Among the blessings involved are these: a. It makes you aware of God's presence with you and his touch upon you. (Google image, Preacher drawing)
What a blessedness when you realize, like Jacob, "Surely, the LORD is in this place" (Gen. 28:16). He added, "How awesome" (v. 17). There comes sacred awe upon you as you realize that in spite of your humanness and unworthiness God's hand is upon you and using your words and ministry.
When God met Moses at Sinai at the burning bush, Moses said to Him, "Who am I?" He felt so unable and unworthy for God to use him. When God revealed to David all that He planned to do for him and his family, David exclaimed, "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD . . . that you have brought me this far/" (2 Sam. 7:18). Then David began to worship God for his greatness (vv. 22-29).
Many a minister or writer, as God's anointing has come upon him during the preparation of messages, has gone to his knees and lifted his eyes to the Lord and called out, "Who am I, O Lord, that I should speak this message for You?" Almost instantly, I have found, comes the additional prayer, "O Lord, help me to tell this, to share it as I should! Help me to express it—it is so overwhelmingly beyond what I can say or express!" Thank God for the anointing of His Spirit!
Often you will be strongly aware of God's hand upon you as He specially uses you during your message, teaching, counseling, personal evangelism, or writing. After you finish you will long to get alone with Him to fall up on your knees or face before Him, thanking Him for so graciously using you, giving him all the glory and then joining the seraphim in worshiping:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Is. 6:3); "You are worthy, our lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power" (Rev 4:11). Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Rev. 5:12).
b. It gives you fragrance of Christian character. God prescribed a special fragrant holy anointing oil for the high priest and the lower order of priests (Ex. 30:22-33). They and their clothing were to be anointed with it before their priestly duties. They carried with them this holy fragrance.
Christ our High Priest is the holy fragrant One. Christlikeness, the sweet fruit of the Spirit in our lives, makes us fragrant with the holiness of Christ's character . . . It is primarily a fruit of the Spirit's working. It is the nature of Christ reproduced in us . . . It is the loveliness of Jesus making us beautifully and fragrantly Christlike. It marks us as a person of God.
c. It gives you joy. It was said of Jesus, "God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of Joy" (Heb. 1:9).The passage from Isaiah from which Jesus quoted when He spoke of His anointing by the Spirit (Is. 61) is messianic prophecy where, in verse three, He tells that the Spirit is also anointing him to give to others "the oil of gladness."
Jesus was a joyous Savior as well as the Man of Sorrows. He entered into our joys and He wants us to rejoice. The first fruit of the Spirit is love and the next is joy (Gal. 5:22). David, after speaking of the Lord his Shepherd, said, "You anoint my head with oil." Then he added, "My cup overflows" (Ps. 23:5).
The anointing of the Spirit gives spiritual refreshing. Times of refreshing were promised following Pentecost (Acts 3:19). The Spirit gives new freshness, new variety, new adequacy. He gives joy and freshness to the prayers we pray, the worship and meditation we share, and to all aspects of our ministry. He gives us new promises, shows us new depths in the word, and gives us new assurances of His love. He is creative, original, and makes all things new.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of joy, and when He fills us with Himself He fills us with an inner joy which Peter calls inexpressible and glorious (1 Peter 1:8). One of the rivers of the Spirit is certainly joy (John 7:38-39).
It causes us to rejoice even in the midst of the sorrows we must share (2 Cor. 6:10). Any leader who would attract others must be basically a person anointed with joy supplied by the Spirit.
Ablaze for God
#87 The Spirit's Anointing Enables You Spiritually
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 262- 264) ZondervanPublishingHouse
Father, we're grateful for the Spirit's anointing, as it energizes us physically, mentally and emotionally for our ministry.
In times when we realize our unworthiness in Your hand, and that You are using our words to minister to others,
we pray for Your Spirit's help to express what we've learned to be our messages.
We thank You for the new freshness, new variety and new adequacy which comes from Your Spirit, as well as joy and freshness of Spirit as we pray, worship, meditate and worship.
May we be found with joy supplied by Your Spirit!
In the name of Jesus, we pray for a fresh supply to have a more effective ministry. Amen.
I Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV) "Love is patient, love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres."
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in
1 John 4:18 (NIV) “There is no fear in love. But
perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do
with punishment. The one who fears has not been
made perfect in love."
Psalm 28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart
leaps for joy, and I will give thanks to him in song."
Today's quote-
O. Hallesby- It's hard to be a preacher. In the first place, there is a great responsibility involved in preaching the Gospel, in rightly dividing the Word. In the next place, preachers are exposed to unusually many and great temptations. They are tempted along two lines in particular: either to conceit or to discouragement, all depending upon how well they succeed or how badly they fail in their work as preachers." (Taken from pp. 73, 74 of PRAYER, by O. Hallesby)
Today's guest post-
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
When God met Moses at Sinai at the burning bush, Moses said to Him, "Who am I?" He felt so unable and unworthy for God to use him. When God revealed to David all that He planned to do for him and his family, David exclaimed, "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD . . . that you have brought me this far/" (2 Sam. 7:18). Then David began to worship God for his greatness (vv. 22-29).
Many a minister or writer, as God's anointing has come upon him during the preparation of messages, has gone to his knees and lifted his eyes to the Lord and called out, "Who am I, O Lord, that I should speak this message for You?" Almost instantly, I have found, comes the additional prayer, "O Lord, help me to tell this, to share it as I should! Help me to express it—it is so overwhelmingly beyond what I can say or express!" Thank God for the anointing of His Spirit!
Often you will be strongly aware of God's hand upon you as He specially uses you during your message, teaching, counseling, personal evangelism, or writing. After you finish you will long to get alone with Him to fall up on your knees or face before Him, thanking Him for so graciously using you, giving him all the glory and then joining the seraphim in worshiping:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Is. 6:3); "You are worthy, our lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power" (Rev 4:11). Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Rev. 5:12).
b. It gives you fragrance of Christian character. God prescribed a special fragrant holy anointing oil for the high priest and the lower order of priests (Ex. 30:22-33). They and their clothing were to be anointed with it before their priestly duties. They carried with them this holy fragrance.
Christ our High Priest is the holy fragrant One. Christlikeness, the sweet fruit of the Spirit in our lives, makes us fragrant with the holiness of Christ's character . . . It is primarily a fruit of the Spirit's working. It is the nature of Christ reproduced in us . . . It is the loveliness of Jesus making us beautifully and fragrantly Christlike. It marks us as a person of God.
c. It gives you joy. It was said of Jesus, "God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of Joy" (Heb. 1:9).The passage from Isaiah from which Jesus quoted when He spoke of His anointing by the Spirit (Is. 61) is messianic prophecy where, in verse three, He tells that the Spirit is also anointing him to give to others "the oil of gladness."
Jesus was a joyous Savior as well as the Man of Sorrows. He entered into our joys and He wants us to rejoice. The first fruit of the Spirit is love and the next is joy (Gal. 5:22). David, after speaking of the Lord his Shepherd, said, "You anoint my head with oil." Then he added, "My cup overflows" (Ps. 23:5).
The anointing of the Spirit gives spiritual refreshing. Times of refreshing were promised following Pentecost (Acts 3:19). The Spirit gives new freshness, new variety, new adequacy. He gives joy and freshness to the prayers we pray, the worship and meditation we share, and to all aspects of our ministry. He gives us new promises, shows us new depths in the word, and gives us new assurances of His love. He is creative, original, and makes all things new.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of joy, and when He fills us with Himself He fills us with an inner joy which Peter calls inexpressible and glorious (1 Peter 1:8). One of the rivers of the Spirit is certainly joy (John 7:38-39).
It causes us to rejoice even in the midst of the sorrows we must share (2 Cor. 6:10). Any leader who would attract others must be basically a person anointed with joy supplied by the Spirit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
Ablaze for God
#87 The Spirit's Anointing Enables You Spiritually
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 262- 264) ZondervanPublishingHouse
 |
| Close up of man praying |
In times when we realize our unworthiness in Your hand, and that You are using our words to minister to others,
we pray for Your Spirit's help to express what we've learned to be our messages.
We thank You for the new freshness, new variety and new adequacy which comes from Your Spirit, as well as joy and freshness of Spirit as we pray, worship, meditate and worship.
May we be found with joy supplied by Your Spirit!
In the name of Jesus, we pray for a fresh supply to have a more effective ministry. Amen.
Today's Bible verses-
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres."
John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in
me you may have peace. In this world you will have
trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
1 John 4:18 (NIV) “There is no fear in love. But
perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do
with punishment. The one who fears has not been
made perfect in love."
Psalm 28:7 "The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart
leaps for joy, and I will give thanks to him in song."
Today's quote-
O. Hallesby- It's hard to be a preacher. In the first place, there is a great responsibility involved in preaching the Gospel, in rightly dividing the Word. In the next place, preachers are exposed to unusually many and great temptations. They are tempted along two lines in particular: either to conceit or to discouragement, all depending upon how well they succeed or how badly they fail in their work as preachers." (Taken from pp. 73, 74 of PRAYER, by O. Hallesby)Today's guest post-
Jane Ault- "Jesus does not compel us to obey him. He empowers us to overcome evil and destructive passions, but it does not happen automatically. It’s a shared effort."
Today's question-
Are you aware that we walk out our faith, whatever it is?
When we examine what it is that motivates us, it will be informative.
Does money, people, job or God have influence on us, to where others can see what motivates us?
As Christians, we can have joy in all situations and in every opportunity given us. According to James 1:2, the half brother of Jesus, tells us that we're to count it all joy when we have various trials; which tend to test our faith. We're to benefit from them by causing our faith to be strengthened when we ask God for His wisdom to handle them. Our trials can give us:
1. Wisdom, when we ask God for it
2. Opportunity for great joy in overcoming them
3. They reveal our need for God
4. They do not define God, but give us times to believe He is able to help.
God doesn't change from one day to the next, so we can depend on Him to walk us through each trial. Heb. 12:1-2 challenges us to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Upcoming posts-
#88 You Can be Anointed for Service
10/4th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
The Lord Speaks
6th- Saturday's post by Philip Yancey
#89 The Anointing Places God's Seal Upon You
9th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#90 The Anointing Confers Spiritual Authority
11th-Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#88 You Can be Anointed for Service
10/4th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
The Lord Speaks
6th- Saturday's post by Philip Yancey
#89 The Anointing Places God's Seal Upon You
9th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#90 The Anointing Confers Spiritual Authority
11th-Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
Nancy's
Late Summer flowers
Late Summer flowers
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
Helpful ways the Lord helped me in my marriage.
Thank you Jean for sharing.
ReplyDeleteRead it again it was so good.
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