Podcast Summary: The Goodness & Mercy Of God

Speaker: Pastor Nancy Dufresne
Event: Miracle Crusade 2023, Georgetown, TX
Episode Date: October 20, 2023

Overview: Episode Theme & Purpose

Pastor Nancy Dufresne explores the nature of God's goodness and mercy, emphasizing how these attributes are foundational to Christian life. She challenges listeners to become skillful at receiving—not just believing in—God's goodness and mercy, especially in the face of personal failure, accusation, and correction. Drawing from multiple Bible passages, Pastor Nancy illustrates how God’s goodness is not performance-based but rooted in His unchanging nature.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Distinction of God’s Goodness

• Not just something God does, but who He is:

  • “He can’t do anything but good, because good is what He is, and He is good.”
  • God’s actions flow from His inherent goodness, which expresses itself through mercy ([01:35]).

• Mercy as the outflow of goodness:

  • “His goodness takes on the form of mercy. And when you’re partaking of His mercy, that’s goodness working.” ([02:30])

2. Understanding the Source of Suffering & Misattribution to God

• Distinguishing God from the cause of evil:

  • Citing John 10:10, Nancy clarifies that God is not the author of harm, suffering, or injustice.
  • “Anything that’s not good, God had nothing to do with—that means anyone who treated you wrongly, God had nothing to do with that.” ([03:30])

• Authority and responsibility:

  • Humans, given authority on earth, are often the cause behind suffering through their own choices, not God ([04:15]).

3. Becoming Skillful in Receiving God’s Mercy

• Mercy alleviates all suffering:

  • “His mercies alleviate every kind of suffering. What suffering have you encountered? His mercy will alleviate every kind of suffering.” ([06:50])

• Mercy through people:

  • Using the story of Billy Frazier inviting Ed to church, Nancy illustrates that God often expresses mercy through people who persistently reach out to help ([12:45]).

• Local church and pastors as tangible mercy:

  • “Your pastor is God’s mercy to your life. To receive from your pastor, you’re receiving of the mercies of God.” ([13:25])

4. Tasting and Trusting the Goodness of God

• Personal engagement with God’s goodness:

  • “O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusts in him.” ([15:05])

• Faith rooted in God’s nature, not performance:

  • “He’s good to me because he is good. This is not a performance-based goodness. This is a God-based goodness.” ([19:05])

• Overcoming condemnation:

  • Nancy distinguishes between conviction (which leads out) and condemnation (which traps and removes hope) ([23:10]).

5. How to Respond to Accusation, Condemnation, and Failure

• Quick repentance and proper response:

  • “Repent the moment you miss it…because the moment you miss it, the accuser is going to try to find entrance.” ([32:00])

• God’s goodness is unchanging:

  • “When you miss it, God’s goodness is not withdrawn. He calls for you to put your faith on my goodness.” ([24:50])

• Right response to accusation:

  • “Devil, all that shows is I qualify for a savior and I've got one. If I did it right all the time, I wouldn’t need a savior, but I need a savior and I qualify for a savior.” ([33:40])

6. United Praise and Glory Manifestation

• Corporate faith and praise bring God’s glory:

  • Using 2 Chronicles 5, Nancy highlights that when God’s people unite to magnify His goodness and mercy, His glory becomes manifest ([27:20]).

• Practical application:

  • Gather your family or community to magnify God’s goodness and mercy in times of need ([28:45]).

7. The Nature of God’s Correction

• Correction flows from love, not anger:

  • “Correction is a flow of the love of God…He’s correcting us out of the flow of that goodness, mercy, and love.” ([41:35])

• Choosing openness over withdrawal:

  • After failure, one can either close up or open up to God’s goodness and grace ([42:30]).

8. Repentance and the Blood of Jesus

• Restoration by the blood:

  • “The blood of Jesus puts it back as though you never missed it…That’s why you can have faith now in the goodness and mercy.” ([36:40])

• Freedom from past mistakes:

  • “Under the blood, there’s no miss. You can be bold. You can be bold.” ([37:05])

9. Dealing with Self-Forgiveness and Growth

• Difference between forgiving others and oneself:

  • Nancy shares her struggle, not so much with forgiving others, but with forgiving herself ([48:40]).

• Don’t let correction become condemnation:

  • God corrects as a sign of impending promotion, not rejection ([51:00]).

• Guardedness toward God and its root:

  • God has never shown unkindness; drawing back represents wrong thinking or listening to the wrong voice, like Adam and Eve after the fall ([54:00]).

10. Misunderstanding God’s Kindness

• Kindness is not permission:

  • The story of the adulterous woman: “She did not get judgment. She got goodness. She got kindness. She got mercy. She got love. That was not permission.” ([1:06:00])

• Kindness is a lifting, not enabling:

  • “God is not being kind because He’s giving permission. It’s how He lifts us. So don’t frustrate the grace of God, the goodness of God, the mercy of God, by thinking it’s permission to stay where we’re at.” ([1:09:50])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On condemnation:

  • “Conviction points to what needs to be changed but shows you how to come out. Condemnation shows where you missed it and how you can never come out.” ([23:30])

• On skillfulness:

  • “We are to become skillful at receiving of his goodness. How do we do that? Be skillful at receiving of his mercies.” ([06:20])

• On accusation:

  • “You have to answer the accusations… Answer the accusations, even things you did. But you can’t answer it correctly till you confess it.” ([34:30])

• On God’s correction:

  • “Every time he corrects you, He’s being good to you. Every time He corrects you, He’s being merciful to spare you from what a repeated offense would mean to you in the future.” ([51:38])

• On responding after failure:

  • “When you miss it, don't go this direction. Run this direction. Open. Open. Run. I missed it. Thank you. You've already supplied me with what I need in the face of what I've missed.” ([58:40])

• On the blood and forgiveness:

  • “The blood puts me back as though I never missed it. You have to be good at receiving of the goodness by answering the accusations of the enemy.” ([1:16:25])

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Content | |---------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–05:10 | God’s goodness and mercy introduced | Exploration of 1 Chronicles 16 and Psalm 118 | | 06:20–13:30 | Receiving mercy skillfully & through people | Illustrations from Nehemiah and personal stories | | 15:05–19:05 | Tasting and trusting God’s goodness | Psalm 34 “Taste and see…”; Faith vs. performance | | 23:10–24:50 | Condemnation vs. conviction | Impact of sin consciousness | | 27:20–28:45 | United praise brings glory | 2 Chronicles 5; practical steps | | 32:00–34:30 | Quick repentance; answering accusations | How to respond when missing the mark | | 36:40–37:05 | The power of the blood | Restoration; acting boldly | | 41:35–51:38 | Correction as love | Seasons of correction; correction leads to promotion | | 54:00–58:40 | Guardedness toward God & Adam/Eve parallel | Drawing back versus running to God | | 1:06:00–1:09:50 | Kindness is not permission | The adulterous woman; how kindness lifts rather than enables | | 1:16:25–end | The blood, forgiveness, and accusation | Living bold in God’s goodness; faith to receive |

Final Takeaways

• God is inherently good, and His primary flow toward us is mercy, not judgment.
• Our ability to receive from God is often hindered more by self-condemnation and wrong thinking than by anything God does.
• Repentance and forgiveness are not performance-based; they flow from God’s character.
• Accusation, whether internal or external, must be answered with faith in God’s goodness and mercy.
• Correction is a sign of love and preparation for promotion, not rejection.
• Do not confuse God’s kindness with permission to remain unchanged; His goodness lifts, corrects, and sets free.

“I have more faith in his goodness and mercy than in my past.”
— Pastor Nancy Dufresne ([1:17:00])