Dear Ones:
A good many years ago, I met a missionary who had worked in China for forty years. She had a wealth of experiential knowledge and wisdom, but one of the admonitions that she gave was that we should “…keep short accounts with God.” Why? Because for the Christian, who is in living union with Christ by the Spirit, the refusal, or neglect of believing and obeying the Lord, will grieve the Spirit. All that is in Christ is still there, and we are in Him. But that eternal resource of life, and all that pertains to life and godliness, is not available to us. We have, by our attitude, short-circuited the blessing of God. And it will remain that way until sin is dealt with, confessed, forsaken, and forgiven. It is only when communion is restored, and we are again walking in the light, that all the resources that we have in Christ are again made available to us. Hence, keep short accounts with God…deal with sin. It only takes twenty seconds.
What is the essence of this “anointing,” and what do we forego in the experience of it, if we do not keep short accounts with God? When David was anointed by Samuel with real oil, “…the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” (1 Sam. 16:13) From “that day forward” David began truly becoming the man that God had chosen him to be, for there was a special enabling that came from heaven for the doing of the will of God. In Acts 10:38, we read: “God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him.” The anointing of Jesus was the same as that of David in that both were anointed BY the Holy Spirit. All that was needful, every resource that Jesus or David needed, was made available by the anointing of the Spirit of God. Paul writes concerning every Christian, disciple of Christ, “…Now He which establisheth us with you in Christ and HATH ANOINTED us, is God.” Again, the anointing is the same in that the “living oil” is the same, the Spirit. So that, we need to ask the question: If I am anointed NOW by the Spirit, and have all that is in Christ at our disposition by the Spirit, how important is it to keep short accounts with God, so that the Life, that Resource for every need, is received and lived?
Dear Lord, make us quick to stop what we are doing when we lose our peace. And grant us grace to willingly allow Thee do to deal with anything that would hinder us from trusting Thee fully. Indeed, let no cloud come between us and Thee. Then, the full effect of the everlasting anointing will be realized and seen in us for Thy glory and honor. Amen.
Love, Dad