Bill Winston - Agents of Change
You are not a mistake. God pre-determined you in this earth and also has already pre-planned your success. You are not any kind of spiritual mishap. So no matter how you were conceived, whether you know your mother or father, or you don't know them, God had the power to prevent your conception, but he didn't. He allowed it because he wanted you to show up for this hour So how many times as you look at yourself and people try to compare themselves with other people and so forth like that, it's not important, because he has a plan for you. As you look at your life and what God has said about you, your dad may have been alcoholic and mama may have been a prostitute, but you were supposed to still be here.
Now I'm not saying that happened, but I'm just saying, I don't care how bad the situation looked. All right? So your very existence means that God wants you to exist. Say I'm special. Since the day you were born God even speaks about it in Psalm chapter 139. Let's look at that, please. Verse 15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect. And in thy book, all my members were already written. Verse 17. How precious also are they thoughts to me? Oh God, how great is the sum of them? So God already has a plan for your life.
Let's go over to Jeremiah chapter 1, over in Jeremiah chapter 1, he says in verse 4, the Word of the Lord came to me saying before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee. Right there just shows you right there that the baby's life begins in the belly. And before thou came forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. In other words, I already planned what the, the purpose is for your life before you even came out of the womb. Say I'm special.
Now I'm saying that there was something that you were born to do. You were not just a mistake that came in the earth, but God plans for something, there's plans for something that you are to do. Now in this, you have to realize that you and I have potential and potential is just a, one man could say it like this, it's hidden abilities. And so it's already inside of you. Potential, if I hold an acorn seed in my hand, the potential of that acorn seed is in that acorn seed. Say amen to that. And if I put it in the right environment it will grow to it's full potential in that location. But then it gives off more acorns that more trees come. So there's one tree turns into a whole forest. I'm talking about you're important now. Okay?
Now you'll find that when people don't understand value and they don't value themselves, you'll find that they don't treat themselves right. And when they look down on themselves, the tendency is that they look down on other people as well, when they don't value themselves. All right, let's go to a second part of this. Your world is created by what you plant. The enemy's job, who comes to stop you because he knows that if you end up in the plan that God has for you, not only will you be successful, but you will affect the lives of so many other people. Okay? So the enemy's job is to control you. And the way he tries to do that is to control what you think, control what you think.
Now, people don't realize it that thoughts are also seeds. Thoughts are also seeds. And I like what one man said. He said, you can't keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep him from building a nest in your hair. Why? Because if you have a certain thought, don't dwell there, are you with me? Alright, let's show you why. Now I'm talking about agents of change now, because if you're going to change your environment, you have to first be changed.
Alright, let's look at Proverbs and chapter 23. And he says in verse 7, for as he thinketh in his heart so is he. Alright, let me give you another translation. You might want to put it in your Bible, something, cause this is Bible study. What he believes is where he will end up. What he believes is where he will end up. All right. Now, why is that so important? Because as powerful as God is, he doesn't operate beyond your belief. Okay? Now, if you've got somebody else who can pray with you or pray for you who believes something greater than they can get their belief, of course, to accommodate you and the thing that you need. But I'm saying if God's going to work through you, he can't work through you except to the degree that you believe. That you believe. Now that that's very important through you.
Now there's two things I want to show you with that. One, let's just look at that. Let's look in the Old Testament in Numbers chapter 13, please. In Number chapter 13, the 12 spies came back and they came back and 10 of them had an evil report. Now watch says now, because Satan is after controlling your thoughts. Alright, verse 26. And then when it came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, into the wilderness of Paran, to Kadish and brought back word unto them and all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him and said, we came into the land where you sent us. And surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it.
Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the city is a wall and very great. Moreover, we saw the children of Anak there and the Amalekites dwell in the land to the South and Hittites and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell by the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb still the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and possess it for we are well able to do what? Overcome it. Okay. We're well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, we be not able to go up against these people for they're stronger than we are. And they brought up an evil report, which they had searched under the children of Israel saying the land through what you've gone to search is a land that eats up it's inhabitants thereof and all the people that we saw in it were men of great stature.
Now they're saying all this to the congregation. And there, we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers and so were we where? In their sight. Now notice two distinctively different reports, looking at the same thing. Now, if you put something right there for me and look over here in Deuteronomy chapter 9, and look at verse 1. Hear, Oh, Israel, thou are to pass over Jordan this day to go into possess nations greater and what? Mightier than thy selves. Cities great and fenced up to heaven.
So right there, God is leading you into a battle that without him you cannot win. This is what he's saying. They're greater than you. They're greater than your natural strength. You can't do it. Now, Jesus said out I'll never leave you or what? Forsake you. So he's with you. He said, Lord, I'm with you always. Say amen to that. Now how can God work through you? And I just said, he cannot work through you except to the degree that you believe. So I've got to affect my believing, my thinking. I've got to affect that if I want God to go with me into whatever I'm facing and I get victory. Now, the enemy knows that what you see is what you believe because you've been made that way. What you see is what you believe.
Now, let me just, keep Numbers chapter 13 there. And let's go all the way over to John chapter 20, please. This is when Jesus was raised from the dead and he appeared to his disciples, but one of them, wasn't there named Thomas. Alright, so over here it says, well, I better start up here at verse 19. Then 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 came Jesus and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side then were the disciples glad when they what? Saw the Lord. Underline saw. You're designed to believe what you see. You're designed to that. Now just hold onto that because I got to add something to that.
All right. And then verse 24. Now, Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, we've seen the Lord, but he said to them, except I shall see his hand hands, a print of nails in his hands, and put my finger into the print of nails and thrust hand into his side, I will not what? I will not believe. And after eight days, again, the disciples were within and Thomas with them, then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Then said, he to Thomas reach into thy finger and behold my hands, and reach to thine hand and thrust it into my side, and be not what? Faithless, but what? Believing. And Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. And Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed, but blessed are they that have not seen yet have believed. Are you with me? Blessed are they that have not seen yet believed.
Now, look at second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 18. While we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen for the things that are seen are what? Temporal, but the things which are not seen are what? Eternal. Now, what does that just telling you? It's telling you that you got two sets of eyes. You've got two sets of eyes. You've got the eyes of your spirit and you've got the eyes of your natural. And you are designed to control this earth and you cannot control it with the eyes of your natural man. You cannot do that. You control it with what we call revelation knowledge. Knowledge that is beyond natural physical knowledge. Alright, case and point.
Yeah, I was, I was working for company IBM and God was speaking to me about starting full-time ministry full time, but I just couldn't go every time. I'd try to set a date for it. Baby, need a new pair of shoes, something else's do. I said, well, I better stay here and get this check here. You know? Well, I couldn't move. Now, I heard a man preach on seed time and harvest. So he preached from Mark 11, Mark chapter 11, Mark chapter 10 verses 29-30. No, man that has left house a mother, father, sister, brother, so forth land. For my sake and the gospel, but he shall receive a hundred fold now. Now what did I do? The Holy Spirit quicken to me. He said, you need to meditate that.
All right. So what is meditation? Meditation or biblical meditation is a God given process that produces a spiritual experience, which causes a permanent change in your thinking. So he said, meditate that. So I meditated Mark 10:29 and 30. One day on university Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, something exploded within me. What was it called? A mental breakthrough, a mental breakthrough. And some people sitting here right now, you need a breakthrough. You need breakthrough thinking. And once that light came in, it overshadowed all other light.
Let me give you the scripture, Ephesians chapter 1:17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and what? Revelation in the what? Knowledge of him. Keep going. That the eyes of your understanding be enlightened, that you may know what is a hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saint.
Now take that verse right there to verse 18 and give it to us in the amplified translation, please. By having the eyes of your heart, that's the eyes of your spirit. Keep going, keep going, flooded with light so that you can know and understand the hope to which he has called you. And how rich is his glorious inheritance in the saints, his set apart ones. Now, what happened when I had this flash to go on inside of me at university Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota that day? Alright, this light that came inside of me filled my... I want to say eyes, but my heart with a greater knowledge than what I had before.
Go to Galatians chapter 1, Galatians chapter 1 was talking on agents of change now. Because the church pretty much been following the world instead of leading the world and they haven't been leading them because they don't have revelation, they don't have that light. And you gotta get that light because it's going to give you a greater knowledge and greater understanding. It's going to give you more advantages. In fact, you are made to be informed on another level.
Look at Galatians now, chapter 1, stay with me, watch this, verse 11. This is the apostle Paul talking, but I certify you brethren that the gospel, which was preached of me is not after man for I neither received it of man neither was I taught it but by the what? Revelation of Jesus Christ. In verse 15, but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and call me by his grace to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen immediately I conferred not with what? Flesh and blood. Got it.
So notice when he got that revelation, I'm not talking about information. Information comes naturally. It comes to the natural center. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a high-end level of knowledge. It comes by the revelation of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost. And he's your teacher. He teaches you on a higher level, greater truths. Got it. So he is saying, Hey, I got some things by the Holy Ghost here. I got some things about Jesus Christ. Why? Because he wasn't born during the time that Jesus was and walked the earth. He came after that.
So he couldn't walk with him, and talk with him, see him feed the poor, see him so forth. He had to get all of his like you gotta get yours. You gotta get yours by revelation. You get in that Bible and start meditating on a scripture where Jesus went up by the synagogue, so forth and all of a sudden you'll start seeing it there, you'll start being there. You'll start seeing people sitting around. You'll start. I'm telling you the Holy Ghost is able to take you back in time and show you things. He's able to take you forward and show you things to come. It's something that is going to take you and inform you on another level that you should leave out of here full of a joy that you never had in your life. Because when you can see what other people can't see, you can go where other people can't go. You can do things other people can't do. You're seeing something other people can't see, but you were informed from another level.
Let's go to another one. Matthew chapter 16, please. I'm encouraging you to bring a word that you can see in that Bible because you wouldn't be here if you didn't have some obstacle in your life, and I'm telling you, you can remove the obstacle right away, but you got to get information from another level. As long as enemy can keep you in a place where you are only being dictated to by your senses, he will lead you around Chicago with a ring in your nose and lead you all around town for years and years and years. And you'll find you'll be dealing with the same problem today that you did 10 years ago. The same problem. Why? Because you need a breakthrough. You need a breakthrough in your thinking.
And so you gotta come say, wait a second. This is not some religious thing that I'm in right here. This is life. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And I'm telling you folks, it's one breakthrough after another that you're going to get, one breakthrough after another, say amen to that. So they listen at the dictates of their senses when they said, Hey, they're giant, so forth and so on. Folks, let me tell you anytime you're fighting the devil, if you fighting him in your own strength, he is a giant, you just get ready, he is a giant. You got to drop back and get a whole 'nother anointing of God through revelation, through the Word of God, through meditation. And let me tell you, when you feel that strength, now you step out on that word and it will shatter everything that's blocking your way.