day two

You don’t always feel anointed. Most days you just feel human — sleepy, distracted, weighed down with lists and half-finished thoughts. But if you are in Christ, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you. That’s not poetic fluff. It’s truth. The breath that hovered over chaos at creation now hovers over your chaos. The wind that split seas and raised prophets now fills your lungs. The oil once poured on kings and prophets is now running through your story.

And it isn’t for hype or a platform. It is for love. For healing. For freedom. The Spirit doesn’t rest on you to make you impressive. He rests on you because the world is aching for hope. Anointing is not for the few. It is for the faithful. And it is not about what you bring, but about who He is.

DAILY READINGS

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,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

DEEPER

When Jesus read from Isaiah 61 in that dusty little synagogue, He wasn't auditioning. He was declaring who He was and what He was about. Liberation. Healing. Comfort. Justice. Not for applause, but because heaven had come close, and this was what it looked like. Then, wildest of all, He hands that mission on. To you. To me. Not the elite. Not the ones who feel most “together.” Just ordinary people, cracked and soft-hearted enough to let the Spirit fill them.

The anointing isn’t a reward for the qualified. It’s God’s strategy for reaching the world through His people. This is the upside-down logic of the Kingdom: the anointed ones are the ones who show up. Not the loudest in the room, but the most attentive. Not the flawless, but the faithful. You don't need to wait for a platform. Your life is the platform. The Spirit of God falls on the parent doing bedtime with kindness. On the barista who remembers someone’s name. On the mate who says, “I’m here,” and means it.

And here’s the bit we often miss: the anointing isn’t just to bless us (which it will). It’s also to disrupt the systems that crush people. To bind up what’s broken and to declare that even despair has an expiry date. Isaiah’s vision is tender, but it’s fierce. It's for the people God aches to reach, through you.

You carry the river. And that river runs toward the dry places. So don’t wait until you feel ready. Trust that if God’s Spirit is in you, then today is full of sacred possibility.

As you begin to notice the Spirit’s nudge, you’ll start to realise how active God already is. He’s not waiting in a building. He’s moving in the checkout line, the counselling session, the breakfast table.

Anointing doesn’t make you superhuman. But it does mean the Spirit of the risen Jesus is alive in you, empowering you to live a fully human life as God intended it — grounded and gritty, but shot through with divine power. Not just help, but participation. Not just comfort, but courage.

This is the miracle of it: God is not distant. The Spirit dwells in you. And the Spirit moves through you. Your ordinary life is now the place where heaven touches earth. The Kingdom is not far off. It’s here, flowing through open hands and willing hearts.

RESPOND

Where do I quietly doubt that God has anointed me? What feelings come up when I think about carrying His good news into my everyday world?

PRAYER

Lord, thank you for anointing me to bring good news. Fill me with your Spirit so I can carry hope into the places and moments you send me today.

Also pray now for one child or youth in our church by name, asking God to grow their faith and identity in him.

ACTIVATE

Do one small, practical thing today that makes life easier for someone you live or work with — no announcement, no credit, just as a quiet way of partnering with God’s work.