“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Isaiah 61:1-2a)

I remember the first time that I really encountered this scripture.  I was sitting in Kinburn one Friday night reading one of the red bibles in the pew.  I just opened up the Bible to this scripture and began to read.

Just then my sister sidled up to me and said, “Darren I want you to read one of my favorite scriptures.”  I was a bit annoyed at being interrupted but lifted my head to see what it was she wanted to show me.  It was the same scripture.  Oh my, was God saying something.

We both laughed and rejoiced at what God was saying. The service then took a different turn.  We always sought at Kinburn to follow the leading of the Lord and do as Holy Spirit was showing us to do.

Pastor Mark Redner asked if anybody wanted to share something they received from the Lord.  A little Korean preacher stood up and went toward the microphone.  She opened her Bible and began reading from the exact same scripture.  Any coincidences in my mind were thrown to the wayside.

What was the Lord saying to me?  I began to see myself in this verse.  Of course this is the same verse that Jesus used to introduce himself to Israel as the Messiah in Luke 4.  He was telling the people and leaders of Israel this was what he was coming to do.

I believe the Lord would have Jesus inside of us to be this to the people that we meet each day.  We should constantly remind ourselves that the anointing of the Lord is upon us to do the things we are called to do, both great and small.

There really is no small act in Christ.  Each time we pray for someone or each time we serve someone because of the compassion that wells up in our hearts we are acting like Jesus in this world.

So each of us has a way of looking into the world through the eyes of Christ to see where the brokenness lies in the hearts of men. And when we see it we should ask God to help us become the greatest encouragers.  Our encouragement can become like a hammer over the darkness that lies above the heads of men.

When we speak in the name of the Lord carrying the anointing of the Lord we can become conduits for the Lord to act upon these men and women, changing their lives forever.

And so I pray today that this verse will stir your hearts and minds.  I pray that you too will become a great conduit of the anointing of Christ to break the yokes over people’s hearts and minds.