DO YOU HAVE OIL IN YOUR LAMP?

Matthew 25

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

 ¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.    ⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
   ⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
   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.’
   ¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
   ¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
   ¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
   ¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Notice the important thing is NOT that they were sleeping, but that they did not have enough OIL in their LAMP.  (Because even the ones with oil were sleeping.  They were abiding-at rest-at peace-in shalom.)  How do you get oil in your LAMP?  You do not want to be the one with no oil or not enough and must get oil while the bridegroom Yeshua comes knocking.  The oil is the filling of Holy Spirit, and the filling comes from ABIDING and spending time in COMMUNICATION with Holy Spirit.  How do you not know someone?    Knowing comes thorough Communication and spending time together.  Your LAMP will be filled with oil, through prayer.  This is the way we commune with Holy Spirit.  It is the same idea when you spend time with a friend, the oil of your relationship is revived through communication.  Like when a husband and wife spent intimacy together we say the LOVE TANK was filled.  
 So, many of us DO spend time in the Word on a routine basis,(which is very important)-but we do not spend our days focused on prayer.  This is how we will hear Holy Spirit.  I cannot hear my husband calling if I have music blaring in my ears.  I cannot hear someone honking or yelling at me while I am driving if music or speaking is filling every part of my brain.  Holy Spirit is calling, speaking to us but we are often more interested in this physical world than hearing what Holy Spirit has to say.


Today,  Holy Spirit we ask you to open the understanding of our minds.  May we hear with our spiritual ears your voice.  May we act upon hearing. AMEN


John 15:4-5
⁴ Remain in me, as I also 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.    ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

BE BOLD AND STOUTHEARTED

 Psalms 138:3
When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.

Vs. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. 

Vs. 8 The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever--do not abandon the works of your hands.

Praise the Lord for his unwavering hand of GOODNESS to us every day, even when we do not see it.
It can seem hidden, but it is the unseen things that cause our FAITH to increase.  May the Lord`s GRACE fill you today and make you bold and stouthearted to offer the same GRACE given to you, to others.  The Lord will also fulfill His purpose in your life. 
No matter when you truly begin to hear His voice.  Time is held in the Hands of the Creator.
Some people seem to think that they are of no use to the Lord because they are middle aged and just learning to hear Holy Spirit.  This is a lie.  When ever one begins to hear and turns at the sound of Holy Spirit`s voice.  The Father rejoices.  The Father loves us and gives us many opportunities along the way to hear His voice.  It is not about WHEN we hear, it is about what we DO when we hear.

There is a passage that says we will ALL know the Lord.  He will be written upon our hearts and upon our minds.  This would be when He would make a NEW COVENANT with the House of Israel.   ALL the world could know this LOVE COVENANT, from the least to the greatest. 
Jer. 31:31
"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to  them," declares the LORD. (You can only be married to ONE husband or wife at a time-it is a COVENANT.)
33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (This is when the Messiah would come and remove our sin by His blood.)
35 This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--the LORD Almighty is his name:

This should make you bold and stouthearted today to know that your Father is the ONE who fights on your behalf for you.  He is in COVENANT with you and it is an unconditional COVENANT.  THIS MEANS THAT EVEN WHEN WE MESS THINGS UP, HIS LOVE, HIS GRACE, HIS GIVING TOWARD US NEVER NEVER CHANGES.  A CONTACT IS CONDITIONAL. WHERE IT TAKES BOTH PARTIES TO KEEP IT.  A COVENANT IS A RELATIONSHIP WHERE THERE ARE NO CONDITIONS.  THE COVENANT STANDS NO MATTER WHAT.  WE HAVE A PERFECT HEAVENLY DADDY WHO MADE COVENANT WITH US THAT CANNOT AND WILL NEVER BE BROKEN. OUR DADDY DOES NOT LIE.

 The Lord is your warrior, He has won the victory. Do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the the Lord.  Walk behind Him, in His shadowy covering today. Stand still and see His Salvation at work.  He works it on your behalf this day.
You shall know the truth(grace of Yeshua), and the truth shall set you free.  
Yeshua has abundant life for you today.  He has come that we might have life and life more abundantly.  Do not be weary in well doing for you will reap a harvest of joy and blessing in due season as you persevere in the physical and the spiritual in your life.  
All things work together for the good to those who love God to those who are called according to His purpose. 
The plan and purpose He has for you today is to hear His voice today.  Listen to the voice of the shepherd as He calls you away to the secret place.  Remember that He wants to know you FACE to FACE.

HE SINGS AND DANCES OVER YOU

Zephaniah 3:17

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁷The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.

Do you know that Jesus(Yeshua) sings and dances over you?  How do you act when you are in love?  Well this is Yeshua`s heart for each one of us. He is IN-LOVE with you today. Many of us are unaware of His presence and unaware that it is an experience to KNOW Him.  Everyday you walk on your journey His hand is upon you.  He protects you with a wall of fire.  Why do you build a fire if you are camping outside?  Isn`t it to warm and feed you and then to protect against wild animals?  Holy Spirit`s wall of fire is similar in that it IS are protection from the spiritual enemy.
Isaiah 41 says, 
 ¹⁰ ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ 
His hand holds you up even when you do not realize it.  He is the God who wants to be known and heard.  

Today let us stop and listen.  Put everything, all anxiety aside and ask Holy Spirit to show you His love for you.  I promise that you will begin to KNOW His voice in a new way.
He says, "if anyone has ears to hear, let them hear."  
May His wall of fire be about you today and may His face shine upon you with a brightness that cannot be contained.  Holy Spirit Come and make your presence known today. Amen