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
Dear People Who Keep Company with God,
There is nothing more precious than the conscious awareness of the presence of the Lord. It is a feeling, but it’s way beyond that. The essence is simply knowing that someone much more significant than you made His presence known. As satisfying and wonderful as that is, there is also a great need for His power. There is a difference between God’s presence and God’s power. They are not the same. Jesus did not preach or perform miracles or healings until the anointing of the Holy Spirit’s power came upon Him. After Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit led Him into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Then He came back in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:1, 14). In other words, He had the Holy Spirit’s presence before He went out to the desert. But He came back anointed with power. Then His ministry began.
Jesus was commissioned and anointed for a purpose. As believers, we all have been chosen and anointed by God for a purpose. There are two primary anointings, the anointing upon and within. The purpose of the anointing that is upon you is for service. God anoints you to empower you to do the work He has called you to do (Luke 24:49). Jesus summed this up in His mission statement. “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 proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Luke 4:18
The purpose of the anointing within is for you. It teaches you about your spiritual and natural life (1 John 2:20, 26-27). The more sensitive you become to the anointing within, the more success you will have in making the right decisions in life. The Apostle wrote, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God.” (2 Corinthians 1:21) To be established means to be made firm and stable. The anointing within works to advance you. It empowers you to grow in Christ-like character and be fully human. The better you recognize and respond to the inward anointing, the greater your ability to carry the anointing that comes upon you.
We are to be carriers of His presence and expressions of His power. The beautiful thing is that joy is associated with His presence and power. Psalm 16:11 tells us that “in His Presence is fullness of joy,” and in the next verse, it says, “at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.” In the Bible, the right hand of God speaks of His power. We see this illustrated in Luke 10:17-21. Jesus had given the seventy powers over demons and sent them out to do ministry. The seventy came back rejoicing because of their victory over darkness. Where there are no devils, there is joy. It brought Jesus great pleasure. It said, “Jesus rejoiced,” literally meaning He leaped or jumped for joy. The presence of the Lord is relational, but we will never fully know God apart from His power, as power is inherent to His nature. It is out of the experience of His presence and anointing in and upon us that we are then able to take our place as “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)
Many Blessings, BW