← Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Boldness & Fervency | Nancy Dufresne | Sunday's Online Service | 5.17.20
00:59:26
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. Well, turn with me, if you would, in your Bibles. This morning, we're going to start in Mark, chapter 12. Mark, chapter 12. Last service, we were ministering along the lines of boldness. And it's interesting that God is having me to emphasize what I am going to be emphasizing today as well as what we last week with boldness. You know, the Word tells us that we're to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. And what we see with this flow of boldness, and I made this statement last week, is that the anointing meets boldness. And the reason boldness is so important is because someone who is operating in the spiritual flow. Now, I'm not talking about a boldness of personality. I'm talking about a divine force that is on the inside that comes from the Word. I mean, when you are anchored in the Word and full of the Word, there comes out. That Word comes out of you with a forcefulness. And that is that divine boldness, that it comes out of you. So we're not talking about personality characteristics or traits, as we said previously, that if someone begins to trust to show themself bold spiritually and it's not coming from their heart, and they try to, if I could say this, put it on, to try to put on and act like or look like they're bold, they end up just becoming unkind. And that divine boldness is not an unkindness. It might violate things that are going the wrong direction, but it's still not an unkindness. And so boldness is so important because when someone is operating and flowing with divine boldness, it means this. There is no trace of fear. You cannot be bold in the Word and have any trace of fear in that. There is absolutely no trace of fear. And that's why boldness is so important, because it is a testimonial that fear, fear has been run out of your life, out of your thinking, out of your actions. Because so much of the time, people respond based on fear. They raise their children based on fear. They handle their finances based on fear. They handle their marriage based on fear. They handle other relationships based on fear. And because of that, fear that can sometimes be traceable to almost every arena of people's lives is gonna affect what God can do for them. And so when we're told to be bold and boldness, is such an important spiritual, divine characteristic. It means that we have expelled fear. We're walking in who we are in Christ. And when we know who we are in Christ, fear is run out. So it is so important that this flow of boldness be something that we develop and become skillful in and mindful of. And as I said, really boldness comes from fullness. When you're full of the Word and full of the Spirit, there can come a divine boldness. Let me just say this. The Word will come out with force, you know, and that's what boldness is. It's the, the word coming out with force. Because there's so much, if I could say this pent up pressure on the inside. You know, at a time when there will be maybe a drought in some region and some regions, they'll have a dam that has been built near a region. And so they'll open the doors of that dam so that the gates of that dam so that some water that's needed in a time of, you know, when there's drought or something, they'll release some of that flow. When they open the doors of that, it doesn't just trickle out, it comes out with force because it has been residing there and it has been waiting for it to be released. And that's what boldness is. When the Word is residing within you in such fullness that when you open your mouth to release it, it comes out with a bold flow. And that's why it's so important, because boldness demonstrates fullness. Boldness is not just harsh. Boldness is not a harshness, it's a fullness that comes out. And sometimes when it comes out with, when you're so full of the Word and that word flows out, it will break things away. You know, anything that would have been in the way when they opened the gates of that dam if there would have been, let's say, a bit of a plant downstream of that dam. That plant's not gonna make it when that force of that water hits that. It's not out to destroy, but it removes things. And so boldness is not trying. You're not trying to destroy things with a natural ability. But the fullness removes things that need to be gotten out of the way. And so that's why boldness is so terribly important. God said that in these last days that the nine manifestations of the Spirit are to operate at their full potential power. That's going to take boldness on the part of the vessels. We're going to have to be Full of the revelation of miracles, full of the revelation of healings, full of the Word on these things. We're going to have to be full of, full of the Spirit, so that when we get around sickness, there comes such a flow of healing out of us, such a flow of miracle power and anointing out of us that it just crushes everything that is unlike health. It crushes everything that would. That would call for a miracle. And so that's what boldness does. It is fullness coming out. And it's so important in these days that we live in, that we live full of the Word and the Spirit. And when we are, there's going to be a boldness. And with that boldness comes a certainty. I mean, when they open the gates of that dam, those who have called for those gates to be opened, they know with a certainty water's coming. They know and they can tell the community, hey, we're going to release some of the water that's been in the reservoir. Then the people know water's coming. Well, it's the same thing. When you are full of the Word and you release that, you know this. Miracles are coming, healings are coming, results are coming. There's not going to be maybe this won't work attitude. With that release of the fullness of the Word, you can be bold to say, miracles are on their way into my situation. Miracle power is working. And so the anointing meets boldness. The bolder you are, that is showing you, for one thing, that you have to be full to really have a divine flow of boldness. But not only that, you've run fear out. The Word has taken the place of fear. The Word has built a certainty in you. I'm reminded of a testimony that actually one of the leadership here in the church, they were a student at a Bible school years ago, and they were telling me the testimony. They were in class one day, and one of the instructors of that class gave them this testimony from his own life. Their instructor in years past had been a pastor. And he said one day he had a young man in his church, maybe his 30s, early 40s. I'm not sure of the exact age. He wasn't, you know, in his teens, but he was old enough to have a family. He had a wife and he had several children, and they were younger children. And there was some kind of an accident that happened, and this father, this dad was taken to the hospital and he ended up dying. The pastor. And I don't know really if he was, he might have been killed. Instantly at the accident or whether he died in the hospital, I'm not sure. But when, when the pastor was called, by the time the pastor got to the hospital, he was dead. So he happened. If he didn't die instantly, he died soon after the accident. So the pastor is on his way down to the hospital and they tell him where this, his congregation member is. And he walks into the room and the sheet has been pulled over the head of this congregation member because he's died. And when this pastor walked in, the word of the Lord came to him and said, command death to leave. In other words, by the word of the Lord, God was saying, he's to be raised from the dead. Now, you don't. You have to understand that you need the leading of the spirit when you're dealing at this level, you know, because first of all, to raise someone from the dead, there has to be the gift of faith. There has to be the working of miracles, and there has to be the gifts of healing because they died from some kind of something that needs healing, right? They need a miracle. And then it takes the gift of faith, because it's beyond ordinary faith to believe for the dead to be raised. It's beyond ordinary faith. Every believer has ordinary faith in them. They have what we would call common faith, and that's still supernatural, but it is common to every believer. To have the dead raised, you're going to have to have uncommon faith. You're going to have to have another faith that comes from heaven. Smith Wigglesworth talked about the gift of faith in these terms he had. It's documented that over 20 people were raised from the dead under his ministry. Now, Smith Wigglesworth was an English preacher in the early half of the 1900s. And he said this about the gift of faith, because when we talk about the gift of faith, there's a faith that belongs to every believer. But the gift of faith is an ordinary, an extraordinary faith that is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit. And he said this. Smith Wigglesworth stated, when I have released my faith to God and I've released all my faith to God, he said, then another faith from God comes and meets my faith. That's the gift of faith. And that other faith, that gift of faith won't come if you're not releasing all the faith you already have. So it's when the faith you already have is released and it's not enough. The gift of faith will come and will couple, so to speak. And that's when you have situations like this. Pastor found Himself in that he was to minister to his congregation member so the man could be raised from the dead. So this is why you have to have some. You have to have some unction of the Holy Ghost. You can't just decide on your own. You have to have God's participation in this. And so this man, this pastor, went into the hospital room where his parishioner laid there dead with the sheet over him. And the word of the Lord came to this pastor and said, minister to him for him to be raised from the dead. Well, in his own flesh. You know, you think about that for a minute and natural faith will talk you out of that because it's beyond. It's beyond daily faith, common faith. And so he basically just reasoned, talked himself out of. Wasn't long after that, that pastor's wife then arrived at the hospital. She came in there. She was shown to the same hospital room. She went in there, saw her husband, and she came in. I mean, her eyes were lit up. She had heard from God on the way down there. She said, God told me to tell you to minister to him. Rebuke death and God will raise him up. And this pastor had already talked himself into such a place of doubt that he said, I managed to talk her out of it, too. And he said, so I did not minister to this man speaking, you know, rebuking death. And he said, it just got in the natural, you know, and reasoned against it. Because the mind, you know, the devil will energize that kind of thinking that is against what God says. The mind automatically will kick in, and you have to bypass that. You have to put that mind down, and the devil will energize wrong thinking, I mean, to where it will get loud. But even though the doubt may be loud, you have to go by what God said, regardless of what's loudest in the room. What did God say to you? So this pastor talked himself out of ministering to the man. He talked his wife down to make her think, well, maybe she didn't hear from God either. And he said, and they went ahead and, you know, went ahead with the funeral and everything. They go to church the next Sunday, and there's the man's wife and his children sitting there. And when he looks at them, all he can see and all he can remember is what God said to him that he didn't do. And he said, I sat there and realized that that family was without a daddy and a husband because I was not bold to obey. Lack of boldness will leave things dead. Things that could be changed, things that could be raised, things that could be different, marriages that could be different, businesses that God can bring back to life, relationships that God can bring back to life, bodies that God can bring back to life. You don't obey God. You don't receive miracles, you don't receive healings. Without this flow of boldness, somebody's going to have to be bold to act on the Word. And I believe the Holy Spirit is searching through the earth to find people who are firmly planted on the Word, who will be bold to act on it. There's a lot of people, we've all done it, who we've talked ourself out of things that we were prompted or led or had just an unction to do something, and we talked ourself out of it. Why did we do that? Lack of boldness. Boldness will put you on the front edge. It will not leave you on the back edge wringing your hands and say, oh, I don't know if I should. Boldness must replace overthinking. You overthink something and you will talk yourself out. Boldness is so quick to act. Boldness won't sit and reason for 30 minutes before it chooses to act. Boldness is an immediate action. I mean, when they open the gates of a dam where all the reservoir of water is there, is the moment they open that the water doesn't stand back and say, we've been in this position for a long time. Immediately the water flows, and it flows hard and fast. That's what boldness does. It is a quick response. It is an immediate response to God. A hesitation is fear. A hesitation is doubt. A hesitation is unbelief. But when you know what God said He will do in His Word and you act on it, you don't hesitate to consult with your mind. You don't hesitate to consult with your circumstances. And not only that, you don't consult with people because you don't know the degree of fullness in someone. And they may empty you out by their own emptiness. I mean, you can have a measure of fullness. And you sit and talk with someone empty, and they will drain your fullness out of you in the sense of they'll talk you down. And when you are full, you cannot afford to counsel with people who are empty because it'll drain fullness and boldness right out of you. And so we have to make sure that we are bold to act because the anointing meets boldness. I want to. I know I told you to go to one passage and we will go to that. But I want to remind you of something. In Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5 and 6, the Amplified God spoke and he said this. It says, God himself has said. Now listen to that wording. Hebrews 13, verse 5. This is part way, partway through verse 5 and it's the Amplified translation. God himself has said, I will not in any way fail you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support. I will not. I will not. I will not in any degree leave you helpless, nor forsake, nor let you down, relax my hold on you. Assuredly not. Now think of that in terms of your need. Whether that need is financial, whether that need is the need of a healing, whether it's the need of a miracle, whether it's the need need of your home, whether it's the need of your business, whether it's the need of a relationship. Think of it. God says that he will be ever present and he will not relax any of his ability toward your need. Now look at verse six. It says, so we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and look at this and boldly say, now see, if you're gonna believe what's said in verse five, you're gonna be bold. If you're gonna be half hearted toward what God says, you're not gonna be bold. But he says, so we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, the Lord is my helper. Now see, not everyone has meditated on that and gotten that in them. So you can't listen to other people to decide how bold you're gonna be. Your boldness is going to have to be. Your boldness is going to come from what you've been meditating on about God, what word you've been feeding on, what word you've been saying. Don't look for someone else to supply your boldness. Don't look around to see who is going to boldly say what you're saying before you're going to say something. Boldness doesn't care whether anyone else is ever in the room saying the same thing or not. When they open the gates of that reservoir and that dam so that the water that's been held in reserve can flow. The water doesn't say, well, wait a minute, have they opened any other reservoirs anywhere? Right. The water doesn't say that the water has been there pulsing against the sides of that gate, waiting for something to get out of its way. Its fullness is backed up behind that gate. And once that gate is lifted, that fullness takes no counsel with any Other water in the region. It takes no other counsel of what does the clouds. What are the clouds doing today? What's the temperature? It means that none of that means anything because fullness is waiting for release. And this is what boldness is. It is you filling up. And once that mouth is open, that's your gate. And when that mouth is open, there ought to be a flow of fullness, of the anointing, fullness of revelation, fullness of expectation, fullness of faith coming out, because that mouth has been there. Just. If I could say this. Filling it up and holding it back, waiting for the right thing to say at the right time. Now, if you're going to be bold, that demands a consecration and sanctification of what you're going to do with your mouth, because you can't be bold with the word. And then being bold in wrong. Saying to be bold in the word is going to demand that there is a purity of speech, because you can't expect boldness of the word to come out after there has been hurtful words said. Anything that is not of the flow of faith, anything that's not of the flow of love is going to damage your degree of boldness. It's going to damage your degree of fullness. And anytime we say offended words, hateful words, wrong words, anytime we say any of that, it empties us of fullness. If I could say this. If you had a bathtub full of water, and if someone were there with a drill bit, you know, and they drill into the side of that tub, and when they do, that, water is going to come out at that place of compromise. Well, if I could say this, you can have. You can be full of the word, you can be full of the spirit. But if we say an offended statement, if we say a critical statement, if we say a judgmental statement, then that's like taking that drill bit to the fullness of our tub, so to speak. And every time we say something, our fullness is gonna be compromised because wrong speaking caused the fullness to leak out. So we can't be bold by thinking we're gonna have a bold flow if we've been saying things all along that have. If I could say, compromised our fullness. Boldness calls for purity of speech. Or you won't be bold. Your boldness will not be effective because fullness will be compromised if we're saying something that is outside of love. To sit at home and have conflict in the home, to have conflict in a marriage, to have strife going on in a marriage every Bit of that is compromising fullness. I don't care how much of the word you've been putting in offense, strife, anything negative that comes out of your mouth is like the open drain on that vessel. Everything's just going to be compromised and leaking out as quick as you put it in. It will leak out if strife is present, if unforgiveness is present, if offense. All these things that are, that really Christians are not to have anything to do with. Why? Because these things injure fullness. And when you're less than full, God cannot. You're compromised in how God can use you. When I have my grandkids over and I feed them a meal, I feed them a snack even, no matter if they want milk to drink or if they want a soda to drink, or if they want a juice to drink, because of them, the size of their vessel, their body, I fill up a glass, maybe a third of the way. Why? Because I don't trust them to handle fullness. I don't fill up their glass to the top to be full. There has to be an ability to handle fullness. And to get into offense, to get into strife is to show the inability to be full. And no matter how much word we put in, if we misuse our tongue, if we misspeak to our spouses, if our home has less than lovely words and a love atmosphere in it, we show ourselves unable to handle fullness. God will give us as much as he can, but he can't fill up somebody whose vessel cannot handle. And it's not that God withholds, it's that anything we do that is out of line with faith, out of line with love, out of line with the Word causes fullness to leak out. And so when fullness leaks out, so does boldness. And when you're not bold, you don't get the same results. It is so, so important that we do as the Word says, live in line with the Word. Not just we want to. All of us want to have. We want to get results when we pray. We want to get results when we release our faith. We want to be able to, in our own lives, receive healings and miracles and answers to prayer. And we want others to. We want to help others, others with that. But we cannot just say we want it without living sanctified, without doing the right thing with our mouth, without it affecting every other way that we're going to conduct living. We can't just use our tongue any way we want and then think we're going to be a Full vessel that God can flow through. Anytime we step out of love, we compromise how God can use us. And I don't know about you, I want God to be able to use me. I want to be full of the Word and the Spirit, and I want that to be manifested through the flow of boldness and fullness. That's what belongs to us. Amen. Hallelujah. Now, if you would. We've been talking and ministering along the lines of boldness the last several services, but God began also dealing with me about something else that is so important with this thing of boldness. Because boldness, as we've said, is not a personality characteristic. Boldness is not just someone with an assertive personality. Boldness is not just someone who's very aggressive in how they address people and address situations. Boldness is a divine force that comes out of the fullness. When someone is full of the Word and the Spirit and then they speak, that word comes out with a boldness. There's a sound to it and there's a flow to it. There's a degree of it, a great degree of the Word, a great degree of the anointing that comes out when someone who's full of the Word speaks. And it comes out in boldness. And as we've said that the anointing meets boldness. The bolder you are, the stronger the anointing will be. And not only that is that to express boldness is to show that you've run fear out. Because any vessel that's full of the Word and full of the Spirit has no room for fear. They have filled that vessel to the full with the Word and the Spirit. And there has been made no regard or no place for fear. So when you see someone who's bold, you see someone who has put their foot to the neck the of and said, not in my life. Now there's another companion to this flow of boldness that we're going to have to have if we're going to have last day healings and miracles to the degree that God wants them for us. Mark chapter 12 in verse 30. And I'm going to read out of the King James translation. And Jesus was speaking and he made this statement, but thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. So Jesus is making it very clear to us that there's nothing of our being that's to be withheld or reserved from God if we're going to Be the vessel God wants us to be. We can't hold back part of us. We have to be all in. I mean, just all in. You know, many times you can hear testimonials about sports athletes. Sometimes I've heard them discuss. Commentators will discuss how talented a certain athlete is. But then sometimes they'll just talk about how hardworking one athlete is. I mean, that he is so bold and aggressive. I mean, he may not be the most talented, but he'll be the first one there. And I want you to know that just being wholehearted, even in natural things, will take the place of the lack of talent. That when somebody is wholehearted, they will achieve and make strides just in the natural, just because of their wholeheartedness. Then when you have somebody who has great talent but they're half hearted, no coach wants them, no matter how much talent. When they don't put. When they don't hustle, they got no hustle in them. They don't reach up to get that rebound. They don't reach up to. To try to do a pass interference. They don't. They don't. They just kind of. They got the talent, but they don't assert it. No coach wants them. Well, it's not about how much talent or divine ability we have. It's how wholehearted are we, how wholehearted are we. And I don't care what your IQ is, I don't care what your education may or may not be, you can be wholehearted. And this is what Jesus is saying that belongs. It's the first commandment that toward God we're to be wholehearted. We're all out. We have put everything of us into this thing that we serve God wholehearted, that we give, wholehearted. We're not giving with part of us wishing we could keep it. We're not serving, wishing we were back at home. We're not. We're not doing something in our local church wishing that it weren't our turn. Wholehearted. And this is what Jesus said is the first commandment, not suggestion, commandment. And I'll say this. God doesn't give his people suggestions. He gives them commands. If you've ever heard when Brother Copeland has come here and ministered at the church, I hope that you've heard and paid attention to this statement because he says it quite often. He says, father, I am yours to command. These are commandments. These are not options for us. This is anything God says to us is not optional. And when you're wholehearted, that's the way you treat things. That this is not optional. And Jesus said we are to love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind. Look at this. And all of our strength. And it's so important, because you know why? When we have a need, we want God to be wholeheartedly involved, not half heartedly involved. We want all his strength. We don't just want him to say, well, I don't know. I don't know if I'm interested today and helping you much. No, we don't want God's approach to be that way. Then we don't want to be sowing that. Because what we sow, we reap. If we don't reap wholehearted. If we don't sow wholeheartedness, do we reap wholeheartedness? Probably not. Because you only reap what you sow. And that goes for employment, doesn't it? Wholehearted towards your employer. That means that in the moment you're all there, you're not working for one man, wishing you had your own company. That means you're not taking a man's paycheck, just biding time until you can get your own business started. That's not faithful, that's unfaithful. And wholeheartedness is so important. If we're gonna have miracles, we can't just be half interested in getting a miracle. We can't just be half interested in receiving a healing. We have to be wholehearted. And wholeheartedness is so important. Now, that's really not my sermon, but I wanted to point to it because this is all part of the mindset that we're gonna have to have to receive from God. Now, second Timothy in chapter two says this. Second Timothy, chapter two. And we're gonna read in verse three, and this is the King James translation. And Paul was telling Timothy, who was younger in ministry, he said, thou, therefore look at this. Endure hardness. So notice hardness is going to come. Endure hardness, don't quit. Endure it. Don't complain your way through it. Endure it. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So if we don't endure, we can't call ourselves good at our job. If we're good at our job, we reach the end, we don't go halfway and quit. We're not complaining. Difficult circumstances are gonna come. That's what he's saying, difficult circumstances are gonna come. Now when that difficulty comes, you get in the face of that thing. And if you're wholehearted about this thing, it won't be difficult for you to finish. Just because difficult circumstances come, doesn't mean it has to be difficult on when you're full. Nothing is difficult because you just flow out and gush on everything. You just consume everything around you. So hard circumstances does not mean hard life. Hard circumstances call for fullness, and fullness makes everything easy. Fullness will cause you to where you don't even acknowledge. You are so occupied with fullness and what you're full of that when something comes that's hard against you, it doesn't get your attention because you're so occupied with being full. When my husband went home to be with the Lord, I was not occupied with trying to keep grief and sorrow out. What I was occupied with was staying full through praising and worshiping God. And the full fullness kept the sorrow and the grief out. You understand? And this is what we're. This is what Jesus said. If we'll be wholehearted with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind, our whole strength, fullness, then when hardness comes, we'll be able to endure it. Because we're not living a hard life. We're living a full life and giving God all and facing all, facing every situation with awe. It puts us over on the top so easily. Have you ever seen. What do they call those people? Maybe y' all can help me in the Olympics. And they had the pole. They jump. Say it again. Is it pole vaulting that they call it, that they plant that pole, and when that pole is planted right, it just looks like they just sail up so elegantly and beautiful. They go over the highest point. If that pole's not planted right, they're going to do a face plant is what they're going to do on the asphalt, right? Or on the grass around it. But when that pole is planted right, they just sail up. That's what fullness does. It's you planting your life right. And so when circumstances come, you just sail up and over that hardness. That life isn't hard for you. The circumstances are hard. Listen, you and I could walk out to that same obstacle course that that pole vaulter looks at. We could see that pole, and I don't know how high they put those. Anybody know how? I mean, they'll put them way above way. I mean, like way above your head. And we could walk up there and go, oh, my gosh, that is so hard. That would be so hard to get over. But the guy who walked up with a pole says, this is easy to get over. It depends on what he knows. It depends on how his skill with that pole, when he has that skill with that pole, he plants that thing just right and they have a little, if I could say this, an indented area, a cup area where that pole sits. And when they plant that just right and they get the right momentum going, they just sail over that. Because skill made hard things easy. If something is hard, become more skillful in the word. Because the word, when you're full of it, makes hard things easy. And so this is what Paul told Timothy. Endure hardness. Don't walk up to the hardness and go, oh, my gosh, this is so high. Just like we would do if we were standing there without a pole, looking at this height, that this athlete must climb over, get over. We would look at it and go, oh, my goodness, I'll never get over that if you look at it in the flesh. But if you just go up there full, you go, oh, now I got all the equipment I need to get myself over this obstacle. Endure hardness. Don't be impressed by it. Don't be awed by it. Don't be frightened by it. Endure it. Get on the other side of it. So Paul told Timothy, endure hardness as a good soldier. So a good. Listen, a good soldier's not a complaining soldier. A good soldier is not a griping soldier. A good soldier doesn't leave, doesn't bring the rest of the regiment down in motivation. Isn't that right? I mean, they want someone. The people who rise to become. They get promoted to officer positions are the people who help bring the rest of the rank up. They aren't the people who sat and complained about the food's no good around here. The sergeant talked mean to me today. You know, wah, wah, all of that stuff. That's not a good soldier. That guy will stay on the bottom of the ranking. A good soldier is someone who rises to the top because he responds differently to circumstances and hardness than others do. You're going to face hard circumstances, but they don't have to be hard for you. You know, I say this to people and I don't want people to misunderstand it because people that don't think right can misunderstand what you say. When my husband went home to be with the Lord, that was the greatest tragedy of my life. That was not the hardest thing of my life. The hardest thing in my life was when I faced Tess and didn't know the word. That was the hardest part. When I was younger in my Christian walk and I did not know my authority, I did not know. I did not know how to cast down imaginations. I didn't know how to bring every thought into captivity. Those were hard days while I was learning the Word. So when I had had some skill and gained some skill and came out of babyhood stage, so to speak, spiritually, it was not the hardest thing that I faced when my husband went home to be with the Lord. You want to know why it wasn't the hardest? Because I knew the answer. I knew the answer. What is the answer? Don't look at the wrong thing. Hold my attention on the right thing. The Word anchors me. I knew this, that the plan of God did not leave my life when my husband exited my life. So that did not make my life hard. Of course it was a tragedy. Sure I wanted him to stay here. Sure I didn't plan on being alone in the rest of my race of this. But the thing is, is that fullness and knowledge of the Word made hard places easier. So life, anytime you come up to something in your life and it's hard for you, it's pointing to where you lack skill, it's pointing to where you lack knowledge. Renew the mind and get full of the Word and get full of the spirit. Because even if you don't have knowledge, you can have fullness. We're still growing in knowledge. We don't have all knowledge, but we can still have all fullness every day. We can take time to fill up and it's not about maintaining yesterday's fullness. Every day needs a fresh infilling. And so even though as we're growing, because we're all at different stages of spiritual growth, as we're growing, we can all be filling up every single day day and live full every single day. Even though we don't have quite full knowledge yet. But fullness will help turn hard things easy. And this is what Paul told Timothy. Endure hardness as a good soldier. A good soldier delights to put his weaponry to use. A good soldier is gaining skill. A good soldier is knows his responsibilities and his duties in that military position. He's not trying to get out of his duties. A good soldier has the right answer in the face of his opponent. A good soldier answers his superior officer correctly. He's got the right answer in his mouth. A good soldier has no complaint, no griping. He's not out in strife with the other, with those of his regiment. He's not fussing and fighting. So endure hardness as a good soldier. And so I want to talk to you and this is what one of the things that God began stirring in me this week to go with this word boldness, that he's been having us to emphasize. But I want you to go with me, if you would, to Psalm chapter 18. And I want you to see something that is so important. How do we endure? We endure hardness of circumstances. What is one of the things that we're going to have to be skillful with so that we can endure hardness as a good soldier, not as a failing soldier, but as a good soldier. Psalms 18:1. Now the amplified says this. I love you. Now he's talking to God. I love you fervently and devotedly. O Lord, my strength. Notice this. I love you fervently. Now go with me, if you would. Song of Solomon, chapter 2 and verse 15. Song of Solomon. And we're going to go through several scripture passages, so you may just want to write these down so you can refer to them later, or you have a device that you can get to them quickly. That's good. But especially take note of them. Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse 15. The amplified translation says, my heart was touched, and I fervently sang to him my desire. Not half heartedly. Remember what we talked about. Jesus said, the first command is that God gets it all. All your soul, all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. That means if we're gonna sing to him and worship him, we don't do it half heartedly. We do it fervently. Fervency is the expression of wholeheartedness. When someone is wholehearted, there's a fervency about them. Now, I want to read to you. You can go to Acts 12, 5, and I'm going to read out of the King James translation first and then out of the amplified Acts chapter 12 and verse 5, the King James says this, Peter, therefore, was kept in prison. Now, right before this, James was put in prison and they killed him. And then when they saw that it pleased the Jews, then they proceeded to take Peter also. So it looked like Peter was headed toward the same fate, an early death. But it says here Peter was in prison. It says, Peter, therefore was kept in prison. But prayer. Thank God for these words. But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. What was the difference around James life that we didn't see, that is, around Peter's, we don't see anything that anybody was praying for James. But when they lost a leader, then they started paying attention and they got wholehearted and they started praying. And that was what was an open door for God to rescue Peter. He wanted to rescue James, but people were not wholehearted about it. And so Peter, of course, was kept in prison, but he was brought out. Now, the amplified of verse 5 says this. So Peter was kept in prison, but fervent prayer for him was persistently made to God by the church. So notice this. It's not just prayer. It's fervent prayer. What is fervent prayer? It's wholehearted. It is a prayer that will not quit till it's sees the answer. It's going to persevere. There's a fervency, meaning this matters to me. This is important to me. Can I ask you this? If you're a business owner, do you want to hire people as your staff that your company's not important to them? You want people that treat your business as importantly as you treat it. Well, so does God. He wants people to handle his business as importantly as he handles it. And this is where this thing of fervency comes in. Because it shows that it's an honor for the work that we're engaged in. We are wholehearted. We are giving all of our strength to it. We're not withholding ourselves because we've got our interest on something else. We're just doing this as a courtesy. Nobody, no employer, wants a courtesy employee. They want a wholehearted employee. Well, so does God. Well, this is what made the difference with Peter's rescue. Because fervent prayer was made, not just prayer. Fervent prayer, meaning we don't give up till this thing changes. Now if we go Psalms 119, 48 and 49. Psalms 119, verses 48 and 49. And I've got several more Scriptures, so you'll want to stay with me. And we'll move along these quickly because I don't have as much time left. Psalms 119, 48 and 49. The Amplified says, my hands also will I lift up in fervent supplication to your commandments, which I love. And I will meditate on your statutes. Remember fervently the Word and promise to your servant in which you have caused me to hope. Now notice this. The man says, I will lift up my hands in fervent supplication. Then he's saying to God, but remember fervently your word. So can we say this? He was wanting God to be fervent, so he gave fervency. It matters that if we're only half hearted, how do we get fervency from God? If we want fervency from God, we have to. Sow fervency toward what he's doing in the earth. Now, James, chapter 5 and verse 16, the King James says, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. So when someone is fervent in their prayer life, that means they're not going to give up until they see the result. They don't quit. Religion will pray once, but fervency goes to the end. Fervency doesn't come off of that prayer request until it sees its desired result. Then Colossians 4:12, the King James translation says, epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you. He's always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you would stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. So notice this. What kind of prayers gets results. Fervent prayers, a wholeheartedness, a not quitting until the desired result is received. Then first Peter, chapter one, verse 22 and 23, and this is the amplified, it says, since by your obedience to the truth through the Holy Spirit, you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, see that you love one another fervently from a pure heart. Notice, not just praying fervently. Love fervently. What's love fervent? Fervently means. It means that you don't give up on people. It means that you don't withdraw love just because they act unlovely. Then it goes on. In verse 23, you have been regenerated, born again, not from a mortal seed, but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting word of God. So he's saying this, you're going to have a fervent love, not because. Not because you feel good about somebody, but because there's divine life in you. And he starts pointing to, you've been born again. So now you are equipped to be fervent in your love toward people. Now, first Peter, chapter four and verse eight, it says this. Above all things have fervent charity or love among yourselves, for love will cover the multitude of sins. And when it says love will cover. If someone has the authority over someone that's sinful, they'll, you know, living in sin, they will help them. But he's saying a fervent love covers it. What's that mean? It doesn't go about repeating. It hides it, it cloaks it. It doesn't broadcast it. Now mark 10, verse 16, it says, and Jesus took them. This is the amplified. Jesus took, took. Then the children up one by One in his arms and fervently invoked a blessing, placing his hands on them. Notice fervency. He didn't just do a little pat on the head, but fervently. Then I want to go in Romans 12:10, 11. Romans 12:10 11 says, Be kindly, affectionated, affectioned, one to another with brotherly love in honor, preferring one another. Not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Ah, this is key. How does God want to be served? With fervency. That means you're all in. You're interested. Now let me read to you some other translations of this passage. In Romans 12 and. Excuse me. Yeah. Romans 12 and verse 11 where it says, be fervent in spirit. The amplified says, never lag in zeal or in earnest endeavor. Be aglow and burning with the spirit. The Lexham English says this, be enthusiastic in spirit. Another translation says this, use all your energy to serve the Lord. Not half hearted, is it? Another translation says this, don't be lazy in showing your devotion. Use all your energy. A full heart of devotion. Another one, I like this. Be on fire in the spirit. That's what fervency is, that gets you to the other side. Amen. Another says this, keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Another says this, never let the fire in your heart go out. Keep it alive, serve the Lord. Ferven serv is so important to keep you going so you don't quit. And one says, maintain zeal to the boiling point. How important? That we're boiling over with our love for God. We're boiling over with our serving. Those are the ones he can manifest through and this is what he desires for us. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Look at this boldness and fervency. Why? Because there's going to come opposition and it's going to take you at a bottom point to get past opposition that you have to endure. You can't just be lukewarm, which is so dangerous. So dangerous. And you can't of course be cold. Now people would look at. And of course in the book of Revelation we're told that Jesus made this statement, you know that some he said you were lukewarm. He says, I'd rather you be cold than lukewarm. Well, what's the other option? We're supposed to be boiling over. Why would it be that Jesus would say, I would rather that you were cold than lukewarm warm water, water that has been heated, had heat applied to it and didn't go all the Way turned it off, cold water, never had heat applied to it. Jesus said, I'd rather you never had heat applied to you than you had the fire of the Holy Ghost. And you just turned it off. You stepped back, you stepped away. Fervency means you kept boiling. Fervency means that you kept praying in the Holy Ghost. Now we know this in Jude, chapter one, of course, verse 20. And let me find it for you because I believe I have it typed out here and for time's sake we didn't go through it. But Jude in chapter 1120 it says this. But you beloved, build yourselves up, founded on your most holy faith. Make progress, rise like an edifice, higher and higher, praying in the Holy Ghost. Guard and keep yourself in the love of God. So notice this. He's saying that as you're praying in the Holy Ghost, it builds something. How about it? Building a fire in you. It builds something in you. Then what did Paul tell Timothy? Stir up the gift that's on the inside of you. Let me read the Amplified because this is second Timothy 1 6, the King James. He said, stir up the gift which is in thee. The Amplified says, that is why I would remind you to stir up, rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning the gracious gift of God, the inner fire that is in you. Notice this. He gave the fire. It's our job to keep it burning. It's our job to stoke it. It's our job to keep fueling that fire and that's how we're to serve him. That's what's going to get miracles. That's what's going to get healings. That's what's going to move forward into the fullness is it can't be half hearted. We have to be fervent. We have to be bold. These things must be in place. Amen. Hallelujah. So it's up to us. You know, sometimes I'll sleep outside because I have an outdoor courtyard and it has a fireplace. And I'll wake up all through the night to throw another log on fire. Why? Because I want to have that atmosphere there. It helps me. It helps in what I feel. When we're not fervent, we're going to feel different. The things around us, our circumstances are going to feel different. We have to keep stoking it. God put the fire in us. It's our job to keep it burning bright. Praying in the Holy Ghost is one way of doing that. Being full of the Word, being full of the Spirit is what this involves. And to get the results that God has for us, it's going to take boldness and it's going to take fervency. It's going to take being aglow. Amen. Hallelujah. 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 Dufresne Ministries.