Use Your Anointing Or Lose It!

Mantles that were stored in heavenly places were mantles that were not being used.

I believe this is for two reasons. One is people don’t know they are available. They haven’t been taught. They know little or nothing about the power and anointing of the Spirit of God. Second, few are willing to pay the price I have spoken of previously. There is a lifestyle adjustment required to carry the mantles of the Lord. Ephesians 4:1 exhorts us to walk in a worthy way.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.

Paul declared himself to be the prisoner of the Lord. This means his life was no longer his. He didn’t have the right to choose his own ways, but was at the discretion of the One who owned him. This must become our mantra as well. We must with great joy give ourselves to Him for His purposes. We are not our own; we are His! Once this is done, it will propel us into a worthy walk to qualify us to carry the mantling of the Lord. There are mantles in the heavenly realm waiting to be dispensed and dispersed into our lives. May we qualify as those who can righteously steward these for the glory and purpose of the Lord.

The dream also reveals that the names of those who previously carried the mantles were written in the collars. Some had many names, some had a few and others only had one. There are mantles and anointings given on the basis of the call of God. The Bible says of Jesus that He was anointed and was mantled by the Father in an unusual way. He had an anointing above His brothers. Hebrews 1:8-9 tells us that Jesus qualified as the Son for a great anointing.

But to the Son He says:

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

Jesus was greatly anointed with the oil of gladness. The anointing He carried was full of joy and happiness. I believe He imparted this wherever He went. Notice this mantle/anointing was a result of loving righteousness and hating lawlessness. If we are to carry the unusual anointings, it will require us to have His nature. Notice that we are to love, then we can hate. I remember a great man of God many years ago saying, “It is very dangerous to hate more than you love.” What a statement. Any hatred we have for lawlessness and iniquity must flow from a love and passion for righteousness. Only the Lord can put this in us by His nature. His nature causes us to love what I used to hate and hate what I used to love. This is the result of being born again. When we were born again, the Father’s seed and nature was placed in us. Second Peter 1:4 speaks of this divine nature.

By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

This divine nature that we have become partakers of causes us to escape the corruption in this world. This corruption is a result of a life driven by lust. When we are granted His nature, we begin to love righteousness and hate iniquity. The more we let this be formed in us, the more we qualify for these special mantles that only a few can carry—or maybe even one has carried. May we be anointed and mantled with the anointing above our brothers. Not so we can have a superior attitude, but so we can be used to accomplish things for the kingdom that are necessary. May we be of that usefulness to the Lord.

Notice that the dream also spoke of tailors who would be used to fit people with their mantles. I believe these are people joined to me in ministry who can get people ready for the mantles they are called to carry. The mantles waiting to be dispersed don’t change. They are heavenly and they are divine. When we speak of something being tailored, we are speaking of the one called to carry the mantle. In other words, the tailoring is not done on the mantle; it is done on the person called to carry it. We must be changed, altered, and prepared to fit the mantle, not the mantle to fit us. This is why so often mantles are not given and received. We want the mantle to change to fit us, when it is we who must be changed to fit the mantle. As the fivefold ministry gifts, we must prepare the people to receive, carry, and function in their mantle from heaven. Ephesians 4:11-13 tells us of the effect of these ministry gifts on our lives.

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

We are all to be equipped, aligned, and brought into a demonstration of Jesus’ stature. This means we grow up and change. We come into realms of maturity. This allows us to be fitted with the mantle of the Lord. God changes our character to fit the anointing we are called to carry. He uses the tailors to do this in our lives.

These mantles also had dials on them that determined the level of power they would operate at. The level of power is connected to the call and assignment that has be given. I think about the servants who were trusted with their master’s goods in Matthew 25:15. The master gave them currency to trade with and make increase. He trusted them on the basis of their ability.

And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

The number of talents trusted to each servant was based on their ability. The word ability is the Greek word dunamis. It means power. It normally speaks of the anointing one carries. If this is true, then the amount of currency given was based on the level of power that each one had. I am citing this to point out that the mantle we carry and the power level of it can determine what we have been given authority over. The dial on the lapel of the mantle determined the level of power and, therefore, the level of responsibility entrusted. The truth is that if we are faithful, we can be entrusted with more. If we use the level of power we are given to get our assignment accomplished, we will be given more. We are told that if we are faithful and use what we have, more will be entrusted. Matthew 25:29 lets us know that when we use the power level we have faithfully, it will lead to abundance and much more.

For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

If we don’t use the power level we have, then we can lose even what has been given to us. We cannot allow our perceived smallness of power to cause us to not be faithful. We must take what we have, not compare it to others, and move in wise stewardship. We are promised increase as we do.

It is the passion of the Lord to impart mantles to us to fulfill our call. However, the devil wants to resist this. It is my opinion that one of the reasons we lack mantles to accomplish the task is the devil’s legal case against us. If we can step into the Courts of Heaven and remove these claims, we can position ourselves for our assigned mantles. We can get ready to receive them and the empowerment they bring. The result will be His kingdom will done and our lives fulfilled.