The Anointing is for Today
The anointing is for all those willing to be used of God. It is the Holy Spirit manifested in a saint willing to become consecrated to something new. “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
The anointing is of God and is nothing short of God placing Himself in the life of a saint. This is the great anointing, the Holy Spirit in you, all the time. Holy Spirit communion, everlasting.
The anointing prepares the saint for the evil times in which we live. “Little children, it is the last hour [and many deceptions are coming]… But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things” (1 John 2:18-20). The anointing is the opening of your spiritual ears to the Holy Spirit that you will learn what you need to know.
Receiving the Anointing
Anointing is nothing we gain, but receive. You will never read in Scripture that man came over the Spirit, but that “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him…” (Judges 3:10).
It is not found by striving, but surrendering. We cannot work our way to what the Lord alone can do. There is no greater barrier to your anointing than your pride.
The anointing is not in the oil, but the Holy Spirit the oil represents. Man may anoint you with oil, but the Lord is the One that anoints you with the Holy Spirit.
If you ever want to baptize another in the Holy Spirit, it will only happen when once you get out of the way. The anointing is the power of God through you. The same Holy Spirit that dwelt in the Apostles can dwell in you.
This is not stage one, salvation. But the ascension, the next level. The anointed life is the second glory in the “…glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
If it is the design or effort of man, then it is not from an anointing.
You cannot step into the anointing, only out of it.
Your anointing is not your calling, but it will establish the degree to which you are able to fulfill the office for which you are called. You are called to something, and if you answer that call, then you need to get prepared for your anointing.
The Higher Faith in the Anointing
Never chase the anointing, but seek to live a life worthy of the anointing.
Any Christian will worship Jesus at a revival. A disciple may follow Him into the wilderness. But only the anointed will follow Him to the Cross.
The anointed life is not spent primarily in front of others, but laid out bare before the Lord that He could do the greater work in you. Being anointed is being but only a utensil in the hands of God.
The anointed life is not an event, but a way of life. There is no part-time anointed. To have the anointing requires a life that walks in the anointing. If you want to walk in the anointed life, be prepared to let go of the life you lived before.
The anointing is meant to consecrate you from the world, not to make you part of it. If you want to walk a higher faith, you have to let go of the lower things.
There are degrees to an anointing. The Lord chooses the ones He will anoint with the greater anointing. It is never by man’s measure that determines the degree of your anointing, but from God alone. The Lord told Samuel, “Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you” (1 Samuel 16:3). And it was the least likely young lad in David who was chosen of God to become the anointed king of Israel.
Motives for the Anointing
Your motives for the anointing determines the degree of the anointing. It is only those willing to be nothing that can be filled with His something more.
The more you are in it for your glory, the less He is in you for His glory. It cannot be about rising above others, but having the Lord Jesus raised up over you.
If you seek to be seen, then you have set your sights to the limit of man. But when you are under God’s limits, the praise of men will never matter.
If you are seeking the anointing that you would be thought higher of, then the only anointing you can get is of the Devil.
Stop waiting for the anointing to be something where you are seen doing something. It’s not about you, and in fact you may be the reason He is not moving through you.
Never covet the anointing. This is a great danger. Coveting holiness is of the Devil. “And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also…’ But Peter said to him, ‘Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!’” (Acts 8:18-20).
Always get your motives right first lest your efforts yield you only discipline.
Consecration for the Anointing
Where you lack consecration, you lack anointing.
To the degree that the Spirit reigns in you, is the degree of your anointing.
It is not how strong you are, but how weak you are that determines the greater anointing in you.
To walk the higher life requires you to step higher. You will never walk in the anointing so long as you refuse to change the path you are on.
The anointing sits upon that man or woman who is different. If you want to fit in, you cannot be anointed. The anointing establishes a new purpose in your life.
He cannot anoint your head if you are not kneeling before Him. You cannot be under the anointing so long as you refuse to kneel down. It is not what you do outwardly, but who you are inwardly in Christ.
It takes none of the abilities man has, only a heart willing to surrender all. To walk in something new requires that you release something old. You cannot be in bondage to one thing, and be free to walk in another.
Manifestation of the Anointing
The anointed know the anointed.
The anointing is not only on the anointed, but also the words that flow from them.
Many are good at looking anointed, but it is man-made, and easily revealed by the discernment of the spirit. Never confuse soulful with spiritual. Soulful appeals to man, spiritual appeals to God. You cannot fake an anointing in front of the anointed.
You can appear to fall down by the Spirit, but if it is by man then God is not in it. Stop only seeking to fall in the Spirit, and get back up and walk in the Spirit. Anybody can fall in the Spirit, but the anointed will live in the Spirit.
The anointing is not always a mountain top experience. The Lord allows the wilderness that you would learn to trust in His provisions, and not your own.
Never try to predict what the Lord will do with you, just expect it. You could no more get a script for your anointing as you could find your life story in a library. Every anointing is unique to the person being anointed.
The more you abide in your anointing, the more the anointing will abide in you. “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1 John 2). You have received, not attained. The anointing must stay in you, not get swept over you by an occasional experience. The anointed life has the Holy Spirit as the teacher.
Cost of the Anointing
Everyone wants the anointing until they find out what it will cost them.
Be certain that there is a cost to your anointing, the cost is the right to yourself. God is not seeking a trophy horse, but a mule.
Stop considering the cost, or stop seeking the anointing.
You imagine the anointed life is a life with no trials. The opposite is true. The anointing comes by trials.
The anointing is not the absence of trials, but trusting in the Lord in spite of them. It is by the trial that your anointing is being perfected upon you.
Many will call themselves an anointed Apostle, but few would live like one. “… [the Sadducees] had called for the apostles and beaten them… So they [the Apostles] departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:40-41).
Are you worthy enough to suffer shame for His name?
The anointed life is not the easy life, but the higher life.
I pray for anyone reading this, that you would desire for the anointing. That you would know you can be anointed. That you would seek this anointing with all of your heart.
Praying for your anointing,
Paul
This really speaks to me: “The Lord allows the wilderness that you would learn to trust in His provisions, and not your own.”
I was just saying last night that I feel like God allowed me to experience depression and anxiety because I wasn’t where I should be. I wasn’t relying on God, but ony husband and employer. As The Mister’s health began to deteriorate, I started having panic attacks and extreme bouts of depression. I didn’t want to have to leave my job to take care of him, was in a panic, thinking I really need this job, and realized I wasn’t trusting God to meet all of my needs. I wasn’t trusting Him to take care of The Mister. I was experiencing a terrible level of cognitive dissonance, which just exacerbated the panic attacks.
As I now draw nearer to the Lord, and relinquish more and more of myself to Him, I find the panic attacks are coming less frequently and the fog of depression seems to be lifting. I pray to lose myself completely in the Lord, because only then, will I know true peace. I want to serve Him because I love Him and want to help others to see what God can do in their lives and in the world if we would, as you mentioned in a previous blog post, get out of our own way.
Last night at in Cambridge one of the extraordinarily prophetic sisters was speaking on this very thing. How the Lord allows a great brokenness on us such that through the cracks He can reach into our tenderness. I really loved what she was saying. I remember reading CS Lewis where he wrote something like “God whispers to us in our pleasures, but shouts at us in our pain”. Suffering is His most powerful tool in shaping the heart of a saint.
When the Lord was wrestling with Jacob all night, it was not until the break of dawn that Jacob received his blessing. I think the same is true in our lives. That we must go through the hard times before we can be made ready for the blessings. Just as a house must be built on a solid foundation, so the spirit man/woman inside of us must be built on a solid foundation that is not reliant upon the things of this world.