Many of us know the saying, “Shaken, not stirred,” that James Bond made so famous on the Big Screen. Recently on a twitter update I asked the question, “Are you settled or stirred?” and then admonished those following to, “stir up the gift in you and watch as God does amazing things in and through your life.” Now, that comment “stirred” up some discussion that “stirred” my thoughts into forming this blog article.
Paul exhorts Timothy in 2 Tim. 1:6 (Amplified) “That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination]. That is what we are to do. We need to “stir up” the gift. We need to rekindle and fan the flame of our gift. Make every effort to not allow our gift to sit on the shelf of our heart and allow dust to settle.
It is so easy in the process of life to let our gifts sit there and not do anything. We get busy with our every day routine. Even pastor’s can allow their gifts to sit on the sidelines, due to demands in ministry. As life happens, we need to make every effort to keep the gift God has given each of us, polished up and in good use. When we allow our gift to sit idle, we can become shaken in minor occurrences that normally, we would have been ok with.
Gifts are meant to be used, not just admired. Our gifts are useful for the building up of the body of Christ. (Eph. 4:12 NIV) We are to prepare believers for their works of service. Each person has individual gifts; no one is left out in the gift giving. If we are not using the gift God gave us, we need to do a personal inventory. What has happened to keep us from using our gift from God? Are we busy raising our families? Our families are so important, we better be using our gift, influencing our children and being an example of how we are to live as a believer.
Don’t allow life to happen haphazardly. Allow life to happen on purpose. There are things we can do in our lives to bring order, so that our lives bring glory to God, causing other people to want whatever it is we have. If we are not living life on purpose we are setting ourselves up to be “shaken, not stirred.” That is not the example and life God desires for our lives.
There is a scripture in my Bible that is circled, underlined, and starred. It is Acts 2:25 (NIV) “…Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Emphasis mine) David first said this scripture in Ps. 16: 8, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Emphasis mine) What a promise and exhortation! As we keep God in the forefront of our lives He will be right there with us. WE WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. That is a promise…but, we have to keep Christ first…not our spouse…not our children…not our ministry…not our job…Christ. As we keep Him first then our spouse, children, ministry and job will come into line with what Christ has for us.
Be careful that we do not get it turned around or we will be shaken from our foundation. Keep the gift God has given stirred to action and see what amazing things will happen in our everyday lives we live.
Take this scripture with you throughout the day and allow life to happen on purpose as the gift is stirred up…Heb. 12:27 (NIV) “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe...” (Emphasis mine)
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