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"God's Care For You" - Pastor Nancy Dufresne - May 26. 2024 PM
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"God's Care For You" - Pastor Nancy Dufresne - Ma…
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Pastor Craig, when he was receiving the offering, he said, it's about the thinking, right? When we're struggling in any arena of our life, one thing has to change. Your thinking. Can you think of any arena or something you're struggling with that will change when your thinking changes? We think it'll change when money shows up. We think it'll change when people start behaving themselves. We think it'll change when we're great, you know, appreciated like we ought to be appreciated. But it all goes back that something needs to change in our thinking, right? It's the word meditated on. It's the word that changes thinking. It's the word embraced, believed. You know, think about it. God told. When God delivered the Hebrews out of Egypt, it was by miracles, right? Just one miracle after another got them out. But they were going to have to get into the next thing. It was going to call for their faith. And you, the way you think is the way you believe people think. Well, I just need more faith. Sometimes you need different thinking so that you can have more faith. And they got out with miracles, but they're going to have to get into that promised land with faith. And when it came into it, they didn't meet their side of it. And think of it living a whole 40 years in proximity but never arriving. What a disappointment in here, on the inside, in proximity, but just never arriving because this wasn't addressed. One of the most dangerous things for me as a minister with having staff, the most. I don't know if the word is dangerous, but. Is to have people around you that are rutted in their thinking. Because no matter where you want to go, rutted people won't go with you. Rutted thinking is the stopping point. And I can't have people around me, I'm talking about, that are making advancements with us that are rutted in their thinking. They have to be, and I've been saying this lately, they have to be nimble in their thinking. Faith is ready to move. Faith is ready to move. When people aren't ready to move, there's a faith issue. Faith is not rutted. Faith has a foundation, but it's not rutted. And you think about it, that first generation that saw the miracles never arrived. Why? Because they thought wrong. It was not the enemies that was occupying the promised land that was keeping them out. It was their thinking keeping them out. I don't want my thinking to keep me out of things because many times we're blaming the devil for not being where we should be. But to someone who thinks right, no devil can stop you. Why? He's just not. He's just not. He's just not. That greater is he that's in us. And I'm just glad I got to come to church tonight to change my thinking. Can I tell you this? The mall is not going to change your thinking. The theater's not going to change your thinking. That's right. You know, that sports event isn't going to change your thinking. It's not wrong for those places. But I'm just saying the rarity of having locations in the earth where you can come and have your thinking changed. What an honor to be in that place tonight, in the local church that preaches the word. Amen. And God knew if I'm going to get this next generation in, because some can become so rutted, God has to pass them by. That first generation, he had to just be passing by. That was their choice, not his. And he said, he gave Joshua, you think about it for 40 years, never arriving. Now, the goodness of God, the compassion of God, the care of God in our lives, even though they were in doubt, they were in unbelief, they were complainers, he took care of them. The only thing is, the miracles in the wilderness was just enough for the day. It was not the highest flow of miracle power, it was daily provision. The highest flow of God is not just daily provision, it's abundance. And he was trying to get them in a land that flowed with milk and honey. The wilderness did not flow. They had enough for the day. The manna lasted for a day, then it ruined. They had to wear the same old clothes. 40 years it didn't wear out. Well, that's a blessing and a curse. For all those people who had a stylish eye, you know. But God, for him to be able to get the people in, you would think, my goodness, for 40 years they've been wandering. It's going to be layers of God having to deal with these people to get them in. You would think, oh my goodness, it's going to take so much. And in one verse, one verse, he told them how to change from a failing nation to an arriving nation. Joshua 1:8. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night, so that you may observe, be careful that you may observe, to do according to all that's written therein. For then, then, then, then after this, after the first part, then you should make a way prosperous and you should have good success. This verse is the law of success, the success your heart longs for can only arrive by that verse. That's the law of success spelled out in the Word. What is that? Put God's word in your. In your meditations, in your mouth, and let it change you. I love something that one pastor said. He was starting a church, and he said, God, how do I. What do I do for this to get this church to grow? And God said, you grow first. See, we're wanting things out here, but it comes from in here. And in one verse, God told an entire nation how to get out of the rut of failure into the flow of success. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. You meditate. You meditate. The Word never talks about memorization. It's not wrong to memorize Scripture, but memorization is a mental action. Meditation is a spiritual action. If you want to, you can memorize the Word so you can meditate on it. But if you'll meditate on it, you'll never have to memorize it. You can just draw it up. I've never sat down and memorized scripture. I just draw it. Just draw it up, you know? And it's an amazing thing what meditation does. It takes the word and puts it in you, and it takes you and puts it in the Word to where that word seems like it is your word. That's not just something on a page. That's not just something that belonged to Moses or to Joshua. It's your word. It's real to you. It's actually love words from your father to you. And this is the problem with people. You can't. In spiritual things. You can't spend what you don't own. You have to own it first. Then the spending of it works. And people are trying to spend verses they've not yet taken time to own. And then they go, how come it's not working? Because you don't own it yet. When you own it and you spend it works. Amen. What I'm talking about, it's got to get in you. It's got to get in you. It just can't be a mental. Having it in your mind means you're invited to own it still. You don't own it yet just because you know it mentally. It has to dawn on your spirit. That's when you own it. Then you spend it and things start working. And that nation arrived because of Joshua 1:8. And think about it, Joshua, when God said to him, this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth at that time, Joshua did not know that to occupy that, he would have to have the solar system to stop for him. They were in a battle with inhabitants of the land. And the problem is, is that in the day they were fine in the fight, they were winning. But it was starting to get dark. In the dark, the people who had occupied that land for generations knew how to gain the advantage, where to hide, where to go. And they could position themselves in the land to gain the advantage when it got dark. But the new inhabitants don't know that land, so they lose the advantage. And that's why he said, sun, you stay there, moon, you stay there. But did he know about Saturn and Jupiter and Mars? I doubt it. So you can't just stop the sun and the moon, Joshua. You got to stop the whole solar system, or you have chaos, or you and I wouldn't be here today. Right. So he just. He didn't know everything that had to happen for the sun and the moon to stop. But he just spoke to what he knew, and God dealt with what he didn't know. You just talk to what you do know, and God will deal with the things you don't know. You have no idea what God has kept you from, what God's protected you from, what God has shielded you from. You have. No. We'll never know till we get to heaven the totality of God's care over our lives. But he can only bring and supply the part we don't know when we do the part we do know. But that's how he got the nation to be an arriving nation. This book of law shall not depart out of your mouth. So I'm so glad I'm in the room tonight where the word. The word that will cause us to arrive. Listen, we're already. We've already arrived in the sense of redemption's plan. But there are things in our heart that we need to lay hold of. There are some things in our heart we want changed about our lives. Right. And notice in Joshua 1:8, the devil's not mentioned. Oh, so he's not the problem. Sure would like it if we could say that. And God's not mentioned. Ah, but what is mentioned? The Word is mentioned three times and we're mentioned five times. What's it mean? How we treat the Word is going to determine our success. The place the Word has in us is what determines our success. So I'm so glad tonight to be in the place where the Word. The Word is given its proper place. Amen. Hallelujah. Well, let's Go to where? I kind of intended to start this morning. And we never arrived. Psalm chapter 8, verse 4. Psalm chapter 8, verse 4. I just did. I don't know, I think like 40 episodes on out of this verse on Jesus the healer. They haven't aired yet. I'm still editing them. I don't think they've started airing. Psalm chapter 8, verse 4. What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man, that thou visitest him. Thou visitest him. Now we know this. This is Old Testament. The only way God could deal with the people of the Old Testament was by visiting them. What's that mean? Outward. Something outward had to happen. Why? Because they were not a habitation of the Holy Ghost did not abide in them. The Holy Ghost abides in us. So we don't have to rely as they did on a visitation. A visitation? Well, see, just in delivering his people out of Egypt, it was outward things that had to take place, right? And then in leading them, there was a pillar of fire by night, by night, a cloud by day. What was it? All that was God's presence with them, visiting them. But see, it was all outward. It was all outward. So we have a better covenant, right? What's that mean? Everything they had and more is what we have. We still don't give up visitations, even though we're habitations. He still visits us. He still visits us. So now we have visitations and we are habitation. But I want to read to you and this one, one phrase out of the amplified classic translation of Psalm chapter 8, verse 4. It says, what is man? That you are mindful of him. And the Son of earthborn man. Look at that. That you care. You care for him. You're in the Father's care. He's taking care of you. What's that mean? You need to take hands off some things and put it into his hands, casting all your care on him. All. All your care on him. Why? For he careth. He careth. Sometimes I cannot tell you how when things great pressure on the mind, seasons of past tests and trials. And I would just lay in bed at night and say, you know, even when I can't really articulate because there's so much. And the natural can feel completely overwhelmed. And I just say, I don't even have to describe it all to you, you know. You know. And because you know your care is over what you know, your care is over what you know. If you will learn to lean on him at times of pressure, you'll Hear things others in the room won't hear. Do you remember at the Last Supper, before Jesus was arrested, he had his disciples to go and prepare a place, and they ate together, Remember? Have you ever thought about this? That he said, the one I'm going to give the sop to, Dipping the bread and then handing it to, that's the one that's going to betray me. He says that, and then he hands it to Judas. And Judas took it. Judas, is this your final answer? Yeah, right. It does not make sense. Then it didn't happen that way. Can I tell you? It didn't happen that way. Remember Jesus said, one of you here is going to betray me. John is reclining himself on Jesus. They said, john, ask him, who is it? John turns to Jesus. It's just the two of them. He turns to Jesus, said, who is it? Jesus didn't announce it to the room. He announced it to the one reclining on him. He said, it's the one I'm going to give the salt to. That's why Judas took it. The room didn't hear it. The one reclining on him heard it. What's that mean? There's an intimacy he will share things with those who recline. The room didn't hear it because they said to John, ask him. John said this quietly, who is it? Jesus. He said, the one I'm going to give the sock to. No wonder Judas took it. He thought he was being favored. Jesus is feeding me. No, he's pointing you out. He's warning the room. You know when you're not right, you think. You think you're all right. And that he was being complimented and Jesus was serving him, giving him preferential treatment. He was warning the room. Now, the space to repent is so great with God. The space to repent is so great with God. Why? Because of his love and compassion. The space to repent is so great. The Word tells us that Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray him. The whole I have. God has told me through the years to hire people that I go, oh, Jesus, you know, I'm going to have to fire them in a few months. Because I know from the beginning they're not ready. It wasn't God's fault they weren't ready. God still offers the opportunity of his plan. And if they're not ready, that's on them, not him. If they don't prepare themselves and clean, clean, clean from the inside out. Take the Word and be a doer of the Word in their everyday life and their opportunity God is faithful to bring his opportunity of his plan. And if they're not prepared, that opportunity will come, but they won't be able to grasp it. And I've known from the beginning, from the time God told me to hire them. Because, see, it's his ministry, it's not mine. It's for him to give opportunities. And if they're not ready, that's on them. That's not on God. But he's faithful. He will give the opportunity because his plan, what his plan holds for them, he must give them that opportunity. And I've turned around and over. This is seldom, but it's happened. Well, it was frequent early on. But I'm just saying from the beginning, I knew from the beginning, I knew the whole time. I knew, oh, my goodness. I gave them extra help, extra counseling, extra attention because I knew they weren't prepared. I knew they didn't have things in place and in order the way they were supposed to, but I gave them extra. And then I'd have to end up firing them six months later. And it wasn't because of me or because of God. It was because they missed their opportunity. Now, can God bring it back around? Well, it might not be that exact opportunity, but there will be opportunity when somebody you know will move with God. Amen. He's the God of a sacrifice. And third and fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh and eighth chance. And thank God because we've used them, most of them, right? So I don't say that to push people down, but I'm saying it to show you something, that when I knew somebody wasn't going to make it, I did. I went over and above to help them make it because I knew they were behind. Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray him. What do we know about Jesus? He would have helped him, especially all along the way, because he knows you're not right. And he's giving him space to repent, space to change. I don't know why I'm off on this. I don't. Because this is not on my notes. This is not on my notes. He's giving him space to repent. For three years he has given him space to repent. He's kept him close. He's done everything he could to assist this man in success of God's plan. But the day they're having the Last Supper, no more time. No more time to work with you, Judas. I don't have any more time to work with you. You didn't take it. You didn't take the Opportunities of changing your heart and changing the way you think. I preached the Word so you could change the way you think. And you did not change the way you thought. So here, take this. It's a sign. Done. I can't do any more for you. That SOP was meaning I release you. You've been under my care for three years. My faith, my fellowship with God. Now you're on your own. And within hours, his own arrived him at suicide because that's as far as his insides could succeed. Sustain him because he did not take the Word and change the way he thought. He lived with the Word, lived with the Word, saw it, demonstrated, and still didn't change the way he thought. And that exchange of SOP was the space is gone to repent because I'm leaving. I can't keep working with you. Sobering, huh? It was all about thinking. It was all about thinking. It was all about thinking. He did not take the Word and change his thinking. Meaning this. You can be around the Word and you're thinking. Still not changed. Judas walked with the Word every day, saw the Word every day, heard the Word, preached, saw the miracles of the Word, saw what the Word produced. The living Word, Jesus, the living Word, moved with the Word. And still he was rutted in wrong thinking because he thought he was right. When you think you're right, you're in trouble. You have to keep yourself tender, tender. God. What? I'm not all that. None of us are. All that. None of us are. All that. None of us. We can't congratulate ourselves on anything. Well, I've got faith. Listen, if you didn't have the Holy Ghost encouraging you not to give up in that test, you would have given up in that test. Yes, ma'. Am. The Holy Ghost will say, keep going, Keep going. You have an inside cheerleader, inside encourager, right? We can't congratulate ourselves on anything we arrive at because we only got there because of divine help. The Word, The Holy Ghost, our pastor, our spouse that encouraged us, the family of the local church that would remind us God puts lots of help around us. And it's his goodness. It is a flow of his good. It's a flow of his care. He cares for us when we show up. I was, as I said, I taught. I believe it was about 40 episodes on visitations from God. About episode 30, I came in. What I do is the schedule of recording is I record Monday through Thursday, I record an entire month. So on Monday I record five episodes. Tuesday, I record five episodes a day. So in four days, I've recorded 20 episodes. So I came in at the end of recording, at the end of one week, and I sat my stuff down. As soon as I walked in the house, I said, there's an entry table. And the presence of God came on me. And I said, what? What is that about? What do you want to say to me? Because see, when he comes like that, he comes to say something and I always ask him, what did you come to say? And he said, thank you for teaching that. He said, because in teaching Visitations from God, I teach about the place of the pastor in your life. I have to call it Visitations from God. I can't call it the place of the pastor in your life. No one will watch it. They're not interested in those titles, seriously. And so God said to me, thank you for teaching that. And then he said, if the people don't have a pastor, I can't care for them the way I want to. Thank you for teaching them to have a pastor so they can receive more care from me. People have no idea what having a pastor over your life has kept away from your life. Have no idea. Have no. The anointing. Listen, if you're not a pastor, you do not have the anointing of. Of a pastor. So what's that mean? You got to get around one to have that anointing in your life. Amen. You got to get around it so that anointing can speak into your life. Because you don't have it. You don't have it. It's amazing, right? The equipment of the pastor off pastoral office that protects and brings your family into clarity of God's plan for your life fortifies. There's nothing like it in the world. There's nothing like the pastoral office in the world. Thank God for all five fold offices. They're all to be regarded and honored. But the equipment that belongs to the pastoral office isn't resident in every other office. So it's when I read this, what is man that you are mindful of him than the son of man that you care for? God doesn't just care for us by coming down and saying, I care for you, He puts things all around our life. That is his care. And we need to learn to recognize that's the care of God. I'm getting an airplane soon, Real soon. Can I tell you how God said? He said, it's my care for you. It's my care for you. That's what he said to me. Do you know your job that he gave you is his care for you. That boss that said yes to hiring you is his care for you. Well, he's not saved. Well, at least he followed God and said yes to pay you. You better value that and appreciate that instead of find complaint with with it. That home that you have is God's care. That spouse that God gave you. God gave you. That phrase is kind of important. It's God's care for you. God's care is in so many forms and flows in our life. God's care for us. One of God's greatest flows of care for us began long before you ever were a thought in your papa and your mama's mind. Creation is God's care for you. When he God wanted a family, he didn't start with a family. He started with his care. He formed. Creation came into place. It was all about God's care for his man. That's coming on the sixth day. He took all the previous days to prepare his care care for the crowning achievement of man. The trees and the oceans were not the crowning achievement of creation. Man is the crowning achievement of creation. And God spent the first days of creation providing care so the man would arrive in a completely cared for environment. The man's not being put put in this earth and God's going to then put his care in. God already put his care first, then the man. What's this mean? God's provision for your life precedes your need. He's already supplied and provided for your need before you ever showed up. His care has already been moving and working in your life. The wisdom of God, the genius of God. It's so impressive, so impressive that he provides and then he puts the man. Parents do that when they find out they're going to have a baby. They start their care for the unseen baby. They've never touched, never held, never kissed. Yet the care, God's care is so much further reaching than that parental care. He cares for us now. The care did not stop with creation for man. It went on to redemption. Jesus was as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's his care for us that he provided a way for man to come back into fellowship. Even before Adam sinned, before the plan was in place, the plan was in place. But Jesus came and fulfilled that plan that was in place before man ever sinned. Why God's care provided an answer to sin before Adam sinned. The compassion of God. David, we got. I don't have it in front of me. Remember the song? He saw me Grant sang. I sent it to David. Grant sang this song. This couple wrote it. What was it? God stepped out on the balcony of time. What was it? The balcony of space. God stepped out on the balcony of space. There was nothing to give him light. And he saw hills and mountains and rivers when there was none of it. He saw it and he spoke it. Yeah. And in this said, not only did he basically see mountains by faith and streams by faith. He saw you. He saw you. Yeah. And he provided for you when there was nothing here. It's amazing. The care of God. The care of God is not just in the immediate. It was before the foundation. The care of God, total for your life. Total. And we worry. We worry about that, Bill. Are you kidding? It shows we don't know his care. Shows we don't know the extent of his care. We need to grasp the compassion of God provides his care. He sent. Jesus paid the price of redemption. That was God's care for us, right? Redemption's price. So that we could belong to him. He could belong to us. It cost heaven its best. Our redemption cost heaven its best, Right? What is that? Your redemption was expensive. His care for us is expensive. It cost him. He went to great detail through creation to provide lavishly and abundantly for man. These people that say we're going to the earth is going to run out, they're going to have. Then they're saying, God. God's care for man comes to an end. It's impossible. Man can't ruin what man didn't create. What I'm saying, God, we're going to have a new heaven, space, new earth. But not till God's care for this age is total. It's total, you know. But God's care for us has been so lavish and abundant. We see it in creation. I mean, in the garden. When he describes the garden, he says, in this place, and there's much gold there and this place, and there's much gold. Hint, hint. Loaded the earth with all the minerals and the wealth that supports humanity for all generations. The care of God, he puts. You know, men put their money in safes. So does God. The safe is the earth. You got to go drill. Go drill to get it right. It's in the safe of God's keeping. And God's care in sending Jesus was lavish and abundant. More than enough. Creation holds more than enough that what man could never consume. So it is with Jesus. What's provided for man through him is so abundant we could never consume it all. We never run out. Never run out of the mercy of the love of God. Never run out. Now. If someone doesn't take care of their own possessions, it shows their thinking toward that possession. It doesn't mean that much to them. Like I have jewelry that's costume jewelry. And I got real stuff. I don't keep my real stuff. Where I keep my costume stuff, it gets a different level of care, Right guys? You'll just have to endure while I talk about it. But when I travel, you should see all my. I travel with lots of jewelry. Can I ever wear it on? No, I just know it's there. He's the God of all comfort. It's not comfortable when I go. I didn't bring the right jewelry, so I just bring a big old wad of it. The pieces that are real that I travel with are kept differently then the costume stuff. I wad it up and I put it in pouches. Rice. How we treat something shows how we value something. How God treats us shows us our value to him. Right? Yeah. Let me find some. God's care for us in redemption is so costly, abundant and lavish for us to be born again. Do you think he's dumbing down his care for our everyday life? No, he's not. It's on the same level, the same level every day. His care for you. He did not send his best to send Jesus and then he's going to make you eek by in daily life. Something's wrong with the thinking. He loads us. The Word says he loads us daily with benefits. Why? The care of God is so extensive that one day can't hold it all. Every day is fully loaded. Every day is fully loaded. And why are we worrying? Because we don't have light of the care of God for our life. Worry shows ignorance. It's an action of ignorance of not knowing. And listen, if we're not taught, we don't know because we only think of care in terms of what we know. We have to think of care in terms of how God provides care. Creation is God's care. Jesus is God's care. But he loads us. Day loads, loads, loads. We're not to have loads of worries. We're supposed to have loads of provision, not loads of problems. Amen. The purchase price for us was so expensive, the daily price did not go cheap. Meaning this. Why are we living cheap? Think and cheap Talk and cheap. I'm right now, I'm in the process of renovating Sister Amy's castle that I bought. And I said to my contractor, you know, we were talking about the process of different things, of how, you know, his role and what I would do and stuff. And he said, I'll bring you multiple bids on certain phases of it. And I said, well, I'm just telling you now, probably the cheapest one I'm not going with because when somebody is, if they're going to really dumb it down, so I'll take it, I'll get a dumbed down job. And I said, I want to pay once, not twice. And it costs less to pay more. It costs less to pay more. And he said, nancy, I was going to advise you this very conversation. I was going to ask you, please don't take the lowest bid unless they're genuinely better. But he says, I know this business. He said, I was going to say be willing to pay a little more. I said, you don't have to talk me into it, brother, you don't have to talk me into it. I don't believe in robbing what's in my heart. I'm not going to renovate based on money. I'm going to renovate based on my heart and the money will just have to get there. That's all I can say. I don't know how to say it other than that you have it all by faith, by his care, by his care, I have it all. And I've said to God, I said, you didn't give me this house paid cash for so that I couldn't pay cash for the rest of the, you know, we have to give ourselves a talking to of what we're okay with. And God has blessed me with certain help in many ways with that. It's God's care for it. God doesn't care for me more than he cares for you. But if you go cheap when he's trying to be lavish in your life, you'll give up some things he wanted for you. When we were finishing, when Ed went home to be with the Lord, we had our hagin building that was about 70% completed and Ed had paid cash for it along the way. But the process was stopped because there was no more money in the account. And so we had to finish that. And there was a railing, an iron railing that needed to be put on one of the balconies. And I told my son, I said, this kind of railing I really want. And I described it and he came back and he told me how much money it was. And I go, oh, just for a railing, I mean, ah, Jesus. It says this is a railing. It's not a good gold bars and I said, it doesn't really matter to me. Just do, you know, a basic. Just whatever. I went home that night, and God said, if you're going to start this way, you're going to continue this way. And I said, all right, got it. I'll spend it. I didn't really know if it was okay because I owed so much money. I didn't know if it was okay to spend. When you owe another man. When you owe another man, it matters how you handle your finances. And God said to me, bill, do what's in your heart, because you want to know why I've got to look at that railing every time I'm home? And I don't want it to preach to me that I thought wrong, that that railing is not nothing but a symbol of wrong thinking. And I'd have to look at wrong thinking. What wrong thinking got me every day. Uh, I'm not living with. With an item talking to me about my unbelief. I will not say. I will not let unbelief counsel me and then me live in it and have to look at it every day because I would not think right anyway. Praise the Lord. When heaven gets involved in our daily care on this earth, it won't be cheap, because he's never been cheap. Why are we cheap now? Let me tell you. I'm trying to save money. Well, we've got to quit thinking that we're our provider and God will fund. God said this to me maybe about six, eight months ago. He said, I don't set your standard of living. You do. Meaning this. I meet your standard. You said it, and he meets it. You said it. He meets it. You said it. He meets it. So set what you want to live and not what you want to apologize for. God's standard of honor and love for his children will not allow him to treat us cheaply. He won't treat us cheaply. Well, praise the Lord. What got me thinking about some of these was something we were. We were riding in Brother Jesse Duplantis airplane. I got to ride in it. I got to go to his house that he talks about. In a few weeks, I'm gonna go there and spend a night, too. It's gonna become my hotel at his invitation. I didn't beg. Well, my eyes did. But. We were in his plane, and I said, brother Jesse, you've ruined me. You've ruined me. And that's not very nice. Put me in something like this and turn me out. We were on his plane. Let me tell you about My son Stephen, he doesn't travel with me that much, but when he found out I was going to be on Jesse's plane, he did not even fly in for the event. He flew in for the flight after the event. Just saying because he wanted to be on that plane. We sat on that plane and Brother Jesse pushed a button. And the doors between the passengers and the cockpit, they're sh. I go, ah, shoot. That's James Bond stuff right there. It's not like you gotta pull a curtain. You gotta pull a door and wrench it. It goes. It just. It. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, that's. That's. Jesus loves me, Stu. That's right. That's right. And he closed that door and I said, look at that, Stan. You gotta get around more than you got so you don't just stay where you are. This is not about things. It's about thinking. It's about thinking. It's about thinking. I'm not preaching things. I'm pretty preaching thinking. Stephen said, mom, listen to this plane. He said, you can't. You can hardly hear it because they're like, we have been. What? What did you say? I am not kidding. I never knew a plane could fly so quietly. It's not quiet. It's just highly insulated. It has three engines on it, just, you know, just three. But his plane seats 14 people. That plane, he's gotten another. He's gotten even up. Since then. But this one seated 14 people, has a bed in the back. It's lovely. People say he shouldn't have that. That's an awareness of the care of God. So it has a separate restroom. Like, you walk in and you shut the door. I don't know if you know anything about private planes, but private plane restroom rooms, You don't want to rest there. It's like you pull a little curtain and it's a seat. You lift up a seat. You know, it's like, no, no, this. This is not Jesus. This. I mean, it's a complete walk in. And then you go to the other side. The bathroom has two doors, so it's one with the passenger, and then the other one is a door to the luggage compartment. So during the flight you can go back, get in your luggage, do anything you want if you need. Oh, Jesus. Jesus. Brother Jesse said, I will fly because he lives in Louisiana, New Orleans, and he will fly. He said, if I want to fly to New York, if I've got a two day, three day meeting, I will fly to New York and I'll fly back home. That night I want to be in my bed and I'll get up and I'll fly. He said, if I want to do that, I do that. And he said, when God gave me this plane, listen to what God said to him. God said to him, I write stuff down. Because you hear Jesse say, jesus sure do love Jesse. You're not the only one, Jesse. Amen. That's right. But you want to know why he doesn't struggle with that he has so built in him. Jesus loves Jesse. He's not mad at Jesse. He's not looking to take out revenge on Jesse. He's not looking to swat Jesse. Every man of God that is a general has a mindset of how much God loves them. It's a whole renewing of the mind that many haven't tapped into. John tapped into it. John was the only one they tried to martyr and couldn't. And he outlived them all. Why? He had a revelation. You can't kill what God loves. Not till I'm done. You can't kill what God loves. He wrote more on the love of God than anybody. He had a race revelation of God's love. And God's love shows up as God's care. It's demonstrated as how he cares for us. It's not just in words. Why? Because love does something in God's care. You need to go home. And the things that are in your heart say, God, you love me enough for me to have this. You love me enough for my days to be loaded with your provision, not just skimming by. Amen. That's exactly right. What is it? We've got to change our thinking. This is his care for us, his love for us. And to not move with him in that is to, if I could say, diminish how he can treat us. When somebody says, I don't have a problem being generous to other people, I have a problem being generous to myself. That's still poverty. It's still poverty. You've never heard me say that. You won't. I've never had a problem being generous to myself. I'm not kidding. From the time I was little, no. If they can have it, I can have it. That was always my thought. And that didn't just happen when I got born again. I've always had that thought. Why? Because I don't want to do without. I lived around communities where they did without. And that's not the way to live. We're just having a heart to heart talk tonight, right? Okay. So you want to hear What God said to Jesse about that airplane, okay, Jesse said, when God gave him that airplane, God said to him, I want you to be comfortable. This plane is nothing but for his comfort. Well, God, that commercial flight is not comfortable. But see, if we think we don't deserve. We shouldn't. It's too much money. Now it dawned on me when God, the comfort, God wanting brother Jesse to be comfortable arrived him at one of the nicest private planes you can own, all because God wanted you comfortable. Okay? That plane is worth about 50 million. He didn't pay 50 million. That's what it was worth. New 50 million. Baby, you got room. You can walk down the aisle like this. You don't have to walk down the aisle and you're bumping every chair with your carry on. Like, oh, I'm sorry. Do you know how many times we're hit in a day when we travel? We are. You run over, you bumped into this plane. You just walk down the aisle going like, here, baby, It's God's care. Now, he paid. I'm not going to tell you how much he paid. I don't. I know how much he paid, but I don't know if he wants. It's for him to say, not me. It was money, okay? God did not just say, here's the plane. God said, here's the money. He had to choose whether he took the money and put it toward his comfort. Listen to this. When God takes care of us, he will give us the resources, the money, the provision. But it comes into our hands. This is where it starts getting dumbed down right here when it hits our hands. Well, I can save money if I do this or I can see we have something in our heart and then the money shows up and we start saving God money and we start dumbing it down. And brother Jesse just kept believing and believing and when the money came, he did something. It seats 14. Not this, not this seat, not like that. This seat like that. It's wide. 14. There's two of them. You understand? There's two. He doesn't travel with an entourage. It's just him, mostly him. And then sometimes Pastor Kathy travels with him. 2. 14. Abundance, it's called. They can all have their own bed on this thing, you know. But what about when the money hits his hands and he could have said, there's only two of us, there's only two of us. And we start dumbing it down because there's only two of us and he still wanted the 14 seater for the two of them. You Go. That's just waste. Do you know how many trees in the jungle drop bananas that nobody eats? It's the abundance and lavish care of God. Not everything gets consumed that the earth produces, but it's there for the taste. Meaning this. I don't have to consume every. You know what? Next time I think I'm just going to go around and sit on each chair. I'm going to sit on you for five minutes. I'm going to sit on you for five minutes. I'm go to sit on you for five minutes dot I'm going to sit on you for five minutes. Because when there's enough, more than enough, you can be very comfortable. It's not God who's the determining factor, it's us. It's the way we think. And so many times when God wants to bless us with increase and then he gives us money and we take it and we go, oh, I'm going to put it in savings. Nothing wrong with savings. Nothing wrong with it. God will bless your savings, but not so you can dumb down and not have something for your daily. It's wrong for God to give you something for one purpose and you use it for another purpose. I remember years ago, years ago, my husband and I had just moved into our first home in California. This was in the 90s, the early 90s, and he was going on a trip. And I tell you what, money was tight. I knew it. I mean, I handled our finances. We lived in that house for three years with very little furniture, no drapes for three years. Empty rooms, empty dining rooms. I mean, it was just empty. And Ed gave me money. One he was leaving on a trip and he gave me some money. He said, go buy you some clothes. And I thought, no problem, I can do that. But I went to a store and there were some furnishings for our house. And I go, I want to do that for the house. And so I used it for the house. I got it home and God rebuked me. He said, that's not what the purpose of it was for. You start using it for a different purpose. He said, that's dishonorable. He told you what to do with the money and you did something different with the money. Money. If God gives it to you for your blessing, for your abundance, for your comfort, and you do something different. Well, I gave it to the church or I gave to that person. Still dishonorable. Because if God tells you it's for that, now many times God will give you money and it's for the church and you take it and use it for something of your own, then you're in trouble with God. But you're in trouble either way because obedience is obedience. It doesn't matter what direction it is. You know what Jesus said? He said, he talked about to the religious leaders and basically said, the word tells you to take care of your mother and your father. And you said, well, I made it a gift to the church. And he said, you're disobedient. He said, you violate the commandments of God because you dismiss yourself from taking care of your parents just by saying, I gave it to you. The church, he didn't appreciate that giving. God doesn't appreciate you dumbing down his care for you. Did you get that? God does not appreciate us dumbing down his care for us. Well, it is amen. How many people would not have paid the millions Brother Jesse paid just so he could be comfortable? And then we wonder, well, why do they have stuff we don't have? It's our thinking. It's our thinking. It's our thinking we have to have faith to receive the care of God. Get that statement? It takes faith to receive the care of God. Why? Because anything that comes from him takes faith. And we've not. We've not been skillful at that as we should. I'm not talking about going out and running up your credit cards. Not talking about that. Grant, my son. I have two sons. Grant is my youngest. When he was about five years old, someone one time in a service handed me a roll of money. It was big like this. I go, ooh. Except when I open it, it's fives and ones. So it came out to maybe 200 and something dollars. I appreciated it. God said to me, when they handed it to me, he said, go hand that to Grant and tell him this. When you hand it to him, say these words, this is how easy money will come to you. Wow. And so I did. He's five years old. I didn't know that when he was 19, his daddy would be gone. He needed to know. See, Steven was already, you know, almost 30. He had been under. He had benefited from his daddy's care. Steven knew how to work his daddy. Steven would say, daddy, I just saw. I just saw a new. Do you see that tractor they got out? Stephen and Ed loved equipment. Equipment. So Steven went, look at this dad. Ed would say, okay, let's go. You know, every day, Steven was home working his daddy. That Ed was. It was amazing what Stephen got out of his daddy. Grant wasn't that way. His interests weren't the same. He was wasn't always showing ed and getting an angle. But there would come a day when he was 19 and he wouldn't have the time with his daddy that Steven had for the financial care. And I tell you what, money has just come to him. Why? Because under the care of God. Under the care of God. Use your faith to receive. Receive the care of God for your life. And when he expresses that care by sending you money, don't dumb it down and get something different than what was in your heart. Amen. What you practice on every day is where you're going to arrive in the future. You know, Brother Jesse says this. God's not asking you to pay for it. He's asking you to believe for it. Yeah, and I'll close with this. Dad Hagin had a large voice, a leading voice in the body of Christ. But years ago, when he was a younger man, he traveled. He came out of the Depression, he said, out of his own mouth. He said, I struggled with the financial arena more than any other arena because I was raised during the Depression. He saw his mother suffering and his family suffering financially. He saw society suffering. And so it gives you a survival mode instead of a faith mode, an abundance mode. And so he talked about that. He struggled with the financial arena, renewing his mind in that. That was one of his greatest arenas to renew his mind in. But of course, when he died, I mean, he was. He was well provided for, well provided for. He proved the word of God financially in his life. But dad Hagin had driven, of course, when he started his traveling ministry, he always had secondhand cars, used cars. And he said, you know, he would drive sometimes at night from one church to the next because, you know, down in Texas, it gets hot, hot, hot, hot, that asphalt that gets hot under that sun. And he said his tires were so bald that if he drove during the day, he'd blow a tire out because it'd get too hot. So he would drive at night, not sleep. He would just drive to the next place so his tires wouldn't blow. That's how bad of condition his cars were. And he always dreamed back then the luxury car that everyone desired was a Cadillac that was like the best you could get hold of. And he just longed to have a cat. One day, I want to have a Cadillac. There came a day he bought a Cadillac. It was his first new car, not a used one, and it was a Cadillac. Three weeks after, he buys this Cadillac, and he didn't pay cash for it. You know, he's Making monthly payments. Three weeks after it, he said his ministry hit a tough financial place and he was sitting on his couch in his house lamenting that he had just bought this Cadillac because now his finances at the ministry were strained and now he's got this car payment. He's never had a car payment that's that high. He's got a luxury car and he's feeling bad that he's got a luxury car. And while he's thinking about this, Jesus appears to him. And Jesus said to him, do you know what kind of car I want you to have? And he said, no, what kind? He said, I want you to have the kind of car you want. In other words, you set your standards, not me. Don't back off of what you wanted. You think? You mean Jesus appeared to him over a car? No, he appeared to him over a way of thinking. Why? Because he would decades later be a leading voice. And it matter how he thought, because he's going to speak into ministers and if he's going to carry a dumbed down version of thinking regarding finances, he's going to impart that to all the ministers. That's why Jesus appeared to him, because where his voice would go. It matters how you think, because your children are going to live in the way you think. You're either setting your children into more or you're setting them on a difficult road by how you think. We never told our kids we, we can't afford that. We would say, if you want that, let's believe God. Let's believe God. Don't tell your kids I can't afford that. You build something in them that becomes a place that limits the care of God in their life. Not because God is limited, but because they don't have the faith to receive the care of God. Work on it. I said, let's work on it. God. You would not put creation here, put it in place for mankind to enjoy and then leave me without. You wouldn't provide by sending Jesus and abundantly provide my redemption and then lead me to strike struggle in this. What is it? It's all a thinking problem. It's all a thinking problem. And if you think that you can only have what your job provides for you, you limit God. Your job is an avenue. Your job is not a provider. I told God the day my husband went home to be with the Lord. I said, I will not put my faith on any avenue. My, my faith is in you. Because listen, those avenues were changing daily, changing daily. Lawsuits, threats, all kinds of problems. It was changing Daily. If you lose your job and you're troubled, if they had a layoff at your place of business and you come home and you're troubled, now you know where your faith was. It was on that avenue, not on God. Put your faith on God's care. Get it off of avenues. God cares for me. God cares for me because he cares for me. I'll never do without because he cares for me. He'll make sure I have the best. But the thing is, if it reaches my hand and I do a dumbed down version and I buy the cheap thing, you see what I'm saying? Then I'm the one who limits his care. Amen. And if I limit it for me, who else am I limiting it for? If God wanted to use me to bless somebody, but I limit it, well, praise the Lord. Stand with me to your feet. Hallelujah. There's more for us. I said there's more for us. Yeah. Yeah. I have learned. Don't be money minded. Be plan minded. Because if you make decisions based on money, you'll struggle with receiving all God has for you. Because there are things God has for you that money can't do for you. Jesus came up to. Jesus came up to situations that weren't enough. He didn't have enough. When he had the multitudes to feed, he didn't have enough. What did he do when he didn't have enough? He goes, uh, oh, y' all gonna go home hungry today? Nope. He just took what he had and blessed it. And it became more than enough. Why? He was mindful of God's care, not mindful of his resources. Our care is not. Our care from God is not based on our resources. It's based on the caregiver. He takes care of me and he'll use whatever he has to use. He'll send whatever he has to send. I love something. Dr. Sumrall said, if I need something and I don't have it and no one on earth is obeying God, he said God will send it directly from heaven for me. You go, well, God doesn't do that. Everything God has for you is in the earth. Wait a minute, what about manna? Bible called it angel food. It was heaven's care because there was no other resource out there to feed millions daily. Heaven opened up every day and poured out something for his people. If you need something and it's not in the earth, heaven will send it. Amen. Praise the Lord. If you'll have faith in his care and not cheapen his care for you. You in your thinking. Amen. Father, we thank you, we thank you, we thank you, we thank you. Praise the Lord. Forgive us for not allowing your care in our life to be fully satisfied as it as you want it to be. We change today. We're done struggling. We're in your care. We're done struggling. In our thought life, we remind ourselves, I'm in your care. You care for me. You're taking care of me. And the way you care for me reflects the honor of you. You know, God said to me back in 2014, God said to me, I'm going to give you Sister Amy's castle. And when he gave me a castle, he gave me not just a home, he gave me a renovation. You know, it came with other needs. So you're not buying a house, you're buying a renovation. And so God, it was very unusual. He came into my house. I was sitting back in my back bedroom, and the power of God came on me on a Friday night. And he said, I'm going to describe the home I have for you. See, I owned a home. I didn't know that he would give me another one. And he described it, he gave me four characteristics of it. The very next night, the same thing happened. The power of God came in your room, in the room and said, I'm going to describe your next home to you. And he gave me the same four characteristics, except this thing. This time, he said a fifth thing. He said, it's Sister Amy's castle. I said, oh, no. You know, it took a while for it to register. And I have never had a season like that in the sense of it was like every day, the power of God would come tangibly in the room, and it was like he would just converse with me about the home, about different aspects of it. And I said to God, I said, I never had fellowship with you like this. It's like you're discussing every detail with me of the home. I never knew you were that interested. You know, you think you got bigger things to do, you know. And he said to me, and I made this statement to him. I said, it seems to me that it's important to you that I receive the home. Why do I sense that it's not just important for me to have the home? I said, it seems like it's important to you that I have the home. Why do I sense that? Is that right? And he said, I'm a rewarder of those who diligently seek me. He said, I don't just give rewards. I am a Rewarder. He said, if you don't receive the home you robbed from me of being the rewarder that I am. That's why it's important that you receive it. It's important that you receive his care. Not just say oh, he loves me. Then receive his care, then receive his care. He takes care of us. Amen. It's important to him that we receive his care. Because how would you feel if you were a parent? And every time you try to bless your kid, they rebuttal against that they won't. There's going to be something dissatisfied in the parent that you don't care enough about this family or me as the role of your dad or your mom to even accept what I'm giving you. You diminish it, you devalue it, you set aside, you think you shouldn't have it. I give it to you and you won't ever use would rob from the parents. Because the parent loves to see the enjoyment of the kids with it. Right? God wants to see you enjoy, not feel like you shouldn't have something, not feel like it shouldn't be that nice for you. Don't rob him of the enjoyment of caring for you. Amen. This is not about the acquiring of stuff. It's about a mindset that you're his child, he's your father. Amen. And to struggle in our thought life about it is wrong. Amen. It's not faith. Father, we thank you. We thank you. We thank you. We glorify you. Just let lift up your hands and worship him tonight. We glorify you, Father. We glorify you. Father, we glorify you. We magnify you. Say this after me. Say, father, I no longer worry about any need of my life. You have already provided for it. I'm done struggling. I'm done worrying about it. And I release faith in your care for me. I'm in your care. You're taking care of me. I'll always have more than enough in your care. I receive of that care, I think right toward who you are in my life. And I receive the fullness. Hallelujah. Listen, what am I trying to say to you? The Father's care for you is expensive. Expensive. It's not cheap. He's never dealt with us cheaply. It's expensive. Amen. Don't you think sending Jesus was expensive for heaven? His daily care of us is expensive. So get used to the expense of heaven. Amen. Father, you got an expense here. I can't tell you the number of times I've said, God, your wife needs something. The word says, he's the husband to the widow. I said, your wife needs something. And I said, my husband made sure that I didn't do without. You won't be outdone by him, will you? I remind him I spend that widow card in heaven. I do. Amen. Hallelujah. Spend. Spend your position as a child of God with him. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, Pastor.