Always Under An Influence
GOD’S WAY BIBLE STUDY
Always Under An Influence
Tuesday August 5, 2025
Genesis 3:1-6 LSB Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” [2] And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; [3] but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.’” [4] And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! [5] For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [6] Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, so she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Man is free, but not from influence. Even when we are not aware of it, we are always being influenced. We are only free to choose what influence we come under.
There is a constant battle for control over the soul of man.
Galatians 5:17 NKJV For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
There are competing forces, fighting for control over the soul of man.
One on hand we have God the Father, the Word and Holy Spirit who want to bring us under their sphere of influence.
The method of the Holy Spirit’s influence is direct. There is no subterfuge, no games, but it is very gentle, and therefore easily ignored.
He gently draws, invites, shows us His goodness, Grace and Truth sometimes pleading, sometimes warning all with the intent of bringing us under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Because of how gentle He is, the Holy Spirit is easily ignored.
Samson ignored the Holy Spirit so much, He did not know when the Holy Spirit departed from him.
Additionally, the influence of the Holy Spirit is not permanent. The Holy Spirit doesn't imprison us. We are free to choose Him and we remain free to walk away from Him. We are free to obey and free to disobey.
Colossians 3:16 Let the words of Christ dwell richly in you.
God asks for permission.
He knocks on your door. Gently.
Revelation 3:20 NLT "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
The world’s method of is aggressive and pervasive, yet subtle, and therefore difficult to resist.
Do fish realize that they are in water? You are inundated with the offerings of the world but there is always a sleight of hand involved. What you think you are getting is often not what you’re really getting.
Proverbs 9:17-18 NLT "Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!" [18] But little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave.
2 Peter 2:19 NKJV While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.
2 Peter 2:19 NLT They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
The devil uses the bulldozer of enticement and deception to knock down your door.
When you are told you are free, you are being deceived.
Nothing is free. There is always a price. If you don’t know the price, you are the one being sold.
If it is free, you are the product.
The enemy promotes the prize, but he hides the price.
Much mention is made about your gain, but little mention is made of your pain.
Life is all about trade-offs. Nothing is ever free. When you choose one, you reject another by default. When you turn your face to one, you turn your back to another… like marriage vows…
Will you have this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the Holy Estate of Matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others keep you only unto her as long as you both shall live?
Even when you think you are free from influence, you are not.
Romans 8:14 NKJV For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
When the Holy Spirit leads, He doesn’t hide. If you think you are making your own decisions, you are probably being manipulated like a puppet.
Some will say, “I know my heart.” No you don’t. You heard that from somewhere.
And it contradicts the word of God.
Jeremiah 17:9 NLT "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
Judges 14:1-3 LSB Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. [2] So he came back up and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; so now, take her for me as a wife.” [3] But his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Take her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”
Samson was carried away by the lust of the eye. The seductive way the daughters of the Philistines blinded him to Israelite girls.
Before you said something wrong, you heard something wrong.
Before you desired something wrong, you saw something wrong.
Before you did something wrong, you felt something wrong.
If you watch what you hear, you will not worry about what you say.
If you guard what you see, you will not desire the wrong things.
If you control your feelings, your actions will take care of themselves.
You are always hearing something, seeing something and feeling something.
The question is who are you listening to, who are you looking at and who are you responding to?
The conscience is trained by society.
You cannot go by conscience. Conscience can be changed, made hard and insensitive.
1 Corinthians 15:33 LSB Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
“So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.”
― Ernest Hemingway
Your conscience is shaped by the company you keep. We are always looking for two things: permission and validation. We want people to approve of us and our actions so we seek permission before we act and validation after we act.
In godly company, our godly ideas are approved of and our bad ideas are condemned. In the company of sinners, our bad ideas are approved of and we feel good about wrong things.
“Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.”
― Saint Augustine
Who is watching the watchers?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes
The word of God is the objective standard by which we must judge everything and everyone.
Sometimes even the law of the land goes against God's word. Wrong doing may be legalized but can never be legitimized.
“Errors do not cease to be errors simply because they’re ratified into law.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri
People are always judging. We don't seem to mind when they judge us favorably. We take their judgments as compliments and say “Thank you.”
Whenever a person says, “Don’t judge me!” but they graciously accept a compliment, I see a person who does not have a problem with judgment per se. They just don't like it when the truth hurts.
Proverbs 27:6 NKJV Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
The word of God is the objective standard by which we must judge everything and everyone. Whenever we feel judged, we need to investigate those who judge us.
Is their judgment based on the word of God on some other standard?
This is easy to do when their judgment is unfavorable, when we feel condemned. We are able to look at them and say “Let him who has no sin cast the first stone.”
It is difficult when their judgment is favorable; when we are approved of. We don't stop to investigate those who are approving of us.
Whenever people pass judgment, they do not merely judge the action and the actor, but they also reveal what types of persons they are.
Are they the types of people who approve of wrong doing and censure integrity? Do they celebrate the sinner but condemn the snitch?
Beyond training, the conscience can be seared.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 LSB But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, [2] by the hypocrisy of liars, who have been seared in their own conscience,
1 Timothy 4:2 NLT These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.
Ephesians 2:1-3 LSB And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, [2] in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, [3] among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Not every conscience is good.
1 Timothy 1:5-7 NKJV Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, [6] from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, [7] desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 LSB But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, [2] by the hypocrisy of liars, who have been seared in their own conscience,
1 Timothy 4:2 NLT These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.
When the Holy Spirit speaks only those who are attentive will hear Him.
Acts 16:6-8 NLT Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. [7] Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. [8] So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas.
How do you know if you are being led by the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit always works with the word and by the word.
The Holy Spirit always works with the Word and by the Word. If we lose sight of the Word, what we are left with is spiritism.
Some spirits will come in and take over. They are not the Holy Spirit, they are unholy spirits.
Many claim to be led by the Spirit of God but do not heed the word. They are soon misled and derailed because the Spirit works with the word and by the word.
The Father sends the Son, who is the Word and the Son sends the Spirit.
John 15:26 NKJV "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
The world is constantly in your face so you must endeavor to get before God's face.
2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Parents can often tell who their young children have been hanging out with by their language: their choice of words, their phrasing, their attitudes and mannerisms.
If you've been hanging out with the world, it will be revealed whenever you open your mouth.
If you've been in the company of church folk, you will unconsciously inject Christianese into your chitchat.
If you've been spending time with God in His word, we will know. This is different from speeding time with Christians, which itself is a good thing, but not as good as spending time with God in His word.
If all you do is spend time with Christians but not enough time with God, you will have all the latest Christian lingo down pat. You will talk the talk, and look the part but you will not be able to make any meaningful contributions beyond the time tested clichés, the meanings of which you probably don't understand.
If you spend time with God in His word, you will be exposed as a Christian. You will not be able to hide it even if you wanted to. And you will not want to hide it anyway.,
Out of the abundance of your word-saturated heart, your mouth will speak.
Every time you open your mouth, grace will flow. Even when merely discussing the weather, you will sometimes sound like KJV.
If you look the part, if you talk the talk, you will actually be empowered to walk the walk.
Your words will be seasoned with salt without your permission.
Anywhere salt is placed, it sweetens and preserves and you will do the same.
Whereas others have to place a guard over their mouths to avoid cursing in polite company, you will have to try hard to not appear Christian. And you will fail in that attempt.
This is why we engage in Bible Study…so we can be transformed into the person we are spending time with, picking up His attitudes, mannerisms, verbiage and ultimately, His heart.
Colossians 3:16 NKJV Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
First you make Him your God, then He makes you become like Him.
We always emulate our heroes. We want to talk like them, dress like them, look like them, and in essence, be them. That's why celebrities are used to advertise products. Some fans collect stuff connected to their favourite celebrity. They will often pay top dollar for a sweaty T-shirt, one glove, a baseball bat, etc. They don't need to tell you who their heroes are. Once you see them, you'd have seen their heroes..
Jesus said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father.
