As a Pastor for over 30 years, I have grappled with criticism, slander, financial problems, disgruntled sheep⎯the list is endless. It seemed like I would solve one problem, and another would crop up. I’m sure that many of you, though not in ministry, have contended with similar difficulties. In the hopelessness of those situations, I sought the Lord and He said to me, “Detach from the problems and elevate your anointing.” He instructed me that every problem I faced could be solved with an elevated anointing. So now, when I’m bombarded with problems, I don’t lose my peace; I simply pursue God for a greater manifestation of the anointing in my life (Isaiah 10:27).
Even a casual glimpse at life in contemporary society reveals similar problems and challenges which can seem to be insurmountable for the believer⎯the scourge of abortion, the ever-present threat of terrorist attacks, the recent financial chaos the world has been plunged into⎯how are we to cope with such turmoil?
I believe the same principle applies: The one and only effective answer to the vicious assault of the enemy you have faced in the past is an elevated anointing. Likewise, the only defense to betrayal, heartache, disappointment, financial pressure, and domestic crisis is an elevated anointing. I am profoundly convinced that this is the time when God will elevate the anointing of every believer seeking overcoming victory in his or her life. What you have experienced and received in the past is only a foretaste of what is to come shortly.
As much as I deeply appreciate the anointing demonstrated in the life of AA Allen, Jack Coe, Aimee Semple McPherson and the like, I don’t wish to return back to their mantles of anointing. I don’t believe they would be as effective in today’s society as you might think. The anointing upon David to slay Goliath or upon Samson to slay one thousand Philistines or even upon the great prophet Elijah to call down fire from Heaven would not get the job done today.
Yesterday’s anointing was good for yesterday, but we need an anointing that will override the concentrated evil and demonic strongholds unique to this present darkness. The old anointing won’t do. The old level won’t do. The strongholds of contemporary America require a greater anointing from the Church than we have ever witnessed before in history. As evil escalates, our anointing level rises. This divine proportion is a promise God gave us in the epistle to the Romans, “…where sin abounded grace did much more abound.” (Rom 5:20)
Every past outpouring imparted to the Church was only a dress rehearsal or a foretaste of what is about to come to our generation (1Pet 1:4). I know this realization is a radical statement, but I firmly believe God has a mantle reserved for this generation that will surpass and exceed anything demonstrated in our past. God never repeats Himself; He always exceeds Himself. God is about to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph 3:20).
It is as if God is using His ATM Card to make an unprecedented transfer from the savings account of Heaven to the checking account of the Church. God is about to make the largest investment of spiritual resources He has ever made into the life of the Body of Christ in this end-time. All past anointings are about to converge within us in this one moment and be multiplied. The remnant church will be busy unleashing the supernatural into the natural realm until “…the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ…” (Rev 11:15)
In light of these truths, it is vital that we reposition ourselves with a journey into the place where mantles fall. In order to make this journey, we will be required to complete unfinished business and throw off excess baggage.
Elisha was the Old Testament prophet who inherited the double portion anointing and whose life forged a powerful testimony to a miracle-working God. He, too, was called upon to make such a journey. He, too, was required to shed excess baggage. We read in the book of I Kings,
“So he [Elijah] departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.” (I Kings 19:19-21)
Before Elisha arose to follow after the veteran prophet, we need to track his steps and see what he did was more than a ritual. He didn’t know where he was going or by what route he would get there. He only knew there was an appointed place and an appointed time he would arrive at when he would receive what would fuel and catapult him into his divine destiny.
He took care of all unfinished business before he started on his journey. He refused to take excess baggage on this trip. He had to travel light. You will never reach the place of the double portion unless you’re prepared to burn all your bridges behind you. As we read in Philippians, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Phil 3:8)
Elisha burned the bridges of his past life. He made a radical decision to leave the comfort and security of the old and reach for the uncertainty of the new. The peril of losing what he had meant much less to him than the glorious possibility of gaining what he yearned to possess.
One brush with destiny, and the course of his life would change forever. The mantle simply brushed up against his shoulders and he was instantly addicted to the anointing from that moment on. No longer could he settle for the mundane normalcy of his life. The ox, the plow, and yoke were now unacceptable to him. He could no longer tolerate the religious rut which they represented. They had their purpose, but now their purpose was over. He must exchange yokes. From this point, he would harness himself to Elijah. He would never again be yoked to a lesser purpose.
In a very real sense, you are called to do the same. You’ve got to kill the ox, burn the plow, and cast off the yoke of your old carnal life if you want to reach the place of double portion⎯the place of transference and impartation. If you want to wear the mantle that parts rivers and raises the dead to life again, you must be willing to let loose of anything that hinders your progress and stifles your journey.
In this New Year of 2009, let’s get back to the passionate heart of Paul who said, “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13-4)
(From "The Double Portion Anointing")
Every past outpouring imparted to the Church was only a dress rehearsal or a foretaste of what is about to come to our generation (1Pet 1:4). I know this realization is a radical statement, but I firmly believe God has a mantle reserved for this generation that will surpass and exceed anything demonstrated in our past. God never repeats Himself; He always exceeds Himself. God is about to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph 3:20).
It is as if God is using His ATM Card to make an unprecedented transfer from the savings account of Heaven to the checking account of the Church. God is about to make the largest investment of spiritual resources He has ever made into the life of the Body of Christ in this end-time. All past anointings are about to converge within us in this one moment and be multiplied. The remnant church will be busy unleashing the supernatural into the natural realm until “…the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ…” (Rev 11:15)
In light of these truths, it is vital that we reposition ourselves with a journey into the place where mantles fall. In order to make this journey, we will be required to complete unfinished business and throw off excess baggage.
Elisha was the Old Testament prophet who inherited the double portion anointing and whose life forged a powerful testimony to a miracle-working God. He, too, was called upon to make such a journey. He, too, was required to shed excess baggage. We read in the book of I Kings,
“So he [Elijah] departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.” (I Kings 19:19-21)
Before Elisha arose to follow after the veteran prophet, we need to track his steps and see what he did was more than a ritual. He didn’t know where he was going or by what route he would get there. He only knew there was an appointed place and an appointed time he would arrive at when he would receive what would fuel and catapult him into his divine destiny.
He took care of all unfinished business before he started on his journey. He refused to take excess baggage on this trip. He had to travel light. You will never reach the place of the double portion unless you’re prepared to burn all your bridges behind you. As we read in Philippians, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” (Phil 3:8)
Elisha burned the bridges of his past life. He made a radical decision to leave the comfort and security of the old and reach for the uncertainty of the new. The peril of losing what he had meant much less to him than the glorious possibility of gaining what he yearned to possess.
One brush with destiny, and the course of his life would change forever. The mantle simply brushed up against his shoulders and he was instantly addicted to the anointing from that moment on. No longer could he settle for the mundane normalcy of his life. The ox, the plow, and yoke were now unacceptable to him. He could no longer tolerate the religious rut which they represented. They had their purpose, but now their purpose was over. He must exchange yokes. From this point, he would harness himself to Elijah. He would never again be yoked to a lesser purpose.
In a very real sense, you are called to do the same. You’ve got to kill the ox, burn the plow, and cast off the yoke of your old carnal life if you want to reach the place of double portion⎯the place of transference and impartation. If you want to wear the mantle that parts rivers and raises the dead to life again, you must be willing to let loose of anything that hinders your progress and stifles your journey.
In this New Year of 2009, let’s get back to the passionate heart of Paul who said, “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13-4)
(From "The Double Portion Anointing")
