I was in the front row where I fellowship, and I saw an angel. “The Holy Spirit is refreshing your life, and you are to be an ambassador for Christ!” she said. I fell to the ground facedown and wept as she spoke.
I remember wishing everyone could hear her. It occurred to me that the worship team couldn’t see the angel’s face because she was in front of them, but then I realized she faced in all directions. The angel wasn’t just speaking to me, but to each person individually. “Elders,” she continued, “come up and pray for all to receive a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit and be ambassadors of the Lord and to speak in tongues.” As I looked back at the believers, most of them were on their faces weeping in awe of what was taking place.
I awoke from that vision in the night, and tears were running down my face. One of the most important things we can do is to discern what God is doing today in our land. Don’t be stuck in the past, trying to redo—over and over again—what God is finished doing. We have too many vivid examples across our spiritual landscape of people and churches trapped in yesterday’s anointing. One of the major themes of a recent year was transition. I believe a keyword God is speaking for us is this: The Holy Spirit is bringing a fresh anointing for His sons and daughters to be ambassadors. This anointing is for anyone who will reach out and grab it. This anointing is for anyone who will make being an ambassador for Christ a priority in life. Let me remind you that by being baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, we are baptized to be His ambassadors.
The dictionary defines an ambassador as “the highest-ranking person who represents his or her government while living in another country”. This definition is the perfect description of who we are as Christ-followers. We are priests (the highest-ranking people), representing God’s Kingdom (His government), while we live in another country (the world, Phil. 3:20).
As I meditated on this vision, God made it clear to me that there are two keys to receiving this fresh anointing to be the proclaimers of His Kingdom on the earth this coming year—and years to come. We must be humble and repentant. Humility is the bedrock of Christlikeness. And humility is so closely linked with living in repentance—the genuinely joy-filled life. Humility frees us to seek a life that denies self and gives up the pursuit of honor from people. It empowers us to find approval from God alone. Christianity, typified by humility, will overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Christ-like humility destroys pride. Pride is the root of all lack of love. Any time we recognize indifference in our life to the feelings of others, any time we become aware of the judgments of others springing up in daily living, pride is the culprit.
Repentance is the pathway to see God (Heb. 12:14). It is God’s strategy for us to be overcomers. It is the mercy and goodness of God that we recognize sin and repent. Once we taste the cleansing and freedom that flows from repentance, we will thirst for it every day. Now is the time to receive this fresh anointing to be Christ’s ambassadors.
One pointed aspect of being His ambassador is the readiness to share your faith with non-believers and lead them to saving faith in Christ. The fruit of a righteous and wise life is to bring broken people into the Kingdom of God, where they will find God’s perfect design (Prov. 11:30). It has only been in the past few years that I have made it a habit to share my faith as the Holy Spirit leads. It is a majestic and addictive feeling to guide a broken sinner to the experience of salvation.
As I reflect on the “why” I didn’t do this for over forty years of following Christ, I come to two answers.
1) Though I know better, I was stuck in “yesterday’s” thought—that it is the evangelist’s job to reach the lost. Not only is that yesterday’s thinking, but it is also a lie. Every one of us is called to be God’s witness. We are all called to make disciples. I am apologetic if that offends you. But the Gospel of Jesus is just that, often offensive. This gospel disrupts our comfortable life and familiar patterns. Can you make room in your life to be interrupted by the Holy Spirit?
2) I didn’t feel equipped. With all my discipleship experiences, teachings, the study of the Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship, I still didn’t have the confidence to share my faith. Then, I discovered the one minute and fifty seconds gospel presentation of “The 3 Circles: Sharing the Gospel”. I know you may be experiencing everything from skepticism to laughter at this conclusion, but is the truth. I memorized—almost word for word—this little gospel presentation. The Holy Spirit empowered me. The Three Circles isn’t perfect, but it placed in my life an efficient, powerful tool to work with and share my faith. And then my church taught all of us how to give our thirty-second testimony. I had no excuses.
There is no better time in your life than right now to receive a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit to be God’s ambassador. You can stop, pray, and receive from the Spirit of God. Don’t miss what God is doing today.
The Forty-Day Word FastHere’s one sure way to attack negativity in your life—fast, negative words. Pope Francis put it this way a few years back when he made suggestions for fasting during Lent. He said—1st on my list–“Fast from hurting words and say kind words.”End the year with a forty-day word fast from complaining, sarcasm, judgments, gossip, and criticism.
Start the fast on November 22.