Who Are You?
Katia Adams • February 15, 2018
Everywhere Jesus went he was asked this one question, “Who are you?”. In this teaching, Katia Adams helps us understand how to live like Jesus by leaning on Him in every moment. You were made to play in the impossible, and the impossible only happens when you lean on Him.
– TRANSCRIPT
Katia: It is my privilege to be standing here this morning. I love this house. Julian and I, and our kids love being part of this family. And if you’d seen me at about 7:00 this morning after a sleepless night with our kids… We’ve got a two-year-old and a nine-month-old who both decided it was the perfect opportunity to wake up through the night. If you’d seen me at 7:00, you would have seen me a little bit worse, but over the last hour and a half, I’ve just felt God speaking to me so powerfully that, to be honest, within about two minutes of the worship time, I was saying to Julian, “I’m raring to go. I can’t wait, I can’t wait.”
So, I think God is gonna do something quite significant in us as a people this morning. And all through the worship time, I think, triggered by this song about his love awakening us, I had this story running through my mind. And it’s a true story. A lady who I’ve met a couple of times, don’t know her very well, this happened to her. She’s Welsh and living in the States, but she’s Welsh and she had gone on a mission trip to, somewhere in Wales, actually, with a whole group of people. And she felt God speak to her about going into this old beautiful church in Wales, and she felt God say to her… I mean, it was quite…if you can imagine with me one of those seriously traditional, beautiful, old stone buildings where it’s silent inside. And there’s such a sense of reverence and religion, and it’s all mixed together. But it’s not the sort of place you feel like shouting aloud or even talking aloud, you use your inside voice when you’re in that place.
And she felt God speak to her in that place and she felt God tell her to start shouting, “Wakey, wakey.” Not the sort of thing you would want to do, probably, anywhere in public, but certainly not in a place like that. But she’s a woman of faith and a woman of courage, and she felt God stir this inside of her again and again to the point that she just couldn’t deny that it was God speaking to her.
And so she started shouting, “Wakey, wakey, wakey, wakey,” into the silence. And suddenly, she began to see, in the supernatural, a mobilization of kingdom in that place and the angelic rising up and beginning to tell her how they’ve been asleep for a long time because no one had chosen to mobilize the supernatural power of God in that place. And suddenly, the atmosphere of that place was changed.
And as we were singing, “Your Love Awakens Me,” I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be a good thing to do this morning, to start shouting ‘wakey, wakey’ to ourselves, to our own spirits, and to the atmosphere in this place?” Seriously, God is moving in this place in a phenomenal way. If you’re a visitor today, this church is an awesome one. God is in this house.
But there is always more waking up that we can do, because his love is here afresh and wants to bring further realization to us of His goodness and His kindness, and further understanding of who he has made us to be.
And so, I wonder if you’d be very kind and do this with me, because if not, it’s kind of embarrassing me doing it all by myself. Would you stand with me for a moment?
And listen, you don’t have to shout, although I’d encourage you to. It’s quite releasing, really, because it’s such an odd thing to do. But I’d really like you to engage with this moment. This isn’t a gimmick. I feel like God has reminded me of this story for a reason because he wants to wake our hearts up.
And so, I just wanna encourage you, however is most engaging for you. I wanna ask you to say the words “Wake up. Wake up.” And I want you to speak that to yourself. I want you to speak it to your own heart and to your spirit. Wake up, wake up, wake up. And if you wanna shout it, shout it. And if you wanna whisper it, whisper it. But I’m asking you to engage with it. Can you do that with me?
Together: Yes.
Katia: So let’s go for it. Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up. I speak to hearts in this room and I say, “Wake up.” I speak to minds in this room and I say, “Wake up.” I speak to spirits in this room and I say, “Wake up.” We speak to the supernatural power of God in this place and we say, “Wake up.” Kingdom rise up in this place, light dawn in this place that the world would never be the same again. In Jesus name, amen.
Right, take your seats. If you’re gonna fall asleep in this sermon now, it really will be a miracle. I don’t mind if you do, it’s fine. Okay, let’s go for it. So, today, I’m gonna be looking at a couple of scriptures in Song of Songs, so feel free to flip to that book, if you like. I’m gonna read the Scriptures, so if you’d rather just listen, that’s totally fine.
I’m gonna pick out two verses that are, I think, quite astonishing. One of them I used to read, thinking that it was talking about God, until I started doing a bit of research and realized, no, it’s not talking about God, it’s talking about us as the beloved. And the verses I’m gonna look at are verse 10 in Chapter 6, and verse 5 in Chapter 8.
And in Chapter 6, it says this, “Who is this, who appears like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?” That’s talking about you and me, that’s not talking about God. “Who is this, who appears like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?” And in Chapter 8, it says, “Who is this coming up from the wilderness and leaning on her beloved?”
I believe God is taking the church further in her destiny in this season, where we would become a people who are so provoking, so startling, so astonishing with who we are and how we live that the world can’t help but say, “Who is this?”
And I think sometimes, we can shy away from what God wants to do in and through us because we’re saying, “No, no. No one must see me as a child of God. I must be invisible so they see God.” But what happens is, we actually squash the work of the Spirit because what he’s trying to do in us is do something so miraculous that people will see us, and then they’ll see the lover who we’re leaning on. And we’re trying to squash it. “No, no, no. I must be invisible. I’ll just remain small and quiet.” And if anyone notices anything that God has done, straight away we’re like, “No, no, no. It wasn’t me. No, let’s not talk about that,” because we’re embarrassed because we think that’s what humility is.
And God is saying, “No, I made you to be a people that the world will stand up and see and hear and go, “Who are you? How are you doing what you’re doing? How are you saying what you’re saying? How are you living this way?” And then we can just step to the side for a moment and show them our lover, and say, “This is the one I have been leaning on all along. This is the one who’s brought me from the wilderness into the place of promise.”
And so, I believe God is doing a switch for us in this season, where we would stand up and we would own who we are, not out of the place of pride but out of the place of understanding that is the Spirit working in us to make us signs and wonders that will point to his goodness and his greatness in all the world.
If you look at how Jesus lived, it’s amazing because people asked, “Who is this?” all the time when they were around Jesus. He calms a storm, and his disciples who’d been with him, who knew him, suddenly shrink back and go, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.” And they’re shocked and they’re astonished and they have no logical answer for who is standing in front of them because he is so otherworldly.
And he forgives the sick so that they’re healed and stand up. And the Pharisees are offended and angered and they say, “Who is this? He thinks he has the right to forgive sins.” They do not have a logical box for him. He’s completely different. And so they have to ask the question, “Who on earth is standing in front of us? He goes into cities, and straight away, the atmosphere changes in that place.” And people are stirred up just because Jesus is there and the crowds start asking, “Who is this?” He starts speaking in the synagogue and people don’t know what to do because they’ve never encountered tangible power when someone speaks in such a way. And so they start asking, “Who is this who speaks with such authority?”
I wonder what questions people are asking when they see you and me. I feel like we’re too logical, we’re too reasonable, we’re too respectable. We make too much sense. I feel like we walk outside and we give too logically, we love too logically, we judge too logically. And so we blend in too logically. And yet, we were created, everything in you and me is created to cause people to be stirred up in the right way, to cause people to start asking questions that their hearts have been screaming all of their lives but they just never knew how to voice them until they see us and suddenly, hunger rises up in them and they start saying, “Who are you? How are you doing what you do? Why are you giving so generously? Why do you love me when I don’t deserve it and I act the way I do? Why are you so non-judgmental when all I’ve known about Christianity or religion is that it judges the broken?” And suddenly, people are asking the question that we were created to provoke all along. “Who is this? Who is this?”
I love looking at these verses a bit deeper. We’re gonna look at Chapter 8 first. I think it kind of makes more sense that way. “Who is this leaning on her lover coming out of the wilderness?” Out of the wilderness. The wilderness is a barren place, it’s a place of wandering and it’s a place of brokenness. And God’s intention with you and me is not for us to stay there but to lead us out of that place, and notice there’s only one way out.
Christian books, even, helpful books, self-help books will tell you that you can find your way out of that wilderness. They’ll tell you lots of steps, lots of strategies to get out of that place. They’ll give you really, really helpful guides to walk your way out of the wilderness. I wanna tell you that’s a bunch of nonsense. You can’t get out. There is only one way out of the wilderness, and it’s leaning on the beloved. There’s no other way out. It is leaning on who he is, wholeheartedly putting our weight on who he is that leads us out of that wilderness.
And look, this verse isn’t just about salvation, but it is also. So, if you’re in this place and you’re not a Christian, maybe, or you’re questioning or you’re just not sure, I wanna describe to you what being a Christian is, and it’s this. It’s recognizing that Jesus is God Himself, that Jesus came to die on a cross to wipe away all of the brokenness, all of the sin, all of the death and destruction that we have brought into this world. And then he rose again because he overcame all of that.
And now, as a Christian, what that means is to say, “I know who you are and I’m gonna put my full weight onto you. I’m gonna let you lead me out of my brokenness. So, I’m gonna let you lead me out of my sin. I’m gonna let you lead me out of all of the places where I feel like I’m dying inside because you can do it and I believe you for it.” That’s what it means to be a Christian.
And so, if you haven’t done that yet, I really wanna encourage you, today is a good day to do that. Today is a good day to say, “Jesus, I wanna lean on you to get out of the wilderness. I’m fed up of trying to find a map.”
But it’s not just about salvation, it’s not just about becoming a Christian. It’s the reality of the journey of being a Christian where we’re stepping further and further into the wholeness that God has intended for us, and you do that by continuing to lean on him.
The funny thing about leaning is that it’s actually not so easy because you lose all control. If you’ve ever had a kind of fracture or leg injury and you’ve had to lean on someone completely, for them to take all of your weight and lead you, it’s actually quite a difficult thing to do because we are innately wired and desire to have control of where we’re going. And so, even if you’ve broken your leg, you’re still trying to put some weight on that broken leg because it feels so completely crazy to lean entirely on someone else and let them lead 100%. It’s not an easy thing to do, but the Bible tells us in the Book of Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.”
The thing about leaning is that it’s literally a place of resting yourself. It’s a way of supporting yourself. And we have a choice to make. Trust or understand. That’s our choice. Trust or understand.
You know, belief is still a choice, it’s still a system of faith, because we’re choosing our understanding. But the problem with understanding is that it will lead you only to a certain point and no further. But trusting takes you all the way, because we can’t lead ourselves to wholeness, we can’t lead ourselves to the promise. It’s only by trusting Him and allowing Him to lead us that we can go. Simply put, and I think Bill Johnson says this, “Our hearts will take us where our minds cannot go.” You will not understand all the places that Jesus wants to lead you.
It’s beyond us, because he’s taking us into impossibility, which means our minds are like, “Whoa, what is going on? I don’t get it. I don’t get it.” That’s a really good place to be. Stay in that place because that means you’re leaning, that means you’re going, “I don’t see where we’re going. I don’t know what we’re doing. Oh, you’re taking me beyond the point of comfort.” That’s the place of leaning. Stay there, because as you lean on him for the impossible, guess what? The impossible starts happening.
I wanna ask you, when was the last time you purposely, consciously took yourself out of the place of understanding because you were leaning so heavily on Him in the supernatural? I wanna ask you, when was the last time you took such a step of faith and risk that if he didn’t show up you would be falling over quite spectacularly?”
Do you know how we tend to do leaning? And I say this because I know it. I do it all the time. We kind of prepare for the leaning. We make sure our safety net is there to catch us, we ensure that there’s a harness on us in case, somehow, he steps a little bit too far and we would fall. So, we’ve got not only a plan B, but a plan C, D, E, and F already in place because our anticipation is not one of him coming through. We’ve prepared for him not coming through.
What are you anticipating? What are you preparing for? Are you preparing for the alternative plans if he doesn’t come through? Are you preparing, making away completely for him to shine as you lean on him?
It’s not easy. You know, it’s not easy because, sometimes, we misjudge where he’s going to step, and we do fall. And I was speaking to someone yesterday, who actually echoed some of my own journey, where she’d really believed God, where she’d put all of her trust and faith for a miracle to come because she really believed that was His will, where she’d felt like she’d heard him. And yet, a miracle didn’t come through. And now she’s saying, “I don’t even believe I can hear him, because I was so convinced I’d heard him, and it didn’t happen. How can I trust that I’d know who he is and I know what he says?”
It’s hard because that’s sometimes our experience. And it’s the reality of journeying and leaning on him, because sometimes we misjudge a step. But do you know what happens in those moments when we fall? He’s not moved any further or he’s not looking down on us, going, “What is wrong with you? When will you learn already?” He’s already crouched down with us, dusting us off, saying, “Let me heal your wounds. Come, stand with me again. Come, lean on me again. Don’t worry, we’ll learn how to do this together.” That’s his promise to you and me. He’s journeying with us, teaching us how to fully lean on him.
It’s worth doing because the adventure and the thrill is in the leaning on him. If not, you can, as a Christian, live a very safe, predictable life. You do that and you’ll miss your destiny, because you were made to play in the impossible, and the impossible only happens when you’re leaning on him.
A number of years ago… I think I might have told this story here, apologies if I have. But a number of years ago, God started speaking to me about my own plan Bs and how I needed to let them go. He showed me…I had an encounter with him where I saw myself as a small child, and I saw myself. I was clinging to his feet as he was walking, but he wasn’t really getting very far. I have a two-year-old, so this happens all of the time. He, like, comes and attaches himself to my legs and I’m like, “Ezekiel, let go of me.” And he’s like, “Go, Mommy go.” And I’m like, “Dude, I can’t move. You’re on my feet, you need to give me some space to walk.”
But God showed me that that’s exactly what I was doing with him. I was clinging to his feet. So I was so close. I was keeping him so very close, so tangible, but I was sitting on his feet, restricting his movement. I was controlling his movement but I was telling him to go. And he was saying to me, “You’re trying to control where we go, we won’t go very far.” And then I saw him in this encounter, pick me up and put me on his shoulders. I no longer had any control of where we were going. It was actually quite scary. I was holding on to his hands but there’s this kind of totally out-of-control feeling where you’re higher than you were before. And that’s scary in itself, and now you have no control over where this person is gonna take you and what this person is going to do.
But, suddenly, I saw I was moving with God in a way that I’d never been moving before. And we were going further and we were doing much wilder things than we would do if I was controlling the pace. I wanna ask you, are you sitting at his feet or are you sitting on his shoulders? The thrill is in the shoulders. It’s scary and it’s risky. But he’s inviting us today to be a people who lean wholeheartedly on him, and as we start doing that, the world is going to take notice because we will be astonishing in the things that we do and in the ways that we do them, and people will start asking, “Who are you?” And then they’ll see the one we’re leaning on.
Let’s look at Chapter 6. It says, “Who is this who looks down or appears like the dawn?” Do you know you were created to be the morning dawn of the kingdom into a broken world? That’s who you were made to be. You are the dawning of the light of the kingdom, into the kingdom of darkness. That’s who you are. You radiate the light of the kingdom of God unto this earth so that the kingdom of darkness begins to shrink back. And notice, the thing is, the light cannot help but overcome the darkness. Have you ever seen the dawn starts to dawn and then night just overtakes it and suddenly, we go back into night again? No, because that’s not how it works. How it works is, the light overcomes the darkness, the light goes ever stronger and the darkness gets ever dimmer. And that’s who you are.
And the enemy will tell you, “Oh, no. The darkness is the one dawning all over you.” And you’re on the back foot and you’re on the defensive, and oh, it’s just gonna get so much worse. You better watch out, you better get really ready, as Christians. And when he says that, he doesn’t mean you better get on the offensive. What he means is, you better hide out somewhere and just wait it out because the darkness is coming. But he’s a liar. You are the light of the kingdom dawning onto the kingdom of darkness. And you, your light overwhelms the darkness, your light overcomes the darkness. The light that is in you is so powerful that the dawn breaks and the darkness dims. That’s who we’re made to be. Who is this? Who is this who appears like the dawn?
It’s echoes of Isaiah 60. Isaiah 60 says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen on you. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. But the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”
What I love about Isaiah 60 is it shows us that we’re not to arise and reflect, as many of us believe, but we are to arise and shine, which means, as the light of God dawns on us, it doesn’t only bathe us with his goodness and his light, but it actually changes who we are entirely, so that what was once his light becomes our light and we start shining in and of ourselves because he’s changed our very substance. It says, “Arise, your light has come.” And then it says, further on, “Nations and kings will come to your light.”
He’s changed your very substance. As you encounter him, everything changes about you. He’s not just giving himself over you and washing you with his goodness, he’s magnetizing every part of your being so now you become the very thing you have beheld. It’s amazing. I think Bill Johnson puts it this way, “Your capacity to see and taste changes your capacity to become.”
Are you seeing and tasting his light? Because that’s changing everything about who you are. And it’s time for the church to arise and shine, because God wants to bring kings and nations to us. You were created to be the light of the kingdom dawning so that kings and nations will see the light that you bring and will come to you. That is who you are. That is what you were made for. Nothing less than that. Nothing smaller than that. Do you recognize that everywhere you go, literally, there is the light of the kingdom dawning? Everywhere you go, every place you go into, there is kingdom light dawning. And sometimes we try to hide it, and sometimes we wanna cover it, and sometimes we don’t even recognize it, which means we don’t even partner with what we are created to do. But if we see it, and if we understand it, and if we choose to lean on Him, then we will engage with this very thing that is happening from us, which is light rising all around us.
You are created to change your world. That’s not just a gimmick, that’s not just a catchphrase, that’s not just a line that has become popular in the church. No, that’s what you were created to do. That’s why you’re here. If you wanna ask me about why you’re here, “What’s God’s purpose for my life? What’s my destiny? What am I called to?” this is what you’re called to. You’re the dawn of the kingdom on the earth. Be fully yourself and everything will change around you. That’s who you were made to be.
And what does that dawning light look like? Well, the following verses tell us. Firstly, they say, “Beautiful as the moon.” Do you know that God is interested in beauty? He really is. He’s not just a function God. He’s not just like, “How can we do things in the most efficient way?” Sometimes we make holiness that or righteousness that. We make it sterile. Sometimes our churches are sterile because we’ve forgotten that God is not just robotic and efficient. He’s lavish, and over the top, and fully created. And loves the beautiful.
I love it in Genesis 2, where it says God made the trees. It says, “He made them so that they were pleasing to the eye.” An old way of saying, “So that they were beautiful.” He made the trees so that they were beautiful and good for food. He could’ve made them so that they were ugly but efficient. But he values beauty. He thinks it’s cool.
It’s like, “Look at this flower.” I can just see him. Sometimes we make him too robotic. But I can see him, Father, Son, and Spirit making the world, making flowers and going, “Look how beautiful this one is. Isn’t it awesome?” Making creatures that are weird, and wonderful, and going, “Wow, look at that one. I came up with something even more amazing today, look at that.” Because that is who he is. If you make him less than that, you’re making Him robotic. That’s not who He is. He loves beauty.
And, you know, you and I were created to bring beauty on the earth. I think for too long creatives in the church have been somehow put down like what you’re doing is frivolous. What you’re doing is actually Kingdom. It’s the light of the kingdom dawning on the earth. I wanna honor you if you are a creative in this room. I wanna honor you if you are an artist in this room. I wanna honor you if you are a musician in this room. I wanna honor you if you are a designer in this room. I wanna honor you if you just like beauty, because that is the light of the kingdom dawning.
Wherever we go, we are created to make the world more beautiful. And it may look so tiny as seeing some litter and thinking, “That doesn’t belong there. I’m gonna pick it up.” It may be so tiny as consciously starting to think, “I wanna enter rooms and leave them making them look more beautiful. I’m just gonna fluff up this cushion over here.” Because that’s the light of the kingdom dawning. We laugh, but that’s us consciously engaging with something we were created to do, which is, wherever we go, making the world look more beautiful. And it’s seen in the tiny things that we feel like we can do. Because some of you will be looking at me going, “I’m not creative.” Well, I beg to differ, because we’re all creative, because we’re all made in the image of God. But that’s another sermon for another time.
But you may be saying, “I don’t draw. I don’t see in color. I don’t even know what to appreciate.” Well, there’s something that all of us can appreciate. Every one of us were made to see a room and think things, “How can I make this place more beautiful?” And it might simply be by being ourselves, breathing kindness, and goodness, and light into that room just by who we are. You might not even need to do anything. You know you are beautiful? That’s one of the lies that the enemy has loved to bring in because he doesn’t want us to see who we really have been made to be.
You were created to bring beauty on the earth. Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun. I love this one. You can’t really look directly at the sun for too long because it makes your eyes go really funny, and you’re not meant to do it for very long because it can actually damage you because there is such radiance, such brilliance, such purity to the brightness of the sun that it’s difficult to look at. It’s called glorious. The sun is full of glory. And that’s who you and I were made to be. We were created to be…our light was created to be so brilliant, so radiant, so glorious that it’s like you can’t help but look but also can’t look for too long because it’s so powerful. That’s what your light looks like, bright as the sun. You are glorious. You are full of His glory.
I’m not making it up. John 17, Jesus is speaking to the Father and he says, “The glory that I have been given, I have given them.” Past tense. Them being Christians everywhere. It’s not like, “One day, when I get to heaven…” Heaven, by the way, isn’t a destination. So that’s odd because we’re already in heaven, because heaven is a reality, as well as Earth, and they’re touching each other even now. But we say this, “One day, when I get to heaven, as a destination after I die, then I’ll be glorious, then I’ll be full of His glory.” Not true. Not true.
You already have been given the fullness of His glory. The same glory that was on Jesus, where people encounter him in visions and fall over because he is so brilliant. His glory is so overwhelming that they literally cannot stand up in his presence. The same glory that we see at the Transfiguration when he’s on the top of a mountain with a few of his disciples who just knew him as Jesus, the man who did some awesome miracles. And suddenly, the veil is taken, and the shining, radiant brilliance that was the reality of the substance of Jesus is on show. And they don’t even know what to do but fall down because they’re so overwhelmed at the brightness of the sun. That’s what your light looks like. You are glorious, you are full of His glory.
And Exodus 33 gives us a glimpse as to, what is glory? It’s such a difficult word to put your finger on. But Moses said, “Show me your glory.” And then God does two things. He manifests his presence, and he allows Moses to encounter his goodness.
You are full of His glory, and your dawn is dawning on the Earth with His glory. What that means is you are overwhelming the darkness with the manifestation of His presence and an encounter with his goodness. Everywhere you go you are a gateway to people knowing his presence, suddenly feeling, “God is in this room.” They won’t know how to say it. They won’t be even able to say, “God is in this room,” but they’ll suddenly feel something overwhelming as we engage with what comes from us, which is glory. And we’ll be ushering in the presence of God and a tangible encounter with his goodness.
His goodness looks like something. It’s tangible for people. And sometimes we’re so quick to want to evangelize, out of a good heart. We want people to know Jesus, so we’re telling them about him, which is good. I’m not saying it’s not good. But I feel like, sometimes, what’s more awesome is for us to allow the light to dawn through us with his beauty, with the radiance of his presence and his goodness, and with his power, which we’re about to come on to. So that people go, “Who are you? I’ve never met someone who does good things like this. Good things that aren’t coated in sickly religion, but good things that are at home with the broken. I’ve never met someone who gets down in the dirt and sees me, actually sees me and engages with my brokenness. I’ve never met someone who does things that aren’t just lovely, humanitarian-aid type things to do but go beyond that to pulling out the value and the worth of that person. And so, who are you?”
And then we can say, “I’m the one leaning on my beloved. Come and look at him.” It’s an easier way to evangelize because you are stirring hunger, being fully yourself. And then the next logical conversation is, “Come and meet my Jesus, he’s so beautiful. He’s taken me out of the wilderness and he wants you to come out of the wilderness too.” “Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners.”
You are so powerful because the same spirit who is full of tangible power, who raised Jesus from the dead is inside of you, has changed your very substance so you radiate with the power of God. It’s all over you and it’s in you. You can’t help but be powerful when you engage with what is true of you.
You are awesome as an army with banners. Imagine that, an army full of regalia. Imagine looking down at the horizon and seeing thousands, upon thousands, upon thousands of soldiers all dressed with banners everywhere saying who they are and where they’re coming from. Imagine the sound of thousands, and thousands, and thousands of soldiers marching. Imagine how overwhelming that would be for you as you stood there, all by yourself, with thousands coming towards you. And that’s what the enemy feels when he sees you. You are awesome as an army with banners.
The Bible tells us he trembles. He trembles. You have been made so powerful because God himself has made his home in you, and has charged every cell of your being with his glory, that you are awesome as an army with banners. So when the enemy tells you, you are small, and insignificant, and tiny and under your circumstances, and backed into a corner, just laugh because that’s ridiculous, because you’re the army with banners and he’s a trembling fool.
You’re not backed into a corner and you are not small. The power of God radiates from you. Do you know he sees Jesus in you more than we do, sometimes? I remember the first time…well, one of the first times, as a child, I had an encounter with someone who was demonized.
Look, if you’re not a Christian here and you’re now starting to freak out a little bit, the reality is, the Bible tells us God is real and the devil is real. And you just have to look around at the brokenness of the world to recognize there’s something really bad going on somewhere. And that’s called the devil and all his lies. We don’t need to be afraid of that as Christians because we’re the powerful army.
But I remember being a child. I was a Christian, I was in a Christian family and I was leaning on Jesus as best I knew how. And I walked into a room and there was a lady, a petite lady who was struggling with some oppression that the enemy had brought on her life. And it was an encounter between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. And I just remember that this woman who was, obviously, showing signs of a demonic manifestation. I was a child, at the time. She suddenly turned and the reality of the demonic came out of her and she said…the demons said in reality, “Get her,” meaning me, “Out of here.” And she was terrified looking at me.
And I remember thinking, as a child, like, I left the room. I’d just gone in to get something and kind of came upon this whole scene that I didn’t fully understand, but I remember leaving the room. I was a tiny little girl, and thinking, “That demon was scared of me.” Like, it was crazy, because in the natural, I was not scary. I was smaller even than I am now, which is quite difficult to imagine.
I was a child, but I saw the terror from this demon who was shouting, “Get her out of this room.” And I walked away with this understanding that Jesus lives inside of me. And even when I don’t know that, even when I don’t recognize it, even when I don’t partner, the enemy recognizes Jesus inside of me and trembles at his name.
You are an awesome army with banners. Jesus lives inside of you and His power radiates from you. You were created to bring the dawn of beauty, glory, and power, the manifestation of His goodness and presence here on the earth so that people will stop and look and say, “Who are you?” You were created to change the world with the light dawning from you. You were created to lean so heavily on your beloved so that you walk into the impossible and the unknown.
Let me finish with this quote. It’s from a friend of mine, Alan Scott, and he says, “We can’t impress our cities into life. We can immerse them in the life to come. We can bring life. We must bring life. It’s our assignment for which we will be held accountable. Developing life-giving churches at the center of the city involves more than creating irresistible environments marked by excellence and service. Any human industry can accomplish those goals. Life-giving churches are defined by the life of another world. They are steeped in the impossible.” You are steeped in the impossible. Everything about you was created to change the world.
I wanna encourage you. Family, let’s let the light of the kingdom dawn from us. We are dawn bringers. And let’s change the world as we go out of here. Our cities aren’t hard to reach, but they are hard to reach if we stay in this building. Let’s go and bring the light to where it needs to be brought most. Let’s go and provoke, “Who are you?” and show them our beautiful Jesus. Won’t you stand with me?
By Julian Adams
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January 3, 2025
We are living in a world of dramatic change. The relentless pace of development often leaves us breathless and exhausted. The demand for innovative ways of communicating, inventing, and staying ahead of cultural trends can feel daunting and demoralizing. It can push us into a space where we find ourselves trying to copy rather than be authentic, to imitate rather than create. This pressure can lead us to believe that we need to be more creative, and that our individual stories do not matter. But nothing could be further from the truth. Your story, no matter how small, matters and is powerful. One of the remarkable aspects of ancient manuscripts, like the Bible, is that they tell the stories of individuals whose lives may seem small and insignificant. Yet, God chose to make their lives a memorial of what He could do with a life that the world deems insignificant. The incredible power of the gospel is that it changes lives one at a time. God is as interested in the individual story as He is in redeeming the cosmos. The aim of the gospel is not just dealing with personal sin; it is about restoring individuals to a relationship with a kind Father. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis beautifully said, "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." Justification addresses our standing before God, but our adoption invites us into a relationship with the Father. It allows us to partake of who He is and to live in a place of deep joy from who He is. Romans 3:23 reminds us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Many of us forget that the work of salvation has turned this verse around. Through Jesus, we have been restored to the glory of God. One description of the word "glory" refers to the divine quality, the unspoken manifestation of God, and splendor. It is the revelation of God's intrinsic worth and beauty. Do you see that? We have been restored to His divine quality, splendor, and beauty. In a world where it can be easy to feel like just another face in the crowd, remember that your story is significant. Your experiences, your journey, and your voice matter. Embrace the unique narrative God has given you and let it shine. You are not just a spectator; you are a vital participant in God's grand story. Your authenticity, creativity, and individuality are valuable. As you navigate the rapid changes of our world, hold on to the truth that your story has power and purpose. God sees you, knows you, and has a plan for your life that is uniquely yours. Let us celebrate the beauty and significance of each individual story, knowing that together, we contribute to a tapestry of divine splendor and glory.
By Julian Adams
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July 17, 2024
Rejection is a powerful force that can shape the trajectory of our lives, often in ways we don't fully realize until much later. For me, this journey began in childhood. I was born with a cleft palate, which affected my ability to speak, and coupled with my passionate devotion to Jesus, I faced daily ridicule and rejection throughout my school years. My speech and my fervent faith made me a target, and I found myself isolated and misunderstood. Despite the rejection, something beautiful began to grow within me: a deep and abiding friendship with Jesus. Through profound encounters with the Lord, I began to walk in the prophetic. This newfound gift led me to public ministry, where I started releasing prophetic words. However, beneath the surface, I was carrying an immense amount of pain that I hadn't dealt with. This pain manifested as a lifestyle of performance, driven by the need for acceptance and validation. Though I was a new creation in Christ, I was living as if I were still bound by my old wounds. In Matthew 23:27-28 (MSG), Jesus describes the Pharisees as "manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin, you're total frauds." These words struck a chord with me because I realized I was living like a professional Pharisee. Outwardly, I appeared to have it all together, but inside, I was disconnected from the healing process that God wanted to take me through. This disconnect had a significant impact on my prophetic ministry. My words, especially those concerning sin, were often harsh and unkind, reflecting my damaged perspective of myself and the world. It wasn't until I began to address my heart issues that my approach to the prophetic truly changed. God started speaking to me about the connection between my gift, my performance, and my worth. Through this process, He took me back to moments of pain and difficulty from my childhood and even into my adult life. In one profound moment, God said to me, "Son, I want you to grow up and be a child." This statement might seem paradoxical, but it revealed a crucial truth: the posture of the kingdom is one of childlike fascination and trust. My journey into sonship transformed how I viewed the prophetic and how I ministered to others. No longer driven by judgment and legalism, I began to approach people with love, kindness, and the heart of the Father. Understanding my identity as a beloved child of God allowed me to see others through His eyes. This shift not only brought healing to my heart but also enabled me to minister more effectively and compassionately. Rejection and pain had shaped my early years, but God's love and healing power brought me to a place of wholeness. This journey has taught me that dealing with our heart issues is essential for authentic and impactful ministry. As we pursue wholeness, we open ourselves to deeper intimacy with God and greater effectiveness in serving His people. If you find yourself struggling with similar issues of rejection, pain, or performance, I encourage you to invite God into those wounded places. Allow Him to heal and transform you, just as He did for me. Embrace the posture of childlike wonder and trust, knowing that you are deeply loved and valued by your Heavenly Father. In this place of wholeness, you will find the freedom to live and minister authentically, reflecting the heart of God to a world in need.
By Julian Adams
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July 21, 2023
In my years of teaching people the prophetic and how to hear God's voice, I've learned several practices that help people hear Him. Here are a few of my most helpful!
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