Bill Johnson - Language of the Spirit Seminar

cutting into my message time that's so good to be back the New Zealand center of the universe I love so much what's happening here and I just feel like a real rich man to be able to have so many friends and such here so anyway thank you for let me come back I have important things to read always always have important them the Flat Earth Society has members all around the globe now women just say give me in advance then you'll understand first woman in space houston we have a problem what's the problem never mind no seriously what's the problem nothing please tell us no I'm fine I'm here to offend everybody before the days over so just give me a moment here as God promised men God promised men that good obedient wives would be found in all corners of the earth and then he made the world round and he laughed the pastor had dinner at the home of a couple in his church after he left the wife said to her husband I think he stole our spoon this bothered her for a whole year a year later the couple had the pastor over again unable to resist the wife asked last year did you steal our spoon he responded no I put it inside your Bible [Applause] that was painfully good I was painfully good one more just one more and this is then we'll get real serious I promise Bob walked into a sports bar around 5:58 p.m. he sat down next to a very beautiful blonde stared up at the TV the 6 p.m. news was coming on and the news crew was covering the story of a man at the top of a 10 story building getting ready to jump the police are trying to talk him down fire crews below were setting up nets to catch him the blob looked at Bob and said do you think he'll jump Bob said you know I reckon he'll jump the blonde replied well I bet he won't Bob placed $20 on the bar and said you're on the BA the blonde placed her money on the bar they kept watching the scene unfold on TV suddenly the man stepped to the edge of the building did a swan dive off the building falling into the fire crew nets below the blonde was very upset but she willingly handed over the $20 to Bob fair's fair she said here's your money Bob responded now I can't take your money I saw this earlier on the 5:00 p.m. news so I knew he had jump she responded I saw it too but I didn't think he'd do it again all right guys ready I love learning how God speaks and I guess the most common way that he speaks to us is through Scripture and that's still small voice but he speaks in such diverse ways I remember when I was writing a book called dreaming with God I dealt one chapter in there on the language of the Spirit and I started to kind of rehearse I look back over the last 20 30 years of my life and started remembering times where the Lord spoke to me so clearly but so unusually and the the stories are when they don't happen to you they almost sound boring or trite but when they are part of your life when you're leaning into the heart of God you're leaning into the will of God it seems to add meaning to the slightest things it seems to add kind of a depth to the the whispers of God that come in unusual ways and I actually I've been a little bit torn this morning as to what direction to go because they have so many things on my heart to say regarding the voice of the Lord so what I want to do is just make inference to a couple ways that he speaks and then what excuse me I want to talk to you about about my journey with the Lord and how I hear him he speaks through unusual coincidences I remember check-in dude into a hotel room once and and they gave me the room number 308 well I'm a hunter and 308 happens to be a good caliber of a rifle so I immediately thought this was confirmation I needed to hunt more you know and my most accurate rifle is a 308 so I I just I honestly I took the key and just kind of chuckled I went to the next city the next night and they gave me room 308 confirmation jehovah-jireh he works in mysterious ways I must hunt more and that night I woke up at 308 in the morning and then I went all right now we're getting serious what are you trying to tell me anytime you have unusual coincidences at very minimum he's trying to confirm to you that you're at the right place at the right time there isn't always a message most of the time for me there isn't some great mystery concealed in whatever it's just he's just affirming you're at the right place at the right time you're doing what I've called you to do and that kind of encouragement is always welcome and always needed but in this particular case when I asked him what he was saying to me I got no answer and I got home and I was sitting in my office and I was pondering just because it was what had happened over the previous few days was just bewildering to me so I sat there and was thinking and then I remembered I remembered in several years earlier I had I had been praying about the privilege and responsibility of writing I had it in my heart to write books I I wasn't sure if I could do it I didn't want to pursue it if it wasn't in God's heart now I know different I would pursue it and let him steer me but at the time I wanted approval and I wanted approval the dream I didn't know that I had quite the capacity to dream permission to dream at that time and so I had been praying for quite a while about the whole notion of writing and I had two unusual experiences and one I mentioned to you I was in the middle of the night the Lord woke me with his voice it was actually his voice that woke me and he said Isaiah 30 verse 8 when I got up I opened Isaiah 30 verse 8 this is now go and write that's fairly clear when you're when you're asking for a specific direction and he says now go and write how does 30 verse 8 apply to me driving through Texas continuing to run into three away I had filled my life with meetings and no longer had time to write and he was reminding me you asked you asked and I spoke and you've now filled your life with everything but what you asked permission to do I called my staff and immediately my personal staff and confessed to them repented and we quickly sat down and began to rearrange schedule to accomplish that which he called me to do in fact the first chapter of dreaming with God was written as a result of that particular encounter but God speaks in unusual ways mysterious ways and sometimes it's just unusual coincidences but if you're leaning if you're hungry for the voice if you're leaning into him you'll recognize when it's a token of something bigger in other words you give it attention and then God speaks to you we see it actually all the way through the scripture well the Lord will do a physical actor or something and then they'll be an interpretation I see an almond rod and the Lord says that's right and then he interprets exactly what took place so he's very connected to those unusual coincidences he also who works powerfully through unusual circumstances and they are completely different they're just things that happened like a burning bush its it just caught Moses's attention it was strange it was unusual but it caught his attention it was out of that Bush that the Lord spoke to him and learning to pay attention see the Bible says that when Moses turned aside the Lord spoke and there are often times there's unusual circumstances in our lives that don't cause us to turn aside we just keep going but it says when he turned aside the Lord spoke it's it's like when you're anticipating the voice of the Lord the slightest thing causes you to ponder to stop to consider God are you in this yes or no if no not a problem I keep going but if you're in this and I need to know what you're saying I don't want to just stand and be somehow amused by your activity there must be something connected to this unusual thing that you're doing and our lives are filled with these kinds of these kinds of events and so I've had the Lord speak to me very very deeply through unusual circumstances I remember I remember going to a prayer meeting at the church a pre-service prayer on a Sunday evening of at that time we headed in the dining room and I like to get there early to pray before the prayer meeting starts so I got in there early and as soon as I did I looked over at though this is plate windows of Florida ceiling wall of windows and they look and there's a roadrunner dancing at the glass trying to get inside the church and and I'd never seen one before I'd only seen the cartoon the coyote in the road rise only one I'd ever seen in my life and so here he is trying to get into the church and I honestly stood there about this far away from it looking at it going this is too strange to not be prophetic God's got to be involved into someone now I I'm an outdoorsman I hunt I fish I spent a lot of time outdoors I have never seen one in retic I didn't know they existed in my city and so now we've got one he's got a big lizard in his mouth and he's trying to get inside the building and and I looked at that thing and I just said Lord what are you trying to say and I heard nothing which is common for me to hear nothing so I said what are you trying to say nothing and finally he goes and people start coming to the prayer meeting and and then we're walking around and praying stuff getting ready for the evening and and then one of the staff guys walks in and he looks over at the window and that Roadrunners back he said oh look he's back I said what do you mean back and he said well he was here last Sunday night for the pre-service / meeting what you're kidding so apparently he enjoys permitting so he came he came the previous well I could hardly wait for the next Sunday night and the next Sunday night he was there again for the pre-service permit he never came to when I preached but he would it would come he would come for the permit this went on and on and on finally banning are at the time our youth pastor ahead of Jesus culture he came to me one week and he said bill he said the roadrunner came to our youth prayer meeting on Wednesday night they said you're King so this goes on and on and on and on for a month I'm saying God what are you trying to say to me Roadrunners didn't know they existed trying to get into church always has a big lizard in his mouth one time had a night crawler you know what is this certainly you're speaking to me and nothing I would call my prophet friends I didn't want to tell the whole church because they already thought I was strange and this would put me over the edge so I didn't want to tell everyone but I thought I could talk to a few prophetic people because they're all strange anyway and the intercessors get them in on it because then they'll start feeling around to find stuff and they started talking to me about this and that but none of it none of it really connected you know and so one day we started building this prayer house 24 hour hour a day prayer house called the alabaster house and and there was a pond outside of this house that we're building and the workers would tell me he would go over there and he would sit on top of this rock that was right next to the pond and he was sitting on top of this and watched them build a prayer house so it comes to prayer meetings he likes the prayer house and I this is going on for months one day I'm teaching us a class on Sunday morning and it happened to be a class on signs and wonders and so I started to talk to him I said listen sometimes there are signs that make you wonder and then I said don't tell anyone but we've been we've been being visited by a roadrunner and so I'm standing here the classes here I said we're being visited by Roadrunner and the guy in the front row grades mean him and I turned around on cue this thing shows up he shows up he shows up to illustrate yes I'm talking about so it you're kidding please interpret this for me come on so this goes on for a month so I come into the office one day and one of our custodial guys is just very teary and he said bill he said I killed the roadrunner I said what what do you mean he said I was upstairs I was vacuuming the roadrunner got in so he finally got into church which is good but finally let him and you know and he got in and he said and he described to me what happened he said I turn on the CD player and and I'd worship I'd sit in the middle before the roadrunner would come sit right in front of him weird I know I don't know if he kept his wings like this or what he did but but he it would sit there and he and he would sit right just a few from him and then a few feet from him and he would think no I need to get back to work to get back to work in vacuum and the roadrunner be walking around the room and and finally he did this several times we sat in the middle before the roadrunner sat there and they turned on the worship music and he would worship and the roadrunner like I guess did the same and then and then he realized I've got I finished this room I got to go to the next so he goes down the hall it goes down the stair of the roadrunner follows him goes all the way down the hallway and a door opens behind them and the run runner gets spooked and flies to the end of the building into a plate glass window and dies so I said where is he because I figured we'll just go raise him from the dead does this this is a heavenly mascot for us we're not we're not seeing the messenger from God died on my shift you know it's kind of strange it's strange to explain but full of faith till I got about eight feet away and the whole anointing lifted but I put my little finger on his head pray for a resurrection nothing happened several times finally went back to the office and I sat in my chair no you gotta understand it's been going on for a month and we've been it's caused us to consider what the Lord might be saying through an unusual circumstance so I'm sitting at my desk I go what was that about I mean you've got this crazy thing in our life and what what is that about how how is it that you could have what seems to be an unfinished message and then it just dies and he spoke to me so clearly he says what I'm bringing into the house has to have a way of being released from the house or it will die in the house what I'm bringing into the house has to have a way of being released from the house or it will die in the house and everything that we hold dear to ourselves and we don't share and it doesn't enable us to impact our communities actually dies in the house we experience in growth we experience inbreeding and the whole standard for the righteous impact on society just begins to wane simply because we're trying to perfect something instead of you something we're you know unusual unusual stories but I want to take you to what moves my life the most and I'd like for you to go if you would to first Timothy many of you know that our city has been hit with massive massive fires and it actually at one point looked like it could wipe up the entire city and and by the mercy of God the wind shifted we're very grateful very thankful for His mercy on our city I was in I was in the UK when it broke out and talked to my wife we got on the plane to fly home talked to my wife she said it looked like our home was gone and many homes were gone and after I got on the plane through Internet on in the air over the Atlantic she was able to get word to me that our house was actually still there some of our neighbors homes were gone and it is it is my custom whenever there is great opportunity or great trial I immediately I go to one of two places in generally both places I will go to the Word of God and our goal I will go back to high points that have been nurtured developed established through my own history with God we we need to have we have to have a relational history with God through the pages of this book and I realize this is extremely elementary but I feel so strong to to hit you with this so to speak today because this is what trained you to hear it's not just a memorization of Scripture it's reading the scripture with the Holy Spirit and there's something that comes alive you know when he's talking and so what I'll do is I have all the way through this book from beginning to end there are pages there are places were I had encounters with the Lord or I heard from the Lord or I was in trouble I cried out to God and he spoke to me or we had this huge opportunity and I wasn't certain what to do and I poured myself into his book in red until he spoke and so sitting on that plane flying back from the UK knowing I was coming home to a city that was under siege and looked like it could be it wiped off the map I did what I would I always do I just got immediately into the word and I went to certain places where I have history with God I remember I remember several years ago I I had contracted hepatitis A I had been in Brazil in Africa ate some bad food and it it surfaced while I was here in New Zealand and I remember missing a session and my assistant took over for me I remember flying home and just some things that were going on at a time I was just so troubled in my heart I remember just sitting on the plane just weeping and in opening the word and just just going through Scripture and I remember the Lord spoke to me specifically how the Psalms 25 but truth be known it was actually Psalms 25 I think all the way into 30 or 31 the point was every specific Psalm he spoke to me what you want to do is in crisis in need you want to read till he speaks and how do you know when he speaks there's life on a passage on a phrase on a chapter something stands out and begins to affect you here Jesus turned to his disciples after this whole John 6 story which is an amazing story where he says you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood and in the crowd you know the thousands of people just start leaving and he's left with 12 disciples and he says you're gonna go to church to the twelve and Peter says where are we gonna go you have the words of eternal life what was he saying where are we gonna go Jesus every time you talk we come alive inside every time you speak we find out why we're alive we don't understand your sermon about eating flesh and drinking blood any more than the crowd that left but what we do get is the fact that when we come alive there's something about that because it doesn't it doesn't all pass through here it actually it actually hits this first and so and so you read and I remember sitting on this plane once again now going to saw almost 25 and reading to see if there might be something in there in my history with God were where he has spoken to me in years past that would maybe help me in this moment because I'm going home to a very troubled City a very troubled a church a very troubled a set of circumstances and I began to read through Psalms 25 and and I'm going through various passages of Scripture and I also keep many many prophetic words and experiences with the Lord in my iPad I have videos in here a fact I have videos of Michael made and prophesying over me right in this room two years in a row and I review that I bring that up on my iPad and I watch it and I'm looking did God say anything in those moments it would help me right now because he's not bound by time he he nothing takes him by surprise he didn't cause the fire but he he does position us to come through the fire victoriously and so and so I just began to look at some of the prophetic words I actually have some imprint that I don't have video for and I begin to go over words from many years ago and just I have just a file of these on my computer my iPad in my office on the shelves and I just began to read over them become refresh in the word of the Lord what I'm trying to tell you is that whether it's a crisis a problem a challenge or it's an unusual opportunity divine favor huge open door I can't handle either of those without the voice of the Lord Paul said I've learned how to abound and have learned how to be abased I've learned how to do all things through Christ who strengthens me in other words I need strength for abundance as much as I need strength for lack I need strength when I have divine opportunity as much as when I'm in Christ my staff will tell you when we talked about where we have a building project that will be starting in 2020 and when that all began to come to the surface and it looked like like it was actually going to happen and just during that whole time as a team as we're praying to stuff one of my first questions is always what has God said to us in the past that would help us right now to make a decision whatever the prophets told us and so we would review Cindy Jacobs was here five years ago she said this Bobby Connor was here eight years ago he said this Bob Hazen was here two years ago he said this and we will just begin to collect these words because the scripture says they trust it in their prophets and succeeded you you have to you have to place value in a gift because they prophets do not replace mine ethier from God but neither does my need to hear from God replace my need for the Prophet they both work in tandem and as I I sat on the plane again and just begin to review words to see if there might be anything there that that would help me that would build built a faith or understanding a perception confidence in a challenge was there anything and and I it's it's the way I it's the way I worked my life it doesn't have to be a major crisis if there's just a little bump on the road I'm opening the word I'm looking at the prophetic words there's something about connecting my heart with what God has said that enables me to hear what he is saying there's something about yielding my heart to the voice of the Lord in my history my journey with God that reactivates my capacity my ability to hear that gentle whisper that breath of God that he might be saying in a present situation Timothy was the apostolic leader over Ephesus Ephesus has had the what I think is the greatest revival in the New Testament the greatest outpouring of the Spirit in the New Testament it was when Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus it was the only epistle that didn't have a word of Correction in it every other epistle Paul was fixing stuff correcting stuff rebuking stuff admonishing exhorting but in Ephesus he didn't it was a church that had not only experienced the mighty outpouring of the Spirit they had really cooperated with the Spirit of God to such a degree that he had nothing to point out to correct all he did was fuel them and feed them I sometimes ask the question what do you what do you give to the person who has everything that's what Paul was that was his dilemma as he's writing to the church at Ephesus what do you give to the church that already has made a mark in history that's never been made before you find it in chapter 1 verse 17 he says I pray that God would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him in other words there is more there is more no matter how good we've done there is more and so he prays that so here's Paul writing to this guy Timothy and he's he's his spiritual son so like any dad he is looking over the life of his son and he's wanting him to do well and it's a beautiful thing about about healthy families is dads and sons dads aren't aren't insecure and jealous over their sons success in fact any healthy dad wants their son to excel to exceed any of their accomplishments brothers will use their own accomplished it's too as jealousy to to try to surpass the other one but you don't have that in a healthy home where there's fathers and sons so you've got Paul trying to set up this young man Timothy to to not only continuing his success but to deal with some of the fear things that have really harassed his life and we don't have time for it right now but I I i would encourage you in fact i just wrote down just in one verse 18 he talks about fighting in verse six chapter six verse 12 it talks about fighting 6 verse 20 he talks about guarding so there's this military posture that is interwoven all the way through this this book 1st timothy but there's another interesting theme that is also interwoven and that is wrong words verses right words good doctrine fables and he's contrasting it's this book is a war in this book is bringing timothy into a heightened awareness of the war over words the war over words paul is he's focusing and everybody in this room has some measure of the word of the Lord spoken over your life it may have been when you were born again it may have been something you know outward where a prophet calls you up but all of us have something resident in us that just is alive and living because that's how we were born again there's not a there's not a person born again that didn't hear the voice of God because that's how you could say he called we answered and so Paul is working with Timothy to get him to discern right words versus wrong words good doctrine versus bad doctrine and don't let the word doctrine offend you it's an important word doctrine is our knowledge of God it's extremely important just don't use your insight to beat somebody else up with it it's it's not a point for a debate it's a point for a relationship it's it's it's what I know about the goodness of God gives me permission to explore with faith it's the understanding of goodness that invites me compels me to exercise my faith that I might encounter and discover so doctrine is an important thing so Paul hears is dealing with these fables and these false doctrines and he's people that fell away and suffered shipwreck and he's got all this he's got this backdrop of crisis that he's painting and he's exhorting Timothy to hold true to everything that Paul had given him so here's this fight throughout the book and it's over words I want you to look them just for example at chapter 4 chapter 4 has been a personal favorite of mine for well since I was young of course I'm still young but not as young right in 1st Timothy 4 verse 12 let no one despise your youth but be an example to the believer in word and conduct and love in spirit in faith in purity till i come give attention to the reading to exhortation to doctrine verse 14 do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the eldership meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all and here's the last verse listen to this carefully take heed to yourself and to the doctrine continued in them for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you okay that last verse sometimes I don't know if this happens to you I'm going to assume it does you run into this verse where the verse is so pregnant and it is so large it is so beyond comprehension that we just kind of it's a speed bump we just kind of get over it and move on this verse just promised something that is one of the most unusual promises in the Bible he says watch yourself that's interesting because pastors are trained to watch the people of God first and their self second and that's foolish you watch yourself first you get on the airplane the stewardesses put the oxygen on yourself first then on those around you who need assistance and a lot of pastors burn out in life in ministry because they're attending everybody else but themselves it is not selfish to take care of yourself it is selfish to take care of yourself a perfect God's purpose but not according to his design amen bill that was a very good point yeah just keep it up keep it up it's too late it's too it none of us would walk dirt we've had a drought in our area and none of us would walk by any of those trees that are drinking 40 and 50 gallons of water a day none of us will walk by those trees and say you selfish tree don't you know we're in a drought what are you doing he's just ignoring all the needs of all the other trees around you what's the matter with you in none of us we don't even think that way because it's doing what it was designed to do I knew and I were designed to reach into the deep streams of God for our own nourishment because our strength is what is a benefit to everybody around us and if the strength isn't there then then we've affected ourselves our family and everybody we serve you know we we we watch leaders burn out never take a Sabbath never take a rest and and they get cheered and applauded for such sacrifice it's not sacrifice it's stupidity you can't ignore what God says and what he set as an example and think you're going to do well in life there's no charge for that by the way that's that just comes free with the conference so what does he say he says to Timothy watch yourself and your they say doctrine you know watch yourself and and the doctrine in Acts chapter 20 you guys doing all right everybody's still alive alright Acts chapter 20 there's an exhortation to the elders at Ephesus they had a private meeting with with Paul and another loquacious and he meets with him and he exhorts them very similar he says watch yourself and the flock of God so twice he exhorts these elders so watch yourself and the flock in this case 2 Timothy watch yourself and the doctrine the point was make sure you watch yourself not introspection because that doesn't help us I've never met anyone who's gone deep inside and came out encouraged if I go deep inside all my faith evaporates is there's nothing left you know so it's not that it's just watching the heart it's it's the proverbs floor I think verse 23 watch over your heart with all diligence because from it flows all the issues of life so here's this exhortation watch yourself and the flock watch yourself and the doctrine but look what he says next new American Standard says it best watch yourself and the doctrine for as you persevere in these things listen to this phrase you will ensure salvation for yourself and all who hear you does anyone hear a rather large promise in that phrase and all who hear you watch yourself and the doctor make sure that you give yourself two words of life not words that take you off on side issues that have no eternal purpose don't get messed up in the fables don't get messed up in the debates in the arguments stay with sound darkness there's things that you can build a life on for eternity stay with those things watch your heart Timothy make sure you stay out of that fear thing just watch over yourself watch what you're teaching here if you do this god guarantees your salvation and everyone who hears you you say what Timothy was already saved and and that's true but I'm sure you know this there was a moment in time where we were born again I was saved X amount of years ago but it's also a present tense reality Paul exhorted work out your salvation with fear and trembling so it's it's an ongoing thing I'm not earning my salvation I'm just responding to what he's accomplished for me but when Jesus returns my salvation will be complete so here Paul says he says Timothy watch yourself your doctrine you will ensure salvation for yourself and those who hear you I don't know I can't think of a greater promise given to a pastor to a leader to an apostolic man than to say everyone who hears you will be saved see there's these little gems that are just hidden they don't come on billboards if God repeats something to you ten times the same word ten times it is not because it's a more important word than he speaks once he speaks it ten times because that particular word will attract more warfare than the word he spoke only once and then the nutrients that we need from that word being repeated over and over again will give us the courage to carry that word out but sometimes he speaks something all he wants Kayson points how many times is being born again mentioned in the Bible I think it's twice and yet how many of you would agree it's a fairly significant truth so we don't measure the impact of the revelation on how many times it's mentioned so if the Lord speaks something over and over to again he's just letting you know you're gonna need the nutrients from this meal because you're going to go for a season without and they'll be difficulty in the process but if you stay nurse from what I've said you will see this word come to pass does that make sense so here we've got this thing with Timothy where all the way through Paul is bringing him into an awareness at Timothy listen you were born in a war you were born in a war and the coolest thing about warfare in the kingdom is you never have to become devil focused some of the most effective warfare I've ever been involved in I wasn't even aware there was a devil in the room all I knew is that my heart was burning and affection for Jesus and there's something about that fact affectionate place of response to him that just sets us up for great triumphs great victory but that's another subject I want you to go now to chapter one and here's where I want to spend just a few more minutes and talking to us about the war and the issue of words years ago around Oh how many of you know Larry Randolph I don't know if has he ever been to lose I don't know if he has their round off is one of the funniest people alive don't get this so funny get him and Chris together you just you just have pain your cheeks are sore from smiling your belly is sore from laughing it's just a good day just a good day get those two to go Larry is a prophet of God and very very trusted prophet a very close friend of ours he told us a number of years ago he said God will keep all of his promises but he's not obligated to keep our potential I always have would have thought of that that's a good one God will keep all of his promises but he's not obligated to keep all of our potential there are times where he speaks a word over your life over mine that is entirely up to him the sovereign God is going to bring that word about but there are other things he speaks over us that are contingent upon they're connected to our response our obedience our stewardship if God promises somebody's going to make them a very well-known anointed concert pianist and they never practice not going to happen and they may blame God but from Heaven's perspective they have no right because they did not steward what God gave them in his word in his voice see oftentimes we are very we are very good at praying large prayers we pray things like God save our nation it's a it's a right prayer we pray things like God I want to see I want to see everyone I pray for healed he wants that more than you do we pray things like God I want to see all cancer destroyed in my city he wants that more than we do it was his idea that heaven would invade Earth tell earth mirrored heaven that was his plan so all these things that we pray for this seems so huge on our part actually were birthed in the heart of God these were his ideas first and modeled and illustrated through Jesus so we do pretty good at dreaming these kinds of big prayers what would it be like to see New Zealand come under the influence of the presence of God until there was absolute transformation right down to the heart and soul of who we are as a nation I mean these are the things we ate for our problem is as we we lack the wisdom the maturity to discern when God has answered our prayer but prayers like of that nature he always answers in seed form in other words I prayed for an oak tree and he gave me an acorn god we want our government transform and so suddenly you have favor with the mayor it's an acorn you asked for an oak tree and stewardship of the acorn will eventually become the oak tree that bears more acorns you get the picture right and so we pray big prayers but we don't always recognize when God has answered that prayer in seed form so he deposits opportunities may be a grace may be an open door may be a conversation with the key person it could be any number of things but it starts very small and it's the it's that person who's constantly leaning into the voice of God I just want to be faithful it's all I want all I want is just to be faithful and there's that moment in time where the Acorn arrives and I've got to now protect that thing I don't want to abort it I don't want to discard it and say well this isn't revival this isn't awakening this isn't what I asked for when all along it is it's just in seed form Paul is drawing this young man a very powerful leader Timothy into this war over words and he does it with this passage at the end of chapter one he says in verse eighteen this charge I commit to you son Timothy according to the prophecies previously made concerning you that by them you waged the good warfare having faith and a good conscience by the way faith in a good conscience that's the context in which we are the safest in warfare when the conscience is violated and you go to war you'll get hurt the person who lives in compromise always wanes in conflict because they know in their heart of hearts that there's a weak foundation to put victory upon it's one of the greatest possessions of a person is a clean conscience repent as often as needed just keep it clean verse 18 again sorry about them actually I'm not sorry but I I don't know you figure it out verse 18 this charge I commit to you son Timothy according to the prophecies previously made concerning you that by them you wage the good warfare having faith and a good conscience which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck of whom are harmonious and Alexander whom I delivered over Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme back to verse 18 this charge I commit to you son Timothy according to the prophecies previously made concerning you by them waged a good war warfare this is the way I look at whenever God gives us a promise when he gives me a promise he goes into my future and he sees his design and his purpose for me he sees me in my future then he comes back to me and he gives me the word that is necessary and needed to get me there so the word he gives me is actually the equipment that I need to get me there the disciples could turn to Jesus in the storm and he would still the storm but when they were in a storm and he wasn't there they never thought they'd make it because they forgot when he put them in the boat he said you're going to the other side he had given them the word that could take them through a storm because the word is what you need you've got to know what God is saying you've got to know that which god has marked over your life that word I've got to recover that word because that is my weapon and so here Paul is saying fight the warfare concerning your future but you'll have to use the prophecies given to you just think about the implications there is a future for me but without proper attention and use of what God has said I will never step into what God intended my my breakthrough my promised land' experience is on the other side of a conflict and the conflict is only victorious on my end because I've paid attention to and I've adhered to the word of the Lord over my life and I used that which God has spoken to get me into what God has prepared for me sometimes it simply means we write the promise on a piece of paper put it on the dashboard of our car and it means I remember times and in Weaverville were where I passed before I meant where I'm at now and ready and I would take these prophecies these promises of God over my life and I would put them all over the sanctuary because it wasn't quite this big our whole town could fit in here you know but almost but I would I would walk around the sanctuary put these cards there so when I would walk and pray I would see this one about Isaiah 60 this one out of Isaiah 30 chapter 30 I'd see these prompts I'd see this word from my friend Dick Mills and enjoys that look at these they've triggered my mind this is what God says over my life and here's the deal I can't afford to have a thought in my head about me that he doesn't have in his head about me because if I entertain anything contrary to what's on his mind I'm entertaining a lie and if I entertain why I'm giving strength to that which will undermine my purpose it's a battle over the mind it's a battle over what words do I give my heart to what words do I give my heart to I believe the Lord loves to increase our capacity to hear he loves to increase our ability to recognize how he speaks the unusual you know the Roadrunners of the hotel keys and the all the other strange things I I remember I had a I had this kind of a weird thing happen I kept running into the number five five five and I I know this is weird but I just kept running into the number five five five and four days days and days and days finally I'm in I'm in Minnesota I'm in a healing conference I got a bit late I wake up in the morning I wake up exactly it's five five five on the clock and I blurt it out loud Ben he wasn't with me so I'm the only one in the room i blurt out loud what are you trying to tell me because I kept seeing five five ever everywhere I go and in an instant he spoke to me and he said the anointing for the day of the cancellation of death is upon how does that relate to five five five I don't know and I don't care all I know is there was a burning bush I turned aside and he spoke he spoke so here we've got Paul who like any dad wants his son to fully engage with why he's alive and so he reminds him of the words over his life later in Chapter four he talks about the prophecies with the laying out of hands there was an impartation it was a grace deposited in his life and he's exhorting this great leader young leader to come fully into in the old testament we call promised land promised land that belongs to you that's where you're supposed to live the promised land is the Old Testament prophetic picture of what it looks like to live in the reality of the kingdom of God I love the stories of the Old Testament because they they're like it's like for remedial readers you know there's it's just easy to see Goliath David I get that I get that you trust God the big guy Falls I like the story Daniel and the Lions death Israel going into the Promised Land I like all all these stuff the Lord spoke to Israel and directed them led them and they entered that Promised Land but did you know they did not fully inherit all that God promised them for I don't know how long several hundred years it wasn't until David became king when did God want them to have it when they entered are you alive there are things that God has said over us that he means for now this is not a guilt shame thing that never helps us to get anywhere it's it's a wake up and smell the coffee moment it's it's it's this is God's design and by his word he has described his purpose for my life and I can blame the delay on the sovereignty of God if I want to or I can seek his face till this breakthrough or I can engage with that which God has said and use it effectively sometimes it's you know it's writing it on a card sometimes I will sing the words I will sing the verse I'll Drive down the street just sing sometimes I'm just making declaration sometimes when I'm trying over my city or my own family over my own life I take communion I try to take it every day took it again this morning when I do I pray over every member of my family my household I make several confessions and proclamations over my family over friends the people that I'm immediately connected with one is by your stripes I was healed and we as I take the broken body make that proclamation over our household and friends that are suffering with various diseases the price has been paid we need not pay it again we make that decree that declaration when I prayer over my family members I I I will boldly confess and proclaim as for me in my house we will serve the Lord so we take these words and we use them in battle sometimes sometimes we have very little strength to do anything courageous but we can always stop in the middle of a difficulty and say as for me in my house we will serve the Lord every single family member god I remind you in the Old Testament one lamb was sacrificed per household not per family member so I declare my entire family will serve you wholeheartedly and we make these confessions and these decrees it's not as though we need to convince him it's just somehow joining our voice with his with what he has declared puts us in this position of strength to implement his purposes until opposition yields to the purposes of God that's what we've been called to do and sometimes you can't get there until you find the word that God says over your life sometimes you can't get [Applause] I take this part of our life very seriously there are times where we have decisions to make opportunities are in front of us opposition whatever it might be and I'll have people around me in and I'll say I research the prophetic words from the last 20 years go back to anything that we have record up that was spoken because certainly this is facing us did not catch God by surprise so I've got to find what he has already said here's a secret if God actually once I tell you it's no longer secret but if God is silent it's never punishment he's not that emotional friend that just doesn't want to talk to you whenever he's silent it is almost always because he has already spoken and he wants you to rediscover what has already been said it's why it's vital that you have history right the date next to the verse I can take you to spots geographical locations why I wept and cried out to God and he spoke to me out of a psalm and I write down then right next to that verse or I can take you to this chapter this is where God spoke to me you said such-and-such this is what kept me alive it didn't change strangely it hardly ever changes the circumstances immediately but it changes me some certain circumstances will not change until I have changed if he changes the circumstances with me in my present condition I'll turn that circumstance back into what it was they changes me so that I can correctly steward the promised land that he has declared over my life and so that silence I will I had just seasons I had a real physical issue at a growth in the in a small intestine here a few years ago and it was a very weird season of months because I didn't hear anything didn't hear a thing but I can't complain because he's been so generous and talking to me through the years so all I did is just go back to what he had already said and I just I just how many of you you have not been able to hear from God but you felt peace does that make sense his presence is his voice he is the Word of God just don't try to decipher it through your mind he's trying to do something in here and I would sit there in the recliner and the eventually the hospital bed then I would just review words but I did I did throughout the day just review I watched these prophecies that read these scriptures over and over and over again for a week after week after week after week after week why because until he says something new I have to be faithful with what he's already said I believe the Lord I believe the Lord provoked me and in in talking to you about this today or directed me I really sincerely do it as soon as I'm so thankful to be able to have such amazing friends here in Martin Rosalyn are just among the best ever so thankful when Martin told me that this was about the language of the Spirit my mind began to swirl and not in a bad way in a positive way because I that's one of my most favorite subjects and yet it's one of the things I feel like I know the least you know it's like I love it but I'm in Graham you know I'm in preschool you know so here's the deal I believe that this event I believe the Lord directed them to choose this topic I believe he directed your leadership to choose this topic because of what God was about to release over your nation that the voice of the Lord is to be released over the nation and a unique and significant way he does not stir up words to entertain us he stirs up words to make us hungry for what he's about to release so I want you to stand Allah pray when the Lord reveals to us what he's about to do it's never so that we'll strategize put a plan together he only shows me tomorrow to make me hungry because only the hungry are qualified to Stuart what God is about to do there's something about the voice of the Lord whether is the overt I've had him wake me with his voice I wish I could say it happens all the time it's happened twice in my life awakened by the voice perhaps the most unusual way God speaks to me is when I have an idea that I know is better than one I could think up myself this voice is always that familiar thing that we easily could take credit for if we weren't careful one of my most important verses is that a proverb says the horse is prepared for the day of battle but the victory belongs to the Lord in other words I'm going to do my part but when it works you get all the credit so just pray for a moment and confess to the Lord your own hunger for the voice your own hunger for the voice do this one out loud you don't have to yell and scream but do it out loud to where you can hear your own voice timid prayers get timid answers put it on your lips got them hungry for I don't want to miss when you talk thank you lord yeah I just don't want to miss it Lord right we want to be faithful stewards of all you say and all you do we welcome we welcome the voice of the Lord in this nation at another level that we've not seen or recognized before we welcome the voice of the Lord the thundering voice the still small voice the mysterious voice the voice that comes in riddles the voice that comes through senses we welcome all of it God because we welcome you now put a hand on the shoulder of someone next you and just pray God give them more than they have the sense to ask for thanks God thank you lord lord I give you my heart I give you my soul I live for you every breath that I take every me Lord I give you ha ha I can say every mom [Music] amen amen seal that up in our hearts Lord amen [Applause]

Channel: CashMan

Views: 14,117

Rating: 4.8518519 out of 5

Keywords: Bill, Johnson, Bill Johnson, Bethel, Holy, Holy Spirit, Spirit, Language, Seminar, Session, God, Jesus, Intimacy, Intimate, love, hear, Opportunity, influence, leadership, society, situation, hope, truth

Id: QgERg2ebNMw

Length: 70min 20sec (4220 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 28 2018