FRESH OIL, FRESH FIRE!

Years ago, when Lois and I were powerfully touched by the Holy Spirit, I talked with a friend about what God was doing. I expected him to be excited, but instead he told me, “I don’t want any part of it.” I couldn’t understand that. Why would anyone not want to experience more of God? Then he told me his story. Years earlier, he had experienced his own season of revival. He knew what it was like to be overwhelmed by God’s presence. The fire had burned brightly within him. He had known the hunger, the joy, the excitement of waking up experiencing God and going to bed still consumed with Him. But somewhere along the way, almost without his noticing, the fire began to burn lower and lower. Eventually, what had once burned so brightly became little more than a glowing ember on the altar of his heart. And that was what frightened him.

            I understand his words much differently today than I did back then. There is an emptiness that is difficult to explain unless you have experienced it yourself. You remember what it was like to be so aware of the Holy Spirit—His presence seemed to fill everything. Then somewhere along the way, almost without realizing it, you wake up and discover that what once felt so near now seems strangely distant.

Stir Up

I remember reading 2 Timothy 1:6, where Paul writes these definitive words: “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” Paul used a specific Greek Word, ‘anazopureo’, which means to ‘stir up.’ Paul was commanding Timothy to rekindle and stir up those embers that had gone dormant back into a consuming fire. In essence, Paul was telling Timothy, “The fire is not dead, and it has not left you. It has become trapped under a heavy layer of exhaustion and routine. God will not send a new fire to bypass your neglect. You have to blow on the coals. You have to stir the embers yourself.” This relationship reveals that fanning the fire within our hearts requires an intentional, decisive spiritual movement.

            When we find ourselves in a dry place, looking at the dying embers, we have to look closely at how a spiritual fire is actually sustained. God may have originally sent a revival fire down from heaven to ignite the wood on the altar, but He also sent a strict command to the priests in Leviticus: “The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to burn wood on it.” The spark was entirely divine, but the daily upkeep is our responsibility. Every single day, the priests had to clear away the old, cold ashes and lay down fresh wood. “Yesterday’s ashes are evidence of yesterday’s fire, but they cannot sustain today’s flame.”

            Remember the familiar parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25: the defining difference between the wise and the foolish was that the wise intentionally carried an extra vessel of oil. They had the maturity to know their lamps would inevitably go out without a continuous, fresh supply. We must understand this spiritual law clearly; Yesterday’s oil needs to be replenished  with today’s oil to keep our oil lamps filled and ready for the bride.. We need a daily, fresh pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the altar of our hearts.. When the fresh oil of the Spirit is

poured over the hidden coals of our past encounters, something miraculous happens. That oil becomes a catalyst, bursting into a full, unquenchable blaze.

One of the most powerful ways God has designed for us to keep the flame alive is through im-partation with the laying on of hands. From that posture of humility, we need to purposefully position ourselves to receive prayer from the trusted elders that are in our church or are known for their integri-ty and anointing in itinerant ministry. A raw, biblical impartation happens when others pray over you, breaking through the numbness and releasing the fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit We need to come back to the altar line at every opportunity, allowing wave after wave of God’s presence to wash over us until the dryness breaks, the embers catch, and we are living in the absolute abundance of His presence again!

A principle we learned many years ago is that when you have received the anointing you are to give it away and be used to spread the fire that brings fresh oil for salvation, healing and deliverance! It is a Kingdom principle that we are to give away that which we have been given and recognize this in our lives, Isaiah 61 has much to say as well as Luke 4:18 state this about the purpose of the anointing in our lives.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

May we ask Him to make us thirsty for more of Him as we seek Him with all of our hearts and grow in anticipation of the Lord’s fire, meeting with Him to rekindle the altars in our own hearts. The strategy of heaven is not to replace the old fire, but to blow the wind of the Spirit onto the existing coals until the original covenant flame roars back to life. Step up to the altar of the Lord every new day with absolute humility and a desperate hunger. Lay the wood of our complete surrender before Him, pour out the fresh oil of our devotion, and invite the holy wind of the Spirit to blow once again. Do not let your altar remain unattended. Fan the flame, stir the embers, and watch the new fire fall.

So how do we stay in the day to day grind of each day when we have known so much power and love from our heavenly Father? May we activate the fire within us by choosing to worship Him in Spir-it and truth every new day and to pray for the Holy Spirit to fill our homes as we surrender our hearts and our will to His will. May we ask Him to transform us and capture our hearts as we read and acti-vate His truths from the word of God and draw close to Him.

Some thirty years ago in the beginning, we went forward because our Spirit was stirred by the words, “If you are dry and thirsty and desire a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, come forward.” It didn’t take long for me to realize these words were for us; We went forward to receive ! Soon, two men came up to Lois and me and laid their hands upon us. When they did, a fire burst forth from within us that was more than we could have hoped for or imagine!

We invite you this day to say “yes” to God and ask Him to stir (fan the flame) of the embers that are waiting! May we end well with our heads anointed with His oil and our cup overflowing. Fa-ther, breathe upon the embers of our hearts until the fire of Your presence burns brightly within us once again. Holy Spirit, fill us with fresh oil each day, awaken our hunger for You, and never let the fire up-on the altar of our hearts go out. Lord, anoint us until our cups overflow, and send us out to give away what You have freely given us—to bring salvation, healing, freedom, and hope to others.