Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (4 page)

One time, he purchased the most expensive pair of running shoes available, but on our long run that day, his air cushion compartment in his new shoe somehow got punctured and he appeared to be running like someone with a flat tire. Nothing with running seemed to work for him.

One evening after dinner, my friend and I went to a Christian devotional on the grounds of the Christian university we attended. There were about 300 college students gathered together singing devotional songs. My friend and I sat down toward the rear of the group because the singing had already started. Now this was simply a cappella singing going on, which is music with no accompanying instruments. It was beautiful to hear as the four part harmonies merged. My friend and I just jumped right in and started singing along with the group. However, when he opened his mouth and began to sing, I couldn’t believe it. He had a voice like an angel. Suddenly, people began to turn around to see where the rich, beautiful baritone voice was coming from. There were a lot of people there, but he stood out from the whole group. As people kept looking back, I was hoping they thought it was me! But his gift couldn’t be hidden. I said to him, “You never told me you could sing like that! You don’t need to be on the track team, you need to go join the choir and not hide this gift.”

Praise God! Some people are working the wrong job or living in the wrong place and they wonder why nothing seems to
work for them. Get in your sphere of anointing and allow God to flow through you to be a blessing to others.

Jesus understood the anointing that was upon Him. There is nothing wrong with knowing you are anointed. Some people display a false humility and pretend they are no good at anything in life.

I have a good friend who is a senior technician with Audi automotive. He can fix any problem with any Audi car that exists. Even the twin turbo versions that are very complex to work on are no problem for him. He makes good money and deserves to be paid well because he is anointed by God to do what he does. If you owned an Audi car with an engine problem and came to the dealership that he works at he would without a doubt fix your car. He wouldn’t display false pride and say, “I’ll do my best but I’m not sure if I can do it.” No, he has confidence in who he is in the Lord. He would hook your car up to the computer and run his diagnostic tests, then pull out his tools and go to work. In no time he’d have you back on the road again. Many of my friend’s coworkers marvel at his ability to quickly solve technical problems on Audi cars and how he consistently overcomes every vehicle problem.

Jesus also knew God’s plan for His life and exercised the anointing that He carried.

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus was quoting from Isaiah chapter 61 (see Isa. 61:1). After He finished reading, He rolled up the scroll and handed it back to the attendant. He then sat down and with everyone in the synagogue watching, He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).

Jesus was basically telling the people that this Scripture was speaking of Him and that He was anointed by God. If the people believed His message that He was anointed, then they could release their faith to receive from God. If they chose not to believe that He was anointed, then there was no connection made with the anointing that was upon Him, therefore they would not receive.

Many Christians think that all the sick people around Jesus were healed by Him. But that’s unscriptural. Many people in the crowds were only curiosity seekers. Others were skeptics and mockers. Those without faith did not receive. Those who believed He was anointed would come into contact with that anointing by their faith and receive what they needed.

In my own ministry, I tell people that the Lord has placed a divine healing gift upon my life. I share that in my meetings because in a visitation I had one time from the Lord He personally told me to tell the people about this miracle healing anointing that He has given to me. If they don’t believe, then they hinder themselves from receiving through my ministry.

Sharing that the Lord has anointed me builds faith in the people to receive from God. This is not the only anointing I
have from the Lord, but it certainly is a primary one that operates in my ministry.

Be faithful to operate in the anointing that you currently have. Through faithfulness and diligence, God can see fit to place a new mantle of increased anointing upon you.

The classic Bible example of receiving a mantle is the Old Testament story of Elijah, the prophet, and Elisha, his servant.

In the Book of Second Kings
chapter 2
, we read about how Elijah’s earthly ministry was drawing to a close. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the old prophet had accomplished much for God. Elijah would soon be going home in dramatic fashion, but there was still some more business he had to wrap up before leaving. Elijah decided to make one more round to visit the prophetic schools that he had overseen. Three towns were visited, and each town that they went to was a decrease in elevation.

They traveled from Gilgal down to Bethel, and then further down to Jericho. When you walk uprightly with the Lord, it sometimes seems like you are going backward or down instead of up. Often when you are at your lowest point is when you are closest to receiving your miracle.

Elisha, Elijah’s servant, was determined to go with him, but before going to visit each town in which the schools were located, the old prophet tried to discourage the younger servant from coming along. Many people have often wondered why Elijah would do this to his only potential successor of the ministry. Often times, God will intentionally allow the journey toward destiny to be difficult and filled with many opportunities to quit, just to see if a person really wants it as much as he or she says.

Elisha needed to realize that nothing from Heaven comes cheap. The anointing of God must be highly valued and greatly appreciated by the one who receives it. After three gut-wrenching opportunities to stay behind and miss his miracle, Elisha persevered and was rewarded with the most important question he had ever been asked:

Before Elisha was ever presented with this question, I believe he already knew it was coming. After all, he was prophetically inclined due to the calling of God upon his life and his close association with Elijah. Throughout the day, I am sure he pondered upon what his answer would be. Notice that when he was asked, he did not reply by saying, “I’m not sure, can I get back to you on that?” There was no hesitation in his response. After just seeing the miracle working power of God demonstrated only moments earlier through the parting of the Jordan River and then crossing over on dry ground, Elisha was now more settled in his heart than ever before as to what his answer would be. He knew exactly what he wanted and proceeded to ask in confident faith, expecting his request to be granted.

See, when you get around the anointing of God, you change from the inside out. Jesus becomes your greatest desire and all that the world has to offer fades dimly away. Constantly being in an atmosphere where the glory of God was experienced made it easy for Elisha to ask for that which was most important to fulfill God’s plan for his life.

Notice Elijah responded by saying, “You have asked a hard thing.” He did not mean it would be hard for God to give him a double portion. Nothing is too difficult with God. He was simply trying to convey that this type of ministry is very tough
and not for the faint at heart. A double portion would certainly attract much more ridicule and persecution than what would normally be expected for a prophet to endure. Elijah was revealing to Elisha the flip side of ministry that the public does not see. The loneliness, being misunderstood, not fitting in with others who live a compromised lifestyle, a high level of personal consecration, and being a top target for the powers of darkness were all challenges certain to face Elisha at every turn. In the eyes of Elijah, I am sure there was that not-so-hasty look of caution that expressed the thought of, “Are you sure this is what you want?” However, Elisha’s mind was made up. He had already settled the issue in his heart and was ready to accept the destiny that awaited him.

By this point the deal was as good as done. As they continued their walk, they carried on a close conversation just as a father and son would do who genuinely love each other. We know the relationship they shared was very deep, for when Elisha saw Elijah taken up into Heaven, the first words out of his mouth were, “My father, my father.” As they went, suddenly there appeared a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire that swooped down and picked Elijah up, separating Elijah from Elisha. The horse-drawn fiery chariot carried Elijah up in a circular motion into Heaven as Elisha looked on in awe. With this sovereign act of God, one generation has now passed off the scene and the next generation now stands prepared to carry on the work of God.

Notice that Elisha did not say, “Where is Elijah?” He said, “Where is the
Lord
God of Elijah?” In my heart today I believe many saints in the Body of Christ will soon be asking this very same question. The Church is presently at a stage where a great transition is taking place. Some of the greatest and most respected ministers in the Body of Christ today are in their eighties and nineties, having lived a long and blessed life. They will soon be going home to receive their reward in Heaven, but what are we to do when they leave? Thank God we have the answer. We are to do exactly what Elisha did and walk forward into a deeper level of the anointing of God.

Some of these leading ministers have been in the ministry for over fifty years. Because they laid their lives down for the sake of the Gospel we can now reap the rewards of their knowledge and experience. In actuality, their ceiling should be the floor that we step over onto. Their many years of wisdom
and experience can be downloaded into our spirits through diligent study and prayer so that we can complete the assignment of preaching the Gospel to the whole world.

When Elijah was taken up to Heaven, he was in the middle of a conversation with Elisha. Notice that Elijah was not off somewhere in private prayer just waiting to get whisked off the planet. No, he was busy pouring all he could into his successor. We’ll have time to rest when we get to the other side. But as for now we have plenty of work to do. Some of the great preachers such as John Wesley preached right up until the day they died. The more one knows, then the more that one is responsible for passing it on to others. The older generation has a responsibility to impart their wisdom and knowledge into the hearts of those who will some day take their place.

So we have seen the obvious transference of the anointing that was upon Elijah’s life now being placed upon Elisha! In the Bible, there are eight recorded miracles that Elijah performed. Did Elisha receive the full double portion that he asked for? If you count the miracles that are recorded in Elisha’s ministry, you will see that he did 15 in his lifetime, just one short of the double portion. Someone may say, “See there, God didn’t keep His word.” But hold on a minute, that’s not the end of the story. Something very interesting happened
after
Elisha died.

With the miracle of Elisha’s bones raising the dead man back to life, you can now bring the total up to 16! There it is, the double portion.

Honestly, we need a double portion compared to what those before us walked in. There needs to be a greater increase in firepower to offset the rise of darkness in the earth. Sin is increasing but so is the glory of God. Don’t just desire the mantle, desire a double portion to offset the inflation of sin. So, we see from the Bible that mantles can be transferred from one individual to another.