Morning Moments

Filled within and smeared without; that is the way God wants us to live.  The Holy Spirit lives within every true believer, bearing witness to our spirit that we are Father's children.  He guides us personally and grows us purposefully to be conformed to the image of God's dear Son.  He does that with the new man, created in righteousness and true holiness, after the image of God. As the potter forms the clay, He forms and fashions  us into the likeness of Jesus.  That is what the Spirit does on the INSIDE.  

But on the OUTSIDE, He anoints us and gives his angels guard over us.  There is still some confusion among Christians about what goes on inside us, but even more about what goes on outside us.  This week I would like to look at a few of these things from perhaps a new or renewed perspective.

In 1 John 2:20 and 27 we find the same Greek word translated two ways: unction and anointing.  My friend, Lynn Ravenhill use to say, "I may not know what the "anointing" is, but I know when I don't have it."

Well, let's see what it is.  There are three word pictures which I believe will help us understand a little better:

   1. Stucco on a house.  This is done when the after the building is complete.

   2. Glaze on pottery.  This is done before the pottery enters the fire.

   3. Perfumed ointment.  This is done when the body is dead.

Jesus who lives in us says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

John says we who have Jesus living in us are stuccoed, glazed, and smeared with perfumed ointment externally.  What He has done internally is invisible, but what He has done externally is visible.  Stay tuned this week for more as God teaches me about this.

PRAYER:  Father, I want to be open to understanding and clear in illustrating truth.  Please help me to see truth in practical ways so that it will not merely doctrinal but devotional.