October 10, 2017 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Water Can Kill but the Spirit Gives Life (II Cor. 3:6)

I am sure you know that some plants and trees need more water than others. Too much water can kill a healthy tree, especially an olive tree. Some olive trees, which were planted by the Spaniards who settled California, are still alive today. They need little water to produce fruit. This is why an olive tree is a type of anointing and has great significance in the Bible.

Olive oil was used for so many things in Jesus’s day and today we are finding out how important it is for us to use olive oil in the foods we consume in order to live a healthy life. My point is, want anointing, want God’s presence, want fruits of the Spirit manifested in your life—one ought to spend more time with the Holy Spirit and less time being watered by the gospel.

What we need is olive oil (the Spirit of Christ). We know through Scripture that the Gospel of Christ alone cannot produce olive oil. In fact, you will kill an olive tree, or if nothing else, you will stop an olive tree from producing fruit if you over water or only water. A good olive tree needs little watering but does need wind, light rainfall, lots of sunlight, and being planted on a hillside.

We think that we need to ‘pour the gospel’ into people’s lives in order to make them grow and produce fruit. When we do this, we are far from the Biblical truth and do not understand the wisdom of God. I Corinthians 3:6 states, “I (Paul) have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” Yes, the gospel needs to be preached and at first, all of us need to be watered with the Word of God. But after the planting and initial growth, it is time to limit the watering of the word of God through preaching, but rather allow the Holy Spirit to do the His job. He, the Holy Spirit, needs to take over the growth of the word of the Gospel in our lives. We do not need more and more gospel being preached (even hammer into our lives), we need the activity of the Holy Spirit.

It is the Holy Spirit that brings the wind, rain, and sun in order to produce the oil and fruit in our lives for us to accomplish God purposes and will. I can offer you testimonies how the ‘gospel’ was only preached day in and day out, it was every Sunday’s message; the gospel was used to pressure a person into serving Christ. In some caused the tree (our lives) died slowly or at least discouraged the person (the tree) from moving ahead with Christ.

Christ had a better answer to the Gospel He preached. He backed up what He preached with miracles, signs, and healings. He preached with authority and power. He did not allow just His words/His gospel to stand-alone. Jesus knew that His disciples would need more to live a life He was calling them too. Jesus said, “Wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit which My Father will send to you—the promise of the Father,” Acts of the Apostles 1: 4-5.

What Jesus was saying is that you need more than just believing in His Gospel. “You need the Holy Spirit (the oil of God) to do what I am asking you to do,” Jesus said. So let’s begin to allow the Holy Spirit to do His job. Preaching the gospel is always important and needed throughout our life as a Christian, but it is only the Holy Spirit (the 3rd person of God, 1/3 of the Trinity) that will take us across the finish line. As Paul states in Philippians 3:14-15, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any of you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this to you.” Perfection in Christ comes to us through the Holy Spirit only.

I preach the Gospel of Christ but I allow the Holy Spirit to water with His light and precious rain, grow the tree with wind and sunlight. I allow the Holy Spirit to stop me from overwatering the tree—all olive trees need stress and drought in order to produce fruit—the works of God. As the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus after the water baptism to be stressed and tempted—making the Gospel come alive in His life—so we must walk in His steps allowing the Holy Spirit to have His way in our lives.

It is not the time for more watering of the gospel but rather wind, pruning, light rain, abundant sunlight, being planted on your mountain—these things only the Promise of the Holy Spirit can do. It is time for the increase!

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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