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Connecting it Up

During the last three messages I emphasized that we have by and large lost the emphasis of bringing proper honor to the Prophetic and Apostolic offices. This was an honor that we saw demonstrated in the Old Testament with such persons such as Samuel, Elijah and Elisha. In the New Testament it is seen in the first few chapters of Acts and (somewhat) in Paul's epistles. I argued that by honoring the Gift of God with the substance that we most value, we actually honor God Himself. And that by doing so we demonstrate the gratefulness necessary to place us in the blessing zone not only for receiving God's Word into our lives, but for His favor to live in expectation and fulfillment of it.

I went on the tell of how the Lord tests us in honoring Him by allowing us to either follow through on our commitments to Him, or fail to honor those promises. We stressed that long term gains in a relationship with the Lord cannot be separated from being one who "sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not." (Ps.15:4)  I concluded by noting that the proof of growing into integrity is maturity of heart desire and in life decisions. God molds us into maturity as we stay put in times of indecision until receiving His direction. 

From "faith to faith" means allowing our follow through with Him to become the means by which He can continue His work (unimpeded) in our lives (Ro.1:17). We must always honor God and His Word in this way if we hope to become one in heart with Him, to mature in Him and to flourish by Him.

The Supernatural Exchanged Defined

In this segment, I want to begin revealing what I am calling "The Supernatural Exchange."  Meaning, the Divine promotion and increase which comes by releasing all natural uncertainties and creature comforts to God. This only comes by trading all we are and have in order to receive who He is, what He wants and is longing to do. I want to show how this is the first step and necessary foundation for developing a true and continual supernatural movement of the Spirit in our lives. To that end….

Elijah is more like most of us than we'd probably care to admit. He shows up out of nowhere with no credentials. With no pedigree to speak of (or person to open doors for him), there is absolutely no reason for those in power to believe he's anything other than a malevolent malcontent who just wants to see radical change come to Israel. In essence, Elijah can be seen as a type and shadow of the Prophetic grass roots of the church hungry for the "more" of the true Apostolic which is yet to fully come. These, not willing to remain being good little boys and girls, are unable to settle for visible organizations, compromise, religiosity, or hypocrisy in leadership which promotes half-baked revelations and manifestations hyped to get the church to receive them as the authentic this is that.? 

So, with no impressive background, no pedigree, and no recommendation from any of the who's who in the charismatic zoo Elijah begins his national prophetic ministry by making the absurd claim that it's going to go the way he says, and only the way he says (1Kgs.17:1). But from that point onward, the way God accomplished His will in and through Elijah could not have been predicted by anyone. And probably the person most surprised was Elijah himself. Instead of staying there to gather influence, develop an itinerary, promote a ministry or obtain means of support, Elijah was sent by God to instead to the brook Cherith.

That is how God chose to prepare Elijah for the fulfillment of the sending of rain to Israel by release of God's Word, finding sustenance and replenishment at the brook Cherith. There, he had neither the slightest financial support, nor even a bit of shelter from the elements. There were no intercessors gathered around him. No Overseer checked in from time to time. And none came by to encourage him. Elijah was totally dependant upon God. This is lesson number one for the one called of God to a Supernatural relationship and walk in the yet-to-be fulfilled Apostolic/Prophetic: you must allow yourself to be moved into total dependence upon God.

Cherith

While at the brook Cherith, Elijah learned new ways to receive, the Lord's ways of providing from His own resources in order to fulfill His promises. While at Cherith, Elijah was freed from the daily routine in which his culture was fully entrenched. It would only be through the process of becoming elevated above natural, religious understandings, released from "sweat of the brow" ways of gathering resources that Elijah would be readied for what lay ahead. While at Cherith, Elijah was also delivered from comparing himself with others, after all: there was no one else around! And also: of those he could remember, none had ever gone through what he was experiencing. As a result, Elijah became ready for the next step of what led to perhaps the most demonstrative expression of who God was to Israel since they were delivered from Pharaoh in Egypt.

For us today, the essential aspect of Elijah's progress was that He laid down his understanding of the where, the when, the how, and with whom of his call. Why? In order for God to establish the most simplicity in life anyone could ever experience, which was the undistracted focus which God required. Elijah was just alone with God, and God would either come through, or the elements would take him through starvation, dehydration and/or attack from any or all creatures of the wild.

Why was such a testing process necessary? Why be so at odds with the surroundings and completely different from everyone else? Think about this: Elijah had a remarkable promise from God. When one receives such a promise, thoughts about it can easily crowd out normal aspects of daily life. Meaning, those with remarkable promises often tend to become so focused on fulfillment they forget that being sustained in daily life and being provided for is a gift from God. They can all too easily become familiar with God and His blessings by striving to break themselves through to their promised remarkableness.

As the result of being so focused on fulfillment of his destiny, Elijah could very well have succumbed to feeling "on the spot" to produce through his own efforts by taking matters into his own hand. That is, if he had stayed in the loop.  But instead, called away to a desolate, isolated area, he was able to resist the pressure to watch Israel and their progress regarding the word God gave him to share (1Kgs.17:1). How was Elijah able to stay out of the way of the process? By embracing the Spirit's leading instead of his own understanding. By accepting the seeming restriction God put on Him, Elijah was brought into the simplicity of God's best for Him, which was the way the LORD would bring about what had been promised. Elijah did what most of us would totally reject out of hand as having anything to do with the call of God he stepped away from the work of fulfilling God's promise. Why? He did so In order to simply follow God's direction for daily life.

Ready to Move Forward

It was by withdrawing from that work of making it happen that Elijah was made ready to move forward; it was by stepping away from remaining current with the brethren that He was brought closer to full conformity with God's heart and (subsequently) prophetic fulfillment. If we could ?get? that (whenever needed) today? nothing would stop us. Instead, we tend to believe that once we've made a splash, found an inroad, that our word has been heard or that our face has been seen, we must gather the spoils of building my ministry.  Most often making sure that we're heard from as much as possible even when we have nothing of any significant eternal value to bring to the table.

Today, most use initial breakthroughs to become the basis for coming into a quick fulfillment of destiny and/or the words spoken over them. As such, too often people fall into prostituting that which God has given freely to them, turning seeming advances into means for their own (short-term) ends. But the words released from God's own heart were meant (instead) to motivate, mold and shape people over the course of their entire lives. Why does it take so long? Why must there be such a process? In order that we become completely fulfilled through God's perfect preparation to walk with, not just accomplish for Him.

Make no mistake: God wants all that HE has shown and spoken completely fulfilled. But God finishes what He starts; He is faithful to watch over that "word" to bring it to pass (Php.1:6; Jer.1:12). What is most often required of us, however, is to just get out of the way of His work by becoming fully His in heart. And when are we truly His in heart? When we treasure the Lord above all else, including (& especially) what He has promised and can do for us or through us.

Bill Click