"Faith Requires Revelation" by Nancy Dufresne

Brother Hagin would often say, “You can’t believe beyond actual knowledge.” In telling his testimony of being raised up off his deathbed at 17 years of age, he didn’t even know he could be healed until he saw healing in the Word. Even though he saw that he could be healed, he didn’t know how to release his faith to receive healing until the Holy Spirit revealed it to him when reading Mark 11:24. Once he saw what the Word said and acted on it, then his faith worked and he was raised up. The Spirit gave him revelation of the Word, and when he gained that revelation, his faith to receive healing worked. Faith requires revelation to work.

     There are two kinds of knowledge. There is “sense knowledge,” which is natural human knowledge that comes through your senses. Then there is “revelation knowledge.” This knowledge isn’t studied out, but it’s revealed by the Holy Spirit to your own spirit. Someone can teach you revelation of the Word that they have, but they can’t make it land in your spirit – dawn on your spirit – only the Holy Spirit can give revelation of the Word to you!

     First Corinthians 2:9 & 10 reads, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath REVEALED (given revelation of) them unto us by his Spirit….”

     Paul teaches us that we can pray for believers (and ourselves) to receive revelation of God’s Word. Ephesians 1:16 & 17 reads, “Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and REVELATION in the knowledge of him.”

     Jesus had revelation of Psalm 16:10 & 11: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

     This is what Jesus had revelation of and knew while He was in hell. He wasn’t struggling to receive this – He was trusting His Father to do it. In that place of torment, He was resting Himself on what He knew. When I say “resting,” I don’t mean that devils were leaving Him alone. I mean that He wasn’t trying to bring it to pass – He knew God would. Jesus had such knowledge and revelation of His Father, that when He was in hell, He said, “God will not leave my soul in hell.”

     When you have revelation of the Word, revelation of what God says about your situation, you can “rest” – you can rest when you know!

     Two years before my husband went home to be with the Lord, the Spirit of God said to me, “All I want you doing is practicing peace.” He meant that I was to make that an emphasis of my daily life. I did that by paying attention to my thought life, and any thought that didn’t lead me to peace and joy, I answered it with the Word and cast that thought down; I didn’t let troubling thoughts loose in my thought life.

     Because of practicing peace daily, I moved into a revelation of the force of peace, so when that tragedy came, we were able to rest on the Word and not enter into the struggle of grief and sorrow. Revelation of the Word made all the difference for me, my family, and our congregation.

     If you are struggling in the face of opposition or concerning a need, ask God for and expect the Spirit of God to give you any revelation you may need. Faith is easy when you know – when you have revelation of God’s Word.

     Psalm 36:9 tells us “…in thy light shall we see light.” Hearing and feeding on the Word opens the way for more light (revelation) of the Word to come.

     When you need answers and help, focus on what you DO know, on the light you DO have. As you do, more light that you need will come. This is a key to more light.

     Thank God for giving you the needed light and revelation. Thanking God for what you don’t yet feel or see is one of the greatest acts of faith there is.

     Don’t talk about and be occupied with what you don’t know, don’t have, or can’t do. Instead, feed on the Word, and take the opportunity to be where the Word is being taught.

     Being around natural things and carnal things, where there is no light, robs us of a setting of light.

     When you need to know something, get around light, and more light that you need will come. Just sitting in the atmosphere of the Word, answers come. When sitting in an atmosphere of light – the teaching of the Word – you see the light you need.

     When we have revelation of the Word and walk in the light of that Word, faith is no struggle – our faith works.

"Doing The Right Thing Every Day" by Nancy Dufresne

I’m reminded of a statement that Dr. Lester Sumrall made: “I don’t do anything great – I just do something all the time!” He didn’t measure the success of his life by the periodic dramatic moments of his life, but rather, by just doing the right thing every day. Practicing the Word and making right choices every day were what added up to living a life of greatness. Every day, he was a doer of the Word! He walked by faith in God’s Word.

     Luke 11:28 records that Jesus stated, “…BLESSED are they that HEAR the word of God, and KEEP IT.” It’s the one who does what he hears of God’s Word that will experience the blessing of God on his life.

     William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army stated, “I’m not waiting for a move of God – I AM a move of God!” It was the way he lived his “everyday life” that enabled him to say this. Every day, he made choices toward his spiritual life. He was a doer of the Word every day. He lived in fellowship with God every day.

     Smith Wigglesworth stated, “I live full of the Spirit. That’s why I have revival everywhere I go!” When we live full of the Word and the Spirit, it elevates the flow of our daily life, and out of that fullness we will be a great blessing to others. This was not just a periodic flow of Wigglesworth’s life, but a daily flow he chose.

     These men were skillful at doing the Word in their daily lives. Greatness in the life of the believer is not built in the periodic dramatic moments, but in how we live our lives every day.

     The faith life is about choosing to let the Word govern us. When faced with the circumstances of life, we ask ourselves, What does the Word say about this? We put the Word first – we act on the Word.

     Joseph lived a remarkable life. During his teen years, he was a shepherd for his father, then his brothers sold him as a slave, and then he was falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison for 12 years. His years of youth and young manhood were lived in difficult, dark surroundings. The enemy, no doubt, sought to destroy him during this season, but because he conducted his daily life in a way that was pleasing to God, God was able to use those difficult times as an accelerated training course to prepare him to run a nation by the time he was 30 years old. He wasn’t trained in the palace. He was trained for greatness by doing the right thing in the everyday moments of his life as a shepherd boy, as a slave, and then as a prisoner. He had to guard his mind, doing the right thing with his thought life. He had to guard his heart to keep out unforgiveness, bitterness, and offense toward those who had mistreated and mishandled him. He learned to do the right thing every day.

“Doing the right thing – being a doer of the Word – this is what helps develop us spiritually and makes us of great use to God.”

— Nancy Dufresne

     Doing the right thing – being a doer of the Word – this is what helps develop us spiritually and makes us of great use to God.

     In contrast, we see Sampson. He was a man who had an anointing upon him. God had promoted him to be a judge over His people. Sampson had dramatic spiritual happenings, but he was dominated by his flesh. What he permitted in his daily life became his weakness.

     It matters what we permit in our everyday life. The flesh and natural things lose sway over us as we let the Word dominate us. Being a consistent doer of the Word brings blessing, for with consistency lies victory. Life becomes sweeter as our skill in doing the Word grows.

     In an interview, I was asked, “What was your darkest day?” My most difficult time wasn’t a day – it was a season years ago, when I was spiritually young and my mind wasn’t renewed with the Word of God. Everything was hard then. Ignorance of the Word and not being a doer of the Word makes life hard, for the enemy seeks to take advantage of ignorance.

     We don’t have to live in a place of ongoing difficulty. As we keep hearing and practicing the Word every day, it makes life sweet! “…BLESSED are they that HEAR the word of God, and KEEP IT” (Luke 11:28).

"Faith Is Specific, Part 1" by Nancy Dufresne

Proverbs 4:5-8 instructs us, “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.”

     This passage tells us what wisdom will do: preserve, keep, (AMPC – defend, protect), promote you, and bring you to honor.

     To walk in God’s wisdom is one way God protects and defends us. Sometimes people do things that aren’t wise, get into difficulty, then wonder why God didn’t warn them. Wisdom warns us!

     God’s wisdom is God’s mind and thoughts.

     When faced with a need or a test, find out God’s thinking and what He says pertaining to your situation. God’s wisdom will promote us. Having God’s wisdom will promote us into God’s best and into God’s plan for our life, but God’s wisdom will also promote us out of tests.

     If you are doing all you know to do and nothing is changing, you need God’s wisdom – ask Him.

     One minister tells of a time years ago when nearly everyone in the family was sick. They were standing in faith, but nothing was changing. This minister called their dad, who was a seasoned minister, and asked, “Why aren’t we receiving?”

     He said, “I don’t know. But wisdom is the principal thing. Get God’s wisdom. Ask Him why you aren’t receiving.” They did, and God gave them the specific answer of what to do, and when they did what He said, everything changed.

     James 1:2-6 instructs us, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering….”

     This passage starts off talking about tests and temptations we’re facing. Then it tells us what to do if we lack wisdom in the face of tests – ask God! Wisdom isn’t given automatically – we must ask – ask in faith!

God’s Wisdom in a Test

     Recently, there was a threat the enemy kept making. I didn’t know the specific answer to it, so I would answer it generally with the truths of the Word, and it would just stand off. But after a few weeks, that same opposition would return. I would again give a general answer and it would again back off, but it didn’t leave.

     The last time it came, God said to me, “Ask Me about that opposition.” I hadn’t talked to God about it because I didn’t want to touch that threat in my thought life – I didn’t want to turn it over in my mind. But when God told me to ask Him about it, I did. He told me why it was coming. God gave me the specific answer to give to that threat, and when I answered that threat specifically, that devil left and didn’t come back. The enemy’s strategy failed because the wisdom of God came.

     Colossians 1:9 reads, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives” (NIV).

     When you resist an attack, but it keeps recurring, it’s because you aren’t yet giving the right specific answer. Specifics given by the Spirit of God are the wisdom of God for your need, and wisdom is the principal thing that gets results every time when we add our faith and obedience to it.

Wisdom Is Specific

     Mark 5:6-9 tells us about how Jesus dealt with the madman of Gadera: “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.”

     Notice, Jesus had commanded the devil to come out once, and he didn’t, so Jesus asked him his name. When Jesus called the demons out by name, the specific name (the specific thing to say), the demons came out – He got results.

     (In one vision Kenneth E. Hagin had of Jesus, Jesus taught him about evil spirits, and stated that sometimes – not every time – you need to know the name of the demon to cast it out.)

     This shows us that when faced with opposition, we sometimes need to answer opposition with more specific answers and not just general answers, in order to get results.

     If you are having to deal with the same opposition repeatedly, you need God’s wisdom to know the specific answer to give.

     We are to live “Days of Heaven on Earth.” We aren’t to live troubled and harassed by ongoing opposition. Troubling is not to last; it is not to be a way of life for the believer. 

     Ephesians 6:13-14 tells us, “…having done all, to stand. Stand therefore....” We haven’t “done all to stand” if we lack God’s wisdom regarding our situation. We are to ask God for His wisdom regarding a lingering test. To “stand” doesn't mean to just cope. To “stand” involves being fully suited in the armor of God, and it involves standing on the Word with the specific answer of God’s wisdom in our mouth.

     Ask God for His wisdom, which is your specific answer to the test – then when you stand on that Word, you’ll get results!