The Anointing: God's Gift for His Purpose

 

It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Isaiah 10:27

Isaiah prophesied Israel's deliverance from the Assyrians, comparing their bondage to the yoke around the neck of an ox: There were two yokes around the neck of the animal. One yoke was a beam across the shoulders that could be removed. But the second yoke was a collar firmly fastened around the neck that could only be broken by the anointing, literally, the fat around the neck of the bull. The first collar could be removed by the farmer at any time and later replaced. The second yoke was permanently fastened and only destroyed by what was resident within the animal.

You may say, "That sounds great, but I have tried. My yoke is too strong, and I can't break loose." But Isaiah says, "the yoke shall be destroyed by the anointing!" The Word does not make a distinction. Whatever your yoke, alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography, religion, witchcraft, Satanism, prostitution, fear, abuse, divorce, suicide, death - it shall be destroyed by the anointing God has placed within you.

You have within you an anointing, because Christ lives in you. And that anointing is strong enough to break any yoke. The Bible says, "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you ... but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things ... ye shall abide in him" (1 John 2:27).

The anointing is the power of God transmitted through the Holy Ghost. Jesus said, "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). When you tap into the Holy Ghost, you tap into the pipeline of almighty God who created the universe, parted the Red Sea, walked on water, healed the sick, cast out devils, raised the dead and set the captives free.

The anointing inside you can break the heaviest yoke, no matter what it is, because "greater is he who is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). The truth is Jesus (John 14:6), but you must know Him to be free. The word "know" in this verse describes the most intimate relationship one can have with another person.

"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). When Jesus defeated the devil He made a public spectacle of him, "and he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:14,15).

When you know Christ you know the truth, and when you know the truth, you know who you are in Christ. You cannot be bound when Christ, the anointed one, dwells in your heart. Seek Him with all your heart and allow the anointing of His presence to fill you until your yoke simply falls away. Refuse to submit to the lies of the devil and speak the truth of God's Word over your life. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:7), and His Word is true for you!
Just as being saved prepares you for heaven -- being filled with the Holy Spirit prepares you for your earthly walk with the Lord. The disciples were no earthly good until they were filled with the Holy Ghost. That is the reason Jesus said, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with the power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

In other words, don't leave that upper room until you receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You may be ready to go to heaven, but you will be no earthly good until you receive the anointing. The anointing of the Holy Ghost is tangible. It is energy and it has substance. It is the perpetual propulsion of the power of God that can drive you through a line of Satan's defense. And, since the anointing is tangible, your supply can be depleted. The same disciples who were filled were also re-filled again and again (Acts 4:31,13:52).
How do you receive the anointing? It is not your responsibility to produce anything -- the anointing is not something you "makee." It is not your responsibility to perform a miracle. It is your responsibility to become filled with the anointing that can work the miracle.

You are a vessel. Once you are filled with the anointing, it is your responsibility to pour out every ounce of anointing God gives you. So He may refill you.

You are like a blood vessel in your body. Blood vessels do not produce the blood -- the blood is manufactured by the marrow. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

The marrow represents your spirit. Blood vessels do not produce blood -- blood vessels carry blood. You do not produce the anointing -- the anointing is manufactured in your spirit. That is why you need to have a spiritual life. It is not enough to go to church on Sunday and be filled with biblical knowledge. It is not enough just to have the Word of God without the Spirit. You need a Spirit-led life.

You need the energy of the Holy Spirit to do the things of God. The energy comes from the manufacturing plant of your spirit. John 7:38 says: "He that believeth on me . . . out of his belly (the marrow, the inward parts) shall flow rivers of living water."

In yourself, you cannot produce the energy needed to do the things of God. The energy comes from God and is planted in your spirit. When you are given this energy, it is your responsibility to get rid of every bit you have -- by letting it flow out of you to a hurting, depraved, diseased and destitute humanity.
When a blood vessel is clogged, it is not a healthy vessel. It has to pour out the life source it has received in order to stay healthy. The same is true of you -- you need to release the anointing inside you! That is why the Bible says, "These signs shall follow them that believe. . . " (Mark 16:17) and "Go ye therefore . . ." (Matthew 28:19). God wants you to keep your vessel open.

You are somebody. You passed from death to life. You don't receive the anointing of God through your own works -- but rather, through the death of your own works. Deuteronomy 26:6 says: "The Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage -- the bondage of your works.
It seldom rains in Egypt, a sandy land in which the people dug irrigation trenches to provide for their crops. God does not live in Egypt; He lives in your Promised Land. And where He lives there is provision and there is life. In Egypt the children of Israel watered the land and produced fruit by their own labor. In the Promised Land, they were to depend on God to supply their needs.

If you do not rid yourself of old philosophies, you will carry them into the Promised Land. And that baggage will thwart your faith toward God, because you will not trust God with your life as much as you trust in yourself.
Any time you say, "Well, I don't know if I can launch out in faith and do this," you are depending on yourself and not God. When you learn to flow in the anointing of God, you realize your confidence has nothing to do with you. The anointing must come from God. You must learn that you cannot produce the anointing for yourself.

The Promised Land the Israelites came into was very different from the land of Egypt; it was all hills, and valleys and sharp stones. God was in the Promised Land and He provided the rain -- they couldn't do it by their labor. Dead churches do the same thing. They refuse to let go of old traditions and philosophies so the Spirit of God can have His way.

Why release your anointing? God has a "land" He wants you to possess -- a destiny for you to fulfill. It is the anointing of His Holy Spirit that gives you the power to go in and possess it. Deuteronomy 26:1 reads: "And it shall be, when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein."