"You love righteousness and hate wickedness; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS MORE THAN YOUR COMPANIONS."
Psalm 45:7 (NKJV)
• Anointing is a divine enablement given by God to a believer, in order to accomplish or fulfil whatever he or she is assigned to do.
- The Anointing on someone's Life can be increased or decreased, it all depends on what the person does—the relationship and fellowship of the person with God, and the spiritual exercise he or she practices.
- If the hand of God is on your Life to be used of Him, you should therefore know that you have been consecrated, set apart—thus, you cannot afford to live a carefree life like others who are not set apart for any purpose.
WHOEVER is set apart to be used of the Lord should keep himself or herself, such should not defile themselves. - Those who serve at the altar should be Holy: "BUT AS HE WHO CALLED YOU IS HOLY, YOU ALSO BE HOLY IN ALL YOUR CONDUCT, BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN, "BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY" (1 Peter 1:15,16).
- If Someone whose God's hand is upon for a particular purpose or assignment lives in Sin, that would affect the Anointing on the person's Life negatively.
- "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "LET EVERYONE WHO NAMES THE NAME OF CHRIST [the Lord] DEPART FROM INIQUITY."
- Therefore if anyone cleanses himself [herself] from the latter, HE [she] WILL BE A VESSEL FOR HONOUR, SANCTIFIED [set apart] AND USEFUL FOR THE MASTER, PREPARED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK."
2 Timothy 2:19,21 (NKJV)
• If someone whom God has chosen to be used gave himself or herself to the natural side of Life so much, such a person may discover that their sensitivities and Response to the things of the Spirit are NO longer Sharp, sound, and prompt;
THUS, they begin to lose the Anointing on their lives—the Anointing will start diminishing.
- Some are permitted to do secular work alongside with their ministerial assignment, such are into "tent making" so to speak, like Paul did, albeit, they should remember NOT to lose their focus on the assignment given to them (Acts 18:3).
IF more attention is given to the secular work than that of the ministry, AND the desires of the person shifted to material things, such may lose the Anointing on his or her life. - Apostle Paul did engage in tent making work but he did not allow it to distract him, take his attention or focus away from the ministry work (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Thessalonians 2:9).
- Some who at the onset had promised God that they would only do the secular work for a limited period of time, and that they would later quit and focus on the ministry work fully, have found it difficult to do;
AND as a result of it, they are neither here nor there, that is, They are neither fulfilling secularly nor ministerially. - If you had the call of God on your Life, one of the things you would have to deal with is the love of money, you should be able to deal with your appetite for money and material things:
10 FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS A ROOT OF ALL KINDS OF EVIL, FOR WHICH SOME HAVE STRAYED FROM THE FAITH IN THEIR GREEDINESS, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 BUT YOU, O MAN OF GOD, FLEE THESE THINGS AND PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness" (1 Timothy 6:10,11).
READ: 1 Timothy 6:6-11 - If your appetite for the mundane is not thoroughly dealt with, it may be difficult for you to maintain your focus in the ministry work: "DEMAS HAS DESERTED ME [Paul] BECAUSE HE LOVES THE THINGS OF THIS LIFE AND HAS GONE TO THESSALONICA..." (2 Timothy 4:10, NLT).
YOU may see yourself vacillating, wavering and drifting off the ministry work—you may find it difficult to focus on the assignment because of the challenges which you encountered. - The Anointing on one's Life can be lost, or diminished if more attention is given to acquisition of material things than the spiritual things.
• You keep, grow, and increase the Anointing on your life by practicing the spiritual exercises that brought you to your current level of development or growth in God.
- For the fire to keep burning you have to keep adding more Wood.
WHEN Woods are not added any more, the fire will definitely go out: "WHERE THERE IS NO WOOD, THE FIRE GOES OUT..." (Proverbs 26:20). - The Word of God is the Wood needed to be added to the fire of the Holy Spirit in your Life—to keep burning.
- And the knowledge of the Word of God should move or motivate you to pray.
YOU cannot pray a result oriented prayer without the knowledge of the Word of God.
FASTING also should be added to your prayers for speedy answers and for the Anointing to increase in your Life. - Remember, the Word of God you know should be practiced for you to get results in YOUR prayers and be impactful in your ministerial assignment (James 1:22-25).
- The Anointing comes gradually, and it also goes or diminishes gradually, If you failed to do the needful.
- As you practice the spiritual exercises, you are indirectly building or increasing the Anointing on your Life—whether you know it or not.
• As you minister in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Anointing is being used or expended, thus, there is a need for replenishment.
- The Anointing is gotten through the studying of the Word of God and practicing of it; prayer and fasting; and other spiritual exercises.
ALSO, the Anointing is sustained through the means by which you got it—the Word of God, prayer and fasting.
• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!
