Sunday Words of Encouragement Septmeber 18, 2022 - Anointing II

Our Sunday School Teacher continued to cover the elements of the ‘Great prostitute’ or ‘Great whore’, the false religious system, discussed in Revelation 17 and 18. Believers need to know and remember that we are in the world, not of it.

Our church service started with beautiful worship focusing on the beautiful name of Jesus and His worthiness. Missionaries to children in foreign countries shared on their efforts to show that children can know Jesus as well as adults. They take the message to schools, village outreach, and youth camps in the Polynesian islands, like Fiji.

Pastor continued his message on Anointing, this week centered on Luke 4:18-19. He reminded us that we are set apart for God's purpose. The Spirit abides in us. You can't manufacture true anointing because the real power comes from the Spirit. Luke 4:14. Jesus was quoting the text from Isaiah 61:1-2. He tells us his purpose, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10.

The power is the Spirit in is. When we listen to preachers we need to be discerning and question, “What is the text of preachers? Is it real? Is it Biblical?” The Spirit doesn't pass away. The apostles and disciples had a supernatural mindset, not a computer. We shouldn’t resist the Spirit. Accept the touch, surrender to Him living in you. The Spirit is on your life “to proclaim”. v19. The enemy doesn't want us proclaiming the word of God. But God created you with a voice to proclaim.

There is a difference in Luke 4:18-19 from Isaiah 61:1-2. In Isaiah there is an additional phrase: “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,”. The hearts of men are broken because of sin which makes us sick. Brokenness became part of our nature because sin disrupted the human DNA as it was intended by God’s creation.

The Bible speaks repeatedly of the pain and death brought by sin. Romans 6:23; Genesis 2:17; Proverbs 14:12; James 1:15; and more.  Jesus heals the hearts hurt by sin.

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10. Repentance is more than saying, “I’m sorry.” Repentance involves a change of behavior.

Since the believer is to proclaim good news to the poor, we cannot run from the Spirit. But some people want to wallow in sin. Sin owns us until we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus. (We are slaves to sin until we accept Christ and righteousness. Romans 6: 20-22. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. God does not condemn us for our sins, but sent His Son to save us. John 3:17-18.

Christ gives believers sight which is part of the recovery from sin. The current generation has not been taught commitment. A thirty-year-old today is most often less mature than an eighteen-year-old in the 1960s. The current generation has no vision nor direction. People perish without direction. Proverbs 29:18 ESV. We must encourage each other to seek the Will of God.

The anointing of God is prophetic. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Proverbs 14:12. The Spirit will give you direction. The anointing will set you free and lead you if you allow it to live and flow. Luke 4:18-19. The year of “the Lord’s favor” is more than a year of Jubilee; it is a year of reset. Judgment isn’t here yet but judgment is coming.

God's wrath is the last resort. God is out to get you, not with wrath but with grace and love.
There is a saying that ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know.’ Dwight Moody once said that the anointed intellect is a precious thing. God wants you to allow the Spirit to anoint your gifting, whatever it may be. God wants you to have life more abundantly. John 10:10.

I didn’t find this song with a lyric video but I do like this song: Your Spirit.

Verses for Today:
Luke 4:18-19 NIV
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”


Again, Lord, I pray that you anoint me and use me to Your Purposes.

Sunday Words of Encouragement September 11, 2022 The Anointing

Our Sunday School shared a video of Tim Shultz speaking of the fact that God has created and ordained each believer for this time, this place, and His (this) purpose. The believers of a generation ago, in the 1950s and 1960s, lived in a society that still respected the church and its moral teachings. Not so much today. We are to stand against obvious lies that try to silence and suppress the church and God’s creation. Our trust must not waiver, we must let God define us, not the enemy.

The Church is, by definition as an ‘ecclesia’, involved in public and society issues. We need to stand against threats and bullying. Do not accept lies and hypocrisy. Fight for God’s right, not the world’s definition of right – which is currently upside down.

Pastor’s sermon was titled “The Anointing” and based on 1 John 2:18-21 and 26-27. It went well with the Sunday School message.

Anointing is defined as “smearing or rubbing”… typically with oil as part of a religious ceremony. The point is that we are touched, made special, or set apart. We are dedicated for a purpose useful to God. When we accept Christ as our savior and receive the spirit, we become purified, sanctified, holy.

We should desire and seek God's anointing touch and transformation initially and then daily.
Jabez asked for God's hand to be on him, and God granted the request. 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
We should be living with our anointing day to day. There is a balance, and we should be living in both the natural and supernatural.

We can use gifts and not be spiritually directed. There are carnal substitutions of Godly gifts. But we should not abandon the anointing for fleshy, worldly gifts.

We live rightly only by the hand, touch, of God. Being anointed with oil is only a symbol of His touch. We need to spend time with Him, and in His word, to receive a fresh touch regularly.

The anointing comes from God and we are to abide in Him. 1 John 2:27. The anointing abides in us as we allow the Holy Spirit to reside in us. Then we live set apart. We are a chosen people, “God’s special possession” 1 Peter 2:9. We are to let our light shine. Matthew 5:16.

When we are called out by the Spirit, we don't worry about worldly appearance. We want to be salt and light. Matthew 5:13-15.

The anointing convicts us and others. And we need to remain in the Spirit and be refreshed.
The spirit may respond to the teaching and messages we hear. We can become excited! We should pray for God to lead us in truth.

We must be careful as we live in times of lawlessness when men are slanderous and without self-control, “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

The supernatural anointing is not emotional frenzy. Believers need to live by faith with the anointing, especially in the last days. Though we don’t know when that is so that means every day.

We are:
Anointed to live each day.
Anointed where we work.
Anointed in retirement.
Anointed to live and reflect the Power of God.

I found this song for today’s message: Anointing.

Verses for today:
1 John 2:18-21 and 26-27
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.


Lord, I pray for You to anoint me, touch me with Your Hand and lead me in truth!