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The Golden Oil

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The Golden Oil

Scripture Reading: Zechariah 4:1-14

12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? – Zechariah 4:12

The anointing is the power of the Holy Ghost given to the believer to accomplish specific tasks. The Bible describes the anointing as “golden oil” presumably because of its beauty and preciousness. The two sons of oil were described as two olive branches, which emptied golden oil through two golden pipes to make the candlestick produce light. The word “golden” in Zechariah 4:12 is taken from the Hebrew word zāhāb, which means to shimmer (to shine with glistening light). It also means gold-coloured (yellow) like oil. The word zāhāb is used to refer to a clear sky and golden or fair weather. What immediately comes to mind from the meaning of golden oil is beauty and radiance.

The golden attribute of oil could refer to its nature, function or behaviour. The nature of the golden oil refers to its character like purity and transparency. The function of the golden oil refers to the things oil does. The behaviour of the golden oil refers to its flow and interaction with other elements. Metaphorically, the golden oil of gifted people refers to their character, gifts and interaction with other people.

The golden colour of oil points to holiness (Psalm 89:19-21). Holiness is an essential characteristic of the golden oil. The anointing can be said to be golden only when it is holy. Ecclesiastical and civil powers must be equally golden in appearance. Believers who operate in a civil power often underestimate the importance of the holy nature of their anointing. The anointing is golden oil in both ecclesiastical and civil anointings. Sons of oil are gifted with the nine spiritual gifts.

They edify the Body of Christ and send the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the world. Individuals with ecclesiastical and civil powers are gifts to the world. They solve the problems of the world by doing extraordinary things. The anointing is beautiful when it manifests itself. It is clear and transparent when God’s children operate in it. Weirdness is not to be associated with the anointing. Order and decency are marks of the anointing (1 Corinthians 14:40). The golden oil is admirable, attractive and attestable.

Prayer: Pray for the grace to walk in the reverential nature of the anointing, to know the need of the anointing is real and to have the capacity and honour to network your anointing with related anointings to cause a revolution.

Recommended Reading:
“The Sons of Oil” by Eastwood Anaba
( Find e-books at www.amazon.com)
www.eastwoodanaba.com

‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ Cynthia Erivo Performs Classic Ballad – Inspirational Videos

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‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ Cynthia Erivo Performs Classic Ballad – Inspirational Videos

Actress and performer Cynthia Erivo sings a stunning rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ on the 2020 National Memorial Day Concert.

This iconic song was released in 1969 by the popular duo Simon & Garfunkel. Over the years, many artists have lent their voices to this tune with notable performances from Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Andrea Bocelli.

There is no doubt that this song has truly stood the test of time. It’s combination of difficult notes and poignant lyrics make it a one powerful number to perform.

“When you’re weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes,
I’ll dry them all (all)
I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough
And friends just can’t be found

Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down”

The talented Cynthia Erivo is best known for her lead role in the Broadway musical The Color Purple and her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in the 2019 film, Harriet. Over the years, she’s received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a Grammy Award and multiple other award nominations.

There is no doubt that Cynthia is a gifted vocalist and hearing her beautiful rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ is absolutely amazing. As we walk through challenging times, it is always important to remember that you are never alone.

This is truly a performance that you don’t want to miss from an artist who you will be hearing about for decades to come.

Rain, Rain, Come Again!

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Rain, Rain, Come Again!

The one evidence of the anointing on the life of Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills that the people of Zimbabwe will never forget, were the rains.

Zimbabwe had been experiencing a drought. For many months, there had been no rain. Rivers had dried up everywhere and only dust remained. Prayer for rain had not yielded any result.

Read Also Beauty is vain, but very important.

On the first night of the Healing Jesus Campaign at Kadoma, Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills prayed for rain and since then it has been raining consistently in the month of November 2016.

The second night of the campaign was no exception. The rain poured down and poured down. For the people the rains were evidence enough for them to decide to stay in the rain soaked, to listen to the anointed Evangelist preach the simple message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Read Also What It Means To Be Married To A Wild Cat Pt. 3

The crowds stayed, and in all 16,890 souls were won for Jesus and many many more people received their healing!

8 Churches Close In Baghdad Amid Shrinking Iraqi Christian Population

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8 Churches Close In Baghdad Amid Shrinking Iraqi Christian Population

Eight Christian churches in Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad have closed their doors due to the fact that so many Christians have fled the region out of fear of being persecuted by radical Muslims, a Christian human rights organization has reported. 

Read Also Don’t Stop Planting Seeds!

As the rise of the Islamic State terrorist organization has devastated Christian communities in northern regions in Iraq such as Mosul and Nineveh Plains, Christianity has also suffered in many other regions of Iraq in the past 15 years.

According to International Christian Concern, a decline in the Christian population has also been greatly experienced in Baghdad. The Christian persecution advocacy group reported on Monday that as many as eight churches in Baghdad were forced to close by the Vatican this May “after nearly seven years of low to no attendance.”

Read Also His Indwelling Presence

“After the regional Catholic Church authority visited the churches, the Vatican decided that it was best to close the doors for good,” the ICC report states. “While this makes logistical sense, it represents a symbolic defeat for the Church in the capital of Iraq.”

As over 1 million fewer Christians live in Iraq than they did in 2003, the emigration of Iraqi Christians, who once comprised 10 percent of Iraq’s total population, can be divided into three different stages, one Baghdad resident told ICC.

“The first was from 2005-2007, [the] second was in 2010 when some extremists attacked [a] church during Sunday mass and the third stage was in 2014 when ISIS attacked [the] Nineveh Plain,” the resident asserted.

ICC reported that after sectarian violence began in 2005 and Christians started receiving threats from radical Muslims, “it was commonplace for Christians to receive envelopes containing bullets and a threat from nearby extremists.” Such messages successfully pressured thousands of Christians to flee from their homes and neighborhoods.

Read Also Holding on to Christ in our trying times

“In early 2006, we forcibly left our house because we got an envelope tell[ing] us, ‘You have to leave within 48 hours, all you have to take is your clothes, if you t[ake] anything else we will kill you,'” a former Baghdad resident named Seza told ICC. “Still I have the envelope and the three bullets we received from the gang.”

The second exodus of Christians was sparked by an extremist attack on a Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad in October 2010, when six suicide bombers interrupted a Sunday mass and killed 58 Christians and wounded 78.

The third exodus of Christians from Iraq is directly related to the 2014 rise of the Islamic State, which has killed and enslaved thousands of religious minorities and drove hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and villages in northern Iraq. The actions committed by the Islamic State against Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities has been declared a “genocide” by former U.S. Sec. of State John Kerry and the European Parliament.

Read Also God commended His love toward us when we were fornicators.

“Now, in 2017, the Christian population in Iraq is just a fraction of what it used to be,” the ICC report explained. “So much so that eight churches have been closed down in Baghdad, relics of a community since departed. It’s important to recognize that ISIS is not solely responsible for this. Christians have faced various forms of persecution and discrimination from a wide variety of perpetrators throughout the past 15 years.”

The fear of persecution became so extreme that Canon Andrew White, the vicar of St. George’s Church in Baghdad who is also known as “the Vicar of Baghdad,” was ordered to leave Iraq by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in November 2014.

Read Also  Confessions For Accomplishing Great Things In Ministry

This past March, White told Fox News that “the time has come where it is over” and that “no Christians will be left.”

“Some say Christians should stay to maintain the historical presence, but it has become very difficult. The future for the community is very limited,” White explained. “The Christians coming out of Iraq and ISIS areas in the Middle East all say the same thing, there is no way they are ever going back. They have had enough.”

God commended His love toward us when we were fornicators.

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God commended His love toward us when we were fornicators.

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst. They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

John 8:3-11

Holding on to Christ in our trying times

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Holding on to Christ in our trying times

When I was a pastor, one of the most common requests I heard was, “When are you going to preach on Revelation?” So I made two promises to the congregation: I will preach on it before I quit. And I will preach on it when I’ve figured out what it’s all about!

Read Also http://charismatanews.org/2020/06/17/holding-on-to-christ-in-our-trying-times/

Now, I don’t yet have all of Revelation completely figured out. It is in many ways a strange and mysterious book. But in these times of worldwide upheaval and economic uncertainty, I believe it is worth examining in some depth. And so I want to share some insights I believe will help you hold on more closely to Christ in our trying times.

First, we recall that Revelation was written, like much of the New Testament, as a letter. The apostle John was writing to the seven churches then in Asia Minor, or what’s now modern-day Turkey. These churches were experiencing tremendous persecution. And they had been led to believe that Jesus Christ would return again soon.

That was their hope. But days had turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and decades had gone by. The hope of Christ’s return was beginning to wane. The believers were threatened by and suffering from persecution. And what they needed was a reminder about what was really going on in the world.

So John wrote to them, but in a way that seems very unusual to us in the 21st century. His words were full of graphic imagery and symbolism, which was typical of a style called “apocalyptic,” prevalent among Jewish people of that time. And he wrote prophetically, conveying God’s message to them about the present time, but also with predictions of the future.

So what did God say through John to these discouraged believers, wondering where Jesus was and why things were so hard for them? His message was: Little beleaguered churches, suffering Christians, frightened, puzzled people whose hope is waning—listen! All history is under God’s control. Nothing is happening without God’s plans being carried out.

Of course, because Revelation is prophetic, as 21st century Christians, we can take heed to its message as well. While here in America we are not suffering horrific persecution as the early Church did, we still need to remember that there is a battle between good and evil going on in the world, and we are caught up in the middle of it.

That’s why, as we experience setbacks and discouragements, it is vital that we remember that Jesus Christ will return. He is central to all God’s plans, He is in the place of ultimate cosmic authority, and He is the focal point of the grand purposes of God. Furthermore, evil will finally be judged and there will be a cataclysmic confrontation between God and the forces of evil. Evil will not be allowed to run rampant in our world and destroy all of God’s creation.

However, between now and Christ’s return, there will be plenty of trouble for you and me as Christ’s followers. And so, amidst our struggles and pain, our questions and concerns, God’s word to you and me through His revelation to John is this: “Dear Christian, stand firm, be faithful, and endure to the end, for I am on your side. And you will ultimately have the victory!”

—Stuart Briscoe

Beauty is vain, but very important.

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Beauty is vain, but very important.

Why then is beauty vain? Beauty is vain because it will fade.

An elderly lady once came to my church to minister. She took out a photograph of a very beautiful young girl and asked the congregation who it was. Everyone said the photograph was a picture of her daughter. Her reply was a big surprise.

She revealed that she was actually the one in the photograph. This elderly lady had changed so much with the passage of time. Her beauty had virtually faded away.

The old lady said, “Look how ugly my face has become.”

She went on to make the point that life was like a vapour, appearing for a short while and then disappearing.

I realized from that day that beauty was really something that was temporary. Beauty is vain because it will fade.

If all you look for in a marriage partner is beauty, then when the beauty begins to decrease with the years, you will look for another beautiful face.

Although beauty fades away, it is still important, because whoever you marry must look nice to you! After all, you will look upon her until you die.

This is the secret every woman must know.

Your beauty is important in getting and keeping your husband’s attention. If you had to look good to get him, then you will have to look good to keep him!!

Some Christians who feel they are spiritual, make the mistake of closing their eyes in the choice of a partner. They think that when they refuse to use their physical senses in the choice of a partner, they are being led by the Spirit.

Some people will never admit that the beauty and attractiveness of the young lady were crucial in making their decision. They think such an admission means that they are carnally minded.

But the Bible tells us,

…she[or he] is at liberty to be married to whom she will…

1 Corinthians 7:39

You must marry somebody whom you want to marry!

Do not marry somebody just because she was recommended to you. You must be satisfied and happy with what you see. You are going to live with that person. Marriage is not something you must endure but something you must enjoy. You must marry somebody who looks nice to you!

When I first met my wife I thought she was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. And I still think she is. Her physical beauty has always been important in my attraction to her. Beauty will count in your happiness and satisfaction in marriage.

Dag Heward-Mills

Complete Victory

William Wagner
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Complete Victory

. . . greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. — 1 John 4:4

Paul once wrote, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17).

This is the battle or the tension that is present in us to a greater or lesser degree. So, you see, the spiritual lag that you feel is explained in the Bible.

That does not mean that you accept it as the way it should be. You should make all necessary preparations for this battle which the Bible says “is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces.”

In Ephesians 6 we read that the Bible tells what preparation you should make. In the meantime, always remember that “where sin abounds, grace did much more abound.”

You can have complete victory! We are told to submit ourselves unto God, and the devil will flee from us. We are also promised that “sin shall not reign over us.”

Prayer for the day: Lord, like Paul I battle daily with Satan. I submit everything in my life to You, knowing that already the fight has been won.

Love Covers

William Wagner
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Love Covers

 . . Let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. — 1 John 3:18 (TLB)

The Bible declares that we who follow Christ should be just as much in love with each other as God was in love with us when He sent His Son to die on the cross.

The moment we come to Christ, Scripture says, God gives us supernatural love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The greatest demonstration of the fact that we are Christians is that we love one another.

Why not go out of our way to be a friend to someone whose skin is a different color from ours? Love does more to solve our problems than anything else does.

Of all the gifts God offers His children, love is the greatest. Of all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, love is the first.

Prayer for the day: Jesus, loving Lord, teach me real love—mine is often shallow in my relationship to others.

Bishop T.D. Jakes Joins Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz For Powerful, Personal Response To Racism In America

William Wagner
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Bishop T.D. Jakes Joins Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz For Powerful, Personal Response To Racism In America

Bishop T.D. Jakes joined Carl Lentz, lead pastor of Hillsong Church in New York City, for a powerful online discussion about the violent protests over the death of George Floyd. Lentz said he felt moved by the Holy Spirit of God to reach out to Jakes to address the pain going on in America right now.

Lentz started the conversation by reading off the names of African-Americans who have been killed by members of law enforcement. Jakes explained that those names are “triggers” for some people who have experienced racial violence. 

“When those triggers go off, that trauma comes back,” Jakes said. “And the anger that you see is not about one incident alone, but it’s about the multiplicity of many incidents.”

The bishop opened up about personal experiences with racism during his childhood and that his grandfather was murdered by white supremacists.

“I remember my father going to the backs of the restaurants to get food because we couldn’t eat on the inside,” he said. “I remember the colored water fountains…history isn’t as far back as we’d like to throw it, but we have short memories about this sort of thing.” 
 
“When you start looking at the amount of devastation that has occurred to us as a people, it’s very difficult to articulate to people from other historical backgrounds the magnitude of the suffering,” he added.

Bishop Jakes raised the issue of the church having accountability to address acts of racial violence.

“I think that the church has a responsibility, an obligation, and a calling to respond to it. The church has a tendency to look away. Not just white people, brown people, poor people, and people in cages on the border – anything that gets ugly that we don’t want to deal with, we look away.”

He noted that violence will not bring resolution to ongoing issues of racism, but speaking out against the injustice will have the most impact. 

“I don’t think violence is the answer. History has taught us that violence is not the cure,” Jakes said. “But as Dr. King said, who led a non-violent movement, ‘It is not the atrocities nor the wickedness of evil men that is most appalling, it is in fact the silence of the good men’.”

Bishop Jakes further stated there are some African-Americans who should be arrested after committing crimes, but we should not convict and kill someone on the sidewalk.

“There are some people that are black that get arrested that absolutely should be arrested – they did a crime or they’re out of control. We are not asking to not be arrested. We are just asking not to be tried on the sidewalk.” 

To drive home his point about inequality, Jakes referenced Dylann Roof who was treated to Burger King by South Carolina police officers after he was arrested for killing nine black people at Charleston Emanuel AME Church in 2015.

“Just don’t arrest me, try me, convict me and kill me on the sidewalk while you take the other victim who killed nine people in a church and you take them out to get something to eat. As far as I can tell, George Floyd did not get anything from Burger King and he didn’t kill anybody,” the bishop explained. 

“We want to live, we want a chance at opportunities, we want better education, we want equal access to opportunities. We just want to live,” he concluded. 

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