I have been thinking about the fact that that Lazarus would not have come forth if Jesus hadn’t called him to come forth. The woman would not have been loosed from the spirit of infirmity that had bound her for eighteen years in a bent-over position if Jesus had not said, “Woman, thou art loosed,” and touched her(see Luke 13:10-13). The lame man at the Gate Beautiful would have still been lame if Peter had not called him to stand up, pick up his bed and go home; and he did, walking and leaping as he went!
There are three components at work in these miracles: faith, anointing, and speaking. Jesus spent so much time talking with the Father in prayer that He was already prepared when a situation or crisis came before Him. He was in the Father and the Father was in Him, and He KNEW it! (John 14:11). He knew the Father’s heart. He knew the Father’s will, and He knew He was anointed to carry out the Father’s will (Luke 4:18-19). Peter knew what Jesus had given him, and acted on it.
What Jesus gave to Peter, He gave also to us!
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matt. 8:10)
Jesus has given us the anointing He had – to bring forth life. In her book, THE KING’S DECREE, Jodie Hughes calls it, the “Lazarus anointing.” I really like that! What needs to be resurrected in our life? Our church? Our family? Our nation? We have been given the command, the responsibility, and the anointing to bring the life of God, the will of God, and the Kingdom of God to the earth.
I think what holds us back is that we live such busy and distracted lives that we don’t have or take time to soak in His presence. We send up our arrow prayers (and thank God, He often responds to those!), and rush on to the next thing. The blessing of the pandemic shutdown (yes, I really said that) is that many of us suddenly had a lot of time on our hands. What have we been doing with that time? Seeking God with all our heart, or watching TV? Delving into the Word or reading the latest novel? Praying or prattling?
Daniel 11:32 gives us a key: Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
The more we know our God, the more our faith arises. The more we know our God, the more we know who He created us to be. The more we know our God, the more we know the desires of His heart. The more we know our God, the more we know He has equipped us to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth, and His ministers of reconciliation. The more we know our God, the stronger we will be. The more we know our God, the bolder we will be to go forth and carry out great exploits in His name.
Jesus carried an anointing as described in Isaiah 61:1-2,
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to [a]heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, NKJV
and Luke 4:18:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah), Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), AMP
Jesus knew why He was on the earth. He knew what His mission was. And He passed His anointing and His mission to us:
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8 NKJV)
We have a “Lazarus anointing” to call forth life.
We have an “Ezekiel anointing” to speak to the dry bones:
“Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ (Ezekiel 37:4-6 NKJV)
There are a lot of people who think Christianity is dead in America. They are about to get the surprise of their life! Prophesy LIFE! Decree LIFE!
Hugs and Blessings,
Syandra Ingram