Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

 “You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck.” (Gen 27:40 [NET2])

 Esau Got a Left-Over Blessing from His Father Isaac

We can deduce that the blessing that Isaac gave to his son Jacob was from the Lord while the left-over blessing Isaac gave to his son Esau was from himself. The deduction is premised on the fact that the blessing Jacob received made him rich and happy while the blessing Esau received made him cry. The scriptures say that “the blessing of the Lord makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22 New Living Translation (NLT). Jacob became very rich and was blessed of the Lord. “When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel.” So God named him Israel. And God said to him, “I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of kings. I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you.” Then God left him. There, where God had spoken to him, Jacob set up a memorial stone and consecrated it by pouring wine and olive oil on it. He named the place Bethel” (Gen 35:9-15).

Isaac told his elder son Esau that he shall live by the sword and serve his brother. So Esau asks him again… in verse 36, “have you not reserved a blessing for me?” and in verse 37 Isaac says, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?” Basically; what Isaac is saying here is that he has spoken the blessing of the Lord over Jacob, in accordance with the will of God, so what in the world could he possibly do to change that, or reverse it? Isaac gave his son Esau what looked like a blessing but on the contrary, it added him more sorrow as he wept after his father mistakenly gave his blessing to his rival sibling Jacob.

And as we read through this, most of us are probably sympathetic to Esau. I mean, he’s obviously upset. He’s crying, he’s begging his father for some blessing. Even if it is some left-over blessing. But if we look closely at what Isaac told his son Esau, we see that it was actually not a blessing but a prophesy. A prophetic advice that could help Esau, or Edom as he was also known as, to fight his battles and set himself free from bondage of his younger brother. A prophetic advice that can help you and I to fight our own battles and set ourselves free from bondage of our siblings, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, bosses, rulers, enemies, friends and devils.

Rebekah Was Carrying Two Nations in Her Womb

Rebekah was told by the Lord that the older of the twins she was carrying shall serve the younger twin. “And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.” (Gen 25:21-26 [ESV2011])

If we take a closer look at Esau and Jacob, the two children of Isaac, we notice that it was not their fault or their intention to be agonistic towards each other. They were born to be antagonistic towards each other to present the pattern of life every one of us born by a woman here on earth will take. Man is born antagonistic and rebellious, thinking evil always. In fact we are born in sin. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5) “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” (Gen 6:5-7 [KJV])

But one good man changed the plan of God and He decided not to end the earth. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” (Gen 6:8 [KJV]) Meaning that God is touched by a repentant soul and can bend Himself backwards to save the man He created.

The Older Shall be a Slave of the Younger

Esau who symbolizes the fallen man was destined and doomed to live under the servitude of his brother even before he was born. Man has been cursed to live a painful life of slavery and hard labour here on earth reminiscent of Israel’s 400-year slavery in Egypt. But God in heaven heard their cry and came down to rescue His children from slavery. “And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. “Then the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites” (Exod 3:6-8 [ESV2011]). The meaning of the above message is that slavery and the consequences of disobeying God (curses, bondage, suffering, sickness, death and all manner of damnable acts of evil unleashed on man) are not eternal but are just temporary. They have a shelf life which gets expired when God’s mercies are showered upon those who cry to Him.

We are born either to find ourselves as masters of our own destinies or as slaves to our masters. We are born as Jacob to be masters or as Esau to be slaves: either masters over sin or slaves of sin.

Masters over Sin

The Lord told Cain that “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” (Gen. 4:7, Berean Study Bible) God expects us to conquer sin and to rule over it. We cannot become holy on our own. God gives us his Spirit to help us obey his Word. He gives us the power to overcome sin. He is the one who makes us more like Jesus. God is telling us that if we submit ourselves to Him and obey His commandments and His voice, He will give us the power to resist the devil and the devil shall flee from us. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7 [ESV2011]) God wants you to keep the devil under subjection to obey Christ. Let us “Cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2Cor 10:5 [KJV]) As long as you keep the devil under your feet, God will bruise him and crush him for you. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20)

Man is born a sinner

We are all born sinners due to the sin of Adam that was passed on to all generations. But how did sin pass from our ancestors to us? “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Rom 5:12 [KJV])

 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Ps 51:5 [ESV2011])

“The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.” (Ps 58:3 [ESV2011])

 “For all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23 [KJV]) because of the carnal mind that we inherited from Adam. “The carnal mind that we are born with is in enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Rom 8:7 [KJV])

No matter how hard we try to avoid sin, we find ourselves sinning because sin is in our DNA.

Born as a Slave to Sin

Man is born a slave according to the revelation by Our Lord Jesus Christ. “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34) Being born sinners, we therefore become slaves to sin when we practice sin because sin enslaves. The edict that we are slaves even when we were in our mother’s womb was previewed to a woman (symbolizing the church) by the name Rebekah wife of Isaac, “And the LORD said to her: Two nations are in your womb; two people will come from you and be separated. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” (Gen 25:23 [KJV]) Esau (symbolic of the fallen man) did not know that he was born a slave to serve his younger brother Jacob (symbolic of the church that was to be founded, redeemed, saved, blessed and favoured of the Lord).

The greatest tragedy of mankind is to be a slave to sin and be unable to tear off the yoke that has been tied around our necks. Slaves have no will of their own. They are literally in bondage to their masters, with yokes tying them to their masters. When sin is our master, we are unable to resist it on our own. In Romans 7:15, Paul lamented that he just finds himself sinning, that he does not understand what he does, for he does not do what he wants, but he does the very thing he hates. “So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Rom 7:17-25 [ESV2011]) The lament of Romans 7:24 is the cry of no less than the great Apostle Paul, who groans, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” He says that his situation makes him “wretched,” and sadly many Christians live in this condition day after day, and even year after year. The word wretched is translated from the Greek word talaiporos, which has the idea of bearing a trial and can be rendered “miserable.” But the question at the end of the lament does not go unanswered. Verse 25 begins, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So no Christian needs to live in the wretched, miserable state described in Romans seven. He has a Deliverer, and it is Jesus Christ! This is clear from the context.

 The only way we can be free from the power of sin is by the power of the Holy Spirit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ leading us with the Word of God for each temptation. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, English Standard Version). “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ( Matthew 26:41 ESV)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ESV)

The World Has Two Nations Struggling Against Each Other

The two nations struggling in the womb is you: One of the nations in the womb (symbolic of the world we live in) is you who is the one born in sin. The other nation in you is the new person ‘reborn’ in Christ. There is the old you and the new you and both are housed by your body.

The Old Man in You

Your old self was born in sin.  “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5, King James Version). We sold our birthright to the devil when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and obeyed the commandments of the devil in the garden of Eden and man is therefore destined to live a life of slavery to the devil for selling his birth right. He had been given sovereignty by God over everything that moves on the face of the earth. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen 1:26-28 [ESV2011]) But man the king of the earth lost his kingship and the kingdom of heaven to the devil who became the prince of this world. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3 [ESV2011])

The New Man in You

The other nation in the same womb is your ‘new you’ who comes to yourself and you refuse a life of slavery by doing whatever it takes to get the blessings of your father. Jacob knew that Esau would be blessed by his father and he had to get the blessings no matter what; even if it meant tricking his father to be blessed. But we don’t need to trick anyone to be blessed by the Father. All we need is to repent of our sins and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of our lives. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)

There is Good News for Esau, The Older You

There is the older you and the new you. The older you is the outer man who is in the flesh, is carnal, is the visible man who is destined to live a life of servitude under a slave master called the devil while here on earth.

But the good news for the old man in you is that there is an open door for you to get yourself out of that slavery and live a life of liberty and blessings by putting off the old man in you and being clothed with the new man. “Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him:” (Col 3:9-10 [KJV])

When you put on the new man, you will have the knowledge of the truth that will empower you to “recover yourselves out of the snare of the devil, you who had been taken captive by the devil at his will.” (2Tim 2:26 [KJV]) When you are clothed with the new man, you will be able to remove the devil’s yoke from off your neck and set yourself free and become a new man yourself. Your old is passed away when you are renewed to be a new man the moment you repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ to be Lord and Saviour of your life. You get converted by the Lord and regenerated to a new creation. The Bible says that “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Cor 5:17 [KJV]) It is amazing to learn that when a man is in Christ, he becomes a new creature because he is led by Christ who is manifested by His Holy Spirit. You become filled with the Holy Spirit and becomes spiritual. Old things are passed away: rebellious nature and carnal nature pass away. All things become new in the regenerated life and a spiritual nature takes over your life because Christ is in you. You worship changes from being influenced by the flesh and you start worshipping God in the Spirit. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, American Standard Version)

Esau Was Told by His Father That He Will Live by the Sword Fighting the Slave Master

Isaac told his first born son Esau that “You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother.” (Gen 27:40) The land of Esau or Edom (Esau earned the nickname of Edom after he sold his birthright for some red meat (Gen. 25:30) was also called Idumaea. The prophecy of Edom’s subjection to his brother was literally fulfilled, as Idumaea was for ages a mere dependency upon Judah; but in the days first of Joram, and then of Ahaz, it revolted, and recovered its freedom. It was again conquered by Hyrcanus, the nephew of Judas Maccabaeus; nor was its subject condition altered by the fact that the dynasty of the Herods was of Edomite extraction. In troubled times, then, it broke the yoke from its neck; but generally Edom served his brother. The relationship between the nation of Esau or Edom and the nation of Israel seems to have been a constant continuation of squabbling and bickering. Their stormy relationship was characterized by a kind of love hate relationship regarding the land which both nations claimed as their own. This state of enmity resulted in an almost constant condition of warfare. The main reason for this state was debate over control of the Arabah and its rich mineral deposits, as well as its control over the many caravans. However, the relationship between Israel and Edom was strained from the very beginning.

The abhorrence of Esau towards Jacob for tricking him into giving up his share of the inheritance was passed on to their descendants. Edomites and Israelites were such constant enemies. The book of (Judges 11:16-17 [ESV2011]) states Edomites (inhabitants of Mount Seir) didn’t let the Israelites pass through Edom. They tried to conquer the country of Israel during the time of king Jehoshaphat but didn’t succeed and were destroyed. “When the Israelites went out to face the vast army sprawled before them, they kept singing: Give thanks to the LORD, for His faithful love endures forever. The moment they began their shouts and praises, the LORD set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who came to fight against Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites turned against the inhabitants of Mount Seir and completely annihilated them. When they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy each other.” (2 Chron 20:21-23 HCSB) Edom, the lowland hill-country of southern Judaea, is now southwestern Jordan, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.

What Esau was told by his father that he shall live by the sword fighting the slave master is what God is telling us today. Throughout the ages, man continues a lost life of slavery fighting enemies without seeking God’s help, conquering, be conquered, enslaving and being enslaved, oppressing and being oppressed, setting themselves free and being captured again in a vicious cycle of unending life of frustration from defeat in endless wars and bondage of sin and death till we return to the ground for out of it were we taken.

When You Shall Become Tired of Being a Slave, You Shall Rebel Against Your Master

Isaac told his son Esau (and God is telling us the same message), that “You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck.” (Gen 27:40 [NET2])

That advice that Isaac told his son Esau is being told to each one of us today by the word of God revealing to us that slavery is temporary and continues up to the time when we come to our senses and realize that we have power from above to tear the yoke from off our necks. God is telling us that the prophecy given to Esau is for those of us who find themselves in bondage today. God is telling us that when we shall get tired of being enslaved, we shall tear off and destroy the yoke that is around our necks if we cry to God to give us power that destroys the yoke of the devil.

Isaac told his son Esau that “when you become tired of bondage and oppression by your master, that you shall break his yoke from off your neck.” Isaac told his son Esau that he shall serve his brother and that when he shall grow weary of being enslaved by his brother Jacob, when he shall be restless, tired of slavery, then shall he rebel against his master and claim the dominion that was ordained Adam in the garden of Eden and that dominion shall give him power to tear the yoke of slavery off his neck.

You will realize that you are not destined to be a slave. God is asking you to tell your slave master the devil that enough is enough, you are tired/fed up/so annoyed/you hate to be a slave of sin, and that you were not born to be a slave of sinforever. With that boldness and determination, you will rebel against your slave master the devil and resist him. But it is not possible to resist your master the devil on your own. You need to tell the devil that you have a Father who dwells in heaven. You have to pray to God to set you free from that bondage. Prophets of God had prophesied that a redeemer, Jesus Christ, was coming to set the captives free.

In 701 BC, Isaiah Prophesied That a Redeemer is Coming

For thousands of years, the yoke of bondage was the inescapable tragedy of man’s existence. To natural eyes, that looked as though there would never be a way out. God saw the suffering of His people and sent His prophets to foretell them of a redeemer to come. In 701 BC, prophet Isaiah looked forward through time by the Spirit of God and saw that a redeemer was coming to those of Zion and to the house of Jacob or Israel and by extension to those of the church who will have returned to God. One who would finally free us from the oppression of the devil. “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD (Isaiah 59:20 [KJV]). Zion is a specific, historically important location. The name refers to one of the hills that surround Jerusalem and to the city itself — but it’s also used in a general way to mean “holy place” or “kingdom of heaven.” In the Hebrew Bible, the land of Israel is referred to as Zion. Zion is also associated with God’s chosen people and the church. The secret of that prophesy is that when the redeemer comes, He will reveal Himself only to those who turn away from transgression. The prophesy was that a redeemer was coming to the repentant church; the ones who shall have turned away from transgression, and He will help them to tear off the yoke from around their necks.

In 735 BC, Isaiah Prophesied Again that the Yoke Shall Be Destroyed by the Anointing

In 735 BC, prophet Isaiah again prophesied that “It shall come to pass in that day, that his (the devil’s) burden shall be taken away from off your shoulder and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” (Isaiah 10:27, KJV)

To fully appreciate just how good that news is, you must realize that Isaiah does not say that the yoke shall be broken because of the anointing. Many people read it that way, but that is not what it says. The verse says that the yoke shall be destroyed.

When you look it up in the Hebrew text, you will find that the word destroyed when translated means rendered absolutely useless. It is possible that a broken yoke can be repaired and put back where it was. But Isaiah said that this anointing would annihilate the devil’s yoke so completely that there would no longer be any evidence that it was ever around your neck.

Isaiah’s Prophesy was Fulfilled When Jesus Was Anointed to Destroy the Yoke of the Devil

The prophesy was fulfilled when Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit after He was Baptized in River Jordan. “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:” (Matt 3:16 [KJV]) Afterwards Jesus overcame temptations of the devil in the wilderness and He came back from the wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit. He announced to the shocked crowd in the synagogue as recorded in the book of Luke chapter 4 that He is the Anointed One who will destroy the yoke of bondage clamped around our necks. “And He (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and as His custom was, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of Esaias (Isaiah). And when He had opened the book He found the place where it is written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord’. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And He began to say unto them, ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ (Luke 4:16-21)

According to these scriptures, the message Jesus preached was this: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me…’ That may not mean a lot to you right now, but if you keep reading for a few minutes, that verse will make you want to shout for joy.

The word ‘anointed’ actually means to pour on, smear all over or to rub into. So Jesus was telling the people of Nazareth that day that ‘God is poured on, smeared all over and rubbed into Me.’ He was telling them from the book of Isaiah that He is the anointed one prophesied in the book of Isaiah 61:1 and Isaiah 10:27and that He had come with the yoke-destroying, burden removing power of the Almighty God all over Him and in Him. That is good news. The good news of the Kingdom of God here on earth. “But Jesus told them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well, because that is why I was sent.” (Luke 4:43)

He did not just make that statement either. He began to preach a sermon saying: ‘’Hey. I have good news for you! Poverty is a yoke around your neck and I am anointed to destroy it! Broken-heartedness is a yoke and I am here to destroy it! Being a captive to sin is a yoke and I am here with the yoke-destroying power and presence of God. I am here to get the burden of oppressions and afflictions (imposed on humanity as a result of your sins) removed from off your back! I am here to set you free!”

That is the gospel Jesus preached. It is the good news of the anointing! Most Christians today would be shocked by that fact. They know nothing about the anointing because when the Bible was translated into English, the translators failed to translate the Greek word extensively as Christ the Messiah except in only one instance in the entire Bible in the book of John 1:40-41 [KJV] where it is written that “One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first finds his own brother Simon, and said unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.”  And because of it, the devil was able to steal a major revelation from the church. People began to use the word Christ as a title. Some even used it as if it was Jesus’ last name. But it is not. The word Christ is the English version of the Greek word Christos that is a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. Translated into English, Christ or Messiah means Anointed or the Anointed One. It also refers to His Anointing. The anointing is God’s presence. His essence. It is the thing that makes God be God. The anointing is God on the flesh enabling flesh to do those things that are impossible for flesh to do.

Thus when the New Testament refers to the gospel of Christ, it is talking about the gospel of the anointing, the good news of the sin-annihilating, sickness-crushing, poverty-pulverizing, bondage-removing, yoke destroying power of God on human flesh. Jesus brought that anointing into our midst because He was anointed by the Holy Spirit at the beginning of His ministry to do it. “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he (John the Baptist) saw (witnessed) the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:16-17 [KJV])

 The good news are that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit to launch him in the ministry of preaching the power of God on humanity and it is the reason it is called The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Same Anointing That Was on Jesus is Available to Whoever Believes in Him Today

The good news of our Lord Jesus Christ says that Jesus came to set the captives free, especially those who are tired of being held hostage and have decided that enough is enough. Perhaps you are facing a situation that makes you want to shout that enough is enough!  Them who are in various forms of bondage can come to themselves and rebel against the enemy who is causing havoc in their lives. Maybe you are in that group of people who have had enough of being yoked to bondage of sin, being yoked to addiction, immorality, idolatry, godlessness, wicked thoughts and all manner of lusts that refuse to go away. The word of God is telling you to rebel against the devil’s temptations, seductions and suggestions and break loose from the devil’s hold on you. Refuse to be yoked, hooked, tied or wired to the devil’s yoke of bondage and say ‘enough is enough.’ That’s good, when you’ve finally had enough of the constant battles that are raging in your mind, with evil thoughts trying to control your mind, you can throw off the devil’s yoke from off your neck by casting them out in the name of Jesus Christ. When you have Jesus Christ in you, then the anointing of the Lord is upon you because the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, is now being made manifest to his saints: “To whom God is making known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” (Col 1:26-27 [KJV]) To us who have accepted Jesus Christ in our hearts, God has chosen to make known to us the Gentiles or the people of the nations the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Jesus cannot be in you in bodily form but in His Spirit. Peter told the Gentiles who were in the house of Cornelius and who were hearing the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ for the first time that “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. He commanded us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify that He is the One appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.” (Acts 10:38, 42-45 [HCSB])

That is the gospel Jesus (who is the Christ) preached. It is the good news of the anointing! If you want to know how good this gospel is, just translate the Greek word Christ as the Messiah. It will take a while because it is in there 341 times. In each instance, translate it into the Anointed One and His Anointing. Then meditate on the new meaning it gives each scripture. Believe me, as you do that, the New Testament will become a brand new book to you.

Christ in You Means That the Anointing or the Anointed One is in You

Take for example Colossians 1:27 “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Translate and meditate. “The Anointed One and His Anointing in you, the hope of glory.” Hallelujah, it is the anointing in us – the same yoke-destroying power that is on Jesus – that gives us the power of God on human flesh.  The same power that was on Jesus enabling Him to calm the sea and healed all manner of sicknesses can also be upon us if we believe in Him. We could meditate on that all day. 

When the Anointing is in You, Tell the Devil that “Enough is Enough”

Now that you know that the power of the anointing can be poured into anyone who believes in Jesus, say enough is enough. Cry to God to anoint you with His power, to rub Himself into your flesh so that He fills you with His Holy Spirit. He filled others who believed that Jesus came in the flesh and died for sinners so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall inherit everlasting life. It is not difficult to be filled with the Spirit of God. You just need to ask God to give you His Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples that “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 [ESV2011]) Jesus Christ promised His disciples that He shall give them His Holy Spirit. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you.” (John 14:15-17, New International Version) And true to His word, the Holy Spirit descended on those who had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the day of Pentecost. “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4 [ESV2011])

The only one who can save you from the slavery of sin is Jesus, the Saviour of the world. “But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21) “If the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8: 36). In Christ we are no longer destined to be in bondage but in freedom as long as we have Christ in us. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal 5:1 [KJV])

 For God to fight the devil for you, you have to submit yourself to Him so that fights your battles when He is in you. “Submit yourselves therefore to (the authority of) God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.” (James 4:7-8 [KJV]) You do not need to fight, for the battle belongs to the Lord. “And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” (2Chr 20:15-17 [ESV2011])
“And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still (in expectation from the Lord), and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians (your oppressors, slavemasters) whom you see today (in chariots and pride of power), you shall see again no more forever.” (Exodus 14:13,New King James Version )

 God is telling us to “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

God is telling you through His word that if Christ is in you, “Therefore you are no longer a slave (to the devil the slave master) but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:7, New King James Version) All what God has is available to you, if Christ is in you.

Amen.