Sermons.love Support us on Paypal
Contact Us
Watch Online Sermons 2025 » Bill Johnson » Bill Johnson - When Giants Become Bread

Bill Johnson - When Giants Become Bread


Bill Johnson - When Giants Become Bread
Bill Johnson - When Giants Become Bread

Thank you. Good morning. Is it still morning? Yes, it is. It’s still morning. Ah, nice to see you! I appreciate all the prayers for our household. Benny’s doing increasingly better—better and better. I told our family yesterday, «The miracle is a done deal. It’s just unfolding like a flower every day,» and that’s what we see. I feel 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 pressed their lips against the mirror in the girls' bathroom, and it became a hassle to clean. So Sister Mary, the principal, talked to them about not doing that, but it just didn’t slow them down; they continued to press their lips against the mirror. She decided to meet with all the young ladies in the girls' bathroom. They all crowded in there with the janitor, and she began to talk to them about how hard it was to clean those mirrors. 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?» He took the long-handled squeegee, dipped it into the toilet, and he cleaned the mirror. Since then, they have never had another lipstick print on the mirror. 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; He never stopped being God. He’s not an ascended being that somehow attained a position; He is the eternal Son of God. The great mystery of Scripture is that He was 100% God while, at the same time, He became 100% man. If you can figure that out, please explain it to me! It’s the great challenge in conversation and teaching, but both realities are equally true.

So, Jesus came to earth, having been commissioned by the Father. 1 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 brought about absolute chaos, loss, death, and destruction. 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 when he says you can’t be commissioned; it would be like co-laboring. You can’t be commissioned until you come into submission to the primary mission. Jesus came with the mission of the Father and exercised the authority of heaven as a human being.

A policeman has authority, but he doesn’t have the authority to build a house without a permit. There are a number of political positions where someone has authority in economics or housing; however, they can’t step outside of their assignment or mission. You and I have authority. After His resurrection, Jesus stood before His 11 remaining disciples and threw them—and therefore all of humanity—who would say «yes» to Jesus, and He said, «All authority has been given to me; therefore, go into all the world, preach the gospel, disciple nations, and teach them what I taught you.» Part of what He taught them was Matthew 10—to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils—that’s part of the commission. It says, «Teach them what I taught you.» Then He closes with this statement: «For I will be with you always.»

Jesus then commissioned His disciples. Now, in Luke 9:1 and Matthew 10:8, it 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. He is preaching to the crowd and says, «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.» As he is preaching, he looks up on the banks of the river and sees Jesus. Jesus didn’t have a sign over His head saying, «I am the Christ.» John looks at Him, and I like to describe it this way: every cell of John’s being came into realization and recognition that this 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. He stopped and said, «Look, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.» In other words, this is the moment he had been waiting for.

I’m sure the scariest thing John ever experienced happened in the moments that followed when Jesus walked up to him and 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 standing in the shoes of another and pleading 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! You’ve got to catch the next part of that; that part will get you in trouble and probably get me in trouble too. If it doesn’t make you angry, you may be part of the problem, either through apathy or through thinking consistent with the evil taking place. If that anger takes you to accusation, complaining, and criticism, you’re playing on the devil’s playing field, and you will always lose there. When righteous anger leads you to intercession, where it’s not accusation but praying as though it were your issue, you say, «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 that righteous anger and allow it to drive us into the presence of God to intercede on behalf of the nation, a leader, or whatever it might be, then that anger—if you will—don’t be offended by that; God gets angry and the Bible commands, «Be angry and do not sin.» So, what keeps us from sin in our anger is that we identify with the people 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 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: «I need to be baptized by you.» What did John just announce about Jesus? He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John was saying, «I need your baptism; you don’t need mine.»

John was out of season; he was not in the season where he could be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire because that would not come until after the death of Christ. Interestingly, the Bible declares that John was the greatest of all the Old Testament prophets, but the least in the kingdom is greater than John. I would like to suggest that the baptism of the Holy Spirit gives you access to a reality in God that not even John the Baptist had access to.

Back to the script here: Jesus gets baptized in water. When He comes up out of the water, Mark’s Gospel and Luke both say (Mark 1 and Luke 3) the heavens parted. The word used in, I believe, Luke’s Gospel for the parting of the clouds is actually a violent term—the same word used in Matthew 27 to describe something that happened in the natural realm after the death of Christ. 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 man’s. They say this veil is four to six inches thick in fabric, and it was ripped from the top to the bottom. In the same verse, it says the rocks around Jerusalem were torn in half.

So imagine some angel coming down ripping rocks in half! 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 there is a figurative thing going on here, where when Jesus was baptized in water, there was a rending, a tearing of the heavens. The Spirit of God came down through that opening upon Jesus in the form of a dove and remained. He was baptized in the Spirit at that point. It’s the very next chapter that we see Jesus walking in power.

So, I’d like to suggest that 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 basically the same encounter or moment where Jesus gives His mission in Matthew 28—so it’s just two different chapters. Luke adds this one element: «Don’t leave Jerusalem until you’re clothed with power.»

Here’s your authority: «All authority has been given to me; therefore, go.»

So here’s the commission. But in Luke’s Gospel, He adds this phrase: «Don’t leave Jerusalem until you are clothed with 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: Numbers 14, Matthew 6, and Psalm 23. All right, very random, but hopefully you’ll see at least how they complement each other. Numbers 24—interestingly, this is a fascinating subject. I know I’ve heard Chris and maybe some others touch on this a little bit in recent months. The Lord rewards maturity with an increase of responsibility. The promised land was not sitting on a beach sipping lemonade for the rest of their lives; the promised land was a place where they actually had to work.

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 working against divine purpose. It’s actually working against design. It’s like using a crescent wrench as a hammer for 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 believe we’re supposed to care for people that can’t. But the point is, we have a spirit that has been loosed in the nation today where people are looking for opportunities to not work, when 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 to meddle and cause problems, so I’m looking for every opportunity. Israel was given a promised land, and your future is defined by promises. 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, backpedal: Israel, under Moses’s leadership, was looking at the promised land. They knew there was a great vast inheritance for them, so he took twelve spies and sent them into the land to spy it out and bring back a report of what they were about to step into. They came back; ten of them said, «There are giants in the land; we are like grasshoppers in their 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 setup 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 as wisdom. The ten spies did not come back with lies; they came back with truth—just not the whole truth. They convinced people of something that was inferior to what God had said. What God has said over your life is what we must feed our hearts on. If we feed our hearts on just simply the facts, we will react in fear and never recognize it as fear. We will consider ourselves to be people who move in great wisdom, and I’ll tell you this: If you move in fear, all 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 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 the 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, 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, Psalm 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 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 bread. 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. I have found that 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.

There’s a huge part of our Christian life He absolutely does for us. He causes this victory to happen; 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. I get that. But there are parts of our Christian walk where the nutrients we ache for are actually found in the giants we are facing. It’s changing our perspective—not in mental gymnastics but changing perspective according to what God says.

What did God say? Joshua and Caleb picked something up from the Lord: «This land of giants is lunch, and when we’re through with lunch, we’ll move on to dinner. This is our food.» Psalm 23 fascinates me for a lot of reasons, obviously, but Psalm 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 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’ll ever eat in your life. I mean, I think God’s probably a pretty good cook! So here is this table; the table is a place of nourishment. The table is a place of interaction, a fellowship, a 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 you could possibly ever face. This interaction we have with Him at this table, so to speak, defines our purpose, our reason for being, our destiny. It’s a life-giving encounter, and here it is, in the presence of enemies.

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 around the table, and they never benefit from the nutrients of the moment. They may come out victorious, saying, «We took care of that problem, didn’t we?» Yet they’re lacking in the nutrients or the very thing that was meant 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.

Once we come to Christ, it doesn’t mean that everything that comes our 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 bring death. He came to give life; the enemy came to kill, steal, and 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 that which 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! So when I’m on vacation, I look for brunch because brunch is where bacon goes to die. I know I’m not supposed to eat bacon, but I eat bacon! So the Lord takes that which was thrown your way and says, «All right, I am going to put in the purpose of this giant the food 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 1, 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. For me, it’s like a refrigerator; I go to it when I’m hungry. Joshua chapter 1 feeds my soul.

I remind you that Joshua is one of the two who 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 to be alive, and God protected and honored their faithfulness.

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 change this for just a moment. Instead of Moses, let’s put Jesus in there and 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 are mine, 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 from God.

Verse 6: «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 right. I wanted to welcome you into this joyful experience that we’re having here.

Verse 7: «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 on 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. Can you imagine a farmer planting ten acres of corn and being angry because he didn’t harvest 100? That was a really good bill. If I were you, I’d try it again; it was worth trying again. You can’t harvest what you don’t plant. God has given His word to us to use—not in manipulation for self-glory or prosperity and success.

Unfortunately, we usually define those words by society around us. It’s the mansion on the hill; it’s the five cars—whatever. We translate prosperity and success in those terms, when biblically it is so much richer than that. It may include the nice house and 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 momentum in the generations because of our «yes.»

My friendships are formed by people around me who would take a bullet for me, and I would take one for them. I like that little joke I saw a while back: «I would take a bullet for you—not in the head, but maybe like in the leg or something.» I thought that was funny; I’m sorry! [Applause] Poor sense of humor!

All right, success and prosperity involve possessions but are 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: 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 who are becoming preoccupied with 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’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 the Lord said He would be with somebody. We see it with Moses; the Lord says, «I’m going to be with you.» We see it with Gideon, who faced an insurmountable task with 300 soldiers; the Lord says, «I will be with you.» We see it throughout the scriptures with the prophets and different ones who are put in these positions. The Lord says, «I will be with you.» We see it in the Great Commission—Matthew 28:19–20: «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 He was with an individual or 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 He would never command me to be strong if it wasn’t within reach? In other words, if my will could not will its way into it, then it would be a cruel command. He didn’t say, «Feel courageous.» He didn’t say, «Hover until you feel strong.» He said just, «Be it. Be strong.»

Now, if God is commanding me to do something that is the product of ten years of obedience, it would be a cruel command because I am in trouble right now. I’ve got a problem, and He comes to me with this command: «Be strong. 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 helped the ten spies to not lie but emphasize the size of the giants and the size of the problem. It wasn’t a lie; they just described that problem without the prevailing word of God over their lives, without the abiding, manifested presence that was visibly seen among them every day in the wilderness—visible manifestation of the glory of God, the pillar of fire by night and 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 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, and I don’t mean we shouldn’t share and pray with each other; I get that. I know this could be misapplied, but it’s worth the risk. If I can 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.

One of my most favorite verses of all is in Acts 10:38. Just about any time I’m thankful for digital clocks, they say 10:38. And whatever they do, I’ve been up here talking before and I’ve seen 10:38 and just paused in my heart and acknowledged the reality of Acts 10:38, one of the most important Scriptures for my life. It says God was with Jesus, and He anointed Him to heal every disease and 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 by the devil.

Listen to this phrase: «For God was with Him.» The very fact that the presence of God is manifested with Him emphasizes the role 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.»

Well, I don’t want to make the devil mad. He’s already mad. You are my dinner!

Why don’t 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 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. We actually want to see the meal that is the reward of this next victory. We long and hunger to see the enemies of our lives bend their knee to the name of 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 giants as dinner—to interpret that «the enemy surrounds me; there must be a meal somewhere!»

Holy Spirit, we ask that You 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 who 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—being forgiven of sin and brought into His family.

That is available to everybody in this room and 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 receiving Jesus.» If there’s anybody in the room that would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave the building until 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.

Put your hand up for that reason. Right back here, I see one. All right, wonderful! Is there anyone else? Put your hand up quickly. Way back over here, there’s another one! Yep, beautiful! Anyone else? Wave your hand if I’ve missed you. Okay, I see this one here and that one there. Is there anyone else? All right, beautiful!

You guys will help. What I want to ask is there are at least two who put their hands up—do me and yourself a favor and just walk up here real quickly because I have friends that I know and trust that I want to talk with and pray with you. Just come on down real quick! If you’re with a friend who raised their hand, walk down with them. Just come on down! God bless you! Yes, just take them to the side and pray and talk with them.

Extend your hand towards them and just pray, «God, give them more than they ever thought was possible! Just let them be filled with the Holy Spirit even right now, and that all the torment, the stuff that’s been on their lives, would be broken off!» Just pray that right now. Pray that over them—pray for them to encounter the Lord!