Power Over Platform

By Tim Bagwell

WHEN God calls, He empowers. Where He appoints, He equips. If you have been summoned by the King to carry out a kingdom assignment, you have also been given the authority and ability to fulfill it. Yet many leaders today find themselves overwhelmed, operating in their own strength and burning out long before they see the harvest. Why? Because we have underestimated the inseparable bond between the call and the empowerment of God.

We sometimes assume certain callings require less of the Holy Spirit’s power than others. But the truth is, we need His power in all things—even when simply witnessing to a friend. We always need the Spirit to work in us and through us.

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) says, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me.” Jesus promised the empowerment that transformed the early believers—and He still offers it today. But witnessing is more than quoting Scripture. A true proclamation must be paired with a demonstration. It’s not just about saying the right words; it’s about carrying the evidence of Christ’s life and anointing.

Paul wrote, “You are our epistle . . . known and read by all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3, NKJV). We are living letters, written not with ink but by the Spirit of God. We are to be read, not just heard. If you are a true witness, the demonstration of His power will be undeniable. People will sense that there’s “something different” about you, just as Potiphar saw it in Joseph. The anointing will mark your walk, your talk and your very presence.

You’ll notice it, too. Fear will lose its grip. Boldness will rise. You’ll face demons, disease and rejection with a supernatural confidence. Even if others can’t name what they’re sensing, they’ll know you carry a power that breaks burdens and destroys yokes.

Whatever your assignment—whether ministry, business, leadership or all of the above—you carry more than a call. You carry the power to fulfill it. The call and the power are twins; they are always born together. If God calls you, He equips you. If He gifts you, He empowers you. Whether you’re teaching a class, leading a team or laying hands on the sick, you can count on the Spirit’s demonstration to match your proclamation. That is His promise.

EMPOWERED FOR HIS PURPOSE

God will empower you—but never without purpose. He sees your call and your gifts in light of His master plan for the earth. When He calls you, He already has your assignment mapped out. He doesn’t just point you toward your destiny, pat you on the back,and send you on your way. No—He goes with you. His Spirit within you is your guarantee that you are never sent alone. When God says, “This is the work I have set before you,” He takes full responsibility for the outcome. He doesn’t just hand you a sack lunch and wish you luck—He equips you, surrounds you and covers you until the mission is complete.

But here’s the caution every leader must heed: only God can call you, and only God can anoint you. You have a spiritual destination—but only He can take you there. If you appoint yourself to a mission He never assigned, you’ll labor in vain. Without His call, there is no empowerment. Without His anointing, there is no success. You may be gifted, but if you try to climb a mountain He never told you to scale, you’ll end up bruised, broken and bitter—and it won’t be His fault.

If you’re grinding away in ministry, missions or the marketplace and you’re seeing no signs of supernatural fruit, it’s time to ask yourself a hard question: Who called me to this? Bible school is a blessing, but a diploma doesn’t make you a preacher any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car. Hanging around prophets doesn’t automatically make you prophetic. Calling isn’t contagious. It’s divine.

Yes, you can be mentored, trained and sharpened by mighty men and women of God—but no human hand can anoint you. That is God’s territory alone. He alone distributes the gifts. He alone breathes the power. He alone sends out those He has chosen—and equips them to succeed.

You are divinely gifted for something—but not for everything. If you appoint yourself to a task God never called you to, you’ll only end up frustrated. If you try to manufacture your own anointing, the work will grind you down instead of lifting you up.

Stay in the lane God designed for you. His call comes with His power. His purpose comes with His promise. And where He sends you, He goes with you—every step of the way.

THE ANOINTING: ENCHRIO AND EPICHRIO

The anointing is critical to a leader’s call. It’s not charisma or strategy—it’s the supernatural empowerment of God that enables ordinary people to fulfill an extraordinary mission.

The word anointing comes from the Greek chrio, meaning “to smear or rub with oil.” In the Old Testament, oil symbolized the Holy Spirit’s power resting on God’s chosen leaders.

Scripture speaks of two dimensions of the anointing that every leader must understand:

Enchrio means “to rub in.”

Epichrio means “to rub on.”

Both are essential. One prepares you on the inside; the other equips you for impact on the outside. Together, they define how a leader carries God’s purpose in the earth.

THE ENCHRIO

The enchrio is the anointing within you—for you. It’s what God does in the secret place to shape your spirit, sharpen your vision and build your character.

Jesus said, “Anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see” (Revelation 3:18, NKJV). Leaders must have more than natural sight—they must have spiritual vision.

The enchrio impacts every dimension of leadership:

It renews your mind, aligning your thoughts with the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).

It establishes holiness, rooting your leadership in integrity and godly character.

It brings blessing, the way Joshua and Caleb carried a different spirit and stepped into leadership while others fell (Numbers 14:24).

It imparts revelation, making God’s voice unmistakable, even in seasons of confusion.

It brings inner strength, stirring your spirit when your flesh wants to quit.

It protects your leadership journey, fortifying you against spiritual stagnation, pride and burnout.

Without a deep enchrio, leadership is shallow and easily shaken. God first builds leaders privately before He trusts them publicly. The depth of your inward transformation determines the reach of your outward influence.

In the kingdom, lasting leadership always flows from the inside out.

THE EPICHRIO

The epichrio is the anointing upon you—for others. It’s the empowerment that equips you to serve, heal, preach and lead with supernatural effectiveness.

When Jesus rubbed clay on the blind man’s eyes (John 9:6), the word used is epichrio. It symbolized an anointing that brought outward transformation.

The epichrio strengthens you to lead in a way that human effort would not allow:

It overcomes fear, like it did for Gideon, transforming a timid man into a mighty warrior.

It empowers you to give, just as Peter and John gave healing to the lame man at the temple gate (Acts 3:2-6).

It fuels ministry, enabling you to move in gifts of healing, deliverance, prophecy and bold witness.

The epichrio is not for heaven; it’s for the now. In heaven, there will be no sick to heal, no captives to free. Your epichrio is for this life—to meet needs, lift burdens and destroy yokes.

When the Spirit comes upon you, you step into an unstoppable flow of faith, seizing the divine opportunities God places before you. Circumstances won’t intimidate you. Opposition won’t derail you. When the anointing is upon you, God’s purposes are unstoppable through you.

Just as the enchrio must be guarded and nourished, the epichrio must be activated. It’s not a trophy to display; it’s a weapon to wield. And it’s what Jesus spoke of when He said, “Greater works than these [you] will do” (John 14:12, NKJV, author addition).

THE PURPOSE OF THE ANOINTING

In biblical times, anointing with oil symbolized the transfer of divine power, authority, favor, holiness and virtue. These elements still define the empowerment God gives His leaders to fulfill His work on the earth and lead victoriously.

Where the anointing is present, burdens are lifted and yokes are destroyed. The evidence isn’t theoretical—you will see it by what leadership accomplishes.

This connects directly to the enchrio and epichrio anointings every leader must steward. The enchrio lifts personal burdens and breaks the yokes that would cripple your leadership from within. The epichrio empowers you to lift burdens and destroy yokes among those you are called to lead.

Whenever you operate in the anointing, you are operating in the full dynamics of Christ’s nature—His power, authority, favor, holiness and virtue. That is the law of anointed leadership: yokes destroyed, burdens removed, destinies unlocked.

When God anoints you as a leader, He makes you bigger on the inside than the battles you’ll face on the outside. His anointing frees you from your own chains so that you can liberate others.

Even Israel, though chosen and anointed, sometimes found herself yoked by oppressors like the Assyrians. Yet God promised freedom—not by strength, strategy or manpower, but by the anointing. That same richness and overcoming power is available to leaders today.

As you walk out your leadership calling, remember: the anointing isn’t about emotional highs or fleeting ministry moments. It’s about fulfilling an eternal assignment. Signs, wonders, breakthroughs—these aren’t optional bonuses in leadership. They are visible evidence that His kingdom is advancing through your life and leadership.

God has extraordinary plans for you. He intends to lift your burden, break your yoke and unleash the sacred destiny He has spoken over your life. His commitment to His purpose is unwavering—and you are central to that purpose.

THE TRUE SOURCE OF A 
LEADER’S POWER

Every true leader must remember: the oil is not the source of God’s power—it’s only the symbol. You can’t self-appoint, self-promote or self-anoint your way into spiritual authority. Leadership in God’s kingdom demands more than ambition, charisma or education—it demands the anointing.

You can’t manufacture it through emotion. You can’t earn it through intellect. You can’t substitute it with personality or performance. The anointing is sovereign. It comes from God alone—and without it, even the most gifted leader is powerless to fulfill the call.

Degrees, titles, influence, finances—none of these qualify you for the work of true leadership. God may use your talents and refine your skills, but your effectiveness in His kingdom will always come back to one thing: Are you anointed?

You could be surrounded by prayer warriors and mentors, but unless heaven itself marks you, you will lead without authority, speak without impact and move without fruit.

Our trust as leaders must be anchored in God’s empowerment, not in human strategies. We lead by the anointing—or we don’t lead at all.

Even Jesus modeled this principle. Until the Holy Spirit descended on Him at His baptism, there is no record of public miracles or ministry. But once He was anointed, He declared it with authority.

Jesus, though fully God and fully man, did not bypass the anointing. He waited on it. He respected it. He launched His leadership under it.

If Christ Himself would not step into His earthly assignment without the Spirit’s empowerment, how much more must we, as leaders, be utterly dependent on the anointing?

Leadership in the kingdom isn’t about platform—it’s about power. It’s not about image—it’s about impartation. Real leadership breaks yokes, lifts burdens and brings heaven’s agenda to earth. And that kind of leadership only flows from the Spirit of God.

THREE LEVELS OF ANOINTING

Every leader’s journey into true power and authority passes through three phases: revelation, preparation and destination.

The anointing of revelation. Revelation is where it all begins. As Romans 8:16-17 reminds us, the Spirit bears witness that we are children and heirs of God. Until we receive the revelation of who we are in Him—and the destiny He’s assigned—we are incomplete.

When God speaks through vision, a dream or a prophetic word, He deposits life into our spirit. That seed of revelation ignites faith and imparts power for the journey ahead. But be warned: the enemy will always try to abort the revelation before it takes root, using fear, regret and hopelessness to convince you you’re disqualified.

Don’t believe his lies. Hold fast to what God has spoken.

The anointing of preparation. After revelation comes the proving ground. Like David, anointed by Samuel but tested in caves and battlefields, every leader must endure a season where God deals with flesh, pride and immaturity. Preparation is non-negotiable.

Hebrews 12:6 reminds us: those God loves, He disciplines. If we resist this refining, we risk becoming like Saul—disqualified despite early promise. But if we embrace it, God will fortify us for the battles ahead, just as He did for Joseph through his journey from the pit to the palace.

The anointing of destination. Finally, destination. When the fullness of time comes, the anointing matures into its ultimate purpose. Responsibility rises. Priorities shift. Your life ceases to orbit around convenience; it orbits around calling.

Just as Joseph stepped into leadership for Egypt at the exact right moment, God will anoint you for the appointed hour. The cost is high—obedience when it’s uncomfortable, sacrifice when it’s inconvenient—but the reward is eternal. The rivers of living water inside you are meant to pour out—not someday, but when God says now.

Leadership anointing isn’t casual. It demands focus, surrender and sacrifice.

BUILT FROM THE INSIDE OUT

The call of leadership today is not to seek platforms but to seek power—God’s power. Platforms without anointing breed burnout. Anointing without platform still changes nations.

Every leader must be empowered inside before they are effective outside. Leaders with deep enchrio will carry enduring epichrio. Those who steward their inner anointing will not collapse when the outer pressures rise.

God is looking for leaders who embody both proclamation and demonstration—those who speak boldly and live powerfully. He is raising up a generation marked not by clever strategies but by authentic empowerment.

You are called. You are gifted. You are empowered.

Rise up, leader. The world is not waiting for another motivational speaker. The world is groaning for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God, fully anointed, fully alive and fully surrendered.

The anointing is here. The call is clear. The time is now.

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