But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that

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1 The Anointing of the Lord Copyright Andrew J. Shreeve 2014 Henry David Thoreau wrote; "most men lead quiet lives of desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them", but that doesn't have to be our experience. There is a place in the Lord where we can 'sing our song' and continually experience great peace, love, faith and joy. It is the place of His anointing! A foundation for success in the Lord is to align ourselves with the place of His anointing, and then stay there! It is the place of wisdom, love, healing and prosperity. Sometimes we find the sweet place, of the anointing of the Lord, but then we get tangled into worry, fear, negativity, and other sins which draw us away from this beautiful place. But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is the truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him 1 John 2:27 1 / 8

2 The anointing of the Lord shall teach you all things! Definition of Anointing The word translated anointing in the above verse is the Greek word "chrisma" which means: an unguent or smearing, that is, (figuratively) the special endowment ("chrism") of the Holy Spirit: anointing, unction (Strong's Dictionary). The word "unguent" means: ointment; "smear" means: to overspread; and "unction" means: the act of anointing, anything softening or lenitive, easing pain (Webster's Dictionary). The anointing has the meaning of the Spirit of the Lord gently coming upon our spirit, like you would apply oil or ointment on your body. Romans 8:16 puts it this way: The Spirit itself (Himself) beareth witness with our spirit 2 / 8

3 The anointing is a spiritual witness, or evidence, upon our spirit by the Holy Spirit. This is the way the Lord specifically leads the born again Christian. The written Word of God gives us general leadership and instruction, but it is the Holy Spirit who gives us minute-by-minute gentle, healing instruction and leadership concerning the many decisions we need to make every day. The Holy Spirit lives inside us, in our spirit, as the scripture says - the anointing abideth in you. The anointing is the gentle touch of His Spirit upon our spirit. If everybody was fine tuned to the anointing of the Holy Spirit there would be no doctrinal disunity, selfishness, strife or slander - but only peace, love, faith and joy. Spiritual Prayer Praying in unknown tongues edifies our spirit to be more aware of, and sensitive to, the anointing of the Lord: He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifies himself 1 Corinthians 14:4 3 / 8

4 To tune into the anointing of the Lord, praying in unknown tongues is extremely beneficial. It seems as if we constantly need to exercise this blessed gift of the Holy Spirit to remain in His se cret place (Psalm 91:1). As the scripture say: for he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:2), and take unto you the whole armour of God praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit (Ephesians 6:13, 18). From the above two verses we see that praying in unknown tongues is praying in the spirit and we should pray in the spirit always, or continually. This is an essential aspect to being armoured in the Lord and alert to the enemies' attacks. The anointing will lead us into His blessed place, it teaches you all things. This was written in the context of discerning the truth about the antichrist spirits (those spirits which deny that Jesus of Nazareth is 'Jehovah', the Almighty - God the Son), but the anointing can also lead us in our day-to-day decisions; for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). 4 / 8

5 Walking in Love by the Anointing The anointing will lead us to walk in love. There have been times in my life, and I am sure yours, when we have been betrayed and slandered by people. At these times of high emotion we may feel that we want to attack the person in an act of self defence. I have, in the heat of moments, written critical s to defend my position and outline the wrong, but thankfully have had the procedural wisdom to revise these responses and store them in a drafts folder until later. Once I cool down, after some days, and get myself back in tune with the anointing of the Lord my responses become very different. Often it is to do nothing about the attack, but to just pray and enjoy the presence of the Lord. At other times it is to send s, but ones which are much softer than my original heated s, which are subsequently deleted and never sent. Thank God for the anointing of the Lord which softens us to always walk in love and covers many sins (Proverbs 10:12). The Anointing is the Place of Faith To stay in the place of His blessed anointing we must eliminate doubt, worry, anxiety, fear and unbelief, as these are contrary to faith and whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Faith by definition is without wavering or double mindedness (James 1:6-8). To constantly remain in faith we will need to diligently engage in spiritual warfare. The enemy never sleeps and is always looking for opportunities to sow seeds of doubt, worry, anxiety, fear and unbelief into our minds (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We need to become alert to the thoughts which we entertain and diligently, relentlessly, and consciously replace those thoughts of doubt, worry, anxiety, fear and unbelief with thoughts of love, hope and faith. 5 / 8

6 Meditation Assists us the Stay in the Place of His Anointing We replace negative thoughts with good thoughts through the process of meditation. Meditation is the engagement in spiritual warfare, ensuring our hearts remain in unity with our creator Lord, which has the effect of keeping us in the blessed place of His anointing. When we identify negative thoughts we need to immediately replace those thoughts with God's promises. We need to make this quality decision to war against negative thoughts - without mercy (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We cannot afford to give the devil any place. We are merciful to humans, but not to the devil and his evil suggestions of doubt, worry, anxiety, fear and unbelief. True freedom is only attained when we master our thoughts and bring them into unity with the Lord's covenant promises. As Jesus said, if ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:31-32). The human heart comprises of our spirit, and also our soul which contains our mind, will, emotions, thoughts and imaginations. As Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matthew 12:34) and we know that death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21). It is vital we get control over our heart and subsequently the words which flow out of it. The way we do this is by programming, or filling, our heart with the things that we want in life - the promises of God. If our hearts are filled with God's promises, then those promises will overflow into the words which we speak and, we will eat the fruit of those words which will be the fulfilment of the promises. 6 / 8

7 It isn't really that complicated, anybody can decide to take action and change their life for the better. It does, however, take a commitment to put the promises of the Lord, and their cultivation in our heart, at the top of our priority list. But if we think about it: Jesus left heaven and came to earth and died to deliver to us His covenant promises. The receiving of that covenant should therefore be the first priority in our lives, as Jesus is to have pre-eminence in all things (Colossians 1:18). Conclusion Constant meditation of the Lord's promises and praying in the spirit (unknown tongues) are two activities which are extremely beneficial in experiencing, and living in, the anointing of the Lord. As we are full of faith and sensitive to the gentle touch of the Holy Spirit upon our spirit we are guided by the Lord into the blessed and sweet place of His covenant benefits and blessings. It is in this place where we enjoy the anointing of the Lord! Prayer Pray with me: "Father God thank you that you lead us, moment by moment, by your Holy Spirit, through the anointing. Please strengthen us to always pray in the spirit and meditate your precious, covenant promises so that we can stay in faith and follow the gentle lead of your anointing. Thank you that the anointing of your Spirit will lead us to the place of truth, wisdom, love, healing, prosperity and faith. We pray this in Jesus Christ name, amen." 7 / 8

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