Anointed Without Shame

Last night our family attended a "Biblical Dinner" hosted by Calvary Fellowship of Epping, a neighboring suburb of Sydney.  It was an instructive evening of learning the social and hospitality customs in Israel during the life of Christ.  When welcoming a guest into your home, good hospitality was of great importance.  After the greeting it was good manners to offer a cold drink of water, wash the feet of the guest, and anoint their head with a fragrant oil.  It was also considered polite to wash the hands of guests before eating.

I was asked to come forward for part of the demonstration.  I was told to kneel and pastor John explained how the host would pour fragrant oil over the head of the guest.  The oil would drip from the hair and beard onto the clothes.  It reminded me of a statement King David wrote concerning the anointing of Aaron in Psalm 133:2:  "It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments."  It seems like a large amount of oil would be needed to drip from the head all the way to the edge of the garment!  It is also clear that this ancient act of middle eastern hospitality would not receive a favorable reception among people hailing from western cultures!

It caused me to think about the command given to the sick in James 5:13-15:  "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."  I used to always carry a small vial of oil with my Bible in case someone desired to be anointed in obedience to scripture.  My thought always was, how much oil should be used in anointing someone?  A dab on the forehead or the back of the hand?  Even if I poured out all the oil in the vial it would not add up to half a thimbleful.

Anointing is anointing.  If we make it a point to baptize by immersion, we shouldn't care if oil messes up our hair or drips onto our clothes.  I am not suggesting we need to make an arbitrary "law" that true anointing with oil should be a minimum of 6 fluid ounces.  But why don't we see people generously anointed with oil as Aaron today?  Maybe it points to a deeper issue:  perhaps we want to use just enough oil to satisfy the requirement but as little as possible to avoid inconvenience.  Maybe someone just had their hair done or is wearing an expensive jacket...maybe we don't want people to feel self-conscious or embarrassed.  This potentially sums up the life of Christians very well.  How do I know?   For too much of my life, to my shame, this sentiment could summarize my Christian walk - wanting the benefits God provides but unwilling to make even the smallest of sacrifices. 

Consider the implications:  we want benefits from God like healing and forgiveness but are not willing to submit to having oil poured on our heads.  I used to place a drop of oil on my finger and place it on the afflicted person seeking healing - also with a couple of tissues on hand to quickly clean up!  My great concern is as I carefully measure out the oil God carefully measures out healing.  I want to be anointed fully, not just with a drop carefully meted out!  We desire the Holy Spirit in His fullness, but when we refuse to yield ourselves to Him fully we hinder Him.  LORD, may I never ration the outflow of your Spirit through me!  How God desires us to fully yield to His anointing, even if it costs us a coat!  If we are not willing to submit to having oil poured on our heads how shall we obey in the smallest spiritual matters?

In no way am I condemning any particular way people choose to anoint with oil in obedience to God.  We are not under the Law but grace.  My participation in the Biblical Dinner last night caused me to examine my reasoning behind my own practices of anointing people in name of the LORD Jesus Christ.  In all things I want to do things God's way.  It profits me nothing to conform to social church tradition when God leads me otherwise.  Faith is best seen through my obedience to His Word.  May God anoint us with the Holy Spirit without holding back a drop!

Thanks Cheerful Givers!

"So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver."

2 Corinthians 9:7

There are few things that make me more uncomfortable than discussing money as a missionary.  There has no doubt been much abuse in government, corporations, businesses, and even in church ministries with people stealing or misusing funds.  But the discussion of money should not be a taboo subject.  The reality is that in our current system of buying and selling money is the only means to obtain necessities like food, petrol, internet access, insurance, and other things.

A huge part of my testimony is how God has always provided for my needs and that of my family.  Especially in the last year, the financial contributions of family and friends have literally put gas in our tank and food on our plates.  God has used your generosity and the timely sale of our house to provide for our physical needs.  Thank you to all who have given as God has placed upon your heart.  We have made some lifestyle changes to help us with the fluctuations in income as Shepherd's Staff disburses funds monthly, but to God be the glory:  He has provided and continues to!

At the moment our housing, mobile phones, and petrol are being covered by the church where we minister as part of a compensation plan.  Our visa restricts us from receiving cash from the church.  So those who contribute to our Shepherd's Staff account are directly aiding us with day-to-day expenses, even things like buying "tyres" for our car!  It's so great that the Holy Spirit moves people to give.  We are blessed by those who support us on a monthly basis and also those who give single donations from time to time.  It places us in awe to see God miraculously provide through you.  I'm sure there are times when you doubt that your contribution makes any difference.  I want to tell you that it makes a huge difference!

God always gives us what we need, and thank you for aiding in supplying for our needs through prayers and giving.  I'm reminded of the passage in Acts 2:45 where Luke describes the lifestyle of the early church, how people gave of their possessions to those who had need.  In giving you are living that life of faith!  We praise God for using you to minister unto us.  May you rejoice in the gift of cheerful giving!

Glimmer of Glory

This morning I left the house early for a meeting in Chatswood with local Calvary pastors.  As I watched the sun rise before our meeting, the top edge of dark clouds far off shone with brilliant light.  The gleaming ribbon of light stretched across the horizon was beautiful and I tried to take a photo on my mobile phone.  Though it was gorgeous with the naked eye, the pictures did not do God's creation justice.  The bottom half of the screen was so bleached out I could see brightness but without much clarity.  Every picture I took was immediately deleted as I drank in the beauty of the cool autumn morning.  My phone could not contain or portray the reality of the splendour I saw with my eyes.  God knows our eyes are not capable of taking in the sight of the sun obscured by clouds:  how then can a man turn his eyes upon God and live?  Because of this God made a provision for our weakness as it is written in John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  Who can explain such wonders?

I feel like my phone sometimes.  The glory of God revealed to me I am not capable of passing on with the same precision and awesomeness as revealed through His Word, the Holy Spirit, or even in nature.  I am not a recipient of special grace or divine revelation untold, for God is no respecter of persons.  He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, be healed, and be filled with the Spirit.  On my nameless tomb may it simply be written:  "A man saved by Jesus Christ in whom the Holy Spirit dwelt."  That God would place His glory within such a failed earthen vessel, broken and chipped and good for nothing in itself!  Yet God in His grace, mercy, and love has raised men from the dunghill and made us kings and priests unto Him!  Who can comprehend or adequately explain with words such humble condescension of so great a Being?

No man can do God justice.  Thankfully He is a gracious God who delights in mercy!  I am inadequate, I am wanting, I lack, I lack!  But thanks be to God that He grants us faith and strength to cling to His promises:  Philippians 4:19 reads, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."  LORD Jesus, my All in All!  May your glory shine unabated for eternity according to the riches of your love and grace for all!

Look UP!

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls ."
Hebrews 12:1-3

God knows that Christians need encouragement.  Weariness and discouragement are real adversaries faced by every Christ-following believer.  God has given me great encouragement today not only from Him but from His people.  At times I was filled with great excitement about the wonderful things God is doing in the lives of my brothers and sisters.  As if right on cue, the devil attacked my heart and mind through a conversation with a person very hostile to the idea that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

God has provided spiritual armor through the Holy Spirit to protect our hearts and minds.  Because God has taken my heart of stone and replaced it with a sensitive heart of flesh I am vulnerable to biting and harsh words.  When God speaks in His still small voice I can sense Him, and I also have come to recognize through much pain the hostile tone of the accuser and enemy of my soul.  I need not take a single word of Satan to heart.  How the devil rejoices to burden us with guilt and wound us with baseless lies.  He labours continually to trip us with temptation, bring shame upon us through our failings, and mock us in our weakness.  The devil delights to back a child of God into a corner through worthless arguments and debate.  But it is unwise and unnecessary to stoop to his tactics for it is written in Matthew 7:6:  "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."

When we feel discouraged or are wounded through harsh words, may we remember to look to Jesus and consider He "who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."  Jesus endured all the mockery, scorn, and power of the devil and rose victorious!  He did not escape from the hideous trial of faith:  He faced pure evil and experienced death only to cast off the bonds with new life!  The same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead indwells every follower of Jesus Christ and empowers us to endure without weariness or discouragement.  This is hard to fathom given the condition of the world and the deceptions of our own flesh.  But the promises of the Word stand true and we accept them in faith!

Praise God for the encouragement we have in the person of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit!  May I continually avail myself of the strength only found in waiting expectantly on the LORD.  Psalm 27:14 says,  "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!"  God is no liar and His Word is true!  Look up these promises yourself believer!  Look up to Christ and consider Him with thankfulness and joy, praising Him for His faithfulness!