"Right Thinking Brings Promotion, Part 2" by Nancy Dufresne

As I stated in Part 1 of this message, everything in God is increase, advancement, and promotion. There’s nothing in God that’s in the backward direction. So we shouldn’t be okay if we are not increasing. Things in our life shouldn’t stay the same year after year. There should be increase, because faith in God’s Word will promote us – it won’t leave us where we are at. It would help us to evaluate the fruit in each arena of our lives to make sure we are advancing.​

    For us to advance and be promoted, our thinking must advance. Right thinking positions us for promotion and increase. We can’t be promoted if we have wrong thinking. Wrong thinking hinders us and robs from us.

    We must be TEACHABLE if our thinking is to change. Proverbs 21:2 tells us, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes….” We aren’t safe just being self-taught. That’s why God gave us a pastor and the other fivefold offices.

    People that are teachable will listen. If we think wrong and refuse to listen, the mind will keep truth from entering into our spirit. We must listen if the Word is to help our thinking.

    Romans 12:2 instructs us, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” The Amplified Classic translation reads, “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect[in His sight for you].”

    As we renew our minds by feeding and acting on the Word of God, our lives are transformed into something we’ve never been before. Miracles, the gifts of the Spirit, and healing lines bless you, but it’s the Word and being a doer of it that transforms your life into something that it has never been before. A renewed mind is not just mentally agreeing with God, but it includes acting in line with the Word. The mind is only renewed in a particular arena once we are acting and conducting our lives in line with the Word in that arena. We must renew our minds to what the Word says in every arena. In the Amplified translation, notice the word “entire” renewal – every arena addressed – notjust some of the arenas of life. This is a life-long process that must happen every day for the rest of our lives.

    Third John 1:2 reads, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers” (AMPC). Notice, this verse connects our physical prosperity and our financial prosperity to the prosperity of our soul – the renewing of the mind. Our prosperity doesn’t begin with money, but with a renewed mind. “Beloved, I pray that you prosper and be in health even as your SOUL prospers” – not as your FAITH prospers – but as your SOUL. Faith is important, but it won’t take the place of having a renewed mind and right thinking. In all your getting of faith, don’t overlook getting right thinking, which comes from renewing the mind. Your mind will either shut down the flow of faith or cooperate with the faith in your heart. 

A Renewed Mind — Our Greatest Defense

    Our greatest defense against the enemy is a renewed mind. The mind is Satan’s chief battleground. The reason that Satan attacks the mind is because he knows if the thinking is wrong, the believing and speaking will be wrong. By attacking the mind, he can automatically affect every other arena of our lives. Every attack that comes will also be accompanied by an attack on the mind – to try to get us to think wrong. His whole intent is to get us thinking wrong because then our believing and speaking will be wrong. 

    The Word calls the devil, the “old deceiver.” That deception happens in the mind. The devil can’t do anything to you anytime he wants – if he could, he would just go ahead and do it. But he can’t – that’s why he has to try to deceive you first. He has to get someone thinking wrong to gain entrance. When someone thinks right, the devil has no place of entry.

    Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,whose MIND is stayed on thee....” Faith isn’t mentioned here in connection with peace – the mind is. How do we know that we’re thinking right regarding a particular arena of life? Two ways: 1) if we are advancing in that arena, and 2) if we have total peace and joy regarding that arena. A lack of peace and joy is due to wrong thinking. Wrong thinking leads us to wrong believing, wrong speaking, and wrong actions – which rob us of peace and joy. Right thinking removes all struggle from life. Ourlives today are a picture of how we think.

    We need to realize that thoughts come to our minds from two different sources; the thoughts that come to our minds do not always originate in our minds. The devil brings thoughts against our minds from the outside. That's one source. The thoughts from God come from within us; they come up from within our spirits into our minds. As we renew our minds with the Word, we are able to distinguish which source a thought flows from.

97% Are Living Beneath

    Thinking right will enlarge what we reach for. Some don’t think they deserve much – that’s wrong thinking. We don’t want to be satisfied with too little when God offers us so much. God told my husband, “97% of My people are living beneath what I’ve provided for them. You ought to be able to live a whole year without touching your savings, just living out of your cash flow. If a pastor needed to build a new building, a congregation of 200 ought to be able to give $1M in one service without touching their savings” (that’s 100 people giving $10,000).

    Giving is a struggle for some, not because of money, but because of wrong thinking. There are Christians that are good givers, but they aren’t prospering; they don’t think right toward money, and that wrong thinking is hindering their increase. Many times, their motive and intent are wrong.

    If an arena of your life is not increasing and prospering, address that arena with the Word – further renewing of the mind in that arena is called for – that will bring advancement. Those who take the Word, renew their minds, meditate on it, let it govern their thoughts and actions, and become doers of it are the ones that will rise to the top.

    Right thinking doesn’t just promote us, but it helps usmaintain what’s laid hold of. Everything we receive from God, the enemy is busy trying to steal it from us. It’s wrong thinking that opens the door for him to steal from us. Wrong thoughts include: doubt, fear, unforgiveness, offense, etc. But he can’t steal from us if we are thinking and speaking right, and it’s the Word of God that offers us right thinking. 

    Let’s take the thoughts of the Word and make them ours – forthe Word will bring promotion, advancement, and increase in every arena of our lives.

"The Doers Are Blessed" by Nancy Dufresne

James 1:22 reads, “But be ye DOERS of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

     On one occasion, as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, a woman lifted her voice and called out. “And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee...But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and KEEP it” (Luke 11:27 & 28).

     As Jesus was teaching and bringing revelations of eternal truths, this woman seemed to miss the whole point. She was thinking only in natural terms and cried out how blessed his mother was to have born such a son. But Jesus redirected her focus by saying that it’s those who keep His words, the DOER of His words, that are blessed. He was declaring that those who are doers of the Word are more blessed than the woman who gave birth to Him. Being a doer of the Word positions us so that the blessing of the Lord upon us can come into manifestation in our lives. 

Noah

     In the Word, we see that it was doers that God was able to work through in mighty ways. 

     Look at Noah. He spent 100 years building the ark. Think of all the physical labor that went into obeying that divine assignment – cutting down trees and turning them into lumber, then the construction of such a massive boat, while being mocked by the community all along the way as he warned them of what was coming. Noah and his whole family were saved because they were doers of what God said. It wouldn’t have been enough to hear what God said about the coming flood – they had to be doers of that word if they were to be saved.

Elisha

     Let’s look at Elisha. God had told Elijah to go anoint Elisha to be a prophet. When Elijah found Elisha, he was out in the field plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. An ox is a massive animal of pure muscle, and Elisha was behind twelve yoke (pairs) of oxen – 24 oxen all yoked together being guided and handled by the strength of this one man. What a man! What a doer he was! God promoted this doer.

Shepherds

     Let’s look at the birth of Jesus. When He was born, an angel appeared to shepherds who were watching their sheep during the night and announced Jesus’ birth to them, then a multitude of angels appeared to them in the sky praising and glorifying God. Next, the shepherds went to find Jesus, and after they did, they announced His birth to others. Notice that the announcement of Jesus’ birth came to working men – men who were doers – common men, not men of royal birth. Heaven considered these working, common men worthy messengers to proclaim Jesus’ birth. When Heaven had a work to be done, the angels found working men – men who were doers.

     It’s not the half-hearted, but those who are whole-hearted in the work of the Lord that God can promote.

     Those with great faith are great doers. They put their hand to doing the things that really matter. They are single-minded in their interest – fulfilling God’s will and plan for their lives.  

     We are never to wait for someone else to push us forward in our doing, but we are to do as Paul stated, “I PRESS toward the mark...” (Phil. 3:14).

     We are to make it a focus of our lives to be doers of the Word. It’s doers that are promoted. Being a doer of the Word is how we bear much fruit, and the Father is glorified when we bear much fruit (John 15:8).

"2021: Say & See" by Nancy Dufresne

Romans 4:17-21 reads, “(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 Sarah'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.”

     Abraham, this faith hero, this father of faith, ENDED UP this way – but he didn’t start out this way. Let’s go back to the start of Abraham’s miracle and see his process of learning to contend for the faith.

     Genesis 12:1-3,7 tells us, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy SEED will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.”

     God’s will and promise is given to Abram.

     Genesis 13:14-16 states, “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy SEED for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.”

     God declares the promise again, but gives more detail this time.

Genesis 15:1-3 reads, “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.”

     Abram is not saying what God is saying – he’s calling himself childless, and he’s saying that God has given him no seed. 

     Also, Abram is offering God options of how His Word can be fulfilled – through the son of his servant. Abram’s own plan would have robbed him of his future. But God corrects Abram. Verse 4 reads, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” God lets Abram know that He rejects Abram’s plan. God became very direct and graphic to emphasize that Abram would have his own son.

     Verses 5 & 6 tell us, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

     In these verses, Abram declares 2 things – “seeing I go childless” and “thou hast given no seed.” There is nothing in these statements that God can fulfill. Verse 6 tells us that Abram believed in the Lord. Abram BELIEVED a thing – but he wasn’t SAYING it – and it wasn’t coming to pass either.

     Genesis 16:1 & 2 reads, “Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing….” Sarai is not saying what God said either – she’s saying that “the Lord has restrained her from bearing.”

     Verse 2 continues, “...I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.” Abram had presented his own plan – now Sarai presents her own plan. 

     God doesn’t fulfill His Word through OUR plans, but through HIS. Until they stopped creating their own plans, God’s plan couldn’t be fulfilled. Our own human, mental planning hinders the fulfillment of what God has said to our hearts. Our plans delay His plans. 

     God was speaking to Abram Himself. He wasn’t leading Abram through Sarai. By allowing Sarai to lead him, Abram delayed God’s plan and caused unnecessary hardship. 

     Genesis 16:16 states, “And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.” Eleven years after God first told Abram that he would have a son, Ishmael is born. After Ishmael is born, God is silent toward Abram for 13 years. It doesn’t nurture our fellowship with God to implement our own plan.

     Genesis 17:1-6, 15 reads, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.”

     When God first spoke to Abram, he was 75 years old. Now he is 99 years old, and what God promised still hasn’t come to pass for 24 years. The Word tells us that Abram believed what God said, but he never put it in his mouth – he didn’t speak it.

     God saw that Abram wasn’t getting it – he wasn’t speaking it – so He helped Abram’s faith to be effective by getting his faith in his mouth through a name change for both Abram and Sarai. Abram means "exalted father"; Abraham means "father of a multitude." Sarai means “princess”; Sarah means “queen of princes.”

     Genesis 21:1-5 tells us, “And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.”

     For 24 years, Abram BELIEVED something that HE NEVER SAID, but within ONE year of a lifestyle of saying it, he had a son. By changing their names, God was implementing a LIFESTYLE of calling and saying the right thing. Sarah was pregnant within 3 months, but conception is not manifestation. If they would have quit using their new names, the devil could have stolen what was conceived but not yet manifested – through miscarriage. Their name change was for the rest of their lives so that what was manifested would not be stolen from them. They never again went back to the use of the old names. They had to call themselves by those new names and those meanings for the rest of their lives. That’s how that word from God was not only manifested for Abraham, but it was carried to the next generation and is still being fulfilled. 

     It took 25 years for God’s Word to be fulfilled. Not because it takes GOD a long time to fulfill something, but because it can take US time to change our thinking so that we cooperate with Him. Wrong thinking blocks fulfillment. 

     Do you know how we are going to move from where we are today into the fullness of what God has for us – laying hold of everything He made ours? We must put what we believe in our mouth – it must become a LIFESTYLE OF SAYING WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT US! Make your mouth do its work! We will never just float or drift into God’s best – we will only arrive there on purpose. 

     What has God spoken to you? What has He put in your heart? How about that business you have in your heart to start? Or that house you dream of owning? You have to SAY IT! It’s not enough to BELIEVE that God has more for us, but we have to make SAYING it a LIFESTYLE.

     In Mark 11:23 Jesus stated, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall BELIEVE that those things which he SAITH shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” What are we to believe? That what we say will come to pass. If we aren’t “saying,” then how will our believing be effective? “Bible believing” is incomplete without saying – believing only works when adding saying to it. Abraham proved that – his believing produced nothing until he started saying. “Bible believing” contains the action of saying.

     Abraham ended up “...calling those things which be not as though they were.” He ended up calling and saying what God said, but he didn’t start out that way. You have to CALL what God says is yours into your life. If you speak wrong things, you’re calling wrong things into your life. But if you call right things, then right things come into your life. Find out what the Word says about you and your situation, then call yourself that and call your situation that. What you call is what will come to your life. It’s not about calling it once, but it’s a lifestyle of calling. If Abraham hadn’t CALLED himself the father of many nations, he wouldn’t have become that, even though GOD called him that. God needs us to agree with what He says so He can bring it to pass. When we believe and call, we are agreeing with God.

     The word God put in my heart for 2021 is “SAY & SEE.” 

     When Abram started calling, what hadn’t been fulfilled in 24 years was fulfilled within ONE year!

     What has God said to you? What is in your heart? Things which have been in your heart for decades can be fulfilled and come into manifestation in 2021. Pick up and stir up things that may have laid dormant and unfulfilled for decades. Make a list of things God has said to you and say those things – call them! Put it in your mouth daily. Make it a lifestyle of calling. Call SPECIFICALLY what you’re believing for – not just generally – but specifically.

     Make a specific list regarding the different arenas of life that you want to see changed and of the things God has spoken to you: spiritually, mentally, physically, and materially. It can be fulfilled in a very short time if we will make specific “calling” and “saying” a lifestyle. Then line your actions and your doing up with your saying. Our saying is to direct us in our doing. Saying without doing is not effective, but our saying sets us up for success in our doing. 

     If we will make SAYING a priority, we will see much come to pass THIS YEAR! SAY & SEE in 2021!

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