Luke 3:21-22, “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”
Luke 4:1, 14, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness…And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.”
John 2:11, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory.” (Emphasis mine)
Here we see the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. But what do we see when we pay close attention. We notice that He was now approximately 30 years old. We notice that up until this point, there had been no miracles performed by Him. And the reason for this? He had not yet been baptized in the Spirit! But after coming up out of the water and the Spirit descending upon Him, He then being led by the Spirit began to do mighty miracles. How? By manifesting His glory!
So, from these passages of scripture from the very life of Jesus Himself, we can see signs of the anointing. They are:
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A Changed Life.
Jesus had a life changing experience when the Spirit came upon Him. I have heard many scholars and laity alike argue and say that the reason Jesus did the miracles He did, was because He was the Son of God. I totally disagree! If He did what He did only because He was the Son of God, then why wasn’t He healing the sick when He was 12? Why wasn’t He casting out devils when He was 16? Why wasn’t He raising the dead yet when He was 15? Simple! He had not yet been filled with the Holy Ghost! When you are filled with the Spirit, there will be a changed life. Whereas your life used to be controlled by the flesh, it should now be controlled by the Spirit, thus creating a change in your nature, or life.
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Manifestations Will Be Caused By The Anointing.
Remember what John 2:11 said earlier? It said that Jesus manifested forth His glory. When the anointing of the Holy Ghost gets on you and in you, there will be manifestations of God’s power working through that individual. It may be small examples of God’s manifest presence or large, but that in itself is determined basically by how much that particular individual allows the Spirit to operate within and through their life. The original Greek word for manifestations means to put on a visible display of God’s power. This is in essence the exact same thing it means in 1 Corinthians 12:7, when it says that “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal”. When the third person of the triune Godhead lives in you, there will be visible displays of God’s power working through you or in you. That is the very reason it is hard for me to comprehend people who claim they are filled with the Spirit but yet do not act like they have anything different in their life at all. I am sorry, but it is like the prophet said, “It’s like fire shut up in my bones”!
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A Deeper Hunger And Passion For God.
One of the truest signs of the anointing will not be manifestations, but rather a deep hunger for more of God and a passion like you’ve never had before concerning the ways of God. It will create intimacy with God like you’ve never experienced before. It will put a burning desire within you to know God like never before. To know His ways. To know His mighty acts and deeds. To know Him personally! The anointing is not for shouting. It is not for dancing. It is not given as a spiritual merit badge. No. It is given that we as God’s people may have closer intimate relationship with Him. For, the anointing creates a unique place with God that cannot be equaled nor paralleled with any other thing in our lives. It is unique all to itself. It is love. It is intimacy with a God who wants His people to know Him. And out of that then comes the power; out of that then comes the manifestations. But first and foremost, the anointing brings relationship with God!