Full transcript
0:01ANNOUNCER: Thank you to Kenneth Copeland Ministries for sowing
0:03the airtime for this broadcast.
0:10NANCY: There's enough power in every sick room
0:13and in every hospital room to raise up that sick one.
0:18That may be describing you. You may be in a sick room,
0:21you may be in a hospital room, and I want to remind you, power
0:26is present. That power is there to do a work. Believe in what's
0:31present. Not trying to get something, but notice that he's
0:34already made it yours. It's present right where you're at.
0:37Say, I recieve that power. CONGREGATION: I receive that
0:40power. NANCY: I receive it right now. CONGREGATION: I receive it
0:42right now. NANCY: From the top of my head. CONGREGATION: From
0:44the top of my head. NANCY: To the soles of my feet.
0:46CONGREGATION: To the soles of my feet.
0:53NANCY: Welcome. We're so glad you're with us today.
0:55Thank you for taking the time to hear the word that
0:58we're bringing today. And I know this, that the word will
1:02always produce fruit when we act on it. So we purpose
1:05to be hearers, but also to be doers. Not, we're not going to
1:09let that word stop at the hearing, we're gonna carry it on
1:12to the doing. Amen. We invite you, get your Bible and get a
1:16notepad and follow along with us and release your faith in the
1:21word that you hear today. Amen. We're going to start ministering
1:25a different direction today. And it's an important direction.
1:29We're going to teach on how to follow the Holy Spirit. Because
1:34in, in, in knowing or being, being skillful at following the
1:38Spirit, he always leads us into our answer. If we follow him,
1:43we'll always arrive at the answers. We follow the word, we
1:47follow the Spirit, we can't help but arrive at success. Amen. And
1:52so we're going to teach about his role in, in our daily
1:57Christian life, and about following, this great divine
2:01genius on the inside of us. Amen. It's one of the greatest
2:04privileges of a born again believer, is to be the dwelling
2:08place of the Holy Spirit. Now, think of that. He left heaven to
2:12dwell in the believer making us his home. Think about that. The
2:17Godhead dwelling on the inside of us, and we have to, since
2:22he's, he's made, we're the temple of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
2:27And since he has made us his home, don't you think that it's
2:31our, it's only appropriate, appropriate for us to make him
2:35feel welcome in this home? Amen. Meaning we give him proper
2:40acknowledgement. Meaning we give him the honored place in the
2:45home of our heart. Right? You know, if someone comes and
2:49visits and you don't give them, and I'm talking about in your
2:52home, somebody just shows up, they knock on your door and they
2:55come in, you invite 'em in, but you don't give them any
2:58attention. They're going to wonder how welcome they are,
3:02aren't they? They're, you can say you're welcome, but it's by
3:06how we respond to them that's going to really show how welcome
3:10they are. How we respond to the Holy Spirit shows him how much
3:14we honor him in our life. Amen. So, we're learning what it means
3:19to, we're gonna learn what it means to follow him. Amen. He
3:23has come to be our ever present companion, knowing this, to
3:27guide, to lead us and, uh, why? Because we're running a race,
3:33and we need divine assistance in that race. You know, when my
3:38husband and I would travel overseas, we always appreciated
3:42the pastor who invited us. But can I tell you, one of the most
3:45important people in our journey was our guide. Because they
3:50spoke the language of home, the, their homeland. They knew the
3:54terrain, they knew the location of things. And brother, we stuck
3:59to them like glue. Why? Because if we lost our guide, we
4:02couldn't even order off a menu. I mean, we, we weren't even
4:05gonna eat that day if we did not give proper attention to our
4:10guide. And I can't tell you the number of times we'd, we'd watch
4:14the guide pick up the, the menu in the restaurant and say, we'd
4:18say, start at the top and start reading. And they'd start
4:21reading everything. And they had our total attention because how
4:24well we ate that day depended on how well we listened that day.
4:28Well, it's the same thing in this divine race that we're
4:32running, how well we run is going to be affected by how well
4:36we listen. to the one who's guiding us in our race, leading
4:40us. Amen. First John, chapter 4 and verse 4 tells us this,
4:47greater is he that, look at this, is in you. Not, gonna be
4:52in you. He is in you. Greater is he that is in you than he that
4:58is in the world. So notice this, there's two flows. the flow of
5:03the one in us, the flow of the one around us. We decide we're
5:07going to stay hooked into the flow of the greater one who's on
5:10the inside of us. We're not gonna look out here to the
5:15natural flow, the flow of the world, because we, we would get
5:18into the wrong flow. Amen. Since the greater one is in us, our
5:23lives should reflect his greatness. Don't you think? I
5:28mean, the greater one, our lives should show that there's a
5:32greater one on the inside, greater evidence in our life of
5:36Him. And notice this, because he's called the greater one that
5:41lets us know there's a lesser one. And you know what the
5:44lesser one is worthy of? Being ignored. Being overlooked. Amen.
5:49Being unimpressed. Being unoccupied with the lesser one.
5:54Why? Because we have something greater to listen to, to follow
5:57and to, if I could say this, gain skill within cooperating
6:02with him. Amen. Before we were born again, we were sentenced to
6:08live a life that was led only by what we know. Only what we could
6:14figure out, what our education told us. But now that we're born
6:17again, we are invited to live the life being led by the
6:22greater one. And I say this, the Holy Spirit is the divine genius
6:27in us, the divine genius. Meaning, why would we step down
6:33to our lower intellect? There, you know, there's there's...
6:37yeah, oh my goodness, um, because we're not sentenced to
6:42live by our IQ or by our education or by what we can see
6:48of this natural world. We have a divine guide who knows the mind
6:52of God, and he is leading us in the Word, and he's leading us in
6:57the plan of God, but he's also leading us based on the mind of
7:00God that he knows. Amen. So we have the privilege to walk by
7:05what God knows. The more skillful we are at following the
7:09Holy Spirit, the more we're going to enjoy the mind of God
7:13manifesting in our life, the thoughts of God, the direction
7:17of God, the lead of God. Amen. Now, the Holy, the Holy Spirit
7:22has come to indwell the believer, indwell the church so
7:27that the church, the body of Christ can fulfill God's will
7:30while we're in the earth. Amen. We cannot fulfill the greatness
7:35of God's plan apart from the greater one. The greatness of
7:40the plan calls for the great, the greater one to lead us in
7:44it. Meaning this, the greater we follow, the more we experience
7:50of the greater one. Amen. He will not lead us and leave us in
7:56the mundane. Because he's great, He leads us into greatness.
8:00Amen. He will teach, He will guide, He will assist us in
8:07carrying out God's great work, but we must learn to recognize
8:11his leading. And we must learn to be obedient to His leading,
8:16following His leading. God will speak to us, and we're gonna
8:20talk about this in detail in the upcoming episodes, but God will
8:24speak to us through number one, that inward witness. Number two,
8:28he will speak to us, the voice of our own spirit speaking to
8:33us. Number three, the authoritative voice of the Holy
8:37Spirit. And then there's other things that, other ways that God
8:42may move so that we can know what God is saying to us. But
8:45we're going to be talking about all these, and especially, we're
8:51gonna focus on the inward witness, because this is the
8:54primary and the foremost way that God is going to lead every
8:59one of his children is through the inward witness. So we're
9:03gonna focus on following the Holy Spirit by following that
9:07inward witness. Now, the Holy Spirit endeavors to lead every
9:12believer through that inward witness. But the problem really,
9:17with so many of us, we don't even know he's trying to lead us
9:20that way. Many don't even know to look inward. They just think,
9:26look to what they can figure out. Look to what they can
9:28observe around. But there is a turning toward the greater one
9:33on the inside of us to see how He's leading us in our spirits.
9:38That's the, that's the flow that's gonna bring us into the
9:41highest expression of the plan of God for our life. And so,
9:46many don't know to follow their own spirit. They don't even know
9:50to give place to the Holy Spirit, but we're learning. I
9:55said, we're learning. My spiritual father made this
9:59statement. He said, if you can teach people, talking about
10:04Christians, if you can teach people to follow their spirits,
10:08you can help them in every arena of life. Meaning this, the help
10:13for the, the physical arena, the health of our body comes as we
10:17follow the Spirit. The help for our finances, the help for our
10:21business, the help for our home, the help for raising our
10:24children. Amen. I mean, there were family members that God
10:30would tell me where they were when they weren't where they
10:33said they were. God would tell me where they were. I had help
10:37in parenting. The Holy Spirit will help us in every single
10:42arena of life. So if we will just learn this, this divine
10:49flow of recognizing how the Spirit leads and then following
10:54the Holy Spirit when he leads, well, we're never without help
10:57no matter what the need shows up. Amen. I don't know about
11:01you, but that's huge in life. That is huge in life. Our
11:04greatest help and success comes when we follow the Holy Spirit.
11:09What about this? The word feeds us, but the Holy Spirit will
11:14also teach us how to apply that word in every situation of life.
11:22If I'm standing in the face of a need and I'm sta- I'm, I'm
11:27going, I'm going, I'm looking to the word to stand on what the
11:30word of God says. I look first to see what's, what scripture
11:35would the Holy Spirit quicken to me in this, in the face of this
11:39need. I don't just randomly grab a scripture. I look to the Holy
11:43Ghost to quicken one to me because the letter of the law
11:48kills, but the Spirit gives life. So if I could say this, it
11:52seems a certain scripture will stand up to you, like he
11:56breathes into that thing. That thing stands off the page to
11:59you. When that happens, you don't need 94 scriptures, only
12:04one will get it done that is quickened to your heart by the
12:08Holy Ghost. And I just, I, I just found this, that when a a
12:13need shows up, I don't just start randomly grabbing
12:16scriptures. I look to the Holy Ghost to quicken something. The
12:19word tells us we are quickened, according to His word. David,
12:23the Psalmist said this, Quicken thou me, Lord, according to your
12:28word. Well, if he's gonna quicken us according to the
12:31word, the word needs to be quickened to us. Amen. So, if
12:36you're in need of healing, look to the Holy Spirit to quicken
12:39something to you. There were times that I went through a
12:44season that I was being, going through a test physically, I was
12:49going through a test mentally, and every day that I would get
12:53up, I would look to the Holy Spirit, and he would quicken a
12:57verse to me, or he would say something to me that was in line
13:02with the truth. If it wasn't a scripture, it was something that
13:06was in line with the scripture. And I would write that down for
13:11that day. And all day long, I would meditate on that because
13:16it was his divine prescription of the word. It wasn't just me.
13:20You know, if, if someone is facing a physical need and they
13:24go to a doctor and a doctor will, he doesn't just say, well,
13:28just take a pill. Well, which pill? Right? He's gonna
13:33prescribe exactly which medication is going to address
13:39your need. The Holy Spirit will prescribe which scripture, which
13:44word, what needs to be addressed, what needs to be,
13:50maybe removed, what needs to be added. He will prescribe the
13:56word to us so that we're not just picking up our random
13:59prescription, we're, but we're picking up the prescribed
14:03prescription. Does that make sense to you? And the Holy Ghost
14:08did that for me. And every day he would give me something at
14:12the start of that day. And you say, well, he's never done that
14:15to me. Let me tell you why he did it for me. It's not because
14:18I'm a minister, it's because I looked to him. As much as we
14:23look to him, we're inviting him. And he will not move or speak or
14:29guide uninvited. Why? Because he's not forcing his way up on
14:34anyone. He, he, as, as, as our spiritual father used to say,
14:39God is a perfect gentleman. He will not force himself upon
14:42anyone, but he will certainly show up every time he's invited.
14:47Amen. He's not, he's not, he's a perfect gentleman, but he's also
14:51a perfect guest. What's a perfect guest? Do they show up
14:54when they're invited? Amen. And so, every day, the Holy Spirit
15:00would prescribe something for me. I would take that, I would
15:03write it down in a, in just a journal. And all day long, I
15:08would, I would draw on that. All day long I'd meditate on that.
15:11All day long I would speak that to myself, mutter it to myself,
15:15meditate on it. The next day I would get up, and if I looked
15:20back to what he said to me previously on the previous day,
15:22it didn't seem to have the same life in it. Why? Because he had,
15:26he had fresh man for me that day. He had something fresh to
15:30say to me. And so, I would take what he would prescribe for that
15:34day. I kept a journal. Like I said, I kept a journal of that.
15:40Several years after that season and I had gotten through that
15:43test, God said to me, I want you to write a book. And that was my
15:47first book. And he said, I want you to take all those things you
15:51record in your journal, and that's your first book. I didn't
15:53know I was writing a book, but I was writing answers for my life.
15:56And if there are answers for my life, there'll be answers for
15:58someone else's life. But that came by the Holy Ghost. No
16:02matter what you're facing, look to the Holy Spirit. What's the
16:06prescription he prescribes for you at this season? You know,
16:11sometimes if, if going to a doctor when you are a child, the
16:15doctor may say, take this medication. And if you're an
16:18adult, let's say 20 years later, and some of the same symptoms
16:21show up, they may prescribe somewhat of the same medication,
16:27it, they may not, but it will also be in different quantities.
16:32Amen. So what am I saying? The Holy Spirit will prescribe to
16:36you for this season of your life exactly what you need. His
16:43divine help is in us. Amen. And this is how he helps. He will
16:47lead us. But it is our privilege to learn how he leads, to
16:51recognize his leading and to follow it. As I said, we're
16:54gonna spend probably quite a few episodes on this. So don't think
16:58you're gonna get it off today. You're not. You're gonna have to
17:00come because this is such a vast subject. No, I will not be able
17:04to say everything that could be said on the subject, on this
17:07subject, but we're gonna hit the highlights. And you don't wanna
17:09miss any of the highlights. Amen. So there again, Dad Hagin
17:14used to say to us, if you can teach people to follow their
17:18spirit, you can help them in every arena of life. Amen. Our
17:25greatest help and success comes when we're following our
17:29spirits. The Holy Spirit is going to impart the leading to
17:36your own spirit. He deals with you, spirit to spirit. God deals
17:41with you by His spirit to your spirit. Not to your mind, not to
17:45your flesh, not to your feelings, not to your emotions.
17:48And so much of the time people think that a heightened emotion
17:52is God talking to 'em, a heightened feeling is God
17:56leading them. Well, we wanna go to the word and find out. We
17:59don't want to go to our senses to find out what the leading of
18:03God is. Amen. Many, like I said, many Christians don't even know
18:08to follow their spirit. They don't really recognize. Now, to
18:12those of us who've been taught this, this seems natural and
18:15normal to us, but I remember being raised in a setting where
18:19I'd never heard any of this. And I looked back when I was a
18:22younger Christian. I go, God was trying to get my attention all
18:25along to try to keep me from going that certain direction but
18:28I didn't know I was supposed to pay attention to what was on the
18:31inside of me. I didn't know that that was my safe guide. I just
18:35thought that that was a hunch. You know? But it's more than a
18:39hunch. It is the, it's the spirit endeavoring to lead us.
18:42When we're born again, He's in there endeavoring to lead us.
18:46What the, when the Spirit does lead us, it will float up and
18:50enlighten our minds, but it doesn't begin with our mind. He
18:54doesn't talk to our minds. He deals with us spirit to spirit.
18:58His spirit with our spirit. And then what our spirit knows
19:02floats up and all of a sudden it dawns on you. You go, ah, got
19:05it. Do you know, your spirit knows things that your mind
19:09hasn't caught up with yet? Yeah. And that's why there are things
19:13that our spirit knows, and God's trying to get our attention and
19:16say, Hey, it's in you. It's in you, it's in you. If you'll turn
19:19toward what's in you, what's in you, we'll float up and
19:22enlighten your mind and you'll know what to do in the face of
19:24this situation. Amen. So we're gonna take some time and, and,
19:29and teach on this. And when we follow the Spirit, when we
19:35follow the Holy Spirit within our spirit, we're always led
19:38right. Always. It's not a hit and miss. We're not living by
19:43trial and error. We're to live accurately. Amen. And he will
19:47lead us into success. He will lead the sick into health. He
19:53will lead those who are struggling in their businesses
19:56or in their finances, He'll lead them into success. Those who may
19:59be struggling in their marriage, in their home with family
20:02issues, he will lead them into peace. Amen. If we'll follow
20:07him. And you say, well, I'm following the word. Yes, but the
20:10Holy Spirit will, as I say, take that word and prescribe it so
20:14specifically to your need for this season of your life. The
20:19word of God is vast, isn't it? I mean, there is so much said in
20:25the word. And the Holy Spirit, He knows the mind of God. He
20:30knows the will of God for your life, and He will prescribe the
20:35exact scripture for your need, for God's plan in your life.
20:40Amen. All he needs is our cooperation. Because like I
20:46said, he won't force himself. He won't force what He knows into
20:50your knowledge. We have to invite what He knows. God said
20:56something to me sometime back, and I so appreciate the way He
21:00said it. He said it to me in a different context, but it will
21:04work in this too. He said to me, to live in my presence is not an
21:10earning, it's a turning. You don't earn his presence, you
21:16turn toward him. You turn toward his presence. And God said to
21:21me, no one has ever turned toward my presence and me not
21:25met them there. No one. Well, even so, to know the help, to
21:32know how the spirit of God is leading, we have to turn. It's
21:37not a leading we earn, it's something we turn toward. Amen.
21:42Why are some people, it seems they live more accurately in
21:48line with how God is leading when others just kind of seem to
21:50bump their way through life. I'm talking about Christians. They
21:54bump into this wall and go, oh, that's the wrong direction. They
21:56pick up, move their family this direction. Oh, well, we'll try
21:59this. Oh, we'll try that. It's because we, it's not that God's
22:03leading one more, it's more, one person is turning more toward
22:06that leading. Amen. The more we turn, the better we follow.
22:14There was one pastor years ago that was telling me that his
22:19congregation had given him a particular gift for his, I think
22:23it was his birthday one year. And I thought, what a, what a
22:27great gift. They knew that he liked driving fast. You know?
22:32They knew that he liked race cars and stuff. So they, they
22:35got him a trip to be on a, and I, forgive me if I don't say all
22:40the words right, because I don't know that, that sport, but he
22:44was gonna get to drive race cars on a racetrack with some of the
22:48leading race car drivers. He got that. Yeah. That's a good time
22:53to somebody who likes that. Now me, you can get me something
22:55that sparkles. But, a fast car's probably not gonna do it for me
23:00the same way, but this man, he loved that. And I thought, what
23:03a great gift for someone who loves that. Well, he, he was
23:07going to, he made a trip to take this, you know, to drive this
23:13race car. And what they told him, it was a professional race
23:17car driver that was in one car, and it was just gonna be the two
23:22of 'em on the track. And so the pastor was in the car behind
23:26him. And I love the instruction that the professional gave this
23:31pastor. He said, if you will get on my bumper and stay on my
23:37bumper, you will finish like a professional. But if you're
23:42gonna drive just based on what's comfortable to you, you won't
23:45finish like a professional. He said, if, if I go high on that
23:50track, meaning I go, I climb up that slope, that incline, if I
23:55go high, you go high. Even if you think you can't go high, he
23:59said, I know the track. I know what that car can handle. And he
24:05said, so if I go high, that means you can go high. If I go
24:09low and I go tight on the track, you take that same place. He
24:15said, if I slow down, you slow down. If I speed up, you speed
24:19up. Even if you think you can't take that turn at that high rate
24:23of a speed, he says, I know what the car can do and I know what
24:27the track can do. So he said, go by what I know, don't go by
24:31what's comfortable to you. Good instruction for your, for your
24:37life. The Holy Ghost knows the will of God. He knows the mind
24:41of God. He knows where there's danger. He knows when you're to
24:45take just a hard left turn. He knows when you are to, if I
24:50could say this, he knows when you need to accelerate something
24:54in your life. He knows when you need to, Hey, slow down on that.
24:58So the professional said to this pastor, your finish will be
25:04determined by how well you follow. It's the same thing with
25:09the believer. Our finish will be determined by how well we
25:13follow. Following the right one, not following the mind. Because
25:18this is what that professional was doing to the pastor telling
25:21him, don't follow your mind, follow my skill. Because the
25:27pastor would've throttled back. Right? Because that, that pace
25:31is not comfortable to someone who hasn't been at that. So they
25:35took the course and the pastor said, when he went high, I went
25:38high. When he went low, I went low. When he slowed down, I
25:40slowed down. When he accelerated, he said, there were
25:42times I didn't feel like, oh, he's doing, he's going too fast,
25:46and he said, but I recognize if he could make it, I can make it.
25:49And he said, when we finished that course, he said, the
25:53professional race car driver got out and said, no one has clocked
25:56the time you have as a, as a, what, what is it? Not a rookie.
26:00Maybe the, it's the, as a non-professional. He said, you
26:04finished like a professional time. And he said it wasn't
26:07based on your skill, it was based on your following. If
26:12we'll follow, our skill will increase. Amen. But we don't
26:17have to take the lead. Aren't we glad? We're not equipped to take
26:22the lead. He's, the Holy Ghost is equipped to lead and guide
26:27us. We are equipped to follow. That's what sheep do, they
26:31follow. Amen. They follow the shepherd. The better we follow,
26:34the better we finish. Amen. Not only that, the better we live
26:38day to day. Well, we're teaching out of our book called Following
26:43the Holy Spirit. We want you to get hold of that because there's
26:46so much to say, so much to teach. You can get it at
26:49dufresneministries.org and you can order your copy today.
26:52And until next time, remember this, Jesus is the healer. God
26:55bless you.
26:59ANNOUNCER: To watch or listen to today's message and other
27:02messages by Nancy Dufresne, visit dufresneministries.org
27:10ANNOUNCER: In Romans 8:14, God gives his children
27:13the promise that he will lead them by His spirit. So we have
27:17a right to expect to be led. In this important
27:20book by Nancy Dufresne, Following the Holy Spirit,
27:22you will learn how to recognize and follow the leading of the
27:25spirit and receive God's help in every arena of your life.
27:29Order this book now at dufresneministries.org
27:36ANNOUNCER: In Nancy Dufresne's classic book, The Greatness Of
27:39God's Power, she teaches how God wants us to know his power that
27:43is in our direction. It belongs to us. Order this book now at
27:47dufresneministries.org.
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