faithfulness - the road to promotion.pdf

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Faithfulness

God's Conditions

for

Blessing & Promotion



Faithfulness

by

Dr. Ed Dufresne

Ed Dufresne Ministries

Temecula, California



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



Contents

Foreword 7

1 6aithfulness

* /ntegrity *1

&bedience or 4ebellion7



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



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&

!



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



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



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



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*



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



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



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+



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(



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



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!



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



Faithfulness

%nd as for me,

thou upholdest me in mine

integrity,and settest me before thy face for

ever.

5salm 6**-

*



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



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,

**



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

*



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

*



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 *:-*

*+



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

*(



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



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

*!



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'

*



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=



'f ye be willing and obedient, ye

shall eat the good o f the land.

'saiah 1:19



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



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



'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

+



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

(




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

2



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

!




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.



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,




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

1




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,



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




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.

(




%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

2



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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

!




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



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.

+



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 *:@

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re7uests and comments when you write.

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