“Thou anointest my head with oil.” Psalm 23:5
In the last two days we have discussed that when God anoints a person for something, life gets complicated AND full of assurance. Battles arise but so does victory because the anointing makes it so!
You might remember that we are using the acronym C.A.R.E. to discuss how the Holy Spirit manifests anointing in a person’s life. When you are anointed, and if you believe and are born-again you are anointed, then life will get complicated; But you will also succeed in life through the anointing, if you follow the requirements of the anointing. You see the anointing requires something of us.
This is where so many Christians fall off the road and end up swimming in a sea of half-believing misery. I have so often heard it preached that “There is no one so miserable as a half-hearted Christian.” It’s true! Many of us have “just enough of the truth to keep us out of Hell but not enough to make us happy or victorious on Earth.”
These statements paint the picture of Christians who have received the anointing but refuse to walk out the requirements of the anointing. I know as soon as I start talking about God requiring something of us a whole segment of the Christian population begins to wrankle, feeling I’ve just done away with grace. Listen, I’m not talking about eternal destinations here. I leave that with the Judge of all the Earth who penned John 3:16-18. I am however talking about our level of joy.
No one can deny that many Christians heading for eternal life live as though that’s more a punishment than a gift. So many of my brothers and sisters just seem stuck in a cycle of negativity they cannot break. The cause of this is a life out of harmony with the anointing. Holy Ghost promises joy unspeakable and full of glory. Holy Ghost promises peace that passes understanding. Holy Ghost also promises that if we live in ways that quench or grieve Him we’ll have none of that (even though we retain our salvation).
I’m not a legalist friends but I will say that the degree to which we conform to the patterns of the Word or to the patterns of the World to that degree we will increase or decrease joy, victory, and success.