Scripture: "Until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from
heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile
field will yield bountiful crops." Isaiah 32:15
Dry and Lifeless?
Do you feel really dry in life? Like you don't want to get out of bed
some days, or you don't have enough supply to meet all your demands? I
know how you feel. Life can be really hard: People can drain and hurt
us; and things definitely don't always go the way we planned. This can all leave us dry and lifeless. But God wants to restore the dry places in your life and even give you even more vibrance than you have ever yet experienced. And He wants to start today.
The Bread of Your Life
I want you to imagine a piece of bread: dry, crusty, with zero
flavor. Does that describe how you feel? Maybe it's a lifeless marriage,
a life sucked dry from addiction, or the passing by of dreams that
never happened. When I read your comments and stories, I hear the pain
that life has brought you, but I also hear the hope you still have. And
that hope is from God. Because as I read the Bible and walk with God
myself, I know that He is the master at bringing the dead
back to life. So I want you to imagine that same piece of bread—dry and
stale—having oil poured all over it, filling every crevice and
moistening every dry spot. Can you imagine biting into that bread now?
The flavor is back, and it is soft and delicious.
God's Oil
That is what God wants to do with your life by the power of His Spirit. In the Bible, God's Spirit is described as oil:
"So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of
olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit
of the LORD came powerfully upon David from that day on." 1 Samuel 16:13
Think of the powerful properties of oil: it heals wounds, makes
anything taste better, and get things unstuck, to name a few. If you are
wounded, God wants to heal you. If you are lifeless, God wants to bring back the flavor. And if you feel "stuck", God wants to pour out His Spirit on you and get you free. Just like with David, God wants to anoint you today and let you experience the life-giving power of the oil of His Spirit.
Back from the Dead
Let's read this story of a widow who had nothing left, because I believe God wants to do something similar in your life:
"One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, 'My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.' 'What can I do to help you?' Elisha asked. 'Tell me, what do you have in the house?' 'Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,' she replied. And Elisha said, 'Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.' So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim! 'Bring me another jar,' she said to one of her sons. 'There aren’t any more!' he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing. When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, 'Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.'" (2 Kings 4:1-7)
Unlimited
There is no limit to God's Spirit, and He wants to pour it into every
dry crevice of your life—starting today. I want you to imagine each dry
area of your life as an empty jar. Line the jars up in your mind and
label each one. Maybe one is labeled family; one future; one health; one
past memories; so on and so forth. Just like the widow, you can have as
many jars filled as you can find. Now I want you to imagine the Lord
God Himself filling each jar to the brim with the oil of His Holy
Spirit, so much so that they are overflowing. "You honor me by anointing
my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings." Psalm 23:5
Bring Your Jars
That's what He wants to do for you starting today. He wants you to
bring Him every jar of your life—no matter if they have always been
empty—to be filled with the oil of His Spirit. Your dry relationships,
sick body, tired spirit, and dried-up dreams: He wants to nourish them
all, giving them flavor and life—just like a dry piece of bread soaked
in olive oil. When you bring your jars to the Lord to fill, here are
some of the things that will happen:
- You will have new vision: "Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions." Joel 2:28
- Your depression will turn to joy: "To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair." Isaiah 61:3
- You will be able to obey God better: "And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Ezekiel 36:27
- You will experience God in a closer way: "'I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,' declares the Sovereign Lord." Ezekiel 39:29
Start Today
Tell God the names of your empty jars in the Comments below.
Ask Him to fill them with His life-giving Spirit. As you go through your
week and experience dry areas, ask God, "Will You pour oil on this?" He
promises He will! Jesus said, "How much more will your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." Luke 11:13
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