Bill Johnson · Bethel Church · Published September 18, 2026
0:00 To be strong in this hour is going to take more than a few verses of a devotional on a Tuesday morning. You've got to interact with God Himself who is the Word. Have that that is in His heart interwoven to how you think, how you feel. Everything is interwoven because I have taken time to meditate.
0:21 I hear people say, oh, I read a scripture this morning. It was so deep. It just fed me all day long. Whatever. I like food. I consider food to be the will of God for my life. And I will choose quality over quantity. I like good food. I have favorite restaurants around the world. My favorite restaurant is down in Napa Valley called the French Laundry. I've been to a number of three Michelin star restaurants around the world. And oh, goodness gracious. You just almost get a whole new release in your prayer language, eating that food. I mean, it's just encounters with Jesus at that table. And I remember the first time I ate at French Laundry. We've been blessed enough to go there a number of times.
1:13 And I remember the first time, there's like nine courses, and then they throw in some freebies, you know. And it's all just the finest food on the planet, you know. and so I remember sitting there and they bring out this little bowl with caviar and oysters. It's called oysters and pearls. Chef Keller is world famous for this specific dish. Now, you need to know the inside. I hate oysters and I hate caviar. All right. So here I have this set before me that I would not order if I had a choice. But what we do is you choose vegetarian menu, which is never going to be chosen by me.
1:58 Or the real people. That's not the way to say it. Or the meat menu. So all you vegetarians, you love me week after week. I don't know how you do it. You endure such torment from me. it. So they brought out this little bowl, and it's a big plate, but a little tiny bowl with caviar and oysters and his sauce. And I looked at Benny and I said, I'm spending too much money for this meal not to at least try it, which is not my norm. But I thought, I'm going to be bold. I'm going to express great faith. And I took a bite of the oysters and pearls. I could not believe what was happening in my mouth. I turned to Benny and I said, I want a chili bowl full of this stuff. I don't know what's in the sauce. You know, what we do is I, as you already know, I'm a cookbook buyer, even though I don't cook.
2:58 And let's say as you go to French Laundry or some nice restaurant, and you taste the finest thing you've ever tasted. And you go into the reception area of the restaurant, and there they've got cookbooks by Chef Keller or whoever happens to be. and you say, man, I want that again. And you pull off that menu, the cookbook, and you find oysters and pearls. And you start looking at all these ingredients. And you go, you know what? I don't like that. That's oysters. I don't like that caviar. Oh, look at that spice. I never did like that. Oh, they put that, but that's kind of bland. I don't know why you put that in a recipe. And you go all through this recipe, and you find there's not very many things on there you would ever enjoy by itself.
3:47 Unless, of course, you throw in chocolate chips at the end. And so you've got this recipe of bitter tasting things, fishy tasting things, sour tasting things, too salty, too sweet, too bland, but somehow the master chef has put it together in perfect balance and it becomes the best thing you've ever eaten in your life. This book has bitter things, sour things, things that are so sweet, things that are so confrontive, things that are so challenging, things that are so exotic in and of themselves. But when they've been blended into the whole, it is the absolute finest meal you will ever eat. This is that which you were born for.
4:41 It's the whole counsel of God. It's not just, some people, they just drive me nuts. They just go through and find just the feel-good verses. No, you need to be slapped. It's called a sword for a reason. There are things clinging on to you that shouldn't be there.
5:01 The Bible says the word of God is good for correction. Proverbs 12 verse 1 says, and this is like in the New King James translation. This isn't the Message Bible. It says, he who hates correction is stupid. He who hates correction is just plain stupid. They're just dumb.
5:23 Let me extend it. He who hates to be corrected by Scripture is stupid. And I tell you what, we've got an option because you will be corrected. It'll either be in private with a sword or be in public with the community. but it will be exposed. just looking at your faces is such a great joy for me right now watching the squirm in people's faces this is a relational journey I'm so thankful I've got goodness I don't know how many Bibles and Bible programs and study materials and books I have on my iPad I love it. I sit on the play and I go, yeah, what does that word mean? And I look it up and touch the word. It just opens up.
6:16 I got all this stuff. I love it. But I want to tell you, do not have a relationship with God over the scripture that is on a screen only. Have something you can write on because this is going to be your history. I got up about 3 o'clock in the morning, August 2009, I think was the year I was headed to Argentina. I went in to use the restroom. There was a book sitting there by Kim Clement. I looked at the inside cover. He wrote a note to me. He was here. He wrote a note to me. He wrote a scripture reference down. I looked at that reference. It spoke so deeply to me that I went to my Bible and marked it and put the date down because I never wanted to forget the date. So it's on the right page in the book of Nahum of my Bible, the date when God spoke. So you want your history with God.
7:11 You want to underline, you want to make cross-references. God speaks to you out of the Gospel of John, and you see a similar thing back in Joshua, then find it in John, then go back to Joshua, write the reference line. You want to have that silver thread of your redemptive journey with King Jesus, who is teaching you how he thinks and how he sees. You need the confrontive stuff. You need the stuff that's harsh, the book of Judges, the things that by themselves maybe isn't that pleasant, but in the whole of scripture in our journey to come to know him and be a true disciple we find out that these things they don't contradict each other as we thought they actually complement each other this flavor that's bitter by itself when it's added to this part of the meal it enhances the flavor of that part of the meal and this thing is written in its entirety to minister to who we are to bring us into our sense of purpose and into our sense of destiny
8:08 Joshua 1, are you there? We're going to read five verses or so that have been five of the most important verses in my life for over 40 years. And I was actually going to read this just kind of as an ending, a conclusion to what else I was going to share. Tonight I'll do probably the same, but but it's going to be a little bit different.
8:41 I believe this is a prophetic word for you and for me. Let's go ahead and start with verse six. Be strong and of good courage. For to this people you shall divide in inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.
9:35 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. I would just, if nothing else out of tonight, I would encourage you to take these five verses or so and if not put them to memory, at least mark them in your Bible and review them somewhat frequently. Here's the deal. He commanded you to be strong, which means it is within your power to choose. he does not command things that he does not make possible He says in scripture, let the weak say, I am strong. He says in Isaiah 35, if you find a brother who is weak, tell him to be strong, and then the Lord will come and do the supernatural part. But stand next to them, exhort them in strength. In other words, weakness is not an option. You say, well, I'm so broken. I've gone through so many horrible things. I get that. I get that. No shame for that at all. But you were designed for strength. He says, be strong. Well, I don't know how to be strong. Well, start with your mouth. Start with your mouth. A good place to start is with your mouth. Instead of talking about all the stuff that went wrong, start talking about the stuff that's gone right.
11:11 Start talking about who he says you are, who he says we are. Let the weak say, I am strong. He's just saying, listen, I get it. You're in weakness. Try this. Say, I am strong. Well, that's not going to do any good. Oh, shut up. Just shut up. He said do it. And what happens when we do what he is doing, all of heaven supports it, which means supernatural enablement is available the moment we brought our mouth into cooperation with what he is saying. Let's say it together. Let the weak say, I am strong. I am strong. This is what he has commanded. Now he said, be strong and very courageous. that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. I get it.
12:04 We're not under the law of Moses. But the law of Moses in this passage represents the word of the Lord. So think with me. He said, be strong and courageous. Why? Because you're going to need strength and you're going to need courage to obey. weak-hearted people find it difficult to obey strong-hearted people rise to the challenge so be strong and very courageous why because um so that you can observe all the law which moses my servant command you the word of the lord Do not turn from to the right or the left. Why? That you may prosper wherever you go. Every command of the Lord is to take you into abundance. Well, it just seems like it's just punishing. Yeah, that's just your dumb perspective.
13:02 I get that. It does feel like that at times. But if we understand that our Father is simply trying to bring us through this membrane of trial into the realm of kingdom, because that's where abundance is. You cannot enter the kingdom except through tribulation. Sometimes the tribulation is persecution. Sometimes the tribulation is difficult things that he requires from us. It could be any number of things, but it's that crossing the chicken line, so to speak. It's that crossing the line where we say, I'm all in. It's that step that brings us into abundance. That's where he's longing to take every person. He says, so be courageous and be strong. Why? Because you're going to need it to obey. Why do you obey?
13:54 It's going to bring you into prosperity. It's going to bring you into abundance. Prosperity is not just your wallet. It's prosperity of soul, of mind, of heart, emotions, will. All these areas affected by the abundance of God. Verse 8, the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth. That's the meditation part. Meditate on it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that's written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. in a very unusual way, you and I choose the abundance we're going to live in. I realize there's a grace for some to live in much more than others because of just the anointing under life, the wisdom, I understand all that.
14:53 But if I were to ask most Christians, if I could use money, not because that's the subject I want to talk about, but because it's an easy thing to measure. You either have or you don't. You either have money in your checkbook or you don't have any. You have some in your wallet or you don't. It's measurable. It's a yes or no.
15:16 Kingdom realities are measurable. And they're going to become more measurable. We pray on earth as it is in heaven. It needs to be measurable. That's not a fantasy prayer. It's a measurable reality. Learning to recognize the dimension of God and be able to measure, in a sense, to qualify this has happened tonight, which is evidence of God's kingdom. It's vital that we learn to recognize. Jesus said, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom. The implication is, once you're born again, you can see. It's vital that we can see what we've prayed for. Kingdom come. So we have this invitation to make our way prosperous. If I were to ask most Christians, who determines the income for your life?
16:16 Most of us would say God determines it. But in some ways, you do. In some ways, just bear with me on this one. If I'm a farmer and I plant 10 acres of corn, I can't expect to harvest 100. How many acres are we planting? And that's a part of the challenge in life, is to learn to expand the planting. That's why the courage is needed. That's why the strength is needed. He says,
17:18 I don't know if you've ever done a study notice at times in the Bible where God reveals himself with someone he revealed himself with Gideon he revealed himself to the disciples in Matthew 28 lo I'm with you always even to the end of the age he revealed himself to various individuals throughout scripture but every time he revealed himself with people with it came a commission to do something impossible I'm not sure if you got that.
18:05 Here you are, and God says, I'm with you. It's always connected to an impossible assignment. One of my favorite passages, Acts 10, 28. Jesus went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. God was with him. The revelation throughout Scripture, whenever God reveals himself with his people, it's always because they've been given an impossible assignment, or he just showed us the impossible assignment that they fulfilled because he was with them. When God is with you, he expects something to happen. It's a misconception to think he is with us just to comfort us. Let me put it this way.
19:05 He wants us to be in the fight, so we need comfort. He doesn't want us sitting still needing comfort. When you run into something that the Lord has directed you to do, take some time to think on it and include this in your thinking. He's just trying to bless me. on the other side of that obedience is abundance.
19:38 He's just trying to bring me into the abundance of his kingdom. He gives you a commandment, sell this, give this away, move here, you know, witness to that person, whatever it is he's directing you to do. Every time he's nudging us to do something, it's because there's abundance and breakthrough on the other end. yep so we say yes we do we say yes we thank you lord how many of you have uh you've been so troubled with something that you've thought about it for hours during a day how many of you you've been so troubled about something it kept you awake at night you couldn't even sleep All right, so you know how to meditate.
20:28 Now we just need to adjust the focus is all. That's all we need to do. You are already very skilled at biblical meditation. Say this with me. I can do this. I've been practicing for a lifetime.
20:49 Now, the scriptures tell us, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. God is saying, you're alive because I talk. You're alive because I talk. Everything about you thrives because I have spoken. Everything about you thrives because I have spoken. I have deposited through word. I have transfer from my world to yours through a decree. And when we take that word seriously and prayerfully consider, put it on, I've done this, put it on a three by five card, stick it on the dashboard of my car if I have a distance to drive. And I just have that to look at, just to refresh my mind. I maybe can quote it without the card, but I look at it anyway, because I want everything about me. I speak it because I want my ears to hear it. I see it with my eyes because I want my eyes to see it. I speak with my mouth because I want to participate with God in saying what he is saying.
21:46 If you want to, Jesus only said what his father says. If you want to learn to say what the father is saying, then start saying what he has said. Start declaring what he has already said. Oh, thank you. That's probably a very important. Oh yeah. Very important note. All of my notes are scribbling important notes. So, all right. So here we have this invitation by the Lord on this relational journey where we do more than simply reading a text. We are alive at a time when we are inundated with words, many words, ideas, concepts, principles that are so anti-Christ in nature. Sometimes they're easy to spot because, you know, the devil wears a red rubber suit and carries a pitchfork and it's not hard to see. Other times it's so interwoven into our culture, maybe our own personal history, that we don't recognize him at all. It's just become a part. And until you get exposed more than just on an eye level, more than just on an intellectual level, but this interaction with God himself, who is the word, suddenly things start standing out to me. Now, wait a minute. It's like that abortion movie. It's something that was acceptable. And now, no, it's no longer acceptable. Suddenly you start seeing from a different place because the interaction of the word in you actually rewires your capacity to see and to think.
23:12 Meditation is an ongoing encounter with God. It is ongoing experience where we harness our thoughts, we harness emotion, we put them in line to what God has saying, and suddenly we begin to carry the shape of that very word. And here Joshua was told that his own success, his own personal and corporate prosperity as a nation was dependent upon them not letting this word depart from their mouth. Not letting it depart from their mouth is the expression of biblical meditation. I keep it in front of me. Everything that is commanded here, be strong, be courageous, don't be dismayed, don't be, you know, keep the word in your mouth. All these things are connected to this one simple assignment. Meditate on what God has said. It's the lost art of meditation. We are inundated with words, with ideas, with thoughts that are so contrary to the kingdom.
24:13 And I grieve as I watch people that I know in the body of Christ that will adopt things that are so contrary to the kingdom of God. And they'll not just adopt them in the sense that They no longer resist them. They will even begin to promote these things. They work very, very much against Christ. Anti-Christ thoughts and ideas.
24:35 Even if, you know, the internet, I like the internet myself. I love, you can find anything. I sometimes say, what could I find today? You know, I will. I sit there, I go, oh, what can I find? I did this years ago. I thought, oh, I used to shop for this. I'm not even gonna tell you because people tend to buy me stuff. I have to be careful what I say anymore. Makes me nervous. There was an item. I'm not even going to say what it was, but I used to go in the mall and I'd watch by it, sit in the window, and go, man, I wish I could afford it. It was like $60, but $60 was like a million to me at that time. And I'd look at that thing and go, boy, that's so nice. And I'd walk right past it. And several years ago, I thought, I have $60. I need to find that thing. So I did. I just did a little research online, and I found what I couldn't afford 40 years ago. I can now afford. It's a little more than 60 now, but it's still alright.
25:27 It's within my reach. I love the internet. I do, but there's so much garbage and there are ways of thinking that are so dangerous. The TV, I mean, Benny and I, you know, there's movies on the planes and oh, Jesus. Help us with better movies. Yes, yes. Help us with better movies. It's being done, folks. It's being done. Bright Ones is released soon. Come on. Anyway, I'll sit on the plate. I last about five minutes on most movies. I sit there, I watch it. Eh, see where this is going. Dumb. Turn it. Eh, garbage. Turn that. I just don't last for long. there's so much bombardment on our minds and our emotions trying to draw us into emotional weightiness and heaviness that is not a reality it's not really a part of our life even if you don't have the internet even if you don't have a TV you still have to walk into a grocery store and there's stuff everywhere to prophesy to you the values of another world the point I'm trying to make is to be strong in this hour is going to take more than a few verses of a devotional on a Tuesday morning you've got to interact with God himself who is the word have that that is in his heart interwoven to how you think, how you feel, how you react how you respond, how you plan everything is interwoven because I have taken time to meditate, to utter, to moan to rehearse, to bring up over and over again to put in my own words, to put in his words to gather other scripture, put them together make them prayers, make them confessions, sing them as songs. Just don't try to sing a song that Belfa Music could record. That causes a lot of people to not write a good song because they try to make it recordable. Listen, it's probably stinks as a song to be recorded, but it's one that God
27:35 will really value. So just let it be honest, authentic, and sing. I'm serious. Sing to him. You are the one who provides while I sleep. I can rest in peace because of your abundance. Your heart for me is beyond anything I could imagine. God, I celebrate who you are. You provide for me even while I sleep. And you just take this. You begin to sing it throughout your day. Why? Because that's meditation. That's biblical meditation. Somehow the heart, the mind, the emotions, everything about us becomes trained in the mind of Christ. the missing art of biblical meditation must be restored I believe it's the most essential ingredient for this season that we're living in why don't you look with me almost said look at me, no don't do that look with me to Psalms 1, the first psalm we're going to read just a couple verses of it but I think hopefully it will make sense to you
28:36 Yeah. when I was I had a challenging physical issue here several years ago and I got to the place I had a growth in a small intestine and I got to where I couldn't eat and then eventually to where I couldn't drink and sat in a recliner for long for days and finally moved to a hotel in San Francisco eventually into a hospital room and my practice was to sit with the scripture and or to sit with my iPad and to watch, listen to prophetic words over my life. This biblical meditation is what has kept me alive and sane. Sanity might be questionable for some of you concerning me, but we'll just leave that where it is.
29:30 At least in my version of sanity. Honestly, it has been my life source is to take what God has said review it over and over and over again. I don't care if I've read the verse a thousand times, I need it one more time. And you'll take that verse and you just begin to pray. He says in his word, and no one is able to remove you from my hand. God, I give you thanks. I give you thanks that my life is firmly in your hand. Your strength protects me. Your grip on my heart keeps me safe. God, I honor you as the father who delights in me as a son. And you just take this, you process it. It's more than a two minute moment in the morning. It's a lifestyle that starts affecting and infecting how we think, how we pray, what we declare, what we say. And I sat there by the hour, just reviewing, reading it again, watching the video again, turning to Joshua 1 which I did again and again reading this psalm that has been such a life source for me again and again I'm telling you it's a source of mental health for us forever but especially in this season no fruit tree no vegetable garden no vineyard groans and travails to bring forth fruit it bears fruit naturally if it is fed well watered well and pruned correctly God rewards all growth with pruning.
31:18 He rewards all growth with pruning. Pruning in the kingdom is not punishment. Come on.
31:42 Wow. People look at the discipline of God and they often assume that the discipline of the Lord, the pruning of the Lord, has to do with punishment. And I say, no, that's not really right. That's not really true. Well, what about Jonah in the whale? Jonah ran into the whale when he was running from the word of God the word of God is what prunes us the voice of the Lord is what prunes. Let's go ahead and read all eight verses, and then we'll back up and just try to go a verse at a time, all right? Verse one, I am the true vine. My father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. He rewards all growth with pruning. You are clean already because of the word which I have spoken to you.
32:41 Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. I don't know if this is just a portion of scripture I never, ever, ever get tired of because it seems to be this invitation into fruitfulness. Do you remember the story Jesus used a parable actually of the landowner who gave his 10 servants each a mina? A mina is a sum of money. Then there's another story of three servants that received talents. Talent is not an ability to play the piano. A talent also was a sum of money. And in each case, they were to invest that money to make a profit to give back to the landowner. What I want you to see is that from the beginning to the end, God created everything to be productive. Everything is to bear fruit. By nature, everything about our lives is to be productive and fruit-bearing.
34:23 God is actually glorified by a system he created where a peach tree will grow peaches. You eat the fruit, you plant the seed, and it grows another tree that brings more peaches. That cycle of life, of seed, of fruit bearing, of increase, of productivity, is the cycle in which God made everything. His economy is linked directly to his voice, which is not only all-powerful, it is creative in nature. And God spoke, let there be light, and there was light. He spoke things into being. We know that when he speaks to us today, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So his design is that everything would happen through the voice of his word. In John 16, the very next chapter, Jesus describes how he has re-inherited everything. The Father has given everything back into his hands, which is fascinating because he forfeited everything as God to become a man. Now, he's still 100% God, so some people misunderstand me at this point.
35:40 He's entirely God, but he takes on flesh and chooses to live with the restrictions of a human being, of a person, although he's eternally God. But in that position, as a man now, he re-inherits everything. He already had everything as God, but now he inherits everything as man. Why? Because he's our elder brother and he now gets to include us in the inheritance. And in John 16, he says, Jesus announces all that the father has is mine. Now listen carefully. And the Holy Spirit will take what is mine and declare it to you.
36:18 He's not merely making an announcement. He's not just merely showing off what he owns. He is transferring resource from a heavenly account into an earthly account, and the transfer takes place whenever he speaks. not only does God create, not only does he transfer a resource through his decree, through his declaration, but the Bible says every molecule is held in place by his voice, by his word. Everything is defined. Everything is empowered. Everything is created. Everything is sustained through his word. So when we come to this story, this illustration of us being a vine, we have the Father God as the vine dresser, verse one. Verse two, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.
37:19 Once again, he rewards all of our growth with pruning. You are already clean, verse 3, because of the word I've spoken to you. Now think through this. You are already clean. So he's announcing to the guys, he said, listen, when you bear fruit, I got to prune it. And I'm going to prune it because that way we'll get more fruit. So you've got to see that the Lord does everything for the purpose of increase. The Father is extremely focused on increase. the story of the talents and the miners. It was always about increase.
37:57 The minimum level of profit allowed in those two stories was 100% per year. I'm just quoting scripture now. Two stories, the prophet, the two people in each story, the one person in each story that stood before the Lord in judgment was the one who buried what they have. And the Lord said, if they only would have put it in the bank, they would have at least gotten interest. The whole point was, I want you to see how God thinks. He thinks in terms of increase. He thinks in terms of things working to better life, to bring increase, to be productive. The sun gives light, gives heat. Leaves of the trees give oxygen. Plants give seed to reproduce over and over animals. The same thing. God has created this cycle of increase in productivity, and he has brought you and me into that life cycle of God himself with supernatural increase and supernatural supply. So he has positioned us. He requires us to bring increase, but not increase that somehow we have to drum up. It's simply increase that comes by staying attached to the vine. It's normal. He'll do the pruning. You just stay attached.
39:20 You don't have to grow. I claim grapes. I claim grapes. I'm confessing grapes right now. Grapes are now going to grow. I claim the grapes. You don't have to do it. You just have to stay connected. It's the natural product. He'll do the pruning. You stay connected. You will bear fruit.
39:40 And we're going to look at part of what that fruit is. So he says, you are clean already because the word I spoke to you. The word clean there and the word prune are the basic same word. So when he says to his disciples, but you are clean already, he is saying, I've already pruned you. How did he prune them? By the word I have spoken to you. The pruning wasn't with a hand, it was with the mouth. It wasn't yelling and screaming, it was adjusting values.
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