So I'm excited this morning to introduce my friend Ben Armstrong, Pastor Ben is with Bethel Church in Reading California. Ben is the prophetic overseer of all things, prophetic at Bethel. He teaches quite extensively in their school of ministry and goes around the world. It's such an honor that we have him here with us today to impart God's word and teach us today and bring understanding to the things of God to us.
So, without further ado, would you please welcome Pastor Ben Armstrong, the city of Kombi. You can bring it down just a little bit. I hear a little ring there. Whoa, that's strong.
A little lower. A little lower. I'll have to talk soft. That's good.
I'm happy. Did you notice when I smiled at you, most of you smiled back? You reap what you sow. That's good.
You know, one of the best ways to transform your community is first with a smile. First with a smile. It's like a lot of times what we do, it's funny. You start smiling at people and people think something's wrong.
Because it's so not our culture anymore. You know? Yeah, yeah. What?
Is something wrong? What do you look? What's wrong? We might pick a fight with a smile.
But I think we could really shift culture if we started lifting up our eyes, looking at the people around us and thinking the best about them, thinking the best about them. I want to honor Pastor Fred's point really quickly. He was going after fear in the room and share a testimony. Some years ago I was coming home from a conference and I unfortunately was flying into Sacramento and I didn't get until around midnight in Sacramento and it's another two and a half hour drive from Sacramento back up to Red in California.
We were getting ready to do a worship school that we do every summer. It's about a week long. And back then it was two weeks long. We've had it all the way up to a month long.
It's like a big deal. And I was getting ready to do this and partner with my friends at Bethlehem Music Worship School. And I'm on the way home and I can feel that you know how when you feel like you're just starting to get a cold or you're just starting to come down with something. And I'm like Lord I can't do this right now.
It's just like we can't get sick. I've got a whole week of ministry. I'm tired. And when I get home I need a miracle.
I need divine rest because I know I'm going to get to bed about three in the morning. I need to be up at six and go to this thing. And I lay my head down on the pillow and say God I need divine rest. And I fall asleep and I go into this dream.
And in the dream God is standing at the edge of a giant Olympic sized swimming pool. And he's standing there with a stopwatch and there's a bunch of angelic beings on the other end of the pool. There's five of them and I know they're about to have a race. They're going to have a race to see who can swim across this pool the fastest but they were each going individually and God was timing them.
And so the first angel dives in comes up and I'm like oh my goodness that was incredible. That was super fast no way the next angel is going to be faster. Well the next angel is faster and the next angel is faster and the next angel is faster and they're getting progressively faster. And I wish I could say I can remember what those angels look like but I can't.
What I remembered was the last angel and he was dressed like a samurai warrior. He was in the Japanese armor and he had his swords on his side and his Japanese angel warrior is standing there with his hands on his sword and he's getting ready to go on my go this is going to be epic. This guy looks awesome. He's instead of diving in like everyone else dove in.
He had his hand on his sword and he looks like this and he just goes and he shoots into the water and he keeps that form the whole time. And it was like a blink and he shoots up out of the other side and I'm like oh that guy was awesome. I can't believe that. That was incredible.
He's definitely the fastest and he jumps up and he lands on the other side and there's fire in his eyes. And as the fire is burning in his eyes three flaming doorways open up in front of him consecutive doorways. And I knew something in that moment that these were the doorways to the darkest places in hell. And I'm like whoa this is intense.
What is this? And instead of walking through the doorways he kind of just floated. Just hovered over the ground and he's going in and I'm like oh this guy's on a mission. I don't know what's going to happen.
And he goes in and in the last flaming doorway this is the darkest place in hell. And there's words written on the wall. And in the back of this place on the back of the wall it's written this. These are the words freedom for fear.
And in the darkest places in hell there's freedom for fear to reign. And I saw this samurai and he looks and he flashes like this. It's like a flinch. He just goes and I knew he had pulled out his sword and cut the words many times and put it away.
But you couldn't see it because it was so fast. And he cuts the words and the words begin to shake and the words begin to fall and crumble and then reform and instead of saying freedom for fear it's that freedom from fear. And I woke from that dream and that morning I didn't know who was leading worship but it wound up being Johnny and Melissa Helser. And they sang a song for the very first time they had never sung before and it's called No Longer Slaves to Fear.
But I am a child of God. And I close with this and a lady in the back who had 27 years of every day having panic attacks. God cut that out of her life and she got totally free in that moment. Now that's amazing but sometimes you know fear.
Sometimes it seems like it's impossible to get rid of this thing. And I believe whenever I'm reminded of that story I believe that God comes in with his zeal and brings angelic hope and help and resources to do what was impossible yesterday and bring it into today. And I believe Pastor was hitting on something but I believe there's people in this room you've not only dealt with your own fears you've dealt with generational fears. It was just part of your family line and it was passed on in the family.
Some of you have dealt with long term fear that came from trauma from things that happened to you when you were young. And then some of you have just been in a prolonged season of fear just from different circumstances in life. You may not be able to pinpoint like when it started but it feels like it's just a combination of thing after thing and you feel like you're at that place where there's the straw that breaks the camel's back. You're like God if there's one more thing I can't handle it.
And if that's you in the room any of those that I shared and you deal with fear I want you to stand to your feet because I believe God's going to do something that's going to release breakthrough and you don't have to do it God's going to do it. Come on. This is good. Lauren I thank you that you don't even just do things on your own.
You love to partner with the angelic. I thank you for that samurai angel. And there's something in digestive issues there's something that fear has tormented you so much it's actually affected your physical body as well. God's healing that right now and he's cutting out fear.
So God would you cut fear out of our life and even the hooks of trauma that we cannot reach yourself that God you would come right now and you would pull those out in Jesus name. Your zeal would accomplish this. Now I want you to take a deep breath of the Holy Spirit. God would you come and speak to the storm of fear peace be still.
Some of you might be feeling a tingling on your head. Some of you might be feeling something in your heart. Some of you just a lot of weight lift off of you. Some of you don't feel anything but it doesn't mean God did do something because you didn't perceive it.
I want to declare over you today is a new day in Jesus name. And then also I want to can you look at me real quick. I want you to look at me. Here's what fear does it's a spirit.
It's a demonic spirit that wants us to partner with us. And what's going to happen is you're going to walk out of here and that spirit's going to come back and say hey remember me we used to party together. And you're going to say yeah why don't you talk to the neighbors dog next door. Don't be mean like that you know just just like hey you know what yeah we don't deal with each other anymore.
You need to replace that with the fear of the Lord. With all of him and his relationship. And so you need to go talk to Jesus about that. And when he comes and says that you're like yeah we're not partnering anymore.
So I reject that and I turn to God and I say God what do you have in place of that lie. What do you have for me in place of that lie. And then what we do when we get new truth because we want to get rid of a lie but we want to feed ourselves with truth. Once we have truth then you want to ask yourself this.
Okay God based on that new truth based on what you're declaring over me. What's one thing I can physically do on a daily basis that says I believe that truth. And what do we do we start making new habits that help us to stain the breakthrough that God just gave us. We can do this.
Listen God will do his part. My pastor Bill Johnson when I was a kid he used to always say this physical obedience brings spiritual release. So what that means is God will do his part if you do your part. And all you have to do there's not grace to do 153 million different things in your life to change the partner with what if I'm not fearful.
You know what does that person look like. Put that person in a mirror. Don't try and do all the things that person would do. Say God watch one thing I can do on a daily basis that says I believe I'm that person.
And when you do that step one, two over and over and over it may not look cool. It doesn't look sexy but I'm telling you what it's transformative. If you'll do it over and over you're the one that stands out from the crowd. You're the one that leaves the transformed life.
Listen how do I stand out from the crowd. I'm in the crowd right now. Right? No I'm not.
And if I do that every day over and over and over again pretty soon it's recognizable. It doesn't look cool way back there. But if you'll consistently do it you will enter into a level of breakthrough you've never experienced before because what happens is when I do one thing and I make it a habit. It's a how do I know it's a habit because I don't have to think about it anymore.
It's just I walk in the room and it happens. Maybe I had the fear of man. I'm shy guy Ben right. I'm super shy and oh no he's looking at me.
You know and maybe that's me you know but God just gave me a new word. Maybe he gave me a new truth. You're you're bold as a lion. You're going to go speak around the world.
Okay but I'm shy. Well what's one thing God I can do that says I believe that truth. I want you to walk in the room and every time you walk in the room I want you to look people in the eyes. I don't look anyone in the eyes.
That's scary but I'm like okay I'm going to coach myself up and then I walk in the room and there's Evie and I'm like oh hey Evie and I begin to talk to her and I may have to coach myself a hundred times the first day fifty times the second day ten times the third day but as I begin to do this then I pretty much I figure it out in about a month I'm like wow I'm walking to the room I'm talking to people I'm looking at people and I didn't even think about it this time I'm just doing this stuff and what happens is I did one thing but now that's weird I feel like I have more confidence I feel like I believe my own words I have conviction I no longer have a question Marta I have an exclamation point and now I'm getting that word I'm understanding and what happens is God his supernatural grace rides upon the stewardship of doing one thing and what do we get we get exponential grace. See if you'll do one thing God will transform a bunch of other things and then once it becomes a habit I don't have to work at it anymore I add a new habit what's a new one thing I can add on to my behavior and I get breakthrough see I want to equip you I don't just want a moment where God comes on a flaming pie hits you in the face and you're transformed that's awesome you know we're all looking for flaming pie moments but the problem is how do I sustain the flaming pie moment I've got to make new habits to partner with the new man with the new woman God's created so God what's your truth in place of the lie of fear what's your truth. Just close your eyes for a second what's your truth what do you want to speak open what's the new truth and then from that place of truth later today I want you to do this I want you to say okay God based on that truth what's one thing I can physically do on a daily basis that says I believe that see we're not fighting against fear we're turning towards the kingdom and partnering with what God has Romans 12 21 declares do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil by doing good see I don't overcome evil by fighting a devil I can overcome evil by building the kingdom this is what we get to partner with amen all right well that's all you're saying you can sit down all right that's just a mini preach that's that's just a donut uh christen knows christen knows the weight of my heart lord of the dance if I had listen I so uh my kids know this my wife knows this my kids think something's wrong if if they text me and I don't give them a lightning bolt heart lightning bolt back they're like what's wrong dad you didn't lightning me and because because like if I had a logo for Ben Armstrong ministries it'd be a lightning bolt but I love donuts and I don't eat a lot of them I try and stay in shape and my son helps me out with that I got to work out with the beast master here Fred timbroke this guy's an animal like Lord of the dance try and I'll work that guy you're gonna get hurt I mean you may think you're tough yeah I'll go get in his little home gym and he'll show you what's up I so we had fun working out the other day but you put a donut in front of me and I can't resist I'm just like I will always eat at least one donut if you're offering me donuts maybe two maybe two so if I really had a logo it'd be a lightning bolt through a donut Ben Armstrong ministries I just taste and see that the lord is good the sweet power of the lord I'll wrapped up in a donut so that was just like a little pleasure thank you I'm like oh lord hi five you love me I felt love this morning hey um one of my passions in life you know this is the prophetic it's it's hearing the voice of god it's knowing the voice of god but I don't want to just hear the voice of god know the voice of god I want it to actually transform me and I want to be united to the voice of god in such a way where when I speak god speaks through me how do you want that kind of transformation I think god is trying to transform us with his voice and it's a season it is a day and age where the enemy is working overtime to barrage us with so many voices that we don't hear his voice that we're not transformed by his voice you know the world was formed through frequency god the father god the son and god the holy spirit they get together and they're like okay um let's do this creation thing and it says the holy spirit was brooding over the waters they get it like a chicken over eggs and the chicken vibrates and releases frequency sound waves and everything that has form actually resonates with a certain frequency we all have frequency and it creates our identity we're held together by his voice it is actually his voice that allows me to stay together and breathe and not just explode and disintegrate all things are held together by the power of his voice and so god the father and god the son of holy spirit are in this process so holy spirit is brooding over the waters god the father what's in his heart comes out of his mouth and who comes out of his mouth Jesus the word comes out and there is this creation deal we are in a new creation season we are in a season where the spirit of god is again hovering over the waters you may have felt the shaking it may be you may feel shaking in your life but sometimes we attribute shaking to the wrong kingdom we're like look what the devil's doing no no that's not who's causing the shaking god's causing the shaking so that which is eternal remains and that which is not eternal gets shaken off there is a shaking that is going on not only in our nation but around the world gods doing a new thing you know in 2019 we were at one of our campuses my wife and I used to lead Cascade campus great art Deco theater and and we're in a worship service and we're worshiping the Lord and God starts speaking to me and he said Ben you're about to enter the roaring 20s and I'm like what does that mean and he's like I want you to go back to the 1920s in the United States of America and look up the roaring 20s but he said I'm about to roar over the 20 20s I'm not on a year I'm on a decade don't get distracted and he's about to roar over the 20 20s I so I go back to the 1920s and I look and I'm like what's that you know and that was when we had in the United States of America prohibition and I'm like well that wasn't that wasn't good that was government mandated morality that had an unintended effect see government thought oh if we just get everyone not to drink alcohol and we don't sell alcohol and you can't drink alcohol then everyone will be more Christian everyone will be better moral people right that's what's going to happen know how many of you know that control controlled morality government mandated morality caused the opposite it caused people to run away it was the first time in United States of America there was a mass rejection of godly morals and I say god I don't want that that doesn't sound like what you should be doing please don't do that and he says no Ben you don't understand there is a new government mandated morality that is a perversion and it's going to cause people to run back to godly morality that's what's going on right now in the United States of America and around the world there's government mandated morality and it's a perversion trying to try and twist thing and you know what people are dying for the authentic either way 1920s 2020s morality is not governed by government it's governed by god and either way is a perversion and people reject that and I said what else god and he said I want you to keep looking I began to realize they had something for the very first time radio had the ability to go global and reach the world and they started coining a new term that had never been used before it was called mass media and god said I'm going to do something in media education technology and entertainment the likes of which the world has never seen don't run away from those things run into those things make sure you encourage people to be in those things and isn't it interesting that technology is now leading our media our education and our entertainment and right now here's the deal it's leading in voices I've got access to so many voices it is crazy I've got this thing called an iPhone and I can take on all the problems of the world I can see all the problems that are happening all the issues in the world that are happening and you know what happens to me I start looking at that and I get overwhelmed I start and then I try I try and start policing all of that I try and start fixing all of the problems and then I become so overwhelmed why because I'm not made for that god's the only one made for that why do you think there's a level of just depression anxiety a level of even suicidal thoughts because we're feeding ourselves so many voices and we're confusing the voice of the Lord it how many how many in this room you're like you guys are mature Christians right raise your hand yeah all right good Hebrew chapter five talks about but solid food is for the mature who through practice and repetition have their senses trained to discern good and evil listen we're not looking for the devil though a lot of times see I grew up reading the Bible through the lens of the devil's pad and you know what I found when I read the Bible oh the devil's bad look out the devil's under every rock oh look out don't do this don't do this don't do this and all the sudden I saw the Bible as a bunch of control a bunch of rules and a bunch of like oh how do I not it held after me you know and the greatest change in my life came when I stopped reading this through the lens of the devil's bad and I started reading this through the lens of God is good and then all of a sudden I started finding God everywhere and I started getting permission and I started getting access to the kingdom and everything that's in there and all of a sudden I'm no longer disempowered I'm empowered I'm no longer being happened to I'm happening to and God is shifting our perspective and what we're searching for is a big deal because all of a sudden it shifts and now I have a right perspective now I don't have the question mark now I have the exclamation point because you're doing the right thing you got the right thing in the right place see we don't study the devil's voice so we recognize him there's too much of the church looking for the devil in everything oh there's a devil there's a devil there's a devil I'm like how about we go looking for God we're not looking for dirt we're not looking for the devil yeah but but I don't want to be deceived great the sheep know the shepherd's voice and they follow him and if there's anyone else that comes and they don't recognize the voice it doesn't say they bind it or like oh good kid behind me Satan or I love it it's fine there's binding and losing in the kingdom yes but it says they run away from the scripture says flee the appearance of all evil clean to what is good I don't know about you but I think we make the devil bigger than he is by fighting him see all spiritual realms thrive on attention the question is what realm are you giving your attention to and the demonic realms of pride filled kingdom they're like hey look at me fight me talk to me because if we're fighting the devil he's like I don't care if you fight me as long as you're not building the kingdom that would be awesome just fight me just fight me just stay engaged okay hey nuts in the sea over there hey look up that's the devil and we're like the mosquitoes lying towards those zapper lights we're getting zapped no we don't need to do that we need to we need to be engaged with him see you can put me in a room blindfold me bring a hundred women in the room one of them being my wife you give them all the exact same thing to say hey baby it's me I love you and I guarantee you every time I'll pick out my wife not because I studied 99 other women's voices because I've studied one voice Jesus himself and Matthew chapter four three and four I love this story because the Bible when it was originally written it wasn't written with divisions and chapters and verses and that kind of stuff it's written as a story together and and thoughts together and and Jesus you know it's he's going and he gets baptized right get baptized by John and he gets dumped into water it comes out heavens open and here comes Holy Spirit in the form of a duck spirit of God lands on Jesus it's amazing God calls out from heaven the Father this is my son in him I am well pleased this moment of glory and then it says and the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness but we put a chapter break there and we have a whole other thought but it's it's it's one in the same and I don't know how your brain works but my brain works this way if the Spirit of God came in the form of a dove and landed on Jesus did the dove like fly off Jesus and say I don't know but it doesn't say he changed back so I'm imagining Spirit of God lands come on or maybe he just like tweeted it in his ear or something this is the first time we had Twitter bad dad jokes sorry and the Spirit of God leads Jesus in the wilderness and and he does it goes on a fast you know Bethel church that's where I'm from ready California we did something well if you look on the internet we're crazy you know some of it's true some of it's totally not true the miracles true true pursuit of Jesus presence true angel showing up true you know that kind of stuff weird experiences oh yeah I've been in the room when the glory cloud came in the room I I've been in the room where glitter feels the feels the air and it's not glittery it's like living like almost fireflies and it doesn't follow the air conditioning it's just crazy very first time it ever showed up I was in the room we thought oh man we got new projectors or new screens there must be some glitter or something but this is alive living stuff it was it was amazing it's true stuff but here's the deal we did something even more crazy at the beginning of this year you know what we did we did it fast I know I know usually Bethel's like hey we've got the bridegroom with us so you know while the bridegroom is there you know is disciples don't fast but we just felt like we needed to do it fast and there's a bunch of us leaders not Chris Valatine Chris says I fast at night you know that's his fast he hates fasting or like he's like no that's definitely not the Lord I'm like no that's the Lord we're supposed to do this I just feel like we need to we need to silence every appetite every affection we need to focus our attention somewhere else and this is about our attention and shifting all of that towards God and and we as a church did a fast but we changed the name we called it feasting on his presence and for the very first time in my life a fast something that I hated like all I did on old fast was think about food you know that's just the way a fast is and you think you're focused on what you don't have rather than focusing on what you're supposed to be focusing on and so we changed our focus through a declaration feasting on his presence it was the first time I wasn't consumed with food I was consumed with voice we were consumed and we're like this is a season this is an age where we need to silence some other voices some of us need to go on a fast I'm not saying what you need to fast but I'm telling you God will tell you what voice you're listening too much of to too much of and what you need to silence so you can hear him and so we did this fast and and this is what Jesus was doing so he goes on a 40 day feast Jesus is feasting on the voice of the Father this was regular in Jesus's life it said he would go away and spend time with the Father and then you would hear and Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing he only said what he heard the Father saying why because he spent time with him and out of the overflow of intimacy with the voice he was able to function in authority from question to exclamation mark and there's a shift going on and we're going to be the people who are fully convinced not fully confused the enemy has released a spirit of confusion and chaos in the world trying to silence the voice of God and silence your conviction but I am fully convinced that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons nor nor the present or the future or the past can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus we need to live conviction how do you get conviction it's through his voice and Jesus feasts on the Father's voice and then here comes the devil 40 days later and he looks at Jesus's physical appearance and thinks oh he's hungry he's weak duh spirit is stupid all over the devil at this moment because he's looking at the physical he can't see the spiritual realm anymore that part of God and he doesn't see Jesus's connection with the Father and then he tries to tempt Jesus any questions exactly the voice of the Father hey questions the voice of what God already just declared over him 40 days before but he wouldn't just do it 40 days before and was alone oh what was me I'm in the wilderness praise God you're in the wilderness the wilderness is a place of intimacy with him it's not a place of desolation the wilderness is where he draws you who woo you into his voice under the shadow of his wing where he scoops you up where you get divine connection where he silences every other voice can you just be quiet enough do I have any hunters in the room oh Lord of the dance we need to pray afterwards we'll pray yeah hey hunting is not just about killing animals or getting food and providing for the family it's about living in wonder it's getting into woods long enough to see the miracles of God in creation if you'll sit there long enough to show you something you've never seen before some people aren't patient to wait enough to step into wonder Jesus was in this place and then the devil is spirit of stupid gets put on steroids and the devil tries to quote scripture to Jesus Christ okay listen to this the devil tries to use the word of God against the word of God like what are you like bro serious serious and what does Jesus do he quotes scripture back to the devil but in essence this is what Jesus is saying yeah those are my father's words that's just not his voice here's his voice so you can say the exact same thing as my wife yeah those are my wife's words that's just not her voice because I'm one with the voice of the Lord and we need to be transformed by his voice I uh 2019 as well I had a crazy succession of dreams I was sharing with Pastor Fred about this but you guys know Transformers you know the robots transformers robots in disguise yeah that's that's the old version you know but you know transformers and I go into this dream and there's an epic battle of transformers fighting and I woke up that night and I'm like this was crazy I haven't watched transformers in a long time why would that show up in my dream and then I fall asleep and I go back into the same dream again transformers epic battle and they're just like and I you know it's it's crazy and I wake up I'm like wow that's crazy I had that twice and then I fall back asleep again and I go into the same dream again and wake up the third time and I'm like wow this is crazy what's going on and then I fall back up four times see I'm prophetic so it only takes me four times to realize God might be speaking duh man I'm like Lord of the dance I was really sharp that night and so I go into the dream before time I said God what are you trying to say he said Ben there's an epic battle for transformation and if you're not transformed by me you'll be transformed either by yourself or someone else and the enemy's fighting for us to be transformed right out of the image that he fell away from and it's time to be transformed by one voice last year I had an encounter another encounter in the dream where the lion of the tribe of Judah came and he walks up to me and he begins to roar into me and as he roars into me it's not a roar from his mouth it's a roar from his being and it shakes me so violently and as he puts his muzzles his face his mouth into my belly and roars into me it shakes me violently and his face begins to shift between a lion the father the son and the Holy Spirit and it's just like the circle as he's roaring into me and this flashes of his nature his identity and he begins to roar into me and it shakes me so violently that all of a sudden the only response that I can do besides exploding if I don't do something I'm going to explode was to roar back to him and from my whole being I roared back to him and I believe God is roaring into us so that we would carry the very voice of God to the world see we're being transformed by his voice in second Corinthians verses 3 or chapter 3 verses 18 it says and we with who with unveiled faces right unveiled faces this is talking about Moses when Moses talked to God face to face remember we'd go on the mountain he would talk to God face to face and he'd have these encounters with God and and and then Moses would come off the mountain and he'd come down the mountain and he didn't know it but his face was shining what happened when you're in the presence of God you begin to look like him you'll carry his glory and the Israelites were so convicted by that they're like hey could you put a bag on your face like put a put a veil over your face because I don't like the conviction because it looks like God is in our midst and I am convicted but here it's saying we with unveiled faces see we don't need to put a bag on our face we don't need to cover it up I used to make a stupid statement when I was a kid I don't want to be so spiritual I'm no earthly good that is that is dumb that is absolute sheer stupidity what I was trying to say is I don't want to be so religious that I'm no earthly good but there's no way to be too spiritual to be earthly good the whole point is to be seated in heavenly places with Christ at the right end of Christ who's sitting at the right end of the Father and all authority that was given him he's given to us and we're supposed to exercise that authority so that the world is transformed in revelations it says until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ you think the kingdom of heaven is filled with glory do you think it's super spiritual yeah the Holy Spirit lives there hello like that's what he's trying to do can you get too filled with the spirit no no I mean Lord the dance I want to I explode me with that here's the deal in the in the redemptive state after the cross we have a capacity that's greater for the glory of God you can't get enough of him because the more you get of him the more you grow into what you're supposed to be so we who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory look we're we're focused on the Lord's glory we're being what transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord you're supposed to look glorious you're supposed to be glorious and beautiful you're supposed to be incredible you're not you know in written in revelations written on God's eyes is King of Kings Lord of Lords not the King of weaklings Lord of losers what happened to the church thinking they're supposed to be low and now humility is not this I'm less than it's I know who I am and I'm going to be fully that and nothing more you were created in his image Christ in you the hope of glory he created you to look like him when you don't look like him that's not humility God is shifting things so we become his voice we get transformed by it so that the power and authority in his voice and the transforming power of his voice and his presence gets flowed through you to transform your community it's the most beautiful thing when you talk to someone you give someone a prophetic word you minister to someone you pray for someone you you sow into someone you spend time with someone and it touches their life and it transforms and gives them what they need you were just Christ to them scripture even says who knows if you're not entertaining angels whatever you do to the least of you you do unto him and God is releasing something in us and through us in this season can I share another dream you board I'm happy I'm preaching to myself it's let me share one more scripture with you Romans 12 verse 2 it says do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world listen but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then there's another scripture about Christ and his church and he talks about renewing the mind through the washing of the water through the word how do we renew our mind through his voice being transformed by the word gives us the mind of Christ and I believe God's releasing three words over the 2020's that's going to change the next 80 to 100 years in our future the three words are glory wisdom and power God's releasing glory the likes of which you've never seen why because it's transformative he wants us in his presence so we will step into our true identity and when we get intimate with God glory face to face as a friend that's what Moses his life was prophetic of what we would all have access to on the other side of the cross friendship with God and in that glorious place of intimacy what happens you know I've been married for almost 28 years and I should wear a bracelet what would Heather do you know you know the W.W.J.D what would Jesus do bracelets I need a W.W.HD what would Heather do and I think what happens is the longer you're together right Fred Tristan the longer you're together you know hey I know what Kristen would do I know what Fred would do in this situation let me translate it to you Seth I'm gonna translate my spouse's voice and intent to you because I know that why because we're intimate with one another that intimacy creates access to something it's the mind of Christ it's the voice of God you guys remember that story of Jesus sitting at the what we call the last supper right he's sitting at the communion table they're having a whole meal that there was a communion meal back then and they're having a great meal they have great food they're breaking great probably Swiss or German bread you know this like it's somehow somehow some way it doesn't make you fat you just eat all the time cheese and bread and they're like Lord of the dance it's awesome and so you know they're having this stuff they're having a great meal and they're drinking the wine and and they're having great wine from Napa Valley or something like that and it's like or Bordeaux from France or you know maybe some champagne after that they're having a great meal they're having a wonderful time and then Jesus does something crazy he's like oh by the way when are you gonna betray me and you know the disciples they're like probably I can just imagine like did he just say that out loud did wait did you hear that did you guys hear that I'm like yeah yeah you heard it right yeah and Jesus like yeah yeah I said that I said that out loud and you know Peter Peter always wants to know the information right he always wants to be in the inner circle so he looks and he sees John the beloved leaning on Jesus's chest and he's like hey ask him all right Seth come up here okay we're gonna pretend says Jesus because he's got a beard right we're gonna pretend I'm I'm John the beloved right and and rooster you can be Peter okay so rooster's Peter he wants to know who's gonna betray Jesus right and he looks and he sees John the beloved leaning on Jesus's chest right and and rooster knows this that whoever has his ear on Jesus's chest has access to the heart of Jesus see he hears his heartbeat and not just that his other ear is close to the mouth of Jesus the voice of Jesus and he knows something that intimacy gives you access to his voice ask him who it is good job Jesus give it up for Jesus and Peter good job and God is wooing us into intimacy in this season he's wooing us into a place of relationship why because he knows in that place you become who you're supposed to be you become the bride of Christ that you're supposed to be and you're intimate with his voice and when you're intimate with his voice you begin to understand his ways Romans 12 to do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good pleasing and perfect will I know his mind scripture says we have the mind of Christ the bride is supposed to have his mind his thoughts and when I I'm close to him I intimate with him and I think like him I can finish his sentence I can be actually his voice I can walk in the authority I'm supposed to have which is the same authority he has why do you think you're seated seated with Christ in heavenly places because you're supposed to be his bride you're supposed to have the same authority you're supposed to have that same beauty the same likeness that happened in the very origin of creation the very origins of creation was hey you were created in his image both male and female God created you in his image in his likeness if we would live in that conviction there'd be a lot less confusion there'd be a lot less distractions of what do I need to be or what do I need to do sometimes God is not as much concerned about what you do as much as he's concerned with who you are could you just show up and be you in wherever you're in whatever you're doing in whatever job you have if you can be fully you then it will transform if you can be fully you it will bring the kingdom I don't care pick a spot just happen in the spot be powerful in the spot that you're at and this last year I had another dream a unique dream I go into this dream and I'm getting married in this dream and it's not my wife standing there there's this woman I'm getting married to and I knew immediately in the dream I was through seeing through the eyes of the bridegroom and this was the bride of Christ and the bride of Christ is standing in front of me and I can feel Jesus is hard can feel his love his excitement his compassion and passion for his bride and they're about to exchange vows and so as we're getting ready to exchange vows I'm super excited I can feel God's heart and we're just about to exchange vows and in here comes the devil and he's got a knife and the devil's trying to stab us and then I have been Armstrong's thoughts oh no we need to fight the devil that's my thoughts and then I heard Jesus's thoughts and he says no you don't need to fight the devil you need to get married it's the marriage that defeats the enemy don't get distracted and I'm just telling you there's chaos confusion distractions it's all kinds of appetite we have access to more voices now than any other time in human history that means your choice to go after one voice is more powerful than any other time in human history and listen God made you for today all of the heavenly hosts all of the great cloud of witnesses are waiting they wished they could be part of this day they look forward to this day they're looking for the finish of what they're doing and God created you for this time and he created you perfectly it says that he actually created good works in advance for you to do and then he created you some of us think oh no what I have to do I don't feel equipped for I don't feel like I can do that no no here's what God did he created the work here's what needs to be done now let me create the perfect person to accomplish that and he created you he has created you and I perfectly don't be freaked out with your kids don't be afraid of your kids being raised in this season because if we're afraid I don't know about you but this is how Ben Armstrong responds when I'm afraid I can control when I'm afraid I just I go to rules I go to control I don't do this don't do that you know and I'm afraid this is why as a father it is illegal for me to watch any movie where kids are hurt or exploited it may be the best most amazing movie everyone says watch it everyone says read that book and I'm like no I will never do that why because I can't afford to carry fear when it comes to my children because then I'll control them and then life will happen to me and to them and they won't feel empowered to happen to the world God has created your children perfectly for the season they're in that's that's empower our children to happen not be afraid of the world but be engaged to transform the world because I'm telling you you're transformers it is the transformed ones who have the ability to give away transformation isn't it funny that the you know the bad transformers you know their names anyone Decepticons you hear that name deception there's a con happening there's a deception and a con a mankind that is happening from the enemy it's sent from the enemy and will either be transformed by that voice or will be transformed by his voice and and and we're God's looking for a bride right now a beautiful bride and it's yes you and I and the bride's get get more beautiful it's getting more powerful right now this weekend in DC the esther call see that wasn't just about women coming there that was about the bride of Christ taking its place of authority say Esther is a beautiful story of God placing who knows if you weren't created made born for such a time as this you and I and what happened beautification process brides get more beautiful beautification process and Esther finds favor with the king and then she goes to the king and he says whatever you want I'll give it to you what do you want and she says I'll take a nation and a nation was saved in a day where's your impossibility you were made for that and God has beautified you he's made you as bride so you have favor so whatever you ask the petitions are granted what do you want I'll take a nation I'll take West Virginia I'll take Maryland I'll take Cumberland I'll take my family I'll take my son take my daughter I'll take my grandma I'll take grandpa I'll take mom I'll take dad I'll take my brother I'll take my sister I'll take my best friend who is it who's the impossible where's the impossible you are made for this what's the key I just need his voice who am I only gets I only get to receive his voice in my identity every other voice is going to try and confuse your identity you need a silence other voices other appetites or other affections and and why don't you stand your feet because I feel like there's a moment here there's a moment to respond and there's a moment to say God what are some of the voices in my life that need to be removed where scripture says to throw off all of the weights and the sin that so easily entangles us and run the race with perseverance that set before us here's the deal there's a lot of us in this room we're not living in sin but we're carrying weights in the form of other voices in the form of other things yeah but then it's got some fruit yeah it just doesn't taste good because you got too much fruit God asked you to prune that ranch and you didn't do it we're talking the other day about snowmageddon you ever heard of that we had we had a snowmageddon and redding and we had tons of snow dump on our trees and I had one tree giant willow tree that I had pruned when we moved into this property and one that I didn't and when snowmageddon hit trees all over Redding California broke a whole tree spell over and and the power went out for about three weeks in some places and writing it was it was unique and it wasn't even a ton of snow but we don't get a lot of snow and the one tree that I pruned lost zero branches and the tree I didn't prune was destroyed totally destroyed God is not trying to control you God told me this out of that he said Ben the very thing that I's meant to bless you will break you if you don't prune your life in the places I'm telling you to prune there's a heavy outpouring of the weight in the presence of God the glory of God is being released but that level of blessing and that level of glory that's being released if we don't actually take off the weights will carry the wrong thing into the revival that God has for you and you know the spots and it's not God trying to convict you because he's angry with you he's doing this out of love and here's here's what the gardener does with a tree that is growing he sees something bud out and he says will you allow me to prune that because that's not going to bring the tree health and he'll nip it with his fingers but if you don't let him do it then then it grows and then he may have to later on bring his pruning shears that's a little more painful than a little nip and if you keep ignoring that then he might have to come with a chainsaw and if you keep ignoring that beyond that and the pain of a chainsaw then the branch breaks and that's even worse and then if you ignore that or it doesn't happen there the whole tree falls and what happens when leaders fall the power goes out and we're seeing that with a lot of our leaders around the world they didn't deal and prune and allow God to come in and deal with weights so if you don't deal with weights it will turn into sin if you don't deal with the pebbles in your garden the enemy will be faithful to throw more pebbles in your garden until they create a pathway and you're walking along one day and you look up and you're no longer in your garden you're in full blood sin so it didn't happen to you overnight it's a little compromise it's a little things we allow and accept so I just want you to close your eyes and say Jesus is there any weights that I'm carrying or any spots that need pruning in my life is there a voice I need to silence in this season what is it here's what happens with the thing he's showing you if you'll partner with that there's grace there's grace for you to create a new normal and just like we did with fear what's one thing I can physically do on a daily basis it says I believe this truth you get rid of that voice you say God what do you have for me I'm rejecting this appetite this affection I'm turning my attention towards you how do I create this new normal here and God is going to give you breakthrough I really believe it some of you that have been stuck in sin and let's just do this close your eyes if you're in the room and you're like you know I don't just have pebbles in my garden I have a whole pathway and I don't even know where my garden is anymore and I'm stuck in sin if you're at that place and you want to say I need forgiveness for the sin in my life I just want you to write where you're at with every eye close I just want you to look at me and say that's me and I'll just look around because God's coming with forgiveness right now amen yeah I see you see anyone else is going to wait a moment more just going to wait a moment more because this is a moment for God's bringing breakthrough good and that's all pray this together Jesus thank you for your love for me thank you for dying thank you for your death and resurrection that gave me an ability to be free from the sin and not just free from sin and hell but God to actually enter into your kingdom to have a whole new identity and I receive that new creation identity God you get to define me nothing else and Lord I receive you as not just my Savior but as Lord of my life because I need you as Lord and Savior and Lord every place that I didn't trust you before I choose to trust you today and I make you Lord of my life thank you Jesus everything shifting just a moment I just want you to settle in that because God has been shifting identity through the room the whole time into your identity in him his voice has been going over you and what you read you can receive in this moment as you receive transformation body soul and spirit you need healing in your body you receive that his voice what he purchased in his beating his death and resurrection was for your wholeness as well cancer goes diabetes goes cystic fibrosis goes or eyesight heal my eyes legs get healed feet get healed ankles get healed even internal things that you don't know what's going on Jesus his body was ripped open to where his internal organs were exposed in that tearing of his body he dealt with everything he knows exactly you're the healing you need whether we called it out or not we released spirit of healing in the room right now in Jesus name in Jesus name and everyone said amen amen