The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

— Luke 4:18

Not only was Jesus anointed with the Spirit of the Lord, but He knew He was anointed.  He knew He had received the ability to preach, to heal, to deliver, to recover, and to set at liberty all of mankind.  He did not deny the power and ability that He had received in order to remain humble, but He proclaimed the Spirit that He had in His life.  He was not like the Church of today, which claims “God has all the power and I am just weak and hopeless.”  He claimed what He had received and told others of His ability and anointing.  Don’t you ever be ashamed to claim the gift that God has given you and that Jesus has provided.  Do not get caught up in the religious cliché of the day.  If the Spirit came upon you, then you are anointed to preach, to heal, to deliver, to recover, and to set free.  It is not humility to deny what God has given you; it is unbelief to refuse to claim what you have been endued with.  Jesus proclaimed “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and He has anointed me!”  If you refuse to claim the “God-ability” given to you, you will resort to giving sympathy to the brokenhearted, a dog to the blind, a hearing aid to the deaf, and a card to the sick and bound.  You have the Spirit upon you-–you are anointed with the Spirit and power.  Tell others, tell yourself, of the ability you now possess.

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, — 2 Peter 1:3

God “hath” already given us everything we need for the natural life and the supernatural life.  We are lacking nothing.  He “hath given” the believer an anointing, which is the power and ability of God.  The anointing is the spiritual equipment that allows you to live prosperously, healthily, and victoriously.  For over 2000 years now, the Church has been given all it needs–-yet we see Christians sick, depressed, broke, and defeated.  It is not because God does not care or because we have no choice, but it is because we have failed to understand the power and ability that is ours in the anointing.  We spend hours praying for power, asking God to send the power, depending on a God in heaven to do in our lives what He has given us the power to do.  We have bowed to situations that we have power to overcome, we have sought God to free us from circumstances that we have ability to blast out of our lives.  We blame God for the state of the world and of the Church, as if He is holding back on us, keeping His power and ability locked up in a reservoir in heaven until we pray and plead enough for Him to release just a dab.  But the Word says He has given us all we need to overcome and live in victory.  The problem is not with God or on God’s end.  We must learn to receive and believe what He has given us!

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? — 1 Corinthians 3:16

You have become the temple of God, the house of God, the dwelling place for God.  God no longer resides in the ark of the covenant, in the temple, or in the church building; He lives in people.  This is the same God Who created the universe, the mighty and awesome God we sing about on Sunday mornings.  He lives in you!  He came to live on the inside of you!  He brought with Him His power, His ability, His wisdom, His faith, and all things that pertain to life and godliness.  Yet we have preached a far-away God, a God off in heaven Who every now and then will take notice of us in our messes and help.  We have preached that He is a sovereign God Who can do all things-–yet in His “infinite wisdom” chooses to let people die sick, lose everything they have, suffer with pain and disease, even go to hell, because in the long run God has the big picture and “all things work together for good to those who love God.”  God is sovereign–-but He has sovereignly chosen to give the believer power and authority to have dominion over all the earth (Gen. 1:26-28; Matt. 28:18, 19; Acts 1:8).  He has called the Church to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and save the lost (Matt. 25:35; Luke10:9; Matt. 28:18, 19).  If the work is not getting done, it is not God’s fault!  He has given us all that we need to save, heal, and deliver.  Yet the Church sits around and waits on God to do something to change the world.  You are that something!  You have all you need!  You are the house of God!

But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: — Acts 1:8a

The Holy Ghost did not come to enable and empower God, He came to enable and empower the believer.  We have produced a mind-set of an up-in-heaven, far-away, inconsistent God Who may or may not show up.  We see Him as a once-in-a-while God Who will come down and heal, deliver, and set free...whenever.  We wonder why He chooses to heal one and not another.  We sit around and think up new doctrines that will excuse God for His failures, and that will excuse Him from not helping people.  But “you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost comes upon you;” “you are the temple of the living God.”  The Bible declares that these signs shall follow the believer:  heal the sick, cast out devils, speak with tongues.  It is the Church’s responsibility to heal, to cast out, to save the lost, to preach the gospel.  We have declared “Oh, I don’t have any power, but I know Someone Who does.”  “God has all the power to heal and deliver.”  That is like a preacher saying, “I don’t have any sermons, but I know someone who does.”  God has all the sermons?  No!  No!  No!  The same ability on a believer to preach the gospel is the same ability to heal and deliver others.  Ye shall receive power!  –-It is not my fault that I am anointed and full of power.  It is not my fault that people shake, cry, laugh, fall down and get results when I lay hands on them.  It is not my fault that fear and depression leave when I command them to go!  Blame God.  He has given me all things that pertain to life and godliness, and I have received power.  So have you!