Bringing My Lamp & My Oil

(Matthew 25:1-4)

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins 

who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 

Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones 

took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, 

however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 

The Lord has really been pressing in my spirit the story of the ten virgins toward the end of the Book of Matthew. Even though I continued to read ahead I always seemed to make my way back to that small passage in the 25th chapter. This is one of my favorite parables that Jesus taught just because it mirrors the church as His bride, Jesus as the bridegroom, and He gives us another little glimpse of what bringing His kingdom down to earth looks like. I got some info about the tradition of Jewish weddings online because I really wanted to understand the context of what Jesus was talking about: "In Jewish society, the parents of the betrothed generally drew up the marriage contract. The bride and groom would meet, perhaps for the first time, when this contract was signed. The couple was considered married at this point, but they would separate until the actual time of the ceremony. The bride would remain with her parents, and the groom would leave to prepare their home. This could take quite a while. When the home was all ready, the groom would return for his bride without notice. The marriage ceremony would then take place, and the wedding banquet would follow."

When I started to read, a picture was painted in my head of these ten young ladies, half careless and the other half expectantly waiting for the groom to arrive. I imagined their talks of what he looked like standing at the altar, of where they would live together, and when he was coming. I imagined them pacing back and forth looking out of the windows to be the first ones to run to His side. At this point he could be right around the corner or far off in the distance: It was a total surprise visit waiting to happen. For any girl it's hard to wait, can I get an amen? I can picture joy turning into expectancy, expectancy turning into impatience, and impatience turning into boredom. The young women became so tired of waiting that they fell asleep. When the bridegroom arrived at midnight to take the ladies to the banquet to celebrate, the ones that were prepared followed with their well-oiled lamps while the one's that weren't were left behind and denied entrance into the feast.

The details of this parable are so important. What the Spirit pressed in my heart was that the wise virgins that were prepared with their lamps and oil are a symbol of God's church being ready through the filling of His Word and His Holy Spirit. Psalm 119:105 automatically popped up into my head word by word and I was like yes Lord, I understand. But right after He revealed that the lamp was talking about God's Word He then spoke this strongly into my spirit: The ladies that were left out had their lamps but lacked the oil...that oil is my Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit to breathe a new revelation of God's Word into our lives we the church will not see the glory of Jesus manifested here on earth. This is like supplementing His signs and wonders for a Bible study. We need the combination. We can't have one without the other. It is His desire for all of His children to move in the power of the Holy Spirit. These ten women, symbolizing the church, knew that without the oil eventually the fire was going to burn out and they would not be able to see their bridegroom coming and would either miss Him or get lost trying to go out to meet Him.

(Psalm 119:105)

Your word is a lamp for my feet,
    a light on my path.

The Bible is the instrument that The Lord provides us with so that we can follow the path that He's marked out before us and His Holy Spirit is the source of power that is needed to turn keep the fire burning. His anointing in our lives is his seal of ownership because knowing the word alone won't do it, this just opens the door for religion. We need His Word + His Holy Spirit anointing in order to produce fire (power) in our lives.

(2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. 

He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit 

in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

.

We have one of those antique oil lamps at home on top of our fridge that we've conserved for years for those stormy nights when the power goes out. I want to talk a little bit about the maintenance of an oil lamp. Humor me guys I promise it's important. After you've filled the bottom glass end with oil the wick (rectangular thick stringy thingy) has to be trimmed if it's been previously used because it's all burned up. In the the parable of the ten virgins I noticed that the moment the ladies heard that the bridegroom was coming they woke up and the first thing they did was trim their lamps. They had left their lamps burning the whole time that now the time came for them to re-fuel them with some oil and a clean wick. You know that moment when you read through something but then stop, make a curious face, and then read back again? That was my aha moment. I knew that this portion of was important somehow so I said, "Holy Spirit show me, explain why this is important." He likes to flood me and that's exactly what happened and continues to happen. Just like that "wick" our spiritual lives reach points of burn out when we're stuck on old revelations and past experiences when the Holy Spirit wants to give us something fresh and new. I've been there and gosh I'm sure we all have but what He spoke into my spirit was that we need to trim off the old burned up wick. We need to throw away what we think we know about God through what we've learned so far, to make room for Him to show up in our lives a new way. We need to throw out the window what we've heard of God and prepare ourselves for daily encounters. And I'm not talking about shutting out readings or men and women of God, not at all. But I am saying that living off of second hand information is scary and not enough. We need to have a personal relationship with God and then let second hand information serve as a compliment and as confirmation for what the Holy Spirit has already revealed to us first. Let's just let our bridegroom pay us a surprise visit. Let's be ready for that visit. I'm excited!

That Place.

(Lamentations 3:57) You came near when I called you,

    and you said, “Do not fear.”

That place where words just aren't enough so all there is to say is a big bunch of silence. That place where you simply sit quietly and wait for an answer, a touch, something...anything at all. God is in that place with us. Just like there are noticeably glorious moments there are also subtle moments of God's glory being released: you can't quite see those and you can't quite feel those. Those moments are silent but full of life. Combine every single one of those moments in your life and you'll realize that you were never quite the same after them...we're forever changed by God's subtle touch. We don't have to be afraid, God is near. We were created to be in relationship with our Father. That place of intimacy, of stillness, of just not having all the answers...it's ok...God is there and He likes being there with us.

His Glory Rained Down

And then came Sunday. I drove off to church. I warmed-up. I prayed. I did a mike-check. Met some new people. Worshiped my King. Our service is called Tardes De Gloria (Afternoons of Glory) and that's exactly what we all witnessed. We felt God's glory rain and pour out over us. Some missionaries and prophets from Oklahoma came to pay us a visit and from the moment I stepped foot inside the church I could perceive something new, something big coming our way. Sunday after Sunday after Sunday all of us have been seeking and pursuing the Lord's presence, Worshiping and poring out songs before his throne and we finally saw and felt the overwhelming overflow of our Father's glory. It was unbearable. So unbearable that at one point I just left my mike and went over to the corner of the alter to just break down, kneeling before my God. The only living God was there but this time we just FELT Him push through us and walk among us spiritually. Our eyes could not see it but our spirits were so out of our control and completely under His control. I mean, not one person was left out...everyone drank on their own because that's what the service is all about. Getting into God presence individually as one to drink from the well. Each and every single person just making the most of the three hour or four or how ever long it takes to get satisfied. We sing and praise and worship until we burst with uncontainable life. Each person received a prophetic word from The Lord. When we finally finished the first part of our time of praise and worship (approximately one hour and a half) The man who came to release the prophetic word over our service and congregation introduced himself and gave the word out:

(Jeremiah 9:23-24) 

This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,but let the 

one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

 for in these I delight,”

declares the Lord.

Because we've been seeking God we found Him. It's all about His presence. After the word, which was amazing because God was just speaking, the prophet and my pastor began to prepare for the altar call and the second round of our congregational worship. I was drinking out of my water jug and reaching for my mike when I heard the prophet say, "bring me that young lady." I was sort of confused because of the spiritual Ephesians 5:18 drunkenness I was experiencing. The man walked up to me and began to release the prophetic word. Most of what I can remember him saying is that I was being given a fresh anointing because I had the gift of prophecy and that The Lord wanted me to begin to release that. He said that I would hear God sing to me and that all I had to do was repeat that because God wants to speak to the church through me. I was just receiving it, over joyed, knowing that the Lord confirmed to me something that I've been acting on that His Spirit has taught me but now God gave His public approval before the whole congregation. My heart was so full because it's been a long walk and God has seen me pushed aside but He made that man walk up to me first. It's like when you have a boyfriend who's parents are talking bad about you and then he sticks up for you. I felt my groom publicly exalt me for being humble in the secret. This place though is something special filled with people who have been rescued from the darkest depths and now seek more and more to walk in the light. We stumble but we no longer fall through the power of The Holy Spirit. I'm only 19 y'all but trust me when I say...it's been a long...long walk. Through the desert and up the mountain but it's brought me closer to my God. I can't even describe anymore how I feel because it's too much to contain in words to the point where I can honestly say that words would do this experience no justice. Talk too you all soon.

Speechless...