Living in the SpiritIhe Atụ

ANOINTED TO SERVE 

INTRODUCTION

God’s purpose to pour and fill the disciples with the Holy Spirit was to enable them to have the power and courage to serve the Lord. This ministry aimed to preach the news of salvation in Jesus Christ, which was the highest calling for every believer. A minister of the Gospel who serves with the power of the Holy Spirit will impart the love and power of Christ to the people he serves. He will also impart all good things that come from the Lord.

While experiencing the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Peter imparted the healing power, as recorded in Acts 3:6-7, “Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” 

Peter had the extraordinary power of the name of Jesus that he shared with others. Many good things from the Lord can be imparted through our ministries, all of which will be very powerful if we are the first to experience this transformation or change, as stated in the Bible verses that we have just read earlier.

SHARING

As believers, what kind of life can we impart to the people we serve?  Let us discuss this through the reading from 1 Peter 2:11-17.

1. Have the right lifestyle (verse 11-12)

We live in an environment with various backgrounds and conditions. Without realizing it, many people pay attention to us as believers. They observe our lives. 

The people around us will see and pay attention to the way we live every day. These include the way we talk, how we deal with life's struggles, the way we treat other people, and many other things.

Apostle Peter told us to "live such good lives….". To do what was said by the Apostle Peter, we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to guide us and become the alarm that can give us a warning so that we always live in truth.

Sometimes our lives can be "out of control," which is why we need the Controller in our lives, who will warn and pull us back to the track (which is aligned to the will of God) before we stray from that path. 

In this case, we need to have a soft heart so that we can obey the voice of the Holy Spirit that will lead us to the truth or the Word of God.

2. Have humility (verse 13-14)

The Bible says that pride goes before destruction. The Lord is against those who are proud but loves those who are humble. Pride also caused Lucifer to rebel against the Lord and fall from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Pride can also cause a person to refuse to submit and obey the authorities above. For example, we should obey the regulations enforced by the government during this pandemic time because they are meant for our common good and to speed up the recovery of this pandemic. Do not ignore the health protocols.

In these verses, the Apostle Peter warned the believers to have self-submission, which could only occur if they had humility. There is no way for someone to submit to authority without humility, and the Holy Spirit is the only One who can enable us to be humble in everything.

Ephesians 5:18-21, “…be filled with the Spirit…submitting to one another…” Indeed, a process is required to erode our pride. It sure doesn’t feel good, but let us submit ourselves to Him and ask the anointing of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do it.

3. Have freedom from sin (verse 16-17)

Freedom should not be used as an opportunity to live in sin. Let us not consider Jesus' work of atoning our sins as something that is "cheap."  Instead, we must show the world that we are people who have been set free from our sins by Christ. 

God's given freedom means that the meaning of the freedom given by God is that we are no longer slaves to sin, but we have become slaves of righteousness. We use freedom as an opportunity to serve others who are still bound by sin.

If we have a life principle that loves other people as we love ourselves, then, of course, we will not want to do bad things that can harm ourselves or others. Peter's message on how to unlock this freedom is very clear. We must not abuse freedom, let alone use it to hide or cover up crimes.

Let us live as servants of God: the servants of truth who are fully obedient to His Word and the faithful servants who do not want to disappoint the Father. Therefore, whatever we do, do it for the Lord.

CLOSING

Our ministry will be very powerful when we base it on the anointing of the Holy Spirit. This is what we need to pursue because our testimony and ministry will be weak without the anointing. Build a life of prayer because the power of the anointing takes place through our secret place, which is the place and time of our intimacy with the Lord. 

The above three things are the keys for each disciple of Christ to become ambassadors of the Kingdom of God in this world. Let us continue to do these three important things. With the power of the Holy Spirit, our ministry will bear the fruit of souls for Christ. Hallelujah!