Christine Caine - Developed, Not Discovered - Part 2
Hey, everyone. I am so excited that you've joined us again this week. I'm so glad that you have tuned in. You are not here by accident. I know that God is going to speak to you in a mighty way today. You know, last week we finished off talking about the difference between anointing, and the difference between gifting, and I thought, I have to bring you in just an illustration. Extra virgin olive oil is really want you want. I was a little bit distressed 'cause this is Italian. So my friend Lisa Bevere drinks this by the bottle. Just so you all know. And here we have got beautiful olives. Now remember, for olives to become olive oil there is a whole lot of crushing. And I know over the next couple of weeks, as we continue in this series, some of you are going to feel a crushing.
And some of you, the Holy Spirit is going to put his finger on certain areas of your life. You're going to go, ouch, but I promise you the ouch produces oil. And there is nothing like olive oil. I don't know if you've ever tried to put canola oil on a Greek salad, don't. Okay, so it has got to be olive oil. And what we need is anointed Christians. We need anointed Christians, Christians that are anointed with the Spirit of God. And I'm not talking about just ministers up here on a platform like me, I'm talking about whether you're in the business sector, whether whatever sphere of influence you are in, if you are a full-time mother, if you're home schooling children, you need a bottle of anointing on ya, that's all I'm saying. God bless you, whoever you are. But we need anointing, because we cannot do this on our own. We need the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit. That's what the anointing is. The divine enablement of the Holy Spirit.
When people say to me, "Christine, how do you do what you do"? I go, "I don't know, it's the anointing". 'Cause I couldn't do what I do in my own strength. There is no human way. I don't try to be better than I am, 'cause I don't even know. If I look at my own life, and I look at my own calendar I need to go to bed. I'm like exhausted just looking at it myself. I think, I don't know how that happens, but how does it happen? The anointing of the Holy Spirit. There is a divine enablement. Christine how is your marriage how it is? There's a divine enablement of the Holy Spirit. Christine how do parent a 15-year-old and an 11-year-old? You know, it is the anointing. Any mother would know that. We spend as much time on our faces as we do in their faces. You know how it is. It's just the way that it goes. You need the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit.
If you're a doctor watching this, a lawyer watching this, an inventor, I just feel that there's an inventor watching this program right now, and that God is anointing you as it is right this moment, with the key that you need that's going to unlock this invention and get it patented, and release a bunch of finance into the Kingdom of God. See we need the anointing of God for everything that we do. It doesn't matter, if you try to do this Christian life without the anointing, without the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit, it becomes legalistic, it becomes ritualistic, it becomes very hard work. But in order to enter into the rest of the Lord, you need the anointing of the Lord. There's one way that you get there, it's through crushing.
And so rather than running from the process, it's important that we lean into the process. We want God to develop us into his image, and we want to stop waiting for man to discover us. Most of us are waiting for someone to discover us to validate us. And God goes, I'm already developing you into my image. So many of us are trying to be man pleasers, because if my boss would just notice me, if that guy would just notice me, if that girl, if they would just, if that, if that, if I was discovered here, if they saw my art here, if they went on my Instagram account here, if they saw how cool my YouTube, and we're waiting to be discovered. And God goes, I'm waiting to develop you, not discover you. And when God develops you, then God will catapult you into your destiny. I never sat around waiting to be discovered by anyone. I got about the father's business, and allowed the father to get in my business so that he would develop me into his image.
And I found the more like Jesus I became, the more opportunity to do what Jesus did, he gave me. A lot of us we want the opportunity to do great things for God, but we don't want to become like the God from whom we want that opportunity. And so if we want God to open doors for us then we need to become more like him. You don't become more like him on Instagram. You become more like him in anonymity and obscurity. You become more like him when you are with him. And so many of us do not spend near enough time with God to actually become like him. We don't spend near enough time in his word to actually know what he is like, to become like him. Near enough time in the presence of the Holy Spirit to allow transformation to come into our life. And so if we want to become like him, to be like him to do what he does, then we need to spend time like him, to spend time with him, to become like him. And allow his anointing to saturate every part of our life.
Let me just say to you, I'm 51, and I hunger more for the anointing of God now than I ever have in my whole life. And I probably have more knowledge now. I probably have, hopefully, a little bit more wisdom now. I certainly have a lot more resources now than I ever, ever have had in my life. But if you're wondering how I run A21, and although I read lots of great leadership books and I listen to podcasts. In grad school I'm learning everything that I can learn. My hope and my trust is not on those things. That's just to fine tune certain skills. But the breakthroughs we see with A21, the breakthroughs that we see with propel, it's because I ache and I ask for the anointing of God. Because I know it's only the anointing, how do you think we're going to take down trafficking rings? It's the anointing that breaks the yokes, and chains, and bondages.
How do you think we're going to get favor with law enforcement, and we're going to get favor in different realms of society? It's the anointing. The anointing makes people like you that should hate you. It's awesome. I've seen people that, they can't stand me, they don't even want to like me but they just have to, and they're like, I don't even know why I'm doing this. I'm going, I do, I do. It's the anointing, it just gives me such joy. Just such joy. I've got a really warped side. But there you go. But the anointing will cause people who don't even want to like you to like you. It will cause people to give you things they don't want to give you. It will cause people to give you opportunities they don't want to give you. That's what favor does, that's what the anointing does. But there is a price to the anointing. There's a price to the anointing.
See a lot of us, we want the benefits of the anointing without the price of the anointing. You go, is there a big price, just ask the olive? Just ask the olive. This is way more expensive than this because there was a process for this to become that. A lot of us, metaphorically speaking are Christian olives. That will not pay the price to become olive oil. And yet we've got a world that needs the oil of God. So I wonder whether you would pay the price to be developed into the image of God so that you can be poured out like a drink offering in the same way that the apostle Paul was, ultimately the same way Jesus was. A lot of us are not willing to be poured out because you can only be poured out if you're a liquid. But if you remain in olive form, I know this metaphor, if you're watching this on TV, you're like, wow, is this a cooking show? Did I just plug in to a cooking show right now? I'm so glad you've dropped in.
And so at the end of the day, but a lot of us, we stay in this kind of position, where we just will not go through the crushing so we can't be poured out. We can feed a few people, but we can be poured out like a drink offering when we're willing to go from this to this. And our whole series is about what it is to be developed in that process, so that we can have the anointing, my prayer for our generation of Christians is not that we're more gifted and, I'm telling you this is the most gifted and talented generation. I've been a Christian for 31 years and I look down at some of my staff, and my team, and my jaw is on the floor.
I mean, we just had a propel event on the weekend and one of our, probably our youngest staff member, she's 21, I was just like watching her. Apart from the dance moves, I couldn't do that when I was in my mother's womb. But apart from all of that, just the confidence, and the eloquence, and just the cognitive understanding of so many, I'm thinking, whoa, at 21 I was too embarrassed to say my name. I was so gripped with shame, and guilt, and condemnation. Now that excites me to see what is happening in the next generation. That's what I want. I don't want anyone to have to walk through where I was. And I want to see a generation set free. But I'm looking at them and I'm looking at the gift, and the talent, and the understanding and education, and I go, all that is awesome! But as well as, and perhaps greater than, we need anointed young people that are going to change the world. It's the anointing that breaks the yoke, and the chain, and the bondage, and the anointing has a price.
I know I might be old school, but I'm telling you old school is new school. When my daughter wants vinyl records and a record player and a Polaroid camera, I'm telling you, old school is coming back, and that's a fact, there's a lot to be said for that. So we're looking in the scripture to 1 Samuel 16. And the Bible says, "The Lord said to Samuel, 'how long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons'. And Samuel said, 'how can I go? If Saul hears it, he'll kill me'. And the Lord said, 'take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you'. Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, 'do you come peaceably?' And he said, 'peaceably: I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice'. And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, 'do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature," that always makes me feel so good.
The Bible says don't look at his height, and so God loves short people. That's the message you tuned in today to this television program, 'cause you need to know that all of us five foot nothing people, God loves with a passion. "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him, but the Lord said to Samuel, 'do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'. Then Jesse called Abinadab," I always like that. If you say that word really fast, like three times, Abinadab, Abinadab, you'll speak in tongues, right there okay, so.
"And made him pass before Samuel. And he said, 'neither has the Lord chosen this one'. Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, 'neither has the Lord chosen this one'. And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, 'the Lord has not chosen these'. Then Samuel said to Jesse, 'are all your sons here'? And he said, 'there remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep'. And Samuel said to Jesse, 'send and get him 'for we will not sit down 'til he comes here'. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome", like my husband, that's who I think that's talking about, "And the Lord said, 'arise, anoint him, for this is he'. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And then the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to ramah. Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him".
I mean there is a lot of scripture there, 14 verses of scripture, more than most of you have read all year, but you know, I'm just getting you up to date on your Bible reading plan right at this point. But I want you to keep your finger in there, and we're going to just scoot over to 2 Samuel, chapter five. I'm just going to read a couple of versus, but I want you to see, 2 Samuel 5:1-4. "Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, 'behold, we are your bone and flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord said to you, "You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel"', so all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and king David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was 30 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 40 years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and at Jerusalem he reigned over Israel and Judah 33 years".
So just to do the math for you. When he took over both kingdoms, both Judah and both Hebron and up at Jerusalem. At that time, he was 37 years old. So, we read the story in 1 Samuel 16. David was a 17-year-old teenage shepherd boy. So David was anointed to be king of Israel at around about 17 years old, when he was a shepherd boy. But he was not appointed to be king of the entire kingdom, north and southern, until he was 37. 1 Samuel 16, anointed, 2 Samuel, chapter five, appointed. He was anointed at 17, appointed at 37, between 1 Samuel 16 and 2 Samuel chapter five there are 20 chapters and 20 years between anointing and appointing. There was no snap and upload. There was no instantly you're anointed by Samuel, tomorrow you're on the throne. There is no precedent in scripture that there is an overnight success. There are no overnight successes.
Overnight successes have been formulated with the advent of the internet and social media, when we just happen to look at something today, and tomorrow, and we think that was overnight success, and we know no back story. But I'm here to tell you there's always a back story. There's always a back story. Between David's anointing and appointing was 20 years, and 20 chapters, and many of those chapters David was running, David was in hiding, David was being persecuted, David was being attacked. The anointing process was happening between 1 Samuel 16 and 2 Samuel chapter five. The anointing process was happening, not just when Samuel poured the oil on him, but then the process that he went through to become who he already was.
In 1 Samuel 16 he was anointed to be king. He was the king. But he wasn't put in position for 20 more years and 20 more chapters. It took 20 chapters and 20 years to become who he already was. You and I as born again, spirit-filled people, already are sons and daughters of the king. We already have access to every spiritual blessing that is ours, in through Christ Jesus. We already are seated in heavenly places, right at the right hand side of God in Christ, that's where we are. Now the whole process of our Christian life is becoming who we already are. We already are sons and daughters of the king, but we're learning how to live as sons and daughters of the king. We're learning to become what we already are positionally, but there's a process that takes you to the position where you already are. The already, but not yet, that's where we are.
David was already king, but not yet, 20 years, 20 chapters. So what do we learn from this in the way that God develops our whole process, because it's very, very important. A lot of us are frustrated because somewhere along the line God spoke a promise to you, God spoke a purpose to you, and you are wondering, where is God? You think God has forgotten you. You think God has forsaken you. In fact, you're looking around and you're going, I'm more talented than them. You wouldn't tell anyone, but when you put your head on the pillow at night, that's what you really think. You might watch someone and they're singing, or they're leading, and you're like, I'm more gifted than that. I can write better songs than that. I can hit higher notes than that.
They're flat anyway, all these people, they're tone deaf, they can't even tell. And you begin to think, and what we do is we confuse gifting with anointing. And we think, I'm more gifted, why don't I have that position? And God said, well you might be more gifted but now I'm trying to make you anointed as well. Because it's the anointing that's going to break the yoke, and it's your anointing that's going to take you to your destiny. And if all you're looking at is comparing and competing your gift, and that's what a whole lot of us do. We just get on our social media and we just spend our life scrolling through everybody else's life.
We're going to get to heaven and Jesus is going to say, why didn't you run your race? And you go, oh I was going to, but I couldn't get off Instagram. I was just too busy scrolling through everybody else's life. And I was too busy being jealous about what they were doing, and I was too busy looking and coveting the opportunity they were given, and I was just too busy looking at their glamorous, filtered Instagramable life, and so I forgot to live the life that you called me to live, God. And the fact is, that if king David himself had a 20 year period between anointing and appointing what makes us think that there is not going to be a process between God calling us, God marking us, God speaking to us, and God bringing his plan, and his purpose, to fulfillment.
So many of us step out of our God-given destiny, and our God-given purpose, because we're trying to run our Christian lives like a social media account. We think that God needs to turn up like he does on social media, or like that other people do on social media. And God why aren't I seeing a nice filtered view of my future? God why can't you take me there tomorrow? And God says, I'm taking you there through a process. That circumstance, that relationship that you're really struggling with right now, that job that you really can't stand, that boss that is really bugging you, that brother or that sister that's getting on your last nerve, that temptation that you have to maybe watch some things on a computer that you shouldn't be watching, looking at some magazines.
You know, all that. I'm forging my character in you. I know that you think I've left you. I haven't left you. I'm actually helping to forge my character in you, and through that crushing, and through that crucifying your flesh, and through that pain, and through that denial, and through that feeling that I've left you, I am forging my character in you. I am making you more like me. I'm squeezing more of you out of you, and more of me is coming into you, because I am preparing you for what I have already prepared for you. God has prepared your future. He's just preparing you for the future. The process is preparing you for the future.
See he already had the kingdom set up for David. He just needed 20 years to prepare David for the kingdom. The kingdom was already there, but David needed to be prepared for what God had already prepared for him. There was a process to go from the field to the palace. You didn't go overnight from being a shepherd boy to understanding the protocol of the palace. You needed 20 years and 20 chapters of experience to understand the protocol of the palace. Because one day you would leave the palace. But you can't think that a guy that was playing the harp on the side of a hill with the sheep would know how to be king.
There was a process to becoming king. He was anointed to be king, but he had to be developed into the position that he was anointed to be. Some of you, you know that you're anointed to do certain things. God has a plan and purpose for you, but God is putting you through the process to prepare you for the thing that he's already prepared for you. Don't give up, don't quit. Your best days are ahead of you, and not behind you. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name.