When Jesus came to His hometown Nazareth (Luke 4:16), He stood up in the synagogue reading from Isaiah the prophet, announcing to the Jews the mantle of the ministry that had been given to Him (Luke 4:21). The proclamation “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me” was a fulfilled prophecy of more than 300 Old Testament prophecies that had been decreed about Jesus. The good news for us today is that through Jesus, we have access to the same Holy Spirit that rested upon Him. This means, when we are in Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord comes to rest upon us as well, anointing us to do what the Lord has called us to do.

One of the key roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives is exactly what the verb in the verse entails: to anoint, or send, proclaim, release, set free, recover (Luke 4:18-19). His presence has the authority to change things – and to officiate them – like a marriage officiant who asserts their authority by stating: “by the power vested in me,” at a wedding. It is by the Spirit that the anointing is given, so everything He declares and does comes to pass. By the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus declared His anointing upon Him to be who God called Him to be. So it is with us Christians who follow Christ and believe in the Holy Spirit. We too share in the anointing to preach the Gospel, bring the good news, proclaim freedom to the captives, speak life and healing over the sick, participate in His justice, encourage the church, see miracles, and so much more. 

The Bible says the Lord has known us from our mother’s womb, calling us by His grace (Galatians 1:15), setting us apart for the work to which He has called us to do (Acts 13:2). He has appointed us to be royal priests, to push back darkness and to be participants of the light (1 Peter 2:9-10). All of these works could not be completed, however, without the presence of the Holy Spirit. For scripture says: “it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6). This underlines the importance of not only acknowledging the Spirit’s presence, but actively living with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

Modeling our lives after Jesus, we see the importance of being baptised (cleansed) and the relation this has to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord descended upon Jesus after His water baptism (Matthew 3:16), and from then on comforted Him, ministered to Him, and gave Him internal strength (Luke 4:14). We have the same access to the Spirit if we accept Jesus. Right before Jesus went to the cross to die for mankind’s sins, He comforted His disciples with the sending of the Holy Spirit. He said: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). By dying on the cross, Christ took away the weight of our sins. When we accept Jesus into our lives, repenting of our own sins, we receive the presence of the Holy Spirit and have access to the same anointing that rested upon Jesus.

Let’s take a moment: 

Have you made a conscious decision to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life? If you have not, we invite you to pray this prayer with us out loud: 

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge the work you did on the cross; that you died for my sins to give me life in abundance. I repent of my sinful ways and ask for you to come and live within me. Today I dedicate my life to you. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

In praying this prayer, you have asked for your past sins to be washed clean, and for Jesus to walk with you. By doing so, you have also now received the Holy Spirit. We all know very well, however, that we are human and may make mistakes in the future. This is why it is important for all believers in Christ to practice repentance, for the Spirit cannot dwell in places which are impure. The Scripture says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…”  (Isaiah 30:15). This is why we want to now invite all of our readers in this prayer:

Lord Jesus, we repent before you today, acknowledging our human nature. We ask that you would wash us clean – that we would forgive our debtors, as you have forgiven us our debts. May we be pure vessels before you today, so the Holy Spirit can move in and through our lives. Thank you for our salvation and thank you for sending the Helper to guide and lead us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Jesus’ conception through the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) represents the new-birth of the inner (spiritual) man in our lives, born of the water (repentance) and of the Spirit (regeneration; John 3:3-8). The Holy Spirit now dwells in us as our seal of promise, the pledge of our inheritance unto redemption because of our faith in Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14). He leads us in God’s ordained path and will and is our Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor; John 14:16). In our right-standing with Christ, we have the knowledge of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in us, and therefore can proclaim in confidence the words from the verses in Luke 4: the Spirit of the Lord is upon us because He has anointed us! 

In the next day’s devotional you will get to know more about the Spirit’s anointing and what we can do with Him in our lives.

In preparation for tomorrow, you can reflect on a couple of questions:

• How can you invite the Holy Spirit into your daily life?
• Are you walking in momentary awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life? If so, how has He influenced you in your way of living?
• The clearest evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the work of regeneration and renewal unto Christ-likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18, Titus 3:5) in our lives. How has the Holy Spirit transformed you?