Anointing Comes With A Price Tag!

I was having a conversation with a pastor friend of mine recently and I was asked for a prophet’s understanding on the anointing. Without really thinking about it, I simply replied, “It costs you.” 

I really didn’t think that it would become an hour long debate but I was stunned when my friend responded, “My leadership went to a conference in California and they came back saying that there’s no such thing! Jesus paid for everything and it’s Christmas time for us.

I was actually quite perturbed by this confession and immediately the Holy Spirit brought the words of Jesus to me: And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple!”

The Costly Oil of an Anointing

The Cross represents humanity! It also is symbolic of the biggest price ever paid. And that was by the Father Himself who gave His only begotten Son as the full and final payment for the atonement of sin from the curse of the Law!!

We need to understand this clearly. You have probably heard it said that salvation is free. Well it was not free for the Father. He sent Jesus to be the payment so that we might inherit Eternal life. And what is eternal life? Jesus answered that one for us : It is to know God.

It means to have an intimate relationship with Him not from a distance but restored as sons and daughters to a Father who longs for relationship. Jesus paid the price in full for our sin. He was the atonement so that we could have At-One-Ment.

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The gift was free for us to receive – but it cost God everything!

The earnings of sin is death. It brought separation from God. Along with sin came sickness, illness, disease and infirmity. Jesus paid the full price for our indebtedness and because sin no longer has dominion over us we can be free of the repercussions of the transgressions of the Law!

We receive the sacrifice of Jesus as a gift to us. But in truth we give our souls to the Lord to receive this salvation. That my friends is an exchange! The only thing free here is the Love of God! And I for one am so grateful for that.

But after the Cross, after salvation enters your soul – it’s a very different story and not one that the modern, hyped up, charismania movement wants to hear!

Warrior Remnant – there is indeed a price to pay. And a costly one at that! Don’t bend your ear to a false gospel designed to render you ineffective and powerless, floundering in a life of disappointment and disillusionment wondering what you’re doing wrong!

What’s all this ‘Price’ talk?

As in the natural, so too in the spiritual. Everything in this world comes with a price tag. The more desirable the item the heavier the price tag. Yes I do know that the Holy Spirit is the gift of God. Yes I do know that His gifts are not earned but given. Yes I have read “freely you have received, freely give.” But we must have an understanding of the context and what this truly means.

We receive from God through Grace. That means we cannot merit it nor earn it. We certainly don’t deserve it! But once it is given to us – again freely – we pay a price to steward it! And here’s where the wheels fall off the wagon.

We must become stewards of our salvation that we received as the gift of God. We must become stewards of the spiritual graces deposited within us by the Spirit. We must become stewards of the call and election of God that has been placed on us. We must be stewards of the anointing we so very much desire –  and that my friends will cost you!

It’s all well and good to cry “Grace! Grace! Grace!” and profess that you can receive everything because Jesus has qualified us to be partakers of a divine inheritance BUT as with any contract (and the word is the contract) you need to understand the terms and conditions!

T&C’s apply.

Did you not think that there were any? Did your church or your favourite preacher convince you that you can have everything your heart desires because of the Grace of God and omit to tell you that once received you have to become a steward of it?

When you become a steward of something – the Master always requires an account of what you did with what He freely gave you! You didn’t earn it. You didn’t merit it. He gave it. But then he returns to inspect what you’ve done with what He gave! The inspection is what we ignorantly call visitation.

Jesus declared this to be the truth in the parables of the talents. But another parable springs to mind – that of the five wise and five foolish virgins. I’m sure you’re familiar with the parable found in Matt 25. But just reconsider the depth of it.

And at midnight a cry was heard, ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” 

All the virgins could hear that call, and they all awoke and needed their lamps. They prepared their lamps, but for them to burn brightly in the midnight hour, more oil was needed than what was already in their lamps. It was then that the foolish made the terrible discovery that their lamps were going out. Suddenly it dawned on them what it was that they had neglected, and they tried to get oil from the wise virgins. But the wise didn’t have enough to supply themselves, and the foolish both. The foolish had to go out to the peddlers to get oil for their vessels.

Now we can explain this away by saying, “Oh! That pertains to the rapture event.” But the word of God contains principles and protocols that have more than one application. 

And this parable speaks to stewardship and in this case the significance is the oil which represents: Anointing.

See all the lamps had oil in them to start. But the five (5 = Grace) wise virgins were good stewards and paid a price to carry oil with them. The five foolish couldn’t be bothered because they reasoned well we have the lamps and that’s all that matters. Well it didn’t did it?

The Stewardship Conversation

A great anointing demands a great price. Many confuse gifts (charis) with being anointed. But this is not the same thing.

For unto whosoever much is given, of him shall much be required,

Luke 12:48

An anointing always speaks of consecration and separation unto a purpose in synchronisation with the Divine Will of the Father. 

So to be a good steward of the anointing of God means that you must be consecrated. We can flow in gifts of the Spirit and still not carry an anointing. To be consecrated means that you must separate yourself. To separate yourself, in scriptural terms, means that you must dedicate yourself to God. And that is always going to cost you something!

What is the Cost?

Glad you asked! For me this has always been a question from a very young age. I grew up surrounded by the ministries of great men and women of God whom I was bless to personally interact with. I admired the anointing they carried. I wanted it. I craved it. But I didn’t know how to get it. 

I fasted 40 days – multiple times. Prayed hours at a time. Studied the Word of God relentlessly. Went to every church service, every conference, special meetings, prayer meetings and youth rallies. I remember ditching lectures on multiple occasions so I could attend seminars our church was hosting. 

After a decade of doing that I realised that I was essentially trying to acquire an anointing through my efforts. But it did not work  because of what I was doing – it worked because of the byproduct of what I was doing! Years later I realised that everything I had done had actually created this one thing which was (and still is) the requisite price – intimacy.

The closer I drew to Jesus the more He rubbed off on me. Do you know that the Greek understanding of the word ‘anoint’ is literally that? To smear or rub.

And the closer I drew to the Lord the more He began to draw close to me. And the proximity to His Throne decreased in my life until I was continually mindful and conscious of His Presence and only a whisper away from Him. Then the anointing that I desired gradually began to grew stronger and stronger until it was evident. Actually it was more evident to others than it ever was to me. I was still immaturely waiting for fireworks and the spectacular!

Gifts are given but anointing can lift!

This is a crucial understanding! We must pursue anointing but once we receive an anointing we have to pay a price to stay under it and for it to remain upon us. 

I know the Holy Spirit is with us always and will never leave us. But at the same time, the Holy Spirit cannot flow through a channel (us) when the channel is blocked. Many times the Holy Spirit uses us and flows around us to touch someone rather than flowing through us as He would desire.

Keeping the channel unblocked requires a price! That is the cost of being a vessel of anointing and a conduit for the flow of the Holy Spirit.

And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple!

~Jesus, the Christ.

To be a disciple of the Lord requires discipline and obedience. Obedience to the Word of God and spiritual discipline. And that my friends is the price to pay to continually carry an anointing. 

Practically it translates (without being formulaic) into things like fasting, praying, reading the Word, studying the Scriptures, giving, tithing, meditation, solitude, silence, submission, worship.

There are some other costs that people don’t often recognise. Persecution, trials, tribulations, false accusations. It’s all part of the same price.

But the greatest cost is TIME! It takes time to build a relationship of intimacy with the Lord. 

Some might say, “Oh Greg! That sounds like a ‘works’ mentality.” But then they’ve missed the point. We are not trying to receive an anointing through self efforts. The anointing is God’s alone to bestow. We are talking about being a good steward of what we receive.

Where do you stack?

When we transition from mere religious christianity into a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus, the anointing begins to rest upon us. Thereafter it is our duty to cultivate a lifestyle of spiritual discipline.

I’d rather pay the price to have oil in my lamp than to live a foolish life and have to get oil from conferences and seminars! Those things are good and have purpose – but they will not cause an anointing to rest upon you.

The question is – what price are you willing to pay to become and remain a vessel that the Spirit of God can flow through?

Love ya!