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Anointed: What That Really Means For You · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey you guys, happy Thursday. This is friendly.
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  Thanks for joining me on another podcast episode on In the
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  Stillness. Today.
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  We're going to be in first John chapter 2, reading through
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  verses 20 to 23. And I just want to preface,
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  these verses can feel a little confusing at first.
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  I think the wording can feel circular.
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  And so I really want to break it apart and hopefully help it land
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  in a way that is both clear and impactful, as it was for me.
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  So let's go ahead and read through the verses.
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  But the Holy One has anointed you, and you all know the truth.
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  So I'm not writing to you because you don't know the
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  truth, but because you do know it, and no lie belongs to the
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  truth. Who is the real liar but the one
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  who denies that Jesus is the Messiah.
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  He is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the
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  Son. Whoever rejects the Son rejects
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  the Father also. Whoever embraces the Son
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  embraces the Father also. OK, let's go ahead and start
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  with the word anointed. As we see here, back then in
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  biblical times, anointing was the pouring of oil, usually
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  olive oil, over someone and it symbolized that they were set
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  apart for a specific purpose, oftentimes for royal service or
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  even for healing. So when John is saying you have
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  been anointed, he's saying you have been given the Holy Spirit
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  by God the Father. And not everyone has this gift.
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  Out of the 8 billion people in the world, Christians are set
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  apart, marked by the Spirit of God himself.
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  So I want to pause for a second and ask, do you actually live
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  with that awareness or does your life look the same as everyone
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  else's in the world? And John then says that because
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  of this anointing, you know the truth.
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  And that is where I think it can feel confusing.
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  Like, what does that even mean? But listen to this from first
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  Corinthians 2 verse 16. For who has ever intimately
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  known the mind of the Lord Yahweh well enough to become His
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  counselor? Christ has and we possess
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  Christ's perceptions. That is one of my favorite
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  verses. It's crazy.
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  It's not that we suddenly know everything.
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  God knows we're still human. We have finite brains, but we've
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  been given a new capacity to actually understand spiritual
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  truth. It's a different level.
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  So now we have access to the mind of Christ so we can
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  actually go to God and as James encourages us, ask for more
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  wisdom. We can ask for revelation and
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  believe that He wants to give us more.
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  Like in Jeremiah 29 verse 13, it says you will seek me and find
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  me when you seek me with all your heart.
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  So 2 questions. Do you actually expect God to
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  speak to you through His word when you open up the Bible?
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  Do you believe that He has something specifically for you
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  or do you read it just hoping to understand something on your own
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  or by your own ability? And this all matters because of
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  what Jesus says in John 16 verse 13, that the Holy Spirit is the
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  Spirit of truth who guides us into all the truth.
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  And then John 14 verse 6 says I am the way, the truth and the
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  life. So Jesus's claim is showing us
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  that the Spirit reveals truth, but Jesus is the truth.
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  So yes, if you know Jesus, you are walking in truth.
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  But here's the tension. You can also think that you know
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  truth and still not actually know Jesus who is the truth.
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  And that is where deception can creep in.
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  Y'all, Satan is called the deceiver not because everything
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  he offers looks obviously wrong, but because it can look almost
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  right. He wants people to believe that
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  they have found life, that they found it apart from Jesus.
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  He's going to do anything in his willpower to keep you from
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  actually discovering Jesus. But Psalm 16, verse 11 tells us
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  that true life is found in God's presence.
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  So anything that keeps you from the Lord, even if it looks good,
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  even if it feels spiritual, it can actually lead you into
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  living a lie. So just ask yourself, am I truly
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  rooted in Jesus or am I just familiar with spiritual language
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  or with the right answers? Now John continues and makes a
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  very bold claim. If you deny the Son, you deny
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  the Father. And as I read this, I kinda had
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  to talk to the Lord and wrestle with this 'cause I was like, why
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  would someone want God but not Jesus?
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  And honestly, it's because a general idea of God feels safe.
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  And us humans, we don't like discomfort, but Jesus does not
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  let you stay comfortable because whenever he comes into the
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  world, he makes the gospel personal.
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  He's calling for surrender and he says he is the only way to
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  eternal life. So that's confronting human
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  pride. But Scripture is clear that
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  there is no separation. Colossians 2 verse 9 says for in
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  Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
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  So to accept Jesus is to accept God the Father, but to reject
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  Jesus is to reject the very way that God chose to reveal himself
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  to the world. Now, John does not water this
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  down. He says anyone who denies Jesus
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  as the Messiah is an Antichrist opposed to truth.
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  So this is not just theological, it is so spiritual.
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  And there are people in this world, even groups, cults that
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  claim to follow God, but they deny who Jesus truly is.
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  They might say that they're Christians, but they don't
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  believe that Jesus is actually divine.
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  And we cannot afford to be passive about that.
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  In truth, we have to call things what they are because God's Word
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  is the truth and it is final. So we are not to edit in what
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  feels comfortable or what we think is right.
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  And I love how this comes back to the anointing.
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  In the beginning, if you are in Christ, you are not walking
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  around just trying to earn your identity or your approval
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  because you have already been chosen.
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  You've been set apart. Think about someone who has been
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  appointed to a high position like a king or someone for
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  Secret Service. They're not just constantly
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  questioning their role based on others opinions.
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  They know who they are and what their job is.
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  So let me ask y'all, do you live like someone who's been anointed
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  if you're a believer and proclaim Christ as Lord?
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  Or do you live like someone who might still be searching for
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  their identity? Y'all, this is not about pride.
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  It's about confidence. And this confidence is rooted in
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  humility because you understand, you believe that you've been
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  entrusted with the truth, and you live like it.
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  So let me go ahead and close this out in prayer.
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  Dear God, thank you for what you reveal to us through your Word
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  and through your Spirit, the Spirit of truth.
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  Thank You that we're not just left to figure this out on our
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  own, but that You guide us into the truth so lovingly, so
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  gently, but also directly. Jesus, we acknowledge that You
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  are the way, the truth, and the life.
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  Would You help us to truly know You, not just in our minds, not
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  just in words, but in our hearts, and let that be
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  reflected in the love in our lives.
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  I pray that You would protect us from deception, from the evil. 1
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  Would you give us discernment and teach us to walk confidently
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  and humbly in the truth that you have given to us?
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  May we seek you with all of our hearts every single day of our
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  lives. We pray this in Jesus name,
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  Amen. OK y'all, that's today's
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  episode. Praying that the Lord speaks to
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  your heart that you can continue letting this marinate and just
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  think about these verses and ask God what He wants you to
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  continue learning and understanding.
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  I will see y'all on the next podcast episode.