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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
My Experience In Faith, Part Two | Morgan Dufresne | Tuesday's Online Service | 5.12.20
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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Last week we started with talking about my personal experience with faith, and that is that I cannot base my faith on a personal experience, and neither can you. We are going to have experiences in faith. It's right that we have experiences in faith. I would expect that you're having experiences in your faith life with God, in your walk with God. But our faith is not to be based on an experience. It's to be based off of God's word and God's word only if you'll turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11. In verse one, it says, now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen seen. The amplified reads, now faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed, of the things we hope for being proof of things we do not see in the conviction of their reality. Faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses. This statement being proof of things we do not see in the conviction of their reality. How many of you know that we all have personal. We should all have personal convictions? You know, one, I love what one pastor said. It was really my pastor that I grew up with. He said we should all have personal convictions. But I don't necessarily teach my personal convictions. I teach the word of God. But we all have personal convictions. You know, my personal conviction is that my favorite sports team is better than your favorite sports team. That's a personal conviction that they're the best team to root for. My personal conviction is that I think barbecue is better than Chinese food. That's my personal conviction. You may love Panda Express and not be crazy about meat smothered in barbecue sauce. That's your personal conviction. But thank God that we have some personal convictions. And, you know, really, we could say a personal conviction. We need to have some personal opinions about the Word. I got some personal opinions, and they line up with God's opinion. God's opinion about me is what's most important. It's the opinion that matters most in my life. I need to have. My faith is based on God's personal opinion about me. And God's personal opinion says he loves me, he's provided for me, he sent his son to die for me. That is his personal opinion based on faith and assurance of the actions that Jesus took 2,000 years ago. So when we look at God's Word, we need to have convictions of the reality of the things that we are believing for that they're so real to us before we ever see them. Faith is for the unseen. Faith is not for a manifestation. When something manifests that, it stirs our faith. And this is the issue that happens is many are wanting. They're saying, well, if I just had a testimony, if I just had something, if God would just do this one thing for me, then it would just make believing so much easier. That's basing your faith off of a personal experience. God is wanting your faith to be in his word completely. Because a personal experience, personal experiences are influenced by the power of the word or by the power of the world. The word of God doesn't change. Your personal experience can change. You know something, somebody can come up to you and give you $1,000. But if your faith is based off of that one experience, the next time that something happens and you need money and the devil, what he can do is he can convince you that that money came to via another avenue, via another way. He'll convince you that God really didn't bring that thousand dollars. But see, if your conviction is based off the ever living, never changing word of God, no matter what amount, no matter what amount of money you need, you'll never be moved because God's word doesn't change. The devil cannot convince me that God's word is not the only truth to build my life on. He cannot convince me no matter what I face and, and no matter what God has done for me, and no matter how he tries to place what God has done in my life on another factor or another stroke of luck or what somebody, you know, maybe influenced in my life, he can try to place my thoughts somewhere else other than God, but he cannot. When my mind is renewed to God's word, he can't take that away from me. He cannot take away God's truth. God is his Word. And if his word is engrafted in your heart, and if faith is of the heart, then the devil cannot. He can try to influence circumstances to get you to live out of your mind and out of your senses, but he cannot take away the truth of God's word. I protect God's word with everything within me. You know, if we believe God's word, and that's our only conviction is the truth of God's word, and we're not basing our faith off of a personal experience, off of a manifestation. Like I said, you cannot base your faith off of a manifestation. Oh, I just need a manifestation. And then, then that will help my faith. Then I'll understand faith Faith must be based solely off God's word, because again, the devil can convince you that a manifestation came because of outside sources. You know, God is always working for us. He works for us and keeps us in ways we don't even see. And I trust God every day that he's watching over my family, that at times where I'm not with my children, I'm not with my husband, I'm not with my congregation, I'm not here, I'm not where I can't be everywhere at once. But I know this. The blood of Jesus is working. The blood of Jesus is keeping the power, and the blood of Jesus is providing and protecting. And I don't need to see a manifestation to believe that if you're always looking to a manifestation, worry will creep in when you don't see one. And so we talked about this last week. We cannot base our faith on a personal experience, and we certainly can't base our faith off of somebody else's faith personal experience. If you try to base your relationship with God and your faith in God's word and your faith for what you need in your life based off of somebody else, then you're, you're on sandy ground. We, we can look at the, the scripture and we don't have time to turn there, that the two homes that are built, one is on the rock and the other one is built on the sand. You're either building your house. If you build your life on somebody else, you're either trying to live in their house that they don't have room for you, or you're trying to build your house based off of something that you saw, something that you felt through them and through what they experienced and through their reality. You can't live based on that. That's shaky ground. Because all the devil has to do is bring a temptation to you, bring a feeling to you, bring a circumstance chance to you. And that person can't believe for you. That person can't live out faith for you. So if you're basing your faith on someone else, young people, listen up. If you're basing your blessing and your protection off of your parents, off of somebody that's kept guard over you, at some point, it's got to be your, your life of faith, it's got to be your conviction of faith. Because they can't call in your provision, they can't call in your promise. There's not room enough in their house of faith and their household. We're all of God's household of faith. But at some point, you've got to establish your own household within God's household. Hebrews 11. 1. Faith is not based on hope and want. We can say this way. Faith is not hope and want. Just because you want something doesn't mean you have faith. Just because. Because you hope for something doesn't mean you have faith. Faith is believing and acting. If you believe, if you have a conviction of the reality of what you're believing for, and you make actions in that direction, that is what faith is. Dad Hagen said it this way. Faith says the same thing God's word says. Faith says the same things as the word of God. It's saying the same thing as God's word today. Did you say the same thing as God's word? How about this? Did you think the same thing as God's word when things arrived in your life, when circumstances arrived, or when the thought of doubt arrived? That it's never going to manifest, it's never going to happen, you're never going to get healed, you're never going to receive what you're believing for. When that thought of doubt arrived, did you think the same thing as God thinks? And did you say the same thing that God says? Did you speak out of your mouth the living word of God? Or did you take that thought and begin to mull it over and mutter it to yourself and stir up a discussion, maybe with a family member based off of that thought? Faith means that we are. Well, let's say this. The Moffat's translation reads. Now, faith means that we are confident of what we hope for and convinced of what we do not see. I want to be. I want to live my life convinced of what I don't see and not moved by what I do see. Too often we are moved by what we see. We're moved by what we feel. Faith is being convinced of what we don't see. Faith is knowing that on the other side, in the spirit realm, that our answer is right there. That our answer. I'm not letting go of my answer. Even though I don't see it. I believe it's right there. I believe it's right in front of me. I believe that the provision is right in front of me. Well, Pastor, how do you know it's right in front of you by faith? I can't see it. I can't feel it. It's not in my bank account. Or maybe the healing that you're believing for, that you know is yours. And you say, but, Pastor, I've been believing for weeks. I've Been believing for months. I've been speaking the word. Why doesn't it manifest? You've got to believe before the manifestation. You have to be convinced, convicted, settled, and know as a real fact I am healed. And then you act according to what you believe, not according to what you feel. Now, I know that there's been times that I was convinced. And how many of you could say you were convinced that you were believing the word of God? And you were so sure that you were in faith, you had even taken steps of faith. But in the process of believing, I want us to look at something. I want us to be reminded of something. Something that we can be so convinced in ourselves. And we know God's word. We trust it. We see what he's provided, we see what he's promised. But why is it that we struggle with just a little bit of doubt? And the way we know we're struggling with a little bit of doubt is because we're trying to do in that small percentage and try to help along God's plan. I know I'm not the only one that's been there. We are believing. We are speaking God's word. We are. We have decided that we are going to receive this by faith. But just a part of us says, father, I'm going to. I'm going to come. And it could be with words, it could be with actions. It could be that we are trying to maneuver things and do things in the natural, that we're going to help our faith along. We're going to help the plan of God. But these were not actions that the Spirit gave us. You understand? The Spirit and our actions of faith always come by the leading of the Spirit. They come by the instruction of the Word. So if the Spirit didn't tell you to make an action, if you maybe saw an action somebody else took, and the Spirit doesn't bear witness for you to take that action. Don't do that. That's you trying to help along the plan of God. There's been times I know I've taken actions of faith too soon. My faith wasn't there for that action. But it seemed to be. As time passed and I meditated more on the Word, I began to stir myself up in the truths of the Word. I began to feed and engraft that Word into my heart, into my mind. That the day came when God told me, now take that action. That my faith level, my measure of faith was ready for that action. But if we try to take actions too soon, we are trying to take actions that are actually hurting God, working for us instead of helping. Because what it is, is us taking the care of that very thing. And it's a form of not casting your care. Often it takes more faith to sit back and to let our words do the work than it is to let our actions do the work. Faith is knowing when to sit down and fold our hands and, and worship God. And faith is knowing when to get up and put our hand to the plow, put our hand to a business deal, put our hand to an action, put our hand to maybe letting go of a medication. It takes just as much faith to sit down and worship and meditate on God's word as it does to get up and make an action according to God's word. But you have to know, this is why Jesus, it was so important for him to tell us, I have to go because the other one's coming. Jesus provided and the Spirit leads us into that provision. He knew that we had to have the Holy Ghost to help us get into all that he gave us, all that he laid up for us in heaven, all that he has provided in this life of believing God and trusting God. It was going to take all of the power of the Holy Spirit to help us get into that. And I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost because He never leaves me. Short of following God's specific plan for my life, he always leads me in the fullness. And the same goes for faith. He will lead you and guide you into your fullest measure of faith. If your measure of faith is this big, the Holy Ghost is, is going to lead you with every action and every word that that brings you to the fullness of that measure. He doesn't bring you back here where you've already been. He takes you further and further and further with God. So trust Him. When he impresses on your heart, when he leads you to make an action, do it. But if he's leading you to worship, to praise and to sit back and trust God and let him do the work, you have to do that also. So we have to know for ourselves which direction, which action are we to take. Both are actions, both are faith. And so we looked at this last week. We said Bible hope is expectation. But when it's not accompanied by faith, it always stays as an expectation instead of becoming a manifestation. I'm going to say that again. Bible hope is expecting expectation. That's the definition of Bible hope. Natural hope is simply wanting and wishing. But there is a Bible hope, and that is expectation. When it's not accompanied by faith. It always stays as an expectation instead of becoming a manifestation. When do we receive Bible hope? When do we receive an expectation? Well, I liken it like this. When I come to service or when I hear the Word, it stirs Bible hope in me. It stirs an expectation in me. What is faith? Faith is when I hope comes, when somebody else seems to come to me, when somebody else feeds me. The Word faith tends for me to grow when I myself feed on the Word. So hope. You can expect hope to come and rise up in your heart when the world word of God is preached. But if you never take the word of God preached, and as the Scripture talks about meditating therein day and night, taking and engrafting that word, making it part of you, you can't make something part of you if you don't do it every day. If I don't eat every day, food and nutrients are not a part of me. I'm empty and void by the third day. By the second day, well my gosh, by dinner time, I'm void of nutrients. I am void of being full of what I need. And so likewise, if the Bible says that this is the meat of the Word of God, you need to be in it every day. So hope and expectation is going to come when you hear God's Word, but don't expect expect it to stir full faith in you. Full faith is when you take the Word of God, when you look at it with your own eyes, when you speak to yourself, the scriptures, muttering to yourself, that's what meditation is. It's muttering and turning over God's Word in your own mouth. Isn't it interesting that we release faith with our mouth and that we're supposed to mutter God's Word with our mouth? We have yet to even get into the surface, it seems like, of the power of our words. Thank God for the teaching on the power of our words. Because we're moving into these things in a greater way, I believe. And so we want our expectation to not stay expectation. We want it to turn into manifestation. The only way we can do that, the only way you can take and hear is. And you know what? That's what testimonies are. Testimonies stir expectation, but it's not faith. Testimonies stir our expectation in who God is, in what he's done and what he will do, not just what he can do, what he will do, what he wants to do. But if we don't take and get in God's Word, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Not hearing testimonies, hearing by the Word of God. If we'll hear the Word of God accompanied with our expectation, we can have a manifestation. And we use this example last week. You know, coffee, coffee beans are the example of our expectation. And if they don't get ground, we ground. We grind them in expectation of getting our energy drink from. For the morning or the afternoon or whatever you. Whenever you drink coffee, coffee beans get ground and expectation. But without me being mixed with boiling water, what you desire never manifests without pouring that water in and those two mixing together and out comes what you're believing for. That's what hope and faith are. We, we have the water of the Word that we mix with our expectation. You can't have one. And you know, water quenches our thirst, but expectation tells us and shows us what we can have. We need both. We need to have Bible hope and we need to have scriptural faith. Amen. So our wants and our desires, they need to be straight. They stir, we could say they stir our expectations, wants and desires. I see things that I want, or I see things I desire, or maybe I need. And that should stir in us an expectation that God will. God will. God can. God has and God will complete. So we get excited. But the Word of God turns an expectation into the realization of receiving that want and that desire for me, not for somebody else, but for me. Without God's Word, you will not be able to believe him. When you see something with your natural eye, you want it. But when you see it with your spirit, you'll believe it. When you see with your spirit in the word of God, what He's provided and what he's promised, you'll believe it. But if you only see things with your natural eye, if you just look and say, I want that, I want that. I want God to do this for me, you'll have a want. But when you see it with your spirit, the goal is not just to see and be motivated and sit in enough motivational classes that we're just stirred to action. I tell you what, there's nothing more motivating than the word of God, God in my mouth and in my heart, stirring me to action, be it a passive action or an active action. Passive actions are worshiping, praising, praying in the Spirit, answering with God's word, every thought. Active actions are the ones the Spirit leads us into. The Spirit must direct people both. Amen. God's word is the lens you that your spirit can see through. Now, I want us to look at a couple things and clarify some things. I don't know if we got into this last week, but we looked at provision versus a promise. God has promised to heal you. He's provided healing. God has promised to provide for you. He is the provider. God. Excuse me, back up. He hasn't promised to heal you, he has healed you. He hasn't promised to provide for you. He is the provider and he hasn't promised to deliver you. He already has. I want us to be very careful in talking about he's promised me healing, he's promised me provision because sometimes, and it seems like maybe were splitting hairs with us, but dad Hagin talked about being very careful, saying that God has promised us healing because he hasn't promised us healing, he provided healing. We are the healed. We have healing on the inside of us. He has delivered us from poverty, sickness and spiritual death. So it's very, we need to be very mindful to say I received receive my promise of healing. Because a promise can sound as it's if. As it's in the future. If I promise my children something, if I promise to take them maybe to target to get something, if I promise to take them to get donuts when I make that promise, that's something in the future, that's something that I'm going to do for them in the future, that's something I'm going to going to take them into. I'm going to provide for them in the future. You don't call healing and provision, financial provision and deliverance a promise. We call it that what it is, it's a provision. And so we can lay hold of that right now, we can receive of that right now a promise. There's the promise of children. Obey your parents, honor your father and mother that it may be well with you and that you may live long. What is that? God is going to bring us into that promise as we obey his word. Promises are if we obey God's word, He will do for us. Don't ever think you have to do something for your healing. Don't ever think you have to qualify and do something for him to provide and meet your needs. Now there is more in God, I'm sure, stretching for not just to live with my needs met. I want to go above and beyond and live in the abundant flow that Jesus provided for me. And God may give me actions of faith, but it doesn't mean that it's a promise. It means it's stored up, laid up and ready for me. But because we live in a natural World. I've got to take some actions of faith and put myself in a position to receive what's right there waiting for, for me. You understand? If you would, in your mind, in your consciousness, picture all that God has provided for you right here, waiting. We're just learning how to take it. We're learning how to bring it from the spirit realm into the natural realm. That's what I'm doing. I'm learning with growth in the Word, with the renewing of my mind, with the transforming of of myself and getting it in line with God's Word in every action that I take meaning, learning to cast the care and not take it back. I'm learning to take and become more proficient at taking what's already been provided for me. So we want to be careful that we don't say, I know God's promised me healing. I know God's promised to meet all my needs. No, he didn't just promise. He already provided it. Jesus laid his life down and became poor so that you, when you got born again, you walked into being rich, you walked into healing. When you received him as your Lord and Savior, healing and provision came in you. Well, Pastor, then why do I have needs? Why do I still struggle with these symptoms in my body? Because you haven't yet gotten into the fullness of the revelation. Listen, God is not a hard taskmaster. But when you realize you still have an enemy, you still have somebody that's opposing. And the more proficient I become at learning to answer my enemy, the quicker things can manifest for me. God is not saying that things have to take a long time. You know, there's things that I've been believing for that seems like a long time. But what I've decided is I'm going to be proficient where I'm at. And the more proficient I become where I'm at, it'll get quicker and quicker and quicker as I grow in faith. You don't arrive at the fullness of faith just because you saw one manifestation. That's why I say you cannot base your life of faith off of one manifestation. My personal experience in faith is not based on my personal experience. It's based off God's word. And if I'm growing and developing in God's word, I can become more like him. That when I speak to the mountain, it immediately gets removed. That's what we're working towards. But we still have to remember we have a natural body. This body has not been saved. This spirit has been saved. The sooner I can learn to live out of the fullness in my spirit, the quicker the manifestation of healing can come, the sooner I learn to walk in every, every day that every thought is in line with God's word of provision for me, the quicker the manifestation of money can come. Does that make sense to you? That we must learn out of what has been redeemed and not out of what hasn't? Too often we try to satisfy what has not been saved. Your spirit man has been saved, born again, washed clean. It was the blood of Jesus that reached in with the miracle working power of God and translated you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Turn you over from the power of Satan under the power of God that is on the inside of you. If you can learn through God's word and the help of the Spirit to live every moment of every day from that place, and it is possible, then we can see manifestations come much quicker. That is why great men of faith saw great manifestations so quickly. They learned to live by the spirit, spirit through the spirit and only out of their spirit. They weren't looking to satisfy through natural things, the feelings and the emotions, and satisfy through the five senses, their body. They didn't rely on a manifestation to bring relief. They relied on the word of God to bring relief. If you want a manifestation for relief, you're living out of the unsaved, unrenewed natural body. Amen. So promises are all to be. Promises and provision, they're both to be received by faith. It doesn't mean promises are less than. It's all to be received by faith. We should be believing for it all. Amen. Now I want us to get into one thing tonight. I did not get as far as I would have liked, but go with me, if you would, to John chapter 20 and then we'll close with this. And we're going to keep going along these lines because the Spirit of God has just been speaking more and more to build on this. And John chapter 20 and talking in line with this subject of the natural man, the natural being. Look at here at John 20 and well, we could start in this chapter. We see that Jesus appears to Mary and then he appears to the disciples. And there was one of the 12 in verse 24. But Thomas, one of the 12 called the Twin, was not with them them when Jesus came. Oh my goodness, how critical is being in the right place. Thomas was not with the people that he had been with for the last three years. I put myself in Thomas shoes and to try to think why Thomas would not, why Would I not be with the 12? We know this, that there were times that Thomas tried to act impulsively. He said to Jesus, talking about going when they were going to go back to Judea, let's just go and die with him. Meaning let's just go and die with Jesus. With Lazarus was already dead and he got into his emotions. He tried to process Jesus through his emotions. You cannot receive, receive anything from God through your emotions. Stop looking to get an emotion when you worship. Stop looking to get an emotion when you read God's Word. I need truth, not emotions. My emotions change. They aren't truth. Now oftentimes when the light of the Word comes, praise God, it affects our emotions, but we're not looking for an emotion to tell us we've received a word of truth and revelation from God's Word. So we had seen Thomas. He acted out of his emotions and there was a time that he responded. Well, Jesus responded him, I'm the way, the truth and the life meaning. Hey, get out of your emotions and look at me. Just keep your eyes on me. But Thomas, right here, he was not where he was supposed to be. And I put myself in his shoes. Why would Thomas not be with him? Well, if Thomas is more an emotional decision maker and an act, he tries to act out of what he knows in the natural. There's another instance he did this, then it would seem right that when Jesus leaves, and I'm sure Thomas, this is how I picture Thomas thinking of this. Well, we just spent all three of these years and we saw all these miracles. And now here's my life, it's changed once again. I left my job, I left my career to follow this man. And I saw all these miracles. And yet he still died. Because Thomas did not understand in his spirit, the truth of salvation. Jesus maybe worked miracles. But was Jesus really the miracle worker? To Thomas, Jesus was called the Messiah. But was he going to be a savior to Thomas? Notice when Mary saw him, she instantly believed. And really we can look back both Mary and Martha. Martha recognized at Lazarus Tomb, Martha said to Jesus, yes, you are my Savior. She didn't understand. She wanted Jesus there. If Jesus would have been there, her brother would have never died. But nonetheless, when Jesus said and talked to her about believing, she said, you know what? You are the Messiah. What was that? That was faith. She had not seen him die, she had not seen him being raised from the dead. But she still believed he was the sent one, the Messiah that was going to be bruised, have stripes on his back, just as Isaiah had said and was going to pay the price for their sins. She still believed, no matter what her emotions were telling her. So here's Thomas and he's doubting because he's in the wrong place. Why was he in the wrong place? Because I believe his emotions got the best of him. His emotions pulled him away from his company of faith. That's what your emotions will do. If you constantly fellowship with people who feed your emotions, who feed your natural man, you will be pulled away from the place God has brought you to. God had brought him to, into the fellowship and the company of those that Jesus said, in my name you will cast out devils. In my name you will do these works and greater. But here he is separated from the group, separated from the crowd. I just pictured Thomas at home and he's sitting on his couch going, well, what do we do now? Jesus died. I thought that this was all going to go right. I thought that the Messiah. We cannot put God in a box about what we think he's going to do and how he's going to do it. I believe that Thomas didn't understand why things happened. He did not have the revelation. Just because you don't have the revelation of what God and what God is going to do, don't quit and give up on your faith. Pursue revelation. If he would have stayed with the 12, he would have not struggled to believe. If you leave the place God has put you, the place of receiving for your life, where your family has been blessed and set free and delivered and where you have received great revelation. Thomas had received great revelation from Jesus with the disciples. Why would you leave the group that you have had your life impacted in the greatest way it's ever. It's ever. It's ever seen. Why would you leave them? Because of emotion. The picturing him dying on the cross was too much. You don't understand how things. You know something. You may not understand some things about your situation, but don't leave. Don't go somewhere else in your thought life. Don't go somewhere else physically. Don't let your mind. We can see Thomas as an example. He let his. You know, you say, well, I would never leave my church. But you can let your mind leave the word of God. You can let your mind leave the place it's supposed to be, which is in the word of God. Don't let your mind do what Thomas did and leave in doubt and unbelief. Leave because the emotions are too much, the pressure is too much, and you're just going to pick up and leave where you've received your help and your miracles. Thomas picked up and left the 12. He picked up as one of the 12 and left the group. Don't leave where you know your answer is, don't leave the word of God. Please don't leave. No matter what you're facing, don't leave God's word. Hold on tight. They should have been holding on tight. Thank God. It looks like the other 10 were holding on tight to one another. Holding fast to one another in difficult times. That is the wonderful thing of the unity of the faith. That is why the church, the local church, is so precious. Believers are so precious to God because we strengthen one another. We stir one another to not give up, to not let go, to not quit. Amen. And so he says, and we'll close with this. So the disciples listen to this. They kept telling him. They didn't tell Thomas once. They kept telling him, we have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless I see what is this? Thomas is basing his faith on the lack of a personal experience. Or we could say it this way. Thomas is basing his doubt on a lack of personal experience. So the other disciples kept telling him, we have seen the Lord. But he said, unless I see in his hands the marks made by the nails and put my finger, he's going to go one step further. He's got to see, but he's also got to touch it with his hands. If I put. And I put my finger into the nail prints and put my hands into his side, I will never believe it. Eight days later, his disciples were again at the house. And Thomas was with him. Thank God, he made the right decision to go with those of like precious faith. And Jesus came though they were behind the closed doors and stood among them and said, peace to you. Then he said to Thomas, reach out your finger. Here, see my side. Put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not be faithless and incredulous, but stop your unbelief and believe. Jesus is commanding us right now. If there's doubt and unbelief, stop it. You can't. What he was saying to Thomas is you can't stop. Stop this. Thomas answered him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said, and because you have seen me, Thomas, do you now believe and have faith? Blessed and notice this. Happy to be envied are those who have never seen me and yet have believed. If you can believe that Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead for your sins and that you are now Born again child of God. If you can believe that of Jesus, you can believe that God will supply all your needs. You can believe that you are the healed. You can believe that abundance is yours. You can believe that every promise is available to you. That's what he's saying here. If you can believe and haven't seen Me, then you are blessed. You should be happy because now you can believe anything from me. There are also many other signs and miracles which Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written and recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. There it is in one portion of a sentence that this book is written and recorded that you will believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is your Savior, is your healer and is your provider. So if you're not in this book, if you're not reading about who your Savior is, what he did and what he has done for you, then your personal experience of faith is going to struggle. Our faith is based solely on God's Word and God's truths and the truth of our Savior. You today, you can stop it just like Thomas did. You can choose to stop turning over doubt and unbelief. You can choose to stop looking for things to manifest so that you'll believe that you received. Receiving comes at the time of believing God's Word and acting on it. That's when you receive. Receiving is not manifestation. Receiving is expectation mixed with faith and acting like the Word of God is true. Amen. I am so thrilled that God has given us His Word. I'm grateful that we don't have to approach and come to changes in our life and situations in our life and struggle with what are we going to do, where are we going to go, how are we going to make it happen? Because it's not me who performs God's will in my life. It is God who performs His Word, God who performs his will. And all I need to do is agree with it. All I have to do is say yes and add my expectation and my faith to God's Word and the truths in God's Word and He shall bring it to pass. Do you believe that he shall bring it to pass? You can say it with me. He shall bring it to pass. Faith believes God will bring it to pass. He will surely bring it into manifestation. The manifestation is not my responsibility and I will not base my personal faith experience on an experience in faith or somebody else's experience. It's only based on God's Word. Amen well, we love you, congregation. We will see you soon and you're blessed. And go to bed declaring God's word. If you have to, get in God's word before you lay your head down, make some adjustments, make some changes, and just believe that God's word is the truth for your life, because it is. Amen. We love you. Good night, everyone. We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at defrainministries.org to learn of our upcoming meetings. Share your testimony, become a partner or visit our online store. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of defrain Ministries.