06 anointed to be conquerors

ANOINTED TO BE CONQUERORS
By: Prince Guneratnam

God has empowered you to be an overcomer and a conqueror. No matter what your circumstances may be, they do not need to dictate your future. Because you are a child of God, His anointing on your life breaks every yoke of bondage. The Bible says that you are being changed from glory to glory and from faith to faith. You need merely to believe and do the will of God.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is the key to being a conqueror because you do not have power on your own. Paul explains, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do …” (Romans 7:15, 19-20). God has promised you the Holy Spirit who anoints you and gives you the power to turn away from a life of sin, to live righteously for the glory of God and to have authority over Satan.

The New International Version translation of Luke 24:49 says that you have been “clothed with power from on high.” The anointing is like a garment that clothes you. A civilian who enlists as a soldier is given a military uniform that authorizes him to do the job. In ancient times, the uniform was like an armor which protected the wearer from the attacks of the enemy. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is given to you for that reason; the Holy Spirit equips you for battle to overcome Satan’s temptations and your old, sinful nature.

Therefore, it is important that you be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit fill you again and again. When the Holy Spirit comes and touches you, you will not be the same. You can be emancipated, delivered and set free!

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
1 John 2:27 ESV

What is the Holy Spirit saying to me?

ACTIVATION

Thank God for filling you with the Holy Spirit. Quiet your mind and heart so you can feel the Holy Spirit’s touch.

Remember times when the Holy Spirit has helped you overcome temptation and trouble in the past, and spend time thanking Him for His work in your life.

Pray for a fresh anointing to fully become all God created you to be, and to rise up as a conqueror!

Israel insight

Israel Insights

Israeli Schools Largely Avoid Teaching about Evolution by Kayla Koslosky The Times of Israel reports, the Education Ministry in Israel is largely avoiding the teaching of evolution in schools and is focusing on other areas of biology. The outlet reports that several teachers spoke to Channel 10 about the strategy saying the Education Ministry prefers them to teach as little as possible about evolution, some of the teachers said they received no training on the topic. Channel 10 reported that kindergarten and elementary school biology classes do not touch on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, which claims that "all life evolved from common ancestors.” In middle school the theory is spoken about as part of general discussions, and in high school ‘the theory of evolution’ is offered as an optional class. According to The Times of Israel, the TV outlet’s report noted that the high school curriculum was revised four years ago. Before the change there was one unit on evolution in the matriculation exams, but the new curriculum has replaced the unit with one on species survival and genetic modifications and adaptations based on environmental factors. Though many creationists are supporting this change, that is not the case for everyone. Dr. Liat Ben David, the general director of the Davidson Institute for Science Education said, “Not teaching this is actually removing a very, very fundamental part of science and making it inaccessible to Israeli children.” The Education Ministry defended the change saying, “learning the principles of adaptation to the environment is compulsory in middle school.” They continued, “the theory of evolution itself is taught as an optional class in high schools.” Schools have gone back in session this week in Israel.

Scott Morrison Australia new PM

Australia’s New Prime Minister Is an Evangelical

By Bob Ditmer

The Telegraph recently ranked the least religious countries in the world. Australia came in 12th with just 34 percent saying they feel religious.

So it is notable that the mostly secular nation’s new prime minister is an evangelical.

Scott Morrison, who had previously been the country’s treasurer, was sworn in Friday as Australia’s sixth prime minister in 11 years after a political rift among conservative lawmakers led to the ouster of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The New York Times reports that Morrison, 50, is the first evangelical Christian to become prime minister and that church has always been a part of his life. He even sees Christianity as one of his motivations for public service.

“For me, faith is personal, but the implications are social—as personal and social responsibility are at the heart of the Christian message,” Morrison said in his first speech to the Australian parliament in 2008, according to the Times. He also cited a verse from the Book of Jeremiah as the encapsulation of the core of his beliefs: “I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on Earth; for I delight in these things, declares the Lord.”

“Australia is not a secular country,” he added. “It is a free country. This is a nation where you have the freedom to follow any belief system you choose.”

For the last 10 years, Morrison, his wife, Jenny, and their daughters have been active members of the Horizon Church, one of Sydney’s largest Pentecostal congregations.

“I think that people of faith around the nation are very much filled with hope that someone of Christian faith and principle is holding such a role in public life,” Kristy Mills, the executive pastor of the Horizon Church, told the Times. “I think there is a great hope that decision making will be influenced by godly principles.”

Morrison has called for stronger legal protections for religious freedom in the country whose population stands at more than 24 million. He told Fairfax Media that  discrimination against Christians is subtle, “It always starts innocently and it’s always said it is just a joke—just like most discrimination does. And I’m just going to call that out.”

A case in point is an article today in news.com.au with the headline, From talking in tongues to ‘divine faith,’ could Scott Morrison’s religion be a liability?

Reporter Shannon Molloy visited Morrison’s church “where worshippers can be so overcome they start to speak in tongues,” warning it “could become unpalatable for the mainstream public.” She also discloses a senior Liberal source told her, “Mr. Morrison would be encouraged to downplay his deeply religious beliefs.”

Morrison dismisses the advice saying his “personal faith in Jesus Christ is not a political agenda…for me, faith is personal, but the implications are social.”

Meanwhile, the Australian Christian Lobby calls Morrison’s deep faith “reassuring.”

“He doesn’t think he’s the biggest and most powerful person,” the group’s boss, Martyn Iles, told the New York Times. “He knows he’s under God.”

Bob Ditmer has worked in Christian media for more than 20 years including positions with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and Focus on the Family.