God desires for all of His children to be prepared for the journey He has called them to. This is especially true for the minister of God. The devil is just looking for an opportunity to take them out. If he can take out the minister, he can take out the congregation.
There are some journeys, though, that require special preparation. When the Lord calls you to do something specifically, it requires special preparation. One of those things is the anointing. You have to be anointed. This is why all the efforts of men fail. The plans of man won’t work without the anointing of God. The Lord doesn’t want them to fail, but the plans and strength of men just won’t work. And the Lord cannot put His anointing on the plans of man because if He did, it would be His confirmation that they were His plans and they’re not.
To get the anointing you need, sometimes you have to go somewhere specific. Elisha had to go with Elijah to the Jordan. And Jesus had to go to John the Baptist.
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. – Matthew 3:13
Jesus went to the Jordan because that’s where John was. During that time, that is where God was on the earth, and Jesus had to go where God was.
But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. – Matthew 3:14-15
Jesus was honoring the anointing from the previous generation. He was honoring the anointing that went before Him. If we’re going to be successful, we have to honor the anointing that went before us. We can’t say that those whom God has anointed are washed up or don’t know what they’re talking about. Apparently they do because the anointing of the Lord God Almighty is upon them. That doesn’t mean that they’re perfect or never get it wrong. That just means that we honor them, honor that anointing, and do not disregard what they say when it agrees with the Word of God and the Spirit of God.
The plan of God has been hindered because people have lost respect and reverence for the Holy Ghost. Most people today wouldn’t know the Holy Ghost if he was right in front of them. That’s the truth.
You cannot disrespect what God did in the last generation and go forward in your generation.
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. – Matthew 3:16-17
Obedience brings an open Heaven. If you want the anointing of God, if you want God to show up, you have to be obedient to what He says in His Word and through His Spirit. The closer we walk with God, the stronger His anointing is going to be upon our lives and ministries.
The anointing came upon Jesus because He was obedient. It wasn’t just because He was the son of God. It didn’t matter if He was the son of God if He wasn’t obedient to what God wanted to do. He was anointed for the journey He was about to take. The mission that He was going to go on would not be by the power or strength of man, by being culturally relevant, or by following His own ideas. It was going to be done by the anointing.
God was pleased because Jesus was obedient. He wasn’t pleased just because He was His son. And when God was pleased, He spoke. He spoke from Heaven. Heaven is going to speak to earth. If you want the results that the saints of old did, you have to do what they did. Find the biblical principles that they followed and put those into practice in your life.
The first Adam failed in his mission that God gave him because he failed to respect the instructions God gave him. He wasn’t obedient. The second Adam was obedient to the instructions.
God was getting Jesus ready to sick Him on the devil. He was getting Him ready to rule and reign over the devil while He was down here. He was getting Him ready to set an example for the church about how He wants us to live, and move, and operate in the earth.
In this journey, we rule and reign.
Look at Jesus’ temptation in Matthew 4. The devil comes to Jesus, and the only response that Jesus gave was to quote the Word. You never try to hold an intelligent conversation with the devil. If at any time Jesus had done anything the devil said, He would have relinquished His authority as the the perfect Lamb of God. That’s why you don’t hold a conversation with the devil. Quote the Word. Take authority over him. Don’t give him a foothold. Don’t open up that opportunity. Just speak the Word.
Jesus’ temptation was all about the authority. It wasn’t about the things that the devil offered. It was about usurping authority. Jesus had the authority, and the devil was trying to take it. The devil created circumstances and situations and then brought an answer to those things. Jesus quoted the Word. You do the same thing.
The reason that Jesus was able to withstand the attacks of the enemy, to not give into temptation, is because He was anointed for the journey. Before He went to the wilderness, He went to the Jordan. He got anointed. He wasn’t alone. Heaven was with Him. If He wasn’t anointed for the journey, He would have failed and obeyed the devil.
You must be anointed. Stay with the Holy Ghost and with the Word, or you will eventually fail. Next to the Word of God, the anointing is the most important thing in the world. We need to be anointed for what the Lord has called us to do. It is more precious and important than food, riches, friends, opportunities, or anything else. Without it, you will not fulfill the call of God on your life.
Get the anointed, find your call, and fulfill it. God is with us!
