Heaven’s oil is priceless. Oftentimes, ministers can try to keep things going even when the oil has stopped flowing. When that happens, and if that happens, fleshly works and legalism abounds. The ministry of the Spirit is replaced by the works of the flesh. Prophecies bring death not life. Healing stops flowing and believers stop growing. The absence of God is as palpable as His presence. King Saul found that out after he disobeyed the word of the Lord through prophet Samuel, offered a sacrifice even though he wasn’t a priest, and kept alive what God had committed to destruction to please people. King Saul was an anointed king…until he wasn’t. The oil stopped…immediately. That’s how it works. Then, the question becomes: What do we do when the oil stops flowing? That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post.
To start, we must understand the way things work in God’s kingdom: the oil makes ALL the difference in the world when it comes to the work of God. Without the oil, we become ineffective, fruitless, and barren. Everything in God’s kingdom requires oil. The oil of the Spirit is precious. Without that sweet oil, nothing happens. That was especially true in Jesus’s ministry on earth. Before He acted, He said, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Luke 4:18, 19, NKJV).
Though Jesus had always been the Messiah, which means Anointed One, but there came a specific point in His life where He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. In (Luke 3:22, CEV), we learn the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the form of a dove. Then, Jesus, the Anointed One, the Messiah, was anointed with oil, drenched in oil, and gushed oil wherever He went. Then, He said what He said in (Luke 4:18, 19, KJV) that the Spirit of the Lord had come upon Him. That took place after His youth, after His baptism, after his battle in the desert, after He left His earthly work behind to pick of the mantle of ministry. And that’s when His earthly ministry began.
That begs the question: What does it mean to be anointed with the oil of the Spirit? How can we knowwe’ve been anointed? First, we must realize that every believer is an anointed one. As members of His body, of necessity, we, like Him, must carry His oil. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we are anointed for a particular ministry. What it does mean is, we carry the power to minister in His name, to touch people with His oil in our lives. Second, there are specific individuals who are anointed, who have received of the gift of Christ. In (Ephesians 4:11, NIV), we learn that “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers”. Some men and women are specifically anointed for certain ministries. So, in context, all of us are anointed and some of us are anointed for certain, specific areas in the Church.
Now, going back, I can answer the question: What does it mean to be anointed? Being anointed means we have been smeared with the oil of the Spirit, we have been given a certain measure of the Spirit for our lives to do Christ’s work. Whether in Hebrew or Greek, being anointed was to be smeared with oil. Further, it gives notice of certain divine rights that come with being anointed. When we say that someone is anointed, what we often mean is, they touched us. And while that may be true, and that should happen when we are anointed, if we were to only use that definition of anointed, we would miss out on those who are anointed to do something of value to Christ’s kingdom that may not be important to us.
When the oil is flowing, the load becomes light. As Christ said, “My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30, Amplified Bible). O what needless pain we bear, when we fail to take His yoke, and abide under His anointing to do His work. Our words must drip with oil from heaven or they produce nothing, for “the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.” (Isaiah 10:27, NKJV). And right there, we see the two yokes: One, a yoke of flesh with a burden that we cannot carry, and the other, a yoke of the Spirit, where it’s so light because the oil is flowing. And that’s where discernment comes: Do we recognize the oil?
The oil isn’t about success, for fleshly, worldly people can be successful. The oil isn’t about following, for fleshly, worldly people can gain followers. No! The oil is about productivity, fruitfulness, and abundance, not only in the natural things, but in the things money cannot buy — the work of the Spirit. Healing happens when there’s oil. Deliverance happens when there’s oil. Demonstration happens when there’s oil. Destiny happens when there’s oil. It’s the oil that makes the difference. And that’s what the Church today needs — the oil.
When the oil flows, ministries grow. When the oil flows, believers grow. When the oil flows, that which is impossible becomes reality. When the oil flows, the supernatural becomes natural. The difference is like night and day. And that’s why we must seek God for oil. We must cry for oil. We must beg heaven to let the oil flows once again.
When the oil stops flowing, burdens start growing. Toil becomes our constant companion. We weary under the load we carry. The burden becomes too heavy to bear. Instead, all we carry are the cares of this world. It’s time to let Him lift your cares, carry His yoke, and operate under His oil. If that’s you, it’s time to “go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.” (Matthew 25:9, Berean Standard Bible).
“Learn obedience. Discern God’s voice. Discern God’s way. Then, obey. That’s how we gain oil — by daily obedience to God. Daily!”—Scott Wallis
Buy oil? Yes, as the prophet Isaiah says, “[c]ome, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!” (Isaiah 55:1, Berean Standard Bible). We often think of buying things with money. The Bible reveals some things cannot be bought with money. But that doesn’t mean they cannot be bought. No, the oil, like the wine and milk, can be bought for something other than money. To buy the oil, we need something more than money. What is the price of the oil? Obedience to God, pure and simple obedience to God. Nothing else can buy oil other than obedience to God.
Saints, it’s time to buy oil. Go to those who have oil and buy from them. How? Learn obedience from the ones who have been obedient to the call of God for years. Learn. Listen. Grow in obedience. Jesus learned obedience. In (Hebrews 5:8, Amplified Bible), we learn, “Although He was a Son [who had never been disobedient to the Father], He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered.” Yes, we grow in obedience through the trials of faith we face. Every dark cloud has a silver lining, if we learn obedience and grow through what we go through.
Today, if you find yourself in a desert, grow through what you go through. Don’t stop! If you find yourself in a storm, grow through what you go through. Don’t stop! Learn obedience. Discern God’s voice. Discern God’s way. Then, obey. That’s how we gain oil — by daily obedience to God. Daily! It takes that kind of obedience to get and keep the oil. And isn’t that what you want — oil?
Saints, it’s time to dig deep, to get the oil we need for the days ahead. The Lord is saying, “Dig! Dig deep!” We must dig for oil. Now is the time.
Let us pray!
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