The anointing is a word that many church folks use a little too freely. It’s almost become an ‘in’ word to use, if there’s such a thing. It seems that everybody calls somebody anointed to do this or that. Sadly, gifts and talents are often confused with a person being anointed to do something. Let’s be real. If all the people that say they’re anointed were really operating under and in it, this would be a changed society. While I don’t claim to understand all that the anointing entails, I do know that it is a crucial component to effective ministry and changed hearts and lives always follow those who operate under God’s anointing.
While doing some studying on anointing oil and how it was used by Moses to anoint Aaron as the first High Priest of Israel (Exodus 29:7), I also learned that the oil was used to dedicate all the priests. The oil was used as an outward display of God’s power and Spirit residing in a person. Miracles, supernatural power and strength came as a result of God’s anointing resting upon a person.
There is no better example of the anointing than “[H]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” (Acts 10:38). However, scripture also has numerous examples of everyday people who were used supernaturally by God to transform lives. Whether it’s Abraham, Moses, Joshua or Elijah in the Old Testament or Paul, John, Timothy, or Matthew in the New Testament (just to name a few), God’s Word is packed with evidence of how God’s anointing empowers and equips.
As Christian fiction writers, it is our responsibility to position ourselves so that God can use us. Positioning ourselves means that we love God first. We study God’s Word and pray about everything. We realize that we all make mistakes, but through Him, we can endure and overcome obstacles, temptation, and adversity. Our motives for writing must not be tainted by selfishness of any kind. Otherwise, it’s impossible be an anointed writer. The anointing implies that we are under God’s complete control. Just like the ointment that flowed down Aaron’s beard and garments, the anointing covers and saturates us with His glory. When we write under His anointing, He enables us to do what we are unable to do within ourselves. Furthermore, anointed writers are focused on the mission to serve God and His people.
I am keenly aware of how it feels to be writing under the power of the Holy Spirit and when I’m not. There are times when my tears spill onto the keyboard and my fingers won’t move fast enough on the keys to get out what I know the Spirit of the Lord has given me. Other times, there is a boldness that overtakes me, giving me the courage to say what is right, something in my flesh I would be too fearful to write. Yet, there are other times when the calm and peaceful Holy Spirit gently guides me to reassure and console with a message directed by Him. I must add that just because a person is saying, doing, and yes, even writing the “right” things, it doesn’t mean it’s anointed. I know, because just as I’ve experienced writing under the anointing, I have written the ‘right’ thing without the anointing. The result is that while it might be entertaining or possibly intellectually stimulating, it is likely that there will be no catalyst for change, no real and lasting effectiveness.
Of course, the obstacles to operate under God’s anointing are real. For example, when I think about what others want to read and what will sell books, I am quenching the Spirit, stifling the possibility of writing under the anointing. As a result, I’m also limiting my possibilities, my peace, my joy, etc., and robbing someone else of the potential of being delivered and set free from whatever has them bound. The anointing really does destroy the yoke and set the captives free. God’s anointing is pure; no hidden motives or agendas lurk just beneath the surface. The anointing is productive and cuts through the mess and gives you immediate, unrestricted access to the throne room, the dwelling place of the most high.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a writer, teacher, preacher, or brick layer, God desires each of us to build up the kingdom of heaven by operating under His anointing, His total and complete control. Whatever material gains a person may get by using his or her own plan, direction and discretion, will be temporary. As cliché as it sounds, it’s what we do for Christ, not ourselves, that will last.
On one final note, I recently heard a message by Pastor Creflo Dollar that has remained with me. I can’t quote him exactly, but he said that it is impossible for the anointing to be present where love is not. Our love for God and for one another has to be present. Recently, I met a very popular gospel singer, and I was shocked by how rude she was. She had done a session on singing under the anointing. Her demeanor differed dramatically from what she had professed onstage during my brief encounter with her. Yes, she could’ve been having a bad day, but we always have to be mindful that we’re representing Christ. There is just no way someone can operate under the anointing of God’s Holy Spirit and lack love.
We can’t do anything, including writing for Him, without our total surrender and dependence on Him. He is the One who enables us to love, and He is the One who enables us to write under the anointing. Why not examine yourselves with me this week? Let’s all make sure that we are really anointed to write or to do whatever it is that He has called us to do.
Blessings and Love,
MaRita
Showing posts with label Paul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-NT
I’m not one to know the latest pop or R&B songs, but I do know that a popular theme these days is independence. I overheard someone talking about a song entitled, “Independent” and thought I’d look up the lyrics out of curiosity. The only thing was that the lyrics were so profane that I couldn’t even read through them all. Still, it’s the in thing to be independent for those in the world. Many women tout that they don’t need men, and there are loads of men who admire women who don’t need them. We won’t even discuss how many men want to be independent of the responsibility of having wives and children. So, it’s no surprise that many children feel that they don’t need their parents. Often as a result, there are far too many people who feel like they don’t need God.
While independence does have attributes in the right context, for the most part, glamorizing it has many pitfalls. The Bible instructs us over and over again to depend on God. Yet, when life is going according to our plans and feels easy, we tend to lose our dependence on Him. We can slip into the attitude that says, “That’s okay, I got this one, God.”
However, we must depend on God for everything at all times. Making the decision to depend on Him isn’t a sign of weakness but true strength. As believers, we don’t live by life’s changing circumstances. In the face of possible death, Paul passes on comfort and advice to other believers. He explains in II Corinthians 1:8-9, “we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.” Paul reminds us to trust Him with our lives.
Why should we depend on Him? We should depend on Him because He won’t fail us like people, plans, and things often do. Psalm 121:2 says, “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” God created us out of His image, and He knows us. He knows our hurts and understands our burdens. In fact, Matthew 8:17 says that Jesus, “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sickness.” It doesn’t matter what the problem is, He can handle it. We just have to trust Him and cast our cares on Him.
We should depend on God because His love for us is constant and never changes. David says, “for all that is in heaven and earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest overall; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all” (II Chron. 29:11-12).
Depending on God means that we need Him, not just when the going gets rough but just like the air we breathe, we need Him to survive. We have faith in Him and trust Him with everything. Furthermore, when we depend on God, we submit our will and desires to His authority and His Word. We have to submit to Him and obey Him. We can’t just trust Him with things we feel comfortable letting Him have. He wants us to have total and complete dependence on Him.
On a final note, I do want to add that we need one another. God created Adam and said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). Also, as believers, we make up the body of Christ. In chapter twelve in I Corinthians, Paul says that just as the body has many members but is one, so is the body of Christ. We all need each other to complete the work that God has for us to do and to draw others to Him.
When I hear people say that they don’t need anyone, a red flag goes up. I wonder who has hurt or let that person down. We may avoid some hurt and rejection by being independent, but we morph those negatives into an abyss of selfishness, anger, depression, loneliness, and a host of other problems. God has shown me that when I completely depend on Him, my life is filled with peace and joy. I can then reach out freely to others, knowing that just as I am not perfect, no one else is either. I am not tossed to and fro by life’s ups and downs because my total dependence is on Him, the One who holds my future and the world in the palm of His hands.
Depend on Him for that very thing that you’ve been holding onto, refusing to give to Him. Trust Him with it, and watch Him perform a miracle. Your decision to trust Him will empower you with supernatural strength to overcome any obstacle Satan throws your way.
Drop me a line on the Abiding in the Vine FB group page or on www.MaRitaTeague.blogspot.com
Blessings,
MaRita
While independence does have attributes in the right context, for the most part, glamorizing it has many pitfalls. The Bible instructs us over and over again to depend on God. Yet, when life is going according to our plans and feels easy, we tend to lose our dependence on Him. We can slip into the attitude that says, “That’s okay, I got this one, God.”
However, we must depend on God for everything at all times. Making the decision to depend on Him isn’t a sign of weakness but true strength. As believers, we don’t live by life’s changing circumstances. In the face of possible death, Paul passes on comfort and advice to other believers. He explains in II Corinthians 1:8-9, “we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.” Paul reminds us to trust Him with our lives.
Why should we depend on Him? We should depend on Him because He won’t fail us like people, plans, and things often do. Psalm 121:2 says, “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” God created us out of His image, and He knows us. He knows our hurts and understands our burdens. In fact, Matthew 8:17 says that Jesus, “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sickness.” It doesn’t matter what the problem is, He can handle it. We just have to trust Him and cast our cares on Him.
We should depend on God because His love for us is constant and never changes. David says, “for all that is in heaven and earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest overall; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all” (II Chron. 29:11-12).
Depending on God means that we need Him, not just when the going gets rough but just like the air we breathe, we need Him to survive. We have faith in Him and trust Him with everything. Furthermore, when we depend on God, we submit our will and desires to His authority and His Word. We have to submit to Him and obey Him. We can’t just trust Him with things we feel comfortable letting Him have. He wants us to have total and complete dependence on Him.
On a final note, I do want to add that we need one another. God created Adam and said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). Also, as believers, we make up the body of Christ. In chapter twelve in I Corinthians, Paul says that just as the body has many members but is one, so is the body of Christ. We all need each other to complete the work that God has for us to do and to draw others to Him.
When I hear people say that they don’t need anyone, a red flag goes up. I wonder who has hurt or let that person down. We may avoid some hurt and rejection by being independent, but we morph those negatives into an abyss of selfishness, anger, depression, loneliness, and a host of other problems. God has shown me that when I completely depend on Him, my life is filled with peace and joy. I can then reach out freely to others, knowing that just as I am not perfect, no one else is either. I am not tossed to and fro by life’s ups and downs because my total dependence is on Him, the One who holds my future and the world in the palm of His hands.
Depend on Him for that very thing that you’ve been holding onto, refusing to give to Him. Trust Him with it, and watch Him perform a miracle. Your decision to trust Him will empower you with supernatural strength to overcome any obstacle Satan throws your way.
Drop me a line on the Abiding in the Vine FB group page or on www.MaRitaTeague.blogspot.com
Blessings,
MaRita
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
What's Your Final Answer?
Lately, I’ve found myself asking so many questions as many close family members and friends struggle with serious health challenges, heavy financial burdens, and devastating job losses. Out of the many questions, one always rises like cream to the top. I wonder why. Maybe you’ve wondered why you’re facing the giant that towers above you. You may wonder how you’re going to get through the crisis. You may be asking yourself how to respond to others around you are suffering. We have so many questions, but there is a final answer to them found in God’s Word.
Asking the question “Why?” in the midst of suffering seems pretty logical. After all, Job endured the suffering, but what plagued him most was why he suffered. He was given a host of incorrect answers from his friends, but in the end, God didn’t really answer Job’s question. Instead, God reminded Job that it was better to know Him than the answers to his questions.
When we suffer and it is not a direct consequence of sin, we have to rely on and trust in God. He’s sovereign and in control. Our final answer should be to continue to love Him and love one another with compassion.
Love is a word that’s really been watered down by the world and has come to mean much less than what God intended. The depth of God’s love cannot be measured. It’s supernatural and powerful, extending far beyond what we can imagine.
Chapter 13 in I Corinthians beautifully instructs us about love. The second verse says, “And though I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity [love], I am nothing.” Paul lets us know that we can know the future, understand deep mysteries, have unending knowledge, and have deep faith, but without the love of God, we are nothing.
Paul goes on to explain that love suffers long. When we love as Christ loves us, we don’t look inward to ourselves, but we look up to God. God’s love causes us to be unselfish, and as a result, we love outward to others. Love automatically shifts our focus to Him instead of our problem.
Having the love of God is like putting gas in an engine. It fuels us, making our gifts and service to Him useful. In addition, God’s love enables us to go through the storms of life without caving under the pressure.
I Corinthians 13:7 explains, “[Love] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” When we are operating in God’s perfect love, we can bear all things, not just some. We can believe and trust that the Lord is going to keep his promises. Hope is always present, no matter how dismal the situation may seem. Finally, we can endure the pain, discomfort, and suffering, knowing that the Lord is going to supply our every need.
Paul tells us that the greatest of all the spiritual gifts is love. So, what is the final answer to our questions? The final answer has to be that we know that God loves us. “[Love] never faileth: but whether there be prophesies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (I Cor. 13:8). God’s love never fails in any situation.
When we don’t know how to respond to life’s challenges and difficulties, remember that there is an answer and response that never fails. He loves us, and when we love Him and spread His love, we are equipped to stand strong against Satan’s attacks.
Paul says that “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” We may not have the specific answers to some of the hard questions, but one day we will when we meet Him face to face.
Until then, I pray that the Lord will continue to shower you with His love and that you draw closer to Him, sharing and extending His love to others.
Love to hear from you. Drop me a line . . .
www.MaRitaTeague.net
www.MaRitaTeague.blogspot.com
Asking the question “Why?” in the midst of suffering seems pretty logical. After all, Job endured the suffering, but what plagued him most was why he suffered. He was given a host of incorrect answers from his friends, but in the end, God didn’t really answer Job’s question. Instead, God reminded Job that it was better to know Him than the answers to his questions.
When we suffer and it is not a direct consequence of sin, we have to rely on and trust in God. He’s sovereign and in control. Our final answer should be to continue to love Him and love one another with compassion.
Love is a word that’s really been watered down by the world and has come to mean much less than what God intended. The depth of God’s love cannot be measured. It’s supernatural and powerful, extending far beyond what we can imagine.
Chapter 13 in I Corinthians beautifully instructs us about love. The second verse says, “And though I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity [love], I am nothing.” Paul lets us know that we can know the future, understand deep mysteries, have unending knowledge, and have deep faith, but without the love of God, we are nothing.
Paul goes on to explain that love suffers long. When we love as Christ loves us, we don’t look inward to ourselves, but we look up to God. God’s love causes us to be unselfish, and as a result, we love outward to others. Love automatically shifts our focus to Him instead of our problem.
Having the love of God is like putting gas in an engine. It fuels us, making our gifts and service to Him useful. In addition, God’s love enables us to go through the storms of life without caving under the pressure.
I Corinthians 13:7 explains, “[Love] beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” When we are operating in God’s perfect love, we can bear all things, not just some. We can believe and trust that the Lord is going to keep his promises. Hope is always present, no matter how dismal the situation may seem. Finally, we can endure the pain, discomfort, and suffering, knowing that the Lord is going to supply our every need.
Paul tells us that the greatest of all the spiritual gifts is love. So, what is the final answer to our questions? The final answer has to be that we know that God loves us. “[Love] never faileth: but whether there be prophesies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (I Cor. 13:8). God’s love never fails in any situation.
When we don’t know how to respond to life’s challenges and difficulties, remember that there is an answer and response that never fails. He loves us, and when we love Him and spread His love, we are equipped to stand strong against Satan’s attacks.
Paul says that “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” We may not have the specific answers to some of the hard questions, but one day we will when we meet Him face to face.
Until then, I pray that the Lord will continue to shower you with His love and that you draw closer to Him, sharing and extending His love to others.
Love to hear from you. Drop me a line . . .
www.MaRitaTeague.net
www.MaRitaTeague.blogspot.com
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