Acts 10:38 NKJV (38) 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.
I believe we all would agree that Jesus was anointed by God to fulfill His assignment.
Philippians 2:5-8 TPT (5) And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation. (6) He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. (7) Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! (8) He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion!
He ministered as a man, anointed by the Holy Spirit and not as the Divine Son of God.
Luke 5:17-26 NKJV (17) Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. (18) Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. (19) And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. (20) When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” (21) And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (22) But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? (23) Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? (24) But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (25) Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. (26) And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”
Notice verse 17 says that the power of God was present to heal THEM.
But, we can see that only one man got healed because of his faith and the faith of his friends.
- What the anointing can accomplish in your life depends more on you than it does on the one who is anointed.
- How you regard the anointing of God determines what that anointing can do in your life.
- We need to learn to receive by faith from the anointing that is present in the environment.
Let’s Start with WHY!
Luke 15:1-24 NKJV (1) Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. (2) And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” (3) So He spoke this parable to them, saying: (4) “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? (5) And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (6) And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ (7) I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. (8) “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? (9) And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ (10) Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (11) Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. (12) And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. (13) And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. (14) But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. (15) Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. (16) And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. (17) “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! (18) I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, (19) and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ‘ (20) “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. (21) And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ (22) “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. (23) And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; (24) for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
Luke 15:1-2 MSG (1) By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. (2) The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.”
This is the only instance in the Gospels where Jesus told three parables about the same thing in a row.
Three common threads that run through these stories:
- There was something of great value was missing, something that really mattered.
- The missing sheep was important to the shepherd because it represented a portion of his livelihood.
- The lost coin was vital to the woman’s survival. Perhaps she was a widow and the coin represented a large part of her entire financial well being.
- The son mattered greatly to the father.
In short, what Jesus was saying in these three simple stories was that these people: the wanderers, the lost, the spiritually confused and selfish actually have value to the Heavenly Father!
God’s love is so great that it can look beyond sins and treasure the wayward people behind them. God’s love says, “Even though you’re way off track, you still matter to Me! You really do!”
When you and I begin to look at others with the attitude that they really matter to God it will revolutionize the way that we treat people.
You have never locked eyes with another human being who isn’t valuable to God.
You might say, “All right. People matter to God, but how much?”
- The second common thread in Jesus’ three stories is that which was missing was important enough to warrant an all-out search.
The sheep got lost and shepherd went out looking for it until he found it.
The coin was missing and the woman turned her house upside down until she located it.
In the story of the wayward son, the father exercised restraint and let the son use his free choice and make some bad decisions but his eyes kept scanning the horizon looking for the day when his son would return home.
When you really value something, and it winds up lost, you just naturally want to search for it.
Luke 19:10 CEV (10) The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.”
- The final common thread in these three stories is that when that which matters and was lot is found, the retrieval results in great celebration.
- The shepherd retrieved his lost sheep and threw a party.
- The woman found the lost coin and threw another party.
- The wayward son came home and the father threw the biggest party of all.
Luke 15:10 NKJV (10) Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:10 MSG (10) Count on it–that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.”
Whether last week or forty years ago, when you gave your heart to Jesus, all of heaven erupted in a magnificent cosmic celebration where your name was written on the banner that hung up.
If that brought joy to your heart knowing that kind of celebration occurred on your behalf, just imagine what kind of joy will take place in your heart when you are a primary player in the process.
There is nothing like the adventure of being used by God to contagiously spread His love, truth and life to others – the people that matter so much to Him.
That is how much people matter to God. If people matter so much to God, then they should matter to us too.