“Under the Influence” Author and Writer Ronald Nelson

BIBLE MEDITATION:

"And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one."  1 John 5:19

ENCOURAGING WORD:

The New King James Version of the Bible doesn't explicitly use the phrase "being under the influence" in the way it's commonly understood today (referring to intoxicating substances). However, the Bible does offer verses that speak to being led or influenced by different powers or forces, both positive and negative.

Here are a few key verses about being influenced:

Ephesians 5:18;"And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; (excessive drinking) but be filled with the Spirit." This verse emphasizes being filled with the Holy Spirit, which is a positive influence, rather than being under the negative influence of alcohol. 

 1 John 5:19; "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." This verse highlights the influence of the wicked one (Satan) over the world.”

Galatians 5:16;"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." This verse encourages Christians to walk in the Spirit, which is a positive influence, and to resist the negative influence of the flesh. 

Romans 8:14; "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." This verse emphasizes that those who are led by the Spirit of God are considered sons of God. There is an important message hidden in this verse. Everybody thinks we are all sons of God. we are not a legitimate son of God until we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and become born again. If we pass away outside of Gods sonship, we will perish into the Lake of Burning Fire.

Ephesians 1:4-6; “ Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

Let me put this in way that many will understand more than others. There are many that have been adopted early in their life. Before they were adopted they were pretty much abandoned or left alone for some reason or other. Then one day along came some very good news. they were adopted by someone that took them in as if they were their own son or daughter. Once they were adopted, it was then that they had sonship with the father of the family that adopted them. In the same way, until we are adopted into the into the family of God through Jesus Christ, we will be alone. We cannot call God our heavenly father until we receive His Son, Jesus Christ into our heart and soul. How can we call God our Father and then reject His son. You can try, but on judgment day, you will know the truth.

These verses that I read above illustrate the concept of being influenced, either positively by the Holy Spirit or negatively by the wicked one.

Obviously the first one that we think of and the most notorious act of being under the influence is abusing Drugs and Alcohol.

Here are some staggering statistics on alcohol addiction in America.

In 2023, an estimated 28.9 million Americans aged 12 and older battled an alcohol use disorder, or 10.2% of this population. Over half of all American adults have a family history of problem drinking or alcohol addiction. Around 10.5% of U.S. children (75 million) live with a parent with an alcohol use disorder. An estimated 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually. Alcohol is the 5th-leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

Now on drug addiction.

48.5 million (16.7%) Americans (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in the past year.10.2% of Americans 12 and older had an alcohol use disorder in the past year. About 27.2 million Americans 12 or older (9.7%) reported battling a drug use disorder in the past year. That same year, 7.5 million (2.7%) of Americans 12 and older struggled with both alcohol and drug use disorders simultaneously. 20.4 million American adults (7.9%) suffered from both a mental health disorder and a substance abuse disorder, or co-occurring disorders in the past year.

As obvious and well known as these two are, there are many more addictions that most people aren’t aware of.

Biblically speaking, anything that you have in your life that is a distraction from serving Jesus Christ is an influence (to affect or alter by indirect or intangible means)  

It is say to say that we all have something in our life that we put before Jesus Christ. There may be a very few minority that serve Jesus in every thing that they do. That may be why Jesus said, "Very few will be that find the way."

Here are a few Bible verse that convey service to the Lord our God.

1 Samuel 12:24; “Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.” This verse in 1 Samuel speaks volumes. It tells us to only fear the Lord, but I think it would be safe to say, that everybody in this world has some kind of fear that they are harboring in their life. Everything that we fear puts us under the influence of evil.

Let me share some bible verses that tell us about fear. 2 Timothy 1:7; “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

God never gave us the spirit of fear, it came from the advisory, the Devil. If Satan can keep us under the influence of fear, that will keep us from trusting and serving Jesus Christ. I know personally how this can influence a life. I’m just as guilty as anybody when it comes to allowing fear to penetrate my life. But I can also say, that when I turn my fear over to Jesus and stay focused on Him, my fear is lessoned or gone as long as I keep my focus on Him. Sometimes it is a little more difficult than others, but I have come to trust in Jesus even during the  hardest situations. One thing that I do not fear is death. I have no fear of death, because I truly know where I will go right after I take my last breath of life here on earth. Of course I am concerned about how I am going to die, but actual death does not scare me. I can goes as far as to say this, if you fear death, then you are not right with Jesus Christ and then you have every right to fear death.

With this being said, every so-called religous teacher from the denominational churches teach that you cannot know for sure if you are saved or not. If you have a Pastor or Preist that teaches that, then you better get out of that church and start to read what the Bible teaches and not what man teaches. Mans word is very contrary to what the Bible teaches. What they teach is a lie from the pit of hell in many cases such as what I just mentioned above. If you believe that you are saved by good works, then you won’t know until the day that you die if you are saved or not. And if you believe that you are saved by good works, then I can guarantee by the written Word of God that you are not saved. Wouldn't you like to know that you are going to heaven before yoiu die? I would think so, so get right with Jesus Christ and know that you are saved.

Here is a Bible verse that validtaes what I just said. 1 John 5:13; “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

Read this again, what does it say, “that you may know that you have eternal life” It doesn’t say, you might have eternal life, it says you will know that you have eternal life. So, if you do not believe this verse in 1 John 5:13; then you are calling God a liar. Be careful whose name you slander and who you call a liar. Someone once asked me if I thought that I was saved and I said, “Definitely Yes” Her response was this, How can I be so arrogant to say such a thing. Well, read the Bible verse above, that is how I know. I know in whom I trust, and it is not any religion or man on this earth. I trust in Jesus Christ and Jesus alone for my salvation. If you are saved by grace, then you are saved, if you want to be saved by good works, then you’re not saved. Pretty simple if you ask me.

Let me share an obvious situation that has hit our world like a brick upside our heads. This will rub some of you the wrong way because you have put your trust in the world and not in Jesus Christ. Look at how the world crumbled when we were introduced to the big lie about the Covid 19. Satan concocted this lie and look at how it disrupted our whole world. In other words, most of the world was influenced by Satan and all those that are under his power. Satan is going to deceive the world into believing all the lies and wonders that he will be able to perform once the church is gone. If the church were here, then we would be able to expose him for who he really is. He knows how easy it is going to be now that he saw how the whole world turned upside down in a matter of days. He is alive and ready to move in once the church is gone. This is another reason why the church has to be removed prior to the tribulation period. There are more people in our world than you can imagine that are demonically possessed today. Don’t just blow this off as if I don’t know what I am talking about. Remember what the Bible says about the days of Noah. The world was filled with demonic hybrids and that is why God had to destroy the world. The whole world perished accept for Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. Eight people that were not demon possessed back then. We read in the following Bible verses;

Matthew 24:37-39; “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man.”

Everything seemed to be going on as normal, but then the day came when God brought judgement on the whole world. It will be the same in the days in which we live. Once the door to the Ark was closed, then no one was able to enter. Once the Rapture of the church takes place, the door to grace will end and those that are on the outside looking in will be left to face the horrific time known as the tribulation. (Which I might add, is another teaching from the mainline churches of today do not teach.) When this happens, you will either curse your pastor or preist for lying to you all these years or you will believe all the lies that will come from the Antichrist. Everything will seem to be going on as normal, but unfortunately, normal then with be a world that doesn’t worship Jesus. We are already getting there if you haven’t noticed. American is definitely split down the middle, but as the days go on, many more will fall from the true doctrine of the Bible. We read this fact in the following Bible verse.

2 Timothy 3:1-5; “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,  unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

This is happening in our world today on an unpresented scale, but not many people will understand where we are on Gods prophetic calendar because the pastors and priests in today’s church have neglected to teach what 30% of the Bible warns us about. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, “Shame on Them” It is a sin of omission if they don’t teach the whole counsel of God especially in the last days. God has given us every warning He could to let us know His return for the church is near, even at the door and His message is being rejected or ignored.  

Here is another misunderstood Bible verse that is taken out of its context.

Matthew 6:24; “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Everybody assumes that mammon is only money. As obvious as this assumption is, mammon can be an abundance of many other things. Anything that is driven by wealth, is considered mammon. How many of you that have great wealth would give that up to serve Jesus? I believe the answer is obvious. I see more people out in the public with so many boats, luxurious cars, mobile campers that cost more than the average man can afford, There are a more adults playing with their toys than I see people on the streets evangelizing. Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have nice things, but make sure that you give all the credit to the one that blessed you with such nice gifts. Everything that you have is a gift from the one that created you. God could take everything away from you in a heartbeat if it was His will. It’s not wealth that is evil; it is the love of wealth. Make sure that you own your money and your money doesn’t own you. God wants us to have life and have it abundantly. But the abundant life that He provides for us is eternal as we read in the following Bible verse.

John 10:10; ”The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

That "abundant" life that is rewferrd to here is something more meaningful than material wealth and prosperity

Matthew 6:25–27;“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

Colossians 3:2–4; “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” 

God is saying that we should set our lives on the things above and not the pleasures of the world, but He will not hold back blessings in this world. There are many that are exceedingly wealthy that will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Not because they are rich, but because they put their riches above God. I believe this is why so many of us that serve Jesus are not rich in finances, but rich in spirit. See, God knew us from the foundation of the world, so He knew how we would handle wealth. Wealth brings power and power brings pride. God hates pride above all other sins. If you truly believe in Jesus and put total faith in Him, you will have all you ever need. Everyday He provides our daily bread as we read in the Lord’s Prayer.  When we pray, “Give us this day, our daily bread,” He is not telling us that He is going to give us a loaf of bread every day. In the context of the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread" means to ask God to provide for our daily needs, both physical and spiritual, recognizing Him as our ultimate provider. It encourages a humble dependence on God, trusting that He will meet our needs each day. We need to be under the influence of Gods will for our lives. The abundant life begins with salvation from an eternity of suffering the penalty of sin.

Romans 6:23; “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

From the moment that we hit the age of accountability we are under the penalty of judgment. From that point on, our only hope falls on the sacrifice that Jesus went through for our salvation.

An abundant life is, primarily, eternal life; John 17:3; “ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” This is part of  a prayer that Jesus prayed to the Father.

The abundant life means gaining a heavenly perspective;

Romans 12:2; “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

There is absolutely nothing that we can do this side of heaven that will gain us access into heaven. Anything that we do outside the will of God is just fluff! Its what we do in the name of Jesus once we have been born again that will save us.

The abundant life means leading to a growing trust and knowledgeable trust in God. 2 Peter 3:18; “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”

It means blossoming into a life full of the fruit of the spirit.

Galatians 5:22–23; “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” While false teachers and false religions offer shallow, temporary relief, only Jesus brings truly everlasting life and spiritual abundance

John 14:6; “ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I’ll close with this last thought. Another huge influence especially in today’s world comes in the area of sports. There are a lot of gifted athletes that go above and beyond what the average man can do. They are under the influence of their high egos. Everything that these athletes have, was given to them by God, but yet, very few of these people give God the praise. Some do, and I love to see it, but most of them can’t see beyond that arrogance they possess. They better enjoy their glory now, because if they die without repentance, they will be in an environment that is far from the glory that they possess here on earth. They are under the influence of their own arrogance. I can relate to this. When I was in my late teens, twenties and thirties I was blessed with an athletic ability that allowed me to excel in most sports, especially Softball. Even though I was a church going person, I never gave God the credit for what I could do. This talent lasted for quite a while through my thirties and into my forties, until God put a stop to it. I had an injury that ended anything that had to do with running, jumping or anything else that involved leg strength. In hindsight it was the best thing that ever happened to me, because the day that this injury happened, I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, it’s time to serve Him and get into His Word. A few weeks before this happened, as I was leaving church one day, the Holy Spirit told me to get out of the organized religion and let the Holy Spirit guide me through the Bible. From that day on, I read and studied the Bible every night for about the next 30 years. Well, needless to say, it changed my life dramatically. As my knowledge increased in Gods Word, I began to lose friends because most of them didn’t want to hear about it. So now, I have very few friends, but as hard as it was to see friends leave me, I am happy as can be that the Holy Spirit took me out of the sinful lifestyle that I was living. It’s easy to say that I am under the influence of God almighty and couldn’t be happier. I Might not be happy every day, but when I realize where my final destination will be, I have exceeding joy knowing that where I am living now is just a vapor in time and it will end soon. It is then that my life will begin. Until then, I serve Jeus Christ and try to bring as many people as I can to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

I can only hope and pray that God reaches those that I know and love through these message that the Holy Spirit reveals to me. I can’t do anything to save anybody, all I can do is share what the Holy Spirit puts on my heart and then it is up to you to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. On the day of judgement, I don’t want to be responsible for anybody that will enter the “Lake of Burning Fire.”  Whether you respect me or not, please do not disrespect the Word of God. Read it for yourself and let the Holy Spirit guide you. After all, He wrote the Bible, He is the only one that can teach the truth of the scriptures.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.