor in business, along with causing him to become influential and
effective for God.
Our challenge would have us look at the people in our
lives that we are influencing by answering these seven questions about our own behavior.
1 - Are we top influencers for ourselves or for
Christ?
2 - Is pride behind our thoughts that we’ve given way too
much attention?
3 - Are we effectively sharing our faith in the way our
testimony encourages or enriches the lives of those God puts before us?
4 - Does the way we influence cause God to bestow favor
on us so that we can be effective vessels for Him?
5 - Have we communicated (fellowshipped) effectively by
encouraging and refreshing other believers so that they in turn will do good
acts of kindness?
6 - Have we made it clear that every good thing in us is
because of Jesus?
7 – Have we acknowledged Jesus is the One who lavishes favor
on those who believe in Him?
Let me reiterate … have I actively communicated
effectively in the way I present the gospel through the message of faith,
belief and God’s favor without being prideful or vain? I hope so ... even if it
comes with a bit of humor.
The next time someone pays you a vanity compliment (maybe
even on your perfectly shaped nose) or acknowledges something wonderful you
have done, don’t fall into pride by reflecting way too long on the
adoration.
Accept the praise with grace and thanksgiving, because it
was the goodness of God who gave the power through His favor.
In future, may we all become top influencers as we communicate
our faith in Jesus Christ effectively, so that the hearts of others will find
great joy, be encouraged and refreshed.
If this article has encouraged or helped you please
consider sharing it by using the social media icons provided at the end of this
post.
Until next
time, God’s favor is effective!
“My favor is communicated effectively on active believers.”
Jesus Christ
Note:
The words satan or devil are not capitalized deliberately, because we give him
no place in our lives.
Disclaimer:
Article information is not meant to be used as treatment for mental or physical
issues, but geared toward spiritual awareness.
What’s New This
Week: Click on link below.
Being A Church that Makes A Difference CD or MP3
by Charles Swindoll
Individual message from the series: Can One Person Make A
Difference?
Something entirely new – The free PDF study guide for “Can
One Person Make A Difference? Being a Church that Makes A Difference” by
Charles Swindoll. Here is the link: http://www.insightforliving.com/pdf/messagemates/03.23.2015-mm.pdf
Maybe you don’t know the Living God that I
know, but would like to have this kind of favor in your life also. Click on the above tab “Tell Me” for more
information on becoming a child of the Savior.
Content and Image Copyright from Favored1. Do not copy.
Scripture
reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provided by Bible Gateway.Image credit: Google Images or Dreamstime Creative Common License if not specified.
Image: Look by beafunmum Influence by socialmediatoday Paul scroll by overviewbible
Anne of Green Gables Script by Sullivan Entertainment, Inc.
Disclaimer Notes: Results may vary due to lack of belief.
Anne of Green Gables Script by Sullivan Entertainment, Inc.
Disclaimer Notes: Results may vary due to lack of belief.