In the last word I submitted to you, (which can be found at [ http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=851 ] I felt God was saying, that what we do this year will determine how the next three years go.

Philip Elston (a prophet from Texas), just came out here and said that what we do in this next year will determine the next 35 years. Then I spoke to a world-traveling prophetess from South Africa who said that what we do in the next year will determine the course of the next century!

WATCH YOUR DIRECTION AND DECISIONS YOU MAKE

Wow! My vision just isn't that broad, at least not yet, but it DOES tell me these are VERY serious times and we need to pay attention. Maybe God just shows me things in bite-size pieces, but we do need to know that the direction we take this year will not just affect us, but future generations as well.

This is what I am seeing:

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PLACE TO EAT

There is a generously, lavish restaurant, full of Christians sitting at tables with menus. The menus are entitled, "Open Heaven", and are full of selections, all printed out and described, but with no prices.

Now, sometimes God comes to us and asks us if we will say "yes", not even knowing what He is saying or asking of us; not knowing what refining or cost we will have to go through as a result. All we know is that the fruit will be good. This is His mercy, because He alone knows our hearts and our weak flesh. We often would not say "yes", if we knew what was ahead. But we DO know that what He brings forth, even if it is like gold tried in fire, will always be good when we do this in faith.

Well, this restaurant is not like that.

The menu is exciting...things are rather well spelled out. I see people raising their hands to order, and I see Christ himself come, not to take the order, but to hand them the bill.

They are being asked to count the cost...to pay BEFORE they eat.

This is the cost of the anointing. This is not "the call". This is not a trick question. This is not a job description or a position being offered.

THREE IMPORTANT GUYS

Office and position did not give King Saul "Kingdom authority" or continued anointing. He was honored, not for what he had eventually become, but for that he had once been under the anointing.

Balaam wasn't just a guy with a "prophetic gifting",-- he was the real thing. He had interaction with God. He had gifting and influence in high places, more than most of US will ever have, and the supernatural was normal to him. (I can't remember the last time an angel appeared and talked to either me OR my donkey!) But he went down in history as a shameful proverb.

CALLED, ACCURATE, AND GIFTED

The "man of God" in I Kings, Chapter 13, was accurate, "called", gifted, brave, honored by the old prophet,...and quite dead. Only obedience could have brought him continued anointing. Only the anointing could have given him lasting kingdom authority.

God has been telling me, the lives of these three men have a story to tell us, RIGHT NOW. We are there--- many of us, at these points, right now-- at this time-- in these next couple of months.

Not one of these guys visibly repented. They all lost a lot. I believe many relationships are on the block right now. Choices are going to have serious consequences. Friendships, marriages, churches, ministries, jobs and partnerships of all kinds.

Each man was warned, he knew clearly on the front end what the directions were, and he gambled on it; he made his excuses and chose his own reasoning instead. They didn't want to humble themselves, didn't want to "lose face", didn't fear God....enough.

LOST YOUR APPETITE?

Now that you've lost your appetite, let's go back to the restaurant!

I see that these people (at least those I am aware of) are asking for things that God Himself has given them the desire to ask for. They are in a place of pure hearts. They want only Him and what He wants for them. But when Jesus comes with the bill, I see several look at their price tag, sadly shake their heads, lay down the bill and get up to walk away. I can hear some of the prices as they hit the tables....

"Give up gossip", "let Me have your life", "let Me have your ambition", "humble yourself to your 'lesser brothers'".

"Give up strife", "lay down your popularity and what you do to keep it", "lay down what you know as ministry", "start obeying what I've told you to do".

Some are conditions, some are assignments, some are lifestyle changes. Some are even being asked to lay down what they believe God once promised them, for a higher calling. But whatever they are, they strike at the heart---THEY COST! It is the price of the anointing for the thing we ask.

A WARNING TO THE WISE

(I feel a need here, to warn young Christians and those not experienced in hearing the Lord, to submit anything you think you hear to older, more mature saints. This isn't the time to go running off with a wild, self-deprecating, religious mandate on ourselves, that God hasn't given and we will surely fail at.)

MY RESPONSE vs. HIS

When I first saw those people get up from the table, my selfish flesh responded, "Oh well, I guess they'll miss it".

But then the Holy Spirit rushed me.

I started travailing in tears that weren't mine. This is a grievous thing to the precious, Holy Spirit. Much will be lost in the kingdom if this is so.

Pray His people take this seriously. Pray we take those price-tags and press them into our hearts as a gift and offering from God Himself.

There are people in this world who are paying a terrible price for the gospel and for the anointing they walk in. For many of us, God may seem to be asking something not too hard or severe; it may not seem that big of a deal, but it is a beginning, and this is where we start.

Even if you are eighty years old and have walked closely with God all your life, this is another beginning. A new thing He is doing right now, at this time. Let's embrace it, let's go forward together.

THOSE WHO DON'T?

And if you see those who can't or won't pay it? -- You'll feel sad for them, and maybe even hurt as their choices may affect you, but don't grieve too long, don't judge, don't let your spirit languish over it. Don't let it paralyze you. Press into HIM and HIS PURPOSES, and REJOICE.