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12. Anointed for the Poor

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In Your Bible Read This

Isaiah Chapter 61; Matthew 22, 1-14

Here Is Your Memory Verse

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. Luke 4.18-19

Afterwards Talk About This

In your town, who are these people Isaiah 61 talks about. Name names, occupations and locations. Pray for them.

Something To Do Before Next Time

As a team, after much binding and loosing prayer, visit the red-light district of your town to sing, preach Jesus and offer love and friendship to people who are deeply lost and gripped by sin and Satan.

Written Diploma Work

Review Romans 1.18-32 and write a page explaining the downhill slide into depravity, as it is in actual life.

Meditate Word By Word On This Verse

Ezekiel 36, 37-38

Spend a Minute to Change the World

Pray For Uganda – 22,000,000 Bantu's & Nilotics 84% Christians, 8% Muslims, War followed a 60 year revival. Huge orphans & AIDS problems.

Be sure to teach this lesson to others. Always pray and prepare well adding your own verses and stories to bring it to life.

In Isaiah 61.4 there is a special promise –

They will rebuild the ancient ruins, and restore the places long devastated, they will renew the ruined cities, that have been devastated for generations.

Many city centres are beautiful because money has been spent to make them pleasant for people to work in and attractive for visitors. But for millions of men, women and children who live in the inner cities the truth is very different. They come looking for employment, wages and a better life but all they find is –

Unemployment, poverty, exploitation, pollution, drugs, vice, crime, sickness and violence. For them, and for God the cities are moral and spiritual ruins where life has been devastated for a long time. Why is this?

The Downhill Slide.

Romans 1, 18-32, says that once men forget the one true living God they fall into the grip of idolatry, which is the beginning of a slippery, downhill slope. 21-23

The inevitable consequence of idolatry is another slide, into impurity and immorality. 24,25.

Because immorality never satisfies for long, men and women fall further into perversity. 26-27.

Finally they hit depravity at the bottom. People become senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless which is the inner city streets with all their deceit, malice, strife and murder. 1, 28-32

The good news is that God has promised that "they" will rebuild these ruins, and restore these devastated places.

Who Are These People?

Here is the astonishing answer. Once upon a time they were poor people, broken-hearted men and women. They were captives to sin, self and Satan through addictions and abuse. Once upon a time they were prisoners, even in jail, and their lives were full of darkness, despair and grief.

Now they are comforted.

Now they are beautiful people.

Now they have joy and gladness.

Now they are stable, unmoved.

They are called priests of the Lord.

And ministers of our God.

They have wealth to feed on.

They enjoy even a double portion.

They look forward to an inheritance.

Their descendants bless the nations.

And everyone who sees them has to admit that God has blessed them. No wonder they celebrate and praise God. Isaiah 61, 1-11.

How Did This Happen?

An exchange of lifestyle like this has to be a miracle of God. The key is in Isaiah 61.1 where someone, a rescuer says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me." Anointing means a calling and enabling. 1 Samuel 16.13.

Who Has The Lord Anointed?

The Lord God has anointed his Son, Jesus. Luke 4.16-21 tells us that Jesus went to the synagogue, read the Isaiah promise publicly and declared that on that day the prophecy was fulfilled. Jesus then began to do all that God had promised.

What Is Jesus Anointed For?

To Be Good News For The Poor.

A poor man is a man who humbles himself and asks God for help, like the leper in Luke 5.12-15 .A man may be wealthy but if in his spirit he is crying out for help, he is a humble man. A beggar with nothing might be proud and say leave me alone.

To Bring Freedom To Prisoners.

When Paul and Silas were in prison in Acts 16, 16-40 they were praising God at midnight. The Lord sent an earthquake that shook them free and brought salvation to the jailer as well. He can do the same for today's prisoners of drugs and disease.

To Bring Sight To The Blind.

Some people are physically blind, but many can neither enter nor see God's Kingdom because they are spiritually blind. Jesus said that they need to be born again. John 3, 3,5.

To Release The Oppressed

It is Jesus who sets people free from the demons that torment through fear, anger, hatred, rejection, self pity, failure, with visions and voices at night.

To Declare The Year Of God's Favour

Those street people who were so poor, broken and captive to sin met Jesus and found that today he is still restoring men and women to life, health and hope and giving them dignity and purpose. And the blessing does not stop there.

God Also Anoints Street People

Jesus said that when the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord comes you also receive power to tell people that Jesus is alive today and doing the miracles in the inner city. Acts 1.8.

Jesus said that if anyone has faith in him he would also do all that Jesus had been doing and even greater things. John 14.12

Jesus said that just as his Father sent him to rescue men and women in this sin stricken and demon possessed world so he is sending his disciples to continue the work of rescue and restoration. So the very people who were the victims of the streets become the rescuers. They are the ones that Jesus is anointed for, comes for, changes, anoints and sends to rebuild and restore the lives that sin, sickness and Satan has ruined.

To Close Pray for the World's Most Unreached Peoples by Name

Taken from the Joshua Project Unreached Peoples List these people have no church and as yet no cell, church or mission has committed themselves to prayer, adoption or church planting among this people.

Kazakhstan

People Name Language Population
Chechen, Shishan Chechen 52,000
Kurd, Northern (Kermanji) Kermanji (Kurmanji) 27,000
Parsee Parsi (Parsee) 110,000

 

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