The Anointing (Part 3 of 6)
The people of God should be in pursuit of the anointing of The Holy Spirit. The results of the anointing are visible and tangible. It is able to accomplish what religion cannot. I remember a time in Kentucky where the anointing delivered a demonized man and put his family back together again. I was conducting a revival meeting in a church I had never been to before. In the middle of the week, the pastor asked me to meet him in his office. There was a man sitting at the desk with his back to me. I never saw his face. The pastor pointed toward him and said, “This is Richard. He has a lot of problems. I’ve been counseling him for two years and he is no better. He never stays after the meeting for prayer, but is desperate and will stay tonight if you will pray for him.” I agreed and went into the meeting. After the meeting, I approached the pastor and a nice looking man, standing, and waiting for prayer. The moment that my hand descended upon his head, he began to contort, speak in guttural voices, and slithered, while attempting to take his clothing off. Next, he jumped on top of chairs that were stacked several feet high. It was an impossibility for natural, human strength. The ushers pulled him to the ground, where he once again, began to slither like a snake. They eventually carried him to the pastor’s office where I prayed for him. He was delivered immediately! He wept like a baby, repenting of sin and thanking God for the miracle. He asked to sing. The pastor was shocked. He did not know that the man could sing. The man would not even talk to people or look them in the eye before. Now, he wanted to sing a special song in front of the congregation. The next evening, the church was full. The entire church and town had heard of the miracle. I found out that most people knew how troubled he was. He had lost his job, been arrested for exposing himself publicly, his wife was divorcing him, and he was about to lose his children. Everyone wanted to see this miracle up close. Richard gave a testimony with tears streaming down his face. He sang a song and we were astounded at the talent and anointing upon him. There was not a dry eye in the house. I later found out that he had been involved in witchcraft, homosexuality, and other things of which he could not get free from. His wife was terrified of him, had watched him being bounced off the walls at night, (literally), and feared for the safety of their children. Now we were listening to him give all glory to his Savior and deliverer, Jesus Christ. Upon returning to the church some months later, I found out that he became employed by the government at the post office. He and his wife were extremely happy. He became the husband and father that she had always desired.
The anointing destroys the yoke of bondage. It goes where the knife of a surgeon cannot go. It does spiritual surgery. It goes where no natural counseling can go. Demons cannot be counseled out, they must be destroyed by the anointing.
We must never take the anointing for granted. We must have it to get the job done. We are in an hour of great need for the anointing. We are up against satanism, drugs, dysfunctional families, gangs, religious persecution, apathy, and fear, as never before in my life-time. It will take more than a three-point message, a poem, someone reading from the encyclopedia, the last rites, and we go home. We must understand the anointing, give place to it, yield to it, and operate in it.
Zecharaiah 4:6 says, … “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, Says the Lord of hosts”.
In our lives & ministries, anything the devil tries to put on us will be destroyed because of the anointing. We have no excuse for starting out in freedom when we become born again and returning to bondage. The anointing is connected to good news and the greatest anointings will be manifested where good news is preached. When Jesus was born, this was announced. "Joy to the world, I bring you glad tidings of great joy. “ Everything about Jesus brings freedom and joy. He is good news. The anointing is jubilee, liberty, people coming out of prison, and being set free from bondage. It issight being restored, cripples walking, and thedumb speaking. It is not just to just feel good, have goose bumps, and then live in the natural again. The anointing comes to take overlives. It causes you and I to be stimulated and motivated to live in the Spirit.
This is the Year of Jubilee, the acceptable and accepted year of the Lord. This is the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound. We need to walk in the reality of what Jesus has done for us. The anointing is the oil, lubrication, and fuel for what you need.
When we press into the anointing andhunger for it, the worst that can happen is that we will get too blessed, too healed, and too free.