the Anointing pt 3

Dear beloved: The anointing on a new testament believer does not guarantee freedom from tribulation or persecution; in fact, just the opposite is often the result. Note that all the Lord's disciples eventually were martyred for their faith except John, who was exiled to the island of Patmos until his death. As we move into service for the Lord and become more visible as a carrier of the oil of the anointing, more persecution will come. Jesus told the disciples in John 15:18 "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it has hated you. v19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
In recounting the story of Elijah, we see that the widow whom Elijah had kept alive by his blessing her flour and oil supply, immediately turned on him when her son became sick. 1 Kings 17:17 Now it came about after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, become sick; and his sickness was so severe, that there was no breath left in him. v18 So she said to him, "What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance, and to put my son to death!" So she was blaming Elijah for the death of her son. Praise God for Elijah, he did not get ruffled, but called out to the Lord to have him raise the boy up from the dead, and God did. v22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. v24 Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth." The miracle of the replenished food supply was not enough to convince her, so it took a bigger miracle to convince her that Elijah was a man of God.
When Jesus sent out the disciples in Matthew 10:1, He gave them authority (anointed them) over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. v7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. v8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give." And so as anointed disciples of Christ, sent out to the lost of this world, we should be looking for opportunities each day to do exactly what the disciples were sent out to do. Before leaving for Costa Rica for the mission to the Cabecar indigenous people, I had some prayer warriors gather and pray for me and the mission. A word of prophecy was spoken over me that "signs, wonders, and miracles would follow me, even to see the dead raised." I wasn't thinking too much about that prophecy until I walked into the village pastor's hut after the last night of the revival. The pastor had been sick for several days and I had not seen him; but that night the assistant pastor said to me, "we must go pray for Ricardo, he is very sick." When we (there were four of us) walked into his hut, the light was dim, and Ricardo was in bed with the blanket pulled up over his head. I checked his pulse, could not find any, looked for breathing and saw none, and at that time the prophecy echoed in my head, "even to see the dead raised"; I got down on my knees and began to pray in the spirit, as doctors or any medical help was hours away. After about 20 minutes of prayer his chest raised up like a flat tire getting air, and we all knew that the spirit came into him and he had been given back his life. The next morning Ricardo was up at 5:30am helping to pack up the horses as we were preparing to leave; he looked a little pale but was otherwise good to go!
Beloved, the anointing of the power of the Holy Spirit is about us but more so about others. If you sit on your anointing it will slowly dissipate. Back to Matthew 10:8 "Freely you have received, freely give!" It's not your power, so don't be afraid to give it away, there is plenty more where it came from. God bless you this day as you give your power away, in Christ, Jim