Message for July 16, 2023 from Pastor Shirley

“He (Jesus) went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.  And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.  Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’” Luke 4:16-19 

The word “anoint” simply means to rub into or to smear upon.  Jesus was smeared with the anointing, specifically the person, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit.  Isaiah 10:27 tells us that the anointing is the burden-removing, yoke destroying power of God.  It is this anointing that delivers and sets the captives free.  The anointing is God on flesh doing what flesh can’t do. It is God’s super added to our natural.  Acts 10:38 described the impact of the anointing on the life and ministry of Jesus: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went around doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” This powerful verse reminds us that Jesus is a doer of good, that the affliction and sickness comes from the enemy, not God, and that the anointing is what removes the oppression. We as believers walk in that same anointing that was upon Jesus.  We are smeared with the anointing. Let us go about doing good-sharing the Good News-setting the captives free-freely you have received freely give! `