Power, might and Spirit

In this insightful episode of Rhema Bible Study, Bishop L. A. Williams explores the powerful message found in Zechariah 4:6:

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."

The prophet Zechariah was sent with a word from God to a troubled leader facing overwhelming opposition. Surrounded by hostile nations and confronted with threats of conflict, he was burdened with anxiety, fear, and uncertainty about the future.

God's response was both reassuring and transformative: the victory would not come through human strength, military force, political influence, or intellectual ability. Instead, it would come through the power and presence of God's Spirit.

In this lesson, Bishop Williams examines how this timeless truth applies to believers today. When facing challenges that seem beyond our control, God reminds us that our greatest resource is not our own might or power, but His Spirit working in and through us.

Join us as we discover:

• The historical context of Zechariah's message
• Why human strength alone is often insufficient
• How God's Spirit empowers His people in difficult seasons
• Practical lessons for overcoming fear, anxiety, and opposition through faith

Whether you are facing personal struggles, spiritual battles, or uncertain circumstances, this study offers encouragement and a renewed understanding of God's promise to sustain and strengthen His people.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Okay, welcome to the Rima Bible Study with Bishop Linwell Williams. That's me. And also we just want to welcome everyone that is on the other side of the camera. We just want to say welcome. It is a pleasure to be with you all one more time. And we're going to be talking about something that I think is really important. And that will I think I think will a lot of people will find most interesting. What is that, you may ask? We're going to be talking about power, might, and spirit. Yes, I just want to repeat that. We're going to talk about power, might, and spirit. And that is taken from the book of Zechariah, 4, chapter 4, and verse 6. Where the prophet was sent to this king, and who was troubled. He had real issues because his neighbors, other nations, were ready to fight against him. And he was concerned, in fact, anxious and even worried. And so God sent him a word to let him know that the battle that he is facing is not going to be won by his physical might or by his mental power, but it will be by the Spirit of God with him. And this may be applicable to so many people listening today that you're going through different kinds of battles. It may be psychological battles, it may be mental battles, it may be financial, political, or even social battles that you are going through. And you don't know how you are going to overcome these battles because everything around you seems impossible for you to deal with what you're going through. However, this word would come to aid you in your process, and that is to know that you're not alone, one, and two, that you may can't find a physical solution, or you may be struggling mentally to find the solution. But the good thing is that God is always with you. And we just want to say that you are loved. I believe I'm speaking to someone today. I believe that there's someone who is listening to this session is really going through something awful. And God is sending a word to you through this post, through this on broadcast, for you to know that you're not all by yourself, but that his spirit is with you and he will see you through whatever it is that you are experiencing. And so as we go through this session, relax, and as I said, let's get straight into it. Now, the Bible tells us that there are two kinds of knowledge that is in the world today. One is what we call the sense knowledge, and the other is what we call the revelation knowledge. Now, these two knowledge is what drives the world. You're either impacted by the senses, and that is where in the chapter I just quoted, it talks about might. Might is to do with your physical ability and what you learn from your physical world around you. We want you to know that all of us are connected to the world around us mainly by our physical or what we may call the sense knowledge. Yes, those sense knowledge we're talking about is seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. Now these are the senses that drives what we do and how we do it. Yes? So that is within the physical realm. Of course, from that we then gain information into our consciousness, in other words, our soul. And we then move on to what we call the revelation knowledge. So let's look at first and foremost the sense knowledge, as I said, feeling, seeing, tasting, hearing, yes. These are every everyone is accustomed to these. Yes, and this is what um happening around us. The body is like a laboratory, yes, where all of these research are taking place. But it is limited, it has limitations, and it's important for us to know that throughout the ages, people have been looking and trying to find all kinds of information about how to connect with the world, with our own physical world, and of course, mental and spiritual. But what is the ultimate desire of most people is how to connect with their spirit world, and that is where we come into what we call revelation knowledge. So people everywhere, whether through colleges, universities, or any other training method, is doing their best to connect with their spirit world, as this spirit world, because you are in essence three things: your body, your soul, and your spirit. You see, those are the three things that you that you are. And your senses are your body in this regard, connects you to the world around you. That is why when the sun comes out, we get excited, we can see it, and we can feel it. And that is why when you hear the bird singing, we get happy because we can both see it and we can hear it. And when it is cold, we can feel it, and in some cases, seeds as well. So that is how we are governed by our senses. But that is limited, and it is this that somehow sitting in the back of every mind is that limitation because we are fully cognizant that there are more to us than just what we see, feel, taste, smell, hear. There are more to us than that. And it is that spiritual realm that is so, so important, and everyone is trying their best to access the spirit world. Now it is very simple. Now the Bible tells us how simple it is to access the spirit world. It said, first and foremost, acknowledge God. Yes, acknowledge God. And God is everywhere present. Yes, yet he's not agnostic. He is God, the God that created the heaven and the earth. Yes, God is not in everything, but is in is everywhere and is all-powerful. That's why we call him omnipresent and omnipotent and omniscience, because he's not only all-powerful, he is all-knowing, and he is the God that is everywhere present at the same time. But I stress he's not in everything, man, because God is holy, and whatever he's engaged in is holiness. Okay, so now we understand that you can access, you can have access to him by acknowledging him. And somebody somebody may think, how can I accept, acknowledge God? Well, the first thing you need to know is that you did not come about by your own effort and your own ability. You did not come about merely because your mother and father got together. There is a far greater process, greater involvement in your life than you care to even acknowledge. For nine months, your mother and father didn't know what you look like. They did not know how the bones are tied together. They did not know at what point in time all the major organs were put together and become so dependent on each other. But yet, in creation, they all take on different time zones, a different time frame when it comes to your creation. And yet, inside that nine-month period, God perfect you and beyond everyone's wildest dream. Even today, the scientists are still baffled how this has taken place. And here we are. You are the absolute example of God's existence because your gift, you are a gift to your parents. Yes, they are as excited, they are consciously aware that the day you were born is the day they receive this marvelous gift. That's you. And um and they looked at you and are mesmerized, just as how everybody else is when they see this marvelous creation that came forth after nine months of being in the womb. So here you are, intelligent, smart. God has given you wisdom and ability in various ways, and here you are alive. So to acknowledge God, your Father, your Creator, and to acknowledge that He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, into the world to die for your sins, and that you should receive the gift of his Holy Spirit. Now, let me explain a little bit to you, because you may be wondering, how is it you who is tangible, physical, how can you connect with something that is spiritual? Now, one of the most common topics in the world today is the topic of love. And I I like to I like to talk about it and I write about it from time to time. And so, but love is it impacts everyone from the day you're born until the day you die. Everybody seek after love and desire love. But the question is, what is it? Yes, is it tangible? Is love a tangible thing? Is it a psychological thing? Or is it a spirit thing? You see, now you can feel, experience the power of love, but can you hold it by itself? No, yet it is real, you can feel it on the inside of you, you can feel it vibrating through your beings, and you can't tell what color it is, yes, you can't wait and determine its weight, but yet it is alive, transforming, guiding, appreciating, and so many aspects to it, but yet it is invisible to you. And this invisible thing, look at what it does, it's create relationship, it brings forth creative creativity in your children. So, so it is with the spirit of God and with God's love for you. So he's not only that God is um is a spirit, but he also distribute of his spirit in the form of love. And that's why we talk about agape love, the love of God. So you acknowledge God loves you and you invite Jesus Christ, his son, into your life, your salvation will absolutely begin. So let us be clear, Ivan, that the human spirit, as we know, yes, cannot find God. You need to know that God is more than the functionality of your mind. Yes, the psychologists can assess your mind or even your soul and what is actually happening within the tangible limitation of what is around him or what he has learned. But the real functionality of both the physical and the soul is really about the spirit that is in you. So your senses will take you to a certain level, but it cannot take you all the way to the spirit world where God reigns supreme. The senses cannot find God or his origination. Yes, the senses cannot understand or comprehend matter, life, as a as a force. Nor can it understand, yes, the whole process of how these things are created. All that it can discover are things that is limited, and that is again the senses. Yes? So you can understand that you are both physical, you're mental, but most important, you are spiritual. And let me take a moment to help you to understand this concept, because this is also biblical. You see, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23, it tells you about these three aspects of your being: spirit, soul, and body. Yes? So when you really come to yourself and ask this fundamental question, where did I come from? You see. Now, I think I think everyone would agree. To say I come from my mother and father, it's really like going back to kindergarten. Yes. Because every person would know that how can you come from something that in itself don't even know how you were created? Does your parents know how the hair grows on your head? Does your parents know how you see through your eyes? Does your parents know how many cells you have in your body? Do or what do they know? You see, that should be the first demonstration that you are more than just what meets the eyes. In other words, you go so much further than mother and father. You are the product of a spiritual being, yes, and we call that spiritual being our father, yes. That's who you are. And if you look around you, let's take something as simple as gold. Yes, so many people wear this piece of metal, but never stop to ask, where did it come from? How was it produced? Now you put fire to it and it becomes more perfect. And people just walk around and just accept it. See, that is what you are like. You're like gold. You came into being by divine order. Yes, that's how you come. And you're perfect. But how many people can really define who you are? And so I want you to be to be clear that you are more than just physical. Yes. So let us then look now at the spiritual knowledge. So we had the sense knowledge, and we want to look at the spirit knowledge. Now that is where many people get stuck, yes? The scientists get stuck, yes. Every other institution gets stuck because they may have knowledge of something, but that does not mean that they know that thing. And revelation knowledge, in the simplest way to describe it, it comes through the Bible. Yes, the Bible is the source of spiritual knowledge. And like every other subject matter, yes, there is a source. And the Bible, in this case, is the source. It is the tangible source of spiritual knowledge. It's not the total spiritual knowledge, yeah, because the Bible could not hold all the information about God in just a few pages. Yes? So, but it gives us enough that we can take that and have a good comprehension of who God is, and then the rest we can have individually through our own individual relationship with God. So let's call it the spiritual knowledge, which we're going to be looking at. So, this kind of knowledge brings us into contact with our Creator. Yes? Now, see this is really, really important for you to understand. And it will help you to understand who you are and why you are. Yes? These are what it it it is going to do. Because you may suppress this constant niggling in your mind, who am I? Where I came from? Where am I going? Yes? See, these are the three questions that although situations and things around you will try to suppress this question, but they are there. And everyone at different points is asking this. Especially when you go past your middle age and going on to the evening of life, yeah, where all of the stuff that once occupied your time is now strangely dim. You then begin to come face to face with the reality that you are moving through another stage of your life, and you want to know like many. And trust me, I have dealt with many people in the last days of their lives. They are not worried about their cars, their houses, they're not worried about their land or their money in the bank. They are concerned, where am I going from here? That is the thing. Okay, so we need therefore to show you or tell you how to connect to your to your creator. Yes. So this spiritual knowledge, it explains the why of creation, yes, the reason for man, the nature of man, yes, and this is important. You are far more valuable than you even will give yourself credit for. You are very, very important to the creator of this whole universe. You are so important because you are a part of him. So you need to understand that you are the tangible part of him. Okay, you may ask, how is this possible? Let me ask you a question. If you have a massive piece of rock, yes, and you begin to break up that rock into small pieces that you may call stone, yes, because a stone is really a smaller piece of the bigger rock. And let's say you break it up into small little pieces of stone. What you need to ask yourself, what is different between the big rock and the small stone? Yes. Now the small stone carries all the DNA of the big rock. The small stone has the traits and character of the big rock, yes, but it is limited in scope because it is small. Each one of us that has been created by God is like the stone. We are part of that massive rock. But it pleases Kim, our creator, to create us as little stones produced from the big rock. That is really, really important for you to understand that. So you may not be this great Himalayan rock as a mountain. No, but you are a small stone. And the stones differs in sizes, but equally relevant to the fact that it's nature, everything about it, its DNA coming from a greater rock. And so the Bible tells us that God took part of himself. We call it the breath of life or the spirit of life, because it is the Spirit of God that causes you to animate. Yes? So God took part of Himself and placed it into each piece of stone. Yes? And having done that, what He has what He's done, He has given each one of us our own identification so that we are in no doubt that we are uniquely created by Him. Yes? So you have roughly about 9 billion people. And imagine that nine billion people has their own unique identification number, their own unique identification within themselves. Yes? And let's just briefly remind you what those unique identifications are. One, your DNA, yes, you've got something that only you alone have. Yes, it may be again you have your retina, another form of ID that is only you that have it. And then you have your venal ID, and that's your vein. You alone have that. And you have here are these um IDs that you have: your DNA, your retina, your venyl, and finally your fingerprint. Okay? Now, when you understand that these four things are unique to you, then no one can question as to the fact that your creation is unique and could only have been done by God. Yes, our Father, the creator of all things. The same one that makes the leopard unique, that makes the tiger unique, the same one that makes different birds unique, see, and you understand you, how important you are to him. For him to go to that extreme to create something in you that irrespective of whether you're educated or not, you can look at you and know that you are uniquely special. Yes, uniquely special. So the question that one must ask is, why am I here? Why am I, what am I, what am I doing here? Okay, now you're in a world that you will admit is absolutely amazing. You look at the flowers, who gives it its colors, you look at the birds, you look at all the things around you. See, they were created by God for you. Yes, for you to enjoy, for you to rule, for you to be a good steward of. All of these is the ultimate desire of your father, the creator of heaven and earth. And most important, he has given you something to connect you to him, and that is what we call your spirit. So remember, we said that you're made up of spirit, soul, and body, yes, the physical world, the mental world, and your spirit world, yes, and that is really what it is. So when you really step outside of the natural world and to find yourself in the spirit world, praise God, you will understand it is where you meet God in essence. Yes? Now there are things that the senses cannot discover without the spirit knowledge. Yes, because remember, we said that the senses are limited, right? Now, the church, and this is another amazing institution, that is never given credit for its work. Yes, the church is the greatest social and um I would say even scientific thing that is in the world. What do I mean by that? Every need is met within the church. Yes, it is. Yes. Where the psychologists, where the scientists, where everybody else men come to their limitation, the church has the ability to go beyond these limitations and to tell you about the spirit world in which we live. Have you ever wondered why, among all the institutions of the world, that the church is the biggest institution? You may see the footballers, you know, gathering in various places, say in this country, as the typical example, and they run into their thousands. And you may feel absolutely overwhelmed by the fact that thousands and thousands of people are meeting. But that is nothing compared to a Sunday morning, yes, around the world, where believers in Jesus Christ is meeting. Their children, husbands, wives, friends, neighbors, thousands and in fact billions are meeting to do what? To worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to welcome him into their lives and to connect with their creator through him. This is wonderful, my brothers and sisters, to know that you can be part of that wonderful creation that God is looking and waiting for you to step into. Now we understand, therefore, that in the creation, God creative purpose was twofold. Yes, one, the government of this natural world. That was one of God's ultimate purpose. The other was to be partaker of the spirit world. Okay, now for some people, the spirit world will sound really strange and in fact insurmountable in terms of getting there, but it's only because you have not been taught about the spirit world. The spirit world, it is the area, the elements that create your reality. Yes? Because everything has a life in it, a spiritual life. The trees, the birds, every creature has a spiritual life in it. Yes? And so it is for you to understand that the spirit world governs the natural world. That is the first thing you need to know. So if you are limited to the natural world by the limitation we talked about, then you can understand that those who are both natural and spiritual have got the edge. And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Yes? And this is one of the areas that I think that many people are asking. How do I worship him? How do I get to him? How do I understand this spiritual aspect of my being, first and foremost, and the spiritual aspect of my father who created me in his image, in his likeness? Yes? This is the question that so many are asking. And the Bible also helps us to understand, and you know, every aspect of studies quote some great philosophers, some great inventors, some great uh uh theological person, see, and everybody accepts it as reasonable. When you do your research, you have to talk where you get the information from. In likewise, the Bible is no different. The Bible is the source of our information, and then once we have it, we can then go further through the revelation knowledge that comes through the word of God. Now, the word is powerful, the word is the creative force through the Holy Spirit. The word is awesome. Why is the word so important? Because the word carries creative force. Yes, the word is what does it. Now, everything around you come about through words. Yes. Now imagine that nobody was able to communicate. Where would everything be? There would be no nothing functioning. Nothing would be happening. And somebody may say, okay, well, what about if you know nobody was able to speak, but AI could speak? Now AI function by words. You see, that is how it functioned. Because the programmers has to think about what it is they want and then translate it into a program, put it into the computer, and the computer then carry this, carries his out, carry it out. And it is the perfect demonstration of the power that you have. Just like the programmers for the computer can write a code and put it into a machine and the machine carries it out. And yet you find it strange that God can write a code, put it into us, and we carry it out. That code is called our divine purpose. Yes? That's what it is. So every one of us that is born to the human race, you have your code written in you, and it is what gives you your different purpose, your gifts, and your calling. So it's important for you to understand your spiritual connectivity to the things around you. Yes? So you're born by the word. The word is quick, the word is powerful, the word is sharper than any twerged sword. This is what Hebrew chapter 4 and verse 12 tells us. Yes, that this is how powerful the word is. In the book of Hebrew, chapter 11 and verse 1 to 6, again it tells us that the word was the medium by which God created all things, the word. Yes? So if the word was what created all things, then the very essence of nature, which is what people call the wind, the air, water, and fire, yes, was all created by the word. So that is why the Bible said that the word is powerful and it is quick, it's alive. Yes, your word today has equal power. Because when you speak the word with the knowledge and understanding that you're connecting to your creator, the Father of heaven and earth, when you understand that your words are in line with his will, because, let's be honest, he dwells in you. Yes, then you can understand why you become like your father, you become a creator as well. And Romans 10 and verse 8 tells us similar things. This is what it says. It said, the word is near to you. Yes, the word is near to you, and that word is in your heart and in your mouth. Yes, it is in your spirit realm and in your physical realm, in your heart, which is your spirit, and in your mouth, which is your natural tongue, as it were, guided by your soul. So here it is. So what is it doing in your mouth? It is in there because of your creative power. So when you speak, you are not just speaking for the sake of it. You are in the process of creating, yes, and that creation is what brings reality to your world. So whether you like it or not, you are creating the destruction or the success. You are creating healing or remaining sick. You're creating success in your business or failure. You are creating either a glorious future or a miserable future by the things you say, not recognizing that your words are spiritual laws that is set in this world. And everything that you do, you must be consciously aware that it's resonating in the spiritual world. Yes? So whatever you say is what you're going to receive. So if you speak blessing, you know, one of the things that we have been doing, even in our church and in the broadcasts I've been doing, is teaching people how to speak blessings over their lives. Yes? So all of the things that you desire for your success is to learn how to speak it, because in your mouth, or from your mouth rather, is your reality. So if your mouth, now remember that your mouth speaks from the abundance of your heart. Yes? So if your heart is thinking things that is not productive, are good for you, then your reality is gonna see it. And people wonder why life is like a relay. They're going from one bad situation to another. You see, is because they are speaking it. They get up in the morning, they're speaking it. They lay down at night, they're speaking it. In the daytime, they meet their friends and neighbors, they're speaking it. Ah, how are you? Oh, I'm terrible. Okay, great. Everybody, you know, the universe hear that. Amen. How is things going? Ah, really bad. You see, all of these. It's coming from your creative mouth. Life and death is in the power of the tongue. In other words, in your heart, life and death exist. So if you wake up, if you going around and speaking death, then do not be surprised. If every day you are finding death coming your way, failure coming your way, disaster coming your way. Where is it coming from? Why God? No, it's not why God. It's why you. You are the one. You got a choice, right? To every terrible situation, there's a good situation. What would make you feel more comfortable speaking the bad situation rather than the good situation? Yes? Right. And this is one of the fundamental failure of most people when it comes to understanding their spirit world. Oh, they understand the natural world, all right. But when it comes to the spirit world, it's where many fall down. It's where many find themselves just being regular Joe, because nobody tells them how to function in the spirit world. And is those people that visited the spiritual centers like the church, and hear the word of God daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, are seeing success. Yes, they may battle with fear, and they may battle with anxiety because they're still learning how to trust their spirit, their spirit man. Yes. And just to reiterate, I was saying to our Bible study some days ago about the caterpillar. Yes? And I really believe that it reflects, yes, so much of how people think, how people are, they cannot see what is inside of them. The glorious, beautiful butterfly that is in that body of the caterpillar. And until you are able to acknowledge, recognize that there is a divine beauty inside of you, you are gonna continue to limit your existence based purely on the senses. What you see, what you hear, what you taste, what you smell, and what you feel. God bless you. It's great to have you with us. And before we close, let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you. And we bless you, God, for today. We thank you for your goodness, your mercies. We thank you for hearing us. And today we are speaking blessing in the lives of those who are listening. I pray that they will see success, that they will understand where their blessing lies, that their blessing is in the city, it's in the field, it's in their children, it's in their home, their blessing is everywhere. And Lord, as they tap into it and declare with their mouth what they believe in their heart, they will see it come to pass. Bless people everywhere, and let many who do not know you accept you as Lord and Savior. We ask this now in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, God bless you and catch you on the next broadcast. Yes, don't forget to support us. Don't forget to go to our YouTube channel and our Rima and to subscribe. Yes, you really will help us. And you want any other way that you choose to be a support to what we're doing, to our Yopop, to our Rima, to the different channels that we're running, then feel free to do so. God bless you. Peace.