"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.

"Our Greatest Defense" by Nancy Dufresne

There are times when the enemy will oppose us, but no matter what opposition, tests, or trials come our way, our greatest defense is a submitted body and a renewed mind. When we keep our bodies under control and think in line with the Word, we are able to keep the door closed to the devil, and he can’t get in.

     Romans 12:1 & 2 reads, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 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.”

     We are threefold beings: we are a spirit, we have a soul (made up of the mind, will, and emotions), and we live in a body. When we got born again, God did something with our spirits – He gave us a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). Even though God did something with our spirits at the new birth, we still have the same mind and same flesh. We are the ones who have to do something with the mind and the flesh – not God. Romans 12:1 & 2 tells us what to do with them – present, or submit, our bodies to God and renew our minds with the Word of God. 

Submitted Bodies

     Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies to God. We are no longer to present our bodies unto sin and do wrong, but we are to present, or yield, our bodies to righteousness and do right things with our bodies. We must yield our bodies to only do what is right instead of yielding to sin. 

     Romans 6:13 & 14 instructs us, “Neither YIELD ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but YIELD yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” 

     The grace of God is the divine ability we now have to say “no” to sin, and it enables us to live a righteous lifestyle. Sin is no longer lord over us. As believers, the power that’s in us is greater. But to break sinful habits of the flesh, we have to tell them, “No, you have no more authority over me to dominate me. I yield myself to God and to do right, and I no longer yield to sin and wrong doing.” Answer bad habits of the flesh! 

     If we don’t do something with our bodies, our bodies can ruin our lives. If our body is permitted to lead us, it will lead us into ruin. 

     First Corinthians 9:27 records that Paul said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (set aside as unusable).” Paul, this great apostle, still had a body that wanted to do wrong if it got its way. But Paul said that he kept his body under. Under what? Under the dominion of his spirit. He didn’t let his body dominate and lead him – he yielded to his spirit and allowed it to dominate and lead him.

Renewed Minds

     In addition to submitting our bodies to God, Romans 12:2 instructs us that we are to renew our minds – which means to take on God’s way of thinking. God’s Word is the thoughts of God. When our own thoughts are different than His thoughts, then we are to lay aside our thinking and take on His thinking. 

     When our mind is being renewed with the Word, it will show up in our actions. Our mind isn’t being renewed until it affects our behavior and our lifestyle. If we are renewing our mind, we are also a DOER of the Word, for the mind is only renewed as we DO the Word. 

     Dad Hagin stated, “The mind doesn’t stay renewed any more than the hair stays combed.” Just as we are to put our hair back in place every day – we must daily renew our minds to keep the mind in place; it is a lifelong process.  As we renew our mind with the Word, our life will be transformed.

     Someone can get saved, but if they never renew their mind with the Word, their lifestyle won’t change much. They will still have the same behavior and the same way of thinking they did before they were born again. The new birth does something with the spirit, but not the mind – that’s why we must renew it with the Word.

     God wants submitted bodies and transformed minds. God knows that submitting our bodies to Him and renewing our minds with His Word is our greatest defense against the devil.

     The mind is Satan’s chief battleground. If we are going to reign in life, we have to renew our minds with the Word of God so that we can keep the door closed to the enemy. For those believers who don’t do the right thing with their mind and body, the devil will have open access to their life.

     Many think the devil is their problem, when the real problem is that they haven’t done what they ought to with their minds and bodies. Many are waiting for God to intervene and change their situations. God did intervene – He empowered us and told us what to do – yield our body to God, not to sin, AND renew our mind.

     The reason some believers have ongoing struggles and crisis day after day is because they aren’t doing the right thing with their bodies or because they aren’t renewing their minds with the Word of God. It’s a waste of time to try to cast the devil off someone whose real problem is an unrenewed mind.

     Yes, the devil will oppose and attack those who are doing something for God, but when our minds are renewed, those attacks can’t get in. 

     The renewing of the mind takes place through the Word. As we feed on, think on, and act on the Word, the mind is renewed. The more we feed on and do the Word, the quicker that process takes place. The less we feed on the Word, the longer that process takes. The sooner we give ourselves to the renewing of our minds, the sooner we will be able to enjoy the benefits Jesus provided for us.

     Joshua 1:8 spells out how to renew our minds. “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.”

     Victory belongs to us because we are born again, but that victory won’t be experienced in our lives until we do something with our bodies and our minds.  LET’S DO OUR HOMEWORK!

"Healing – Give God Something To Work With" by Nancy Dufresne

Last month I wrote about a healing testimony that blessed me, but I wanted to tell you another one this month because these testimonies encourage us and give us instruction.

     There was a woman who had a condition that left her bedfast. The doctors had given her no hope. She called for a minister to come and pray for her, and as he talked to her, he knew that he needed to locate what she could believe for so they could get results with their faith.

     Many people just want to receive their answer instantly, which is good, but our faith may not always be at that place. So, to get results, we have to know what we can believe for.

     This minister knew that he needed to find where this woman’s place of faith was. 

     As he talked to her, he told her, “We’ve got to give God something to work with.” They looked to the Lord to lead them as to what that may be. The minister was led to ask the woman who was bedfast, “Can you believe God that tomorrow you will be able to make your own bed?”

     “Yes,” the woman agreed. “I can believe for that.” So they agreed in prayer that she would be strengthened enough to make her own bed.

     When the minister visited her on the following day, she told him, “It took me 4 hours, but I did it! I made my own bed!” She and the minister praised God together that He had strengthened her enough to do that.

     “Alright,” the minister said, “can you believe God to go to the restroom by yourself tomorrow?” 

     “Yes, I can believe for that,” the woman assured him. When he visited her the next day, she gave him the good report. “I did it. It took me a while, but I got to the restroom on my own!” And they praised God together.

     Then she and the minister believed God every day that she would be able to do an additional chore around the house. One day, he arrived to find her up and walking around her house. She wasn’t walking fast, but she was up! A few weeks later, he arrived at her house to find her outside walking around the block!

     No, her healing wasn’t instant, but it was still divine healing. The doctors had helped her as much as they could, but they could give her no hope of ever getting out of her bed. But with God, there is no such thing as “impossible” for the one who believes.

     This woman didn’t just lay down her faith because she couldn’t believe for instant healing, but she hooked on where she could and gave God something to work with.

     Don’t lay down your faith just because you may not be able to believe for instant healing. What can you believe for? Give God something to work with!

     Look to the Spirit of God to lead you as to what to hook your faith to. He’s our Counselor. He will counsel you as to what your faith can hook on to.

     I love a statement that Dad Hagin made. “I can’t promise anyone instant healing, but I can promise everyone healing!”

     Thank God for instant healings, but we don’t have to dismiss ourselves from healing just because it doesn’t show up instantly. Give God something to work with! What can you believe for today? Find where you can hook on with your faith and get results, then just keep hooking on every day, and it will all come to pass!