INSPIRE

        Inspire is defined as “filling someone with the URGE or ABILITY to do something creative” or “to breathe in”. When we take up the great commission, we embody the verb inspire. To breathe in carries the scientific picture of intaking something that then will be absorbed and carried throughout the body. When we breathe in God's spirit, it brings spiritual LIFE to all parts of us and to those who we are connected with. “The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Almighty hath given me life” (Job 33:4). The effects of breathing in His indwelling Spirit do not end there. “But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8). John describes this indwelling Holy Spirit as our “Helper” who will both teach us as well as bring to remembrance that which has already been taught (John 14:26). Just as having any parts of the body be low on or deprived of oxygen risks their health and the strength of the body, having people or nations that go untouched by a life-giving message of the gospel risks their spiritual health and reduces the strength of the global body of Christ.

            You are a carrier of this spiritual oxygen in your connection to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The great commission that sent his disciples (including us as modern-day disciples) to the ends of the earth is a call to help these untouched people and nations breathe in. Just as an inhale is followed by an exhale, an inspiration is followed by creation. Looking at the first part of the definition of “inspire”, we see the effects of sharing the life-giving message of the gospel. When you truly realize the power, freedom, and reality of your identity in Christ, your calling, and your preciousness and importance to the Father and His plans, it stirs a burning urge within the heart. When the two disciples were on the road to Emmaus and the Spirit of the risen Lord came and walked along with them, He appeared as an unfamiliar person. Yet when He left their presence because of the words He imparted, their reaction was to say to one another “Did not our hearts burn within us, while He talked to us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures” (Luke 24:32).

            As we open the scriptures to those we touch, the Spirit of God within us causes them to feel that same burning within their own hearts. And anyone who has experienced a burning desire knows that it does not take long for action to follow. Stirring hearts begets the urge. God gives the ability then to do something creative. Creating new disciples, creating new ministries, creating new ways to spread this inspiration even farther. Now, precious carrier of spiritual oxygen to a panting world, how will you inspire the world today?