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Dufresne Ministries Podcast
What's Your Attention On? | Nancy Dufresne | Fresno, CA | JTH Crusades 2024 | Wednesday PM
01:14:30
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- [00:01]
A
Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message. Good evening, everyone. How many of you say, I'm ready for what God has for me tonight. I'm not gonna leave any of it on the table. I'm gonna take mine, and if you don't want yours, I'll just reach across. Right? Because we're not gonna leave anything on the table. Haven't you ever had somebody come and put a great dessert down and you eat yours and you look over and somebo kind of picking it there? I just go, you don't even know how to treat that. You don't even know. Just hand that to somebody who knows how to treat that. I mean. And what do you mean you're going to leave a little bit, right? I mean, I don't even have to know you. I will eat out of your cup. I will take off your fork, your spoon. Yes. Yes.
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B
Amen.
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A
Why? Because it's too good to leave behind. It's too good to leave behind. Right?
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B
Yeah.
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A
Amen. No leftovers. No leftovers in the room tonight. How about it? Amen. Amen. Someone I don't know if you've ever heard of, a man by the name of Raymond T. Richie. He was a man who had a powerful healing ministry. He went to minister to someone on an occasion, and he began to talk to them about faith. And they said to him, what is faith? And I love his simple answer. He said, faith is acting like the word is true. The word is true.
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B
Amen.
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It's acting like the word is true. You have to know this. There's a difference between truth and facts. Truth is the word. Thy word is truth, oh, Lord, forever. Your word is set on it. It's truth. The word is truth. Everything that is not of the word can be a fact. But facts change. That's right. Facts change. I mean, you can pick up a newspaper or watch the news and they will give you a fact of what happened today. Tomorrow, it'll all change because facts change. Know this. Your symptoms are nothing but a fact. They're not the truth. Any kind of financial difficulty might be a fact, but it's not a truth. It's not a truth. That's right. Amen. Truth trumps facts. Truth changes facts. So when somebody comes up and I'll say, what's the matter with you? It's like they don't want to tell me because they're believing God. Well, that's why we're here. Because you're believing put us in a setting to where you can receive what God has for you. And it's not doubt to say the facts as long as you hold the truth and not facts. Does that make sense? Paul said, we are pressed but not destroyed. And he just kept making the list. He was talking the fact and then he spoke the truth behind it. Amen. You better know the facts of your life so you'll know what to lay truth on. It's not acting like there's not a problem. Faith calls those things which be not as though they were. It doesn't call those things that be as though they're not. Calls those things that be not as though they were. That's a good pastor.
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Amen.
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A
Years ago, I was in the home of someone and oh, my goodness, probably about 20, 25 years ago now, and the pastor's wife was having a certain kind of physical cond. So about six months later, I saw her again. And I said, how are you doing? She goes, I don't know what you're talking about. And I thought, well, I'm sound. And I said, well, the last time I spoke to you, you were referring to something. I don't know what you're talking about. And I said, I know what I'm talking about. See, it's not ignoring. Faith is not an ignore button. That's it. Amen. Faith calls those things which be not. You're saying what isn't in evidence, what isn't manifested, and you're speaking of it as though it is. I mean, think about when Jesus walked into situations of death. He talked to them like they were alive. He never treated a dead person like they were dead. He spoke of them. Spoke to them. He spoke that which was not as though it was. He spoke to dead things as though they were living. He said, little girl, I say unto you. Little girl, I say unto you. He didn't even talk to death. He talked to the little girl. That's right. Little girl, I say unto you, arise. He talked to her like he would have her to be. Amen. Faith is acting like the word is true. Not acting like facts are true. Not acting like facts are true. Acting like the word is true. The word is true. Amen. When you recognize a fact, a bill that needs to be paid, and you received it, lay the truth on it, you speak the truth to that thing. I love. Brother Copeland talks about the time that his mother, she would have Bible studies, and there was a time that someone had been attending her Bible studies and she was a Bold, bold woman. And this man walked up to her after the Bible study that night and said to her, sid, I've been having heart trouble. And she said, and he goes on and he tells what the doctors, you know, he goes about a short spiel about describing what he's facing. And she said, tell me the truth about that. See, he told her the facts, and that wasn't wrong. It matters what you follow the facts up with. So she said, tell me the truth about that. What was she trying to do? Get him to flip to what God said instead of what the doctor said?
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B
Amen.
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A
So she said, tell me the truth about that. And he said, last week I had an episode. And he goes through it all again. And she just sat and listened to him tell it all again. She said, now tell me the truth about that. And he said, lady, I've already told you twice. See, he didn't know there's a difference between facts and truth. This realm and God's realm, right? Yes. So he said, lady, I've already told you twice. And she popped him upside the head and said. I said, tell me the truth. Tell me what the word says about that. If you spend all your life talking about facts, you'll never expect truth. Facts are changeable, completely changeable, and they can change in a moment. It is a fact that you throw a man into a den of hungry, unfed lions, it's a fact they're going to eat you. But when you go in there, as Daniel did, not looking at facts, but looking at truth, looking at God, truth changed facts. And the lions became the pillow instead of the destroyer. Because truth trumps facts. To act like there's not facts that need to be dealt with, you'll not properly apply truth. Now we can become so skillful with moving in faith that we hardly notice.
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Facts.
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That we recognize they're there, but they don't get our attention and hold us in any kind of struggle because we're so accustomed to being occupied with truth. The skill of faith. Let me tell you. Little faith, much facts, much faith. Little facts, much facts. Little truth, much truth, little facts. We have to shift attention from facts to truth, from facts to truth, from facts to truth. This is the skill of faith. Facts don't leave. Your attention changes. You're always going to have facts show up against your life. You're going to have faith doesn't mean things leave you alone. As long as you're in this earth, facts will show up. Circumstances, conditions will show up. You're not going to get away from Them, except through your attention. And then you say, I choose to have my faith on truth instead of being occupied with facts. I'm aware there are facts. They just aren't worthy of my attention. So you know your know your faith. Life is increasing and growing stronger when facts mean very little to you and the truth means everything to you. You're having faith issues when facts are large to your attention. Yeah, that's good, Father. Now, near what I said, large to your attention. When my husband. The tragedy of his early exit from the earth. Those were large facts. Sure, sure. But I refused to let them be large in my attention. I had to take my attention and put it on truth so that facts would not throw me into sorrow and into grief. Facts can put you somewhere, But truth has raised you somewhere. So whichever one you choose to allow to be larger in your attention. It's all about your attention. It's all about your attention. It's all about your attention. What you choose to be occupied with. I am so grateful that I had a bit of a head start in life. Even though in the home I was raised in, we didn't know scriptures, we didn't read our Bible. But my mother had a great dislike for emotions. She had a great dish. She didn't like to see drama. She didn't like to see somebody fling off and they just become a screamer. She didn't like it. So when she was raising the children, when we would start escalating. No, you don't. She taught us that emotions are the wrong direction. That's it. That's good. It's the wrong direction to be observed. It's the wrong direction to go wherever your emotions are trying to throw you. And so she worked with us kids because she didn't like drama. She didn't like it. My mother was not a yeller. My mother was not a screamer. She don't have to scream. I'm in charge. She said, when you see a parent who's a screamer, they've forgotten that they're in charge. And they're trying to get they're in charge back through their loudness. She said they don't know what they're doing. She just, she didn't.
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She.
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What is it? She did not let her emotions. Because emotions will do this, do this faith. People become as God would have us to be in the sense of we're like this. You know what version People know what version of you they're going to get the next time they see you. It keeps you consistent, consistent, steady. Are Circumstances steady?
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No.
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Are conditions steady? No. But we're above them. We're above them. Why? Because our attention is anchored on truth, not facts. You understand? So we know that there are facts that have to be dealt with in this realm. But no problem. There's a truth for every fact. There is a truth to change every single fact that you'll ever face. Facts are not eternal. They are not eternal. The truth is, it will never change. Himself took my infirmities and bear my sicknesses. That will never change. It will never change. Amen. Whether you accept it or not, it will never change. My God shall supply all that'll never change. See, when we're occupied and our attention is on what doesn't change, guess what? We don't change. People know what version of us they're going to get when they see us.
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Amen.
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A
Amen. Praise the Lord. So we're authorized to practice noticing the truth that will change that fact. Go first. What truth will deal with this? What truth will deal with it? Instead of going this fact first and then trying to search out a truth, truth laid on the fact. Don't address the fact until you got the truth on it. Many times people are trying to address the fact without the truth. Did you understand that? They're trying to address their problem first. They're going first to their problem and they get entrenched in the problem. Go first to the world. Bring the truth to the fact. If you go first to the fact, you might have a long recovery road. If I would have gone first to all the facts around my husband's death, all the things that would have been dealt with, the whole momentum of that time would have been completely different. But I had to choose. I had to choose what I first went toward. And that was. I'm not laying aside the word at this time because faith acts like the word. The word is true. Faith acts like the truth. And many times I don't know what people are waiting on before they become a doer. If you're not going to be a doer at the moment crisis shows up, when are you going to do it? That's right. When are you going to do it? Because the delay of applying the truth is delay of victory. Because there's no victory until the truth is applied. So you might as well just go ahead and apply it at the first moment that opposition shows up. Take your stand on the work. Speak the word, answer the word. Jesus did that. Amen. Hallelujah. So being a Christian and having faith doesn't mean facts go away. It means we know what to do with them. Amen. I have learned this. The less I think about money, the easier it comes. The less I think about facts, the easier truth flows. The more I think about money, the harder it is in the coming. Why? Because the more you think about facts, the more you're hindering the flow of the truth. Understand that. Why do people struggle so much about money? Because they're thinking about it all the time. Money is a fact. Believe me, it can change. Open up your wallet and you'll realize, oh, my children visited it and changed it, right? Yes, that's true. What you want to manifest, that's what you hold your attention on. This is skill. This is skill. This is the skill of faith. You understand that? Go with me. Romans, chapter four. Romans, chapter four. We said this. I don't know if it was last night or Monday night, but I referred to Proverbs 3, verse 5. In all your ways. In all your ways. In all your ways. In all your ways. When you encounter facts in all the times, you encounter facts in all the times, circumstances escalate. In all your ways, acknowledge. Acknowledge what? Him. You can't separate him from Him's Word. You can't separate him from Truth. Him and the Word are one. In all your ways, acknowledge Him. How do we acknowledge Him? By acknowledging his word, acknowledging the greater One in us. With us. In all your ways, in all your ways of getting that bill paid. In all your ways of receiving your healing, in all your ways of following his plan, acknowledge him and he will direct your path. What you're acknowledging will be your boss, because what you're acknowledging is what's directing you. And he tells us what we're to be acknowledging. Why so? Because he wants to direct us. Facts want to direct us. The enemy wants to use the things, the facts around your life to direct your life. But God offers His help, his direction in it. And he says, I can help you if you'll acknowledge me. If you have your back turned to me, you're saying, no, thank you, but if you have your face turned to turned toward me, now I have an entrance, right? Isn't that true with everything of your life? You don't want everyone to jump into your situation, right? You don't just walk up to a stranger in the store and just acknowledge you need help in a problem because you don't want them directing you. You don't acknowledge them at a time of when you're facing a family crisis, right? What you acknowledge is what you're inviting. What you Acknowledge is what you're inviting. What you are acknowledging is what you're inviting into your facts. That's so good.
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B
Amen.
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A
Faith is the skill of attention, the skill of acknowledging, the skill of what you have your thoughts filled with. You know why people are depressed? Because they're listening to the wrong thing. And it's a skill to learn not to listen when pressure is on the mind. But you better learn it. You better learn it. Why? Because pressure is not the leading of the spirit. Amen. And you know, if there's pressure, God's not in it. So you can have. And listen. I've been there. To where you could feel like a thought just circling around your head, and it just seemed like it was growing tighter and tighter and tighter and. And if I could say this, creating a wider band every time it went around. The pressure of that, why it's trying to get your attention. How do you stop that? You answer it with what? Truth. Truth. But if you entertain that, then it can find a place in your thought life, in your soul, and then it's harder to get rid of it because you yielded to it. Well, Pastor Nancy, I've yielded to it. Does it mean it's going to be harder? I'm just saying you're going to have to pay attention to put the truth on that. Instead of practicing the wrong thing, you're going to have to practice the right thing.
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Yes.
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Amen. Become skillful in your thought life, Because if you don't, you'll live struggling the rest of your life. So you might as well get good at it. Might as well.
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Yeah.
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That's good, Pastor. That's right. Amen. How do you do it? You lay truth on it. You lay truth on that. You laid and you. You make your mind. Well, I feel like I've, you know, like I'm not in control. You're in control of your mind. You're in control of your mind. We don't want the devil wants you to feel like you've lost control. Your mind is your mind. And if you've given it over to wrong thinking, take it back. And no pastor can take it back for you.
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That's right.
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That's right. Someone can help you to break some things off, but it can't keep it from coming back if you want. A ministry line will not keep something off of you. It will get something off of you, but you're the only one that can keep it off. So there's no such thing as, I'm just going to float through life and let Others pray for me and use their faith. That's no way to live. It's no way to live. It's not enough that your pastor has that skill. You must have it. You must have it. And it's so simple. Lay truth on fact. Lay truth on fact. Lay truth on fact. Truth trumps facts every time. Every time. So it's not even worth putting your attention on something so changeable as facts. It's not even worth having your attention there.
- [26:46]
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Amen.
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A
After Ed's homegoing, there was. I had a lot to deal with. You can imagine. The family had a lot to deal with. The staff had a lot to deal with. We all did. And there was a situation that came up that was completely unnecessary in the midst of all of this, of somebody adding another unnecessary layer of opposition. Just didn't need. Was senseless. And I was disappointed that that had shown up because they knew all we were facing and why are you throwing this on it? And I was sitting one morning, getting dressed, and I was thinking how disappointed I was in that. That situation. And I thought about it, and I'm thinking about it, you know, while I'm putting on my makeup, like 30, 40 minutes. You say it take you that long. Mind your own facts, Because you got your own facts. And at the end of that, God spoke to me and said, you can think about that if you want. He said, you can think about that if you want. But he said to think about that, though. You have to give up fellowship with me to be occupied with facts. You have to let go of truth. I'm not letting go of it. Yeah. Whatever your attention is on is what you're holding to. You can't hold facts and truth at the same time. You're holding either one or the other. Amen. What's that mean? How easy this is? Your miracle is as easy as a shift of your attention. Did you get that? Your miracle, your healing, is as easy as the shift of your attention. You shifted. I remember I was going through a season years ago in my 20s, and I was going through a season where my mind was bombarded and I was trying to get rid of thoughts. I recognize, of course, now it's not my job to get rid of thoughts. It's my job to replace them. Yes, yes, yes. If you pour the right thought in, there's no room for the wrong thought. The right thought. Jesus said, now, are you made clean through my word? What's he saying? Pour in the word. It'll clean out what you don't want there. Every day you pour that word in, it will symptoms, it will clean out pain, it will clean out disease, get up the next morning, pour that word in again, and it will keep cleaning and it will keep cleaning. The word is the cleansing agent. There's no such thing. Let me say this. The wrong route is to talk it out. The right route is to clean it out with the word. Because when people say, well, I've got to let it out, you're really letting it in. You're really letting it in. Because whatever your attention is on is what's going in. There was. There was a girl years ago, she'd gotten in with the wrong gang, and they had committed some atrocious crimes and many of them had gone to prison. And she got devils, and they brought her to Dr. Sumrall and he cast the devil out of her. She got back and she got into church and started growing up spiritually. And after time, several years, they said to Dr. Sumrall, she's having problems again. And he said, what's she doing? What's she doing? Because, see, the devil can't work without permission, right? They said, well, she sold her story. They're going to make a movie and book rights, and so she has to retell it. See, when she let it out, she let it back in. Wow, that's so good. And he said, tell her she can either have a movie deal or she can have freedom, but she can't have both. Because if you're going to talk it out, you're going to let it in. Know this. So much of the church has had the process, the counsel. Talk it out, let it out. You're letting it in. Why? Because you're dealing with it through the soul. You can't deal with that mess through the soul and get free. You got to deal with it through the spirit. The spirit is you pour the word in and the word cleans it out. You get your notice and your attention off of it and pour the word in, and that cleans it out. Amen. The way you get free from hurts of the past is not talking them out because you're letting them in. You're bringing the past into the present. Every time you talk about it, every time you think about it, you're updating that past to your present. You ever gone to a restaurant and seen a menu and it says updated up in the corner? They're telling you the date. Every time you think about the wrong thing, you updated it and you brought it to your presence. Every time you sat at dinner and rehearsed it. And every time you got on the phone and talked to relatives about it, you updated it. You invited it. Because when you talked it out, you let it. Well, I got to get rid of it somehow. Yeah. Pour the word in. Pour the word in. Pour the word in. Pour the word in. But I'm just going to tell you, I'm saying this and I don't mean to be unkind. A lot of Christians think you deal with soulish problems through the soul. That's your problem. Your soul is your problem. You deal. God deals with you through your spirit, not through your soul. And his dealings affect your soul, but they don't originate in your soul. Praise the Lord. So what's this all about? Learn to handle your attention. Your attention. Learn to handle what you are occupied with. Be very strict and disciplined in what you allow yourself to think about. Well, I just have a bad self image. That's because you're allowing yourself to see yourself the wrong way instead of pouring the word in and who you are in him. And I don't make light of. Listen, people have come out of sometimes some very horrific home settings. I don't make light of that. But you're not saying sentenced to cope with that the rest of your life. We're not called to cope. We're called to rule and reign. How do you rule and reign? Pour the word in. Pour the word in. Pour the word in. Pour the word in. Hold your attention on the word. Hold your attention on the truth and off the fact of your childhood. Why? Because you look at you, you sink low. You look at truth, you rise. There you go. It's just that easy. You choose your direction. You choose. Proverbs 4, verse 20. What's it say, my son? Attend, attend, attend. Attend to my words. He's already told you what to do with your attention. Put it on his words for the rest of your life. You already have the answer of what to do when facts show up. He's already told you, my son attended my words. He's already told you what to do with your attention. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad the world does not know what to do with their mind. That's why they drink, that's why they do drugs. That's why they go to wrong places. Because they're trying to find relief for their mind. And we can't fault them because we were doing the same thing.
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That's right. That's right.
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A
At least they recognize they're in a wrong flow and so they're trying to find A different flow. Many Christians don't know that they're already in the right flow, but they put their attention on the wrong flow. You know why you're offended? Because you embraced it in your thought life. You put your attention on it. Can I tell? I'll tell off on me. I'd love to tell off on you, but I have to tell off on me. I'm teasing. Years ago, I was sitting at a table, a large table, and somebody came up and two people were talking. One I was very close with and another I didn't know them well. And all of a sudden I hear a statement. I'm not even involved in the conversation. I hear something stated regarding me, and it's like, leave me out. I'm not talking about you. Leave me out. Leave me out.
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And you.
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And I hear something. I thought, oh, you really said that. And this was probably maybe 25 years ago, so it wasn't last week. And I thought, I'm gonna be able to have some time with them later. I mean, we were gonna have that opportunity. And I said, I'm gonna talk to them. It's like, if you got a problem, I'm here. Tell me. Don't tell this person. I don't even know. That's good, right? Let's not play games. I'm not a game player. And so I thought, later today, I'll be with them. I'll have an opportunity to talk to them. I'm going to talk to them. And on the inside of me, I had this sense, don't do that. And I thought, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, no, baby, no. I got Scripture. Says, if your brother offends you, you go to him privately. You go to him privately. I said, I am not taking that because I'm going privately. I'm not going to five people before I go to them. I'd like to, but I'm not right. Why the flesh wants to tell it. Just know this when you want to tell it. That's flesh. That's flesh.
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B
That's flesh.
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A
That's flesh. Flesh wants to tell it. Well, I'm just sharing. No, you're telling. No, flesh wants to tell it. Flesh wants to tell it. And I'm telling you something. If your children hear you tell it all the time, you'll drive them away from God. You'll drive them away from God because they see compromised living. They see one thing in church and another thing at home. I'm just saying, if you want to have long life and health, keep your tongue right don't talk about your pastor. Don't talk about congregation members. Don't talk about fellow believers. Well, it's the privacy in my home. But the only thing is the devil doesn't know that. There you go. There you go. Amen. Amen. So I had that sense, don't talk to them. I go, oh, no. Oh, no. I got scripture. The word says, if someone offends you, go to them privately. I'm going to go to them privately. I'm being right. I'm not going to anybody. My flesh wants to go public, but I'm not going to. Seriously. Because your flesh wants to go public too. And so his flesh always wants to go public. And so I said, no, no, we having a talk. And so I was very kind. I wasn't worked up. I said, listen, I heard you say something at the table. If you got a problem, talk to me. I'm the one that can fix it. But to tell it to somebody else, that's inappropriate. Without talking to me. Just be sincere, be upfront, be honest. I was very kind. I didn't, you know, try to equal them by saying, well, I can tell you, I got lifts. And they just looked at me like, I don't give a rip. And I thought, okay, okay, okay, okay. All right, I see. I see how we are. I see how we are. And I just let go. You know, I just went to you, how you handle it, that's your problem. And so they walked out of the room and God said, I want to talk to you. He said, fine, fine.
- [40:55]
B
Wow.
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I got scripture. You got scripture. I'll meet you on scripture. Am I the only one. You didn't see that? Pastor Craig Joel just pointed at you. And God said, I want to talk to you. I said, alright, I got scripture. Let's talk. And he said, I dealt with you about not having that conversation. I said, but I got scripture. And then he said this. Not every scripture is for you. And I said, ah, But there are scriptures written to send. There are scriptures written to the Jew. And he said, that scripture wasn't written to you. And I go, I think it is. He said that scripture was written to someone who took offense. Who took offense. I expect you to walk in love. You're not authorized to take offense. Pastor, why did you grunt so hard? Was that for me? Like, I can't believe you did that? Pastor Nancy, he said, you have grown past that place of offense. You have grown now into the flow of love. All of us have it in us. Yeah, but he said, you have Grown past that and I won't let you revert back to it. He said that verse was for someone who took offense. I expected you to not even notice. My gosh, I didn't notice. Why did I notice? Because of what I held my attention on when I heard it. I should have with skill said, not my problem. Not my mouth over there. Not my words, not my problem. They don't get my attention. They don't get my attention. Don't let other people's words be the home for your attention. Why am I dealing with this? This plays into health. It's huge. It's huge. Huge. To violate your spirit, to violate the word, to violate the love in you. To violate the righteous nature in you. We're partakers of the divine nature. What is that? Divine nature. God nature. What is that? The righteousness of God. The divine nature is the righteousness. We're partakers of the divine nature. His righteousness has been imparted to us. Gifted. To us unearned. Gifted. Gifted. It's a gift. So that means this God does not allow us to continue to embrace wrong flows and think we're going to arrive at health. Can't. And part of this we have to practice our attention in everyday things. Why? Because when symptoms come, they are bold. Many times they strike like fiery darts. And you better have some skill at what happens with your attention at those moments. And you're going to learn skill with your your attention on the everyday things of life. What people said about you, what people think about you, what you think about yourself, my poor self image. You got to get skillful in the face of that. Use the everyday things of life. Because bigger things are coming that are going to sound like a Mack truck against your life as it comes. And you better know exactly, exactly what to do with your attention. Proverbs 4:20. My son, attend to my words. My son, attend to my words. My son, attend to my words. Why did God get on me about me talking to that person who said something about me? Because I was no longer attending God's words. I was tending to their words. To get offended. You have to leave God's words and go to someone else's words. My son, attend to my words. We're never authorized to take someone else's words and lift them above God's words. We're never authorized. So for the rest of our life we know our answer. What is it? It's in his words. It's in his words. And it is a skill to attend to his words. When Everything else is dragging at your side to get your attention on the wrong thing. It is a skill to hold your attention on truth when facts are dragging and clawing at your soul. But I guarantee if you'll practice it, it gets easier and easier and easier and easier and easier. And it gets to a point where you can get so skillful at it, you don't even notice facts because you are so absorbed with truth. Amen. Thank God. This is how Abraham got a miracle. This is how he got it. Romans, chapter 4. Romans, chapter 4, verse 17. God was speaking regarding Abraham. He said, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed. Even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were who against hope, believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not being not weak in faith, he considered not being not weak in faith, he considered not being not weak in faith, his attention went not. What you're considering is what your attention's on. Yes. Yes, that's right. How did Abraham receive a miracle of a child that came out of a body that could not produce a body? Because his attention was on truth and not facts. His attention was on truth. What God said, I have made you a father of many nations. He had. You have to know what God's saying to you, know what God is saying to you in this situation. This isn't that God said to every man on earth. This was something God said to Abraham. Lot could not have claimed this for himself. The plan of God is what God has authored for you. Know that plan. Put it in your mouth. You can't adopt someone else's plan. Know the plan God has for you. Put it in your mouth. That's what Abraham did. And because he became absorbed with what God said about his life, then his body that was telling him something different, didn't get his notice. He considered not his body now dead neither. Yet the deadness of Sarah's wound, meaning he didn't consider his body. He didn't consider her body. If you're going to consider someone else's body, it'll rob you of your healing. You can look at somebody who became interested in sick. And if you look at them, you look at them based on facts and not based on truth, you'll get fearful. How many people live afraid of sickness and disease? Why? Because of what they're considering. What they're Considering Abraham got his son because he learned to consider not the facts, but he considered the truth. That's it. That's it. How do you change a death sentence to a life sentence? What you consider, what your attention is on. What should my attention be on? Pastor Nancy? I've heard so much of what the doctors have said. God's already said something before. The doctors said something. Now. Can I tell you this? I can't tell you the number of times years of ministry people have come to me. I'm getting ready to go to the doctor. Believe with me for a good report. You're already in trouble. You're already in trouble. You're already in trouble. Believe with me for a good report. You already got a good report. What you're doing is you're saying, I'm waiting for the doctor to give me a good report before I believe I'm healed. You have the good report. When you're saying, believe God with me for a good report, you're saying, believe with me that facts. Your attention is on facts, not on truth. Shift only takes a moment. It only takes a moment. But you have to practice it every day. Every day. Every day practice what your attention is on. Every day, practice what your attention is on. This is what the spirit of God said to me in 2011. He said to me one day, all I want you doing is practicing peace. What did he mean by that? I knew that meant, pay attention to every thought. And if it didn't arrive me at joy and peace, I resisted it. I rejected it. I answered it. And there came a place to where I did not even have to. There was no struggle. There was absolutely no struggle. Because I was so accustomed to truth thoughts that when, two years later, the kids came to the house and said, dad's plane went down, I already knew where the thought life was to land, because I was already there. I was practiced in what my attention was on. Amen. Abraham considered not his own body now dead, neither. Yet he didn't consider someone else's. Don't get on the Internet and read it. The Internet is nothing but everybody else's words. Everybody else's words. Everybody else's words. If you will practice Proverbs 4, 20, My son, attend to my words. Attend to my words. Attend to my words. Father, I have my attention on your words. My attention's on your words. And then he tells you how to hold your attention on his words. Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from before thine eyes. Keep them in the midst of Thy heart for your attention. It's going to involve your eyes, your ears, and your heart. But what is faith? It's acting like the word is true. It's what you have your attention on. Can I tell you what? It took me years to learn that all I had to do was become skillful with my attention. Faith wasn't an issue when my attention was on the words. Why? Because his words are the spring of faith, the fountain where faith is. You put your attention on his words. Faith is there. You don't have to struggle to get faith. You know. What you're going to struggle with in life is the discipline of your attention. But if you'll on purpose become skillful, you'll get past a place of struggle and you'll get into a flow. It's like someone starts driving a stick shift. I could probably ask some kids, and they don't know, what's a stick shift? Well, don't buy one, because if you don't know what one is, you can't drive it. But you put someone in a stick shift, and at first, jerky. Jerky. But after practice, they don't even have to think about it. I mean, I drive a stick shift with a hamburger in one hand and a Coke in another, and my niece and my knee. Do I share? Right? That's what a skillful thought. Life, prosperity in one hand, healing in another, and then, boop, boop, boop, boop. You're shipping gear. At first, it's a labor. At first it's a labor. You have to pay attention to every thought. But as you practice, there becomes a flow. A flow, a flow, a flow. Amen. Hallelujah. You know why some people are entrenched in their sickness? Because that's what their tensions are. You're authorized. God authorizes you to not hold your attention on anything else except His Word. Know what the facts are in your life so you know which word. Because the Word of God is vast. And you need to know exactly which word that moment's calling for. So you have to know the facts, but not because you're absorbed with them, but because you're ready to lay the truth on it. Amen. Does that help you? Can I help you with this? If you're struggling, whatever arena that you're struggling in, feed on the Word in that arena. Well, I'm reading the Bible. Yeah, but what part? The word is vast. Know the truth for your facts. Praise the Lord. I told the Keys, I said, I don't have a sermon when we're driving here. I don't have a sermon. So I don't know. I don't know how to end this. That's what I'm saying. I don't know how to end it. But we're faith people.
- [56:15]
B
People.
- [56:15]
A
We're faith people. That means we have a skilled attention. Because no one ever told me, nancy, the reason you're struggling is because of what your attention is on. No one ever told me. I had to dig for years until I recognized, oh, my goodness, it's all about my attention. I was facing a time, there was a season, that I was just bombarded mentally, and I was trying to get rid of the thought. I was trying to not be in that flow. I was trying to get rid of that. It dawned on me one day, it's not my job to get rid of it. It's my job to replace it. And what I replace it with will get rid of it. I pour in the Word and the Word cleans it out. Jesus said, now are ye clean through my Word? Yes, yes. And I. But I. Before I recognized that truth, I was standing. I remember I was standing in our bathroom getting dressed, and a staff member called me. And I mean, I'm in the midst of this struggle mentally. And this staff member called, and there was a key person who was part of our church in leadership and said. They called today and said they're leaving the church. And I said, well, if they leave, they leave them. You know, that's not my decision. That's theirs. And I thought, I'm not even going to touch that because we've been friends, we've been close. I'm not even touching that because I'm not going to let their exit trouble my staying.
- [58:09]
B
There it goes.
- [58:10]
A
That's it. That's it. I'm staying. I'm staying where I'm supposed to be. So I'm not going to let their exit trouble my staying because I'm still in the right place. So I've got reason to rejoice. I'm still in the right place. And I just. Because, listen, I could have, because of the relationship that had been there, I could have rehearsed that relationship at that moment. I could have. But I thought, I don't even have time for that. I was pastor before they showed up. I'm pastor after they don't show up. Their coming or going means nothing to my call, so I'm not going to struggle. And when I did that and I just turned my back completely away from that situation, I laid it down and acted like all Right when the conversation was over, the attention of it was gone. And when I did that, the Holy Ghost said, did you see how you did that? I said, yes. He said, do that with your mind. I go, that's it. Got it. Consider. Not consider. Not to touch it in your thought life is to consider it. Well, I'm just praying about it. No, you're worrying about it. Don't try to lay religious terminology on your worry to pass it off as permissible. I don't know about you. I want to live, not thinking, Live, not thinking. I want to live flowing. Live flowing. Not thinking, not thinking, not thinking, not thinking, not thinking. I'm not saying being mindless. I'm saying not entrenched. That what is flowing here is so much more dominant than this. Dominant here, not here. Dominant here, not here. Dominant here, not here. How do you do? Pour in the word. Pour in the word. Pour in the word. Pour in the word. Pray in the spirit. Pour in the word. Pray in the spirit. The more you think about your symptoms, the longer they stay. That's why they persist, because you're considering them. That's why financial struggle stays, because you're thinking about it. What you think about is what lives with you. You understand that you're authorized, that you don't have to think about anything that troubles you again. But you do have to lay truth on that, on that place. Amen. Are you helped tonight? It took me years to learn this. It took me years to learn this. And you look back and you go, oh, I can't believe it took me years to learn this. But it did. It did. The simplicity, simplicity of the gospel. The simplicity of this. The simplicity of this. The simplicity of this. Practice it by being in your car and saying, I worship you, Father. I worship you. I glorify you. What are you doing? You're setting your attention on purpose off of this realm and onto the truth realm. Amen. And then meditate. Draw up on Scripture. Draw up on scriptures. What did your pastor preach on Sunday morning? Start drawing it up. All these kinds of things that are pertinent to your facts. Draw them up. Draw them up. Draw them up. And let the truth change the facts. Amen. Stand with me to your feet tonight. Father, we thank you. We thank you. We thank you. We thank you. We glorify you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Aren't you glad it's that easy? Seriously, aren't you glad it's that easy? It's just all about your attention. What you choose to be occupied with so when, if you're dealing with facts, symptoms and pain, be occupied with the healer. Be occupied with what the healer's provided and already made yours. I'm not trying to get it. I'm not trying to get it. I'm thanking him for it. Can I say this? For those who are facing physical conditions, the best way to pray is so say, thank you, Father. You're so faithful to your word. You're so faithful to your word. And your word says I'm healed. And you're faithful to that. Therefore, I'm healed because you're faithful to your word. Amen. Hallelujah. Aren't you glad that God's not occupied with you? Your words. Your words. He's occupied with his words. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is listening for his words. Why? To perform them. He's listening to perform his words. Aren't you glad he knows what to have his attention on? He knows what to have his attention on. We need to know what to have our attention on. Amen. Hallelujah. We lift up. We lift up that name. We lift up that word. We glorify you. We magnify you. We praise you for Father. We praise you, Father. Let's sing something. David.
- [64:02]
B
I keep going back to that song. I changed one line. More and more. More and more. I will worship you. I will worship you. More and more and more. More and more.
- [64:28]
A
I'll live in your presence. Your presence.
- [64:38]
B
More and more and more I will worship. I will worship you. More and more and more and more I will worship. I will worship you. More and more and more. More and more. I will worship you. More and more and more and more. I will worship. I will worship you. More and more time. More and more. I will worship you. More and more and more and more. I will worship you. More and more I will worship you. More and more I will worship you.
- [66:39]
A
You remember. You remember when Jesus was walking with Jairus back to his home? Messengers came and said, don't bother the master any longer. She's dead. And Jesus said only blessed notice. He called what his attention would be on believing. When Jesus walked into that room, he did not. He said, she sleeps. He wouldn't call it dead. He wouldn't call death in the room. Skilled attention. Skilled attention. He refused to approach her in dead. He approached her as living. Then he just easily walked up and said, rise. Why? Because in his attention, she was living. You understand that the way we're calling our facts matters. I'm falling further and further behind. Don't say that. I'm just saying the truth. No, you're not. No, you're not. You're saying facts. Well, what do you want me to say? The truth. Amen. Jesus showed us his attention was so skilled, when he walked up to death, he never called them dead. He spoke to them as though they heard him. Yeah. Yeah, it's skill. It's skill. I said, it's all skill. Amen.
- [68:27]
B
Thank.
- [68:28]
A
And we can have the same skill. We can have the same skill. I was listening to a testimony of Phil and Fern Halverson. They, they were a great help to the body of Christ and teaching on prayer. And she said, one day, Fern, she said, one day God said to her, You go into a movie theater and you watch a movie and there may be something there that startles you in the movie or seems overwhelming or shocks you, but you recognize. You go, it's just pretend. That didn't really happen. It happened on the screen. But it's not real life. And he said, you don't get troubled by it because you know it's not real. You know it's not true. It's acting. It's not true. He said, that's faith. Everything the devil shows you pretend he's acting as though he's master. He's not. Remember, just like you do when you're watching a movie, you remember, wait a minute, this isn't real. Right? Haven't you had your kids watch something and they shouldn't be watching something that troubles them, but people let them, which is not very smart. Why? Because why would you want your children to watch something that they have to cope with later? It's not entertainment to be troubled. And you know, to the kids they're watching, the parent goes, baby, that's not at the. That's not a true story. That's not real. That's all pretend. That's on the screen. Oh, okay. And they let it go. You let it go. That's what facts are. You let it go. That's not real. That's not truth. So the spirit of God said that to her. A couple of days later, they got a phone call that their daughter in law had been in a car wreck. And they said, she will be in a wheelchair the rest of her life. There's brain damage. She will never walk again. She'll never have the use of her arms and her legs. She will be a vegetable. And Phil and Fern Halverson just grabbed hands and said, father, we thank you that this is. This isn't real. This isn't true. That's Only a picture. The devil is playing off in front of us. We refuse to believe the movie. We refuse to believe this thing playing out in front of us. We refuse to believe it. It's pretend. It's not truth. And she said by the end of the day, they had dismissed that girl completely healed. Nothing wrong with her. Why? The devil was saying, who will buy the picture? She said, if we would have bought the picture, we would have had to live with the picture like this. Just know this. No. Facts are truth. We live by truth. We live by truth. Facts come, but we don't live by them. We live by truth. The truth of the word. Aren't you glad you don't have to get rid of facts? It's not your job to get rid of facts. It's not your job to change facts. It's your job to lay truth on facts. That's your job. Lay the truth on the facts. And let the truth get rid of the facts or change facts or supply the facts. Amen. It's not your job to do the doing. It's your job to lay the truth on it. In your tension and in your words, in your thought life. You have to keep holding that truth on those facts. You lay the truth on there and then you hold it there. You lay it there and you hold it there. Every day you reinforce where that truth is laying. I have applied the truth to this and that truth is working right now. Amen. I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I am saved. And my household no devil. No devil. My children won't go to hell because I've already laid truth on it. And I get up every day and I just pat it a little harder on the there by saying the same thing. Believe. Just pack it down. Amen. Are you helped tonight? Anybody got facts that are calling for truth?
- [73:42]
B
Yeah.
- [73:42]
A
We all do. But now we know what to do. I said now we know what to do. How do you know if you're laying the truth on the facts? Appropriately, by checking your thoughts.
- [73:53]
B
Life.
- [73:54]
A
What are you considering? What are your thoughts occupied with? What are your thoughts occupied with? Hallelujah. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 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 DeFresne Ministries.