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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Goodness & Mercy | Nancy Dufresne | Paducah, KY | Sunday PM | Miracle Crusade 2022
01:08:40
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Praise the Lord. Father, we're so grateful for your word tonight. We purpose to not just be hearers, but we'll be doers of it. And we thank you, Father, that we're changed. Tonight we look for change. We embrace change. We're listening for change that we need to make. And we're so thankful for the fullness that belongs to us. And you're bringing us into more, Father. There's always more. And we look to you tonight for words that bring heaven to earth. That land in our hearts helps rewrite the story of our future. And we're so grateful. And everybody said, amen. Turn with me, if you would. I want to go to Psalms chapter 118 tonight. You believe with me for all the utterances to come out right? Because I've been writing pages and pages and pages and pages, and we want to get out exactly what the Holy Ghost has for us. I just write it up and then let him serve it up. Amen. He gives me what to. He gives me what to say. Amen. Psalms, chapter 118 1. It reads, o give thanks unto the Lord. Why? For he is good. All through the Psalms, you see this repeated, he is good. He is good. Why do we have to be reminded of that? Because everyone we're dealing with is not in the flow of good. But he's his only flow is good. That's his only flow. And if we're not careful, we will start lumping him into other flows that others have and accuse him of a flow he's not in. So we're reminded, for the Lord is good. And you say, pastor Nancy, that's so simple and that's so basic. That's where most people miss it, right there. If they would get that straight. It unravels every other unsound way of thinking, oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. Now he's telling us what to give thanks to him for his goodness. You're good. Thank you, Father, that you are good all the time. When circumstances aren't good, you're good. When things I see aren't good, you're good. When things I hear aren't good, you're good. So we give him thanks for his goodness. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. And I like this because his mercy endureth forever. So we see this what makes him good, his mercy. Because of the mercy flow, he's good. And he is so rich in mercy that the only flow out of that mercy flow is a good flow. Amen. Now it's our job to become skillful at receiving the good flow, the flow of mercy. Amen. We receive that by faith. I said, we receive it by faith. Psalm 34. 8 says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. And then it says, blessed is the man that trusts in him. So the man who trusts in his goodness will be blessed. If you question his goodness, it hinders the flow of the blessing of God. God's flow of goodness has to be trusted. That when it looks like things are going wrong, I trust him. I trust his flow. I trust that the flow of goodness is greater than every flow that's opposing me. Trust in the goodness flow. Trust in him. Amen. Especially in the face of the accuser, because he will accuse you, accuse God. He's taking too long. Are you sure it's going to work for you? It didn't work for such and such. He's accusing our Father, accusing our faith, accusing us of our past. We were talking a little bit about this at our prayer conference. And one of the things that I said, the devil will never remind you of your successes, and he'll never remind you of who you are in Christ. He'll always remind you of where you failed in the flesh. He's always bringing your flesh back up, your flesh back up, your flesh back up. Why? Because he's trying to sway us into a life led by our flesh. And he's always trying to accuse us when. With something that our flesh did do. But you know what? Ain't none of his business. Because we don't belong to him. Who is he to accuse us? We're not his children. Stay in your own yard. Stay in your own backyard. You got enough to deal with of your own. God's flow of goodness has to be trusted in, especially in the face of the accuser of the brethren who tries to throw us into a flow of sin consciousness. And sin consciousness cripples the hand of faith. It weakens the hand of faith so that even if faith knows what belongs to it, it's not strong enough to lay hold and keep a hold on it. Because you remember. Remember how you did this. Remember? You haven't prayed enough. Oh, you haven't read your Bible enough. And I'm not trying to diminish that. Reading the Bible and praying doesn't earn you anything. It just reveals what's already yours. And the more we find out what's ours, the more we enjoy what's ours. Amen. When people fall under or live under a sense of condemnation, they lack faith toward his goodness and toward his mercies. They lack skill at yielding to his good flow. Amen. We must trust his goodness toward us and not trust our performance. The devil's always trying to get you performance minded. How you missed it, how you faltered, how you haven't. You should be further along. You don't have the faith you have. Should have. You could be further along. Why aren't you further along? Why aren't you this, why aren't you that? And he's none of what he accuses us. He's trying to get us performance minded instead of the Lord is good and I'm here by his goodness and his mercies. I'm not here by my performance, but because of his goodness and mercy. He empowers us to perform. He empowers us for good works because good works matter. I said good works matter. One day we will stand before him and give an account of the works. Good works matter, but they don't earn what his goodness provided. And these are things that have to be tweaked for people to receive their miracles. Because the enemy will try to get us performance based Christians instead of mercy. Mercy owned. Mercy bought us by blood because of God's mercy. He sent Jesus because of his goodness. He sent Jesus because of his goodness and mercy. Jesus shed his blood. All of it came out of God's mercy to us for the Lord. Look, the Lord is good. He doesn't just have good. So many people are after the good that he has. But he is good. Anytime he moves, goodness is moving because that's who he is. You can't separate him from goodness. That's who he is. You can't separate me from female. That's not what I have. That's what I am. And we can't separate God from goodness because God is. He is. He is good. Amen. Psalms 109, 21 says, but do thou for me, O God the Lord, for Thy name's sake, because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. Not because I performed, you deliver me, but because your mercy is good. Anything we're set free from his mercy showed up as a flow of goodness. Amen. Second Chronicles, chapter 5 and verse 12. Second Chronicles chapter 5 and verse 12. It came even to pass as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. And when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praised the Lord saying, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. That then the house was filled with a cloud. Not because they prayed, but because they magnified his goodness. His mercy. And goodness and mercy filled the house and it showed up as the form of a cloud. In your need, what are you going to magnify? You are good. Even if I don't quite know the next step to make you're still good. And your goodness will help me to know what I need to know. Your mercy delivers me. Amen. The devil would love us this direction. But we have to be. And I'm talking about self, not spirit self. What we can perform to get that thing to work for us. If I can just figure it out. When Jehoshaphat. They were faced with multiple enemy armies that joined forces against God's people. And they put praisers up front and they told them what to say. Don't come with your own confession. Don't come with something you thought up. His mercy endures forever. And they just went out talking about God's mercy and his goodness. And while they did that, the Lord set ambushments and the enemy turned in on themselves and destroyed each other. Why? Because they magnified his goodness and his mercy. And that began moving in their behalf. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. We know this one Psalm 23:6. Surely goodness and what mercy shall what follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That goodness and mercy will deliver me right to his presence. It will usher me into the place of his presence every day. If we magnify his goodness and mercy. That's one of the best ways to step into the flow of the spirit. Right there. You are good. You are good. Because the devil would love us performance minded to earn healing, earn miracles, earn advancement. Amen. Praise the Lord. Lamentations 3. And if you want, you can just note some of these lamentations 3, verse 22 and 23. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. It's not of our confessions. Now don't. I am not diminishing confession. But what should our confession be about his mercies? We're not confessing. To try enough times, click 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 1, 2, 3. Tuesday. 1, 2, 3, 4th, 5, Wednesday. 1, 2, 3. You see, it's not the performance of confessions. It's the confession of. Of who he is to us. He is good to me when I miss it. He's good to me when I don't miss it. He's good to me when I miss it. He's merciful when I don't miss it, he's still merciful. I change, but he doesn't. And if I will stay hooked up to what doesn't change, my victory never changes. Amen. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. He has so much to spend on us. One day won't hold it all. Every day has to be. Every single day holds a fresh supply that you never run out. Because he intends us to spend his mercies. He intends us to receive of his mercies. That's why he stocks our day every morning with mercies. New mercies, new mercies, new mercies. If we would live mindful of that and talk about that. Sin consciousness is a thing of the past. Amen. Because it's not what I've done right or what I've done wrong. It's who he is every day to me. Amen. Praise the Lord. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. That mercy flow is faithful. That goodness flow is faithful. It's uninterrupted. Hebrews, chapter 4, verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may what? Obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The amplified of that verse says, let us then fearlessly. Where? Where would we have fear? He's not talking about the devil right then. He's talking about people who fear God in the wrong way. It's not a reverence fear. It is a. If I. A sin consciousness. Fear. Yeah, it's a good way to say it. Yeah. It's a fear that comes out of sin consciousness. I know he's mad at me. We had a pastor, one of our fof pastors, he put up a billboard in his city regarding his church, advertising his church. And you know what his slogan was on the billboard? God is not mad at you. He said you would not believe the number of people that call and rebuke us for telling the world that God is not mad at them. And I tell you what. Some of us. And I'm fixing to get this. I'm fixing to. We're fixing to hone in on what I'm talking about tonight. Here in a minute. Yeah, we're fixing to touch that nerve. I hope it's not your last one. Or maybe it needs to be your last amplified. Let us then fearlessly, without fear, that he's mad at us without fear that we're going to receive something harmful from him. How dare you? You know, Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, the throne of God's unmerited favor to us that we may receive mercies for our failures. See, mercies have to be received. He's got them. But we have to be skillful at receiving of that flow and find grace to help in good time for every need. Appropriate help, well timed help coming just when we need it. God's mercy is God's attitude toward our need and toward those in distress. When he looks at your need, he looks at it with mercy, mercy to meet it. We know this, and you don't have to take time to turn there. But Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 12, the Amplified says, For whom the Lord loves, He what corrects even as a father corrects the Son in whom he he delights, Corrects the Son in whom he delights. Corrects the Son in whom he delights. It is a flow of God's love to correct us. We have no right to draw back from him because he corrects us. You say, well, we don't draw back. Listen, I remember in pastoring there were times I would preach something and I would say, you know something? If what I'm addressing fits you and you don't want people to know it, then shout Amen real loud. Amen, Pastor. Yes, amen. Because no one will think that you're a violator of that because you're for it. But when you sit there like this, everybody goes, uh, oh, right. No. Correction is a flow of love. Never get offended or draw back with love. Amen. And he every. Every branch that bears fruit, what's he do with it? He prunes it. You know, I've seen some pruning jobs in my yard, and it's amazing. We would have these huge climbing rose bushes and they prune those back and they look. I go, you scalped them. You took everything beautiful away. But it was so later its future looked even richer. Right? You can feel that pruning process. And sometimes you feel like, father, I've been stretched and scalped and everything else in the good way. Haven't you said unto your pastor, this pastor is so smooth. He is smooth, smooth, smooth, smooth, smooth, smooth. And you go out of there and you go, I know I got whipped all around, but boy, that felt good. That felt good. Why? Because there was help in that. There was answers in that. I love what one minister Said. He said, God can pull you through anything if you can stand the pull. And sometimes you can feel that pruning process. I'm talking about in your heart. You can. I'm not talking about your flesh. I'm not talking about your emotions. I'm talking about when God deals with you. And I don't know if it is this way with you, but it is this way with me is that I've had seasons of correction. It's just like every conversation was a correction. Every time of fellowship, there have been those times, right? Or am I just singing a solo up here to where it just seems like a season of it? You been there. Oh, good. And the thing is, you can't plead innocent because we are so well acquainted with what he's been dealing with us about that we have not complied with, agreed with, touched into, but not with both feet. We kind of touched it and said, yeah, I acknowledge. Yeah, you're right. I need to. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm talking about, right? I'm going somewhere with this. So God never corrects us to push us down. He corrects us because he's endeavoring to take us to the next thing he has. And we have to be prepared to go there. God does not correct. Because sometimes, I tell you what, in that season of correction, the devil will try to chime in and push you down, push you down with that correction, pointing to what you're not. And it's none of his business. How my father deals with me is none of your business. What I have done or have not done is still none of your business. Because I'm not part of your kingdom. I've been delivered from the kingdom of darkness. I'm delivered from your input. Yeah. And because I'm acquainted with me, I'm acquainted with where I've missed it. I'm acquainted with weaknesses, faults, failures. You get acquainted with your own. Leave mine alone. No. And he would correct me and in times past, because how many of you know that correction is his mercy? It's his goodness. He's being good. I was thinking of this. I haven't told this in a long time. I hope it's not offensive to people, but just in case it is, we're in Kentucky. You can get over it. Yeah, y' all can take it. There was a gal that was in our church that she was so funny. Pastor, do you have those people that everything. They're just funny. Every story they tell is funny. The way they say it's just funny. They are so entertaining and she was one of those. But sometimes those kind of people have a lot of funny things happen to them. And she was just one of those, just one thing after another. I go, how does this stuff happen to you? And when she'd tell it, it was just comical. It was just like a stand up routine, you know. And she was telling me about the time she was in her sister's wedding and she was the maid of honor and there were about three or four maids of, you know, bridesmaids, and she was the maid of honor. And they were in one little bathroom, everybody getting ready. So you can understand there's a lot of. There's not room to move around when you got girls and all our stuff. And so they were trying to maneuver in this bathroom. And she, she said there was so much going on in there. And she said, I realized as there they said, you know, the wedding coordinator, come out, come out. You know, start lining up. It's almost time for you to go down. You know, you go down the aisle. And she goes, I realize I need to use the restroom. And she says, I don't want to be distracted during the ceremony by going, I wish I had gone to the restroom. This is my sister's wedding. I want to be in the moment, you know. So she said, all the other ladies walked out and I used the restroom. And she says, and you know, the wedding coordinator's knocking on her, come on, you're the last one in, you know. So she comes out and she. And she walks down the aisle and she gets all the way from the back to the front. And when she gets to the front row, the person on the front row reaches up and pulls the hem of her dress out of the waist of her pantyhose. Because she was in a hurry. We'll let you fill in the blanks. My question is this back row person, where were you? Next to the last row person, where were you? Where were you? Where were you? You, you, you, you, you, you and you? Where were you? It's not the correction. The person that needed the correction that was really spotlighted to me in the story. What about all those people? And she said, well, they said they didn't know me. And humanity, human decency, just. Human decency, right out of human decency, just reach up and help somebody. Where was your mercy? Where was your mercy? Where was your goodness? You don't have to know somebody to be good to them. You don't have to know somebody to be merciful to them. It's a kindness when God helps Us adjust what's out of place so we don't walk through this life exposed to the enemy, exposed to his strategies, exposed to his devices. He says, adjust that. Get rid of this, put that in place, move that around. All of that is so you're not exposed to what is out there against you. Amen. So I'm going to start telling off on me in the past. Yeah, you handle your own business. In these seasons. Because it's like I have a personal list that I know of that needs to be. I've got a list of things I work I'm mindful of, not to be condemning with. But I need to pay attention. This is under my custodianship. I need to address this. I don't need to act mindless about things that need addressing in my life. So I have lists. And then I rewrite them, like every week, put them in a different format, in a different place so I can see them. Because when you don't pay attention, things get by you. And so, because I know my list. And then God pulls out his list in that season of helping us go further. Let's call it that season of helping us go further. When he says to me, I want to talk to you about something. Okay, I got my list. You got your list, Right. So he'll talk to me about something, and then the next time, I can sense his presence coming, he wants to deal with me, something. I get this because I know what's on my list and I don't know everything on his list, but I know everything on my list. And I know we haven't discussed everything on my list yet. So I'm just. If I could say this, it's like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Do you know what I mean by that? Yeah. What is next? Because I thought last week was pretty rough, not him being hard on me, but it was hard for me to come to terms with what I'd permitted or what I had not implemented or. Yeah, the truth about those things, you know, the words a mirror. And sometimes you don't look very put together. Sometimes you got hair sticking up. You got things going in directions they shouldn't be going. So I would approach it. Now, this was in the past, long time ago, like 45 years ago or something. I would approach him. Not on purpose, but flinching. A guarded, A guarded response to him. Am I again singing a solo? Do you know what I'm talking about? Because it's like. Because if he brings up everything on this list at once, I May be overwhelmed. Right. So I would, if I could say this, cower a bit like, oh, what's coming next? Mm. Then I would at that time wait for him, if I could say this to reassure me his love so that I wouldn't get in the wrong place. Anybody else ever done this. So basically I was wanting him to reassure me of his love so I would respond right to him, so I would let my guard down. God began dealing with me. After a time. He says, I want to have a talk with you. I go, okay, I'll bring my lids, you bring yours. He said, your approach to me is unkind and unfair. Oh, don't sit there. Oh, kind of hold those grunts in, would you like. I can't believe she's doing that. Now I'm gonna have to read my notes. Cause y' all just. And he said to me, your mindset toward me is unkind. That I have to disarm your guard before you'll even warm up to me. And you kind of walk in backwards so to speak, into this place because I. You would. You know, when you raise the kids, Frank, get in here. And they come in wide eyed. Just the tone. They don't know what they did, but just the tone. They knew something's fixing to fly. Right? That's what I'm talking about. It was carrying over many times the way we deal with people and accusing God of that same flow. And even in correcting me, he's only ever been good. His correction is good. For the Lord is good. He can't be anything but good in any flow he's manifesting in. Even though at times he was firm. Now my mother, if there's one thing she was, it was firm. She was a no nonsense mother. She was not an emotionally led woman. She didn't like drama, she didn't like things out of order. She didn't like her children misrepresenting her her by their behavior. And she was firm. But she was so kind and so good to us that the firmness was a well rounded of her parental role in our life. And her firmness was never seen to me as a negative because I knew her love for us and how much good she did for us. Now when kids would come over, when kids came over, they didn't get to live under their system anymore. They came into mother's system. When you walked on her property, her laws, her rules, you might talk to your mama one way, but you know, not talking to anybody that way on this property, you know, And I remember when I Was about five or six years old. One of my friends says, you, mother is so mean. And I stood back and I go, what are you talking about? She's not mean. Yeah. Didn't you hear the way she talks? Yeah. She shooks me that way every day. They called firmness meanness because they'd been used to being coddled, petted, that they had to be treated right. And if they stopped, if they started crying, then the mother or dad would back off until they felt calmed down, and then we'd come on the child's terms. And basically I was doing the same thing with God, that I would come not on his terms, but my terms, because not based on how he's been treating me, but how I saw myself. These things matter when you need a miracle. These things matter when you need to receive healing and you need your faith to work. These things matter, these mindsets. And so my guarded approach to him was wrong when he had only ever dealt with me in goodness. And he said to me, he said, I'm going to show you what you're doing based on how Adam and Eve responded. And he said, we know this. Before they sinned, God would come down and fellowship with them in the cool of the day. They knew him. They had experienced his goodness. They had experienced. Just being in his presence was not like being in the presence of the animals, the garden. It wasn't like being in the presence even of each other. His presence was different from any other presence. And when Adam and Eve sinned, you'll remember this the next time God came to them to have fellowship. He couldn't find them, drew back, they hid. They hid. When he only came to fellowship. And God said to me, they had never known me as anything but kind. So they had no basis, no right to hide from me, fearing any unkindness from me, because they had never been dealt with in unkindness from me. He said they only assumed and feared me as unkind and hid from me. After they had been with the serpent, they had been listening and talking to the unkind one, the unmerciful one. And it affected the way they treated me. They accused God of unkindness because that's what they had been fellowshipping with, that they shouldn't have been in fellowship with, carrying on in conversation, obeying him. Who you obey is who you're fellowshipping with. Their contact with the serpent affected their view of God, the kind one. They no longer treated him as kind. That day, having been with the serpent caused them to take on a flow of unkindness toward God. By hiding, they're accusing him. I mean, it's like if you come home and your kids run and hide. Yeah, what's that about? You know, sometimes kids, when they, as they grow, they get a little. Don't you know, you're in my space. You're in my. Come here. I'm going to get all over your space because in my house, I'm good to you. In your space. And you're not going to draw back when I go to hug you. Uh, we're not playing that business. You're sucking up my air. You're eating my food. You're wearing my clothes. Those are my clothes that I've loaned to you. You're sleeping in my bed. All of that, you didn't buy any of it. It's all mine. It's all my kindness. And then I go to hug you and you drop. Drawback. Who do you think you are responding that way? Right, as a parent? But yet with God, he's never done anything but clothe us and keep us and bless us and feed us and supply us and mercy every morning. And goodness is the only thing that flows out of him toward us. And then he asks us to do something and we go, no, that's my money. Oh, no, I got that. You're welcome. You're welcome. They were unkind to him. Hiding because they're dodging the one who had never done anything. And they didn't dodge the serpent. They didn't hide from him. Did they hide? No, they didn't hide. Yeah. Sat and fellowshipped with, had a conversation. And when God came to fellowship with them, they couldn't be found. It matters how we think towards God's goodness. I've seen people who, when someone they knew was believing God as best as they knew how and did not seem to lay hold of what they believe for in people. So I question the healing message now. I question. I've heard it too, question God's goodness. You don't know what went on between that person and God. You don't know what God had dealt with them about or you don't know. But that's what the world. When there's a tornado, that keeps God. We. When there's a flood, they accuse God. God's never been anything but good, never been anything but kind, but every act of nature, so to speak, they call it an act of God. In insurance policies, they call it an act of God. He has been accused of so much unkindness, and he's never been anything but good. I tell you what, it matters. When we're believing God for money and it doesn't seem to be showing up and we start worrying, what is that? An accusing God of not being good worry. Doubt is an accusation against his goodness. If we believed he were good, if we really believed and knew how to receive of that goodness, where's the room for worry? Where's the room for fear? Where's the room for doubt? Remember, see, to us it doesn't seem like a big thing to say God is good. Oh, that's just so basic. Yeah, that's basically where everything flows out of his goodness. Yeah, basically. What did God have them to put in their mouth? That army of Jehoshaphat, the praisers. Your mercy endures forever. Your mercy endures forever. It's not about our fighting skills. It's not about have we been trained? It's not about do we have enough equipment. It's about his mercy will make up all the difference of what we're not. His mercy supplies us in every point of deficiency. Amen. Adam and Eve were aware. They sinned. They hid from God when they sinned because they assumed something about God. And God said to them, did you disobey me? Did you eat of the fruit of the tree? What was he doing? Giving them the opportunity to repent. But because they assumed him unkind, they did not take the opportunity to repent. What would have been different if they would have repented, he offered them that opportunity. Did you do this? Nope. She, Adam, she. And then he said to Eve, did you? The serpent? To not take responsibility is to miss a flow of goodness he's offering you. When you say I did it wrong, I tell you what. He will help you put everything back. He will restore. When you say, father, I messed up so bad that only you can get me out of this. And he delights in you, in you acknowledging that flow of his goodness. He doesn't. He does. What's it say over there? If any man lacks wisdom, let him what? Ask of God who gives liberally and what and what? Upbraideth not. He's not going to put his finger in your face when you ask him for help and say, why don't you do better? Why didn't you give? Why didn't you have more faith? He doesn't do any of that. That's never his response when we run to. And they would not take the opportunity to repent. And they could have run toward his kindness when they heard him. They could have taken off and said, I got. I Need your help. This is what I did now. Stephen, I have two sons. Stephen, he's at home. And Stephen, if he broke something as a child, I would find it weeks later, behind chairs, behind couches, under cushions. It was stuck in some out of the way place that nobody ever looked. But because he's the only child, I didn't have to go too far to find out who did it. For nine years, he was the only child. Grant, when he broke something, he would, mama, I broke this. And when he, I said, well, baby, come here, let's fix it right? But when I found the broken thing crammed behind the couch, Stephen, come here. See the tone and it's based on did they run to me or away from me? Because if they ran away from me, they accused me of being unkind. And Grant always, and he never got in trouble when he would say, mama, I broke this. Because that can be helped. That approach, that mindset, you can rescue what you get upset with when somebody won't take responsibility. It's her fault, it's his fault, it's my parents fault, it's the school's fault, it's the government's fault, it's my pastor's fault. If you will run toward God and say, I messed up. He delights in his flow of goodness to have mercy, to rescue you from that place of distress. He delights. It's all in how you handle it, not how he handles it. How are you going to handle it? You go into a shop and they say, you break it, you buy it, right? I don't know if that's the policy now, but years ago, that's the policy. You break it, you buy it. When my child broke something, I bought it. Why? It's my responsibility. Because I'm the parent. When I break something, it is God's responsibility to fix it. And he will. And just like I hear, I didn't try to talk. My child broke this. Probably four other things he hid in the corner. If you find anything in the corners, you know who did it. They could have run toward his kindness, but they ran from him in accusation of unkindness. And this is what God dealt with me about. He says, I don't appreciate that when I speak with you. And you kind of, what is it? It's because I'm bringing my list and I'm not bringing his kindness and his goodness with me. Well, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. When you miss it, run to him. Run, run, run, run, run. Father, I did this. I need your help. And I guarantee You. He will say, baby, we'll fix it. Come on, we'll fix it. We'll make it all right. But if you act like that's not my problem, they did that. I mean, push it under the rug. Push it under the marriage thing. God can't help that. I would dare to say that those of us who are believing God for something if we would take time and say, for the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever. And it gets our eyes of our performance, because that's where we fail, is in our performing. And his victory for our lives is not based on our performance. It's based on Jesus performance. So I would say, enjoy your fellowship like never before. Ah, Run to him when you do it right. Run to him when you do it wrong. Run to him when you didn't do anything. It will bring you into a place where he will the sweetness of fellowship because you did not accuse him of unkindness when you ran to him after you messed up. Does that make sense to you? It gets rid of all the flinching. Let's flinch when the devil's around. What's he doing here? How did he get in? You see, not when God says, I want to talk to you, Father. Come on. You're so good to me. Thank you. What is it? What is it? Thank you for helping me. I remember when Grant was probably about 4. Grant was so easy when he was younger. He was just compliant. He was easy. And. I got him and Stephen both. Come on, come on. We haven't come to Jesus meeting. Pull your bridges down. We're doing the spankings. You know, I was always fair to them. I was always fair. I told them how many they're getting. I told them what I expected of them after they got them. You're not going to sit and you throw yourself on the floor and scream and kick and cry. We're starting all over again. So the way you respond determines what comes. And so I was fair to them. I didn't just in a rage, just yank them up and start hitting and hitting and hitting. And they never knew I was consistent. If you're inconsistent, that's unfair. If they get by with it for two weeks, but not the third week, you're unfair. The child's not the problem. You're unfair. And so I pulled him up and Steve and both. And I spanked him. And Grant turned around and he, you know, he was trying to be a big boy at that time. No tears or anything. And he grabbed his backside and he said, mama, thank you. For keeping me straight. And I just. I want you to know we're not kinder than God. And we say, father, thank you for keeping me straight. What it does to the Father's heart. Amen. How easy it is to receive what you need from him when you approach him on the basis of his goodness and not approach him on the basis of wrong thinking. Morgan sent me something that Pastor Michael. We're doing a crusade in Fredonia, New York. He's a pastor up there. And essentially he said this. One of the greatest acts of faith that you can make as a believer is that after you've missed it, you stand back in your righteousness and say, he has cleansed me and made me righteous. That is a great act of faith. Yeah. Not when you haven't come to him and made things first. John 1:9. If we confess, if we show back up in his presence and aren't hiding from him like Adam and Eve, if we missed it and we show back up to him, if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we think we have to feel bad for several weeks or a month about how we missed God and how we did it wrong, it's a lack of receiving, of his mercies and his goodness that comes through the blood of Jesus that cleanses. Amen. Can I just say this? All holds dropped, all barriers kicked over, and say no more, Father, you and me, we're talking. I'm going to talk to you so freely about this, Father. I've been struggling with. I know I shouldn't be thinking about that. I know I should. Father, I thank you for your goodness. You are good. Now, see, it's not being flippant about wrongdoing. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about sincerity. Because our wrongdoing cost Jesus everything. It cost Heaven everything. So we're not flippant about that price. But even so, we're receivers of his mercy and we acknowledge his goodness. You are so good. I can't help but be healed. I can't help but have my miracle. I can't help because it's your goodness. Your faith does not heal you. Oh, I can't believe she said that. Your faith opens the door for his goodness to flow. That's what faith does it owe, opens everything for his flow. Faith is a pipeline. Faith is a pipeline for his goodness, his grace, his power to flow through. The pipeline doesn't heal you. It gives access to what heals you. It's his goodness. It is of the Lord's mercies. We are not consumed. Are you helped tonight? I would say spend time acknowledging and meditating and thanking him for his goodness because it holds more than you ever dreamed. Your mercy is in his goodness. Your miracles are in his goodness. Your healings are in his goodness. The Lord is good to the just and the unjust. Why? Because he can't help but be good. He doesn't make you qualify. Are you just? Are you unjust? Before I'm good. He's good. He reigns on the just and the unjust. How do you think the unjust join the ranks of the just? Because his goodness. I'll close with this, but. And I don't say this to make someone look bad, but years ago, when I was about 10 years old, I started taking piano lessons. And the second teacher I had, I took for a short time from one teacher and didn't make much advancements. So mother changed me to another teacher. And this other teacher, she was excellent. She was excellent. She would only take students who were going to make it a career. She didn't waste her time on hobby students. There's nothing wrong being a hobby student, but that was not her intent. The ones she trained got full scholarships to universities and they went on to performing arts. And she auditioned you to see if she would take you. And she was good. The only thing is, she was harsh. And my. The way I process things, I don't respond to harshness. It's not that it offends me. I don't know how to process it. My mother was firm, but she was never harsh. And there's a difference. And this person was harsh. I mean, if I didn't do right, there was a penalty. And for six years, I took from her. I had a stomach ache every Saturday for six years because I had to go to her house. That's how it affected me. Harshness of it. And I said to mother, I begged her, please let me quit taking from her. I know she's good, but I don't know how to process how she handles me. Mother said, no, you're taken from her. She's the best in town. She said, I used to take from her. I said, how long? She said, a month. I said, why'd you quit? She said, she scared me. I said, that's what I'm trying to tell you. But anyway, Because she dealt with me that way, I never sought to please her. Yeah, I did. I saw her. We were battling and I did enough to keep her off my Back. But I didn't flourish. When I got to be a senior, a man, I had done a piano competition thing and he was a judge. And he said to my mother, if you ever want to change your teacher, I'll take her. And he was a university instructor. I was a senior in high school. So mother in my senior year changed me over to him. And I drove an hour and a half one way every week to take lessons from him. And he was so kind. It was like, I can't tell you. I can't. After. For six years, this thing has sat. It's been like a monkey on your back. And I'm not trying to make her look bad. I'm just saying I could not process that kind of communication. And when this man was so kind and he was so encouraging, and if I did any little bit right, he was pleased. And I never could please her. I never could. So you just quit trying because you can't. Everything came from the negative flow. Nothing came from the positive flow. That's not God. He's always in the good flow. His flow is goodness. Because he is good, he's never dealt with any of us from a negative direction. And because he was, this instructor was so kind to me, I flourished. I wanted him pleased because he was so good to me. I could not think of displeasing the one who had been so good to me. When religion threw the adulterous woman at Jesus feet, they could not wait for his dealings with her. And he stunned them all by responding in goodness. And they could not process that and notice. He said to her, where are your accusers? They're not here. He said, neither do I accuse you. When that instructor was good to me, it lifted me. It elevated me. When Jesus responds in goodness, it lifts people to goodness that they no longer stay in the flow of wrongness. They step into the flow of goodness, because that's his flow. And he brings you into the flow of goodness by being good to you. Wow. Amen. Does that make sense to you? And I would have never thought with that man. Now, see, I did everything I could. I remember I was. I did everything I could to get out of a lesson with the other teacher. I can't tell you all I did, but with the one that treated me good, I couldn't wait to get there. The Bible tells us over in Proverbs, it says, the sweetness of the lips increases learning. Why? Because that's the way God deals with us, in sweetness. Because he's so good to us. Don't take advantage of the goodness to be less than pleasing. Don't receive of the goodness and not respond with pleasing him. I want him pleased because his goodness will lift you up. It'll lift you up to the highest flow for your life. It's found in his goodness. Your highest flow comes from him, not you. It comes out of his goodness and he lets you step into his goodness and it elevates you. And now you're moving like God. This is called life in the sea Spirit. This is called walking in the spirit. This is called lay down any preconceived ideas of. God's not mad at you. God's not. He's not out for you. He's not waiting for you to miss it. So he can. He's looking for someone who knows how good he is so he can flow mightily through them. And I would. I would encourage you meditate, worship him. Talk to him. Thank you for your good. You know why everyone is sitting here tonight? Because God's good. Because he's good. His goodness delivered you to this chair. You don't know what he delivered us from. All along the way, all along the years that would have loved to have taken our life a different time direction. But his goodness kept dealing with us and kept wooing us and kept loving us and kept shining on us and kept lifting us. Amen. He's worthy of being acknowledged for who he is instead of being accused for how we think. Stand with me to your feet. Praise the Lord. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us@DefrainMinistries.org to learn of our upcoming meetings. Share your testimony, become a partner or visit our online store. 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