Anointed but Unwise: The Law of Wise Decision Making

Sermon outline

The anointing is already on you, but it must be carried by character and balanced by wise decisions, because anointing plus wise decision making equals success, while poor choices short-circuit your blessing.

1. My job is to connect you; your job is to stay connected

   He recaps that God's word runs very swiftly and that a pastor with an apostolic anointing feeds, governs and gives direction, but cannot force anyone to grow. When you find a good thing, do not disconnect from it, because you disconnect from the anointing that promotes and prospers you.

   Illustration: While the ark stood in Obed-edom's house for three months, everything he had prospered; he imagines the hens laying twelve eggs a day instead of two.

   “When you disconnect yourself, you disconnect yourself from the anointing.”

   • Psalm 147:15
   • John 21:15-17
   • 2 Samuel 6:11

2. Guard your heart: it shapes your decisions

   Your thoughts are governed by your observations, your associations and your feelings, and together they produce your choices, good or poor. So there are things you should not look at and things you should not listen to.

   “If you allow your heart to be affected, you will allow your whole life to be infected.”

   • Proverbs 4:23

3. The anointing needs a receptacle called character

   Believers are anointed just by being under the Word, prayer and the right association, so do not chase the anointing; chase character, because character sustains it. Samson was mightily anointed but had no character and aborted his ministry.

   “So don't go for anointing, go for character.”

   • Judges 16:20

4. The Lord was with Joseph and made all he did prosper

   The prison keeper did not check Joseph's work, because the Lord was with him and made whatever he did prosper, in the pit, in prison and in Pharaoh's court. There is an anointing for wealth as there is for healing; he says he was once so poor 'the poor called me poor' and now carries an anointing to make God's people wealthy. Prosperity is not what you have but who you are, so marry a diligent, visionary person rather than only a handsome one.

   Illustration: Even being lifted out of the pit by a passing band of Ishmaelites was prosperity for Joseph.

   “Prosperity is not determined by the things you have. Prosperity is determined by who you are.”

   • Genesis 39:23
   • Proverbs 10:22
   • Genesis 20:2-3

5. Serving God is a marathon, not a sprint

   Spirituality must be matched by practicality: prayer, fasting and sowing need corresponding action. Prosperity is a lifetime journey from level to level. When he started the church, the Lord told him he had the calling, the anointing, the Word and discipline, but would not succeed overnight: running a church would take years of hard work and commitment, so count the cost.

   Illustration: Some reach Pinetown and drop out before Pietermaritzburg; and the Lord told him, 'I don't make any microwave popcorn. They crackle and they pop, they ain't got the stuff.'

   “Serving God is a lifetime commitment.”

   • Galatians 6:9

6. The law of wise decision making

   Picture the scales of justice: the anointing on one side and wise decision making on the other, and anointing plus wise decisions equals success. Study and get a good education; do not resign or walk out in anger, because anger rests in the bosom of fools; buy your own home before 30 instead of shopping every day; take whatever job you can and start from there. Whatever you are passionate about can make you a millionaire.

   Illustration: A believer who slaps a driver for shaking a fist at him ends up arrested, paying bail and a lawyer, suspended from work and fined, and then asks God why, though he reads his Faith Chronicles and sows seed. He also served in his own church for over ten years, cleaning bubble gum off seats, sweeping and driving his pastor, attending all three services while working.

   “The only job that starts on the top is grave digging.”

   • Ecclesiastes 7:9

7. Start with the little you have

   Jesus turned existing water into wine, multiplied a few loaves and fish, and the widow's little oil kept pouring: miracles of like substance. Be faithful with the little and God gives much. For years he prayed, fasted and wept for money and none came, until the Lord taught him to sow seed.

   “If you have a need, start with the seed.”

   • John 2:1-11
   • John 6:9-13
   • 2 Kings 4:1-7

8. The parable of the sower: the wayside and the stony ground

   Everything in the kingdom hangs on this parable and on guarding your heart. On the wayside the devil snatches the Word from careless people without understanding. On stony ground the Word springs up but has no depth, and when persecution or offence comes the person turns away. Not everybody will like you, as not even Jesus could help Judas; people don't attack dead snakes, so love yourself and refuse to be a chocolate soldier who melts in the heat. The other two soils will follow next week.

   Illustration: When he felt rotten after failing to help some people, the Lord told him, 'Don't feel bad, son. I couldn't help them either. I couldn't help Judas.'

   “People don't attack dead snakes.”

   • Mark 4:1-9
   • Proverbs 4:23
   • Romans 8:1
   • Ephesians 6:10-12