The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

John Belt
John Belt

What is the Anointing?

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is an empowerment from God for a specific task and purpose. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is given to those who are “called” by God to do His will. Just as David was anointed by Samuel to be the next King of Israel, David received the anointing through the vessel, Samuel. Through David’s love for God, he was found by God, whose eyes search throughout the earth for those whose hearts are toward Him.

Christ means “The Anointed One'”. Jesus Christ is literally “The Anointed Jesus”. Christ also having dual definition meaning “The Messiah”‘ His people are referred to as being anointed by God. Those who are in Christ are “in the Anointed One'”. The anointing serves a dual purpose in our walk with God.

The Internal Anointing of the Holy Spirit

Firstly, the anointing is within us. I John tells us that we have the same anointing of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had. This anointing is within us to teach us all things, to help us to know Him as He really is. Without the anointing of the Holy Spirit there is no understanding. The spirit of revelation is released through this anointing of the Holy Spirit inside of us. Paul prayed that we would have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Jesus told the disciples that He was with them, but soon would be “in them”. When we welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives to fill us with His Presence, then that same anointing that Jesus had will come to abide within us to teach us all things. I John also goes on to say that “you don’t need a man to teach you”. This means that all things are tested by the anointing of the Holy Spirit within us, leading us into the truth.

“The anointing of the Holy Spirit is the empowerment for us to live the way Christ desires us to live, His people reflecting and demonstrating the Kingdom of Heaven in the earth.”

The External Anointing of the Holy Spirit

There is also a mantle of power that God puts upon His people. There are special tasks that require an anointing or unction from God to perform. Maybe someone needs to be physically healed – there is an anointing for that. Maybe someone needs delivered from demonic power – there is an anointing of the Holy Spirit for that. It can also be to preach the gospel, the good news. There is an anointing to teach. God has anointings for specific purposes to accomplish His will. Some may view this as just the anointing of the Holy Spirit, believing it is just one anointing. I don’t think it really makes a difference.

What we do need to know is that we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to do what God has called us to do. God wants people set free from oppression. That is what the anointing does. When you minister in the anointing you also are a beneficiary of what is flowing through you. In turn, you experience a greater freedom and magnification of the reality of His Presence in your life. The anointing is for people set free from the heavy yoke. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. God’s anoints us to help people be free.

The Oil of His Presence

Oil, biblically, is representative of the anointing as well. In the Old Testament, when someone or something was anointed for a purpose, they used oil to consecrate. To be anointed is to be set apart for a specific purpose. Psalm 133 talks about how wonderful it is when brethren dwell together in unity saying, “It is like the oil running down the head, beard and on the garments.” They must have used a lot of oil! Whatever the case, the oil is very much symbolic of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Effects of the Anointing

The are certain benefits or effects of the anointing upon our lives as well. ?When we spend our time with the Lord, we are continually coming into His courts. Just by being around the Anointed One, we get anointed. The anointing produces peace, joy, love, grace, patience… all of the fruit of the Holy Spirit comes by the anointing. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is an empowerment as well to live the way Christ desires us to live. To bear the fruit of the Spirit we must love the Holy Spirit. When the anointing is upon our lives there is clarity of thought, confusion is gone. His anointing gives us focus, purpose and wisdom as we abide in His Presence.

How to Receive the Anointing of the Holy Spirit

To walk in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the first thing that must take place in our hearts is a revelation that Jesus sent His Spirit for a purpose. That purpose is that we may firstly “Abide in Him”. Jesus said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you then you shall ask… and it shall be done.” We need to value to Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives to walk in His anointing. We are told not to “grieve” the Holy Spirit. Most people would not know the Holy Spirit has left because He has been gone so long. There is a place of being aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. It is when this tangible awareness is with us that we can actually tell that He is grieved by certain things. To be grieved means to be upset or unhappy. We want God to be happy within us. The Holy Spirit is God within us. We are habitations of God. God dwells in us in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Worship is a magnet for the Holy Spirit. We need the spirit of worship upon our lives. This will cause the Holy Spirit water level to rise within us. There measure we sow is thee measure that we will reap. When we sow to the Spirit, we reap life. sowing to the flesh we reap corruption and spiritual decay. Make thanksgiving and praise and priority in your life. Worship will open up your heart to receive more of His anointing on your life.

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10 thoughts on “The Anointing of the Holy Spirit”

  1. Greetings in the Precious Name of Jesus, I was saved 24 years ago. I have felt the anointing of the holy spirit over the years and it is so wonderful. For the past 10 months I have been feeling the anointing power of God in my eyes. It was a very difficult time in my life and I really started praying. Everytime I pray, worship or call God’s name. Sometimes I would feel the presence of God and while praying God’s presence would intensify. My eyes would flutter alot like butterflies. Is this type of anointing normal? It happens throughout the day. I also got a vision recently when my mother was sick (in the hospital) and we feared the worse. I saw her in a vision sick, my eyes were closed but not sleeping. Then I opened them and closed them again and this time she was in excellent health and looked 10 years younger. Does this mean I have the gift of visions or revelation gift? I am not sure what I anointed for. I feel God’S presence throughout the day yet I don’t speak in tongues.
    Please help me to understand.
    God Bless you
    Rena

    • Dear Rena,
      The experiences we can have in the Holy Spirit are wide and varied. There does not necessarily need to be a biblical precedent for them. If we look at the experiences people have had in “revival history” physical manifestations on the body are common. In Acts 2 it speaks of how God will pour out His Spirit on “all flesh” in these last days, mentioning visions and dreams being part of the attached experiences. The anointing of God’s Spirit can cause various manifestations upon the physical body. Obviously, in your case, it is the eyes connected to the visions. Whether it is a gift or not is of no concern. Paul prayed for us to have “the spirit of wisdom and revelation” in the book of Ephesians. To understand your revelation concerning the visions you had would be best. With your revelation get understanding. God always has a good outcome for your mother. Stay in worship and prayer for her abiding in His Presence. Tongues is “a” manifestation of the Spirit, not “the” manifestation or gift. God’s Presence is the main thing. Just pursue God Himself in whole-hearted devotion. He will continue to give understanding in all of these things.
      God’s Best For You

    • My wife and I just started going back to church a new church and not l long after we were in a horrible financial state so with me not knowing my wife asked the church for help and they did to the tune of 500 dollars with no pay back when I found out I was beside myself and my wife caught the worst from me because I had alot of pride I told her I cant go to that church again becuse of embarrassment so a few weeks went by , so one morning at about 3 am riding my motorcycle to work I was riding along thinking about cal trans taking forever to repaire the freeway when a audible voice spoke to me and said this you are a child of the king and I am taking care of it , then right after I started crying because it was to me for me then the only way I could best describe it was this love this feeling of pure fantastic love and at the same time this warm oil was pouring on top of my head and slowly covering my whole body mind you all this time on a motorcycle on the freeway I just started shouting and praising and crying all the way to work I dont remember the ride untill I hit the parking lot when I got off the bike I could bearly walk but when I did every step I took seemed like 10 feet and no kidding the ground looked twice the distance below me and when I entered the building the co workers that I see every morning seemed to stair alittle longer at me somthing waa different not sure what they saw exactly but I felt wonderful thats what happend to me im still not sure why but I know it was the wholy spirit and gods love .thank you . You can respond if you like praise god fofever.

  2. God is rich to give blessing and more enjoy and anointing for us to be glory for him in thanksgiving with the Holy Spirit and we have authory to heal the sick and open the eyes of blind and awake the dead and open ear of the deaf and set free the captive of sin in Jesus name,thanks and bless and pray,keijo sweden

  3. pls man of GOD….. i pastor a branch of the Revival House Church based in Nigeria…..west Africa., when things go wrong i just find myself blaming myself and wondering what i could have done wrong….. IS THIS HEALTHY FOR MY SPIRITUAL LIFE and the HOLY SPIRIT IN ME?

    • Dear Edward,
      I don’t know if I can effective answer your question. Obviously we want to take responsibility for our actions. In pastoring a church there are so many senarios that are not easy to deal with. Ultimately each person is responsible for their own life before God. As a pastor you can only do your best by God’s grace to help others, pointing them in the right direction for their lives. One thing to remember is that there is only ONE Savior, Jesus Christ. You cannot take responsibility for others actions, but just your own. So if you are being hard on yourself for not doing things perfectly, you should lighten up on yourself. The truth is that we treat others the way we treat ourselves. That can be good or bad. But taking blame for something that is legitimately not your fault is not good.
      God’s grace and peace to you,
      John

  4. I was 15 years old when the pastor wanted to pray over my sister and I. I felt as if someone poured warm oil on top of my head and it drizzled down my body. I opened my eyes because I couldn’t believe I physically felt something that was not physically there. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. I am now 37 years old and always wondered what that was and why did it happen to me and not my sister. I’ve been raised in the church and know about anointing in the bible but they were physical with oil. I felt this spiritually and have had a hard time over the years finding others who have had that same experience. Then I stumbled across one of your comments from Mark Wood. Is this an anointing on my life, or just God wanting me to feel his presence?

  5. A little beyond 26 yrs ago I went to a church service where they had a guest speaker and he preached from the bible I believe and then after that he started to praise the Lord and worship God and next thing I know I feel this force bringing me to my knees n making me cry n weep n groan very much and almost a yr after that at that same church I felt or sensed this bright white light or glory radiating from my very being n after the bright white light disappeared from my sight my body started to vibrate or shake a little slowly so you are not alone.

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