 |
| We all need a consistently fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit |
Why We Continually Need a Fresh Anointing of the Spirit
.
JOHN
BELT
Do we ever need a fresh anointing?
It's true that we need an oil change in our
cars. Is it any different for us?
Does the anointing of the Holy Spirit even
matter?
It seems to be one of those terms that was
common to hear but has lost some of its popularity.
Did you know that without the anointing of
the Spirit, Jesus was not able to perform a single miracle?
We do hear a lot about the presence of God
these days. Amen to that!
I love the presence of God. But there really
is a difference between God's presence and God's power. They are not the same.
"How God
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with
Him"
- (Acts
10:38, MEV).
Looking at the Greek word for anointing, we
get the exact idea of what is given:
g5548. chriō, meaning to smear or to rub with oil or consecrate to
an office or religious service: to anoint consecrating Jesus to the Messianic
office, and furnishing Him with the necessary powers for its administration
enduing Christians with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
We see the O.T. use of anointing for
consecration to the office of "king" or a particular service.
In addition, we see the "power"
aspect integrated into the meaning of being anointed with the manifestation of
gifts of God by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was led out by the Spirit to be tempted
by the devil, then came back in the power of the Spirit.
In other words, He had the Holy Spirit before
He went out to the desert, but He came back with power.
Jesus was commissioned and anointed for a
purpose. The anointing is to fulfill a specific purpose of God.
As believers, we all have been chosen and
anointed by God for a purpose.
When God puts His anointing on us, there is a
reason.
The New Testament is the first time we see
the word anointing used in the context of power to heal, deliver and perform
miracles.
We do see pictures of two people anointed to
be king in the Old Testament, Saul and David.
From their lives we can extract pictures of
two completely different types of people anointed by God.
Saul represents the person who had the
outward anointing without any inward devotion.
David represents a person who not only has
the anointing to rule but has the inward devotion.
The kingdom of the Messiah (Jesus) being
established on the throne of David, as read in the book of Isaiah, is the life
we want to model.
The Joy of God
Another particular element we see in the
anointing is that joy is closely associated with it.
Because of the heavenly aspect of the glory
and power of God's anointing, there is the freedom that comes with it.
The anointing breaks "heavy yokes,"
bringing joy and freedom to people.
Spiritual chains are broken, fear,
condemnation, shame and all the work of the enemy is destroyed by the
anointing.
We see this purpose of the anointing outlined
in this passage:
"The Spirit of
the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the
poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are
oppressed; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" - (Luke 4:18-19, MEV).
Where there is freedom, there is joy!
Where there is no freedom, there is no joy.
It is that simple. It can be all too easy to
get laden down with a spirit of heaviness, especially in religious circles.
This is an opportunity to use the weapon of
worship to access the anointing that breaks these heavy yokes.
In Isaiah we are told to put on the "garment
of praise" for the "spirit of heaviness."
In other words, our worship has the ability
to access the anointing of God to break that yokes of the devil.
With the Holy Spirit inside of us we have an
even more powerful dynamic at work because we can break from the
"inside-out."
It is a matter of accessing
"Christ," the Anointed One or the anointing, in us "the hope of
glory."
The hope of glory means in hope or the
purpose of His indwelling is that we might partake now in the state of heaven
on Earth, "the glorious condition of blessedness, brightness and
absolute perfection."
Just as Jesus taught us to pray, "His
kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven," we see how the Spirit
inside of us enables us to partake of this reality.
"The seventy
returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us through
Your name.' He said to them, 'I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Look,
I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do
not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your
names are written in heaven.' At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit
and said, 'I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have
hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.
Yes, Father, for it was Your good pleasure'" - (Luke 10:17-21,
MEV).
Jesus had given the 70 power over demons, and
they came back rejoicing because it is the natural result of casting out
darkness.
Where the devil is gone, there is great joy.
Even Jesus rejoiced in this life of victory
that they were experiencing. When Jesus rejoiced it means that He "leaped
or jumped" for joy.
g0021. ἀγαλλιάω agalliaō; from ἄγαν agan (much) and 242;
properly, to jump for joy, i. e. exult: be (exceeding) glad, with exceeding
joy, rejoice.
They were experiencing a little heaven on
Earth.
We need to understand that the devil is very
depressed. That is who he is.
He was cast out of heaven and his future is
the lake of fire, which is very depressing news for him.
In Christ we have the
best of the best, a future, a hope and something to be really happy about!
"You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than
Your companions" - (Hebrews 1:9, MEV).
Jesus was anointed
with the "oil of gladness" far above all His companions.
All Jesus has is good
news! His news is not sadness, but gladness.
Get around Jesus and
your condition will change from sad to glad because that is Who He is.
Jesus is the ultimate
Medicine, the Great Physician, the glory and the lifter of your head.
John
Belt
helps people discover abundant life in God's presence through intimacy and
breakthrough. He is co-founder, along with his wife, Brandi, of Overflow Global
Ministries and travels itinerantly through speaking and worship in the U.S. and
abroad. John has produced over 30 instrumental and worship albums that create
an atmosphere for encounters with heaven and can be found around the world in
places such as Bethel Redding, 24/7 Burns, Catch the Fire Toronto, XPMedia,
International Houses of Prayer and people's living rooms. He the author of
Overflowing in His Presence, to be released later this year.
