Learn How to Recognize the Presence of God – Bill Johnson Sermon | Bethel Church

The God Who is everywhere wants to be

somewhere theologically we know he’s

everywhere but there are levels and

measures of his presence many people

stop short of a Divine encounter because

they’re satisfied with good theology

they’re willing to stop at a concept

that they know is true but it’s not

something they’ve experienced on an

increasing level and so remaining

childlike is how we grow we stay on top

of the fact that I don’t know a lot I

know something I know who to follow but

but I’m in this steep learning curve

learning to recognize

him I think there’s a few excited

[Applause]

[Music]

people that’s good it’s easier to work

with excited people than than depressed

people you

know of the Lord healing uh some people

that have nerve damage uh in various

parts of your body especially since it

in lower part of the body but uh any

kind of a nerve damage I don’t know if

it’s numbness if it’s that Phantom Pain

thing where you can’t put your finger on

it but there’s just this ache throughout

your body anyone with that kind of a

nerve pain thing put put a hand up

because we’re going to we’re going to

minister to you in just a moment there’s

also someone who’s a some sort of an

injury on the inside of the right

Achilles

uh tendon some sort of an injury there

there’s someone I saw earlier today um

it’s from the lower uh part of the spine

all the way to the tailbone so it’s that

whole section it’s not just tailbone

it’s not just it’s not just the middle

of the back there it’s actually that

whole section down to the tailbone who

is that is that is that you we’ve got

several all

right my husband at home yeah well throw

it at him

yeah yeah and there’s H someone who had

uh hip surgery and it it just didn’t go

right it just didn’t uh it didn’t do

well uh the results were not what was

expected and hope for and you have

lingering uh issues with your hip your

hip who’s

that is that you okay um also ear

infection uh anybody have an ear

infection you just had for a while you

just can’t see to get rid of it uh is

that it’s right over here okay all

right yeah um is there anyone uh that

has you broke your right ankle and it

didn’t heal

correctly it’s actually on the inside of

the uh of the right ankle there was I

think I think it was a break that did

not heal correctly is that make sense to

anyone in here right here okay all right

oh way in the back okay all right um

heart um heart murmur heart palpitations

uh irregular heartbeat there’s something

to do here in the heart that the Lord is

healing so if you had any of the things

I called that I want you just stand

up

I have the sense also that there are uh

a number of folks here that have had

some sort of head

trauma um a Blow To The Head I don’t

know if it’s like a football injury from

20 years ago or uh you know fell off the

couch and hit your head or or whatever

but uh there’s some sort of head trauma

where uh concentration

uh migraines those sort of things uh

have been real issue for you who’s who’s

that got the head that head trauma thing

some of you have had it for somebody’s

had it for at least goodness I think

like 20 years or longer who is that

you’ve had this head trauma thing right

back over here yeah okay all right 40

years 48 years 40 years 40 years that’s

long enough right yeah all right tonight

tonight’s a good night to get rid of

that on

yeah thank you Lord um loss of smell

there are people here that have maybe

from Co I I heard a lot of people lost

their smell during Co you have uh you

lost your smell stand put who put your

hand up if that’s you right you got a

couple right over here yeah all right

stand up if that’s you and uh we’ll

we’ll try to

have people lay hands on your nose

kindly

yeah all right let’s let’s just start

with these and and see there’s someone

who has pain in this part of the head

right here right right there who is that

is that is that you you’ve got it right

there okay right right here side of the

head I mean you have it anywhere you get

healed but there’s somebody specifically

that has this okay right here all right

then we just declare it’s gone now in

Jesus name move your head around all

right all of you that uh are standing

put a hand in ear and keep it there till

someone comes to you those of you that

are sitting um if you’re devoted to the

Lord Jesus Christ then I ask you to go

to someone who’s

standing and um don’t start praying yet

though don’t start praying just have

them pull their hand down that’ll help

me to know how many people

okay if you’re about to pray for someone

that has their hand up would you pull it

down for them

all right now is there anyone that uh

that we missed uh that you you you were

standing for prayer we miss you wave

your hand at me I’ll get someone to you

oh looks like we covered everyone all

right very simply find out how to how to

pray what’s the problem uh keep keep

your story short wait wait wait wait

wait wait don’t start yet don’t start

you guys are so eager I love it but cool

it all

right find out what to pray for give

them a a very simple explanation if it’s

a proper place to lay your hand then lay

your hand on the problem and command it

healed just begin to pray and declare

the word of the Lord over their

bodies amen Holy Spirit we welcome you

we ask you to come right now even do

creative Miracles restore things that

have been destroyed cartilage uh

joints uh nerves be fully restored now

in the name of Jesus go ahead and find

out how to pray for them uh those are

online join with us in this if you have

any of the things that are mentioned

this healing is for you there’s no

distance in prayer whatsoever and we

declare that healing

word as you pray for anyone with head

trauma lift it off of their head as

though you could see it lift it off

their head and just declare this ends

today this ends today in Jesus

name thank you thank you Lord

thank you

Lord increase the anointing for

breakthrough right now God increase the

anointing for

breakthrough thank you

Lord thank you

Lord

okay now those of you receiving prayer

right now move around try to try to find

what has happened what God has done just

test it challenge

it move your head around do whatever you

need to

do as soon as you find you’re at least

80% better wave both hands over your

head like this

as soon as you find you’re at least 80%

better put both hands over your head

like this wave around back over here

yeah yeah right down over here’s

another all

right all right just give me your

attention for a moment

here the part that is as important as

the prayer is where you examine yourself

to see what God has done and so I’m

going to ask you to move in a way you

couldn’t move do something to test

yourself and as soon as your find you’re

at least 80% better wave both hands over

your head like this it helps people

around you be encouraged for what God’s

doing and it testify but just stand and

wave the hands if that’s you so check

yourself check yourself out right

now and if and if Jesus healed you

tonight wave your hands over your head

right over here got another one over

here another one over there thank you

God another one down here another all

right another right here beautiful thank

you Lord

all right all right you guys are sitting

down on me how come you’re sitting down

we’re not done please stand up we got we

got work to do here we got work to do

you can rest while I talk later but

right now you need to stand with

me don’t let your faith sit down all

right turn and pray for the person again

if they’re not 100% pray again if they

are 100% have them pray for

[Applause]

you

thank you

Lord Lord just increase the anointing

for

breakthrough just increase it Lord

increase the anointing for breakthrough

we speak to the hip joint be fully

restored we release forgiveness over any

medical people that could have made

mistakes we just declare healing Grace

in jesus’

name every every single part every

single

person thank you

Lord thank you Lord all right goe and

end your prayer now everyone who receive

prayer don’t just sit down check

yourself

out check yourself out real good move

around

testify if you’re at least 80% better

wave your hands over your head so we can

see who you are got another one over

here beautiful thank you Lord right over

here’s

another yep thank you God over here’s

another

one

beautiful

[Applause]

hey Tom go find out what happened back

there

[Music]

[Applause]

you know what if I you I’d pray

again just if

if there there are certain Pockets where

things are just breaking loose here and

uh might as well get in on it get in on

it if you receive prayer and it’s not

finished then have them pray

[Applause]

again thank you

Lord wow wow wow okay go ahead and go

ahead and be seated let let me

ask let me ask a question here how many

of you

still have some being prayed for it’s

good thank you

Lord if uh if Jesus healed you tonight

stand up I just want to see who you are

just stand stand

up come

on WOW

bless the Lord bless the Lord wow wow

wow wow what happened here

Tom hey Bill

hi great to see you you look

great oh holy spirit so cool oh he’s the

coolest sorry what happened tonight so

I’m a nurse I’ve been a nurse for 10

years years and I have pretty terrible

chronic back pain it hurts all the time

because I pull patients in bed

247 so it hurt to sit down it hurt to

stand up it hurt to worship it hurt to

do anything I could barely move back and

forth without my whole lower back and

both of my hips and wrapping around to

the front all the way down hurting all

the time I used to have to get massages

every other week so that I could work

because I was hurting so much and these

precious humans who love Jesus put their

hands on me and they prayed for me

because Holy Spirit gave you a wonderful

word and now it doesn’t hurt at

all

Hallelujah

you said the pain level was at an eight

and now it’s nothing pain was an eight

now it’s nothing and it’s

247 what couldn’t you do um I mean just

standing In Worship I A lot of times I

stand because it’s easier than sitting

because I work a job where I’m standing

and moving all night long so it’s not

exactly easy to sit down and I stand I

work in the hospital so I’m always at

attention all the time so I carry all

that tension all the time so letting

that down is actually really hard for me

to do and then I can’t sleep because I’m

in pain or I wake up and I’m in pain or

I’m on the couch and I’m in pain I don’t

hurt

right come on bless Lord thank you thank

you Lord thank you thank

you thank you

Lord wow

wow wow wow wow how did 40 years do over

here are you

good you you’ve had it for 40

years five concussions Tom go over

here you had you you said you had five

concussions yeah I had five concussions

the first one was about um I was 12

years old okay completely blacked out

ended up in the hospital for a week with

pens and um thought whatever they do

where you see if I’m still alive I guess

and I had another one at Junior High at

the age of 13 I had one about 14 or

15

um I’m trying to think of when the most

recent one

was oh probably 30 years ago car

accident so what did you have constant

pain pressure no I hav’t had pain in my

head initially I would have a headache

but then it would finally go away it

mostly affected my memories but I had

prayer for my memories a couple days ago

and I was also prophesied over and I was

told that I had the guy saw books being

put in a bookshelf of all my memories

being restored good and this morning was

the first

time that I could

remember memories from my childhood that

were good memor yeah yeah that’s

beautiful

yeah thank you

Lord thank you Lord

W so so what happened

tonight tonight I just um I had I had

prayer for the memories tonight I wanted

prayer for my whole brain to be every

cell back to normal and then I’m still

having a little bit of residual not pain

but stiffness in my hip okay from um

they’re actually getting ready to do

surgery okay um on the 14th okay check

it out I think I’m going to need it move

your hippon move it around move

it move your leg

[Applause]

here’s the big one I had a I had a

bulging disc in my lower back yeah and

one in my neck and I wasn’t able to bend

over without electrical shocks going

through my body I can touch the floor

now

oh no pain no pain no pain wow God’s

been working all week

thank

you thank you

Lord

wow wow that’s

awesome come on

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

Jesus anyone

else anyone else want to give testimony

to what he just did for

you there’s still that right Achilles

tended thing who is that you I got got

to get you healed so it stops hurting is

that you yeah the the two of

you you know what pray for each

[Applause]

other

yeah

just just figure it out just figure it

out thank you

Lord okay check it out how’s it doing

now actually you need to pray for her

first yeah yeah pray for

her she she has the problem

too yeah all

right thanks Lord anybody missing

cartilage in your knees anybody missing

cartilage yeah stand up if they that’s

you anybody missing cartilage in your

knees all right we’ve got uh we got a

few anybody

else all right um man on man woman on

woman lay your hands on the knees and

command cartilage to

form he makes all things new just

declare it over their

[Applause]

body we speak to the knees right now let

cartilage be reformed all the pain uh

all the bone on bone issues be resolved

now in Jesus

name Tom how how are they doing check

check out for me just just find out just

ask

them okay keep praying speak to those

knees yeah know he Jesus spoke the

worlds into existence the Lord spoke the

world into being Let There Be lighten

there was light so we declare let carage

be formed he makes all things new he

makes all things new we don’t he does we

declare that healing Grace that Miracle

anointing in these bodies now in Jesus

name okay all of you that receive prayer

for your knees check them out just get

in the aisle though don’t do it where

you’re standing get out into the

aisle get all the way into the

aisle

yeah move around check it out real

good anyone who notices a significant

difference wave your hand at me so I can

I realize probably x-rays stuff like

that need to happen but uh often times

people can tell right away there’s

there’s no bone un bone pain and stuff

all right wave your hand at me if if you

if you were healed with the knee the

knee thing right over here yeah

beautiful anyone else that these yeah

you

yeah yeah how are they

doing how how how are the killet so your

pain level before coming tonight was

seven and what’s it feel right now

zero and your pain level tonight coming

tonight was a six six a

one wow thank

you wow wow good job all right how how’s

how she how you doing find out how she’s

doing thumbs are up that’s good if I got

down on my knees like that you’d have to

call an

ambulance he’s Frozen in place

yes what Happ what happened tonight I

had uh three surgeries between both

knees since 2016 okay and um I haven’t

been able to bend on my knees without

pain in a long time yeah and at the the

moment I have zero pain zero pain

zero and either you’re on your knees or

you’re extremely short person

yes that’s awesome let’s give thanks to

the Lord can we stand up give him thanks

stand and give him thanks we give you

thanks Lord we give you praise we give

you

thanks we give you honor

Lord we give you honor

[Music]

thank you Lord thank you thank you

Lord okay go go ahead and and uh and be

seated all right Tom we’re not done

apparently

what happened uh so I told to ACL two

years ago um prayed for healing during

Randy Clark got healed uh and then I

worked this past few days I was walking

a lot and it started hurting again um

this morning it was pretty it was like a

10 um and it was an 8 sitting there and

now it’s

[Applause]

zero

yeah no pain that’s

beautiful that’s so good is there anyone

here that has I I’ve heard of people

have problems with like uh toes in the

feet breaking often they’re like real

brittle is does does that make sense to

any does anyone have that

that just came to mind so I’m wondering

if there might be someone here all right

if you’re not in the room I’ll just

assume maybe somebody online I’m I’m

sorry uh no they break easily it’s uh

you know the bones break easily so we’ll

just declare that for our online family

if that fits for anyone online we just

declare that healing Grace to in Jesus

name

amen

I’m going to talk I think just a few

minutes and then we’ll uh open up for

Ministry

time

um we know more about

Jesus who lived on the earth for 33 and

A2

years and actually most everything

that’s written about him with the

exception of a few

verses cover at a three and 1/ half year

period of

time so we know more about

Jesus who was on Earth for 33 and A2

years than we do about the Holy Spirit

who has been here for 2,000

years he’s not a a cloud he’s not a

whisper he’s not a

force he’s not an

energy he’s a

person

the Bible teaches us that by God’s word

all things are held together everything

is held in

place and there’s that mysterious glue

if you will that holds everything

together and it really is the spirit of

God that

holds everything

together the most dominant

feature of our being together in this

room is actually the presence of

God and it’s it’s crazy to to

think that I could

live you know this far from the greatest

reality on Earth and be unaware of it

wow the God

himself who according to scripture is

described as the spirit of resur

Resurrection who raised Jesus from the

dead so here’s here’s a tomb you have

the corpse of Jesus and the spirit of

God comes and Jesus is Alive he raised

Jesus from the dead Jesus did not raise

himself because he was

dead the Holy Spirit raised him up now

that same holy

spirit is resident in

everyone who

believes the desire of the

Lord is

to clothe himself with

you it’s a very interesting passage in

judges if you’d turn

there very interesting passage in

judges six I think

this is in the Life uh time of Gideon he

is the figure that we’re going to point

to for just a just a quick

moment the Holy

Spirit

doesn’t speak of

himself he always directs attention to

Jesus and to the

father but the father in Jesus talk

about the Holy

Spirit I still don’t understand the

whole blasphemy of the holy spirit it’s

a the worst thing that can happen that

worst thing that a person can

do I don’t understand it

but as you hear Jesus talk about it you

can hear the reverence that he has for

the Holy

Spirit if you want to know how much God

trusts

you you can figure that out by seeing

what he has entrusted to you

w the Holy Spirit has been given to

every believer as a down

payment a

seal a seal um protects contents and

reveals

ownership so the holy spirit is the seal

that marks ownership that you belong to

Jesus and the contents are

protected and he’s imparted to us the

Holy Spirit who is bigger than the

universe to live inside of you and live

inside of

me in Ephesians

declares that the fullness of him is to

fill us yes his fullness is to fill us

yes now there isn’t a thought that can

hurt your head more than that one the

one who fills the universe for that

fullness to fill

you I don’t get

it all I know is it’s beyond

comprehension but here in this story of

Gan it says in verse 33 of chapter 6 it

says the midianites the amalekites the

the people of the E East gathered

together they crossed over and encamped

in the valley of

jezrael but the spirit of the Lord Came

Upon Gideon then he blew the trumpet and

the Abit gathered behind him he sent

Messengers throughout Manasseh who

gathered behind him he also sent

Messengers to Asher zebul Nepali and

they came to meet him all right so

obviously here there’s going to be a war

there’s going to be a conflict but

there’s a phrase that I want you to see

verse 34 but the spirit of the Lord Came

Upon Gideon now this is New King James

who has New American Standard what does

it say what does New American Standard

say somebody tell

me Spirit of the Lord Came Upon Gideon

what NIV anybody have

NIV Y what does it say upon Spirit of

the Lord came upon him okay any other

translations yes fear the lord clothe

clothe him excellent excellent all

right that’s that’s actually more

accurate than the other ones here the

original language says this the spirit

of the Lord clothed himself with

Gideon clothed

himself we think in terms of the spirit

of God coming upon us because we see

that throughout scripture the spirit of

God would come upon the prophet then

they would prophesy but in this

particular

story uh Michael Thompson shared this

with us goodness 28 years ago I think 27

years ago where the Holy Spirit came and

took Gideon and put him on like a

glove clothed himself with

Gideon the Holy Spirit longs to reveal

Jesus to this

world he longs to reveal

Jesus and he wants to do it through

surrendered

people self-willed people can’t reveal

Jesus yielded people

can’t and so he’s constantly looking for

the surrender for the

yes as it was in Gideon’s case where he

put him on like a glove and demonstrated

who God was in the

situation

p pastors and teachers and theologians

are constantly asking the question what

does it look like to be full of the Holy

Spirit

and we all probably have our own

theological you know um things that we

value most that we like to see like

Miracles or power prophecy or whatever

fill in the

blanks but the point is is walking full

of the holy

spirit is a

lifestyle of valuing a

person it’s not about Ministry but it

must overflow in

Ministry if Ministry is the

target then we always have another

reason to be full of the spirit of God

to perform or produce instead of just

the

relationship and the yielded this the

surrender to him will always end up in

him doing something

extraordinary but when I seek him only

so that I might be

used I always have a mixture of

motives part of which is that I would

feel much better about life part of

which is I look good myself perhaps

respected among

peers but the Holy Spirit Works in and

through

somebody it’s the most wonderful thing

because you get to participate in

something you’re not worthy

of and whenever you receive a gift

you’re not worthy of it does him no

honor to discard

it if you’re given a gift you’re not

worthy

of it increases your sense of

indebtedness it increases your sense of

awareness of his heart his purpose

his

intentions in John chapter 7 and this I

think will be the last verse we do for

tonight because I I did want to finish

early kind of early relatively early uh

go to John

7 and uh I want you to see this uh this

verse here about the Holy

Spirit

if you received a phone call from a dear

friend and there was a

crisis how many of you think that you

would stir up your own heart of Faith to

believe for a miracle for that situation

yeah and it’s important that we know how

to do that it’s important that we that

we uh remove all

distractions because distracted faith is

diluted

Faith remove all

distractions focus in on the moment that

God has brought across your

path what would it be like to exercise

that same Faith to discover his

presence not

for the outcome of a miracle and and and

please don’t ever stop that I’m just

trying to illustrate something what

would be like to exercise that same

sense of exploration that faith that

confidence in God just to discover the

God who is with

us the holy spirit is called the

helper paraclet one called alongside to

help yes if you were having a rough day

and suddenly the Holy Spirit physically

manifested himself walking at your side

it might improve your

confidence oh

yeah it might increase your awareness

that you’re you’re in a Divine

moment and while that’s always

true if you’re anything like me you are

seldom aware of it rarely aware of

it not aware of the one who is actually

resting upon you so what I uh years ago

um a friend of mine and a pilot friend

was uh giving me an illustration that

really has helped me to understand what

what do you do when you come into a

place like this and and I’ll

explain he was he was telling me about

Pilots that were to

learn in flight

simulators and they would be flying in a

flight simulator and then they would

change the oxygen levels in that flight

simulator and they would get the uh the

oxygen levels uh dangerously low

so that a pilot is about to pass out

what they’re trying to do is they’re

trying to teach the pilot in training to

recognize how his body reacts to

diminished oxygen levels because

everybody’s

different uh for example um years ago a

professional golfer

um um p no P pain pain Stewart paint

Stewart I think uh was uh killed in his

private jet crashed and there were Air

Force planes able to fly right next to

him they can see everybody inside the

plane was fine but something happened

with the oxygen levels they didn’t

recognize when they were out of oxygen

they passed out and they just had to

follow the plane till it crashed and so

the the goal is is to teach the pilot to

recognize this is what your body does

when oxygen levels are diminishing so

let’s just for example let’s just say uh

let’s just say I’m a pilot and I learned

that when oxygen levels are going no my

uh low my right leg just begins to ache

or my I start having ringing in my left

ear or whatever it might be because

everybody’s body reacts different to

that shift in environment yeah so it’s

wisdom to pay attention to how your body

reacts to the change in

environment so what they do is they

lower the just slowly gradually lower

the levels and you have a p a paper and

a pencil and you to write down what

you’re

experiencing and then of course right as

you pass out then they put it back up

and you find out what you wrote you

know sometimes you get in the anointing

and don’t know it because you you you’re

not aware how you react in the presence

in the

glory you can’t have someone that big

big show up and have nothing happen in

you and some people are much more in

tune to that and I don’t mean that to

elevate them or to put down anyone else

uh for me it’s it’s t taking is still

taking a long time for me to learn to

recognize his presence but I do it now

better than I did 20 years ago but just

to learn the the atmosphere the change I

can feel it uh there’s several things

that happened to me in the as the

presence of the Lord just begins to

increase in the room and so learning to

recognize that you know if I’m worried

or anxious or angry or you know whatever

it might be I’m not quite so sensitive

to what’s happening but if I can come in

with a clean slate and come in before

the Lord then I began to discern and

pick up what he’s doing what he’s saying

where what his presence uh the the uh

the Luke chter 5 says and the Lord was

present to heal which implies he could

be present for another

reason so what you want to do is you

want to learn to recognize if I could

use this the flavor of his presence to

know what he’s wanting to do so you

cooperate with him you learn to rec

recognize over time oh the last time I

felt like this healing took place or

prophecy took place or we had an altar

called people came to Christ but you

learn to recognize and when you learn to

recognize it in here where it’s easiest

then you can start recognizing at

Target or in your

home very

good I realized talking about some

things like this that are this abstract

just invites all the weird

people to become weirder

still

but my hopes

is that a few will get it

[Laughter]

right because what happens is you

recognize that God is some somebody put

it this way recently I heard him say The

God Who is everywhere wants to be

somewhere The God Who is everywhere

wants to be somewhere he’s determined to

be somewhere

particular and when you find out

that the presence of the Lord first of

all we know just intellectually

theologically we know he’s everywhere

right so we can come in and say he is

here but there are levels and measures

of his presence yeah don’t don’t pay any

attention to anyone who just says well

he he’s always here because they’re not

paying attention to measures and

levels right many people stop short of a

Divine encounter because they’re

satisfied with good

theology yeah

they’re they’re willing to stop at a

concept that they know is true but it’s

not something they’ve experienced on an

increasing

level and so remaining childlike is how

we grow in this stuff is where we we we

we stay on top of the fact that I don’t

know a lot I know something I know

enough to to who to follow but but I’m

I’m in this steep learning curve

learning to recognize him because if I

can recognize him

then I can learn to cooperate with him

and if I learn to cooperate with him

then I’m I’m the clothing of the Holy

Spirit he’s put me on like a glove and

he’s going to glorify Jesus all right

let’s do this John 7 passes and we’ll

we’ll wrap this up all right you all

right yeah all right verse 37 on the

last day the great day of the feast

Jesus stood and cried out if any anyone

thirsts let him come to me and drink he

who believes in me as the scripture has

said out of his heart will flow

rivers of living water out of his heart

will flow rivers of Living Water but

this he spoke concerning the spirit whom

those believing in him would receive for

the Holy Spirit was not yet glorified

okay look at this again verse 38 and

39 he who believes in me as the

scripture has said out of his heart will

flow rivers of Living

Water but this he spoke concerning the

spirit the spirit is the river this he

spoke concerning the spirit whom those

believing in him would receive for the

Holy Spirit was not yet given because

Jesus was not yet

glorified this is

U uh concerning the holy spirit in our

life and our lifestyle this is I don’t

want to say it’s my most favorite verse

but it’s certainly with within the top

two or three because it it describes and

illustrates something that’s critical

for us to know and to understand number

one in the Kingdom he said come to me

and drink a drink becomes a

river he said come to me and

drink and a drink becomes a

river you can only give what you’ve

received but when you receive from him

what you are able to release is much

greater than you

received a river flows from the heart

now the Bible tells

us that Faith doesn’t come from the mind

it comes from the heart so there’s this

combination thing of the spirit of God

flowing from the heart that yielded

remember there’s no advancement in the

Kingdom apart from

surrender so every bit of surrender this

yielded to the holy spirit is what

enables a river to flow

freely now what puzzles me what

fascinates me I should say about this

particular passage is it

says

um the the holy spirit is the river whom

those believing in him would receive in

the uh later in John 14 I think it is it

says uh the Holy Spirit who is with you

will be in you so he’s prophesying Jesus

is prophesying to his disciples said the

Holy Spirit who is with you will be in

you here he says he spoke of concerning

the spirit th whom those believing in

him would receive for the Holy Spirit

was not yet given because Jesus was not

yet glorified here’s here’s what gets me

I I always I always looked at the

disciples and kind of the messes that

they created and I I was thinking they

really could have used the Holy

Spirit even though Jesus was was this

far away from them they really could

have used the Holy Spirit living inside

of them because they they just got a

number of things wrong uh unlike

us

yeah and yet this makes a very

fascinating point the Holy Spirit wasn’t

given because Jesus wasn’t

glorified

so there’s something about the work of

the holy spirit in a believer’s life and

Jesus being glorified there’s a

connection between the

two let me describe what I believe it

is if Jesus would have been given to the

disciples before Jesus was

crucified the Holy Spirit would have

been working in

them shaping them them into the image of

the Christ that was headed to the cross

and not the one that was

glorified the holy spirit’s primary

function is to make us like

Jesus specifically it says the Holy

Spirit was not yet given because Jesus

was not yet glorified so that we know in

his death he was

resurrected he was he ascended to the

right hand of the father and he is

forever

glorified that resurrected Christ the

one glorified at the right hand of the

father is the model that the holy spirit

is working as he works in your life and

in

mine he fashion you into the image of

the one who is

glorified first John 4:17

says as he is so are we in this world

not as he

was as he is so are we in this

world the primary reason for the enemy

to work so hard to keep us

distracted is to keep us unattached from

our identity that is wrapped up in the

glorified

Christ feeding on the

inferior yeah feeding on things that

really pull us away from the discovery

not of how wonderful we are but of the

Glorious

Christ because every Discovery we have

of his Wonder his Beauty his

significance is ultimately a revelation

of what he is doing in US

amazing the Holy Spirit longs to be not

present because he is present but to be

manifested discovered realized

encountered engaged with on a continuous

day-to-day basis for everybody in this

room amen why don’t you stand

one of the prayers that I prayed so many

times countless times over the last

about 30 years is this man God just show

me how you move I just want to be aware

of the the shifts the

movements his workings in the

room when we’re together obviously in

the room but just in life itself to to

have that discernment that sense the

awareness of

him had different things happen Through

The Years where he will use little IND

ators to me it’s like the the pilot you

know who has a sore right

knee sometimes this just be moments

where you may not feel anything

emotionally but you have this physical

Sensation that you’ve learned over

time is how your

body reacts to a change in atmosphere I

realize that sounds very abstract but I

think it was practic I think it’s

practical yeah I think it’s very

practical

instruction because in Hebrews 5 he says

having your senses

trained to discern good and evil I’ve I

have smelled my wife and I smelled the

fragrance of the Lord in our car for

about probably a half hour once and it

was actually a fragrance I could taste

it was like granules of sugar on my

tongue I would smell we were worshiping

and all of a sudden this fragrance

filled the car I didn’t say anything to

her she didn’t say anything to we didn’t

want to jinx it you

[Applause]

know I didn’t know if it was just a

personal experience or what so we just

continued just to worship our two boys

where Aaliyah wasn’t born yet and they

were sitting in the back seat completely

quiet which is like parting the Red Sea

it’s it’s a miracle basically equal to

The Parting of the Red Sea they were

sitting there completely quiet in the

back seat as we were driving from

Weaverville to reading and for 20 30

minutes just this fragrance filled the

car

and when it finally lifted I said did

you smell that she goes yes did you

smell that we began to compare notes but

there there are times where you you you

start you know I don’t want anyone to

get weird I don’t want anyone to make

stuff up to feel spiritual but I do want

you to be aware stuff

happens more happens in our corporate

Gatherings than any of us are are aware

of and it doesn’t take great

intelligence it doesn’t take extreme

gifting it just takes

desire it just takes a desire a hunger

to learn so put your hand on your heart

and just pray God teach me teach me what

you’re

like teach me how you move teach me how

to recognize

presence teach me how to recognize the

shift the change in

atmosphere teach me how to recognize how

how I respond to the anointing

physically emotionally

some of you will learn to recognize

actually God through your

emotions because when he shows up it

affects us in that way it’s why the

kingdom of God is righteousness peace

and joy two of them are felt

realities so Lord we we just pray for

the school of the spirit for each one of

us now then that more and more we would

learn that you put us on like a glove

that you clothe yourself with us we want

every single part of our life to be

immersed in the anointing in the

presence we thank you so much

God thank you now put a hand on someone

next to you and just pray pray for

them just pray for them good just just

say God get him really

good get him

good