{"id":4361,"date":"2021-03-18T08:54:09","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T12:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/?p=4361"},"modified":"2021-03-17T22:57:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T02:57:43","slug":"under-gods-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2021\/03\/under-gods-influence.html","title":{"rendered":"Under God&#8217;s Influence"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u201cHow can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Jn 5:44<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/394\/2021\/03\/eff39cb4-7c9b-44e9-a93a-af76729855b1.png\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-4364\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/394\/2021\/03\/eff39cb4-7c9b-44e9-a93a-af76729855b1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\"><\/a>I\u2019ve heard it said that people are the sum of the five people they hang around most.<\/p>\n<p>While perhaps this is somewhat reductionistic, there is truth in the sentiment. The individuals\u00a0that we spend time with the most matter. The more space we give people in our lives and in our hearts the more those people will influence how we grow and develop as human beings. The people we spend time with frame how we see life and often define what we value \u2013 for better or for worse.<\/p>\n<p>The message of Jesus is simple today. Make God the main influence in your life.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus models this well for us. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus\u00a0tells his hearers that he begins everything he does by first turning his attention to his Heavenly Father and doing what he sees the Father doing. He criticizes his critics for looking for direction and approval from one another instead.<\/p>\n<p>Think about the five people you spend the most time with. Are they people who are drawing you closer to the ways of God or people who draw you away from the heart of God?<\/p>\n<p>Jesus calls us to live lives where God is our\u00a0predominant influence.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Question of the Day<\/strong><br>\nConsider how you could make room in your life to invite God into having more time in your life.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHow can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?\u201d Jn 5:44 I\u2019ve heard it said that people are the sum of the five people they hang around most. While perhaps this is somewhat reductionistic, there is truth in the sentiment. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1678,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Under God&#039;s Influence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cHow can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?\u201d Jn 5:44 I&#039;ve heard it said that\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billykangas\/2021\/03\/under-gods-influence.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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