ANOINTING
20th Feb 2019
When Peter is sent to Cornelius’ house to explain the gospel, he declares in Acts 10:38, “You know…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
Jesus was very conscious of that anointing; we read of all the miracles and anointed teaching that took place after He had been baptised in water and experienced the confirming voice of His Father, as the Holy Spirit came upon him.
In the Old Testament priests were anointed and appointed. Jesus would have understood that in a similar way He too was now released to minister under the anointing. He stands in the synagogue in Nazareth and reads out the scripture from Isaiah 61 that confirms this anointing, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me….” (Luke 4)
You and I have also been commissioned by God to be His witnesses, and we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to enable us. The anointing is given by the Father in the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon us to fill us and empower us as he did Jesus.
1 John 2:20 John reminds the church that they have received the anointing but need to remain in Him. Two songs that have been constantly on my lips -
Abide under His anointing, abide under his control.
Abide under his anointing, His presence upon your soul.
Stay in the hands of Jesus and thou shalt be fully whole.
Also - Anointing fall on me,
let the power of the Holy Ghost fall on me,
anointing fall on me.
Psalm 45 talks prophetically of this anointing, telling how the Messiah’s lips would be anointed with grace and also anointed with the oil of joy.
I have found the anointing enables everything to be accomplished with ease and with supernatural help, just as the craftsmen were anointed to construct the tabernacle. We read in Exodus 31:3-5 “…I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.”
You and I can be anointed also in doing practical tasks, experiencing an ease that is more than human skill. It is an anointing given by the Holy Spirit. So be anointed afresh today and experience the ease and joy of knowing His power at work in you and through you in every area of life.
by Joyce Sibthorpe
