The Oil

On October 19th, 2024, Sanctioned Love and Sanctioned Love Worship had their very first worship conference. It was called The Oil and The Vine Worship Conference. There was so much prayer that went into this conference. It was truly an experience to watch our prayers come to pass that day. The Sanctioned Love Worship team prepped, not just with their instruments, memories, and voices, but spiritually (which is the most important). For nine weeks, we read John 15:5-8 in 8 different Bible translations. We looked for different perspectives and highlights in order to really dig out the “gold and revelation” from this chunk of Scripture. The Scripture is about how God is the Vine, and we are the branches, and apart from Him, we cannot produce anything.  Anything that is cut off of Him will be thrown into a fire and not used. Am I going to reteach The Oil & The Vine main session all over again? No. I am, however, going to dive more into the topic of the oil. 

If you came to the worship conference, you received a bottle of grapeseed oil with a cute vine and tag on it. You also heard about the significance of grapeseed oil, which is produced by crushing the grape seed to produce an oil. God takes everything to produce something fruitful of it. I also talked about how God had shown me a picture of His presence representing oil and how it leaves a residue when we worship Him. The meat of this blog is about what oil is being produced from your life. 

When things are crushed, sometimes it is a beautiful thing, and sometimes it is a gross and unattractive thing. Have you seen those slow-motion videos where machines crush different items? Or where a car slowly drives over items so you can see how they pop, explode, or crush? Sometimes, it is fascinating, and other times, depending on what it is, can be kind of gross to watch. The amazing thing about God is that when He crushes things in our lives, it might be messy, but it will always be beautiful and have a fragrant smell. This really brings a “glass-half-full” perspective. We may know that God wants the best for us, but when we go through a tough time and feel that we, ourselves, or our lives are falling apart, do we stop thinking that God might be trying to produce something right now? We have all heard the teaching of the wine press and the crushing of the grapes in order to produce a new wine out of our lives. The crushing of the seed is a more intimate and deeper process. When you crushed the grape, you thought that that was the last of the crushing. You thought, “Now I am onto the next season of life!” Sometimes, there has to be more that is crushed in that same season. A deeper layer to add to your testimony of walking things out with Jesus, your best friend! Unfortunately, there is sin in the world, which means that there will always be hardships of some kind. How do we choose to look at it and gain what we should out of it? Some things are much more painful than others. You can think you experienced the deepest pain you have ever experienced, and then another crushing comes, and you think, “This is going to take you out.” That happened to me. 

How do you choose to surrender? Do you surrender once you are already about to give up? Or do you choose to surrender earlier in the process when you know that God can take this situation and produce something in you out of this? No shame if you are the ladder. It is all a learning experience. The more we learn to trust God, the faster we can let go. God is such a kind and gentle Father. He will not force His way, but He is also for you and will apply some pressure sometimes. A shepherd will apply pressure with a staff to guide the sheep so they do not go off the cliff. Are we fully aware of how much He is actually for us? He is for YOU! He is for your family! He is for your marriage! He is for your finances! He is for your heart! He is for your dreams! He is for YOU! Will we let Him produce an oil out of us through a hard time? Do we blame everyone else around us instead of looking inward for change? It can appear to be painful to look at ourselves and even ask the question, “Jesus, what do you want to show me that you are wanting to crush? Jesus, what do You want to produce through and in me?” Change in ourselves does not need to be scary. Healing pain is still pain, but the end result is healing! 

Is He wanting to produce a new oil out of you? Are there people around you who need the oil and residue that can be produced from your life? Trust Jesus on this healing journey. He will not do too much too soon. His timing is perfect! He is for you! He wants to see this beautiful oil produced from your life. Trust Jesus with the seed of your life. Trust Him that He will produce something beautiful out of the crushing! 

Hebrews 12:2-3 AMP

2 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, [b]disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work]. 3 Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

Isaiah 43:2 NLT 

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up;   the flames will not consume you.

Blessings!

Megan Stockwell

Sanctioned Love