This was a message that the Lord put on my heart earlier this year and its something that Im still trying to live out everyday, its out of matthew 25, speaking about how important it is too keep our relationship with God first, so we can have the oil to fuel our lamps :)
Hope it blesses you
Leo
WE NEED OIL
Matthew 25:1-13
THE BREAKDOWN
10 Virgins 5 wise and 5 foolish.... represents us
10 Virgins 5 wise and 5 foolish.... represents us
Lamps What we do… our gifts and talents… things we do that shine, that are seen by people…Ministry.
Oil It represents the anointing that the Lord gives.
1Sa 16:13 -
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.
Psalms 23:5 -
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Oil is the fuel to their lamps, without oil the lamps can't function; Oil is the essence of ministry, without anointing, ministries is not effective.
The foolish had taken only their lamps, but they forgot to take oil.
The wise took the oil first and then the lamps.
When the Bridegroom (Jesus) came, the foolish had no more oil to light up their lamps; therefore they weren't able to make it to the wedding banquet
The 5 wise however, had enough oil to keep their lamps going, so they were ready for the bridegroom.
How to get oil?
I believe that oil comes from our relationship with the Lord, it comes from our intimate times of prayer, it comes when we take time to worship God. Jesus had A LOT of oil in His 33 years here on earth, Jesus also prayed A LOT.
I believe that God has oil available for us, and He is waiting on us to come and get it the secret place of devotion to Him. How do we get oil? Through our prayer life!
THROUGH INTIMACY WITH GOD
Moral of the story
A lot of people get consumed in their busy lifestyles… from ministry to academics and pretty much everything else, 24 hours a day is not enough to get anything done, so the first thing we put off to the side is our time with Jesus. Even strong Christians, who devoted themselves to living for the Lord, and doing ministry for all their lives, find themselves focusing more on their lamps than on the oil. Jesus called such a thing behavior as "foolish". The wisest and most important we can do is to focus on our relationship with Jesus, we should always take the OIL before the LAMP.
4 THINGS
WE ARE MACHINES
· WITHOUT OIL WE BURN OUT
We all have so much going on, weather it is school, work or ministry, we are all working all the time, with lots of things to do. We become like machines, constantly working… Machines need oil to keep them going, without it they eventually burn out.
We are just like that, if we keep working like machines without getting refreshed with oil.
We will burn out!
John 15:4
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Branches must remain in the vine, if they are not connected with it, they start dying, because the vine is what gives the branches life.
Same way with us! If we are not connected with our source of life, we start dying.
God is our source of life! God is our source of OIL that keeps us going!
· THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR OIL
The foolish and the wise virgins took their lamps; it did not say that the foolish took more lamps then the wise, or that the wise took fewer lamps because of the oil. I believe they had the same amount of lamps, and the wise ones just made the decision to take their oil first.
Meaning… Both of them had the same amount of stuff to do, they where both busy, but the wise one choose to still spend time with God
Having a lot of stuff to get done it's not a excuse to not to pray and spend time with God.
We can keep doing as much stuff as we are already doing and still have time to spend with God, its all about choosing to put Him first, and when we do that I believe He will make the rest of our time a lot more productive.
Being busy it is not a excuse not to get oil
WE ARE TOO BUSY NOT TO GET OIL
· WITHOUT OIL WE BURN OUT
We all have so much going on, weather it is school, work or ministry, we are all working all the time, with lots of things to do. We become like machines, constantly working… Machines need oil to keep them going, without it they eventually burn out.
We are just like that, if we keep working like machines without getting refreshed with oil.
We will burn out!
John 15:4
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Branches must remain in the vine, if they are not connected with it, they start dying, because the vine is what gives the branches life.
Same way with us! If we are not connected with our source of life, we start dying.
God is our source of life! God is our source of OIL that keeps us going!
· THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR OIL
The foolish and the wise virgins took their lamps; it did not say that the foolish took more lamps then the wise, or that the wise took fewer lamps because of the oil. I believe they had the same amount of lamps, and the wise ones just made the decision to take their oil first.
Meaning… Both of them had the same amount of stuff to do, they where both busy, but the wise one choose to still spend time with God
Having a lot of stuff to get done it's not a excuse to not to pray and spend time with God.
We can keep doing as much stuff as we are already doing and still have time to spend with God, its all about choosing to put Him first, and when we do that I believe He will make the rest of our time a lot more productive.
Being busy it is not a excuse not to get oil
WE ARE TOO BUSY NOT TO GET OIL
IT TAKES TIME – SO SPEND TIME
Wouldn't it be nice if we could take like a oil injection once in a while and not have to worry about it? Wouldn't be nice if we could get filled up on a couple of retreats a year and not have to worry about it the rest of the time? Well it's not like that.
God said that He will pour out his spirit Joel 2:28
God wants to pour out his oil on us Psalms 133:2
We need to take time, and just let Him pour it out on us, we need to be still and let the oil run down and cover us completely.
God wants to pour out His spirit on us, He wants to pour out His love on us, He wants to bless us with spiritual gifts, He wants to give us joy in His presence… all we have to do is stop, and take the time let Him give it to us how He wants to.
It takes time – so take that time, its worth it.
· ONLY YOU CAN GET YOUR OIL
Matt 25:8 The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 25:9 "'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
Nobody can get your oil for you, nobody can spend time with God for you.
Its your choice, nobody can choose for you.
God has your portion prepared only for you! He has exactly what you need! And only you can go and get it. And the same way He has something special that only He can give you that He won't give to anybody else He has made you with something that only you can give Him that's so special that only you can give Him… Your heart, your affections, your attention, your time, your life and your love.
You're the only one who can choose to give God your time.
You're the only one who can choose to give God your love.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could take like a oil injection once in a while and not have to worry about it? Wouldn't be nice if we could get filled up on a couple of retreats a year and not have to worry about it the rest of the time? Well it's not like that.
God said that He will pour out his spirit Joel 2:28
God wants to pour out his oil on us Psalms 133:2
We need to take time, and just let Him pour it out on us, we need to be still and let the oil run down and cover us completely.
God wants to pour out His spirit on us, He wants to pour out His love on us, He wants to bless us with spiritual gifts, He wants to give us joy in His presence… all we have to do is stop, and take the time let Him give it to us how He wants to.
It takes time – so take that time, its worth it.
· ONLY YOU CAN GET YOUR OIL
Matt 25:8 The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 25:9 "'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
Nobody can get your oil for you, nobody can spend time with God for you.
Its your choice, nobody can choose for you.
God has your portion prepared only for you! He has exactly what you need! And only you can go and get it. And the same way He has something special that only He can give you that He won't give to anybody else He has made you with something that only you can give Him that's so special that only you can give Him… Your heart, your affections, your attention, your time, your life and your love.
You're the only one who can choose to give God your time.
You're the only one who can choose to give God your love.
CLOSING THOUGHT
Matt 25:12
"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
When the foolish virgins came, Jesus did not rebuke them by saying they did something wrong. His only offence against them was that He didn't know them.
I believe God wants us to choose oil first, and to patiently spend time with Him so He can pour out that oil on us. He wants our relationship with Him to be first.
I believe that a lot of us today are like the foolish virgins, because we have put more focus on our relationship with ministry than our relationship with God.
They worked hard to please the bridegroom, but they didn't take the time to get to know Him.
The apostle Paul said it best
Phil 3:8
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Paul wrote 2/3 of the new testament, preached the gospel to the nations, raised up churches everywhere, and he still says, that he considers everything else worship compared to greatness of know our bridegroom Lord Jesus.
When I get to heaven, I don't want my concern to be the "lamp" resume that I can show Jesus
I want to truly know Him and to be known by Him.
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