Can the giants in our lives become bread? Bill Johnson shares from Psalm 23: 6 and other key scriptures where God promises to nourish us in the presence of our enemies. The giants in our lives will become our bread as we keep our eyes focused on God and His promises over us. Let this message fill you with courage and boldness today for whatever you are facing!
[Applause]
thank you
good morning
is it still morning yes it is it’s still
morning
ah nice to see
ya appreciate all the prayers for our
household benny’s doing
increasingly better better and better
and better
i told our family yesterday i said the
miracle is a done deal it’s just opening
like a flower every day and
that’s what we see so very
very encouraged so thank you thanks so
much
according to a news report
a certain private catholic school was
recently faced with a unique problem
a number of the young ladies were
starting to wear lipstick which wasn’t
the problem but they would press their
lips against the mirror in the girl’s
bathroom
and
it was a hassle to clean
and so sister mary the principal talked
to them about not doing that but it just
didn’t slow it down they continued to
press their lips against the mirror
so she decided to have a meeting with
all the young ladies in the girls
bathroom so they all crowded in there
with the janitor
and she began to talk to them on how
hard it was to clean those mirrors
and
to illustrate how difficult it was
she turned to the janitor and said would
you please demonstrate how hard it is to
clean the lipstick off the mirror
and he took the long-handled squeegee he
dipped it into the toilet
[Laughter]
[Applause]
and he cleaned the mirror
and they have never had another lipstick
print on the mirror since then
that’s what you call an educator right
there
jesus came to earth
commissioned by the father
for clarity’s sake jesus christ is the
eternal son of god
never
stopped being god he’s not an ascended
being that’s somehow
attained to some position he is the
eternal son of god
but the great mystery of
scripture
is that he was 100 god while at the same
time he became 100 man
and if you can figure that out please
explain it to me
it’s it’s the great challenge in
conversation in teaching
but both realities are equally true
so jesus came to earth having been
commissioned
from the father
first john 3 8
tells us what the commission was
it says he came to destroy the works of
the evil one planet earth had been
infected with the devil and the demonic
horde that helped to bring about
absolute chaos loss lot death
destruction
into the earth
jesus came
to correct and to destroy the devil’s
works
the authority that he operated in
was connected to
his commission chris puts it best he
says you can’t be commissioned co would
be like in co-laboring co
you can’t be commissioned
until you come into submission to the
primary mission
jesus came with the mission of the
father
and exercise the authority of heaven as
a human being
a policeman has authority
but he doesn’t have authority to build a
house without a permit
there are a number of positions
political positions
where maybe somebody has authority in
economics or has authority in housing or
whatever they can’t step out they don’t
have authority outside of their
assignment outside of their mission
you and i have authority jesus
after his resurrection
stood before
his 11 remaining disciples
and threw them through all of humanity
who would say yes to jesus
and he said
all authority’s been given to me
therefore
go into all the world preach the gospel
disciple nations teach them what i
taught you
part of what he taught them was matthew
10 to heal the sick to raise the dead to
cast out devils that’s a part of the
commission
so it says teach them what i taught you
then he closes with this statement for i
am i will be with you always
jesus then commissioned his disciples
now in luke 9 verse 1 author of matthew
10 verse 8 says he gave
power and authority to his disciples
jesus came with authority i don’t
believe he came with power
he came with authority because he said
yes to the mission
but he didn’t come with power
instead we see
john the baptist baptizing in water
and he is preaching to the crowd and he
said there is one coming after me
i’m not even worthy to untie his shoes
he will baptize you in the holy spirit
and in fire
and as he’s preaching he looks up on the
banks of the river and he sees jesus
jesus didn’t have a sign over his head
saying i am the christ
john looks at him i like to describe it
this way every cell of john’s being
came into realization and recognition
that that is the lamb of god
it wasn’t just a passing mental
inspirational thought it was a
revelation that impacted the entirety of
john’s being and he stopped and he said
look behold the lamb of god who takes
away the sins of the world
in other words this is the moment i’ve
been waiting for
here he is
the scariest thing john ever experienced
i’m sure happened in the moments that
followed
jesus walked up to him
and he said i want you to baptize me
john knew that his baptism was a baptism
of repentance
jesus had nothing to repent for
he was baptized in what i would call an
intercessory role intercession is
basically to stand in the shoes of
another and plead their case as though
it were your own
if what’s happening in our nation right
now
doesn’t make you angry
you may be a part of the problem
hold on hold on
you’ve got to catch the next part of
that part that part will get you in
trouble and will eventually get me in
trouble
if it doesn’t make you angry you may be
part of the problem either through
apathy or through thinking consistent
with the evil that’s taking
place but if that anger takes you to
accusation complaining and criticism
you’re playing on the devil’s playing
field
and you will always lose on his playing
field
when righteous anger takes you to
intercession
where it’s not accusation but it’s
praying as though it were your issue
god forgive us
we have sinned against you
we have exalted standards that you
forbid in your law we have broken all
your laws god please heal us and forgive
us as a nation when we embrace when we
take that righteous anger if you will
and allow it to drive us into the
presence to intercede on behalf of the
nation a leader whatever it might be
then
that that anger if you will
don’t be offended by that god gets angry
and the bible commands be angry
and sin not
so what keeps us from sin in anger is
that we identify with the people that we
would be most angry with and we plead
their case in mercy
does that make any sense to you it’s not
the message for today that’s completely
free i won’t charge you for that but
that’s that’s uh i’ve been wanting to
say that for a while all right
so jesus stands in the place of all
those who would repent of sin in the
years to come he stands in their place
and is baptized in water john said an
interesting thing
he said i need to be baptized by you
what did john just announce about jesus
he will baptize you with the holy spirit
in fire john was saying i need your
baptism you don’t need mine i need yours
and john was out of season
he was not in the seas where he could be
baptized in the holy spirit and fire
because that would not come till after
the death of christ and of course john’s
death preceded that
which interestingly the bible declares
that john was the greatest of all the
old testament prophets but the least the
least in the kingdom was greater than
john
i would like to suggest that that holy
spirit baptism gives you access to a
reality in god that not even john the
baptist had access to
back to the
script here
so jesus
gets baptized in water when he comes up
out of the water
mark’s gospel mark and luke
both mark
1 and luke 3
says the heavens parted
the word used in africa which gospel i
believe it’s luke’s gospel
the word that’s used there for the
parting of the clouds
is actually a violent term
the same word for parting that word
parting of the clouds parting is used
twice in matthew 27
to describe something that happened in
the natural realm
after the death of christ when he died
when jesus died in matthew 27 it says
that the veil in the temple
very tall was torn from top to bottom
from god’s end to men’s
that veil they say is four to six inches
thick in fabric
and it was ripped from the top to the
bottom
in the same verse it says and the rocks
around jerusalem were torn in half
so imagine some angel coming down
ripping rocks in him
so we’re
in other words we’re talking about a
violent act we’re not talking about a
gentle breeze separating clouds
the bible describes the enemy as the
prince of the power of the air i’d like
to suggest that there is a figurative
thing going on here where when jesus was
baptized in water there was a rending a
tearing of the heavens and the spirit of
god came down through that opening if
you will upon jesus
in the form of a dove and remained he
was baptized if you will in the spirit
at that point it’s the very next chapter
is the first time we see jesus walking
in power so i’d like to suggest jesus
came with authority because he said yes
to the mission but he came with power
because of the encounter your authority
comes in your yes to the commission but
your power comes in the encounter
jesus gave authority and power to his
disciples while they walked with him
but when he
ascended to the right hand of the father
he told his disciples in luke 24
which is the basically same
encounter or moment where jesus gives
his mission in matthew 28 so it’s just
two different chapters
24 adds this one element he says don’t
leave jerusalem until you’re clothed
with power
here’s your authority all authority’s
been given to me now therefore go so
here’s the commission but then a loose
gospel he adds this phrase don’t leave
jerusalem until you clothe the power
power comes in the encounter authority
comes in the commission
i want you to look we’re going to change
gears a little bit i want you to look at
three very strange verses with me
and it’s numbers 14
it’s matthew 6
and psalms 23.
all right very random
but
hopefully you’ll see at least
that they complement each other
numbers 24.
interestingly
this is a fascinating uh subject i know
i’ve heard chris and maybe some others
touch on this just a little bit in
recent months
that the lord rewards maturity
with increase of responsibility
the promised land
was not
sitting on a beach
sipping lemonade the rest of their life
the promised land was a place where they
actually had to work
that we were actually designed to work
in fact the very thing happening in our
country right now where people don’t
want to work
is actually actually working against
divine purpose
it’s actually working against design
it’s like using a crest wrench as a
hammer in a work it just wasn’t designed
for that
now if you’re unable to work for
whatever reason
much blessing and grace to you i i
believe we’re supposed to care for
people that can’t but the point is we
got a spirit that’s been loosed in the
nation in this day where people are
looking for opportunities to not work
when actually the fulfillment of our
design is found in work
all right
i feel better about that too that one’s
free as well that’s all right let’s get
back here
my assignment today is just a medal and
cause problems so i’m
looking for every opportunity
so israel
was given
a promised land
and
your future is defined by promises
and the measure in which we say yes to
the promises of god
is in that measure we step into the
fullness of our design
the promises of god guarantee a fight
between the promise and fulfillment
now back pedal
israel
under moses’s leadership they were
looking at the promised land they knew
there was a great vast inheritance for
them
so he took 12 spies and he sent them
into the land to spy it out and to bring
back a report of what they were about to
step into
they came back 10 of them said there are
giants in the land or like grasshoppers
in
our sight
we can never win this battle two of them
joshua and caleb came back
and said this is a done deal this is a
set up by god for our victory
they came back with great courage but
the ten
persuaded the crowd to move in fear
now nobody in the crowd said i choose
fear
they all said let’s choose wisdom
because fear masquerades us wisdom
the ten spies did not come back with
lies
they came back with truth
just not
the whole truth
they came back
convincing people of something that was
inferior to what god has said and what
god has said over your life
is what we must feed our heart on
if we feed our heart on just simply the
facts we will react in fear and never
recognize it as fear we will consider
ourselves to be people that move in
great wisdom
and i’ll tell you this if you move in
fear all of your friends if you live
cautiously your friends will call you
wise you just won’t move many mountains
it takes courage to confront and to face
what god has put in front of us
so here’s some of the dialogue
that we have from joshua and caleb as
they literally prophesy they bring the
word of the lord to a nation
to not rebel against the lord by failing
to enter a promise
let that phrase just run through your
mind for a minute to not rebel against
the lord by failing to enter a promise
all right
verse 9
only do not rebel against the lord well
i just heard that recently do not rebel
against the lord nor fear the people of
the land for they are our bread
their protection has departed from them
and the lord is with us do not fear them
your giant looks different when you
believe a promise
look at it again do not rebel against
the lord nor fear the people of the land
for they are our
bread go to matthew 6.
verse 11
give us this day
our daily bread
[Music]
you say well that’s torn out of context
okay
psalms 23
you prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies
there are certain spiritual nutrients
that you cannot get
apart from defeating defeating a giant
the meal you are hungry for
is in the triumph of the giant you’re
facing
god has given every one of us an
appetite
to be strong spiritually but we want
strength for the battle and he’s saying
my strength comes from the battle
they are bred
we’re not talking about a mental game
where we
imagine that there is no enemy
i love the honesty of joshua and caleb
where they talk openly about the giants
they’re just not impressed by them
and i have found anytime i am impressed
with the size of my problem it’s because
i’ve lost sight of the size of my god i
know that sounds cute but it’s a reality
anytime i become impressed with the size
of a challenge i have lost sight of the
size of the promise that weighs over my
life
and there’s a huge part some part of our
christian life he absolutely does for us
he actually does for us he caused this
victory to happen i didn’t i didn’t do
anything all i did was show up and he
just caused it to happen he defended me
here he promoted me there he did i get
that but there are parts of our of our
christian walk where the nutrients we
ache for are actually found in the
giants we are facing
and it’s changing our perspective
not in a mental mental gymnastics but
changing perspective according to what
god says
what did god say
joshua and caleb pick something up they
picked something up from the lord that
this
this land of giants
that’s lunch
and when we’re through with lunch we’ll
move on to dinner
this is our food
psalms 23 fascinates me
for a lot of reasons obviously but
psalms 23 fascinates me because he says
you prepare a table
before me
in the presence of my enemies we’ve gone
through this i know i i know you’ve
studied it on your own i’m sure but
let’s just mentally walk through this
very strange
setting
god has prepared a table
of the richest
most glorious food
you will ever eat in your life
i mean i think god’s probably a pretty
good cook good good so here is this
table the table is a place of
nourishment the table is a place of
interaction a fellowship of connection
so here you are on the other side of
jesus
whose eyes are like burning with fire
but also with the tenderness of
compassion and love you’ve ever seen in
your life
his words give you courage to face
anything that you could possibly ever
ever face this interaction with you that
we have with him at this table so to
speak something that defines our purpose
our reason for being our destiny it’s a
life-giving encounter and here it is
in the presence of enemies
and i fear that many people sit at this
table day after day after day
rebuking and binding
and doing all these things because
they’re preoccupied with the enemy
that’s around the table
and they never benefit from the
nutrients of the moment
and they may come out victorious they
may come out saying no we took care of
that problem didn’t we and yet they’re
lacking in the nutrients or lacking in
the very thing that was to define their
future
because they became preoccupied with the
devil instead of with the lord who
created a place of intimate fellowship
in the middle of a problem
[Applause]
once we come to christ
it doesn’t mean that everything that
comes my way is designed by the lord
i’m facing things right now i know he
had no hand in because he gives life and
these things give death
he came to give life
the enemy came to kill steal destroy so
if there’s death loss and destruction
involved guess what that’s the devil’s
fingerprints it’s not from the lord
but here’s the guarantee
all things work together for good for
those that love god and are called
according to his purpose something
happens in this life in christ where
this that comes my way that was
unexpected becomes redefined
god says all right i’m turning this into
a meal
this thing that was set to destroy this
is dinner
this is breakfast
this is brunch
i don’t know about you i love brunch
i love brunch
but they only have them on sundays and
i’m here
all day
all day
so when i’m on vacation i look for
brunch
because brunch is where bacon goes to
die that’s what
that’s what bacon is i know not supposed
to eat bacon but i eat bacon
so the lord takes that which was thrown
your way and he says all right i am
going to put in the purpose of this
giant
i’m going to put in his makeup
the food that you will need for the next
season
now repent
which means what
change the way you think change your
perspective on reality why because if
you don’t you’ll just see the giant you
won’t see dinner
i want you to turn with me to joshua
chapter one
and we’re going to read
a portion of scripture
i think i could say honestly
if i could take the three most important
portions of scripture in the bible for
me in the last 50 years this would be
one of the top three
and
for me
it’s like a refrigerator i go to it when
i’m hungry
there’s always something in this
refrigerator to eat joshua chapter 1. it
feeds my soul
i remind you that joshua is one of the
two
that went into the land of promises and
came out with a good report
tragically israel could not enter to
take the promised land
and every person in the nation died
with the exception of joshua and caleb
because promises give you a reason to
live
promises insulate you from what destroys
others it does not destroy you why
because you have a reason for being
alive and god protected
and honored their faithfulness honored
their faith
verse 5 no man shall be able to stand
before you
all the days of your life
as i was with moses so i will be with
you
i will not leave you nor forsake you
stop right there let’s let’s change this
for just just a moment instead of moses
let’s put jesus in there
and let’s read this to you
because that actually is the reality of
the new testament
no man will be able to stand before you
all the days of your life
for as i was with jesus
so i will be with you
i will not leave you nor forsake you
do you know that that is absolutely true
do you know that the promises given to
the son jesus have been given to you
do you know that jesus said all things
the father has our mind and i give them
to you all things the entire realm of
sonship that was upon jesus he passed on
to you and to me
it’s called grace none of us could ever
earn that
we could never jump through enough hoops
to get that
it was a gift it was a gift of god verse
six be strong and of good courage
for to this people you shall divide as
an inheritance the land which i swore to
their fathers to give them do you
understand your obedience positions you
to redistribute the inheritance of god
to many others all those under your
influence come into promotion and
blessing because of your yes if you
don’t see that you’re not thinking right
hello bethel tv
online community bless you if you don’t
see that you’re not thinking so i wanted
to welcome you into this joyful
experience that we’re having here
verse seven only be strong and very
courageous
that you may observe to do according to
all the law which moses my servant
commanded you i realize we’re not under
the law of moses but we are under the
law of love
and in the law of love we find the
capacity to obey everything jesus said
to do
according to all the law which moses my
servant commanded you do not turn from
it to the right hand or the left that
you may prosper wherever you go
this book of the law shall not depart
from your mouth but you will meditate it
meditate in it day and night stop right
there
if you want to impact what you think
about change what you talk about
the book of the law shall not depart
from your mouth but you will meditate on
it day and night that you may observe to
do according to all that is written in
it for then you will make your way
prosperous and you will have good
success
you will make your way prosperous many
believers are waiting for the lord to
make their way prosperous
you imagine a farmer
planting 10 acres of corn
and being angry because he didn’t
harvest 100.
that was that was
it was a really good bill i
if i were you i’d try it again it was it
was worth trying again
you can’t harvest what you don’t plant
god’s given his word to us
to use not in manipulation for
self-glory
prosperity and success unfortunately we
usually define those words by
society around us it’s the mansion on
the hill it’s you know
whatever
five cars whatever
we
we translate
prosperity and success
in those terms where biblically is so
much richer than that
it may include the nice house in the
nice car it’s never the point the point
is in here i am alive abundantly alive
my relationships are healthy i complete
who they are they complete who i am our
family life is creating a sense of
destiny and purpose there is a momentum
in the generations because of our yes my
friendships are i have people around me
that would take a bullet from me and i
would take a bullet for them
i i like that little joke i saw a while
back says i would take a bullet for you
not in the head but maybe like in the
leg or something that’s
i i thought that was funny i’m sorry
[Applause]
poor sense of humor all right
success and prosperity
involves possessions but is never the
focus
it’s the abundance of heart
what would it be like
to be prosperous in your mind i can tell
you what it is it’s creative thinking
creative thinking and we need a whole
generation of creative thinkers
god has a solution for every problem on
the planet he would love it if the
people that become so preoccupied of the
fear of failure when asking actually
start asking the question god how can we
solve this problem
verse 9
have i not commanded you be strong
i don’t know i’m picking up this idea
that maybe we should be strong
have i not commanded you be strong and
have good courage do not be afraid
nor be dismayed for the lord your god is
with you wherever you go that last
phrase is critical
years ago i did a study where i tried to
find every place
where the lord said he would be with
somebody
so we see it with moses the lord says
i’m going to be with you
we see it with gideon he’s facing this
crazy insurmountable task of this army
he’s got 300 soldiers the lord says i
will be with you
we see it all through the scriptures you
see it with the prophets we see it with
different ones who are put in these
positions lord says i will be with you
we see it in the great commission
matthew 28 verse 19 and 20.
go into all the world it ends with and i
will be with you always the point is
every time i could find that god
revealed that he was with an individual
or with a group of people it was always
connected to their impossible assignment
he revealed his presence because he told
them to do something they could not do
let’s rephrase that
we sing the song i love your presence
and we do
we love the presence of the lord but the
manifestation of the presence of god is
to guarantee you’ve been assigned to the
impossible
he could comfort us in many ways
but it’s more than just his presence to
comfort me it is to equip and enable me
to confront things that jesus would
confront if he were in these shoes
he says be strong
and courageous do you understand
that he would never command me to be
strong
if it wasn’t within reach
in other words
if my will if i could not will my way
into it
then it would be a cruel command
he didn’t say
feel courageous
he didn’t say hover till you feel strong
he said just be it
be strong
now if god is commanding me to do
something
that is the product of
10 years of obedience
then it’s a it’s a cruel command because
i’m in trouble right now i got a problem
right now
and he comes to us with a command
be strong and don’t fear
be courageous do not be dismayed
why because i’m with you
for me the implication is
if i
am overwhelmed by the size of my problem
i have lost sight of the presence of god
and his promise that prevails over my
life
it’s what it’s what
helped the 10
spies
to not lie
but emphasize the size of the giants the
size of the problem
it wasn’t a lie they just described that
problem
without the prevailing word of god over
their life without the abiding
manifested presence that was visibly
seen among them every day of their life
in the
wilderness visible manifestation of the
glory of god the pillar of fire by night
the cloud by day it was there day after
day after day after day but they didn’t
remember that when they got into the
promised land and they saw giants
they saw big people instead of a big god
i’ve told you in recent weeks that most
of us
our miracle our breakthrough begins the
moment we stop being impressed by the
size of our problem
many people define themselves by the
size of the problem oh it’s been rough
and i don’t mean we shouldn’t share and
pray with each other i i get that so
i know this could be misapplied but it’s
worth the risk
if i get some of you to apply it it’ll
be good
your giant
is your next meal
give us this day
our daily bread
god create the table in such a way
that i am so overwhelmed
by who’s at the table
and what you put there for me to eat
that i never again
become impressed with the enemy who is
watching
my one of my most favorite verses of all
is in acts 10 38
and i uh
just about any time i’m thankful for
digital clocks because they
say 10 38.
and when whatever they do even i’ve been
up here talking before and i’ve seen 10
38 and just pause in my heart and
acknowledge the reality of acts 10 38
one of the most important scriptures for
my
life it’s where he says
god was with jesus
and he anointed him
to heal every disease
to destroy all the powers of hell that
he ran into
because god was with him
it says jesus went about doing good
healing all who were oppressed the devil
listen to this phrase for god was with
him
the very fact that the presence of god
is manifested with him
emphasizes
that role he had
he had as man with the presence of god
with him
why
because he’s looking for a generation
that will say an equal yes
and look at the giant
and say
you are my dinner
you are my dicker
[Applause]
well i don’t want to make the devil mad
he’s already mad you are my dinner
why’d you stand
so
just
pretend with me that the
biggest giant you’re facing is standing
right in front of me
maybe you don’t have any you can borrow
your neighbor’s giant
i want you to say this with me
you are my bread
father i’m asking for
that that supernatural gift of courage
the supernatural gift
of perception
where we see things as you see them
not as the enemy wants us to see them
that we actually see
the meal
that is the reward
of this next victory
we long we hunger to see
the enemies of our life bend their need
of the name jesus through our lips we
want to see the impossibilities of life
bow
to the authority of jesus
that he’s imparted to us we pray for
this
god i pray for everybody in this room
that there would be an unusual ability
to interpret
giant
dinner
to be able to interpret
the enemy surrounds me there must be a
meal somewhere
there must be a meal somewhere
holy spirit we
we look to ask that you to literally
rest upon every person in this room
in such a profound way
that we never in fact this is hard to
even imagine but we never again
become impressed with the size of a
problem
let us see through the eyes of jesus
now without anybody moving around give
me just a moment here
the most important moment of this day is
this one
i know with a crowd this size
quite possibly online or in the room
that there are people here that do not
have a personal relationship with jesus
you’ve never surrendered your life to be
a disciple a follower of jesus
the bible calls it being born again
it’s where we receive him and there’s a
transformation that takes place from the
inside out forgiven of sin
brought into his family that is
available to everybody in this room all
those watching online if you’re online
put it in the chat box we’ve got staff
on there that are ready to talk to you
and to pray with you just say i’m i’m
receiving jesus
if there’s anybody in the room that
would just say bill i don’t want to
leave the building till i know
i’m right with god i’m at a place of
peace with god i’m forgiven of sin i’m
part of his family
if that’s you then just put a hand up
right where you are just do it real
quick like put your hand up for that
reason right back here i see one all
right wonderful anybody else put your
hand up quickly
way back over here’s another one yep
beautiful
anybody else wave your hand
if i if i missed you
okay i see i see this i see this one
here that one there is there any anybody
else
all right beautiful
you guys you guys will help okay what i
want to ask is there’s at least two that
put their hand up
do me and yourself a favor just walk up
here real quickly because i have friends
that i know and trust that i want to
talk and to pray with you so just come
on down real quick if you if you friend
raise their hand walk down with them
just come on down
god bless
yes
so these guys right here are going to
talk really crazy come on god bless you
guys
yeah go ahead you guys just take him to
the side and pray and talk with him
extend your hand towards them and just
pray god give them more than they ever
thought was possible
just let let them be filled with the
holy spirit even right now
that all the torment the stuff that’s
been on their life would be broken off
just pray that right now pray that over
them just pray out loud pray for them
right now to encounter the lord