I'm very excited to have Valerie Sjodin as our Lent Words guest writer and artist today! I have long been an admirer and looked to Valerie early on for inspiration as I sought to combine my art journaling and my faith. I got to know Valerie through her blog and online classes. This year our friendship grows as we team up with Bernice Hopper in our Facebook group Everyday Journals ~ Living Your Word of the Year. I encourage you to visit Valerie's blog, Visual Blessings, and check out her classes, plus her new book release, Prayerful Doodling.
Anointed
Read Acts 10:37-38; 2 Corinthians 1:20-22
When Mary asked me about to write a guest post for Lent
Words 2018, I chose “Anointed” because it is one of those words that was not used
much in my conservative evangelical upbringing, and I wanted to understand its
meaning more. Another reason the word intrigues me is I want to learn the
connection with anointing and the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Here are the definitions of anointed I found at http://biblehub.com/greek/5548.htm
From the Strong’s Concordance H4886 the Hebrew word anointed
is:
מָשַׁח mâshach, maw-shakh'.
It’s an action, a verb; a primitive root means to rub with oil, i.e. to anoint;
by implication, to consecrate; also to paint
In the Greek, the
Strong’s definition (5548) is xríō – to anoint by
rubbing or pouring olive oil on someone to represent the flow
(empowering) of the Holy Spirit. Anointing (literally) involved
rubbing olive oil on the head, etc., especially to present someone as divinely-authorized
(appointed by God) to serve as prophet, priest or king, etc.
In Acts 10:37-38 NLT Peter is explaining that God anointed
Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him.
When I read passages like the one in Acts 10, I used to
think, “Well, Jesus is God so that’s why He had the Holy Spirit and could
always do good and heal the sick and cast out demons.” I could never do
anything like that, but that’s not really what the Scripture says. It says God
anointed Jesus, presented him, divinely-authorized, appointed to serve as our High
Priest and King. Jesus, Yeshua, is completely God, but also completely man.
Paul challenges us to literally become like Christ in every way since (2
Corinthians 1:20) all of God’s promises to us are fulfilled, complete in
Christ. According to Paul, it is possible to become like Christ, to grow up,
becoming more like Christ all the time by being filled up with the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of Creator God is the one who gives us actual physical life, making
humans in his image. God longs to give us a renewed, abundant spiritual life through
our relationship with Jesus Christ, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit
within us.
Here is what the apostle Paul says about us in 2 Corinthians
21-22 NLT:
“It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for
Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing
the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees
everything he has promised us.”
Jesus, Yeshua is the Anointed One of God, our King, and God
himself has anointed us, constantly strengthening us to be in unity with
Christ. Jesus himself (John 14:12 TPT)
said, “The person who follows me in faith, believing in me, will do the same
might miracles that I do – even greater miracles than these because I go to be
with my Father!”
All this makes me yearn for more, a deeper love relationship
with God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and to experience more of the presence and power
of Christ living in me.
In John 15:7-8 TPT Jesus says, “if you live in life-union
with me and if my words live powerfully within you – then you can ask whatever
you desire and it will be done. When your lives bear abundant fruit, you
demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!”
Amen! YES Lord! Let it be so.
If you would like to learn more about my Bible journaling
process and the Hebrew word Anointed, please visit my blog post: “We are
Anointed – Bible Journaling” (March 16,2018) at
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