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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Delighted To Obey God’s Plan | Nancy Dufresne | Georgetown, TX | Wednesday PM | Miracle Crusade 2023
01:19:49
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Hallelujah. You know, one of the things, I never had to deal with this aspect before, but when my husband went home to be with the Lord, God helped me to see how complete our victory was. How total, total. And I remember I said, the day after he went home to be with the Lord. I remember where I was early in the next morning, I was getting ready, and I said. I said, jesus, I said, your presence is so apparent right now, but there are times when you don't always sense the presence of God as strongly as I do now. And I said, on that day, am I going to have a fight on my hands? That's just what I asked you. And he answered. He said, I not only bore sickness and disease, I bore grief and sorrow. I said, got it. Got it. No more than I should think that sickness and disease is part of my life, neither grief or sorrow. And so I chose. I chose to never touch it so that it wouldn't touch me. It's what you touch that opens or closes doors. I didn't touch it thinking it was a flow that I was obligated to and saying and helping people. He. He told me to write the book, Victory Over Grief and Sorrow. And I thought, ugh, you know, people don't. I didn't see the great need for it until I wrote the book. And I say that to say this, The thing I've brought before people, grief and sorrow is not a way to honor anyone or anything. And I said it was not something I needed to demonstrate to show I loved my husband and honored my husband. I said, the way I honor him was doing what he taught us. That's the way to honor. I said that to say this. The way to honor Jesus is do what he said, receive what he provided, live the way he authored for us. That's the way to honor Him. Amen. Amen. Thank God for that life. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. You can be seated, Ms. Joy. Thank you so much. Love, that was. I love the testimony. I've never heard anyone say everything of him was alive. His clothes were alive. I know. Love living. I love that. I love, love, love that. Praise the Lord. When she was giving that testimony, I was reminded of something that Jesus said to me when I was in St. Petersburg, Russia. And he came into my hotel room that night and talked to me about the price of the double portion anointing. And I'm reminded what he Said he said, in my presence is fullness of joy. Carry out my plan. In my presence, I'm just grabbing statements, not the whole thing. Then he said this. There is no burden to the responsibilities of the anointing. As you take up your cross to follow me, it lifts you into the lightness and ease of my flow. And this is what I wanted to say was really in connection with something Ms. Joy said. He said, I never conducted my earthly life as being under a burden of the price I was to pay. Life for me was a great joy and delight. Now we saw we have record of the opposition. We have record of things that people did to him, tried to do against him. But the joy he chose did not take him into a lower flow that that was opposing him. He said life for me was a great joy and delight. I only experienced being a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief for a few brief moments on the cross. But I carried sorrows and grief so that you would never experience it for a moment. Amen. So all of our moments would be different. No more grief, no more sorrow. No more depression, no more struggle. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Yes, it cost him everything, but he did it right. Meaning this. He didn't think wrong toward what he was to perform. Praise the Lord. Turn with me tonight. Isaiah, chapter one, verse 19. We're going to look at some passages you'd be acquainted with. And we want to get more acquainted. Isaiah, chapter one, verse 19. The very first word of this verse shows us things are conditional. If. If you be willing and obedient. Two things our part. Be willing and obedient. His part. You will eat the good. The land. You will eat the good of the land. So we decide what we eat. We decide what is drawn up into our lives, what's drawn into our thought life, what's drawn into our families, what's drawn into our days. We decide that by if we're willing to obedient. How good we live is connected to our willingness and our obedience. And if we're not living good, go back to those things. Check that. Are you willing? Are you obedient? Toward what? Toward him and his word and his plan for your life. If we're troubled in our mind, we are not living as good as we could. If our marriages have. If we're struggling in our marriage, we're not living as good as we could. If we're sick, we're not living as good as we could. If we're struggling financially, we're not living as good as we could. So if we're not living as good as, we could go back to these two things. Am I willing and am I obedient? It's amazing he can sum up the goodness of a whole life in one phrase. That which encompasses the whole of our life can be taken down to one phrase to arrive at goodness. So obedience. Let's take a couple moments. We're going to go on to other verses, but I wanted to begin by these. Obedience, when it says willingness and obedience. Obedience is an action we take. Right. When you were growing up and your parents said, go clean your room, to be obedient, you had to take an action, right? Could you. Could you as a child, if your parent told you to go clean your room and you went and did it, could you ever get spanked doing in cleaning your room? I could have you say, how? The wrong way. Doing it the wrong way. Take the junk that's on the floor and slam it into its place. I'm obeying, but the action is there. But the counteraction is willingness. Obedience is the outward action. Willingness is the inward action. And sometimes if we're not careful, we know what our obligations are. So we're obeying that we're doing those. But if our insides are not lined up, then there's something of the good life we're going to be forfeiting. They both have to be in place, willing from the inside and obedient from the in. Our actions, carrying it out, walking it out. In other words, we don't want to obey with a bad attitude that will be as though we didn't obey and it'll get us into trouble. Or obeying with a grudge, obeying with eyes that roll in your head, Picking up your. Your assignment list from the Ministry of Help's department and going, It's where we live. It's where we live. Wow. Oh, and people can show up and do it and get further away from God the whole time they're obeying. Why? Because the insides were. Well, praise the Lord. Then we can have a, oh, I'm willing. Oh, I'm willing. And just never show up for the post. God said something to me in pastoring because I pastored 25 years. My family started helping me full time with that in 2016. But one of the things he said to me, because we taught those. We don't call those who help us, the congregation, members that serve in positions, the ministry of Helps. We don't call them volunteers. You're not a volunteer. That gives you an option. We call them appointees. You are appointed. I'm appointed. You're appointed for something. And the pastor or the department head appointed you for this. So it's not treated here like I'm a volunteer doing you a service. Right? So we call them. This is the way we put appointees. You are appointed. That puts a whole other level of dignity with this Son Paul said, I'm appointed. And so we taught them, if for some reason you're unable to be where you were expected, don't just call and say, I won't be there. Find someone to replace you. So that basically you're not handling your vacancy of that part to someone else to fulfill again. So if you're going to not be there, you are the one within that department of people approved find a replacement for you. And so that's just the procedure we put in place so that it just doesn't go back on the stack to have to cover for that. And in that we would have people that for whatever reason, and sometimes there are legitimate reasons, someone can't and they find a replacement. Others are not legitimate. And God said to me, because I had somebody, oh, I can't do it, but I found replacement. And it was often, I can't do it, but I found a replacement. So they were thinking, I pleased you because I have found a replacement. And I would always say, that's fine, thank you for covering that. And God said to me one day, don't think because you dismissed them that I did. Come on. Because just because our pastor agreed to let you out of that or the department head, assume that was God's answer. Because God is training us in willingness and obedience because that's the only way to live good. And if we practice stepping out of our obedience place by contacting someone else to show up, are you going to call when good comes along, Call somebody else to show up for that. You won't call somebody else to come up and receive that good thing, then you can't call somebody, come up and receive the willing and the obedient part either. Praise the lord. The good is enjoyed when both are in place. Not one, not one. If we will have a right insides, it helps the outsides obey. What should be the attitude of every believer? Every believer, congregation members as well as ministers. What should be the attitude? Go with me to Psalm chapter 112. Psalm 112. 1. You say? I don't know. I think I'm already preferring Brother David throwing mic stands. Well, he said, what did she say? No, these are things that help us live good. We have to learn how to live good. Not just ask for good, but live good. Psalm 112. What is to be the attitude of every believer? If we're to eat the good of the land, be willing and obedient. What does that look like? This is another verse that helps us to see what that looks like. Verse 1, Psalm 112, verse 1. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. There's three things directed here of us. Number one, praise ye the Lord. How many of you know, you start praising God and things on the inside start coming in agreement. Number two, blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. Honor reverence for God. That's going to help you with the obedience side. Knowing who we're dealing with here, we're not just dealing with our pastor's assignment for the ministry of help's position. We're dealing with our honor for God third, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Then I want us to go on and read the rest of the chapter, but we're going to come back up and camp on verse one. But just so you can see how important verse one is, I want to read what happens when verse one is fulfilled. When you are a man of verse one, the rest of the verses are automatic and belong to you. If you're a man of verse one, if you're a man of these three things, you say, well, Pastor Nancy, I'm a woman. Get over that. Don't get tripped up because I said a man. When the Bible's referring to man, he's referring to mankind. And that's all of us. Don't come down to a lower education. Don't dumb down your education. So when I say, when we are the man of verse 1, verse 2, 3, 4, they just start clicking into place. Verse 2, his seed shall be mighty upon earth. How we do verse one determines the outcome of the next generation. They can't live good. The next generation will have difficulty living good when we're not doing verse one. But God offers us the good life. His seed shall be mighty. No ifs, ands or buts about it. God will see to it that there's success in them. His seed shall be mighty upon earth, not just in heaven upon earth. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. The man who does verse one, the blessing of God is so great upon him that one generation cannot contain it. All that blessing spills over to the next generation and starts propelling them further. Because of what you chose about Verse one, Verse number three. This is what happens. And belongs to the man of verse 1. Wealth and riches shall be in his house. They shall be. They shall be. It doesn't say if the economy's good. Wealth and riches shall be in my house. So basically, I'm dismissed from the economy when I'm a man of verse one. Wealth and riches shall be in his house. Look at this next phrase. And his righteousness endureth forever. Why does he talk about the wealth of your house and your righteousness? Because when you are a man of verse one, you will not have to compromise your righteousness to get the wealth and riches in your house. You won't have to. You won't have to. You won't have to compromise your integrity. You won't have to do. You won't have to step onto shady ground. This man of verse one will increase with his righteousness intact. He did not compromise in righteousness for the sake of increase. He didn't do the unethical that compromised his reputation. He didn't short a brother for his own advantage. He trusted God to increase him as he obeyed God's plan. Because the man of verse one knows this. It's not money that makes him him rich. Money is a byproduct of the man who does verse one. Amen. Money is not worthy to follow. Don't chase it. I want to read here. If you don't have this, you need this. Rich, richer. Excellent. I would like to. You know what I probably need to do? I need to get a pen and scratch out these two names. These two. This Joel Siegel and just put Nancy Dufresne. It is so you understand. This is Oklahoma. It is so stinking good. It is so stinking good. And I was reading and this. He told the story in here. And I could tell it. But I want to read it to you out of his book because this is one of my most absolute favorite stories of dad Hagin and Mom Hagin. It is one of the most endearing, tender stories. And this is brother Joel writing this. It is on page 46 when you get your copy. Brother Hagin would occasionally share stories of the hardships he experienced in life. A few times each year, he and his wife would drive to attend ministry conventions. More than once, Sister Hagin had to borrow clothes for these trips. When's the last time you had to borrow clothes? Because they had no money for a hotel, they stood in line at the convention under a sign that read Ministers Assistance. The denomination of which he was a member would graciously help needy ministers with food or shelter while they were in town for the convention. On one occasion, as Brother Hagin and his wife were waiting in line for assistance, people say I would never get in that line. Faith will do whatever it takes. Because while you're growing, while you're developing your faith, while you're growing in skill, never be ashamed of the process. What's a shame is to get in it every year and 25 years later you're still in the line. Now there's the miss. So he says. He writes. On one occasion, as Brother Hagin and his wife were waiting in line for assistance, a ministry acquaintance who lived in that very town saw them and walked over to greet them. This man invited Brother Hagin and his wife to stay with them at their house. They had a lovely home. As it turned out, this preacher had accepted a business position so was not currently active in ministry. So the one offering them their house used to be in full time ministry. Brother Hagin was unpacking in the guest bedroom when his wife walked in and began to sob. The wife of the minister with whom they were staying had just shown Mrs. Hagin her her new fur coat. Not only did Sister Hagin not have a fur coat, she didn't have an adequate coat of any kind. She had once again borrowed the clothes she was to wear at the convention. Brother Hagin and his wife had experienced hard times for a long time that she just broke down weeping under the pressure of it. It looked as though they would never emerge from poverty. Brother Hagin, now see, you think about it. Well, what's the matter with their faith? They weren't just on ground level what he was raised in, they're raised in depression. That's underground. So for them to even be back on ground level is advancement. You understand when you're dealing with the mindset of those who went through depression, that's not even ground, that's below ground. So they had made advancement, but they were not at the place of abundance. So Brother Hagin locked eyes with his wife and spoke tenderly to her. He explained that although this minister and his wife were indeed doing well financially, he had to step back from the ministry in order to support this lifestyle. In the process, he. He had lost the skill and anointing to minister that he once had. Brother Hagin knew this man would eventually regret his decision. What decision? To step back from the ministry for a business plan. To step back from the ministry to fulfill a financial portfolio. Because the man of verse one doesn't have to do it. But the man of verse one will have to go through the process. You don't just embrace the verse, you embrace the process. Because honor is not just arriving, it's taking the trip. Amen. So he said he knew that this man would regret his decision. Listen, it's not just about fulfillment out here. It's fulfillment in here. If this is pleased and fulfilled, this will catch up. But if this out here is what's pursued, this will get violated. So that's what dad Hagin is saying. It looks like they're prospering. But he laid down something that he's going to regret. So Brother Hagin said to his wife, I know it's difficult now, but if you stick with me, if you stick with me. Now I heard Brother Hagin in telling this, he added an additional statement. When dad Hagin would tell it, it would come out with different bits of info. And on one hearing of it, dad Hagin said this to her. He said, honey, I'm learning to follow my spirit. I'm learning to follow my spirit. If you'll stick with me while I'm learning to follow my spirit, you'll have a fur coat one day. That's what he said. How tender that is. I so appreciate that he could have at that moment turned in upon himself and called himself a failure. But he did not. He did not see the learning process as failure. No matter what it looked like that they weren't enjoying. For the present. I'm willing to go through the process because once I learn the process, no one ever takes it from me. No one ever takes it from me. I'd rather learn the process than know how to acquire out here without going through this process. God building the man. God building the man. The man building the Word in him. Not God building the Word, the man building the Word in him. The Holy Spirit helping him in that process. So, Brother Hagin, I promise one day you'll have a fur coat. She wiped her tears and cheered up. See, he didn't say I'm a failure. That stuff doesn't work. Don't go there. Don't measure the outside to decide success. Here, here inside fulfilled, Insides fulfilled. Sleeping sweet at night because your insides are fulfilled. There you go, baby. There you go. Then brother Joel writes, decades later, I was privileged to work for Brother Hagin. Those of us on his crusade team would occasionally run errands for him and his wife so they could rest. I'll never forget the day I was asked to go to his house to pick up something. This was in the spring as weather was becoming warmer, my job, transporting Mrs. Hagin's collection of fur coats to be cleaned and stored until the following winter, she did not have one for every day of the week. It was more like two for every day of the week. It pays to serve God. What's this? The man of verse one. The man of verse one. So go through the process. Go through the process of learning God. Now listen, while my husband was early on in ministry, he took a job. He took jobs. Why? Because faith will do whatever it takes. But faith will not stop. Substitute a job for a call. Now, there's the difference. There's the difference. My husband took a job not to substitute the call, but to subsidize while he was learning faith. You say, well, if abundance belongs to us, why do you have to take the job? Because he's learning faith. It's like what dad Hagin said, I'm learning to follow the spirit. I'm learning. You don't jump into these things overnight, but be willing to go through the process. Go through the process of learning. Willingness, learning obedience. Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered. He had to learn the process. Somebody asked dad Hagin, dad Hagin was saying this. He said, somebody asked him one time, how come you are sleeping? Settled. I love that. It's a great question. You could not ruffle him. You could not. He said, because I suffered so much. What's he saying? I went through the process. I went through the process of seeing opposition and learning victory in that opposition. So that no matter what opposition came, he already had experience with every kind of opposition. And so he was unsettled when opposition came because he was willing to go through the process. What is this? We don't arrive at the good life without process. And if you just want to jump there and abort the whole thing, if you don't get there overnight, you're going to cheat your life. It's a process. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. What's he saying? Even though, even like everything in life, it's a process. Give God that same opportunity to work the process through you. Amen. Praise the Lord. Verse 4. We haven't got to the real crux of the message, but we're going to work on it. It's a process. Verse 4. This is what belongs to the man of verse 1. Unto the upright, there ariseth light. What's that mean? If you will do verse one, light will come. What's that? Revelation. Revelation. What is revelation? The wisdom of God. If you Will stick with verse one. When you don't know what to do, Revelation will come. What's it say? It says, unto the upright, there ariseth light in the darkness. What's the darkness? The time of testing. Darkness is a time of testing. It doesn't mean you're in the dark. It doesn't mean darkness is in you. It means opposition. A time of testing. But to the one who won't leave verse one, behind that there will come Revelation and wisdom of what to do in the time of darkness. In the time of opposition, you'll know what to do because you don't leave verse one off. The next phrase says, this man of verse one. He is gracious and full of compassion and righteous. What's this mean? This man has the nature of God dominating him. This is God's nature. What is that nature? A love nature. Now pay attention to me. It's a love nature. The nature of God's on the inside of you. Learn to let that love nature dominate you when other things are trying to push you around. Verse 5. A good man showeth, favor and lendeth. Who's the good man? Verse 1. He will guide his affairs with discretion. Why? He'll know what to do. Others will scratch their head and go, we don't know what to do in this economy. You will. You've got discretion. Verse one moved you into discretion. Listen to that. Verse one moved you into discretion. Surely he shall not be moved forever. When it looks like things are going the wrong direction. No, this is not a forever thing for me. Temporary. Not only this, forever. He won't be moved. Other people be moved. Not him. Not him. He's showing you your future. Never moved. That's your future. If you're a man of verse one, surely he shall not be moved forever. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. Why will he not be moved? Because God always has this man in his thoughts. Why? The man of verse one has God's attention. Verse seven. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. Will evil tidings come? Yeah, but no fear. No fear. Why? The man of verse one knows how to close the door to fear. His heart is fixed. He's trusting in the Lord. His heart is established. He shall not be afraid. Look at this. Until he sees his desire upon his enemies. He's not just talking about people. He's talking about demons, opposition, sickness, all these kinds of things. If you'll stick with verse one, you'll see the end of that enemy in that situation. Verse 9. The man of verse 1 he hath dispersed and he's given to the poor. What do we see again? The generosity of God. The nature. Do you know that when you got born again, you got a generous nature in you because you now have the nature of God. So the man of verse one is true to the real him. To withhold. To withhold. Your insides won't be pleased because we're not being true to who we are when we withhold. When we're living in line with who we really are. We're generous. At our best, we're generous. His righteousness endureth forever. His horns shall be exalted with honor. Now let's go back to verse one. If all of this belongs to verse one, let's don't be concerned about two and on down. Let's get. Let's get skill with this. Verse 1. Let's dig at it. Three things as we said. Number one, praise ye the Lord. Praise is not just a moment, it's a lifestyle. Always know this when the word talks about praise with us, it's a lifestyle that it's talking about. You won't forget to praise when it's your lifestyle. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Why? Praise is the voice of faith. Praise is. What does faith sound like? It sounds like praise. It sounds like praise. When you are praising, you are releasing your faith. So when it says, his praise shall continually be in my mouth, if you will do that, you are continually keeping your faith in your mouth. It's not just in your heart, but it's also in your mouth. Praising draws the faith that's in your heart to the front of your tongue so that it's ready to speak to things. You won't have to go digging around and say, do I have it? It's in the forefront, your words. Praise as a lifestyle. Number two, praise ye the Lord. How many of you know it doesn't say, feel like praising the Lord? No. This is our lifestyle of choice. You ever gone to a restaurant that. What's your beverage of choice? No. Praise is our flow of choice. You cannot, you cannot pray without this. Can't pray? Why? Because the prayer of praise and worship Brother Hagin taught us in quoting other and other ministers, praise is the highest form of prayer. Why is that? Why is that? Because it must accompany every other form. For every form to work, you have to start with praise and end with praise. I don't care whether it's the prayer of supplication, the prayer of intercession, the prayer of agreement, the prayer of faith you start. Praise is the bookend to every other prayer. That's why it's the highest type, because no other type will work without it. Come into his gates with. Into his courts with. There's no approach to him without praise. Now, number two. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. This is an honor. This is an honor. Flow. Nothing is as important as him and what he says. That's it. Other people may say important things, but they're never as important as what God says. Honoring him is putting what he says first. And every other thing will fall. Have to fall under that. But what he says is first. Amen. If we honor him, we obey him, because what he says is first. Amen. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. Look at this. Blessed. Blessed. The blessing of God maketh rich and he adds no sorrow with it. There's no sorrow in the blessing, and God's not going to add any sorrow to it. The blessing of the Lord is upon this man of verse one. The blessing of the Lord is upon him. So what's the first outstanding feature of the man with the blessing on him? Praise. He's a man of praise. Second, blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. This blessed man is. Is eager to hear what God would command of him. Because he knows when he obeys, the blessing upon him only increases. He's not saying, I hope God doesn't tell me to give in the offering tonight. He's eager to hear what would God say? Because he honors God. To honor God is to honor his word. So they're looking. The man of praise is looking for what God would say to him. Because he knows when he obeys, the blessing only increases. I love what brother Joel was talking about during the offering. Treat the opportunity to give. Not an obligation, an opportunity. Don't diminish it to obligation. People of praise treat anything connected with God. Opportunity. Praise the Lord. So verse one, Number one, Praise the Lord. Make it a lifestyle, a lifestyle of choice, not a lifestyle of feeling. Number two, Honor the Lord. Fear the Lord. Put what he says above anything else anyone says, including you. Number three. He delighteth greatly in his commandments. Not just talking about the Ten Commandments includes that. But the Ten Commandments are included in the law of love, the great command for the new church, for the new believer, rather, for the new creature in Christ. This is the law of love. Once you walk in the law of Love, none of the ten Commandments are broken. So you don't have to focus on 10, just focus on one. It's the fulfilling of the law, but the things that are written in the Word that are commanded of us. It matters how we treat those. Now, when he talks about commandments, he's not just talking about the written word. First and foremost the written word, but also, what has the Spirit said to you specifically? That's a command. God's Word is His general commands to all of his children. But there's specific commands that come, and they come by His Spirit. Right. So we not only have to hear the Word, we have to hear the Spirit who gives us command in agreement with the Word. He never commands. Apart from the word you say, what do you mean general or specific? God says that he'll supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. But he'll tell you which house to buy. There's the specifics called for. See, the Holy Spirit gives you the specifics. So the Word will give us the general commands for our life, but the Holy Spirit will speak things specifically to you. And once he speaks them, they're commands, not suggestions. If you treat them as suggestions, you'll treat them as optional. But to live the good life, you can't treat commands as optional. Amen. Now, number three. Delight greatly. That delighteth greatly in his commandments. What's this mean? We are choosing to live on the delight side. Amen. On the delight side, there is no room for complaint. There is no complaint in the delight side. Amen. Everyone is living on some side. Might as well be the delight side. It gets old living with somebody who's not on the delighted side. It gets old. It gets old. Old. Living with someone who is bent toward complaint, bent toward fault finding, bent toward criticism. They're choosing their side. It gets old living with that. Praise the Lord. You walked in here under your own strength. How do we get on the delight side? Choosing it. Choosing it. Amen. Being delighted is a flow of joy. And joy is on the inside of you. It's not an emotion, it's a choice. Rejoicing is the flow of delight. They're praising God all the day long because they are living on the delighted side. And you don't have to coerce a praise out of them because they're on the delighted side. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Now, not living on the delighted side will cheat you out of the good life. The devil's going to offer you a different side other than the delight side because he wants you cheated. What's our job? If you will maintain the delight, you will maintain things that you've received of God. You'll protect your faith. You'll protect every good thing God's blessed you with. If you'll live on the delighted side. Don't wait for circumstances to be delightful before you're delighted. You live on the delighted side, not because circumstances put you there, but because choice put you there. Amen. You say, Pastor Nancy, I thought this was a healing healing crusade. It is. But if you receive healing and then don't go out delighted, the good will be robbed from you. Don't wait for others to become delightful before you're delighted. Because there are people around others lives. I'm not saying anybody, any specific person, but sometimes there are people around our lives that are not delightful. But you are authorized to be delighted in spite of their level of delight, whether they offer you delight or not. Victory is not everybody else being as you wish them to be. Victory is you choosing your flow, regardless who joins you in that flow. If we are not living delighted with the path that God has us on, we're doing it wrong. We're doing it wrong. The devil is not your problem and never will be your problem. Your choice of the side you're living on. Amen. All right. See, if you work on verse one, all the other verses work right. Amen. The only part of the word that will work for us, the only verses of the word that will work for us are the verses we're delighted about. If we're not delighted, we're not in faith. Amen. If we will delight over healing scriptures, healing will flow. If we will delight over prosperity scriptures and not be defensive against that message, find fault with it. You cannot receive of a flow you're not delighted of. If you will just rejoice over a verse that is not currently manifesting, What will happen? It will begin to flow. Delight pokes at it. He says, you're mine. Amen. Praise the Lord. The only verses that work for us are the ones we're delighted with. We're not trying to figure them out, we're just delighting over them. Because many of the verses, we can't figure out how God will bring it to pass. And we're not obligated to figure it out. We're obligated to be delighted. Blessed is the man who delights greatly. That's all he asks you to do, just choose to be delighted. Who knew that being raised up off of a deathbed was as easy as just getting delighted? Getting out of debt was just as easy as getting delighted. The devil wants you to think it's so hard it's not just get delighted greatly and your measure. Listen, delighteth what greatly. So delight can be had in measures. Ah, healing power can be had in measures. Prosperity can be had in measures. Wisdom and revelation can be had in measures. We determine the measure. You sow sparingly on your delight, you reap sparingly. You sow bountifully in your delight, you reap bountifully. It's the law of sowing and reaping. And he tells you, your delight is what makes it all flow. This is Old Testament, and they got it. But it is also the truth of the New Testament. When Paul said, rejoice in the Lord always and again. To rejoice in the Lord is to rejoice in the word, to get delighted with the word. The only part you're delighted with is the only part you partake of. We can't criticize something of the word, question it, and become a partaker of it. It's delight that puts it in our life. People think they have faith problems when they just really have delight problems. If you would just get delighted, your faith would spring up. Seriously, When we're. How do we know if we're delighted? Because we're rejoicing, praising, praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that fears the Lord and delights greatly in his commandments. Get those three things in you because they will bring you the good life. One verse. One verse writes the whole story of your life. When we delight God said to me, in the rejoicing, power flows. That's exactly what Psalm 112, Praise ye the Lord. Amen. He's telling us what to do to get the power flowing. My husband used to make this statement. Obedience creates an atmosphere for miracles. When we're delighted to obey, miracles are ready for the ripe for the taking. Now, let me Skip through my 15 pages. Let me skip. Okay, now I'm found where I want to go. I want to focus a little bit, just for a short time on this thing of being delighted. It is dangerous to complain against what you're born for because you've left the delight side. And when you've left the delight side, whose territory are you on? It's dangerous. I don't want to do that. I know I'm supposed to preach. I don't want to preach. I. I know I'm supposed to testify. I don't want to testify. I don't like being in front of people. Well, see, those words are tripping you up. It's putting up obstacles in your way. I'm not saying people are called to preach. They aren't called to preach. I'm talking about what has God dealt with you about doing? It could be as. It could be just testifying in your youth department. It could be just serving in some. What has God told you to do? If you say I don't want to, you have left the delight side. I don't want to do this, I don't want to do that, I don't want to go there. You have left the delight side and therefore the blessing is hindered. God doesn't withhold the blessing, but it cannot flow as God intended. So choose to be delighted when you don't feel delighted. That's called faith. We walk by faith, not by sight, not by feelings. We choose to be delighted. What is God dealing with you about in your life when we get delighted with that, he can protect us and keep us and bless us. When we're complaining about that, he cannot protect complaint. Now listen to that. If we're complaining and that's the outflow of our life, he cannot protect a complaining life. Well, praise the Lord. That's why some are sick. They have complained against what they're born for and your health is for what you're born for. Some have complained their way right out of the ministry, finding fault. I don't like this. I don't like that. I don't want to do this. I don't want to go here, I don't want to go there. You're not going to live the good life. We're talking about healing people. We can't live in your way. Talk any old way. Go any old way and think it will arrive us at health. We don't want to complain our way out of God's best for our life. If he's instructed us to do it, it's going to bring us great joy in doing it. When we obey. The thing is, is that many people are waiting. Well, let me just say it this way. When God commands something of us and we agree to it, then the grace comes to do it. But the grace doesn't come till we agree. People are wanting the grace to say yes. No, the grace is to do yes. After you say yes, the grace comes to do yes. So God will deal with you about doing something. And if you just say I don't want to do that, I don't want to do that, it gets harder for you because the grace hasn't shown up yet because you haven't agreed. When you agree, then comes the grace to fulfill it. And if you'll just say yes real quick, the grace shows up with your yes. Yeah. So a delayed yes is delayed grace. Amen. If we complain in the place God set us. Because remember, he sets us in the body as it pleases him. If we complain in the place God set us, we can't be protected in that place. Because he cannot protect. Compassion, complaint, it's not his flow. He cannot protect what is not of him. Complaint breaks down the walls of protection around our lives, around our family, around our ministries. To complain against what you're born for is to belittle it and to diminish it. Anything that came out of God for your life is great. Why? Because his greatness cannot produce anything but greatness. Every command is great because of its source. Everything God has planned and authored for your life is great because it came out of his greatness. So to complain against it is to belittle the greatness of God who gave it. To belittle it and diminish it. Amen. It's wrong thinking to belittle what came out of God. Now, can you take some time to go with me? Numbers, chapter 21. Numbers, chapter 21, Verse 4. And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the look, by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. You better guard your mouth when your thought life is struggling. The soul of the people was much discouraged in discouragement. The opportunity to be discouraged. Watch your mouth. Oh, my, my, my, my, my. Watch your mouth. Because the people were much discouraged because of the way, the path, the course that God told them to take. They were discouraged on that course. But the thing they forgot is God chose that course. Ah, that's the way God led them. So they started complaining, complaining against the path he put them on. And when they did, they became discouraged. Discouragement came in with complaint against the way. Verse 5. And the people, oh, now they move from discouragement in their soul to complaint in their mouth. And the people spake against God and against Moses. What's this? Their leader? Their pastor? Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul loatheth. Oh, that word is mean. That's a skewy word. Loatheth this light bread. What light bread? Manna. The amplified is called manna. Angel food. It came from another location. And they loathe what heaven provided. No delight. Our soul loathed this light bread, they made light of it. Verse 6. And the Lord sent. The correct translation would be the Lord allowed. He permitted it. He didn't send it, but he permitted it. And the Lord permitted fiery serpents among the people. What's fiery serpents? Poisonous serpents among the people. And they bit the people. And much people of Israel died. Therefore, the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against. Against thee. The way they spoke against the Lord is how they complained about what he told them to do and where he told them to be. People say, I don't complain against the Lord. If you don't like, if you're less than delighted at what he told you to do, you're on dangerous territory. But I don't want to do that. And you know this. And he's told them. Moses put a serpent upon a pole, and everyone who looked at it lived. I think it was a quarter million people died that day because complaint, they lost delight. They chose not to be delighted. Now go with me to 1 Corinthians 10. 10, 10. First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 10. Neither murmur you. As some of them also murmured and were destroyed. He's not talking about they had no faith, so therefore they were destroyed. No, they just complained. Complaint. Complaint is a bad habit. Rid your life of complaint. Pay attention to what. I don't like this. I don't like going here. I don't like. Da, da, da, da, da, da. Catch it. Catch yourself. Because complaint is a bad habit. The Hebrews complaint broke down the walls of protection and serpents came in and bit them. They had no idea what God had been protecting them from all along. Those serpents didn't just arrive. They had been there all along, but could not be touched. When we complain, we have no idea what God had been protecting your family from, been protecting your children from, been protecting your health and your finances from all along. But complaint will reveal what has been after you. Complaint delivers what is yours to the devil, delivers your health, your goods, your peace, your victory to the devil. Because complaint is his flow. All we have to do is you say, pastor Nancy, I've done it. I recognize I've done it. How can I change it? I delight to do your will. I delight to do your will. I delight to do your will, your commands. I greatly delight. Not just barely delight or minimally delight. I greatly delight. So the measure of delight matters. I have given people things years ago. I'm thinking of one in particular that God dealt With me about giving somebody a certain offering. And for me, it was big. It was big. And I didn't. They go, oh, thank you. And it was just. It was. I go my number, big to me. And you just treated it like that. You took it all the way down to little. It was big to me. And I decided, God, if you tell me to give to them again, I will. But their lack of delight showed me I won't on my own, Because they did not have any delight over it. Praise the Lord. Measure of delight matters as to what's going to keep flowing to you. You keep flowing. The devil will oppose you in what you're born for. Know it. So choose to be delighted in the face of what you're born for. I had no idea years ago, when my husband and I, we weren't married a short time and we went overseas to do a ministry trip. And when I got there, all hell cut loose on me. All hell. All hell cut loose. All of it. At least in my estimation. None of hell was reserved. All I could think of was, get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of here. Get out of this place. Get out of this place. I told Ed, I will fly back across the world all by myself. You can stay here, but I will go all by myself. And he said, no, you're not. You're staying. I was not delighted, But I had no idea then. It's because that would be part of my future. Traveling overseas would be part of my future. What is the devil trying to do? Trying to make me complain against what I'm born for by attacking me. Pay attention to where he attacks you now. You'll get a clue of probably what's part of your path, what you're born for. Pay attention. I've seen spouses that. I mean, you know, my husband traveled. My husband. Now, the last 10 years, I traveled with him more than any other time. But the first 20 years of our marriage, we were together maybe a quarter of the time. Maybe I didn't get married to my husband to be separated, but we were. I married him to be with him, but that just wasn't going to happen. As the other couples had it, ours was different. But I didn't say, why don't you stay home like everybody else? Because my life is not to look like everybody else. My life is to look like the plan. And I'm not going to look at somebody else's life and decide if my life is planned right or not. You know what? My life fits what God told me to do that's normal for my life. What's normal for your life may not be what's normal for my life. So don't let what the world calls normal make you complain against what God authored for you. Amen. Yeah, that's right. And I never let our kids act like they were cheated. They weren't cheated. You don't get cheated when you're obeying the plan of God. What cheats you is wrong thinking that's what cheats you. I could have been a complaining wife, but I wasn't. Amen. And because of that, we didn't have problems in our family, we didn't have problems with our children. And they're helping us in the ministry today. And we're all delighted to do what we're doing because we stayed on the delighted side when the flesh might have chosen something different. You're either training your children in complaint or delight. Amen. So the devil would oppose things I was born for? He will oppose you. He'll try to get you to where you dread. That I've seen when people, some that are supposed to pastor and they don't want to do that, or some that are supposed to travel and they don't want to do that, the devil will work to make you dread what you're born for. That's why we don't walk by what we feel. Because if we will agree to what we're born for, no dread can stay. It might attack, but it cannot stay. I can't tell you the number of times, whenever, used to. I really don't deal with this anymore. But what I used to. You get tired of packing, you get tired of doing the things around travel. So when that sense of dread, there would come a sense of dread, a sense of, I don't want to pay attention. And in the face of that sense, I would stand in my closet and say, thank you, Father, that I get to go. What did I do in the face of complaint offered? I got delighted. Delight disarms. Complaint, Delight disarms strategies of the devil. You get delighted. And demons cannot work their plan. They cannot. Because the demons can only work where people will cooperate. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Some are just struggling in their life because they decided, I don't want to do this or I don't want to do that, or I don't want to do. And the devil will energize that kind of thinking. So if you know on the inside of you, God's dealing with something, say, I'm delighted to do it, Father. Thank you that I get to do that. Thank you that I get to do that. Thank you that I get to do that. Thank you that I get to do that. If you will talk by faith, you will begin to feel what you talk. Amen. Well, praise the Lord. One of the things that provoked this or prompted this sermon with me, I don't know if you've ever read the book done by Richard Sigmund, My Time in Heaven. He's in heaven right now. But when he wrote this book, it was really good book and he talked about certain aspects of heaven. And after he had had the experience, he had had an accident and died and went to heaven and came back. But at the end of seeing so much in heaven, Jesus said, we're going to go now see the realm of hell. And he said, I didn't say anything, but there came a sense of dread. I don't want to do that. And Jesus answered, the will of the Father is never grievous. If we're not delighted over his will, we're treating his will as grievous. Like it's a grief to me. To not be delighted is to accuse God of giving you something that grieves your life. He redeemed your life from grief. He's not making your life or my life grievous. If we're struggling, we think wrong, we think wrong. So how do we think right? Be a man of verse one. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Thank God that I have a purpose to get up for. People that are unsaved, you know what they get excited about, it cheats them. In life. We have been given eternal things to get up for every day co laboring with God that he's given us a place in his body and honored us. Hallelujah. What a joy. Amen. Jesus did not treat his price that he paid as a grief to him to pay. You heard Sister Joy that he says, I would gladly do it again if I needed to. Why? Because the will of God is not grievous, never will be. And don't let the devil lie to you that it is. How do you keep out of that wrong thinking? Thank you Father that I get to go. Thank you that I get to do what you told me to do. Thank you that I get to sow that. Thank you that I get to serve that way. Thank you that I get to go to church. Changing situations in a moment are as easy as getting delighted. The devil does not want you to know that your help, your answer and your rescue is as easy as that delighted choice. But Paul made it in that jail. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Why? Because he got to exit before the gates open just by his choice to be delighted. And if you're delighted, somebody's going to know it. You're not going to live life looking sour. Those in the body of Christ ought to be most joyous. Quick, quick to smile, quick to radiate our countenance, ought to declare and express our delight of who we belong to and what we get to participate in. Amen. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe the pastor asked me to do that again. Pastor, I am so thrilled to do it. So joy. Love it, love it, love it. Thank you. Well, I haven't even told you what you're going to do. Doesn't matter. I've already made my delighted choice. I've already made my delighted choice. Stand with me to your feet and be delighted. We trust you've enjoyed this message. 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