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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
The Power Is In The Finish | Nancy Dufresne | World Harvest Bible Training Center Commencement Message | May 19, 2019
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Hi, I'm Grant Dufresne, and welcome to Dufresne Ministries podcast channel. We believe that as you listen to this message, your faith will be stirred and you will be encouraged in whatever you are believing God for today. Stay tuned at the end of this message to find out more information about our ministry.
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Hallelujah. Turn with me, if you would, this morning to John chapter 4, and we're going to look at something in verse 34. When we read this passage, we see that of course, God had a plan in sending Jesus. But just because Jesus was the Son of God did not mean that he got to bypass the steps that lead to success. And it's so important to realize that he was born with a purpose, born with a call, born the divine Son of God. But he walked in flesh and blood and took on a man's body. And because of that, he showed man the way man was to the steps man was to take, the way man was to live so that they could reach the end. And as Dean Graves was saying that, I said, dean Graves, you're giving either a great introduction or a great ending to my sermon because I want us to read In John chapter 4, verse 34, it says, Jesus saith unto them, my meat, the thing that nourishes me, the thing that strengthens me, the thing that sustains me, the thing that keeps me alive, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish, and to finish. It's not enough to be born of a virgin. It's a wonderful start. It's a divine start. But a divine start does not ensure divine finish. And we have to make sure that just because we all have a divine call upon our life for something, whether it's fivefold or whether it's serving in the body of Christ, it's a divine call upon your life. And a divine call does not ensure a divine finish. Finish. You have to take divinely led steps to reach a divine finish. The amplified of that verse, Jesus said unto them, my food, my nourishment is to do the will, the pleasure of him who sent me, and to accomplish and completely finish his work. I like when the amplified says, my food, the thing that nourishes me is to do the will or the pleasure of him. If God's not pleased, your life will not be pleasing. You will not be pleased. In life, nothing will satisfy or please you if there's the absence of God's pleasure over our lives. When Jesus of course, paid the price of redemption and so much was completed At Calvary, it was the. It was the fulfillment of the old covenant to come into the new Covenant. It was the fulfillment of or the finish of the blood of goats and lambs being offered up and rams. Now it was the blood of the Son of God that no more shedding of blood was necessary because his was enough. So at the cross, so much was completed. But the last three words he said, the last three words he said was, it is finished. What he was born for was completed. Prophecies that had been spoken for thousands of years about him were fulfilled. He wasn't just coming fulfilling his own vision. He came to complete and fulfill prophecies. For generations that had been spoken, everything rested on his finish. If Jesus had to finish I, our life would be different today. If we do not complete and finish, the lives of others are affected. The lives of our children, the lives of future generations, the lives of those who are connected with us. And we need to realize that the choice we have over our life does not just affect our life, it affects so many. And Jesus was able to not just say on the cross, but I have no doubt to know that he was able to stand before his Father and say, it is finished. Everything you sent me to do, it's finished. Amen. So we can say this, and this is what I want to drive home to you. The power is in the finish. That it's not just in saying, I pray for people and get results. There are people that pray and get results. I'm generous, I give money and I'm a blessing to others. That's good and that's right to do. But it's all about the finish. It's not just about the steps we make along the way. But we do know this. Whether or not the steps we take along the way are divinely led will determine whether there's going to be power in our finish. Amen. To start is good, to start is right. But the power is not in the starting. The power is in saying, I'm going to live with, with the finish in mind. And know this, that every day of your life, you have to realize one day, each and every one of us will stand before Jesus and give an account for how we lived today. Because the way we live today will either accelerate and help us complete our finish, or it will hinder us from finishing the right way. Live every single day with a finish in mind. If you only live today with today in mind, you will make the wrong choices. But if you live every day with the finish in mind, thinking of what you'll say to your children and your grandchildren about how you lived your life. If we choose to quit, if we choose to go the wrong direction, those we love, we will stand embarrassed before them. Amen. 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 6 and 7. And I'll read it to you. Paul stated this. He said, for I am now ready. I tell you, so many people never live this life ready. They're not ready to move ahead with God. They're not ready with their faith. They're not ready to lay hold. They're not ready to complete and say yes to what others say no to. But the key to success is this. I'm ready. And Paul said, for I am now ready, offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. So we see this about Paul when he lets us know the success of his life. He lived ready. He didn't just get ready at the end. He lived ready for every season. The reason he could be ready at the end is because he lived ready all the time. And he lived ready for the next thing that God had for him. So we see this that he was ready. Another thing, he fought a good fight. He kept the faith. He finished. And I want us to see this. We're not ready to leave. He says, I'm ready to be offered. I'm ready to leave. We're not ready to leave until we finished. And we don't finish until we fought a good fight. And we haven't fought a good fight until we've kept the faith in Acts, chapter 20, verse 22. And I'll just read it to you out of the amplified. He stood before other believers and saints and leaders, and he made this statement and he let us see the secret to his success. He said, and now, you see, I'm going to Jerusalem, bound by the Holy Spirit and obligated and compelled by the convictions of my own Spirit, not knowing what shall befall me there, except that the Holy Spirit clearly and emphatically affirms to me in city after city that imprisonment and suffering await me. But none of these things move me. All along your life, and in different times and seasons and days of your life, things will be offered to your life that had the potential and the ability to move you. And it's all in what you choose, whether or not it moves you or not. It's not what comes against you, it's what you choose in the face of what comes against you. And he said, but none of these things move Me, he had not yet arrived at Jerusalem, but he had already decided before he got there and would face the imprisonment and the sufferings. He had already decided before he got there. They're not going to move me off my course. They're not going to move me off my track. They're not going to move me out of the plan of God. If you decide to wait until the moment something opposes you to make your choice, you'll make the wrong choice. You have to choose before you arrive. In the face of difficulty, I. I know what my end will be. I know what my choice is. I've already made my decision because I want his pleasure on my life. So many make choices after their emotions. So many make choices after their feelings. So many make choices after whether or not they are getting proper attention and recognition. We have to make sure that we make our choices in line with his plan. And we say, we don't care what our feelings say. We don't care what our pride would say. We don't care what our ambition that is not Bible based, that would try to direct our lives. We are living with his plan in mind. And Paul said, none of these things move me, neither do I esteem my life dear to myself. If something moves us, it's because we thought something of us was more important than his plan. He says, I do not esteem my life dear to myself. He didn't try to hold to his pride. He didn't try to hold to getting his way. He didn't try to hold to the way he looked in the eyes of people. He didn't try to hold to his reputation. He was interested in one thing and that was the finish. He says, neither do I esteem my life dear to myself. If only I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have obtained from the Lord. He was living with the finish in mind. So many people don't think of the finish until they get toward the end. That's going to be a life off course. Anyone who reaches the finish, they were paying attention to, to their course all along the way that would arrive them at the right ending. When I look back at my husband's life, he was born into a home of mental illness. He was born into a home of alcoholism. He was born into a home that didn't know anything about God. But he made choices along the way because he decided, I don't want the end of my life to look like what I'm seeing around my life. And it is your right. It does not matter what kind of start you had in life, it doesn't matter what advantages you had or what advantages you did not have. It's all about what you choose the end of your life shall look like. And if we will live every day with our end in mind, it will cause us to choose the best life. Because he lived with his end in mind. He. He rewrote the story of his life. He rewrote the story of relatives. He rewrote the story of future generations. And this place is here because he made choices with the end in mind, with the finish in mind. When you look at the finish, you're ready and prepared to make the hard choices of today. There's hard choices that you have to make. Hard on the flesh, not hard on the plan of God, but hard on the flesh, hard on the mind. And he made the hard choices necessary because he wasn't just thinking about today and the feelings of today. He was thinking about the end and the finish and the finish of other people. Amen. When I look back at my husband's life, before I even met him, he faced a season of great attack when those closest to him did not consider what the plan of God held for their life. And he faced the greatest attack of his life, spiritually, mentally, physically, materially. It challenged to take his ministry from him. And into this scene, Dr. Lester Sumrall stepped in and he came in and he preached in his first church. He preached the sermon, I did not quit. And Dr. Sumrall told of the places in his own life where the road was challenging, but he didn't stop. There's going to be challenges, but it makes the finish sweeter. It makes the purpose and the reason that you're on that road really matter. The voice of someone who refused to quit fueled my husband. Just know this. You're going to have to have voices around you who know how not to quit. And you better recognize who those voices are. You better listen to those voices. Those kinds of voices will put their finger in your face and they'll put a demand on your life. And if you get offended with those people, your finish is uncertain. But if you will say, those who don't know how to quit, they can put their finger in my face and correct me and challenge me, and they can point to weak places in my life that will compromise my finish. And I invite those voices to speak into my life. And if you're looking for voices of comfort, don't look to the kind of finish that you want to have. Because if you're just wanting someone to tell you you're wonderful. And everything is a okay with your life. And they don't love your finish. You need someone around you who says, you better reach for something more than what you've been okay with. You better say, I'm done living the way I've been going. You better have somebody that cares not just about you, but about your finish. Enough to say, I'm not willing to let you finish. Embarrassed. I'm not willing to let you finish. Ashamed and bringing reproach. But I don't want you to stand before Jesus with an apologetic tear in your eye. I want you to be able to stand up and say, I finished. I kept the faith. Amen. Recognize who those voices are, and if you don't have one, find them. And if you have a pastor, that pastor you is that voice in your life. If you'll listen and not try to protect yourself, not try to protect your feelings or not try to protect your pride. But if you'll say, love my finish. Help me. Help me to get to my finish. Amen. To veer from the plan of God in our lives is to quit. To choose your plan is the choice of a quitter. You cannot reach the end choosing your own plan. Not the end he authored. The end he authored comes from his plan. And to choose your own plan, you chose to be a quitter. Some of us may look back and say, I can see places where I chose my own plan. It's not over. It's not too late. You can make a new choice. Amen. The only thing that will cause a man's life to be great is the plan of God, not our own plan. In John, chapter 6, verse 66, the Amplified Jesus preached a sermon that so many, the multitudes that were healed, the multitudes that were set free under his ministry, they pledged themselves to him. They followed him, they funded him. They ate of the miracles, they partook of the healings. And he got up and preached a sermon in their life. And it was to help them know their finish. And he said, if you don't drink my blood or eat my flesh, you have no part of me. He's talking to them about their finish. It's not just enough to receive the miracles you need. It's not just enough to receive the healings. You have to eat of me. You have to have the flow of blood that's in me over your life. Because he was talking to them about their finish. And when he started talking to them about their finish, they were offended because it didn't look like a miracle today. It didn't look like a healing today. It didn't look like what they were used to. Out of his flow, he started talking to them about their finish. And they were offended at the talk. And they picked up. And the Bible says, from that day forward, the multitudes cried, following him during his sermon. The multitudes got up and walked out. They didn't wait till the time to be dismissed. They dismissed themselves from hearing how to finish. And in the midst of this multitude walking out, he turned around to see 12 men left, and he made the statement to them. After this, many of his disciples drew back. They returned to their old associations. In other words, they regressed and went back to what their life used to be. And they no longer accompanied him. And Jesus said to the 12, will you also go away, and do you too desire to leave me? And Simon Peter answered, lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words. Notice this. If we choose to veer from the plan of God, where are you going to go? The only thing left is your plan to go. Your plan and sacrifice. His plan is to quit. And somebody may tell you you're okay. You have a right to live out your life. If you don't, you. None of us have a right to quit on the one who did not quit. None of us have a right to finish. Wrong for the One who paid all to finish so that we could have a different finish. If we ever leave his plan. The old life that he delivered us from is the only thing left available to us. And I didn't get born again to keep living the way I was living. And neither did you Remember that every day of your life. If you choose to be offended, you're going to have to quit his plan. If you choose to have hurt feelings, you're going to have to quit his plan to have that. Because none of these things are present in his plan for our lives. We put our flesh down. We put our own thinking down. We put our own feelings down. Because his plan is more important than us being right in the eyes of other people and winning our own way. Amen. We choose to finish, right? For the power is in the finish. Amen. Your life has a beginning. Your life has an end. But every season of your life holds a start and a finish. There are many seasons within your life. This season of Bible school held a start. And for some, today it holds a finish. Today is the finish of that. But for the rest of your life, it's about continuing to make sure that everything that you start is authored by God and everything you Finish is finished. The way he authored everything that God has had you to start. Finish. Some will say you need to start everything you finish. Not if what you started was in your flesh. Not if what you started was simply your ambition and you just reaching for more money. Everything God has had you to start. That's the only thing worth finishing. In a society of quitters. You'll stand out if you'll be a finisher In a society of quitters. They may pull you to join them, but don't because you can't help them by quitting. Quitting is not an option for those who are wanting to please God. Find out God's plan for your life. It's your privilege to do that. Then I could say this. Love it. You only fulfill what you love because there's so many obstacles and so much opposition that's going to come against what God authors and the only way to keep going with it is you have to love it more than you love any other direction. Find out God's plan and then say I love it. No matter what my feelings say, no matter what offense or unforgiveness has offered me. I will not love my unforgiveness and my wrongness more than I love his plan. I will step over my unforgiveness. I will step over my offer. I will step over my hurt feelings. And where I thought I was right, I'll lay it down because I love his plan more than I love the way I feel about myself. When God reveals His plan to you, love it. Fight for it. Fight for his plan. Don't fight people. Fight for his plan. Then I could say this. Prepare for it. Then let me tell you this. Fund it. What God has for you will require preparation to be prepared. It's going to cost you something. Many have skipped out on where God was sending them because they were saving money. They loved their money more than they loved the plan. When you love the plan, you will spend whatever it costs to get where that plan can be nourished in your life. The plan of God has to be loved. It has to be fought for. It has to be prepared for it has to be funded. In Joshua, chapter 14, verse 8, the Amplified says this and I'll read it to you. As we know, he was one of the 12 that went up and spied the promised land. And when 10 of the spies said, we can't do it, Joshua and Caleb said, yes, we can and let's go do it now. But people listen to the majority. If you listen to the majority of your flesh. You'll never go into all that God makes available. And after they had entered the promised land, after 40 years of an entire generation who were not thinking about the finish, that entire generation delivered out of Egypt forgot the finish. All they were thinking about was, today what I don't have. But two men were thinking of the finish. In Joshua 14:8, Caleb made this statement. He said, but my brethren who went up with me made the hearts of the people to melt. Yet I wholly followed the Lord my God, not partially wholly. And Moses swore on that day to me, surely the land on which your feet have walked shall be an inheritance to you and your children always because you have wholly followed the Lord my God. And now this is Caleb speaking. And now the Lord has kept me alive. As Caleb took hold of God's plan for him, God's plan took hold of him and kept him alive in the face of a dying generation. He watched every man except Joshua of his generation die. And he said, not me, not me, not me. Not until I have finished the plan he authored for this generation. Only two men of that generation finished the plan. How about we be a collection of the two? How about we be a gathering of the two? I'm not trying to make life easier and I'm not trying to dismiss myself from more responsibilities as I get older. I'm not trying to make it light and easy in the sense of not having to use my faith. I want to lay hold of everything. And like Dr. Sumrall said, he said, I want to be like Caleb at 85. Give me a mountain full of giants and I'll slay them and fertilize the earth with their carcasses. That's not someone who's looking for life to get less responsible. It's looking for somebody who's looking for the finish of God in their life. Years ago, God said to me, make my people to know that long life is connected to my plan. To veer from his plan is to veer from long life. To veer from his plan is to veer from the best life. Not only is long life connected to his plan, but your health is connected to his plan. Your prosperity is tied up with his plan. Your peace, your victory, and the blessed future of your family is connected to his plan. If you decide that your plan is more important than his, your children will suffer for it. Don't wrestle, kick against or struggle against God's plan, but instead make the choice every day to love the will and the plan of God and finish is the Only way to the best life. Then I could say this. Never settle because you're impatient. Earnestly wait for his plan to develop for your life. 35 years ago, God began showing me my future. And just this past week, within the last 10 days, he said, you are now standing on the threshold of your destiny. 35 years later. Why? Because I was willing to be patient to let the plan develop. Because I'm thinking about the finish and not about what I want today. And those who think about what they want today end up marrying wrong. They end up settling. They end up taking jobs just to get a higher pay. Because they're not thinking about the finish and they're not thinking about what will I pay to get around those who can help me finish. I've seen and heard of testimony of people who have. They have succeeded at their plan and when they got there, nothing was waiting on them. But then I've seen those who declined high paying jobs just to get around somebody who could show them how to finish. Your local church, your pastor, is the first place offered you and the highest place offered you to show you who to get around so that they can show you how to finish. Because. Because they're more interested in your finish than your employer is. I'm not trying to belittle the employer God puts in your life. But know this. They don't love the finish of God for your life like the body of Christ will love the finish for your life. I want to take just these last few moments and I want to, if I could read some quotes to you by men of God about the will of God for our lives. In quoting Luke 14:25, Jesus made this statement. If any man comes to me and hate, not his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brethren, his sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. In other words, if you put your mother first, if you put your brother first, you put your spouse first, you put your children first, you put your job and your house first. He says, you cannot. You cannot be what I've authored for you. I lived with a man who made those choices. And he made this statement, stay with the will of God, even if you have to go against those who are closest to you. A minister of past generations made this statement, faith. Because we teach faith, we preach faith, and we prize faith. But he says, this faith is the union of our hearts and wills with God's will and his purpose. And where this unity is lacking, results are impossible. This is a very important spiritual law to which many in our times have been woefully blind. Then Dr. Ed Dufresne made this statement. You following God's plan for your life will affect your whole family. Dad Hagin made this statement. When a test and trial comes, God can undertake for those who are in the perfect will of God. But he can't if you're only in the acceptable will of God. Your own plan. This was made by somebody you know, Pastor Morgan Dufresne. You don't want the kind of attention that comes by being out of the will of God. Ed Dufresne made this statement. The most miserable person in the world to be around is a preacher who's out of the will of God. Another pastor made this statement. It's the will of God that puts a man in dominion on this earth. Meaning this. Our authority over the enemy only works when you're in the will of God. You're out of the will of God and you rebuke the devil all day and nothing will move. Your authority works when you're standing in his will with his finish in mind. Brother Copeland made this classic statement. The plan of God is your wealthy place. Love this one. Norville Hayes has a way of bringing it home. If you don't do what God wants you to do, you won't ever amount to anything. Oh, you might have enough money to make a house payment and have a lot of money in the bank, but that doesn't amount to anything. See, you tell the world that and they choke on that one. What amounts is your finish. Mark11 says this. What things soever you desire, he will give you. And then the Word says he will give you or put in you the desires that are in your heart. So I say it this way. If the spirit of God doesn't lead you in a particular direction, don't just sit back and do nothing waiting for a leading. Follow the desires that are already in your heart. Follow what your heart wants to do. And if it's not the right direction, the Spirit will redirect you. As long as you're moving. Then Morgan made this statement. The devil can affect circumstances, but he cannot change the plan of God for your life. If you'll stay in faith, the plan will come to pass. If you yield to fear, you'll let go of God's plan. The only thing that will make a man great is the plan of God. The plan of God is inclusive. It includes your whole family and future generations. Brother Keith Moore made this statement. One of the most fatiguing things you'll ever do is something you're not supposed to. It'll wear out your finances, it'll wear out your marriage, it'll wear out your love walk. It'll wear out your faith. Sister Pat Harrison made this statement. When you follow God's will and plan, plan, the natural things will fall into place. So many times people are trying to get the natural things in place without realizing they're neglecting what puts it in place. And that's the will of God. Then Pastor Edwin Anderson gave this instruction. The Spirit is the one who reveals God's plan for our lives. As we spend time waiting on God in prayer and as we take time to pray in tongues. If we don't pray out the plan, the plan for our lives won't come to pass no matter how many times we've been prophesied to. We have to put forth some spiritual effort to know and to move into his plan. We have to lay hold of his plan. We have to seize these things in the Spirit through speaking in tongues, praying them out. It's not enough that Christ apprehended us for something, but we also must lay hold of what we have been apprehended for. And we do that by praying in the Spirit. Then Brother Keith Moore made this statement. Unwilling people won't hear God's plan for their life. A hearing ear is a willing heart. An unwilling heart is hard and can't hear. And the Word warns us against being hard hearted. When we are willing, we can hear the plan of God. I love this by Pastor Edwin Anderson. If you will agree with the will of God, your life will be amazing. And then by Richard Roberts. If you're not dead, then God must not be finished with you. You can make a lifetime of wrong choices, poor choices, and one right choice will undo all the wrong choices. If you can look back and say, I made too many wrong choices. Only one right one undoes it all. What is that right choice? No longer am I considering my feelings. No longer am I considering my emotions. It's his plan I want for my life. And from this day forward, I choose to live my life with my finish in mind. So that we can say, we want to say at the end of our life. I finished it. Then I'll close with this. This is by Bob Moorhead. He says, I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Ghost power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of Jesus. I will not look back, led up, slow down, back away or Be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, chintzy giving and dwarf goals. I no longer need preeminence, position, prominence or popularity. I don't have to be right, first tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by God's presence, lean by faith, walk with patience, lift by prayer, labor by power. My face is set, my gate is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my companions are few, my guide reliable, and my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the way of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pull of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I will not give up, shut up, let up until I have put, preached up, stored up, stayed up, prayed up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until he comes and preach, until all know that it works. And when he comes for his own, he'll have no problem recognizing me. Amen. It's all about the finish you choose his or yours. And the finish you choose will define the life you live. Live your life from the back to the beginning. What's that mean? Choose what your end will look like. And then all your days must come in line with the end you chose. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. How about we say that today? Many of us have already said it, but how about we recommit ourselves? Lift your hands and lift your hearts. Father, we thank you that you offer us the greatest finish. It's called your plan. Jesus, we thank you for the price you paid so that our finish could be like your finish, fulfilling what you're born for. We lay aside hurts, we lay aside bad memories, we lay aside feelings and we step all over them and we say, no more. Do you hold us back and deceive us into cheating our ending? But Jesus, we're hungry for the fullness of what we're born for. And we examine ourselves today and we choose to live our life from the end. We look at the end right now and we say the fulfillment of your plan is what you authored and what is going to please your life. So we live today with our end in mind. You said you know the end from the beginning. The reason you know the end from the beginning is because it determines how everything else in between is concerned, conducted. And so, Father, we say this, we choose the end you authored for us. Therefore, that will dictate today for us. We purpose to live with our end in view, with our end in mind. And we say, no more will we make choices that are just for ourself. But we love your plan. We honor your plan. We choose your plan. We will prepare for your plan. And we say this. We'll pay whatever it costs to fulfill the fullness of your plan. And everybody said Amen. Hallelujah.
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