Our world has warped Jesus!  So many of us have made Him into what we want Him to be and taken way from all that He really is.  There are so many different pictures of Jesus today and the big problem is that most of them are wrong!  The problem with our distorted view of Jesus is that our picture of Jesus influences the action of our lives.  Take just a minute to think about your picture of Jesus and the kinda influence that it has on your life! 

We need more than ever to really see and hear from Jesus!  When we get our picture right – we will get our lives right!  My picture of Jesus matters, because it influences everything else!  When my picture is right, it centers my life and helps me to really live according to His purpose and not my own self-generated and often defeating interest.

One of my favorite pictures of Jesus comes from John 4:1-29 when Jesus encountered the woman at the well.  Three things jump out of this passage and grab my attention about who Jesus really is! 

First,  I noticed that Jesus went where He was needed!  Even when He did not feel like it – He was looking for an opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life.  He could have just went home and went to bed, but He knew that there was someone that needed what He had to offer and so He went to a place that others avoided.  (Samaria)

Second, Jesus stepped out of the circle that others had drawn for Him!  He not only went to Samaria, but had the audacity to have a conversation with a woman of all people.  This conversation with this woman was about so much more than a drink of water.  Jesus was reaching into her life to bring about change that would bless her and others.  Jesus reached into her life before there was any change on her part.  That’s because real change can only come through the power of a right relationship with Jesus!

Third, Jesus ministered to the real need!  Jesus knows the truth, even when you think you’ve got the rest of the world fooled!  A lot of people think that they know Jesus, but fail to recognize Him when He is standing right in front of them!  We need a real relationship with Jesus, a relationship that allows us to see Him and recognize Him at work in our lives!

We are the body of Christ!  If others are going to see Jesus, they will see Him through you and me!  Where are you needed?  Stop doing what is only comfortable and pleasing to you.  We are not here on this earth to be satisfied – we are here to be empowered!  Where does God want you to go and what does God want you to do?    We’ve got circles that we’ve created and that others have created for us.  These circles are holding us back from being what God created us to be and from doing what God created us to do.  Bust out of the circles that are holding you back from God’s wonder working power.  Think about this:  If it’s not God’s idea, then what’s the point?  How will you meet the real needs of others?  Show them Jesus – the real Jesus!  Look past the surface and to the heart and you will discover that we all need the love, forgiveness and restoration that only Jesus can bring.  Find God’s right direction for your life and make a commitment to share that right direction with others!

As I read through the Scriptures, it is always amazing to me, just how personal the words are!  A lot of people read the Bible and never hear the personal message that God is delivering to them.  I know so many people who know what the Bible has to say, but all they have is knowledge.  Knowledge without application is useless!  I think that is why Jesus was always making His message extra personal!  In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world!”  Jesus is talking to us as Believers and telling us that we are to light up this depressing, discouraging and dark world with His inspiration, encouragement and light.  My job as a Christian is to illuminate the darkness with the presence and power of Christ in and through my life!

Light is what we are, not just what we do!  When Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world!”  We need to understand that this is about so much more than just representation!  This is about supplying the opposite of what the world is used to.  We do this by daily walking with Jesus and continually lighting the way!

You Influence Does Matter!  We like to pretend that things aren’t so bad, but the truth is:  This is a dark world and many of our Churches have become dark churches!  Don’t trade ways, hand over or give up the gift of light!  We have a mission:  We are to shine bright Jesus this world in which we live.  Let Jesus shine through your life and you will ILLUMINATE and chase away the darkness.  When Jesus is shining though your life you will ACCENTUATE the bad that needs to be avoided and the good that needs to be grabbed!  If you are really lighting this world with the presence of Jesus you will VALIDATE and help people to see, so they can believe!

Are you illuminating and chasing away darkness?  Do you accentuate the positives and get rid of the negatives?  Have you validated Christ and His power, so that others see Jesus in you?  Get your light out from under that basket and put it up on a lamp stand so that everyone might enjoy te blessing of God’s presence and power!

In Matthew 5:13 Jesus said:  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything; except to be thrown out an trampled under foot by men!”  Jesus makes His message personal by saying YOU are the SALT of the earth!  Jesus is talking to you and me – Believers, Christ Followers, People that have relationship with Him!  We live in a rotten, decaying and dying world and our job as Christians is to ARREST THE ROT!

Notice that Jesus says:  “You ARE the SALT of the earth!”  He does not ask us to be a representative of salt.  He does not ask us to supply the salt.  He does not challenge us to act as a salt substitute!  Jesus is telling us that if we are in relationship with Him – we are the salt of the earth!  The earth that we live on, while it is a rotten and dying earth, it is not what it could be.  Because Christians are here, the rot is not near as bad as it could be or should be.  This earth could be a place of great blessing, but because of the rot of sin and disobedience, much of the blessing has been replaced with rot, but still the rot does not have complete control – not as long as we as Believers are busy doing and being what God created us and Jesus saved us to do.

Realize it or not – YOUR INFLUENCE MATTERS!  You may feel like you are the only one trying to live the right life and you may feel like you are not making muchof a difference, but stop and think for a moment:  What if your influence and contribution was not around?  Would rot gain a little more ground?  Please don’t think that you and your life lived for Christ does not matter, because it matters and it matters a lot!  YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH!