Daniel cared more about honouring God than anything else. When he weighed up the costs of doing something, he found it more costly to lose his relationship with God than to even lose his own life. Daniel lived in exile with excellence. It was costly, but he was influenced by God more than by men, and so he became hugely influential himself.

Christians are so thankful to God for saving us, but it doesn't end there: we've been saved so that we can enter into the promises of God! Just like Joshua when he took Jericho, we are in a battle, but we can see the victory with the eyes of faith before we have it. God's presence is central, and we are called to respond with obedience and unity.

When we read about Daniel in the Bible, we see a story of a man (and his friends) who genuinely engaged with the culture around him, but was completely uncompromising in his faith. We are called to do likewise. To know what’s right and wrong, we can ask ourselves a number of questions, such as: Does it glorify God? Is there a clear principle in the Bible to follow? Is it helpful to my relationship with God? Does it show God’s love? Is it helpful to others?

A second little teaser of some tracks from the forthcoming King's Church Hastings debut album, Found in You.

We are all influential in one way or another – but it can be for good or for evil. Looking at the example of Haman in the story of Esther, we see someone who was very self-absorbed, who failed to root out the weeds of sin, and who didn't keep himself accountable to anyone. These three things show us that doing the opposite helps us to defeat sin in our lives before it grows into evil influence.

God's people are told to be courageous, because we know that God is with us and will never leave us. The story of Esther shows us that when we do nothing, there are consequences. It also shows us what real courage looks like: it means understanding that God has placed us where we are; it means having faith in God and His sovereignty; and it means 'dying to self' and prioritising others above our own agenda. Where will you have courageous influence today?

We live in a very individualistic culture, where we can easily imagine that God's plans for us are all about us. But the truth is, in the words of Carl Trueman: "It is the church that is the big player in God’s wider plan, not me.” Chapter 3 of Nehemiah shows us that God's purposes revolve around hundreds and thousands of unknown influencers working on their small thing for the glory of God. That's what advances the Kingdom.

After Joseph had kept true to God through slavery and prison, he then became God's ambassador to Pharaoh and had powerful influence over the whole of Egypt. Today, followers of Jesus are his ambassadors to the world around us. Like Joseph, we represent God to those who wrong us, to those who are in need, and to those who are in authority over us.

Followers of Jesus are called to influence those around them. Most of our influence may be in obscurity – we may never become famously influential! – but most of the people who have influenced us have also done so behind the scenes, and most of the great influencers have known times of obscurity too. Joseph certainly did, but in the midst of his obscurity he kept trusting the promises of God, which meant he kept himself pure and kept using his gifts too.

Jesus said that His followers should be salt and light. We are called to influence. In fact, whether or not we want to, we all influence. The question is whether it's good or bad! Immaturity can affect our influence: we can let favouritism, jealousy or bad timing creep in. But we are called to influence in whatever area we find ourselves, making every day count for the glory of God.