"What Happens When We Receive Fresh Oil: Intimacy, Fruitfulness… Todd Bentley"

[Ron McGatlin]

“What Happens When We Receive Fresh Oil: Intimacy, Fruitfulness and Anointing!” Todd Bentley, Charlotte, NC “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:10-15). This verse describes what happens when the anointing comes and what the benefits of the anointing are. Are you hungry for a fresh anointing? The Benefits of the Anointing: 1. My horn (strength) is exalted like a wild ox. 2. We can flourish or prosper like a palm tree. This happens even in a dry and thirsty land. 3. We will grow like a cedar, the mightiest trees of Israel. This signifies spiritual maturity and roots. 4. We have fruitfulness. 5. There is freshness as we will be living in new anointing and constant revelation. 6. We get to declare the testimony of Jesus. We get a preacher’s anointing. “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God…” (Psalm 52:8). What does it mean to be like a green olive tree? We also see the green olive tree in Zechariah 4:11-14, “Then I answered and said to him, ‘What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lamp stand and at its left?’ And I further answered and said to him, ‘What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?’ Then he answered me and said, ‘Do you not know what these are?’ And I said, ‘No, my lord.’ So he said, ‘These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.'” This is a prophetic picture of the sons of fresh oil and great grace. We will look at this grace a little bit later in the article. The key here is, let’s stay where the oil is! Answered Prayer The secret to fruitfulness and continued, answered prayer is in John 15:1-8: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” God wants us to bear not just fruit but much fruit. When we remain in His presence fruit happens! An Increase of Grace and Favor When we remain in His presence, grace and favor happen. Grace and favor are things that grow. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the LORD, and also with men” (1 Samuel 2:26). It is time to grow on in grace and favor. WHAT IS GRACE? It is favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that same person deserves. It is a free gift, unmerited, and undeserved. What is FAVOR? Well, the word “favor” found in Deuteronomy 33:23 is “ratson” (raw-tsone) which means: “Good pleasure, desire, delight, favor.” The noun ratson comes from the verb ratsah, which means: “to be pleased with” or “to be favorable toward something.” Ratson refers especially to what is pleasing and desirable to God. God loves everybody the same, there is no partiality when it comes to God’s love and salvation by grace alone. But He does favor the one who pleases or seeks Him more. God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Joseph had more favor than his brothers but Jacob loved them all. God favored Jacob over Esau. I believe that we can position ourselves for more favor. Remember the story of Esther? The king was looking for a new queen to share his kingdom. The first requirement was that beautiful young virgins be sought (purity). Then there were “beauty preparations.” What was it about Esther that caught the king’s eye? There were six months in the oil of myrrh and six months in the perfume. The oil of myrrh was typically used to prepare the body in burial, symbolizing death to self, and I believe the perfume was a prophetic picture of the presence of Jesus. God favors the one who loves Him more. Jesus wants a passionate lover and one like David, after His own heart. David declared in Psalm 63:1, “God, you are my God, I will earnestly seek you…” God also says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). One of the first things that happened when favor came for Esther was an allowance and the best place in the royal palace (Esther 2:9). The full extent of her favor is found in Esther 5:1-3, “Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house. So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her, ‘What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you-up to half the kingdom!'” Great Grace and Favor Another kind of grace in the Bible is “great grace.” Great grace is the supernatural function of the Holy Spirit coming upon you to do impossible feats by the spirit of grace. It is different than the grace of receiving the free gift of salvation or pardon from sin. This grace is power and a presence that comes upon you. (Remember that the same Greek word for grace in the New Testament is the same word for favor.) I believe that God can cause more supernatural favor to come upon you. Acts 4:33-35, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.” Great grace in Acts 4:33 is also translated: grace that had something great in it (magnificent and very extraordinary) was upon them all. I’ve always believed great power (anointing) brings great grace (favor) and great favor brings great provision. The great power always comes from intimacy. The fruitfulness and success of ministry comes from abiding in the vine. We could say great intimacy brings great grace. In Acts 2:47 we see more favor on the revival. What did that look like? “…Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Having favor here is translated as the goodwill of the people. David declared in Psalm 110:3, “Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.” Let’s look at one more example of great grace and the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in Zechariah 4. Supernatural Work of Grace In this passage of Scripture, we have the story of a man called by God to a huge task of rebuilding the former temple of Solomon. This vision was bigger than he was. It was an international ministry involving the whole nation. One problem he had was that he didn’t have the money or the workers to do what God called him to do. “‘Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?’ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.’ Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Consider your ways, go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,’ says the Lord. ‘You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you run to his own house'” (Haggai 1:4-9). He did not have in the natural what he needed to fulfill the vision. The question was: “How am I going to get from point A to point B?” Maybe you’re in a place like Zerubbabel and you don’t know how you are going to fulfill the vision. What God has put in your heart seems impossible. Life’s circumstances are against you. Zerubbabel was seeking God’s answer. How am I going to do what you called me to do? Many of us are saying, “God, if I had this or that then I could do what you ask me to do.” God’s answer was Zechariah 4:1-8 (emphasis mine), “Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, ‘What do you see?’ (It’s all about perspective!) “So I said, ‘I am looking, and there is a lamp stand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.’ So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, ‘What are these, my lord?’ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ‘Do you not know what these are?’ And I said, ‘No, my lord.’ So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. “Who are you, O great mountain? God spoke to the mountain of hindrance and impossible circumstances. Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!'”‘” Do you see the connection here in Zechariah 4 and the intimacy in Psalm 92? How does this grace come? What was the answer to Zerubbabel’s problem? The anointing and the oil always come from His presence. The Holy Spirit’s answer to “How do I receive everything I need in the natural to do what God has called me to do?” was: “I want to show you the oil.” Everything we need is in the anointing. So let’s be mindful of Song of Solomon 2:15 and “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” The little foxes (i.e. time, television, relationships, etc.) are the things that steal away our intimacy with Jesus and spoil the fruitfulness that comes from intimacy (John 15:5). Receiving Grace “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'” (James 4:6). “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). “You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; therefore God has blessed You forever” (Psalm 45:2). God will bless us when our conversation is seasoned with grace. Look at Jesus here in Luke 4:22, “So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words that preceded out of His mouth…” “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). It is a free gift that comes from His presence just receive it! This grace is the power (force) to be made righteous. “Let us; therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace, (enduement of power) to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 emphasis mine). “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:19-21) (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.) Todd Bentley Fresh Fire USA Email: imtoddbentley@gmail.com Website: http://www.freshfireusa.com Todd Bentley: Healing evangelist, revivalist, and author, Todd Bentley is the founder of Fresh Fire USA. As a teenager, Todd, an alcoholic and drug addict, had a dramatic, life-changing encounter with the saving, delivering power of God. Today, Todd and his Fresh Fire team travel the world to lead the lost into the miraculous, delivered and set free, and launched into the reality of intimate relationship with Jesus. The passion of Todd’s life and ministry to the nations is souls and to see others experience the transferable, tangible anointing of the Holy Spirit. ************************************* Permission is granted (and you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own websites. We ask only that you keep Elijah List website, email contact info, and author contact information intact. Elijah List Publications http://www.elijahlist.com email: info@elijahlist.net

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