home / devotionals / daily reading plan / hope for God’s people / anointed and commissioned

365 Devotionals: Hope For God’s People

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22 AMP

The Seeds of Promise Devotional Series

Anointed and Commissioned

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed and commissioned me To bring good news to the humble and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up [the wounds of] the brokenhearted, To proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives And freedom to prisoners, Isaiah 61:1 AMP

Video of The Day

Watch “Christine Caine – Anointing vs. Gifting | Teaching Moment” by
WorshipU by Bethel Music. This is an excellent teaching!

Bible Basis

Just because you have not raised the dead to life does not mean that you are not like Jesus. To every person is given the measure of faith and gifts and talents with which to profit the Body of Christ (the whole of believers). Not everyone is a prophet, or an apostle, or a preacher; but some are teachers and some have the gifts of healing and knowledge. To help avoid underestimating yourself, you should get familiar with your spiritual gifts. Your lasting worth in the body is measured by your service of your gift to the body.

But wait! Remember there is more than a gift to serve. There is an anointing to do a particular thing. There is also a commission. Even though you are gifted to do a thing, you may not be anointed. This is because you can have a gift without the presence of God. That is why some people are really good at being bad. They have used their gifts for evil. It is easy to confuse gifts with anointing because gifts can be very powerful. They can fill stadiums, give you goosebumps, and even motivate you to be better. But when it comes down to holy things, only anointing will do.

Anointing involves the Holy Spirit. You cannot have anointing without God. To be anointed is to be set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit. The difference between gifting and anointing is the preparation and the end result. To be anointed, you have to go through something – like a photo being developed; like an olive bringing forth oil after it is crushed. It is anointing that breaks yokes of bondage off your life and the lives of those you lead, and causes you to overcome what stands between you and God: depression, sin, and the like.

When I was sixteen (1992) I accepted a call to ministry. I launched my first ministry ten years later. In fact, when I told my church that I was going to do ministry, I was told to wait on my ministry. They meant to patiently work on it (Romans 12:7) – I thought they were denying me the chance to do what I knew God had said to me.

If you are anointed, you still have to be commissioned – or appointed to begin. Although David was anointed to be King at 17, he was not appointed or commissioned as King until he was 37. He had to hold on to the promise for twenty years.

If you have for example, a gift for ministry but it seems that you are always taking the back seat because no one notices you, it may just be that it is not yet your time. Anointing will add the oil of a crushed spirit, that has survived to give God the glory through it all. When you are ready, you will be commissioned to begin working in your anointing.

The anointing connects people to God, not to an attractive person or his beautiful voice or her gifted teaching. Gifts make idols of men and women; but the anointed always point to their Creator as the giver of special ability. The gifted may or may not find fame. The anointed will be commissioned in a matter of time.