Podcast Summary: "Righteousness" | Nancy Dufresne | Fresno, CA | JTH Crusades 2024 | Tuesday PM
Podcast: Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Speaker: Pastor Nancy Dufresne
Date: March 27, 2024
Location: Fresno, CA (JTH Crusades 2024)
Episode Overview
This episode centers on the foundational theme of righteousness within the life of the believer. Pastor Nancy Dufresne powerfully teaches that righteousness is not just a theological concept but the essential basis for daily fellowship with God, victorious living, peace, and authority. The episode aims to move listeners from a nominal, struggling Christian life into a continual, confident walk with God that arises from a solid, meditated, and spoken understanding of their righteousness in Christ.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. The Purpose of Righteousness: Fellowship with God
[02:00 – 09:00]
- God’s core desire is family and fellowship. Righteousness is essential because it makes continuous fellowship with Him possible.
- Righteousness is not performance-based, nor about “acting right” — it's about the believer’s position in Christ, granted by Jesus’ sacrifice.
- Quote:
“The purpose of righteousness is fellowship with God. Because without righteousness, there could be no fellowship.” – Nancy Dufresne [03:15]
- Believers should not settle for feeling God’s presence only during moments of ministry or anointing, but pursue daily, conscious awareness and acknowledgment of His presence.
2. What You Acknowledge Directs Your Life
[09:00 – 12:00]
- The difference between a nominal Christian and one who walks in victory is acknowledgment — specifically, acknowledging God above fears, failures, past, or feelings.
- Reiterates: “If you don’t like what’s flowing, change what’s directing you. How? Change what you’re acknowledging.” – Nancy Dufresne [10:18]
3. Righteousness is a Gift, Not an Attainment
[12:00 – 16:00]
- Drawing from teaching earlier that morning (by Joel), Nancy highlights:
“Jesus, who had never sinned, was made sin; us, who had never been righteous, made righteous.” – Nancy Dufresne [14:20]
- Sin consciousness (dwelling on past wrongs, feelings of unworthiness) is the enemy’s tactic to separate us from God’s flow; righteousness consciousness is the antidote.
- The enemy, especially during prayer, tries to distract believers by stirring up past sins and self-focus—this is to rob from intimacy and fellowship.
4. Why Righteousness is Vital
[16:00 – 24:00]
- Without righteousness, there is no real walk with God, no authority in prayer, and no spiritual fulfillment.
- Righteousness is our vital organ (the 'breastplate' in Ephesians 6).
“It’s righteousness that causes you to live different every day... Righteousness is vital organ in the life of the believer.” – Nancy Dufresne [18:42]
- Abraham’s relationship with God was based on righteousness by faith, not feelings or background.
5. Answering Sin Consciousness with Righteousness Consciousness
[24:00 – 33:00]
- When the accuser brings up the past, respond based on your identity in Christ, not your history or feelings.
- Anecdote: Nancy shares a personal moment when Jesus told her,
“You have failed many, many times. But I never have. So I share my success with you.” [28:52]
- Don’t let every prayer session begin with repentance; that’s sin consciousness taking the lead instead of righteousness.
6. Establishing (Not Just Receiving) Righteousness
[33:00 – 50:00]
- Isaiah 54 and its promises: Our peace and victory flow from being established in righteousness—not just the knowledge of it.
- Peace is linked to being taught the Word — prioritize sitting under life-giving teaching for peace and establishment.
- “You can have something, but not be established in it... God made us righteous, but we are the ones who build that truth in us through the teaching.” – Nancy Dufresne [41:23]
- Our conversation (what we talk about, especially the past) must change—stop reliving past hurts, failures, or wrongs.
7. Righteousness Empowers Peace, Joy, and Authority
[50:00 – 01:09:00]
- Isaiah 54:14 — When established in righteousness, you are “far from oppression, for you shall not fear.”
- Righteousness is not about coping with life’s problems; it’s about ruling and reigning over them.
“We’re not called to cope. We’re called to rule and reign. Not cope. Rule and reign.” – Nancy Dufresne [54:21]
- Practical example: When fear or anxiety comes, verbally reject it by affirming your righteousness.
- Righteousness is the gateway for peace and joy—the “kingdom flow.” Peace and joy are proportional to one’s understanding and establishment in righteousness (Romans 14:17).
8. Living in the Position (Not the Feeling) of Righteousness
[01:09:00 – 01:25:00]
- Righteousness isn’t a fluctuating feeling; it’s an unchanging position.
- Even if feelings are absent or negative, stand on the truth of righteousness—and refuse to let feelings run your walk with God.
- If you sin, confess (1 John 1:9) and instantly receive forgiveness, stepping right back into the flow of righteousness—no days or weeks needed in condemnation.
- “The blood of Jesus dealt with my past…and it’s the blood that bought my righteousness. What’s this mean? Live as though you never missed it.” – Nancy Dufresne [01:15:04]
9. Righteousness Governs Spiritual Discipline and Daily Life
[01:25:00 – 01:31:00]
- Do not turn spiritual disciplines (prayer, Bible reading) into “laws” that measure or earn righteousness — these are flows, not benchmarks for approval.
- True understanding of righteousness leads to constant fellowship, all-day communication with God.
- Humorous aside: Regulating the temperature in the sanctuary is compared to not fluctuating your walk with God based on spiritual activities [01:30:37].
10. Righteousness Answers the Struggles of Life
[01:32:00 – 01:40:00]
- Isaiah 32:17 — The “work” of righteousness is peace, "the effect is quietness and assurance forever."
- Struggles (in marriage, finances, personal life) are greatly diminished as righteousness is established.
- Quote from E.W. Kenyon:
“To most of us, what we were before we found Christ so dominates our minds... We belittle our redemption and magnify our failures.” [01:34:50]
- The victorious stance: “Set your mind on things above... As our minds are renewed, the devil’s no longer a problem to us. As we establish that we’re the righteousness of God, nothing causes us to step back and be overwhelmed. We overwhelm opposition.” – Nancy Dufresne [01:36:20]
11. Practical Faith, Reverence, and Accuracy
[01:40:00 – 01:48:00]
- Skillful, specific faith (Hebrews 5:7, AMP): Jesus was definite and accurate in prayer, as should we be as righteous children of God.
- Reverence is essential for miracles and answered prayer—not just outward respect, but prioritizing God’s Word and leading.
- “When you know who you are, you walk different. Everything is purposeful. You live accurate. You speak accurate. You think accurate.” – Nancy Dufresne [01:46:10]
12. Continual Confession and Fellowship
[01:48:00 – 01:53:00]
- Kenyon: “The believer should be continually confessing his righteousness and his fellowship in Christ.”
- Regularly declare, out loud, who you are and what Christ has accomplished for you.
- End with encouragement to “magnify that which cost Jesus everything for you to have...magnify that His blood put it back as though we never missed it.” – Nancy Dufresne [01:52:00]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “If you don’t like what’s flowing, change what’s directing you. How do you change what's directing you? Change what you’re acknowledging.” [10:18]
- “Righteousness takes you off of you and puts you on Him—Jesus, what He did.” [21:30]
- “How do you establish it in you? You meditate on it.” [56:30]
- “If you're troubled in your mind, you're out of the flow of the Holy Ghost.” [01:03:11]
- “Live as though you never missed it... Because you’re operating from your position of righteousness when you do that, not your feeling of it.” [01:15:04]
- “We overwhelm opposition. Why? Because positionally, for that opposition to take us on, it has to take God on.” [01:36:20]
- “When you know who you are, you walk different. Everything is purposeful.” [01:46:10]
Key Timestamps
- 03:15 — Fellowship with God is the purpose and fruit of righteousness
- 10:18 — “What you acknowledge is what's governing us...”
- 14:20 — “Jesus was made sin; we were made righteous.”
- 28:52 — Jesus tells Nancy: “You have failed many times. But I never have. So I share my success with you.”
- 41:23 — “You can have something, but not be established in it...”
- 54:21 — “We’re not called to cope. We’re called to rule and reign.”
- 01:03:11 — If you are out of peace and joy, you’re “out of the flow of the Holy Ghost.”
- 01:15:04 — Live and pray as though “you never missed it.”
- 01:34:50 — Kenyon on forgetting our new identity in Christ (“We belittle our redemption and magnify our failures.”)
- 01:46:10 — “When you know who you are, you walk different...accuracy.”
- 01:52:00 — “Magnify that His blood put it back as though we never missed it.”
Conclusion & Call to Action
- Pastor Nancy closes with a Gospel invitation for salvation and returning to fellowship, underlining the simplicity and immediacy of stepping into righteousness through faith and confession in Christ [01:54:00].
- The congregation celebrates a young man, Jacob's decision for Christ.
Takeaways
- Righteousness is not a feeling or achievement, but a gift and a spiritual position, daily accessed through faith, meditation, confession, and acknowledgment.
- Moving from sin-consciousness to righteousness-consciousness is key for victory, peace, and joy.
- Spiritual disciplines flow out of, not into, righteousness. The believer is to walk as one who is always, already right with God—living, acting, and praying from that place.
For further teachings or to replay this impactful message, visit dufresneministries.org