Isaiah 41:19, 20 ".....I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. .." (NIV)
In the past few weeks, we've seen the importance of spending time in God's presence. We need to commit ourselves to God and not lean on our own understanding. It is important for us to allow His anointing to flow through us. All this cannot be done in our own strength. It can only be God who accomplishes it.
In My conclusion, for this study, I see a similarity in the last three trees. These trees symbolize many things but the three things which stand out are strength, faithfulness and durability. Isaiah 60:1,2, encourages us to arise and shine as darkness covers the earth. It also tells us that thick darkness will be over the people. That is why Isaiah 41:19 says God is going to give us strength to go through this wasteland. He promises to accomplish this by His hand. When others see us arise with strength, they will know it was God who did it.
God promises to set the pine, fir and cypress together. Each of these trees are not easy to destroy. They speak of having durability. We can know, for ourselves, that no matter what comes against us God will give us the endurance to go through it. It may look dark and gloomy around about us, but we can rise and shine. We can be the bearers of light.
In Jude 24 it says, "To Him Who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great Joy..." God through His mighty hand will give us the strength and durability to keep us from falling into the darkness around us. He also will work within us; all He requires is our faithfulness to submit to Him. He will work by His spirit within us to produce the fruit of the spirit of faithfulness.
Be encouraged, despite whatever is happening around you, God is working and will continue to work in and through us. He will not stop or abandoned us, but He will continue to shine in and through us until the final day!
May God bless you as you shine for Him.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Anointing and Healing- The Olive Tree
Isaiah 41:19 "....and the oil tree..."
Sorry for the lack of blogging; I have been going and coming from Ghana. When I last wrote, it was about the Olive tree symbolizing peace and unity. This week I'd like to look at the symbolism of the olive tree in connection with anointing and healing. God has so much for us in these areas and often we are ignorant of all these blessings.
Olive oil was used for anointing with both the Priests and the Kings. (Ex 30:23-33; Lev 8:12, I Sam 16:13) It says in I Peter 2:9, each of us is a part of the royal priesthood. We are anointed by the Holy Spirit to do all which God has put in our hands to do.
When Jesus started His ministry, He began by reading Isaiah 61, "The Spirit of the Lord is now upon Me..." This is the anointing which we have available. Many times the anointing is there for us to receive but we are so busy with our own lives we don't reach out to receive it. We get caught up with the concerns of the world or with our own pride. Sometimes we choose a lifestyle of sin over walking in the anointing.
In God's anointing, we find healing. In James 5:14 tells us to call the elders and be anointed with oil to receive healing. In I Peter 2:24 it says "By His stripes we were healed." which is taken from Isaiah 53:4,5 ...taken out of the passage, "Surely, He took up our infirmities (sickness) and carried our sorrows (emotional hurts). Yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities (spiritual restoration), the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed." In God's anointing we find total healing: spirit, soul and body!
The anointing of God sets us free from the dominion of sin and the enemy. God has made the provision for us to walk in anointing. If we don't receive the anointing, how are we going to reach out to those around us who are hurting and in need? We can't do it in our own strength. Not only do we need the anointing for our own lives but we need it to flow through for others.
Let us walk in the anointing God has made available for us through Jesus Christ.
Sorry for the lack of blogging; I have been going and coming from Ghana. When I last wrote, it was about the Olive tree symbolizing peace and unity. This week I'd like to look at the symbolism of the olive tree in connection with anointing and healing. God has so much for us in these areas and often we are ignorant of all these blessings.
Olive oil was used for anointing with both the Priests and the Kings. (Ex 30:23-33; Lev 8:12, I Sam 16:13) It says in I Peter 2:9, each of us is a part of the royal priesthood. We are anointed by the Holy Spirit to do all which God has put in our hands to do.
When Jesus started His ministry, He began by reading Isaiah 61, "The Spirit of the Lord is now upon Me..." This is the anointing which we have available. Many times the anointing is there for us to receive but we are so busy with our own lives we don't reach out to receive it. We get caught up with the concerns of the world or with our own pride. Sometimes we choose a lifestyle of sin over walking in the anointing.
In God's anointing, we find healing. In James 5:14 tells us to call the elders and be anointed with oil to receive healing. In I Peter 2:24 it says "By His stripes we were healed." which is taken from Isaiah 53:4,5 ...taken out of the passage, "Surely, He took up our infirmities (sickness) and carried our sorrows (emotional hurts). Yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities (spiritual restoration), the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed." In God's anointing we find total healing: spirit, soul and body!
The anointing of God sets us free from the dominion of sin and the enemy. God has made the provision for us to walk in anointing. If we don't receive the anointing, how are we going to reach out to those around us who are hurting and in need? We can't do it in our own strength. Not only do we need the anointing for our own lives but we need it to flow through for others.
Let us walk in the anointing God has made available for us through Jesus Christ.
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