The Crushing - The Anointing!

I read an article one time talking about the process of making oil  Depending on what kind of oil it is there can be a few different steps but the overall process is the same and I wanted to share a thought I had with you today.  

Steps of getting Gods' Anointing in our lives

I began to think if the first step..... the cleaning, seeds are put through a process of washing, cleaning out all foreign objects before they can ever even begin the process of becoming oil. Before we can have the anointing of God in our lives we must be cleaned. We must remove all the old, harmful, dirty parts of who we are and allow God to clean us. Repentance, Receiving the Holy Ghost, Baptism in Jesus name. These are all steps we must take to become clean. We must get rid of the "old hull", the old man before we can make ourselves available for the pressing we will go through to have the anointing of God in our lives.

Next it talks about the stripped seeds being ground into meal. - the purpose of this is that it gives more surface area to be pressed. This made me think about the things in our life that we don't open up and allow God to grind....giving more surface for God to work with. If you are only allowing God a portion of your heart, your life then that will not be sufficient when the time comes for the pressing. God desires and needs full access. Lay it all out there for Him and watch what He will do.

After the meal is there the pressure begins. It starts slow and light, but the pressure increases as the oil is squeezed out. Sound familiar? Have you ever felt like everything in your life is being squeezed. I know I have, days where I cried out to God with the pressures that surrounded me. Not understanding at the time the process God was taking me through. I needed the pressure so I could learn to lean on Him, trust Him and turn to Him with everything in my life. Without those pressures then it would not have forced me to refocus on Jesus.

The refining of the oil is another process that sounds unpleasant....the oil is heated up to between 107-188 degrees F. Whoa not sure I am ready to face the heat. I mean I know God is there and I trust Him, I have survived the pressing but now what. The heat, getting outside my comfort zone, allowing God to direct me, use me as He sees fit even if I am uncomfortable in that process. Hang on though because there is purification and growth in the heating process. God is making us into what we need to be. Once we go through the steps and the anointing of God is in our lives THEN we are a vessel that can be used by God.

I have found myself in the past wishing to be like someone else.  Hearing a great singer and wanting to be able to sing like them, or an amazing speaker and want to be able to reach out and touch lives like they did mine, what I never stopped to consider was the process they had to go through to get to where they are today.  Be careful when you start wishing to have a ministry like someone else, you do not know the process they went through to get to where they are in their ministry.  I have since changed my way of thinking it s not about wanting to be like someone else it is all about wanting to be what God wants e to be.  If I will just focus on that and allow God to refine me into what I need to be for His purpose then the anointing that He will place on my life will be amazing.  I cannot live off of someone else's anointing but I must have my own.  God did not create us all to be the same and He has a special purpose for your life.  Let me encourage you to seek God, allow him to purify you, crush you, heat you and use you....allow Him to anoint you and your ministry in a special way.

 

Don’t Look Back

 

Ladies, is it just me or do we all have those times in life that we start to mourn the past ? What I mean is we start to look back over the past, things that have happened, decisions that were made and we start playing the game of “should have, could have, would have”.  That’s a dangerous thing to do on so many levels. I have been thinking a lot on this lately so just sharing a few thoughts  

Looking back is distracting to what God has in store for the future.  Yes I am sure there are things that could have been done differently, choices that could have gone another route but if we stay focused on those things we will miss what is right in front of us. 

Looking back is destructive.  Don't get caught in that trap of longing for the past that you end up like Lot's wife, looking back was the last choice she ever had the opportunity to make.

Remember you are a child of God, a princess to the King of kings.  You are important, your future is important.  God has a plan for your life.  

Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Sometimes the pressures we are currently under is what causes us to want to look back, turn around and wish for the things of the past, I know because I have been there.  There have been times in my life when the pressure was so great I have thought if I had only made a different choice life would be this hard, but the truth is life is always going to be hard, the only thing that makes it worth while is making sure that my life is lined up with what God desires of me.  Everything else means nothing.  The past is just that PAST, so lift up your eyes and grab a hold of the promises God has given you.  

Esther 4:14  "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

I Corinthians 1:20  "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us."

May we all be COFFEE :-)

You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again... I received an email a few days ago and I loved the story...it seems to fit so well with my life that I thought what better way to start my new blog then to share this inspiring thought. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as soon as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see." "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots She did and noted that they were soft.. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?" Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently... The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. May we all be COFFEE :-)