Psalm 78 tells us that the Israelites tempted God by forgetting His power and the miracles He had performed amongst them. In this full sermon, Bill Johnson challenges us not to forgot the miracles of God. Keeping testimonies of God’s power in our minds and hearts keeps us locked into His goodness and we remain positioned to receive the promises and breakthroughs He wants to bring us into. Don’t be one who tempts God by forgetting His power.
we don’t limit god by failing
to imagine what he’s capable of doing
we limit god
when we lose the wonder for what he’s
already done
wow a good uh no is it still morning it
is no
no it is not good afternoon
good afternoon nice to see you
we only have a few minutes um
and it was worth it just to spend that
time
wow i just i’m i’m a mess
i i hope a good one but but i know it’s
what i am i am just an absolute mess
i’ve been a mess for a while
and it’s getting worse
[Applause]
i it’s it’s a interesting season
uh tears are much like the kingdom
they’re always at hand
always within reach but uh for me
personally
tears are turning from tears of pain to
tears of thankfulness and uh so so glad
so glad
i’m just in this bubble of grace that is
just uh
unexplainable
and
really good so
i’m i’m just thankful that’s all i know
to say
i should probably read some jokes so
that i get my uh
stop the tears
you come from dust you will return to
dust that’s why i don’t dust it could be
someone i know
[Applause]
well this one is true of me
how strong do you like your coffee
i want it to show up on a drug test
i i tell people my coffee is so strong
you can walk on it without faith
saw this one where this
little girl comes to her mother and says
mommy i’m confused
you said we were made in god’s image but
dad says we came from monkeys
and the mother said well honey
i was telling you about our side of the
family
[Applause]
everyone has the right to be stupid
it’s just that some people abuse the
privilege
this morning i accidentally changed the
gps voice excuse me i changed the gps
voice to mail
now it just says it’s around here
somewhere keep driving
[Applause]
one more
a friend suggested
i put a horse manure on my strawberries
i’m not doing that again i’m going back
to whipped cream
all right
uh yeah yeah i know i know
i had to have at least one that met my
third grade sense of humor i didn’t want
that one that one did it
i’ve got uh
i’ve got eight minutes according to the
clock is that right yeah eight minutes
and i’ll probably take ten so
um i i can’t do
even what i did in the other two
services so far today just time doesn’t
permit so let me
let me mess with what i have and let’s
just see
what we can do i here’s what i here’s
what i sense i sense that the lord
is going to give us the opportunity
to redefine
probably many things but specifically
three words
two of them are biblical words
biblical definition is accurate enough
it’s just christian culture has
redefined them in a way that’s not
healthy and i believe he’s going to give
us an opportunity to redefine them
because he has intention and purpose the
first one
the most offensive one is prosperity
i believe the lord’s going to enable us
to redefine because prosperity is
basically more than enough
and if i tell people all the time say
listen if you’re not hungry for more
than what you have then you’re being
selfish
if you can exist in the middle of the
world problems that we have right now
that just are simply asking for a dollar
and you can look at that and not be
moved to cry out for more than you’re
then you’re too self-centered
there is a a pursuit of more
that is holy
it’s true and i i i know why people are
offended because it’s been so abused but
it’s in the bible so get over it
it’s it’s it’s a biblical subject
and uh the bible teaches pretty clearly
um
the lord’s intent
and uh we tend to measure prosperity by
what we have instead of what we’ve given
away i’d like for us to adopt the second
one
it’s about what we’ve given away so
um so that i believe the second one
is a holiness
holiness you know is
it’s
it’s the
absolute holiness is the beauty of god
it’s the gorgeous
essence of his person
i i wrote something let me i was
thinking about this yesterday
said there are attitudes words and
behaviors that violate the essence of
holiness
they can
and must be avoided at all costs
yet holiness is more about what you can
do
than what you can’t
holiness is the beauty of god
and that beauty is to be explored with a
childlike heart of adventure and
curiosity
holiness is the art of god filled with
color contrast and perfect design
to involve ourselves in these things is
to return to our original purpose and
design
it is in the pursuit
of holiness that we cannot get rid of
self
but instead self must be sanctified to
his heart which is in part uh consistent
with our original design where we
express him accurately i hope that makes
sense
it is the exploration of his person his
presence his being his nature
that is art itself it is the essence of
all beauty all beauty stems from the
nature of his own holiness
and to reduce it to what we can’t do is
an actual violation of the invitation of
god to come and co-labor and partner
with him in such a way that he has
represented well and represented
accurately
the third one
is patriotism
this is the one i’ll have the most fun
with
but not today
just enough to create a mess and that’s
all and that’s it’s just a gift that i
have
the enemy is working to erase lines
between male female
between nation and nation
between race and race i don’t want
all races to be the same i want us to
celebrate the uniqueness and the beauty
of each race
the other is a it’s a horrible
counterfeit
uniformity is not unity
unity requires diversity
and if we don’t work to protect that
every nation should have a strong flow
of patriotism
it’s not this nation versus another it’s
the responsibility that we have to care
for our nation now i’m going to give you
i’ve only shared never shared this until
today
previous two services now
i had a dream
i think maybe six months ago could have
been eight but somewhere earlier this
year
and in this dream i had an encounter
with the lord and i was asking him a
question
it was it was a question about
something that he did and didn’t do in
his ministry and it wasn’t a question
out of offense it was a question of
curiosity if
if i could
reduce this moment to
to my own language it would be like god
i know you’re absolutely perfect
but you didn’t do this i’m not offended
by it you didn’t do this why
are you with me all right
so the question had to do
with slavery
probably the biggest black mark in the
uh american history and many other
nations is the whole issue of slavery
is such a horrible part of our history
and the atrocities that were done in in
that era
and and yet many believers use the fact
that
back in civil war days used the fact
that jesus didn’t teach
didn’t confront slavery openly
opposing it they used the absence of his
conversation on the subject as a
validation of the subject
so i was asking the lord in this stream
and as i was saying you didn’t you
didn’t teach
against slavery
and this is what he said word for word
yes
but i put within you seeds of the
kingdom that would make slavery
intolerable
now think think with me for me i realize
dreams are subject subjective i i don’t
ever want to equate that you know equal
scripture but i think there’s something
there that really has rocked me and i’ve
carried it for for six months that there
are times where where jesus isn’t saying
something now but he’s doing a work in
you
that if that work matures you will be
able to address that very thing that
needs to be addressed at a later more
appropriate date does that make any
sense
i put within you seeds of the kingdom
that would make slavery intolerable
so what other seeds has he put in us
in john 16
jesus made the statement he says i have
so many things to tell you but you can’t
bear them now
i’m not trying to add to scripture so
you know we have folks out there that
will read into that and i’m not saying
that but i am saying
he has created a momentum in our soul
that as it comes to fruition we will be
able to address more accurately what
loyalty to our own nation looks like
it will be
not divisive but it will not be
completely inclusive
solomon was inclusive as he made
covenants with other nations and their
gods not doing that not going there
so the lord’s going to give us the
opportunity i believe to redefine
patriotism in a very very powerful
powerful way
all right
i just ran out of time how did i
how did i do that
i’m going to read two scriptures for you
and then i will wrap this up um
we tell all our speakers do not go over
because we create messes in our parking
lot when we first
went to four services
the first sunday
we went over just a few minutes
five
maybe
and we had friends that were stuck in
the parking lot for 45 minutes
we’ve been throwing ashes on ourselves
ever since then
let me read this to you and then i’m
going to wrap it up with it with a
statement
um it’s in psalm 78 verses 41 and 42
yet again and again
just listen carefully yet again and
again they tempted god
they limited the holy one of israel
they did not remember his power
the day he redeemed them
okay listen to what he says
they limited god by how
by not remembering his power
here’s here’s the statement
we don’t limit god by failing to imagine
all that he’s capable of
that would be cruel
for the one who is limitless to expect
the limited
to comprehend
what he’s about to do
are you with me
we don’t limit god by failing
to imagine what he’s capable of doing
we limit god
when we lose the wonder for what he’s
already done
we limit god
when we’ve lost the wonder
this is our hard drive
we’ve all got lots of memories in the
hard drive
right here we have working knowledge
i can go back to events throughout my
life but working knowledge my wife died
eight and a half weeks ago
i don’t think about it all the time but
it’s right here
it’s right here
i’m remodeling my house which i’ve been
doing for four years
actually i’m not doing it
i’m paying people to do it
because i don’t want jesus to return
destroy it and say that was horrible
if i did it i’d have to hire an expert
after i was through
to fix what i
fixed yeah
been flying at the speed of cash for
four years
thus
the slowness
but i now have the money to finish it’s
the only reason i mentioned
that’s not on my mind all the time but
it’s here it’s it’s working knowledge
i’ve got dreams plans things that i’ve
got going i’ve got a dear friend
touched me so deeply
that’s
working knowledge my family
some of the things we’ve been able to do
in recent weeks it’s i don’t think about
it all the time it’s right here it’s
just it’s working knowledge
the miraculous works of god
have to stay in working knowledge to
have their effect on us to help us to
see the world around us correctly let’s
stand
all right oh jesus help us fast
[Laughter]
help us fast why don’t you just come out
up here and add a
gorgeous face to this surface
yeah i’m so glad that you uh watched
this video i do pray that it’s a great
great strength and encouragement to you
and i’ve got a verse that it really is
my cry for all of us and it’s psalms 20
it’s verse 4
may he grant you your heart’s desire and
fulfill all your plans
that’s my prayer that’s my prayers that
this would be the season of rich rich
fulfillment
thanks for joining us