Dearest Jayhawk1... may you have peace!
I have skirted around this question on this board and H20 on numerous occasions because my personal experience was VERY specific... and some who profess such 'anointing' don't profess the same experience. With the exception of those my Lord has STATED to me are imposters, then, it is not up to me to 'judge the house servant of another'. So, simply because our experiences are different, doesn't mean our 'choosing' is not the same. I will relate to you what happened to ME, though, in part... and how I know.
First, what you and others must understand is that we are not 'chosen' in this world. In TRUTH, we were actually 'chosen' before the founding of the world, and certainly before we are born in the flesh, just as my Father said to Jeremiah:
"Before I was forming you in the belly I knew you."
It is that 'choosing'... and the CALLING in response to that choosing of which we must 'make sure'. For no one can come to the Son, unless the Father 'draws' such one... and He knows which ones to 'draw'. It is He that has told the Son whom to speak to... to reveal his voice to, which is why the Son says, 'You did not choose me; I... chose you.' And, in truth, my Lord's 'sheep'... know his voice... and answer the 'call'.
The call goes out to ALL... and all are 'invited'. But how one gets 'chosen' (in truth, how one MANIFESTS that 'choosing'), is based on whether or not one responds to the call. ALL have the capacity to hear the voice of my Lord. That ability has been programmed into US... just like it was programmed into the animals. Humans, however, call that 'instinct'. It is not. Animals hear the voice... and respond... or don't... just like humans. That is how the animals got to the ark.
It is the same as with the nation of Israel... ALL were SUPPOSED to become a 'holy' nation... a 'chosen' race. But only a REMNANT listened... and obeyed... and thus entered into the promised land of Canaan. In the first century, only a REMNANT of Israel were awake when Messiah arrived and HEARD him... listened to his words and what he taught... and responded. It is the same with us today, only now, my Lord speaks NOT 'upon the earth'... but 'from the heavens'. And just like the disciples exercised FAITH in the words of that One when he spoke to THEM on the earth, stopped what they were doing and immeditaely followed HIM... those of us with faith TODAY... can hear that same voice, will stop what we're doing... and follow him.
Everything prior to the outpouring of holy spirit at Pentecost 30 CE was done... in the PHYSICAL, because Israel WAS physical... and my Lord indeed came in the physical flesh. Even the temple was physical. After the time that my Lord became a SPIRIT, however, EVERYTHING from that point on became SPIRITUAL. Before, the sight, touch, taste, sounds, smells... we physical. Now, because HE is a spirit, one can only experience him... in the SPIRIT. It was the physical that was used first; now it is the spiritual one. God is a SPIRIT... and He is looking for ones to worship Him... IN SPIRIT.
For me, I had been hearing this 'voice' as long as I can remember. I just didn't know what it was, but it saved me a LOT of 'grief'... when I listened to it. When I didn't, what it warned would occur... occurred. Until one day I questioned that voice as to who and what it was. I have related this a few times on H20, and won't related it again here... for now... for the sake of brevity. But I was told WHO the voice was (actually, the voices, for initially there were two)... and had such proven to me by, among many other things:
1. One incident occurred wherein after a particularly vivid vision (I won't relate it here), I saw a bright light appearing in my line of vision afar off, and it was approaching me at GREAT speed. I was seated at the time. When that light finally made contact, it hit me square in my forehead with a force SO intense, that it SHOULD have knocked me off the seat. It did not, but it left an imprint within my forehead, which I know to be a name, written in a language not used in this world. I heard the words, "You are my son, the beloved, and I have sealed you."
I have also related this incident on H20 and to others 'like' me, and have kept nothing secret about it. I knew then that I had received my 'sealing' and a received a name 'which know one [else] knew'.
And I am okay with that, even if this has not yet happened for others. I have no doubt that at some point, it will.
2. The second thing that occurred, however, was MUCH more awesome, in my opinion... and of much greater significance. I was laying down, actually asleep, when a voice woke me (Job 33:14-17) and said, "Prostrate yourself before the Holy One of Israel." I IMMEDIATELY got off my bed, down on my floor and pressed my forehead into the carpet. Yes, I looked... and felt... ridiculous... but I KNOW what I heard, so what could it harm? I had to check it out.
Immediately, my Lord appeared to me and told me NOT to raise my eyes... not to try and look... and I did not. Immediately after, a dark 'presence' passed before me... back and forth... twice. Then it left. My Lord then told me I could rise, but I was NOT doing it. I didn't know what had just happened and I needed to know... so I asked. He said, "I know you and have known you... and know you have become known by my Father." GULP! WHAT?! He repeated that I was now 'known'... and helped me know in my spirit that it meant PERSONALLY... as an INDIVIDUAL... by God. Okkaayyyyy.
He then again instructed me to rise, but I wouldn't. I was actually terrified that I was being tricked and that when I lifted my head up, I would, you know, like die, because I had tried to see God... or something like that. It took awhile before I had the courage to get up.
It was a few days after that that I was taken by my Lord into the Most Holy, to appear before the Ark of the Covenant and the person of God. I went there in the spirit... and it was explained to me then that my Father had 'come down' to see me with His own eyes, for I had been 'related' to Him my Lord, and my Lord had asked entry into the Most Holy for me. Wowee!! Before He would grant such entry, however, I knew and understood that my Father now had to 'know' me Himself. DOUBLE-Woweee!!
But I was taken (I have actually been taken a number of times) and have related all that I saw to those 'like' me here... as well as those on H20. I described in detail the Ark of the Covenant, the brilliance of the cherubs on that Ark, the plain copper serpent on the 'cover' of it, the glassy sea and having touched it, and named the 24 elders. I related see the Ark FULL of 'seed', that 'seed' being poured into the physical realm to 'hide' it, in 'earthen vessels' from its enemies in the spirit realm, the 'fight' of that seed to make its way BACK to that Ark were it was fertilized by holy spirit... and more and more. All that I saw, I related.
Why am I telling you this? Because for years, I, too, bought into the WTBTS' and other religions imposterish description that 'it is difficult to explain', but one 'just knows'... with absolutely NO substantiation. In that case, ANYONE could just run around and say, 'Hey, I'm 'anointed'. Who could argue? And with the WTBTS' false teaching that such ones are all pretty old, there is only the 'outward appearance' of grey-headedness to give credence. With other religion, such ones wear fancy robes and have fancy titles. And yet, my Lord was only about 30 years old when HE received such 'anointing', was not fancy and wore nothing fancy. He even made himself the servant, rather than having his disciples serve him. He did not set himself apart from sinners, but preached a 'release' to them, forgave them their sins... and welcomed them.
The Bible, dear Jayhawk, was written by men who wished to impose 'law' on my Father's unsuspecting sheep. The SCRIPTURES, however... Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms and the Revelation, were written to the Household of God, NOT Israel in a fleshly way, but Israel... in a SPIRITUAL way... those who ARE God's sheep, 'sons' by means of being 'conceived'... by His Spirit. That spirit, is granted to us by my Lord, the SON of God, JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH (Jah Saves; Chosen of Jah)... who, by reason of this, is called our 'Eternal Father'. It is by means of that one that we are 'conceived', 'regenerated'... and 'born'... in the spirit.
I personally do not understand the 'mystery' behind being anointed, and seeing and hearing things 'invisible' to the physical eyes and ears. I mean, I understand that folks don't want to be thought 'crazy', but it was my Lord that said, "He that is ashamed of me before, I will be ashamed of him before my Father." Thus, I am not ashamed of either my Lord or my Father, nor of the things they have shown me and told me. I share them willingly... and freely... for I received them free. And indeed, my Lord himself was thought 'mad'... and yet, he PROVED his 'gifts'.
My Father is no mystery, as neither is my Lord. They are very real, and VERY much alive... they are simply spirits and not 'earthly'... 'celestial'... not 'terrestial'. But because we ARE 'earthly', it is sometimes quite difficult for us to 'see' and 'hear' what we cannot with our physical eyes and ears. I have been granted a GREAT 'gift'... which I do not take lightly, nor have any intention of denying or hiding.
If someone tells you that they have such spirit, and yet can't explain to you the GIFTS of that spirit (which if they had the spirit, then they HAVE to have one or more of the GIFTS of it...), then I would be skeptical. Our first century brothers could prove their possession of it. If God 'does not change', how then can it be different now?
I bid you peace, and I am...
A TRUE servant to the Household of God, Israel, and a TRUE slave of Christ, my means of an anointing with holy spirit,
SJ
