Stephanie Okafor - Jesus: Authority in His Name

Authority is not what we seek out for signs. What are some of these signs. Yes, the demons will be casted out, the sick would be healed, the oppress will be set free. The signs follow The signs confirm that you are one who is declaring the Kingdom of God, because when you are speaking of the Kingdom of God, you are bringing the reality of that kingdom into that territory. Welcome to plock pad with me, Stephanie okafor and this is your invitation to return to what matters the most, and that is your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now today I'm going to be teaching on the authority that we have in his name. Now, if you watch the previous episode that was about Jesus the name above all names, you know this is just a beautiful continuation to that. If you haven't, I encourage you to do so. But in order to summarize that episode, I will say that one of the key messages from it is, first of all, we understand that the name Jesus is above every other name, and that name is not just powerful from a place of pronunciation, right, It is a name that in different languages people have you know their neighbors and things like that. But it is powerful because of the revelation of the person Jesus, right, And so saying the name without understanding the revelation behind it, you know, it limits the authority, the effectiveness, the power that we should see it that should come forth as a result of his name. And so, you know, we talked about how in scripture a name represents many things. It's not just about you know, the pronunciation again of that name, but the name actually represents yes name in you know, the meaning that points to a prophetic assignment destiny, but also title, office, authority, reputation, person and identity. And one of the key things that we really honed in on was the name and the authority, right, because when you think about Jesus, when you think about his identity, his person, his office, his title, a lot of it points towards his authority. Okay, So when we talk about the meaning of his name, one it means savior, and so the revelation of him as savior should also transform how we do life, how we see people, because if I believe that Jesus saves, then I would have the posture that no one is too far gone that the Lord cannot reach. I will not be the one who writes off people, who condemns people. Yes, I don't agree with evil. Yes I don't agree with that which is against the ways of the Lord. But I will not condemn a person or write them off, But rather I would begin to intercede and pray for people. Because anyone you have to understand this that even witches, the very fact that they are in witchcraft is a product of their ignorance. They don't know Jesus, and they clearly don't know Saying either, because Saying is not a friend to anybody, even the ones who work for him. He would also torment. So when you begin to see things you know with a different lens, when you begin to see how Jesus moved on the earth, right, you have a burden for people to be saved. Right, So we talked about that. To believe in Jesus right, you should also believe in his mission that no one is too far gone, And to also believe that Jesus has authority above any authority, to believe that he has been given all authority right, That means you also believe that he should have all authority over you. Because if you're gonna believe that demons should obey, demons should be obedient to the word of the Lord. If you're gonna believe that sickness should come into you know, you know, submission to the word of the Lord, you should also come into submission. You should also obey the Lord. Right. This is how we don't fall into deception. Right, because you realize that whenever you know any area of our lives, I say this often, disobedience is a sign of deception. It is there's nothing cute about it, there's nothing fun about it. It is a sign of deception because when the spirit of God does not have full authority over you, there are limitations to what God can do in and through your life. Right, And so let us not just be people that confess with our words that Jesus is the name above every other name. But let that truth be demonstrated in how we live. Right. But you have to watch the whole episode because we unpack much more. So. Now today we're going to be teaching on the authority we have in Jesus's name. How do we walk in it, how do we walk it out? How do we live it? How do we embody it? Now I'm going to be teaching on two key things, because what I've seen in scripture is that the authority in Jesus is revealed when we continue his mission and we walk in submission to him. Right, so, when we are loyal to his mission, and when we are committed through submission. Now we're going to talk about this. First of all. You know, one of my favorite books in the Bible is Isaiah. I mean, the prophet Isaiah had such accuracy about the Lord Jesus hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. And look at something that Isaiah said in Isaiah fifty three, verse ten. He said, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin. He's speaking about the Lord Jesus. But this part is so dear to me. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days. What are we talking about? That Jesus will see you and he would extend his days through you. That when you are in Christ, you are an extension of his of his earthly ministry, you are an extension of his mission. He shall prolong his days. Listen for me, that is my personal price. One of the things I pray about whenever I if I'm in a position where you know, I have to go, minister, if I have to speak, you know, maybe like travel for a conference or anything like that, or even honestly sometimes when you know, I might just be going through my own uncertainties or whatever. And what I say to encourage myself is prolong your days through me. Jesus, prolonged your days. A minister admires so much Apostle on Romeo's side. He talks about this thing about having short prayers. Right now, this is a man of prayer. The man can pray for sixteen hours, non stuff. This is a man of prayer. But he but he also talks about how there are these short prayers that every believer should have that you used to encourage yourself in any moment, maybe there's a moment where something wants to shake you up or whatever. You know, say something that encourages yourself. And this is what encourages me. It is prolonged your days through me. When I have to go to a country, the minister, and you know, and I'm aware of just the warfare and their position and all the things happening in that country. What I'm speaking to myself is Jesus prolonged your days through me, Because it is a reminder that Lord, I am committed to your mission. I am not going on my own accord. I am going to continue your mission. So even though they would see me, but really who is being represented is Jesus. So it is a reminder to myself that everything I do, Lord, I'm doing it in your authority. It is what brings boldness and confidence in me that it is no longer I that live, but Christ, who lives in me. Isaiah said he shall see his seed. The seed is you. Now, look at what the scripture talks about. In John one, verse twelve. It says, but as men has received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God. The seed is those that have received him. So, if you are in Christ, Isaiah gave us such an accurate prophecy that Jesus would see you and he would prolong his days on earth. You see the mission that He came on this earth for did not stop after his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. It continues through his people. And so for me, I don't know you can make that a prayer if you want to, but I believe it's a powerful prayer. It reminds us that this life I live is not my own. Jesus prolonged your days through me. You see in John twenty, verse twenty one. Jesus would even affirm this when he will say, as the Father has sent me, I also send you. As the Father has said me. Everything Jesus did in his earthly ministry was that which was according to the will of the Father, and he says, now I also send you in the same manner that let our lives reveal that which is committed to fulfilling the will and the purposes of the Lord Jesus. Now here's the beautiful thing, because if I'm going to commission you, this is why how we get the great commission. If I am going to commission you to continue in my mission, if I am going to instruct you to continue the works that I do, I would give you the authority to do so. I'm not gonna send you without empowering you. So if we're gonna walk in the authority of the Lord, we have to be loyal to his mission. Because Jesus will delegate authority to those that will continue it. Look at Luke ten. You know Luke ten verse nineteen, Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scalp scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Now serpents escorpions was not by animals. There's something in here that it was gonna be unpacked for a later day. But he further reveals it when he says, and all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. When he's talking about he has the authority, he has the ability to delegate it, and he's delegating it because you're gonna go into territories, You're gonna go into places. You're going, you're gonna see things, You're gonna experience opposition, you're gonna experience warfare. But guess what, because I sent you, I have given you authority over it. Nothing by shall bye, by any means, will it harm you. I remember, when you know, there was this dream I had that revealed just God call on my life. And one of the things that I hold on to was that in that dream, there was a moment when the the it was like the enemy caught wind of what I was doing and so I understood that my assignment had to do with taking people out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of light. So getting people out of just the chokehold of Satan and bringing them into know the Lord Jesus. And as I was doing that and Satan caught wind of it, he began he came with this just host of demons and lit. Before he could touch me, the Lord received me back. And I remember when the Lord said that you like, basically, no harm will come upon you. This is before I preaching any of that. He showed me that there are places I'm going to send you. You would hear of the of the opposition. Sometimes I would even show it to you beforehand. But you have authority over it. Why because this is my mission through you, This is my will and purpose through you, and I will not send you in your own strength. My authority will back you up. There is a different level of confidence you begin to walk in when you have the consciousness, When you have the awareness you see many of us we are doing things for God and not even conscious about it. It's just things that we just know to do. Sometimes it just becomes passed down behavior like oh, I'm just I'm you know, I'm a Christian, so I'm doing this for the Lord. But you need to have the awareness that my life is prolonging the days of Jesus's earthly ministry on Earth, that the mission that Jesus came on earth for it is going to be extended. It would be revealed through me that I am committed to his mission. Because for anyone who is committed to the mission of the Law, there is delegated authority assigned to them. And so look at this, you know, let's go to again Matthew twenty eight eighteen to twenty. Right in Matthew twenty eight nineteen, we see like the Great Commission and all of that. But when you study that, you know, especially between verses eighteen to twenty. So Jesus starts by saying, all authority has been given to me in Heaven and on Earth. Then what does he say after go go? Why? What empowers you to go? Because now I can delegate I have all authority, and I can delegate it to you when you continue in my mission. Right, So what is this mission? What is the mission of Jesus? The mission is clearly revealed in the Great Commission. So when he says, go, go therefore and may disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. He goes into this whole thing, you know, make disciples, baptizing them and all of that. But go therefore and make disciples of all nations. This is the mission. It's not just about reconciling people back to God, but it's that it's reconciling them and also raising them as disciples of the Lord Jesus. Because a person can be reconciled but yet not really faithful as a disciple. They can say yes to Jesus but not understand what's next. So he says, go, go and make disciples of all nations. Nations represent culture, represent language, represent people. Go in the industries, go in the marketplace, go to the territories, go to the people, and make disciples. When you have this awareness, then your role in whatever industry God has placed you. It's not just about getting by. It's not just about making some money or doing whatever. You have this awareness that Lord prolong your days through me. In tech, in the medical field, prolong your days. You see. The beautiful thing about the Holy Spirit is that when you desire for your life to live out the mission of Jesus. He would reveal to you how you might feel like you're just working this boring job. And you know this, I don't know how I'm going to represent Christ in this job. But it's because you're not moving with that awareness. When you begin to move with the awareness, the Lord can start revealing to you things about the CEO of the company. The Lord the Holy Spirit partners with you because again his desire is God does not desire for any to perish. The Bible says, for God so loved the world, not some of the world, not here, not you know, God so loved these people. He said, for God so loved the world that he sent really himself as man, but that he sent his only begotten son. Right. And so when you have the awareness that I am going to you, there will be authority that begins to back up your life. Right. And so even when we think about how the scripture in Mark sixteen, verse and I want you to study the fullness of this Mark sixteen, verse fifteen to eighteen, when it will talk about how go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. And then it goes on to tell us the signs that will follow those who believe authority is not what we seek out for signs. Right, what are some of these signs. Yes, the demons will be casted out, the sick would be healed, the oppress will be set free. The signs follow. The signs confirm that you are one who is declaring the Kingdom of God. Because when you are speaking of the Kingdom of God, you are bringing the reality of that kingdom into that territory, into that atmosphere, into that home, into that community, into that workplace. So those signs begin to confirm the kingdom you are of and the kingdom you are proclaiming. We were not going to God about God, give me power. Give me power so that the sick will be healed. That is part of you proclaiming the kingdom. That is part of the mission of Jesus, because when we speak of His kingdom, we experience the reality of His kingdom. There is no sick in heaven, there is no oppressed in heaven. But when you focus on the mission the heart of Jesus to see people saved, then you will realize that these signs will begin to follow you. Because everything the intent behind. You wanted to see people healed, You wanted to see people delivered, You wanted to see them set free. The intent is pure, it's not corrupted. Everything is to reveal the glory of God. Everything is to point people back to Jesus, not yourself. So when we are committed to his mission, the intention is pure. You see even in the story in the last episode, I was talking about how when Peter healed the lame Man, that was not just any type of random healing. It was always about Kingdom. So when we are committed to his mission, we will see his thought, we would experience, we will start a walk in his authority. You know, there is a minister that I know personally and just a great man of God. And I remember when he shared a story and that it was so captivating to me. Him and the wife had been believing God for children for many years, many years, believing the Lord for children, no child, year after year, year after year. At the same time the Lord has been calling him to start a ministry. He was pushing it off, pushing it off, pushing it off. But while he's pushing it back, he's asking the Lord for a child, asking Lord for a child, Lord, we believe you can do it. You are all powerful did this and that you know all of it. He pushed it off, pushed it off, pushed it off, pushed it off, and then finally he said, you know what, I'm going to start the ministry. The year he started the ministry, the wife got pregnant and not it was not a fluke back to back. Why is this so? You know, it's so interesting because I have not even talked about this story in years. Like I remember the first time I heard this this was probably I don't know, eight years ago, But in this moment, I see that I the Lord just keeps putting him on my heart right now. There is there are things that the Lord is calling you to do when you become committed to his mission. That is where his authority is delegated to flow through. There were things that they were believing God for in their personal lives, but what they were seeking God's hand over or God's hand in was directly connected to them saying yes to his mission. I've heard this story in different ways. Not too long ago, we were checking out different schools from my daughter and there was a school we got to and I just I really loved it, and they started to share the history behind how the school started. The owner of the school a Christian woman, you know, and you know, when you're dealing with kids, you have to be very intentional because the enemy everyone is looking for. Who, you know, how do we plant in this field? Right? The enemy wants to plant, but really the Word of God is what should be planted. He should be nurtured. And when you're dealing with kids, you know, especially in America, there's all kinds of activities that happened. Listen, when we were checking out different preschools, Lord Jesus, there were some schools where they were literally teaching the children witchcraft, like no joke, because when we go there, I'm asking to see everything. I want to see the curriculum, I want to see what they're doing, what is their art, what everything? And one of the art pieces was witchcraft. And many parents probably don't even know this. So it is a space that the Kingdom needs to have territory in. Right. During Halloween, I remember there was a school that we checked out and in that school, on the door they had the pictures of the children on tombstones, and I said, what is this? Because first of all, I said. I always ask I asked all kinds of questions because I'm like, we don't celebrate Halloween. We don't want no parts of Halloween, you know, like and why do you celebrate Halloween? Like why this is witchcrafts? I said, do you know the history of Halloween? So I would always try to educate the people like this. I know culture celebrates this, but do you understand the history of this. You don't have to be like the world just because they do it right. There's nothing about this that's educational. And they were like, no, you know, they were like, we only do like fun ghosts, like you know, the witches are not scary. I said, no, no, And so I go into the class that would have been my daughter's class clearly if we didn't choose that school. I went into that class and then I look at the door and there's tombstones on the door with the pictures of the children on it saying rip. They were like, and guess what this is the craziest part. And she says, look doesn't doesn't it's fun. It's just I said fun. I said, do you understand what is being spoken over this children? That their pictures are being put on this and people don't understand this life is warfare and it says rest in peace. I started to pray for those children. I said, spirit of death, you will not have your way in any of their lives, no premature death, nothing, because I'm like, this is this is foolishness. Now guess what. There was another class in that class there was no Halloween decoration. And guess what the director of the school says before we go into that class, she was like, you know, we do have some Christian teachers in the school. I said, oh, let me see one of their classes. There was nothing of Halloween in there, not one intentional. And so going back to this story, we go to this school and the director, the president that founded the school rather was a Christian woman. She had been believing God for a child, no children. She loves kids. She's always worked in schools and all of that, and the Lord told her to start her own school, and she was fighting it, just like no, you know, she let her just work in another institution and all of that. She was fighting it, but then finally she gave in. When she started working on starting the school, she got pregnant. And the funniest thing the day classes began. The day the school opened was when and she gave birth. She went into labor that day, so her child, her child's birthday is also the day that the school launched. What she was looking for when it came to the authority of the Lord, was connected to her loyalty to his mission. Because that school is intentional. The funny thing is that they're not even not that they're a Christian school, but they are intentional about raising up the children in the ways and the values of the Lord. And they're doing it almost like Undercover's so amazing. So because they're not a Christian school, they attract many, you know, kids from all kinds of religious backgrounds. But when the kids get there, all the teachers are Christians. Everyone involved in that school is a Christian. Everything about their programs, everything is actually in a way that reveals the culture of the Kingdom of God. Commit to his mission. There is an authority that you are seeking God for in other areas of your life. Because you see authority leaks, and what I mean by leaks not leaks in the sense of you know, it's being mismanaged. It finds its way into every aspect of your life that is why it's not just that demons will be cast out, is that even if you drink something poisonous, it will not harm you. These are the promises that the Lord is given to people. It's a powerful thing. One of the questions that people often ask me is, Stephanie, how do I actually study the Bible? When we desire to go deeper, sometimes it can feel a little intimidating. And I'm here to tell you about an amazing Bible study too, And it's called Logos. It's an incredible app that helps you engage with scripture in a more meaningful way. So, for example, you can type in what does the Bible say about holiness and it will give you scripture, scholarly insights, historical background, and so much more. Logos helps you to understand what you're reading and why it matters. So, whether you're new to the faith or you've been following Jesus for some time, this is going to help you study the world with so much confidence. And we have received such an incredible gift for every plog pod listener. You can use lagus today for free for the next sixty days. All you have to do is go to lagos dot com. Backslide Stephanie to get started. Now, let's go back into the episode. In the previous episode, I talked about when Peter healed the man that was lame from birth, and you could think it was just a random healing. Peter showing that he has powering the name of Jesus. Everything was about commit meant to the mission. Look, let's read this story right. It says now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. I want you to highlight that the hour of prayer the ninth hour, and a certain man laying from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to ask alms from those who enter the temple, who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, acts for alms, and fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, look at us. So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, silver and gold I do not have, But what I have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk, and he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. Now check this out, Peter and John, they're going to the temple at the hour of prayer. Now who joins them? So now verse verse eight. So he leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Now this was about kingdom, This was about mission. Why because the ninth hour was like three pm, right, But this was a very critical time of prayer because it's about who is in the temple. And guess who is in the temple. The priests who are performing the duties, the Levites who are assisting with worship, the Pharisee, and this Adducees because they were, you know, these were the religious folks. They were known for their strict observance of prayer times. Guess who else they were, devout Jewish worshipers. There were all kinds of people. God was about to use this as a platform because later on in Acts four, verse four, guess what happened? The scripture says, however, many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of men came to be about five thousand. Guess what. When this man was seen walking, people started asking questions. People wanted to know, how is this possible? And Peter boldly reveals to them that this was done in the name of Jesus and begins to proclaim about the kingdom, begins to teach why people should receive Jesus, and five thousand people receive the Lord in that moment. You see, this was not about you know, Peter just showing that he's powerful. No, it was about commitment to the mission. Because how can we be going to pray and here is a man who has been lame from birth and we are going to pray to reveal that we are not We are of a different kingdom. The kingdom we are from is one that has authority over sickness and death. This kingdom has authority over the kingdom of darkness. And at the gate or at the you know, was it Let me say this with accuracy, right, So the man was literally yeah, at the gate of the temple. So at the gate of the temple you have the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who are the people who are the religious folks who claim to be you know, like, wow, they're just the defense of God and they know it all. But you guys cannot cause this man to walk. So they revealed the authority of Jesus. This really caused some chaos because do you know that, literally they arrested Peter and John. They were threatened by them because it's like, wait, wait, what in what name are you doing this? They actually even tell them they forbade them to use the name of Jesus. See, this was about this. This was kingdom because in which in which world would you see a man who had been lame from birth healed? And what you're more concerned about is, hey, don't use that name. This was about silencing the work of God. This was about silencing, you know, the power behind what Jesus embodied. This was about silence in the fact that the one you crucified is God. This was about silence and the truth about the kingdom of God. And so that healing of that lame man was about kingdom. Even though they arrested Peter, even though they told him you cannot use the name, you know how Peter responded prayer. They began to pray, God give us even more boldness. This would not make a shrink. Peter did not care whatever the people were talking about. He continued to proclaim the name. You see, the disciples began to embody the posture of Jesus, when Jesus will say things like my food is to do the will of the one who sent me. This is this is what nourishes me. This is this is my this is my desire that, even in the face of opposition, rather than being a cow, I would see my weakness and present it to the Lord. Help me, make me even bolder if their threats want to make me feel scared or to silence my voice, No, Lord, help me. Commitment to the mission is only possible when you are loyal to the one behind it, when you are submitted to him. And why I'm saying this is because Peter in this scripture is a perfect example, because this is the same Peter that when Jesus will tell him, hey, man, you are gonna deny me, Peter is like, no, never right. I don't know if he did it in that high pitch. Sometimes when you lie, you start having a high pitch tell. But Peter is just like no, like that would never be me. Jesus even describes it. He's like, Peter, before you know, the rooster crows, like, you would have denied me three times. Peter's like nah. Peter literally denies the Lord one, two, three, and then the Bible says, and then he remembers because Jesus looked at him, so even in the moment of denying Jesus, he was so unaware of what he was doing. This, this is the interesting part. Peter. Jesus tells him, you are gonna deny me. He's like, nah, not me, right. Jesus is like, look, let me make a plain to you. Man. Before the rooster crows, you would have denied me three times. Do you know what I mean? If it was you would have denied me once. We could say, oh man, that was a mistake, Like who I just got caught up the first time, second time, the third time the rooster crowed. Jesus looks at Peter. Peter remembers, like, the sequence of this is hilarious because this is who we are when we don't recognize our shortcoming, when we don't recognize that we are weak, when we don't bring it before the Lord help me. I'm not trying to do this in my own strength, Holy Spirit, help me. This is why it is so dangerous when people are so critical of others, because you don't even know your weakness. Yet, you don't even know the areas where the enemy can pull strings on you. It's easy to critique people and say what a person should do, should not do, and all this stuff. You don't even know your weaknesses because we all have them. But the difference with Peter then and Peter now who instead of you know, being afraid that they got arrested and you know all of this and said he prays for more boldness. He was submitted to the Lord everything every see. Submission is not this vague concept. It means everything that I am, my strength, my weakness, how I think, how I live. Lord. I bring it before you that even when you're telling me to walk with you, I am aware of the areas that I am weak, and I am not going to try you. See. I'll use this as an example. When you try to talk yourself out of or try to convince God that you are not the one that should do X, Y and Z, you are not living submitted. Why because you think that walking with God is only on the level of your strength It's only based on what you are comfortable doing. Anything unknown to you is like God. It can be me. You can't use me. Submission means even my weakness I submitted before you, and I believe here's the power of submission. I am not submitting as this idea or a random abstract notion. I'm submitting because I believe you can turn my weaknesses into strength. I submit to you because I believe that my strength is in you. Submission is not just something we say in prayer like Lord, I'm yours, I give it all to you. No. Submission means I believe that you can prolong your days through me. I believe that you can fulfill your will and purpose in and through me. I believe that your mission can continue through my life in spite of my weakness, because you are greater than it, that by your spirit you can transform what is weak in me. What is dead you can call to life. I believe that the old nature is it was crucified on the Cross. Yes, I may have appetite for that nature, but it starts with believe. I believe that the one I call Lord has the power to transform me. If you don't believe that, then you can never fully walk in submission. Peter was functioning at his own strength before the Holy Spirit came. That's why can you imagine that the enemy was such a puppet master that Peter could deny Jesus three times and heard the rooster crow and nothing, even no light bulbs went up. That Peter, this is what Jesus just warned you about. Nothing. It was until Jesus looked at him, everything just hit him. Study the scriptures. It's incredible. But when the Holy Spirit came, that's why the Holy Spirit is called the helper. There were things that you know, the Lord we're going to tell the disciples. There are many things that he has to share with them, but they don't have the capacity for it. But when the Holy Spirit came, it helped their understanding. It helped them to grow in the knowledge of the one they lived with. It helped them to see Jesus clearly. It helped them to see him in truth. It helped them to understand that my life is truly in your hands. How does this look practically? If you've ever questioned that you are not the one for the job, if God has shown you something about your life, look, I have also fallen into this category. I'm talking to you about things I can teach on it because I'm teaching from a p of what the Holy Spirit has taught me. We think it's cute. We think that when God calls us to something and we're like, God, I don't know what you saw about me. I don't know if I'm the one for the job. I don't know if I can do this. It's it's it's all foolishness because what we're indirectly saying is God, I don't believe you can make me this person. God, I don't believe that you are more that you are powerful enough to transform me indirectly, that's what we're saying without saying it. I remember when I was just before the Lord. Because you know this, these episodes lately have been making me very emotional. I just think it's a spirit of God. But if you know me, I don't like to cry hah. But I remember there are things that God has been speaking to me about, and God has been showing me about. And I was just like, Lord, I don't know who that woman is. I have not met her. I don't know what you who would you who you think your colleagues, it's not me. And the Holy Spirit said something to me. If he could do if he could turn disciples who are just fishermen, tax collector, you know, physician, random people, if he could take them and turn them into some powerful apostles of the Lord. He said, what more can I do with you? If you submit? And when he said if you submit, and I said, wait, so I'm not submitted. And he says, you're still relying on your own strength. You will never go far. You're still relying on what you know about yourself. But he said, if I could do this with the disciples you are so you've read about you read about your stories. You're moved by them because you see the book of acts. We call it the acts of the Apostles. It's not really the acts of the apostles. It's the acts of Jesus through the apostles. When Peter's shadow was healing people, Peter was never like in a praying that God let me be so powerful that my shadow heals people. I don't even think he was aware the first time it happened. If you study the scripture, it was the people that literally it was like they just they were the ones like bring put the sick in his shadow. He was not. He was just committed to the mission. And when you're committed to the mission and you are submitted to the Lord, and let's make that simple language, when you can trust God that with all of you, that he will get the glory, that He can take all of you and transform you to who you have always been in him. Man, nothing can stop you God. What God can do in and through you, nothing can stop it. When they would literally bring handkerchiefs and put it on Paul and take it to their sick it's not some of the gimmicks we see today where someone will say here, let me tell you this and put it on this person or whatever. No, these people were just committed to the mission and the Lord that the Bible says and God did on usual miracles through Paul. Paul was not like, hey, guys, here's a hanky, let me wipe my sweat. You't gonna go throw it on your sick body or something. He didn't do that. God. He was so submitted that there was like the limitations were broken off of what God could do with Paul. And imagine if Paul could be submitted, if Paul knowing his history of the things he agreed to do, knowing how what how he you know, literally gave the order for Christians to be person you know, not just persecuted, but really murdered or killed. Right if he could submit to the Lord about you? What is your excuse? What? Oh? Resources okay? He is also Yahwehjira. We talked about that. Everything is in Jesus talk. We talked about it in the previous episode. What is it? Submission is key because you cannot flow in His authority if you don't submit all of who you are, if you don't believe that this life is no longer mine but Christ. If you don't believe that, Lord, you can take this life and you can fill it with yours. If you don't believe that when I said yes to Jesus, I receive the life of God and that life is unlimitless. There is nothing that can put a limitation on what God God wants to do it and through me, not my speech, not my you know, background, not my education, nothing. Whatever God says he will perform because He is the one who lives in me. Right. One of my favorite scriptures Galatians two twenty. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. Catch it. I live by faith in the Son of God. The life I live in this flesh. I don't live it by my experiences. I don't live it according to my strength or my weaknesses. I don't live it according to my talent or my failures. I don't live it according to what people said I'm good at or what I'm bad at. I don't live it according to the world standard. I live it by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I live it by faith, this life that I live. Jesus. I believe you, Jesus. I trust you, whatever you desire of me, whatever you require of me, you would produce out of me. I trust you with my weakness. I trust that I will find strength in you. I trust that that version of me no longer lives. It starts with belief. And here's the beautiful thing, because you know, you know, as believers, we are not under the law right. Romans six fourteen says, for you are not under law, but under grace. But not being under the law does not mean we are not you know, there's not something that governs us, because there's something beautiful that Romans eighth, verse one to twelve talks about. It says there there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. But catch this, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. So we are not under the law of sin and death, but we are still under the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. What we are governed by is the life of Christ. We're not under the law of sin and death, but we are now governed by the life of Christ, the life of Jesus. You have to believe it. You have to believe that you received his life when you said yes to Him. And so the life you live in this flesh is by faith in Him. When you really know what you know what it means for the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. And yet we still may room for all kinds of excuses and all this stuff. Listen, I'm telling you things that the Lord has been dealing with me on It's not just about teaching it to you. It's what I am living out right now. You have to believe God. What God says about you, not what the world says about you, not what your background says about you. No, submit all of you to Him, and submit it so that you can carry out His mission and be faithful in it. Seek the Holy Spirit to help you. When you feel like you're getting weak, or maybe your the awareness of weakness in an area is overwhelming. You pray. When Peter was arrested and was told to no longer use the name of Jesus, what did he do? He prayed for more boldness. The Holy Spirit quickened him. You see that prayer came from a place of belief. I'm not praying just to say, oh Lord, please help me, please, and in the back of your mind you don't think you can be helped. I'm praying from a place that knows Jesus, you hear me. I pray from a place that knows that spirit of the Living God. You will quicken me right. And so I want to charge you with this. There is you know, one of the things that has been so powerful in my life is praying the scripture right, praying the Word of God. And whenever there is rebellion in your life, wherever you know there is doubt in your life, it reveals that there is something that you lack revelation about the God you serve. It reveals ignorance. Right. And so there's a scripture I love so much. It's Ephesians one seventeen, and I want you to pray this scripture. It says that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. This was actually a prayer, right, and I want you to pray it over your own self. That you're not just trying to grow in intellectual understanding. You want to grow in the revelation of Him. You want to grow in the wisdom and revelation of Him. Begin to pray it, because you see the God we serve, he ought to be sought after, not in a passive way, but in a way that is intentional. You should seek him out. And when you begin to pray this, it would I'm telling it will transform your life. You know, one of the fathers of the faith that this particular scripture that I learned it from was Kenneth Hagen. He talked about how he would pray this script and all of a sudden, the Lord began to show him things and reveal things to him that he was like, Man, what have I been preaching all these years? And I kid you not, when I have started praying this scripture, It's like the Lord is just transforming my life. I've been in ministry for ten years and I feel like I'm just starting. And why am I sharing that? Because our walk with Jesus eternity would not be enough to know him, but we can grow daily. We can approach it with humility and just say, Lord, fill me with your spirit of wisdom and revelation. I want to know you. And there are things that the Lord will start to teach you and show you. Begin to pray the prayers, and I'm telling you that is scripture. Pray the scripture. There are things that God will begin to furnish in your heart about him. There are things that God will begin to show you. He would reveal you to you, and He will begin to show you things about Him that would eliminate you. Know, there are things that I would naturally have like fear about or anxiety about and the more I grow in my knowledge of him, the response where the response would have been fear, now the response is like just this confidence of like, oh no, that's that's nothing. Why nothing? Really the same scenarios, you know, similar you know, circumstances or whatever. What changed is that I'm growing in my knowledge of him. You see your knowledge of Jesus in that moment. Remember when Peter was like, Lord, if it's you, command me to come, and I will come. Jesus is walking on water, Okay, I would just be like, you know what, Jesus, do your thing? Do you? But there is something you begin to know that Jesus. If you say I can walk, I will walk on water. And you have to understand picture the scene in your mind, use your imagination for a moment. Other disciples are there. Why didn't any of them say hey, hey, Jesus, me too. They were more familiar with their fear than with their knowledge of Jesus. Who says a thing that it happens. You see, Peter was still growing in his knowledge of it. But what Peter knew for a fact, he had observed it, He had paid attention. He was aware that none of his words fall to the ground. If Jesus says a thing that is exactly what it would be. Peter had observed. He knew, Jesus, if you tell me to come, I don't know how it would happen, but I know I will walk on water. The others might have just been amazed by the miracles, like wow, Rabbi fed you know five thousand plus people, Wow, look at what Rabbi just did. They were amazed by what Jesus was doing. So you have Peter who would look at Jesus, but there was something he knew about him that even though all the disciples are in the same vicinity, when Jesus is, you know, moving in power and miracles and he's commanding, you know, the blind to see and the lame to walk, and the oppress to be set free, others are amazed by Jesus, like wow, Rabbi is just on the road. You know, Peter is observing. Peter is looking at a different LANs. Peter is recognizing his words don't fall to the ground. Whatever this man says happens. So Peter, in the presence of all other disciples, is on the boat, and he is the only one who says, if you bid me to come, I will come. And when Jesus says come, Peter literally in the presence of everyone else, Peter gets out of the boat and walks on water. Why am I sharing this because everyone is reading the same Bible, everybody reading the same Bible. But there is something when the Holy Spirit partners with you. Everyone is reading the same thing, but you see something different. We all read Galatians two twenty, but for someone else it awakens them to the fact that it is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. All of a sudden, every chain that was a lie on their life, everything that told them this is who you are, this is your sexual orientation, this is how you will live your life. This is what you will amount to. They said, no, that's not me. The old me has it has been crucified with Christ. It is now Christ who lives in me. Everyone is reading the same scripture. But all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit awakens something in the world to you, and you engage with it differently than what others do. This is what happens when you begin to acts the Holy Spirit that fill me with wisdom and revelation. In the knowledge of Jesus. What are you saying, bring it, make it come alive in my heart? When I read the scriptures? Do you know that there? Because I've read like God's generals, books like that. And it would amaze you that the same scriptures we read. Someone read one verse and it radically transformed their life. Someone read one verse how Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed, and it dawned on them. It is the will of Jesus for all who are oppressed to be set free. It is the will of Jesus for those that are you know, bound by the spirit of infirmity to heal, and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit began to move through them radically through healing. Why am I saying this? When you begin to ask the Holy Spirit help me to study your word, help me to see Jesus fill my heart with revelation and wisdom of Jesus. There are things. The Spirit of God begins to minister to you their things. He begins to show you their scriptures. The Lord will tell you, Hey, meditate on this. You see for me, I talk about Galatians two twenty so much because that was one of the scriptures the Lord showed me that meditate on this. So there are times that even I would throughout the day I'm thinking about it. It is no longer I that lives, but Jesus that lives in me. It is no longer I that lives, but Jesus that lives in me. And I remember when the Lord had told me to do the gathering in London and I was on the you know, I had an encounter with the Lord right before that gathering and he says, I'm sending you to make war. And I remember on the plane, my my, I think it started with my I remember I started with my left hand because I thought that was I was like, if something should happen, shouldn't be the right hand. But it started with my left hand and it just went hot and it was like shaking. And then I'm like, what is going on? So then you know, I Paul, it was like we were on the flight, and then my right hand goes hot and start shaking, and so I started praying. I'm like, Lord, what is happening? And the Lord it says, this would be the sign. When you sense this heat in your hands, it's no longer your hands but mine, you said, it began to meditate. It's no longer I that live, but Christ Jesus that lives in me. I said, Lord, this body is your body, these hands are your hands. And I remember it was so interesting. I remember telling my best friend. I was like, man, that the Lord is going to do something so mighty, and this is what he had revealed to me. He says, this will be the sign when it's no longer your hands but my hands. And if you watch the gathering, there was literally a moment and my I could feel this heat in my hands and I lifted up my hands and I said, the hand of God is now upon you. And that was when, like you know, when what you see on camera is one room, there were like eight overflow rooms in that moment. It was healing and deliverance broke out everywhere, everywhere, the outdoor, indoor, every overflow room. It was so beautiful. Why but I continue to meditate on that that scripture is not just a random scripture I read to to check off a Bible reading plan. It is something that the Holy Spirit is doing in my heart and awakening in my life. It is no longer I that lives, but Christ, Jesus that lives in me. When you begin to ask the Lord to fill you with the spirit of wisdom and revelation of Him, how you engage the world of God will change, how the things that the Lord will begin to reveal to you when you lay down, you know in your prayer time it will radically change your life because you are going to see Jesus. And as you behold him, you become that which He always ordained you to be. You are transformed by your beholding of Him. As you beholding, you are changed. As you beholding, you are transformed. And you have and to see Him you need the help of the Holy Spirit. And so we're gonna stop here for now, you know, And and I'm just believing that, man, there's gonna be just incredible testimonies. This is a walk. It's not a sprint, it's not a marathon. It is a walk with the Lord. Right, And so commit your life. Let your life reveal that Jesus prolonged your days through me. Submit your life to the Lord, be committed to his mission, and you will walk in authority. Right. So the next on the next episode of plock Pod, we're gonna be talking about how to study the Bible because we can't talk about all these things and then you don't know how where to start from opening your word. Right. It's so and so interesting because many people literally just struggle with like, Okay, what do I do? How do I start? What am I doing? You know? And you have a sword in your hands, you just have to learn how you utilize it. And so we're going to get into that on the next episode. But until then, if you have not given your life to the Lord Jesus and you want to commit your life to him, then just hang on and we're going to pray with you. If you're watching this, then I believe that there is a hunger in your heart. There is something that has moved you with a desire to want to make Jesus Christ your Lord and savior. Now this is not just a decision that we make out of being convinced by something, but there is a conviction of the Holy Spirit that ministers to us that I need to be saved from this path of destruction that my life has been on. I need to be saved from this sinful nature to come into life to receive the life of God. Salvation is about an exchange. That the Lord has put that sinful nature on the cross. When we believe what Jesus did, when we believe that he died and he was raised up with all victory and all power. You see on the cross, Jesus took captivity, captive. That's what the Word of God says. And what is that captivity Everything that has tried to keep you bound, including that sinful nature that we have received as from the fallen man. You see, when man fell, he took on the nature of sin, and that is the image that every other man has been born into. But in Jesus you have righteousness. You can be made righteous in Christ. And salvation is to be saved from death into life, to come out of bondage into freedom. And so I want to pray with you, but I want you to know that as you say yes to the Lord, you are saying yes to his life. You are saying yes to the ways of Jesus. You are saying yes for Jesus to live in and through you your body. Your life becomes a home for the Holy Spirit. And he wants to express the nature of Jesus through your life. And so just join with me in prayer because this will be the start, but salvation is a journey, and we're gonna have There's gonna be a link in the description, especially if you are listening to this or you're watching this from YouTube, You're going to see this in the description, and I want you to click on that because it's going to help guide you into things about what comes next, how to study the Bible, just little things that are going to be very beneficial to your walk with the Lord. And so I just want you to pray with me, Lord Jesus, and just repeat after me. And when I say repeat after me, it's not just for you to just use words and they're empty before you. After this prayer, meditate on those words and just really ope, have a moment of personal prayer with the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit minister to you beyond what I could do. And so just repeat after me, Lord Jesus. I confess with my mouth, as I have believed in my heart in this moment, that indeed you are the Son of God, that when you came to the earth and you are crucified on the cross, that you put to death my sinful nature. And as I receive you, I receive your life. I receive the righteousness, the righteous nature that you have brought to give me. I exchange the sinful nature for the righteous nature. And so, Lord, come into my life and make my life your home. Have your way in and through me. Whatever is in me that is not pleasing to you. Convict me of these things. Lord, that I will not identify with the way of the flesh, but I will come in agreement with the way of life. I choose life, I choose you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, mm hmmm.