S. Sekou Abodunrin
I remember the story of a fellow who was encouraged to take a particular cough mixture so as to ease his dry throat before he ministered. The friend forgot to tell him that a side effect of taking this drug was that he’d feel dizzy. The young minister took the drug and midway through his sermon he started feeling light headed. The young minister assumed that it was the anointing and so he paused asking all that needed ministry to come forward – there were tremendous miracles afterwards. The young man made a habit of taking this drug before he ministered and felt more confident as he preached as he had little or no reason to have to clear his throat while ministering.
Each time he had this light-headedness he stepped out and always experienced outstanding miracles. Cases involving demonic oppression and depression were resolved in a jiffy – the demons obeyed him.
One day his friend came by apologized for not telling him about any side effects and then proceeds to describe to him how it is that some people feel dizzy after taking the drug. He now knew why he started experiencing the light-headedness. It wasn’t exactly the anointing but his body system reacting to a drug that he was taking to deal with dry throat.
The fact remains that the demons did not ever challenge him that it wasn’t the anointing but dizziness induced by drugs! Firstly you need to realise that demons are not all knowing. their comprehension is bounded and limited. They go largely by how we act. If the demons could they would have. They were whipped by a fellow that acted on things that the word had said. You know you could feel fear and yet laugh in the face of the devil. You'd give him fits of confusion!
The man went by a dramatic feeling in his body. The feelings were everything to him. He believed it to be the anointing of God and on the basis of this started acting on the word by laying hands on the sick and expecting to see instant or near instant miracles and he saw them. He had moved into confidence unconsciously. This confidence placed on tap the anointing that was available all the while.
The secret was not the feeling or in reality what induced the feeling but the fact that he had stepped into a place of confidently acting expecting the cooperation of the living God.
Samson was a fellow who was no stranger to the anointing. We can learn some important lessons about the anointing by certain facts that we glean from his life.
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol Judges 13:24
I want you to notice that it says that the Spirit of the Lord moved Samson all the time. Did you see that? No you didn’t.
We are told that the Spirit of the Lord moved Samson at times. Samson did some of the silliest things one could think of. You see, the anointing will not take everyday decisions for you. Some people want a “thus saith the Lord brush your teeth” but thank God he isn’t like that at all.
Say it out loudly – God is not a puppeteer.
Samson kept company with a woman that had given him ample evidence that she didn’t mean him well. She wasn’t silent about it. She diligently and systematically showed him time and again that she wanted to have him become the laughing stock of the philistines. Was Samson expecting the anointing to make up his mind for him?
Yet, when the Spirit did move upon Samson tremendous acts of power took place. You need to realise that Samson was not muscular. If he was, Delilah and the leaders of the philistines had a low IQ and there was no need for Delilah to ask for the obvious source of his power – right? It would have been obvious with the 7 or 8 pack muscles and all. Samson was a usual man until the Spirit moves upon him and even then the secret wasn’t his muscular development but the anointing that he responded to.
And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. Judges 16:20
Wist is old English for know. In that verse it is really past tense, so it is “knew not”. I want you to read that slowly. The Spirit of the Lord had departed from him as a matter of fact but Samson did not know it. How come Samson did not know it?
We have read severally of the superhuman feats Samson performed when the Spirit came upon him. He clearly knows something about the Spirit of the Lord when it comes to acts of power. Think about it – if he did not know that the Spirit of the Lord had left him, it must mean that he was not going by feelings.
Lets assume that he used to go by feelings. Whatever feeling it is, it must be a feeling that was obvious to him otherwise the feeling served no practical purpose. If he still felt like old times then it must mean that the feeling was still there otherwise he should have felt different. If he had felt any different he would have a sign that the Spirit had left. We are told Samson did not know that the Spirit had departed. The implication is that Samson did not go by feelings.
There are many people that wait for a feeling before they step out to minister to anyone. They rest in this feeling more than anything else. We usually call this “feeling” the anointing. In reality the anointing rests upon the spirit of man and it is neither a hot or cold feeling. The effect of the anointing though as it flows through the body can be hot or cold, but that is the effect of the anointing and not the anointing itself per se. Some of the most amazing things happen when we have no feelings to go by.
One of the big hindrances to seeing more of God in manifestation are the traditions that we have submitted our minds to. If I am persuaded that I can only administer the Spirit when I feel a particular way, my experiences will support my belief system and it will be true that there will be more of God expressed when I have these sensory evidences.
Hebrews 11 gives us a clue about Samson.
32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens Hebrews 11: 32 – 34
We have the witness of God for it; Samson acted in faith when it came to the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord. Samson therefore gives us a strong hint. The thing to note is that the Old Testament doesn’t say things like “and Samson acted in faith” – you wont find it in the Old Testament. That we do not find it there however does not mean that it is not the case. The New Testament takes us behind the scenes.
We see a fact that when it comes to supernatural manifestations of God, man must give God expression. God supplies the power by the anointing of his Spirit and MAN supplies the action.
Samson shook himself. Notice that he didn’t shake heaven; neither did he shake God for there was nothing in God or in heaven that required such a shaking. Today, we largely are waiting for God to do something. We call this revival – we say we are waiting for revival. Some folks even talk of a great move of God in the past and say that God is not moving now. This would imply that the scarcity is because God is not willing to move in our day like he moved in yesteryears. If the truth were told revival is not the move of God, but men shaking themselves under the influence of God!
Revival is men responding to God.
That which we are waiting for to “drop” out of heaven is already on earth. We are the temple of God therefore we can and we will manifest him. I do not want you to rush over what you just read, you see there is a theory of faith, a set of creeds that we are ready to use as a batting stick to out-argue other believers in defending what our group or denomination believes. In reality we are the temple of God ad this is the genius of the new creation - God is available in you right now. It is traditions in thought, belief and lifestyle that rob the word of its power. We must adopt a tradition of belief, of promptly acting on the word and of believing that the anointing we need is not out there somewhere but abiding in us already. What remains is acting on it.
The true measure of what we know is what we are everyday. Just watch your everyday life, it is an accurate summation and reflection of what you really know. What you know you are is what you’ll do.
I remember the story of a fellow who was encouraged to take a particular cough mixture so as to ease his dry throat before he ministered. The friend forgot to tell him that a side effect of taking this drug was that he’d feel dizzy. The young minister took the drug and midway through his sermon he started feeling light headed. The young minister assumed that it was the anointing and so he paused asking all that needed ministry to come forward – there were tremendous miracles afterwards. The young man made a habit of taking this drug before he ministered and felt more confident as he preached as he had little or no reason to have to clear his throat while ministering.
Each time he had this light-headedness he stepped out and always experienced outstanding miracles. Cases involving demonic oppression and depression were resolved in a jiffy – the demons obeyed him.
One day his friend came by apologized for not telling him about any side effects and then proceeds to describe to him how it is that some people feel dizzy after taking the drug. He now knew why he started experiencing the light-headedness. It wasn’t exactly the anointing but his body system reacting to a drug that he was taking to deal with dry throat.
The fact remains that the demons did not ever challenge him that it wasn’t the anointing but dizziness induced by drugs! Firstly you need to realise that demons are not all knowing. their comprehension is bounded and limited. They go largely by how we act. If the demons could they would have. They were whipped by a fellow that acted on things that the word had said. You know you could feel fear and yet laugh in the face of the devil. You'd give him fits of confusion!
The man went by a dramatic feeling in his body. The feelings were everything to him. He believed it to be the anointing of God and on the basis of this started acting on the word by laying hands on the sick and expecting to see instant or near instant miracles and he saw them. He had moved into confidence unconsciously. This confidence placed on tap the anointing that was available all the while.
The secret was not the feeling or in reality what induced the feeling but the fact that he had stepped into a place of confidently acting expecting the cooperation of the living God.
Samson was a fellow who was no stranger to the anointing. We can learn some important lessons about the anointing by certain facts that we glean from his life.
And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol Judges 13:24
I want you to notice that it says that the Spirit of the Lord moved Samson all the time. Did you see that? No you didn’t.
We are told that the Spirit of the Lord moved Samson at times. Samson did some of the silliest things one could think of. You see, the anointing will not take everyday decisions for you. Some people want a “thus saith the Lord brush your teeth” but thank God he isn’t like that at all.
Say it out loudly – God is not a puppeteer.
Samson kept company with a woman that had given him ample evidence that she didn’t mean him well. She wasn’t silent about it. She diligently and systematically showed him time and again that she wanted to have him become the laughing stock of the philistines. Was Samson expecting the anointing to make up his mind for him?
Yet, when the Spirit did move upon Samson tremendous acts of power took place. You need to realise that Samson was not muscular. If he was, Delilah and the leaders of the philistines had a low IQ and there was no need for Delilah to ask for the obvious source of his power – right? It would have been obvious with the 7 or 8 pack muscles and all. Samson was a usual man until the Spirit moves upon him and even then the secret wasn’t his muscular development but the anointing that he responded to.
And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. Judges 16:20
Wist is old English for know. In that verse it is really past tense, so it is “knew not”. I want you to read that slowly. The Spirit of the Lord had departed from him as a matter of fact but Samson did not know it. How come Samson did not know it?
We have read severally of the superhuman feats Samson performed when the Spirit came upon him. He clearly knows something about the Spirit of the Lord when it comes to acts of power. Think about it – if he did not know that the Spirit of the Lord had left him, it must mean that he was not going by feelings.
Lets assume that he used to go by feelings. Whatever feeling it is, it must be a feeling that was obvious to him otherwise the feeling served no practical purpose. If he still felt like old times then it must mean that the feeling was still there otherwise he should have felt different. If he had felt any different he would have a sign that the Spirit had left. We are told Samson did not know that the Spirit had departed. The implication is that Samson did not go by feelings.
There are many people that wait for a feeling before they step out to minister to anyone. They rest in this feeling more than anything else. We usually call this “feeling” the anointing. In reality the anointing rests upon the spirit of man and it is neither a hot or cold feeling. The effect of the anointing though as it flows through the body can be hot or cold, but that is the effect of the anointing and not the anointing itself per se. Some of the most amazing things happen when we have no feelings to go by.
One of the big hindrances to seeing more of God in manifestation are the traditions that we have submitted our minds to. If I am persuaded that I can only administer the Spirit when I feel a particular way, my experiences will support my belief system and it will be true that there will be more of God expressed when I have these sensory evidences.
Hebrews 11 gives us a clue about Samson.
32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens Hebrews 11: 32 – 34
We have the witness of God for it; Samson acted in faith when it came to the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord. Samson therefore gives us a strong hint. The thing to note is that the Old Testament doesn’t say things like “and Samson acted in faith” – you wont find it in the Old Testament. That we do not find it there however does not mean that it is not the case. The New Testament takes us behind the scenes.
We see a fact that when it comes to supernatural manifestations of God, man must give God expression. God supplies the power by the anointing of his Spirit and MAN supplies the action.
Samson shook himself. Notice that he didn’t shake heaven; neither did he shake God for there was nothing in God or in heaven that required such a shaking. Today, we largely are waiting for God to do something. We call this revival – we say we are waiting for revival. Some folks even talk of a great move of God in the past and say that God is not moving now. This would imply that the scarcity is because God is not willing to move in our day like he moved in yesteryears. If the truth were told revival is not the move of God, but men shaking themselves under the influence of God!
Revival is men responding to God.
That which we are waiting for to “drop” out of heaven is already on earth. We are the temple of God therefore we can and we will manifest him. I do not want you to rush over what you just read, you see there is a theory of faith, a set of creeds that we are ready to use as a batting stick to out-argue other believers in defending what our group or denomination believes. In reality we are the temple of God ad this is the genius of the new creation - God is available in you right now. It is traditions in thought, belief and lifestyle that rob the word of its power. We must adopt a tradition of belief, of promptly acting on the word and of believing that the anointing we need is not out there somewhere but abiding in us already. What remains is acting on it.
The true measure of what we know is what we are everyday. Just watch your everyday life, it is an accurate summation and reflection of what you really know. What you know you are is what you’ll do.
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