The Spirit and Power of Elijah..

The Spirit and Power of Elijah

"And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17 NIV).

The anointing of Elijah that is going forth in this hour has a very specific purpose: to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. The people are made ready by turning the hearts of fathers and their children back to each other and by turning the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.

When we think of great men of God, we think of men like Elijah, who did mighty miracles, and we tend to believe that spirituality consists of supernatural phenomena and spiritual exercises and gifts such as prayer, intercession, bible study, power gifts, anointings, etc. However, John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, did no miracles, not even one, yet Jesus said he was the greatest prophet ever born.


Does this challenge our idea of what a spiritual giant is? At least John matched some of our concepts. At least he dressed funny, lived as a recluse, and kept to a strict diet (grasshoppers and honey). And, of course, he never went to movies. Other than that, though, he doesn’t fit with our concepts of a man of God. However, in spite of John’s apparent lack of spirituality, he does in deed give us a clear picture of true spirituality.

When asked by those seeking salvation, "what should we do?", John told them simple everyday stuff like, "If you have extra clothes or food, give some to someone that doesn’t." "Don’t cheat anyone." "Be content with your wages." John, the greatest prophet ever born, who came to show the disobedient the way to righteousness, gave us the wonderful yet hidden truth that the insignificances of daily life are the true measure of eternity. He shows us that righteousness is worked in us, not by the muscle flexing of religious exercises, but by the muscle building work of living a life of obedience to Christ in our everyday lives.

The man who gave his extra clothes away in obedience to God’s command through the prophet found that area of his life coming under God’s dominion, and God’s dominion works righteousness, for His kingdom consists of righteousness.

The anointing of Elijah will make straight paths for Christ in our lives by bringing every area of our everyday lives under Christ’s dominion. The anointing of Elijah is the voice that brings us Christ’s commands to do the dishes after every meal, or to honor our boss, or to be content with our wage, or to get up or go to bed at a certain hour. It’ the spirit of the bondservant making us slaves to God’s will in every activity of our lives, and therefore every area of our hearts.

Those with the anointing of Elijah know that their spirituality does not lie in their giftings or their love for spiritual things, but in their love for Christ that manifests itself through obedience in the "unspiritual" or the mundane. It manifests in faithfulness to everyday disciplines, which is the only true indicator of faithfulness to Christ, for Jesus said, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much..." (Luke 16:10 KJV).

Those that are undisciplined or unfaithful in daily discipline attempt to compensate by giving themselves all the more to what they believe God is really concerned about, like praying down the strongholds over their city. However, Jesus is not pleased with sacrifice, but with obedience, and He will not give such authority to those who have not proven themselves faithful with God’s authority over the little every day circumstances that are the true test of character. If one cannot be faithful to arise at a certain hour everyday, or to turn the TV off, or pass over the chocolates, they will not be faithful with the gates of a city. "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Prov. 16:32 KJV).

So, the anointing of Elijah comes to make each little act of daily routine acts of worship unto God. The more areas of our daily life that He brings under His dominion, the more faithful we become and the more our lives become a fragrant offering unto Jesus as we just do the things he has commanded us to do, or as we do the things that we just have to do, but with a right attitude.

Our God is one God, and as He brings us more and more into His image we become one person. Our lives are no longer segregated between the spiritual and the carnal. Our "worldly" obligations are no longer carnal, but have been sanctified, set apart as holy by the dominion of Christ’s kingdom in our lives. We are translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son, and so is everything we do throughout the day. We become consistent, as He is consistent.

Jesus said, "Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Everyone that has called Jesus Lord in truth has heard Him say, "Do thus and so." Everyone who has truly pledged allegiance and submission to His lordship has heard Him or felt Him impressing upon them that they were to do some specific thing, usually every day. He always requires something of us, and it is always very concrete and practical. Jesus’ command to love our neighbor can be abstract and easily appeased in our own minds. We say, "I love my neighbor." However, Jesus will always bring such commands found in the written word out of the abstract and into reality with a spoken word of command such as, "love your neighbor by mowing his grass every Saturday from the time you start mowing your grass in the spring till you stop mowing in the fall."

Every true Christian has heard such commands. Those that ignore them or those that obey periodically are those who call Him Lord, but do not do what He says, and these are the ones that will wander endlessly in the wilderness. The path that leads to the mountain of God is called obedience, and this path is paved with individual acts of obedience. One act builds upon the previous, just as one step follows another, and the path grows ever brighter as it leads us higher. Disobedience in the smallest step disqualifies a person for a larger step. Disobedience as a lifestyle disqualifies a person from this path of light that leads to life.

The spirit and power of Elijah is going forth in this hour preparing a people for the Lord. This anointing brings the kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven by bringing individual lives under the rule of our great King. Jesus will have a great, mighty, and glorious people for Himself, and those that will be prepared for the time of their visitation are those that have been made faithful in the little everyday acts of obedience. These are the ones to whom He will entrust His presence and His power, for these are the ones that have proven faithful in the little things and therefor faithful in the big things. These are the ones with the anointing of Elijah.