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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
The Greater Knowledge Of God, Part Three | Morgan Dufresne | World Harvest Church | Murrieta, CA
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I'll go ahead and give these to you. Turn with me if you would. Let's go to Acts chapter 26. And we're going to continue this morning Acts chapter 26 with the series that we've been on. And last week I outlined, with the help of the Holy Ghost, I outlined where Christians and where people in general, but especially believers, the chart in which we can examine ourselves, of where we fall in how we're making decisions, and where do we come up on the scale we talked about. On one side of this scale is anxiety, fear, worry, and then where that we don't always arrive there immediately. What the starting place is. That is that we've acted out of our emotions, acted out of our feelings. We've tried to make decisions based off our emotions and our feelings. We don't have knowledge of God's will and God's Word. So all we're left with is our own thoughts, our own human reasoning, what we can come up with as an answer for our life out of maybe our past or what we've been through, our experiences. And so that leaves us in this emotional arena. We know this, that the Scriptures tells us. The Scripture tells us that the devil, he roams about as a. As a. As a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And we'll talk about this morning how we can refuse and set ourselves up, that we won't be devoured. You can live undevourable by the enemy. You can live in such a place that when he shows up, he doesn't stay. He can't stay. He cannot get any foothold or any voice. More importantly, he doesn't have any voice. Into your life. I want to live where the enemy has no voice into my life, that he cannot cause my feelings and my emotions to be swayed by certain things, circumstances. And so we have this place where when a circumstance arises, an obstacle, a test, that we will be tempted to get into the feelings and the emotion and the mental arena, into carnal thinking, which leads only to anxiety and worry and fear. But on the other side, if we've been meditating in God's Word, and we have the knowledge of God's Word, we have the knowledge of His Word. To us, we don't know God by our feelings. We know God by His Word. And too often believers are trying to know God by His Word, by our feelings and by a sense and by an emotion and by something that we can tangibly feel. And God is to be known first by His Word. And once we know His Word, now we can move into revelation. And when we're in revelation, nothing is impossible when we step into revelation. And that's what we talked about last week. That centurion that came to Jesus and he understood and had heard and gained knowledge of who Jesus was. And at some point that knowledge of him being a healer, because it was such a great revelation to him, he told Jesus, just speak the word. Well, we know this, that God's highest flow is through words. That's how this world was created, is through words. God spoke. He delivered his will through his words. That is how we are to walk in oneness with God and fulfill his will. We are to speak his will through our words. If you have not spoken God's will through your words today, you're not in God's flow yet. We must get in God's flow. So when we know his will, when we know have knowledge of His Word, which that centurion had knowledge of God's word, which was that Jesus has come to heal. And he. And at one point he stepped over into that revelation. He said, just speak the Word, only listen. God revealed himself. Creation is always speaking of God and revealing God. And because creation is God's words, see still in manifestation. So we are in one, even with the way God has created us in and understanding him. Adam walked with God. It says he walked with God daily in the cool of the day. Fellowship, fellowshipping with God. And we know this, that Jesus came to restore back that relationship. Well, what is fellowship? Fellowship is knowledge. I can't truly fellowship with you if I don't have knowledge of who you are. And knowledge, we can say we can have acquaintance with people. But true fellowship is based on knowledge of who one another is and our likes or dislikes. The times that we share together as a congregation in fellowship, what are we doing? We're coming together in unity around the Word, around the ministry that God has placed, placed us in our divine connections. And so with God, how do we fellowship? It's around the oneness of His Word. We're in one and in unity with him based on His Word, not based on a feeling. You don't come to church because of a feeling. You don't come here because somebody. That's why that, that when feelings don't line up, you can still come in obedient. And fellowship around the Word. The Word is not based off of any feeling that God has given. The devil is the one that's always looking to devour us through our thought life, which is where our feelings and emotions come from. Now I want us to move forward this morning, if you haven't already gotten there, which I have not. Acts chapter 26. I want us to look at something again specific this morning. Acts 26. And actually I take that back, turn to Acts 27 and we see here in Acts 26 first I will give. I'll set this up. Paul stands before King Agrippa. King. He gives his testimony as he is sent to Rome. They are ending up in a dire situation on the ship. And God here says in verse 27 through Paul, he says in verse 25, as this storm has come up while they're at sea. Paul says in verse 23, for this very night there stood by my side an angel of the. Of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve and worship. And he said, do not be frightened, Paul. It is necessary for you to stand before Caesar and behold God has given you all those who are saved sailing with you. So the angel has come and delivered him a message of hope. So keep your courage, men, for I have faith, complete confidence in God that I will be exactly as it was told to me. But we shall have to be stranded on some island. Paul is delivering here the words of the will of God. This is God's plan. Yes, a storm has come, but God has a plan in the midst of a storm. And Paul decides to. To agree and lay hold of that plan and not let go of that plan even when the storm continues. Notice this. God didn't say the storm. He's not going to ease the storm to bring relief, but he gives a way out of it. So we see that right now Paul is telling them the way out. We will be stranded, don't lose hope. And even has to go on and give instruction and urge them and warn them about what to do and what not to do. And in fact, in the midst of. Of that, he says, let's have some food. And it says it cheered them up, it boosted morale as they followed Paul's instruction based off of this manifestation of this angel, this divine experience that he has. But turn over with me if you would, because it looked like imminent death. It looked like there was no way out of this shipwreck that they were going to have at sea, not on land. And that the some of the 200 lives are going to be lost. But look here in Acts 28 and it says after we were safe, after it happened, as God through this angel has said, it was going to happen after we were safe on the island. We knew and recognized that it was called Malta and the natives showed us unusual and remarkable kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed and received us all. Since it had begun to rain and was cold now, Paul had gathered. This is a man of God. This is a man who's seen miracles, signs, wonders, has had an angel appear to him. Give him a word. It says. Paul had gathered a bundle of six and he was laying them on the fire when a viper crawled out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the little animal hanging from his hand, they said to one another, doubtless this man is a murderer. For though he has been saved from the sea, justice, the goddess of avenging, has not permitted that he should live. Then Paul simply shook off the small creature into the fire and suffered no evil effects. However, they were waiting, expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had watched him a long time and saw nothing fatal or harmful come to him, they changed their minds and kept saying over and over that he was a. I want us to see something here that in Acts 27, an angel appeared to Paul, gave him a word from the Lord, no doubt comforting him, easing his mind. Because here Paul is a prisoner reminding you that he has absolutely no control over his destiny. At this point, he is in the hands of these soldiers. And at one point they said, let's kill our prisoners. And lest they escape from us, well, there was a centurion who said, no, we're not going to do that. We're going to keep them. Because Paul had had a word from the Lord. But here now, Paul, in his personal life, there was no word, there was no vision, there was no dream. But here he has landed safely on this island, being cared for by the natives, and what comes up but a serpent bites him, a viper that no doubt would have killed him except for one thing. He had knowledge of God's word. Notice this. Paul didn't reach out and go. God, you didn't tell me. And he's panicking because God didn't tell him that at the time of his rescue, at the time of his safety, a viper is going to crawl out and bite him and everyone else. Of all these other people, nobody else got bit. But the man of God that the word of the Lord came to through an angel gets bit. How many times do we get direction? Do we hear clearly? Do we get a word from God? Do we know that? We know that we know. And God ministers to us in a particular way to go to a particular direction, and we obey that. And what happens? Opposition Comes. God is expecting us in that moment to not look to him for a feeling, for a sense, even for the anointing. There are times that God, in fact, go with me, if you would, to second. Let's see here. Let's go to second Chronicles. Go to second Chronicles and chapter, Chapter 32, Second Chronicles, chapter 32. And this is Hezekiah. And I want to also read something to you as well. It says here in verse 31. And so in the matter of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, talking about Hezekiah, to try, left him to himself to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. At this moment, God leaves again. It's not that God brings us, in the religious sense, to test us, but there are times that God will expect us, he's testing us to see if we will act on simply the knowledge of who he is through His Word. And so often we want an outside confirmation. We want an outside source to make us feel comforted, make us feel as if we. We are following. I want to feel like I'm following God's will when God is saying, you need to know that you're following my will. Two different things. Feeling God's will and knowing his will. And he left Hezekiah and he wanted to test him, to see, does he know it? Does he know my will? What does Hezekiah know when I'm not there and my prayer presence is intangible? Will he still obey me? Will he still follow my will? And this is oftentimes where we find ourselves. And we want to call somebody, we want to phone a friend, we want to have somebody confirm things for us and give us a feeling, a word from the Lord. And God is saying, do you know me? If you know me, if you know my Word and you obey it, you'll see the same miracles, the same, same manifestation, the same dynamic power that the centurion saw. Paul saw a miracle, and it was demonstrated to an entire island when he just simply acted on what he knew, that no deadly thing will harm him. He shook it off, he knew the words of Jesus and he understood that nothing can harm him. And so he shook it off, not in a feeling, but in the knowledge of the word of God. There are things that you're going to have to learn to shake off based off of God's knowledge, the knowledge of who God is in his word. This is a time and a season where we haven't been able to be together in the same capacity that we have had to contend for the unity of the faith, for our blessed hope. We've had to contend and stand firm in some things as the body of Christ and as a church, that our regularly scheduled program has been interrupted and we don't get to meet together in the same form and fashion that we always have. And things can be discouraging, situations can be discouraging, but we don't act based off of, and we don't respond based off of a natural circumstance. We respond based off the knowledge of God's Word. And so we see here, if you'll go back with me to Acts chapter 26. I love this because one minute an angel appears and the next minute he's just simply obeying and respect, responding based off of his knowledge of who God is and his own salvation. But folks, if we don't take time to feed and to get into God's Word every day, this is what's going to happen. When tests come, when emergencies come, we will immediately step over into the feeling, the sense, and the emotional arena. I love it that Paul didn't cry out and say, God, you didn't tell me about the snake. God, I need a word from the Lord. He saw that the angel appearing to him. He treated that as almost as it was normal to him. He wasn't surprised. But he also treated when the snake bit him, he wasn't surprised. And it's just as normal to act on the knowledge that he has. We have to. When we're walking in fellowshipping and truly keeping in step with God's Word and who we are in Christ and walking in the fullness of who we are in Christ, then we treat a word from the Lord, we treat an experience with God. We treat the anointing no differently than we're going to treat the knowledge of who he is and the knowledge of what we have and what we've meditated on today, what we've read of him today, we must be taking the time to get full of God's word, full of the knowledge, pursuing revelation, so that if we don't have an experience, if we don't have a feeling, if we don't sense the anointing, we can still obey, we can still act in line. You know, I'm always reminded of this in the sense of relationships. You know, if you're waiting, husbands and wives, for a feeling, to do something, for one another, to respond in love to one another, to tell each other you love each Other or to act as in kindness and goodness towards one. If you're waiting for a feeling, then you don't have a good relationship. That's a false relationship. True relationships, true godly marriages. I don't have to wait for a feeling or an emotion to do things for my spouse, to respond correctly to my spouse, to tell my spouse I love them, to prefer them. And oftentimes, this is why we see marriages fall apart is because one, the husband or the wife is waiting on the other one to do something to generate a feeling in them so that they'll reciprocate that feeling. And if one or the other is always waiting, or both is always waiting on a good feeling, then nobody's preferring one another. Then nobody is acting in the knowledge and walking in the knowledge of who that person is. So I know this. It seems so simple. I know that when walking in the knowledge, and I've shared this with the Bible school students when walking in knowledge with my husband, I know that at the end of the day when he comes home, what's important to him is that the kitchen is clean, the dishes are put away, the house is tidy, and on a good day, there's a bag of candy sitting on the counter. I'm walking in knowledge. But if I'm waiting on a good and fuzzy feeling that I have, if I'm waiting on him to do something for me, then that's not walking in the knowledge of really God's word, but not, not walking in the knowledge of my relationship with him. And this is what we want from God. We want a good feeling before we'll obey him. We want everything in life to bring us these warm and fuzzy and confirming in our emotions and the natural carnal mind. We want our natural carnal mind satisfied before we want our spirit man satisfied. If you'll get up every day in the word of God, meditate day and night, your spirit man will be so satisfied as Paul, that when a viper, when a test comes, when opposition shows up, when it looks like there's no hope, then, oh my goodness, the knowledge of God's word and who he is rises up on the inside of you, you shake it off and you move on. No emotion necessary, no fear feeling necessary. And even again with relationships, if we're not walking with each other in the knowledge of God's word, then something somebody says or something somebody does can derail us. I, you know, this week we, we were selling books or selling purses down in Old Town Marietta, and there was a booth set up down there. And it was really great. There was music, and we went. One of the booths, of course, at the first booth I will always go to is the one with food. And so there was a booth set up right next to our purses with jams, homemade jams and breads. And of course, being from the south, where we had wonderful farmers markets and homemade goodies all the time, I couldn't wait to look at the jams. And I know what I like. I know there's a lot of wonderful things out there. There's a lot of good fruits and different recipes. But I know what I like, and I know that in the long run, I have knowledge of what I'm going to enjoy two weeks from now. It may be maybe all right right now, but I know. And so I'm looking and I'm there. There's, you know, eight, nine, 10 options. And I'm looking for the. The jam that I want to have. And I know this, that I love berry. And I saw a pineapple, and I thought, I love pineapple. And. Because the best option we were talking about me and the graves is not there. It's only in the south, which is mayhaw jam, Mayhaw jelly, which I grew up having, getting to have. That's my ultimate favorite. But we don't have that out here. So I was looking with the graves and we were checking everything out. And I knew what I was going to enjoy. I knew I know what I like, I know what's good for me, and I knew I'm going to. I got the berry and I got the pineapple, and I cannot. Could not wait to get home. First thing I did was take it, put it toast in the toaster with some butter and some homemade jam. And so because of that, I have not, since then, been disappointed with my choice. Well, in the same way, what happens is I could have made a hasty decision. I could have, you know, gone and asked the people there, well, what's your favorite? What do you like? What do you recommend? But I may not have been happy with what somebody else liked. I may not have been happy with what they wanted. I may not, even though they made it, I may not have been happy with that. I had knowledge of what I want. This is what happens. If even with people in their own personal lives, if we don't get into the knowledge of who we are in Christ, who God created us, you are a new creature. If you've given your heart to God, you are not your own. And you need to know what his will is. For your life. And what happens is we have all these options in front of us. Young people, pay attention. You have so many options in front of you. You have so many choices that you can make. But there's only going to be one choice that in the long run you're going to be happy with. And you better know based off the knowledge of who you are, truly who you are, not who the world says you are, not who your education says you are, not, who your gender says you are, not who your political preference says you are. Nothing in this world should decide who, who you are other than God's word and his word alone. And when you get in God's word and you go by the knowledge of God's word and you choose to make decisions based on knowledge, not emotion, not fear, not feeling, when you make a decision, you will be so happy. God knows in the long run, because happiness today doesn't ensure happiness tomorrow. The devil, he wants your mind today so that he can steal your hope for tomorrow if you give him your thought life today, if you don't renew your mind, if you don't walk in the knowledge of God's word. How does the enemy devour us through our thought life? He devours you through your mind. If he can have your mind, he can have everything around you. He's looking to devour you. He's looking to consume your life. And he starts with your mind. This is why it's so important. When the Bible says, don't let the sun. Listen, husbands and wives, it says, don't let the sun go down in your wrath in any relationship, in any situation, if you go to bed thinking destructive, bitter, hateful, argumentative, combative thoughts, the devil, his territory is your thought life. And I guarantee you he will fuel the dreams that you have. You have positioned your mind in the direction of the enemy and his thoughts and his will for your life. And you won't wake up. You can't go to bed and sleep off anger, bitterness, carnality. You can't sleep that off. It only fuels, it's only fueled as you sleep and as you have shut down, as your spirit man is shutting down. And you don't exercise your authority when you're asleep. But the devil certainly has an opportunity to come in. We must. As you go to bed every night, this is why it's so important that the last thing you meditate on is the word of God. The last thing you hear is God's words. The last thing you set your thought to is the knowledge of God. And what he's saying to you about your life, what he's saying to you about your situation. And so oftentimes we forget that when God says, don't let the sun go down on your wrath, that's not an option. That's to keep the enemy from devouring you in the nighttime. Because if he can devour your thoughts before you go to bed, he can consume your life the next day. He wants my emotions today so he can have my relationships tomorrow. He wants my emotions. He wants what somebody says, what somebody does to affect my emotions, what somebody posts to affect my emotions today. Because he's trying to devour my relationships. If he can today, he'll devour them tomorrow. If he has my mind today, he'll have my hope for tomorrow. He wants my feelings. Listen. He wants my feelings today so he can have my will for tomorrow. If he can consume my feelings today. The devil's after your will. If he has your will, he has your future. If he has your will, then your will is not. You know, let me use this. I was reminded of this example. I absolutely love this story about my husband. You know, he's quite. I tell him, I say, you're. You're quite a unique creature. God doesn't make many, too many people like you. But one of the things I absolutely love, he loves to. To know and have full knowledge before he makes a decision. And back when the larger iPhone came out, the iPhone had been one size, and everybody was so excited because this larger version was coming out and he didn't know if he wanted it or not. And one day I came in and he had taken a cardboard, measured all the dimensions of this new iPhone out on cardboard and made an exact replica cardboard cutout and was walking around with it in his pocket to make sure that he could. And he kept it in his pocket for quite some time to make sure that that was gonna be comfortable for him. What was he doing? He was gaining know before everybody was up on the hype of this new iPhone and emotions were running high, and everybody was so pumped. And of course, you know, there's so many advertisements and commercials, and just with the hype of it, you want to be on the next big thing. And my husband doesn't fall for the next big thing or the next little thing. And I appreciate that about him. He's not moved by what everybody else is moved by. He never has moved. Been. And so he takes. And, you know, this is even a glimpse. I love it because it even shows a glimpse into his spiritual life. But he takes and he puts that. And he decided, you know what, this fits, right? This is right. He refused to make a large purchase or a large decision based off of what everybody else was hyping up and how everybody else the emotions. And this is what we need to do as believers. We get in God's word before we make any decisions. And we, we put our own will and our own desires through the test of the will, the word of God and the will of God, and we run it through and we meditate. Gaining knowledge doesn't mean talking to other people. It doesn't mean consulting. The media doesn't mean consulting. When I say that, I mean the status of the world and where the world is at and where the, the economy's at or where the health. What the health experts say. We don't live by how, you know how and by other men, how they live. We live by God's word, the knowledge of God's word. And if Paul hadn't lived by the knowledge of God's word, if he was looking for a special experience, if he's looking for another angel, if he's looking for another vision, if he's. He said, you know, he could have said God, you appeared to be on the road to Damascus and you didn't tell me about this viper. If he's looking for another spectacular, he would have missed the supernatural. And so that's what we must do. God's word is supernatural. And if we're always looking for a spectacular, we won't act in line with the supernatural. God. Knowledge of God and who he is is supernatural. This is not a natural book. It's a supernatural book. If you will get into the knowledge of God's word for your life, then the devil can't devour it. Listen, obedience when it feels good is not true obedience. And God still can't trust us. I want to read a portion of this book to you. I just want to read a small section that blessed me. I was reading it this week and it's actually a book on raising children. I've read out of this before, and this one minister says, turning my affection toward him through the day and even in the night anchors me in the greatest reality in existence. But there are times when that felt presence is not there. Notice the term felt presence. He will never leave us nor forsake us, so he is always there. But there are times when he shuts down our ability to be aware of his presence. It is never punishment. But he will test us to see how we respond. To his will when inspiration is gone. I'm going to read that again. He will test us to see how we respond to his will. When inspiration is gone, his will is revealed in Scripture. It is vital to have a people on earth who will obey him when they feel like it and when they don't. Such moments are difficult but vital as they determine how much of the glory we're able to carry. Notice that such moments are difficult but vital as they determine how much of the glory we are able to carry. Because when we obey God, when He can't be felt, he can trust us with with his glory and his presence. That is true obedience. True obedience is when we have no feeling to obey Him. We do it because we've decided we want to. And our mind and our will and our emotions are set in his direction and in no other. God's desire is for us to live and thrive under the weightiness of his presence into all the earth. But if we have to be bent to obey only when we feel good, or if we take the glory to ourselves for his answers, we cannot be trusted with what he has in mind for us. It is for this reason we must learn the principles of the Kingdom of God. Turning to them in these moments mean we understand what is important and valuable to him, even when inspiration is gone. This may seem like a strange topic to bring up, but this is why praising him in difficult times is so important. By giving him thanksgiving and praise when things are difficult, we develop the faith muscle that enables us to live and see beyond our immediate emotional state. I will read that again. By giving him thanksgiving and praise when things are difficult, we develop the faith muscle that enables us to live and see beyond our immediate emotional state. Are you able today to see beyond your immediate emotional state? How do we do that? Through God's Word. God's Word cuts through every emotion, every feeling, every desire, every flaw. His words cut through that. They are sharper than any two edged sword. They divide the soul and the spirit. They divide God's will and your will. They divide the emotion and the obedience. Those who learn this can be trusted with more. I want us today to examine again examine ourselves. What are we going to bed with? What are we meditating on? What are we living with day in, day out? What is driving our feelings, our emotions? Do we know God's will? Do we know God's word? What relationships are being dictated and decided by how we feel by? Is it marriages? Is it other relationships? What about decisions you're making? What about financial decisions you're making. Are you acting out of a fear and a place of worry and anxiety? Or have we walked and gotten into the knowledge of God's word and who he is and who I am and who you are, so that we can act in line with revelation, so that God can bring. If you don't get into God's knowledge, there will be no revelation. God can't trust us. If he can't trust us to step out on what we know in his word, it'll be very difficult for him to reveal himself in any greater capacity. So we know God not by how we feel, but we know him based on His Word. And so today we will stop there. I want us again to take these things. And as we're going through the weeks we're progressing in this, that our immediate responses are being shifted, adjusted. That we're finding that we're moving into a mature place of measuring and examining circumstances and situation according to the word of God, as my husband did with that phone. That we're examining and measuring things so accurately to God's will, so accurately to His Word that the hype and the excitement and the thoughts that the devil will fuel in our mind or that emotions that come. You know, young people, this is so important based off who you marry. I'm not saying you're not gonna have wonderful feelings and thoughts towards the one that God has for you. But I'm telling you that's the number one arena that the devil will influence you in because he wants you to make. He wants you to be devoured in your emot and your feelings today so that your tomorrow will be consumed. God is looking for you to just simply act on the knowledge of his will and his word. Renew your mind, simply put, renew your mind today so that the enemy, when he's going about seeking whom he may devour, he can only devour carnal minds. He cannot devour transformed and renewed minds. Simple as that. If I don't want my finances, my body, my family to be devoured, I will get into the knowledge of God's word and create in me. I create. I dictate where I go, not God. I do. God has laid out a plan and a path of life, abundance. But I have to choose that. Amen. And that choice doesn't just stop the day I got born again. Every day is a choice. And so today I encourage us. Let's choose life. Let's choose abundance. Let's choose God's will. We have to choose it. It doesn't fall on us. It doesn't happen automatically. We choose it. How do we choose it? Number one is we start by renewing our mind and gaining knowledge of God through His word. We know him not by feeling. We know him by what he has already said to us. Amen. Well, we'll close with that.