THE ANOINTING OF PARTNERSHIP
In Philippians 1:3:7, the Apostle writes to his partners at Philippi and says, “3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. This word grace here is referring to the anointing (the empowerment, strength) that was on the Apostle Paul’s life to do what God called him to do. He is writing to his partners and he says because of our partnership you are partakers of my grace or my anointing. He was telling them that the same anointing that was on him as an Apostle had become available to them so that they could minister the Word of God in their arena of life. In 1 Corinthians 15:10 the Apostle Paul writes, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” This grace or this anointing that made Paul all that he was became available to his partners at Philippi. So every gift and every anointing that was bestowed upon him became available to them through partnership. There’s a divine connection and a flow of anointing in partnership that is so powerful. The grace or anointing that is on the men and women of God who have been anointed and called into full-time ministry are available to believers through partnership. A good example of this is when the disciples were called by Jesus and they responded by partnering with him. As a result of partnering with him, the same anointing that flowed in his life flowed in their lives as well (Luke 9:1-2). They came back to Jesus and were excited about the anointing that had been working through them and Jesus said I have given unto you all the power over the enemy (Luke 10:19). That anointing was transferred to them through their partnership with him. That’s what the Apostle Paul was telling his partners at Philippi. He was telling them through our partnership the same anointing that is on me is now available to you.
I have seen this work powerfully in my life. When I became partners with Jesse Duplantis Ministries, the anointing that flowed in his life began to work in my life. If you know him, you know that he has an anointing of joy. Well prior to my partnership with his ministry I wasn’t a very joyful person. However, I remember when I partnered up with his ministry that anointing that was on him got on me and it got on me to the point that people very close to me hardly recognized me. That anointing was transferred through partnership. Later on, I partnered with Kenneth Copeland Ministries and if you know him or follow his ministry you know that he operates under an awesome gift of revelation knowledge in the Word of God. By that I mean he gains great insight and revelation into the scripture. After I partnered with his ministry, that gift began to work in my life and I saw things in the Word of God that I had never seen before in my life. Revelation began to flow in my life and it was through the anointing of partnership. The anointings on those two men of God were made available to me through partnership, and when I connected to their ministries those anointings began to work in my life.
It is important for you to understand that the anointing on the man or woman of God is not for the man or woman of God. The anointing on his or her life is for the people that he or she ministers to. The anointing on me is not for me, it’s for you, my partners, and the people that I minister to. This gets powerful when the mechanic, doctor, or secretary, who has partnered up with an anointed man or woman of God, goes out into their profession to do what God has called them to do, but he or she through partnership is now going with the anointing of the ministry or minister who they have partnered with. Now you have the mechanic out there in the garage 40 hours a week, with an anointing to understand the Word of God and minister to the people of the world who come to get their car fixed. You’ve got a doctor in his office 40 hours a week, with an anointing to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. You’ve got a secretary out in the world for 40 hours every week with an anointing of the evangelist who can win people to the Lord. Ephesians 4:11 says, “11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Look closely at this scripture. It says the gifts were given to the men and women of God to perfect the saints not the world. The gifts and anointing of God were given to the men and women of God to edify the body of Christ not the world. Then through the anointing of partnership, the saints are supposed to go out into the world with those gifts, win the world, and then bring them back to the man or woman of God who can build that person up. This scripture says in verse twelve that the gifts are given for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry. A saint is simply a person who is born-again. If you’re born again you have a ministry. It might not be a full-time ministry that travels around the world to preach the gospel. It might be a ministry as a secretary to allow God to flow through you at the workplace and minister to the people that you encounter throughout the day. If you are a grocery store clerk, your ministry is down there at the grocery store. If you are a mechanic, your ministry is down there at that garage. There are people who would never go to church, consequently the man or woman of God who is called to full-time ministry might never cross paths with that person. However, that same person who would never go to church will go to the grocery store. When they go, you’ll be there waiting for them with the same anointing flowing in your life that is flowing in the man or woman of God’s life who you have partnered with. Like the secretary, mechanic, or grocery store clerk when you partner up with a ministry you are going out into your field of ministry with that same anointing that is on the man or woman of God, and that’s when we begin to change the world. As believers we’ve been trained to think that ministry can only happen when somebody is behind a pulpit preaching a message. However, ministry is allowing God and His Word to work in you and through you to meet the needs of the people. The ministers of the Gospel equip the saints and the gifts that are on them are to be transferred to the saints. Therefore the saints can go out into the battlefield of the world and operate in those gifts to win the world for the Kingdom of God. That’s not to say that the man or woman of God, who has been gifted and anointed by God, will never minister to the world. He or she is a saint also and he or she should be winning the world as well. However, the man or woman of God’s main calling in life is to equip the saints for the work of ministry so they can win the lost and dying world. Praise God! Are you beginning to see the power of partnership!
The anointing that’s on me as a minister of the gospel comes on you when we connect to this ministry through partnership. Remember the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:7 to his partners and said, “You are partakers of my grace (anointing).” Well partner I’m writing to you saying that you are partakers of my anointing. The same gifts and anointings that are on me are available to you through our partnership.