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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Get The Right Image, Part One | Morgan Dufresne | World Harvest Church | Murrieta, CA
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's Message, numbers, chapter 13. And we've been on the subject of biblical courage, and tonight I want to kind of redirect us. We'll kind of be in the same lines, but this is something I want to talk about that actually kills the very courage, that divine courage that God wants to bring you into and wants you to flow in and act on. Numbers, chapter 13. And we see here that God is bringing the children of Israel into the promised land. But in verse 32, well, verse 31. But the men that went up with him, saying, this is 12 men, they went into the land, says, we be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched under the children of Israel, saying, the land through which we have gone to search, it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the son of Anak, which come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. So we were in their sight. And it says in the amplified there we saw the Nephilim or giants, the son of Anak, who come from the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. And so we were in their sight. And really they assumed, because they saw themselves less than great, that really they saw themselves as less than great than the people of God, that they were God had made them a great nation, and. And they were seeing themselves as less than great. And so they assumed that the giants also saw them as less than great. Don't ever assume that, because you don't have quite yet the revelation of who you are in Christ and what you're facing, that you're an overcomer in that situation. Don't assume that the devil also sees you in your opposition. You don't understand that the way that the opposition, the way that the enemy sees you is far greater than the way you see yourself, because they only can see you as a recreated spirit being in the image of God, transformed, brought into the kingdom of God. They see you, the opposition sees you as the healed being that you are. What you're looking at is the flesh. The opposition sees you as the restored, clean and whole being that you are. The opposition understands and was there on the day that all provision was made for you at Calvary, when the keys were provided for you to live and become the overcomer in this life. It's you that doesn't. Oftentimes we don't recognize. We don't see ourselves many times the way the enemy sees us. And how do we know this to be true? Because as they move forward in the land, they said We've been waiting 40 years. We've been terrified at your visitation into our land. We have been waiting, scared, because we heard what God did for you. So you don't understand that when tests and trials come and the devil can maybe alter and things and adjust things because we still live in this natural world. And when he maybe halts things in your life that you're believing for, or he brings symptoms because that's what happened. He brings symptoms to a healed body. So when he brings those symptoms or he maybe halts things in your life to see if you'll take the bait and you'll adjust your thinking and you'll adjust your perspective. Perspective. He's anticipating that you're going to see yourself as less than he sees you because he sees you through the blood. He sees you through the defeat, through the resurrection, through the ascension. You don't understand. He sees you as the victor that you are. He's trying to adjust situations to see if you'll see yourself as the victor that you are. Are you going to see yourself as the defeat that he's trying to project? The image. And that's what we're going to talk about tonight. What image are you looking at? Amen. So the people, what happened in chapter 14, verse 1. And all the congregation cried out with a loud voice. And they wept that night. They wept at an image that was portrayed to them, an evil report that was portrayed to them the loudest voice that they heard. Those that they chose to trust, they wept at the fact that there were giants that 10 men said were greater than they were. 10 men said, we're grasshoppers. Two men said, we're overcomers. There could be louder voices, more voices, what seem to be stronger voices. There can be voices in your life that maybe have been there for longer than you've heard the word. And that's what they were facing. They had lived in such a capacity in their life. They had lived as defeat ruled and reigned in their life as slaves. They did not know victory. They had never touched this generation and never seen a victory. They had only seen. We could say it this way. They had only had a poor image projected onto their nation. They were poor. They were lacking. And they really, God brought them To a place that we understand that all the riches that they took out of Egypt did them absolutely no good because they couldn't get their image in the things they had. They had to keep the image of the nation that God made them to be, not of what they had in their. In their. In their possession. Who you are is not about what you possess, but who possesses you. Okay? So he had to bring them because he wanted them to understand you're a blessed nation. He wanted them to have that revelation. So he worked the miracle of getting their possessions back into their hands so that they had that and carried that revelation. I'm a blessed nation. We're a blessed nation. But what was projected is they forgot the God that actually possessed them as a people came, kept them, brought them out. They forgot it by one image that was projected. There's giants and we're grasshoppers. They are giants. And how many of you I know so often in our life, we come up on situations. It could be a situation possibly that you have had ongoing reoccurring. Maybe it's nothing new, but this situation is something that you haven't quite seemed to get full victory over yet. And every time, maybe it's symptoms, maybe it's a family situation, maybe it's a financial situation, maybe it's a relationship situation, relational. Maybe it's on the job, in the business. Could possibly be something that you have seen in your own self. You know what I'm talking about. You can't get past the way you see yourself. Because every time something rises up that you've never gotten past, there's a circumstance or a situation or a thought that comes that always seems to overpower. I've had just thought, thoughts. Images that overpower seem to overpower. And I can't get past that one image. I can't get past. The devil will take an image and he projects an image. It could be, you know, he can use dreams. That's why it's very. Don't read too much into your dreams. Don't think every dream is from God. Don't think every. Every time you wake up, as Dr. Used to say, you could have had too much pizza and Pepsi. You know what I'm saying? You could have eaten something. I tell you what, if I ate too much sugar before I go. Some people can eat sugar and go to bed and they wake up refreshed the next day. If I eat too much sugar, I'm up all. If I drink and eat too much sugar, I'm up all through the night. Having the craziest dreams. You know, if I'm really, really tired, my husband knows if I am really like, we've been traveling or we were preaching and I come home and you kind of crash. That first night. I am literally up sleepwalking and sleep talking when I am overly tired. I mean, I've been. I've caught myself standing at the window staring and you know, I've caught myself. I will have put on an entire outfit, you know, and woken up and I have on a new outfit and I. The funny thing is I remember putting it on. That's the sad thing. You know, circumstances, stress or all these things can affect, you know, outward circumstances will affect your dreams, your thoughts and the images. This is why the Bible is so specific. And this is why in Joshua 1, verse 8, God was so direct. With Joshua, you have got to meditate in the word day and night because there's going to be seasons of fighting, there's going to be seasons of marching, there's going to be seasons of overtaking, there's going to be seasons of praising, there's going to be seasons of declaring. And in each one of those seasons, you cannot let what you're facing, what you see, what you feel, if you're tired, what goes on in the natural. You cannot let that season project an image that overtakes you, hold you back. And this is what they were facing right here. We are grasshoppers. We're grasshoppers. And so they wept at the image that was given to them. They did not weep at the truth and rejoice at the truth. They wept at a fact. So this is what takes and steals our courage is wrong images. This is what's going to try first to steal the courage that you have to take ground, to declare what you see in the word of God over your life, to keep you moving forward in the plan of God for your life, to give you the strength. The strength of God comes from being in the presence of God. But if you have images in your head, you're going to be. Oftentimes we're so busy trying to fight the wrong images and trying to get a new image in the natural. You know, if I can just. If there's just a good, good news today, you know, we just want. I'm going to tell you something. You can have an overcoming attitude even in the face of bad reports. You don't need a good report to give you a good image. The people wept. They chose. Listen to this. They chose to weep at an image instead of rejoicing in truth, what was the first thing God had them do when they walked in the promised land? They began rejoicing at the first city. God brought them to a place of rejoicing. But here they had to get. You know, this is. This is why, you know, everybody, we love to say, you know, he's turned my. My morning into dancing. But what we don't realize is you're going to have to do the dancing. We want to say, he's turned my morning into dancing. We're trying to put on him what he's telling us to do. Oh, God. You said you turned my morning into dancing. Why am I still acting like a grasshopper? Because I haven't gotten up and danced as if I'm an overcoming giant. So if you want him to turn your mourning into dancing, you do the dancing. Stop waiting for him to give you something to not mourn over and to rejoice over. He has already given me all I need. Need. Religion says God is going to do something so that I can rejoice. Faith says he's already done something, so I will rejoice. Amen. God had already done something for them. They should have already been rejoicing. This was the issue of why they didn't get in to begin with. They took an image that 10 people brought them and they chose to magnify that image. And then what were they doing the entire 40 years? They were creating images to try to get them out of where they were, try to bring them peace, try to bring them comfort, try to bring them unity. No gold calf, nothing that they could do was going to be an image that was satisfying enough than the image of faith in God. Amen. Nothing will ever satisfy you. Nothing will ever give you rest and peace and joy than the image of God. Nothing is. I don't care what family members say. I don't care how much money you have in the bank. I don't care how many pills you take. I don't care how much healthy food you eat. Nothing is going to bring you rest in peace than the image of the word of God that you by his stripes are healed. But if you don't meditate in that, that's what God said to Joshua. I need you to meditate day and night. You're going to have to get the image of defeat that y' all have lived in for 40 years. Because you're not defeat. You're victory. I've already made you to overcome. When I said it was your land, it's your land. Amen. You cannot adapt your entire life the way they did to one image. They adapted their entire life to one image, that we are a grasshopper. That was the only image they had. Because guess what they didn't see, they brought back. Instead of taking the image of plenty and of goodness and that God said what God actually said to them was true, and they brought back proof that prove what God said is true. They chose one image. I'm a grasshopper. I'm a grasshopper. I'm a grasshopper. I'm a grasshopper. We're not enough. I'm not enough. We're a nation. That's not enough. We can't possibly take giants because we're grasshoppers. You understand? They liken themselves to an insect. And they went with that. You say you're going to go with that. Are we going to go with that? Really? You're going to go with that? You know, I'm sure Joshua and Caleb were going, really? We're going with an insect. An insect. And after all we've been through together, folks, after all we've seen, after all I carried back in my own strength, this is what Joshua was saying. After all I hold back to prove to you that God's word is true, we're going with the grasshopper. And this is what we do with ourselves. This is what we do with ourselves. Well, I don't have enough education. You're gonna go with that? When the God of all wisdom, when the Holy Ghost, who has been there from the beginning and will be there at the end, lives and dwells on the inside of you, and you're going to go with. You don't have a college education. You're going to go with. You don't have a degree. You're going to. We're going to go with that. That's the same grasshopper image that you're projecting on yourself. Well, I made some mistakes in my marriage. I made some mistakes in raising my kids. You're going to go with that? You're going to focus on your mistakes. You're going to focus on where you came from. You're going to focus on the grasshopper image that the devil is wanting you to see in the forefront of your mind because he knows that if you ever caught a glimpse of what you look like in the spirit, if you ever caught a glimpse, That grasshopper image would be gone. You know, when dealing with our home, that was the number one image that would constantly come to me, was, this is too much. This is too expensive. I don't have the knowledge for this. I don't even have the faith for this. He'll make you feel like a grasshopper even in your own faith walk. You're trying to do right by God and obey his word. You know, listen, Bible school students, this is the one thing he'll tell you, is you didn't have enough faith to come to Bible school. You don't have enough faith. You don't have what it takes. And that's the problem is when they got their eyes on themselves instead of on the one who brought them out. If you'll keep your eyes on yourself, you will always be less than enough. You'll always be inadequate as a parent. You will always be inadequate as a spouse. You will always be inadequate as a business owner. Because in you, you are less than enough in him. That's how I'm more than enough. Amen. So they took the image of a grasshopper, and then they got tired because that grasshopper image kept them in the desert where grasshoppers live. And they got tired of manna. God took and said, all right, I can bless you at grasshopper level. I can't bless you at child. You're my children. So with my children, and as you know with your children, you don't want them to just have food on the table and a roof over their head, do you? You want them to have their heart's desires. You want them to enjoy life, not survive life. Any good parent wants their child to enjoy their life and be happy with their life. And now we understand this. Good parents understand that their kids still need to put their hand to something. You know what I'm saying? They still need to take responsibility because poor parenting does everything for their child, right? And we see this in the word of God. God's a good parent. He says, you don't work, you don't eat. I'll bless what you set your hand to. That's not your source. I'm your source. And I want you to enjoy this life. I want you have things to enjoy. I'll bring the enjoyment, right? God wants to bring the enjoyment. He wants to bring the rewards. He wants to be the one that provides things to you that you can never provide for yourself. But he still asks us to do something. He's a good God. But when. When they brought themselves down to grasshopper level, all he could do was give them something over their head. A tent over their head and manna to eat and water. Bare basics. Because that's how they saw themselves. If you're not receiving the things in this life that you are desiring. If you're not receiving your heart's desire, go back and evaluate. Am I seeing myself as a bare basic? Am I just a bare basic in the body of Christ? This is why people struggle to receive from God is when they don't take their place in God. The lie from the enemy is that you can attend a church and not be part of a church. What you're not part of, if you're not attending, is different than being a part. When you're a part of the body, then you're going to receive all that the body has to offer. All that Jesus has to offer you. That's why when the scripture says and Dr. Use talked about, talk about this, many are weak and sickly among you because they don't discern the Lord's body. And he said, that's twofold. One, they don't discern their part in the Lord's body, and two, they don't discern what the body actually provided. As you take your place in the body and you realize I'm vital, you'll recognize everything Jesus provided is vital. And if he says, I've come to bring life and more abundantly, it's a lot easier to receive of abundance when you're bringing your abundance to the body. Amen. So they got tired of manna, then they passed the blame on the one who provided it. You cannot pass the blame on God and blame him for what you don't have. If you're the one that's not gaining in biblical courage, if you're not taking time to worship, if you're not taking, you know, God said this to me, if you won't take more time to glorify me. That's what Abraham had to do. He grew in strength, giving glory to God. If you can't make the time to give glory unto me, if you can't take the time to meditate day and night, then the victories that these people saw are always going to be out of reach. He put it back in my court, not in a condemning way, but in an encouraging way, in a motivating way, meaning it's within my reach. The negative mind says, that's out of my reach. That's too much for me to do. I don't have time for that. The positive mind, really a renewed mind, says, oh, if that's what I need to do, then I'm getting up every day and the voice of faith is going to come out of me. I'm going to rejoice I'm going to praise no matter what it looks like. I'm going to meditate. I'm going to get myself a new image because it's within my reach. Doubt says, that's too much, that's too hard, that's out of my reach. Faith says I can do that. That's not too much for me. That's not too hard for me. Amen. So I'm losing my papers. What time is it? I didn't bring my phone up. Huh. 7:14 and we're losing daylight and I didn't even get halfway through my notes. Praise the Lord. But I don't want to not use these. I was going to use these at the end of my sermon but I don't want to bring them up here and not use them because I'm sure every kid here is like wait a second, what is this? This right here. If I tell you to focus right here on this image. So blue three legged dinosaur. I don't know what happened to the other leg but something happened. We'll give you the complete side and say three legged dinosaur. And I tell you to focus, focus on this image. Focus on this image. Look right here. Everybody look right here. Blue three legged, trying to be scary looking dinosaur. The tongue kind of moves a little bit. It's plastic blue three legged dinosaur. But I want you as you look at this picture this, as you're looking at this, it's projecting an image in your mind, right, that you're going to go home and you'll remember the longer you look at it, right, the more you can remember the three legged dinosaur. And so it's very hard as you look at the three legged dinosaur. And I say now I need you to look at this three legged dinosaur. But I need you to think about a purple koala bear. But look at this three legged dinosaur. And I'm moving it and I'm talking about this three legged dinosaur. It's got yellow eyes. Look at this three. Look. But I need you to think about a purple koala bear and this dinosaur. It's so great and really these legs move. See how these legs move? And they move so much. One moved right off the body. But you're thinking about this purple koala bear. I'm discussing and giving you this image for you to look at, to think about. It's tangible, you can hold it, you can touch it. But I'm wanting you to think about something else. I'm wanting you to hold this image in your mind of this purple koala bear. But the longer you look at this, the more I talk about it, the more you're only going to remember as you go home, the blue dinosaur, because you saw all the details. But really I would like. Oh, it's a lion. Really, I want you to remember. Let's call it a wall of error. I wanted you to think about this. This is what happens is the wrong image is so in front of us. It's been put in front of us. We touch it, we handle it. We think about what we don't have. We talk about what we don't have. We are so aware of our symptoms. We're so aware of the things that we would like to have, but we don't have the money to get them. We're so aware of what we didn't do, what we could have done, the mistakes we made. We. We're continually handling an image, but in the meantime, we're trying to believe for another image. We're trying to believe for this. This looks a lot nicer than the dinosaur. This guy has all its legs. There's no holes. But we want a different image. We're going to have to get rid of the wrong images, replace those images that we have of ourselves, of our failures, of what we haven't seen. You know, this is the damaging thing, honestly, to watching too much of the news. It's so hard, it's so difficult to reach. Can I. Can I say this? And I don't mean to be insulting, and I don't mean to be harsh, and I'm not critical, you know this. Our family is not a critical family. But the news and the way things go today, they want you because we know this. Things are opening back up, but not the church. At least not here. And you can look and you can see that the image. It's okay to have NBA basketball and have players play. They're projecting an image of what is acceptable, what is priority, what is okay. Again, I'm not being critical, but you understand, everything in this day and age is grooming. The devil will use everything he can to project an image for you to believe. And right now, the image is, it's okay even to open malls back up. It's okay to have players sweaty, breathing on each other with bad attitudes. You know what I'm saying? They got bad attitudes. They lose. They got bad attitudes. Somebody touches them wrong, they got bad attitude. I was telling somebody the other day, I said, you know, I want my kids to watch it. But I realized I got one son that struggles sometimes with a bad attitude. I don't know if I can afford, you know, when they throw their. This whole deal because there was a bad call or whatever, I don't know about that. I'm already trying to put that thing underfoot. But there's always an image of what is acceptable, what is okay, what is normal. You have to be aware of what images you're allowing. You know what I'm saying by that. If the only image you ever saw was poverty, I want you to know that you can replace that. You can replace a poverty mentality, the image of poverty, you can replace that. But you have to get your eyes off the checkbook. You've got to get your eyes. If they're on what you don't have more than what's been provided, you will never have the right image of yourself. Amen. So we'll close with that. We'll continue with this. I have so much more on this. Because if we're going to help other people, if we're going to succeed in bringing other people, that's what the world struggles with. They don't realize that God sees them and loves them and he's created a life for them. And all they can see is the mistakes and their failures. And religion has taught you need to do something about yourself before God will accept you. That's not true. But if you haven't realized how God has accepted you, if you haven't realized how God has made you, if you don't understand and your mind is not renewed to the fact that you are an overcomer, it's very hard to bring somebody. This is what Joshua had to do. He had to himself and through his own image in God. And who God? Through meditating on those scriptures day and night, one man, and I believe there was others who did believe. But that one man was able to lead an entire nation. How many people could you affect? How many people can you pray for? How many people can you minister to if you got your image right? Amen. How much better of parents? How better would we be for our kids if our image was right? Amen. So we'll stop there. God is so faithful to us. He's given us a new image. And we'll talk more about what the word says, about how we, as it says in Corinthians, casting down imaginations. Amen. And we can become skillful through this season. We can become skillful at holding onto the right images and letting go of the wrong ones. Amen. We trust you've enjoyed this message. 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