"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.

"Right Thinking Brings Promotion, Part 1" by Nancy Dufresne

  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. What are the different arenas? Spiritually, mentally, physically, materially, and in our relationships. As a cotton and wheat farmer, my daddy evaluated his crops daily. He knew that his success as a farmer was connected to what his crops produced. What are our lives producing?

     Don’t live life on auto-pilot, but press toward your own advancement! Stir yourself up to take hold of the advancement and promotion that God authored for you.

Think Right!

     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 robs from us. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but he can’t accomplish that on those who think right.

     Gideon started with an army of 22,000, but God had him send anyone home who was fearful and didn’t want to fight. He was then left with 10,000 men. God had him take those down to the water to see how they drank of the stream. Those who laid down their weapons were to be sent home – only 300 didn’t lay down their weapons. Only 300 out of the 22,000 were qualified to advance. Those sent home didn’t think right – they were fearful, and they laid down their weapons – wrong thinking.

     Joshua & Caleb had faith to advance into the Promised Land, but for 40 years they had lived with an unbelieving, disobedient generation who didn’t think right. Because of their wrong thinking, that generation never arrived; wrong thinking held them out of God’s best. After Moses died, God gave Joshua his instructions so he could lead the people in. In Joshua 1:8 we see what God gave him as his instruction to arrive. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Meditating on, speaking, and doing the Word would give him the mindset of success so they could advance and arrive.

     One of David’s “mighty men” was surrounded by an army of 800, and he killed them all with the sword – divine ability assisted him. But think of the kind of mentality he possessed to face that without thinking wrong – without running, quitting, or giving up!

Your Mind Is the Gateway to Your Spirit

     The mind is the gateway to the spirit – the mind determines what is or is not allowed into the spirit. We couldn’t even be born again until our mind agreed to receive it. Eternal life could not come into our spirit until our mind agreed. Nothing else from God comes into your spirit without your agreement either. 

     What we believe is a result of our thinking. If we think wrong, we will believe wrong. If our believing is wrong, our confession will be wrong – what we say will be wrong. It all hinges on our thinking! But the Word of God has been given to us to straighten out our thinking! 

     If we don’t think right, we will have faith problems. A faith problem is a thinking problem. To increase faith, we must bring up our thinking to be in line with the Word. Isaiah 55:8 & 9 reads, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God’s not just showing us that our thinking is low, but He’s inviting us to come up to His thoughts. The Word of God is the thoughts of God. God offers us His thoughts – let’s take them. Taking higher thoughts can’t help but lift our life into new levels.

     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].”

     Renewing our minds by feeding and acting on God’s Word will help us to think right and position us for promotion and increase that God has planned for us. It is a life-long occupation and privilege we have to renew our minds with God’s Word.

"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).