After Jesus resisted all of Satan's temptations, Jesus went to Galilee, full of the Spirit. After Galilee, He went to His hometown of Nazareth, and went into their synagogue on the Sabbath day, stood up and began to teach out of the book of Isaiah. He opened to a prophetic word about Himself and read:
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, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.It was at this point, Jesus officially began His ministry. The Bible says God anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). The purpose of Jesus' ministry was to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
(Luke 4:18-19)
Now I want to show you something from the Word that will excite you. First John 3:1 says, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God...." Jesus is the Son of God and we are the sons and daughters of God. That means we have the same mission as Jesus—to destroy the works of the devil.
I want you to look at another verse in 1 John 2:27: "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you...."
Praise God! We have the same anointing as Jesus to preach the Gospel. As He is, so are we in this world. He ministered to the poor, to the broken hearted and preached deliverance to the captives. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. We are to go forth in His name, brothers and sisters, and do the same. Isn't that exciting?
I can hear you thinking, "But, Pastor Nick, I've never felt any power like that in my life. Besides, I'm not called to the full-time ministry like you."
First of all, this anointing is for "all who believe." If you're a born-again Christian, then you are anointed. And secondly, your "feelings" have nothing to do with whether you are anointed or not. The just shall live by faith. You believe you are anointed because the Bible says you are.
Many times, when I pray for someone I don't "feel" God's anointing on me. But I know my feeling His power doesn't mean it's not there upon the person. We lay hands on people by faith, believing and standing on the promise of God's Word that we are anointed to destroy the works of the devil in Jesus' name.
Also, God's power won't manifest independent of His purpose. It is when you step out in faith to reach the lost for Jesus, that God's anointing will be manifest.
I'm always amazed how the anointing of God will prompt me to say the exact thing someone needs to hear. By the anointing, you will know what to say and how to handle every situation you encounter. In fact, I've been surprised at how the Holy Spirit will minister to people.
For instance, after I had been going out on the streets for a while, the spiritual gift of the word of knowledge began to operate through me—in an unusual way. I would approach someone and know instantly what their name was, or I would know what city and state they were from, or I would know something personal about them.
I walked up to someone and said, "You're going through a divorce right now, aren't you?" Shocked they said, "How did you know?" I always tell them the Holy Spirit told me. It gets their attention real fast.
I remember a very unusual experience regarding the manifestation of the word of knowledge. I was near a gas station and a man pulled up in a car. I approached him and asked him if he wanted to hear some good news. He answered gruffly, "I don't want to hear it." I said okay, and started to back away.
As I did, the Holy Spirit told me he was a Muslim. I said to him, "You're a Muslim, aren't you?" He looked surprised and said, "How did you know?" I told him the Holy Spirit told me. Then the Holy Spirit told me he was from Somalia. Again, I said to him, "You're from Somalia, aren't you."
He was even more surprised and asked again, "How did you know?" Again, I told him the Holy Spirit told me. A third time, the Holy Spirit told me what his name was. I said to the man, "Your name is Mohammed, isn't it?" This time the look on his face was incredulous. He demanded, "How do you know that?" I told him a third time, "The Holy Spirit told me."
I never did get to talk to him about the Lord, but I know that God does not manifest His gifts in vain. I'm confident there was a reason for God revealing those things about that man. He went away with plenty to think about. Most likely, he'll be more open to the next Christian who talks to him about Jesus. I'm sure of that.
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