If you’re anointed by God, you’ll do things far beyond your capability
We all need friends. We need people in our lives that will love us where we are and help us get to a place of higher living. We need friends that will hold us accountable to God's standards - friends that sharpen us. The Bible makes a compelling point about this type of friendship. “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend [to show rage or worthy purpose].” (Proverbs 27:17, AMP). Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible says of this principle: “We are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with. And directed to have in view, in conversation, to make one another wiser and better.”
When we have a friend that sharpens and we become a friend
that sharpens, our lives are enriched.
Think about what our churches, our neighborhoods, our marriages, our
work places, and our lives would look like if we all had this type of friend in
our lives. Helen Keller said it beautifully: "Walking with a friend in the
dark is better than walking alone in the light."Are you that friend to
anyone? Do you long to have deeper
friendships? If you find yourself in a
wide pool of shallow friendships, I’d encourage you to pray about it. Pray that God would bring meaningful
friendships to your life and that He would teach you what it looks like to be a
good friend.
I had already been introduced to God and His plan of
salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact I had already
accepted salvation through Christ, but I somehow had gotten away from
developing a real, intimate relationship with Him. Deep down I knew that God
was pursuing me, and I could not outrun Him. Silly, right?—the thought of God
actively chasing someone. But for me I knew it was so, because I could hear His
voice in my spirit, calling me and directing me in the correct paths to take at
every intersection in my life. I could recall how I intentionally spent an
exhausting amount of time trying to suppress the call in order to do things my
way. Truly it was time for me to stop running and put my faith into action by
completely surrendering my life and my will to His will. I was tired of
running, and I knew that it was time for me to get to know intimately the God
of my salvation.
So, 'Whatever you do, work at it with all your
heart...since...you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward...'
(Colossians 3:23-24 NIV). Can you think of any greater incentive than that
moment when you stand in His presence and hear, 'Well done,' for giving it your
best shot?
I heard of a man of
God, Pastor Steve Furtick who tweeted last night:
An ounce of anointing is more precious than a thousand tons
of talent.
When I say anointing, I’m talking about the supernatural
enabling of the Holy Spirit.
If you’ve got it, you’ll do greater things for God than you
can imagine, and live a remarkable life for His glory.
If you don’t, you won’t.
If you’re anointed by God, you’ll do things far beyond your
capability. You’ll live in a constant state of humility, because you need the
Lord for every step, every breath, every situation. You’ll live in constant
amazement at all the ways He comes through for you.
If you’re not anointed by God, even your strengths will
become weaknesses in time. You’ll still do good stuff, maybe even impressive
stuff. But it won’t have eternal power in it, and it will be just a small slice
of what you could have done, if the Lord was doing it through you.
Talent is a great thing to have. It’s a gift from God.
But having talent without anointing is kind of like having
seatwarmers in a car but not having an engine under the hood.
God can work in spite of our lack of talent. Through the
anointing, even our weakness can become a playing field for the Lord to show
off His strength.
Ask Moses.
But talent alone isn’t enough to get the job done if you
don’t have God’s power behind it. You’ll come up short in the end.
Ask Samson.
I’m asking God today for a fresh anointing on my life. 'We
are...created...to do good works...' Ephesians 2:10 NIV
God uses people like you, ordinary people with work and
family responsibilities, mortgages and busy lives. The Bible says, '...we
are...created...to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.'
Note the word 'prepared.' It's the same word that's used for making sure a team
has the training and equipment it needs to win. The truth is, each of us is
'...an instrument for noble purposes...' (2 Timothy 2:21 NIV).
'...If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.' 1 John 5:14 NKJV
We like to think that our wants are God's will, maybe, and
maybe not. '...If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we
know that He hears us...we know that we have the petitions that we have asked
of Him' (1 John 5:14-15 NKJV). Your confidence in prayer comes from knowing
that you are asking according to God's will.
Raj Kosaraju
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