Musing on Anointing

I've seen people who speak out for God and have something special about them, have blessed results. I've always assumed that was because God's anointing was on them.

Just the other day I was watching a videotape of a teacher named Beth Moore who said something with regard to being anointed that's had me thinking.

Moore was talking about how we receive the Holy Spirit when we are born again but that we can choose, each day, each moment, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she went on to say that we talk about the anointing of God as if it's something that comes on us, but she sees "anointed" as being so filled with the Holy Spirit that He splashes over the top. She showed a large glass measuring cup that she filled a little way with red liquid and said that if that was us, we'd be looking for something else to fill us up the rest of the way (relationships, food, shopping, busyness, etc.). Then she poured the red liquid all the way up to the top and said that's like when we are filled with the Spirit. Then she continued to pour and it overflowed; she said she thinks this is what we are perceiving when we say someone is anointed of God - the person is so yielded to God, so depleted of self and filled with God, that God overflows from that person.

I looked in the scriptures, specifically the New Testament, and see where Luke 4:18 shows us where Jesus says the Spirit of God has anointed Him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, and to release the oppressed. Then there's that anointing by the woman with expensive perfume that's symbolic of Jesus being prepared for His upcoming death (Matthew 26:5-7). We also have various passages where people are anointed with oil prior to prayer for them (Mark 6:12-13, James 5:14). I see in Acts 10:38 & 2 Corinthians 1:21 where it is similar to when Jesus said the Spirit of God had anointed Him; it's a naming someone for a job and equipping that person(s) with the Holy Spirit to do it.

So I still think the word "Anointing" means God coming on someone to set them apart for service (just like we see the prophets doing periodically in the Old Testament); definitely something on (verses from inside of) someone.

But I think Moore is correct in that what we commonly refer to when we say a specific pastor or ministry team or whomever is "anointed", is really someone who is so yielded to God and depleted of self that he/she is filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit. I think Moore was trying to help us understand the fact that when we accept Jesus as our Savior and choose to follow after Him as our Lord and He gives us His Holy Spirit that comes and lives inside us - we get it ALL. There's not some new "more" we need to seek after. We just need to learn how to live abiding in Him (John 15:3-5).

This leads me to want to ponder more on ways I can be more depleted of myself and filled with God's Spirit.