Keion Henderson - Victory Over The Venom

God sent me to tell you that He’s about to give you the victory over the venom. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Somebody say it again: victory! Victory over the venom! Over the venom! You do know that your life goes in the direction of what you look at, right? Whatever you are focused on right now, you will get it. Let me tell you why: your subconscious does not understand the words «don’t» or «not.» Your subconscious doesn’t understand negativity. You were not built by God to be negative. So when you say, «I don’t want…» and fill in the blank, the reason why you end up getting it is that the mind doesn’t hear «don’t.» All the subconscious hears is what you fill in the blank with. So the mind hears, «I want…» and fills in the blank.

So let me put it this way: «I don’t want cancer, I don’t want cancer, I don’t want cancer.» All the brain hears in the subconscious is «I want cancer,» because the subconscious doesn’t process negativity. God did not create you to be a negative person; He built you to have everlasting hope, to have peace in the midst of a storm, and to be content in whatever state you’re in. You have to speak life in order not to experience death, but most of us can only speak about what we see. But what is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Therefore, you have to spend more of your time speaking about the things you want to see as opposed to the things you are currently seeing.

Okay, so if you want a positive experience, it doesn’t start with hope; it starts with speech. You have to speak positively, even though things are not the way you want them to be. Let me tell you something: people who speak positively all the time irritate negative people. That’s true! They can’t stand it. They say, «You’re happy all the time.» Yes! Do you want me to be sad like you? Because if I’m sad like you, who’s going to support me? I can’t support you. You have to encompass the joy that God gave you. Don’t let anybody wipe that smile off your face because it irritates them. You’ve got to have joy—unspeakable joy. Are you with me so far?

Now, I’m telling you this for a specific reason: everything that we see Israel go through, they spoke it. It wasn’t what God wanted for them; it was what happened to them because they could not control their language based on the stimuli or the circumstances they were in. Now, when we look at this scripture apart from Genesis chapter 3, when Satan came into the Garden as a serpent, this is the most famous snake in the Bible. So where do we see a snake for the first time? Adam and Eve are where? In the garden. And what happens in the garden? A snake comes and tells them what they can have. Are you all ready? Right.

So God told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then the snake came and said, «That’s not what God said.» So a snake in your life is not someone who disagrees with you; it’s someone who disagrees with God. You have to understand that the devil is going to send people into your life that contradict what God told you, and he knows before the game starts that if he can get you to listen to the thing, the person, the mindset, or the stimuli that disagrees with God, then he’s going to back out of the garden because he understands that his consequences have already been given.

Remember, the snake used to walk on legs; the Lord cursed him to his belly and to crawl in the dust. He has already received his punishment for his disagreement with God. So the only thing left to punish is you. The devil is trying to get you off your feet, just as he got knocked off his, and he wants you crawling on your belly in the dust, frustrated when you have been built to have life—and to have life more abundantly. Somebody shout, «I want the abundant life!»

Now, when we read this, Jesus even mentions out of His own mouth this particular snake that we’re going to read about and study for the next few moments in Numbers chapter 21. How many of you have ever heard this scripture? I want to be very practical today. I want you to get this because it’s going to strengthen you for your journey going forward. This is probably the most famous scripture in the whole Bible. For God so loved the world, and where was that found? Raise your hand if you knew that already. Look around—I don’t see any hands that didn’t know John 3:16. But ask your neighbor, «Do you know John 3:14?» They might respond, «What are you asking me that for? This isn’t a quiz; this is church.» Do you know John 3:15? Yes? Maybe? But we all know John 3:16.

Let me teach you something about the Bible: don’t just memorize the verse; that’s important. Always go back and read the verses before it. Why? Because it gives you the context, and you’ll understand what God was actually saying in relation to this. Now, if you can, production team, bring up John 3:14 and 3:15 on the screen. I want to read those verses.