Bill Johnson - Living an Abundant Life (4 Areas of Life to Thrive in)
Thank you! It’s nice to see you finally; it’s been a long time! I just got back from Taiwan and Mainland China yesterday, and I loved it. Thank you; I love you too. I had a wonderful time in both places. I can’t talk much about Mainland China, but I did get to meet with a pastor who gives oversight to where I was and helps there. He had just been released from prison for his faith on Christmas Eve. Interestingly, he went into prison with bad knees and a bad back and had hair that was turning gray at the sides. He came out, and they don’t know what happened, but he no longer has gray hair; his back is good, and his knees are good. So, I guess the new «Get Young» program is just to go to prison for your faith, and you come out better. I don’t know how that works, but I had never heard that before. He was actually a very gracious, humble man and a lot of fun to be with someone who has paid such a price for his faith. So anyway, it was wonderful to be there.
I love negativity fasts; I actually try to do it year-round. I remember when we did our first one, goodness, 20 or 21 years ago. I decided, while reading out of Isaiah, that we needed to do a negativity fast. We called it a negativity fast, and I had people coming to me saying, «Man, this is harder than fasting food; this is tough.» One of our elders said he was just going to do a Daniel fast, where he only complained to his wife and not to everyone else. I thought that’s a whole creative touch on this negativity fast!
All right, quick story: The Pope goes to New York and is picked up at the airport by limousine. He looks at the beautiful limousine and says to the driver, «You know, I hardly ever get to drive. Would you please let me drive?» The driver is understandably hesitant and says, «I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m supposed to do that.» But the Pope persists, and the driver finally lets up, saying, «Oh, all right, I can’t say no to the Pope.» So, the Pope takes the wheel and enjoys himself a little too much when a highway patrolman promptly pulls him over. The officer walks up to the window and asks him to roll it down. He does and is startled when he sees who is behind the wheel. The young officer asks the Pope to wait for a moment and goes back to his patrol car. He radios the chief, saying, «Chief, I have a problem.» The chief asks what sort of problem, and the officer replies, «Well, you see, I pulled over this guy for driving over the speed limit, but it’s someone really important.» The chief responds, «Important like the mayor?» The officer says, «No, much more important.» The chief asks, «The governor?» The officer replies, «Way more important than that.» The chief asks, «The president?», to which the officer responds, «No more. Who’s more important than the president?» The officer finally says, «Well, he’s got the Pope driving for him, so it must be God!»
Romans, you’re welcome! I know that was edifying and encouraging, which is what I’m here to do. All right, Romans chapter 5; if you had opened to Romans 5, I just spent time, as I mentioned, in Mainland China and had a wonderful time with friends there, and went to Taiwan, where I’ve been for the last nine years. Interestingly, they have this Kingdom culture conference, and the theme this year was «Reigning in Life,» which happens to be one of my favorite subjects in the last few years. It’s a biblical term; we’ll read it in a moment, but many people are turned off by the concept because of abuse. Whenever we react to error, we create another error. The Lord has positioned everybody in this room to reign in life, but reigning in life doesn’t mean you rule over people; it means you reign in life. It means that money doesn’t master you; you master money. It means relationships don’t manipulate and control you, but you actually navigate through the ups and downs of our journey with people, using it in such a way that God is glorified. So, God has called us to reign in life, and it’s one of the vital things that illustrates a relationship with Jesus that would cause others to be drawn to Him.
I’m not going to misuse the scripture, but it’s a little broader than my use in Matthew. Jesus said, «Let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.» That’s life for the believer: to live in such a way that what we do actually whets the appetite of people for God. It’s not to whet the appetite of people to applaud us; it’s actually to draw them to the Lord Himself. There’s a way that we live, a way that we lay our lives down, a way that we model life that actually invites people into the same kind of relationship with the Lord, and this is what the Lord desires from us.
So let’s just start by reading this passage out of Romans chapter 5, verse 17: «For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Christ Jesus.» Now let’s read it again: «For if by one man’s offense…» That’s talking about the sin of Adam and Eve. So, he’s painting a picture here—one person’s sin brought death to the entire human race. He says, «If by one person’s sin that kind of issue entered the human race, how much more than through the death of Christ and His purchase of redemption for us can we be positioned or postured to reign in life?» So let’s read it again: «If by one man’s offense death reigned through that one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Christ Jesus.» I like the Passion Translation in this verse; it says, «Death once held us in its grip, and by the blunder of one man death reigned as king over humanity. But now, how much more are we held in the grip of grace and continue reigning as kings in life, enjoying our regal freedom through the gift of perfect righteousness in the one and only Jesus, the Messiah.»
Wow, wow, wow. Reigning as kings in life, as mentioned, isn’t dominance over people; it’s not some secret way for us to build our empires so that people adore us. It’s actually using the authority and grace that God gives us for the benefit of people around us. A commonly repeated theme is that authority is always to be used to speak on behalf of those who have no voice or have very little voice; it’s never used for self-promotion. Anything you obtain through self-promotion you will have to sustain through self-promotion. It’s a constant trap of trying to keep something inflated that has a look. Self-promotion is nauseating, and it’s a full-time job, while the Lord has invited us to partner with Him in such a way that the power of His grace and righteousness positions every believer to reign in life, to rule. I think it was maybe three years ago I did a series here on Sunday mornings, goodness, for nine weeks on the subject of wisdom. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. I think I mentioned at the time that I had sat on it for literally 10 years, waiting for the right time when I was ready enough and the timing was right to teach on the subject because it’s one of my most favorite topics in the whole world: the subject of wisdom.
The word «proverb,» Brian Simmons in the Passion Translation, in his introduction, brings up the fact that the word proverb means a wise saying or riddle. The word proverb actually comes from a word that means to reign or to rule. In a conversation with him, he mentioned, and I agreed that the key to understanding Proverbs is realizing that wisdom enables us to reign in life. Proverbs wisdom teaches us about every aspect and part of life. One of the things I like to draw our attention to is that you could pick any problem on the planet, whether it’s a personal problem, a political, national, ecological issue; it doesn’t matter what the problem is. God already has the solution in mind; it’s already there. He simply looks for one of His children to pursue the answer or the breakthrough because He actually has answers and wants His answers and solutions to be released into the earth. Reigning in life is where we take His answers for earthly problems and illustrate and display them.
Here’s the deal: My approach to life is we owe the world probably a whole bunch of things, but there are three that are very clear to me right now. The first is we owe people an encounter with God. Yes, we owe them a divine encounter. We owe them more than words. Words are important, but words are supposed to carry power. Effectively, they’re meant to bring people into a divine encounter. If it’s not through the declaration or decree, personal ministry will bring people into a divine encounter. It’s vital because I’ve watched this through the years. I remember years ago a girl involved in the Hare Krishna cult, with her shaved head and everything. A friend of mine and I were there; he was talking with her for two hours, and finally, he was getting nowhere, so he said, «Can we pray?» She said, «Sure.» So he laid his hand on her bald head and said a very simple prayer. They had been debating for two hours, and he laid his hands on her and prayed a very simple prayer, but it brought such an encounter to her that she bowed her head for about a minute after he finished praying. Finally, she shook her head, lifted her eyes, looked at him, and said, «I’ve been deceived!» Just like that.
What did he do? He couldn’t debate her into repentance or a Kingdom perspective. But he could release the presence and power, not to manipulate or control, but to actually free her to think for herself for the first time. She saw it for what it was and repented on the spot. The point is we have an indebtedness to bring people into a divine encounter. The way we do that most consistently is simply by staying full of the Holy Spirit, filled with the Spirit. That’s really what positions us for success the most consistently.
The second thing we owe people is divine solutions, heavenly answers for earthly problems. Heavenly answers for earthly problems is where the wisdom aspect really kicks in. If you work at a corporation with issues or problems—maybe in design, marketing, or whatever—God has an answer for whatever dilemma is being faced. As the people of God, when we take on more responsibility for what God wants to accomplish in business, life, medicine, education, and different community areas, as we enter these realms and serve effectively, we actually bring heavenly solutions to earthly problems. When we do that, we enable people to «taste and see that God is good.» Taste is experience; see is perception. When we bring people into an experience with God, we change their perception of what’s available through God.
So good. Amen! I’m just encouraging myself right now! That’s good. The third thing I want to talk to you about is the responsibility we have to live a blessed life. I know it sounds self-serving, but it’s not by God’s design. It’s to be blessed to be a blessing. You’ve heard that phrase; it’s been around for a long time. The biblical basis for it is Psalm 67. Interestingly, when I was in Taiwan last year, a prophetic friend sent me a text or email—I forget which—and told me to find somebody by a certain name and that Psalm 67 was to be a theme for his life. It ended up that the father of this particular movement had that name, so I shared with him the prophetic word and about Psalm 67, and he ran with it. He’s been focusing on Psalm 67 for the last 12 months. So much so, the entire worship team has T-shirts that simply say, «Psalm 67.» They are fully committed to this mission, and they do well stewarding what God says.
Psalm 67 says, «God bless me!» You’ve got to love any prayer that starts like that, right? «God, bless me and cause your face to shine upon me.» Now, the shining face of a perfect father is a face of delight and favor. So he’s praying, «God, increase not only your favor on my life but increase the manifestation of your favor so everyone around me can see it.» So here’s the prayer: «Bless me, cause your face of favor to shine upon me. Listen to the next phrase, so that your way would be known in the earth, that your way and your salvation would be known to the nations.»
Follow the sequence: God bless me, cause me to carry your favor. You see, I want people to see delight in me because if they do, they’ll see what you’re like, and if they see what you’re like, salvation will truly come to the nations. Your grace is irresistible, and I want them to see it for what it is. It’s a beautiful prayer of saying, «God, for them to catch the real message, the full message of who you are, it has to be tangible. It has to be visible. It has to be measurable.» Enough of this theory stuff! It’s got to be measurable. It doesn’t mean that our lives are perfect, but it does mean that there is a mark of favor on our lives.
I like to look at this concept: There was a squabble in Israel back in the days of Moses about who should be in charge and who should have authority, etc. Moses told all the tribes to get an almond branch. They each had a dead almond branch and put their tribe’s name on it. Then Aaron, representing the priesthood, put his name on it, and they placed these 12 branches before the Ark of the Covenant, before the presence of the Lord. The next morning, they found that the 11 branches were still dead, but Aaron’s rod had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and bore ripe almonds.
What does that tell us? It tells us that this was God’s mark of who He had anointed for leadership. So what that tells me is that God’s mark for leadership is not ripe almonds in every area of life but life in every area of life. Sprouts, buds, blossoms, ripe almonds—some areas are perfectly mature, while others are just beginning, but there’s life there. Does that make sense? So the Lord illustrates His choice in people by showing that there’s life in all these areas of life; even if there’s maturity in one area and not another, it still matters.
We have this responsibility to be blessed. I think it involves money, but it’s not just about money, if that makes sense. It’s about life and handling all the different parts and aspects of life. Let me talk to you about four things that stand out to me. We could probably list a dozen or more, but here are four things that stand out to me this morning.
The first one is that to reign in life, you have to effectively view your past the way He views it. Some people continue to confess sins they’ve already been forgiven for. If you could picture it this way: God alone has the ability to forget by choice. Once He has forgiven you, He has forgotten. When you keep bringing up subjects He can’t relate to or doesn’t know what you’re talking about, He says, «I don’t have that on my records; you’ve never done that!» That’s what forgiveness is. When you come to Him and say, «God, I did it again,» He goes, «Again? I don’t have any past record!» Now, that’s not to abuse grace; anyone who views grace and it liberates them to sin doesn’t understand grace because grace enables a righteous lifestyle.
But here’s the deal about the grace of God: It enables us to see our past the way He does. I read a quote a couple of weeks ago, and I love it, but I forgot who it came from—maybe William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. The quote is: «Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.» Man, I love that! It’s a level playing field! Come on! When you’re forgiven, you’re empowered to live righteously and given a new nature. So, here’s the deal: If I am a slave to my past in my thinking, I will give away the energy and life that God has given me away to futile things.
We know that our old nature is dead, but some people have been practicing raising the dead so much they keep revisiting it. Viewing our past the way He does is not just beneficial; it is absolutely essential to live the way He has assigned us to live. We have to think in terms of who we are because of grace. The ideal life would be for anyone from your past to walk into the room with zero shame. Because of absolute forgiveness and grace, there would be no shame and no attachment whatsoever.
The second thing would be our thought life—the way we think. It’s one of the things I’m constantly working on because I’ve found that the real battleground for our life is between our ears. That’s where the real conflict is. What happens is the enemy—let me put it this way—the devil is so nervous about your authentic creative expression that he tries to keep you in anxiety, fear, and shame to cut back your ability to creatively express who you are in Christ. It is the target. It is a primary target because the authentic nature of Christ demonstrated through the life of a disciple, through the life of a believer, changes the consciousness of humanity about what might be possible in a person’s lifetime simply because of how they do life.
In Zechariah chapter 1, there’s a bizarre story where the prophet Zechariah describes how the devil releases four horns into the earth. Horns represent powers or authorities, and four is the number of the four corners of the earth—north, south, east, and west—representing the entire planet. So here the devil releases these four powers into the earth to shame or hold in guilt and discouragement the people of God. Then it says, «But God’s answer to this dilemma was that He raised up four artisans.» Artisans are the creatives, which is everyone in the room. It doesn’t mean you have to paint or sing; it just means the Lord has a creative expression for every role that we have in life. He wants the uniqueness of who God designed us to be to be seen through that creative expression of His nature in you for your unique assignment and place in life.
So, God’s answer to the four horns, these powers raised in the earth to depress the people of God, was to release anointing on four creatives. It’s like when God sent a choir into battle first. You know He just fights wars differently! He said, «Hey, put the singers in there first,» which is great if you’re a guy with a sword, but if you’re one of the singers, that’s a little different. So, He sends the choirs in. In this case, He raised up a creative movement from the four corners of the earth, and they overwhelmed the powers of darkness so much that he was unsuccessful in casting that shadow of shame and guilt upon the people of God. God’s solution was the creative expression.
What do anxiety, fear, shame, and guilt do? They rob us of creative expression. All of that is connected to our thought life. The scripture says that He’s not looking for our calamity; He’s looking for our welfare. I think it would probably shock us if we actually saw what God meditates on. He thinks and plans for long before we were ever created, which is fascinating. Before He created man, who would sin, Jesus, the lamb of God, was prepared to die. He had an answer before there was a problem. Let’s drink to that! He had an answer before there was a problem, before there was a crisis; there was a solution provided.
To think consistently with what God says is really the mark of maturity for a believer. It’s called the mind of Christ. It’s the reason that I carry the promises of God, the prophetic words—all these things about my life, my family, about Beth. I carry these things with me all the time, and I review them regularly because I just can’t afford to think things He’s not thinking. I get into trouble every time I do. Every time I start entertaining thoughts, values, or perceptions that are not His, they lead to problems, they lead to death, they lead to conflict—all the junk! So, the mind of Christ is that mind that is set on the welfare of the people of God. I’m not talking about living in a palace somewhere. I’m talking about well-being. It’s the fact that we truly live in the prosperity of soul until we reign in life, where the issues of life that used to beat us down no longer do. We master them, and the Lord uses your personal victory to testify of His grace and draw people to this perfect Father. That’s the whole prayer of blessing—to make people know what He’s like.
The issue of prosperity of soul is not what I’m going to talk about this morning, except just in reference. I think it’s one of the biggest subjects of scripture. All the phrases used only once that I know of, but the lifestyle is illustrated from Genesis to Revelation. It’s the prosperity of souls. The abundance here affects everything out here. Jesus slept in a storm, spoke peace to that same storm, and the storm stopped. His internal reality became an external reality. When you have the victory here, you’re positioned to release victory out there. That’s prosperity of soul: the world around us starts to be shaped by what’s going on inside of us. That’s why that internal victory is so critical—the battle for the mind. Why? Because it positions us to think with Him and to release what He’s saying into the earth. Come on, it’s huge! So good!
Amen! The third area where we illustrate this life of reigning is in relationships. I saw somebody had a T-shirt that said something like, «I’m a pastor; let’s talk.» That made me laugh because it implies he didn’t want anyone to talk to him when he gets on a plane. I value alone time; I really do. I value alone time where I can just settle my thoughts. It’s important. I stay sane by protecting my alone time, but I thrive on together time. I travel all over the world, and I often have teams with me—10, 12, sometimes 15 people or more. My favorite time on every trip is when I get to sit down with that team and spend an hour or two at Starbucks or in a church office somewhere—whatever it is—and just have that time to dialogue. I love together time!
Unity is only possible when there is diversity. Unity without diversity is uniformity, and that’s not the same and not good. It’s not supposed to be that we all look alike or act alike. We want to have the same Kingdom values, but there’s a unique expression through every gift and every position—through our history, our backgrounds, and our nationalities. All those things are to be celebrated and protected. That uniqueness is not a problem unless it conflicts with Kingdom values, then we adjust to what God is saying and doing.
But the point is we were designed to be together! It would be horrible if my entire body were one big toe! It’s not supposed to be like that; it’s supposed to be unique—every member! Here’s the crazy thing: every member contributes to the next member. In fact, the Bible says there’s life in which every joint supplies; there’s actually a release of life at every point where there’s a connection, and the body of Christ is designed that way. Many years ago in Weaverville, we had some dear friends who ran a small farm. I don’t remember what happened or why, but they needed help with a little lamb. Benny volunteered to babysit this baby sheep, and that little sheep lived with us in our house like a dog—except it was a sheep. This little lamb would follow Benny all over the house because it thought she was its mom. It was the cutest thing!
I didn’t know this, but sheep have long tails, and we learned that you put a tight rubber band halfway down the tail, and it just cuts off life to the rest of the tail. Eventually, that part of the tail just rots and falls off. Well, that’s gross, but that’s what you do with sheep, I guess. So, I put this rubber band on. Sure enough, it turned gross colors and then fell off. You see, anytime we separate people from the flow of life, we actually sentence them to experience things in life they were never designed to experience. We keep the flow of life going from one member to another; it’s our responsibility and privilege.
It’s crazy! That little rubber band, if you take it off halfway through the process of getting the tail to fall off, there’s enough poison in that tail that it can be released back into the sheep and actually kill it. So, there’s this concept of ensuring that we keep those connections open. The way we reign in life is to navigate relationships well. You don’t get to decide, «All right, I’ve decided I’m not going to be criticized anymore.» If only that were possible! Or we could say, «You know what? I was betrayed, but it’s never going to happen again.» You don’t get to choose that. You can choose to have it not affect you, but the only way to do that is to protect yourself from love.
If I insulate myself so much that nobody can hurt me, well then, nobody can love me either! To be vulnerable in life, to experience life together, means I will experience pain. So, the way I demonstrate reigning in life is how I navigate disappointment and loss. I don’t get to choose whether or not I’m going to be criticized, rejected, embraced, or loved. I just get to choose how I navigate what’s been thrown at me. I used the illustration a couple of weeks ago; a sailboat by attacking the adverse winds using the sail and the rudder can actually advance against the wind. Oftentimes, our destiny is in the direction of those adverse winds, and the Lord is inviting us to navigate relationships in such a way that no matter what comes at us, we’re actually making progress. Sometimes, strength is developed by making progress in adversity that gives us the maturity to live in The Promised Land, once we enter it, with maturity.
In other words, we don’t handle it carelessly and lose what God has released to us. The last thing I want to mention about reigning in life is money. Money itself is not evil; Jesus said the love of money is the root of all evil. Learning how to navigate finances is such a big deal. It’s a problem for many people; it’s a problem for ministries, and it’s a taboo subject for so many. There have been so many abuses and so much junk that has gone on in Jesus' name, in the area of money, that there’s this hands-off attitude—don’t want to touch it, don’t want to talk about it—all through the church. But we’ve got to talk about it because it’s part of life! To reign in life means this: I would love to be able to donate $100 towards a single mom being able to buy a car—that’s awesome. But I’d rather buy her the car! If I don’t know how to reign in life, to manage that part of my world the way God intended, then being able to contribute is wonderful, but to be more blessed is to be more effective because we are blessed to be a blessing.
So here are four things about money: The first one is generosity. Generosity is the first step in Kingdom finances. It just is! You know, everything that God made gives and does so naturally. Man is the only one that has options. The sun gives light; the leaves give oxygen. Everything was created to contribute, but we alone have options. To step into His design means living in a place where we are constantly contributing to the lives of people around us, including with money. But giving ourselves means money just represents who we are—our gifts, our time, our abilities, what we’re paid for—so giving of ourselves to improve people’s lives is huge.
The second one is contentment. I want to see everybody prosper, increase, promote—all that stuff! But our problem is we live in a culture where if an athlete signs a $20 million a year contract, the news covers all kinds of features about the house they bought, and we live in a comparison culture. Whenever you fall into the trap of comparison, you can be living in the blessing you prayed for last year but no longer appreciate it because you don’t have what someone else has. When you compare yourself, you’re always going to be better than someone and less than someone else. Comparison is an absolute trap! It doesn’t matter if it’s money, character, or gifting. Just stop comparing yourself! It’s an endless trap of absolute disappointment and discomfort.
Contentment is a huge thing; it doesn’t mean we don’t have an appetite for increase. Here’s the deal for me: Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness; all these things will be added. I want the increase in my life to only be Him honoring my priority of the Kingdom. I don’t want the blessing to come because I prioritized the blessing, and there’s a huge difference! One comes with divine favor. He says that He adds blessing to a person’s life and adds no sorrow to it. When you get blessing apart from God’s favor, there’s always sorrow attached to it!
The third area is wise purchases, showing value for excellence in what you buy. Amen! Let’s just leave that one right there. And then the last one is Deuteronomy 8:18 talks about Him giving us the power to make wealth. Israel embraced that, but the church hasn’t. I think the church thinks money is evil or that was for Israel and not for us. Again, the purpose is not to show spirituality through how much is in the bank or what I own; that has nothing to do with it.
I don’t like that concept. I don’t like translating dollars into spirituality because it doesn’t work. But I do like being able to be effective in how I love and care for people, and sometimes that means dollars. Amen? But it always means heart. The Lord has given the ability to create wealth to the people of God; it is either used for His glory or misused or not used at all. And no use is no better than misuse! That was a good point, Bill! Amen!
That’s a good point. Many will point the finger at somebody who has created this picture of spirituality by what they own and say that’s wrong; I would agree with them. But not using the gift is not better than misuse. No use is not better than misuse! True!
Amen. All right, we’ll just end right there and call it a day! Now, we’re going to pray; we’re going to pray for that blessing thing because I want to learn what it’s like to reign in life more. Every place in my life where I’ve seen its impact is measurable; it really does bring Him glory, and that’s the cool thing because it releases us in who God made us to be.
But there’s always a high chance that there are people here who don’t know the Lord Jesus. You don’t know what it is to be born again; perhaps you’ve seen it, you’ve heard it, but you’ve never surrendered your life to Jesus for Him to be the Lord and master of your life. If I could have everyone hold still, please; nobody else should be leaving because I don’t want anyone leaving to disturb someone who needs to hear what I’m going to say. Amen! That is the most important moment of the day right here.
There’s a good chance there are people in the room who have never surrendered your life to Jesus. You don’t know what it is to be forgiven of sin; you don’t know what it is to be brought into the family of God; you don’t know what it is to be what the Bible calls born again—changed from the inside out. God so loved the world that He gave His son for you, for me. He died in my place so I wouldn’t be cursed, so I wouldn’t bear the punishment of sin. There aren’t many ways to God. If there were, then the Father was cruel, requiring Jesus to die the way He did. He died the way He did because there was only one possible solution, and He loved you and me that much.
If there’s anyone in that position who would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave until I know I’m at peace with God, until I know I’ve been forgiven, until I know that Jesus is really the master over my life,» just put a hand up right where you are, and we’re going to celebrate your response to Jesus this morning. Anyone at all? Just put your hand up real high if that’s you.
I see a hand back here; wonderful! Thank you! Bless you! Anyone else? All right, beautiful! Why don’t you go ahead and stand up? The one who raised your hand, if there’s somebody I missed, please come right up here to my left. We’ve got some people who are ready to pray with you, talk with you, and celebrate your coming into the Kingdom of God. Right over here to my left, by the communion table. They will pray with you.
Wow! Tonight, water baptism. Our meeting this Tuesday is huge! I really encourage you to make sure you’re a part of that. It’s going to be a great day! Come on up, those who have just made a commitment to Jesus! We have our team of loving, trusted friends here who would love to pray with you and serve you. So, if somebody could help make sure the ones who raised their hands get up here. All right, beautiful! Bless you! Come on up, hold your places if you would! Thank you!