Is it possible that adversity can work to our advantage? Bill Johnson teaches how our attitude and trust in God during difficult times actually causes adversity to work to our advantage, like the eagle who lets opposing winds take him higher as he soars. Bill’s sermon follows a time of healing ministry and testimonies.
wow thank you thank you thank you thank
you guys thank you so much
please uh be seated good evening
glad you showed up
glad you’re here
how many folks are still here from the
uh leaders conference this week
actually we had uh we had so many events
this week
we had other schools and conferences and
stuff going on
sheesh i
i almost got confused
trying to figure out what’s going on
around here so anyway good to good to
see you
um who is it that has uh an issue with
clogged arteries
clogged arteries i believe jesus is
healing he’s opening up clogged arteries
there’s also somebody who has irregular
heartbeat
that the lord is healing
um so when i call your stuff out stand
up
um is there anyone here that has metal
in the right ankle
metal in the right yeah if you’re able
to stand uh stand
and believe god especially do you have
any pain
or a restricted movement anything of
that nature yeah okay a little bit so
just pray for absolute liberty for you
and uh
yeah well just pretend i’m a dyslexic
knowledge guy and get it from the left
ankle
yeah um there’s a missing cartilage and
there’s torn cartilage in the knees
um
stand up if that’s you
missing and or
torn
cartilage damage in the in the knees who
is it that has
some sort of an injury to the collarbone
i believe it’s on the right side there’s
some sort of a
an injury right here in the
right who is it put your hand up so i
can tell who you are is that you over
here okay oh here another one all right
all right i i yeah the lord’s healing
that these he’s restoring broken bones
there are people here
uh quite a few people here who have
broken bones uh sometime in the past
could be 50 years ago but broken bones
and things just did not heal correctly
and
and you’d love for the lord just restore
that if that’s you just stand up right
now
stand up right now
there’s also someone here who has
damage to the achilles tendon on the
right leg obviously if you have the left
stand up anyway but there’s some sort of
uh uh
an injury there i don’t know if it was
torn and there was surgery but there are
ongoing issues with that achilles
tendon on the right leg specifically
now
there’s nerve damage
on
the right side of the body specifically
the right leg this area here but i think
it may be i think it may be more than
than just a leg is that you yeah there’s
uh there’s this issue of nerve damage i
can actually
feel it feels almost like
um it feels almost like it’s weak as a
result of some sort of a nerve nerve
thing it’s it’s weak it’s um
like it would maybe be hot or warm or
or numb or it’s a it’s a weird
combination of feelings but i believe
jesus is restoring that tonight
tonight yeah
amen
all right there’s uh let’s see
and you guys have anything else here
brian you got anything going there but
yeah
do we have do we have a
do we have a mic
somebody help me take it to brian here
and if you guys have anything
the lord gave me the number 12.
i think it’s like a family size and i
saw like a whole bunch of
girls
set 12.
is there a family here of 12
with a bunch of girls
yeah yeah
right that’s that is true that is you
guys there’s a whole tribe back there
yeah
is
and there’s a bunch of girls yes there’s
a bunch of girls
yeah
what do you have for them
you know
i was asking the lord so
what am i supposed to say to him and he
just
um
that he hasn’t taken his eye off you
and um just supposed to speak life and
health and vitality over you yeah yeah
um
and then uh so that whole family just
stand up because you get you get prayed
for people will
[Applause]
yeah
and they’re missing some too there’s
four missings yeah i just feel like the
lord just wanted to highlight you
tonight um good
and then um
something about like uh organs or uh
like
pre-mature aging
um like you’ve been or organs in the
body yeah they’re like
anyone like it’s been a diagnosis like
does that make sense to anyone you’re
aging
i mean we’re all aging but
like just something prematurely it’s not
right and just the lord wants to does
that make sense back here yeah yeah
yeah so that stops right now yeah that’s
completely over all right
and actually i really feel like the lord
wants to turn the clock back on your
life
and uh
and the way he’s gonna do it is you’re
gonna find yourself getting
caught up into the realm of the spirit
and you’re going to lose track of time
beautiful and that’s the lord just
turning back the clock and just taking
giving back everything that’s been taken
from you
all right good thank you brian
there’s also somebody uh uh there is a a
tear or something in the left achilles
uh is that you it’s it’s it’s a
uh yeah it’s a tear in the left achilles
tendon right now so tonight you get it
on either side
and it’s all free
all right here’s what i’m going to ask
you to do excuse me all of you any of
you guys have anything dave did you have
something yep
i’m sorry
just like a real last minute or so real
warmth in my left hip i believe god’s
healing uh hips so stand up if if that’s
you but specifically your left but i get
yeah but i can really feel like he’s
even as i’m speaking i can just feel
this this warm this warm presence in my
left hip and then it’s fingers just like
i don’t it could be any fingers i’m not
that specific but the finger i have on
my right hand i i saw a ring or
something going wrong an injury
and damage a broken finger so just take
it for four fingers fingers being
restored crooked fingers being here
yep yeah beautiful all right go ahead
all right yeah i saw like a muscle in
the left calf that actually hadn’t
healed correctly there was something in
in the left calf right here great and
then um issues with gallbladders i feel
like you’ve gone in and they’ve sent you
home but it it’s a continuing issue in
the gallbladder um and then
there’s something i i don’t even know
but this i’m gonna say left side um
that’s what i got left side a chronic um
uncurable issue right here in the left
side i’m gonna leave it kind of open
ended up make sense to anyone
stand up okay that’s you all right okay
beautiful now
if uh all of you that are standing put a
hand up
now those of you that are sitting down
you just got drafted
you are now the team that’s going to
pray so here’s what i’m going to ask you
to do listen carefully i want you to go
to somebody
have them pull their hand down so i know
they’re being covered but don’t pray yet
wait till i give you instruction okay so
go to somebody whose hand is up if you
can’t reach them at least stand and and
extend your faith uh towards someone who
has their hand up all right
okay look around keep your hand up until
someone comes to you
okay front row we’ve got a couple still
here on the front row
okay
did we miss anyone wave your hand at me
if we did
oh wow
that was amazingly fast good job all
right
i realize most of you know what to do
but just to make sure we’re all on the
same page
number one you’ve got to find out what
the problem is
i don’t like general shotgun prayers i
like rifle prayers i like very targeted
specific
prayers don’t don’t shoot anybody it’s
just an analogy all right
um very specific prayer so you’ve got to
find out what’s wrong
sex shh
i’ll tell you when
secondly those of you that are receiving
the prayer don’t give them a big story
just give them a target honestly keep it
simple
when you depress the people who are
praying that’s not a good deal
keep it simple thirdly
there are many ways to pray for the sick
one of the most common is laying out of
hand so i’m going to ask you to put your
hand on the problem if it’s an
appropriate place to place your hand
if not
put your hand on your shoulder or
something and then finally as you pray
speak to the condition
if there’s arthritis if there is uh you
know there’s missing for example missing
cartilage doesn’t need a healing
it needs to be created
so be specific if if there’s something
that’s torn it can be mended if it’s
missing it needs to be created
so when i pray for something that’s
missing i will pray specifically
lord recreate right now we just declare
all things be made new let that
cartilage be formed in fact i think it
just happened in somebody’s knee as i
was
just modeling a prayer
so go ahead and turn and uh and minister
to these folks find out what’s happening
and then pray your best prayer
the lord is just wholesale healing those
knees right now
even though you’re receiving prayer just
start checking them out right now
there’s a there’s a creative miracle
happening
with these knees
okay the conversation should be over he
should be praying by now
holy spirit we ask that you’d come now
in power
and glorify the name of jesus
through miracles through signs through
wonders
glorify the name of jesus through
miracles
signs wonders
there are people being healed of
arthritis even though it wasn’t called
out
we rebuke arthritis now
in the name of jesus the affliction on
the joints in the tissue of the body
we declare this ends tonight in jesus
mighty name
let cartilage be formed now in the knees
that to be restoration
we declare healing to the gallbladder
ongoing affliction in that gallbladder
be healed now
in jesus name kidneys the lord is
healing kidneys
even though you’re praying for someone
else if you’ve had an issue with kidneys
just lay your hand literally on your own
kidney
just put your hand on it as you’re
praying for someone else the lord will
honor that simple act of faith
i know the people watching at bethel tv
oftentimes get miracles and i just want
to declare to you this is your portion
as well those you are watching at home
or small groups we just declared that
healing grace of jesus
okay about 30 more seconds
thank you lord
okay go ahead and end your prayer
but stay with the person just stay with
them
okay don’t
no hit and run stay with them
all right
now just give me your attention
stay with the person you prayed for
though oh everyone give me your
attention please
stop praying there we go
you can actually pray past the miracle
you can
all right
everyone that received prayer this next
moment i consider to be as important as
was the prayer
that’s where we put faith into an action
into an activity i don’t want anyone you
don’t have no one has to prove anything
but you need to discover
only half the people we see heal feel it
happen
which means another half just receive
prayer and they’re clueless that they’re
actually better until they examine
themselves
so some of you you could discover
through emotion a movement of some sort
whatever it would take for you to do
right now i want you to try to do that
lord is also healing there are people in
the room that have issues with the gut
uh you have digestive issues there’s
something not right in your digestive
ish system and the lord is healing that
right now
and the phrase that goes through my mind
is all foods are to be enjoyed
all foods so we declare that word all
foods are to be enjoyed all right
now everyone that just received prayer
examine yourself right now do it quickly
examine yourself quickly
everyone that is at least 80 percent
better wave both hands like this over
your head
wave both hands like this over your head
okay look around the room
thank you lord
all right
okay
stan please stand with me don’t don’t
let your face sit down yet if you let
your face sit down we have to quit this
and so stand with me if you’re able to
everyone that just got healed wave your
hands at me like this i want to see who
you are
all right
wonderful
beautiful now
i want you to turn and pray again
turn and pray again if they’re a hundred
percent
don’t pray for them again because you
might mess them up
leave them alone
but if if they’re 80 90 pray again all
right go ahead
it’s gonna be the last time then we’ll
find out what happened
[Music]
yeah that’s awesome beautiful thank you
lord
all right just about 30 more seconds
speak to the condition
we declare healing grace now in jesus
name
thank you lord thank you thank you lord
all right you did good go ahead and end
your prayer now you know what to do
everybody examine yourself again even if
it seems silly to you do it anyway just
some kind of movement something to see
what the lord has done
now who was healed the second time we
prayed wave your hands over your head
because i want to see who you are the
second time we prayed right down here
there’s another one there’s another one
there another one here another one over
here
thank you lord beautiful
wonderful
all right
hug them do something nice
bless them good and be seated
now
[Applause]
it okay
so we had
five people healed in the overflow as
well that’s awesome
okay
now
i want everyone that got healed tonight
we say 80 because there there are
sometimes where a healing will actually
start and it takes 20 minutes 30 minutes
we like to acknowledge what god is doing
and uh we have to create some kind of a
a line so we choose 80
uh as kind of a mark of what the lord is
doing so if you’re
at least 80 percent better on something
that was prayed for i just want you to
stand
because i want us to see who you are and
if you got healed of more than one thing
put a hand up
all right
thank you lord
beautiful
wonderful now how many of you got healed
of more than one thing wait wave your
hand at me
look at this isn’t that great i love
this
yep
thank you go and be seated i want to
hear from at least three or four people
something significant happened in your
body every mirror i don’t care if you
had a headache and it’s gone
you know
we celebrate everything that he does and
i don’t like categorizing but i do ask
that tonight you’re able you were able
to test yourself and prove that jesus
did something pretty significant in your
body tonight i’d like to hear from at
least three people right now just put
your hand up right over here as one
all right yeah um it was my left hip um
i had an injury to it a number of years
ago i fell off a ladder and the ladder
fell on top of me anyway i’ve been going
the chiropractor every week for probably
i think like at least the last year or
so and he has to reset it because it’s
it’s turned and um so it’s painful off
and on
varying degree and um i have no pain at
all and i can move and twist ways i can
just feel freedom where it was
restricted before thank you beautiful
wonderful wonderful
somebody else i need to hear from at
least at least three people somebody
else right down here
just stand up tell us what happens
okay i had a i had a ripped my calf
muscle right by the bottom of the cavity
and the achilles in a basketball
accident and um
i had this big knot
uh for about almost 20 years and is gone
so
[Applause]
i can jump again man
that’s beautiful
the knot is not
yes
let’s let’s have at least one more just
give testimony we have one right over
here in fact you know what we
if uh we could have one or two more come
on up here just come on down
if you have uh something to share i saw
yeah come on down
what did jesus do for you go ahead and
tell us a couple years ago i broke my
ankle and it never healed right and
there’s i think there’s still metal in
it but in the last two or three days and
including tonight i’ve gotten all kinds
of more range of emotion of motion in it
and it’s gotten stronger that’s
beautiful thank you all for that
wonderful
okay goes you guys go ahead and stand up
um
how many let me ask the question how
many of you
you had a a broken bone sometime in your
in your life it never healed correctly
and tonight jesus healed you put put
your hand up i want to see we’ve got one
here who else way back over here’s
another one anyone else right over here
there’s another two more right there
this actually used to be the most common
miracle we had
and uh probably still would be if i kept
calling it out but uh
it’s just i actually quit counting
at um goodness what was the number i
think it was like 2600 people
had been healed of of injuries of that
nature
and this is about 10 years ago i quit
counting
so it’s just what jesus is doing so you
might as well get in on it all right
let’s find out what happened he’ll hold
it for a bit go ahead and face everybody
yeah you called uh out an achilles
tendon and i had surgery on it years ago
but it never healed right and it did and
tonight the the pain is gone from that
and i can feel i felt a release in my
achilles tendon
also two weeks ago i had a heart attack
and uh
i came in with i’ve had a lot of
episodes in the last two weeks and came
today really by faith
but
i the pain is uh being relieved in my
left side right now in my heart that’s
wonderful and so thank you lord
wonderful thank you
pastor i love you we lived here five
years ago and we came back after five
years well it’s about time yeah come on
you need to be here my husband is in
bssm masela stand up baby
[Applause]
i wanted to crack you up because he said
that problem right yeah i teach at
anderson elementary i was out of school
this week for my first graders i was on
the stool
eight times with that problem yep and
then you just called out healing of the
gut and you said you could eat whatever
you want right
i’m standing outside you guys
at the chip
[Applause]
i was experiencing pain today yeah yeah
on my right side in my gut and i was
like oh no i don’t receive this and
right there the chip machine i felt that
pain just go away
[Applause]
it does say you could eat or drink any
deadly thing and it will not harm you so
that’s good
what did he do for you um so i have had
some pain in my hip which i’ve had for
years and just kind of put up with
because
you know you just do
and um
when i was walking in this morning this
this evening it was just really body and
just painful and
um actually during worship i had to sit
down i was like you know bummer because
i’ve come so far and i really want to
enjoy this moment
and um
and then you know you you did this stand
up if you got it and i was like okay
well darn that’s me um i stood up and
um i’ve never had an experience myself
of instant healing because you know i
just haven’t
and when when people were praying it was
you know i could just feel this sort of
great feeling but um the second time
they prayed it was like someone was
massaging in the inside of my hip and i
was like
and my and my legs started doing this i
was like guys that’s not me
that’s not me and then um you as i were
praying you called out um
people with gut problems and i have ibs
and before i came here flew out here i
supposed to go and see the nutritionist
because i’m not i’m not supposed to eat
really a small amount of food
and i’ve come from new zealand we have a
lot of dairy i can’t eat dairy
and so when you said i was like yes
that’s me
and i’m going to eat dairy after this
because i believe it i believe
so i’m excited thank you wonderful
wonderful bless you
thank you lord
well the doctor said i had nerve damage
all down my side from uh okay acute
appendicitis
it was real nasty yeah but
uh
so the pain went away when they were
praying and they asked if something was
i i could if there’s something i could
do to prove it you know there’s nothing
really i can do but then i remember i
used to be able to roll my stomach
[Laughter]
so
i can do it again it works yeah that
works
what did he do for you
so about 10 years ago i had a really bad
joint problem that caused my knees my
kneecaps to just roam around because the
ligaments were too long and it wore down
the groove that holds the kneecap in
place
so when you called out missing cartilage
in the knees
i actually suddenly started feeling this
grinding and popping and tightness
happening wow and
my kneecap groove grew back on both legs
wonderful
just give just a shot of thanks to the
lord
you know
years ago we had we had in our school it
when it was quite a bit smaller we had
maybe
i’m guessing 100 100 people in the
school or 100 maybe per class
and one of the older gals in the school
was actually in this moment where she
saw
the spare parts room in heaven
body parts i’ve i have met several
people that have seen that room
i can’t give you chapter and verse i
just
nod my head while they’re talking
and uh and she was uh i believe she
traveled with chris
to in the bay area
and somebody came up
and needed a miracle in their leg and
then they made the comment i don’t even
have a kneecap
and she said oh i’ll get one for you
she did she said i’ll get one for you
and she reached up like this brought her
hand down and began to pray and within
15 minutes she had a kneecap created
isn’t that amazing
i said she had a kneecap created
wow all right
let’s um
i was going to do something much more
extensive
but not now
we’ve had a long full wonderful evening
so let me let me just kind of ramble for
a few minutes and
see if we can make sense out of a few
things
uh yeah i’m going to read a verse for
you out of psalms 23 if you want to open
that’d be great 23rd psalm
what i’m finding
is that
is that i hardly know anything
i don’t know why after all these years
it hasn’t changed
seriously i i
i keep i keep learning and catching
glimpses of the fact
that he thinks entirely different than i
do
entirely different
and i’m the one that has to change and
that’s what the renewing of the mind is
is it’s it’s accommodating to his mind
and seeing through his eyes thinking his
thoughts
because he just he just thinks different
i met with
about 40 40 plus uh leaders this a week
in a private setting before our big
conference
and i shared a story there that uh
came back to mind tonight
uh in wanting to talk with you there’s a
pilot friend of mine
told me of this incident a number of
years ago
where there was a commercial jet a 747
the big big jet
was flying
i believe it was over canada if i
remember the story right
flying over canada and all the injust
failed
and
the pilot
was able to
recognize the thermals recognized the
air current he was able to ride
on those thermals
and find a place to land and landed
safely
the airline who
who owned that plane
ran tests
and they had all of their pilots
in this airline company all of their
pilots get in a flight simulator
to see
if they would be able to land that plane
because they found out that this pilot
that landed the plane was actually also
a trained guider
a glider pilot
and so he knew how to read thermals and
he knew what to do in that situation
so they put all of their other pilots in
this company through that flight
simulator and every one of them in the
exact same conditions crashed
this guy knew how to ride the thermals
right outside here we have a prayer
house and i was over
actually this side of the prayer house
one day and i was
i i just uh there was this hawk over the
top of the press it just caught my eye
and i just watched this hawk
he didn’t
he didn’t flap his wings at all all he
did
was go in a circle above the prayer
house
he got higher
and higher
and higher until he was almost out of
sight
and then he just folded his wings and he
dove it’s just the coolest thing i wish
that would have had a video you know
because he just he rode the currents he
was able to recognize
see there’s a lot of times we face
adverse winds
and we don’t realize it’s those winds
that give us access to going higher
we misinterpret the moment
when you misinterpret the moment you
won’t talk right and the condition of
your heart won’t be right
the analogy that i usually use in this
context
is a sailboat the sailboat can with the
adjusting the sail and the rudder
can actually advance
it’s called tacking advance against
can actually sail against the wind
it’s extraordinary
the sail
is your heart
attitude
the rudder is your tongue
it’s your speech
and by managing attitude well
and our confession well
we actually make advancement
against adverse wins
adverse winds are actually
in the kingdom
there are invitations for breakthrough
but we tend to see them differently than
he does
if i’m not positioned well in my heart
my heart attitude if i’m not positioned
well in what i’m willing to speak and
confess and declare over my life
then i can actually
partner
in thought and in conversation
with
the enemy’s reason for sending the
adverse winds
and i actually empower what the enemy
meant for evil
suddenly
has effect of
destruction evil
but the enemy has no authority
over you he can only get authority from
those who have it that would be you and
me
and so
back to this analogy of
riding the thermals
something i’ve tried to practice for
years i remember bob jones what a what a
wonderful man and a dear friend of this
house he was a great great prophet of
the lord personal friend i miss him he’s
home in heaven and
and but i i miss him actually he’s
probably here but i don’t know
he he was able to function outside of
normal reality so
but i i remember he talked he he talked
once about eagles eagles have this uh
this special uh
like something that covers the eye lens
where they can actually when they if
there is a predator
flying chasing them they will actually
fly toward the sun
and the
other bird that wants to do damage to
them cannot handle looking into the sun
but the eagle can’t
and so i’ve made it to practice for a
lot of years they’ll be i’ll just be
driving down the road or maybe uh just
in conversation or just walking out and
this horrible thought or idea comes or
accusation whatever it might be and i’ve
tried to make it just almost like a you
know a reaction uh uh
where you get something so ingrained in
you that you react before you think
and what i’ve tried to do through the
years is anytime something like that
comes it is my head up
i lift my head up the scripture says
lift up your heads oh your gates he’s
the glory and the lifter of our head
i i don’t know if he meant actual
physical posture or not but i’m going
for it
and so if i’m in that situation i just
i consciously
will go that thought came that is not
mine
i’m i’m going towards the sun where the
enemy cannot follow
i’m going towards the sun
this whole thing of riding the thermals
the
the adverse winds that the enemy sends
our way it could it could come in just
personal issues you know just
discouragement or fatigue
sometimes uh
if the enemy can’t get me to do wrong
things he’ll get me to overextend myself
in the right things
because
there’s a fatigue that actually gives
birth to unbelief because it gives us
kind of a jaded resistant heart we we
become accustomed to activity
in the place of relationship and it
doesn’t happen in a moment it’s it’s a
very slow change where we learn just to
live in the routine
and we we allow a distance to be formed
in that tenderness that intimacy with
the lord
and uh and so what happens is we become
if it happened overnight it would be
easy to spot but it’s such a gradual
turning with that busyness just just you
know i just become more calloused and
jaded and and eventually resistant
towards the very thing that i’ve been
crying out for
so here’s this this opportunity that the
lord gives us and i want you to look at
this verse in psalms 23 and i’ll just
use this kind of as a symbolic verse for
the few minutes more that i want to talk
to you
psalms 23 verse 1 the lord is my
shepherd i shall not want
he makes me to lie down in green
pastures
he leads me besides still waters he
restores my soul
he leads me in the paths of
righteousness for his namesake
you know when i was sick a few years ago
i was really
having a battle in my health
and i just would read this day after day
after day
just meditate on
individual words on phrases on
statements until it came alive
you want it you want to look see this is
eternal this is the eternal word of god
you want to give occasion time effort
for him to just truly
allow roots to go down into your soul
where what god has said actually begins
to affect your personality
he restores my soul verse three he leads
me in the paths of righteousness for his
name’s sake
yeah even though i walk through the
valley of the shadow of death
i will fear no evil you are with me
your rod and your staff they comfort me
here’s the verse i want
you prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies
you anoint my head with oil my cup runs
over surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life
and i will dwell in the house of the
lord forever
say this with me goodness and mercy
shall follow me
all the days of my life
that is absolutely true
now here’s the verse i want you to look
at for just a moment
you prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies
it is fairly common when somebody wants
prayer to come request prayer
now i’m not criticizing anyone who does
this i i’m just trying to illustrate
something
somebody will come and say i’m just i’m
being so harassed by the enemy right now
and of course i’ll pray for them counsel
whatever whatever is needed in that
moment
but because we don’t see situations as
they are
we see
the enemies attack we hear his voice we
see the tension of the moment what we
often don’t realize
is that it was in that atmosphere jesus
set up a banqueting table
he set up a place to feast in the
presence of the enemy
[Music]
so i’m sitting here with jesus but i
don’t realize i’m sitting here with
jesus because i hear the harassment
coming
i see this tension coming here i’m
feeling all this stuff and i’m going i
rebuke and i bind and i do all this
stuff and what what’s happening is i’m
shadow boxing
i’m filled with christian activity
but i’m exhausting myself because the
nourishment is supposed to come from the
meal that’s in front of me
the strength the nourishment
the reinforcement of who he made me to
be
god intentionally threw the banquet
where the enemy could see
now when the lord says you’re hidden
you’re not hidden out of view you’re
hidden out of reach
when he said you’re hidden
you’re not hidden out of view
you’re hidden out of reach
[Applause]
because sometimes the moment that we
think is actually the darkest is
actually the brightest
but it’s only dark because of whose eyes
we’re looking into
when you look into the eyes of the
father of lies
when you are entertained by the voice of
accusation or whatever it might be
of the one who is the father of lies
there is really the constructing of that
reality all around my life
but a simple turning
of my attention
towards what the scripture says
there’s a table
there’s a table
it’s a table of
feasting
it’s a table of goodness it’s a table of
encounter
it’s a table of delight
it’s a table
where by i am strengthened i am
nourished jesus
made this statement
that has really rocked my life he said
my food
is to do the will of him who sent me
there’s something nourishing about just
being in the center of what god is
saying and doing so here you are in the
middle of this what you think is a
hellish moment that actually by god’s
design is a heavenly moment
but it doesn’t become heavenly until i
remove my focus
on what’s working against me
and i turn my focus to who’s working for
me
and listen it’s the exact same moment
it’s the exact same moment and all that
took place was a shift in perspective
it’s not pretending it’s not you know
denial doesn’t help any of us
pretending something isn’t you know i’ve
got this maybe a health scare or a
financial crisis or a relational thing
whatever it might be
pretending it’s not there doesn’t help
but not letting it rule my heart does
help
the way i like to state it
is that real faith
doesn’t deny a problem’s existence
it just denies the problem a place of
influence
so you take the moment that you’re in
i intentionally will lift my head
it may seem silly i i don’t know but i i
walk my my property i lift my head
because i’m i’m celebrated
by a perfect father
who gave me grace it was a gift i
couldn’t earn
i couldn’t qualify for it on my own
but jesus qualified me
he qualified me he took the exam for me
and i passed
[Laughter]
i wish i would have known that in school
i could have done a lot better
he took the exam for me and he passed on
my behalf and he gave me the grade
it’s called grace
and because of that
the moment that seems
in my natural estimation
to be the most dangerous cluttered
distracting abusive whatever it might be
is actually
my finest moment
because he prepared the table
the table of nourishment the table of
fellowship the table of intimacy
the table of tenderness
the table
of genuine friendship
he put the table and he makes the devil
watch
[Applause]
and the enemy can do nothing about it
so i want you to stand
the picture that i see in my in my heart
and my mind
is like this chalkboard you know that’s
got all kinds of writing on it
and the teacher comes along and he just
she just cleans it and it’s just a clean
clean slate
and some of you you carry the markings
of this
failure and this crisis and this
difficulty and this problem and this
temptation and this whatever
and he’s he’s just coming and he’s just
hosing down
the board so let’s let’s let’s do clean
slate stuff tonight let’s do a clean
slate let’s let’s you say well i’ve
tried this i’ve tried this very thing so
many times before and that i always keep
falling back into fear i always keep
falling back in anxiety i always keep
falling back into something yeah but
that was that was then today is a
different day
today is a day when when you are
actually
set up
to be the one
just
set your eyes the god-given eyes with
the lens
that protects you
from the fiery eyes of god but not the
enemy who would try to follow you
and we just ride the thermals if you
will of the challenges that we face
into that glorious presence
i’ve got a feeling some of you will
actually for the first time in your life
actually honestly be able to give thanks
for a problem
because it was it provided the thermals
that just took you higher
does that make sense
so put your hands in front of you just i
want to pray over you
father i ask that a gift of grace first
of all the clean slate thing how many of
you you just you you you need a clean
slate you need to start this thing over
and i’m not talking about your walk with
christ i’m just talking about this this
part of our life where we become so
anxious and fearful i mean just say i
want to i want to start this one over
all right so lord i pray right now that
by the holy spirit
literally a tidal wave of presence that
you’d go through this place and that
tonight would begin a clean slate that
we would just wake up tomorrow different
thinking different living different
literally rising in the midst of
difficulty
riding the thermals towards your
glorious presence your glorious face i
pray this in jesus name
give a courage to us tonight i pray
a courage and that uh and that we would
never again fall for that notion
that because we can hear his voice that
he has any authority over us
the enemy has no authority i pray for
that right now turn put a hand on
somebody next to you just pray for them
god give them this grace
let there be great great grace given to
them
right now in jesus name
all right now in jesus wonderful name
a great grace
to ride above to right above
these uh
these challenges these difficulties
these accusations temptations whatever
they might be
in fact pray for their heart attitude
god help them to be tender in heart
help them to be courageous with their
confession
courageous with their decree
we pray this in jesus wonderfully
now put your hand on your own heart
pray this famous prayer
help me jesus
i really mean it this time
help me jesus
amen amen
[Applause]