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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Bill Johnson
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October 19, 2021 - January 14, 2022
The assignments to evangelize, to work miracles, to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the like are all practical expressions of this one major task—God’s will fully manifest here, with Heaven as its source, model, and inspiration.
We cannot allow ourselves to live in theory only. We do this whenever we embrace a routine of prayer without expecting an impact on the here and now.
If we become accustomed to praying prayers that aren’t answered, we tend to settle for living in the realm of theory.
Heaven/eternity is far greater than our wildest dream. But because of that greatness, we tend to hide our unbelief there, without any expectation for breakthrough here in the present. Whenever we do this, we rob ourselves of the personal strength and joy that was intended to be our possession as the result of answers to prayer. Answered prayer is God’s design.
Of course! This is so obvious! But I am guilty of living and praying this way. It's insulting to You and is clearly unbelief.
Instead of comparing ourselves with ourselves, we should have been using the original standard found in the life of Jesus so that the measure of God’s goodness revealed in Christ, demonstrated in purity and power, would have remained the same through the past 2,000 years. Perhaps then we can see why He intended for us to do “greater works” than He did! (See John 14:12.) We would be building upon His example for centuries with fresh courage and great faith to see what might be possible in our lifetimes. Jesus only had three and a half years to discover what the Father would do through Him. We
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It is interesting to note that unity is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. In fact, it is called, “the unity of the Spirit” in Ephesians 4:3. It’s His. We are called to “preserve” this unity, not create it. It already exists wherever He has influence. And if it’s not present, we’ve left His influence out of the equation. Second, it is of upmost importance to recognize that His kind of unity requires diversity. This is where individuals are valued for, and in spite of, their uniqueness. There is beauty in contrast.
“For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” This prayer is an apostolic prayer. Apostle is a term used by both Greek and Roman armies to describe the leader of an entourage with the assignment to bring the culture of the conquering country to the one newly conquered. The purpose for this is fascinating. It was so that their ruler would feel as at home there as he did in his home country. Thus, we have, “as it is in heaven.”
Historically, the Church tends to take the greatest promises of Scripture and put them off into a period of time for which we have no responsibility. Jesus commanded His followers to do things that they might have impact now. His assignment to His followers was always to bring transformation to their immediate surroundings.
NOW!!
Three things need to be noted about this greatest of all commissions
The first is that God wants His world, Heaven, to have overriding influence on this one.
The second is that the process for this breakthrough is prayer. Prayer followed by action is expo...
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Prayer removes the obstacle (the wall) to our victory so that our actions help facilitate the fulfillment of what was prayed for (the Kingdom to come).
Third, we are to pray His heart, His dream. The Bible is filled with such insights into what His dream looks
Picture this, and never let it go—the earth filled with the manifested presence of Jesus!
We have the privilege of establishing a culture that attracts Heaven.
We know that the devil came to kill, steal, and destroy. It is reasonable to conclude that the effects of his influence are measured by death, loss, and destruction. Jesus
We must guard our hearts from the deception that attributes death, loss, and destruction to God. Our assignment becomes horribly weakened when we see God as the author of these things,
Freedom will only be experienced in the measure to which we see God as being good.
Jesus drove the demons out by the Holy Spirit, giving the person in need an encounter with God. That encounter brought the liberty that can only come as the result of His influencing presence. It’s a beautiful picture of light driving out darkness. The Spirit of God comes upon a person to illustrate the Lordship of Jesus. Freedom is the result.
Freedom is the result! Yes!
the measurement of Heaven in this story? It is both in the absence of demons and the presence of freedom.
When people lack the hunger for more of God and His full, present effect on humanity, they often become unable to recognize the presence of the Kingdom in what is displayed right in front of them. But for any honest seeker, freedom is easily recognized and celebrated, becoming the measurable effect of Heaven itself.
The power of the Holy Spirit is perfectly suited for every true believer.
"True" believer? That seems like an unnecessary distinction to me. Kinda judgy and arrogant. Why not simply use "believer"?
Nor did He allow the problem to remain. He always settled the issue by demonstrating what the Father’s will looked like.
Slavery? Opression? Subjection of women? Children? I need to study this.
when people are hit with tragedy, the last thing they need is for a brother or sister in the Lord to get them to turn inward and examine their faith. Faith isn’t found there. It’s found in Christ. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2).
Yes!!
power is also needed for endurance. The manifestation of power upon the apostles was certainly for miracles. But perhaps what should stand out the most was their God-given ability to endure hardship without blaming God, themselves, or the people of God.
Holiness is the beauty of God.
If our understanding of grace doesn’t lead us to righteousness, we don’t understand grace.
Jesus wants to be re-presented by every believer, so that the world will know what the Father is like. That is the simple but profound mandate. Reveal the Father. Reveal His glory, wonder, beauty, tenderness, compassion, and power.
Re-present" I like that. Present Christ over and over again. Beautiful!
The Bible is filled with such commands and assignments. They are not burdensome. They are opportunities to reveal what He is like to one another and to the world around us.
Heaven’s culture is first and foremost presence-focused. Everything in Heaven is connected to and thrives because of the presence of God. There is nothing in Heaven that exists apart from His presence.
is important for us to realize the process God uses to fulfill His intent through our lives—prayer.
Hear this, recognize that God uses prayer as the means to bring about His will on earth. That means my habits matter, my decisions with my time matter.
What we take possession of in prayer we’ll be able to more correctly steward in life. These battles are won on our knees before they are lived out on our feet.
We become most productive when our hunger for fulfilling His mandate for our lives is greater than our fear of failure.
Two thoughts:
1. I have failed at bringing Jesus to people and it is tempting to withdraw and quit trying but doing so would be not only to disobey but also to waste the time I've been given here.
2. While it is true that I can't let failure stop me, I also MUST learn from them and not take failing in relationships with people lightly.
willingness to fail is a necessity for growth,
hunger for the biblical realities that are no longer the norm for the New Testament Church.
Hunger!
when a follower of Jesus hungers beyond their fear of failure, breakthroughs happen. And when that breakthrough happens in one place, it opens the door for others to benefit with an outpouring of their own.
HUNGER!!
Kingdom-oriented people can influence their surroundings to the point that residents, including those who will not believe our message, will still live under the influence of the Kingdom of God displayed in a region.
Jesus. He is perfect theology. He perfectly illustrates the Father in every way. He never turned anyone away, regardless of the depth of his or her sin or whether he or she had great or little faith concerning their need.
It becomes all too easy to accept things as they are, without carrying the responsibility to address these things in Jesus’ name. An assumption is then made that whatever happens was meant to be.
We say things were "meant to be" because it's easier than believing it can be different and then taking action on that belief.
We know that God alone lives in the realm where nothing is impossible. He is God. He is infinite, while everything else is finite. There is one beautiful exception to this rule—He made it possible for those who believe Him to experience the same reality He does. “Nothing is impossible for those who believe” (see Matt. 17:20). Faith gives us access to a realm known only to God. This is the privilege given to His children, to those who believe.
WOW!!
Whenever we become people who truly believe that nothing is impossible with God, we look for problems.
“It is finished” (John 19:30).
There is nothing that we will ever need, even 100 billion years from now, that will not have been provided for at the cross. It was that complete.
Isaiah 61.
The four cornerstones of thought in our biblical worldview are these: God is good, nothing is impossible, the blood of Jesus paid for everything, and every person is significant.
We have an obligation to the Lord and to the world around us to dream God-sized dreams that only He can fulfill.
He invites us into a relationship where our desires move Him. The Almighty God makes Himself vulnerable to the desires of His people.
If the Spirit of God is with us, He expects us to invade the impossible in His name. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the resurrected Christ. He raised Him from the dead. And it’s that Holy Spirit who flows through us to alter the course of history for His name’s sake.
view.
I see this in my life and in the life of some churches. We dream small if we dream at all. I dream small.
The mere expectation of evil increasing in the earth, without a conviction of God’s heart for answers, creates a people without hope. In a strange sense, we then become a people who are encouraged over the increase of evil, as it becomes a sign that we are in the last days spoken of in Scripture. We must never find encouragement in the lack of breakthrough of Kingdom realities. It is time to make a decision not to embrace any theology for the last days that doesn’t require faith to see it happen.
