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Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message tonight. I, I wanted to share with you out of one of my favorite passages. This is in Psalm chapter 103 and starting with verse one, and I'm going to read all the way down through verse five, you'll be familiar, hopefully with this passage. It reads, bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his hol name. Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits. Listen, if we forget the wrong thing, that becomes a problem. We don't want to forget what he has made ours. And then verse number three, he says, who forgives all thine iniquities, who heals all thy diseases. And I want you to see something here that his healing power is as far reaching as his forgiving power. He says he forgives all, but it also says he heals all. Amen. Then verse four, it reads, he redeems thy life from destruction, who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies thy mouth with good things or good words, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. So what we say in our mouth is going to have an effect on our longevity. And I want to go back up to verse four, it says, who redeems thy life from destruction? I wanna talk to you about the different directions on that for a moment because we know this, that he has redeemed us from. He has redeemed us from spiritual death, from the destruction of hell. We understand he's redeemed us from the pit, the pit of corruption. So we could say certainly that it's referring to that when he redeemed our life from destruction. But I would dare to say that another way to understand this is he redeems us from anything that would bring destruction into our life. So we don't know how many times God has intervened and rescued our life from accidents, from tragedies that would have destroyed us, but because he redeems our life from destruction, and really that's part of the role of the angel that you have. You know, you have a guardian angel that is present with your life and they're there and part of their role is to protect you. And it says here that he redeems our life from destruction. And no doubt those angels play a role in that. But I want to even go a little further, because we know this, that he has rescued us so many times when we didn't even realize that he had intervened on our behalf. And like I said, that occurs sometimes without us even realizing it. But I want to focus in on something tonight. Another way he redeems our life from destruction is when we're a doer of the Word and when we're following the Spirit. Just being a doer of the Word will cause us to sidestep strategies of destruction that the devil had laid for us. Being a doer of the Word closes the door to the enemy. When you close the door to the enemy, you close the door to destruction. So when we say he redeems our life from destruction, yes, he may intervene at times. But just know this. He uses the Word as we do the Word. It navigates us around those things that would have had a destructive role in our life. And so just doing the Word is a protection. It closes the door to the enemy. You know, the Word tells us. It says that we are redeemed from the curse of the law we're not under. When you're born again, there is no curse on you. I don't care who said they put a curse on you. You're not under the curse. There is no ability for a curse to take hold of your life. You are redeemed from the curse of the law. But Paul warns us in Ephesians 4, verse 27, he says, neither give place to the devil. So as a Christian, we are redeemed from the curse of the law. But we can certainly the door to the enemy, or we can give place to the devil in our life. When we are a doer of the Word, we are keeping the door closed to the enemy in our life. And that's why we can say he redeems our life from destruction. And the more we do the Word, the more light of the Word we walk in, the safer our lives are. When we fail to be doers of the Word, when we don't walk in the light of the Word that we have, that's when we can open the door to the enemy. And then for God to be able to rescue us, we've got to get that door closed to the enemy. We've got to again be a doer of the Word. So he redeems our life from destruction. And like I said, he will just do it sometimes. Intervening without us knowing and has rescued our lives. But another thing is when we're a doer of the Word. Now I wanna look at another one. And that is another way he redeems our life from destruction is by us following the leading of the Spirit. The Spirit of God will lead us away from tragedy. The Spirit of God will lead us away from adversity. The Spirit of God will lead us away from that which would bring accident or anything in our life. How many times I have heard pastors and different Christians talk about how they were gonna make a trip and the Spirit of God warned, don't go that direction or don't go on that trip, and their lives were rescued. That's one way he redeems our life from destruction is he gives his Spirit to lead us. Now you say, well, I know of Christians who had tragedy, things that destroyed, brought destruction into their lives. Well, I just know this. The Holy Spirit is faithful to do his job. And if there is a miss, it's never on his side. It's always on our side. So know this says in Psalms 103, verse 4, that he redeems our life from destruction. Many times that happens with our participation. He is able to redeem us as we participate with him in His Word and we participate in obeying the leading of the Spirit. So it's being our. Our deliverance from destruction is connected to our obedience. So it's important that we realize that we have a role to play in following the leading of the Spirit. I know that there's. In 25 years of pastoring, you know, there is a little gal that her and her friends had made a date to go to the Super Bowl. It was within, just several states away. And so they had planned. They had paid all their money for their hotels and all the, you know, all the travel arrangements. And the morning she got up to make that trip, the Spirit of God said to her, don't go. And you can imagine when you've been planning for months to make a trip. And she had saved money and paid some money for that trip, and her friends came to pick her up. And when they came and picked her up, she said to them, she said, I'm sorry, I can't. Well, you can understand. Her friends were disappointed because they were planning as a group to go. And now this person, you know, kind of has bailed on the trip. And I don't know if. I don't know if they were Christians. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't, I don't know. But always people. You'll always have people who don't really understand when you have. When the Holy Spirit checks you and you go, I'm not going to do that. Other people might not understand it, but that's okay. You just let them misunderstand. But you. You stay Close to the leading of the Spirit. Obey that leading. And so they tried to talk her into going and she said, no, I'm not going. And so they went ahead and they made the trip without her. They went, they drove, it was quite a drive to get to that event. They drove all the way there, they had the event and they were coming home and they got hit. The car got hit by an 18 wheeler truck and everyone in the car was killed. Well, see, God redeemed her life from destruction, but it called for her participation. It called for her obedience to the leading of the spirit. So when it says he redeems our life from destruction, thank God for the Holy Spirit who plays a role in that. But we also have a role in that. Thank God for the Word, that plays a role in that. But we have a role to play in that. And that is that we have to be doers of the Word and we have to be obedient to the leading of the Spirit. I want to read to you, you know this verse, Romans 10, verse 17, it says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Now listen to that. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The word of God is what God is saying, right? I mean when the Bible is God speaking to us, so we could correctly say the word of God is what God is saying to us. So we could quote this verse this way. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by what God is saying to. So it's important that we know what is God saying to us, what is God dealing with us about? Because as we follow what he's saying to us, it's going to lead us out of the path of destruction. It's going to lead us out of the way of harm. And I just know this. The Holy Spirit is so faithful that we have never faced harm without us being warned. Now whether or not we recognize that warning is a whole nother thing. And that's why it's in important that we learn the voice of the Spirit, that we learn the leading of the Spirit. And I know that the Holy Spirit will train you on the daily unimportant things of life so that when the important things come along, you've already had some experience with recognizing his voice and following his voice. Don't wait until something big comes along. I mean there have been so many times that I've walked in to buy a piece of furniture and I mean I had the money for it, needed that piece of furniture even for my home. And I would go in there and the Spirit of God would check me, don't buy that. And I mean, it was exactly what I was looking for. And the Holy Ghost would check me, don't buy that. Well, what was it? He was using the everyday things to train me on. And then of course, something else would come along. But I want you to know that don't dismiss his leading just because it doesn't look to be a life and death situation. I mean, well, what couch I buy is not life and death, but it is life and death that I learn his leading. It's life and death for all of us that we learn his leading. I remember the testimony of a man years ago. He told us about this, that he was traveling. Oh my goodness, this would be in the early part of the 1900s. But he was telling my husband that he was traveling by train years ago. And the Spirit of God said to him, jump off the train. Now, you could easily say that, spirit of suicide, I rebuke you. But this man had enough experience with the voice of the Spirit, and he had learned to recognize. And when the Spirit of God told him to jump off that train, they were in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember whether or not it was in the wintertime, in the middle of snow or what. I don't remember the elements, but I know it was not convenient. And he said he went all the way to the very back car and he jumped off the train. And about a mile up the track, that train derailed. Now, see that the Spirit of God was redeeming his life. He was redeemed from destruction. And the Spirit of God was leading him into that. So that he was rescued from what destroyed others did not affect him. So we must learn to follow. Learn to recognize and follow the voice of the Spirit. Because he plays a role in our lives. Being redeemed from destruction. And we have to realize, how do we become acquainted with that voice? Well, one thing. By taking time to pray in the Holy Spirit, you make yourself more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. So take time every day to pray in the Spirit, because that will make you more sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Not only that, through fellowship with God, spending time in prayer with God, of course, spending time in His Word, but spending time in fellowshipping with God, you'll learn to recognize the leading of the Spirit. And know this. The Holy Spirit is the divine genius that is in us. We need to acknowledge his presence. We need to say, holy Spirit, I choose to follow youw leading today. I'm Going to give place to youo leading in my life. So be aware, be sensitive to Him. And then when he says something to you that doesn't make sense, don't dismiss it because I tell you what, his leadings sometimes are so slight. Don't wait for there to be a dramatic leading before you obey. Know this, when the Holy Spirit is leading you, there will always be a sense of peace in your Spirit, even if it doesn't make sense in your mind. Don't let your mind talk you out of or trump the leading that you have in your spirit. And I tell you what, I learned it half I learned it. I learned a full lesson of it when my husband went home to be with the Lord because there were so many things that I needed the Spirit's leading in. And thank God for the times I have learned to listen to Him. Many times people are faced with something that's destructive, whether it's sickness, whether it's financial difficulty, whether it's a marital thing, and they just pick up the certain Bible verses and they start throwing confessions at their need. I say this, always take time to hear the Spirit before you start trying to take a stand on something. Yes, resist the devil, absolutely stand your ground. But take time to hear what he would say to you. Cause faith comes by hearing. When you hear what the Spirit is saying to you, you say, well, Pastor Nancy, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. That's not just the written word of God. That is the spoken word by the Spirit of what the Spirit would speak to you. So anytime you're faced with a need, take time to hear from the Spirit because He's your lead. He's your guide. He'll lead you into total victory in the face of whatever need you're facing in your life. Amen. And I would just encourage you. Well, let me just say this. Many fail to. They fail at different places of tests and trials in their life. And the one reason is, is because they did not learn to recognize the leading of the Spirit. And he was in endeavoring to lead them out of a place of destruction. And because they didn't know his leading or recognize his leading, they had difficulties and tragedies and things happen in their life that could have been avoided. And so just. I tell you what, when the Spirit of God's leading you to do something, you'll have peace about it. If you don't have peace about it, don't do it. And I'm not talking about peace in your mind. I'm talking about Peace in your spirit. You can have your mind can kind of, if I could say this, be the devil trying to trouble your mind, but you can recognize, no, I've got peace about it in my spirit. And I'm gonna do that. Learn to recognize that leading of the Spirit and follow that peace because in that he'll redeem your life from destruction. Amen. I tell you, I would encourage you. I have a book and I'm not just trying to sell a book. But I tell you what, if you need to further understand how to follow the Spirit, I have a book called. What is it? Following the Holy Spirit. Is that the title? That's the title of it. I tell you what, you don't learn these things overnight. You need to study after these things. Brother Hagin has a fabulous book on following the Spirit. I think it's how you can be led by the Spirit of God, I believe is the title of his. Get hold of either one of those books or both of those books. I tell you, you need to study and become a student because thank God for the Word. But notice this, the Holy Spirit always uses the Word as his blueprint and he'll always lead you in line with the Word. But you also need to not only know the Word, you also need to know the leading of the Spirit because he's the that's going to play a role in redeeming your life from destruction. Amen. So I just wanted to share that with you tonight and I appreciate the time that I get with you and I thank you for taking time to be with me. I know that your lives are full and you've got full schedules, but thank you for taking this time. And we again want to remind you of the midweek service that's coming on at 7 o' clock Pacific time. And so we love you and we look forward to the next time we get to spend with you. God bless you, you. 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.