This blog post is a continuation of my last blog post in which I shared three insights connected to anointing, what it is and what it means. Through the anointing power of God, we are set apart for a specific purpose of God and equipped to be able to carry out what God calls us to do. We are empowered, enabled and protected as we carry out our God-given calling. When we align with our God-given purpose and come into agreement with God’s calling on our lives, the anointing power of God is released upon us. The power of God’s anointing enables us to be able to achieve more than we would otherwise be able to accomplish on our own. We are anointed to walk in our God-given purpose as we submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In this blog post, I share three additional insights connected to anointing.
The Mark of the Anointing May Call You to a Completely Different Arena
The mark of the anointing may call you into a completely distinct arena for which you have no previous history, experience or reference. This resonates for me, as I was called into my God-given purpose to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and encourage others towards Christ-centered and purpose-driven living through a ministry that includes creating Holy Spirit inspired blog posts, social media posts and videos. When the Holy Spirit whispered my God-given purpose to me, I had no history, experience or reference for what I was being called to do. My entire professional career has been in the non-profit arena and I pursued acting as a side hobby. Pursuing a Christian ministry is not something I had ever considered, as I had even moved away from my Christian roots for a period of years. It seemed foreign to me that God would call me to this assignment, as I never attended Divinity School, do not possess a degree in Theology and am still learning and growing in God’s Word.
To say that I did not feel equipped to be able to carry out what God was calling me to do is an understatement. To add to my insecurity, the enemy of my soul certainly did not help, implanting discouraging thoughts in my mind meant to derail me from pursuing my God-given calling. There were those thoughts reminding me that I do not have a formal education in divinity or theology, am not as qualified as others in this arena and should probably stick to what I know. Yet, I knew as clear as day when the Holy Spirit whispered my calling to my heart. Trusting that if God called me to it, He would empower and enable me to do it, I answered God’s calling on my life willingly.
God will never appoint one to carry out an assignment without releasing an anointing to be able to accomplish it, even if the assignment to which the person is called is foreign. Ever since I stepped into my calling, I have experienced God ordering my steps and enabling me to walk in my purpose. While I had no experience, reference or history for the purpose to which God called me, I can see how God is equipping me through gifts and skills that he implanted within me as well as life experiences that are serving me well in carrying out what He has called me to do. In this regard, all of my natural gifts and experiences have been useful in the carrying out of my purpose.
Your Anointing Can Bring About Trouble
The Holy Spirit revealed to me that being anointed is not synonymous with answering a God-given purpose free of challenges. In fact, one’s anointing may include difficult elements, such as being ostracized, ridiculed or having to experience and overcome tremendous hardship.
Joseph is a perfect example of someone who was anointed by God. Throughout his life, the mark of God was always on him. Yet, his anointing included difficult seasons throughout his journey. Joseph’s challenges included being thrown into a pit by his brothers as an alternative to killing him, being sold into slavery and being imprisoned after being lied on by Potiphar’s wife. Despite these challenging seasons, Joseph would go on to be placed in a prominent position second-in-command to Pharaoh and play a pivotal role in successfully managing the food crisis in Egypt.
Yet we see how despite difficult seasons, Joseph understood the calling that God had on his life and was willing to submit, over and over again, to the process and to the anointing over his life to fulfill his God-given purpose and calling. We see through the following scripture, how Joseph understood very well what God was calling him to do as he extended grace to his brothers who had previously treated him very unfairly:
“’You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, do not be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”
~ Genesis 50-20-21 NIV
There is a powerful takeaway from all that Joseph had to endure even though he was anointed: Despite the hardship that may come forth as a result of an anointing over one’s life and calling, stay committed to what God has called you to do. Do not dim your light to fit it. You were not made to fit in. You were made to stand out. More importantly, you were made for a purpose. Honor what God has called you to do. As scripture states:
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know what is God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
~ Romans 12:2 NLT
Jesus As the “Anointed One” is the Embodiment of Anointing
Jesus was the embodiment of anointing. Jesus Christ was anointed. His name as well as His title symbolize His anointing: Christ coming from Christos, a Greek word meaning “the anointed one” or “the chosen one” as well as “The Christ” meaning “the anointed one.” Likewise, Jesus as the Messiah signifies the same meaning, with Messiah coming from the Hebrew word Mashiach, also meaning “the anointed one” or “the chosen one.”
Jesus was anointed through the Holy Spirit to carry out the work of the Father while on Earth. Everything that Jesus did, He did in the power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We see this reflected through the following scripture in which Jesus declared this at the onset of his ministry:
“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 NKJV
Jesus demonstrated his anointing through the good that he did and the many miracles that he performed. Through His anointing, Jesus taught, preached and healed during his three years of ministry. The following scriptures speak to this:
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
Acts 10:38 NIV
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”
~ Matthew 4:23 NKJV
Jesus too walked in his anointing in order to fulfill his ultimate purpose: to atone for our sins as the Savior of the world. Through Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, he who had no sin took on our sin that, through Him, by faith, we are made righteous, set apart and made holy. The following scriptures reflect this:
“Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness combined with our faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
~ Romans 5:1 CEB
“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
~ Hebrews 10:10 NIV
Through His goodness, preaching, teachings and healing work as well as His death and resurrection, Jesus is the ultimate example for us of what it means to be anointed. His example shows us how, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, God’s anointing power enables us to carry out our God-given purpose.
Have you experienced God’s anointing power in your life as you carry out your God-given purpose? Have you been called to a purpose for which you had no prior experience or reference? How has the Holy Spirit impacted your journey as you carry out your God-given assignment? I look forward to hearing from you.