faithfulness - the road to promotion.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
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Faithfulness
God's Conditions
for
Blessing & Promotion
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Faithfulness
by
Dr. Ed Dufresne
Ed Dufresne Ministries
Temecula, California
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Unless otherwise indicated,
all Scripture quotations are taken fromthe King James Version of the Bible.
Copyright © 1!1 by "d #ufresne $inistries
%.&. Bo' 1!(
)emecula, California *+
Second "ditionSecond %rinting-1
/SB0 -!*2-*1*-2
%ublished by "d #ufresne $inistries
%. &. Bo' 1!(
)emecula, California *+
%lease write to obtain an order form to request other
publications.
%rinted in the United States
3ll 4ights 4eser5ed
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Contents
Foreword 7
1 6aithfulness
* /ntegrity *1
&bedience or 4ebellion7
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Foreword
One of the greatest needs in the Church
today is faithful workers. Pastors facediscouragement as a constant enemy because
people hae not been obedient and faithful in
the ministry of helps.
The !ord of "od promises blessings and
promotion for those that will be faithful. This
book speaks to the heart of eeryone who
would want to be successful in the ministry of
the #ord $esus Christ.
The Publisher
2
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Faithfulness
I would like to dedicate this book to
my wife Nancy Dufresne who has the
real spirit of FAI!F"#N$%%&
hank you Nancy for being a faithful wife&
!
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11 Faithfulness
Wherefore he saith, When he
ascended up on high, he led captivitycaptive, and gave gifts unto men.
[Now that he ascended, what is it
but that he also descended first into the
lower parts o f the earth?
He that descended is the samealso that ascended up far above all
heavens, that he might fill all things.
Ephesians 4:8-10
%otice erse & says that the #ord gae gifts
unto men. !hat are these gifts' (erses )) and
)* tell us+
He gave some, apostles! and some,
prophets! and some, evangelists! and
some, pastors and teachers!"or the perfecting o f the saints,
for the wor# o f the ministry, for the
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Faithfulness
edifying o f the body o f $hrist.
Eery minister of the "ospel is a gift to the
Church. !hen "od first began to deal with me
about preaching the "ospel, had such a badimage of myself that certainly couldn-t see
myself as a gift to the Church.
had to renew my mind to the !ord of "od
and build into my spirit the reality that was
anointed of "od to preach the "ospel of $esusChrist.
efore you can hae any success as a pastor
or teacher, you must know in your own heart
that you are a gift to the ody of Christ. f you
don-t beliee it now, then keep building that
truth into your spirit until all the doubt is
drien out.
$ust as the anointing of Eli/ah was
transferred to Elisha, so was the fiefold mantle
of ministry0apostle, prophet, eangelist,
pastor, and teacher0dropped upon men when
$esus ascended to heaen.
1
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Faithfulness
f you are in one of the classes listed here in
Ephesians 1+)), then that mantle was dropped
on you. 2ou are one of those gifts, and you are
responsible for that gift to the ody of Christ.
Many people today are not faithful to theircalling.
%ccording to the glorious gospel
o f the blessed &od, which was
committed to my trust.
%nd ' than# $hrist (esus our
)ord, who hath enabled me, for that he
counted me faithful, putting me into the
ministry.
* +imothy ***,*-
t-s important to be faithful, no matter
where you are or what you do.
!hen first got saed, loed the #ord so
much that wanted to do anything could for
3im, so 3e put me in charge of cleaning the
toilets in my church. 4%eer ask to do
something unless you intend to follow
11
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Faithfulness
through56
7or oer a year was faithful in cleaning the
toilets in that church. thanked "od that 3e
counted me worthy to sere 3im8 and for being
faithful in it, the #ord told me that 3e wasgoing to bless whateer set my hand to. 9nd
3e did5
got so blessed that ended up with two
trucks and ): employees in my new toilet
business5 9s the 9postle Paul wrote to
Timothy, thank Christ $esus, my #ord, !ho
has enabled me to clean the toilets, for 3e
counted me faithful, putting me into the
ministry.
was also in charge of cleaning the carpets
and shining the pulpit. One night while
working, was thanking the #ord for my
pastor, and "od told me 3e had counted me
faithful and was going to promote me to door
greeter. ;o was faithful as a door greeter5
2ou know, it makes an impression on
people how they are met at the door. Een
1*
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Faithfulness
when people wouldn-t offer their hand, would
/ust grab them and hug them and tell them
loed them.
!hen the #ord found me faithful as a door
greeter, 3e promoted me to deacon. Then 3esaid, <;on, -e counted you faithful in these
three things. %ow you are going to preach the
"ospel.<
%o matter what you are called to do0
whether it-s toilet detail, deacon, pastor, or floor
sweeper0be faithful in it. One of the biggest
problems in many churches is that the pastor
doesn-t hae faithful workers.
The ministry of helps is /ust as important to
"od as the ministry of pastor. Praise "od for
the men who hae been faithful in holding
another man-s coat5
n E=odus )>+&?)@, srael fought against
9malek. ecause Moses couldn-t get the /ob
done alone, "od proided faithful men to hold
up his arms until the sun went down0and
srael preailed oer the enemy.
1
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Faithfulness
!hen a church has a group of faithful
workers, it can preail oer an entire town. The
#ord did a pruning on my ministry and it
seemed like half the church was going to leae8
but when the purging was oer, was left witha faithful group of people.
o the last shall he first, and first
last for many be called, but few chosen.
/atthew -0*1
"od does not want you to push your
ministry. Promote the !ord and you will be
promoted. ut on the other hand, am
coninced that few are chosen because many
who are called hae a lack of faithfulness. would consider it a great honor for "od to
tell me to be faithful to a man of "od and gie
him all the help he needs. One of the biggest
enemies a pastor faces is discouragement.
That-s why "od puts men into the ministry ofhelps and e=pects them to be faithful in
upholding the pastor.
1
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Faithfulness
Proerbs *&+*A says, % faithful man shall
abound with blessings.
2ears ago was faithful when "od told me
to go from California to Oregon and preach to
twele people. 7or one year pastored a groupof people in ;mith (alley, out where there was
nothing but ranches.
!e met in homes. The ndians would come
down from the hills, and would pastor those
people eery ;unday night. was faithful to
them.
There were times when would say, <#ord,
am gonna be stuck with these people way out
here in the boonies'<
t-s so easy to start looking at the numbers.
had a problem with that. !e say, < don-t hae
*A,AAA people in my church, so guess -m not
successful.< f you get one person saed eery
;unday, you-re haing success5
!hile was preaching back then, it was so
easy to get my eyes on other men-s ministries.
1+
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Faithfulness
was always watching other people to see how
they would do things in their ministries8 then
would try to imitate them, thinking it would
bring me the same success. 7inally, "od told me
that if kept doing that, it would destroy myministry. had to be faithful to what "od told
me to do. ;o learned to rela= and be faithful
where was.
2ou need to let "od deelop your
personality and your ministry. f you keep youreyes on men, they-ll fail you. ut "od knows
how to do it. Bemember, it will take some time
for "od to build character in you. e faithful
with the little things and watch "od load it on
you.
He that is faithful in that which is
least is faithful also in much and he
that is un2ust in the least is un2ust also
in much.
' f therefore ye have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon,
who will commit to your trust the true
1(
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Faithfulness
riches?
%nd i f ye have not been faithful
in that which is another man3s who
shall give you that which is your own?
)u#e *1*04*-
;ome men are drien with ambition to get
to the top. The ministries should be at the top in
the end result, but many people are /ust drien
to out do other people. !e should want to helpother ministers and re/oice with them when
they get blessed. !e hae to get rid of this
competitie attitude and /ust be faithful in
doing what "od has told us to do.
His lord said unto him, Welldone, thou good and faithful servant
thou hast been faithful over a few
things, ' will ma#e thee ruler over many
things enter thou into the 2oy o f thy
lord.
/atthew 25:21
12
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Faithfulness
This is what the #ord meant when 3e said
those who are last shall be first. Though you are
only in charge of the little things at the end of
the line, "od will e=alt you much uicker than
any man could.f "od counts you faithful in what 3e told
you to do, can guarantee you that 3e will
promote you. 2ou may feel inadeuate for your
position8 but if "od put you there, then you can
fulfill it. 3e will gie you the tools and 3e willgie you the speech.
9fter e=perienced how it feels to be
humiliated before people, told "od would
neer preach again.
ut the #ord said, <2ou must be more
worried about what they think of you than
what they think of My !ord. %ow get out there
and put it out5<
;o did, and 3e has gien me the tools and
the speech to do it with.
"od has counted me faithful, /ust as 3e will
1!
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Faithfulness
count you faithful. 9ll you hae to do is make
the uality decision to be faithful where 3e
puts you and let 3im promote you.
%othing could be more rewarding than to
hear $esus say to you, <!ell done, thou goodand faithful serant.<
1
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Faithfulness
%nd as for me,
thou upholdest me in mine
integrity,and settest me before thy face for
ever.
5salm 6**-
*
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22 Integrity
"or the word o f &od is 7uic#, and
powerful, sharper than any two4edgedsword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder o f soul and spirit, and o f the
2oints and marrow, and is a discerner o f
the thoughts and intents o f the heart.
Hebrews 6*-
"od-s !ord is powerful, and there is
integrity behind it. t-s something you can count
on. 2ou might /ust as well establish in your
heart the fact that "od neer changes, because
3e doesn-t0and neither does 3is !ord5 "od
meant what 3e said and said what 3e meant.
9ll of us hae had temptations in our lies
to be <down in the dumps< and hae <the
blues.< !e don-t hae to be, but most of us hae
been at some point in our lies. ut as soon as
we begin to confess the !ord of "od, the
*1
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Faithfulness
powerful force of faith rises up in our spirits
and dries out that discouragement. That
happens because "od is a man of 3is !ord.
!hat 3e said 3e would do, 3e will do5
ut what about the integrity of your word' $eremiah )+)* says, +hen said the )ord unto me,
+hou hast well seen for ' will hasten my word to
perform it. This erse in The 9mplified ible
says, 8"or ' am alert and active, watching over /y
word to perform it.8
One day the #ord said to me, < hasten My
!ord to perform it. %ow, how about you' Do
you hasten to keep your own word'<
!ell, "od nailed me in that area5 3ere am,
pastoring a church, traeling all oer the
country to preach the !ord of "od, and all of a
sudden "od calls me a liar5
said, <!hat are 2ou talking about, "od'<
Then 3e reminded me of how hadpromised to do something for someone but
neer did. To "od, that-s lying. ;ince that day,
**
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Integrity
hae been a stickler about keeping my word.
%umbers *@+) says, &od is not a man, that he
should lie. f we are to be imitators of 3im, as
stated in Ephesians :+), then we ought to keep
our word, too5 "od told me that if we neerkeep our own word, we will neer be able to
beliee 3is !ord.
2ou will neer grow spiritually until you
watch oer the words that come out your
mouth. f you are being sloppy about your
word, how can you eer take "od-s !ord
seriously'
9s trael across the country, people come
to me all the time promising to do this or that
for the ministry8 yet they neer keep their
word. ;ome people hae come to know oer
the years are so wishy?washy with their words
that can-t trust them.
f tell someone -m going to buy them
something, -ll do it if it harelips the deil5 Een
if it meant getting a second /ob and working
with my hands to get the money, would do it
*
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Faithfulness
to keep my word.
!hen you tell someone you-re going to do
something, but then don-t do it, you break
down your own faith. 2ou won-t be able to
trust in "od-s !ord because you can-t trustyour own.
There are other people know whose word
is good. f they told me to wait for them on the
roof of the church building at noon tomorrow
so they could gie me a gift, would be there
waiting5
!hat happened to the day when a
handshake between two men was all they
needed to assure them that their deal would
come to pass' Their integrity was on the line,
and they knew it5 ack then, their integrity
meant something to them.
Psalm ))+& says, "or ever, 9 )ord, thy word
is settled in heaven.
s your word settled'
!hen you look at a successful man, you
*
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Integrity
will find that he is healthy and prosperous, that
he has a happy home, and most of all that he
has integrity about him. That-s how he got to be
successful in the first place. 3is word is settled.
Psalm )1)+@ says, et a watch, 9 )ord, beforemy mouth! #eep the door of my lips. !e need to
learn to guard our words and listen to what we
are saying.
Bight here, let me make one thing clear+
Don-t do something /ust because did0do it
because you beliee what "od has said in 3is
!ord. Many people try to imitate other
people-s e=periences, they act on what another
person did instead of acting on "od-s !ord.
2ou know what leel you are on spiritually."od might tell you to hae an operation. 2ou
hae to act according to your faith.
Death and life are in the power of
the tongue and they that love it shall
eat the fruit thereof
5roverbs *:-*
*+
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Faithfulness
9re you prepared to eat the fruit of your
mouth'
Proerbs )+ says, % false witness shall not be
unpunished, and he that spea#eth lies shall perish.
"od will always loe you8 it-s the lying that 3ehates. f you-e taken time to entertain the
deil-s lies, then /ust repent and go on.
"od wants us to start building character
into ourseles so that we hae integrity. t-s
about time that the Church realies the integrity
of "od-s !ord8 but it won-t happen until we
learn to say %o5 to the deil and his lies and
start walking according to "od-s will. !hen we
do, people will be coming to us seeking to hae
what we hae.
Daid said, <#ord, put a guard oer my
mouth5< f you hae to, hire a security guard to
watch oer eerything that comes out your
mouth5 My wife is my guard. 9s soon as
unbelief comes out of my mouth, she is right
there to tell me to swallow it5
f this sounds e=treme to you, then guess
*(
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Integrity
$esus was an e=tremist. 3e watched oer eery
word that came out of 3is mouth.
n $ohn-s "ospel, chapter )), when $esus
learned that 3is good friend #aarus was sick,
3e neer got in a hurry. 3e didn-t startspouting statements of unbelief. 3e simply
said, +his sic#ness is not unto death [v.6.
Throughout the entire chapter, $esus was
surrounded by people who said one thing and
belieed another. 3is own disciples had no
more faith in 3is words than Martha did. 9ll of
them proclaimed that 3e was the ;on of "od,
yet no one belieed the integrity of 3is !ord.
Many people, including the disbelieing
$ews, thought $esus was weeping oer the
death of 3is friend, when actually 3e was
grieed with their unbelief.
Through it all, $esus neer changed 3is
word. 7our days before, 3e had said that this
sickness was not unto death. Then 3e called
into the tomb with faith?filled words, bringing
#aarus back to life, 3e proed to those people
*2
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Faithfulness
that 3e was a man of 3is !ord0and so was
3is 7ather5
3ow did all this come about' 7irst of all,
$esus guarded 3is words. 3e said that which
3e desired to come to pass. $esus also knewthat "od was a man of 3is !ord and that 3e
watches oer 3is !ord to perform it.
Therefore, $esus could trust 3is integrity and
know from the start that whateer 3e said
would come to pass.
f you start watching oer your words and
begin keeping your word to people, then you
will know in your heart that you can beliee in
"od-s !ord. Fntil you make the uality
decision to be a man or woman of your word,you will be a miserable Christian.
f you hae made an appointment, with a
person, but know you will be late, call and tell
him.
Don-t promise to gie money out of
emotion. "ie at the leel of faith where you
are, so you won-t get under condemnation if
*!
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Integrity
you can-t keep your word.
!hen you agree to do something, make
eery effort to see it come to pass. "od has put
3is integrity on the line. %ow how about you'
*
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Faithfulness
Confession
"ather in heaven, ' ma#e the
7uality decision with ;our help and bythe help of ;our Holy pirit that ' will
be a man<woman of my word.
;ou said in ;our Word, "ather,
that ;ou hasten ;our word to perform
it. ;ou also said that ' am to be animitator of ;ou. +herefore, )ord, ' will
continually watch over my words to
perform them and be a man< woman o f
integrity.
No idle promises will passthrough my lips! but by the power of
;our Word and the wisdom of ;our
Holy pirit, ' will say what ' mean and
mean what ' say.
'n the name o f (esus, ' will be aman<woman o f my word=
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'f ye be willing and obedient, ye
shall eat the good o f the land.
'saiah 1:19
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33 Obedience or Rebellion?
The other morning as was sitting in our
church, getting ready to preach, the 3oly "host
suddenly rose up within me and said, <There-s
rebellion in the ody of Christ, and it stinks in
the nostrils of "od5<
%nd he too# the boo# o f t h e
covenant, and read in the audience o fthe people and they said, %ll that the
)ord hath said will we do, and be
obedient.
E>odus 24:7
Obedience will always create an
atmosphere for miracles. There are always
rewards that come along with obedience.
People may think their pastor is cray for
laying people on the floor and running acrosstheir back, but they still see miracles5 !hy'
ecause he was obedient to what "od said to
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Faithfulness
do. f you try to do that without direction from
the 3oly ;pirit, you will probably be sorry5
Once as was praying for people in the
prayer line, when got to one woman, it was
like somebody grabbed my hand and slappedher across the face5 3er husband, who was
standing ne=t to her, was uite a bit larger than
me, and my head was screaming, <My "od,
what did do5< ut because was obedient to
the 3oly ;pirit, the woman-s /aw wascompletely healed. Obedience to the oice of
"od and 3is !ord pays off.
"or that they hated #nowledge,
and did not choose the fear o f the )ord
+hey would none of my counsel
they despised all my reproof
+herefore shall they eat o f the
fruit o f their own way, and be filled
with their own devices.5roverbs *-4@*
3ae you eer eaten the fruit of your own
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'bedience or (ebellion)
way instead of "od-s' hae done that and the
#ord began to deal with me on it. 3e told me
needed to be obedient to my calling, not
somebody else-s. would want to set up my
own meetings without the #ord telling me to, /ust because another brother had done it down
the road.
There is a price to pay for doing things your
own way, instead of "od-s, and my price was
haing to pay for that meeting. Only eightpeople showed up0and half of them were my
family5 ;o had to pick up the tab.
The #ord has really been showing me how
there are preachers starting churches and
training centers that "od neer told them tostart. They are doing it /ust because it is
popular. ut "od said that because of it, they
will hae to eat the fruit of their own way8 and
many hae suffered by losing their ministries.
!hat we are talking about is an attitude of
rebellion.
One time was in a car with someone who
+
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Faithfulness
had installed a deice to signal when a
policeman with radar was ahead. 9s was
sitting there, minding my own business, the
3oly "host rose up in me and said, <Those
deices are rebellious.< said, <!hat'<
3e said, <!hen you-re using them to break
the speed limit, they-re rebellious.<
f you don-t like to drie the speed limit,
then suggest that you start interceding and get
the laws changed.
There is a spirit of rebellion in the world,
and -m sorry to say that it-s een getting on the
Christians.One day when was getting ready to speak
at $erry ;aelle-s church in 7ort !orth, Te=as,
they handed me a little guest badge to wear so
they could identify me.
thought to myself, <!ell, bless "od, that-skind of childish, haing to wear a little badge.
-m not gonna wear that stupid thing.< ;o put
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'bedience or (ebellion)
it in my pocket.
That night after the meeting, was lying in
bed and couldn-t go to sleep. The #ord said,
<Bebellion, rebellion, rebellion. They ask you to
do a simple thing like wear a badge to identifyyou, and you rebel. !hy do you hae to be so
rebellious'<
!hen you let that spirit of rebellion get on
you, it will guide your life. 7or instance, in
special meetings an usher might hae to come
up to you and ask you to sit in a different
section. 3ow many times hae you seen people
get upset oer a little thing like that' t-s /ust a
spirit of rebellion. "od said 3e won-t use us for
big things if 3e can-t trust us to be obedientwith little things.
t is so important that we be obedient to
what "od tells each of us to do. !hen you get
out of the will of "od, you get out from under
3is protection. want to lie long on this earth.
There is an attitude of rebellion in the
Church, and we hae to see about changing
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Faithfulness
that attitude.
'f ye he willing and obedient, ye
shall eat the good o f the land
Aut i f ye refuse and rebel, ye
shall be devoured with the sword for
the mouth o f the )ord hath spo#en it.
'saiah **,-0
The #ord gies us two conditions for blessing
!e must be willing and we must be obedient.
ut there are also two conditions for cursing
f you refuse and rebel, you shall be deoured.
9 perfect e=ample of a person who is
willing and obedient and eating the good of theland is $erry ;aelle.
$erry and his wife and children moed to
7ort !orth in an old beat?up car to work for
Genneth Copeland. %obody eer saw him
working all night long. 3e would start bytaking rother Copeland to meetings and
making sure eerything was set up. 43e was
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'bedience or (ebellion)
the only helper to do the running around.6
!hen the meeting was oer, $erry would
put rother Copeland in the car, rush him to
the hotel8 then he would come back, pick up all
the tapes, load the sound euipment, put it inthe truck, go back to his room and work all
night long with a reel?to?reel tape recorder,
getting those tape orders ready to send out.
Early the ne=t morning, he would pick up the
prophet of "od and get him ready for their ne=tmeeting.
$erry was faithful. 3e did that week in and
week out, month in and month out. 3e was
obedient to what "od told him to do. Today,
$erry has a ministry of his own that is growingsteadily as he continues to obey the !ord of
"od. 2ou see, there are always rewards that
come along with obedience.
On the other side of the coin, there is a man
that loe with all my heart8 but instead of
fulfilling his ministry as "od wanted him to do,
he put his eyes on man and got into rebellion.
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Faithfulness
Today, his ministry is null.
f he had been obedient to hold another
man-s coat, he would be on the scene today in
his own ministry. nstead, he has been shoed
off somewhere in a corner. Once in a while, hewill come out to teach a ;unday ;chool class.
n Ephesians, chapter H, "od is talking to
the Church. f we will obey 3is !ord, we will
continually see the rewards that come with it.
n erses )?@ 3e says+
$hildren, obey your parents in
the )ord for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother!
which is the first commandment with promise!
+hat it may be well with thee, and
thou mayest live long on the earth.
was raised in a home where both parentswere alcoholics. My mother was in and out of
mental institutions. 9s a child growing up,
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'bedience or (ebellion)
learned to hate my mother. 9s the oldest, had
to do the dishes and change my brother-s and
sister-s diapers. !hen became a teenager,
wanted to go out and do things, but had to
stay home and take care of the kids.f had known then what know now,
would hae taken authority oer the deil and
cast him out of my mother-s life, in the name of
$esus. ut all knew then was that hated and
resented her.
!hen was born again, the #ord began to
deal with me in this area. One day "od showed
me this third erse of Ephesians, chapter H+ +hat
it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long
on the earth.
The #ord said, <Do you want to lie long'<
said, <2es, ;ir.<
<Then be obedient to My !ord. 3onor your
mother and father.<
;o was obedient to what the !ord says,
and praise "od for it5 went to my mother and
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'bedience or (ebellion)
nurture and admonition of the )ord.
Da#e3s %nnotated Beference Aible says,
<Prooke not your children to wrath. 9oid
seerity, anger, harshness, cruelty. Cruel
parents generally hae bad children.<
Do you want to know why our /ails are
filled up' ecause some kids got knocked
around, beat up, and slammed in the head by
their parents.
<!ell, rother Ed, that wouldn-t happen in
a Christian home.<
Don-t fool yourself5 9s a pastor, counsel
people who beat their children.
-m obsering people and learning all thetime. !hat see is ;ister ucketmouth who gets
up in church and prophesies, giing a beautiful
word from the #ord. Then see that same sister
outside with her children, who hae been in
;unday ;chool for three hours and hae gottena little cranky. see her dragging them across
the parking lot, yelling at them to shut up,
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Faithfulness
/erking them around, slapping them in the
head, and throwing them in the car.
That may sound funny, but it won-t be so
funny if those children end up in /ail for being
treated /ust that way.
The ible says to bring up your child in the
nurture and admonition of the #ord. %urture
means <child?training, education, correcting.<
-m not telling you to aoid spanking them. The
ible says to do it, but it doesn-t say to do it
cruelly. !e /ust hae to be obedient to what the
!ord says.
7or many years, there was rebellion in our
home between my oldest daughter and her
mother and me, and there was good reason for
it. efore my wife and were saed, our little
girl saw some terrible things happen in her
home. ;he saw her mommy and daddy
throwing things at each other0eerything from
knies to furniture5
9fter got saed, began to pray about how
to bring my daughter back to me. The #ord said
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'bedience or (ebellion)
to /ust bring them up in the !ord of "od, to
loe them, put the !ord around them, and use
the rod of correction when they needed it. ;o
was obedient to the !ord of "od.
One night as was preaching in our church,my daughter was sitting on the front row.
Towards the end of the meeting she started
crying and weeping. The 3oly ;pirit came
upon her and showed her that was a minister
of the "ospel and a man she could respect.
9fter the meeting, went into the back
room and Carole came running through the
doors, /umped in my lap, threw her arms
around me, and cried, <Daddy, Daddy, loe
you, loe you5< ;he had neer done that
before. t came from our being obedient to the
!ord of "od.
Oh, the rewards for being obedient5 "od
said that if you bring up your children in the
ways of the #ord, they will not depart from it.
make it a point to pray for my children
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Faithfulness
and confess the !ord oer them. My girls are
not going to end up as prostitutes or on drugs.
They are going to sere "od. hae been
obedient to do what the !ord says and to
preach it to others. The rewards are that mychildren are sering "od.
Ephesians H+:?& says+
ervants, be obedient to them that
are your masters according to the flesh,
with fear and trembling in singleness of
your heart, as unto $hrist!
Not with eye service, as
menpleasers! but as the servants of
$hrist, doing the will of &od from the
heart!
With good will doing service, as
to the )ord, and not to men
Cnowing that whatsoever good
thing any man doeth, the same shall hereceive o f the )ord, whether he be bond
or free.
(
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'bedience or (ebellion)
%otice that there are four scriptures
speaking to the employee, but /ust one which
speaks to the employer. think the 3oly ;pirit
is trying to get something across to the Church.There is an attitude in people0and -m sorry to
say, een with Christians0that the world owes
them a liing. f eeryone would go to work
Monday morning and put in eight good hours
of work that we are being paid to do, we couldstop inflation.
f you go into work with the attitude of
working unto the #ord, you can change things
on the /ob, no matter how bad they may seem.
Maybe the reason your foreman is so ornery is because you haen-t been interceding for him.
2ou can put the !ord of "od on people and
change things by interceding.
Ephesians 1: says, Cnowing that whatsoever
good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receiveof the )ord, whether he be bond or free. f you are
obedient to "od-s !ord and treat your
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Faithfulness
employer as if he were $esus, you may end up
owning the company5 "od will bless you for
your obedience.
2ou need to uphold your employer /ust like
you need to uphold your pastor. f you are inrebellion /ust because they ask you to wear a
badge or sit in a certain section, then you need
to cast out that spirit of rebellion. 9nd you can-t
be rebellious toward your pastor either. 3e is a
gift from "od0the head of your church, theunder?shepherd. t stinks in the nostrils of "od
when the people get into rebellion and won-t
support their pastor.
(erse of Ephesians 6 says, %nd ye masters,
do the same things unto them, forbearingthreatening #nowing that your /aster also is in
heaven! neither is there respect o f persons with him.
9s an employer, if you treat your employees
like they were $esus, you will neer hae any
problem with strife or rebellion.
Eerybody wants to lie in the flood of
"od-s blessings8 but the flood won-t come
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'bedience or (ebellion)
unless you obey "od and lie by 3is !ord. $ust
think about 9nanias- obedience when the ;pirit
of "od told him to go to Damascus and pray for
;aul of Tarsus. 49cts +)A?)&.6
9nanias replied, in so many words, <#ord,he-s a murderer5 3e-s a killer5<
ut when "od tells us to do something, we
hae to be obedient, no matter what our
opinion may be on the matter. Een when
9nanias knew in his heart that ;aul was a
murderer, he still went to Damascus and
prayed for him. "od was able to work miracles
by giing ;aul of Tarsus his sight and making
him one of the greatest preachers of that time.
Obedience always creates an atmosphere
for miracles.
!hat if "od told you to minister to an e=?
conict, a man preiously known as a
dangerous criminal' Then when you were
obedient, that man turned out to be another
Oral Boberts. Oh, the rewards for being
obedient5
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Faithfulness
!e ministers and pastors hae got to be
obedient to the !ord of "od. Don-t hold back
on what "od tells you to preach, een if you
think your whole church will leae you.
The #ord told me to drie rebellion out ofmy church by preaching on loe, so preached
on loe for three months. thought my church
was going to empty out, but "od /ust filled it
back up5
e sensitie to the 3oly ;pirit. !hen "od
tells you to do something, do it5 f 3e doesn-t
gie you special instruction, don-t do
something /ust because it is the popular thing to
do.
Bemember, if you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land5 "od will
bless you to oerflowing.
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f you would like to receie Ed Dufresne-s
uarterly publication, (esus the Healer
Newsletter, free and postpaid,
write+
Ed Dufresne Ministries
P. O. o= )&H
Temecula, C9 *:@
"eel free to include your prayer
re7uests and comments when you write.
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