Have you ever known, or do you now know time when your spirit is stirred within you?
Acts 17:16 – Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
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Is your spirit stirred within you today? As Apostle Paul saw the condition of the city of Athens, “his spirit was stirred within him.” Has your spirit ever been stirred? To be “stirred” is to be so moved that it would cause your heart to beat faster, almost as if you were engaged in rigorous physical activity. It happened in our Text for Today to Apostle Paul. It happened to Jesus prior to His arrest and crucifixion as He looked over the city of Jerusalem. It happened to Father when he looked at the city of Nineveh in which there was more than 120,000 who could not discern between their left hand and right hand.
Look about you today. While it is likely that the vast majority of people we know do know the difference between their right and left hands, their knowledge of the spiritual things of life is saddening indeed. Multitudes think themselves to be spiritually okay because they are aware of who God is. Additional multitudes know that people talk about God, but have no true awareness that He even truly exists. And just as bad are the multitudes have no awareness at all of God, Who He is, what He can do, and that He loves them.
And let us not fail to recognize that even in the church world today, there are multitudes that claim a relationship with God, but produce no fruit, do not believe His Word, and give no credence to His Word. Yet they call themselves Christian and attend church. My friend, the Scriptures have not changed. We still know the people of God by their fruits. For that reason, perhaps we should ask ourselves, “What fruits are we producing that give clear evidence of our relationship with Christ?”
I cannot help but believe that the Lord’s heart is stirred by the condition of the world and His church at this hour. Likewise, I cannot help but believe that our hearts should be stirred as well by the same things. We are the light of the world. Should we not be stirred to illuminate the darkness about us? We are the salt of the earth. Should we not be stirred to preserve all those we can from the destruction, decay, and degradation of those under sin’s dominion? We are His ambassadors? Should we not be stirred to speak His truth and bring all we can into His embassy (the church)? We are His disciples. Should we not be stirred to model the life of Christ as living epistles wherever we are? It is time to be stirred, and that continuously.
Manna for Today – Acts 17:16-34; Matthew 23:37-39; Jonah 1-4; Matthew 7:16-20
My Second Miler by Dr. Beechard Moorefield 