The anointing stems partly from the natural-the way we were made. Our parents, our environment, and our background are all ingredients of no small consequence that figure into our anointing. These are the natural gifts that we operate as a result of the way we were raised, for the gifts we had before we became Christians don’t disappear once we are saved.
But the anointing is also that which comes from above-the supernatural. The Holy Spirit comes on top of natural gifting; He is superimposed, and that is why we call the gifts supernatural. In fact, the word anointing is used in 1 John 2:20, when John says, “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.”
This anointing will do something for you and will do something for others. If that anointing flows as it should, it will be almost impossible to tell who is blessed more, you or other people. There is no such thing as an anointing that is just for you, so that you can soak it in like a sponge. No. The anointing will bless you, and it will bless others.
Not everybody’s anointing is the same, and no one person has every anointing that is possible. Only one person who ever lived had every conceivable anointing, and that person was Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure, that is, without limit (John 3:34). When you become a Christian, you receive the Holy Spirit. Don’t you dare let anyone tell you that you can have the Holy Spirit and not be a Christian.
But the point is, I only have the Spirit in limited measure. I don’t have all there is. Only Jesus had all there is. Not everybody’s anointing is the same, and no one can do everything. That means we need each other.
Excerpted from All’s Well That Ends Well (Authentic Media, 2005).
James Lasher 
Abby Trivett 
