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TIPS ON HOW TO KNOW IF A WORD IS CORPORATE 5/08/09
1. Know your own level of maturity in your calling.
Luke 2:49-52 NLT
"But why did you need to search?" he asked. "You
should have known that I would be in my Father's
house." But they didn't understand what he meant.
Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient
to them; and his mother stored all these things in her
heart.
Just like Jesus’ grew up and knew His calling at the age
of 12, God will call you many years before you walk it
out in public. You will go through His promises, His
preparation and finally hands on training before you may
be walking in your calling.
Acts 20:28 NKJV
Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the
flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He
purchased with His own blood.
Scripture tells us that all may prophesy. (1 Cor
14:31) However if you are walking in a leadership
calling in your life, and you receive a Word that is
more than a personal Word to you, then it is the nature
of your calling to give corporate Words for those you
care for. In this case, recognition of a corporate Word
is simply based upon knowing who you are in Christ.
2. Know your level of faith.
Matt 13:57-58 NKJV
But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without
honor except in his own country and in his own house."
Now He did not do many mighty works there because of
their unbelief.
Your level of faith matters. Even Jesus’ influence was
limited based upon other’s ability to believe. If
unbelief in an audience makes a difference, how much
more should your own faith.
As a carrier of His Word, you are not responsible for it
to come to pass, but you are responsible to believe what
God spoke and release it with holy boldness. What you
say will not be able to stand against the demonic
opposition if you have not built a solid faith in God
and His Word. Consider what happened to those who did
not walk with Jesus, but tried to use their “formula”
for power:
Acts 19:13-16 NKJV
Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it
upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over
those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by
the Jesus whom Paul preaches." 14 Also there were seven
sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15
And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know,
and Paul I know; but who are you?" 16 Then the man in
whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered
them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out
of that house naked and wounded.
3. Know your confirmations.
2 Cor 1:21 NKJV
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has
anointed us is God.
2 Cor 13:1-2
"By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall
be established."
God is the One Who calls and it is His job to confirm/
establish you in that calling. He promises that all
truth is established by 2 or 3 witnesses. Learn to
recognize God’s confirmations to what He has spoken.
This not only ignites your faith, but also fortifies
your ability to stand after you have shared the Word.
Confirmations guard against presumption, assumption and
getting ahead of God.
4. Know God's timing.
John 2:4-5 NKJV
Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern
have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come." His
mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you,
do it."
Knowing God’s timing is rooted in understanding your own
relationship with Him and the nature of the Words He
already gives you. If these are Word promises, then it
may simply be a matter of waiting for the opportunity to
release it. Sometimes His Words are to be released
through prayer, other times through writing, and others
through decreeing. I heard and saw prophetic promises
for 13 years before it was God’s timing to release them
to others. It was not my time and He told me to wait.
However if you are accustomed to hearing, then
immediately dispatching with signs following, you are
going to know that God’s time is NOW and can normally
walk within that parameter unless God tells you to
wait.
5. Know the relevancy of the Word as to season and
application.
1 Chron 12:32 NKJV
The sons of Issachar who had understanding of the
times, to know what Israel ought to do.
Prov 15:23 NKJV
A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word
spoken in due season, how good it is!
Isa 50:4 NKJV
"The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned,
that I should know how to speak a word in season to him
who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He
awakens My ear to hear as the learned.
Understand how the Word applies in a practical way.
Does the Word fit within the season of what God is doing
in the overall corporate body of Christ?
Spring is a season when God gives us new beginnings,
fresh starts, new boundaries to grow into, promotions,
birthing new ministries, babies, jobs and assignments.
It is a time of fresh, catapulted faith to launch into
the unknown. It is a time of seeing the first small
beginnings of what God spoke in our winter tombs. It is
resurrection power of hope, courage, and rekindled
passion.
Summer is a time when we are growing in the assignments
He has given us. It is a time of experiencing visual
fruit, gifts, movement and productivity. It is a
fulfilling time where we are fully launched in passion
and carrying out the plans God has spoken to us. Summer
is a time of labor and delivery.
Fall is a time of bringing things into completion. We
harvest and conclude what we have been building. We
organize it and settle it, and either store it for later
or give it away. Just like the parable of the tares and
the wheat, fall is a time of release and letting go as
we prepare for winter. Fall is the beginning of death
to self where God is tearing down structures in our
lives instead of building them up.
Winter is a time of death to self, where we wait upon
God to bring new life and hope. It is usually a colder
time with isolation, separation and little outward or
visible activity in God. In the darkness of one’s tomb,
in the dark night of the soul, this is where we draw
near to God by putting our roots down deeply in Him. We
cling in desperate times and He is there to reassure us
and speak Words of hopeful promise of what is to come.
6. Know who you are immediately connected with.
Eph 4:16 NKJV
From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by
what every joint supplies, according to the effective
working by which every part does its share, causes
growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Corporate Words are simply Words that apply to a group
of people outside of your own personal life. Often
times recognizing the difference is simply knowing the
people you are connected with. What are they
experiencing? What are they saying? What is God saying
to them? You will quickly know you are not alone, when
what you see and hear goes outside the boundary of your
own life and has Godly purpose to bless those with whom
you are connected.
7. Know your audience.
Luke 2:52 NKJV
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in
favor with God and men.
Prov 18:16 NKJV
A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him
before great men.
I John 4: 6 NKJV
We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is
not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit
of truth and the spirit of error.
God is the One Who adds favor with Himself and with
men. If you have a corporate call but have no favor of
an open door for audience, then you are either still
being prepared or you are in the wrong audience. When
you find an audience that will listen, then the Lord
also gives you His Words for them. God supplies your
gifts and this in turn opens doors of increase in
favor. It is a two way street going both directions
between your gifts, favor and open doors for audience.
8. Know the faith of the person who is in authority.
1 Cor 14:28-33 NKJV
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others
judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits
by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy
one by one, that all may learn and all may be
encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject
to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion
but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Heb 13:17 NKJV
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for
they watch out for your souls, as those who must give
account . Let them do so with joy and not with grief,
for that would be unprofitable for you.
One time I clearly heard a word of knowledge for a
service and received an immediate confirmation to it,
but the one I submitted the Word to did not have the
faith for it and did not speak it out. I understood
this, as several times I have had people send me a Word
wanting me to dispatch it, but I did not have faith for
the Word either and could not dispatch it.
People in authority are responsible for the safety of
those they care for. They are required to give an
account to God. Each leader has a certain metron or
boundary in which they operate in subject matter, gifts
and spiritual power. If your gift is challenging the
leaders’ comfort zone, then it is best to lay low and
pray the Word. For example when you visit a house and
they take off their shoes, then it is best to honor them
and take off your shoes too.
9. Know the subject of the Word.
Ps 2:7-8 NKJV
I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me,
'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me,
and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
Is the subject matter for an individual, family, church,
town, state, country or nations? It is a simple to
discern.
10. Know your metron or measure of authority.
2 Cor 10:13-14 NKJV
We, however, will not boast beyond measure {#3358},
but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed
us — a sphere which especially includes you.
2 Cor 10:13-14 NLT
But we will not boast of authority we do not have.
Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God's plan
for us, and this plan includes our working there with
you.
Metron is a Greek word meaning a measure of a limited
portion or degree. We are each given a measure of
authority, and it is important to understand our metron,
or sphere of influence and authority in which He has
placed us.
In my calling, He has assured me an angelic host that
accompanies the Words He gives through me. When I
dispatch His Words, I know He is dispatching angels to
accompany those Words. Behind the scenes they do
remarkable things to line up the Words with people, and
bring them all into synch with His timing. It is simply
beyond human capacity and this is completely related to
His Godly sphere and measure of influence.
There is a bumper sticker I have read that says
something like, “Do not drive faster than your angels
can fly.” Men and angels move forward in God as we each
align with Him and His Word.
Deut 32:8 NLT
When the Most High assigned lands to the nations,
when he divided up the human race, he established the
boundaries of the peoples according to the number of
angelic beings.
SUMMARY: The Lord gives His Words to nourish His
body. Learning how to distinguish who the Word is for
is usually a matter of knowing your own walk in God, the
nature of the Word you received and how it fits with
others. It is practical, it is functional, it is
applicable, and it is relevant, and it connects with God
and with man.
Eph 4:11-13 NKJV
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some
prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and
teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the
work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect
man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ.
Eph 4:15-16 NKJV
But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all
things into Him who is the head — Christ — 16 from whom
the whole body, joined and knit together by what every
joint supplies, according to the effective working by
which every part does its share, causes growth of the
body for the edifying of itself in love. |
