In today’s fast paced world it really is so easy to get caught up in what Jesus called “the cares of this world”. The Lord warned us that these cares, among other things, would choke off the power of the seed, the power of God’s word in our lives and cause it to be unfruitful (Mark 4:19). What a tragedy for the born-again believer to get so busy with this life that they end up doing the routine of church and religion but don’t experience the true life of it. They carry a form but clearly lack power. This is not God’s will for us. God wants us to be enraptured in the life of God, to be truly fascinated with the Spirit and his power, to be in love with the beauty of his word! God promises us in his word that if we stay in our first love, if we are committed to intimacy with the Holy Spirit and meditate in his word daily, that just this alone will produce a life of power. This alone will produce the true life of Christ within.
I’m convinced that possibly more than any time in history, this world needs Christians who are truly walking in the life, character, and power of Christ. One who is walking in this life of Christ will not allow the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches to quench the Spirit within. One who is truly walking with the Lord will be in the word and in the presence of God everyday, and out of this lifestyle of presence and intimacy with God will come power.
ANOINTED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT THEN POWER
(Acts 10:38)
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
In today’s article I wish to emphasize a very simple yet very profound scriptural point and truth to you, God's people. That point is this: there is no anointing of power without first being anointed with the Holy Spirit. There is no anointing of power without first being anointed with presence.
A few years ago I was contacted by a Christian Book Publisher and I was asked to submit a manuscript to them because they were interested in giving me a contract to publish with them. They had come across my writing on the internet and thought that I would be a good candidate to publish as a new author moving forward with them. When I was discussing different subjects I could write about for them I remember the conversation very clearly. They made it known that they didn’t need anything on prayer, nothing on intimacy with God, walking with God, or the anointing. They made it clear that they had tons of books already published on those subjects and that they were looking for some fresh and different things. At the time they were interested in publishing my writings on financial glory. In the end it didn’t work out with that particular publisher. The timing wasn’t right for me and I was also advised against signing with them by some friends of mine who had contracts with them that didn’t turn out well for them. All that being said, I find it interesting how oversaturated the charismatic book market is in the genre of spirit-filled living, prayer, and walking with God, since there seem to be so few who truly walk deeply with the Lord. Have the cares of this life choked off the power of this word and this revelation in our lives causing us not to bear fruit here? Have we only purchased these kinds of books because we heard about some of God’s generals and were just curious about their lifestyles and walks with God, but not truly stirred to change our own lives so that we might commit to such a lifestyle and bear similar fruit? Powerful men and women of God should not be rare in the church. With all the teaching we have archived at our fingertips today on platforms like youtube, with all the conferences that we’ve put on for decades, with all the supernatural training schools that have blossomed in recent decades, there really should be an army of anointed sons and daughters of God overwhelming the levies of darkness in various regions of the earth. But why don’t we see this? I think one answer could be found right here in (Acts 10:38)
I think this very simple yet very profound principle is often forgotten, overlooked, or simply not deeply understood and grasped by the spirit of many, and here it is: You cannot seek the power of God apart from the presence of God. You cannot seek the anointing of God’s Spirit apart from an intimate relationship with God. For one, it will never truly work; Two, if by some chance it does work chances are it won’t be pure power from on high. Chances are it will be a mixture of a foreign power and spirit manifestation that seeks to distract and ultimately put the attention on man instead of glorifying the Father with what flows through your life.
Notice the unique order of words in (Acts 10:38). Jesus of Nazareth was anointed with “the Holy Spirit” and with “power”. That order is not a coincidence. The Holy Spirit who authored such scripture through the foundational gifts of the biblical apostles and prophets put these words in this order for a reason. It is for our understanding so that we might follow in the ways of our Master and seek the presence first, and allow the power to flow from that pure place of intimacy with God.
Heidi Baker used to say, “All fruitfulness flows from intimacy”. She was absolutely right. There is no true lasting fruit in the kingdom of God apart from intimacy with the Holy Spirit. There is no true power, no true pure power of God that comes from on high, unless the vessel has fully committed to a lifestyle of presence. I know it’s a message that has thoroughly saturated the charismatic church, evidenced by things like the oversaturation occuring in the spirit-filled publishing industry which I cited earlier, but it’s a message that needs to continue to be championed. Obviously the message hasn’t taken the way God intends it to, otherwise we would see this end-time army manifesting the power of God in every corner of the globe.
There is an entire generation coming on the scene that has not yet heard this message. There is an entire generation that is coming to maturity that needs to be marked by the presence from a young age, and as we take up the call to once again champion this message, to declare it far and wide, many of these young ones will be marked by the presence of God from a young age and they will never be the same. They too will become the new generals of the faith for the new generation and many future ones yet to come. We must see the legacy of power continue in the church, but in order to truly see that we must grasp this scriptural key once again:
there is no true Holy Ghost power without a life lived in the presence.
GOD HAS A SPECIAL WORK THAT ONLY THE BRIDE OF CHRIST ANOINTED WITH PRESENCE & POWER CAN DO IN THE EARTH
The bible follows the order of presence and power in the life of Christ with him going around “doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil”. There’s a lot to unpack here, but let me start by saying this. I’ve become convinced, through my own walk with God and through my careful study of the scripture, that nothing we do in this life can be called “good” if it lacks the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The world’s definition of good often convolutes our understanding of good, especially within the compromised progressive church where the lines between God’s Holy Church, God’s ekklesia, the called-out-ones, and the world are so blurred. The truth is much of what the church is doing today, that is passing our test of “good works” unto the Lord, can be done by anyone in the world and completely without the anointing of the Holy Spirit that comes from a life that has been soaked in the presence. That is the truth and that is a tragedy. Jesus came and did something that no one else could do because it was God who did it in and through him, and He did it in the power of the Holy Ghost, out of intimate fellowship with God, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. There are certain things that God needs done currently in every tribe and every nation, and those things which God needs done can only be done by people who have been anointed with presence and power. That is the truth. Yes, it’s true that God ultimately uses everyone, even the Nebuchadnezzar’s, even the Cyrus’, even people that don’t know him (Is.45:5). But there is a specific mission that only the bride of Christ can fulfill on this earth, and the bride is anointed with presence and power just as the Master was while on the earth in human form!
DOING GOOD & HEALING ALL WHO ARE OPPRESSED OF THE DEVIL
Jesus could not even begin to do “good” in God’s eyes until He started doing things under the anointing of presence and power, and it was from this place that He truly began to bring freedom and peace to those who were oppressed by the devil. Notice how the bible says that He healed “all”. All who? All who were oppressed of the devil.
Did you know that anyone who needs healing in their body, healing in their mind, healing in their soul, healing in their marriage; every single one of them is experiencing oppression from the devil and they need restoration and relief that can only come from Christ and his power? This is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The most healthy looking and free looking people on the earth today, ones who are championed as self-help gurus and personal development experts can only do so much to live free, healthy, and happy lives. Eventually they all encounter situations and problems that require the intervention and power of Christ, and if they don’t find Jesus, even if they do somehow find a way to alleviate their symptoms or deal with their problems through some kind of wisdom technique, often the enemy draws them deeper into his particular brand of deception and bondage that has the guise of pure spirituality, that mimics the relief of the blood of Christ. This deception only keeps them from God. Things such as new age practices, yoga, occultic forms of meditation, and guru exercises from the far east have inundated the communities of people who champion self-help and personal development in the west because all their efforts toward helping themselves and helping others only lead to bondage without finding the true Helper, the Holy Spirit. There is a help that every human being truly needs and it can only come from the crimson shed blood of Christ. This is the gospel, and this is the truth.
CONCLUSION
We have a lot of people with big hearts in the church today who want to do big things for God. This is what causes many to be drawn to the testimonies of God’s power, both in the scripture and from God’s generals who are alive today and who have gone home to be with the Lord. But without building a deep and intimate relationship with the Lord, and without experiencing the anointing of manifest presence upon your life, all of your efforts to flow in God’s power will ultimately come to nothing. Or worse, you may find power that isn’t the pure power of the Holy Spirit.
God is earnestly seeking to raise up an end-time army of laid down lovers who are mighty in his presence, and out of this they are mighty in his power, they are mighty in gifts. The world is full of people who are oppressed. The church is full of people who are oppressed, and they need the power of God. They need the anointing of Christ which breaks the yoke and removes the burden of bondage in their life (Is.10:27). But who will answer the call to take on the life of Christ, the life of a manifest Son of God, and destroy the works of the devil as Jesus did (1 Jn.3:8)? Who will answer the call to be so soaked and infused with the presence of God through spending years seeking his face that they are naturally the most powerful people living today on planet earth, and they use this power not for their fame, not for their fortune, not for their own selfish desires, but to set captives free and glorify the name of Christ? Only those who would hear this revelation and put it into action. Only those who would answer the call to be anointed with his presence first so that God might mantle them with his power from on high!
In his Service,
Stephen Powell