John 18:4-6
4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”
5 They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them.
6 Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Just as the Romans and the temple police were about to arrest him a SUPERNATURAL power was suddenly released that was so strong it knocked an entire band of 300 to 600 soldiers backward and down to the ground.
It was if an invisible bomb went off. After Judas’ kiss, Jesus stepped forward and said “Whom are you seeking?”
Look at Vs. 5.
Jesus said “I AM HE” or translated “I AM”.
Jesus had said this before.
The Bible Dictionary says, “The name signifies the active presence of the person in the fullness of the revealed character.”
Tell him the One who has always been is sending you.
In other words, tell your enemy “you’re about to see all of who God is.”
John 8:58
Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
John 13:19
Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.
These soldiers in John 18:5 wanted to know “Who are you?” expecting to hear him answer, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
But instead he said “I AM” and they fell down.
In the Greek when it says “they fell to the ground” it means they staggered and stumbled backward.
It pictures like a person hit so hard, it appeared that they fell dead.
Think of it, 300 to 600 soldiers and temple police with weapons and torches and Jesus says “I AM” and a great blast of God’s power was unleashed so strong it caused them to stumble and stagger and wobble and then hit the ground hard.
What a shock, with all their weapons … JUST A WORD KNOCKED THEM DOWN.
Could Jesus be taken by force? NO WAY.
He went by choice. The Jesus we serve is so powerful.
No force is strong enough to resist his power. No sickness, financial problem, political force, NOTHING has enough power to resist the supernatural power of Jesus.
When the great “I AM” opens his mouth and speaks, every power that attempts to defy him on his Word is pushed backward and shaken until it staggers, stumbles and falls to the ground. I wonder what the soldiers said after that.
What do you need TODAY? Get your mouth into agreement with his Word and you too will see I AM unleash his power against the forces coming against you.
Yours for revival,
Pastor Francis Armstrong
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
He Is The Lord Of Breakthrough
Matthew 1:3
Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.
Psalm 114:2
Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.
Judah, the father of Perez.
Judah means “PRAISE!” Actually “Praise unto the Lord.”
Perez means BREAKTHROUGH!
Judah, the father of Perez, means, “Praise unto the Lord brings BREAKTHROUGH.”
In 1 Chronicles 13 God is moving mightily in battle. And when an unfortunate thing took place they name the place “Perez Uzza” or “Outburst” or “Exploded Uzza”.
When God is in our lives there are BREAKTHROUGHS all around us.
Our circumstances are EXPLODED. What brings us into His presence? PRAISE.
He inhabits the Praise of His people!
Psalm 111:10 (AMP)
The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;
A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;
His praise endures forever.
We are supposed to shout out His praises. SHOUTS go ahead of us. They alert the world around us that something is happening.
I believe that when we shout with a voice of triumph, we declare in the SPIRIT realm, that God is ARRIVING in the camp.
Jericho didn’t just come down because of the marching, NO, those walls fell because the sound waves collided with A WALL, and the wall could NOT STAND.
Sound that becomes praise is like a supersonic bomb.
It blows up your circumstances.
Your praise is about to blow up some stuff you’re going through.
Praise will break down those walls and it tells the enemy that God is bigger than anything He can throw at us.
Right in front of your enemy he declares, “I AM THE LORD OF BREAKTHROUGH!”
You get a diagnosis of cancer, SHOUT, “GOD IS MY HEALER.”
You can’t pay your bills, SHOUT, “GOD IS MY PROVIDER.”
You feel hopeless about a situation, SHOUT, “GOD IS THE LIFTER OF MY HEAD.”
We need to praise Him with our voices.
With our instruments.
With our bodies.
With our groanings.
With spiritual songs.
All of these praises usher in the presence of God when done from the heart.
Praise helps us engage with God. When we engage with God we form a spiritual connection that acts like a conduit for God’s power to actively work in our lives.
Like a spiritual Shofar, our shout of praise becomes a clarion call that announces to the enemy, “GOD IS HERE”! satan has no power here anymore.
Out of this praise comes BREAKTHROUGH. Strongholds are broken; chains fall off our lives and real joy takes root in us and brings a peace that NOTHING in the world compares to.
We live GLORY to GLORY!
Breakthrough to breakthrough. Blessing to blessing.
What gets us through the IN-BETWEEN is PRAISE.
Judah was the Father of Perez!
Ruth 4:12
May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”
May YOUR HOUSE –
Psalm 67:5-7
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
Praise Him. THEN! Shout, “THEN!” the earth yields her increase.
So when we are called to Praise Him, it means to VENT what’s in your heart.
Worship can be silent but praise never is.
Praise secures God’s presence.
2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Praise secures VICTORY.
Psalm 149:6-9
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute on them the written judgment—
This honor have all His saints.
Praise the Lord!
Praise releases the burdens.
Isaiah 61:3
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Praise brings release.
Acts 16 at midnight Paul & Silas.
So somebody ought to be praising Him.
Yours for revival,
Pastor Francis Armstrong
Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.
Psalm 114:2
Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.
Judah, the father of Perez.
Judah means “PRAISE!” Actually “Praise unto the Lord.”
Perez means BREAKTHROUGH!
Judah, the father of Perez, means, “Praise unto the Lord brings BREAKTHROUGH.”
In 1 Chronicles 13 God is moving mightily in battle. And when an unfortunate thing took place they name the place “Perez Uzza” or “Outburst” or “Exploded Uzza”.
When God is in our lives there are BREAKTHROUGHS all around us.
Our circumstances are EXPLODED. What brings us into His presence? PRAISE.
He inhabits the Praise of His people!
Psalm 111:10 (AMP)
The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;
A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;
His praise endures forever.
We are supposed to shout out His praises. SHOUTS go ahead of us. They alert the world around us that something is happening.
I believe that when we shout with a voice of triumph, we declare in the SPIRIT realm, that God is ARRIVING in the camp.
Jericho didn’t just come down because of the marching, NO, those walls fell because the sound waves collided with A WALL, and the wall could NOT STAND.
Sound that becomes praise is like a supersonic bomb.
It blows up your circumstances.
Your praise is about to blow up some stuff you’re going through.
Praise will break down those walls and it tells the enemy that God is bigger than anything He can throw at us.
Right in front of your enemy he declares, “I AM THE LORD OF BREAKTHROUGH!”
You get a diagnosis of cancer, SHOUT, “GOD IS MY HEALER.”
You can’t pay your bills, SHOUT, “GOD IS MY PROVIDER.”
You feel hopeless about a situation, SHOUT, “GOD IS THE LIFTER OF MY HEAD.”
We need to praise Him with our voices.
With our instruments.
With our bodies.
With our groanings.
With spiritual songs.
All of these praises usher in the presence of God when done from the heart.
Praise helps us engage with God. When we engage with God we form a spiritual connection that acts like a conduit for God’s power to actively work in our lives.
Like a spiritual Shofar, our shout of praise becomes a clarion call that announces to the enemy, “GOD IS HERE”! satan has no power here anymore.
Out of this praise comes BREAKTHROUGH. Strongholds are broken; chains fall off our lives and real joy takes root in us and brings a peace that NOTHING in the world compares to.
We live GLORY to GLORY!
Breakthrough to breakthrough. Blessing to blessing.
What gets us through the IN-BETWEEN is PRAISE.
Judah was the Father of Perez!
Ruth 4:12
May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”
May YOUR HOUSE –
Psalm 67:5-7
5 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
6 Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
Praise Him. THEN! Shout, “THEN!” the earth yields her increase.
So when we are called to Praise Him, it means to VENT what’s in your heart.
Worship can be silent but praise never is.
Praise secures God’s presence.
2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud,
14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
Praise secures VICTORY.
Psalm 149:6-9
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 To execute on them the written judgment—
This honor have all His saints.
Praise the Lord!
Praise releases the burdens.
Isaiah 61:3
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Praise brings release.
Acts 16 at midnight Paul & Silas.
So somebody ought to be praising Him.
Yours for revival,
Pastor Francis Armstrong
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