"Elijah said to Elisha, 'Ask! What may I do for you,
before I am taken away from you?' Elisha said,
'Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.'"
2 Kings 2:9
Elijah's God-encounter in the cave which followed his
exploits against the prophets of Baal and Asherah began
a transition for Elijah's ministry, as well as for Israel. After
challenging Elijah's hideaway with the words: "What are you
doing here;" the Lord then restored him to fulfill his next task.
Soon afterward, Elijah was connected with Elisha as his
protege and the process of Elisha's nurturing began.
(1 Kings 19:16).
The authority of Elijah's anointing shut up the heavens and
brought judgment on a reprobate Israel. Then his daring
confrontation with evil changed Israel's spiritual climate. In
so doing, God's people began coming out of the closet.
So when Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit,
it was no small thing. Elijah bore a disruptive anointing; an
anointing that short-circuited the inroads of evil. His authority
in the spirit stopped the sorcery in its tracks. It had no equal
in that day.
The fulfillment of Elisha's request for a "double-portion" was
evidenced not only by the startling miracles of his ministry,
but by the angelic host unveiled around him in his encounter
with the army of Syria (2 Kings 6:17). 2 Kings 13:21 then tells
of a burial interrupted by a band of raiders. The dead man was
abandoned in the tomb of Elisha and scripture indicates that
when "he was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he
revived and stood on his feet." So Elisha's double-portion of
Elijah's anointing not only worked unusual miracles, it commanded
the authority of a host of angels and carried a presence that
even transcended his death.
God's highest priorities are always about His people. For
both Elijah and Elisha, their greatest accomplishments
involved the impact on the spiritual climate to mobilize God's
people and impart the prophetic wisdom as advisers to
protect those known by His Name.
These dynamics raise two very important issues. First is what
Elisha reached for: a dimension in God beyond the incredible
spiritual threshold that operated through Elijah. The second
is the issue of the anointing itself, and with the anointing the
authority, available for the challenges within the church of
this day.
The release of the anointing comes at a cost. It involves a
stewardship. The stewardship is in the reach one makes for
God's presence; which in turn abides in the place of His glory.
The operation of the anointing requires a God-perspective,
which means adjusting our mind-sets, to thinking according
to God's order and standard. The release of the anointing
manifests when operating in the Spirit beyond ones human
capacities. Shared anointings come from mentoring and
cooperative assignments directed by the Spirit for the
purpose of the community at large.
Operation of the Anointing
Jesus taught his followers how to apply righteous power in
corrupt settings. This is the way of the Kingdom. It begins
with our thinking. "Let this mind be in you which also was
in Christ Jesus." Phil 2:5
The anointing flows when there is not one vestige of
variation between God's order and purposes; and our
actions or words. It is an emptying of ourselves in
humility to allow the unhindered flow of the Holy Spirit
through us.
"Who emptied Himself, taking on the form of a
bondservant." Phil 2:7
Jesus taught His followers to abide. Jesus spent hours
at night in prayer with the Father. He imparted the
wisdom that He always did what He saw His father
doing. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who
abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for
apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5-6
Upon His resurrection, a new thing happened. Jesus made
the Holy Spirit available to all believers (John 14:26-27).
The ongoing release of the Spirit follows the pattern of
Jesus in spending time with the Father and abiding. Many
were those who followed after Elijah, but only Elisha
stayed the course to embrace the "double-portion."
The Release of the Anointing
The anointing serves as a catalyst, an igniter of
righteous power. Abiding in the place of His presence,
the place of His glory penetrates the veil. It is the
place where the supernatural power of God to trump
evil is revealed.
Yet the anointing is released when what we see in
the Spirit-realm is put into action. From his place of
abiding Elisha discerned the very words the King of
Syria spoke in the privacy of his bedchamber. From
that he advised the King of Israel. So in 2 Kings 6
when the armies of Syria came by night and surrounded
Elisha's city, he knew exactly what was unfolding and
he knew what he was to do.
Joseph the Patriarch, a slave without position, brought
blessing to the household of Potiphar. Genesis 39
indicates that everyone saw that the Lord was with
Joseph and made all that he did to prosper. Joseph
knew what it meant to abide in God's presence, but
as a faithful steward Joseph put in action what God
showed him. He carried the mantle of his great-grandfather
Abraham, as a catalyst of blessing to those around him,
indeed to the nations.
Individual anointings are multiplied exponentially
when combined and released with the anointings
of others. The scope of Elisha's mantle expanded
as Elijah mentored, nurtured and prepared him. It
is the reason why biblical community represents a
safe-place to foster the diversity of gifts and
anointings; where they are allowed to incubate
and work together. However, since Jesus' resurrection
and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, shared
anointings have taken on an even greater potential.
The charismatic revival of the late sixties and
early 70s began when believers hungry for more
of God, began gathering to seek Him more diligently.
What resulted was shared and passed on by the
laying on of hands. Ripples went out that became
a torrent of revival as the anointing was imparted
and the presence of God manifested to satisfy
the growing hunger of those not satisfied with
the status quo.
Over the years, within my calling in the marketplace,
I have been given opportunity to apply my gift and
impart my anointing as a consultant to a number of
respected ministries, ranging from CBN to Oral Roberts,
to Morris Cerullo to Marilyn Hickey. In each of these
cases not only did result come from the application
of my gift; but I emerged with a dimension of the
anointing from these ministries I had served.
When anointings merge to serve God's purposes,
new dimensions are released on each side.
Many years ago, I received a prophetic word from
a minister I had never met before who had no
awareness of my situation or background. His
words to me simply were: "You sir, have a spirit
of prosperity on you. Financially, you may be
broke or you may be a millionaire. It doesn't
matter. Prosperity is not about money; but comes
from within to bring blessing and increase to others."
That word came not long after I had lost my position
with a firm I had been working for. My financial
situation at the time was not good.
Yet, the words of truth this man of God spoke
penetrated the darkness trying to enshroud me
at that time. It bore significantly on assignments
I had had in the past bearing on opportunity and
increase for my clients; as it has become foundational
to the role I now serve with the persecuted church
within God's purposes in making them the head
and not the tail.
Yet, what has resulted, as a consultant, a board-member
and a teacher-mobilizer comes from shared anointings,
which combine the dimensions of my own anointing
being blended with the unique dimensions of those
I have served and am serving.
As a young Christian, I was greatly influenced and
mentored by two incredible men of God. Both might
be described as world-class prayer warriors; men of
faith. Yet one also had a unique anointing for
developing strategy; while the other's distinctive
anointing was tied to being a catalyst for revival.
Now over forty years later, prayer, developing
strategy and revival are still by-words of the way
my anointing operates.
The more you impart to apply and give your anointing
away, the more it grows. It is a dynamic of the Kingdom.
The issue comes down to two factors. The first is the
cost of the anointing. The second is in applying the
anointing. The anointing of an Elijah or Elisha does not
come passively. It is developed and nurtured. It flows
with ones gifts and calling.
Every believer has a sphere (2 Cor 10:13), an area of
influence of their anointing. Within the boundary of
that area of influence is the authority to break asunder
what Paul refers to as the bondage of corruption.
Presumption in operating outside that sphere is
asking for trouble. The bottom line ties to changing
the spiritual climate.
Daniel excelled professionally and spiritually in a
culture of sorcery to the level that he was described
as ten times better than ALL the sorcerers within the
king's realm. From that juncture and standard, there
came stages of challenge: the king's dream; walking
in the fire; and the lion's den. Changing the spiritual
climate will not generally go unchallenged. However,
there comes a point in prevailing when one's spiritual
authority becomes established.
So it was, later in Daniel's tenure as advisor to the
court. It was in that context that the handwriting
on the wall manifested. It was a major shift from
the lion's den and walking in the fire. The handwriting
on the wall parallels Joseph's promotion alongside
Pharaoh, when the anointing prevails and has established
God's authority in a domain. When it does,
everything changes.
Yet, the mantle bearing the anointing will require
a cost. Many years ago, a great man of God I studied
under told the story of a young man who came to him
and audaciously told him he "wanted" his anointing.
Very few in that generation had an anointing to equal
the authority this man of God wielded. His response
to the young man very simply was: "Are you willing
to pay the cost?"
We impart and share the anointing generously.
However, to fully embrace the anointing of others,
a cost will be paid.
Sometimes the cost already has been paid at the
point of impartation and reflects a "next step" for
what the Lord has planned. That very much has
been the case with the persecuted segment of the
church we have been honored to be working with.
They have been through and have been purified by
fire. Elisha had been prepared by the best and was
ready for the double-portion.
Yet for others, the impartation will result in having to
face and then walk into the fire. It has never been
about man's glory, but God's; and His alone. The Word
of God tells us that God is a consuming fire. His presence
does not "abide" with the soulish. It disrupts and then
consumes it.
God's anointing applied will bring change and the
restoration of the order required to establish His
purposes. The key for the Elijah-Elisha impact, the
"double-portion" in today's time of turbulence, is to
be found in exercising the anointing through community.
We need the authority of Elijah's anointing to shut
up the heavens and bring judgment. We need God's
people to come out of the closet. We need those
who are either aligned with or overwhelmed by the
world to arise and take their place among the remnant
of the faithful, who have been applying their anointings.
It is time for the spiritual climate to be challenged
with the explosive power of shared anointings from
God's chosen.
The release of the anointing
involves stewardship.
Shared anointings ignite one another and bring
enlargement. This type of prophetic stewardship
requires a consistent priority of spending time with
Him so that our perspective is a God-perspective. It
means defining our gifts and like Daniel, becoming
the best in the sphere we've been given. That means
operating in the Spirit beyond our human capacities.
Entering this dimension requires focus given to mentoring
and cooperative assignments directed by the Spirit that
provide opportunity for shared anointings to manifest at
the community level. This premise will evoke what will
manifest as revival, as the fullness of His presence takes
root.
"I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing.
And I will cause showers to come down in their season;
they will be showers of blessing. Also the tree of the field
will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and
they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that
I am the LORD." Ezek 34:26-27
___________________________________________________
Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for
the call of God in the marketplace since the mid-90s. As
founder of Global Initiatives Foundation and designer of
the God's Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program,
Mr. Ruddick imparts hope and equips economic community
builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and
non-Western world.
He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy,
Israel and the Nations;" "The Heart of a King;" "Something More;"
and "Righteous Power in a Corrupt World," which address the
mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to
impact their communities with God's blessings. They are
available in print and e-versions from Amazon.com,
BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.
Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is
a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts are enabled
by the generosity of a remnant of faithful friends and contributors
whose vision aligns with God's heart to mobilize the persecuted
church to be the head and not the tail.
Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives
and mailed to
PO Box 370291, Denver CO 80237
or email us at sign@strategicintercession.org
for access information on
our secure web-site.
Likewise, email us to schedule a briefing for your congregation
on the state of the persecuted church and how you can more
effectively pray for them.
Reproduction is prohibited unless permission is given by a
SIGN adviser. Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN)
has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting
strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For previous
posts or more information on SIGN,
check: http://www.strategicintercession.org
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for sharing. Blessings on your head from the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach.
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People
Charlotte, NC USA