“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.”

(Isaiah 10:27, KJV)

The anointing of God is one of the most sacred gifts of God. It is the freedom of God from the power of the enemy (the devil). And it is the most powerful gift we can receive because it directly disconnects us from Satan and reconnects us with God.

That process happened in the born-again experience, the moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, by believing that He died on the cross for our sins and rose again for our righteousness. Romans 10:9-10, explains, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

As believers, we now have the freedom in Christ Jesus to be God’s best representatives in the world. We are His children and the fruit of His Righteousness. As suitable singles in the family of God, we have the responsibility to represent singleness in holiness and righteousness. How? I’m glad you asked. By letting go of anything that would compromise our walk with God, and our ministry in Him.

One of the biggest obstacles to the Christian walk is “hidden hazards.” You know them, they are the “secret sins.” The ones you do when you think no one is watching. Let me confess to you a few of mine before I was born-again. I wasn’t your average sinner. I did my mess in private, mostly in the privacy of my own bedroom. I didn’t party, I didn’t smoke, I didn’t drink, I didn’t do drugs and I didn’t flaunt my body. What I did was: lie, cuss, watch things that I had no business watching (I discuss this more in detail in the book). I was hostile, and I wasted years fantasizing about being anybody, except me (which robbed me of decades of productivity and fruitful labor) and it put me in a sinful, shameful fleshly pattern of behavior. Oh, and I was also promiscuous, a lot (also I speak more about that in the book in detail).

Those hidden hazards (secret sins) cost me greatly. And they will do the same to you if you don’t expose them before they expose you. You cannot be a successful public saint if you are a demented private sinner. The cost will be insurmountable in the form of: intimacy with God (you can’t walk with God and run in sin), your reputation (you can’t be a truthful saint if you’re living a sinful lie), your career (God can’t use you or bless you effectively while you are dabbling in sinful behaviors), and it can sometimes cost you your life (one sinful decision too many can give the devil access to your life, and if you are not careful he will take it from you). I have heard of many pastors in recent years who have succumb to a secret sinful lifestyle that gave the devil legal access to destroy them and even to take their lives.

Just a reminder, that those vices (as we sometimes call them) cannot comfort you, but they will harm you if you don’t repent (turn completely away) from them. When you repent from them, you will open the door for the Holy Spirit to govern you, not your fleshly desires. “… Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.” And… “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him” (1 John 2:15-20, & 27-29, KJV).

This scripture is referring to Jesus’ imminent return. And when He returns, we don’t want Him to find us in a sinful lifestyle or behaviors that compromise our oneness with Him. But while we are here today, let us remain faithful to Him while we wait for Him as suitable singles.

Prayer:

Father, help us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1, KJV). For, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee,” (Isaiah 26:3, KJV). In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.