"Mounting Up To Run Faster In 2024" by Nancy Dufresne
In this past year, we have experienced a great flow of God’s blessings. We have seen the fulfillment of many things we were believing for, and we are so grateful to God for it.
We are also grateful for you, the friends and partners of Dufresne Ministries, for your love, faith, prayers, and generosity, and we are thankful that we get to run this joyous race with you!
We are excited and expectant about what 2024 holds for us all as we move forward with the vision. This ministry is growing and increasing. The pace is picking up, and we are loving the ride!
In this past year, we have experienced a great flow of God’s blessings. We have seen the fulfillment of many things we were believing for, and we are so grateful to God for it.
We are also grateful for you, the friends and partners of Dufresne Ministries, for your love, faith, prayers, and generosity, and we are thankful that we get to run this joyous race with you!
We are excited and expectant about what 2024 holds for us all as we move forward with the vision. This ministry is growing and increasing. The pace is picking up, and we are loving the ride!
In these last days, the plan of God is accelerating, and we must run skillfully and accurately if we are to run refreshed as we keep pace with His plan.
There is a scripture that God has impressed on my heart that I believe is a keynote verse for us in 2024. In it, we see how to run skillfully and accurately. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV).
We have been raised and seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). That is the seat that we have been raised to and that we occupy as children of God. That seat is above the flow of this world. Since we have been raised, it is our privilege to conduct our life from this higher flow.
Isaiah 40:31 speaks of how to move in that higher flow. The Amplified Classic translation reads, “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.”
In Hebrew, the word “renew” is exchange. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew (exchange) their strength….” In His Presence, a divine exchange takes
place – we take on His strength. He doesn’t just enhance our own human strength, but we partake of HIS strength. And those who do, “… they shall RUN and not be weary, they shall WALK and not faint or become tired.”
Those who do this aren’t running on the low level of the natural
realm – the realm and flow that produces weariness and tiredness – but they have “mounted up” above that natural flow into the flow of God’s strength; they are walking in the Spirit, living in His Presence. Then as they run in His strength, “… they shall RUN and not be weary, they shall WALK and not faint or become tired.” God intends that we run without weariness and walk without fainting.
How do we “mount up” into this flow of His strength? By taking time to “wait on the Lord” – ministering to the Lord.
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“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall MOUNT UP with wings as eagles….” Waiting before the Lord, we partake of His strength that causes us to “mount up” above the natural flow of this world. We are to conduct life from this “mounted up” place.
This flow of strength can only come to us through time in His Presence. This is the strength we are to run in. This is how to run the “last days” pace.
The vision that God has called each one of us to fulfill calls for His divine strength and His flow – the flow of walking in the Spirit, the flow of living in His Presence. This is the flow that produces living in its highest sense.
As we continue to fulfill His plan, may we be “mounting up to run faster” in 2024.
"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.
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.
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.”
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).