I want to say thank’s be to God, that there is still near the sheep a house of mercy, and grace and a pool that supplies every need, like Grace: which keeping from me what I don’t deserve and Mercy which allows me to get what I do deserve. ??As we look at this passage, we see that there was a multitude of impotent folks, feeble with sick diseases, without any strength. They were blind, halted and withered.
And my brothers and sisters it’s no different today, even in our own churches today across the land there are a multitude of impotent folk, weak, sickly, diseased, and powerless people.
Some are sick physically, some spiritually, some emotionally, some have sickness or weakness in their marriage, some are weak and feeble in their finances, some live on an emotional roller coaster, some are sick with fear and worry and anxieties.
Most of them have the hope that one of these days somehow, someway, God is going to move in their lives and it will all turn around miraculously, and there are many who are still waiting for the moving of the water today. There are multitudes who are waiting, they are waiting for the next great revival, The next great move of God. They are waiting for God to do something. But, the fact of the matter is that sometimes, in our waiting that we have to stir the water for ourselves, while we’re waiting on the water to be stirred, God is waiting on us to stir the water.??2nd Tim 1:6 says “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. Sometimes we have to stir it up, get it moving, agitate things a little bit, (stir up the anointing, stir up our faith).
What God is looking for is some good old Holy Ghost agitators, someone that is going to help the Spirit of God to move in our life, the life of the church, and the life of God’s people. And may I tell you that if the Spirit is to be moving anywhere, it ought to be moving here in Praise Tabernacle. Because Praise is what we do. (Pause)
For those of you who knows how to bar-b-que will know that when it seems like your fire is about to go out, you can stir up the hot coals or embers underneath the ashes, and when the air comes across those embers they come alive again and rekindle your fire.
?And I believe that somebody this morning needs is a fresh wind from heaven, the wind of the Holy ghost needs to blow over our souls again. I’m sorry, let me speak for myself, I don’t know about anybody else, but I need the winds from heaven to blow over my soul and I need the fire of God stirred up in me. And allow me to remind you that wind and the fire always go together.
?To prove my argument, in Acts 2:1-3 it say “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Look at what happened. First, the wind filled the house, and then the cloven tongues of fire, and then they were all-filled with the Holy Ghost. Tell your neighbor. It’s time to wake up, shake up, whip up, and stir up the anointing ??The word Stir means to agitate, disturb, disrupt move, and shift. The two words put together "stir up" also means to keep blazing and to keep the flame of the fire burning.
But it can also mean to rekindle and to re-stir the flame, which indicates that the flame was about to go out. Which is what it meant here?
Because as we look here we see that there was no doubt Timothy facing what we sometimes face: he was facing times when he needed to be re-stirred, restored and rekindled. He was facing some disappointments, he was facing some sorrows, he was facing some depression, heartaches, let downs, some regrets, troubles, grief and some pains. But I want to share with you this morning, that in your time of adversity, that there are a few things that I want to suggest to you that will keep your fire burning.
And the first thing you need to do is, stir up the gift of God in you. What is the "gift of God"? Your spiritual gifts, your natural gifts which the Holy Spirit gives to every believer to equip them, and to help them to be able to minister to others.
In other words, even though you are facing trails and tribulation, the gift that is down on the inside of you will still have enough left to help you minister to someone else.
In our lesson Paul was facing death; he was about to be executed. And in his departing, He still is giving a charge after charge to Timothy.
He told him that one of the very first things Timothy needed to do was to keep his spiritual gifts blazing and burning to the hottest point possible.
He shares with him that he needs to keep on stirring up his gift, and never letting its flame lose any of its intensity. He needs to use his gift to minister and minister, never slacking up nor losing his zeal. PTMC we can never lose the zeal, we can never lose he intensity, we can never lose the passion that serving the Lord will pay off.
The second, thing that he encourages him to do is; whatever you do not fear. Because God has not given us the spirit of fear. Too often we as believers—laymen, and ministers alike—fear using their gifts. They fear speaking up for Christ and the gospel. They fear the ridicule, the criticism, they fear the mockery, and the embarrassment, the opposition of the Gospel, but as he is encouraging him this morning, I want to encourage you by saying don’t be fearful. Even thou they make say all manner of evil against you, you’ve got to have the courage to not be fearful. Somebody tell your neighbor, neighbor don’t be in fear!!!
The third that I want to suggest is, don’t be ashamed of the gospel. I know that sometime the gospel might seems to be unpopular, and it might seems unacceptable, but I here to tell you this morning that you don’t have to be ashame, because one of these old days when it’s all over down here the Lord will tell you my good and faithful servant, you have faithful over little, now come up a little higher and I’m going to make you ruler over much. Don’t be ashame, wear it on your tee shirt, get you a coffee mug with the gospel on it. You have everything else tattooed on you tat Jesus and the gospel on you.
And the last thing that I want to share with you is this morning and that is to hang on in there. When all hope seems to have failed, you hang on in there. When your peace seems like it has been sapped out of you, hang on in there. And start to stir up the gifts in you.
And somebody here today, I know what you need. After all hope seems to be gone. I know what you need, after everything seems so hopeless. And I can hear you saying what do I need pastor? All you need is a good old stirring. But for somebody else, you need more than just a stirring you need a good shaking.??That’s why Judges 16:20 helps us out when it says that. “when Samson heard that the Philistines were upon him, that he woke up and said I will go out as at other times before and I will shake myself.
And when we look at others in the Word of God according to this scripture Samson did something to activate the power of God on his life, (he shook himself). We’re waiting on the moving of the water, and for the Holy Ghost to get a hold of us and shake us, but sometimes we need to just shake ourselves.
And in our shaking we need to shake off some stuff, shake off the indifference, “shake off the pride, shake off the selfishness, the worldliness, the fear, the doubt and discouragement, shake off the self righteousness and hypocrisy, shake off that lying spirit, that bitterness, the unforgiveness, shake off that dead religious formalism.?
(Just shake yourself)??Somebody in the room needs to just get to shaking: The old devil is trying to get a hold on you, a spirit of luke-warmness and indifference is trying to fasten itself to you, but you just need to shake it loose. Somebody needs to shake off the spirit of poverty, the spirit of fear and unbelief, worry and anxiety. Someone needs to shake off the spirit of loneliness, stress, skepticism. ??Someone have some things in your life that are draining the spirit out of your life, draining the joy out of your life. You need to shake it loose, ??And now it’s time to Stir it up, = bring the things that are on the bottom to the top. Have you ever poured some kool aid in some water and it went straight to the bottom, but when you stirred it up it came to the top?
We need turn those ashes over, and let the wind of heaven fan them into a flame again.
Stir up that Anointing, and bring it to the top. Stir up that calling, stir up that faith, stir up that love, stir up that joy. Stir it up.
Turn over that fallow ground, don’t let anything be hidden in your heart, get it out and let the fire of God burn it up.?The waters are troubled tonight, because we’re stirring them up, ??It’s time to stir it up and shake it loose:?I know that sometimes things get a little rusty, and you have to shake it a little bit to get it broken loose again.?Stir it up and shake it loose.??I know that sometimes the old gate get’s stuck and you have to shake it loose.
I know that sometimes our praise gets a little rusty and we ain’t praising’ like we used to, we’re not praying like we used to, we’re not singing like we used to.
It isn’t that we don’t love God, it’s just that we need a good shaking to get everything back in perspective.
We need to stir up the gift. Somebody say stir up, stir it up.
