"For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. "
—I John 5:4-5
God has made total provision for you to overcome the world. What does it mean to overcome the world? The word "world" refers to all that is bad and evil, including sin, worry, sickness, poverty, and other such things. God says to you that you have overcome the world.
The Greek word for "overcome" is nikeo. It originally comes from the famous legendary Greek god named Nike of Samothrace who was the messenger of Zeus and Athena. You can view his statue at the Louvre Museum in Paris. As you might notice, the shoe company Nike took their name from this god.
He was famous for one thing: he never lost a battle. It is this word that John uses to describe the believer in Christ. He says that the believer, like Nike, will never lose a battle. God wants you to win, always!
God guarantees to make you a winner. You are "Nike Man"! Say that out loud, "I’m Nike Man!"
Christ is Not His Last Name
If you asked the average person what "Christ" means, most will tell you that this is Jesus last name. They’re wrong. Christ is not a name, but a title.
Christ comes from the Hebrew word Messiah. It means anointed One and His anointing. It refers to both the person who’s anointed and the power he is anointed with.
What I’m saying is this: it’s not enough to believe that Jesus is good and loves people unless you also believe that He has power to do good and help people. So the title, Christ, represents His available power, not His love.
So many people are defeated, and yet they believe that Jesus loves them. Good! But that’s not sufficient, you must believe that He is anointed with power to help you. Not only is Jesus anointed but so are you.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)
Wow! Did you get the meaning of this passage. The glorious riches of this mystery is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Who’s in you? Not simply the person Jesus, but Christ! His power, His ability, His strength. When you believe this and act like it’s true, then you start to overcome.
You hear altar calls given, "Ask Jesus to come into your heart." You will not find this phrase in the Bible. It’s not simply Jesus as a person that comes into your heart, but it is also His anointing power!
You Are Anointed
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. (I Jn 2:27)
You are anointed, so quit acting like you don’t have power. You do! Many believers look at Benny Hinn or some other great evangelist, and put their trust in their anointing, but they never have received a revelation that they are also anointed.
Of course there are special gifts that people have, and one of Benny’s is healing. You should take advantage of any gifts that others have. However, your faith should be in the anointing that you have!
The mystery is not that Christ lives in some television evangelist, but that His anointing is in all believers. Believe that, and you’ll overcome.
To Rub
The word "anoint" originally comes from the word meaning to "rub." A person under the Old Covenant was anointed when the elders rubbed anointing oil on him, hence, the word rub.
When someone resembles another person, we sometimes say, "That person is rubbing off on him." The same is true with the anointing. Christ starts to rub off on you through the anointing working in you. You start to resemble Christ because of the anointing.
How did Christ react when He saw a need? He met the need. He healed, cast out demons, calmed storms, multiplied bread, and even raised the dead. Listen: His anointing is in you to do those things as well.
Say, "I’m anointed to heal the sick, I’m anointed to cast out demons, and I’m anointed to raise the dead!" Believe that, act like it’s so, and you’ll see God’s anointing in you work.
Recipe for the Anointing Oil
Many people do not know what the anointing in like. I found a passage that describes three characteristics of the anointing.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil...Say to the Israelites, 'This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. Do not pour it on men's bodies and do not make any oil with the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. (Exod 30:22-24 and 31-32)
At first glance this passage seems rather odd. It doesn’t seem to fit into the main teaching of the Bible. However, everything in the Bible is there to teach us.
God gives the recipe for the anointing oil, because through the recipe we discover several important truths about the anointing.
The main ingredient mentioned is olive oil. Not simply any kind of oil. It must be olive oil. Why olive oil?
Olive oil is made by pressing olives through stone wheels. Once the olives are firmly pressed, oil flows. The lesson we learn is this: the more pressure we are put under, the more the anointing flows.
I don’t know about you, but God works greater in me when I’m under pressure.
Pressure should make us into better saints. If you find yourself getting worse under pressure, it’s because you are depending on yourself and not the anointed One and His anointing in you. This goes along with what Paul said about him and his companions:
...We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Cor 1:8-9)
The best in all of us will never be detected when things are going well, but only when tests and trials come our way. The anointing works best under pressure.
Myrrh
The second main ingredient to the anointing oil is myrrh. Myrrh is a sticky, gummy substance that is hard to remove. The lesson is simple: God’s anointing is permanent.
If God would have skipped myrrh, then the only liquid element would have been oil, and oil is slippery. It would have given the impression that the anointing slides off of us easily. Many believers think this way.
If they mess up, then they believe they are not anointed. They feel that God is looking for reasons to take away His power that He gave them. He’s not.
Jesus said about the Holy Spirit that He will abide with you forever (John 14:16). Concerning Himself, Jesus said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Like glue, the anointing sticks on you.
Sweet
The final ingredients were sweet smelling fragrances. God is showing that His anointing is sweet, not sour or bitter.
I’ve noticed that when a preacher preaches constantly with anger, people will comment, "Oh, he’s really anointed!" Yet another may preach with kindness and love, and people say, "He’s sweet!" But then don’t see him as anointed.
The truth is, the second preacher was anointed, while the first was not. Don’t associate meanness or harshness with the anointing.
It takes the anointing to constantly preach with love and patience. It’s human nature to get angry at people when they don’t seem to obey the Lord.
The anointing works best when you walk in love towards people.
Don’t Sweat
An important commandment that God gave ministers under the previous covenant was to not sweat.
They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire. (Ezek 44:18)
Sweat stinks. This is why we wear perfume and cologne. The anointing oil contained sweet perfume, so that the sweat could not be smelt on the minister.
It is so important that you don’t depend on the sweat of the brow to overcome, but instead, depend on the sweet, smelling anointing oil. Through faith in the Anointed One and His anointing, you can be Nike Man!
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