Virtuous Living

“He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.” (Matthew 10:41)

As a way of recap, to walk in the anointing, we need to sustain the consciousness that we have the Holy Spirit, speak faith filled words only and not fear, yield to the Holy Spirit and finally honour those who carry the anointing. Trust me, walking in the anointing is the most beautiful thing to behold and appreciate. It makes you feel special indeed. In fact, it lets men know you have been set apart. In other words, you are not ordinary. When you start doing what ordinary men don’t do know that the oil is upon you irrespective of whether you physically feel it or not. We are simply different and therefore react to the anointing differently.

To honour someone means to regard or treat (someone) with admiration and respect.

In the Yoruba land, when men want to greet an elderly or revered person they prostrate before them and that’s a sign of honour for them. Some even sustain that position even before fetish priests or worshippers of the devil. We are not here to judge them but the question is why do we Christians complain when people honour men of God in the same fashion? I’m personally not for that kind of honour but if people do it because they are honoring the Lord through His vessel( the man of God) and not the man that’s fine. As soon as some of us see that, we start making comments like “is he God? Why should I kneel down before a man like me”. Such statements are products of lack of spiritual understanding and may attract the anger of the Lord. But like I said, if you kneel down on your own and honestly to honour the man of God, you can quickly receive a portion of his anointing. Let me strike a balance here, this does not mean we should go about telling people to kneel down before us. Children of God are not our slaves; they are precious in the sight of the Lord like we ourselves.

Psalms 5:7 “I will come into your house; I will prostrate myself toward your holy temple in your fear”. So you see? The honour is always unto God and not man in our kingdom. No man should be the focus of worship but men don’t see God that’s why when they kneel down they honour God through His servant that they see.

To honour someone too could mean to recognize the grace of God upon a life and treat the fellow as such.

The opening scripture says “ he that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet receives a prophet’s reward and he that receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous person’s reward”. When you see a prophet or a man of God, and you receive him as such you shall receive a reward that comes from the office of the prophet and same for a righteous person. It’s a spiritual principle. One of the rewards that comes from a prophet is the anointing. What a prophet got over years of commitment, consecration, fasting and prayers can be transferred to you in a second if you honour him. 2 Kings 4:8-18 CEV

Once, while Elisha was in the town of Shunem, he met a rich woman who invited him to her home for dinner. After that, whenever he was in Shunem, he would have a meal there with her and her husband. Some time later the woman said to her husband, “I’m sure the man who comes here so often is a prophet of God. Why don’t we build him a small room on the flat roof of our house? We can put a bed, a table and chair, and an oil lamp in it. Then whenever he comes, he can stay with us.” The next time Elisha was in Shunem, he stopped at their house and went up to his room to rest. He said to his servant Gehazi, “This woman has been very helpful. Have her come up here to the roof for a moment.” She came, and Elisha told Gehazi to say to her, “You’ve gone to a lot of trouble for us, and we want to help you. Is there something we can request the king or army commander to do?” The woman answered, “With my relatives nearby, I have everything I need.” “Then what can we do for her?” Elisha asked Gehazi. Gehazi replied, “I do know that her husband is old, and that she doesn’t have a son.” “Ask her to come here again,” Elisha told his servant. He called for her, and she came and stood in the doorway of Elisha’s room. Elisha said to her, “Next year at this time, you’ll be holding your own baby son in your arms.” “You’re a man of God,” the woman replied. “Please don’t lie to me.” But a few months later, the woman got pregnant. She gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had promised.”

The woman did not only receive the anointing from Elisha but she walked in it. How? She miraculously received a child from the prophet and the child lived for sometime before he was attacked and was brought back to life by the same prophet. The woman obviously did something to walk in the anointing. She discerned Elisha was a servant of God and therefore got him a room with a bed. You may not provide a room but do something else in your capacity and when your miracle comes it will be permanent for Ecclesiastes 3:14-17 King James Version (KJV) says “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” And that’s walking in the anointing and it’s also honour!

In our dispensation, we hardly come to the aid of pastors because of the proliferation of the bad ones. But beloved, listen, there can’t be bad ones without genuine ones. We shouldn’t let the bad ones prevent us from walking in the anointing in these last days. As believers we are filled with God’s Spirit and can equally discern the good ones from the bad ones. What have you done to your own man of God this very year? What have you done to believers who carry a level of grace that is lacking in your life to walk in their grace? Your may not want a child but a husband or something else. Learn to honour those who deserve to be honored.

Unfortunately, young people of this century are full of disobedience and dishonor. We don’t realize there’s a difference between us and those who are really anointed to effect changes in life’s or fulfill God’s eternal purposes on earth. We feel we are the same and that’s why we fall and rise up under the anointing in churches only to realize that nothing has changed in our lives.

Apostle Johnson Suleman said “at salvation we are the same but in terms of relationships or grace we are not the same. We maybe classmates, roommates, course mates, or area mates but certainly not grace mates”. This is absolutely true! People who live in darkness, understand the principle of honor better than us. Even in the cooperate world, workers know there’s a hierarchy that must be respected at all times.

If you are fond of insulting men of God or gossiping about them, forget the anointing. You should not be the first to go on social media and abuse men of God! It’s bad! No matter what the man of God did. We didn’t call him. God did so let’s allow God to deal with him instead of raining insults on him publicly. Muslims never do that when their religious leaders go wrong. Does it mean their leaders don’t fall? They do but Muslims reverence their leaders with understanding and love and have a wise way of dealing with them if they go wrong. You never see them coming on social media to insult their leaders! No way! But as for us we do it and feel it’s right and allow other people to join us to disgrace our own.

Brethren, “if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” – Galatians 6:1. What if you too fall, would you be happy if you are treated the way you treat others? Remember the anointing may still be on a man of God when he even falls and that man may go before God with a penitent heart and God will forgive him and you will still be there judging him without knowing God has forgiven him? And since you dishonor him, you did honour God and cannot receive anything from him let alone walk in the anointing. See, the anointing sees beyond the scope of the physical. When you insult someone , you use unkind words on him and those connected to him. Aaron and Miriam dishonored the anointing upon Moses by criticizing his choice of a life partner. Numbers 12: 1-2 says “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it. Notice, the kind of woman Moses chose was not the required choice and the people were right by talking but was that their business? No! When a man of God makes a mistake in his life or ministry the best thing we can do for them is to pray for them or speak to them through their spiritual fathers if we lack the confidence or maturity to approach them directly and speak to them politely.

When they made that statement against Moses, God did not only afflict Miriam with leprosy but also took the anointing upon their lives and transferred it to Joshua and Caleb who were not supposed to carry it. God did that because Joshua and Caleb were good servants of the Lord, they honored Moses.

You could also honour a chosen vessel through service. And by so doing you would walk in the anointing that that person walks in. So, when I talk about service here it’s not limited to the church though the church maybe our focal point. Elisha served Elijah wholeheartedly and walked in Elijah’s anointing. Elisha even did more miracles than Elijah as a result that’s theologically speaking.

Service is the action of helping or doing work for someone. Remember, service is another shade of honour.

In some cases the one you maybe assisting maybe younger or less educated that you. But if you really came to serve, those differences wouldn’t matter to you. King Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He was king for 31 years in Jerusalem. He lived in a way that pleased the LORD, always doing what was right, as his ancestor David had done. An eight year old child? How would you feel to be his servant? What would happen to you if you did serve him? The grace upon him will come upon you and you would walk in the kingship anointing. Yeah, it’s true. You may have been a waiting mother for sometime. You may have prayed for sometime and fasted to no avail. The answer to your prayer could be in the service you render to that poor woman who has eight godly children that she raised alone. Why don’t you connect? Go to her, help her cook, wash her dishes constantly and let her pray for you for she has the anointing you have. You can also walk in it only if you serve her no matter your social status, age or educational background. Don’t be proud!

You don’t know how to cook? Go to those who are good at it and serve them and through that you will walk in their culinary anointing. It’s simple.

To get some answers from God, He himself says in Exodus 23:25 -26 “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you; and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. That’s the power of service! Serve God and if he touches you with healing he won’t only heal you but also make you an agent of healing for your generation. It’s a spiritual principle.

As you sustain the consciousness you have the Holy Spirit, speak faith-filled words, yield to the Holy Spirit, honour carriers of the anointing, I declare you too will walk in the anointing. It will be a daily experience for you and as a result you will not stop where your parents or relatives stopped in life and destiny. You will go beyond their limits in the name of Jesus.

Jésus est Seigneur (Jesus is Lord)

Dr. David Tobi Ogoudou