Fresh Oil and Fresh Wine from the Throne of God

Just like every person reading my blog, I have felt some pressing this week. You know when you feel that tiny twinge in your body that a cold might be going on...well that is how I have felt all week but not with a virus or sickness of any type but with the OLD mindset and STRONGHOLDS of the past. Depression has no hold on me and I have been delivered from any symptoms in my body and mind...but sometimes when I am physically tired the devil might try to throw some pathetic attempts in my directions. I have the MIND of CHRIST which makes me a lot smarter than the enemy and I am on to his attempts to deceive me.

On Sunday, I felt urged by the Holy Spirit to encourage His people and tell them a vital message. God knows it is not my first preference to get up in front of a couple hundred people and speak forth what I hear on the heart of the Father. I will admit that I fear what man thinks of me just a little too much. I also know there are a few people that have been offended by my enthusiasm to speak what I know to be the the truth in God's Word rather than some tired religion that I used to walk in. Therefore since I still nurture a seed of fear of man, the devil uses this to try to nag me and distract me and try to get me to believe his lies rather than the truth of God's Word that I am 100% saved from the curse of the law.

From the beginning of my relationship with Christ, I have have believed that we are saved by GRACE and GRACE alone. I was properly taught from God's Word that we can do nothing to get saved and nothing we do can ever be good enough to get to heaven. I have known the truth since I was a very little girl and surrendered my heart and life to God at age 11. I knew the Holy Spirit came into live inside of me at that young age because I didn't hate my little sister any more. Isn't that a perfect witness for a little girl to no longer hate but actually feel loving feelings toward my sister. It was a miracle in my opinion. I did nothing to change my feelings it was just a work of GRACE. Really this should be how it is to be delivered from any sin. It should be a work of God's GRACE in our lives.

I think we WORK too much and really should just sit still more often and acknowledge that it is God who is at work within us and really there is NOTHING we can do about it. Philemon 1:6 say, “that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus” Furthermore, I'm reminded of Philippians 2: 13 "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

But getting back to what the Holy Spirit wanted to share with His people earlier this week. I wanted to take some time and share with my readers as well. I think it will encourage you too.

My children need to know that the fresh wine and fresh oil is flowing continually from the throne of God. A river of revelation and fresh wine are constantly flowing from Heaven and flowing out to every child of God. Their sin does not stop it. Nothing they do can stop the flow of fresh wine and fresh oil from coming their way. The problem is their old wine skins. The old way of thinking cannot hold the fresh wine and fresh oil. The old wine skins break and the wine spills to the ground. You need to get rid of old mindsets and receive the revelation that God's blessing is flowing toward you. Then you can experience this fresh wine and fresh oil from the throne of God.

If we have Keys why Did Jesus tell us to knock?

Sometimes things in God's Word seem to counter other scripture but really it all compliments.

In Matthew 16:19 Jesus tells his disciples that He was giving them the keys.
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

So why in Matthew 7:7-11 did he encourage us to keep knocking?

Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.⁸For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.⁹Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone?¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent?¹¹If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!

You will love this answer!

Because until we have knowledge of the KEY we can't get inside. There is no condemnation in asking, seeking or knocking because we were promised that we would get our answers to prayer. Whoo hoo! That is good news! BUT after you get the answer or God hands you a key then it would be pretty silly to keep standing outside waiting for God to answer the door that he has already answered to you.

So many of us have been taught that if an answer does not come then it was just not God's will for us to have it.

Proverbs 13:12 says "Hope deferred makes the heart sick but the desire comes it IS A TREE OF LIFE!!!" Then we can spread the good news that God heals and God saves and restores our brokeness. We must hold on to hope that God does open that door and He has provided everything we need for life and godliness.

I have had a picture in my mind for weeks now of FRESH OIL and FRESH WINE flowing constantly from the throne of God. I asked God what it meant. He told me it is not people's sin or weaknesses that stop the flow of fresh wine or fresh oil but it is their mindsets or wineskins that can't hold the fresh wine or fresh oil. Remember how Jesus said the old wineskins would burst if you put fresh wine inside...we NEED to go to God's Word and have our minds renewed until we can understand God's love and grace toward us so we can hold the new wine.

Knocking on the door. I NEED those KEYS!!!

So I'm standing outside knocking loudly at the door. PLEASE let me in! Please someone come along who has the key to let me inside. I NEED inside.

So that was my life. I felt I was pleading my case to God and begging Him to notice my efforts. Begging him to fix the issues in my heart and life so I could be the Christian he wanted me to be. I felt if I read my bible consistently then he would honor my efforts. If I prayed every day then maybe He would favor me. I would worship and praise and enter in with a thankful heart. I would try to please God, fail, repent and start all over. It was a vicious, unproductive cycle. Will that get me inside? Will doing good get me noticed? Maybe fasting...maybe serving...maybe this will work...I kept searching for that key.

There was never a question forgiveness and grace were 100% free to me and anyone who asked God for Salvation. I KNEW I could do nothing to deserve forgiveness or God's grace. He provided it to me. A gift. No problem. Then WHY O WHY did I continue to try to make myself righteous to have God's favor after I became His child? Why did I feel the need to DO something to earn His love and acceptance? Why did I feel that if I was not doing perfect then I would be rejected?

The short answer is I was misinformed about God's nature. I had tidy religious notions about God but really not understanding the true nature of God. It finally took a radical tearing down of the old unproductive mindsets that hindered me from really knowing God's nature. I NEVER thought of myself as a "religious or legalistic" type person but ANYTIME you find yourself basing your relationship with God on how good or bad your "walk" is then you will find that you are basing your righteousness on works rather than fully on what Jesus did for us.

I thought doing good things would make me holy. What I discovered in God's Word is that accepting Christ's sacrifice makes me holy and reading God's Word, spending time in His presence and allowing my mind to be renewed by His Spirit is how I gain REVELATION of his 100% acceptance of who I am IN CHRIST.

The Word says in Hosea 4:6 "My people perish for a lack of knowledge." It is true that what you DO NOT know will hurt you.

Keys will get you inside.

Lets say you have been given the keys to a large corporation. If you are given a key you have full access to go inside and use the resources inside that building. The keys signify that you have authority to be there and you have authority to keep out those who would be a hindrance to the the one who gave you the keys. If the owner needs you to get a project done and everything you need to get this done is inside then you would not be employed long if after you were told to do something but then stood outside the building waiting for someone to come unlock the door. Or begging the owner to please come and do the job you were assigned.

Owner: I told you to handle my affairs.
Employee: I was waiting for you to come unlock the door so I could go inside to do the job you asked.
Owner: You have a key.
Employee: Oh, but if you would please help me with this job...I lack the resources to complete what you ask of me.
Owner: EVERYTHING you require is inside--use your key--go inside and do the job you were equipped to do.
Employee: Oh I covered the manual in detail, I emailed you and informed you all the issues I was having about not being able to get inside, I did a lot of PR work on the street corner to tell everyone the really neat stuff we will be doing as soon as we get inside and soon as you help us and as soon as you do the work...Oh and by the way, I saw your competitor walk in and steal some important resources belonging to the company. I sent you an email informing you of the unfortunate incident.
Owner: You didn't tell him to leave? You didn't call security to boot him out? You just watched him go in and steal from us?
Employee: Yeah, well, I thought I better wait to see if you had a strong opinion on the matter. I thought it might be your wishes that this be allowed to happen.
Owner: I provided EVERYTHING you need. It has all been paid for, I gave you a key, I placed on the inside equipment and provision for the entire project...BUT you want ME to do what I have told you to do?

This is not meant to be condemning but simply eye-opening.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Eph 1:17)

Jesus made it abundantly clear to his disciples the authority given to them. “And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” Matt 16:19 And the Father, has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints by what Jesus accomplished on the cross. (Col 1:12) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (Eph 1:3)

Night seasons

I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.

Some of you know that the Hedged in my God's Grace Bible study was birthed out a very difficult season of my life. The winter of 2007 was a black hole of near despair. I knew this was a physical and emotional barrage from hell. I knew Satan wanted me to believe I was never going to have healing and never going to live a life of victory. I knew he was a liar but honestly there were days I could have given up and believed the lies over what I read in God's Word.

Medication was not working. Rest was not working. Praying and reading the Word was not working. I was basically crippled in my mind and body. Depression is not just about being sad--I knew I had nothing to feel sad about--but it robs your ability to think clearly and robs you of who you really are meant to be as a person. It is like wearing a lead blanket and walking in mud up to your knees all the while weeping for "no reason".

The miracle began by the Holy Spirit instructing me to do a word study. I went to www.crosswalk.com and printed off all the verses with the words "hedge, boundary, safety and wall" and it grew from there. I saw clearly that Psalms 16 was like an outline of how the Lord wants us to see ourselves inside of His safety zone.

This verse in Psalms 16:7 is so vital to bring hope to those reading this who are still struggling with depression.

The word "heart" is just what you would expect--it means your center parts (literally kidney or organ) from which your emotions spring forth. I think we might call this the soul or the mind, will and emotions. So when your heart gives you counsel it is telling you something from a soulish or carnal perspective.

I don't know about you but I'm pretty fickle in my heart. One day I'm whining and complaining and the next everything is dy-no-mite! So my heart is not reliable. The Word of God, however, is very reliable. I do believe that we can train our heart to believe God's Word over our circumstances but realistically we better not rely on our hearts during the difficult seasons. I really think that is what the psalmist is encouraging is for our hearts to tell us what we need not what we feel.

I recently looked more closely at the last word of this verse in the Strong's concordance. Night seasons-- is a word that means "gloom". I looked up the root and I was AMAZED. That root word means "staircase, winding stair, shaft or enclosed space with steps or ladder." How many of us who have "fallen" into depression felt it was like being trapped in a deep, dark, winding stairwell.

I will share a very personal and scary event before I experienced healing manifest in my life.

It was nearly spring after that very long hard winter of fighting depression and trying different meds that really were less than helpful. In the middle of the night I awoke screaming. Before the panic completely gripped me and I was left unable to physically speak, I pleaded for my husband to pray in the spirit for me.

In my mind I was being dragged down a deep, pitch black stairwell. It was a winding stairwell and I didn't understand the significance until I read the meaning of the word "night season". I could hear my husband praying in the spirit and then I heard the Holy Spirit say, "Now you are going to count the steps as you come up." I said, "one" but it was barely audible, "two" and panic was still gripping me, "three" and my speech was only a garble. By the time I got to seven or eight I knew I was going to be okay. This seemed so real and if the Holy Spirit had not instructed me to come up those stairs I'm certain I would have been hospitalized that night.

My emotions tried to dictate to me that night. Fear and torment thought it had won but the counsel of the Holy Spirit made all the difference and I WILL BLESS HIS NAME!

NOW the ruler of this world is cast out. John 12

Jesus said, "NOW the ruler of this world is cast out." When Jesus said this to his disciples they must have had hope stirred inside of them. I know this excites me! But we have to go to the Old Covenant account in Numbers 21 to have a really good understanding of what Jesus meant in the Gospel account in John 12.

Numbers 21

The Israelites were pretty tired of life in the wilderness. They complained about what they didn’t have rather than being thankful for everything the Lord miraculously provided.

They complained and accused the Lord of sending them to the wilderness to die. So snakes were allowed to bite them and many of the people died. To me this is evidence that our words are powerful. They accused God of killing them…then God sent the snakes like an answer to a faith-filled prayer.

Well, they cried out to Moses and admitted they were sinful and needed to be saved from the snakes their very words brought upon them. God told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it upon a pole and when the people looked up at the snake then they were saved (healed).

This may seem like a very odd account but keep in mind that the snake on the pole was lifted up. Who said he would be lifted up? Jesus said this in John 12.

He told his disciples that NOW is the judgment of the world and NOW the ruler of the world shall be cast out. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up out of the earth, (just like that snake on the pole) will draw all to me." (Darby Translation) Jesus drew all the judgment and all the shame so we would go free--we are saved from the curse.

But they have to look at what Jesus did…they have to look at the One who took all the sin and judgment upon himself. They have acknowledged that the One lifted up is their Savior.

We have to acknowledge that the One who knew no sin became sin for us. Like the snake was cursed so Christ took all of the curse for us so we experience NONE of the curse. AMEN!!! THAT IS GOOD NEWS!

My favorite part is NOW the ruler of the world will be cast out. We really need to chew on this. If the devil is coming to steal, kill and destroy in your life and your family who gave him permission? Did God give him permission? No, it says in John 12 that NOW the ruler of the world shall be cast out. So maybe just like the Israelites in the wilderness we underestimate how powerful our words of confession are in this world. We were given authority and the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matt 16:19) Are we sick and weak and dying because of a lack of understanding? (Q: My people perish for a lack of what?A: Knowledge) Hosea 4:6

Maybe just like the Israelites we are confessing what we lack rather than acknowledging that IN CHRIST we have everything we need for life and godliness.