Touré Roberts - The Power of Atmosphere

The theme of the power of atmosphere—the power of atmosphere. Do me a favor and turn to your neighbor and say, «Atmosphere is everything.» Atmosphere is everything! I want to read from Luke chapter 8 and will read verses 40 through 56. It says: Now, when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Say «expecting.» They were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, the synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’s feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about 12, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him.

A woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. «Who touched me?» Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, «Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.» In other words, everybody is touching you. Then Jesus said, «No, someone touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.» In other words, I know everybody around me is touching me, but somebody touched me in a special way because I could tell that part of my glory left me when they touched me. In other words, they were glory thieves. Do I have any glory thieves here? If you can just get close enough to Jesus, you’re going to pull something out of him—and that will preach right there!

I keep going on; that will preach right there! I want to take a detour almost, but I’m going to control myself. Okay, yeah. Sometimes, just real quick, sometimes God is looking for some people who will be a little reckless, some people who will be a little unorthodox, some people who will be a little greedy when it comes to what God has for them. Are you tracking with me? If I can just get close enough to Jesus, if I just hear he’s at the Potter’s House, if I just hear there might be a miracle in this building, I don’t care if I have to press through the crowd. I don’t care if parking is crazy; I’m going to get radical and maybe a little undignified.

If I just believe that there might be something in this building that my life needs, I don’t care who’s looking on—praise God! I’m going to worship God! I’m going to lift my hands, jump, bounce, and dance for what God has for me. I think sometimes God is looking for radical people—not radical people necessarily because they’re wild and have big signs and walk down the street talking about Jesus. That’s fine if that’s your thing, but I mean people who will do whatever it takes to manifest a miracle. You are so convinced that God has something for you that you will press your way through the crowd, bleeding if you have to, not minding who gets wet as long as you get what God has for you.

Do I have any hungry people for real in God’s house? I’m hungry! I just suspect that God didn’t bring me here today to allow me to have a cute inspirational experience, but I just believe that God is bigger than that. I believe that God carries more than that. I believe that God, with one touch, can change everything.

Ninety-nine percent of the battle is you agreeing with what God has said to you. That’s 99% of the battle. I’m going to talk about this, and I’m digressing, and I promised I wasn’t going to do it, but 99% of the battle—hear me, if you don’t get anything else I say today—99% of the battle is you, with every ounce of your being, believing what God said. That’s it! Because when he says something, when he brings you a word, he’s bringing you a word that’s already complete. God doesn’t speak in the future tense; «it’s going to be» is our language because we have to live in this realm called time. Because we live in this realm, we have a difficult time understanding that what God says is already done.

In our realm of time, it must play itself out, so we think it’s going to be, but what God says is not going to be; it actually is already. You understand what I’m saying? He wouldn’t speak something that was not already in existence. So it’s already done. Anyway, I said I wouldn’t do that, but Jesus said in verse 46, «No, someone touched me. I know because power has gone out from me.»

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. Well, there’s so much there! In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, «Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.»

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. «Your daughter is dead,» he said. The person who came told Jairus, «Your daughter’s dead.» He then goes on to say, «Don’t bother the teacher anymore.» Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, «I know this report has come to you, but I have another report.» He says, «Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.» Wow! I never saw that! He says that she will be healed. In other words, they were calling her dead; Jesus was not, because he didn’t say she’s going to be resurrected—he said, «And she will be healed.»