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Tag Archives: God’s plan

Anointing and Calling #anointing #theanointing #calling

15 Jul

MeditationI’m posting for a while on how to walk in our anointing.  In my last post we saw that the power of the Holy Spirit follows the anointing.  Today, I want to start getting into some details that we may have missed along the way.  If I can find the key to the anointing, then the rest will fall into place.

It’s interesting to note that anointing is only mentioned 13 times in the New Testament.  Of those, it’s only referred to as a spiritual anointing for us 6 times.  There’s a reason for so little mention in the N.T.  It comes from an ancient practice in the Old Testament.  If we can understand that usage, then we’ll have a good foundation for understanding the anointing in us.

Anointing was a ceremony of pouring oil on something or somebody.  It was used for a lot of things.  Personally, I don’t care about how to anoint cooking pots.  What relates to us is the usage with prophets, priests, and kings.  I want to know how anointing brings power.

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?  Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.  I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
But Samuel said, “How can I go?  Saul will hear about it and kill me.”
The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’  Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”
1 Samuel 16:1-3

God told Samuel to go and anoint a new king over Israel.  He gave Samuel a Word – Go to Bethlehem.  He told Samuel that He would show him what to do when he got there.

Once in Bethlehem, Samuel went to the house of Jesse as instructed.

Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
1 Samuel 16:5

According to the Word of the Lord he was given, Samuel invited – called them – to come the sacrifice.  In actuality, he was calling them to come to the anointing of the new king of Israel.

It should be clear from this passage that anointing involves calling.  The two go hand in hand.  To reject your calling is to reject the anointing God has for you.

God has called you to do a great work for Him.  The anointing is what enables you to walk in the power to fulfill that calling.  Anointing is not a license to do whatever you want with God’s power.  It equips you to fulfill God’s plan in your life.

Question: What is God calling you to do at this point in your life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on July 15, 2013 in Anointing, Power of God, Revival

 

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Choosing to Understand

03 Apr

Music SmokeWe live in a society where we have all but given up on understanding.  In many schools we’re taught how we need to think.  Don’t ask why, just agree.

We now have a generation of people who voice opinions, but don’t know why they have them.  The media is constantly telling us what we need to wear, listen to, and watch.  After all, “This is what everybody thinks.”

Scripture gives us a different perspective.

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.  Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7

As believers, we are told to seek wisdom and understanding.  We don’t just blindly follow the crowd.  There is a reason we are on the earth and it’s our job to find out why.

God has a plan for everyone’s life.  We’re not just random.  Life has meaning.  The problem is that most people are afraid to find out the meaning of life.  They would rather just “go with the flow.”

The issue is that wisdom and understanding will cost you something.  They bring responsibility with them and that’s what we’re really afraid of.

If we don’t understand, then we are not responsible for what we do.  That’s the key.  Understanding and the resulting responsibility requires self-control.

That’s the reason that many people choose atheism.  If there is a God, then I’m responsible to live under that understanding.  My actions will have to be controlled.

But there’s even more to it than that.

Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
2 Timothy 2:7

Paul literally tells Timothy to apply your mind to understand.  Understanding takes initiative – it doesn’t just fall out of the sky.

The good news is that if we take this first step, then the Lord will give you the next level of understanding.  The word insight that Paul uses is the Greek word suneisis.  It means to put together.

The fact is that understanding puts truth together.  We have to do this with many truths if we are to live a fulfilled life.

For instance – there is a God, He will judge the world, and I will live forever someplace.  These are all truths that are important all by themselves.  But when I put them together by wisdom and understanding they take on a whole new level of importance.  Now my choices are more limited than when I thought there were no consequences.

That’s why understanding is the foundation of coming to Christ.  We have to put together our need and His provision.  Then I have to bring my actions – and faith – into line with my understanding.

Question: Do you actively seek wisdom and understanding from the Lord?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2013 in Encouragement, Prayer

 

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Wandering

31 Jul

Psalm 107:4-9
Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.  They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.  Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.  Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Many times I read the news of someone who is missing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  Being lost in the wilderness is a frightening experience.  When this happens, there is no course of action that is worse than wandering aimlessly.  The best thing to do is either to stay put and wait for help, or to walk downhill and down stream.

As we look around at our society, we see many people who are wandering aimlessly with their lives.  Without a compass or a direction for their soul, they live and die without ever reaching their destiny.  It should be the number one priority to find your purpose in life.

This is why quality time with the Creator is so important in the life of a believer.  It gives you the chance to set your heading with the Word of God and through prayer.  Only by finding your God-given destiny will you be assured of living a life that means something.

Don’t allow yourself to live a life of wandering.  Go before the Lord today and seek His plan for your life.  Obtain vision from His hand.  Live a life that reaps eternal benefits.

 
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Posted by on July 31, 2012 in Daily Thoughts

 

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Mount Zion

28 Jul

Hebrews 12:22-25
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.  You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.  You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.  If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?

In the pages of Scripture, Mount Zion was called the Mountain of God.  It was a place where the presence of God was felt very powerfully.

I’m so glad that the presence of the Lord is no longer confined to a specific place.  That being said, there have been times in my life when I have encountered the Holy Spirit in a powerful way.  Other times He spoke with a “still, small voice.”  When we come to Him in an attitude of expectation, He will speak to our hearts.

There is one thing I have learned in these encounters.  When I hear His voice I must be quick to say, “Yes, Lord!”  Sometimes He speaks a hard word – a word that calls for change – as He did many times in Israel’s history.  Change is never easy, but when ordained by God, it’s for the best.

Seek to spend quality time in the presence of the Lord.  But more than that; when He speaks to you, be the one who is ready and willing to agree with His plan for your life.

 
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Posted by on July 28, 2012 in Daily Thoughts

 

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The Cycle of Life

09 Jul

Job 39:1-4
“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?  Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?  Do you count the months till they bear?  Do you know the time they give birth?  They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended.  Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.”

It is amazing to think about it.  When we are in the woods or at a zoo we may see a deer, a moose, or a bear.  But how often do we think about how they live in the wild?  They grow up, they find mates, and then bear their young – repeating the cycle again and again.

With no help from man, they understand instinctively what they were born to do.  They know how and where to forage for food.  They build their dens and protect themselves and their families from the elements.  God has placed in the very core of their being the ability to live and thrive in a wilderness setting.

We could learn a great lesson from them if we would only listen.  They teach us to find our place in God’s kingdom, then live out our lives in devotion to that call, whatever it may be.  We need to find and accomplish the Lord’s will for us as individuals – this is where our fulfillment is found.  We need to be who we were created to be.

Take the time today to praise God for such a diverse and wonderful animal kingdom.  It is truly a precious gift that God has made mankind the caretakers over.  Give God glory for His awesome kindness towards us.  Seek to hear from God concerning your purpose.  Strive to know and accomplish God’s plan for your life.

 
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Posted by on July 9, 2012 in Daily Thoughts

 

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