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A Diet Of Giants, Part One | Nancy Dufresne | Jesus the Healer Broadcast
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. We're so glad you've joined us today for Jesus the healer, we ask you and invite you to get hold of your Bible, get a notepad, get a pen or pencil and follow along with us. Become a student of the Word today. And while we're teaching, I tell you, expect something. Release your faith. Don't just sit inactive, but have your heart engaged. Take these words and make them your own, and meditate on these things as we're teaching these, and implement them in your life, because it's the Word lived that changes your life. And so we're just thrilled to be able to be with you today. We have a precious group of people that are with us, and we're all hungry for what God has for us. So we invite you. Get your Bibles and turn with me today to numbers, chapter 13. Numbers, chapter 13. And we're going to start with verse one. And when we're. While you're finding that passage, I want to introduce or preface this sermon by letting you know that anytime God asks you to do something or commands us, because really we're at his command. And when he commands us to do something, it is our joy and our privilege to say yes, because that's going to give us the best thing in life, is to fulfill his plan, carry out his will. But know this, every time you say yes to God, the enemy will not congratulate you. He will not say, good for you. You're obeying God. No, he's going to oppose you. So every time you say yes to God, you also just said yes to opposition. And sometimes when people think wrong about opposition, they step back from opposition. So it is our privilege to find out what the Word tells us should be our thinking when we're faced with opposition. We need to make sure we think like God when opposition and circumstances arise. Because when we think right, those oppositions become a place of propelling us forward instead of a place of pushing us back. And so opposition is not a negative as long as we think right when we're faced with opposition and when we speak right and do right based on opposition that comes against us, we have to know how to handle it. We need to be skillful with the Word so that we know the right answer to opposition, because we're never going to make progress without the enemy opposing. And he's persistent, but we are victorious, and so we can get past Him. But we want to Obey God joyously, not dreading the opposition we may face when we're obeying Him. So how do we face opposition and remain in joy? We think right. We have our minds renewed with the word of God, which means we take on God's way of thinking. And so I want us to see, I want us to see when God's people were opposed, what was the instruction to them of how they were to think? And so in Numbers 13, in Verse 1, and we're not going to read the entire passage, but just little clips for time's sake, but Numbers 13, verse 1 tells us about when God gave after he, when he delivered his people out of Egypt, and he told them, I have a land for you and it's flowing with milk and honey. So we see in verse one, the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, send thou men that they may search the land of Canaan which I give unto the children of Israel. So notice this, God had already given it. They haven't occupied it yet, but God's already authorized them to call it theirs. And so that's what faith does. It realizes what God has already made ours because of our new covenant, because of redemption, because of what belongs to us in Christ. And we call it ours. And we take possession of what he's already made ours. But it's so important for us to see this wording that he said, this land which I give unto the children of Israel. So when God gives you something, it doesn't matter what enemy tries to withhold you or what enemy tries to withstand, just keep believing and holding fast to what God says is yours. So God gave it to them before they ever took possession of it. And so he said, Send 12 men in to spy out this land. And so 10 men came back with a bad report. They came back with a report of doubt. They came back with a report of unbelief. They came back speaking words of doubt and fear. But there were two men, Joshua and Caleb, who came back speaking what God said about the land. And when God sent them to spy out the land, God didn't talk about the giants that were in the land. Why? Because they were a non issue. Are they present? Yes. Are they going to see them? Yes. But that has nothing to do with what God gave them. And so when God gave them the land, he also built into what he gave them is built in victory. To take possession of that land. All God needs them to do is show up and take possession of what he's already said is theirs. Now in Christ the Word tells us In Ephesians chapter one, in verse three, that God has blessed us with everything that heaven itself enjoys. And so it's our privilege to take possession of it. And so we don't want to talk about that. We can't, because if God says we can, we can. If God says it's ours, it's ours, no matter what circumstances, feelings, or anything else tells us. So when God told them that this land was theirs, their victory was to say, God's given it to us. Let's go take possession. It doesn't matter that there's giants. That doesn't change what God gave them. And so God didn't talk to them about the giants, but the 10 men who had the evil report of doubt in their mouth came back talking about the giants. So Caleb and Joshua were the only two who came back talking faith. Now I want us to look in, down in verse 30 numbers again were in chapter 13. And let's look at verse 30. And it says, and Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. Notice how positive he didn't build up all the details. Talking about the opposition and making the opposition look large, yes, there's opposition, but it is so small compared to who's working with us and for us, and that's God. So always in your own thinking, make opposition small. Don't talk it up big. Don't think of it as big. Because I tell you what, our Father is greater. His power is greater. Greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world is what the Word says. So anything that's not from God is lesser. Everything from God is greater. And so Joshua and Caleb came back talking about we're well able to go in and possess it. And I like what, I like the wording that Caleb said. He said, let us go up at once. In other words, don't give yourself time to think about it. Don't give yourself. Don't give time to the enemy to talk you out of something. When God tells you to do something and you know that it's not time to do it, and you have that instruction, the quicker you obey, the more time you steal away from the devil to talk to you. Because once you obey, it doesn't matter what the devil says anymore, right? But it's when we hesitate, it's when we're slow to obey that the mind kicks in and the enemy will start working on the mind and try to talk you out of moving Forward into what God has said. So when you know what God has said, don't reason with it anymore. Just go up at once and just do what he says. So Caleb said, let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. Now look at the very next verse. Now, how many of you would say Caleb had right thinking he thought like God because he factored God into this equation. Yes. And the very next verse we see some of the ten spies start speaking. Now we're going to hear the wrong thinking. Verse 31. But the men that went up with him, meaning they saw the same thing he saw. But they said, we are not able to go up against the people. Now, see, now they've already set themselves against what God said. God said he gave it to them. It will never bless your life to choose a different position than God takes. Never set yourself opposite to God. Always be on God's side because he's right. So they said, we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. So the 10 spies with the doubt report in their mouth, all they're factoring in is their own ability. Caleb and Joshua factored in God's ability. We're not going to win any battle in this life in our ability. It's going to be God's ability working through us. It's not about us feeling like we're enough to conquer. It's about us relying on the one who's on the inside of us, who is great enough to put us over. So this is the mindset of doubt and unbelief. They're always factoring their own ability in instead of God's ability. So these spies that were doubters said, we be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched under the children of Israel, saying, the land through which we have gone to search, it is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof. And all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. And so we were in their sight. They didn't say anything in this passage about what God said. All of it was talking about what they saw, the circumstances, what they felt, their own mental calculations, their own mental estimations of what they could accomplish. They forgot God. God was not even anywhere in their report. That's always going to end. You up in a hopeless situation to factor out God. But to factor in God will put you over if you'll hold to what God says. When we look at right thinking, because this is what we see. We see right thinking, then we see wrong thinking. When we look at Caleb's words in this passage, he spoke 17 words. Why? Because when you think right, you're not convincing yourself you're very clear and you're not having to come up with arguments. When you think right, you arrive at your answer quickly. But these other 10 spies, they spoke 81 words. Now, what's that tell you? 81 words of doubt spoken to the congregation. 17 words of faith spoken to the congregation. Which goes to tell you doubt has to do a sales job on you. It has to sell off its wrong thinking to God's people because God's people have a foundation under them. And that doubt is trying to disarm your foundation. But Caleb, he only spoke 17 words because he has the foundation of God's word. So what I'm trying to tell you this is the devil's going to give you more thoughts of doubt. There's going to be multiple thoughts of doubt, multiple words of doubt that are going to come to your mind. It doesn't matter how many words are spoken, they're still wrong when they're not faith words. So more words doesn't mean it's more right. And so we see that these two different ways of thinking. Now we understand that God's people that were delivered out of Egypt, they had been slaves for a long time. What happened? They settled, no doubt into a slave mentality. With that slave mentality, nothing was their own. Their food wasn't their own. They only ate what was given to them. Their lodging wasn't their own. They only slept where the master told them to sleep. Their days weren't their own. They had to spend their time as their master told them. So they are not used to doing anything except having things handed to them in the sense of anything that they had for their own resources was given to them. And because this slave mentality messed up their thinking. But God was giving them his words to straighten out their thinking. It doesn't matter our background, if we will take God's word, it will always straighten out our thinking. And all of us need our thinking straightened out. Amen. All of us need right thinking. And so basically what the approach they took is, there's going to be opposition. So what God said that it's ours. You see, this is the approach that Caleb and Joshua took. God Said, it's ours, we're well able, we can go up at once. It doesn't matter the opposition that's in the land. See, God didn't even refer to the opposition because it didn't matter. The land was theirs to take. The land was theirs for the taking. But when they looked and saw the circumstances of that land, they forgot what God said. Never forget what God said because that's the way you're going to move forward into what he has for you. And so basically, the mindset of these 10 spies that were doubting these 10 spies wanted something for nothing. In other words, we'll take the land as long as there's no opposition. We'll take the land as long as there's no need for faith. We'll take the land as long as we don't have to do anything. Just know this, God's blessings will not just float into your life. You're going to have to stand up in faith and lay hold of things. And you're going to have to bypass opposition instead of back down from opposition. Because God has wonderful things for you. But they won't just fall on you. You know, you have to stand up and take what God says, put it in your mouth and no matter what circumst, you don't change. You don't back off of what God said. You just hold to what God said. And the wonderful thing about it is God gave them what to say. They didn't even have to formulate what to say. God said, I give you the land. If they would have just kept that in their mouth, they would have moved in in no time and taken possession. God gave us this land. God gave us this land. When they see the giants, God gave us this land. When they see the opposition, God gave us this land. When they see the enemy, God gave us this land. All they had to know was what did God say? And keep saying that. Keep saying it. Don't just say it once, keep saying it. At every turn of opposition, you just keep saying what God says. When symptoms show up, I'm still healed. When pain comes, I'm still healed. Jesus still took my infirmities and he bear my sicknesses. When Lack shows up, you say, God is still my provider. Amen. He shall supply all my needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. In the face of every opposition, you have a choice to make. What are you going to say? What are you going to say? And you know what you're going to say. What you think, what you think. So you need to make sure you're thinking God's thoughts. Know what God says to you so you'll know what to say to opposition. God cannot answer opposition for you. He just gives you the answer to give to opposition. God gave us the victory and he tells us what to say when the enemy shows up. But he can't do our saying for us. We have to do our saying. And this is where God's people missed it. These 10 spies led a whole nation into missing it because they led them in saying and thinking the wrong saying. Praise the Lord for the word that tells us what to say. We don't even have to come up with what to say. Just go to the book and find the answer. Amen. Numbers, chapter 14. Now this is still in the same setting that we're reading further into Numbers chapter 14 and verse 7. Here Caleb had said, we're well able. The ten spies that were doubting said, we can't do it. And then Joshua and Caleb again spoke in Numbers, chapter 14, verse 7 and 9. And Joshua and Caleb spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, the land which we passed through to search, it is an exceeding good land. See, the 10 spies that were doubting had nothing good to say about the land, but they kept going back to God. Said, it's a good land. It flows with milk and honey. It's abundant. And so they start, they go back and they remind the people. You know, it's important that you remind people what God says. It's important. And they were reminding, they said, is, it is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land. He will bring us. It's not about that. There's giants. He will bring us into this land and give it us. And they go on bragging about what God has for them. A land that flows with milk and honey. Verse 9 says this only rebel not. How were they rebelling? They were saying something different than what God said. That's rebellion. To speak something different than what the Word says is to rebel against God. Many times people do that unknowingly. They're not on purpose out to rebel against God. But just know this, that words that are not in agreement with God are in rebellion to him. So Joshua and Caleb are warning the people rebel against the Lord. And then he says, neither fear the people of the land, because see, these 10 spies put fear in the people with their doubt and unbelief. Anything that puts fear in you, the devil's behind it. And so Joshua and Caleb is endeavoring to disarm and dismantle that fear that came through words of the ten doubting spies. And they said, neither fear the people of the land. And I love this next statement. Joshua and Caleb who think right, they're talking about the people of the land, the giants that are there, the enemies that are there. Notice what they say about them. They are bread for us. They are bread for us. Their defense is departed from them. And the Lord is with us. Fear them not. So this is what I want you to see. What is right thinking about opposition? It's our bread. What is bread? It's a form of nutrition. It's going to nourish your spiritual life. It's going to nourish your faith. It's not your undoing place. It's your eating place. It's your feasting place. Whenever opposition and Jesus giants that look to be look to talk big, they show themselves big in your against your life. But if we will hold to the right thinking and see those giants as God says they are, they're bread. They are bread for us. There was a. There was a minister by the name of Lillian B. Yeomans, and she was a medical doctor for years. She ended up wearing herself out. And at the end of it, she really ended up on her deathbed. On her deathbed, she recommitted herself to the Lord and got back into the word of God and began again to nourish herself on the truths of healing. And God raised her up off of her deathbed. That happened in about her mid-40s. So from then on, she went to preaching divine healing. She left the medical practice and became a teacher of divine healing, teaching the Word. And she would teach in different Bible schools. And this was in the early part of the 1900s. And so in the Bible schools. One day, one of the students asked her because they knew her medical background. She came from a family of doctors, and the medical background is not bad. Her medical practice wasn't bad, but she just found a better way. And so one of the students asked her, said, Dr. Yeomans, is there any particular diet that you favor and believe in? And she said, yes, there is a diet I believe in. I believe in a diet of giants. Just devour each one that comes your way and become spiritually stalwart. What did she see? She said she realized that as we eat up opposition instead of tremble at opposition, as we take our place and step over that opposition and keep going, that we don't back up and lay down the blessings and our inheritance that came to us from Christ just because we're opposed. Opposition is to be a strengthening place for God's people. And it is if we think right. We have to think right about opposition. What are we to think every time something opposes us? Oh, you're my bread. I'm going to eat you and I'm going to get nourished up because you showed up. Amen. No giant, no. Opposition is to be our downfall. They are to be our bread. That adds something to us. What's that mean? We're to learn to be giant eaters. You have to think right about that. You have up here. Because when opposition opposes you, it might not feel good to the flesh, but you have to think right. Amen. You have to remember, what's the Word say? And as you take your place in the Word, as you give the word its place in your mouth, you begin to eat up obstacles. Why? Because the word you speak to them will disarm and overthrow every enemy. It's the word you speak that overcomes the enemy. It's the word you speak. Those words go out and win your victory for you in the face of that opposition. And so you have to see giants as your place of nourishment instead of your place of undoing. Amen. Giants are everything that tries to get in the way of you taking possession of what God says is yours. Anything that tries to get in the way of you living the life God authored for you is to be eaten up, not. Not agreed with, but bypassed. You absolutely just devour that thing so it doesn't even exist to trouble your life anymore. Amen. Hallelujah. And I just know this. Have you ever had you go to the dinner table and there's a meat on the table, or there are vegetables and fruit and growing up at our table, we'd go, where's the bread? Because Mother made the absolute best bread. And we knew this. We couldn't just eat a bunch of fruit and make up for what the bread was meant to bring to the meal. You can't substitute one food group for another. Meaning this. If you decide you're not going to eat giants, something's going to be lacking in your spiritual health. Because there is a certain nourishment that only comes to your faith life and your spiritual life through the eating of giants. Amen. And so know this. They're nutrition for you. I said they are nutrition for you. This is called a renewed mind when we think like God thinks. So when Joshua and Caleb said, these giants, they are bread for us. We have to say all opposition is bread for me. By God's ability, I can eat that. By God's ability. Now I will say this. You can't eat anything with your mouth closed. How do you eat giants that oppose you? You talk to them. You got to get your mouth open. And nobody can eat on your behalf. No loved one, no family member can eat on your behalf. You have to do your own eating. Somebody may be able to pray with you and agree with you in prayer, but they cannot eat up the opposition that. That you have to eat up to get. To get on the other side of that. Amen. Hallelujah. Well, I tell you what, you don't want to miss the next episode because we've got so much more to teach along this line. And we want you to join us. Because when we think right, we receive right. And when we receive right, we live days of heaven on earth. And that's what God planned for us. God bless you. We're glad to have you with us. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at defrainministries. Org to learn of our upcoming meetings. Share your testimony, become a partner, or visit our online store. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of defrain Ministries.