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Recently I heard a great message by my friend Julian Adams of Frequensee Ministries encouraging us to realize that we are carriers of God's kingdom. He shared that often we approach faith and church from the perspective that we are going there to seek the presence of God. However, his point was that we carry the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. This made me think how often do we reach into our spiritual identity to bring the presence of God as opposed to seeking to be filled by something outside of ourselves? I can honestly say that I remember times when I walked into church looking to be filled up and feeling that was the source to do so. Now, I am not saying that we do not get greatly blessed by our times worshiping and studying the Word together. Nor am I saying we should not gather together because that is biblical as seen in Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." What I am saying is that we can not always seek for someone or something to be the source of stirring up our faith. 2 Timothy 1:6 "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands." God has placed everything we need within us but we must stir up our faith to use the gift He has given.
As believer's we are called to be carriers of the Kingdom of God in the world around us. 2 Timothy 4:1-2 says "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season." So how do we ensure that we are ready in season and out? Let's face it there are days where we feel anything but ready. It is in these moments when we feel the least prepared that God can do amazing things if we will grab a hold of our identity in Christ and cling to it rather than our ability or relying on someone else to stir up our faith. If we will speak from the place of authority that He has established within us we will be prepared when the moment comes. This place of identity is founded on His Word and not on anything we can do or effort we can make. It is framed by the relationship we have with Him.
What if the next time we were in the grocery store, or pumping gas, we looked at those around us and stirred up our faith to just speak a word of love and encouragement to them? How would the world change if we did this regularly? Years ago I went to lunch with a friend and as the waitress was delivering our food my friend asked "we are going to be praying for our food, is there anything we can pray for you?" Such a simple question and so easy to do. I witnessed my friend stir up the faith within and bring it into that moment to touch a life. The waitress was shocked and opened up to share a personal area that she was struggling with that could use prayer. We immediately prayed for her and she walked away knowing that God saw her and loved her, that He cared about what she was going through. For years now I have asked this question whenever I go out to eat and I have gotten a myriad of different responses but the one thing I worried about has happened only one time. I was a little intimidated when I started asking if I could pray for people and I worried that they might say no or even be angry. This concerned me until one day it happened. My waiter looked at me oddly and said no, he even went so far as to get another server to cover our table. It was in that moment I realized I was still going to pray for him anyway, after all it seemed like he could use it. There was an added bonus because we got to ask our new waitress if we could pray for her. So you see those things that intimidate us can really just provide further opportunity for Jesus. If we will but stir up our faith, reach in and grab a hold of our identity we will be carriers of His kingdom and people will be touched by the love that drives us.