Women of Influence: Changing Society Through God’s Purpose

Devotional

Day 1: Your Hidden Act of Protection is Someone’s Salvation

A mother’s desperate act to save her child became the deliverance of a nation. Moses’ mother Jochebed could not see beyond securing her son’s safety, yet her obedience set in motion Israel’s redemption. God often uses our most instinctive acts of love as catalysts for societal transformation. What feels like a private struggle may be the hinge of history. Trust that your faithful stewardship of what’s entrusted to you carries generational weight. [01:06:54]

“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”
(Hebrews 11:23, ESV)

Reflection: What responsibility or relationship has God entrusted to you that feels overwhelming? How might your faithful care for it be part of a larger story you can’t yet see?

Day 2: The Ripple Effect of Your Obedience

A stone cast into water creates concentric circles reaching beyond its initial splash. The speaker’s teenage choir birthed a national holiday movement. Your daily interactions—a smile, an invitation, a word of encouragement—are stones creating ripples in eternity. What seems small today may cross oceans tomorrow. Every act of love imitates Christ’s own ministry of reconciliation. [01:24:35]

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
(John 14:12, ESV)

Reflection: Which of your “small” daily actions feel insignificant? How might you approach them today as eternal investments?

Day 3: Jerusalem is Where Your Feet Are Planted

Your Jerusalem isn’t a holy city but the holy ground of your daily routine—the cubicle, carpool line, or grocery aisle. The early church transformed empires by first loving their neighbors. Your coworkers, family, and barista are your divine jurisdiction. Impact starts not with changing the world but with seeing your world as the mission field. [01:10:06]

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
(Proverbs 16:9, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your immediate circle (Jerusalem) have you overlooked as part of your calling? What practical step could take today to engage them intentionally?

Day 4: Your Gifts Are the Gateway to Purpose

A cook’s casserole, a seamstress’ stitch, a teacher’s lesson—all are holy when offered to God. The speaker’s musical gift became a bridge for racial reconciliation. Your talents aren’t hobbies but holy tools. When surrendered, they become conduits for divine strategy. What you dismiss as “just something I do” may be someone’s lifeline. [01:27:03]

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
(1 Peter 4:10, ESV)

Reflection: Which of your natural abilities have you undervalued? How could offering it to God today open doors for meaningful impact?

Day 5: Obedience in the Seed Shapes the Harvest

A youth choir planted in 1994 bore fruit as a national holiday decades later. God’s purposes unfold across seasons, not sermons. Your current assignment—even if confusing or mundane—is the root system for future fruit. Stay planted. What feels like a detour may be divine cultivation. [01:20:36]

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
(Jeremiah 1:5, ESV)

Reflection: What current act of obedience feels disconnected from your purpose? How might God be using it to prepare you for greater harvest?

Sermon Summary

God’s honoring of women begins with the fact that women carry responsibility, impact, and influence in the earth. Jochebed thought she was protecting her son when she placed Moses in the river, but God was saving a nation through her obedience. Purpose, then, cannot be self-invented, because only the Creator knows what He created a person for. God fashioned each life in the womb with gifts, callings, and an assignment already in view.

The call to change society starts with Acts 1:8 and the power of the Holy Ghost. Jerusalem becomes the local sphere God has placed around a person: family, workplace, church, neighborhood, and every community that depends on that person’s presence. Jerusalem expands through children, mentoring, friendships, organizations, and everyday relationships. God’s territory enlarges as influence reaches more people.

Love becomes one of the simplest and strongest ways to bring change. A greeting, a smile, an invitation, or an acknowledgment can interrupt somebody’s belief that nobody sees them. God places His people in the earth as ministers of reconciliation, not merely to stay inside four walls or be consumed with scrolling, watching, and self. Change agents get out and do something. They speak life, bring people into meaningful spaces, and give others a sense of value and purpose.

A personal relationship with God remains the starting point for lasting impact. God’s voice directs a person beyond personal plans and joins divine purpose to the desires, gifts, and passions already placed within. Unity Unlimited began with a concern that young people learn to enjoy fellowship across racial lines through music. God later connected that work to Juneteenth, a national holiday, showing that He may reveal purpose in pieces rather than giving the whole plan at once.

Jesus’ promise of greater works points not only to quality, but to quantity. Christ’s work spreads as more lives obey God and touch more people. A life becomes like a boulder dropped into water: ripples keep moving into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. God calls each person to connect with Him, hear His voice, obey the call, and consider what their life is saying like a billboard before the world.

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Key Takeaways

1. Jerusalem is the place God assigned. Jerusalem is not only a Bible location; it is the family, job, church, neighborhood, and relationships already within reach. God does not require a person to begin with a global platform. God calls faithfulness in the places where influence is already happening every day. [69:47]
2. Purpose comes from the Creator. Purpose cannot be settled merely by personal ambition, because the One who fashioned a life knows its design. God can join passions, gifts, and even unexpected opportunities into an assignment far bigger than first imagined. A surrendered life learns to ask not only, “What do I want to do?” but also, “What did You create me for?” [77:14]
3. Small acts of love carry weight. A simple greeting can reach someone who feels invisible, unwanted, or close to despair. Love does not always arrive through a microphone, a title, or a major event. God can use a person’s attention and kindness as a life-preserving witness of His care. [74:19]
4. God often reveals purpose in pieces. Unity Unlimited began with young people, music, and a burden for unity, but God had Juneteenth and worldwide impact in view. God may use an early assignment to prepare a person for a later door. Obedience to the next instruction matters even when the full plan remains unseen. [80:36]
5. A faithful life creates lasting ripples. A life dropped into other lives leaves ripples that reach beyond immediate sight. Jesus’ greater works spread through multiplied obedience as one touched person touches another. God calls each believer to become the best influence possible and leave a mark that points people toward Him.

## [84:09]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[65:21] - Honoring Women and a Grandmother’s Legacy
[66:30] - Jochebed and the Impact of One Woman
[67:13] - Purpose Begins With the Creator
[68:11] - What It Means to Change Society
[69:30] - Power to Witness From Jerusalem Outward
[70:06] - Identifying Your Jerusalem
[72:50] - Singleness, Mentoring, and Expanding Influence
[73:57] - Change Agents and Everyday Love
[76:58] - Hearing God’s Voice for Purpose
[78:41] - Unity Unlimited and God’s Bigger Plan
[81:48] - Greater Works Through Multiplied Impact
[84:09] - Ripples of Influence
[85:12] - Answering God’s Call
[86:24] - What Is Your Life Saying?

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” [01:09:37]

John 14:12
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” [01:22:00]

Psalm 139:13
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” [01:07:44]

Observation questions

In Acts 1:8, what places are named as the witness spreads outward, and how does that movement describe growing influence?
What examples make up a person’s “Jerusalem”—the local places and people already within reach? [01:10:03]
According to Psalm 139:13, what does being formed by God in the womb show about a person’s life and purpose? [01:07:44]
What everyday actions were described as ways to show God’s love and help someone feel seen? [01:14:34]

Interpretation questions

Acts 1:8 begins with receiving power from the Holy Spirit before being witnesses. Why is the Spirit’s power necessary for a believer’s influence to be more than personal effort or good intentions? [01:17:26]
If “Jerusalem” represents the people and places God has already assigned to a believer, how does that change the way a person views family, work, church, and neighborhood? [01:10:49]
Psalm 139:13 teaches that God formed each person. How does this challenge the idea that purpose is something a person invents alone, apart from knowing God? [01:07:22]
Jesus speaks of “greater works” in John 14:12. How can greater works be understood as Christ’s work multiplying through many faithful believers and reaching more lives? [01:23:54]

Application questions

Who are the people in your present “Jerusalem”—at home, work, church, school, or in your neighborhood—who regularly experience your influence? What is one way you could be more intentional with them this week? [01:26:24]
Is there someone around you who may feel unnoticed or unimportant? What simple action—a greeting, a conversation, an invitation, or practical help—could let that person know they are seen? [01:14:34]
Where have personal plans, gifts, or passions possibly taken a stronger place than asking God, “What did You create me for?” What would it look like to bring that question honestly to God this week? [01:17:10]
God may reveal purpose one step at a time instead of showing the whole plan at once. What is one clear next step of obedience you sense God may be placing before you, even if you cannot yet see where it will lead? [01:20:36]
What gift, skill, relationship, or opportunity has God placed in your hands that could be used to serve and strengthen others? What is keeping you from using it more fully? [01:26:44]
If your life is like a billboard, what message are people likely receiving from your words, choices, and presence right now? Where would you like the love of God to become more visible? [01:27:34]
What habits of comfort, isolation, or distraction may be keeping you from becoming active in the lives of others? What is one meaningful step you could take to move from watching to participating? [01:15:40]

Sermon Clips

44s

“And I think that's the thing that we gotta take for granted, you know, that me just being and smiling is is gonna change anybody's anything, but it does. Yes. You don't know how many people don't think that they are valuable. But when you say something, when you greet them, when you see them and speak to them, you could be saving somebody from the thoughts of suicide because they didn't think that anybody noticed them. But God needed you to share that love with them just by saying hi, just by acknowledging them that day.”

48s

“What are you saying with your life? Your life is a billboard just like these on I 30. Your life is a billboard. What are people seeing? Are they seeing the love of god in you? Are they seeing impact? Are they seeing that I can do? Because if she can do, I can do it. And if she did, then I can do. What is your life saying? And finally, what change are you supposed to make? just as a woman, but as a person, a created being whose creator designed you to be not just a single entity, but one that reaches and touches the world.”

45s

“What is your Jerusalem? Okay? What are your spheres of influence? What has God put in your hands to do? What inventions? What thoughts? What organizations? What are you supposed to be starting to leave an impact? Yeah. What are you doing with the gifts he gave you? Some of you are great orators, you're great authors. Oh, I just don't have time. You're great cooks, you're great sores, you're you just have so many gifts, and you're like, well, that's not my job. Your job is to make money. Your gifts are to impact people.”

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