Leviticus 7:10 And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.
Our lives as a true believer in Jesus Christ are an offering. Just as we are, God accepts our offerings. He accepts our mercy to others, and what we know about Him and where we are in the Christian life.
Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
I recently posted a meme in Facebook because I thought it was a stupid question. It asked ‘when you go for a morning walk do you speak to people you pass’. I think it was a weird question because anyone mentally healthy speaks to people when out for a morning stroll. I said hi to a little old lady in front of my house and she snarled at me and said ‘I congregate in a church that fasts and holds all night prayer vigils.’ Ooooookeey? If everyone answered me like that in the morning, I would probably not speak to anyone either, I feel bad enough about myself already, I don’t need any more help watering down my cornflakes. Fortunately most people don’t snarl. Even drunken bums and prostitutes lighten up when you greet them. Even if they’ve been on an all night bender. The lady that snarled was a saved Christian probably but very dry. Even reading the Bible, praying, fasting and going to church every day doesn’t help with dryness.
We have a choice, to be oiled up (filled with the Spirit of God) or dry. I choose to be oiled up rather than dry. I will go to heaven either way, because we’re saved by grace. Some people prefer to be dry. I don’t get it, it is so much more fun and easy to go through life ‘greasy’ (I am referring to the anointing of the Holy Spirit). Oil refers to anointing and the presence of the Holy Spirit. I want and need a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit every day. Even to go to church or to Wal-Mart. There’s always a satanic trap to kill my joy (oil is also a demonstration of joy in the Bible). The problem with being filled with the Holy Spirit is that we are leaky. I need to get refilled every hour (but I usually forget).
Isaiah 61:3 to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Dry Christians go to heaven but they lose a lot of rewards. Our biggest testimony, our only chance to show non-believers that Jesus is alive is how we handle sorrow and heartache. If we shrivel up and hide during tough times, we are acting exactly like the world acts. You are being watched! If you are telling people that you have the Creator of the Universe living inside of you, and you lose your mind because of having to go a few days without electricity, what are you telling the unbelieving people watching you. Understand this! People WANT to see a real Christian. They are starving for it. I want people to believe in God because they see something different in me. I want people to covet what I have. (Not a shiny new Bible, but God visibly living inside me). I can’t keep a Bible for more than a week, I give them away. I can’t help myself. Paul led guards and prison workers to the Lord, not because he had the Old Testament memorized. All Pharisees did that. People got saved by seeing Paul’s joy. Early Christians didn’t win souls by Bible studies, nor by going to church. They turned the world upside down by their joy and faith in spite of horrible persecution and tortuous deaths. In fact, how many people do you know that got saved because you go to church or read the Bible? None. They get saved by your words, action, joy and faith AFTER you leave the church or your devotions.
Dry skin needs oil. If your skin is dry, put some of your wife’s stinky oil lotion on you and you’ll be good as new (but smelly). If you are dry spiritually, ask for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. Dry religious people will ridicule you for being so dependent on the Holy Spirit, and even probably try to correct you. Just love them. You know what you need! Very few people get that anointing and infilling in church buildings. We go to church to bless others, not to be fed. If someone complains that they aren’t being fed in church, their theology is wrong. Most pastors I know are extremely dry. They often won’t even say hi to you in the street. A pastor needs more oil than the normal person but they are usually so busy with ministry that they don’t spend enough time alone with their Lord and Master. Usually I feel I only get properly filled when I am alone with the Lord.
Oily people (spirit filled) are hard to get ahold of by Satan, they slip out of his hands. We get dry, and we fall into his traps. We dry up, and we get mad easily, and blow our witness. It’s hard for Satan to hold onto something, let alone control, if they’re greasy with the Holy Spirit. If we are dry we know it. We tell people about it. And Satan knows it. When you feel the heat of dryness, Stop and R.O.L.L.
1. Rejoice always, again I say rejoice! Put on the garment of praise. Whether you feel like it or not. If you don’t feel like it, you are dry!!! You need to get oiled up. Get greasy! If you are dry you will never ‘feel like it’, you won’t want to spend time with the Lord. Like putting on a coat to warm up, put on the garment of praise, sing to Him, pray to Him (not by reading your intercession list off to Him) but by telling Him ‘thank you’ and how good He is to you. Speaking in tongues always helps me to get there. Pray in the Spirit, not with the mind. You can’t be sad while you are praising God. It’s virtually impossible.
2. Only you and God, alone is the best place to ask for a fresh infilling. I am not a fan of corporate prayer. I do, to give to others, but not to feed. I feed at home, or walking, when I am alone with God. I prefer to worship alone. I go to church for others, to give, not to get.
3. Love as the Lord loves. Unconditionally. Extravagantly. Recklessly. A timid old lady came up to me once and said ‘love as the Lord loves, it’s your only defense’. That’s when I personally have the most joy. I am not talking about Christian events or gatherings. I again am talking about when you are alone, with only God, and the person you are loving on unconditionally as the witness. Never do it for show, because that’s self love, I’m not talking about that. Joy is again, being led by the Spirit of God, being anointed.
4. Laugh! First sign of dryness is joylessness. First evidence of joylessness is a laughless life. Joyless dry people stop laughing. Go outside. Turn off the idiot box and be with people who you like to be around, that you are called by God to be with and to love. If you do that, after spending time with the Lord, you will find yourself laughing and joyful again.
Paul was in a dungeon when he wrote the following.
Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Speaking of not getting dry, you have to do what the Lord shows you to do. God showed us to do an AWANA club.
We had our first OANSA meeting….. Now we’re getting AWANA going! Can’t wait, training starts next week. It will replace The Winnerclub on Saturday’s Kid’s church.
I love seeing dreams that God placed in my heart become reality. Plus, I am getting to do it with my best friends!!!
AWANA has a great strategy with great structure (50 years of experience). Lots of fruit will come out of this, it’s going to cost an additional 400 a month for everything but totally worth it if kids get saved. When kids accept the Lord many times their parents do too when they see a changed life.