The Anointing Through Transition
#Advancingthroughtransition
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Lisa Ang, assistant director of the CBC English Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
Watch full sermon here
Pastor Paul opened this week’s sermon by sharing that it is an honor for him to be able to share God’s heart and message to the congregation. It is Pastor’s prayer that all of us will be able to experience God the way he experiences God. God is giving us a powerful message through Pastor this day. After hearing this message, Pastor prays that we will make a commitment to walk with the Holy Spirit and apply it in our lives.
Pastor is also excited to see how God equipped the different age groups in our Church. For example, this past weekend, there was a youth conference: Selah. The Holy Spirit was on the move and it was an awesome equipping session for our youth. There were many people preparing for this conference. Sometimes we only see what we see on the outside, we do not realize that there are a lot of things behind the scenes that need to be prepared for such an event.
During the month of August, our Church focus is “Advancing Through Transition.” In life, we go through many transitions and many changes. God takes us through transitions so that we can become like Christ. Transitions shape the way we talk, the way we think, the way we love one another, our actions, and generosity so that Christ will shine in us and through us.
We need to understand that the nature of us walking with God means that we are making constant transitions. Constant transitions means that we need to make constant adjustments. Things that were relevant yesterday or a year ago may not be relevant today, yet God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The God who does not change is working changes in us. God does not change; His character does not change; He is an unchangeable God. This speaks about God’s consistency, His steadiness, His unchanging nature. God does not change, but the way He works in us allows for Him to introduce new methods, new directions to help us go through whatever transitions we are going through, either as individuals, in our families, our careers, etc. The goal is for us to advance. If we do not advance, we will be stuck.
Do you really want to advance through transition? What should we do? When the Bible mentioned God does not change, that means He is, what He was, and what He was, He will be. Whatever situations you are facing right now, you have an unchanging God. When we read the stories in the Bible, we can learn the transparencies and vulnerabilities of the Word of God. We read from the stories so that we can advance in our transitions, so that we can be better than we were before; not only in the form of accomplishments, but we will be more like Christ. That is the goal.
How many of us wants to be better? How many of us wants to be successful? The question is, what books are you reading? What feeds your mind? Pastor mentioned that he read several books about Elon Musk to understand how he can be such a successful person and leading many big companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, housing company, etc. We can learn from Elon’s success by reading stories about him. If we want to be successful, we read books about successful people. The Bible told stories of many successful men and women of God from whom we can learn from. How they sinned, how they failed, how they planned evil, how they repented. The Bible tells it as is; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Why not learn from what God has given us in the Bible?
In this sermon, Pastor will share about, “The Anointing on Transition.” God is progressing. God wants us to move along with Him. Sometimes, what causes us to be stuck is not only the bad things but the good things. God has a greater plan that we cannot see.
Common sense is not really common sense, unless we get a revelation, then we can understand. Otherwise, all of us have blind spots that we cannot see. We might have 5-7 blind spots at a time. When driving, after turning on the blinkers, we need to look over our shoulder because we have blind spots. Even after looking over your shoulder, sometimes we still cannot see another vehicle coming due to the blind spots.
God wants to anoint us. Anointing means you are smeared with oil, poured with oil, consecrated, you are being set apart for a specific purpose and goal. When you are anointed, you will become a different person. When you are anointed, it is like there is a download from Heaven, there is protection and you will be able to do some things that you cannot imagine.
In the Bible, it is mentioned many times that there are many men and women who were anointed. As we receive this message, we will receive the anointing and become anointed. As we advance through transitions, we need the anointing because some things that are happening in the transitions are hard.
Jesus Himself was anointed as Luke 4:18-19 says:
Luke 4:18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus is not known as only Jesus the Savior, but He is known as Jesus Christ. Christ means the anointed one. In life, we need not only our skills, our mind, our understanding from reading many books, but we expect the revelation from the living God. Unless we receive a revelation, something like a scale will block our mind and understanding.
We will learn from the story of David. David was anointed three times. These are the transitions that David went through in his life.
David’s First Anointing
1 Samuel 16:13, AMP
“Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.”
The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David after he was anointed. God does not want us to get stuck. God wants us to move on in the transition. The question is, “What is transition?” Transition is a movement, development, evolution from one form to another form, one stage to another stage, one place to another place, one thing to another. Transition is separating ourselves from the old so that we can embrace the new. God does not want us to be stuck, yet some people are stuck.
David was anointed three times, which means that there is an incremental increase that comes to our life as we walk in obedience. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will receive incremental increase from God. God will not dump the whole thing all at once but little by little. If God gives everything to us all at once, we will not be able to handle it. With anointing comes opposition. With the anointing, God will give us the assignment. With anointing, adversities will come up. That is why God gives out little by little. God wants to see if we are faithful and obedient through it all. If not, we will find ourselves stuck in the problem, stuck in relationship, stuck in habits, stuck in cycles. If we do not want to follow the transition that God is leading us to, we will be stuck. If we follow Jesus, we will walk in the stronger realm in the Spirit.
When we are walking in the transition, we will be confronted with constant need of transitions. If we do not want to embrace it, we will never be able to walk in the higher realm. As far as God is concerned, the Spirit of God is progressing and His Spirit is advancing. He wants to bring us from faith to faith, from strength to strength, and from glory to glory.
Ephesians 1:19 (AMP)
“. . . and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength.”
Know who is in you; know what God offers you; so that you will begin to know what the immeasurable and surpassing greatness means. The anointing that God gave us is super great, not just for Sunday but in everything you do daily, wherever we are. Do you want to experience the anointing out there?
God wants us to progress but the enemy wants us to be stuck. The enemy wants to paralyze and demoralize our faith. When someone has financial problems, for example, the devil does not need their money, but his purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. The devil wants to paralyze our faith and demoralize our future. It is time for us to make a decision. “I want to be anointed for a purpose”; “I want to follow Jesus”; “I want have the great plans that God has given me.
Every word in the Bible is not only choice words, but every word is inspired by the Holy Spirit. In 1 Samuel 16:13, Samuel took the horn of oil. When Samuel anointed Saul to be the king of Israel, he took a flask of oil. Flask is a bottle made by man, but a horn is God-made. Before you can take a ram’s horn, the ram has to die. Jesus died for us. Samuel put oil in to the horn and anointed David in the midst of his brothers. David was not even counted by his family. All of David’s brothers were presented to Samuel, except for David. Samuel had to ask Jesse (David’s father) if he had another son. David was still young with rosy cheeks and was anointed in the midst of his brothers. The anointing should be clear starting from home; not only when you go outside. Some people think that they are more anointed when they go outside or minister to someone else. If your family, relatives, or friends cannot see the anointing of God working in your life, do not export it somewhere else. Do not think that when you go out, you are better than when you are home.
David’s Second Anointing
2 Samuel 2:4, AMP
“And the men of Judah came and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.”
David was consecrated, commissioned, set apart, and ordained; then the men of Judah anointed David to be the king of Judah.
David’s Third Anointing
2 Samuel 5:3, AMP
“So, all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them [there] before the Lord, and they anointed [him] king over Israel.”
This is the third anointing. When you are anointed, the opposition will rise up against you. Sometimes we want the anointing, but we do not want the opposition. The moment David was anointed amongst his brothers, in the next chapter the Philistines rose up against him. The name Goliath never showed up until after David was anointed. Remember that the devil wants to demoralize your faith and rob your future. Would you allow the devil to rob your future? Make a decision right now. The decision that you make or not make will affect your future. Let us learn from the life of David; learn from the men and women in the Bible because the Word of God is eternal.
1 Corinthians 16:9 (NIV)
“. . . because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”
Because there are great and effective doors in our lives, there are many adversaries, but God has anointed us for transition so that we can advance and move forward.
It is not a coincidence that David was anointed at Hebron. The meaning of Hebron is friendship, companionship, place of partnership, networking. Hebron is a strategic place; the place of connections. “Remember, none of us is as strong as all of us.” (John C. Maxwell). When we work together, we can accomplish many more things. When you are anointed, God will send resources.
The third anointing came when the men looked for David to be king over Israel. David began occupying the throne when the people came looking for him, not when he went looking for the throne. Many people are after the throne, the position, the name, the fame; but not David.
In every anointing brought into David’s life, there were things he desired and things he did not desire. Just because you are anointed does not mean you will get everything you desire. When you pray, God will answer your prayer, but along with that may come some challenges in your life. When you are in that position, you need to learn to tell yourself; “Get out of bed! Get up! Rise up! Wake up!” You have to learn how to talk to yourself. You have to learn to encourage yourself. Remember that with every anointing comes opposition; but after opposition comes promotion. Most of us wants promotion without the opposition. No pain, no gain.
Going back to David’s life, he had to face Goliath and then he got promoted. After that, there was competition and David’s own boss, Saul, wanted to kill him. David’s life was threatened. David was surrounded by 400 men. These men were distressed, in debt, and discontented (angry, not happy, wounded). Imagine if that was you. Your own life was in danger and you are surrounded by troublemakers. Yet, in that situation, David encouraged himself in the Lord. How can we encourage ourselves?
God cannot enlarge our lives without teaching us how to manage both areas: the things we desire and the things we do not desire. We need to learn to embrace that. We will learn from Psalms 27, which was written by David when his life was threatened—the things David did not desire.
David wrote Psalms 27 in between his anointings. David was telling us about the God that he knew, even though he was in a precarious position with Saul in pursuit of him. David and his men were hiding in the cave called Adullam because of Saul’s desire to kill David. David had many chances to kill Saul. David’s men encouraged David to kill Saul when he was relieving himself in the very cave the men were hiding in, but David said, “Do not touch those whom God has anointed.” David only cut a little part of Saul’s robe and even that made David’s heart become troubled. Can you understand David’s heart?
An Exuberant Declaration of Faith
Psalms 27 (A Psalm of David):
1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.”
Explanation Psalm 27 1-3:
Some of us are stuck because we allow our emotions to control us. God gave us emotions for good, but if we allow our emotions to control us, our emotions will not bring us to our destiny. Our feelings can be our greatest deception; especially in moments of great battles. Notice David said, “The Lord is my light, my salvation.”
David did not say, “God has light.” -- David said “God is my light,”
David did not say, “God offers salvation.” -- David said, “God is my salvation.”
David did not say, “God will provide shelter” -- David said, “God is my shelter.“
It is a completely different understanding from when somebody just provides you with something, then when that somebody is that something or that someone.
4 “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”
Explanation Psalms 27:4
David did not ask for survival. He focused on ONE thing. Sometimes transition can happen whether we realize it or not; whether we want it or not. Sometimes transition happens suddenly, with no option. David said ONE thing. So many times, we have so many options that we lost the ONE thing. David said “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.” This is what City Blessing should focus on.
5 “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore, I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.”
Explanation Psalm 27:5-6
Imagine if you were David, surrounded by 400 discontented men and the men saw David words in verses 5-6? It does not make sense. David did not lose his mind, David got it. This is the way David can advance in his anointing. Sing praises. Talk to yourself. Encourage yourself.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’
9 Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”
Explanation Psalms 27: 7-14
Learn about David’s faith and let faith rise up within you. David did not walk by feelings, nor by his sight. He walked by faith! Learn to encourage yourself like David did.
Let us be of good courage and embrace the anointing and everything that comes with it.
Prayer Points:
Pray for the desire to read the Bible as it is, full with stories of men and women of God who we can learn from.
Pray for God’s anointing to be poured out upon your life so that you can advance through the transitions in your life.
Pray that you will learn to embrace the anointing and everything that comes with it: the things you desire and the things you do not desire. If you are to face the things you do not desire or are feeling stuck, learn to encourage yourself and continue to push through. Declare that your emotions will not hinder your progress. Learn from David’s life.
Pray for this ONE thing to be your focus: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”
Pray that you will learn to walk by faith and not by sight.
Pray to be more like Christ through the transitions.