Hearts That Are Stirred
True or False: The effectiveness of a Christ-follower's testimony is dependent on how they allow their hearts to be stirred by the presence of God.
True or False: Possessions, gifts, talents, skills, intelligence and wisdom come from God Almighty.
Last year our congregation journeyed through the whole bible in chronological order. Reading God's Word never gets old, in fact each time you read it will speak in new ways. That's what happened as I read Exodus chapters 35-40 and the insights challenged me in four ways.
- spend time with God and people will notice
- God calls people, invites people to join Him in what He is already doing.
- when your heart is truly stirred by God's presence you freely give possessions, gifts, talents and time for His glory
- Christ-followers' surrendered gifts help build God's kingdom and fulfill His mission
I have seen them...people who reflect God's glory. You know they have spent time with God. That was Moses. He met God (Exodus 34:29-35) and when he came back to the people they noticed. I have to ask myself, do I spend the time I need in God's presence so that the people I live with, work with and minister with notice?
Moses was on a mission, a God-given mission. Moses listened and went into action when God said build a tabernacle, a place where I can dwell.
Do I, do we, listen to what God is saying and where He is inviting me to join Him on mission?
Have you ever seen this happen in the local church...Moses instructed the people to stop bringing offerings (Exodus 36:6). In all my years and 33 of them working in churches, I have never heard someone say: 'today we will not take an offering because we have enough.' Why did they give? Their hearts were stirred (Exodus 35:21) by the very presence of God and by the mission communicated by someone they knew had been in God's presence.
There is always some job to be filled in the local church, some place that is begging for a missionary and some ministry that is being filled by the wrong people. I believe strongly that the ministry position will be filled when:
- people of God spend time in God's presence
- leaders spend time in God's presence before trying to fill a ministry position
and...
...when those two simple things take place the right person will say “yes" to ministry because their hearts have been stirred by the very presence of God.
