A devotional from Kirk Hunt’s book, Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals for Gospel Champions (CadreMen Press, 2015).

David’s First Anointing

Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.
1 Chronicles 11:3 NKJV

The pomp and circumstance of 1 Chronicles 11 and 12 is a highlight in Scripture. The roll calls of valiant men and mighty tribes highlights the weight of David’s leadership. More importantly, it details God’s glory in Israel.

David’s anointing came from God. The great gathering and celebration is really worship and praise of God. Any celebration of anointing must be aimed at the Source, not the servant.

David’s long years of selfless service as a loyal soldier for King Saul, then as an outlaw-protector, are fulfilled in the coronation celebration. David had long since become a noble-leader and warrior-king. This third anointing is mere recognition of the clear and obvious truth of David’s life.

Your third anointing recognizes what has already been true. Your faithful service. Your loyal fulfillment of Kingdom duties. Your empowerment through the Holy Spirit.

Enjoy the celebration. God is receiving worship and glory in the ceremony. Remember, your anointing comes from Him, for His purpose. He chose you and is your source.

Think:

God is the source and purpose of my anointing.

Pray:

“Lord, help me to remember You are the Source and Purpose of my anointing.”

Blessed and Blessing, Devotionals for Gospel Champions

The Kingdom of God is built by the hands and hearts of Gospel Champions. These devotionals are focused on the faithful and courageous men and women who answer God’s call on their lives. Often the least recognized, these Christian servants are the hands, feet and face of God’s present-day Kingdom. Some of the devotions encourage servants to answer His call, then prepare for their mission tasks. Other devotionals address working with others on the frontlines of the Gospel mission. There are devotionals related to finishing in continuing strength and steady faith. Some devotions include Scriptural medicine and reassurance for those who stumble while serving. The servants who bless others are often more blessed than they know. These teachings help Gospel champions recognize and use the gifts God has already given to them. This book benefits the men and women who deliver God’s answers to the physical and spiritual needs around them.

This devotional from Kirk Hunt’s book, Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals for Gospel Champions (CadreMen Press, 2015), is reprinted here with permission. Copyright © by Kirk Hunt and CadreMen Press.

A devotional from Kirk Hunt’s book, Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals for Gospel Champions (CadreMen Press, 2015).

David’s First Anointing

Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
2 Samuel 2:4a NKJV

David’s second anointing came during a time of personal sorrow and national disunity. The men of Judah officially recognized David as their king. Benjamin, David’s own tribe, did not. All of the rest of Israel? Absent.

Still mourning the death of Saul and Jonathan, David took on the weight of his kingship. With tact, compassion and diplomacy, David sought to consolidate Israel under a single government. No small task.

The private anointing at 1 Samuel 16: 12-13 was necessary for David’s development. This second anointing publicly confirmed David as king. This anointing carried David from learner to leader.

Anointing is not a static, once-and-forever event in your life. As God moves you through His path and process, things change. You change. Your anointing changes.

As king, David’s sphere changed. No longer a mercenary captain, he became a regal king. He stopped working with the few and began working with the many. And this change did not end David’s story.

If you are one of God’s anointed, your story is not over. This season in your life is orchestrated by God. Your next season will be arranged by God as well. Your second anointing is another beginning, not an end.

Think:  

As I move through God’s plan, my anointing will change.

Pray:

“Lord, help me to fulfill Your call and anointing in my life.”

Blessed and Blessing, Devotionals for Gospel Champions

The Kingdom of God is built by the hands and hearts of Gospel Champions. These devotionals are focused on the faithful and courageous men and women who answer God’s call on their lives. Often the least recognized, these Christian servants are the hands, feet and face of God’s present-day Kingdom. Some of the devotions encourage servants to answer His call, then prepare for their mission tasks. Other devotionals address working with others on the frontlines of the Gospel mission. There are devotionals related to finishing in continuing strength and steady faith. Some devotions include Scriptural medicine and reassurance for those who stumble while serving. The servants who bless others are often more blessed than they know. These teachings help Gospel champions recognize and use the gifts God has already given to them. This book benefits the men and women who deliver God’s answers to the physical and spiritual needs around them.

This devotional from Kirk Hunt’s book, Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals for Gospel Champions (CadreMen Press, 2015), is reprinted here with permission. Copyright © by Kirk Hunt and CadreMen Press.

A devotional from Kirk Hunt’s book, Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals for Gospel Champions (CadreMen Press, 2015).

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:13 NKJV

Traditionally, during his first anointing, David was a teenager. Neither Jesse nor his family had enough influence or wealth to make one of his sons a king to Israel. Certainly, no one expected much from, or for, the youngest son of Jesse’s brood.

King Saul had already rejected God. Saul’s error and disobedience ended his kingship and dynasty. God commanded that Saul be replaced, before David’s name appears in 1 Samuel.

Anointing is more than being marked or set-aside. Anointing is being placed under the divine influence and empowerment of God. Clearly, the power of God’s Spirit impacted David’s life.

Divine empowerment, anointing, is an act of God’s choosing. Whom does God anoint? Saints, with sincere hearts, who proactively seek Him. They are men and women who use the best of their time, talent and treasure to build the Kingdom.

The best part is that anointing is not reserved for an elite few. Common men and women can dare to seek God’s Heart and make themselves available for His service. God anointed a young boy, with sheep dung on his sandals. Surely, you can approach His Throne and ask.

At God’s direction, Samuel poured oil on David’s head. Before God spoke to Samuel, He saw the sincere and heartfelt devotion of a mere shepherd boy. God’s sovereign will chooses His anointed. Why not you?

Think:  

God chooses whom He will anoint.

Pray:

“Lord, help me to live in, and seek, Your anointing.”

Blessed and Blessing, Devotionals for Gospel Champions

The Kingdom of God is built by the hands and hearts of Gospel Champions.  These devotionals are focused on the faithful and courageous men and women who answer God’s call on their lives.  Often the least recognized, these Christian servants are the hands, feet and face of God’s present-day Kingdom.  Some of the devotions encourage servants to answer His call, then prepare for their mission tasks.  Other devotionals address working with others on the frontlines of the Gospel mission.  There are devotionals related to finishing in continuing strength and steady faith.  Some devotions include Scriptural medicine and reassurance for those who stumble while serving.  The servants who bless others are often more blessed than they know.  These teachings help Gospel champions recognize and use the gifts God has already given to them.  This book benefits the men and women who deliver God’s answers to the physical and spiritual needs around them.

This devotional from Kirk Hunt’s book, Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals for Gospel Champions (CadreMen Press, 2015), is reprinted here with permission. Copyright © by Kirk Hunt and CadreMen Press.

David Ravenhill, Surviving the Anointing: Learning to Effectively Experience and Walk In God’s Power (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2007), 198 pages, ISBN 0768424437.

David Ravenhill, son of the late Leonard Ravenhill, served in pastoral ministry for a number of years, in more recent times he has embarked on an itinerant preaching ministry. Surviving the Anointing is his attempt to address, and hopefully help curtail, some of the significant ministerial fallout that has been taking place in recent years. One figure that he gives in the book states that an average of 1500 ministers are leaving the ministry each month.

David Ravenhill

Sportscasters sometimes say that sporting events are won or lost based on the athlete’s ability to execute the fundamentals of the game. The fundamentals, though basic, are vital to success. This same principle holds true in the kingdom of God. In this book David Ravenhill does not set forth any secret formulas, on the contrary he reminds us of things that we should already know the fundamental elements of a healthy walk with God. The book contains fourteen chapters. He devotes a chapter to each of the following subjects: dependency, intimacy, authority, persistency, purity, empathy/compassion, humility, worship, diversity/variety, family, adversity, integrity, unity and eternity.

The book is easy to read, but it gives the reader a lot to think and pray about. Ravenhill’s words call us to reflect and take personal inventory as to where we stand with reference to the qualities that he addresses in each of the chapters. He does not sugarcoat issues. He sets forth the challenges that leaders face as well as the solutions to these challenges. Each chapter contains a significant amount of bible teaching and a number of contemporary stories are used as illustrations throughout the book. This is a “hard” book in that it calls us to apply ourselves to matters of purity, persistence and discipline. However, it is not an “angry” book; it does not beat up but seeks to build up. It seeks to call out the best in us. It is in some measure a call for us to watch our life and doctrine closely (1 Timothy 4:16). It is a book of “grace” in that it demonstrates that our only hope to survive in the midst of the battle with the world, the flesh and the devil is to stay close to the Lord and to follow His principles.

2013 edition.

Surviving the Anointing is an important book in this time when many ministers are falling or failing. It will also be an important book in the years to come as human nature and the challenges of ministry remain largely the same. However, this book is not just for ministers, the counsel it supplies is vital to all Christians. Some of the difficulties that those in ministry experience are demonic to be sure, but not all are. Some of the difficulties are due to a person’s own failures some have made unwise choices some have let down their guard, and some have become proud. This could happen to anyone of us if we are not careful. This book is an appeal for us to excel in the basics, for by doing so we can stand and “survive the anointing.”

Reviewed by John Lathrop

Preview Surviving the Anointing: http://books.google.com/books?id=GPQ7_T9aj7MC

In 1977, after a consideration of all New Testament literature, J. K. Moon gave this classic Pentecostal/charismatic, albeit eclectic, definition of the anointing:

The anointing is the special presence of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of God’s servant which produces an inspiring awareness of the divine presence. His entire faculties are enhanced (heightened illumination, courage, wisdom, discernment, faith, guidance, memory, vocabulary, emotions, intellect, and physical performance) beyond natural abilities. The Word of God is quickened to accomplish its regenerating, healing, edifying, and sanctifying objective. And those ministered to are invested with a God-consciousness. …¹

The Lukan and Johannine Anointings

Oil of anointing, by Stan Myers.
Used with permission

In 1981, David Bundrick specifically addressed the Johannine anointing and isolated it, rightly so, as one particular kind of anointing, i.e., distinct from the Lukan anointing. Bundrick hinted at the distinction when he wrote that, “While emphasis today is placed upon ‘the anointing of the teacher,’ this text [1 John 2:18-27] demonstrates that ‘the anointing upon the student’ is vital.”2 But neither Moon nor Bundrick clearly defined and delineated both the Lukan and the Johannine anointings.