Bill Johnson - Kingdom Abundance
Beautiful, thank you! Now we have Chris, who volunteered for all kinds of things this morning. That just does my heart good. I don’t know what nation you’re going to, Chris. Poor Chris just gets picked on so much! A little three-year-old named Rhys was quoting the prayer he learned in church. He said, «Our Father who does art in heaven, herald is his name, amen!» That’s all I can remember. A lady invited some folks for dinner, and at the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, «Would you like to say the blessing?» The little girl said, «I wouldn’t know what to say.» The mother responded, «Just say what you hear Mommy say.» The daughter bowed her head and said, «Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?»
A little boy was overheard praying, «Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time as I am.» A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, five, and Ryan, three. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. The mother saw an opportunity to teach a lesson. «If Jesus were sitting here, he would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake; I can wait.'» Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, «Ryan, you be Jesus.» Oh, I could just picture that! One last one—I have to remember this one. One particular four-year-old prayed, «And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.» Wow, we need to forgive those who put trash in our baskets. That’s a good word right there!
Alright, grab your Bibles and open, please, to Matthew chapter 19. We’re starting a series today. I hate doing disclaimers, but I almost feel like I need to because what I have to share today, especially, is probably an hour and a half long, and I’m going to have 38 minutes and 35 seconds. In other words, I have to really abbreviate. I’m going to make a lot of assumptions, which I don’t like doing if I don’t have to, but today I really need to. I want to talk to you about the kingdom of abundance. One of the several issues we have is that all of us have different kinds of baggage.
We’ve all been exposed to different things in church—some things good, some things bad. A lot of us have been exposed to this notion that poverty is a spiritual value, that going without is, in turn, spirituality. Spirituality can be measured through poverty and lack. There’s a huge part of the church that has valued and embraced that. The reaction to that is equally perverted; that is, that spirituality is measured by what we have or how much money we make, or that our material value is somehow determined by what we own. Neither is true, however. There is a reality we find all through the Old Testament of the bounty of the Lord causing people to flourish and be blessed economically, and it is something that the Lord has in His heart for every person.
I think my favorite verse on the theme of abundance is this passage from 2 Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 8. I’ll read it to you: «And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.» Listen to all the «alls»! This is one of the most pregnant verses in the Bible because of how many times it says «all» and «every» and «abound.» God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. That truly is the abundance the Lord longs for every one of us to live in, and that is more than enough for our lane, for our place, our station in life. How many know abundance? If you’re Joseph in prison, it isn’t in the palace on a hill somewhere. It’s the emotional health and wellbeing that you actually come to gain as the head of all the other prisoners. It’s that we stay in our lane, and in our lane, He gives us a bounty to bring kingdom influence to that realm of responsibility.
The verse we use a lot, and rightly so, is from 3 John, verse 2, which sets a standard for how this kingdom works. John said, «Above all things, I pray that you would prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers.» The connection is that your material world should be healthy and well, your physical world should be healthy and well, and it should be connected to your emotional health and mental health. When you and I are anxious, it cuts back our capacity for creativity. One of the things the enemy fears the most is that the people of God would effectively express the creativity of the Creator, who is our Father. That’s why he works so hard to keep us wrapped up in anxiety and fear; those kinds of things cut it off and truly kill our creative expression. The Lord is looking for a people of God who, out of priority, become emotionally healthy and mentally strong. Our internal world becomes a picture of divine health. One of the reasons is that this world affects my finances, this world affects my physical health. There is a tie, a link between those two realities.
Jesus taught His disciples, and He actually made this statement to the Pharisees: «The kingdom of God is within you.» We know, then, that the kingdom of God is not material things. Paul said in Romans 14, verse 17, «The kingdom of God is not meat or drink. It’s righteousness, peace, and joy.» The kingdom of God is not in the material realm; it’s righteousness, peace, and joy. It’s the unseen world that has an effect on the material world.
If Jesus healed somebody’s body, He would say, «The kingdom of God has come near you.» The kingdom isn’t their body, but the kingdom has influence on the body to bring them healing. Why? Because in the kingdom of God, the realm of God’s dominion, there is no disease. When that reality collides with a human body, disease leaves. Jesus, in Matthew 12:28, said, «If I cast a demon out of you by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.» So in the kingdom of God, in the realm of God’s absolute dominion, there is no demonic influence whatsoever. When a person is set free, it’s because that world collided with this one, and the enemy lost his grip.
The point is that all the issues of the kingdom—the kingdom of God is within you—all those issues of the heart are issues of lordship. Abundance is really linked to the lordship of Jesus. That internal world of emotional health and mental strength is connected to the lordship of Jesus. If, for example, as a believer, I constantly question whether God has forgiven me, does that mean I’m in rebellion? No, it just means I’m struggling with accepting His forgiveness and forgiving myself. What’s going to happen? I’m going to have physical illness; I’m going to have emotional disturbance; I’m going to be unsettled. I’m going to be anxious, fearful, and not courageous when I need to be. Why? Because of the lordship. You say, «How is that affecting the lordship?» Because I’m not accepting what the Lord of all has declared about me. He said, «If you come to me and make confession, I am faithful; I am just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.» When we embrace the lordship of Jesus, we embrace what He says; we believe in what He says more than what we say; we embrace what He thinks more than what we think.
This kingdom of abundance is necessary for us to be effective in our influence in the world. I don’t like connecting the abundance of the kingdom to money only; I think it has influence there, and I’m going to talk more about the money part next week and the week after. We’ve got three weeks of this. But it’s also inescapable; in the Old Testament, the blessing of the Lord was always measurable financially. In the New Testament, Jesus came along and said to the rich young ruler who wanted to know how to get eternal life, «Sell everything you have and give to the poor.»
We’re going to look at the unique set of three stories that are back-to-back in the Gospel of Matthew because it really is disarming how Jesus does this. Why? Because the rich young ruler comes to Him and says, «How can I obtain eternal life?» He gives him a few commands. The guy says, «I do those.» And Jesus said, «There’s one thing you lack. Give what you have—give to the poor.» Jesus didn’t give that same instruction to Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who had an empire built out of money he stole from others through dishonesty and manipulation. He didn’t give the same command. Interestingly, when they were walking together, Zacchaeus says, «I’m going to give half of what I own to the poor.» Well, Jesus told the rich young ruler to give all of it, but to Zacchaeus He says, «I’m going to give half of what I own to the poor,» and then he says, «And I’m going to give back four times as much what I’ve stolen from people.»
The point I’m trying to make is that it’s not the same requirement from each person because the issue isn’t a formula. The issue is lordship. It’s always about lordship. That’s it; it’s always the target. He’s always aiming for what’s right at the center of things.
We have Mary and Martha, Lazarus—two sisters and a brother, sounds like a movie of some sort. Two sisters and a brother! Anyway, sorry, very wealthy family recognized as a wealthy family—a family that Jesus would stay with as He would travel. Frequent encounters with this household on a very personal level. Lazarus is somebody that He wept over, so here’s this family He’s connected to—very wealthy. There’s no record of any instruction about them selling everything. The only point I’m trying to make here is that it’s not a formula. A set of three steps or three hoops you jump through; it is always about lordship. Jesus said, «The kingdom of God is within you,» which to me means all kingdom issues are heart issues, and all heart issues are always to do with lordship—the yieldiness to the One who is absolutely Lord.
Now let’s take a look at these three stories. I’m going to have to do some summarizing just because of the amount of time, but if you would look at verse 16, this is where the rich young ruler comes to Jesus and says, «Good teacher, what good thing shall I do to have eternal life?» Jesus goes through the commands. The ruler responds, «I’ve done those. What do I still lack?» Jesus says in verse 21, «If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me.» The young man heard what He said and went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.
Here’s a term that’s been used a lot the last few years, rightfully so: unsanctified mercy. Unsanctified mercy is where we think we’re doing favors to God by showing people mercy, but we actually insulate them from God’s conviction. Showing mercy where God isn’t showing mercy isn’t a smart thing because sometimes we protect people from God’s very sharp-edged sword that is trying to bring healing and deliverance. To protect somebody from the conviction of the Holy Spirit is to protect them from freedom. Unsanctified mercy shows mercy where God isn’t. Unsanctified mercy would have this rich young ruler think that he has eternal life without obeying Jesus.
In verse 23, Jesus says to His disciples, «Assuredly, I say to you, it’s hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.» He’s spinning off this dialogue with the rich young ruler. In verse 24, again, He says, «It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.» Mark’s Gospel adds a phrase here that’s very helpful in this second verse; it doesn’t weaken it. He clarifies; he says, «How hard it is for a rich man who trusts in riches to enter the kingdom.»
The clarification is where the trust lies. When the lordship issue is settled, then the trust is in the Lord. But when it’s in my resources, my possessions, or whatever it might be, there’s divided interest. This is where Jesus teaches elsewhere that you cannot serve God and mammon. You can’t have two gods that you serve, and many believers have been so hurt by sometimes well-meaning leaders in the church that have misspoken concerning finances. Sometimes guys have actually been dishonest, just trying to steal and fleece the sheep. I understand both those things are realities.
What we cannot do is allow the abuse of one to give us the right to neglect a truth. The abuse of a truth gives me no right to neglect the truth. So we’ve got to find out what Jesus says. Alright, so here’s the deal. Jesus gives this word, and His disciples heard it. In verse 25, they were greatly astonished. This means they were shocked, which is fascinating because they lived a life full of shock with Jesus. He kept pushing the boundaries for them, and they asked, «Who can be saved?» This tells me that they considered themselves wealthy. Do you understand? Jesus says it’s hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom, and they’re going, «Oh no! Then who can be saved?»
Jesus says, «With man, this is impossible; with God, all things are possible.» Then Peter speaks up, which we can thank Peter for having something to say. He usually does, which I like. In verse 27, Peter answered and said to Him, «We have left all and followed you; therefore, what shall we have?» Jesus said in verse 28, «Assuredly I say to you that in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on His throne in His glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones.» This is a specific word for His twelve disciples.
In verse 29, He makes a general statement: «And everyone who has left houses or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake shall receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life.»
Now let’s go through this. Peter says, «We left everything to follow you; how does that work?» Jesus says, «Anyone who has left lands, mom, dad, children, whatever you left, will be returned to you a hundred times.» Mark’s Gospel once again makes this a bit clearer because he adds, «You shall receive a hundred times as much in this life.»
He adds that phrase and then says, «With persecutions.» That’s a promise! Hang that on your refrigerator. A hundred times! It’s almost as if the Lord is saying, «You see this stuff called money? It’ll kill you.» Peter says, «We gave it all,» and the Lord says, «Good, so I’m going to add a hundred times as much of what will kill you back into your life.» It almost sounds contradictory, but it’s not because of how the Lord trains us. He trains us with little and nothing to be possessors of much—faithful in little, faithful in much.
It’s never been about the formula; it’s been about lordship. So Jesus now makes this statement to His disciples in Matthew 19 and, even more clearly, in Mark 10. He says, «If you’ve left anything for my name’s sake, I’m going to return a hundred times as much in this life, with persecutions.»
Why does He say «with persecutions»? Because a hundred times as much income, with persecution, is taxes. You want more income? Then there are more taxes. That’s just the way it works. The more breakthrough you get, the more opposition you get. This is the way it works; it’s the reality of life. Why? Let’s find out why.
Look at verse 30. «Many who are first will be last, and the last first.» That’s a weird way to end that story about leaving everything for a hundred times return. It’s a strange phrase! I—and probably many of us—have taken that to mean the last will be first, and the first will be last. We take it to mean if you humble yourself and put yourself at the end of the line, then the next time things happen, you’ll be promoted and be in the front of the line. That’s not what this means at all! That lesson of humility is taught elsewhere; that’s not this one.
This one is pushing all our buttons on justice and honor. I’ll show you the kingdom of heaven. The thought begins in chapter 20. Are you guys still alright? Everybody still alive? I’m sorry, I’m trying to rush through this, trying to be thorough, and we’ll see how good that works.
Verse 1 of chapter 20 is a continuation of the thought that chapter 19 ends with. It’s important to see that the theme continues. He says, «For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into the vineyard.» He went out about the third hour, saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, «You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right, I will give you.» So they went. He went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did likewise. In the eleventh hour, he went out, found others standing idle, and said, «Why are you standing here all day?» They said, «Because no one hired us.» He said, «Go into the vineyard; I’ll pay you what is right.»
Now in verse 8, it says, «When evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'» Here’s the strange part of this verse: He’s saying, «Go into the vineyard.» Now we’ve got people who have been working twelve hours, others who’ve been working nine hours, some who’ve been working six, some who’ve been working three, and some who’ve only worked one hour a day. The landowner now gets all these people lined up, and this is what he does: He pays the people who have worked the least first.
Why? Because if he pays the people working all day, they get their denarius, they’re thankful for getting a fair wage, and they go home. Instead, what does he do? He makes them watch! He makes the people who’ve worked twelve hours watch as he pays the guy who’s been working an hour, giving him a denarius. So the guys who’ve worked twelve hours are thinking, «We’re going to get more than a denarius.»
Now, this is not about your reward in eternity. Because in eternity, your reward is always based on every ounce of obedience you ever gave to the Lord—from the smile at the cashier to the sacrifice of homes or whatever to sow into the gospel. Everything you’ve ever done in His name is rewarded. This isn’t dealing with that; this is dealing with this life.
Why? Because He’s looking to see who He can entrust the hundred times as much to. To do that correctly, He has to push the buttons on the issue of jealousy—to see if we can actually rejoice in somebody else’s breakthrough, that they were not treated justly, that they were treated with extreme grace. Can we celebrate their experience of that extreme grace while we are receiving our just wages in this life?
We will always have just wages and/or extreme grace. God will always ensure that we have, at minimum, just wages. Here’s how it works: your season of just wages—is actually your best friend is extreme grace! Why? Because you’ve got to be there to watch it. I’m serious—you have to be in the moment where you’re getting the denarius for working twelve hours in the heat of the day, thinking, «If they deserve it, let’s just say it’s $200. They get $200 for working an hour. Well then, I need at least $1,000 for working twelve hours.» He says, «No, you get $200, too.»
Now, I like justice. I do! If I watch a movie, I want the bad guy to get it in the end. I want to make sure that when the movie’s over, I don’t want to be depressed. You guys who like to watch the sad movies, just go without me. When I’m done with the movie, I want to feel good about life. I want the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose! I’m a happy camper, that’s just the way I like it.
Now those of you who like to think during movies—I don’t want to think! I want to be entertained! I think all week long! I want to relax and enjoy a car getting blown up, another car going very fast. It just has to work for me! It just has to work for me.
So I like the justice thing; but this issue is pushing on justice because if they get $200, I’ve got to get paid at least $1,000. The Lord displays it in front of us to see: «Can I rejoice in their moment of extreme grace?» Remember, eternal reward is always based on what has been earned. What is done, but reward in this life is either just wages or extreme grace.
I believe that the Lord does this just to see if we can handle the promotion He wants to give. Here’s what He says in verse 13: «He answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours. Go your way. I wish to give this last man the same as you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good? '»
What is the Lord doing in these moments? He is actually exposing the bent of our eye towards evil. Now, in this case, you don’t have some guy lusting after a woman; you don’t have some person lusting after a mansion on the hill. That’s not what’s happening. It’s misinterpreting somebody else’s blessing. Provoking that sense of what we want to call justice.
Jesus says that is an evil eye. He puts us in situations like this never to shame, never to condemn, but to get something to the surface so He can deal with it with a word. So that He can prove that when that thing comes to the surface, it can be pruned. If we confess it, forsake it—that’s all He’s doing! He’s trying to find a people He can entrust a hundred times as much to. Because if I can’t endure your blessing, I sure can’t endure the persecution because of the increase I got.
I feel like there are several things I’m hoping to do in this particular series. First: finances, specifically about money. I feel like we’re supposed to become examples, witnesses, and I think what we’ve done fairly well with is the church does it in general, and we as a family—the subject of generosity. I think we know what that is; we know what it is to give, we know what it is to sacrifice. We bring any kind of need here, and you guys jump right on it and are incredibly generous. That’s important!
But if I were to list four lessons that demonstrate how the lordship of Jesus looks like in different facets of our economic lives, I would say number one is generosity. The second one is contentment—not contentment in the sense that I have no dreams, but contentment in the sense that I am fully able to live in the lane and season I am in.
I don’t live with anxiety. I don’t live with frustration. Because I do need another bedroom, and I doesn’t have it. We’ve got three kids in one bedroom. Whatever the case might be, I’m not going to live anxious because of that. I’m going to thrive in the setting I am because there are people in the world who are much worse off than I am, and I’m going to live thankfully.
You understand what I mean? That bounty of just living with a full heart doesn’t mean I don’t dream for that bigger house with the bedroom. I think that’s legal and proper and right. But when my dreams make me anxious, they disturb the lordship of Jesus. So we’ve got generosity, we’ve got contentment—this area of thankfulness in our present state.
The third one I’ve never heard anybody teach on, but I’ve started to pursue it a bit more in recent years, and that is excellence in our purchases. I think we’re supposed to illustrate—doesn’t mean everybody drives a Rolls Royce, and I’m not after that. But I am saying we should do the best we can with what we have. Don’t be careless—do not be careless!
We’re illustrating to people an ability to care for a natural world. This is a touchy one, and I’ll probably dig a big hole and fall into it when we finally get into it, but it’s a personal conviction. I think in order for us to disciple nations, we have to know how to handle resources well.
While generosity, which is my personal biggest priority in life, is not the only lesson I must model to be able to disciple the nations, sometimes the ways you disciple the nations are by the fact that you can care for what you purchased, and it’s excellent or it’s beautiful. It’s the best that you’re able to do in that moment. Does that make any sense? I feel like we’re supposed to illustrate values.
I’m on a rabbit trail now! Forgive me ahead of time. Can we love people without loving God? Then why did Jesus say, «If you love your mother or father more than me, you’re not worthy of me»? So let me ask the question again, can you love people more than God? Can you put people ahead of God? Of course, we can! Can you love God without loving people? No!
So the answer isn’t to remove people out of the equation so you can love God! Do you understand what I’m saying? Someone said, «Well, I don’t want to put people ahead of God; so forget people. I’m just going to love God.» How many of us have run into those folks? It’s just me and Jesus, and the rest of you—I don’t care what happens to you. You know those folks are a dime a dozen. They think they’re totally devoted to Jesus without any other human being in their life.
Here’s the point: you can put people ahead of God, but you can’t love God without loving people. The scripture says our love for God has to be measured by our love for people. In fact, John in 1 John says, «If I say I love God, but I hate my brother, I’m a liar.» That tells me then my love for God, who is unseen, is measured by how I treat the seen, visible people.
Can you put possessions above God? Yes! Is it possible that your love for God must also be seen in how you care for and take care of this world you’ve been put into? That’s the only point I’m trying to make. We claim spiritual realities, but they have to be measurable in how we treat the natural, material, relational world around us.
Alright, the four areas: generosity, contentment, the area of excellence—excellent stewardship, I’m not sure of a good title for it yet—and the last one: all the parables of Jesus about money—all of them that I can think of offhand, and there are a number of them, they all were His expectation of increase! Every illustration He gave of business in scripture was always about increase.
The talents, the miners—they were always about He expected the landowner in this other case—the laborers—they’re always expecting increase. The point is I want to see every person in this room have multiple streams of income. Where we learn how to steward what we start with, which is small, but we steward it well. Where the Lord teaches us; we learn through study, through classes, through books, through whatever how to invest properly.
So that in ten years or twenty years, whatever it might be, there are multiple streams of income. Why? Because 2 Corinthians 9:8—you can always have all sufficiency in everything, so we might abound into every good work! How many of you are tired of seeing needs, like we just saw on the screen up here, of our dear friends whose car blew up in the Middle East? How many of you are tired of running into those needs and being unable to do anything?
What He’s saying is being so well taken care of because of wisdom in stewarding investment that we actually have abundance for every situation that arises. There’s always something, and that is the Lord. That is the Lord longing to put us in a place of not being just these big absorbers of income for our own pleasure but being able to monitor well.
Buy what you buy; do it with excellence. Buy the burger house, do it in Jesus' name. Look, pray for direction; have Him show you what to do. Let’s believe God for the perfect house for you, the perfect car, the perfect everything so we can illustrate what it is to be good stewards of a material world. But in the process, let’s learn how to multiply the resources God has given us so that our money actually works for us, and there are multiple streams of income.
So that when our friends need a new vehicle in the Middle East, this time it’s not an offering; it’s an individual. See, I think that lesson is necessary for the people of God to disciple nations well. Jesus said in John 10, verse 10, «The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy.» Whenever you see death, loss, and destruction, you see the fingerprints of the devil; they’re not God’s fingerprints. Death, loss, destruction—the enemy was there.
Then Jesus follows and He says, «But I came.» Do you want to know why Jesus came to earth? He’s telling us! «I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.» The kingdom of God is a kingdom of extravagant life—extreme! Not barely over the edge—extreme, excessive! That’s another word that is used for this abundant life! Excessive, beyond measure—more than enough! That’s what this life is to be like for every believer.
I’m going to get myself in trouble here, but it’ll just be worth it. We talk about and sing about and do all kinds of stuff about wanting more of the Lord, but in John 4, He actually said, «When you drink of Me, you’ll never thirst again.» I’m always pushing in for the more, but listen to me carefully. I feel like the Lord is wanting to bring us into something where we realize what we have, and we no longer live with a mentality that I need yet one more thing to happen so that I can fulfill my purpose.
It doesn’t mean God’s not going to bless me; it doesn’t mean He’s not going to encounter me; it doesn’t mean there’s not going to be another prophetic word or promise or challenge or whatever. That’s all a part of life. But the point is if I constantly see myself in need instead of seeing myself being fully supplied with what He promised, then I’m never going to be able to lead people into the ways of the King and His kingdom while always being the one looking for help.
Well, take it for what it’s worth. Why don’t you stand? I am looking forward to the next couple weeks because I want to get a lot more specific than today. But today is basically this heart’s cry for this kingdom that we are a part of. It’s a kingdom of absolute abundance. Remember the verse that says, «When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will raise up a standard over him»? Anyone remember that verse, or am I just talking to the wind here? You just stared at me like, «Nope, never heard of that one.»
I probably should put it on the overhead so you know it’s in the Bible. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises a standard over him. I heard a Jewish rabbi say, «You Christians read that wrong.» He said, «It’s not when the enemy comes in like a flood that the Lord raises the standard. It says when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises up a standard over like a thug.»
Extreme abundance! Extreme abundance! Yes, it affects money. But it’s never focused on money. It’s about life! It’s about this internal world—emotionally I’m not weighed down. It’s intellectually—I’m not filled with anxiety and all this junk that seems to have so many people. It’s just not who we are!
Why? Because we have more than enough. I serve a Father who’s not a caretaker of an orphanage; He’s an actual Dad that delights in who I am, in how I am gifted, and He supplies me with more than enough! God, we thank you that You are the God of more than enough. You are not the one who just makes do. Forgive us for reducing You to the God who just barely enables us to make it.
So we just say, «Lord God, God of extreme abundance and supply, help us to celebrate the people You promote ahead of us—people who do not deserve it, and yet they got their moment of extreme grace right in front of our eyes.» We say amen to that!
Now, I want to make sure that anyone in this room who has never made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life—you’ve never asked God to be the supreme ruler of your life, and you’ve never given your life to Christ. What it comes down to is Jesus receives us, forgives us, and He actually adopts us. It’s like we get brought into a family. We have a heavenly Father—fathers actually belong to us, and we belong to Him. He takes care of our past, He fixes the broken things, and begins to restore us as people. This is called eternal life, and it starts now!
If there’s anybody in the room that would just say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave here until I know I’m right with God, until I know this issue has been settled,» then I want you, right where you are, to put your hand up because we’re just going to pray for you. We just want to make sure that everybody here knows what it is to walk with Jesus.
Wait just a moment—wave at me if I miss you. Okay, then I’m going to assume everybody in the room has already prayed that prayer and given your life to Christ. I want the ministry team to come to the front quickly. I also want over here—we have our freedom banner. Anyone who would like to meet the Lord, would like to have that encounter with Jesus—we know what it is to be forgiven. We’re going to have a team of people over here to my right, and they are ready and thrilled to be able to pray for you.
Today is a day of great miracles! There’s somebody here who’s got some kind of growth in the abdominal area. There are also issues with digestion—Crohn’s, colitis, that sort of stuff. I feel like the Lord Jesus is going to heal those things. We’ve got a team down here ready to pray, so just hold on for a moment, and Tom will explain to us what to do.
So good! Could we just give Bill a big hand for that? That was amazing! So good! You know, faith starts with Romans 10:9-10—if we confess Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart God raised Him from the dead, we’ll be saved. Scripture also says the way we come into Christ is the way we continue in Him. That was so good about the lordship of Jesus. Amen?
Can we just right now lift up our hands and declare, «Jesus is Lord of every part of our lives!» Jesus, You are Lord! You are Lord! We trust Your words over our lives. We trust Your every word, every promise You’ve given us—that You are our Lord. We declare the lordship of Jesus! Come on, push into this! We declare the lordship of Jesus over our thoughts, the lordship of Jesus over our past, present, and future, the lordship of Jesus over our homes, our families, our kids, our marriages, every part of our lives!
Come on, come on! The lordship of Jesus—Jesus is Lord of Reading, California! Jesus is Lord of America! Jesus is Lord—King of Kings, Lord of Lords! Thank You, God! Wow, that was amazing! I’m so glad! That was good!
Alright, if you need healing in your body or prayer for anything at all, we’re up here to pray for you. Every week, there are miracles that happen up here; it’s just amazing! So come ready to receive, and we’ll see you guys tonight! Chris Valton is going to preach; it’s going to be amazing! So have a great day; be blessed!