Bill Johnson - The Spirit of the Resurrected Christ Is in You
And you and I have been given the spirit of the resurrected Christ. It’s not a condemning word; it’s an invitation. It’s a word that says, «Let him be who he is in his resurrection power, flowing in and through our lives, confronting those things that have been deemed to be impossible.» That’s what you were born for. It’s what I was born for. Thank you, thank you, thanks. You’re cutting into my message time here. Wow, happy Easter! Goodness, he is risen! Risen indeed! Amen! What a wonderful day! How many of you were at the Good Friday service? Wasn’t that just wonderful? Honestly, I plan my schedule around that event every year. All right, where is it? I’m home that week; I cannot miss that event. It’s just so good! I don’t even want to be gone somewhere until Thursday in case there’s some mess-up with the flights. You know, I’ve got to make sure I’m home for that thing. Oh goodness, it blesses me so much!
All right, I have something very important to read that I’ve read before, but you’ll understand why it’s appropriate today. A man, his wife, and his mother-in-law went on vacation to the Holy Land. While they were there, the mother-in-law passed away. The undertaker told them, «You can have her shipped home for $5,000 or you can bury her here in the Holy Land for $150.» The man thought about it for a moment and said he’d just soon have her shipped home. The undertaker asked, «Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your mother-in-law home when it would be wonderful to have her buried here and spend only $150?» The man replied, «A man died here 2,000 years ago. He was buried here, and three days later, he rose from the dead. I just can’t take that chance.» I know it’s pitiful—it’s just pitiful.
Open your Bibles, if you would, to the Gospel of John. We’ll start in chapter 19. I’ve had a fun experience a couple of times; twice in my life I’ve had people tell me I ruined their Easter, and that felt so good, so encouraging! It was because I didn’t tell the Easter story; I just presented testimonies of the resurrection power of Jesus. I thought that would work, but apparently, the story is better, so we’re going to tell the story today and give opportunity at the end once again for the power of Jesus to be displayed. You and I were born for the impossible, and we’re actually uniquely designed to walk in a relationship with God in this relational journey where the impossibilities of life can be confronted. It’s actually in our DNA; we’re designed to carry the possibility, that potential in our lives. The death and resurrection of Christ—two sides of the same coin—are the most demanding reality in all of life.
I remember years ago, I met with a bunch of high school students. In fact, it was at Chris’s house in his living room, and I just talked with them about this claim of the death and resurrection of Christ being so significant that if it’s not true, I owe humanity the rest of my life to warn them of this lie and to disprove this fallacy. On the other hand, if it is true, I owe all of humanity the rest of my life to bring the story and demonstrate the power of that resurrection. It is the thing that defines everything else; all of life is defined because of this one great reality. Take all the confusion that exists in the world, all the craziness that is going on, and all of it could be settled and resolved with a clear understanding of the death and resurrection of Christ—every single bit of it. Because when Jesus died, he did not miss anything; he didn’t forget to deal with something. He didn’t offer himself as an offering for part of the problem; he actually became the offering to settle all the issues.
I was trying to remember a quote earlier. Eric sent it to me between here and on my way to the next service over at Twinview. It’s one of my favorite quotes of all time; it’s a C.S. Lewis quote. He says, «I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun. The sun has risen. I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because I see everything else by it.» Because of it, I can see everything else. The resurrection of Christ, the death and resurrection of Christ redefine everything about life—relationships, giftings, purpose, dreams, visions—all take on a different flavor and definition because Jesus conquered death in my place and rose victorious. Interestingly, his resurrection is actually our resurrection. Romans says, «If you have been baptized with him, you’ve been buried in his death; then you also have been raised up in his resurrection.» The resurrection of Christ is what’s given to you the moment you’re born again; it’s what causes us to be born again.
Do you understand? Jesus didn’t raise himself. He didn’t raise himself; the Spirit of God came upon him and raised him up as a testimony of resurrection. So what I want to do today is just go through the story. We’re going to take some of the crucifixion right at the tail end and then go into some of the resurrection story. We’ll read a few verses and I’ll talk until we’re done. All right? If you get through before I do, just go home. I’ve always wanted to tell you that! All right, here we go!
John chapter 19, open your Bibles to the Gospel of John, 19th chapter. Did I say 19 already? Once and then I just said ninth? Yeah, just pick and choose; they’re both good, but I’m going to be in chapter 19 if you want to join me. I was just at Twinview, one of our other campuses, and I was going to start reading, and I didn’t even tell them what book I mean what chapter in John, so I accused them of just not having a strong enough prophetic anointing on their life! But I repented quickly; it’s all right!
The Gospel of John, chapter 19, let’s go right to verse 31. Jesus is already crucified; in the previous verse, he gave up his spirit and announced, «It is finished.» Verse 31: «Therefore, because it was the preparation day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.»
A couple of things I want to mention here. First of all, the prophets had declared that not one of his bones would be broken, so it is essential that his legs were not broken in the fulfillment of prophetic word. But what’s interesting to me is that he was dead before the other two. First of all, the guy, the thief who died with him on the cross next to him—talk about coming into the kingdom at the last moment! This guy just makes—you can imagine, you’ll see him in heaven, and you’ll recognize him. You’ll know who he is; you’ll know his story, and he will be able to brag throughout all of eternity that he was one of those guys that came in at the exact last moment.
Years ago, we had some of our team down in the streets of San Francisco sharing the gospel, ministering to people. One of our—actually, it was a 14-year-old girl—sat down on a curb, and there was an elderly man sitting there. She shared the gospel with him, and he ended up getting born again. It was a tremendous Holy Spirit moment where he was so deeply touched and transformed. She went around ministering to other people, heard sirens, and followed the sirens. The sirens came back, and this man had passed away since the time she led him to the Lord! So, she was there at that moment. My prayer is that it would be impossible to get to heaven from reading that. There would be people at the gates, the hospitals, the convalescent homes, the ambulance drivers—all these places that really are the gateways to eternity—manned by people who love Jesus and can introduce people into that last final moment experience. That’s my prayer for this city.
These two guys are still alive; their legs have to be broken so that they can no longer push up and keep themselves breathing, so they suffocate. When they came to Jesus, he’s already dead. Why was he dead ahead of the other two? Personally, I think it was because of the weight of sin. If you take the billions of people’s sin—you know what it’s like when you’ve done something wrong, that shame, that guilt, that heaviness you feel—for one thing, multiply that by billions of people; then multiply that by a lifetime of sin and put all of that on one person in one moment. Jesus, who proved himself to be holy, demonstrated power in miracles but also demonstrated power in holiness. It’s talked about in Romans. This one, in that moment, was crushed and literally died of that broken heart because of the weight of sin. Wow! Jesus became a curse, it says; he became a curse on a tree, referring to the cross, so that you wouldn’t have to bear the curse.
He didn’t suffer and die so that you would have a good example to follow. He did not bear the weight of sin so that you and I could keep a stiff upper lip and deal with our sin. He bore the curse so that the power of the curse would be broken and completeness and wholeness would be available to every person in every situation. It says here, verse 34: «But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.» I love this part of the story. In the Old Testament, I’m going to use several Old Testament references today. In the Old Testament, there was the Tabernacle of Moses; it was a courtyard area outside. Inside was a little tented building with two compartments: the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies—get to that later. As people would enter this courtyard area, the first thing they ran into was a brazen altar. This is where the blood sacrifices were made. Right past that was a laver; it was a bowl made out of the mirrors of the women. This is in the wilderness now, made out of the mirrors of women, and it would contain water.
Here’s the interesting thing: the priest would sacrifice the animal, which never dealt with sin, by the way—it only postponed the penalty for one more year. It gave them an act of obedience to be included in his redemptive plan, but it never dealt with sin, and so the blood would deal with sin. In this laver, the priests were still required to wipe off uncleanness. Let me put it this way: you people who live with people get dirty; you get contaminated just in relationships. Just go on social media, and you can get contaminated quickly. It’s a very quick experience; it’s just available to you. It’s like the kingdom; it’s at hand. It’s right within reach. You can feel—seriously, you can feel like you did something wrong; you can feel that shame thing, or you don’t know what’s wrong; you feel something’s unsettled. You ask God, «God, what did I do wrong?» There’s nothing to confess because no sin was committed; there’s just uncleanness. The Scripture says we are washed by the washing of the water with the word of God.
I’ve had, at times, countless times through my life where I just feel unsettled—something’s wrong; I don’t know what it is—and I pray. I think, «God, did I do something wrong? Did I say something? Did I think something? Did I entertain? Did I plan something?» I go through, and there’s nothing to confess, and I open the word up. The word, and I begin to read, and I just become cleansed; I become washed in the water of the word of God—blood and water. Listen to this passage out of Zechariah 13: «In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.» Let me stop for a minute—house of David, inhabitants of Jerusalem. That would be Old Testament terminology, equating to New Testament terms for the community of the redeemed, right? So we’re talking about you all—us all.
«In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David, for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness.» Wow, that deals with the power of sin but also makes it possible to stay clean just through the contaminants that happen in life—the cleanness of conscience. It wasn’t something that was done wrong; it’s just we rub shoulders with people. We are broken people living with broken people that are all in process, and there’s a contamination that takes place. You can have the TV on; something comes on, and you quickly change the channel. It’s too late; you saw something—it’s a contamination. These things just happen. You’re in the office—not here, this office—but some other place, and somebody tells a joke, and you didn’t have the chance to get out of the room in time because it’s a defiling joke—it’s too late. But it’s not too late for the washing of the water with the word. Just know where to go.
That’s where we just stay in this throughout the day; we stay in that word because there’s continuous cleansing in the word of God itself. A fountain was opened up with a spear that brought out the blood that deals with sin and the water that deals with contamination. Verse 35: «He who has seen has testified; his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe.» Here’s what I did in my Bible: I circled the word «testimony,» and then I underlined «that you may believe,» and I drew an arrow, because testimony is always that you may believe. It is always to lead to a greater faith, to encounter God for yourself.
Chapter 20:1: «On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken from the tomb. She ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, 'They’ve taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.'» Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb, so they both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. I love this part of the story. Let me tell you why. John is the one writing this, and in verse 2 he writes, «and the other disciple whom Jesus loved.» John either has some issues or he lacks self-awareness, or he is facing the greatest challenge to his humility—not since Moses was required to write; Moses is the meekest man on Earth—is he an egotist, or has he actually chosen to walk in humility to the point where he obeyed writing what he was supposed to write at the expense of appearing to be self-serving?
Simon Peter, verse 6—are you alive? How alive are you? All right? All right, he’s risen! That works! Verse 6: «Simon Peter came, following him, went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloth lying there and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloth but folded together in a place by itself.» This is interesting: you come into the tomb, there’s a place where the body was and he was wrapped in cloth but the part that was wrapped around his head was folded and put in a place by itself, separate from the other cloth. There’s a Jewish tradition that if you went to somebody’s home to eat a meal and you hated the meal but didn’t want to say anything, there was a way you could fold up the napkin and put it on your plate, and it basically told the host or hostess, «I will never eat this meal again.» The Bible says Jesus tasted death once and for all; the napkin was folded, saying, «This meal will never be repeated; it’s been defeated once and for all.»
Verse 11: «Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet of where the body of Jesus had lain.» Stop right there for a minute; back to the Old Testament. There was the most sacred piece of furniture in Jewish history—in their routine of worship—was the Ark of the Covenant. We’ll just say this is the Ark; it was a wooden box that was overlaid with gold. In the four corners are rings so that they could put poles into these corners because when it was time for the presence of God to move, it was to rest on the shoulders of priests. David made the mistake of putting it on an ox cart, and somebody died. The presence of the Lord is always designed to rest on the shoulders of priests—those who walk in that lifestyle of authentically serving, and people carry presence, and that’s the design.
But this golden box, inside the box are three items: the tablets of stone—Ten Commandments, a jar of manna, and the almond rod that budded. So these three things testify of the law of God—the word of God—they testify of God’s absolute, complete, total provision in the manna, and then resurrection power. This dead almond branch has sprouts, buds, blossoms, and ripe almonds, so it’s the testimony of how he marks us with resurrection life. These things are in this box. On top of this box, this central area is called the Mercy Seat. On both ends of the Mercy Seat are two angelic beings that face each other. In the middle is the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark of the Testimony. Every time you share a testimony, you’re ushering in the Mercy Seat of God into that person’s experience, where they can taste for themselves of God’s mercy, because his mercy rests upon this Ark of testimony.
I’d like to suggest that when the disciples looked inside the tomb and saw where Jesus was laid and saw these angels there on both ends, it was the prophetic decree that the Old Testament natural Ark of the Covenant has been replaced by the true spiritual one where the mercy of God is now released into the earth through the resurrection power of Jesus. Because he is alive, there is a shift in seasons. We see the shift in season even more so in the rest of this story. Jump down to verse 15. At verse 14, she saw it was Jesus but didn’t know it was him. Verse 15: «Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?» She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, «Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.» Jesus said to her, «Mary!» She turned and said to him, «Rabbouni,» which is to say, «Teacher!»
I don’t know; I just like the verse. I just like the fact she has dialogue with him but doesn’t know who he is, but when he mentions her name, all of a sudden, everything gets put in place. One of the things I pray for people often—I pray for my grandkids, I pray for my kids—that there would be that hearing of the voice of God. There’s something about God calling your name, something about God speaking to you where everything takes on definition because of that one thing. And in this moment, she realizes who it is. He says, «Mary.» In verse 16, she turned and said, «Rabbouni,» which is to say, «Teacher.»
Then Jesus said to her, «Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father.» Stop right there—"Do not cling to me.» Another translation says, «Stop clinging to me.» I’ve not yet ascended to my Father. Think through this with me for a moment: Jesus, he raised from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and was glorified. At this moment, he has not yet ascended. All right? So it’s three days after his death, and he says to her, «Stop clinging to me.» Compare this with his first birth. His first birth was a virgin birth through Mary, the mother of Jesus. The first person to touch him was the Virgin. The first person to touch him in his second birth—if we can call it that, because the Bible does say he is the firstborn from the dead, and the first to touch him is the one who illustrated grace because it’s a new season—a new season.
«Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.'» When Jesus died, I’ve heard some people say before he went—remember, three days later, he ascends to the Father. So when he died, some people—I’ve heard them say Jesus went into hell and suffered in hell on our behalf. No, no! If he did, then the blood wasn’t enough! It’s about the blood! So what happened? Luke 16 gives us the best description of this reality—this place called Sheol. There are two compartments: a place of torment, and a great chasm between that and the next compartment, called Abraham’s bosom.
Abraham is called the father of faith. The righteous who died before the death of Christ went to this paradise—a place of peace, a place of comfort. Those who didn’t went into the place of torment. Read Luke 16; end of 16—sobering chapter. When Jesus, it says, «When he ascended, before he ascended, he descended into the lower parts of the earth"—listen to the phrase—to lead captive a host of captives. You want to be captive by Jesus because being captive by him is the most freedom you’ll ever experience. It’s this weird kingdom; you rise by going low; you receive by giving; you know it’s that old thing; you live by dying. It’s this confusing journey of just saying yes to Jesus every day.
So here Jesus, it says, he descended first into the lower parts of the earth. What did he do? He went to the place where the people who had died in faith—remember, it’s a level playing field, Old and New Testament. The thing to get you born again in the new was the thing that preserved you in the old. It’s why it’s called Abraham’s bosom. Jesus goes in, and he makes proclamation: «The pay has been made.» Because no one could go to heaven until Jesus died because there was no payment for sin, God allowed there to be a place of peace until the death of Christ came. So Jesus, having made the payment, grabbed the keys of authority that man had given over to the serpent, came into the room, made the announcement—come on. And they all began to ascend. Jesus glances over and sees Mary Magdalene weeping at the tomb.
I don’t know how this went down; this is my imagination. He turns to the crowd and says, «I’ll be right back,» and then he goes over to Mary Magdalene. Well, Matthew 27 says the graves of the righteous opened and they were seen walking around Jerusalem. When did that happen? I’d like to suggest it’s right now. Jesus says, «I’ll be right back.» He goes over to Mary; David looks at Moses and says, «He’s going to be a while; we might as well catch a few sights.» When he’s through, back on the bus, and he brings the prize of his suffering before the Father. The Moravians have this great statement: they say to win for the Lamb the reward of his suffering. And this—that Jesus suffered and died was to purchase people— you, me—this host that he led captive, and he presented the prize before the Father.
Verse 19: «In the same day, at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you! '» When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, «Peace to you!» As the Father has sent me, I send you. Jesus walks into a room where everybody is scared; they’re afraid. They saw the angry crowds; they know that they have been recognized. Peter was picked out standing by a fire by a servant girl, so they’ve got this fear thing all over them that they’re going to be crucified next. And so they’re hiding.
Then Jesus walks through the wall, which doesn’t help with anxiety issues for somebody, and they don’t know who it is, which makes things worse. He didn’t—you know, he didn’t come appearing as he did before because he likes to appear to us differently than the last time, so that we learn to recognize him by voice and presence— not by our formulas that we have created. He’ll break out of any box you create. So here he walks into the room and says, «Peace to you!» It’s like Noah when he released the dove out of the ark, and the dove flew around, could find no place to land, flew back to the Ark. Jesus releases the presence of God over this group of people, and no one there is receiving peace because they are locked into fear.
You say, «Well, I thought peace would be given to those who are fearful.» You can’t have them both. You have to let go of one to embrace the other. There has to be a conscious decision: «I’ve been living by fear; I renounce fear.» You can’t hold on both, hoping one beats the other. You’ll let go of something to embrace another. Jesus then shows him his hands and his side, and it says, «Then they were glad when they saw the Lord,» which tells me they weren’t happy the first time. It’s because they didn’t know who it was. I’ve seen a lot of people that weren’t happy with what God was doing because they didn’t know it was him.
Jesus releases the presence of God again; this time they were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus concludes this with this statement: «He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'» Here’s the deal: the resurrection power of Jesus lives in you, and he wants out! I personally think all of heaven is looking to see what impossibility we will conquer in his name—what will we do with what we’ve been given? It’s a strange example, but Jesus came to a fig tree. It’s one of the funnier stories in the Bible. He came to a fig tree that was out of season for it to bear fruit. He came to it to get fruit, and it wasn’t any good fruit because it wasn’t the right season. So it says he cursed it.
I’ve heard great teachings on the fig tree representing Israel and this and that, whatever. I don’t know what it means, except Jesus is the only one who has the right to expect fruit of the impossible from us. When he didn’t find any, he had to bring that confrontation into a reality. You and I have been given the spirit of the resurrected Christ. It’s not a condemning word; it’s an invitation. It’s a word that says, «Let him be who he is in his resurrection power, flowing in and through our lives, confronting those things that have been deemed to be impossible.»
That’s what you were born for; it’s what I was born for. In our conversion is the DNA of Christ. It wasn’t earned; it was given as a gift—his actual DNA—where he gravitated towards the funeral, towards the hungry crowd, towards the leper that needed help, the blind who wanted someone to guide them—all these situations he gravitated towards them because he carried this absolute solution to every broken situation. My prayer for you, for me, is that in this next season we would become even more convinced of how ready the resurrection power of Jesus is available—in word, in touch, and in action. The right thing needs to be said; don’t think a casual statement accomplishes much—it’s the decree of God.
Say what he’s saying: «Cancer, be gone.» Say what he’s saying. Don’t do this, «God, if it’s your will, show mercy, kindness.» Look, don’t be stupid; confront the thing! Don’t ever—don’t show any respect to a problem! Do not show respect, kindness, and respect towards people—love, affectionately serve people—but no respect for a problem! Don’t use the word «cancer» with reverence; it deserves no reverence. It’s a devil! It’s a devil! Don’t speak to it kindly! Don’t speak in hushed terms! «Did you hear what so-and-so got back from the doctor?» No hushed terms! We must stop being impressed with the size of our problem!
It’s my personal conviction that most of us, our breakthrough would begin the day we stop being impressed with the size of our problem. I’m not trying to create a more magic formula; I’m just saying listen to what he’s saying! Declare it! Find someone to touch, to love, to lay hands on, to prophetically serve—do acts of service, kindness for people! The spirit of God is released through those means over and over and over again. I just believe that Jesus wants to demonstrate who he is to our wonderful city in this Easter season and beyond!
So here’s what I want to do, I’m going to pray over all of you, all y’all in a minute, but I wanted first to give opportunity for people who don’t know the Lord to come to Christ. I’m going to ask Bethel family, hold your places; lunch will wait. The most important thing that could happen this morning—in spite of all the wonderful things we’ve done together is the worship and the communion—all those things, the most amazing thing that could happen would be for just one person, even, to say, «I want to surrender my life to Jesus! I want to become born again. I want to find peace with God. I want to be a disciple of this Jesus; he is alive!»
He’s prepared to lead every person in this room into a place of triumph and victory. So this is what I would do: If in your heart of hearts you would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave this place until I know that I have peace with God; until I know what it is to be forgiven and brought into his family,» if that’s you, then I want you, right where you are—with every head raised, every eye open—I want you just simply to put a hand up, and by doing that, you’re just acknowledging, «That’s me! I want to get right with God today! I want to know what it is to have peace with God.» Do that real quickly; I’m just going to wait a few seconds—real quickly. If there’s anybody in the room, put your hand up so I can see you. Is there a hand over here? I can’t see—oh, right there! Yes, wonderful, wonderful! Beautiful! Yeah, amen!
Anybody else? Wait a minute! There’s another one right over here! Wonderful! Welcome! Welcome! Bless the Lord! There’s one; there’s one more! I’m certain there’s one more. I want to encourage you to make that bold step! Jesus confesses us before the world in his death and resurrection. He looks for us to make a very simple confession of our faith in him. So I’m going to give just five more seconds; if there’s anyone else, just quickly right over here—that’s you? All right, amen!
Here’s what I want. I’m going to ask everyone to stand. Stand if you would and hold your places please for a moment. I want to ask—I saw three; if there’s more than that, please join us. But I would like to have the three people. If you’re here with friends, I would encourage your friends to walk with you up to the front. Right up here we have people that we know and trust. It’s not about Bethel; it’s not about church membership; it’s about a relationship with Jesus. I want you to know what you just said yes to, so I’m going to ask you to leave your seat and come right over here to my left where this banner is. These folks will come; they will talk with you; they will pray with you. And again, if you brought one of these folks, offer to walk with them down here because I want them to have a wonderful, wonderful encounter down here.
Why don’t you bless them, church, as they come? Just come on down; bless them! Wonderful! Beautiful! You right over here—wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! God! Yep, that’s it right there! Thank you, Jesus! All here, I want to pray over you because I feel like some of you are about to be surprised by opportunities that are in front of you. The cool thing about a miracle is that he does all the work! You and I are the UPS driver that pulls up to the house and delivers a package that somebody else sent—that’s what we do. We lay our hands on her shoulder; we pray a very simple prayer, but Jesus is the one who heals and delivers. Put your hands in front of you; I just want to pray that there would be such a great release of anointing over everybody in this room and that over the next seven days specifically, there would be opportunities that are new and fresh to demonstrate the resurrection power of Jesus.
Father, you’ve heard our cry; that’s what I ask for—demonstrate your love and your power now in and through this wonderful family of believers. Let there be an increased appetite, increased appetite in every person to display your resurrection through purity and power. I ask all of this for the honor of the name of Jesus. Jesus, everybody said, «Amen! Amen! Amen!»