Who Influences Your Heart?

How are we influenced?
2 Peter 2:6-8 NIV
if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

Two Battlegrounds
Predominantly there are two battlegrounds. The mind and the heart. Our thoughts, thinking, and the desires of our heart have a direct and tremendous influence over us.
He’s not calling them nominal. He’s calling them condemned.

Then on a positive note they payed attention by hearing and seeing.
Acts 8:6 NKJV
And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing
the miracles which he did.

Satan tried to Influence Jesus. The Bible calls it Temptation.
Matthew 4:1-11 NKJV

Was Jesus influenced by the devil? No He was not! The devil tried to influence Jesus but he failed. As we walk with God we can Resist the devil as well.

James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

How can we position ourselves to be under the influence of heaven?
The first step
is to be humble enough to admit and know that we are influenced.
Each one of us is being influenced daily. Our eyes, ears, and minds and all the senses
God gave us and are like a sponge soaking up everything around us…..for better or for worse.

The second step is to sincerely pray and ask the Holy Spirit to show us where and how
we are being influenced.

The third step is to observe what your eyes are looking at and what your ears are listening to.
What are you literally looking at and physically listening to? Would you invite the Lord
to join you? You will find that daily surrender is a critical part of the Christian life.
And sometimes, that needs to happen multiple times a day.

Your eye is like a lamp.
Luke 11: 34 NLT

“But each person is tempted when he is dragged away and enticed by his own desire.
James 1:14 EHV

Search me, O God, and know my heart.
The fourth step
is to know what the real desires of our hearts are. We may think we know,
but God in His great love will show us the truth of our hearts. King David understood this so clearly.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Psalms 139: 23,24 (NLT)