God’s Presence in the Life of His Anointed:

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Acts 10:38

You cannot separate the presence of God from the anointing. When the anointing comes upon a man, he becomes backed up with divine presence. The same way when the anointing departs, God’s presence leaves the man.

The anointed is never a lone ranger. He may not have men in His Company but He is ever backed up with God’s presence. At the instance of the anointed is the manifest presence of God. That is why when the anointing comes upon a man, he becomes another man.

Consider Saul:

And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

And let it be when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee, for God is with thee. 

As soon as the anointing came upon Saul, His identity changed. He got a new seal. The presence of God marked him different. He could find his way in any situation now because the anointing had come upon him with the guarantee of God’s presence. That is why the anointed cannot be stranded because God cannot be stranded.

The presence of God is the strength of the anointing because the anointing is the resting of the Holy Spirit upon a man. As long as God’s presence remains with the anointed, the anointing is valid and productive. When God’s presence departs from the called, the anointing is reduced to mere oil and title.

And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul.

Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people

And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.  (I Samuel 18:12-14)

The difference between David and Saul was God’s presence. Both had been anointed with oil but God had departed from Saul and has cleaved to David. What should be the heart-cry of every man especially leaders is therefore the abiding presence of God.

Consider Cyrus:

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of Kings, to open before him the two leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut;

The phrase “whose right hand I have holden” in the above scripture tells that God stays by His anointed at all times. I remember the story told by one of my friends in the University days. It can best illustrate this scripture. He said in his secondary school days (equivalent of high schools), he was a boarding student. Then, harassment and bullying was common among senior students to show their superiority to junior students. 

Often, senior students would make ridiculous demands from the junior ones which if the latter could not meet; he would be in serious trouble. Anytime the junior student passed, he would be harassed by the senior student. In order to save himself from this continuous harassment, the junior student would go and look for another senior student who perhaps is of higher status and more huge than his oppressor to adopt as his school father, mother or mentor. So, the new mentor would only find a suitable opportunity when the bully is hanging out with his friend and he would put his hand across the shoulder of the bullied (junior student) and pass in the presence of the bully. From that point, the bully would know that he dared not harass the junior student again. Why? A higher power is holding the bullied by the right hand. Now the bullied can walk with confidence in school, his weaknesses notwithstanding. That is exactly what God’s presence does in the life of His anointed. It gives him confidence despite his weaknesses. 

As for Cyrus, whenever the other kings saw him, they saw beyond him, they saw God with him. With the sight of God’s presence, their loins were loosed.

I charge everyone reading this article to make up his mind about the pursuit of God’s presence because of the numerous benefits to the anointed;

1.      The presence of God gives the anointed confidence. A man of God’s presence has nothing to fear though he walks through the valley of the shadow of death.

2.      God’s presence gives the anointed victory at all times. The man of divine presence cannot be defeated no matter how fierce the battle or strong the enemies. God’s presence with him fights his battles and subdues the enemies before him. Psalm 89:20-23

3.      The presence of God gives the anointed breakthroughs and access to all things. In Isaiah 45: 1-3, God talks about making way for the anointed to give him access to hidden treasures. Amazingly, God identified different types of entry barriers and how He will deal with them by His own strength without the involvement of the anointed. In cases of two-leaved gates, He will open them with His master key. In cases of gates of brass and bars of iron, He will cut them in pieces because the nature of the problem determines the solution methods.

4.      The presence of God removes obstacles from the way of the anointed. There are obstacles like Jordan and mountains. When God backs a man, they cannot stand him. At the instance of divine presence, mountains skip and rivers flee.

Prayer:

Exodus 33: 14-15. Lord, anoint me with the power of your presence