Prepare for Opportunity

Matthew 25
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;[a] go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour[b] in which the Son of Man is coming.

God is no respecter of persons, He gives us equal opportunity, and He is coming back for His bride. I know some of you are married. On your wedding day, did you show up half dressed? I hope not, I know I didn’t. It took me hours to get ready for the wedding. In the same way Jesus is returning for the church. He has given each of us assignments to get ready for His return. Verse thirteen says we don’t know the hour or day. He could come back at any time. We shouldn’t say “well I’ll just wait and take care of that later.” We have to live in the mindset that any hour, any day He will return. Our hearts need to be kept pure before Him. He is not interested in how much good we have done, but how much we loved him. Deuteronomy 6:5 says to Love the Lord your God with all of your, heart and with all of your soul, and with all of your strength.

When we love the Lord, our heart becomes sensitive like His, our interests and our pursuits become as His. When we are in tuned with God our spiritual DNA is activated and His power takes over.
To just love Him enough to stay out of hell is, well kind of selfish. There is no relationship there. When you love someone, you are interested in them; you seek to know more about them. In a pure relationship you contribute as much as you receive.
God offers His love equally although some of us don’t choose to receive it that way. He doesn’t look at the good verses the bad. He doesn’t have to because Jesus already paid the price for our past, present and future sins. He doesn’t look at our abilities but He looks for the one whose heart is prepared.

If you are waiting on an opportunity, there is no better time than now. If we want to stay in tune with Him, we have to be sensitive to His leading. I know we do this, but we can’t get distracted by things that keep our mind and hearts off Him. We have to keep the faith. When He places something on hearts and we wait and we wait and it seems like He is never going to answer. He will. I know I’ve waited on things for years before it was His time and then He stepped in and everything came together so amazingly. There are still things I am waiting on Him to fulfill but I don’t want even that to keep my eyes of Him, who He is, the creator of heaven and earth, Abba father, alpha and omega, the beginning and the end.

I have to keep my heart pure. My thoughts and my ways are not His ways. I have to seek after His heart so that my motives are pure. If I really want Him first in everything my actions will show it in how I spend my time, who I spend time with, the places I go, how I spend and save money, what I do with the resources He gives to me.

He wants every part of us, all the good and all the bad. He can make something beautiful out of our mess. It’s a supernatural kind of love and you will not find it from any other source but God himself.

This love is one that sweeps you off your feet and carries you on a path you never dreamed was possible. When He pours out His love on us and we are receptive of it, we become so filled that it’s like a broken faucet in a plugged sink that can’t do anything but overflow.

His spirit is alive within us, all of His gifts; everything we need has been given to us in abundance. He doesn’t just give it to us to keep to ourselves; He gives abundance so that it overflows.

We can’t have our cake and eat it too without first doing our part. We have to go to the store and get the ingredients, we have to prepare the cake, and then bake it. Then we have to be patient while it cools. Have you ever made a cake and you wanted it so bad, you have the frosting all prepared? That cake comes out of the oven piping hot. You know it’s going to take a while before you can put that frosting on. So you watch it, you come back a time or two with your hand over the top. You might even lift the pan to feel the bottom and if it’s not that warm, you might cheat and put that frosting on. But what happens when the middle of that cake has not cooled, you haven’t waited for the completion of the cooling and it looks good as you frost it? Minutes later your frosting sinks and melts into that cake.

We can’t get ahead of God. We will miss a step and make a mess. The frosting will melt and the cake will fall apart. Don’t miss his plan for your life by jumping ahead.
The first thing on our daily planner should be time with God. Throughout the day we should have little talks with him. That’s what the verse, pray without ceasing means. I think its first Thessalonians 5:17.

Most of the time we are trying to find time for God and work Him into our plans. It doesn’t work that way. He has to be the center of our hearts so that every decision we make has Him at top of it. It’s the only way we can stay in His will and purpose for our lives.
He’s ready to pour out on you an overflow as never before but you have to receive it.
Are you ready for the anointing today?

Don’t let your lamp run dry of His oil. The oil is a symbol of his spirit. Seek after Him and stay filled. The bridegroom is coming for you!