Sunday Sermon by Pastor Rajesh Mathew, 17 July 2022

1 Kings 17:1-4- 17 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” 2 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 “Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.”

The place called THERE.

Isaiah 11:2- The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

• The Holy Spirit wants you to discover the place called there. If you are not there, you are called to be there. If you have not discovered there, then your struggles will not end. • Lift up your hands and ask the Holy Spirit to help you discover the place called there. That is the place where God has kept His blessings for you. No matter where all you go around and be nomadic, if you do not come to the place that God has assigned for your blessings, you will be frustrated.
• That is the place where you obtain satisfaction. It is the place of God’s will. If you are not in God’s will, you are not in a place called there. God’s Holy Spirit makes you walk not in your will but in God’s will. HOLY Spirit lead me to the place called there.
• There are places, relationships, companions, marriages, ministries which are not in God’s will. But today only what is God’s will to unfold in your life. If you make that your prayer, the Spirit will descend upon you, He will come as the Spirit of wisdom, and revelation and counsel and the fear of God.
• Have you ever asked the Lord, am I in your will? Am I am going to the place where you want me to go? Only those who ask this question will seek His face. Only then can you hear His voice. Only then can you experience His Holy Spirit. May you be able to hear His voice, obtain it and be led by it. May the Holy Spirit open your ears today.
• It is not the job of the ravens to look for Elijah. They only come to the place called THERE. Only if Elijah comes there can he find what the ravens will bring to Him. The raven won’t come looking for you! The Lord has shown the raven where to go. Elijah listened to the Lord’s voice, obeyed Him and got to the place where he has kept the provision for you.

You need to discover the place called there. No matter how anointed you are, how great your calling is, if you do not go to the place where God has called you, your life will not be what it has to be.

• But if you come into God’s will and God’s timing, plan and purpose, all His blessings will come into your life. For Elijah, him hearing from God was key to His survival. There was famine in the entire country. If he doesn’t listen to God’s voice and get out, he will die.

God does not want you to die that way. Listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and go forward.

• Where should I live? where should I worship? Who should I marry? who should be my friends? If you seek God’s will in these matters, you start seeing God’s miracles in your life.

There is not just a physical place. It is an attitude. It is a state of your heart

• It can be a geographical location but most of the time it is the condition of your heart. When you open your heart to God, you will see and His plans for you will be revealed. Not to walk in your thinking and your plans but surrender them to the Lord. If you come to that place, your marriage will happen.
• I want to be in that place called there. When you surrender to God’s will, the blessing will miraculously find their way to you. When you surrender to His will, you will be promoted by the Lord, the giftings will begin to flow, ministries will flow out. Lift up your hands and praise Him.

The problem is that you are not listening. God is speaking but you are not listening.

I have three children, my youngest is about 4 years. When she tries to talk to me, I need to come down to her level, only then I can understand her. I can’t communicate with her like how I communicate with my wife. Only when I am ready to listen to her at her level can I connect to what she is saying. Only if you have the heart to listen, you can hear God’s voice.

Tune your heart to Him, focus your heart to Him, then the Holy Spirit will find you and minister to you. God is never silent.

• It is just that we do not hear. You need to develop heart of hearing. You need to have that attitude. God will speak to you in dreams. Let that realm be opened up for some of you. People who speak to God in their sleep, won’t snore. God speaks to me early morning. He speaks to people indifferent ways.
• You need to hear this and understand how and when God speaks to you. For some it may be in a vision, for some it may be through the Word, for some it may be through the man of God’s sermons, for some it may eb when you read a book. For each it is different.
• If you do not understand how God speaks to you, you cannot get to the place called there. When you walk with God, there is something that will burn inside of you when you hear HIS Word. God will speak to you in a way that you understand.
• God spoke to Joseph in a dream. God spoke to Daniel and gave Him interpretation of dreams. He saw complicated dreams. Sometimes you need to take counsel to decipher those complicated dreams. But GOD will speak, nevertheless.
• From this day forth, I will listen to Him, I will need to get to the place called THERE. Otherwise there will be no fulfillment in my life. Until I get to the place called there. There! I want to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
• If you do not listen to the voice of God, you will take decisions in the flesh. You will start businesses in the flesh. Even marriage decisions will be mistakes. People look for the height, family name, body shapes, lipsticks. Once the lipstick is gone, the love is gone too! No, it can’t be like that!
• Until you are in the place called there, your marriage won’t be fulfilling. Even in my marriage, I need your grace, Lord. Lord reveal yourself to us!
• The devil tries to get you out of that place called there. He will hurt you, irritate you, bug you, trouble you, disappoint you. He will do all that so that you can get out of the place called there.

If you stay THERE, the ravens will come! If you stay THERE, your satisfaction and anointing will come. When the devil tries to distract you from THERE, you must declare that I will stay in the place called THERE for the glory of Jesus. There is a place where your calling is revealed.

• I did not get the chair, pastor did not answer my call. Such menial things irritate some people. When you are irritated and troubled, you have to be committed in the place called THERE. You have to be dedicated in the place called there.
• It is God who has sent you in that marriage. Be dedicated.
• You may be praying for 10 hours before sharing one WORD. It is the same dedication, if you preaching to one or to a thousand. Only if you are committed, there will be blessings and satisfaction. Lift up your hands and ask the Lord to make you committed. Nobody has to tell me, pastor please pray because you need to preach. I will anyways do it.

If you are in the place called THERE you don’t need anybody to encourage you! 30 years I did not need anybody to encourage me. Nobody can introduce me saying he went to the Bible college. Only the Holy Spirit made me grow in the ministry.

• After 3 years, my spiritual father was taken up by the Lord and after that it was only commitment and dedication to Jesus. Today the Holy spirit is releasing some of you into a commitment and dedication. In your family life, in your ministry, if you are in a place called THERE, your ravens will come, today or tomorrow.
• There is a desire to tell you this- I can’t say I know Greek or Latin but I am committed in that place called there. If you are not THERE, then it is difficult for the God to bless you

In the place called THERE, you find preservation

• The prophet was preserved in the season of famine. How many of you have cars and send the cars for service regularly? Imagine if the car keeps breaking down one day after service, every time. If this keeps happening, the service center guys will tell you not to bring this car here anymore.

Health is more important than healing.

• If health is there you don’t need healing. The place of preservation is the place of health. One day knee pain, one day back pain. Without any of this, we are called to be walking in health. This is found in the place called THERE! Continuous disease attacks be broken in Jesus Name. Let the health of the Lord be upon you.

40 years ago, I asked the Lord of heath. I have not gotten even a cold and a head ache for 40 years! This is a testimony of a pastor I know.

Today if you listen to the voice of God, He will keep you in the place of preservation.

• No curse nor any disease will come near your dwelling place. It will be so evident and will cause you glorify the Lord. In the place called THERE, there is the preserving grace of God. Thank you, Jesus. ‘I receive my health, to have a long life and be satisfied. Thank you, Jesus’.

The place called there is where you finance and wealth.

• It is the condition of your life. I have found the place and I am dedicated to it. May you find your place called there. Praise be to the name of Jesus.
• Prince Charles, Harry and William. Can you imagine them standing in front of the labour office begging for a job? No, right! Why? Because they have royal blood. Jesus shed His own Blood for us. You and me have royal blood. You need not stretch out your hand begging for a blessing. • I have royal blood because of the blood of Jesus Christ.
• I will enjoy the blessing of God. God is sending the blessing into your life. For 20 years will you keep begging? Will you be worried and keep looking around for someone to bless you. You are covered by the royal blood of Jesus. Heaven will send some special blessing just for you. The Holy Spirit will make you separate and distinct in this world. God will honour you in a way that people around you will see it.

Genesis 26:2- 2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.

• It was the time of great famine. The Holy Spirt told Isaac don’t go to Egypt. All others had gone, but the Holy Spirit said this is your place. Don’t look at your circumstances and go. Stay here, this is your place. Don’t go looking for greener pastures. This is your place.
• Don’t get out of your marriage and go after others. What is given to you is yours. God is rebuking some of you. Even there, hearing was the key.

He stayed there, built and he remained dedicated THERE!

Genesis 26:13- He was prosperous. He increased more and more and became very prosperous.

• The man became great and1went forward. You will go forward if you find that place called THERE. “I will go forward”

Backward never forward ever

• Each of you have a great chance of becoming great. Look at somebody else and say, when you become great, don’t forget me. Find that place called there. Your growth is there. Spiritually, anointing, ministry and ministry opportunities. God will open them for you in your dedication.
• Why did God call Joseph? Why did God call Moses? To bring a nation out through the Red Sea. • There is greatness inside of you. Why does the Lord call you to the place? To deliver a company, to break the curse from a family. Thank you, Jesus.

There is a purpose why God has called you to that place called THERE. To do something great for God.

• If you move forward in God’s will, no matter what you face on the way God will give you the strength to come through it.
• Samson went forward with his parents. He found a lion cub on the way that attacked him and he tore it apart with his bare hands. He neither used a knife, nor a sword. Empty handed he killed it, but He had the Holy Spirit anointing upon Him. The Holy Spirit will empower you even if you have no weapons in your hand, you can tear it apart by the Holy Spirit.

God is anointing some of you to tear apart what is coming up against your life.

• Issues that are challenging you, your children, your family are going to be destroyed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Even the lion will seem like a lamb when you are anointed by God. 5 cores of debt will seem like a 500 Rs debt. So, you won’t think you need to take your life because of that debt, but you will have the conviction that God will grant you victory. 10 papers to pass, but God will make you feel like it is only paper. INVITE THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• If there is a giant in front of you, within you is an anointing! If there is a Goliath in front of you, you are a David. There is strength and power that He has placed inside of you. “Thank you, Jesus. I dedicate myself to you.”
• If you are in the place called THERE, though there was an Alexander (the coppersmith who tried to do much harm to Paul’s ministry) to come against Paul, Paul says that the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. Even when the Roman Empire stood against him, the Lord stood with me. Even when he was going to be beheaded, the Lord stood with me. If you are in the place called there, no weapon of the enemy will prosper against you.

If you are in the place called there, no weapon of the devil will stand against you. God will give you victory. Be in that place called THERE!