This message was shared by Apostle Kathryn Krick, Lead Pastor/Apostle of 5F Church, in Los Angeles on August 2, 2026. To watch the full video, scroll to the bottom of this post. We pray this teaching blesses you and equips you to walk as a powerful vessel of God. 

Today I’m going to be teaching about the joy of being tested. I think this is going to be the most joyful, positive message about testing that you’ve ever heard. First, I want to share a prophecy from Prophet Dr. GeorDavie that he shared with me this week. He prophesied, “The church worldwide is being tested right now. Not only 5F Church, but the entire body of Christ is being tested right now, every believer. Because the enemy has launched an attack, an assault on the Holy Spirit.”

In the past couple weeks, the biggest attack has been on the Holy Spirit, on the move of the Holy Spirit and the works on the Holy Spirit.The enemy would want the church to shrink back. He would want the church to stay dead or to go back to being dead if it came out of being dead and started wanting the move of the Holy Spirit. The enemy wants believers to be intimidated by others’ attacks, who are saying that the Holy Spirit is weird and He isn’t real, that the move of the Holy Spirit is fake or not normal. All of this is aimed at getting believers to be afraid of people’s opinions instead of fearing God, to shrink back from desiring and hungering for the Holy Spirit and giving the Holy Spirit permission to have His way in their lives and in their churches. 

Every believer right now is being tested in this regard. Do you fear God or do you fear people? Do you genuinely love the Holy Spirit and want the Holy Spirit to have His way in your life and in other people’s lives and other people’s ministries, or not? That is the testing that is happening right now. So it’s important for the whole body of Christ to be aware that God is testing the church. He’s using all that the enemy is doing and his attacks as a test for the church. It’s important to be aware of this so you don’t fail the test. This is a crucial time right now for every believer and for the body of Christ.

Believers, Christians, stand strong. Now is the time to stand strong and be courageous. Do not be ashamed of the Holy Spirit. Be proud to be associated with the Holy Spirit. Be proud of how He moves. Love how He moves. Love how He moves in power to deliver those who are oppressed. Desire the Holy Spirit to touch people and make them tremble and to encounter God in such a supernatural way. God's power can’t be contained. It’s so heavy. Our human bodies sometimes can’t take the power of God. When God does a great work, whether that’s healing, delivering, bringing the fear of God, opening up eyes to how powerful He is and His love, sometimes He wants your body to not be able to contain His power. This work that He’s doing is part of your eyes opening up to His love and His power. That’s why sometimes someone’s body can’t contain God's power. God knows what He’s doing. It’s not an accident. When the body can’t contain God's power, meaning when it falls down or when a demon inside is trembling, making a person convulse as it leaves, God knows that’s happening. He Himself is doing that. But He’s doing that for a purpose. He knows that this tangible experience with the Holy Spirit is going to bring the fear of God, creating respect for God, for people to see that God is God, that He’s not on our level. We can’t even stand in His presence because He’s holy. He’s a holy God, almighty God. He’s the Creator of heaven and earth, Lord of all creation, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Holy, Holy, Holy.

I remember when I first had my tangible encounter with the Holy Spirit, it was when I spoke in tongues. When I started speaking in tongues, suddenly the gift came, I was baptized in fire, and suddenly this wild KNOWING came to me: “God loves me so much.” I didn’t hear an audible voice, saying, “I love you so much Kathryn.” I can’t explain it other than when my body was confounded by this tangible experience with the Holy Spirit, I had this knowing of God’s love for me, and this fear of God came upon me for the first time. I realized, “God is so big and almighty. He’s been with me all this time. And everything I’ve read about Him in the word is true. I know this.” It happened when my body was taken over by God, when the supernatural took place in my body. So, it is so beautiful when the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in a supernatural way. 

Paul said, “I didn’t come to you with wise and persuasive words, because if I did, your faith would rest on my word for it” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). He was saying, “I didn’t come in an intellectual way, with passion and charisma. But rather I came to you with the demonstration of God’s power so that your faith would not rest on my words but your faith would rest on God's power.” That was my experience. When I had this supernatural experience for the first time, even though I had been a Christian for 21 years at this point, since giving my life to Jesus at age four, this was when my faith was rested on God's power. This is when my faith became real. This is when my faith became this knowing and confident faith. 

Believers, we have to love the Holy Spirit, to stand strong with the Holy Spirit. When attacks come towards the Holy Spirit, we have to stand strong and say, “I love you, Holy Spirit. I will stand with the Holy Spirit. I don’t care what anybody says. You’re beautiful. You changed my life, and you’re the answer to everything. You’re the answer to salvation”. We can’t pick and choose which parts of God we want, but that’s the state of a lot of the church today. They pick and choose the comfortable parts, the parts that lead them to not ruffle feathers and be persecuted. And that’s why the Holy Spirit has been pushed out of the church. You can’t pick and choose. You’re rejecting God when you’re rejecting a part of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 10:13 

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

When God tests you, there are some tests where God is seeing: “Will you pass this test? Will you choose me? Will you obey me?” He knows you have the ability to pass it, because that’s what this Scripture is saying. He knows you can, but God is genuinely testing you: “Will you obey or will you not? Will you want to please people or will you instead only fear me?” There are times in your journey with God when He is genuinely testing you: “Here’s the test. Let’s see if you'll pass. I know you can, but let’s see if you’ll choose to pass.” But then there are tests that God knows you will pass. God is not wondering, “Will they obey me or not?” He knows your heart. He’s taking you through the refining fire. He knows you will pass. He knows you will pass with flying colors!

It’s like if someone who is intelligent is studying for a test. If they study really well for a test, and they know exactly what the test is going to be on, it is like some of the tests that God gives you. He’s seen that you have been after His heart day after day, year after year, walking in His will. Just like He said about David, “He will do all that I tell him to do because his heart is after mine (Acts 13:22).” These kinds of tests are used to promote you. There are tests for faithful servants of God where He knows you’re going to pass, but you have to go through something. You have to go through this battle to become a general. To be a true leader of God’s people, you don’t just get a title plastered over you. To be a leader where God gives you much influence, that doesn’t happen overnight. You have to go through battles and conquer them and conquer them and conquer them. And then you become a general. 

That’s what I’m talking about today. There are tests that God knows you’re going to pass. They are just something you have to go through for the lifting, to see the promise fulfilled in your life. But God has no doubt that you’ll pass it. We need to see these types of tests as a blessing and a gift, rather than a nailbiter. We shouldn’t think, “Oh, I have a test tomorrow. Even though I studied every subject matter, I’m nervous.” 

Why are you nervous? You were called for such a time as this. This is the battle you have to conquer. Just like you conquered many battles over the years, this is just another battle. It’s a bigger battle, but you’re prepared for this because God has taken you to this level of battle. In the past, He took you to a next level of battle, and you conquered. He took you to another level of battle, and you conquered. Now there is this level of battle, and what do you think is going to happen? You’re going to conquer again! Because God will not tempt you beyond what you can bear. God is faithful!

In 2022, when I started going through a big battle I had never gone through before, of people speaking against me in a huge public way, making videos against me, and making up lies about me, God started to speak to me in a still small voice: “There’s a spotlight on you, and even if people are looking in a negative way, this is a blessed opportunity to shine your light in the spotlight.” When the spotlight comes on you, you can either cower down and try to hide from the spotlight or you can shine. Even when people look at you with funny eyes, maybe even try to throw tomatoes at you on the stage, you don’t grimace, you don’t let it shake you. You still shine. You shine your light and you bear the salt that you carry. You’re the salt of the earth; you’re the light of the world. 

So sometimes a big light will come upon you, and it might be in a negative way because the devil is really mad and he wants to get everyone to look at you in a bad way to try to take you down. He’s saying, “Everyone, let’s stone this person. Look in this direction and let’s all do this.” There are times when God can allow that, but God can allow it because He’s going to turn it for good. Because the weapons formed against you will not prosper. So people may look at you and want to throw stones, but they won’t prosper. They’ll chuck words, they’ll chuck tomatoes, but the tomatoes aren’t knocking you down. You’re still shining. Your light can be seen, even if people are trying to muddy you. “I have tomatoes on my outfit but I’m still smiling and speaking life and releasing the power of God.” 

So there may be tomato markings all over my shirt and pants, and I’m looking undignified for Jesus. Sometimes serving Jesus gets a little messy. But do you think God is afraid of me having tomato stains on my outfit? Does He say, “I can’t move in power through her now because of the tomato stains on her outfit.” If I have tomato stains on my outfit, I can choose to die to my ego and keep my eyes on Jesus and keep my eyes on the assignment that He’s given me. I can keep my eyes on the people of God and continue to minister to them. And if people start chucking tomatoes at me right now, there are still going to be people with pure hearts who are hungry to receive the word of God, who are hungry to be set free, to be healed, and they’re going to look past it. They’re not going to judge me. They’re going to see what’s inside of me. They’re going to keep their eyes on Jesus and see that it doesn’t matter—it’s just the vessel, and they’re still going to be ready to receive the power of God.

That’s how it is sometimes. Sometimes a spotlight comes on us, and it looks like we have tomato stains. But God’s not afraid of that. Let there be a spotlight on you so that those who are pure in heart can see your bright light and the salt that you carry, so that they can receive the power of God that you carry and look to you for leadership. God wants them to look for your leadership as an example. 

In 2022, God spoke to me, “This is an opportunity. Don’t see this as something that you just want to be over with, that stinks. No! This is an opportunity to shine your light where you would not have been able to shine your light during the mountaintop season. You have an opportunity, right now, to love your enemies publicly, to be a Christlike example and not speak against those who are speaking against you. You have this opportunity to be patient and kind and gentle when this pressure is on you. That’s an opportunity of leadership. That’s an opportunity to shine your light and show, ‘This is what it is to be Christlike. This is how we should treat people. This is how we should love one another. This is how we should be when we go through slander and people speaking against us. This is what we should do.’” And God was speaking to me, “I’m using you as a leader in this way right now. I want people to see this right example, and I’ve prepared you for this. You can handle this. It’s not fun, it’s hard, I know but you can handle this and I want people to learn that it is possible to hold your tongue. It is possible to let God defend you and rest in Him. It is possible to keep your eyes on Jesus and keep doing the work of God. Don’t look left or right because a lot of people don’t show that example. It’s rare today. I’m allowing this to happen so that this spotlight can be on you, which a lot of people see as a bad thing, but I’m using this.” The pure in heart shall see God (Matthew 5:8). “There are people who will look past the tomato stains on you and will receive what I want them to receive, by looking at your light shining.”

To be a leader, you have to go through these battles, and God is using these battles for people to see the leadership qualities in you, so they can follow you, because He wants them to follow you as you follow Jesus. God wants to use you. He wants to lift you for His glory, to be an example. But this is how God does it: He speaks to people, “This servant is from me,” by putting pressure on them, having them go through hard things and for it to be visible that “This is a leader I want to follow! I’m not patient like that. They’re being patient in this situation. I need to follow that example. If I want to grow, I need to look to that example. They are loving of their enemies. If I was in their shoes, there’s no way I could do that. That’s a leader that I need to follow. I will grow as I listen to the teachings. I will be equipped. I will become more Christlike. I will be able to be like that when those situations arise.”

This is how God reveals to people: “This is my chosen servant I want you to follow as an example.” He puts servants of God through pressure so you can see what’s really under the surface, under the facade, under the charisma, behind the face. Because when pressure comes, it reveals what’s really there. There’s no hiding. There’s no faking. God exposes, but He uses it in a good way. When there’s nothing but truth and purity, He will expose it. He will use whatever to expose it. He’ll use pressure to expose it.

I’ve even had moments where I realized, “Praise God, I didn’t even know I was this strong and courageous like this.” But it was exposed to me, by God's grace. In 2021, I was ministering at a revival event in Fresno, and there was a man who was over six feet tall, and demons started trying to intimidate me through him. They got up in my face; they had taken over the man. It was intimidating. In the physical, it looked like a man who was really aggressive. The volunteers there were concerned for me. But, glory to God, I could discern that this was a demon in this man, trying to intimidate me. Even though I had never gone through that before, God had prepared me for such a time as this. So I didn’t cower down and get scared, but I discerned, “This is a demon and greater is He who is in me than he who is against me (1 John 4:4). When I walk in my authority, that demon has to go.” So I walked in my authority, I commanded the demon to go, and the demon left the man. He started crying. Praise God! That’s just an example of how pressure exposed what God had done in me, that I wasn’t even aware of.

We see these kinds of tests happening in the Bible, where God is not testing whether they will obey Him or not, but He uses these tests to reveal that they are true servants of God, to expose their godly character through the pressure.

Nehemiah 6:2-6

There were people who were against Nehemiah and against the work of God that God had instructed Him to do in leading the rebuilding of the wall for God. These people were scheming to harm him. It says,

But they were scheming to harm me, so I sent messengers to them with this reply, “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop, while I leave it and go down to you? Four times they sent me the message and each time I gave them the same answer. Then the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was a sealed letter, in which was written, “It is reported among the nations, that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt,”

He was making up lies and coming with this intimidation.

Nehemiah 6:6-8

“and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports, you are about to become their king and have appointed prophets to make their proclamation about you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king, so come, let us meet together.” I sent him this reply, “Nothing like what you are saying is happening. You were just making it up out of your head.”

This is powerful: Nehemiah did not back down. He was not intimidated. He knew that lies will never stand. He knew their schemes. He knew that the enemy was using these people to try to get him to stop doing the important, powerful work of God that he was doing, through intimidation and distraction. But Nehemiah stood strong, and he wouldn’t back down. He wouldn’t be intimidated. He wasn’t afraid, but he trusted in God and he took the assignment God gave him so seriously that he wouldn’t back down from doing it.

Nehemiah 6:12

I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had prophesied against me,

They had falsely prophesied and said, “We’re coming in the name of God saying this.” And he says, “I realized that God had not sent him, but that he had falsely prophesied against me,” 

Nehemiah 6:12-13

because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.

Through this, Nehemiahs’ true colors were shown, that he truly had these leadership qualities, that he had faith in God, that he wouldn’t back down, and that he wouldn’t give in to intimidation, but he would stay focused on the work of God. He would keep being obedient to do the work of God.

We’re going to now look at the story of Joshua and Caleb.

Numbers 14:7-9

Joshua and Caleb went out along with others to spy out the Promised Land. They came back and gave the report after they scouted it out.

“The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land, and if the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us. They have no protection, but the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them.”

Before they shared this good report, most of the people who were scouting out the land with them gave a bad report. They did not have faith, and they said, “The people in this land are too big and too scary. We will lose. We can't take the Promised Land,” even though God had promised it to them. Joshua and Caleb, with a different spirit, gave a good report. They were strong in faith. They believed what God said, and they didn’t give in to fear. They looked in the spirit instead of the physical. They were true leaders.

It wasn’t easy for them to go against the majority’s report. Think about it this way: it was life or death. The majority’s report was them thinking they were being wise: “If we take the land, we are going to die.” And Joshua and Caleb are saying, “No, we can go and take the land.” So people wondered, “Are you trying to kill us?” It was a big deal to stand up in their faith and to go against the others.

Numbers 14:10

But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb.

The whole community began to talk about stoning them, just because they trusted in God and believed that God would do what He promised—just because they had big faith. But  they also wanted to stone them partly because they thought that Joshua and Caleb were going to get them killed. 

This shows how strong Joshua and Caleb were in the spirit, with people trying to stone them. They knew the attack would come when they stood in faith and said, “No, you all are wrong; we can take the land.” They spoke the truth anyway. They kept their faith. They didn’t cower down.

Numbers 14:10-12

The whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then, the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tabernacle, and the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.” 

Wow! This was a test! This is like today! There are the people of God, all of the Christians in the body of Christ, and God wants all of them to go into the promised land of revival, but there’s a testing of faith. There’s a testing going on right now. Those with a different spirit, as the Bible says (Numbers 14:24), like Joshua and Caleb, who have a heart after God’s, who believe the words that God says and who want to do God’s will—they are going to make it. But for the others, it’s up to them whether they will go into the promised land of revival or not.

That test was a moment that showed that Joshua and Caleb were true leaders. Nobody from their generation made it except for those two, but there was a younger generation that then followed them. What I want you to understand is that there is this pressure and this testing that came, and Joshua and Caleb had to go through that. They had to look people in the eyes as they were planning to stone them. And they had to stand strong. But that was what qualified them as leaders of all of the Israelites, of the younger generation that would follow them into the Promised Land. 

It’s never going to be just a matter of, “This is an anointed leader. Everybody, follow them!” God proves why He chose them. God opens up people’s eyes to see, “This is a true leader I have anointed.” He puts pressure on them because He wants you to want to follow them, so that you can value their words and their teachings and realize, “I can’t do what that person is doing. But God wants me to be like them. God wants me to be loving like them, to love people the way they love people. God wants me to be obedient like they are obedient. God wants me to be humble like they are humble. God wants me to have a big faith like they have a big faith. God wants me to be slow to speak and to have self-control like they do.” 

God will put pressure upon leaders so that people can understand how important it is to listen to what they say. When God speaks, it is humbling. And it also confirms that this is really God when the enemy tries to get them out of God’s will and tries to pull them away from where they are planted and from the safe leadership God has called them to be under. They won’t be shaken because God has revealed, in many different ways, through pressure, “This is where I want you. This is a leader you can follow.” 

The Israelites would have seen this happen. The younger generation would have seen their family members and all the other people in their generation die off. And they would have known why, and through this pressure, through this test, they would have seen rightly that Joshua and Caleb were leaders that God chose. So these tests are powerful. They are important. They bring the shifting, and they lead to the promise you are waiting for being fulfilled.

Now we’re going to go to the story of Joseph.

Genesis 50:15-18

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” So, they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died. This is what you are to say to Joseph, ‘I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now, please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 

By the way, here is an example in Scripture, where people bow down to Joseph—not worshipping him, but honoring him. It was in honor.

Genesis 50:18-21

His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

This was a test! Joseph was tested at this moment, because Joseph’s brothers had thrown him in a pit to die out of jealousy and then sold him to slavery. They did horrible, horrible things because they were jealous of him. And now was the moment when Joseph was seeing the dream come to pass. He had been lifted to the highest position in all of Egypt, except for Pharaoh. Now he was in this huge place of power and leadership, and they were just normal people. With his power, he could have done whatever he wanted to them. But he didn’t put them in jail, he didn’t punish them, he didn’t have them beaten, He didn’t even reprimand them or speak negative words to them, like, “How could you? Look at me now!” He didn't speak in this prideful way. No, he just forgave them. He showed love to them with his words and with his actions. He wiped away the past. He saw that they were repentant and humble. And he exhibited the heart of the father and forgave them and wiped away their past. He didn’t keep their past wrongs in his mind or harbor bitterness against them. And he even went on to say, “I’ll bless you. I’ll help protect you and I’ll give you food and provide for you.” 

That was a test that wouldn't be easy to do. But this is a moment where the leadership was proven though Joseph. He was proven to be the leader God had called him to be. And this was public. This was known. This was not a hidden thing. This would have been known: “Those are his brothers, and they did all this to him.” But they saw how he was loving and kind and forgiving to them.

We’re going to go to David now.

1 Samuel 24:12-13

Saul was trying to kill David. He was hunting him down with armies, trying to kill him. David is hiding in caves for eight to ten years, as Saul tried to kill him.

Now, my father, see the piece of your clothing in my hand. I cut off the piece of your clothing, but did not kill you. So, know and understand that I have no desire to do wrong to you. I have not sinned against you, yet you come wanting to kill me. May the Lord judge between you and me. May he punish you for your action against me. But my hand will not be against you.

David was fighting for his life, while Saul had armies trying to literally kill David. And there was a moment where they were in a cave and Saul didn’t know that David was right there. And David could have killed him right there. He could have then stopped hiding in caves and gone on with his life. But he didn’t do that. Because even though the anointing had left Saul, he was still originally an anointed servant of God. And David knew this principle, that you’re not to touch the anointed (Psalms 105:15). And David had such a fear of God; he revered God; he had so much respect for God, that even though the anointing had already left Saul and Saul was trying to kill him, he still wouldn’t speak against him. He still wouldn't touch him! That shows the heart of David, that he has such reverence and respect for God, respect for God.

People would have known that story. David went on to be king, in God’s perfect timing. This was not a silent story. God used this to show, “This is my true leader I have anointed. Look at what happened when he was under pressure. This is really who he is.” 

This is not someone putting himself in the place of leadership. God Himself has put Him in the place of leadership for a reason, because of his heart, because of his godliness.

And now, let’s go to the example of Jesus.

Luke 13:10-17

One Sabbath day, as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness.” Then He touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days in the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day. Don’t you untie your donkey or ox from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?” This shamed His enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things He did.

So this is one example where we see how Jesus healed somebody, but it happened on a Sabbath so the Pharisees were saying, “He’s going against the word of God.” But Jesus wasn’t going against the word of God. He was just going against their wrong revelation and interpretation of the word of God. They were not rejoicing that this woman was healed, and they didn’t see how this was true fruit that Jesus is truly the Messiah. And they didn’t stop to think, “We I don’t know why He did it on the Sabbath, but this person is healed. So we’ll be quiet.” No, they could not rejoice in the healing, and they were still saying He was not of God. But Jesus is so gracious. He confronts the Pharisees, but He does it with love. He does it sharply, but He does it with love. And it says that this shamed the enemies. But He didn’t shame them; the truth shamed them. The truth being spoken shamed them. The truth being spoken proved them wrong. The light of Jesus revealed the darkness. The light of Jesus shining revealed the darkness in them, and that shamed them. But Jesus did not shame them. He didn’t go on a campaign to try to tear them down or to slander their name. He kept focused on the work of God. He made one comment to address what they’re saying, but He didn’t have rage or hatred towards them, to say, “How dare you do this to me. Don't you know who I am? I’m going to take you down now.” He didn't do that! And He didn't have pride and ego. He was just speaking the truth, but it didn’t have to do with trying to make people see Him in a good light. It didn’t come out of that place of, “I want to make sure people see me in the right light.” He was speaking truth so that people could rejoice that a woman was healed, and so that more people’s eyes could open and come into the truth and not be deceived by them. 

So often, people accused Jesus of going against the word of God. They said He was using demonic powers to cast out demons. They said He was a heretic. They said He was false. They said He was a danger to society. They even went to the government and tried to convince them that He was such a danger to society. But he never responded with hatred or rage. He didn’t respond from a place of wanting to clear His name so that people would see Him the right way. He never responded from a place of, “I care about what people think, and this is driving me crazy that people see me in the wrong light. I have to prove myself.” Jesus never responded like that. It shows His humility. It also shows His focus on the work of God. It shows His reliance on the Father to fight His battles for Him. It shows His deep trust that the Father was allowing all of this. 

Don’t fight what God is allowing; rest, and let God take you through this. 

Luke 23:32-34

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on the right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 

Luke 23:39

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

Jesus was on the cross, with nails in His hands and in His feet, with a crown of thorns on His head—and in the middle of this, people were saying this and dividing up his clothes. They were doing such evil things, mocking him and making fun of him, and in the middle of that, one of the criminals said, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” They were being crucified together and this man was mocking him. In that moment, Jesus could have spoken with evil and with hatred towards him, but He didn’t. He was peaceful as He was going through this suffering. He still showed love to Him. And He chose to speak these words, “Father forgive them,” while He was on the cross, suffering the greatest kind of pain you could ever have. This pain killed Him, and yet that’s how Jesus responded. 

This is written in the Bible for us today, to see His example and to follow Him as our leader above all leaders. He is our ultimate leader. It’s amazing that that’s written in the Word. It didn’t have to be recorded, but it’s recorded, because God wants us to see Jesus’ example so that we could follow it and we could know that it is possible. He was fully God but He was also fully man, and He was able to do this. He was able to respond with love and not hatred. 

Matthew 5:43-48

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

When we read the story of Jesus and other stories of servants of God going through hard things and being put through pressure, but then showing us this godly way of responding, that teaches us! The Bible teaches us that this is how God wants us to respond in these types of situations—and that it’s possible, because these real human beings were able to do this, through God. So you can do it, too. 

But what do you have today in the body of Christ? You have people who are reading the Bible with the wrong revelation; they’re picking parts of the Bible that they want and leaving other parts out. There’s been this morphing in the body of Christ, by and large, into being lukewarm. We’ve really strayed away from what the Book of Acts looks like. So God is now purifying the body of Christ and transforming the body of Christ, by making the Bible come alive. He’s anointing and raising up a modern-day Nehemiah, a modern-day Joshua and Caleb, a modern-day Joseph, people who are Christlike. And He’s going to put them through things similar to what all of these servants of God went through. And they’re going to be salt and light like the body of Christ hasn’t seen before—like the world hasn’t seen before. They’re going to respond to situations in a way that people have never seen before. He’s going to put pressure on servants of God and on you, children of God. And people are going to look at you and think, “How are they going to respond? I’m getting ready to pounce and laugh at them and judge them.” And then you will surprise them because you respond like Christ. And then they will think, “I haven’t seen that before. That reminds me of something I’ve read in the Bible before, but I never saw that.” And it will open their eyes to realize, “Wait a second, I think we’ve been missing some things. Why aren’t we doing what the Bible is doing? I’m seeing the Bible come alive over here—not just by the power of God and miracles happening but through the character of people. I’ve never met people like this before. The people at this church treat me well, they’re not gossiping, they’re not looking at me with judgment, and they have this joy and this light about them that I didn’t find in other churches.” That’s how the body of Christ changes. 

It’s not comfortable for the body of Christ to transform. 

It’s not comfortable for this purification to come. 

It takes pressure for the purifying to come. 

And when we’re going through the biggest pressure—that’s when the greatest purification is happening. 

There’s a great exposure going on right now, but it’s a good exposure. It is opening up people’s eyes to see that revival has come, that there are people who are Christlike, and that God has restored this purity and power. Right now, what’s happening it’s the ultimate “What the devil intended for evil, God intended for good.” Because the devil wants to catch you, but if there’s nothing to be caught for, then God turns it for good and exposes the devil, and exposes the truth. He exposes the purity and the power that people weren’t seeing before. 

Proverbs 12:19 

Truthful lips endure forever, 

When you are a truthful person and you are speaking truth, God will preserve you forever. What He has called you to do can never be taken down. When you are living in the truth and walking in the truth, He will preserve you. People can say, “Liar! Liar! Liar!” but the truth remains forever. They can’t take you down. 

but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. 

That was the NIV translation. Now we’re going to read the NLT.

Proverbs 12:19 NLT

Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed. 

Proverbs 12:19 AMP

Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is [credited] only for a moment. 

That’s powerful, because if you ever experienced people lying about you and making up lies about you, you might have experienced some people believing the lies. But those lies were credited, meaning some people believed them—but only for a moment. This is when the will of God is not fun, but it’s only for a moment. The truth will stand forever. There’s pressure of people thinking wrongly about you. Will you rest in God? Will you trust Him? Will you die to your ego and be okay with people thinking wrongly about you? The testing is when the lies are credited for a moment. But it passes, and one by one, in all these beautiful ways, supernatural ways, God exposes the truth. God exposes the liars. He makes the truth known. 

Proverbs 19:5

A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will not go free.

This Scripture shows the powerlessness of the lies. I don’t want you to focus on the people in this Scripture, but on the lies. If a false witness will not go unpunished and whoever pours out lies will not go free, then will the lies go free? No. They’re taken down. The lies are taken down by God almighty, by His Kingdom government. 

Lastly, I want to share some encouragement through this testing that the body of Christ is going through right now. 

Joshua 1:5-9

No one will be able to stand against you all of the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

It was not Goliath fighting David. It was Goliath fighting God. The battle is the Lord’s. Anyone who comes against you today or who was your enemy, which is an enemy of God, they are Goliaths. They look scary and big. The lies that people speak about you and about us, they look bigger and scarier than you, like Goliath did. But do not forget that they are fighting God. They are not fighting you; they are fighting God. That’s the meaning, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If God is for us, it’s laughable who can be against us. Who can defeat God almighty? No one can defeat God almighty! And when you’re serving God, the attacks that come to you are coming to you because of God in you. They would never come to you if God didn’t send you to do what you’re doing. They’re attacking God. So that means a guaranteed victory. Overwhelming victory! 

Be confident in the truth. Be confident in how God cares about justice. If you have nothing to hide, if you’re truthful, then why are you afraid when people are coming against you, lying? God will protect you. He sees everything. Rest. Be at peace, and be strong and courageous! There is no match for our Jesus. 

I’m excited about my God and the victories He will bring His people. I’m excited about what my God is doing and is about to do. We prayed for harvest, for the body of Christ to be purified and transformed, and for the power of God to be restored, and this is how God is doing it now. Rejoice, people of God! 

The truth is being exposed, and people’s eyes all over the world will be opened as God exposes this truth. If you have nothing to hide, then don’t be afraid for people to want to take a close look at you. Let them see, so that they can see the light.