Stir Me Up!

 

Stir Me Up! Sermon Notes Pastor Brad Myers

August 4, 2024

Psalm 37:23 (TLB)

• Steps, Stumbles, and Stops!
• Theme Psalm 37: Patience and confidence in God as we travel the path of life.
• Steps is plural: God’s guidance is a series of steps

Thought: God has a destination for your life, but the plan is carried out in a series of steps; many revealed one at a time.

Q) Why doesn’t God reveal all our steps up front?

A) God wants us to have faith and depend on Him for guidance with every step of our lives. God will use every event, both good and bad, to accomplish His purpose along His intended direction.

Steps: Jesus & the Samaritan Woman

Stumbles:

Psalm 37:24 (TLB)

• We may stumble in life, but God never loses His grip on us
• God won’t abandon us.

Stops:

Acts 16

• Paul, Silas and Timothy were going from town to town establishing churches.
• Paul wanted to expand to Asia, but the Holy Spirit stopped him from going.
• Paul headed north but the Holy Spirit stopped them from going any further.

Our life path is full of steps often met stumbles and stops.

Q What now? Decision time on the path of life!

Q) Do I settle for a life of routine and the ordinary?

The older we get and the more disappointments we experience in life, the more we are prone to settle.

• We look back: Dreams, Visions, and Intentions
• God’s people taking into exile (captive) for rebellion.
• Some were allowed to return to Jerusalem with hopes of rebuilding the ruins of the city, the wall, and the Temple.
• They were granted permission and supplied with the resources needed to do this.
• Yet, they faced great opposition from the locals as they began the work.
• They settled with living in their restored homes but gave up on rebuilding the Temple of God.
• The pressure was just to much!
• God allowed a period of lack so that they would turn their hearts to the Lord.
• Yet – instead of turning to the Lord – they settled for the lack!
• They accepted and settled for the Dry Season!

Haggai 1:13 (NIV)

God provided for the rebuilding of the temple but the pressure was to great!

Luke 8:18 (NLT)

 How we hear the Word of the Lord will determine whether we are stirred or continue to be stuck in a dry season!

God’s Word comes to awaken our hearts, it comes to revive our souls, it comes to renew our spirits, it comes to direct our paths, it comes to open our eyes, strengthen our hearts, and restore us to His calling and vision for our lives.

Stirred: to move, to agitate or to put into action.

When God stirs you then you must act. Your action is the response to God’s stirring. When God stirs, He has already equipped you to do whatever He is stirring you to do.

Haggai 1:14 (NIV)

God has been stirring His people to action since the beginning of time.  Men and women of God have been responding to this stirring ever since.

God is a God of order.  He stirs, and we respond.  When we respond, He blesses us.

How to Stir Up God’s Spirit

The apostle Paul admonished members in one of the churches he started, “Do not quench the Spirit”

One of the main keys to keeping the working of God’s Spirit stirred up and active in our lives is keeping our minds on the big picture of what God is doing.

If we dwell excessively on ourselves and our own problems, we become far more vulnerable to Satan’s negative influences.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 (NIV)

Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV)

Praise Stirs Up the Spirit of God Within You!

Isaiah 42:10-11 (NIV)

Isaiah 42:12-13 (NIV)