His Spirit is Upon Me

Today’s Bible Verse: [Isaiah 61:1 NLT] 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.

Captives and prisoners? When we are born into this world we are in total depravity and captives and prisoners to sin. When God reveals Himself to us and we are reborn, we are released from the captivity of sin and His Holy Spirit comes upon us to guide us.

Isiah was speaking as one saved. The Holy Spirit of God was upon him as it comes upon all of the saved; all believers.

Please note that when I call a person a believer, I am referring to those that are saved. There are many in this world that call themselves believers but are self-proclaimed believers only.

Believers are anointed (baptized) by the Holy Spirit and given the job of spreading the good news (gospel) to the poor. These are not poor as in those that have no money, but it is the poor in spirit. The poor in spirit are the elect that lack His Holy Spirit; the elect prior to His revelation to them. The gospel is the key to salvation.

[Matthew 5:3 NLT] 3 "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

When God reveals Himself to the poor in spirit then their salvation is guaranteed.

How does one know? Revelation and heart change; that is the best way I can explain it. The capacity for sin is still there but the desire wanes. This has been my personal experience. And yes, I have questioned it, but a wave of assurance comes over me; a wave so strong that it can be nothing less than the Holy Spirit. I am humbled by this because He has come to me and I do not deserve it one bit. I was a prisoner of sin but I am now released and anointed by His Holy Spirit and my big desire is to spread the gospel to those that were like me.

It is the elect that have salvation and it is my prayer that you are among the elect and that this serves as your catalyst for awakening.

This is the gospel:

[1 Corinthians 15:1-6 NLT] 1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

[Acts 2:22-24 NLT] 22 "People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

[1 John 2:2 NLT] 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins--and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

This is penal substitution; that is, our sins were transferred to Jesus and His righteous transferred to us.

We all have a job.

[Matthew 28:18-20 NLT] 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

All of the disciples of Jesus are to spread His word and the gospel.

Go forth and spread this good news.

I pray that God has revealed Himself to you and that you have salvation.

Remember, God is sovereign. That means that he controls everything.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Peace.