Dear beloved: One of the great examples in the Bible of the transfer of the anointing is the story of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah was a prophet and man of God and performed many mighty miracles in the name of the Lord, 16 miracles in all are accredited to him. He tapped Elisha to be his understudy in 1 Kings 19:19, So he (Elijah) departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shephat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. v20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, " Please let me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you." And Elijah said to him, "Go back again, for what have I done to you?' v21 So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him. So we see that not only did Elisha immediately answer the call that had been placed on his life, he also put in his own provision (his oxen and implements of farming) to get his mission career started.
The story picks up again in 2 Kings 2:1-14. v1 And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. v2 And Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel. Three times Elisha was challenged by Elijah to leave and not follow him to the next place; three times Elisha told him,"as the Lord lives, I will not leave you." So Elisha was persistent, he knew Elijah was about to leave and that there would be a great blessing at the end, so no matter what he was determined to stay with him. It takes persistence and sacrifice of our own personal desires to move to higher realms of anointing, and many will try to deter you and talk you out of it, including your own family and church brethren. Be persistent! Elijah took Elisha from Gilgal, where faith begins, to Bethel, place of surrender, to Jericho, place of warfare, and finally to Jordan, the place of deliverance and vision. This cycle can be repeated throughout our life as we walk our own path and also as we are woven in and out of the paths of others that God places beside us.
The payoff for Elisha came in verse 9, Now it came about when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, " Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.' v10 And Elijah said, "You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so." We know from verse 12 that God allowed Elisha to see the chariot and horses of fire that took Elijah up to heaven, and in verse 13 Elisha also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him. He then returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan, and in verse 15, the first miracle recorded to Elisha takes place as he struck the waters of the Jordan and they divided, and Elisha crossed over! In all 32 miracles are accredited to Elisha, the double portion compared to 16 accredited to his mentor Elijah.
Beloved, you must be persistent in seeking the double portion anointing to move into higher realms of glory. God will take you through endless cycles of faith, surrender, warfare, and then to deliverance and vision where it starts all over again. Seek out people in your life that will challenge your faith, that will challenge you to walk deeper, study more, pray more, and finally you will receive that double portion and become greater than your mentor. In recounting my story from yesterday's teaching (anointing pt4) about the man of great faith that had prayed over me for the anointing of creative miracles, God showed me in a dream that very week that I was to share the anointing with others, just as Elijah had with Elisha. In the dream, I was praying over a whole line of people and every one of them received the anointing and went down under the power of God just like dominoes falling! Fear not, and may you seek out and stay with those with greater anointing, and you will be blessed. In Christ, Jim
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