Releasing the anointing (Part 6)
Realness. It is a big deal in the Kingdom of our God. Like I’ve said many times before, it is all about the condition of our heart. To God we are like glass, and I’m not talking about the stained glass, but about transparent glass. He looks right through us. He immediately sees the condition of our heart and the true motivations that live inside of it. Even before you think or act, He knows about the intents of our heart. There is no way He can be fooled. The only one we really fool is ourselves.
As we know, worship is all about relationship. It is about honoring and loving our God, about touching His heart from the depths of our hearts. The more our relationship grows, the closer we live with Him, the closer we live in and with His Word. It is the process of dying to self and of making Him everything in our lives. Like I’ve said before, that is a process, not something that is achieved in 5 minutes. But we can get there. Step by step. We grow in authority and climb His holy mountain by having a close relationship with Jesus and by staying in His Word, learning all the secrets He wants to reveal to us. When it is the intention of our heart to have a closer and deeper relationship with Him and to get to know more of His Word, then our heart has the right condition to grow further. Let me say it again, God isn’t expecting from us that we present ourselves faultless and sinless. He knows we are not without faults and sin. But He does demand from us that we are real and sincere. The changing part is something we can do together with Jesus. With that in mind, let’s continue to our topic: the anointing.
I have been in Church services where there was no anointing, a little bit anointing and a lot anointing. Personally I believed for a long time that the anointing was or wasn’t released because of the anointing that does or doesn’t rest upon the (worship) leaders. But later I found out that that theory wasn’t correct, since I’ve clearly experienced anointing while the (worship) leader just had a religious exercise, and I’ve experienced just a little anointing, while the (worship) leader was truly anointed. So far for that theory. Then what’s the difference and how does it work?
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
1 John 2:20
Here it comes back to “knowing” again. Knowing God and knowing His Word (which basically is the same). When we grow into our relationship with God and into knowing His Word, we grow in authority and we learn how to use it. As a part of this process, God allows it that we’re going through lessons in life. With everything we learn and with every spiritual level we reach, we gain authority. Along with the authority comes anointing. Reaching a spiritual level is connected to knowing His Word and understanding it. The understanding part is the key here. It is God Who reveals His secrets to those who are sincerely searching (Mat. 7:7). Once we know and understand, we can’t “unknow” things. That means that the anointing stays, even when we fall back at a later point.
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Genesis 4:3-7
Once again this speaks clearly about the condition of the heart. From the outside it all looked the same. But God is the One Who searches our hearts and minds (Revelation 2:23). What He saw in Cain’s heart wasn’t pleasant at all. Therefore He refused His offering. We can also see the condition of acceptance of the offering, which is “doing well”. The doing well part is a result of what lives in our hearts. If the condition of our heart is right, the right fruits will follow.
But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Jude 1:10-11
Yet another example of the heart. In Matthew 12:34 Jesus said that what we speak comes forth from the heart. So what we speak is a result of what lives inside of us. By speaking we can build ourselves or break ourselves. When the heart isn’t right, we corrupt ourselves and our offering is meaningless to God, like Jesus said in Matthew 15:8-9. We know we don’t have to sacrifice burnt offerings anymore, because of what Jesus did at Calvary. But there is one sort of sacrifice that still remains, which is offering ourselves and our bodies in worship and adoration.
Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Psalm 141:2
When we read the story of David, the one who wrote this psalm, we see a man who wasn’t exactly perfect. But what he did have was a heart to went out to God. That is the main reason why he is mentioned so much in the Bible. God really isn’t impressed by all the great things we do, nor by any position we may have. But He is truly impressed and moved by a sincere heart that goes out to Him. God can do all things, but the one thing He cannot do is denying a sincere heart to cries out to Him. How can a Father deny His Own son or daughter? He had to do that one time in history, when His only begotten Son died at the cross. I’ve always tried to imagine what that moment must have been for the Father, Who sat on His thrown, and Who had to see what evil things they did to His Son. I imagine how He had to use all the power He has to not intervene. I believe the only thing that was able to keep God from intervening, was His love for mankind. Therefore He stood back and accepted the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, as a more then acceptable sacrifice and a sweet-smelling aroma. That is what true love is.
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Ephesians 5:1-2
The one thing that is able to create a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father, when we offer ourselves in worship, is a sincere heart that really goes out to Him. Only then it will be a sacrifice that is acceptable to Him and that will be accepted by Him. In all other cases He will not respect or accept it, just like with Cain. God only wants what is real. If our attention, devotion and worship to Him isn’t real, it is not acceptable to Him. But when it is real and sincere, it will be like a sweet-smelling aroma, which will release the anointing.
It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing.
Isaiah 10:27
Songs born out of a sincere heart to heart encounter with Jesus are anointed songs. Songs that aren’t anointed but are sung from a sincere heart, become anointed songs. But when a congregation sings anointed songs, without sincerity, without a heart that truly goes out to Him, none of the anointing is released. Unfortunately I have experienced many of those Church services, where people were just performing on stage, even to the point where the presence of the Holy Spirit was pretended. Meanwhile the glory and anointing of God were far from it. At the same time I’ve experienced Church services where they sang old and corny spiritual songs, but from a sincere heart, where the anointing was released and the glory of God was present. It has nothing to do with what songs we sing, how good we can perform, how good we can play instruments or how well we can sing. It has everything to do with the condition of our heart. That is the only thing that touches the heart of God and causes the anointing to be released.
As we know, worship is all about relationship. It is about honoring and loving our God, about touching His heart from the depths of our hearts. The more our relationship grows, the closer we live with Him, the closer we live in and with His Word. It is the process of dying to self and of making Him everything in our lives. Like I’ve said before, that is a process, not something that is achieved in 5 minutes. But we can get there. Step by step. We grow in authority and climb His holy mountain by having a close relationship with Jesus and by staying in His Word, learning all the secrets He wants to reveal to us. When it is the intention of our heart to have a closer and deeper relationship with Him and to get to know more of His Word, then our heart has the right condition to grow further. Let me say it again, God isn’t expecting from us that we present ourselves faultless and sinless. He knows we are not without faults and sin. But He does demand from us that we are real and sincere. The changing part is something we can do together with Jesus. With that in mind, let’s continue to our topic: the anointing.
I have been in Church services where there was no anointing, a little bit anointing and a lot anointing. Personally I believed for a long time that the anointing was or wasn’t released because of the anointing that does or doesn’t rest upon the (worship) leaders. But later I found out that that theory wasn’t correct, since I’ve clearly experienced anointing while the (worship) leader just had a religious exercise, and I’ve experienced just a little anointing, while the (worship) leader was truly anointed. So far for that theory. Then what’s the difference and how does it work?
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
1 John 2:20
Here it comes back to “knowing” again. Knowing God and knowing His Word (which basically is the same). When we grow into our relationship with God and into knowing His Word, we grow in authority and we learn how to use it. As a part of this process, God allows it that we’re going through lessons in life. With everything we learn and with every spiritual level we reach, we gain authority. Along with the authority comes anointing. Reaching a spiritual level is connected to knowing His Word and understanding it. The understanding part is the key here. It is God Who reveals His secrets to those who are sincerely searching (Mat. 7:7). Once we know and understand, we can’t “unknow” things. That means that the anointing stays, even when we fall back at a later point.
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Genesis 4:3-7
Once again this speaks clearly about the condition of the heart. From the outside it all looked the same. But God is the One Who searches our hearts and minds (Revelation 2:23). What He saw in Cain’s heart wasn’t pleasant at all. Therefore He refused His offering. We can also see the condition of acceptance of the offering, which is “doing well”. The doing well part is a result of what lives in our hearts. If the condition of our heart is right, the right fruits will follow.
But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Jude 1:10-11
Yet another example of the heart. In Matthew 12:34 Jesus said that what we speak comes forth from the heart. So what we speak is a result of what lives inside of us. By speaking we can build ourselves or break ourselves. When the heart isn’t right, we corrupt ourselves and our offering is meaningless to God, like Jesus said in Matthew 15:8-9. We know we don’t have to sacrifice burnt offerings anymore, because of what Jesus did at Calvary. But there is one sort of sacrifice that still remains, which is offering ourselves and our bodies in worship and adoration.
Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Psalm 141:2
When we read the story of David, the one who wrote this psalm, we see a man who wasn’t exactly perfect. But what he did have was a heart to went out to God. That is the main reason why he is mentioned so much in the Bible. God really isn’t impressed by all the great things we do, nor by any position we may have. But He is truly impressed and moved by a sincere heart that goes out to Him. God can do all things, but the one thing He cannot do is denying a sincere heart to cries out to Him. How can a Father deny His Own son or daughter? He had to do that one time in history, when His only begotten Son died at the cross. I’ve always tried to imagine what that moment must have been for the Father, Who sat on His thrown, and Who had to see what evil things they did to His Son. I imagine how He had to use all the power He has to not intervene. I believe the only thing that was able to keep God from intervening, was His love for mankind. Therefore He stood back and accepted the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, as a more then acceptable sacrifice and a sweet-smelling aroma. That is what true love is.
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Ephesians 5:1-2
The one thing that is able to create a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father, when we offer ourselves in worship, is a sincere heart that really goes out to Him. Only then it will be a sacrifice that is acceptable to Him and that will be accepted by Him. In all other cases He will not respect or accept it, just like with Cain. God only wants what is real. If our attention, devotion and worship to Him isn’t real, it is not acceptable to Him. But when it is real and sincere, it will be like a sweet-smelling aroma, which will release the anointing.
It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing.
Isaiah 10:27
Songs born out of a sincere heart to heart encounter with Jesus are anointed songs. Songs that aren’t anointed but are sung from a sincere heart, become anointed songs. But when a congregation sings anointed songs, without sincerity, without a heart that truly goes out to Him, none of the anointing is released. Unfortunately I have experienced many of those Church services, where people were just performing on stage, even to the point where the presence of the Holy Spirit was pretended. Meanwhile the glory and anointing of God were far from it. At the same time I’ve experienced Church services where they sang old and corny spiritual songs, but from a sincere heart, where the anointing was released and the glory of God was present. It has nothing to do with what songs we sing, how good we can perform, how good we can play instruments or how well we can sing. It has everything to do with the condition of our heart. That is the only thing that touches the heart of God and causes the anointing to be released.