Reflections…

I’ve been reading and reflecting on God’s Word this morning. I’ve been in this lane of diving deeper into things, into the mysteries of God, especially about His Kingdom (Matthew 13:11).

John the Baptist came onto the scene, God’s front runner, proclaiming the Kingdom of God is at hand. John was still of the old covenant and was paving the way for the new. Jesus ushered in a new covenant. He was the new covenant. Jesus brought authority and power and displayed it through His works.

I was meditating on His Spirit and thought to myself in order to be His (effective) witnesses, we must have His Holy Spirit power. Acts 10:38 says “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.” This is the good news. As Isaiah 61 says about Christ:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you: and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In Acts 19:3 Paul asks some believers of what baptism did they receive:

So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴ Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 1 before His ascension, Jesus told the disciples they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, something John the Baptist proclaimed during his ministry. On the day of Pentecost, as Apostle Peter preached, the Holy Spirit fell on all there.

I began to look up the meaning of the word anointed and it led me to other places. In Isaiah 10:27 it talked about a yoke being broken off the neck of the remnant of Israel returning. The KJV says “the anointing breaks the yoke.” That word anointing is pronounced “Sheh-men” in Hebrew, meaning oil/fatness. The yoke would no longer remain on their necks because of the fatness of it. Fatness representing fruitfulness, richness, fullness. I began to ponder anointing one’s head with oil and its significance. Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets or those sent would anoint a person’s head before they were made King. The anointing identified them, it identified their calling.

Psalm 23:5

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

Those of us in Christ are God’s children, His sheep. He is our Shephard, our protector our provider. He anoints our heads by His Holy Spirit. It’s His Spirit that breaks the yokes. It’s His Spirit that sets the captives free.. Not by power, not by might, but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). We have everything we need in Him. Everything in this earth and its fullness belongs to Him. He is the fatness of the land; the fruit of His Spirit fattens our lives.

Thank you, sweet Jesus..