The Anointing Pt1

Dear beloved: Today we are going to talk about the anointing that may come to rest upon a believer, where it comes from, how to receive it, how to intensify it. The Hebrew word for anoint, masah, refers to the pouring or smearing of sacred oil on a person in a ceremony of dedication, symbolizing divine empowering to accomplish the task or office. The anointing of Aaron the high priest is described in Exodus 29:7 Thou shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. And again in Psalm 133 where David describes the unity of the brethren as similar to the precious anointing on the high priest. Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! v2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; v3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. And so we see that the anointing is also compared to the dew upon the mountains of Hermon and of Zion; the dew was plentiful even in dry weather, in the morning everything was wet just as if it had been rained upon.
When Jesus came to Nazareth to preach his first sermon, he went to the synagogue and stood up to read out of the book of Isaiah. Luke 4:17 And there was delivered to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, v18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because he hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. v19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. v20 And He closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened upon him. v21 And He began to say unto them, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." And so Jesus declared to all those in attendance that He had the anointing, that it had been given to him. Notice that the anointing coincides with power, power to preach, to heal, to deliver, to give sight, to set free, to decree and declare.
The anointing on a person is increased by being obedient to the commands of the Lord. Paul describes it this way in Phillipians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. v6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God thing to be grasped, v7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men. v8 And being found in appearance of a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The anointing on the new testament believer comes from the Holy Spirit. Acts10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him. Beloved, seek to be obedient to the Lord in every way, and you will see the anointing upon you increase. You will have the power to preach, to deliver, to heal, to set the captives free. Let the oil of the Holy Spirit flow upon you and through you and then onto someone else, just as it did through Jesus. The anointing increases as you give it away! Psalm 46:4 There is a river, whose streams make glad the city of our God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. This is a prophetic river of Revelation 22:1 flowing out of New Jerusalem, but it also speaks of the river of the Holy Spirit and how it flows through every believer, and as it breaks up into little streams to carry the gospel, it makes glad the city of our God.
Pray for obedience, pray for the anointing to increase, that you may be a river of God's power. May God bless you this day as you walk in His anointing. In Christ, Jim