Bill Johnson - True Abundance Is Experienced Under the Lordship of Jesus
Thank you! Wow, wow, wow! Chris volunteered for all kinds of stuff this morning, and that just does my heart good. I don’t know what nation you’re going to, Chris. Poor Chris just gets picked on so much! A little three-year-old named Reys was quoting the prayer he learned in church, and he said, «Our Father, who does art in heaven. Harold is His name. Amen.» That’s all I can remember. A lady invited some folks for dinner, and at the table, she turned to her six-year-old daughter and said, «Would you like to say the blessing?» The little girl said, «I wouldn’t know what to say.» The mother responded, «Just say what you hear Mommy say.»
The daughter bowed her head and said, «Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?» A little boy was overheard praying, «Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.» A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, five, and Ryan, three. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. The mother saw an opportunity to teach a lesson. She said, «If Jesus were sitting here, He would say let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.» Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, «Ryan, you be Jesus!» Oh, I can just picture that! One last one that’s quite profound: one particular four-year-old prayed, «And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.» Wow, we need to forgive those who put trash in our baskets. That’s a good word right there!
All right, grab your Bibles and open, please, to Matthew chapter 19. We’re starting a series today. I hate doing disclaimers, but I almost feel like I need to because what I have to share today, especially, goodness, it’s probably an hour and a half long, and I have 38 minutes and 35 seconds. So in other words, I have to really abbreviate. I’m going to make a lot of assumptions, which I don’t like to do, but today I really need to. I want to talk to you about the kingdom of abundance. One of the several issues that we have is that we all have different kinds of baggage. All of us have been exposed to different things in church: some things good, some things bad. A lot of us have been exposed to this notion that poverty is a spiritual value, that going without is, in its turn, spirituality.
Spirituality can be measured through poverty and lack. There is a huge part of the church that has valued and embraced that. The reaction to that is equally perverted: spirituality is measured by what we have or how much money we make, or our material value is determined by what we own. Neither are true. However, there is a reality that we find all through the Old Testament of the bounty of the Lord causing people to flourish and be blessed economically, and it is something that the Lord has in His heart for every person. I think my favorite verse on just the theme of abundance is this passage out of 2 Corinthians, chapter 9:8. I’ll just read it to you, and it says, «And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.» Listen to all the «alls.»
I mean, this is one of the most pregnant verses in the Bible because of how many times it says «all» and «every» and «abound,» these measureless words: «God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.» That truly is the abundance that the Lord longs for every one of us to live in, and that is more than enough for our lane, for our place, our station in life. How many of you know abundance, if you’re Joseph in prison, isn’t a palace on a hill somewhere? It’s the emotional health and well-being that you actually become appointed as the head of all the other prisoners. It’s that we stay in our lane, and in our lane, He gives us a bounty to bring Kingdom influence to that realm of responsibility.
The verse we use a lot, and rightly so, is out of 3 John 2, which sets a standard for how this Kingdom works. John said in this passage, verse 2 of 3 John, «Above all things, I pray that you would prosper and that you would be in good health even as your soul prospers.» The connection is that your material world would be healthy and well; your physical world would be healthy and well, and it would be connected to your emotional health, your mental health. You see, when you and I are anxious, it cuts back our capacity for creativity, and the thing the enemy fears the most is that the people of God would effectively express the creativity of the Creator who is our Father. That’s why he works so hard to keep us wrapped up with anxiety and fear because it really kills that creative expression. The Lord is looking for a people of God who, out of priority, become emotionally healthy, mentally healthy—our internal world becomes a picture of divine health. One of the reasons is that this world affects my finances; this world affects my physical health. There is a tie, a link, between those two realities.
Jesus taught His disciples; actually, He made this statement to the Pharisees. He said that the Kingdom of God is within you. So, we know then the Kingdom of God is not material things. Paul said in Romans 14:17 that the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink; it’s righteousness, peace, and joy. The Kingdom of God is not in the material realm; it’s righteousness, peace, and joy. It’s the unseen world that has an effect on the material world. All right, so if Jesus heals somebody’s body, He would say the Kingdom of God has come near you. The Kingdom isn’t their body, but the Kingdom has influence on the body to bring them healing. Why? Because in the Kingdom of God, in the realm of God’s dominion, there is no disease. When that reality collides with a human body, disease leaves. Jesus in Matthew 12:28 said, «If I cast a demon out of you by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.» So, in the Kingdom of God, in the realm of God’s absolute dominion, there is no demonic influence whatsoever. So when a person is set free, it’s because that world collided with this one, and the enemy lost his grip.
The point is that all the issues of the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, are within you; all those issues of the heart are issues of lordship. Abundance is really linked to the lordship of Jesus. Abundance is that internal world of emotional health and mental strength that is connected to the lordship of Jesus. If, for example, as a believer, I constantly question whether God has forgiven me, does that mean I’m in rebellion? No, it just means I’m struggling with accepting His forgiveness and forgiving myself. What’s going to happen? I’m going to have physical illness, emotional disturbance, and I’m going to be unsettled. I’m going to be anxious and fearful, and I’m not going to be courageous when I need to be. Why? Because of the lordship. You say, «How is that affecting the lordship?» It’s because I’m not accepting what the Lord of all has declared about me. He said, «If you come to me and make confession, I am faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.» When we embrace the lordship of Jesus, we embrace what He says; we embrace what He declares; we believe in what He says more than what we say. We embrace what He thinks more than what we think.
This Kingdom of abundance is necessary for us to be effective in our influence in the world. I don’t like connecting the abundance of the Kingdom to money only; I think it has influence there, and I’m going to talk more about the money part next week and the week after. We’ve got three weeks of this, but it’s also inescapable. In the Old Testament, the blessing of the Lord was measurable, always financially. In the New Testament, Jesus came along and said to the rich young ruler who wanted to know how to get eternal life, «Sell everything you have and give to the poor.»
We’re going to look at the unique set of three stories that are back to back in the Gospel of Matthew because it really is disarming how Jesus does this. Why? Because the rich young ruler comes to Him and says, «How can I obtain eternal life?» He gives him a few commands, and the guy says, «I’ve done those,» and Jesus said, «There’s one thing you lack: give what you have; sell what you have; give to the poor.» Jesus didn’t give that same instruction to Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who had an empire built out of money he stole from others through dishonesty and manipulation. He didn’t give the same command. Interestingly, when they were walking together, Zacchaeus said, «I’m going to give half of what I own to the poor.» Well, Jesus told the rich young ruler to give all of it, but to Zacchaeus, He said, «I’m going to give half of what I own to the poor,» and then he said, «And I’m going to give four times as much of what I’ve stolen from people back to them.»
The point I’m trying to make is that it’s not the same requirement from each person because the issue is not a formula; the issue is lordship. It’s always lordship, that’s it. It’s always the target, so He’s always aiming for what’s right at the center of things. We have, with Mary and Martha and Lazarus—two sisters and a brother—sounds like a movie of some sort. Two Sisters and a Brother, anyway, sorry! Very wealthy family, recognized as a wealthy family, a family that Jesus would stay with as He traveled. Frequent encounters with this household—very personal level. Lazarus is someone that He wept over. So here’s this family He is connected to, very wealthy. There is no record of any instruction about them selling everything. The only point I’m trying to make here is that it’s not a formula; it’s not a set of three steps or hoops that you jump through. It is always about lordship. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you, which to me means all Kingdom issues are heart issues, and all heart issues are always about lordship—submitting to the one who is absolutely Lord.
Now let’s take a look at these three stories. I’m going to have to summarize some of it just because of the amount of time. If you would look at verse 16, this is where the rich young ruler comes to Jesus and says, «Good Teacher, what good things shall I do to have eternal life?» Jesus goes through the commands. He responds and says, «I’ve done those. What do I still lack?» Jesus says in verse 21, «If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me.» The young man heard what He was saying, and he went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.
Here’s a term that’s been used a lot in the last few years rightfully so: unsanctified mercy. Unsanctified mercy is where we think we’re doing favors to God by showing people mercy, but we actually insulate them from God’s conviction. Showing mercy where God isn’t showing mercy isn’t wise because sometimes we protect people from God’s very sharp-edged sword, which is trying to bring healing and deliverance. To protect somebody from the conviction of the Holy Spirit is to protect them from freedom. Unsanctified mercy shows mercy where God isn’t. Unsanctified mercy would have the rich young ruler think that he has eternal life without obeying Jesus.
Verse 23: Jesus says to His disciples, «Assuredly, I say to you, it’s hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.» He’s spinning off of this dialogue with the rich young ruler. Verse 24: «Again, I say to you, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven.» Mark’s Gospel adds a phrase here that’s actually very helpful. In this second verse, it doesn’t weaken it. He clarifies; he says how hard it is for a rich man who trusts in riches to enter the Kingdom. The clarification is about where trust lies.
When the lordship issue is settled, then trust is in the Lord. But when it’s in my resources, possessions, or whatever it might be, then there’s divided interest. This is where Jesus elsewhere teaches you cannot serve God and mammon. You can’t have two gods that you serve. Many believers have been so hurt by sometimes well-meaning leaders in the church that have misspoken concerning finances, and sometimes guys have been dishonest, trying to steal and fleece the sheep. I understand both those realities exist, but what we cannot do is allow the abuse of one to give us the right to neglect a truth. The abuse of a truth gives me no right to neglect the truth, right? So we’ve got to find out what Jesus says.
Here’s the deal: Jesus gives this word, and His disciples heard it. Verse 25: they were greatly astonished, which means they were absolutely shocked—which is fascinating because they lived a life of absolute shock with Jesus, as He kept pushing the boundaries for them. They asked, «Then who can be saved?» which tells me that they considered themselves to be wealthy. Do you understand? Jesus says it’s hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom; they’re going, «Oh no! Then who can be saved?» Jesus says, «With man, this is impossible; with God, all things are possible.» So Peter speaks up, which we can thank Peter for having something to say, usually, which I like. Verse 27: «Peter answered and said to Him, 'We have left all and followed You; therefore, what shall we have? '» Jesus said in verse 28, «Assuredly, I say to you that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on His throne in His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones.» This is a specific word for His twelve disciples.
Verse 29: «And everyone,» this is a general word, «Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for My name’s sake shall receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life.» Then the last verse: «But many who are first will be last, and the last first.» All right, let’s go through this. So Peter says, «We left everything to follow you! How does that work?» He says, «Anyone who has left lands, mom, dad, children, whatever you’ve left will be returned to you a hundred times.» Mark’s Gospel, once again, makes this clearer because this is what he said: he says in Mark chapter 10, «You shall receive a hundred times as much in this life.» He adds that phrase, and then he says, «With persecutions.» That’s a promise! Hang that on your refrigerator: a hundred times! It’s almost like the Lord is saying, «You see this stuff called money? It’ll kill you.» Peter says, «We gave it all!» He says, «Good! So, I’m going to add a hundred times as much of what will kill you back into your life.» It almost sounds contradictory, but it’s not because of the way the Lord trains us. He trains us with little and with nothing to be possessors of much.
Faithful in little, faithful in much; it’s never been about the formula; it’s been about lordship. Jesus now makes this statement to His disciples in Matthew 19 and, even more clearly, in Mark 10. He says, «If you’ve left anything for My name’s sake, I’m going to return a hundred times as much in this life with persecution.» Why does He say «with persecution»? Because a hundred times as much is income, and with persecution are taxes. You want more income? Then there are more taxes. That’s just the way it works. The more breakthrough you get, the more opposition you get. It’s a true word. I’m telling you. This is the way it works. It’s not that the Lord inspires the opposition; it’s just a reality of life.
So why? Let’s find out why. Look at verse 30: «But many who are first will be last, and the last first.» That’s a weird way to end that story about if you leave everything, it will be returned to you a hundred times. It’s a strange phrase. I think many of us have taken that phrase to mean if you humble yourself and put yourself at the end of the line, then the next time things happen, you’ll be promoted, you’ll be in the front of the line. That’s not what this means at all. That lesson of humility is elsewhere in Scripture. That’s not this one. This one is pushing on our buttons on justice and honor, and I’ll show you the Kingdom of Heaven thought beginning in chapter 20. Are you guys still all right? Is everybody still alive? All right, I’m sorry; I’m trying to rush through this and be thorough, and we will see how good it works.
Verse 1 of chapter 20 is a continuation of the thought that chapter 19 ends with. It’s important to see that the theme continues. He says, «For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.» When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into the vineyard. He went out about the third hour, saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, «You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.» So they went, and he went about the sixth hour, the ninth hour, and did likewise. At the eleventh hour, so it’s a twelve-hour workday, let’s just say 6 AM to 6 PM, he goes out. The eleventh hour finds others standing idle, and he says, «Why are you here all day?» They say, «Because no one has hired us.» He says, «Go into the vineyard; I’ll pay you what is right.»
Now verse 8: «So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to a steward, 'Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.'» Here’s the strange part of this verse: He’s saying, «Go into the vineyard.» Now we’ve got people who have been working 12 hours, nine hours, six hours, three hours, and we even have some who have been working only an hour a day. The landowner now gets all these people lined up, and this is what he does: He pays the people that have worked the least first. Why? Because if he pays the people that have been working all day, they get their denarius, they’re thankful for getting a fair wage, and they go home. But instead, what does he do? He makes them watch. He makes the guys who’ve been working 12 hours watch as he pays the guy who has been working an hour a day. He gives them a denarius and three hours a day a denarius.
So the guys who have been working 12 hours are thinking, «We’re going to get more than a denarius.» Now, this is not about your reward in eternity because in eternity, your reward is always based on every ounce of obedience you ever gave to the Lord—from the smile at the cashier to the sacrifice of homes and whatever to sow into the Gospel. Everything you’ve ever done in His name is always directly rewarded. This is not dealing with that; this is dealing with this life. Why? Because He’s looking to see who can He entrust the hundred times as much to. To do that correctly, He has to push the buttons on the issue of jealousy to see if we can actually rejoice in somebody else’s breakthrough—that they were not treated justly, they were treated with extreme grace. Can we celebrate their experience of extreme grace while we are being paid just wages?
In this life, we will always have just wages and sometimes extreme grace. God will always make sure that we at minimum have just wages. Here’s how it works: your season of just wages, your best friend is extreme grace. Why? Because you’ve got to be there to watch it. I’m serious. You have to be there in the moment where you’re getting the denarius for working 12 hours in the heat of the day, thinking, «If they deserve—let’s just say it’s $200. They get $200 for working an hour? Well then I need at least $1,000 for working 12 hours!» And He says, «No, you get $200 too.»
Now I like justice stuff! I do! If I watch a movie, I want the bad guy to get it in the end. I want to make sure that when the movie’s over—I don’t want to be depressed. You guys who like to watch sad movies, just go without me! When I’m through with a movie, I want to feel good about life. Go on, the good guys won, the bad guys lost. I’m a happy camper. That’s just the way I like it to be! Those of you who like to think during a movie—I don’t want to think; I want to be entertained! I think all week long; I want a break! All right? So that’s how I work!
So I like the justice thing, but this issue is pushing on justice! Because if they get $200, then I’ve got to get paid at least $1,000! The Lord displays it in front of us to see: can I rejoice in their moment of extreme grace? Remember, eternal reward will always be based on what was earned, what was done. But reward in this life is either just wages or extreme grace.
I believe that the Lord does this just to see if we can handle the promotion that He wants to give. Here’s what He says: He says in verse 13, «He answered one of them and said, 'Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give this last man the same as you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good? '» What is the Lord doing in these moments? He is actually exposing the bent of our eye towards evil!
Now, in this case, you don’t have some guy lusting after a woman or some person lusting after a mansion on the hill—that’s not what’s happening. It’s misinterpreting somebody else’s blessing, provoking that sense of what we want to call justice. Jesus says it is an evil eye. He puts us in situations like this—never to shame, never to condemn—but to get something to the surface so that He can deal with it with a word. If that thing comes to the surface, it can be pruned. If we confess and forsake— that’s all He’s doing! He’s trying to find a people that He can entrust the hundred times as much to, because if I can’t endure your blessing when I need it, I sure can’t endure the persecution because of the increase that I got.
I feel like there are several things I’m hoping to do in this particular series about finances, about money. I feel like we’re supposed to become examples, witnesses. I think what we’ve done fairly well with is the church, in general, and we as a family, in the subject of generosity. I think we know what that is; we know what it is to give; we know what it is to sacrifice. We bring any kind of need here; you guys jump all over it, always, and are incredible at that. That’s important!
But if I were to list four lessons that to me uniquely demonstrate how the lordship of Jesus looks in different facets of our economic lives, I would say number one is generosity. The second one is contentment—not contentment in the sense that I have no dreams, but contentment in the sense that I am able to live fully in the lane that I’m in, in the season that I’m in. I don’t live with anxiety; I don’t live with frustration because we do need another bedroom and we don’t have it—we’ve got three kids in one bedroom, whatever the case might be. I’m not going to live anxious because of that; I’m going to thrive in the setting that I am in because there are people in the world that are much worse off than I am, and I’m going to live thankfully!
You understand what I mean? That bounty of just living with a full heart doesn’t mean I don’t have the dream for the bigger house with the bedroom. I think that’s very legal, proper, and right. But when my dreams make me anxious, they disturb the lordship of Jesus. So we’ve got generosity, we’ve got contentment—that area of thankfulness in our present state. The third one, I’ve never heard anybody teach on, but I’ve started to go after a little bit more in recent years, and that’s excellence in our purchases. I think we’re supposed to illustrate. It doesn’t mean everybody drives a Rolls-Royce, or I’m not after that, but I am saying, do the best you can with what you have. Don’t be careless! Don’t be careless! Because we’re illustrating to people an ability to care for a natural world. This is a touchy one, and I’ll probably dig a real big hole and fall into it when we finally get into it, but it’s a personal conviction. I think in order for us to disciple nations, we have to know how to handle resources well. And generosity, while it is my absolute personal biggest priority in life, is not the only lesson I must model to be able to disciple nations.
Sometimes the way you disciple nations is by the fact that you care for what you purchase, and it’s excellent or beautiful—it’s the best that you were able to do in that moment. Does that make any sense? I feel like we’re supposed to illustrate values! I’m on a rabbit trail now; forgive me ahead of time! Can you love people without loving God? Then why did Jesus say, «If you love your mother or father more than me, you’re not worthy of me»? So let me ask the question again: can you love people more than God? Can you put people ahead of God? Of course we can! Can you love God without loving people? No!
So the answer isn’t to remove people out of the equation so that you can love God! Do you understand what I’m saying? Someone might say, «Well, I don’t want to put people ahead of God, so forget people; I’m just going to love God!» And how many of us have run into those folks? It’s just me and Jesus, and the rest of you, I don’t care what happens to you. You know those folks are a dime a dozen! They think they’re totally devoted to Jesus without any other human being in their life! So here’s the point: you can put people ahead of God, but you can’t love God without loving people.
The Scripture says that our love for God has to be measured by our love for people. In fact, John says in 1 John: if I say I love God, but I hate my brother, I’m a liar. So that tells me then my love for God, who is unseen, is measured by how I treat the seen, visible people. Yes, you’re making me work a little harder than I thought I’d have to on this one! All right, can you put possessions above God? Yes! Is it possible that your love for God must also be seen in how you care for and take care of this world that you’ve been put into? See, that’s the only point I’m trying to make. We claim spiritual realities, but they have to be measurable in how we treat the natural, material, relational world around us.
All right, the four areas: generosity, contentment, excellence—excellent stewardship. I’m not sure of a good title for it yet. And the last one: all the parables of Jesus about money—all of them that I can think of, and there are a number of them—they all had to do with His expectation of increase. Every illustration that He gave of business in Scripture was always about increase—the talents, the miners—they were always about He expected the landowner. In this case, the laborers: they were always expecting increase!
The point is, I want to see every person in this room have multiple streams of income. We learn how to steward what we start with, which is small, but we steward it well. The Lord teaches us; we learn through study, through classes, through books, whatever, how to invest properly so that in 10 years, 20 years, whatever it might be, there are multiple streams of income. Why? Because of 2 Corinthians 9, verse 8, «Always having all sufficiency in everything, we might abound to every good work.» How many of you are tired of seeing needs, like we just saw on the screen here of our dear friends whose car blew up in the Middle East? How many of you are tired of running into those needs and being unable to do anything? See, that’s what He’s saying! Is being so well taken care of because of wisdom in stewarding investment so that we actually have multiple streams of income that, when a need comes up, we have an abundance for every situation that comes to us.
That is the Lord longing to put us into a place not of being just these big absorbers of income for our own pleasure, but being able to monitor well! Buy what you buy; do it with excellence! Buy the burger house; do it in Jesus' name. Look, pray for direction; have Him show you what to do. Let’s believe God for the perfect house for you, the perfect car, the perfect everything so that we can illustrate what it is to be good stewards of a material world.
But in the process, let’s learn how to multiply the resources God has given to us so that our money actually works for us and there are multiple streams of income, so that when our friends need a new vehicle in the Middle East, this time it’s not an offering; it’s an individual. See, I think that lesson is necessary for the people of God—to just disciple nations well! Jesus said in John 10:10, «The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy.» So whenever you see death, loss, and destruction, you see the fingerprints of the devil. They’re not God’s fingerprints. Death, loss, destruction—the enemy was there. Then Jesus follows, and He says, «But I came.» Do you want to know why Jesus came to Earth? He’s telling us, «I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.» The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of extravagant life, extreme—not barely over the edge, extreme! Excessive is another word that is used for this abundant life.
The word abundant means abundant life—excessive, beyond measure, more than enough. That is what this life is to be like for every believer. I’m going to get myself in trouble here, but it’ll just be worth it. We talk about and sing about and do all kinds of stuff about wanting more of the Lord. But in John, before He actually said, «When you drink of Me, you’ll never thirst again,» I’m always pushing in for the more, but listen to me carefully. I feel like the Lord is wanting to bring us into something where we realize what we have, and we no longer live with a mentality of needing yet one more thing to happen so that I can fulfill my purpose. It doesn’t mean God’s not going to bless me; it doesn’t mean He’s not going to encounter me; it doesn’t mean there’s not going to be another prophetic word or promise or challenge. Whatever, that’s all a part of life. But the point is, if I constantly see myself in need instead of seeing myself fully supplied with what He promised, then I’m never going to be able to lead people into the ways of the King and His Kingdom, and I’ll always be the one looking for help!
Take it for what it’s worth. Why don’t you stand? I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks because I want to get a lot more specific than today. But today is basically this heart’s cry for this Kingdom that we are part of—it’s a kingdom of absolute abundance. You remember the verse that says, «When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will raise up a standard over him»? Does anybody remember that verse? Or am I just talking to the wind here? All right, you just stared at me like, «Nope, never heard of that one.» Probably should put it on the overhead so you know it’s in the Bible! When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises a standard over him!
I heard a Jewish rabbi say, «You Christians read that wrong.» He said, «It’s not when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises a standard; it says when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord raises up a standard over like a flood.» Extreme abundance, extreme abundance, extreme abundance! We need more sore cheeks from smiling too much! Extreme abundance! Yes, it affects money, but it’s never focused on money! It’s about life—it’s about this internal world that, emotionally, I’m not dragged down; intellectually, I’m not filled with anxiety and all this junk that seems to harass so many people—it’s just not who we are!
Why? Because we have more than enough! I serve a Father who’s not a caretaker of an orphanage; He’s an actual Dad that delights in who I am, how I am gifted, and He supplies me with more than enough. God, we thank You that You are the God of more than enough. You are not the One that just makes do! Forgive us for reducing You to the God who just barely enables us to make it! We just say, «Lord God, God of extreme abundance and supply,» help us to celebrate the people You promote ahead of us—the people who do not deserve it, and yet they got their moment of extreme grace right in front of our eyes! We say, «Amen» to that!
All right, now, yeah, I’ll have to mess with that more. Sorry. I want to make sure that anybody in this room that has never made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life—you’ve never asked God to be the supreme ruler of your life, you’ve never given your life to Christ. What it comes down to is Jesus receives us; He forgives us; and He actually adopts us! It’s like we get brought into a family, and we have a Heavenly Father—a Father who actually belongs to us, and we belong to Him! He takes care of our past; He fixes the broken things, and He begins to restore us as people. This is called eternal life, and it starts now!
If there’s anybody in the room who would just say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave here until I know I’m right with God, until I know this issue has been settled,» then I want you, right where you are, to just put your hand up because we just want to pray for you. We just want to make sure that everybody here knows what it is to walk with Jesus. Wait just a moment; wave it at me if I miss you!
Okay, then I’m going to assume everybody in the room has already prayed that prayer and given your life to Christ. I want the ministry team to come to the front quickly. I also want—over here we have our freedom banner—anyone who would like to meet the Lord, would like to have that encounter with Jesus where you know what it is to be forgiven. We’re going to have a team of people over here to my right, and they are ready and thrilled to pray for you. Today is a day of great miracles. There’s someone here who has some kind of a growth in the abdominal area. There are also issues with digestion: Crohn’s, colitis—that sort of stuff. I feel like the Lord Jesus is going to heal those things. We’ve got a team down here ready to pray. So just hold on for a moment and Tom, explain to us what to do.