Living an Anointed Life - Part 2

0:26 The fifth thing that we learn in the scriptures is this, that God anoints my life to bless others. God blesses you not just so you can feel good. God blesses you so you could be a blessing to other people. Now we've done an entire series on this at Saddleback where we talked about we're blessed to be a blessing. God doesn't give you money, talent, good looks, abilities, opportunities, networks. None of those things are given to you simply for your benefit. God says, I want you to be a blessing to other people. Now, you get blessed at the same time. There's no doubt about it. You're gonna enjoy the blessing of being a channel, but when you're a channel of God's power and blessing to other people, it blesses everybody. You're not the only one who gets blessed. God doesn't give you his anointing just so you can feel good.

1:22 God gives you his anointing to help others. And when you do, it helps you. Now, in Isaiah, Isaiah was a prophet in the Old Testament. In chapter 61, Isaiah says, I know I'm anointed by God. And he comes up with a list of six different kinds of people in pain. And he goes, I know this is what God's calling me to do. That I'm to use my anointing just not to make a name for myself. God is giving me this anointing to help six kinds of people in pain. Let me read it to you. Isaiah says, the spirit of the Lord is on me. And he has anointed me, there's that phrase, you might circle it. He has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and the afflicted. That's number one. Number two, he's anointed me to comfort the brokenhearted. Number three, he's anointed me to announce freedom to people who are captives.

2:20 You know, they're in a prison, maybe a self-imposed prison of resentment or an addiction or compulsion or fear or an anxiety. A lot of people are in self-imposed prison. He says, he's anointed me to bring good news of suffering, comfort to brokenhearted, a lot of broken hearts, to announce freedom to people who are enslaved to an addiction or habit. He's anointed me to open the eyes of the blind. What's he talking about there? Help people see stuff that they've never seen before. Help them see God. Maybe they've never seen God in their life. They don't even know, see God at work. He sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God's favor to them has come. And he says, in number six, he says, he's anointed me to tell all who mourn, and everybody has losses in life. If you're gonna have them, if you haven't already, you'll have major losses in your life, which means you're gonna mourn.

3:17 He says, God sent me to use the anointing I've got to tell these people who've had a loss that God will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, and praise instead of heaviness, those who are depressed. What an amazing God we have, that God is interested in your emotional needs. God is interested in your hurts. in your habits, in your hang-ups. God is interested in all the stuff that pulls you down. He says, when you get anointed, God wants you to help other people in pain, and when you do that, God helps you in your pain. He helps you in your pain. By the way, this passage, Isaiah 61, is the text that Jesus read for his very first public sermon, publicly recorded sermon. It's in Luke chapter four. Jesus goes back to his hometown of Nazareth.

4:11 he picks up the scroll of the Old Testament, he opens to this passage, Isaiah 61, and Jesus reads it and says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's appointed me to preach good news to the suffering and the afflicted and the poor. And he sent me to comfort the brokenhearted. And he reads this, he rolls the scroll up, he goes over and he sits down. Shortest sermon on record, certainly not one of mine.

4:36 And he sits down and he says, today this passage is fulfilled right in front of you. I am the answer. I'm the savior. I'm the guy who's come to comfort the afflicted and the brokenhearted and the people who are enslaved to habits and the people who don't know how to get out of debt and the people who are blind and can't see the way out of where they are and all these different things. Jesus says, I'm it. I'm it. but he says I'm anointed to do this. Let me show you on the screen Acts chapter 10. Here's another verse. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit's power. By the way, there's a trinity in one sentence. Father, Son, Holy Spirit in one sentence. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit's power and he, Jesus, went around doing good. That's the purpose of anointing to make the world a better place.

5:31 When you get anointed, you start helping other people. You get blessed by it, but you're helping other people. And he went around doing good and healing people who were beaten down by the devil. And when you get anointed, guess what? God's gonna do that with you. Moi? Yeah, you. You. You're a priest. You're anointed. God wants to work in your life this same way. to go around doing good, healing people who've been beaten up by the devil. Number six. The sixth thing we learn about anointing as I summarize all the Bible is that for every new challenge, I need a fresh anointing. For every new challenge, I need a fresh anointing. Anointing by the Holy Spirit in your life cannot be stored up.

6:26 You can't go, oh yeah, I remember way back in like 1992, I went to a service and, oh man, I really felt close to God. I got a quiver in my liver. And I even cried and I like, ooh, it was like an emotional experience. And you go, you're still living on that thing? It doesn't work that way. You can't store it up. And God's anointing, his blessing on your life is kind of like manna, that bread that God fed him in the wilderness for 40 years. It only lasted a day. And then it's spoiled. Because God wants you to depend on him every day for his anointing. Every day for his power in your life. The prayer is not to pray, give us this day our monthly bread.

7:13 No, it's daily. He gives you just enough for that day. And tomorrow, you're gonna need a fresh anointing. And the day after that, you're gonna need a fresh anointing. And the day after that, you're gonna need some fresh oil in your lamp. You're going to need fresh. And by the way, you can lose the anointing. We've all seen people who are greatly used by God. And they're on fire, and they're gifted, and they're talented, and then two years later, they're on the shelf doing nothing. How in the world did they lose God's blessing on their life? How did they lose the anointing on their life? You can lose it lots of ways. By taking it for granted. By not depending on God. By not spending time alone with God every day. You can lose the anointing through pride.

8:08 Through greed. You can lose the anointing by refusing to forgive somebody you need to forgive. You can lose it from gossip. You can lose it from out of control anger. You can lose it from all kinds of different things that you let become a God in your life, that you begin to idolize, and all of a sudden, that person or that thing or that job or that money is more important than God, and you could lose God's blessing on your life. History is littered with people who had God's anointing and God's blessing and were seeing success and results in their life, and then all of a sudden, bam, they're nothing because they took it too lightly and too loosely. For every new challenge, I need a fresh anointing. And that anointing that you had last year or 10 years ago or at a youth camp, it's not any good for today.

9:03 It doesn't do you any good today. You need a fresh refilling. God wants to fill you with his power, with his love, with his spirit, with his grace. You know the problem is, we all leak. You get filled, but you leak. and you can lose the passion and lose the power and lose the grace and lose your vision and lose your passion. Like a balloon that's been blown up for a birthday party and three days later it's losing it all and going flat over in the corner. And we leak. So you need a fresh filling of God's spirit on a regular basis. You cannot handle today's problems with yesterday's anointing. And you certainly can't handle the problems you're gonna have tomorrow and next week and next year with yesterday's anointing. You gotta stay in touch with God so that he's filling you constantly with his grace, with his love, with his power.

10:01 You say, well, how do I do that? How do I stay filled? How do I get a fresh anointing? Well, Hosea chapter 10 is one example. Verse 12, Hosea 10, 12 says this. Sow new seeds of righteousness. That's a metaphor, by the way, for prayer. and you'll reap the fruit of my love. And break up your old, hardened ground. He's talking about, if you're a farmer, you got some ground out there that hadn't been plowed in years. It's gotten hard. It's gotten dry. It's gotten crusty. And maybe your heart has gotten cold and dry and crusty. And you don't feel the joy of the Lord anymore. And you don't feel close to God anymore. And your heart is hard toward other people. And your heart is hard even maybe toward God. He says, you need to do a little plowing. You need to do a little spade work. Break up the hardened, the fallow ground, the hardened ground in your life.

10:55 It's time to turn to me and seek the Lord. And then he says, I'll come and I'll shower new blessings. That's anointing. I'll shower new blessings on you. How does God turn hard ground into soft ground so something can sprout from it? He sends a storm. You got any storm going on in your life? God may be breaking up the dirt clods in your heart, the hardened soil that's gotten dry and barren and can't bear fruit of anything. And in that passage, he says four things. He says, you want my anointing? He says, you gotta pray. Sow the seeds of righteousness. Spend some time talking to God. And he says, you need to break up the hardened ground. That's humility and confession. Say, God, I haven't been close to you. I haven't been connected to you like I used to be. He says, turn back to God.

11:48 That's clear. He says, seek God. That's clear. And he says, as a result, I'll come and shower new blessing, new anointing on your life. How do you get God's anointing back in your life? Or maybe for the very first time. The number one way you get it? Listen. You ask. You ask. The Bible says you have not because you ask not. You do not have, James 4, 2, you do not have because you don't ask God. If you don't have God's power in your life, if you don't have God's blessing and anointing in your life, you're not waiting on God.

12:29 He's waiting on you. You just haven't asked. When was the last time you asked God to make your career successful, and then you said, I'll do it anyway, you tell me to do it? when was the last time you asked God to make your marriage or your relationships or your friendships successful and then you said God I'll do it any way you tell me to do it even if it doesn't make sense when was the last time you said God my finances are so messed up they suck and I need you to bless my finances and I'm willing to do the way you tell me to do it that is to break up the clods and to say, God, you have not because you asked not. I'm asking you right now. You see, God wants to bless your life in ways you have not even imagined. If God were to show you what he could have done with your life to this point, but hadn't been able to, you'd be sad.

13:31 But if God were to show you what he could do with the rest of your life, however many years you've got left, would blow your mind. If you just say, God, I'm asking for your anointing. I want to do it your way. We're not waiting on God for a revival of our hearts. He's waiting on us. Psalm 84 verse 11 says this. Look up here on the screen. The Lord generously gives. By the way, God is the most generous person in the universe. And he teaches us to give because he's generous. The Lord generously gives us his favor. Favor is another word for anointing. It means his blessing, his favor, his grace, his anointing. The Lord generously gives us his favor. When you have the favor of God, you're a favorite.

14:23 God says, she's my favorite. Have you ever felt that? Have you ever felt the favor of God in your life? I have. And there's nothing compared to it. When you know God has shown favor on you. And you go, I'm a favorite of God. I'm a friend of God. I don't deserve it, but it's just God's grace. He says, the Lord generously gives us his favor and honor. God wants to affirm you. God wants to applaud you in front of other people. Favor and honor. No good thing will he withhold from those who live right. He said, there's nothing that's good for you that I'll hold back. Anything you could possibly think of that would be good for you, I'm gonna give it. It's all there, it's all yours. I looked up that word all, it means all.

15:15 No good thing will God hold back from you if you will just trust him and live in his anointing. Now, you might write this down, that when God anoints your business, it brings success. when God anoints your business it brings success I could give you a hundred examples out of the Bible on this but let me just give you one Genesis 39 verse 2 talks about Joseph who was a businessman and it says because the Lord was with Joseph that phrase was with Joseph he is under the anointing and blessing of God it says he was greatly blessed so that everything he did succeeded. You might underline that. Everything he did succeeded. Now let me ask you, how many of you would like that to be true in your career that every single thing you did succeeded? Can I see your hands? Okay. Oh, some of you don't want that. Let me try that again. How many of you would like to be known that everything you did in life succeeded? Yeah, that ought to be unanimous.

16:24 and where does that come from? It comes from the anointing of God. Let me close in just the last two minutes about the second area and that's your body. You might write this down. When God anoints your body, it brings health. It brings health in your body over and over again. Anointing for healing is one of the most common practices in the entire Bible. Not only did Jesus do it everywhere he went, he modeled it for us. He authorized his followers to do the same, to anoint with oil as a symbol of God's anointing and to pray the prayer of faith for people who are sick. Jesus did it. The Bible tells us Jesus went into every village and town preaching, teaching, and healing.

17:16 One-third of his ministry was health care, helping people. He cares not just about your soul going to heaven. He cares about your mind, education, and he cares about your body, your health. And Jesus, as I said, not only modeled anointing with oil as a symbol of God's blessing, but he actually taught the disciples and commanded us to do so also. Look here on the screen. The Bible says in Mark 6, 13, that his followers, the disciples, anointed with oil those who were sick and people were healed. Now, I need to explain to you very quickly, there are three kinds of healing, three kinds of illnesses. Now, there are a lot of illnesses in the world that's simply because we make bad choices. If I eat wrong, I don't exercise, I don't take care of my body, I'm gonna reap what I sow. If I get sick, I have too much sugar and I get diabetes or whatever, that's my fault.

18:13 And a lot of the illnesses we bring on ourselves from not enough rest, too much stress, not eating right, exercise, things like that. But the Bible talks about three kinds of illnesses. The first is for learning. God allows illness to teach us things that we would never learn any other way. And so some illness actually is allowed in our lives by God when God wants to teach us something. And one of the many verses on this is Psalm 119, verse 71. Psalm 119, verse 71, here on the screen, says this. It was good for me to be afflicted so I could learn your truth. Okay, here's a true confession time. How many of you have learned some things in life through pain? Can I see your hands? Yeah, that's 100% of us. In fact, some things we only learn through pain. And David, who wrote the Lord as my shepherd, said it was good for me to be afflicted that I might learn your statutes.

19:11 I've learned a lot of things through illnesses in my life. So sometimes God allows the illness for learning. okay the second way reason for illness is actually for death you say well that's not a very positive one well here's what I'm saying if every illness you had was healed you'd never go to heaven and neither would anybody else so there is a sickness unto death and the purpose is to end your life here so you can go on to the real life and the ever after you will only get the sickness unto death one time in your life. Does that make sense? You're not going to get it over and over and over. The sickness, if you get well, it wasn't the sickness unto death. But there is an illness that every one of us will get. Otherwise, we'd all stay on earth. Thank God I don't have to stay on earth for eternity.

20:05 Whether it's suffering, sorrow, sickness, sadness, stress, rape, wars, violence, racial prejudice, you know, all of the different isms in the world that put people down. Thank God we don't have to stay here. So there is a sickness unto death when God says, it's time for you to come be with me. And then there's a third kind, sickness for learning, sickness for death, and sickness for bringing glory to God. Bringing glory to God. Jesus talked about this third kind of illness or sickness in John chapter 11. He says it in verse four. John 11, four, Jesus says this. They brought a sick man to Jesus and he said, now the purpose of his illness is not for death. That's the second kind, sickness unto death. Instead, the purpose of this illness is so that God will receive glory from this situation.

21:01 You say, how in the world can God get glory from my sickness, from my illness? Well, there's two different ways. One is you get healed and there's a miracle and there's a testimony of God's healing power. The other way God can get glory is you're not healed, but you, with strong moral character and commitment and faith, stay true to Christ in spite of all your pain. If you know anything about Christian history, the greatest saints of all times were the ones who endured basically chronic pain throughout their entire lives. It shaped their character in such a way that they were far deeper than the shallow people who never had much pain in their life. So God can get glory in your illness either way, through a miraculous healing, and who cares if he does it through medicine or a miracle? I don't care. They're both healings of God.

21:53 And the other way is if you're not healed, but you stay true to God, and you let that suffering deepen you, build your character, grow your soul, develop your dependence on God, become a woman of depth, become a man of character. That brings glory to God too. Now we know that when we pray for people, not everybody gets healed. Not everybody I've prayed for gets healed. Why? I don't know. When I get to heaven, we'll know. That's in God's book. We know that God determines when people get healed, he determines how people get healed, and he determines where people get healed. His job is to figure out the when, where, and how, and God has all of eternity to answer his promises. us. But my job and your job is to do what he commanded us to do. And over and over in scripture, we're commanded to pray for each other. And we're commanded to pray for each other's healings. And the Bible tells us in James chapter 5, verse 14 to 16, that we are to pray for each other and anoint each other with oil as a symbol of God's anointing. James 5, 14 says this, if you're sick, If you're sick, ask your church leaders to pray for you, literally elders, ask your church leaders to pray for you and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord.

23:14 Now, there's nothing magical or mystical about the oil. There's nothing supernatural, nothing, properties that make it, it's just oil, it's olive oil. But it is the faith, anoint with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer that is offered in faith will bring healing. Notice, not the oil, but the prayer in faith. will bring healing and the Lord will restore your health. He says, and pray for each other so that you will be healed. The prayer of a godly person is powerful and effective. Heavenly Father, it's amazing that many people will be within inches of a miracle and will walk away from it out of fear. I pray nobody will leave here missing out on an opportunity to receive your anointing, your blessing, your power, whether it's in their business or in their body, whether it's in their family or their finances,

24:12 wherever they need, you know what that need is and you are a healing God, whether physical, relational, financial, mental, emotional, or any other area. And you've brought us to this moment. the question is will we trust you to do what you told us to do Lord it's all in your hands we're just going to do what you tell us to do as an evidence of trust and I ask your blessing on every person in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and everybody said amen God bless you everybody What a special message from Pastor Rick. And now let's hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope. Here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners. Today I want to introduce you to Agatha, who's translating Daily Hope into German for her husband. She writes, Pastor Rick, your preaching is bringing many souls to God. My husband, who is an unbeliever, is drawing closer and closer to God. Every day I translate what I hear on Daily Hope into German because he can't speak and understand English. Pastor Rick, your teaching has changed his life, and I can see his progress and eagerness to follow Jesus. Agatha. Well, Agatha, thank you so much for sharing your story with me. This is a wonderful story to hear that you're translating what you you here on Daily Hope for your husband, and that he's growing closer to Jesus. I'm so happy for that. We're always looking for translators to help us in new languages as we take the message of God to more people around the world. So you will keep praying for your husband, and you keep praying for us that God allows us to take the good news of God's hope all around the world.