..................................................................
BY
RICK WARREN
“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIV).
God never asks you to do something without providing what
you need to do it.
Anointing is a sign of God’s equipping you to fulfill an
assignment he’s given you. When he gives you an assignment, a plan, or a
strategy, he is going to empower you.
Just as a lamp won’t shine unless it’s plugged in, your
light won’t shine unless you’re plugged into your power source.
You cannot fulfill the purpose you were
created for apart from the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NIV).
If you want God’s power to work through your life, you need
to understand what it means to have his anointing and keep a few things in mind.
1. When God says to do it, you can count on his anointing. Jesus’ last assignment to his disciples
was impossible.
There was no way they could possibly take the Gospel to the
ends of the earth. It could only happen through his power.
God will often give you an assignment that looks physically
impossible, but he will make it possible.
“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will
do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24
NIV).
2. God’s anointing makes difficult tasks easier. Your resources are limited. Your
energy is limited. Your knowledge is limited. Your wisdom is limited. Your
talent is limited. God’s is not.
With God’s anointing, you can handle things better, last
longer, and go farther.
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited
resources [God] will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit” (Ephesians 3:16 NLT).
3. God’s anointing makes the impossible possible. In your business, marriage, health, and
relationships, you’re going to come up against insurmountable problems.
God is a competent Father. He can handle any problem you
give him. Nothing is beyond his ability or his resources.
“What is impossible for people is possible with
God” (Luke 18:27 NIV).
4. God anoints your life to bless others. Jesus came to comfort the afflicted, the
broken-hearted, those who are enslaved to habits, those who don’t know how to
get out of debt, and those who are blind.
And he anoints you to comfort others as well.
“Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God
with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping
people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do
all this because God was with him” (Acts 10:38 The Message).
5. For every new challenge, you need fresh power from God. Anointing by the Holy Spirit cannot be
stored up. You cannot handle today’s problems with yesterday’s anointing.
You certainly can’t handle the problems you’re going to
have tomorrow, next week, and next year with yesterday’s anointing.
Stay in touch with God so that he can constantly fill you
with his grace, love, and power. Ask for God’s anointing again.
James 4:2 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God” (NIV).
Talk It Over
· If you believed God wanted to bless your
life, what would you ask of him?
· Do you try to accomplish your tasks based
on your own power or God’s power? What difference does it make?
· In what ways do you see how God has
anointed you—that is, equipped you—to fulfill whatever assignment he has given
you?
Saddleback Church was founded by Rick and Kay Warren in 1980 in Lake Forest, California. Saddleback has grown to over 30,000 weekly attendees across sixteen locations, including four international campuses, and an online campus hosting listeners from around the world. Saddleback Church continues to be America's most influential church.
Saddleback Church has built an outreach of
more than 300 community ministries, including the nationally recognized
Celebrate Recovery, a Christ-centered recovery program now implemented in over
25,000 churches.
No comments:
Post a Comment