Bill Johnson - Being Blessed is a Responsibility
I just want to go on record: I like that shirt, Chris. I’m just telling you I like the shirt. I’m not fond of the dance; the dance can go, but the shirt is nice. In fact, the dance isn’t even a dance—it’s a wounded parrot or something; it’s a peacock, a wounded peacock! I love what’s going on; I love it. I’m so thankful to see things starting to take shape. You’ve got to understand, as one of the team members here, I’m so excited for what’s happening. I’m so excited about what I see the Lord doing, and in a sense, the last thing in the world I want to do is teach about a building. I mean, that’s what the slot is aimed for. So, what I felt the Lord putting in my heart was something that would be useful and applicable to every person, but it also fits in the context of what God has called us to.
Yeah, let me figure something out. I was hunting in Texas last November; let’s give thanks for Texas and for hunting. I forgot to do it this time, but usually when we do a conference, I read off the names of the nations that have visited, and then I ask, «Did I forget any countries?» Texans always yell out, «Texas!» because you all actually think you’re a separate country. So when I go there, I actually bring my passport in case something happens while I’m there. I was there on a trip last December with a friend of mine, and I couldn’t sleep one night. So, I rolled over, grabbed my iPad, and opened a file of just a whole bunch of prophetic words. I like to review them and keep them before my eyes and heart.
So I opened that up and started reading a prophetic word that I didn’t remember receiving. In fact, Michael Maiden, who was here a year ago and gave us a very strong word about this new building, said, «If you don’t build it now, you won’t be ready for what’s about to happen.» There was a sense of prophetic urgency in that word, and we heard it and said amen together. Well, that same friend, Michael Maiden, sent this to me, and I had forgotten that I had received it. In this prophetic word, it said, «I saw a large tech company approach you wanting to partner in what you’re doing and offer you a large building for a training school for technology.»
So, like this, I’m in Texas, I read this, and I went, «Wait a minute, that’s what’s starting to form right now at home!» I don’t think anybody knows this word was given. So at like two in the morning with my iPad, I copied that and sent it to Chris. I said, «Hey, look, isn’t this what’s happening right now? A large tech company wanted to partner or give place for our tech school?» The detail in this word was actually what’s happening. So obviously, that brought great encouragement to us.
And so that’s what’s happening, and I love the connection. If you ever study, like, it’s throughout the Psalms, but it’s especially in Haggai, Ezra, Nehemiah—these are all building books. They all talk about building facilities, and there’s an unusual connection between building and prophets. They actually partnered with the prophets, and they succeeded. Some things were built under the guidance or direction of the prophets. So we believe very strongly that prophets do not take the place of our responsibility to hear from God personally, but our responsibility to hear from God personally doesn’t take the place of the prophet either. They work together in tandem.
I’m very thankful when the Lord has been so kind and generous to us through the years by bringing us prophetic words. We have a boatload right now, so I figure I’m going to have to lift about 180 to fulfill all of them. So, yeah, that’s just an ugly picture right there. Let’s turn in your Bibles—how about that? We’ve got 16 minutes left to talk to you. I want you to open to Psalm 67.
I have what I consider to be a very strange, unusual word to give on a Sunday where we’re talking about buildings, as we are, yet I think it will hopefully make sense to you once we get going. I believe, and I will say this, I don’t use this phrase very often, but I believe prophetically I’ve come into an understanding of a new season, if you will, a new way that God is going to release Himself to, upon, and through us as a people. So hopefully, this will make a little bit more sense in a moment.
Let’s read Psalm 67 in its entirety. We’re going to go back to one verse, I’ll expand on it, share testimony, and then I want to read through it and give a little bit of context. Okay, verse 1 of Psalm 67: «God, be merciful to us and bless us; cause His face to shine upon us, that Your way may be known on earth, and Your salvation among the nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. O, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously and govern the nations on earth. Say hello! Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.»
This psalm has required a change in perception, a change in perspective on the nature of God and the tools that He uses. We already know about His heart for the nations, but the tools that He has designed and created to literally draw in the nations in part are represented in this psalm. What I want you to do is look at verse 6 again. Let me talk to you for just a few minutes on verse 6. It says, «Then the earth,» now this is following the people of God coming into a measure of blessing, a, let me say, a mantle or breakthrough in the area of blessing.
Now, I’m not talking about get-rich schemes; I’m not talking about building personal empires. I’m talking about supernatural wealth—intellectually, emotionally, relationally—in every single part of life, which is the design of the Lord. It includes finances, but that’s not the focus. The focus here is honestly the overall well-being of a person who lives well with the Lord. It doesn’t mean no problems or challenges; it just means He walks with us in those difficulties and brings about His redemptive solution.
So, verse 6: «Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.» I love that verse—the earth shall yield her increase! Because somehow, in this unusual invitation to live in the blessing of the Lord and to see nations come to Him, part of that process is that the earth would say, «Alright, you can have it. I’ve been holding it in all this time, but now you can have it.» The earth yields, surrenders its increase.
We have a wonderful prayer house over here. I remember the Sunday we presented a project to the church family here years ago when the church had grown to a much smaller size. During that time, the Lord put in my heart the vision for that prayer house; literally, I saw it sitting on this front row, and that’s a long story—not for now. But when we went to raise the money that one Sunday morning, Chris had just gotten here and prophesied that all of that money would come in pledges or offerings that one day.
As soon as he gave that word, I think he hid under the front row because we were going to take an offering and actually find out if it happened. So that’s a quick way to test prophetic words—a real quick way! Either you have it, or you don’t! I think we ended up with eight dollars and fifty cents over the amount that was needed, and one of the kids in the church gave ten dollars. I think he is convinced he took us over the edge into the land of bounty!
That happened on that prayer house. My wife managed the prayer ministry there; she had a little office as you walk in—a little door to the left—and there’s a small office that was her office. Of course, you pray there as well as in the main part, and she worked from that little office. She had a plant in there that would bloom every, like, November and December. But something happened to that plant in the time it spent in that prayer house. It finally got to the point where it bloomed twelve months of the year—just continued twelve months of the year.
Now, you have to understand, when the more pronounced presence of God comes, the more He messes with our understanding of seasons. Jesus said in John 4, «You say it takes three months, and then there’s a harvest.» Why did they say it took three months into harvest? Because that’s what it takes: you plant the seed; three months later, you get the harvest.
So Jesus says, «You say it takes three months; I say the fields are ripe and ready for harvest.» Of course, He’s talking about evangelism, but He’s using a natural parallel. I remind you, the book of Ezekiel says, «Your trees will bear fruit twelve months of the year.» So here’s this plant over here that blooms twelve months of the year. Benny and I bought a new house a few years ago—three years ago—and the previous owner did a masterful job of hiring and having landscaping done. There are flowers and trees in all the right places.
There’s this one place right up front, and to the right of the walkway as you go toward the house, this beautiful section of just iris flowers. I love flowers; I just think it’s amazing that God would create flowers that don’t do anything except look beautiful. I mean, they just look beautiful! The God who would have that in His heart and mind is different than we sometimes think. He’s not just a functional person; He’s one who loves beauty. His first miracle took place at a wedding! It’s just this heart of a celebratory Father who does this stuff!
So here’s these irises, and we noticed a year or so ago, in fact, it was a year ago, that these irises bloom every, I think it’s March and April, or April and May. A year ago, they had blooms in November that continued in December, and of course, they started again in April, in May. But then we noticed in the heat of the summer, July, they had flowers again, and then in August—in the smoky heat of August—flowers again, and in September. They’ve got flowers!
In fact, after this Noah’s Flood that just took place here recently—competing with no exaggeration, but only slight—after that, it just threw up a whole bunch more flowers. So, we’ve got this iris plant in front of our house that is now giving us beautiful flowers basically twelve months of the year.
What I feel like is that little tiny things like this are signs to catch our attention that there’s a shift in season in which He’s going to function outside of nature and outside of the boundaries. It’s not that nature and those responsibilities aren’t fit; they are. But they are not limiting; they don’t limit Him. I felt I was honestly to prophetically declare a shift in seasons where things would happen unusually so in the area of harvest and personal increase.
I have a friend, whom I won’t mention by name to keep the focus away from me—I’m not sure he’d appreciate it—but he has thousands of orange trees. These oranges, we have an orange tree at our house right now that our previous owner made sure was planted. It has oranges right now; I just ate a couple this week. In November and December, I think we have oranges. But my friend’s orange trees, I think he’s got like 12,000 of them. Half of them have oranges in June and July—the wrong season—and they’re worth like ten times, I think it’s ten times, a huge significant increase of the value of each orange. They’re also the best quality possible, and he harvests them in the wrong time of year. Nobody has them that time of year except for him. He has a whole bunch of pastors that walk through these orange streets praying continuously. It might have something to do with the change of season!
But then he told me, almost in-house terms, that he has—I forget, enough; it’s six trees or twelve trees—that actually bear oranges twelve months of the year. I feel like some of these things are starting to happen. It may be completely different for you, but it’ll serve as a lesson to increase the awareness that God’s seasons are different than ours, and they are never restrictive; they are always avenues of expression. There are times for Him to reveal His heart and His abundance.
Now, go back to this psalm, Psalm 67, verse 1: «God, be merciful to us!» Boy, it all starts with mercy. Mercy is when we don’t get what we deserve. Grace is when we get what we don’t deserve. «God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine on us.» That phrase, «cause His face to shine upon us,» is a prayer for the favor of a loving Father, His countenance to actually be seen on our countenance—that His delight over us would be actually seen in evidence on our own expression, our own lives.
This prayer, what I believe is a very serious mandate, is that we are responsible to pray for the blessing of God in our personal lives. It is a responsibility we owe the world around us, to live a blessed life. Now, again, I’m not talking about materialistic empires; I’m talking about pursuing the favor of God manifested in our lives. Because the next verse says, «That Your way would be known on earth.» They won’t know what kind of Father You’re like unless You do something unusually bountiful with my life, with my relationships, with my health, with my finances, with favor, open doors—all these things are supposed to be marked with an unusual sense of favor and blessing.
We owe each other that kind of personal prayer life: «God bless me! Let it come from Your mercy. God bless me—cause Your face to shine on me! Otherwise, they won’t know what kind of a Father You are.» But notice the next phrase; it says, «And Yours to the nations!» Goodness gracious! Is it possible that a last-day revival, the harvest—the billion-soul harvest, at least in part—comes because the nature of a perfect Father was seen upon a people that hosted and carried His favor and His blessings?
Well, it’s the calling; it’s the invitation. I have a Father; He really cares for you as much as He cares for me! I want you to know what His favor looks like! I want you to know what His blessing looks like! He can make a complete difference in your home, in your marriage, in your business! That’s what we live; we live in this privileged opportunity to introduce a perfect Father to a world—a planet of orphans, to be frank.
Then verses 3 and 4 just talk about this: what happens when the nations come to the Lord? They bless the Lord; they live in joy. The nations are healthy. Then we get down to verse 5: «Let the peoples praise You! O God, let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God shall bless us!» Here’s what I want you to notice: verse 1 says, «God, please bless us.» Verse 6 says, «God shall bless us.» There’s a point in your prayer life where you stop asking, and you start decreeing.
There’s a point in our prayer lives where we stop asking. I can feel it—there are times in my own time with Him where it feels as though if I ask again, it will be an offense. I don’t mean He’s angry at me; I mean I’m not tapping into the moment He created for me. Because there’s a point where it’s fruitless to ask because it’s been settled; it now must be decreed.
It’s in the decree that the purposes of God actually begin to unfold in a realized fashion. Jesus did this before He ever healed anyone. Before He ever opened blind eyes or caused the lame to walk or anything, He declared in Luke 4, «The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, open blind eyes, recovery of sight to the blind, the healing of the lame.» He made the decree before anything happened because He was acknowledging this is what happened to me and this is the reason.
And I’m telling you folks, decree over your own life, «I am blessed by God as a testimony to the nations because of the billion-soul harvest I get to be involved in. I have a role; I have a part to play because the favor of God is on my life.» And there is someone who is going to see it. I don’t mean we all get broadcasted on the news—who would want that anyway? —but somebody’s going to see it. Another family, another individual is going to see there’s something unusual resting upon that person, and it’s the attractant; it’s the invitation if you will. It’s on your life and mine.
And here it is: «God shall bless us; God, our own God, shall bless us.» Verse 7: «God shall bless us.» Here’s a prophetic decree: «And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him!» Don’t get messed up by that fear because the fear of God in the right sense draws us to Him. The fear of God in a perverted sense repels people from Him. So, this right here is a decree—a prophetic decree that says, «God shall bless us.» In fact, say this with me: «God shall bless us!» «God shall bless us!» «And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him!» «And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him!»
You know what? This whole «arise and build,» this is the tip of the iceberg. It may look huge to you and to me, but it’s the tip of the iceberg because it represents something that’s not just about Bethel or about Reading; it’s about the global expansion of what God is doing on the planet through like-hearted, like-minded people that will give themselves for the transformation of cities and nations around the world. That is what is in process, and that building will become the testimony of God’s nature. It will become a tool that is used to facilitate revivalists going throughout all the world, and it will be the canvas—the whole thing that we build is a canvas that illustrates our understanding of who He is and how we value people. That is the nature of that building.
I want you to stand for it, please! Come on, Jesus! Come on, Jesus! God shall bless! I say it, «God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him!» I know we’ve got such a wonderful, huge online community, and we love and bless you guys. I love running into you in various places around the world. I want you to join with us—we’re going to say it again: «God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him!»
I want to give you permission, in fact permission and an assignment, to pray for personal blessing. He would not direct us to pray for something if it wasn’t His intention to answer. He also would not direct us to pray for something if it would happen without our praying. He doesn’t direct us in prayer if He’s going to do it anyway without our prayer.
In other words, He invites us into this covenantal role where we bring petition before Him because it’s His heart to do it. Without the prayer, it won’t happen. I’m not saying He won’t do anything; I’m just saying the potential is never reached without the full cooperation with what He has designed. Just put a hand on somebody’s shoulder next to you, and I want you to pray the abundance of the blessing and favor of God to rest upon that life and that household in this next season.
In this next season, the abundance of God’s favor—the abundance of God’s favor on that household! I want you to declare over them, «God shall bless you! God shall bless you! God is in the process of blessing you, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him!» Amen! Father, I pray that this would just increase. You did so good; look at you—you look like you actually like each other!
One more thing, real quickly: hold your place if you would. Any time we gather together, there’s always the chance there are people here that do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. You don’t know what it is to be born again, as the term the Bible uses—transformed from the inside out, forgiven of sin, brought into God’s family. If there’s anybody here in that place, and you would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave the building until I know I am right with God—I want to know what it is to have peace with God!"—then I want you to do that by just putting a hand up and saying, «Bill, that’s me. I don’t want to leave until I know I’ve been forgiven of sin, that I’ve been brought into the family of God!»
Anyone online that is in this moment with us, and you would say, «I want to give my life to Jesus,» we have pastors online. Just put in the chat room, «I want to know Jesus; I want His forgiveness.» Just put that in there, and our pastors will join with you. Amen! Bless you! Who’s helping me? Look, the queen herself is coming up here! Come on, Jesus!