The Lesson Of The Anointing

1 John 2:27 ESV - "But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie - just as it has taught you, abide in him."

Only a select group of people were anointed in the Hebrew scriptures. Kings and priests. It was very special. The recipe for the anointing oil was guarded and it was illegal to duplicate. The anointing oil in the scriptures points to the Holy Spirit. He is the true anointing.

I think it is the specialness that teaches us. We don't deserve to be annointed or to sense an anointing on others. The priests had their ears, a toe and a finger annointed for service. We can hear in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit. Do things that are Spirit led things. We don't deserve that but still it us ours. It is a grace gift that the Holy Spirit will never leave us or forsake us and the knowledge of that reality teaches us. Knowing we have something we don't deserve makes us teachable in every situation.

I don't think it is a hyperspiritual sixth sense that is subjective. I think it is more like the state David must have been in after the prophet came to his fathers house and anointed him in secret. The prophet said David would be a king but David was just a boy. He must have looked back on that day and the knowledge that he was anointed must have informed his decisions. He could be brave knowing that he would not die. The prophet anointed him and what the prophet said had not yet come to pass.

We have that kind of information. If God has given us the Spirit then we have a purpose on the planet. Knowing we have a purpose teaches us a thing no one else can tell us but we can know with certainty.

You are special. God doesn't anoint everyone. Your ear can be touched by God. Your finger and toe can be sanctified for service.

I want this knowledge to inform me in ways no earthly teacher can. If I understand the anointing in me I have something precious that can't be taught in a classroom.

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The Anointed Team

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many." 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 ESV

Meditating on the value of a team and the use of the word 'Christ' here. Jesus was and Is our Saviour's name that represents His incarnation. Christ Is who He Is and always was. It Is His eternal identity in relation to creation. He Is the 'anointed One'.

Christ is the One who took on the role of identification with mankind.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." - Matthew 25:34 ESV

"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you" - 1 Peter 1:20 ESV

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." - Revelation 13:8 KJV

A team is like Him and He Is like a Spirit-filled team. These unique teams exist because He died, rose again and now sits in session at the right hand of the Father.

It takes many people working together to represent Him. He Is more than one of us but identifies which 'each' and 'all' of us.

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The Law Of Christ

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." - Galatians 6:2 ESV

'Fulfill the law of Christ' is very interesting when you look at it in the Greek. It could easily be translated, 'function in the principle of the anointed One.' Bearing burdens is what the anointed One came to do. He was anointed for that purpose. Jesus healed because He bore the burden of Love and the virtue of who He was poured out of Him to heal.

"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load." - Galatians 6:1-5 ESV

Jesus lived in His calling. In the anointing He was yoked to the Father and boar the burden of His own life and His cup overflowed to bear the burdens of others to bring them to a place where they could choose to function in their calling.

The woman at the well is a great example of this principle.

"So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) ... They went out of the town and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, 'Rabbi, eat.' But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.' So the disciples said to one another, 'Has anyone brought him something to eat?' Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.' " - John 4:5-8, 30-38 ESV

The disciples went into town but Jesus was functioning in the principle of the anointing. He was a sent one. He had food and drink that they had no clue existed.

Let's face it our own life is to heavy for us to carry alone. People hire therapists to carry the burden. They drink and eat in excess. They seek distractions because the burden of one life is so heavy.

God would have us 'function in the principle of the anointed One.' As sent ones we have someone who bears our heavy load for us.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

Help us Lord. God we need rest for our souls. Direct us today as sent ones. We have been bought with a precious price. We do not belong to ourselves. Teach us to function in the principle of the anointed One. As we look at Him we surrender to the transformation into His image. Make us like Jesus in our experience. We are already like Him in our position. We want to walk in our circles like He did in His 2,000 years ago. In the anointing He walks with us today. Thank You God.

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The Prayer Of Faith Will Save

Reading scripture... praying... going through notes... picking up my booklet and reading a little... taking a sip of coffee... the booklet I'm reading is a handout that you might get at a crisis center. It brings a person through the grief process and lists verses that might be helpful. I've been reading it for a month or so on and off. In a way it is very heavy because it deals with heavy subject matters but the verses quoted are amazing even if at times they quote a verse out of context or repeat verses again because they fall under several categories.

I think sometimes, 'These people who wrote this booklet are trying to help but would this be helpful to me if I was in a true crisis?'

I need eternal perspective for a crisis and I think other people do also. Otherwise our world becomes small and our thinking becomes shallow.

"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," - Philippians 2:1-5 ESV

I sit thinking of the times when we have oil and stand at the front of the chapel as someone is praying from the pulpit. People who have needs come forward to be prayed for. Some look sick or like they might have a physical need but others don't. Those are special times.

"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." - James 5:13-16 ESV

What are these sins we are confessing one to another? The Greek word there is Hamartia (Strong's G266) and it means to miss the mark. When people miss the mark they need prayer. People miss the mark with their  actions and thinking in a similar way as our bodies seem to miss the mark when we are sick.

I know I have sat in the crowd during a healing service and decided midway through to go up because seeing people living in such humility motivated me to humble myself and ask God in a public way for the help I needed.

A few times people asked me to pray for them but I was hesitant to do it. In a room full of believing people I felt I wasn't believing like a person should be if they were going to put oil on a person's head and pray. Those moments have been moments of repentance on my part. I couldn't say 'no' to a person looking at me that way. I had to 'let Christ's mind be in me' and found God touching both of us at the same time. I found words coming out of my mouth and tears streaming from my eyes as I lifted up this humble person's need that did not come from an carnal man's mouth.

The prayer of faith that originates from a mind grounded in truth is a powerful prayer. It isn't asking amiss. The voice that has been baptized in the mind of Christ has influence because the One it represents is powerful and invested in the present situation.

Maybe this booklet that lists verses and asks questions related to grief is helpful to some people. I hope so. I'd rather spend a little time with someone who knows something. I'd rather walk down the aisle and have a frail man who has the mind of Christ anoint me with oil. I'd rather listen to a message that touches my heart and teaches me that my identity is not based on how I miss the the mark but instead it is based on the work of Jesus Christ and His spotless life.

God... Help us today... So many people struggle during this time of year... so many need a different way to think and a touch from Heaven. Use us God. By sight it doesn't look like we have much to give but just like the man standing there with oil in his hand we can give out the words of hope that You have given us. Fill our lantern with oil so that in the crisis we have light. Thank You God. Thank You for healing all our infirmities. Thank You for loving us.

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Bondage Breaking

"It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil." - Isaiah 10:27 NKJV

The anointing breaks the yoke of bondage. In truth it is the only thing that can break some bondages.

What is this anointing?

Is it a power that swoops in when there is a group worshiping? Is it the force of an idea communicated persuasively from some one who believes it fully? Is it a mood of God's holiness that is expressed at only certain times and places?

The Hebrew scriptures give a recipe for making the oil and we are given examples of when it was used but no one but a certain few were allowed to produce the oil.

"And you shall say to the people of Israel, 'This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.'" The LORD said to Moses, 'Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD. Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.' " - Exodus 30:31-38 ESV

Oil was used to anoint kings and priests. It was used to make things holy and acceptable. It was used in commissioning.

"Then Samuel said to Jesse, 'Are all your sons here?' And he said, 'There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.' And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, 'Arise, anoint him, for this is he.' Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah." - 1 Samuel 16:11-13 ESV

When Jesse sent for David he was just a shepherd boy but after he was anointed David was a king. From the viewpoint of eternity David was destined to be king but the anointing revealed and made him into what he was destined to be.

The anointing isn't God telling us to do something it is when God qualifies us to be someone and gives the message, room or gathering the specific aroma of his gracious presence.

A group sings a song that is filled with God's life. It tells a true account of an aspect of Gods character, nature and work. We hear it and it imparts to us not only God's mood but His mind and the anointing comes in. We smell an aroma as if Heaven's doors have opened up in the room.

A message is preached telling us who we are and sends us into a royal future. Our life of humdrum routine is shattered. We are free from being trapped in natural living and the message propels us into a adventure and relationship with God.

"While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed him." - Matthew 4:18-20 ESV

Their yoke was broken.

Could anyone have said that to these men? No, Only Jesus.

The calling is a high, holy and Heavenly thing... when we recognize it and when there is recognition there is yoke breaking power there. An identity is revealed.

I often wonder how to help people. What can I give them? What can I say to them? Sure. There are things to say and give but what people need is hope. What people need is vision. People need the anointing to break the yoke that is holding them in a life of walking straight lines.

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Lights In The World

Reading Zechariah chapter 4 again and again. A man of God is like an olive tree and the anointing is like olive oil used by a lamp to produce light. Without artificial light we would only have light during the day and darkness at night (relative to moonlight and clouds of course).

'And he said to me, 'What do you see?'

I said, 'I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.'

And I said to the angel who talked with me, 'What are these, my lord?'

Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?'

I said, 'No, my lord.'' - Zechariah 4:2-5 ESV

The writer needed to be awakened to see it. Why are people's lives so dark? Perhaps it is because there is no oil tree in their lives or those oil trees don't have bowls near them to draw the oil and produce a place of safe ignition and illumination of truth.

A lamp provides a way to see beyond the light provided in creation.

"Then I said to him, 'What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?'

And a second time I answered and said to him, 'What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?'

He said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?'

I said, 'No, my lord.'

Then he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.' " - Zechariah 4:11-14 ESV

It is good to identify who the anointed people in my life are. I need the light they produce.

"For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth." - Zechariah 4:10 KJV

If we discern the anointed man and see the plumb line that measures the straightness of a design in His hand we will rejoice even if things seem small right now.

An anointed man who carries the objective word of God with him and measures by that measure can start things and they will bud with life. The beginning may seem small but the seed will grow in unexpected ways.

The temple built by these two men in Zechariah is no more. It was built and it is gone now but the small beginnings of the project affected many people and generations. Life is the issue not the project.

An anointed person starts a family, or a business, or is involved in a Church project and that project has delays and problems. There are victories and defeats also but the project serves as a bowl to collect the oil so that light can be produced. It may look small and we may need our eyes opened to see it for what it is but those projects and people become vehicles for illumination.

"Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' " - John 8:12 ESV

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." - Matthew 5:14 ESV

God has made us to be lights and give us eyes to see illumination. I want to recognize the source of it and be a friend to those men who have little projects on the Earth. They may seem little now but they are blazing fires in Heaven's eyes.

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It Is Finished - Part 9

"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Romans 11:29 ESV

"But the anointing that you received from him abides in you..." 1 John 2:27a ESV

"...the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:30b ESV

God does not regret what He has done by grace or what He is doing by grace... His many gifts and many initiations to us.

I was thinking about the anointing oil this morning. It was special unduplicatable oil poured on kings, priests and objects in the holy places.

"Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy." Exodus 40:9 ESV

" 'And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you.' And they did according to the word of Moses." Leviticus 10:7 ESV

"He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD." Leviticus 21:12 ESV

The oil speaks of God's Holy Spirit. Once sealed with the Spirit we are considered inside the temple... a part of a holy structure. Just like oil does not sit on the skin and then is gone when washed away. Some gets absorbed into the skin and becomes one with the person.

When we received Christ we became one with Him and what He did. There can be no real and lasting separation. The priests were told not to leave. They could but they were told not to as a picture. We have a work of grace that never leaves us. We are in the temple and the temple is in us... by grace.

The moment the oil touched the man who would be king it sealed the transfer of power (see 1 Samuel 16:13 with David). He was destined to rule. The moment the oil touched the furniture or the priest it or he was made holy. It took shed blood and oil.

At the moment of our salvation... the moment we believed that the death, burial and resurrection was true and for us we were touched and sealed by the Spirit and all kinds of gifts and transfers were made and put on our account. Our destiny was set.

God is going to spend the rest of our lives initiating to us as He sees fit but it will be to open our eyes to what has already happened and based upon what is already finished. The oil is God's finishing touch. We are a finished work also. God loves us just as we are. Our growth and sanctification only changes us into the likeness of what we already have become.

Anointed for the Coming Battle

"And Samuel said to Saul, 'The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' " 1 Samuel 15:1-3 ESV

God anointed Saul and then gave him the Amalekites.

"The Philistine said to David, 'Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.' Then David said to the Philistine, 'You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand.' When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine." 1 Samuel 17:44-48 ESV

God anointed David and gave him Goliath and the Philistines.

"And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.' Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Matthew 3:16 - 4:1 ESV

Jesus was Baptized and anointed of the Spirit and combat quickly ensued also.

The Spirit of peace often brings conflict.

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34 ESV

Jesus is the Prince of peace and yet in peace He stands opposed to all that is unrighteous. He is lamb. Yet even in His peace He is ready for war.

Anointed Truth takes on the lie and wins. God uses the anointing to break the yolk of bondage. An unclean atmosphere is banished and holiness is brought in. The Amalakites will attack us when we are weak. Goliath will try to intimidate us with his loud voice and impressive claims. The wilderness will try and wear us down.

"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." Acts 10:38 KJV

Jesus has overcome all enemies. He has conquered the wilderness. He has defeated death and plucks us like brands out of the flames.

"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us" 2 Corinthians 1:21 ESV

Let's live like lambs but walk in victory overcoming evil with divine good.