Do You Live By Meaning or Experiential Influence?

WARNING: This may ruffle feathers, if so, I recommend introspection or avoidance…. the latter profits you nothing, the former will spawn decision and/or change…… choose wisely.

My greatest daily desire is that the Holy Spirit will speak to me; there is nothing else more important or fulfilling. At times, it’s just comfort and reassurance but most of the time it’s a truth narrative that is a warning to His people. These messages are always overwhelming and challenging to me personally and leave me with a choice to be obedient or passive… passivity results in His silence, obedience leads to more of His presence. This message is written through edginess, humility and tears; I am nothing, He is everything.

The innate desire of every human being is to live a life of meaning. Meaning is what carries each one of us through the trials and tribulations of life; without meaning, we are constantly blown and tossed by the winds of adversity and the waves of change around us. Within each one of us, God has given us giftings and passions that are necessary to fulfill His assignment on this earth. Unfortunately, most never find their meaning and live a mundane life of struggle and hopelessness with flashes of happiness dependent on experiential influence around us. For many, there is not enough experiential influence of happiness around them, which leads to negativity, solemness, cynicism, pessimism, depression, and in some cases hopelessness that can lead to self-destructive behavior.

Experiential influence can be defined as ‘the resulting behavior, beliefs, habits, etc. based on individual experience or chosen influential authority’. This is the definition given to me for this message, I’m not sure if an ‘official’ definition exists.

Unfortunately, most people live by experiential influence and live an extremely misguided life. Their lives are composed of self-absorption and total dependence on influential authority. Influential authority is anyone or anything that is allowed into your life that you believe to be credible, thus, the saying ‘I have/heard it on the authority of _______’. What folks do not realize is that the ‘authority’ has an agenda of their own and WILL mislead the masses if not properly understood or vetted. Now, I realize that most people who live by experiential influence have already stopped reading by this point as they are indeed self-absorbed and unable or unwilling to introspect and/or focus….. but I’ll keep going for those who remain.

Those who depend on ‘authority’ and experiential influence to steer their thoughts and beliefs do very little, if any, reading. If you solely depend on your college education, social media, un-vetted video, personal experience and un-vetted ‘authority’, you are functionally illiterate…… yes, you too college grad….. I have (2) degrees myself, which was helpful for my career, however, colleges no longer teach ‘how’ to think, they teach ‘what’ to think…. their ‘authority’ is severely tainted but that’s another topic altogether……… this is that time for self-introspection or avoidance I was referring to earlier, choose wisely.

The society we live in today is functionally illiterate. Until we realize this and decide to educate ourselves, the ever-increasing downfall of our nation will continue. People have a tendency to believe the Bible is a religious book written for Christians and those same people are usually excellent mis-quoters of the contents. Why? Because they’ve never actually read the Bible but their ‘authority’ has given them the summary. So that begs the question, who is their authority? It could be the news media, which is the most uncredible source on the planet… it could be Uncle Jo Bob or Grandma Suzy or Pastor Pete or Priest of the Temple of Syrinx (for you Rush fans), etc…. for those of us that have read and studied the Bible, it is the absolutely most impressive, most important, life-changing history and life book ever written! I’ve read it time and time again and it never ceases to have an impact on my life. It has given my life and millions of others ‘meaning’ and it’s where every human being’s meaning is found. If this was the only book that a person ever read, they would not be fooled for a minute with everything that’s going on in the world today….. it is ALL written and foretold in the Bible and, by the way, the end of the book is upon us!

If you want to know your enemy and avoid the traps, read the Bible. If you want to find meaning in your life, read the Bible. Notice I didn’t say go join a church and follow some religious doctrine…. I said, read the Bible! The church and other Christians are to be places/people that encourage, nurture and strengthen your faith while you discover your true meaning. For those of you who live by experiential influence, here is your warning: your enemy is all around you. It’s coming through your T.V. screen, your radio, your cell phone, your computer, your experiential ‘friends’…. everywhere!

The Bible is the most important, reliable and life-changing book I read, however, I read lots of credible books, including those written by my enemy. I have a firm grasp on history and understand the patterns of human behavior, the affect of sin on society and the authoritarian results. I understand how propaganda works, how precedence creates the slippery slope, how decisions based on good intentions usually become a detriment, how fatherlessness destroys society, etc., etc., etc.. I do not read for enjoyment, I read/study for my family and my fellow man. Earlier in my life, I lived my life based on experiential influence… I was ignorant, misguided and believed in lies based on what I assumed was credible ‘authority’, this was years after becoming a Christian. Once I realized the tactics of the enemy that we ALL face, I made the decision to KNOW who God is, KNOW what truth is, UNDERSTAND how the enemy works, UNDERSTAND the consequences of sin, UNDERSTAND the goodness of God and do my best to live my flawed existence in His WISDOM.

My heart and mind lament over the condition of our society as the solution to our problems are so clear. I fight frustration over the fact that we are being overcome by the enemy due to long-term deception born from excessive ignorance. I am saddened by the masses that have joined the enemy’s quest to destroy truth based on their reliance on experiential influence and acceptance of sin. I am aware of the inevitable consequences of squelching free speech…. when communication stops, abnormality set’s in. When debate and discourse is no longer an option, violence will ensue….. the enemy knows this and is already trying to neuter and defang society…… God help us!

If you desire to have a life driven by meaning rather than ‘chance’ or experiential influence, read about Jesus and truly make Him the Lord and guiding influence in your life. If you are reading this, God has a specific assignment for you that is the ONLY path to finding your true meaning. Begin to block the noise out around you; everything going on in this world is an absolute distraction away from God, none of this is attributed to Him. We are surrounded by a cloud of manmade fallacy resting on the platform of God’s creation…. the cloud is a lie, the foundation holds truth and meaning.