Appointed

John 15:16 NIV You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

Every four years, the newly elected U.S. President personally appoints key Cabinet members, ambassadors, and other staff roles. Each is given the position and authority to represent the President and carry out specific assignments to serve the people of the United States. This idea is not unique to government but repeats God appointing His followers to represent Him, fulfill His will, execute His plan, and bear lasting fruit.

Jesus not only chose you, but he has also assigned you a purpose. Appointed to "go and bear fruit" makes it clear we have been given a mission. As Christ-followers and disciples, we are not here just to satisfy our own wants and desires. We have a calling, an appointment, to be fruitful and multiply, to influence and impact everyone and everything around us. “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 NLT. If you have ever walked through an apple orchard when the fruit was ripe and ready for harvest, the sweet aroma of the apples is overwhelming. In the same manner, walking in faithfulness and fruitfulness produces an aroma that not only impacts all those around us but also impacts God himself. “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.” 2 Corinthians 2:15 NLT.

The word appointed (Greek: tithēmi or Hebrew: śûm/ṣāvâ), means to be appointed, placed, established, commissioned, and set in place with purpose and a specific charge. Adam was first created and then placed in the garden for the purpose “to be fruitful and multiply,” Joseph was placed in Egyptian slavery to save the nation of Israel, the nation of Israel was placed in Canaan by God to fulfill His promise and give Israel a land of their own, Aaron and his sons were appointed to the priesthood, and the Body of Christ that now lives in the world to represent Him but will in time populate the New Jerusalem. Each was appointed by God.

Jeremiah was appointed a prophet to the nations even before he was born. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5). But he was also empowered and anointed to fulfill his unique calling. “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, I have put my words in your mouth” (v1:9). Then God made clear the purpose of Jeremiah’s appointment. “See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant (v1:10).

That which God appoints, He also anoints. God never asks you to do something without providing everything you need to complete it. This anointing is a sign of God’s equipping you to fulfill the assignment he’s given you. When He gives you an assignment, a plan, or a strategy, He will empower you. Whenever God gives a vision, he always provides the provision. When God says to do it, you can count on his anointing, making the impossible possible.

We have all been appointed to be about our Heavenly Father’s business: building the kingdom, bringing him glory here on earth, and making disciples. Are you ready to accept your appointment?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To subscribe: Go to livingoaksministry.com                                   Copyright 2025 Living Oaks Ministry

Gary and Sandy Anthony

John 15:16 NIV You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Ephesians 1:22 NIV And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.

1 Chronicles 17:9 -10 NASB And I will provide an appointed place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies. I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you.

Genesis 32:12 NASB For You said, I will surely prosper you and establish (śûm) your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.

Genesis 40:15 NIV I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being placed (śûm) in a dungeon.

2 Samuel 7:9-10 AMP I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like that of the great men of the earth. I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in a place of their own and not be disturbed again. The wicked will not afflict them again.

Isaiah 61:3 NASB  To appoint those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Matthew 12:18 NIV Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put (appointed - tithēmi) my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIV The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

1 Corinthians 1:9 NIV God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 11:29 AMP For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.

Numbers 23:19 NIV God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

2 Timothy 2:13 TPT But even if we are faithless, he will still be full of faith, for he never wavers in his faithfulness to us!

Jeremiah 1:5-10 NIV Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.

John 12:24-25 NASB Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.