“Sweet-Fire” - The Podcast
How to survive the flame when what attracts you burns
“Sweet-Fire” - The Podcast
“Heaven Has My Back” PT 4 “Crushed Olives”
The mountains looming in your life aren't random obstacles—they're divine appointments orchestrated by a God who's strategically positioned you for purpose. In this powerful episode of Sweet Fire, Dr. Lydia Michelle Young and Intercessor J’eanine Nichole dive deep into the spiritual significance of life's pressures and how they transform us.
Drawing profound parallels between our struggles and Gethsemane—the olive press—we discover that pressure serves to extract valuable spiritual oil from our lives. Just as olives must be crushed to release their treasure, sometimes God allows crushing circumstances to release the anointing He's placed within us. This pressing isn't punishment; it's preparation for the mission He's designed specifically for you.
The hosts unpack Psalm 121's invitation to "lift up our eyes to the hills," revealing its twofold meaning. While acknowledging the reality of our problems, we simultaneously recognize that our help comes from the Lord who created those very hills. No mountain appears in your path without heaven's permission, and if God allows the challenge, He's already equipped you with everything needed to overcome it.
We explore Jesus' profound example in Gethsemane—facing immense pressure while His disciples slept nearby. This poignant moment reminds us that some spiritual battles must be faced alone, yet never without heaven's backing. Too many believers "look like what they're going through," but spiritual maturity means maintaining victory's posture even while climbing life's steepest terrain.
Are you still sleeping while your purpose calls? It's time to awaken to the divine strategy behind your struggles. Stop viewing pressure as your enemy and recognize it as the very process extracting valuable oil from your life. Heaven has your back, and the Lord of hosts is squeezing greatness out of you for His glory.
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Are you praying for strength to fulfill, accomplish, succeed in the mission that God has for your life? Are you saying may the trouble I live, may the trouble I face, may the trouble I find myself in set me apart for God's divine purpose? Are you still sleeping? Are you still resting? Set me apart for God's divine purpose? Are you still sleeping? Are you still resting? We started a series a few weeks back entitled Heaven has my Back. Heaven has my Back, and we understand, come to the realization that it is the host of heaven who has our back, the host of heaven who covers us, provides for us, protects us. We're going to get into that a little bit today.
Speaker 1:I am your host, dr Lydia Michelle Young, here with my co-host, none other than your assessor, janine Nicole. She's in the building, the spirit of the Lord is here and we are excited. I did hear just a moment ago there's a fresh wind. I believe that I can feel that on the inside that there is a fresh wind blowing. This is midweek Wednesday. Midweek Wednesday refreshing fire. Thank you, those of you who are tuning in from the United States, from other countries who are tuning in, who are receiving a word from the Lord for your life, for your situation, for what you're dealing with, for what you're facing. We appreciate your ear, we appreciate your heart for tuning in and taking a listen and we thank God that you are being blessed by Sweet Fire, the podcast. All right, intercessor, why don't you greet our listeners with the hearty God bless you.
Speaker 2:God bless you each and every one. And, yes, I want to piggyback off that Thank you to everybody who is constantly, you know, faithfully tuning in week by week, by week. We thank God for you. You know, here in the United States and just all over the world, we truly, we bless God, we thank God for you, thank you for your faithfulness to tune in to Sweetfire, the podcast, and even the encouraging words that you know many of you have shared with us, recognizing the call of God for this podcast for such a time as this. We really we thank God for you. God bless you all. And, yeah, fresh wind, fresh wind. There is a refreshing taking place in the heart of God's people. God is, you know, sending fresh wind, fresh wind our way. So again, welcome to Sweet Fire, the podcast. God bless you all.
Speaker 1:Amen. Well, you know what I can truly say Thank God to the fresh wind, the breath of God, the breath of God that is blowing. The wind of God is blowing, he's leaning in our direction. Therefore, I can truly say, intercessor, that I will. Psalm 121, I will lift up mine eyes, I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh or from where my help cometh or comes from. Cometh eth at the end of that again means it continues to come. Our help continues to come from the lord. He's the one who did what made heaven and earth. So I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from which cometh my help, knowing that all, all of my help, all of my help You're very adamant about that, even on yesterday All of my help, all of my help, all of your help. You allow us to encourage you in this very moment. All of your help, all of your help comes from the Lord.
Speaker 1:What does that require? We talk about lifting our eyes to the heels. That's really twofold. We can look at it twofold and we'll get into that a little bit. But it requires us to shift in focus, To shift. Shift your focus. Can we encourage you? Shift your focus today. Shift your focus away from earthly issues, shift your focus away from earthly problems, earthly chaos, earthly headaches, earthly those things that annoy you, those things that add pressure. And we're going to get into the pressures of life as we re, as we uh equate them to jesus in gethsemane. We're going to get into that. But come on, intercessor, jump in, come on, yeah, I will lift up my eyes unto the hills.
Speaker 2:From whence cometh my help? Right that that you, you, the psalmist, you know, recognizing that help is needed. You know there was a situation before him, them, you know help is needed, right. But then, immediately following the recognition, the identifying of the problem ahead, what happens? The focus shifts, you know, and lands on the creator of heaven and earth. Right, acknowledging, you know, it's okay to acknowledge that there's some trouble before us. It's okay to acknowledge that we're in a situation, you know, that's uncomfortable, we're in the midst of something that we just cannot see how we're going to get out of. Right. We see the heel of that problem that just seems too impossible to climb, too impossible to bear, right, but we're not to keep our focus on that. We have to come to the understanding, the realization, that all of our help cometh from who, the one who created the heavens and the earth. And that's immediately what the psalmist did.
Speaker 2:The psalmist realized, oh, there's a hill to climb, but I can get over that hill if I just realign my focus on the one who created the hill, knowing that, you know, he will not suffer my foot to be moved. And that's why we're here on this evening to encourage you, people of god. It's okay to acknowledge you know, there's some hills to climb, because we're gonna have some hills to climb. We're gonna have some hills to climb, but we can't focus on the obstacle that that hill is presenting itself as being right. We have to shift our perspective. We have to understand that heaven has our back, right. The Lord of hosts is backing us. The Lord of hosts is going to carry us over that hill to climb and get this. If the hill is there, the Lord of hosts allowed that hill to be there for a reason.
Speaker 1:That's it. The hill is there. It has a purpose. Amen. The heel in your life serves a divine purpose.
Speaker 1:And may I suggest to you could it be, when we look at the twofold meaning of the heel, the imagery and the metaphor, the heel in your life, the hardship in your life, could it be that that heel is tailor-made for you? Right, that heel, that issue, that problem, fits you very well. God created it for you. And so, when we lift our eyes to the heel, we're looking at the heel, which is a heel. It seems insurmountable. We're looking at the problem. We're looking at the problem. We're looking at the heel. We're looking at the trouble, the hardship.
Speaker 1:But do you understand that that hardship was created for you? It was created for you, my God, to uh, for, for spiritual shifting, for a spiritual shifting, um, to refine your faith, to recharge you, mm, hmm, oh, my God. So the spiritual shift, the spiritual perspective, is essential, it's critical. Do you understand? When we look at the heel, I will lift up my eyes to the heels, from which comes my help. So that problem is created to help me, to refine my faith, to strengthen me, to make me, to mold me, to shape me At the same time. Look at the imagery, the heel. I'm looking at the heel which from what's coming? My help, my all my help coming from the lord, so the heel can symbolize also where our help is. Oh, my god, the heel, the high place. He's exalted, he sits high and he looks low. Come on, you jump in on that and we'll come back, right.
Speaker 2:And what was on top of the hill, right On top of the hill, the place of worship, jerusalem. That's where they're on their way, catching people of God. What was on top of the hill? You know? The place of worship, jerusalem. Jerusalem representing the place of worship, representing who god representing, you know, the lord of hosts, though that that problem, again, it seems insurmountable, that that that problem, it just seems like an immovable mountain, right, but that that mountain, that that that uncomfortable thing that's taking place in your life right now is allowed, is allowed by the one who's sitting on top of the hill, sitting on top of the problem, sitting on top of the mountain. We gotta shift our focus, right, we have to focus, you know. Uh, put our put our focus on who's on top of it all, who's in charge of it all. You know who created it all.
Speaker 2:Problem can't come to us unless problem is allowed to get to us by who, the Lord of hosts. Problems are, you know. They can only come if the Lord of hosts allows the problem, if he allows the mountain. But guess what? He's not going to allow the problem, he's not going to allow the mountain and not, you know, and not bring forth the provisions, not bring forth the blessings. That's right. You know he's not going to allow the problem and allow the mountain and then not allow heaven to back us Right. Right the problem and allow the mountain and then not allow heaven to back us right. So when we get to that mountain, when that mountain arrives in our life, that mountain arrives and we're already equipped to climb. The mountain arrives and we are already equipped to climb it, doctor, but we have to keep our focus, we have to keep our perspective on who is sitting on top of the mountain.
Speaker 1:And I'm hearing this. And then we can say to the mountain Right, be thou removed. Right, put it under your feet, right, okay, we've been there. Right, refine my faith. Refine my faith. Create character in me. Allow the mountain, allow the trouble. Refine my faith. Create character in me. Allow the mountain, allow the trouble. Allow God, who sits high, my God, to create character, the character of Christ in you, my God. He will use your brokenness for his greater good. So what was I saying even earlier today Grow me up, right, grow me up. Grow me up in you, grow me up. And so, when we look at Gethsemane, they were on their way right to to Jerusalem. When we look at uh, I will lift up my eyes to the hill, they were on their way, okay, um, let's look at Matthew 26 in Gethsemane. Let's look at that.
Speaker 1:Where Gethsemane is, the imagery of it or the metaphor, is the olive press. That hill is pressing me. That hill is squeezing me. Folks don't like to be squeezed. Squeezing the anointing. Squeeze the oil out of my life. God, allow this heel to squeeze the anointing, so that I can be what Equipped to fulfill the mission that you've set for my life. Squeeze me. Imagine the olive press. Imagine the olive press. So olives must be crushed to release their valuable oil. Oh, my God, you must be, I must be crushed to release the oil on my life, right, so that we can do what Be used for his glory, so that we can endure the hardship. Squeeze the oil out of my life. Squeeze the oil out of my life. That's what Gethsemane was about. It's the olive press. Squeeze me, my God, press me.
Speaker 1:So even Jesus. He was under immense pressure because he knew that he was facing betrayal. He knew that his disciples, whom he took with him, were frail. He knew that. He knew that they weren't going to watch Right. Right, he said can you not still watch, are you still sleeping? In verse 45? Are you still sleeping, are you still resting? Can you not just hang with me just for a minute? That lets us know that sometimes we, even though we have confidence, see, he was under pressure Right, immense pressure, right. He was under a crushing, under a crushing sorrow because of what he was facing Right, and so he takes. He knew that Peter was going to deny him Right. He knew that they weren't going to watch Right, but he let them sleep. He knew that they were asleep, cause it was what a situation between him and the father Right. Oh my God, come on, jump in on that on that, jump in on that.
Speaker 2:Wow, he let them sleep. He let them sleep.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's wow, yeah, that's that's uh, he let them sleep sometimes we gotta face things alone, right, sometimes we have to face things alone, we, we may have a friend, a confidant, you know, hanging to the side, but sometimes we have to face what God has for us alone, alone. Alone, because I mean, oh, my goodness, yeah, so many thoughts are coming, so many thoughts, there's so much in it, it's loaded. There's so much in it, we're loaded, it's so much in it. We're going to unpack this. We're going to take our time and unpack it. It'll be in an upcoming episode, but we're going to unpack this word because many of you are under a crushing sorrow, many of you are under immense pressure. My God, god has set you there and having you look to the hill, look to your problem, look to him, oh, my God, because he's squeezing. Yeah, allow him to press the oil out of your life so that you could fulfill the mission that God has designed for you. Come on intercession as we get ready to close.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and, as you know, the Lord was using you. There comes a time in our walk, after a while you know that we should understand what's going on. There comes a time in our walk after, as well, that we should have that understanding that sometimes you know God, he needs us to be all by ourselves. You know sometimes he needs us what you just said. You know he needs us to go through some stuff all by ourselves. You know we don't have to have a team of people around us, just a host to heaven, right, to have a team of people around us, just a host to heaven, Right. We don't have to have a team of people around us while he's squeezing. You know, sometimes, when you know all those are, sometimes we have to be by ourselves. It has to be just us in God in order for God to squeeze everything out of us that he needs to get out of us, to get that value, you know, to get that seed that he planted in us. Sometimes we but you know we eventually we have to get to a place in our walk, in our relationship with God, to where not everything that comes our way, you know, causes our head to hang low. You know, not everything that comes our way causes that spirit of heaviness. You know what I'm saying. Like we touched on last week, we're in a literal spiritual war zone, right, there is war all around us. So if we have that understanding that we're in a spiritual war zone, there is war all around us. Why, you know, so many of us? Oftentimes we find ourselves discouraged or our heads hanging low. You know we fall into that state of depression. You know, after a while we have to come up in our understanding. We have to go back to what you said grow up in God. We're going to go through some stuff. We're going to have mountains that are allowed to be positioned in our lives, but after a while we should have the mind of Christ when we approach that mountain, as we go from faith to faith. Right, we should have the mind of Christ when we come up to that mountain, to where we're keeping our eyes lifted unto the hills from which cometh forth our help, because we know that our help cometh from the Lord. We know that heaven is backing us. We know that the Lord of hosts is going to carry us over that mountain. We know the Lord of hosts is going to give us the plan to. You know, to conquer that mountain. You know we have to.
Speaker 2:We have to grow up, people of God. We have to grow up, amen. The babes in Christ, they're looking at us, they are watching us. We got to show the young people who are coming up in God that you know, yes, the reality of your relationship, the reality of your walk with God means that you are an enemy to the world. It means that you're going to experience some mountains. But we must show the young people in God that, though mountains will come, though troubles will arise, we have the victory because the Lord of hosts is backing us. Amen. We have to grow up in God, people of God. We got to stop always looking like we are going through something. We have got to stop looking like we are going through stuff. Too many in the body of Christ look like what they're going through. We got to grow up in God after a while, people of God. Yes, the mountain is there, but guess what? You got the victory already. Why? Because the Lord of hosts is backing you.
Speaker 1:The Lord of hosts, my Lord, is backing you. They shift in focus, they change in perspective, so God can make preparation, my God, to use your life to fulfill the mission that God has strategically designed with you in mind, my God, and we're going to come back with some more of this on next week. Peace be to you. We're going to come back with some more of this on next week. Peace be to you, peace be to your house and peace be to all you have.
