Article: ENDURING THE OLIVE PRESS PRODUCES: 
THE ANOINTING OF GOD ON YOUR LIFE

Isaiah 50:7 "For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed."

Allow me to preface this article by sharing divine revelation the Holy Spirit had given me after I had received a devastating medical report on April 12, 1994; a test results that would change my life forever.

The Holy Spirit recently shared with me the following revelation:

God freely bestows the anointing on an individual, enabling him/her to operate under an anointing in his/her ministry. However, the anointing comes at a high cost. In order for the person to receive such an anointing, he/she must endure intense trials (testings)-- this process is compared to an olive enduring the Olive Press. Please allow me to share some very intriguing historical facts regarding the Olive Tree and its fruit. (See below). (This article will be lengthy, but I believe it will provide you and I with great applicable revelation concerning both the Olive Tree and The "Oil".)

THE OLIVE TREE AND "OIL"
The Semitic peoples were cultivating the Olive Tree's fruit by 3000 B.C. They particularly liked to use the oil of the olive to anoint the body during religious ceremonies, and to light their lamps. An ancient Hebrew law prohibiting the destruction of any olive tree is still obeyed. The olive tree is mentioned frequently in the Koran and in the Bible. Noah receives the message that land is near when a dove arrives at the ark with an olive branch in its mouth.

NOTE: The Olive Oil is still used today in many churches to anoint the body during religious ceremonies. Another good note, which I am certain could give a bible scholar great material for a future sermon is the fact of Noah receiving the message of dry land when a dove arrives at the ark with an olive branch in its mouth.

A member of the evergreen family, the olive tree features a gnarled trunk and leaves with a silvery underside. Its strong root system is perfect for penetrating sand, limestone, or heavy, poorly aerated soil. The trees thrive best in regions with rainy winters and hot, dry summers. Although it may take up to eight years before a tree produces its first harvest, a single tree can live for centuries.

NOTE: I find it very interesting that it takes up to 8 years before a tree produces its first harvest. The number 8 represents "new beginnings". Just spiritual food for thought!

THE OLIVE PRESS
Early oil producers pressed the olives by crushing them between huge cone-shaped stones as they turned slowly on a base of granite. Today, most factories employ hydraulic presses, exerting hundreds of tons of pressure, to separate the oil from the olive paste.

NOTE: In order for the precious anointing to rest over our ministry, we must also endure tons of pressure in order to separate the oil from the oil paste. The oil is the result of your willingness to undergo the pressing process. The "oil paste" represents the dying of our flesh in order for the precious anointing to come forth. The anointing will only come at the high cost of our willingness to allow our flesh to die and for God's plan for our lives to begin to come into fruition.

MY OWN OLIVE PRESS EXPERIENCE
I had received a revelation of what it takes to "purchase" (for a lack of a better word) the anointing a person carries with them after a great time of testing (and pressure). In April 1994, I received a diagnosis of HIV positive and moments after departing from the small clinic room, I had to make the decision of what I was going to do-- did I begin to plan a funeral for myself or was I going to seek the face of God and press onward in the Call He had placed on my life. I was a Praise and Worship Leader in the local church and it was a Wednesday morning when I had received this negative medical report. I was to lead the Worship that evening at church, and I had to make the decision that I was going to be able to do so regardless of the challenges I was facing in my mental and physical state of mind. But I decided to do it just the same. This was by far one of the most anointed P&W services I can ever recall in all of the years I had been a P&W Leader. I had set myself as an olive tree under that granite slab and allowed the hydraulic operated pressure plate to apply tons of pressure on me that night - and the Olive Press brought forth the precious oil and the anointing was present. God really showed me that each time a person makes the decision to press through the intense trial he or she is experiencing there is a anointing that will come forth in your ministry.

As a SIDE NOTE: About a week after receiving the medical test results (april 19, 1994), a good friend of mine, Carlos Salinas, and I made the decision we were going to press on with our plans of recording a CD project entitled The Reason. We set out to record and produce this CD from a makeshift recording studio in his back bedroom of a very small home in Salinas, California. Carlos was a gifted musician who had was actually a novice in playing instruments but God gave him a supernatural anointing enabling him to play like he had been playing for years. With a one-shot deal, we began to record song after song and in a very short time we had succeeded in putting together ten original songs that I had written the lyrics for and Carlos had basically played a series of tunes (somewhat spontaneous). God has anointed our efforts and thus, we gave birth my CD entitled The Reason. To many who possess a rare copy of this particular CD, because I have yet to find any floating out there somewhere where I am able to retrieve one, these songs have become anointed Songs of Deliverance in the lives of the folks who share what these songs mean to them. The interesting thing is these songs were recorded over 20 years ago and only now have begun to resurface for such a time as this.

Ladies and gentlemen, many do not receive such an anointing in their ministries because they have not been willing to submit themselves to the Olive Press process. They have good intention at times, but when they are placed on the granite slab floor and they see the hydraulic system about to press tons of pressures down on them, they get frightened and they roll off the granite slab. Therefore, they do not receive the intense anointing that can only come when a person is willing to embrace the intense trials and times of testings in their lives -- pressing through and being determined that he or she is going to move forward in what God has called them to do regardless of the painful, disappointing, fearful trials they must endure. If they make the decision that they are going to go forward no matter at what cost, they will find their enduring the times of testing coupled with his/her willingness to press forward in what God has called them to do. This is the high cost one must pay-- when everything looks bleak and makes no sense, and you place your trust in the faithfulness of God, then you will begin to see a great anointing that accompanies your Calling that God has placed over your.

Many of us have experienced intense storms in our lives, and we all have the choice to make: 1) We are going to withdraw from God and His people for a season and wallow in what is very real pain--which can result in experiencing deep depression; or 2) We are going to make the decision to trust God and stand on what His Word says about our being "healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ" and we are going to "press through the pain and disappointment, the fear and the uncertainties, and we are going to submit ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:8-10
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

God will use our times of testing for produce several things in our lives: 1) The anointing 2) a new level of trust in Him 3) He will reveal what you are really made of in the trial.

After editing some of this article because I felt it too long, I still hope that I was able to bring some inspiration, challenges, encouragement, wisdom and blessings to you in this article. May God bless you greatly on this beautiful Friday afternoon. I love you all --

09-18-15 J.