I remember praying one winter night in the solitude of my living room. It was there that my heart was burdened with both personal issues and the needs and request for prayer from a very close friend. I sat in the living room praying for the personal request my friend had that God would meet his need and provide for him according to God's will God's way. It was during this prayer that I felt a deep stirring and a conviction that the Lord was speaking to me to tell this friend to wait on the Lord and not partake of an opportunity that on the surface, appeared to be right up this man's spiritual giftings and interests. It was after I felt assured that the Lord was telling me this that I called my friend up and told him about what I felt the Lord told me to tell my friend to do at this point in life. My friend thanked me for the Word From The Lord and wrote it down and told me that he was going to pray about the issue and the Word I gave him in his private prayer time. Over time, my friend prayed about this situation and prayed about the Word I gave him. Over time, he felt deep in his spirit via prayer and confirmation that the Word I had for him was on target and therefore decided to take the Word I gave him as advice and follow through. An opportunity that appeared to be so right in his life came up weeks later and he wrestled and wrestled with whether to take the opportunity. In his faith, my friend decided to decline the offer and wait further on the Lord. The first opportunity came into fruition and appeared to be successful until financial discrepancies came to the surface. My friend received another opportunity that he felt was the right opportunity and accepted the position and is successful, happy, and in God's inherent will for the call he is called to.

The point in the last paragraph was not to exalt two people who decided to be obedient to the Lord by (1): receiving, discerning, and giving a Word to his friend and (2): receiving, discerning, and applying the Word given to him. The point that I am trying to convey that in the realm of a spoken word, there are Words From The Lord that apply to an individual only, there are Words From The Lord that apply to a local body of Christ, there are Words From The Lord that apply to "The Global Church of Christ", and there are Words From The Lord that apply to a specific nation. This specific Word From The Lord was one that applied to the specific needs of an individual person. The Word that applies to the specific needs of an individual person is beautiful in the sense that God is such a personal God (and not the 'corporate' savior that many portray Him to be) that he cares about the huge needs, deficiencies, and wants in our life. In fact, he cares about the needs, deficiencies, and wants in our individual life so much that He wants to meet those individual needs according to His riches in Glory and give us an occasional individual Word when necessary. Elijah received a personal Word from God when he was scared of dying and he hid under a tree and God sent ravens to feed him and convinced him that there were seven thousand hid in caves who had not kissed the feet of Baal. Paul received numerous personal Words of where to go to next to edify the church and personal words of discernment of people he came across.

Therefore, these personal words that people received about such issues as what to do with their life, should I invest money in this company, should I take this job, should I marry this particular person, etc are simply put, personal words. It can now be determined that these personal words from the Lord shape the personal ideologies and core values of the individual while bringing that person in compliance to the Word of God. A personal word for me will not necessarily work in your life and vice versa. A word for a local church in California may or may not apply to me as an individual living in North Carolina. These personal Words, defined by their scope to an individual person is only designed and meant for that particular person. A personal Word from the Lord is not to be applied to an entire body of Christ and forced on the entire body of Christ as God himself for all Christians to follow. A personal word may be shared to a body as a testimony, as a request for confirmation for the person's personal issues, and as a sign that God cares for people. However, a personal Word can never be force fed to an entire group of believers as "God said for this group of people to do".

What happens when one man who receives a personal word for his or her personal issues suddenly decides to cross the line from "personal" to "corporate"? Throughout Christianity, there are numerous instances where one man has taken an personal ideological word that applied specifically to his or her life only and tried to "force feed" that personal ideology as the patch fix all, the solution, and the answer to everyone elses needs of a similiar nature. The danger occurs when the personal ideology of one individual designed for that one individual has somehow crossed over in an attempt to be the corporate theology of all.

Please Click here for part two of this article.