Phil 1:14
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much bolder to speak the word without fear
I hear about so many people who want to change there lives; who want to change their situation and the things that are going on in there lives
But unless the heart is changed, change will never take place.
Ps 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
What is it that is going to create within you a clean heart?
What is it that is going to renew within you a right spirit and change your life?
You need to hear a word from the Lord.
And in making such a statement many of Gods people are not going to understand what I have just said because many of Gods children read his word without hearing from Him concerning his word,
They go to church without becoming the church; they listen to a message without becoming the message,
They desire intimacy with the Lord without commitment and loyalty to the Lord and when these conditions are not present within the body of Christ very little change takes place within the body of Christ.
IKing 17:1
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
This is the very first verse in the bible about Elijah, there is nothing previous in the bible about him, and there is no previous introduction in the word of God concerning him.
Iking 17:1 is the very first mention of this man called Elijah
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead
That is all that the word of God has to say about Him and where he came from.
We do not know anything about his family, about their beliefs, about his childhood or about family members.
Nothing is said about his education, about any experiences, about any training.
And all of a sudden he appears on the scene and speaks a word.
And this is very significant to me
Why would this man be able to just come upon the scene?
Why would he be able to walk up to one of the most heathenistic, ungodly, demonic kings in all of the old Testament and dominate the very outcome of all that is going to take place for the next twenty or so years.
How was he able to do that?
Elijah had a word from God and the reason that Elijah had a word from God is because Elijah had been in a place of intimacy, a place of communion, a place of intimate fellowship with God and because of that intimacy with God he had a word from God.
A word that would change his life, a word that would change the life of others, a word that would transform every one that would come into contact with that word.
You see we are surrounded by people who speak volumes of words concerning Christ but lack the intimacy to have a word from Christ.
We are surrounded by preachers and teachers and evangelists who speak words but have no word.
We are surrounded by people who speak many words concerning the word but have no word.
Here is a man, who had no connections, no inroads to the king,
He did not know the right people; He had no influence with the right people to open up the right doors, and all this man had was a word from the Lord.
But because he had a word, because he had heard from the Lord,
He was bold enough and had enough courage to walk up the most evil king of that day and say
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
Here is a King and his wife who have openly walked away and denied the presence of God, they have set up alters and grooves and have led the people of Israel into the worship of the pagan god Baal
This king and his wife have led the nation of Israel into idolatry, and Elijah from no where walks up and speaks the word that he has received.
He speaks it without a platform, without being asked, without asking if they agree.
He speaks it out of turn and without being given an audience.
He speaks and pronounces judgment upon the king, his wife and the entire nation of Israel.
He had a word from the Lord and the word that he spoke made an impact on the lives of those who heard that word.
Listen as he speaks the word,
As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
The word that the Lord gave him is now his word, it belongs to him, and it is life in him.
There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
The church is full of people, who want to do mighty works,
They desire to do ministry, they want to make a difference,
They have burdens, visions but they do not have a word.
They desire to be healed but they do not have within them His word which proclaims that by his stripes they are healed,
They believe that God can heal them but refuse to believe that he already has healed them.
They want to be delivered but do not have within them His word which states that whom the Son of God has made free, is free indeed.
They say they are saved by his blood
They say that the old man has been put aside and that they have been clothed by the new man and yet they live in guilt and condemnation every day because they do not a have word concerning His amazing grace.
They have desire, they have want, they are emotional, they even have a form of godliness but they do not have a word.
Everything that Elijah was ever going to do in the realm of his lifetime came into existence because of one thing and that was the word that he received
It had nothing to do with his talent
It had nothing to do with what he wanted to do
It had nothing to do with making an impact on the world and it had nothing to do with the degrees that he might have had.
It had to do with a word that he received because of the communion that he walked in with God
And that word that he received and spoke opened up every door that needed to be opened up to fulfill what God wanted and desired for him to do.
You see this speaks volumes to me
When God spoke to me 20 years ago I had nothing going for me
I had no direction for my life
I was dysfunctional
I had baggage
I was controlling
What I had was all that I thought that I needed
I was the worst candidate that was available to be used of God
But God gave me a word and I begin to operate in the realms of that word and I begin to seek out and cry out,
I begin to thirst and to hunger for something more than what I had,I begin to care less about growing a church and desired more to become the church
I begin to desire more of what God wanted than what I wanted
I begin to put away religious training and religious meetings to one on one encounters with God and then nine years ago,
In the darkness of a basement as I wept and cried before the face of the Lord in Baltimore Maryland preparing for a crusade the Lord gave me a word and it has forever changed my life
When he gives a word, when you receive His word, then that word becomes your life and your life then begins to flow in the essence and completeness of the life that he has given to you
And then something marvelous happens that I never thought would happen
You no longer seek after things that happen because of mustard seed faith
Those things just follow you, they follow you
Casting out devils
Healing the sick
Raising the dead
Cleansing the leper
They follow you.
They no longer have prominence
They no longer have president
They no longer move you
They no longer dominate your focus
They are things that follow you because you have come into the revelation of something far more precious.
A word from the Lord, revelation from the Lord, a platform from which to speak and to give life
Hear me
A word from the Lord gives you a platform from which to speak
Ahab did not want to receive the word from Elijah
He wasn’t happy about it
It did not matter, there would be no rain nor dew until Elijah would utter another word
The word of God gives you a platform from which to speak
Pharaoh heard a word from Moses
Let my people go
Pharaoh did not want to hear it
Pharaoh wasn’t interested in hearing it
It did not matter
The word of God gave Moses his platform
John the Baptist received a word
The religious community did not want to hear it
It does not matter
The word of God gave John his platform
A word from the Lord changes peoples lives whether they want to hear it or not
You do not think you have a platform, you do not think you have a voice to be heard receive a word and you receive a platform
You may not have a word but you can receive a word.
Mark 4:20
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.