“…Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Psalm 23:5
Dear Ones:
It is impossible to believe God for the filling of the Spirit if one cannot believe Him for thorough cleansing from sin. This does not mean that we arrive at a state of sinless perfection. That is on the agenda, for one day we shall see the Lord Jesus “AS HE IS,” and we shall be like Him. Between now and then, we have to keep short accounts with God, willing and ready to see and confess any sin that He might convict us of, that would hinder our fellowship with Him. Why the matter of fullness of forgiveness as the precursor, the condition for fullness? It is basically because there is only ONE thing that puts a separation between us and God, and it is sin, that independent, self-willed attitude whereby “I” live as if I were king, and God, to do my bidding. This cannot be, for the concept is NOT according to the truth, that God is the creator, and we are the created. Christ is the Redeemer, and we are the ones needing to be redeemed. But can we believe the Lord for thorough cleansing, where He removes the written declaration of my debt, and offence towards Him? Can we believe Him to completely “blot it out?” In addition to this, can we believe Him for the removal of the guilt associated with sin, and the condemnation that our enemy uses so skillfully to discourage and hinder us in our walk with God? The answer to these questions, and those concerning being cleansed, and a clean heart given, is found in the truth of the POWER of the blood of Christ. How powerful then is the blood of Christ?
After Israel had endured four hundred years in Egypt, and the day had come under Moses’ guidance, to leave, the Lord instructed the nation, to take the blood of a lamb without blemish, taken from the sheep or the goats, and put it upon the two side posts and upon the upper post of the houses. All concerned were to gather themselves in their houses thus prepared. The Lord then told them: “I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite the first born in the land of Egypt…and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are: and when I see the blood I will pass over you.” (Ex. 12:12-13) What was the power of the blood of the lambs? It resided in the forward perspective of the perfect Lamb of God, whose blood would be shed on Calvary. Consequently, the blood of those lambs in Egypt, was so powerful that all of those in the nation of Israel, who did what the Lord had instructed, were saved, preserved, and protected. And so it is with the power of the blood of Christ. His blood can cleanse a whole nation, and world. Can it not completely cleanse the individual heart? Believing God for thorough cleansing is the prelude to the fresh anointing by the Spirit of God.
When David spoke of the Lord Himself anointing him with oil, he was speaking spiritually of the very real outpouring, empowering and enabling of the Spirit. In Psalm 92, we read where the Psalmist declares: “…I shall be anointed with FRESH oil.” (v.10) Why the mention of the words, “fresh oil?” The Holy Spirit never ages. He is as “fresh” and “new” today, as He was in David’s day. But there is another concept associated with “freshness,” and it has to do with “daily bread.” We know that daily bread is essential to our existence. We know also that this “bread” is both the living, objective word of God, and the very Bread from heaven. The “fresh” anointing, and receiving, of the Spirit, is just as essential as partaking of daily bread. The freshness of the anointing is just as fresh as the power of the precious blood of Christ to cleanse.
Dear Father, Give us grace to believe Thee for the thorough cleansing from all sin, and for the fresh anointing and fullness, by the Spirit of Christ, this day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad