5 Biblical Keys to Unleash God’s Move in Your Life

In today’s world, many believers are searching for ways to experience a genuine move of God in their lives. Pastor Bill Brannon shares powerful insights on how to position ourselves for spiritual breakthroughs by understanding biblical principles. This post will delve into the key elements that can help us unlock divine movement in our lives, focusing on the essential truths from the Gospel of Matthew.

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The foundation of this message lies in the belief that America is on the brink of a significant spiritual revival, one that will restore the fear of the Lord. This revival will not stem from political changes but from a deep, transformative work within the church itself. As we enter a new year, it is crucial to be part of this movement and to awaken the moral and spiritual imagination of our nation.

The War of Ideas

America is currently facing a civil war, not one of weapons, but of ideas, values, and identity. The battle will not be won through political means but by the gospel of Jesus Christ. This message calls us to awaken and engage with the truth of God’s word, allowing it to shape our perspectives and actions.

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We must remember that the strength to keep moving forward in dark times comes from Christ within us. Just as Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” rallied his troops to fight against despair, we too must rise up and fight for hope and righteousness in our communities.

Hope that Does Not Disappoint

Pastor Bill emphasizes the importance of maintaining hope, even in the bleakest circumstances. Drawing on the words of Martin Luther King Jr., he reminds us that hope was a sustaining force for those who endured slavery. This hope arises from the belief that God is good and just, and that even the darkest nights will give way to dawn.

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We are called to shine brightly in a world that desperately needs light. This hope enables us to persevere through trials, knowing that God is working all things together for our good. It is essential to cultivate a mindset of expectancy, believing that God can bring about transformation in our lives and communities.

Transforming the Church

For a genuine revival to occur, we must focus on transforming the church. Many believers find themselves overwhelmed by the negativity surrounding them, leading to a sense of powerlessness. However, the scripture assures us that the church is meant to be the head, not the tail. We have the authority to bring about change through the power of God’s word.

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We must shift our focus from the darkness around us to the light within us. This transformation begins with changing our mindset and daring to believe in the potential for revival. By embracing our identity as salt and light, we can impact the world around us.

The Dawn of the Kingdom of God

In Matthew 4:23-25, we see Jesus actively preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing the sick, and setting the captives free. This in-breaking of the kingdom is not just a historical event; it is a present reality that we can experience today. We are called to carry forth the mission of Christ, bringing healing and hope to those around us.

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Jesus’ ministry was characterized by compassion and action. He did not merely teach; He demonstrated the power of the kingdom through signs and wonders. As His followers, we are invited to participate in this same work, allowing His life to flow through us as we reach out to those in need.

You Are the Salt of the Earth

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus declares that we are the salt of the earth. This identity carries significant responsibility. Salt preserves and seasons, preventing decay and enhancing flavor. As believers, we are called to be agents of change, influencing our spheres of life with the love and truth of Christ.

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However, there is a warning: if salt loses its saltiness, it becomes ineffective. We must remain grounded in our faith, ensuring that we do not allow the pressures of the world to dilute our witness. Our lives should reflect the transformative power of the gospel, drawing others to Christ.

You Are the Light of the World

Continuing in Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus states that we are the light of the world. Light dispels darkness and provides guidance. Our lives should shine brightly, revealing the truth of God’s love and grace to those around us. It is vital that we do not hide our light but allow it to shine for all to see.

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By living out our faith authentically, we can point others to the hope found in Christ. Our good works should glorify our Father in heaven, demonstrating the reality of His kingdom in our lives.

The Law and the Prophets

In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus clarifies that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Understanding this fulfillment is crucial for us as believers. The law reveals God’s character and His desires for humanity. It is not merely a set of rules but a reflection of His love and justice.

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As we study the Old Testament alongside the New Testament, we gain a fuller understanding of God’s plan for redemption. Embracing the entirety of scripture enables us to grasp the beauty of God’s word and how it guides us in our daily lives.

The Traditions of Men

Jesus warns against the traditions of men that rob the world of the kingdom of God (Matthew 15:6). Many times, religious practices can overshadow the true essence of faith. We must be vigilant in ensuring that our traditions do not hinder our relationship with God or the mission He has entrusted to us.

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By breaking free from these traditions, we can experience the fullness of life that Christ offers. We are called to engage with scripture actively, allowing it to transform our hearts and minds as we align ourselves with God’s purposes.

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Finally, in Matthew 5:6, Jesus proclaims, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This deep longing for righteousness is essential for experiencing the fullness of God’s kingdom. It drives us to seek Him earnestly and to desire His will in our lives.

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Our hunger for righteousness should extend beyond personal piety; it should encompass a desire for justice and mercy in the world. As we pursue righteousness, we become vessels through which God can work to bring healing and restoration to our communities.

God is With You

As we embark on this journey of faith, we must remember that God is with us. He empowers us to be His hands and feet in a world that desperately needs hope and healing. By embracing our identity as salt and light, we can impact our communities and see the kingdom of God advance.

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In conclusion, let us dare to believe that a move of God is possible in our generation. As we align ourselves with the principles laid out in scripture, we can experience the transformative power of the kingdom in our lives and the lives of those around us. Together, let us hunger and thirst for righteousness, trusting that God will fill us to overflowing.

A Move of the Kingdom of God in America

Preaching Outline

1)      We are living in exciting times!  I believe there is a move of God going on to restore the fear of the Lord to America, but it is not going to come from the White House, but God’s house, and my prayer for the New Year is that we will be a part of it.

a)      America is in the midst of a civil war, not a war of guns, but a war of ideas, values and identity.  This war is not going to be won by politics, but through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the message of the Kingdom of God.

b)      We have to awaken the moral and spiritual imagination of a spiritually dead nation, and a slumbering church.

c)      I LOTR the Two Towers, there is a moving scene in Helms deep:  All hope is lost, the fortress is taken, Aragorn: Ride with me, not giving up against hopeless odds, yet there was a promise, “Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day.”

d)      Martin Luther King Jr. about the hope that preserved slaves that came from the gospel: Their positive belief in the dawn was the growing edge of hope that kept the slaves faithful amid the most barren and tragic circumstances. Faith in the dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night with the radiant conviction that all things work together for good for those that love God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment.[1]

e)      One of my deep convictions is that as we transform the church, we will transform the world.

f)       This is the beginning of a series of messages that is going to explore biblical ideas that will position us to be a part of a great move of God beginning in this generation to restore the fear of the Lord to America. 

g)      I am going to touch briefly on some ideas that will be fleshed out in future messages, along with other key biblical ideas that are not included in this message.  Even this message may be in multiple parts.

2)      We will begin with the dawn of the Kingdom of God in the gospel of Matthew.

a)      Matthew 4:23–25 (NKJV) — 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

b)      Matthew 5:1–12 (NKJV) — 1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

c)      Matthew 5:13–16 (NKJV) — 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

d)      Matthew 5:17–20 (NKJV) — 17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

e)      Matthew 5:21–22 (NKJV) — 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

f)       The dawn of the Kingdom of God

i)        A world being healed

ii)      Beatitudes – The laws governing walking in the Kingdom of God

iii)    The Similitudes – The incredible calling and destiny of the church.

iv)    Recovering our biblical heritage from both the Old and New Testaments

v)      Breaking free from the traditions of men that rob the world of the Kingdom of God.

3)      Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

a)      Finding our passion

b)      Abraham gave Jews the courage to challenge the idols of the age. Isaac gave them the capacity for self-sacrifice. Moses taught them to be passionate fighters for justice. But Jacob gave them the knowledge that precisely when you feel most alone, God is still with you, giving you the courage to hope and the strength to dream.[2]

c)      The beauty of Holiness!

4)      Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God

a)      Seeing and becoming

b)      Authenticity and gratitude – getting the spirit right

c)      Hebrews 12:14–15 (NKJV) — 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

d)     What does holiness look like?

e)      To be holy is to love your neighbour and to love the stranger. It means not stealing, lying, or deceiving others. It means not standing idly by when someone else’s life is in danger. It means not cursing the deaf or putting a stumbling block before the blind, that is, insulting or taking advantage of others even when they are completely unaware of it – because God is not unaware of it.[3]

f)       It means being honest in business, doing justice, treating your employees well, and sharing your blessings (in those days, parts of the harvest) with others. It means not hating people, not bearing a grudge, or taking revenge. If someone has done you wrong, don’t hate them. Remonstrate with them. Let them know what they have done and how it has hurt you, give them a chance to apologise and make amends, and then forgive them. Above all, “be holy” means: Have the courage to be different.[4]

5)      The inspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr.

a)      He tapped into the heartbeat of what people were concerned about and used that as a vehicle to enculture biblical values and further the kingdom of God.

b)      We need to find the cultural wave to drive the gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom of God: I’ve been wrestling with where that touching point is in our culture today:

i)        Loneliness & Isolation

ii)      A loss of hope for the future

iii)    Heath issues

iv)    Economic issues

c)      Let’s look at some of the ways King called the church to embrace the move of God in his day:

d)      But if the church will free itself from the shackles of a deadening status quo, and, recovering its great historic mission, will speak and act fearlessly and insistently in terms of justice and peace, it will enkindle the imagination of mankind and fire the souls of men, imbuing them with a glowing and ardent love for truth, justice, and peace. Men far and near will know the church as a great fellowship of love that provides light and bread for lonely travelers at midnight.[5]

e)      In spite of the noble affirmations of Christianity, the church has often lagged in its concern for social justice and too often has been content to mouth pious irrelevances and sanctimonious trivialities. It has often been so absorbed in a future good “over yonder” that it forgets the present evils “down here.” Yet the church is challenged to make the gospel of Jesus Christ relevant within the social situation. We must come to see that the Christian gospel is a two-way road. On the one side, it seeks to change the souls of men and thereby unite them with God; on the other, it seeks to change the environmental conditions of men so that the soul will have a chance after it is changed. Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and yet is not concerned with the economic and social conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is the kind the Marxist describes as “an opiate of the people.”[6]

f)       The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.[7]

6)      Blessed are the peacemakers

a)      They did not listen “because their spirit was broken and because the labour was harsh.” In other words: If you want to improve people’s spiritual situation, first improve their physical situation. That is one of the most humanising aspects of Judaism. Maimonides emphasises this in The Guide for the Perplexed.1 The Torah, he says, has two aims: the well-being of the soul and the well-being of the body. The well-being of the soul is something inward and spiritual, but the well-being of the body requires a strong society and economy, where there is the rule of law, division of labour, and the promotion of trade. We have bodily well-being when all our physical needs are supplied, but none of us can do this on his own. We specialise and exchange. That is why we need a good, strong, just society.[8]

b)      What was unique about the society envisaged by the Torah is that every individual mattered. Justice was to be paramount. The rich could not buy special treatment and the poor were not left destitute. When it came to communal celebrations, everyone – especially the orphan, the widow, the stranger – was to be included.[9]

7)      Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.

a)      Ancient Greece, like Japan, was a shame culture. Judaism and the religions influenced by it (most obviously, Calvinism) were guilt cultures. The differences between them are substantial. In shame cultures, what matters is the judgment of others. Acting morally means conforming to public roles, rules, and expectations. You do what other people expect you to do. You follow society’s conventions. If you fail to do so, society punishes you by subjecting you to shame, ridicule, disapproval, humiliation, and ostracism. In guilt cultures what matters is not what other people think but what the voice of conscience tells you. Living morally means acting in accordance with internalised moral imperatives: “You shall” and “You shall not.” What matters is what you know to be right and wrong. People in shame cultures are other-directed. They care about how they appear in the eyes of others, or as we would say today, about their “image.” People in guilt cultures are inner-directed. They care about what they know about themselves in moments of absolute honesty. Even if your public image is undamaged, if you know you have done wrong, it will make you feel uneasy. You will wake up at night, troubled. “O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!” says Shakespeare’s Richard III. “My conscience hath a thousand several tongues / And every tongue brings in a several tale /And every tale condemns me for a villain.”4 Shame is public humiliation. Guilt is inner torment.[10]

b)      We can be right and still so wrong: Cancel culture, DEI and affirmative action culture.

c)      So different than a color blind society that judges people on the content of their character.

8)      Do not be conformed to this world

a)      Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV) — 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

b)      This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. Our planet teeters on the brink of atomic annihilation; dangerous passions of pride, hatred, and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; truth lies prostrate on the rugged hills of nameless calvaries; and men do reverence before false gods of nationalism and materialism. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.[11]