"Healing – Hook On!" by Nancy Dufresne

I want to tell you a healing testimony I recently heard that I love. There was a man who was hospitalized and suffering with great pain. He was in so much pain that if the doctors didn’t give him pain medication that completely knocked him out, he was virtually screaming. 

     A minister was called to come and pray for him, and on the way over to the hospital, the minister asked the Holy Spirit what he should minister to the man. Yes, the minister knew that healing belongs to all of God’s people, but he also knew that sometimes people aren’t in position to receive God’s best. So he wanted to find out from the Spirit of God what this man’s faith could hook on to. The minister knew that the man was suffering with great pain, and he knew it would be difficult to locate the man’s faith while he was in that condition. As the minister inquired of the Lord about what to believe for with the man, the Spirit of God spoke to him. 

     When the minister arrived in the man’s hospital room, he saw how much pain he was in and realized that the pain level was increasing day by day. He knew that the man wasn’t even really able to listen to much counsel because he was so distracted by the pain. The minister knew that he needed to speak something quick and short that the suffering man could hook his faith on to.

     The minister didn’t even ask the man to believe for the pain to leave instantly; he knew that he wouldn’t be able to lay hold of that with his faith. So the minister said what the Spirit of God had told him as he drove to the hospital. “Can you believe with me that the pain won’t be any worse tomorrow than it is today?”

     “Yes,” the man said, “I can believe for that.”

     “Good! Let’s pray together and set our faith for that,” and they did.

     The next day the minister went back to visit him. When he arrived, the man’s family met him in the hallway and said, “He’s still in a lot of pain, but at least it’s no worse today than it was yesterday.”

     The minister didn’t say anything to them, but on the inside he was jumping up and down. Their faith had worked!

     The minister walked into the hospital room, and although the man was still suffering in pain, he encouraged him. “Brother, our faith worked! We found a place where we could hook on and get results. Things have turned and are going in the right direction now. You’re not getting worse every day! Praise the Lord!” And he got the man’s attention on the victory that they had received. “Now, let’s believe that you’ll have less pain tomorrow than you have today.” They agreed in prayer.

     When the minister went back to visit him the next day, the man told him, “I am still in pain, but it is a little bit less than it was yesterday – just a little bit less.”

     The minister rejoiced. “Brother, God’s power is working! Not only has the pain stopped increasing, but now it’s decreasing. Even though it’s just decreased a little bit, it’s still decreasing. Praise the Lord!”

     Every time the minister went back, he found that the man was getting better and better, until he went back one day and found out that the man had been sent home.

     No, it wasn’t an instant healing, but it was still divine healing.

“The key is to find the place where your faith can hook on – and then hook on! - Nancy Dufresne”

     Brother Hagin used to say to us, “Many confine God to the instantaneous and miss the supernatural.” In other words, many don’t think that faith or the Word is working unless they receive instantaneously, but this man was having healing power working in his body every day, even though it wasn’t instantaneous. The Bible tells us that the centurion’s servant “began to amend.” His healing wasn’t instantaneous, but he began to get better little by little.

     If there’s something that you need to change in your life, whether it’s healing in your body, a financial change, or some other change, don’t limit God to the instantaneous. Find the place where your faith can hook on. Can you believe that things will get better every day? Well, it takes faith to believe that, and God is pleased with faith. God isn’t only pleased when you can believe for the instantaneous, but He is pleased when you release your measure of faith – whatever that measure may be. 

     In Mark 11:23, Jesus spoke of the mountain being moved, but who said that it would move all at once? A mountain can be moved a little bit every day. 

     The key is to find the place where your faith can hook on – and then hook on!

"The Jackpot of Life, Part 1" by Nancy Dufresne

Matt. 6:31-34 instructs us, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But SEEK ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be ADDED unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow....”

The Amplified translation of verse 33 reads, “But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (HIS WAY OF DOING and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

“When we seek first God’s Kingdom and His way of operating, everything we need in this life shall be added to us.”

— Nancy Dufresne

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things that others are dying to get will be ADDED to you. This is the “jackpot” of life. It’s a key scripture that tells us that when we seek God first, then all these things this scripture contains will be added to us.

Seeking first His Kingdom and His way of operating will put us in command of all other things that others are dying to get. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its diverse interests, and all these things shall be added to you.

“Seek” — this is not a casual approach to God and His Kingdom, but a “whole-hearted” approach that calls for your whole attention. This verse shows us that we are to have a God-centeredness in all we do. God-centeredness is loving God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. God-centeredness puts us on top of all other issues of life. This verse shows us that God-centeredness will put us in command of all other issues of life.

No Fear of What We’re Far Above

For the one who is God-centered in his thoughts and in his attention, he is done with fear and worry and doubt. To engage in “His way of doing” (vs. 33, Amp) gives you the mastery over all opposition. When you get the revelation of this verse, you will be free from struggling for anything. You can be assured that this truth sets you free from every form of struggle.

God-centeredness is the mystery behind our dominion on the earth. God-centeredness helps us see ourselves and walk in the position He has raised us to — FAR above all powers.

Ephesians 1:20-23 reads, “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, FAR ABOVE all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” And Ephesians 2:5 & 6 tells us, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ...And hath RAISED US UP together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

When you get the revelation that you are seated FAR ABOVE all opposing powers, it is like a divine coronation, and you begin to exercise the dominion that is yours. You live on top instead of beneath. God-centeredness brings you into a mindfulness of your exalted position in Christ. It sets you free from fear when you see that you are FAR ABOVE all opposition. You can never be afraid of what you are FAR above. When someone is afraid, it is because they have forgotten that they are FAR ABOVE it. No more fear of being alone, fear of flying, fear of failure, no fear of the future, no fear that so many others’ lives are dominated by.

Utmost Excitement About His Kingdom

When we seek first God’s Kingdom and His way of operating, everything we need in this life shall be added to us. To seek first the Kingdom of God and His way of doing things is to love God unreservedly — going after Kingdom issues with utmost excitement — treating it as the highlight of your life.

First Corinthians 2:9 reads, “...What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]” (Amplified).

The more interested I become with Him and His business, the more I lose interest in the unimportant, and the more absorbed I am with God’s interests. I’m not going to let the unimportant rob me of the glorious future God planned for me on this earth. I’m not going to let distractions and the natural rob me of laying hold of “His riches in glory.”

Serving God and having your interest in His Kingdom is absolutely for your benefit. Exodus 23:25 & 26 tells us, “You shall serve the Lord your God; He shall bless your bread and water, and I will take sickness from your midst...I will fulfill the number of your days” (Amplified). He will bless your daily resources, and He will protect the health of the one serving Him and extend his life. The blessing flows with the “serving” of His Kingdom.

You won’t have to pray for His blessing when your interest is in His Kingdom, for the abundance of that Kingdom will water and overflow every arena of your life. Giving God the first place in our lives is absolutely to our benefit. When we put the Kingdom of God first, then that Kingdom will dominate our lives.

In God’s Kingdom is unending supply — there’s never a shortage there. Stay in the interests of the Kingdom, and you will stay out of shortage.

Part 2 Coming Next Month...

"Consider Not" by Nancy Dufresne

I was listening again to Dad Hagin tell of the vision he had when Jesus came into his hospital room. As a young minister, Dad Hagin had fallen and injured his arm, and it was at this time that he had the vision. Jesus walked into his room, pulled up a chair to sit by his bed, and talked to him for an hour and a half.

During that vision, Jesus said to Dad Hagin, “It’s My will that none of My children ever be sick, be operated on, or have accidents. But very few ever walk in My best, because: (1) most don’t know what belongs to them, (2) even if they do know what belongs to them, they don’t have enough faith to receive it, or (3) others are in disobedience.”

Follow Abraham's Example

Romans 4:17-21 tells of Abraham: “(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 to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” Let’s look at verse 19: “And being not weak in faith, he CONSIDERED NOT his own body now dead....” How does someone weaken their faith? They consider what they ought not to consider. When your attention goes to and stays on the wrong thing, it weakens your faith. To keep your faith strong, you have to keep your attention on the right thing. Where your attention goes, your faith goes. Abraham protected the strength of his faith by keeping it off the wrong thing. He considered not his own body. His body told him something, but he refused to focus or put his attention on that.

He didn’t consider what his own body told him, but he also didn’t even consider the body of another person — his wife. If you touch in your thought life why someone else failed to receive their answer or why another person died, it will weaken your faith. “Consider not” the situation of another.

Dad Hagin stated the following. “Consider not — blessed words — an unfailing refuge from the fery darts. Heavenly atmosphere where no germ or disease can survive for the fraction of a second. Consider not. Do not accord to the physical symptoms a passing thought. Refuse to take them into your calculations. If you consider your own body, paying attention to the symptoms, that’s why they persist. As long as you consider them, they will persist.”

Consider the Word, put your attention on the Word. Act like the Word is true. In any test or trial, if you consider the circumstances, allowing your attention to be focused on the test, the test will continue. Consider the Word and answer that situation with the Word. Don’t consider the test and turn it over in your mind, for that is worry. And as long as you are worrying, the devil has an entrance.

You don’t have to make the test stop. You just speak the Word, rest on the Word, and let the Word do the work. Jeremiah 1:12 reads, “...for I will hasten my word to perform it.” You aren’t the one who performs His Word — He does. It’s your job to answer the test with the Word, then rest on His Word, and it’s His job to perform it. Faith is the diligent effort to rest in God. Rest knowing that He is doing the work.