Flourishing with Fresh Oil

The weeks can feel long, and the days may seem very short for a Faith Leader with a divine assignment. It’s important to be well-educated and prepared for whatever God has assigned to you. However, completing the assignment requires more; the most essential thing you need is the anointing. Do you understand what the anointing is and how it functions? What can you do when you feel tired, worn down, and ready to give up? The answer is to do what Paul told Timothy: stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (2 Timothy 1:6) You have the Holy Ghost living within you and upon you as a Spirit-filled believer. Therefore, you have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things (1 John 2:20), but it’s up to you to stir that unction [anointing] up.

Paul’s Anointing

The Apostle Paul was anointed. He received the baptism of the Holy Ghost when the disciple Ananias prayed for him to regain his sight and receive the Holy Ghost. (Acts 9:17) He said he prayed in tongues more than the entire church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:18), and he was led and empowered by the Holy Ghost to perform signs, wonders, and miracles.

In Acts 19:11-12, we read about some special miracles in Paul’s ministry: And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. The people in Ephesus recognized the anointing on Paul; they saw something on him that made them believe they could take cloths from his body, lay them on the sick or demon-possessed, and see healing and deliverance.

What can we learn from this? It doesn’t mean you should start a “handkerchief ministry,” but it does show that the anointing is real and transferable. Whether you feel the Spirit or not, He is still with you because He lives inside of you. Still, there are times when you can sense a powerful anointing. Since the anointing is transferable, it’s important for Faith Leaders to make themselves available to others who operate in the anointing. If you feel weak or like you’re losing the oil of the anointing, get around someone who is filled to overflowing.

The Spirit Without Measure and By Measure

Jesus has the Spirit without measure because he had no sin. John 3:34 tells us: For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. You and I, however, have a measure of the Spirit, as Paul noted in Philippians 1:19: For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The body of Christ needs one another because each of us carries a supply of the Spirit, but we restrict that flow when our minds are not renewed and our bodies do things that oppose God’s Word. The flesh is one of the main battlegrounds for Christians, along with the mind. Paul understood that allowing his body to control him would limit the flow of the anointing. He wrote, But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9:27)

Fresh Oil for the Righteous

You can flourish with fresh oil by not only being the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), but also by acting righteously, which means doing right things according to God’s Word. Psalm 92:10-12 says: But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

The Hebrew word for fresh is ra’anan, which means fresh, flourishing, green, and prosperous. It refers to new oil, a fresh anointing that will revive and empower you to defeat the enemy and prosper in your assignment.

When you're feeling tired, lethargic, or overwhelmed, remember you can thrive again with new oil. Stir up the gift within you by praying in the Holy Ghost. Surround yourself with others who are anointed because it will “rub off” on you. The anointing God placed in you hasn’t disappeared; it’s just waiting to be rekindled, renewed, and poured out to others through you, Faith Leader!