What the Scriptures say about Partnership

1. Ephesians 4:6-12
1 Corinthians 12:4-13
Romans 12:6-8

The Individual and Corporate Anointings

In these scriptures Paul teaches on the anointing of God that has been made available to us through the Cross and the work of Jesus Christ. Christ actually means, ‘the anointed One and His anointing.’ As a Christ-ian, we are anointed ones. The purpose of the anointing is to bring power to the body of Christ in order to bring His kingdom come to this earth. Using and applying the anointing gives us the ability to grow up in all things to the measure and stature of the fullness of Christ, speaking the full truth in LOVE. Every manifestation of the anointing of God that is spoken of in the bible all comes from the same place – the Spirit of Christ. There are differences in ministries, in activities, in gifts, but the same God works in all of them.

Every person has been given unique gifts to use in the ministry of Christ – some the gift of healing, some the gift of teaching, some the gift of administrations, for example. You may have excellent organizational skills but you are not proficient with computers. When you partner with someone with strong computer skills, you have access to their anointing with computers as they have access to your ability to organize. The same principle applies to seeking the ministry that God leads you to partner with. That ministry might have the faith for a situation that you don’t have, and you might have a mechanic anointing or a lawyer anointing that the ministry needs. Partnership was designed so that none of us are lacking on any front. Just as each person’s gifts and talents aids them in their work in the ministry, these individual anointings have been made available to the entire body of Christ through partnership.

While none of us alone carry the full measure of Almighty God’s burden-removing, yoke-destroying power, together through partnership, we do! The endstate is that the body of Christ will become interconnected together with one another in power and in love, unified in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, so that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Through partnership, we shall be joined and knit together, effectively working together, every part doing its share, to bring growth and edification to the body of Christ and usher in the second coming of the Son of Man to receive His Glorified church! Praise God for this opportunity for you to get in on His Glorious Plan and receive all that He has for you! It is important to note, however, the emphasis on keeping the commandment of love. At the end of each of the passages listed above, it is made clear that anointings and gifts will not work or profit any without LOVE. Afterall, all the law and the prophets hang off of the law of love.

2. 1 Samuel 30
Matthew 10:40-42
2 Kings 4

A Partner’s Reward

These scriptures give an illustration of the benefit of becoming a partner of a ministry. 1 Samuel 30 tells the story of David in a battle with the Amalekites. David took his 600 men on a grueling trek over several miles of land, in full battle armor, in pursuit of the Amalekites. When he got to a certain river crossing, 200 of his men became too weary to continue. So David left the subsistence supplies with the 200 men at the brook and took the 400 men that could persist forward. They captured the Amalekites and recovered all that had been taken from them. As the 400 men returned from battle, they thought that they had earned the spoil and did not have to share with the 200 men who had stayed back with the supplies.

However, David recognized that it was God who fought the battle before them and delivered the Amalekites into their hands, and who had provided the Egyptian servant who knew the way. It was not their spoil, it was God’s spoil, and every man received an equal portion of the spoil whether they fought the battle or guarded the supplies. David made it a statue and an ordinance from that day forward. It was at that moment that David – a man after God’s own heart – officially established the principle of partnership. Well praise God! What that means for us today is that whether you are the one preaching the gospel behind the pulpit or on the other side of the world, or you are the one who is sowing prayer or finances into the ministry, everyone will get the same credit for the every soul that is saved, healed, delivered and set free. 2 Kings 4 tells of a Shunammite woman who insisted she wanted to partner with Elisha’s ministry. She provided food and shelter for him every time he came to her town. The woman had no son, and her husband was very old.

Keep in mind, widows without a family to care for them were in very bad shape in old testament times. As a result of this woman partnering with Elisha, she was supernaturally impregnated and gave birth to a boy. Later in life the boy became sick and died, but again, as a result of her partnership with Elisha, the boy was risen from the dead and returned unto her. We can also look at when Jesus asked the disciples to come out from the world and become partners in His ministry. When they did, the anointing that flowed in Jesus’ life also flowed in theirs. Paul wrote in the letters to the Corinthian church that their fellowship (or partnership) with him in the gospel made them partakers of his grace (or anointing). (1 Corinthians 15:10).