Bill Johnson teaches on God’s promise to strengthen us in our battles. Strength for the battle is found in the battle. Often we feel unqualified or weak in the face of spiritual warfare, but if we will say “yes” to God, regardless of what we feel, we will find strength in the battle. When the Israelites faced giants in the Promised Land Joshua encouraged them that the giants were their bread, but because of fear, the Israelites chose not to face their enemies and take the land. Of an estimated 2 million Israelites, the only 2 men to enter the land 40 years later were Joshua and Caleb because they never wavered in God’s promise. Many of us want strength FOR the battle, but God promises to strengthen us IN the battle if we will continue to say “yes” to Him with faith and confidence in His word. Learn more about Arise and Build: https://www.bethel.com/arise-and-build

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Scripture References: Romans 15: 4 Numbers 13 1 Timothy 1: 18 Luke 4: 18 Numbers 14 Psalm 23: 5 2 Samuel 11: 1 Originally shared at Bethel Church, Redding California, on September 17, 2023. Bill Johnson is a fifth-generation pastor with a rich heritage in the Holy Spirit. He is senior leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, and is passionate about seeing Revival and God’s Kingdom established and revealed in the lives of individuals, families, communities, and nations. Bill’s teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven, hosting the Presence, and the renewed mind has helped thousands around the world to step into their true identity in Christ, God given purpose, and walk in a supernatural lifestyle displaying both purity and power. #BillJohnson #BethelChurch #SpiritualWarfare #Strength

yes I may feel disqualified I may feel

too weak I may feel a hundred things

that would logically keep me from my yes

but it’s in the yes the strength comes

so the spirit of the Lord comes upon the

one who says yes and then they find

themselves able to do what they couldn’t

do a moment earlier

[Music]

so glad we get to do this today we get

to do all kinds of stuff I love Crepes

and there’s a crepe truck out there

so if I just kind of walk off the stage

in a couple minutes it’s because I’m

going for crepes

actually I won’t tell them I’ll say

this is supposedly a true story

I believe it is

young Paddy p-a-d-d-y bought a donkey

from a farmer for a hundred pounds

the farmer agreed to deliver the donkey

the next day the next day he drove up

and said sorry son but I have some bad

news the donkey died

Petty replay well just give me my money

back farmer said I can’t do that I

already spent it

Patty said okay then just bring me the

dead donkey farmer said what are you

gonna do with him so I’m going to raffle

him off

farmer said you can’t raffle a dead

donkey Petty said sure I can watch me I

just won’t tell anyone he’s dead

a month later the farmer met up with

Patty and asked what happened to that

dead donkey Patty said I raffled him off

I sold 500 tickets at two pounds each

made a profit of 898 pounds

farmer said didn’t anyone complain he

said just one guy to the one guy who won

I gave him his two pounds back

laughs

Patty now works for the Royal Bank of

Scotland so that’s awesome it’s a great

story all right

grab your bibles if you would and open

to the Book of Numbers

I

I’ve been reading the uh

just in my own devotional reading time

been reading out of

the books of law for the last couple of

months and I’m in Deuteronomy now but I

I always love reading

all the Old Testament but I all the

scripture let’s be honest I like it all

some of it’s getting more confusing than

other parts but but I I love

I love the stories of Israel and coming

out of the Egypt into the promised land

all those stories are are just so uh

they’re they’re graphic to me they’re

this like remedial reading it’s easy to

read it’s easy to see truth

and um

I remember

um

thinking about this story of entering

the Promised Land

and how it is so uh is so prophetic for

us as a people Paul actually wrote about

the Old Testament he said in in Romans I

think it’s 15 he said these things were

written in earlier times for our

instruction

so Paul was actually saying we need this

and so many Believers ignore the Old

Testament it’s the root system for the

gospel and it’s it’s critical that we

pray and learn to understand and read

and so some of these stories are just

they’re just food food for my soul and I

just enjoy them so much

this story is about Moses he chose 12

Spies leaders from each tribe let me put

it this way highly valued highly

respected leaders one from each tribe

sent them into the promised land to

examine what they were about to inherit

this is such a bizarre story to me

because God promised Israel

let’s say about estimated some would

estimate about 2 million people in Egypt

Israelites

promised them that they would inherit

the Promised Land

and yet out of two million people only

two people entered

some would say well if God promised it

it’s just going to happen that’s just

not true

Larry Randolph helped us with this

concept the best he said God will

fulfill all of his promises but he’s not

obligated to fulfill our potential

some words are given to us as

invitations to co-labor with the Lord to

step into destiny

and one of the most challenging parts of

this storyline is that there is conflict

that precedes

there’s conflict that precedes arriving

into Destiny there’s always there’s

always an obstacle

to keep you from your destiny and the

obstacle is not there for our

destruction it is therefore our

strengthening

it’s in the obstacle the will of God

becomes

re-affirmed and established in us in our

journey

from day one it’s always been about

co-laboring with the Lord the whole

thing has been about co-aboring with the

Lord

he commissioned Adam and Eve he

commissioned them to be fruitful

multiply and filled the Earth Etc has

always been about co-laboring about

working together

it’s never been about God doing

everything for us

nor does he require us to work

independent of him

all of his Commandments none of his

Commandments are punishment all of his

Commandments are invitations to life

all of these Commandments are

invitations to partnership

and so that’s what we have in the story

so I want to take you through a good

part of chapter 13 we’ll read a half a

dozen verses or so and then we’ve got

something to find in chapter 14. all

right so you’re there Numbers Chapter 13

I will start with verse 28.

and then they told him saying we went to

the land where you sent us

it truly flows with milk and honey and

this is its fruit which is interesting

because it took two men to carry one

bunch of grapes out it was so so huge

hmm

nevertheless verse 28 the people who

dwell in the land are strong the cities

are fortified and very large

moreover we saw the descendants of anak

there

the amalekites dwell in the land of the

South the Hittites the jebusites the

parasites

the galvanites

the amorites Canaanites

they all dwell by the Sea along the

banks of the Jordan then Caleb quieted

the people before Moses and said let us

go up at once and take possession for we

are well able to overcome

let me jump on this just this one phrase

let us go up at once

I’ve seen I have obeyed the Lord but did

it in delay and my delayed obedience

I saw this happen so I just kind of

trust me on this one if if you would

delayed obedience reduce the Power

released in my obedience

whereas when I have acted quickly in

obedience there was tremendous release

of power

it’s like the Lord honored The Obedience

but it didn’t have near the fruitfulness

that it was that he intended it to have

because I delayed I debated evaluated

tried to bring God’s will into my human

reasoning to figure it out and it

restricted the effect of my obedience

so Caleb is at a moment where he can if

he can get Israel to act quickly they

will respond to see tremendous Triumph

and so that’s what he’s trying to do

so he says let us go up at once

and take possession for we are well able

to overcome it

verse 31 The Men Who had gone up with

him said we are not able to go up

against this people for they are

stronger than we

and they gave the children of Israel a

bad report of the land which they had

spied out saying the land through which

we have gone as spies is a land that

devours its inhabitants

and all the people whom we saw in it are

men of great stature

there we saw the Giants the descendants

of Anna came from the Giants and we were

like grasshoppers in our own sight

so were we in their sight

here’s the crazy thing about the 10

spies

is to Israel

they were reasonable

and there’s such a fear of being labeled

as unreasonable

the people actually choose unbelief over

faith

the the crazy thing about this is the

Ten spies came back with a negative

report about the size of the Giants and

their negative report became a

self-fulfilling prophecy

they warned Israel and their bad report

actually was uh became contagious

and the people embraced bad news over

good news which is really common

we live at a time where the enemy works

very hard to make us feel and to appear

as victims not victors

and the strategy is is to inundate us

with enough negative report and bad news

we call it discernment to sound

spiritual

bad news to keep us from Destiny and

Paul already told Timothy he said

he said fight your fight

for your destiny what the prophetic

words given to you so Paul was saying

from where you’re standing to where

you’re going there’s a conflict in

between and you’re going to need

prophetic words to get you there you’re

going to need to use as Weapons what God

has said

now how do you use the word of the Lord

you speak it

you speak it things have to be said

I don’t know if you if you realize this

Jesus before he had performed one

miracle

stood before a group of people he he had

he had no history in the miraculous he

stood before a group of people and he

made this Proclamation the spirit of the

Lord God is upon me because he has

anointed me to bring good news to

captives recovery of sight to the blind

the lamb are going to walk he goes

through this whole thing before he’d

done anything why because he’s making a

proclamation your words announce where

you’re going

and if I’ve asked you this before if if

God inhabits my praise who inhabits my

complaints

words attract presence and you and I

determine what presence we want to

attract

sometimes we actually create landmines

along our road to Destiny through our

our words

and there’s this warning here because we

see it so uh it’s Illustrated so

graphically where ten spies were able to

take the heart out of an entire nation

ten people

it’s interesting when Joshua sent spies

in the next time he only sent two

it’s a lot easier to get two United than

12. so I I don’t I don’t know that Moses

did it wrong but I know he learned he

changed the plan he changed the plan

so here’s this story where the entire

nation becomes riddled with fear because

of a bad report and you have to

understand keep in mind they think they

are making a reasonable decision

fear

is almost always based on facts of some

sort

just not truth

I’m not I’m not a we’re building a

building

I’ve never been

I like buildings but they’re tools I’ve

never been excited about building this

or building that

my philosophic approach to buildings

gets tossed out the window When God says

it’s time to build

the only thing I need to know is does he

say build if he says build that I am now

a builder

I am now a Visionary for a building

and I’m gonna suck it up you know and uh

and the whole uh DM you know I’m not

emphasized building for as long as I can

remember but I can tell the prophets

have actually warned us in recent years

if you delay you will have disobeyed

and so we are doing the at once thing

right now we’re all of us are going

Caleb here at once let’s go forward and

Bill so that’s what we’re committing

ourselves to but this challenged us

before us is an impossibility much like

Israel’s

any destiny that you think you have that

is possible

you’ll probably accomplish and take the

credit

God tends to assign us things that we

can’t take credit for once they’re

accomplished

though one of the ways we know that

we’re in the center of what God God is

has called us to do is because it’s it’s

simply not within it sometimes it’s not

even within your gift mix

you know he signs Paul the Jewish

scholar to minister to the Gentiles and

Peter the fisherman to the Jews

you know he he assigns people

differently than we would

we tend to Define our ministry by what

we’re good at instead of what we’re

called to do

if if you discover what you’re called to

do then you seek Him privately for the

gifts necessary to fulfill the call

instead of creating everything about

around what you’re comfortable with

you do this I don’t but you do this

sorry just a bad joke bad joke

chapter 14

verse 1 it says so all the congregation

lifted up their voices and cried

the people wept that night

this is a little touchy so let me just

take it with a bulldozer

just because somebody is crying

now let me back up how it’s going to be

a little fast

we’re we’re people who care for people

and you know you have a friend you have

a loved one you have somebody your

counselor whatever it might be they’re

in tears there’s Brokenness we always

want to Rally around them and support

them absolutely my first response

but sometimes if we’re not careful as

friends we can insulate people from

God’s dealings because the only reason

they’re crying is because they’re in

pain and the only reason they’re in pain

is God turned right and they turn left

let me let me give you the illustration

Jesus said my yoke is easy my bird in

his life what was the example

a yoke is a wooden thing that rests on

the shoulders of two oxen so you got the

big Ox he’s carrying the weight of the

oak he’s got the light Ox has no weight

however if the big Ox turns right and

the little Ox turns left is going to be

in pain and he’s going to cry

what you don’t want to do is insulate

the dumb choice to turn left when God is

turning right that’s what what you don’t

want to do is you want to show Mercy

kindness and care but get to the bottom

of the issue the reason they’re crying

is because God gave them a future a

destiny it’s on the other side of giants

and in the resistance of God’s yes

in their know they found tears

now does that make any sense I hope so I

hope so I I uh yeah I yeah that one

concerns me all right let’s move on

and all the children verse two the

children of Israel complained against

Moses it’s a whole new experience right

there

and then Joshua spoke up and he said in

verse 8 he said if the Lord Delights in

us then he will bring us into this land

and give it to us a land which flows

with milk and honey only do not rebel

against the Lord nor fear the people of

the land for they are our

bread

if we see

spiritual conflict and warfare as God

does

let me insert here

I believe our awareness of spiritual

conflict and warfare is going to

increase without us becoming double

focused and that’s the essential part

for me

but if we were to see spiritual conflict

and warfare the way he sees it

we realize that our meal that which

strengthens us is in the fight

Samson was attacked by a lion

the spirit of the Lord came upon him he

killed the lion

it says and sometime later he walked by

the carcass of that deadline and there

was Honey in the carcass

his nourishment came

for from within the carcass of the enemy

he defeated

people are lacking nourishment and

strength simply because they’re running

from their assignment their assignment

is to bring defeat to these powers of

Darkness that are taunting the armies of

the Living God

it’s it’s a it’s a spiritual yes on our

part that just says I will not back down

from this I will not back down and

somehow that yes positions us to be

nourished

most people want to be nourished before

the war

he says you get nourished in the war

so here we have Samson nourished from

honey

that was in the carcass of the lion he

killed

the Lord put it this way in Psalms 23

David wrote he says

that there’s a banqueting table there’s

a table set before me in the presence of

my enemy so there’s a place of

nourishment in the place of spiritual

conflict

and here it says

these Giants

that are about to terrify this entire

nation keeping us out of our destiny out

of the will of God out of the purpose of

God for us as a nation those giants will

be food to us we just have to say yes to

what God is saying and in the process of

obeying the will of the Lord taking the

word of God putting it on our lips as

Jesus declared over his own future we

take the word of the Lord and we make

that Proclamation if we understood the

power of God’s word we would declare it

more often

the power of God’s word and so here’s

the situation where he says listen they

are our bread we’re going to be

nourished in this conflict

by by keeping ourselves from

the conflict we were born for we

actually keep ourselves from the

strength we were designed for from the

nourishment from the refreshing the

nutrients we were designed to be strong

in this season but the strength only

comes in the conflict

I’m trying I’m trying come on you and me

we we got this

one of the tragic stories most tragic

stories for me in in my reading of

scripture in the whole Bible is David in

his

failures fall with Bathsheba

and it’s the story kicks off of this

phrase that says in the time when kings

went out to war

David was in the palace

someone once said if if you’re not

in the battle you were born for

you’ll face a challenge you have no

Grace for

if you’re not in the battle you were

born for

none of us like conflict it’s not that

we Delight in conflicts that we Delight

in our Yes to God

see the only thing that matters right

now for me is what is God saying because

it requires my yes

well I’m not into buildings well I am

now I’m now into buildings why because

that’s what he said to do so I’m now

into buildings

and it’s that’s just the way you just

you adjust to whatever he’s saying and

you go yes yes

and so David at a time when he was

supposed to be

you know expanding Israel’s borders

dealing with the enemies that surround

them instead he’s on his Palace rooftop

lusting after a woman so he faces a

challenge that he had no Grace for

because he wasn’t in the battle he was

born for

I know all of us feel at times uh

positions of strength and positions of

great weakness

a lot of the a lot of the weakness that

many of us have dealt with through the

years is self-imposed

a self-imposed because we’re trying to

get ourselves psyched up for our next

phase of our life when actually it’s

saying yes to the next phase of our life

that helps us with the strength we need

it’s saying yes to what he’s saying that

positions me for the bread the Giants

become my food

the conflict becomes my food

see this kingdom is so so completely

different

so completely different than than how

all of us would naturally think and plan

you get hungry in this Kingdom by eating

not by not eating

in this Kingdom you actually Rise by

going low in this Kingdom we actually

received by giving it’s just things are

just different and adjusting our

perspective is critical so we got 12

Spies here

how many of them were able to taste of

the bread of defeated Giants

two two out of the twelve

here’s what I want you to catch

the complaining

the no the resistance to the challenge

to The Impossible

kept the ten spies

from enjoying enjoying a meal they were

designed for

it’s it’s in the yes it’s in the yes I

may feel disqualified I may feel too

weak I may feel a hundred things that

would logically keep me from my yes

but it’s in the yes the strength comes

the spirit of the Lord comes Upon Us in

the yes

that makes it possible for us to do what

we couldn’t have done five minutes

earlier and we were designed for that

it’s always been about

co-laboring so the spirit of the Lord

comes upon the one who says yes and then

they find themselves able to do what

they couldn’t do a moment earlier

that’s the nature of Grace

there’s food

in the carcass of the Lion

you’ll you’ll feed for a long time

from your yes

I believe the Lord has

really heightened our awareness

a number of different uh prophets and

friends of ours have have really warned

us in recent years

that if we delay we will have disobeyed

and I don’t I don’t mention that even

now as some sort of a threat or a fear

thing it’s just you know living with the

fear of God’s a huge a huge thing I’ve

I’ve said no when he was saying yes

before

and it doesn’t work out well

it doesn’t work out well

and the Lord has has already called us

if you will we’ve called this new

facility it’s a it’s um it’s Apostolic

resource center it’s a place you know

it’s not the place on planet Earth now

for me it is it’s the center of the

universe but not everyone

not everyone agrees with me there’s we

we don’t have any any station at the

United Nations yet so we’ll hold off on

that one but uh

but the Lord really is raising up a

company of people whose simple yes and

simple love and service for each other

carries a weight into the Nations who

can explain how a city like Redding

could have over a hundred different

nations living here

representatives from over 100 Nations

that’s that’s unheard of that’s not

logical

and none of us could have pulled that

off

but lest you forget your reason for

being here

the Lord is able to do what you and I

could never put together

it is his plan

but we’re at a crossroad that requires

another yes

and this yes I’m all in

I’m all in as much as I know how to be

all in I’m only

because this one requires the facing of

a giant I’ve never had to face before

and when I see it his way

I get hungry because there’s bread

there’s bread there

and it’s not gluten-free either

[Applause]

no

but but your gluten-free people will

like it it won’t hurt you

and I’m just going to trust there’s a

lot of butter with that bread because

honey I I need about half butter and

half bread that’s the way I do it

I would just say yes yes say it again

yes

say it again don’t stand and pray I’m

going to pray for you and then I’m going

to bring Chris up in just a moment

we still have more

we have more this we’re going to tag

team this one

how many of you are saying yes to this

uh this challenge that is before us

today this Horizon built I need to say

you say it out loud with me yes say it

again yes

father I

I asked that you would uh supernaturally

empower

yes

and that you would enable us as a church

family

to feed luxuriously

from the defeated enemies

who fall before us because of your work

not ours we say yes to you and we want

to fulfill everything we were designed

for

I asked for this for the honor of the

name Jesus

everybody said amen amen go ahead and

sit down welcome Chris as he comes