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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
In The Spirit, Part 2 | Joel Siegel | Georgetown, TX | Thursday AM | Miracle Crusade 2021
01:25:43
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message.
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I want to share some stuff with you today as God would help me and as you would flow with me. I woke up with this phrase rolling around in me, and I'll share it with you. It's real deep. You ready for this? As far as you'll go is as far as you'll go. You got that? As far as you'll go is as far as you'll go. Meaning there are places to go in the things of God. There are places to go. There's progression in the plan of God. Amen. And so much of it is not up to the Lord because he desires to do what he desires to do. And so, so much of whether his plan is accomplished or not is not up to him. It's up to. It's up to his church. And so many, so much of the time, like Psalm 78, talks about how the children of Israel turned back and limited, limited, limited the Holy One of Israel. And when you limit something, you cap it, you put a ceiling on it, and things can go no further. I was with. Traveled with Brother HAGIN throughout the 1990s, mostly, well, 1993 to 2000, to be exact, during what he called his Holy Ghost meetings. Because God had dealt with him, really years before, that his mandate to go teach faith was being sufficiently accomplished. Not that he had to stop that, but meaning there were so many that had picked up on it that he didn't personally have to focus on that anymore. But what the Lord did say is that there's a move of the Spirit that will be lost to this generation. And of course, if it's lost to this generation, it would be lost to all future generations. And he said, unless you teach them. And teach not just by precept, meaning not just the steps, but also by example. And so God had led him to start having those meetings where they focused more on the person and the work of the Holy Spirit and endeavoring to get. Not just. Not just the people leading the services, but all who were gathered together to learn to flow together with God. Because Brother Hagin recognized this, that things that God had for the body of Christ, the work that he's had since the New Testament was written, the work late, you understand. We're on a course called the Plan of God. You've heard some about that this week. And the end of that course, what we're endeavoring to get to is what the Bible calls the Coming of the Lord, the return of the Lord. God wants Jesus to come back, but things have to happen. And that's a different sermon. All that has to happen, but part of what has to happen is the harvest has to be reaped. And for that harvest to be reaped, there must be intense, sustained outpouring of the power of God, of the Spirit of God. That's why we're having miracle meetings. You talk about the power of God, you talk about an outpouring. You know, the Bible uses so many different terms to speak of these things, but it's all talking about the same thing. It's all talking about the flow of God's power. And that is miraculous in all of its forms. You understand? You getting born again was a miracle. You've already experienced a miracle. Really one of the biggest ones. The Bible says. The Bible says that you pass from death to life. That's no small thing. That's no small thing. And it happened. And it's happened for probably most all of us in here. Amen. You've experienced the miraculous, but you know it didn't happen without you. How many here got saved and you didn't know about it? You weren't in on it? No. If you got born again, you had something to do with it. Matter of fact, it wasn't going to happen without you. Even though the reality is you were already saved from the standpoint of salvation being made available to you. Meaning God didn't. God didn't decide yes or no when you. When you called upon him. That was decided when salvation was offered, because the Bible says that he reconciled the world to himself. So in God's heart, he's not mad at anybody. In God's heart, his arms are open for everybody. And salvation has been made available to all. And so in that sense, all in. Only in that sense, all are saved. You know what I mean? Because God's not going to say, nah, I don't really like them. Come on. Now. If it was a matter of God liking somebody or not liking somebody, most of us would be in trouble, Thank God. He so agaped the world. He so loved the world, irrespective of us, that he gave. Amen. And now we can call Amen. We can do our part. And so there are places that God wants us to go. There are things that need to happen if we're going to go further into the flow of the miraculous. But as far as you'll go is as far as you'll go. And when I was traveling, started Talking about Brother Hagin having those meetings and. And God had talked to him even during that period of time of those meetings. And God said, the body of Christ has gone as far as they can under the present circumstances. And you know what? He began, and this was during these meetings where he was endeavoring to teach about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Getting people to flow together corporately. Telling you that is an enormous key. I mean, a major key to us moving further in the plan of God is getting congregations, people coming together and flowing together. There's a lot we could say about that. But Brother Hagin, the Lord told him, even though he was having the right kind of meetings, even though he was doing what God said, he said, the body of Christ has gone down as far as they can under the present circumstances. Well, would you like to know what those circumstances were? Well, there were some things that needed to change. And actually it's exactly what Pastor Nancy has been ministering. And he began to talk about things like reverence and honor. And that's when I personally heard Brother Hagin made that statement that she's been quoting every night. I was in meetings when I heard him say that, that the Lord had told him that when reverence and honor were restored, then, then, then there'll be a restoration and glory to God, a multiplication of the miraculous power of God. And so we desire that. But if you don't, you won't. If you don't desire it, you won't experience it. And as far as you'll go is as far as we'll go. And during those meetings with Brother Hagin, I mean, he would. He would be ministering some things that were so essential, so, so life changing. And people would. Would sit there like. I don't know. Yeah. And then they'd stop sitting there. And I saw, really, as the power increased, I saw his crowds diminish because there were other voices that were younger and more exciting and hipper. No, I'm just. This is. And we'd go to regions where there were hundreds within. Within easy driving distance. There were hundreds of his Bible school graduates that should have been there. But it was the same faces, pleasant faces. Sometimes the difference be there, different ones. You can name names. And the meetings were good, but we didn't get to where we needed to get, really, because so much of the body of Christ decided, I don't know about that flow. I don't know. I don't know about that. And so we went as far as we went, but we didn't Go where we were supposed to go. And so guess where. When you jump off of the plan of God, guess where you have to start. Say it again, Pastor, you got to go back. Listen, he's got a beautiful truck. We got to see it today. And that truck, he's got his hitch on it. You know what that hitch is for? Pulling. Pulling stuff, pulling trailers. But if, you know, if he started out in Kentucky with a trailer on him and he unhitched in Oklahoma and kept driving all the way down here, guess where he's got to go to get his trailer? Back where he left it. I said, back where he left it. And if you unhook from the things of God, you don't just get to say, oh, good, we got away with that one. The things of God are on purpose. There's a purpose to them. They're important. They're important. And so with this thought, this theme that we've had going on of reverence and honor, I was thinking about that service we had yesterday. Anybody remember that service that we had yesterday? And it reminded me somewhat of some of the services we have back in that day, you know, with Brother Hagin, which is where he left us. Which is where things. Which is where things kind of had stalled. Because when folks say, I don't want to go further, God will say, okay, you won't go further. Remember, remember, as far as you'll go is as far as you'll go. And so folks said, I don't know. I don't know that I want to go with that. I don't know it's going to hurt our growth. What kind of growth you talking about? I said, what kind of growth you talking about? We just won't go there. But anyhow. But anyhow, let me just for a moment, because we do want to speak some things, and what I'm talking about goes right with what we have for today. But what about reverence and honor for the move of the spirit of God? What are we talking about? Honor? It's been defined so well this week. The definition I like to use is simply this. Assigning the proper weight or value to a person or a thing. It's an honor assigning the proper value or weight to a person or a thing. You know, if you have a spouse, you ought to assign a high value or weight to that person. Everybody here ought to have a heavy spouse. I like them heavy. You know what I'm talking about? Their weight. Their value weight. Their value. Weight. You thought. What did you think I was talking about? Come on now. Get your mind where it ought to be. Here. I don't know what's with you guys, but. Yeah, no, if you're married, your spouse ought to be. If you ever get to where they lose value and they lose weight, you'll get into familiarity and you'll stop treating each other right. And what you'll end up doing is you'll stop receiving from each other like you ought to receive from each other. God brings people together for a mutual benefit, mutual supply. And we've all known different ones that you've seen that happen. And folks say, well, we don't know why. We just grew apart. I could tell you why. There's no mystery to it. You let it happen. You let it happen. You stop putting the effort towards seeing things as they ought to be seen. And listen, I understand it. The only way to see things correctly is with a renewed mind. So we understand why that can happen, because not everyone renews their mind. But when it comes to things like we saw yesterday, I want to offer just a bit of perspective, because what you're talking about is a type of flow that, first of all, most people don't even think that's God. You might not know that, but most. When I say most people, I'm talking about most Christians. Most Christians don't think what happened yesterday is even God. Well, if they don't think it's God, what do they think it is? They think it's devils, but they don't know the difference between the Holy Spirit and a demon spirit. Praise the Lord. Let me tell you. It was God. It was God. And if it's God, holy. If it's God, it's heavy. If it's God, it's worthy of honor. And if it's worthy of honor, and if it's God, then it should be worthy of our participation rather than what Pastor Debbie was preaching, that everybody's a designated driver. I love what you preached about in your day. There was no such thing. Because they love the nightlife. They got the boogie on the disco. Yeah, I'm waiting to see how long it takes for. But anyhow. But the thing about it is.
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When.
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You have times of. And by the way, you might say, well, what is that all about? What was all that yesterday? It is actually the flow that started the church. It's actually the flow that caused the harvest of the early rain to actually be reaped. And it's the flow of the supernatural that in Acts chapter two, led them into what I like to call Acts Chapter three. And Chapter four and chapter five. And what do you see in those chapters? Outstanding miracles to the degree that when Peter's shadow was going down the street, people were. Listen, listen. People were throwing bodies at Peter's shadow. You don't throw a sick person. You don't throw people in. And it said in the street. In the street. Now, they did that because they saw it happen with Jesus. The Bible says they would cast the sick at his feet. Cast. Anybody go fishing ever? You know what it means to cast. You're tossing. Give me a blind crippled person and say, we're just going to throw you. But obviously they did it because they were coming out well healed of what they came for and the injuries they would have sustained by being tossed. And if it works, go with it. So what people desire and listen, I get it, I get it. We all want. We all want our shadow to go down the street and people to get healed. We want to be like Peter and John at the. With the lame man at the gate, beautiful. Where he says, such as I have give, I thee, in the name of Jesus, rise and walk. We want the miracles. So we said, well, we're going to pray for miracles. We're going to pray. We're just believing God for miracles. We're believing God for the miraculous. Well, the miraculous is a flow. It's not something that God does apart from us. It's something that God does. So we don't come to these meetings to see a miracle. We come to these meetings to be a miracle, to learn to cooperate with his power. Well, if folk won't let the power flow through their flesh, how do we think that we're suddenly going to sense God and yield to God and boldly act to pull somebody up out of. Out of the ground or throw them at their feet? I mean, listen, you try that without the anointing, you're going to go to jail, honey. We're going to have a prison ministry. No, you've got to. We've got to all learn. All. Because, listen, the harvest gets reaped by all of us, all of us. And so is there value to what we experienced yesterday? I could go on and on and on talking about the value, the only thing about those kinds of services, because God's power is moving and flowing and it gets upon you and really can saturate you, if you know what I mean by that. And I mean just a variety of benefits and it moves you quickly into a place of spiritual fullness. The only thing is it's kind of entertaining and funny. At the same time, I mean, it just really is. I mean, I talked all afternoon with my once. Well, first of all, how long did it. Did it even take me to get. I was stuck in my chair for. How long after the service? How long? An hour after the service. I couldn't move because when I stopped ministering, the power stopped flowing through me and just started to settle in me. And I don't know if anybody's ever seen, like, one of the Pirates of Caribbean movies where the body gets stuck in the tree. I won't go into the movies, but it's like I got kind of petrified, you know, and I was at a little bit of an angle, but I just was there and I couldn't get back. And finally, after a good period of time, I finally began to come back. Now, where was I? I was in a place we're going to talk about called in the Spirit. We ministered on that a little bit the other day. I was in the Spirit and my physical senses were suspended. I couldn't sit for five minutes at that angle by myself. But I wasn't by myself. I was embalmed with the anointing, with the power of God, everybody was able to experience a degree of that. And so, I mean, precious, important things happen. Yet that flow has, in my experience, traditionally been treated with an air of lightness. Or it's despised. You know, First Corinthians 14:1 says desire earnestly desire. It says spiritual gifts, but it means the same thing as it means in chapter 12, the things of the Spirit. The things of the Spirit doesn't say earnestly dread. It says earnestly desire. You got to want it. You got to want it. You got to desire these things, and you've got to be a willing participant in these things. Amen. And so, like I'm saying, they're traditionally seen with an air of lightness. And you. And I've seen this as long as I've been in these kind of meetings. You'll see people just sitting there having conversations, laughing at each laugh because it's like a free for all. It is free for all to participate. But it's not a time to unhook and leave reverence and honor out of it. If it's God, it's worthy of reverence. And like it was said the other night, reverence doesn't just mean you're quiet. Reverence means you cooperate and flow with God. You remember when Jesus cast the devil out of the man of Gadara and 2000, there were 2000 swine. There. And the demons went into the swine, and they ran violently down the hill, violently down the hill and drowned in the sea. That was reverence. That was order. It's just not ours, but God's. That was. Anytime you're flowing with God, it's reverence. But anytime you back out and get in the flesh and in the natural, that's irreverent. That's irreverent. And so to, you know, some folk have the idea, well, we're just going to sit there and be quiet. Well, if you're supposed to participate, then I'm not rebuking anybody. You understand? I'm trying to help all of us. Trying to help all of us. If you're supposed to participate, you might say, well, how would I know if. If it's the flow, if it's the predominant flow that's going on, you want to participate in it, it's for you. Especially if space is being given in the service. You know what I'm saying? When I get up here and I couldn't talk in English, I could speak in tongues. I couldn't speak in English. That happens sometimes. It's just your tongue gets up. Anyhow, I was saying earlier that my wife and I were talking after. Remember, we're talking about how things can be funny. We were talking after all afternoon about Pastor Jay. We just. Your tongue and all that. It was precious. It was precious. Hilarious, but precious. And it's okay that it's funny, but that doesn't mean it's light. Doesn't mean it's light. I don't mean to embarrass you by. Know, you all have to get past the, what do I look like? And you know why I was. You know why we were talking about him? Because I didn't see me, which was probably much worse in terms of who knows what, who knows what. But why would God choose these foolish things? Who has the natural desire to get up and dance in front of a room full of people who are not doing it? That's not normal. That's not natural. That's how you know it's God. Actually, that's how you know it's God. But when you yield, when you yield to that, yield doesn't mean stop. Yield means flow. Yield doesn't mean stop. Yield means flow. When you yield, it allows. You're not just flowing with God. You become a conduit through which God's power can flow. And when an entire congregation will yield as one, God's power can flow in measures. So Strong that we hadn't even been there yet and haven't even seen it yet. But that's what's been prophesied, that this era will contain all we have seen, plus things we haven't yet seen. Pastor Nancy preached several times. I've heard her preach on miracle, believing for miracles you haven't yet seen, things you haven't yet seen. There's things God wants to do that we haven't even seen. But we can tell you how to get there. But we have to. If we're going to get to those things, we have to participate in the flow that gets our flesh out of the way. I don't know. I'd just be embarrassed to do that. That lets us know what realm you're living in. You're living. You're living in the realm of self consciousness and personal embarrassment. What are people thinking? If you're concerned about what people are thinking, you're not concerned about what God's doing. Remember that old song We Need? Forget about yourself. Concentrate on God and worship him. You remember that one. Forget about yourself. Forget about yourself. One of the greatest revelations any Christian can get is that nobody's paying attention to you. Because I know, listen, I know the first time when I got born again, when I got saved, I went to a church that they did not raise their hands in church. In fact, they taught against it. They said, we know it's in the Bible, but we find that it draws attention to people. That's because if anybody did it, they're the only ones doing it. And of course it draws attention. Like, oh, my God, why do they have their hands in the air? And so the. And then. But I started hanging around with my friends who were charismatics, and they just let her rip and throw caution to the wind, you know what I mean? And just everything is, oh, my. At my secular college and I went to a. I went to a college that took the word secular very seriously. It was. At that time, it was rated the number two party school in the nation. But they had a black gospel choir on campus. Some of them were music majors, but just. Just from the student body. And I mean, them folk could sing and they had. It was a great music school to begin with. So, I mean, they could sing. And I remember going to that concert with the rest of just the secular student body because everyone invites their friends. They had a concert in the concert hall. And my friend rock. Have I ever told you about rock? Anyhow, great guy, great guy. But anyhow, he was a charismatic. He was a Charismatic. And I mean, I remember looking over in the doorway, he's up with his hands, just, just worshiping God, like, like all of us do. And I thought, how do you get to the point where you're so free that you can do that? I said, because I wouldn't in a million. You're just thinking to yourself, I just wouldn't in a million years. So I remember the first time I ever lifted my, my hands. I was so nervous to do it and I'm like, is it supposed to be palms out, palms in, halfway, all the way? Why? Because what am I concerned about? Am I doing it right? Because everybody's going to be focused on me and they're just not. They're just not. If you, who we focused on, we're focused on the Lord. If people's hands are in the air, they're focusing on God, not you. Amen. So I said all that to say that it's important that honor and reverence be restored for the moving of God, even when that movement is genuinely entertaining and genuinely funny at times, you know, and that's okay. But it's not just, oh, well, God has a sense of humor. It's not just that. It is not. There is so much purpose to that. And I'm saying that just. Well, number one, I was specifically led to this morning because folk have the idea, like, okay, we'll put up with this for just a little bit, but can we please get out of it as quickly as possible and move on? Well, we want to move with God and sometimes it is a, a 10 minute flow and that's, and that's what the anointing's there for. And then we go on to something else. Other times it's two or three days and there's purpose in it. There's purpose in it. We won't get to Acts chapter 3, 4 and 5 if we skip Acts chapter 2. We can't skip the flow of fullness and be used of God like, like, like he wants to use us. So we want to honor these things, you know, and as ministers, I have seen, I have seen different ones try to minister or maybe they'll sense that God wants to move and have a service along the lines of the flow of joy. And I know their motives are pure and their motives are right, but I've seen different ones get up and in the natural just start telling jokes in the natural to try to get the crowd going. That's not, that's not catering to the anointing. This is about the anointing we don't make things happen. We don't force things to happen. We flow with God. We flow with God, you understand? And so we. I just. It just seemed like some wisdom along these lines. And I'm learning, you understand? I'm learning these things. Praise the Lord. But. But as far as you'll go is as far as you'll go. If you'll just barely get your toes in, then that's as far as you'll go. But please, if you're just going to barely put your toes in, do not talk about the ankle, the waist deep and the deeper flows and how you long for it. I mean, let's. If we're going to do anything, let's be real. Let's not be a hypocrite. Let's be real. I remember Dr. Dufresne telling a story years ago, and, man, I just couldn't. Some. Some of the things he'd say. I'm like, really? Really? And I know he was telling the truth. The truth. There's no question about it. But he said, he talked about a particular church he was at, and this pastor was very well known, had a. Actually large ministry, television ministry, and he was ministering, and he said he had preached a little bit. And he said the Spirit came on him. That prophet's office just came on him. And he said, he started to step out and minister, and he said the pastor walked up behind him and whispered, you're done. What do you do? You're done. The pastor says, you're done. You're done. As far as he. As far as he'll let them go, that's as far as they got to go. You understand? We are in the era. And I didn't make this up. It's in the Bible. But I think the one that I heard use this phrase really was Dr. Dufresne, that we're in the era of the Word Spirit. And let me tell you a little what that means. We're not just in the word era. Not just the Word. Not just the Word. There was a teaching revival for a couple decades where it was so needed, so necessary that we learn the steps so that we don't be skipping steps and that we learn the principles and that we have some. Really have some wood for the fire, you know what I mean? That we. That we have some word, we have to have it. And teaching is still necessary, but we're not in the teaching revival anymore where everything is a teaching that's not now. Teaching is still necessary, but that's not the flow of God today, where everything is that it's word and spirit, where he's. Where demonstration follows the word, where the words confirmed with signs following, where there's something to hear and something to see. That's the era that you and I are in today. That's where we are today. That's where we are today. So it's required, it's necessary that we embrace all these flows, that we bring honor to every way that God flows. We don't need any Goldilocks Christians. You know what? You remember Goldilocks and the three Bears, huh? What was, what was Goldilocks Big problem. She was a little diva, wasn't she? This is too hot. This is too cold. I have to have it. Just forget that. She was breaking and entering. Should have been locked up. But no, no, she's going to break in and be picky. We don't need Goldilocks Christians, huh? Well, I don't like it like that. I don't like it like that. That. I don't like it like that. Yes, we want. Oh, we want revival. God send revival. Not that way, not that way. Not like that. Not like that. And I'm just. Listen, this is just me. You do you. But. I remember going to. I remember going to pastor Terry Graves, going to his church and the first night I'd never been there before. You want to be on your best behavior. You want to, you know, you use your faith to get invited and then all. Then suddenly you use your faith to get invited back. You know what I'm saying? And so I'm going there and already, and already believing God to get invited back. I got up, he introduced me. This was their 20th year anniversary service. And I got up to the pulpit and I said a few words and fell out and laid on my side for an hour and a half. You might say, is that scriptural? The prophet Ezekiel actually did it. But I didn't do it on purpose. It's not that I didn't get enough sleep. And I've reached in service where they actually have to take. Take me by the hands and just drag me out of the room. I don't know why. I don't plan. I did not plan yesterday. I was in the back reading my notes before we came out here. But my point is, I don't know about you, but if God wants me to lay on my side for an hour and a half, I'll do that because I don't go to bed with any of the pastors of the churches. I Preach for I don't go to bed with any of the congregation members. I go to bed with God. And I just. I have heard before when I've gone to bed, I've heard, why didn't you do what I told you to do? And I never want to hear that again. Because I. I don't like being up all night repenting. So if it means I sleep in the service and then I go home and sleep like a baby, that's what I'm going to do. And I just determined that I'm going all the way with him. I'm just going to go all the way, all the way, all the way, all the way. Because as far as you'll go is as far as we'll go. Whatever the flow, I like. I'm not a Goldilocks Christian. I'm not a cafeteria Christian. You know what a cafeteria is? We don't have them anymore. And if we did, Covid would have shut those things down. Because you remember Luby's Piccadilly? What was some of Morrison's birth? Fur. Fur, yeah. The Corral. All different ones. They have all the food laid out there. And you go down the line and say, I like this. I don't like that. I like this. I don't like that. I like this. I don't like that. That God's not a cafeteria. God. If it's God, if it's part of the. If it's God. If it's God. Now, there are times when things that are of God are not God. For right then. And we've seen so much of that sometimes that. That you like. You can't blame some folk for saying just no, thank you. It's weird. But if it's God and when it's God, I've decided ahead of time that I like it. I like it. You want to say that? You want to try it? I like it. And don't you know that if it's God, you actually will like it? Praise the Lord. So started to say, anyhow, I ended up in this place. Do you have your Bibles? Does any of what I just said count against my the time this morning? Would you turn to the first chapter of Revelation, please? Hallelujah. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. The good news is, if we'll embrace Acts, chapter two, where do we get to go? Chapter three? Chapter four, Chapter five. Amen. And things we hadn't even seen before. Because we're so conditioned to obeying God, we're so conditioned to flowing with him. And then when we all flow with him. Such power gets in manifestation. He's able to flow his power in such degrees. Amen. That it can go beyond the walls of the building, that it can go out. So I said all that to say I ended up the service yesterday stuck in the chair. When I finally could talk, I said, did my wife. Is my wife here? Because I couldn't open my eyes. I said, is she here or did she go to heaven? Because I wasn't sure. I didn't hear anything. I thought she was still next to me. They said they drug her out into the back room. And I was in this state, called in the Spirit. We started talking about that the other day. And do you remember what John said in Revelation, chapter one, verse number 10? We're going to read it. He said, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. And the result of that was that he heard some things and he saw some things and he experienced some things that he would not have otherwise seen, heard, or experienced. Then in the fourth chapter, in the fourth chapter of Revelation, it says in the first verse, after this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, which said, come up hither, and I will show you things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit. And so started to say to you the other day, how essential for our day and for the plan of God is this place called in the Spirit? In the Spirit. And really, that phrase is short for in the spiritual realm. In the spiritual realm. Do you know, friends, that there is a natural world and there is a spiritual world? The spiritual world is the realm of God. It's a realm of no limits. It's a realm of no impossibilities. And it's the realm upon which every fantasy movie is based, every superhero movie. It's all. What is it? It's all people that have powers from another realm. And the crazy thing is, most Christians believe those movies are fiction, That somebody just dreamed up superpowers. That's exactly what you are. Huh? If you're born again, you've been connected to the spirit. Spiritual realm. You're a spiritual man. You are a God man. Come on. You might not wear the tights and the cape, but regardless, you have powers and abilities, and you can live beyond this natural realm. Amen. The Jedi have nothing on you. Jesus was a Jedi. Joel is a Jedi in training, which makes me a Padawan learner. I understand, but that's who we are. That's who we are. We're Jedi. Whatever movie it is, whatever. Whatever mystical powers. And we sit there like, wouldn't that be great? We're living it. We are living this, or supposed to be. And God wants to take us further some of these things. Amen. He wants to take. And listen, we don't force our way into the spiritual realm. Matter of fact, you shouldn't. You don't force your way, but you position yourself. And we notice here that John, in chapter four, he said, immediately, I was in the spirit. So listen, he wrote seven letters to seven churches. He needed his physical senses for that. So he. Evidently, he was in the spirit. Then the Lord's dictating. He's in the spirit to a lesser degree. Did you hear that? A lesser degree. He's receiving from God. He's getting these letters. He's writing these letters. And then. And then he says, after this, I saw a door. I saw. I saw. He's done writing these letters, and all of a sudden he sees this door open in heaven. He says, immediately, I was in the spiritual realm. Letting us know that you can go there immediately or you could go there progressively. Now, in chapter one, when it says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, that leads me. When it says the Lord's Day, you know, you wonder, was he just. Was he worshiping? Was he. Was he feeding on the things of God? Was he. Was he just engaging in spiritual activity and ended up in the spirit? And because he got there in the spirit, he's in the spirit, and he's able to see some things and he's able to hear some things. So how do you get in the spirit? You get in the spirit by engaging in spiritual activity. You get in the spiritual realm by engaging in spiritual activity. Now, you have to be a spiritual person to do this. You might say, well, are you saying. I'm not. I'm not saying anybody's this or that. But you understand that the Bible talks about the natural man, the Bible talks about the spiritual man, and then the Bible talks about the carnal. The carnal one. You know the difference? A natural man is somebody who's not born again. That would be any of your lost friends, family members, associates. They are the. They are living, bound to the natural realm, subject to whatever thought comes in their head. They're open to the suggestions of the enemy. They're in the natural realm. That's the natural man. The carnal man is no different than the natural man, except they're born Again, they're a Christian who's living like the natural man. They're living in the flesh. Amen. And like Ephesians 2 says, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, whatever comes into their mind will come out of their mouth. Come on, you met. You met Christians. You might be sitting next to one of them. Just look straight ahead. You've met Christians before that don't live much different. They. They get in strife just like the people of the world. Huh? They watch the same stuff as the people. They drink the same stuff as the people of the world. They do. They do all the same stuff as the people of the world, but they're saved. Amen. That person is not going to be. Is not going to go in the Spirit because they're not spiritual. They're so disconnected from the spiritual realm that they're not sensitive to it. They can't recognize it. And so what they need to do is get in an atmosphere like this one regularly and get acclimated to that realm, get fed in the Word so that their spiritual senses develop, and then they can begin to sense God and then go with God. By engaging in spiritual activity now, you can get in the Spirit more than one way. I got in the Spirit yesterday. I wasn't praying. We were just in the flow of God. We were cooperating. Cooperating with his flow can put you in the Spirit. Any spiritual activity will move you toward the Spirit, toward this place called in the Spirit. Again, when we talk about getting to the place where you're so conscious of God that you're not even conscious of the natural realm and you can't force your way there. But here's how you position your way to go there, engage in spiritual activity. Well, what kind of activity is spiritual? You know, you can sit and meditate on the Word of God and just. Just quote and confess the Word, and confess the Word and confess the Word, and it will move you into the spiritual realm. Hope this isn't too boring. You can praise and worship and give thanks, and you can go in the Spirit. I have. I've been. I'm thinking of one prayer meeting that I was in actually, in particular, and folk were praying in tongues. And it's like the Spirit kept me from that. You might say, would he do that? Yeah, I just had no unction to pray in tongues, but I had great unction to just give thanks in English. And I just sat there and said, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And I tried not to disturb what was going on. Eventually, we all kind of Came together on this. But I just gave thanks and said, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And after about 10, 15 minutes of doing that, it kept getting stronger and stronger and stronger and stronger. And next thing you know, I'm prophesying some things and seeing some things, and I'm in the spirit. Praise and worship. What is it? Spiritual activity will get you there, and then God can put you there. Spiritual activity will take you there, and God will put you there. The only thing is, these things can take time. Oh, boy. These things take time. It can take time. Well, then another way and a very main way that you can get in the Spirit is through prayer. Through prayer. Now, can you handle one more verse? I know we've kind of been going and going, going here, but I'm about to find a gear. Can you go to the sixth chapter of Ephesians? Glory. I know today's different than yesterday, but that's okay. We're not. You know, it's religion that feels like everything has to be the same all the time. We. God is such a God of variety. I mean, and we can learn that variety and love every flavor, huh? Now, talking about this place called in the Spirit, Ephesians 6, and many of you know the verse that we're going to go to, and it's the. It's this passage where it's speaking about the armor of God. And verse 10 says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we. And this is a sobering verse, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual, wicked and high places. Who does he mean? We.
- [51:09]
A
Us.
- [51:10]
C
Us.
- [51:11]
B
Hopefully he's just talking about himself. Because I don't want to be wrestling against. I don't want to be wrestling against the wicked spirits in the heavenlies, huh? But unfortunately, when he says we, he means me and he means you. You have opposition. You have. And so he starts talking about this in the last different parts of the armor of God, and we won't get into all that. But over in the 18th verse, as part of it, he says, praying always with all prayer and supplication. Look at this. In the Spirit, in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Now, if you give me just, just a moment, I. I gotta tell you that when I would read this verse and See where it says praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, something on the inside kept telling me there's more there than what I was seeing. Because I would hear, you know, because of different other scriptures, that, well, in the Spirit means to pray in tongues. Well, let me tell you, to pray in the Spirit includes praying tongues, but is not confined to just that one thought. And then, you know, having read what we read in Revelation about John being in the Spirit in this place where you're just not even conscious of the natural realm, I'm thinking we're supposed to always. Huh, we're supposed to always praying always in that place. How am I. How am I going to go to work? How am I going to. How am I going to feed my family? You know what I mean? How are you going to live? So there obviously must be more than one meaning to this phrase in the Spirit. And actually I had heard Brother Kenneth Hagin preach something years ago, and it stayed with me. But he didn't. He didn't ever expound on it. He just said, greek scholars tell us that part of the meaning of this phrase in the Spirit in this verse, or part of this verse includes the idea of being led by the Spirit. Anybody here, you heard him, remember hearing him say that, but he didn't really expound on it. He just said, scholars tell us how many preachers you use that to stand behind. Scholars say, how many? Just say, brother Hagin said, but you know what? I had God deal with me about that one time the Lord actually spoke to me and he said, you know, the phrase brother Hagin said is not a scripture, meaning you need to actually have scripture. And he's right. He's right about that. God isn't that amazing. God was right about that. But anyhow, in recent years, God has helped me along these lives and he helped me. He took me to the. To the original language. And because I was looking for that and I didn't find it for the longest time. But he's helped me see some things because I lacked clarity on what this means in the Spirit. In this verse, what does it mean? Praying in the Spirit. And he showed me that really the word translated in, in many other places in Scripture is translated by, by. And really that's how it ought to be translated here and in many other places. And it is translated that way in many places. Over in First Corinthians, chapter 12, for example, when it talks about what we call the gifts of the Spirit, he says, for to one is given the Word of wisdom by same, same Greek word, by the Spirit, the same Greek word used here in this phrase. And so what it means in the Spirit should really be by the Spirit. And it means this. It means by means of the Spirit with reliance on the Spirit, within the boundaries of the Spirit, by the prompting the Spirit, by the unction of the Spirit, I know I'm going fast. By the direction of the Spirit, by the leading of the Spirit. It means that when it says praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Read it this way. Praying always with all prayer and supplication by means of the Spirit, relying on the Spirit, by the prompting of the Spirit, by the unction, the direction, by the leading of the Spirit, by the Spirit. Do you see it? Do you see that? I promise you, don't take my word for it. Study it out. Study it. It's the same. It is the same Greek word and it's translated by just as much as it would be translated in. You'd have to use the context to determine which one would be appropriate. And so this doesn't mean that you have to get in a place where you're lost in the Spirit in order to pray effectively. But what it's saying is that all your prayer, and really when it says praying always with all prayer, supplication, the word supplication includes the asking form of prayer. The first word where it says all prayer, that really is the word for praise, worship, thanksgiving. So you have your, you have your petition, you have your asking, and then you have your all the other all prayer, which includes your praise and your worship and thanksgiving. That's. Which is just right in line with all my sermons, which I loved. Do you see how essential this is? But I found it, what Brother Hagin talked about all those years ago when he said, scholars say that this. And many of you might have known this. So just forgive me for being real excited that I finally saw it. You know what I mean? But when he says, scholars say that this verse includes the idea of being led by the Spirit. I finally saw where it says that and how it says. And it means exactly that. And it means exactly that. And so when we talk about. And I'm going to start closing, you know what that means when a preacher says that? Nothing. That's right. No, but we're making up for yesterday a little bit when it comes to talking about what makes prayer effective. And we know if prayer is effective, it's going to help generate power, make power available. When you talk about Effective prayer. I can't think of anything that it means any more important than following the Spirit in prayer. And I have proven this out in my life that I mean, this is just everything following the Spirit in prayer. And I believe that phrase following the Spirit, that sums up everything that we said. By means of the Spirit, by the direction of the Spirit, by the prompting of the Spirit, by the leading of the Spirit, just following the Spirit. Pray, praying always with all prayer and supplication, following the Spirit. And if you do that, you'll quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. If you do that, you're equipped to wrestle against principalities, powers. Amen. Wicked spirits in the heavenly places. Come on now. You're equipped if you're doing it following the Spirit. So what does that mean? That means when you get up to pray, you don't just set your watch and say, we're going to praise for five minutes and then we're going to pray in tongues for 25 minutes. You know what I mean? You don't just do it as a clock thing. Now I know when you're first getting started. I remember, I love Pastor Nancy's testimony about how when she kind of closed herself up in her apartment and she said, and I think she said something like, we're just going to, going to get in the word for an hour and we're going to pray. And she put a time on it because. Hadn't developed yet. Hadn't developed yet. And so maybe you put the timer on, you know, for a little bit and that will help your development. But you want to get to the place where you are following the Spirit, real time, in real time as you pray. It's a cooperation, it's a full time cooperation between you and him while you're praying. This has helped me, this brought clarity to me. I can't tell you how thankful I am that God showed this to me. And I want to help you with it if it means something to you, you know, because now when I'm praying, I'm not just turning the motor on and letting it wind up by, you know, I'm not just, I'm not just mindlessly rattling off in tongues. You know what that's called? Babbling. It's not prayer. Anybody can go through the motions and be completely disengaged. Come on, can you get in your car and rev the engine in neutral? You're not driving. You're not driving. You're pretending. But you put it in gear, things are different. Amen. And when you follow The Spirit in prayer. Follow the Spirit in prayer. Oh, my goodness. You get there. And so when you're praying, when you're praying in your known language in English. So when I go, when I go, you're doing it by the Spirit. All prayer should be by the Spirit. All prayer is not in tongues. All prayer is by the Spirit. So most of the time when I go to pray, I'll just start out praising, but I'm paying attention to the movement of God on the inside of me. And when I start praying in the Spirit, I don't just start rattling off and disengage myself. I. I'm still paying attention to the utterance. And, you know, sometimes we so used to just rattling off hard and fast, you know what I mean? Just power tongues. How many know what power tongues are? Well, if there are times where you'll have the prompting to pray like that, but, you know, if you don't sometimes slow it down and actually pay attention to the movement of God on the inside of you, you'll miss stuff. You'll miss stuff. There's stuff that God would minister to you and help you with. It'll go right by you. So all prayer, we follow the Spirit. Here's what's great about this. If you'll learn to follow the Spirit in prayer, you'll know how to be led by the Spirit in life. And if you know how to follow the Spirit in prayer, you'll know what to do in a service like we had yesterday. Because if you're anything, if there's anybody here who's like, I was, I was in those services for three or four years and never sensed a thing, never felt a thing. It just seemed to bypass me every single time. And I'm like, God, what's wrong with me? Well, nothing was wrong with me from the standpoint of, of how I was wired. Meaning, it's like God didn't forget a wire. You know what I mean? He didn't leave the Holy Ghost wire off and just forget to connect that one when I got born again. No, it wasn't that. I just was not positioned to even sense what was going on because I was over in that carnal mental area. But as I began to develop my spirit, and thank God we had prayer in those morning services. And I began, I'm praying along with Brother Hagin, realize he's connected to something. He's connected to something, and he's following what he's connected to. And if it goes high, he goes high, and if it goes low, he goes Low. And if it gets quiet, he'll get. He'll actually get quiet. And all of that helps develop your spirit to where you can discern him, know when it's him, and in a service, actually participate. So. So the more I participated in those services, well, after about three or four years, all of a sudden I'm beginning to sense it when it happens. And then another year or two, I'm sensing it before it happens. And then by the end of my time there, I'm knowing what Brother Hagin's going to do before he does it. Yes. Not because I'm called to some. To this or that. I'm just. Just as a believer, developing your spirit. But over the years, as I've listened, there's been a whole lot more development that's happened since then. And it's come as I've learned to follow the spirit in everything, all the time, and especially in this area of prayer. Did you get anything helpful today? Praise God. I think we should do a little of this before we go. I know we've gone a little long today, and I won't apologize for it at all. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. It's been good. It's been right, dog. You want to come up with us? And anything you want to add, Clean up, correct, fix. Good, good, good, good. Praise the Lord. That means you can't do it later, once we get home?
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A
Okay.
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B
I'm just playing. She's so good about that. She always waits a couple hours. Glory. Lead us out. Lead us out.
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A
Oh, Father, we magnify it today. Hallelujah. We give you glory and honor and praise for who you are, all that you've done. We're so thankful to be saved today. Today. We're so thankful to be washed in the blood. We're so thankful to be made righteous. We're so thankful for all that Jesus has purchased, that we're healed. Hallelujah. That we've been set free. Hallelujah. We have peace in our minds. We're so thankful for your word. Hallelujah. That's. That's shown us who we are in you. Yes, Father. We are so grateful today to be in your presence, to be with you, to be in this company, to be a part of what you're doing in the last days. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
- [66:52]
B
Thank you.
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A
Thank you. Thank you. Oh, we thank you. We give you praise. We give you honor. Hallelujah. Oh, we lift up voices and we give you honor and praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, you're so good. You're so good. You're so good. You're so good. You're so good. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, father, today we yield ourselves to your precious. What you would have prayed, what you would have said. Your will. Your will. Color brande colombasa sona nation following.
- [70:00]
B
About. Oh.
- [70:01]
A
Causing the land, causing the land to come. Causing the lands.
- [70:05]
B
The lands to come.
- [70:06]
A
Causing the lands to come. Causing the property to come. Angels, you go.
- [70:13]
B
You go. You go.
- [70:14]
A
You're dispatched right now.
- [70:16]
B
Go.
- [70:17]
A
Cause the property to come. And the buildings, the buildings, the buildings.
- [70:47]
B
Easy, easy. Buildings, easy. Buildings, easy building. Syrup, syrup.
- [71:03]
A
Angelic activity.
- [71:04]
B
Oh, my God.
- [71:11]
A
Extreme, extreme. The rejoicing at the plan. Oh, make a cake.
- [72:14]
B
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my.
- [73:12]
A
Thank you. Thank you.
- [73:14]
B
Wow. Such.
- [73:27]
A
Such expansion.
- [73:29]
B
Yep, yep.
- [73:30]
A
Such expansion. Oh, father, thank you. Yes, yes. Thank you, father. We thank you for the expansion of the voices, for the arrow, the enlargement, the expansion. That's the word. The expansion. Expansion.
- [73:52]
B
Expansion.
- [73:53]
A
Expansion of the voices that you've called. That you've called that you raise up, that you're behind. Ah, yes, yes, yes. Your plan, your plan. Your plan. Your plan. Your plan. For the voices, the expansion. We thank you, we thank you for the favor. We thank you for the funds. We thank you for the direction and the plan. We thank you, we thank you for. All that is supposed to happen. Shall happen. Shall happen. Yes, yes.
- [74:23]
B
All.
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A
All.
- [74:24]
B
All.
- [74:25]
A
All the plan, all the buildings, all the properties, all the funds. We thank you for the protection on the voice. The protection on the voice. Thank you, father. That what is supposed to be said is said accurately. And it hits the target with the accuracy of the spirit. And that it lands. That it lands. That it lands. That it lands.
- [75:10]
B
Ah.
- [75:10]
A
And expands.
- [75:12]
B
Yes.
- [75:13]
A
In the hearts of men. Ah.
- [75:24]
B
Thank you.
- [75:25]
C
Thank you.
- [75:26]
A
Yep.
- [75:26]
B
Thank you.
- [75:27]
A
Yes, yes.
- [75:28]
B
Thank you.
- [75:28]
A
Yes.
- [75:29]
B
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- [75:31]
A
For the angels.
- [75:33]
B
Yeah.
- [75:34]
A
Yes, yes. Their activity in these last days. Oh, oh. We thank you. We thank you. Yes, yes, we thank you.
- [75:45]
B
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, master. Thank you. Thank you, master. Yes.
- [76:04]
C
Lay hold. Lay hold of eternal life.
- [76:09]
B
Lay hold prayer.
- [76:10]
C
Lay hold. The angels, the miraculous, the working of miracles were laying hold of the all things. Oh, here things are added. Things added. Yes, in the physical. Yes, in the physical or nature of man. Things. We're laying hold of the physical. Laying hold of arms. Growing arms. Yeah. You're laying hold of eyes that will see. In the natural. Laying hold. So of those Internal organs that are missing. Laying hold the physical things are being added. The miraculous. Laying hold of eternal life. You lay hold of it. I said the glory. The angelic. The angelic. Yes. The miracle. The voice. The voice. Miracle, Miracle. The speak miracle. Miracle. The doctor. Laying hold of the utterance, utterances that will have the voice and will say the healing for flow. Okay, so the flow, the flow, the flow. Laying hold of. Laying hold. Oh yeah. Laying hold of those right now. Laying hold of the voice that will speak, that will speak that this will dispel darkness in the nations, in the cities. Laying hold of eternal life. You lay hold of that eternal, eternal life. The life, the life of the Spirit in the sake. Laying hold of the. Yeah, yeah. The financial, the financial. That it. Laying hold of that finances the supreme court supply in the financial realm. Being added. Being added. Yeah, yeah. Laying hold of that buildings financial to fulfill the plan. To fulfill the plan. And this like Macedonian churches, they're laying hold of that grace, the distro that flow over. Oh my. The joy, the joy, the joy to give, the cheerfulness of giving and the heart of many. Laying hold of that grace, the grace, the glory, the glory of the supply of the Father of the sokko. Laying hold, laying hold, lay hold of that yet right now being added to the church. Yeah. Yes, Lord. Oh my. Oh my. I see that, Lord. I see. Laying hold of oh my. The utterance. Laying hold of the utterance by the by the Spirit to those that will stand in the pulpit. The utterances given by the Spirit. Oh my nations, nations. Oh my, oh my. Hallelujah. Oh my.
- [79:53]
B
Oh, oh.
- [79:55]
C
The prayer that will birth the plan, that will birth her, that will give birth, that will give my prayer by the Spirit giving birth to the will of God, to the plan of God. Laying hold of it right now. Oh my Lord, Right now in this place, in this. In the sokkot. The miracle crusade. Miracle. Laying hold of all this. What God has in store for this miracle crusade. And it just so it goes to. So laying hold of it. Lay hold of it. The flow, the miraculous of God.
- [80:53]
B
The flow, the flow, the flow of the miraculous. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
- [81:10]
C
This city you lay hold of the reign of God. Lay hold at the sea. Lay hold of the city of the rain, the early, the latter rain to bring the Baka, the Kosoya, the precious fruit of the earth. The precious fruit of the earth and the fullness of, of the Spirit laying hold upon. Because his coming is at hand.
- [81:57]
B
Hallelujah. Glory. Glory. Glory, glory. Glory to God. Glory, glory, glory Glory, glory. Let's give thanks. Glory to God. Thank you. Hallelujah. Oh, thank you, Father. Lift your voice and give thanks if you would, Just a little bit. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hallelujah. We give thanks we give thanks we give thanks we give thanks for your mercy and your grace for your mercy and your grace we appreciate we give thanks we give thanks Sing it with us we give thanks we give thanks with all our hearts we give thanks we give thanks for your mercy and your grace Is for your mercy we appreciate we appreciate we give thanks we give thanks Stand up, sing and let your heart agree we give thanks we give you thanks we give thanks thank you, Lord we give thanks we give thanks for your mercy for your mercy and your grace we appreciate we give thanks we give thanks we give thanks we give thanks thank you, Father we give thanks we give thanks for your mercy and your grace we appreciate we give thanks we give thanks we give thanks we give thanks.
- [85:09]
C
We.
- [85:09]
B
We give thanks we give thanks we give thanks for your mercy and your grace we appreciate we give thanks.
- [85:34]
C
We give thanks.
- [85:38]
A
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. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of Dufresne Ministries.