|
ANOINTED
Learning How to Live a Mantled Life
"...But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" - Luke 24:49
"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you..." - Acts 1:8
Every one of us knows and understands that we live in a natural world. Our bodies are natural. Our mind, will, and emotions are very much connected to natural thoughts and feelings. The very idea that we are instructed to renew our minds and crucify our flesh is a clear indication that if we do nothing to resist these natural tendencies that we will very easily drift away from God's chosen objective for our lives. That is just the way it is!
And so, the Lord knew we needed his help to make it over this giant hurdle. That's why he sent us a Helper. And that Helper is none other than the Holy Spirit. When Jesus said, "Tarry in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high," he was giving them (and now us) the ultimate key to victory!
One of the interesting truths associated with this statement is the definition for the word "endued." In the Greek, it is the word ENDUO, which mean to put on, to enter into, to sink down in; to be clothed upon. What I especially like about it is the thought of sinking down into something. When you throw a shawl over your shoulder you are certainly clothed, but not like you are when you put on a coat. There is something about reaching your arms into the sleeves of a jacket where you enter into it that holds more permanency than just something lighting upon your shoulders! That is what we need to see when it come to being endued with power from on high...that we sink down into it where nothing can take it from us!
When each of us came into the family of God something wonderful happened on the inside. The Holy Spirit came to live on the inside and brought with him a power within his presence we call the anointing. In First John it reads: "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you..." (1 John 2:27). Notice, it says the anointing is "in" you! This anointing carries an ability to effectively live the life that God intends for us to live. It empowers us from within to walk uprightly and to overcome every evil tendency that is in our flesh. It also serves as our teacher. Jesus said, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing..." (John 6:63).
This anointing that comes with his abiding presence will teach you, through an inner quickening, what is right and what it will take to be all that God has chosen for you to be. That is one of the reasons why I so love the verse that says, "Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). All that the enemy seeks to throw our way can never outdo what the anointing within us can do. You talk about being able to outfox the fox! This is where we find our greatest weapon of defense.
This is what we would call a special task force - those of us who have purposed to live a mantled life!
But there is also another aspect to the anointing that God has equipped us with that is just as formidable in our ability to war a good warfare. It has to do with the mantle of the Holy Spirit. Just like Elijah was clothed with a garment that symbolized the power and authority of God, each of us has available a spiritual mantle that endues us with a heavenly power and authority over all the power of the enemy. This is what we would call a special task force - those of us who have purposed to live a mantled life!
God has certainly given us an anointing from within to arrest every carnal tendency, but there is also an anointing of power from on high that equips us to overcome, override, and outdo every strategy of hell. We are well suited to soundly and convincingly demonstrate the enemy's defeat! When we decide to live a mantled life by drawing from the anointing of God, we will begin to experience an open heaven. Jesus paid a great price to see to it that we could be changed from within and endued with power from without, and it is a very precious gift that we should never take for granted.
If there has been an area of struggle you have faced within your flesh that tries to keep you confined, then know that this anointing you have in you and on you is God's arsenal of unlimited power and victory to break and destroy every yoke! The enemy has no defense against the anointing of God! All you have to do is choose today to live a mantled life. In other words, live conscious that the weapons of your warfare are "Mighty through God" and that "No weapon formed against you (because you are anointed) can prosper!"
PRAYER
Father, I choose today to live a mantled life. I pull on the anointing within and the anointing upon to rise up in me and through me to overcome every evil tendency and weakness in my flesh. Thank you for the victory that you have provided for me in Christ Jesus. Amen!
CONFESSION
I am more than a conqueror through him that loves me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I will walk in the anointing. I stir up the gift within me. I make the decision right now to stay in the quickening...to draw from the quickening...to live conscious of the quickening of the Holy Spirit so that I am quickened to live above the ways of the world and the demands of my flesh.
DEFINING MOMENTS...
One of the great truths associated with the anointing is that it breaks us out of a realm of containment. The anointing has to power to change us. As we pull upon it we generate a power that is greater than any force this world can withstand. The closer you draw to it the more enablement you will find. There is an unlimited supply, and it not only has a power to sustain you but it can also equip you to walk upon the high places of your salvation.
In His grace,
Pastor David
Faith Harvest Church
| 
