Sonlight Devotional

[Printable version]

Scripture reading: Psalm 119:11

Let us continue talking about the virgins today. God is looking at your lamp as we mentioned yesterday. Five of the virgins were wise and five of them were foolish (Matthew 25:3). They that were foolish took their lamps, but took no oil with them. Now, you have the lamp and you have the vessel. The lamp has oil, and oh boy, when you get saved, the lamp is burning bright. But as time goes on, that lamp is going to need more oil. So now, if the lamp is your spirit, God wants you to have a vessel that has oil also. Remember, the oil that brightens your lamp is the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God in you, the thing that quickens your spirit and makes you bright. If you have no oil in your vessel, what does that mean? We are vessels of righteousness. Do you know why we are vessels? The scripture says that ye are the temple of the living God, and that God dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:17). So we are vessels of God. We are vessels that contain God. If we are vessels that contain God and the vessel is empty, it means we do not have God in the right place! I wonder if you understand. In other words, the devil knows this. He knows that if he gets you angry, you will be out of the Spirit; there is no oil burning there. While the flame of the body is burning, the flame of the soul is low. So the devil will tempt you to get mad. The devil will tempt you to get upset, disturbed! You cannot serve God while you are disturbed, while you are upset!  Do you follow what I am saying?

So God says that if your vessel doesn’t have the oil in it, then at midnight… Now, let me tell you about the word “midnight.” The word midnight has quite a few meanings. One of the things is that your midnight might not be mine, in one sense, right? When you are having trouble, when you are under distress, when darkness comes down upon you – that is your midnight. That is the time you need oil in your vessel, because oil has to be in the right place. Now, where is the vessel? My mind is the vessel. Brethren, for God’s sake, don’t believe, please, that you can spend six days out of the seven with your mind involved with worldly things, not a thought for God, and that at the moment of trouble your mind is going to shift into high gear for God. No sir! Your mind will only shift in high gear for God if you have been meditating on the Word of God. “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). The Word of God, hidden in the heart; there is a magic potion in the Word of God. I don’t know if I am using the right words, but the Word of God has something in it, that by itself there is energy and a power that works. Amen! When you are in trouble, you don’t have to think, “Let me think, which word should I use?” I know people who get in trouble and say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (very fast, like a chant). Too late! The spontaneous response to the devil must come from your spirit, from your soul, and it must blast the devil. That is the only time the devil sees light. But if you have to start thinking hard what scripture to quote when the devil is before you, you are in trouble. It says, “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11). The Word of God must be hidden in your heart and it must come forth spontaneously with a power that delivers you when you are under pressure. Jesus says, “My sheep will hear my voice.” And He says, “I know them. And they will follow me” (John 10:4, 14). Did you hear that? God is confident that you will follow His voice when you are in trouble, if your mind is stayed on Him!

You know, all of us have our jobs to do. I remember at one time on my job I got to the place where I could be working and doing the job all day, and not be there at all. I was in the Spirit just talking to God, but doing the job. I never forgot the situation (there was a big joke in the department), when the auditor put up his report. There was a penny missing and nobody could find it. They gave me the books to audit. I was in the Spirit; I didn’t eat lunch because I was just praising God and auditing. Checking and auditing. Before the day was done, I found the penny. When you get in the Spirit, when you walk in the Spirit, you can do your work and it does not disturb your being in the Spirit. Yes. You can do your work, and it does not disturb your being in the Spirit. As a matter of fact, you do your work most efficiently when you are in the Spirit and you will discover things that you never thought of.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, April 28, 2002)

Thought for today: The Word of God must be hidden in your heart and it must come forth spontaneously with a power that delivers you when you are under pressure.