April 9, 2012 … God’s Anointed

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: 1st Samuel 9-12 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

============
Highlight Reference Passage : 1st Samuel 10: 6-7 … 6 The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

============
Highlight Reference Passage #1 : Acts 1: 8 … [Jesus speaking to His disciples just before His ascension just prior to Pentecost] … “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”


My Journal for Today: Yesterday in my reading and study (in 1st Sam. 8), we read about the Israelites pressing Samuel, as their main-man prophet, for a king to rule them in lieu of Judges; and God warned them of the potential of having a king who would relent to his sin-nature and rule out of selfishness rather then from the anointing of God. But the people wouldn’t listen to Samuel; and so God, as He will do, turned them over to their own desires; and granted them a king.

And in 1st Samuel, Chapters 9-12, we read of the coming and anointing of Saul to become the first king of Israel. And more specifically, as I read today’s highlight passage, copied above, another passage in the New Testament bubbled up from my memory; and that is the second passage (Acts 1: 8, which you probably know from memory yourself).

My friend and fellow Christian, do you realize that we, you and me as born-again Christians, are anointed (i.e., called out for rule) just as was Saul in the Old Testament? And the same Holy Spirit, which came upon Saul to give him the power he needed to be the King of Israel, is Spirit of the Lord which abides in our lives. The difference is that now that Christ has come and has died on the cross and has been resurrected (what we celebrated at Easter yesterday), we New Covenant Christians have the full and forever anointing of God’s Spirit and His Spirit, residing in our hearts for eternity, not just for a season of time as the Lord anointed and came upon Saul.

But that same Holy Spirit, Who empowered Saul, giving him the power to become and remain king of Israel as long as He submitted himself to God’s Spirit, is the same Spirit who is in my heart and giving me the power to do what God would lead me to do for His Kingdom. That is a daunting and almost haunting thought, isn’t it?

And in many respects, the same thing could happen to me which we’ll soon read will happen to Saul. Though I have God’s full measure of fruitfulness available to me (see Galatians 5: 22-23), I can grieve God’s Spirit and dampen God’s power in and through myself when I do not choose – in my free-will – to exercise the fruit of the Spirit (including self control), which, through humility and meekness, release God’s power in me to empower me to do His will.

Now, God’s Spirit will never leave me (or you, if you’re truly born-again) as the Spirit left Saul; but like Saul, we cannot be the vessel of God which God intends for us to be, or as Saul was intended to be, if we pridefully act on our own, rather than in obedience to God’s will.

Oh, I can be a Saul so easily by striking out on my own rather than surrendering my will to God’s; because when I can – and do – the latter, living with humility and meekness, as did Jesus in surrender to His Father, God can do great things in and through me. And when I live as we’ll soon read of Saul, in selfishness and carelessness, I can dampen God’s Spirit in me; and I cannot be the person God has purposed for me to be. Oh, how scary is that thought.

But, the saving grace which has anointed me in Christ’s Name, is the grace which will never leave me as it did Saul. And, being born-again and gifted with God’s sanctifying Spirit, I can choose to surrender to the Lord’s Spirit anytime and be transformed in my humility and meekness of character into the very image of my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. And that, my friend, is the “Hallelujah” thought for the day.

I am an anointed one; and so are you, my fellow Christian; now – today – what we must do is live like God’s anointed ones.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, I thank you, Holy Spirit, for living in me; empower me today to choose to follow You and to avoid myself. Amen