Fresh Oil: Maintaining Our Lamp to Radiate His Glory- Lesson 1: Holy Spirit Our Lamp
Today we will be embarking on a new study. Fresh Oil: Maintaining Our Lamp to Radiate His Glory. As I was praying about 2026 and the direction the Lord wanted me to take in my blog, I heard Holy Spirit say, “Fresh Oil.” I was at once reminded of the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25. As I thought about this, I felt impressed to dig into the Biblical significance of lamps and oil and what it looks like for a Believer to maintain their lamp (our life of holiness and witness for Christ).
In the scripture the lamp often represented Holy Spirit. In this lesson we will look at two ways Holy Spirit helps us maintain our own lamp.
First, Holy Spirit guides and instructs us (illuminates or brings light).
Psalm 119:105, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (AMPC)
The earliest lamps known in archaeology were simply handmade ceramic bowls with nothing to distinguish them from other bowls, except for carbon soot spots visible on the rim. They would have been filled with olive oil and had a flax wick extending from the oil to the rim. i.
These ancient lamps were not designed for travel. They were made to illumine small areas of one’s home; however, they would provide enough light to move about the house comfortably in the dark.
There were other small lamps that hung from a cord held down by one’s feet. The light from these lamps gave enough light to see the next step only. They were not designed for extensive traveling; however, they could be used if one needed to be out after dark.
In the life of the Believer, like these small lamps, Holy Spirit will usually only illuminate our next step. Even if we are given the “big picture” up front, we are typically only given one step at a time to fulfill the dream/vision.
Proverbs 3:5-6, Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. (AMPC)
The key is trusting in the Lord and not in our own understanding/reasoning/wisdom... Holy Spirit directs our path as we walk in faith, trusting his lead. Our footsteps falter when we try to plot our own course.
Isaiah 11:2, And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. (AMPC)
Isaiah was prophesying about the coming of the Messiah here, however, when we come to Christ as Savior, he imparts Holy Spirit to us. We too can walk in the same wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and fear of the Lord that Jesus walked in through the Spirit of counsel and might who rested upon Him and now rests upon us.
In John 16:7, Jesus said, “However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].” (AMPC)
John 16:13, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (AMPC)
John 14:26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (AMPC)
Second, Holy Spirit gives us hope (maintains the flame).
Romans 15:13, May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.
The expression "the God of hope" (v.13) means the God who inspires hope in his children. He can be counted on to fulfill what yet remains to be accomplished for them. Likewise, in the more immediate future and with the help of Paul's letter, they can confidently look to God for the working out of their problems, including the one Paul has been discussing. Hope does not operate apart from trust; in fact, it is the forward-looking aspect of faith. ii.
Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines hope as: confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense.
Psalm 71:14, As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. (NIV)
Romans 5:5, Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us. (AMPC)
Isaiah 40:31, but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (NIV)
When we hope, put our confident expectation of good, in the Lord, we can trade our weakness for his renewable strength. Holy Spirit provides us with the same power (strength) that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), thus, providing us the strength to get up each day and face whatever comes our way. We never have to grow weary or faint in the face of life’s challenges because it is His strength, not ours that we are spending and his strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
“And the same Almighty Holy Spirit of God, that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, dwells, lives, and operates in us if we’re ‘born again’ of the Spirit! Through the power of God, we are not just ‘hope-full’ people – we are continually, without ceasing, overflowing and pouring out, abounding in HOPE – all of the time and everywhere we go people!
Filled with not some, but ‘all joy and peace in believing’, we have the faith to understand and know that God is ABLE. That gives us, as the word HOPE is defined in the Bible – joyful, confident, expectation, knowing that in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can rejoice in hope … and rejoice always!” iii.
Psalm 33:20-22, We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (NIV)
Regardless of circumstances, each generation of God's people witnesses the new acts of his love. He is their "help" and "shield." They trust in his "holy name," with which they associate past acts of deliverance. Trust requires submission, a willingness to let God be God. The believing community looks expectantly to the Lord, who will work out his plans for the establishment of his kingdom and the renewal of the earth. iv.
This is the hope to which we cling: the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan! Everything we as believers do here on planet Earth is for the express purpose of establishing God’s kingdom! We act in obedience to his leading knowing that our hope has a sure foundation!!
In conclusion, Holy Spirit, as our Lamp, guides and instructs us and gives us hope!!
Comments
Post a Comment