Evangelizing under the anointing of God and evangelizing without the anointing of God

There is a difference between evangelizing under the anointing of God and without the anointing of God.

Most of the time, I am consciously aware of the need to reach out to non believers. However I remembered there was a period of time when I evangelize out of duty and not because I really want to. Sometimes, I was just responding to a personal challenge of whether I am bold enough to share the gospel with this person or that person. It did not flow out of the love for the person.

This was also the time when I neglected spending time with God through reading, praying and studying His Word. As a result, I felt spiritually dry, even after sharing the gospel with someone. My words seem to be bouncing off the person. There was no “life” in my words. My sharing seems not effective and I was regurgitating what I normally say without the supernatural flow of the Holy Spirit.

However knowing the mistake that I made, I was encouraged by what God says in Philippians and all my “lifeless” sharing is not lost.

Philippians 1:15-18, “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”

Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Hence I believe seeds were still sown or watered despite my lack of intimacy and corporation with God.

On the other hand, evangelizing under the anointing of God is a completely different experience. You share with passion and out of the love for the person. Such passion develops as your desire to know God increases and time is spent on developing a personal relationship with God through praying and reading the Word of God.

I like what Reinhard Bonnke wrote in his book: Living a life on fire regarding sharing the love of God to others from his heart. I was able to somewhat relate to his experience.

He wrote: “…it was an overwhelming feeling of love. This too, had been the force that had moved me past all the expectations others had placed on me … It was so much more than sympathy, or empathy, or affection. It came from the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit.”

I remembered there was this occasion at work when a colleague known for his superstitious beliefs and feng shui theories came into my room to chat with me and my other colleague. Before I was a Christian, we would listen to his stories and laugh about it. However this time, it was very different. I was a young Christian then. He started to share passionately about reading the face of a new colleague and started to predict how his future with the company will turn out. I was busy with my work but I was listening to his chat with my colleague. Suddenly I felt a deep sense of compassion for this colleague. There was this love welling up inside of me, that I felt so sad for him for putting so much faith into something that is not of God, to the point that I started to tear in my eyes. Of course I did not let my colleagues see what was happening. I was very young in Christ during that time but God allowed me to experience a portion of the reality of His love and compassion for the lost. It was supernatural.

Matthew 9:36, “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”

In some of my evangelizing experiences under such compassion, ideas came and words just flow out of my mouth. The right words were shared at the right time. I knew I hit the nail when I get comments like, “Have you considered preaching as a career.” There is life in such sharing. There is life when you cooperate with the Holy Spirit in these precious moments. Glory to God!

There were times even though the person who was receiving your message was not paying attention to what you are saying, he could see the reality of God in your life and the passion you have deeply for God. I remembered sharing the gospel with a colleague of mine and telling him how my life changed as a result of a divine appointment. After I shared the gospel, he commented, “Wa, you talk with passion just like my son talked to me about God!” I responded, “If your son talks like this and I talked in the same manner, there means that there must be something about this God that I am sharing with you today.” I believe the seed in him is watered by my words too.

Not only that, there will be evidence of your much time spent with God.

1 Timothy 4:12-15, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.”

You will have a supernatural glow on your face.

Exodus 34:29-30, “Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”

This was true. There were 2 occasions when someone commented that I looked different. The first was in the lift with a middle age lady. She took a longer than normal look at me and said that there was something different about me in a positive manner. On a separate occasion, it was my security guard who actually stop me in my tracks, took a look at me and again commented, “Wow, brother, you looked different today.” I knew it was not physical beauty that both persons were talking about. I believe it was the same supernatural glow that I sometimes see in some God fearing people. As I recalled back, those “glowing moments” were period of times when I spent a lot of time with God privately. Hence your spiritual intimacy with God does show outwardly.

Lastly I would like to make reference to what John Bevere wrote in Drawing Near. People who spent intimate time with God carry His presence where ever he goes.

He wrote: “… I had previously picked up close to a hundred ministers, for many came to our church. However, this would be different, for when he (Dr, David Cho) got into my car the first time, the presence of the Lord came into my car. Almost immediately I started crying, tears were running down my face. I was very quiet as I didn’t want to disturb him before ministering. Yet I eventually felt compelled to speak. I said soberly and softly, “Dr. Cho, God is here, in our car.” He smiled and nodded.

It was also written in Acts where Peter carried the presence of God with him.

Acts 5:15, “ … so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.”

Therefore lets serve God under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and experience the supernatural. These experiences will leave you wanting more.

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Steve