← Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Biblical Courage | Morgan Dufresne | World Harvest Church | Murrieta, CA
00:32:17
Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. I know we've been on the subject of. On the subject of offense, and I guess the Holy Ghost had felt like y' all had had enough for a moment, because he redirected me this morning to something else. So either. I don't know, we may go back to it. So either y' all are doing real well, or you're still digesting the last few weeks, and he's going to give you a little bit more time to study and get your homework done. So this morning, I want us to look at the subject. Part of it, actually, that I want to look at is the subject of courage and what it really means to have biblical courage. And the fact that it took courage. That was the greatest instruction given, besides to meditate in the Word. And these two things are tied together that was given to obtain the promise for Joshua to lead the children of Israel. It was courage. But what does it mean to have biblical courage? Biblical courage and natural man courage are two very different things. What the Word shows and describes as courage is not. And how we obtain that is not how men obtain natural courage. And it's very important also to teach our children this because, you know, we love to teach our children to be brave and to do things. And, you know, I love to make my kids try new foods, you know, and of course, the biggest thing I always say to them is, do you trust me? You know, I'm not going to give you something, you know, that's going to make you throw up. I'm not going to give you something, you know, watch me. Watch me eat this. And then you try it. So, you know, when I try to have my kids step out and try something new, I always tell them, trust me, because I want them to not look at what they're about to eat. But look at me. Look at what I do. Look at what I'm doing. Follow me. If you'll just follow me and you'll follow my lead. I won't. I won't lead you wrong. I won't lead you wrong. You know, there was a time, you know, when we have a. With our. Our pool, we've got a really high jump off that the kids could jump off, and the boys had been jumping off of it for, like, two years. And some. Some point, Bubby just froze like he couldn't do it. He couldn't. He was doing backflips and he couldn't do it anymore. And, you know, fear had gotten. He was. Kept being afraid. He wasn't afraid for the longest time. And all of a sudden he's afraid he's going to hit his head. And so, you know, what Steven did was he didn't get up there and do a backflip, but he got up there with him, you know, for three hours. And he said, I'm not getting down from here because you're. You're looking at the wrong thing. Look at me. I'm not going to have you do something that hurts you, you know. And so our eyes are. Oftentimes when we're looking for courage, our eyes are on the wrong thing. And so this morning I want us to look at where are our eyes set if we're going to see some things through? And some of these things came about as I was meditating on these. Some of these things came about just from my own life and. And things that I'm believing for. And oftentimes you get disheartened as time passes and you don't want to faint. Thank God Abraham didn't faint. He didn't grow weary. Weariness is really the way. The Holy Ghost showed me. When you get weary, it's due to a lack of fortified patience. Patience is the strength that upholds when you are settled and patient in that fruit of the spirit of patience. That. That patience upholds your faith. It strengthens your faith. But we're not talking about man's patience. We're talking about a divine patience from God. And so I want us to look here. Go with me first to Joshua 1:8. We know this passage, but I. We never should get tired of looking at it because there's so much. Every time I read Joshua 1 and chapter one, new things come out. I see. Because this was the turning point. How many of you are like, I know I am at a turning point. I know I either, you know, I'm being bombarded with letting go of some things. I'm being bombarded with quitting on some faith projects. I. And discouraged because it seems like things are not progressing well. This is for 40 years where Joshua was. And I want to know what got this man from 40 years of godly patience. And without hesitation, he crossed the river. Without hesitation, when God says go, he went, Amen. When God. I want to start with this. When God makes a promise through covenant, our obtaining of that promise through the manifestation is not based on our personal understanding and our personal experience with that manifestation. Meaning you could have never in your life seen what you're believing for you may not even know anybody that seen and walked through what you've. What you're believing for. It's based on the one you made a covenant with and what he sees. Amen. So you holding fast to that promise, you holding fast to what you're believing for? It should never be based on your life, on someone else's life, on someone else's testimony, on what someone else has been through. It should only be based on the one that can bring you through. Joshua understood this. I cannot base. Now, God did say to him, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. But then he said, get in my word. He didn't base them crossing the Jordan because of what God had done for Moses. And he didn't go back and say, look at all the miracles I did under Moses hand. Look at all the miraculous things you saw under Moses. And he did not reference, he said, as I was with him, not what I did for him. That's a big key. He didn't tell Joshua based off of what I did for Moses. He said it was as I was with him. Are you basing your faith because of what God has done and what you've seen and what somebody has preached, an experience that they've had? It's wonderful to hear people's testimonies. You know, I love giving the testimony of our home, but you cannot base your faith off of my testimony of my home. You can base your faith on as God was with me, led me, guided me, so he will be with you, but you have to know him for yourself. So it's not about the word given, but the word giver. It's not about the word that's been given. It's about the word giver. If all you're looking at is the word that was given and you take more time confessing the word given, your eyes are on the wrong thing. They've got to be on the word giver. They've got to be on the one who delivered that word. They've got to be on the one who promised you what you're believing for that word is, yes, it's for confession. Confession is right. But confession is a flow of the fellowship and the relationship of the one you're in covenant with holding on to a promise. And this is what we're going to look at. Holding on to a promise with natural effort takes so much more out of you than holding on to the promise giver. You know, it's the difference. You've, you, you've Heard of that time where. You know. And you've seen it even on the. They showed on the Internet. And when that. What was it? That. That balloon. What are those called? The. The blimps. Those things, you know, and they went up. And that one went up in the air and all those men fell. And then the one man survived and he. What did he do? He said, I didn't hang on. He took that rope and wrapped him. Listen, folks. Wrapped that rope around himself, and he was the only one who made it. Everyone thought he was holding on with such great effort and was so strong. And he. And he said, it wasn't my strength. It was the strength of the rope wrapped around him, holding him up. This is the difference between you going, he's promised me this. He's promised me this. He's promised me this. If you'll stop focusing on what's been promised to you and wrap yourself up in the one who made the promise. You don't have to in. It takes so much more effort. This is what happened to Abraham when he. He knew the promise of a child was given and he made. This is the switch I believe he made when he recognized. And this is when we're looking at a promise and we're believing God and we're trusting God. If you are so focused on, maybe it could be a new home, it could be a business, it could be someplace financial, it could be something for your family, it could be someone you're believing for and you've got this promise. You found it in the word of God that God will fulfill. This is what he said to me. We are in covenant together. But you get so wrapped up in getting up every day and praising with the promise in mind. Instead of praising with the promise giver in mind, you're confessing with the promise in mind instead of confessing with the one who you're in covenant with. What happens is, is what. What came along in Abraham's life was an opportunity. And so what he did was. He was so consumed. I believe, with that promise that when opportunity came, he took the opportunity, thinking, this is how I'll get this promise. If your eyes are on the promise and not the one who gave the promise, the devil can bring opportunity to you. And you will think it's God because what are you doing? You're holding onto the promise with your natural effort. You were never meant to walk in faith by yourself. You were meant to walk in faith with God, not without him. Amen. I'm walking with him. I'm following with Him. This is why you see people and you go, somebody on the outside is going, that's not God. Now you're in your own effort. You're trying to make this thing happen in your life. And this is not. It's so obvious to everybody on the outside, but the one who's been confessing, confessing and confessing and confessing and looking at this promise and this promise. And it's all about this promise, Father. You promised me this. You promised me that. You promised me this. What about the one who made the promise? I don't ever want to get my eyes so much on what I'm believing for that. When an opportunity comes, I think it's a manifestation. And I've talked about this, and it's not a manifestation. It's a deviation from the plan. That's what happened to Abraham. This is what I believe. After he realized, him and Sarah recognized we deviated, we took our own route. This was not the avenue that God had that God wanted to use Sarah. God wasn't looking to use somebody else. This was the wrong direction. And when they recognize that, what did it say? He grew in faith and was strengthened, giving glory to God. What do we see? A shift from his eyes on his body in the promise. He shifted. And his focus and his attention giving glory to God. Are your eyes on the promise, or do you need to shift this morning to give glory to God? Amen. Joshua 1:8. We're still talking about courage. Because courage is what God said is going to get you from this side of the river to that side of the river. It says here verse 5. Joshua 1. Verse 5. We'll start here. Well, look at verse 3. Every place upon the sole of your feet shall tread that have I given you, as I promised Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, Canaan, and to the great Mediterranean Sea on the west shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. And as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you or forsake you. There it was as I was with Moses. He didn't go back and rehearse the things he did for Moses. He said I was with him. That's all you need to know, Joshua. I'm going to be with you. You can't know God's with you if you don't spend time with him. Be strong, confident and of good courage. For you shall cause this people to inherit Land which I swore to their fathers to give them all. Only you. Be strong and very courageous that you may do according to the all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good, good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong, vigorous and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The emphasis in this passage is on two things. I'm with you and my word needs to be with you. How do we have biblical courage? We know God's word. What? How does courage come? Through encouragement. Right? Encouragement and courage come from the same word. They're the same thing. If you want to have biblical courage, you have got to get into the word of God. Biblical courage does not come from a preacher or somebody in your life pumping you up and giving you well. Let me. Let me read it how I wrote this, how I had wrote it down. Many think courage is a feeling, a succession, a sensation and a moment of exuberance to do something. Marie, that again, many think courage is a feeling, a sensation and a moment of exuberance and strength to do something. David didn't slay a giant in a moment. Courage didn't come in a moment because at that point nobody gave him words of encouragement. David slayed the giant long time ago when he worshiped God in the fields with the sheep as a shepherd boy. That's when courage came. Just like the courage to keep going for Abraham at 9100, 92, 93, 94. How did courage come? He gave. He grew strong, giving glory unto God. The strength and the courage to conceive came in the quiet times in worshiping and praising God. It didn't show up in the moment of birth. It didn't show up when the five stones were picked. And that's why David didn't need another man. Because God's word was his courage. God's presence was his courage. Man's courage needs another man. Biblical courage from God only needs God. I need God's words. This is what God was telling as I was with. What did. What did Moses have? Moses had God's words from the burning bush. Moses, his face was turned towards God. Moses whole heart was In God's direction. Moses was a man that saw God's sought, saw and saw God's being, his face. He wanted everything that God was. And so the courage. Well, he didn't have the courage to cross over the Jordan, no, But he had the courage to get a million people out of captivity. Rich, healthy and with abundance. So we don't look at what Moses couldn't do. Because it was Moses example that God said. Now, Joshua, you look at that, you follow that. Amen. And what was his example? As I was with him. God is looking for you to get in His Word. It's not that you. God needs you to read His Word. Although he does so he can accomplish his will on this earth. It's that you need to read His Word so that you won't faint at the time of adversity. I need to go. I need to encourage myself in the Lord, strengthen myself. David did the same thing. That's. The whole book of Psalms is nothing but courage. Psalms is nothing but a book of how David encouraged himself in the Lord. So courage comes. Biblical courage comes through two ways. Meditate there in day and night, keep your eyes focused on God's Word and worshiping and praising him, keeping your eyes on him. So David didn't have a moment of courage when he slayed that giant. We have to understand that that moment that he slayed that giant had come from already his short little lifetime of fellowship with God. If I know the one who was given, you know he swore by himself to Abraham. God swore by himself. You understand that there was nothing higher. And God swore by himself to Abraham. God didn't swear by himself to us. He gave Himself to us. When you get a hold of that, he gave. He didn't swear by Himself. He didn't promise. All that's in this word based on Himself. He made the promise because he gave himself. That's the higher covenant. Their covenant was he swore on Himself. My covenant is that he gave Himself. If I can get to know the one who gave himself, get to know the one who gave it all, get to know really who Jesus is beyond the cross and fellowship with Him. It's so much easier to receive the promises that he made to me. Amen. I mean, even in a marriage, what does it say in 1st Peter? Dwell in knowledge. You know, husbands, you need to dwell with knowledge with your wives. Notice he didn't say dwell with a sensation in the feeling of romance and love. That's why people get a divorce, because they think they're supposed to Dwell in the way they dwell together in their first couple months. That's how they're going to dwell together forever. The Bible says dwell together according to knowledge. Yes, love comes with that. But there is knowledge that you have to have to walk in your covenant successfully together. Right. Because if you just walk based off of a feeling, they're going to do something that's going to squash that feeling. And you better have knowledge how to get over on the other side of that feeling. Amen. So dwelling. And even within a marriage covenant, you have to dwell in knowledge. People perish for lack of knowledge. Why did they perish? Not because Jesus didn't fulfill all that he said he would do. Because. Not because there's not enough power. Not because the Word wasn't enough, but because they didn't have enough knowledge of the One who made the promise. I've got to know him first. That's what God's saying. For you to be successful, you've got to know me. The only way, Joshua, you're going to best know me is this book right here that has not changed the best way when you, if you would read the Word of God, not to get gain information and knowledge about how you can gain in your life, but to gain wisdom and knowledge of the One who provided. There is a difference. There is a difference. Sometimes you have to lay down the promise and what you are believing for and go back to the one you are believing in. I must say that again. Sometimes you have to set down the confession of that promise and go Back to the 1. Lay down what you're believing for and go back to the one you believe in. There's been times I've had to do that. You know, I'm going to set this aside for a moment because I can tell I'm trying to hang on with my own effort. I don't have the strength and the courage I can sense I don't have the courage that the Word of God has demonstrated. And those men and women of faith demonstrate it. I'm not walking in their kind of confidence. I'm walking, trying to hold on with every ounce. Faith is light and easy. And if it becomes hard and heavy, set down what you're believing for. Amen. And go back to the one that you're believing in. Instead of confess praise, instead of reading for the information to bring to pass what you're believing for, meditate on who he is. Meditate on his goodness, the psalms and the demonstrations of his love and his healing power. Go back to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and read about Jesus time here on earth and it'll flood you. I tell you what, every time you go back and you begin to read in the Gospels regarding all that Jesus had done in his life, what floods me, I don't know about you, is the love of God, the goodness of God. And I just fill up on who Jesus is because he has not changed from that man that walked this earth. He has not changed. Fill up on who he is and not what he has. Amen. I want to go back and fill up on who you are, God. Not what you have for me, but just who you are. Because when I fill up on who he is, then what he has flows much easier. I'm not hanging on. It's hanging on to me. Amen. When you're focused on the promise, like I said, is when opportunity comes. Abraham took opportunity at first. This is what happened when. And we won't take time to turn there. This is what happened with. I want us to see when. When Jesus was asleep in the boat. Remember when he was asleep in the boat and the storm came and Jesus is still asleep in the boat. Right. And the disciples are panicking because Jesus said, let us go to the other side. Oftentimes we take that and we hold on to that saying and it's right and it's proper. It's in the scripture. I'm going to the other side. I'm going to the other side. I'm going to the other side. When you forget who you're going to the other side with, Jesus point to them was not I said, we're going to the other side. We often emphasize in our own lives, going to the other side. I've got to get there. I've got to get to the other side of this. I've got to get to the other side. I've got to get my, my, my bills paid off. I've got to get this happening. I've got to get this happening. We're so full. God promised me, I'm going to the other side. And we want to confess about the other side. When you forget the whole entire way Jesus is in you with you, looking to fellowship with you. I think the whole point was I'm in your boat. Why did he go to sleep? Maybe because nobody was engaging in gaining knowledge and information and conversation. Nobody was curious enough to keep Jesus awake. Nobody was hungry enough to keep Jesus awake. Keep him awake, keep him alive in your home. Keep the presence of God stirred in your home. It's not just about I've Got to get a victory. I've got to have a testimony. I've got to get to the other side. It's about, I've got Jesus in my boat and I'm so hungry that I can't sleep. And he's not going to take any moment of rest as long as he's with me. We are fellowshipping. I'm worshiping, I'm. I'm meditating, I'm asking, I'm inquiring. I am going to gain all the knowledge of who my Father is, not just what he can do, but who he is. David had known for years who God really was. And an entire nation had forgotten. They had all forgotten about who God was. And here they are facing. You know, those giants were the very, the very thing that kept the children of Israel out of the promised land. And here they are again, facing those exact same giants. So you may have seen a victory, you may have gotten past some things, but when it shows back up, don't be like them and forget who it was, not how. Because God may do it a different way. If you're focused on the how, then God can't get creative in your life. If you're focused on the how, then the Holy Ghost can't be who he wants to be to you. You've put him in a box. You've told him you got to do what you did the last time. Why? Because that's all you can comprehend. When we dwell with God according to knowledge, then it automatically takes all the limits off of how he can get to me. Only God can take the limits. Let me say this. Only knowledge of God and a walk with God can take the limits off your life. Amen. So I wanted us to look at that this morning. I don't want to keep you too long. It is feels like Florida here. I'm going to tell you something else. It feels like Florida. I mean, take this and even amp it up a couple notches. So I want us to remember, courage is not a feeling, a, a sensation or a moment of excitement. It's not biblical courage. Biblical courage is a settled relationship, a knowing of who he is, of resting in him, really. Courage, true biblical courage comes from a place of rest in God because natural courage wants to make natural things happen and do things with a natural effort. Biblical courage will lead you to rest and peace and joy and a settled life. Because I know him. I know him and I know he won't fail me. I know he loves me so much. I know his word is true in my life. I know that as he is with those that I've seen, those great men of faith that I know about those example as he is with him. God, I want you to be with me. Not just do for me, be with me. You want to know why God, those that we look at as great examples and we hear their teaching and God has done great things for them. It's because God worked great things in them first. He worked great things in them. They allowed God to work great things in them. God, if I have to set it all aside that I'm believing for so you can work some great things in me, I'll do it. Know when you're holding on with your own effort and know and learn that rest in peace. When he's holding on to you. Yeah, there's a walk of faith where he is carrying you into the fullness of all that he's promised you. And then there's a walk and there's faith tied to it when you feel like you're making your own effort. I believe sometimes that's why it takes twice as long for us to receive, because we're trying to plow ahead into a promise with a natural effort. There's faith connected, but we've forgotten how to rest and how to go back to the One who gave the promise. Amen. Amen. Well, we'll go ahead and stop there. Today, I want biblical courage. I want to step over and walk into some things not in my effort, but in his effort. Amen. I want to know Him. How many of you say I want to know Him? I don't want to just know what he gives. I want to have knowledge of Him. Not knowledge of the stuff, knowledge of what I'm looking for him to give me. I want to know Him. Amen. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at dufresneministries.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 Dufresne Ministries.