Narrative Themes: The Love Of God Lesson 10

   The love of God produces "a beautiful anointing"

Isaiah 61: 1, 3 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me...to give unto them beauty for ashes

Some years ago, on a Sunday morning I was visiting another church that was not my own. 

An alumni student from Summit International recognized me and was very excited to see me. 

After a heartfelt greeting, she said excitedly, "Pastor Tim, I had a dream about you. You were standing behind a podium teaching God's Word, and suddenly that podium turned into a beautiful Mother-Of-Pearl. I believe the Lord was showing me He is cultivating a beautiful anointing upon your Word-ministry." 

So honored by the thought, later that evening I went to the Lord in prayer and asked Him about it. 

I sensed the Lord say, "There is already a beautiful anointing upon your Word, but I am deepening that beauty." So humbled and grateful, I spent time thanking the Lord for His goodness. Then when my heart became quiet before the Lord, I sensed Him say, "This beautiful anointing, it is for all my people. All those who truly want to live their life serving people, it is for all of them." 

In this place of prayer, I asked the Lord, "What exactly is this beautiful anointing?"

He answered, "Before I tell you what it is, let me tell you what it is not." 

The Lord then led my thoughts to Acts 3:2 And a certain man lame at his feet was laid daily at the temple gate called "Beautiful." So everyday a lame man was brought to the temple to beg for alms, and he was laid at the temple gate called "Beautiful." And no doubt it was very beautiful. Jewish historians tell us this gate had two huge doors overlaid with gold. A sight to behold! However, as beautiful as it was, it was powerless to heal a lame generation lying at its doorstep. 

Meditating on this, I sensed the Lord speak, "Like this temple gate, a beautiful anointing is not a beautiful outward appearance."

As I thought about this, the one word that kept resonating in my spirit was the word "self image." 

So what does the word "self image" actually mean? 

Self image: an outward appearance; an outward impression.

So self image means an outward appearance we display to make an impression.

In other words, Putting on an outward show to try and impress people. 

So many people live in bondage to their self image. They try so hard to impress others with their outward image, but in their heart they have little integrity. I think about so many celebrities. So many sports stars portray this image: Look at me. I'm a star. I am so talented. And look at my custom made suits, gold chains and Rolex watches. I'm somebody special. However their hearts are full of selfishness and deceit (not all, but many.) 

So a beautiful anointing is not portraying a beautiful self image but lacking Christ-like character. 

So, what is a beautiful anointing? 

Isaiah 64:8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

This is a verse that I have come to treasure. It tells us that the hands reaching deep into our hearts to shape and mold are the hands of our Father. So these are loving hands; careful hands; tender hands. These are hands we can trust. These are hands we can surrender too. These are hands not                                                                                           out to harm us, but to graciously heal us. 

And what are the hands of our Father, the potter, doing in our lives? He is taking our broken pieces and making something beautiful. His hands are healing, delivering and restoring those fragmented places in our lives and causing beauty to come forth. 

Even now I can hear that beloved hymn softly playing in my mind:

Something beautiful, something good;

all my confusion, He understood.

All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife,

and He made something beautiful of my life. 

This is the "beautiful anointing." God goes into the broken places of our life, and with His tender hands, makes something beautiful out of our brokenness. As a result, a beautiful anointing comes forth.

Let me explain it this way. A beautiful anointing is a tender touch and a tender truth. 

I take this from Mark 1.  

Mark 1: 40, 41 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus, moved with compassion, reached out his hand and touched him. 

He said, "I am willing." 

Seeing this man's broken condition, our Savior's heart was stirred deeply with compassion. 

In His compassion Jesus did two things: He touched him and He spoke to him.

As ministers of Christ, this represents something in our lives. 

Jesus touched him represents the tender touch of the Holy Spirit upon our lives.

Jesus said to him represents the tender truths written in our hearts that we speak to others. 

When we possess the tender touch of the Holy Spirit upon our lives and tender truths of Christ's Word in our hearts, we are anointed to produce beautiful things in the lives of broken people. 

I guess what I am trying to say is when our heavenly Father, the potter, makes something beautiful out of our broken pieces, there is an anointing inside of us-the tenderness of God's Spirit and the tenderness of His truths- that reaches out of us and into the lives of broken people, bringing beauty out of their brokenness.